Almost Mega Length DL with Five Major Topics

Alpha & Omega Ministries

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Well, folks, they've done it again. Yes, indeed, folks.

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The liberals are out there. The media, they're on to us. They know all about why

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Christianity is wrong and dangerous. All you got to do is fire up social media and Facebook and Twitter.

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Everyone will be talking about, well, here's the title from the

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Metro News in the United Kingdom. Ancient banned manuscript of Jesus' secret teachings is unearthed after 1600 years.

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Oh, wow. See? Known all along, those

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Christians were suppressing the real teachings of Jesus. And here's something that goes back 1600 years.

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And it's been banned because we know those Christians were in control of everything, and they suppressed the real teachings of Jesus.

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That's what we learned when we went and watched Tom Hanks and the Da Vinci Code. We did some deep, deep historical study there.

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Yeah, well, so Rob Waugh for Metro .co .uk, and you can find this on CNN and Fox and everything else.

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A heretical manuscript which reveals Jesus' secret teachings to his brother

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James has been unearthed by American researchers. Well, here's the problem.

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This is Volume 3 of the Coptic Gnostic Library, first published in the year 2000.

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So that means, let me do the math here, 17 years ago, this was published.

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Hopefully not my particular set, but it's been available there for 17 years, and it was available before then.

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And here, right pretty much in the middle of the volume, I'd say, the first apocalypse of James.

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Whole thing. Been known to scholars for a long time. I have the entire complete codices of the

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Gnostic Library, both in printed and electronic form, in various sources.

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Logos has them. I think Accordance might have them. I know Logos does. I have that. So, as normal, what you've got in social media, in the mainstream media, the sensationalization.

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It's December. You're supposed to do this in December and in March. These are the two months, because of the resurrection of Christ and the birth of Christ, that you do everything you can to promote unbelief in Christ.

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That's the purpose behind all of this. And so you assign people who are clueless about history, don't know how to do research, wouldn't know how to look something up to see if, is this really new or what's going on here?

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What's the actual story? Well, the actual story is that some researchers in Texas have found either 5th or 6th century

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Greek manuscripts of a work that we've only possessed in Coptic.

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Now, the only relevance of that is, you know, when you look at, for example, the

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Gospel of Thomas, it's helpful to have more than one language version.

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It helps you to ascertain what the original language was and what's a translation of what.

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And if you've got differing streams of transmission. So many of these books, almost all the Nag Hammadi codices, the

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Oxyrhynchus papyri, whatever, again, well known to scholars in the field. Nothing new here at all.

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Many of these books are extremely fragmentary and in comparison to the

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New Testament books, horrifically transmitted, just nowhere near the pedigree of the manuscript tradition, everything else that you have for the

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New Testament books, as far as early manuscripts or multiple attestation or anything along those lines at all.

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But they know that their audience doesn't know that, doesn't care about that. They want click -throughs.

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Because I'm looking at the web right here and there are ads.

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There's one column of ads on the left side, two columns of ads on the right side. And so I can buy laundry detergent from Amazon on the outside.

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And then one of the great stories I can also click on here is retired greyhounds are being shipped to China and boiled alive for meat.

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There you go. So this is the level of scholarship that we have to deal with very often as Christians.

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Because, hey, the guy in the cubicle next to you doesn't know, has no background, probably doesn't know any

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Christians that do know or have any background. And so he wants, he's reading through his

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Facebook feed, runs across this, knows you're a Christian, says, hey, did you hear they found the secret teachings of Jesus?

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Now, our listening audience is weird.

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And if you're watching, that makes you weird. Let's be honest.

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I mean, I'm looking at what I'm going to be covering here. It is wild, wildly eclectic, wildly all.

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It's not entertaining in the sense of being fun or simple or anything like that.

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And that makes that makes our audience weird and strange and unusual in a good way.

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But the fact is, the vast majority of folks who read this stuff, they don't know they don't know a Christian they could turn to to get a meaningful answer.

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To this particular question, what in the world is the first apocalypse of James?

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How is that different than the apocryphon of James, for example? And the vast majority, the vast majority of Christian ministers who are graduates with an

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MDiv, minimally from a seminary, have no idea either. None.

