Samuel Tregelles on Prophecy Concerning Israel

"The dealings of God in the latter day with the Jews and Jerusalem, possess an exceeding interest to all those who see the importance which God attaches to that place and people. A degree of prominence, which might at first seem strange, is given in the prophetic word to those scenes; but it is our place to sit as learners, having our ears open to receive the instruction of God, even when we are most at a loss to perceive the bearing of that instruction. Whatever is important in God's eyes ought to be so in ours, as being made the children of God:—He has said of Jerusalem, " My eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually." He has said of Israel, that if his covenant with the day and night cannot be broken, then He will not cast off his ancient people; Jesus died for that nation; they are still "beloved for the fathers' sakes": no marvel then that our eyes are directed again and again to the closing scenes of the period of God's indignation, and the dawn of that day in which God has said, " In those days and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve." What soul is there that has tasted the mercy of God, and rejoices in the grace which has been shown in the precious blood of Christ, that does not feel joy in the contemplation of this great and surpassing display of the same grace? It is, indeed, a privilege to be allowed to know what God is going to perform; and, knowing what the result is, we cannot judge any of the details to be unimportant."

-- Samuel P. Tregelles

Book Review: "Apology" by Plato

Plato’s Apology is a Socratic dialogue that records Socrates’ defense (hence “Apology”) of himself before an Athenian court. He is being charged with the crime of corrupting the youth of Athens with speculative and preposterous ideas, as well as for atheism and/or disbelief in the state gods. Most of the dialogue features Socrates speaking in which he defends himself against these charges and seeks for acquittal. However, the main point of the dialogue is that obedience is to be rendered to God rather than to men no matter the cost, and that doing what is right is more important than the preservation of life itself. Or to put it as Socrates puts it, men ought to fear unrighteousness more than they fear death. Socrates flips the charges on its head and argues that, far from corrupting the youth of Athens, he has actually done the greatest good possible to the state by his philosophy, and claims that he was even given this mission by God to help the state. In the end Socrates is condemned to death.

In seeking to clear his name Socrates argues that the real reason he is hated and being charged is not because he has done anything wrong but precisely because he has been doing something right. He understands the hatred directed toward him as proof of his rightness, and explains that the real reason people hate him is because he exposes their alleged wisdom to be no wisdom at all. Socrates repeatedly states that he does not know more than anyone else, except for this: that he knows that he does not know, whereas others think they know when in fact they don’t know. It is because he exposes the truth that they don’t know (and presumably embarrasses them) that they hate him and wish him to nuisance them no more. Socrates also argues that far from being an atheist he actually has a higher regard for the gods than his fellow countrymen, because he is willing to obey God regardless of the cost. He repeatedly states that if he were to capitulate to their demands to stop teaching, or if he were to fear death more than obedience to God, he would prove himself to be an atheist. This he will not do, thus proving his exceptional piety. As stated above, Socrates argued that unrighteousness is to be feared more than death, for death is not necessarily a bad thing and may even be a good thing provided that one has lived a good life, but unrighteousness is undoubtedly destructive to one’s soul. Socrates makes it perfectly clear that he will never quit his mission for God; he would rather die again and again than alter his ways.

I agree wholeheartedly with Socrates on basically every point he makes in the Apology. As a campus preacher I encounter similar situations in which people hate me, not because I have committed any evil against them but rather because I do them the good of exposing the error in their ways of thinking and living. I also believe that reverence to God and righteousness are more important than life and death itself; in fact, there is nothing more important. The only point in which I disagree with Socrates in the Apology is that he gives the impression that he has actually done righteousness himself, and therefore he faces death with confidence. As a Christian I believe that man has never done righteousness, but that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) I believe the only way to have confidence in the face of death and the judgment of God is by taking hope in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who provides blamelessness for us through His death.

This dialogue has infinite value for the world. If only more people would read such works and talk about them together! I often think that providing inmates in prison with Plato’s works would do wonders, as inmates have lots of time to read and meditate as well as sensitive consciences to listen attentively to the content. We all need to think more seriously about the issues of our souls, of righteousness and of God. There is simply nothing more important than these things.

Book Review: "Power from on High" by Charles Finney

Many people are unaware that Charles Finney was actually a very dangerous heretic. Today he remains a little popular in Pentecostal/Charismatic circles; I think because these circles are easily attracted to passionate individuals. But as Paul the apostle warned, there is a zeal without knowledge that is deadly (Romans 10:1-4).

Charles Finney did not understand and did not preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. He created his own systematic theology that was based on the wisdom of man and was not based on the Scriptures. Finney knew nothing of the righteousness that is ours through faith in Jesus Christ apart from the works of law (Romans 1:17, 3:21-26). To Finney, a person could only be saved if they stopped sinning and obeyed the law of God. Righteousness was based upon works, not the death of Christ and faith alone in Him. Such is human, natural wisdom that seems to make sense but is actually death, because the Scriptures teach us that no one can be justified before God by their works (Rom. 3:19-20, Gal. 3:10), and our own experience shows us this is true. The law of God can only condemn us. While it seems to make sense that we should obey God's law in order to be right with Him, such a path leads to destruction. The wisdom of God is Christ. As guilty sinners we look away from ourselves and from our works and put our trust completely in another for our righteousness and our salvation. Finney sadly did not understand this.

