ONE HIGH PRIEST AND ONE MEDIATOR

I found this article when I was looking for a good explanation in a discussion with a Catholic about their prayers to/through 'saints'. I think it is beneficial not only for that discussion.


'The Priesthood of Christ'
Rev. J. Tolland, Minister of Kirkpatrick Memorial Church, Belfast, and Vice-President of the S.G.U.

In my library I have a book entitled 'The Priesthood of Christ'. It contains a series of addresses given at a conference in London under the auspices of the Sovereign Grace Union some seventy years ago on the subject of the Redeemer's Priesthood versus Roman Priestcraft. Here we have the pith and marrow of the Holy Scriptures on this vital subject.

Each week we will carry one of these great addresses, and we believe they will be a means of great enlightenment, with consequential power and salvation.

Pray, dear believers, that God will richly bless these great truths so faithfully set forth.

Yours against popery, Ian R K Paisley, Eph.6:19,20.

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light." – 1 Peter ii. 9."

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." – John xiv. 6.

Read on...

Thoughts about coffee and justice

Somewhat strange title. I will explain.

To the right - my Coffee Center, an essential piece of equipment in my kitchen. It can do wonders with coffee. The problem begins in the shop: which coffee I should buy, and which is not so good to buy. And, mind you, it has nothing to do with the taste or price, but everything with justice.

For those of you who are now starting to label me crazy, a short explanation. Sweden is a fighter for human rights all over the world. The politicians from Sweden are present in almost every deciding body dealing with environment, civil rights, equal opportunities, peace projects, clean energy options, you name it. It is very noble, of course, and makes people aware of the dangers posed by big corporations and ruthless dictators.

So when we come to the coffee issue, we are reminded of those poor farmers somewhere who lose their income from their coffee plantations because some other farmers somewhere else are being used by the industry, and so on, and so forth. But, we are being told, if we buy the coffee produced by those poor farmers from the former group, we will do a good thing. The problem is, that this coffee is usually not so cheap and not so good, plus - it is not available in a supermarket. In order to buy it, you would have to go to some tiny store somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and they probably do not honor your credit card there. So what do you do? You buy the coffee which is available and end up with a guilty conscience - at least I do...

This coffee stuff got me thinking about other hot issues pursued by democracies. The rights of the homosexuals, for example. Or the rights of women to their own bodies. The rights of animals. The rights of fish in the sea (I am not kidding). Many demands for respect, all taken very seriously by their proponents.
There is one group whose rights are put aside, forgotten, ridiculed, called old-fashioned, belonging to another era - the rights of the unborn children. Contrasted with the rights of their irresponsible mothers, they lose big time, every time. Fish have more respect than unborn humans. Minks in the mink farms are more cherished than human fetuses. When a woman is spotted with a fur on, the animal activists might spray paint all over her and call her brutal. When the same woman claims her right to kill her unborn baby, she is called liberated and entitled to deciding over her own body.

Talking about justice? Anybody? Talking about justifying murder? Anybody? Silence...

Search the Scriptures

From "Sermon Outlines" by Charles Hodge
[February 18, 1854]

I. What are the Scriptures? II. For what are they to be searched? III. How are they to be searched?

I. What are the Scriptures?

The sacred writings contained in the Old and New Testaments are,

1. The Word of God. In the sense in which the works of a man are his words, revealing his thoughts, will, purposes, the Scriptures are the word of God. He is their author. Their contents rest on his authority. They are not merely his as written by pious men, not a human form of divine truth, but God’s own exhibition of truth. This is opposed, first to the Deistical, secondly, to the Rationalistic, and thirdly, to the Quaker views.

2. From this it follows,

(a) That they are infallible.

(b) That they are holy.

(c) That they are powerful.

(d) That they are consistent.

(e) That they are the appointed means of salvation. We are begotten, enlightened, sanctified, and saved by the truth.

3. They are complete, as containing all the extant revelation of God.

4. They are plain, so that every one can learn for himself what God says. They are the light of the world. They are the fountain of life. They are the treasury of divine things.