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This isn't it might be, you know, I mean, if you if you focus on church history or something, or if you focus specifically on on the

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Gnostics or or something along those lines. I just realized one of my books is missing. Huh. Wonder where it went.

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Oh, oh, you stole it from the props. There was borrowing that occurred.

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We had to look up a citation in the fatal flaw. There are numerous copies of the fatal flaw in my library.

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And that's there's a hole. It's the closest room to my office. There is a hole.

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I don't have to unlock this room. You see, you see what

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I have to put up with, folks. I tell you, just just sniping things out of the background. See, there's a hole there.

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There is. I don't know if I can do the rest of the show. I'll be perfectly honest with you. I'm it's it's like the feng shui, whatever that is.

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I heard it on a on my wife watches all those building shows once in a while.

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Well, and I heard I don't know what it is. Anyways, I said, look over and saw that the fatal flaw was missing.

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And so I just, you know, what was

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I talking about? Moses was in the bulrushes and yeah. OK, anyway, look at that.

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Look at that. There's there's. And I don't bother. We'll put it back later. We just need to leave the hole there now just to show what happens, you know, when we don't think through what we're doing.

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It's just it's terrible anyway. Believe it or not, folks,

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I do I do realize what's going on, what went on this morning at the Supreme Court. I'm going to talk a little bit about later from a different perspective.

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But I want to start off here. So most of the people who even graduate from our seminaries.

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A lot more important stuff to be doing than close study of Gnostic sources.

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And there there are a lot of them. There's there's I mean, the Gnostics wrote a lot of books, but they very plainly come from at the earliest the second century, very often third and fourth century.

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And it is so painfully obvious that they are from a completely different worldview than any of the biblical authors.

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Gnosticism, dualism, the idea of archons and and everything in Gnosticism starts from a different place.

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And therefore, just like in Mormonism, since Mormonism starts, the polytheistic system may use the same language.

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But the words are filled with different meanings. Same thing with Gnosticism. Once you have a

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God who is pure spirit and the God who creates this universe is a demiurge, an evil

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God. Once you have Yahweh as an evil God, your interpretation of Scripture, your use of Scripture, your citation of Scripture obviously is going to have completely different meaning than if you allow the

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Scriptures to speak for themselves. So what we have in this first apocalypse of James is a

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Gnostic fragment. And it is very fragmentary from at least at least a century after.

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Well, no, at least a century and a half at the earliest after the days of Jesus, at least a century after the last apostles and maybe longer.

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That does not originate from Jerusalem or the environs thereof.

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Galilee, anything like that is not historical. It's apocryphal.

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It's it's so that's why they say banned. What they mean is, well, it wasn't put in the canon.

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Well, duh, that that's right, because it has nothing to do with anything

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Jesus ever said to James. It's fiction based upon a completely different worldview.

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But remember, oh, about a year ago, we did some story time with Uncle Jimmy.

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Well, I thought it would be a good idea today to start off. And how would you like to be really prepared to answer questions about this current thing that's bopping around CNN and Fox News and everything else?

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It's not overly long because it's very fragmentary, so it's going to be hard to read. But I'm going to I'm going to read the first apocalypse of James for you, at least at least a major portion of it.

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I don't know. Kofi is offended. Kofi should not be offended because I said you're weird in a good way.

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And Kofi is even weirder in a good way than most of our listeners. So let's not start in on that.

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OK, the first apocalypse of James. The apocalypse of James, it is the

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Lord who spoke with me, see now the completion of my redemption. I have given you a sign of these things, James, my brother, for not without reason have

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I called you my brother, although you are not my brother materially. For I am not ignorant concerning you, so that when

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I give you a sign, no one here, nothing existed except him who is. He is unnameable and ineffable.

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I myself also am unnameable from him who is just as I have been given a number of names to from him who is.

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And I am before you since you have asked concerning femaleness. Femaleness existed, but femaleness was not first and it prepared for itself powers and gods.

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But it did not exist when I came forth since I am an image of him who is.

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But I have brought forth the image of him so that the sons of him who is might know what things are theirs and what things are alien to them.