This book is filled with that human wisdom which says: if you want God's blessings you need to obey God's law. If you want power, you need to work for it. Finney lays down all sorts of rules which have an appearance of wisdom but will ultimately not help and will only harm a person who follows his advice. It reminds me exactly of Paul's saying in Colossians 2:23:

"These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh."

Everyone who has followed Finney's advice has experienced what Paul has said. Even in Finney's day, the young men who followed him got burned out and many eventually fell away from the faith. Please beware of this false teacher. Satan sends his ministers as "ministers of righteousness" but they are not true ministers of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:15).

Let me strongly encourage you to read Horatius Bonar's book "God's Way of Peace." This is one of the greatest books on the gospel one can read. Reading it will be one of the best things in life you've ever done.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... 

Beware of Charles Finney

A reply to someone who asked me about Charles Finney's book "Power from on High".

Greetings T----,

Many people are unaware that Charles Finney was actually a very dangerous heretic. Today he remains a little popular in Pentecostal/Charismatic circles; I think because these circles are easily attracted to passionate individuals. But as Paul the apostle warned, there is a zeal without knowledge that is deadly (Romans 10:1-4).

Charles Finney did not understand and did not preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. He created his own systematic theology that was based on the wisdom of man and was not based on the Scriptures. Finney knew nothing of the righteousness that is ours through faith in Jesus Christ apart from the works of law (Romans 1:17, 3:21-26). To Finney, a person could only be saved if he stopped sinning and obeyed the law of God. Righteousness was based upon works, not the death of Christ and faith alone in Him. Such is human, natural wisdom that seems to make sense but is actually death, because the Scriptures teach us that no one can be justified before God by their works (Rom. 3:19-20, Gal. 3:10), and our own experience shows us this is true. The law of God can only condemn us. While it seems to make sense that we should obey God's law in order to be right with Him, such a path leads to destruction. The wisdom of God is Christ crucified. As guilty sinners we look away from ourselves and from our works and put our trust completely in another for our righteousness and our salvation. Finney sadly did not understand this.

This book is filled with that human wisdom which says: if you want God's blessings you need to obey God's law. If you want power, you need to work for it. Finney lays down all sorts of rules which have an appearance of wisdom but will ultimately not help and will only harm a person who follows his advice. It reminds me exactly of Paul's saying in Colossians 2:23:

"These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh."

Everyone who has followed Finney's advice has experienced what Paul has said. Even in Finney's day, the young men who followed him got burned out and many eventually fell away from the faith. Please beware of this false teacher. Satan sends his ministers as "ministers of righteousness" but they are not true ministers of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:15).

Let me strongly encourage you to read Horatius Bonar's book "God's Way of Peace." This is one of the greatest books on the gospel one can read. Reading it will be one of the best things in life you've ever done.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8... 

A Christ-Like Gift

I wrote the following for the local Herald Journal newspaper as a response to someone who commented on the recent same-sex marriages that took place in Cache County, saying that they couldn't think of a more "Christ-like" gift.

----------------

Hello,

You mentioned that you couldn't think of a more Christ-like gift. But let's think for a moment about what would qualify a gift as "Christ-like".

A Christ-like gift would not be a gift that disregards the Word of God. It would not be a gift that disregards right and wrong, and that conforms to whatever is popular. For this very reason a Christ-like gift would not be much appreciated by a God-hating world.

When we read in the Bible about Christ (which is where we learn about Christ and what a Christ-like gift is) and when we read about the gift that He gave to the world, it was the gift of Himself dying on the cross for our sins. His gift is the forgiveness of sins, not the ignoring of sins; His gift is reconciliation to God because of a violated law, not the nullification of the law of God. Christ was rejected because of His stand for the Word of God. Christ upheld the law of God and therefore no Christ-like gift would condone homosexuality, which is explicitly condemned in the law (Lev. 20:13). These are simply the facts.

Before it is pointed out that the law also supports certain things that we don't practice anymore (such as stoning and not eating pork), it is essential to understand that there are many things in the law that were strictly ceremonial and with the coming of Christ they have ceased to be obligatory. But the moral aspect of the law never changes because it is the expression of the righteous character of God who never changes.

The reason we don't stone people anymore is not because sins have ceased to be sins, nor have they ceased to be serious. The reason why stoning shouldn't happen is because, as Jesus said, "He who has no sin cast the first stone." (John 8:7) We are not to think that today nobody deserves death according to God, but rather, according to Romans 1:28-32 we ALL deserve death and therefore no one is qualified to be the judge but God alone. God alone is the judge of the world and He has every right to throw stones, but at Christmastime we remember that He sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to die for the world, on the cross for our sins, so that we would not have to die but can have eternal life. This is God's great mercy towards sinners, which includes all of us.

So a true Christ-like gift would look like forgiving others even though they are sinners and don't deserve it. Forgiveness isn't about worthiness and deserts, but, as the Bible shows us, it's all about grace. Let's all give the Christ-like gift of forgiveness this year and always. That doesn't mean nullifying the law and saying things aren't sins when they really are, but it does mean forgiving and embracing each other as sinners, and helping each other through our trials and temptations. I can't think of a more Christ-like gift than that.