II. We should know what we seek when we search.

We should search the Scriptures,

1. For knowledge of God, of Christ, of truth, of duty. This knowledge is speculative, and spiritual.

2. For consolation.

3. For holiness.

III. How are we to search the Scriptures?

1. Reverently and submissively, with the fixed determination to believe every truth which they affirm. Everything is right which they command, and everything is wrong which they condemn. We are not to sit in judgment on the Scriptures.

2. With diligence,

(a) Studying them much.

(b) Studying them consecutively.

(c) Investigating what they teach on particular subjects.

(d) Availing ourselves of all aid; fixing right principles, and availing ourselves of all subsidiary means.

3. With dependence; convinced that without divine guidance we shall obtain neither right speculative knowledge, nor right spiritual views.

4. Therefore with prayer, previous and continued.

5. With self–application.

Truth Is Worthy Of Defense

Concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul wrote, “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty” (1 Corinthians 15:14). No third option is available. Christ’s bodily resurrection is either completely true or false. If it is false, then we have nothing to believe. If it is true, then it is the direct intervention of God in human history for the salvation of mankind and it validates the truthfulness of what the Bible says about the person, nature, and work of Jesus Christ. Our apologetic work begins with His resurrection.

Read on...

Message must be clear, part 2

Yes, it is the season of bashing Christians. While America is getting ready for the sensationalism of an alleged Tomb of Jesus in the film with the same title, our own Swedish TV, the one we pay for, the one I pay for (and have to pay for), has devoted a whole prime time evening to showing the "real colors" of Christianity.

I do not blame them.

Why?

Because this evening, more than anything else, shows that THEOLOGY MATTERS.

What I have just seen is embarrassing, to put it mildly.
The evening kicked off with "The Root of All Evil", in which, as you probably already know, Richard Dawkins is not hiding his despise and hatred towards religion in general, and Christianity in particular. His objectivity is close to zero, but he has no trouble, especially with the disgusting cooperation of one Ted Haggard, to prove his point.

Next item was a Swedish documentary, "Hallelujah Wedding". Two young Christians are preparing to get married... Members of a Pentecostal church, another painful watch, when the main occupation during the service is running around, jumping and dancing, shouting and gibberish...

And the final item - "Jesus Camp", quite a film, it appears, with another dubious set of theology and brainwash, this time on kids. And Ted Haggard encore. One of the little girls had a pretty clear opinion about churches where people "are just sitting and worshipping". She called those "dead churches". If you do not jump, shout, cry, run about - you are dead. Did you know that? Shame on us, dead reformed baptists...

Some short episodes from within the films - preaching with a nonexistent Bible, this young husband-to-be trying to witness to some young men, telling them only that Jesus loves them and blessing them (they could care less), Ted Haggard making some low-level jokes in the arena of his mega church, fat lady showing gadgets she uses to brainwash the children, a fanatic pro-life activist with no understanding of child psychology making small kids weep over the tiny dolls representing fetuses... I could go on and on...

Two levels of disgust.

1. As a Christian, I do not appreciate this type of unfair journalism. What this evening showed is not Christianity, but a caricature of it. This is not the Faith I know and embrace. It is very easy to reject Christianity having THIS picture in mind. Nobody wants to leave reason for a circus, right? But the angle is clear here: a well-designed propaganda in order to ridicule, just in time before Easter. Congratulations, SVT (Swedish TV). But I do not think I want my money spent on this.

2. As a Reformed Baptist, I must repeat my cry from Message must be clear - post. People reap what they saw, plain and simple. I am glad I have seen those films, especially the last one. Now I have a much better understanding what my brothers and sisters in the USA are up against with. Christian Research Network depicts and uncovers a multitude of these things. When you only read about it, you give it some thought, of course, but when you see it with your own eyes, it goes beyond anything you could ever imagine. It is scary. I am scared when I see believers confessing the prosperity teachings. I get scared when I see brainwashed children, I get scared when the Bible is forgotten and put aside in favor of jumping and shouting.
Suddenly I like this poem very much...

Theology matters. You who are responsible for this mess - think about it. Deep and long.

But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
(Luk 12:48)