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Behold, I shall reveal to you everything of this mystery, for they will seize me the day after tomorrow, but my redemption will be near.

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James said, Rabbi, you have said they will seize me, but I, what can I do?

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He said to me, fear not, James, you too will they seize, but leave Jerusalem, for it is she who always gives the cup of bitterness to the sons of light.

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She is a dwelling place of a great number of archons. Now, I just stopped there for a moment.

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For those of you who don't have a lot of background in Gnosticism, but you do in Star Trek, don't make the connection.

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There were archons in Star Trek, so I just thought I'd help you out there because it could confuse you.

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There are no red shirts in this story. Where are we?

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But your redemption will be preserved from them so that you may understand who they are and what kinds they are.

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Now, this is going to start getting broken up because the manuscript is damaged.

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Sometimes, if it sounds like I'm just giving you phrases, that's because that's all there is. It's just phrases. They are not but archons.

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These 12 down archons upon his own Hebdomad.

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I don't know what a Hebdomad is. I will be honest with you. James said, Rabbi, are there then 12

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Hebdomads and not seven as there are in the Scriptures? The Lord said, James, he who spoke concerning the

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Scripture had a limited understanding. I, however, shall reveal to you what has come forth from him who has no number.

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I shall give a sign concerning their number. And as for what has come forth from him who has no measure,

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I shall give a sign concerning their measure. James said, Rabbi, behold then, I have received their number.

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There are 72 measures. The Lord said, these are the 72 heavens, which are their subordinates.

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These are the powers of all their might, and they were established by them. And these are they who were distributed everywhere, existing under the authority of the 12 archons.

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The inferior power among them brought forth for itself angels and a numbered host. He who is, however, has been given blank on account of blank.

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He who is blank, they are a numbered. Obviously, there's a damage to the manuscript right down here at the bottom.

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If you want to give them a number now, you will not be able to do so until you cast away from yourself blind thought.

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The bond of flesh, which encircles you, there's some of the Gnosticism. And then you will reach him who is.

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And you will no longer be James. Rather, you are the one who is.

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Man, that sounds a lot like the Matrix. You will no longer be

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James, but rather, you are the one who is. But that's Gnosticism. It is the dissolving of the unitary self back into the one.

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It's monism. So, you're a spark of the divine that has been cut off from your origin and source.

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You're trapped in the physical body. Once you get out of the physical body, you're reabsorbed back into. There's no enduring personality.

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Salvation is ceasing to be who you are. That is not Christianity. That's not Judaism. Every time my opponents, atheists,

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Mormon, Muslim, whatever, make appeal to Gnostic sources, I just want to chuckle.

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Because it's like, haven't done much reading in that there stuff, have you? And you will no longer be

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James. Rather, you are the one who is. And all those who are unnumbered will all have been named.

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James said, Then Rabbi, in what way shall I reach him who is, since all these powers and these hosts are armed against me?

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He said to me, These powers are not armed against you specifically, but are armed against another. It is against me that they are armed, and they are armed with other powers, but they are armed against me in judgment.

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They did not give blank to me in it blank, through them blank, in this place blank, suffering

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I shall blank. He will blank. I shall not rebuke them, but there shall be within me a silence and a hidden mystery.

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But I am fainthearted before their anger. James said, Rabbi, if they arm themselves against you, then is there no blame?

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You have come with knowledge that you might rebuke their forgetfulness. You have come with recollection that you might rebuke their ignorance.

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But I was concerned because of you, for you descended into a great ignorance, but you have not been defiled by anything in it.

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For you descended into a great mindlessness, and your recollection remained. You walked in mud, and your garments were not soiled, and you have not been buried in their filth, and you have not been caught.

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And I was not like them, but I clothed myself with everything of theirs. There is in me forgetfulness, yet I remember things that are not theirs.

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There is in me blank, and I am in their blank knowledge, not blank, not in their sufferings.

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But I have become afraid before them since they rule, for what will they do? What will

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I be able to say, or what word will I be able to say that I may escape them? The Lord said, James, I praise your understanding and your fear.

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If you continue to be distressed, do not be concerned for anything else except your redemption. For behold, I shall complete this destiny upon this earth, as I have said from the heavens, and I shall reveal to you your redemption.

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James said, Rabbi, how after these things will you appear to us again? After they seize you and you complete this destiny, you will go up to him who is.

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The Lord said, James, after these things I shall reveal to you everything, not for your sake alone, but for the sake of the unbelief of men, so that faith may exist in them.

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For a multitude will attain of faith, and they will increase in blank. After this

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I shall appear for a reproof to the archons, and I shall reveal to them that he cannot be seized. If they seize him, then he will overpower each of them.

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But now I shall go, remember the things I have spoken, and let them go up before you. James said, Lord, I shall hasten as you have said.

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The Lord said farewell to him and fulfilled what was fitting. When James heard of his sufferings and was much distressed, they awaited the sign of his coming.

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And he came after several days. And James was walking upon the mountain, which is called Galgalon, with his disciples who listened to him because they were distressed.

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And he was blank, a comforter, saying, this is blank, the second blank.

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Then the crowd dispersed, but James remained blank prayer, blank, as was his custom.

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And the Lord appeared to him. Then he stopped his prayer and embraced him. He kissed him, saying, Rabbi, I have found you.

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I have heard of your sufferings which you endured, and I have been much distressed. My compassion you know. Therefore, on reflection,

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I was wishing that I would not see this people. They must be judged for these things that they have done. For these things they have done are contrary to what is fitting.

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The Lord said, James, do not be concerned for me or this people. I am he, I am he who was within me.

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Never have I suffered, catch this, never have I suffered in any way, nor have

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I been distressed. And this people has done me no harm. Again, Gnosticism, Jesus didn't really have a physical body.

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It wasn't he who was suffering upon the cross, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But this people existed as a type of the archons, and it deserved to be destroyed through them.

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But the archons, blank, who or which has, blank, but since it, blank, angry with, blank, the just, blank, is his servant.

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Therefore, your name is James the just. You see how you will become sober when you see me. And you stopped this prayer.

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Now since you are just, since you are a just man of God, you have embraced me and kissed me.

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Truly, I say to you that you have stirred up great anger and wrath against yourself. But this happened so that these others might come to be.

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But James was timid and wept, and he was very distressed, and they both sat down upon a rock. The Lord said to him,

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James, thus you will undergo these sufferings, but do not be sad. For the flesh is weak, but it will receive what has been ordained for it.

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But as for you, do not be timid or afraid. The Lord ceased. Now when James heard these things, he wiped away the tears in his eyes, and very bitter, blank, which is blank.

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The Lord said to him, James, behold, I shall reveal to you your redemption. When you are seized and you undergo these sufferings, a multitude will arm themselves against you that they may seize you.

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And in particular, three of them will seize you, they who sit as toll collectors. Not only do they demand, but they also take away souls by theft.

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When you come into their power, one of them who is their guard will say to you, who are you, where are you from?

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You are to say to them, I am a son, and I am from the father. He will say to you, what sort of son are you, and of what father do you belong?

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You are to say to him, I am from the preexistent father, and a son in the preexistent one. When he says to you, blank, you are to say to him, in the blank, that I might blank, blank, that blank.

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Sounds like we're cussing here, and we really aren't. It's just holes in the manuscript, really, it is. And maybe some of these holes have been filled in by the, actually it's a very small amount of Greek that was found, but maybe there will be a few less blanks in future publications.

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You are to say to him, they are not entirely alien, but they are from Akamoth, who is the female.

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And these she produced as she brought this race down from the preexistent one. More Gnosticism, One True God, Eons, Dualism, da -da -da -da -da -da -da.

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So they are not alien, but they are ours. They are indeed ours because she who is mistress of them is from the preexistent one.

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At the same time, they are alien because the preexistent one did not have intercourse with her, and when she later produced them.

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When he also says to you, where will you go? You are to say to him, to the place from which I have come, there shall

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I return. Just love those lines in Gnostic writings. And if you say these things, you will escape their attacks.

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But when you come to these three detainers who take away souls by theft, in that blank place these, you blank a vessel, blank much more than blank of one of them, who you blank for blank her root.

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You too will be sober, blank, but I shall call upon the imperishable knowledge, gnosis, which is

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Sophia, more Gnosticism, who is in the father and who is the mother of Akamoth.

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Akamoth had no father nor male consort, but she is female from a female.

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Great, they had gender confusion amongst the Gnostics too. She produced you without a male since she was alone and in ignorance as to what lives through her mother because she thought that she alone existed.

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But I shall cry out to her mother and then they will fall into confusion, will blame their root and the race of their mother.

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But you will go up to what is yours, you will, two plus lines lacking, the preexistent one.

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They are a type of the twelve disciples and the twelve pairs Akamoth, which is translated

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Sophia. And who I myself am and who the imperishable Sophia is, through whom you will be redeemed.

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Notice that, through whom you will be redeemed, the imperishable Sophia. And who are all the sons of him who is, these things they have known and have hidden within them.

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You are to hide these things within you and you are to keep silence, but you are to reveal them to Adai.

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Now what's interesting is Adai, there is an Adai who was important in the founding of a branch of Syrian Christianity, but that's, again, late second century at the earliest, so it has to be past that particular point in time if that's who it's referring to.

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A little bit of anachronism there. When you depart immediately war will be made with this land.

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Weep then for him who dwells in Jerusalem, but let Adai take these things in heart. In the tenth year let

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Adai sit and write them down. When he writes them down blank and they are to give them blank, he has blank, two plus lines lacking.

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Blank line, blank line, blank line. He is called Levi, then he is to bring blank word, blank from what

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I said earlier, blank a woman, blank Jerusalem in her, blank, and he begets two sons through her.

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They are to inherit these things and the understanding of him who blank exalts. And they are to receive blank through him from his intellect.

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Now the younger of them is greater. And may these things remain hidden in him until he comes the age of seventeen years.

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Four plus lines lacking. Through them they will pursue him exceedingly since they are from his companions.

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He will be proclaimed through them and they will proclaim this word. Then he will become a seed of blank.

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James said, I am satisfied blank and they are blank my soul. Yet another thing

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I ask of you, who are the seven women who have been your disciples? And behold, all women bless you.

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I also am amazed how powerless vessels have become strong by a perception which is in them.

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The Lord said, you well, four lines lacking. Oh, drat, it was just getting interesting, too.

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Four lines lacking. This is not, by the way, normally how

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Gnostic material is read in most university classrooms where it's looked upon with awe and everything else.

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Sort of like, ah, it's just getting interesting. Blank a spirit of a spirit of thought.

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A spirit of counsel. A spirit, blank spirit of knowledge. Gnosis. Of their fear.

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When we had passed through the breadth of this archon who is named Adonaios. Blank him and blank he was ignorant.

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Blank when I came forth from him. He remembered that I am a son of his. He was gracious to me at the time as his son.

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And then before I appeared here. See, Jesus is this spirit that's just bouncing all over the place.

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And before I appeared here, he cast them among this people. And from the place of heaven to prophets.

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Four lines missing. James said, Rabbi, I blank altogether. Blank in them.

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Especially blank. The Lord said, James, I praise you. Walk upon the earth. Blank the words while he blank on the blank.

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For cast away from you the cup which is bitterness. Which is the bitterness. For some from blank set themselves against you.

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For you have begun to understand their roots from beginning to end. Cast away from yourself all lawlessness.

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And beware lest they envy you. When you speak these words, the perception encouraged these four.

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Salome and Miriam and Martha and Arsinoe. Lines missing. Bunches and bunches of blanks.

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First fruits, blanks, blanks. So the power of God might appear. The perishable has gone to the imperishable.

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And the female element has attained to this male element. I stop right there for a moment. Insta quiz for those of you who think that you're

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Algo. It's funny how many people come up to me and say, you know, I'm your Norwegian Algo.

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Or I'm your Swiss Algo or whatever else. Algo has become famous. What does that remind you of?

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Let me read it again. The perishable has gone to the imperishable. And the female element has attained to this male element.

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Remember section 114 of the Gospel of Thomas. That last thing. I shall make the female male.

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There is this. You would think if there was consistency amongst the wild -eyed liberals and feminist studies people.

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That they would be all over this stuff seeking to ban it from universities. But no, they're not. James said,

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Rabbi, into these three things then has their blank been cast. For they have been reviled and they have been persecuted.

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Lines lacking. Seven lines lacking. For you have received knowledge and that what is the go you will find blank.

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But I shall go forth and shall reveal that they believed in you. That they may be content with their blessing and salvation.

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This revelation may come to pass. And he went at that time immediately and rebuked the twelve and cast out of them contentment concerning the way of knowledge.

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Bunch of lines, bunch of lines, bunch of lines. And this is right toward the end of what we have left.

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For he is not worthy of life. That's interesting. Because that, again, there is a line of not worthy of life in section 114 of the

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Gospel of Thomas too. For he is not worthy of life. These then were afraid, they arose saying, we have no part in this blood.

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For a just man will perish through injustice. James departed so that, boom, falls apart from there, just shreds after that.

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And that's it. That's all we've got. There is the first Apocalypse of James.

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I hope you all truly enjoyed. That exciting reading.

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But to be honest with you, if you actually listened to all that, if you take the time to look it up, it's online. You can just Google First Apocalypse.

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There's a Gnostic library online. Go read it for yourself. It's just as exciting to read it yourself as to hear it read.

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Though I hope I do add some interesting commentary along the way. But this is not new stuff.

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It may be new to you, but that's because most of us do not sit around reading this kind of stuff.

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Because it's all like that. It's, you know, you sit there reading it.

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And after a while, you start going, okay, female, male, yeah, absorb back into the one. Okay, yeah, there is this movement.

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And it was warned against in the New Testament. Almost specifically by name.

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I mean, Paul does say, you know, warn about those who falsely speak of knowledge, gnosis.

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And yeah, it happened. And obviously, the idea is, today, let's dig these heretics back up and make them the original

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Christians. And let's make them a big, huge group that had all this influence and use this as a means to help people disbelieve.

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But when you listen to it, when you actually read it, the best thing to do. Have you noticed that when people use the

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Gnostics, they almost never actually read from the Gnostics? Because when you do, people with this thing called common sense, who might actually know something about the

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New Testament, sit there going, okay, that's really weird. Why do you think this has something to do with Christianity again?

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So there you go. That's the ancient band manuscript.

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Now you know. And I wonder how many people actually looked it up.

33:20

But even then, would have anything to know, have any idea what in the world it's talking about.

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And I don't know. I don't know. All right. There's the first thing. That took us half an hour. Oh, great.

33:31

Lovely. We're not going to be moving along very quickly. I just clicked on the wrong thing. And I need to cancel.

33:40

Cancel. Go. And force quit. Go bye.

33:46

Go bye bye. Thank you. Thank you. Go away. Don't click on the wrong thing or it will get very unhappy with you.

33:53

Now, put this over here. I was sent a...

34:06

Someone in Twitter. The hidden wisdom must be in the blanks.

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It was all cut out by redactors.

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Black lines all the way through it. We don't want anybody to know about that. So I just deleted it. I was directed on Twitter to an article by Dr.

34:39

Mounce. Dr. Bill Mounce. Does whoever mean whoever? BillMounce .com

34:48

Here's what he wrote. I really appreciate the feedback you have given me so far. Last week's blog was especially helpful as one of the comments emphasized that in some cultures, the uniqueness of Christ does need to be emphasized.

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We are still working through John 3 .16 in an attempt to clarify how we present conversion, making sure that we say enough but not too much.

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And so we come to the phrase that whoever believes on him. Isn't whoever a wonderful word?

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Jesus stands at the gate and opens his arms to all who would come. He wants all people to be saved, 1

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Timothy 2 .4. Whoever enters through the gate will be saved. No one is beyond Jesus' ability to forgive and to save.

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No one who enters the gate will be refused. I've been in many conversations where this word is in essence being debated.

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Some of the debate is theological and I have no desire to enter that particular debate other than to emphasize this fact and it is a fact.

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Jesus says whoever. Any theology that denies that word of God is simply wrong.

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We may have different understandings, but each of us must ask ourselves if we can truly stand the pulpit and cry out, whosoever will may come.

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When I was writing my commentary on the pastorals, I read material from the antebellum south and the church's defense of slavery.

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Disgusting. For them, the whoever was racially limited. I remember a story of a church in San Francisco that was praying for the hippies, but when the long -haired, unshaved recipients of their prayers started coming, they had to rethink whether whoever really included smelly people.

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As the story goes, a hippie walked down the aisle and sat down, cross -legged on the floor in front of the preacher. Many of the people were aghast, but one wise and compassionate man, dressed in a suit, walked down the aisle and sat down next to the hippie, showing that by whoever,

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Jesus meant whoever. But perhaps one of the largest groups of people who do not feel whoever means whoever are those who see their past sins clearly, and the horrificness of what they have done seems bigger than God's love and the cross.

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They can't imagine that God would or could actually forgive them. If you feel this way, then you need to hear clearly the good news of this verse, that we say in older English, whosoever will may come.

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If you cry out for forgiveness, if you believe in Jesus, then no matter what you have done, you will be forgiven. Jesus' death on the cross is sufficient to cover the sins of all who come.

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The gate will swing open for every repentant, believing traveler who stands before it, no matter what they have done. This is the good news of the cross and of God's love.

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Now, there's much, of course, to agree with there. And certainly, if the application is there is no one who is beyond faith in Jesus Christ in the sense that, oh, there are people who have committed sins that simply are beyond the power of the atoning sacrifice of Christ.

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That is not the case. Anyone who will repent and believe.

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But that's the point that needs to be emphasized. And, of course, the reason that this was sent to me is the obvious reason that in responding to Dave Hunt long, long, long, long, long, long ago,

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I specifically made reference to this particular text and to the fact that if you use whosoever or whoever as a ground for denying

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God's election, which Mounts obviously isn't reformed, but he didn't go that far.

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He said, I don't want to get into the debate, if that's the debate that he was talking about. He didn't address that issue.

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And hence, he didn't really address the issue that I want to talk about. And I fired up the thing here, if you are interested in putting it up there.

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But it's been a number of years, and it's always good to revisit some of these things in light of all sorts of new listeners and things like that to the program.

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But all is good to read in context. Jesus speaking with Nicodemus, starting with verse 14.

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And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, likewise it is necessary that the

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Son of Man to be lifted up. In order that, why must the Son of Man be lifted up?

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In order that, pas hapistion en alto, eke zoen ionion.

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In order that, every one hapistion. Hapistion is a present tense participle.

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And it has the article, so it's functioning as a nominative. It's an action noun.

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Participles are a wonderful creation and tool in the

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Greek language to express things that sometimes are a little bit difficult in the

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English language because we don't have quite the complexity of, well, we have lots of complexity, but it's normally because our language is a mishmash of all sorts of previous languages that we've sort of cobbled together in one way or another.

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In order that, every believing one in him.

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So when it says whoever, the emphasis is whoever is believing.

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But you see the action, the emphasis very clearly in the Greek is on pastuo, believing.

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So it's every believing one, every single person who has ever believed. Now, of course, that raises all the questions of what's belief?

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What is true saving faith in biblical understanding? Is there an object of true saving faith?

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Is there a nature to true saving faith? There is. One element of it is laid out right here.

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And that is everyone believing, present tense. It's not everyone who believes. It's not a point action.

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It is an ongoing action. And if you can derive anything from the verbal aspects, tenses, modes, and voices of John's utilization of this particular term, it is that true saving faith is faith that is continuous in its nature, not point action and then ceases.

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But the point is every believing one has eternal life.

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And this is a Hinnah clause. So it's the son of man must be lifted up like the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness so that in order that simply the act of belief will be able to bring you eternal life.

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If there is no cross, you can have all the belief in the world. But the foundation that gives a person peace has not been laid if there is no sacrifice on the cross.

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And so everyone who believes, there has never been a person who has turned in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ who has found him to be anything less than a perfect savior.

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None of that, we haven't even gotten to verse 16, but none of that is relevant as a denial of the existence of an elect people because the assumption that is made that goes beyond the text is and every person has that capacity.

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The text isn't addressing that. It's not even talking about. The text will address it in John chapter 6 if we're willing to listen.

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And all of you who try to create these wild strange scenarios where John chapter 6 is only about disciples, but John chapter 3 is about everybody, clearly have an agenda and you're not doing meaningful like Jesus.

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If you apply the same standards to both, then the teaching of the gospel of John is quite clear.

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But the reason I mentioned 15 is that pas ha -pistuon is the exact same phrase.

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Hinnah pas ha -pistuon is the exact same phrase down here in verse 16. That's what we're looking at with Dr.

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Miles's article. In order that whoever and the whoever comes from pas.

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Yes, it can literally be translated every believing one, but the emphasis is on the lack of distinction.

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It's not like there can ever be a true believing one who does not receive eternal life, but it's not making any comment about who has the capacity to be a pas.

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And so having eternal life by faith is based upon the lifting up of the sun.

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It is necessary the son of man be lifted up. Then verse 16, for thus in such a way

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God loved, and there you use an heiress because there is a point in time in which the gift is given.

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You could argue, I suppose, the giving of the monogamies, you could,

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I suppose, attach that to the giving of the sun, the incarnation of the sun, the sacrifice of the sun, all of it brought together, taken together as one, however you want to put it.

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But this is the expression of the love of God for Tan Qasman.

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And again, unless you're going to just waltz in there and go, and that means every single human being who's ever lived.

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Well, that's nice, but good luck getting that as the only or even the consistent meaning of Qasmas in the

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Ohanian literature because that's not the consistent meaning of Qasmas in the

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Ohanian literature. So that he gave

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Tan Managane, the unique sun. In order that Paschapis Juon, everyone believing,

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Ais Auton, now up here it said En Auto, here it's Ais Auton, and you'll notice there's a textual variant in verse 15 we're not going to spend time on right now.

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There's almost no textual variation whatsoever in this phrase Paschapis Juon, Ais Auton.

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For those who care, I did look at the CNTTS. There's really nothing of any major significance whatsoever.

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In order that everyone believing in him may not perish, but have eternal life, which is have eternal life is from verse 15.

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The only difference is the insertion of the negative, not to perish, but have eternal life.

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And so the text is talking about the love of God being of such a character and such a depth that he gives his managanes, which to the person familiar with the ancient

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Hebrew scriptures would automatically bring up thoughts of Abraham and Isaac and everything connected with that.

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The self -giving of the father, the son, all those things are tied up with that.

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But the result, the Hinnah Clause then is because of what is done in the giving of the unique son, everyone who believes will not perish, but have eternal life.

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There's just simply nothing here that begins to address the issue of enablement, drawing, the nature of the drawing, the fact that those that are given by the father to the son, these are the things that they experience in the sense of the teaching of the father, what regeneration means, the exhaustiveness of the fact that all that the father gives the son, that's all

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John 6, John 10, John 17, that comes later. This is the assertion that there is no person who has come to the son in true repentance and faith that has not found him to be a true savior.

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It doesn't address who has that capacity, who has that ability. If you want to start talking about the use of dunatai in John, you've got to look at John 6, you've got to look at John 8, where those who do not belong to God are not able to hear his words,

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John 10, so on and so forth. John does address it, just not in this particular text.

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And so I'm not exactly sure what Dr. Mounts was saying in that particular article, but wanted to remind folks of what's really there, and for a lot of people it's like, well, but he knows

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Greek, so why wouldn't he understand this? Roman Catholics know

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Greek, and Mormons, some Mormons, not many, but some Mormons know Greek. Atheists know

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Greek. Simply knowing a language in no way guarantees some type of theological insight.

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It might give you a tool that you wouldn't otherwise have, but let's face it. If a

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Mormon reading an English text can find a way around recognizing the reality of monotheism in the scriptures, what difference does it make if you have all the original languages in the world?

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We can twist anything, it doesn't matter how bright the light is, we can just screw our eyes all the more shut to what is presented to us.

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So there's some commentary on John 3 .16 and Dr. Mounts' material.

48:58

Now, I did find this interesting, and I guess I am going to have to plug this in.

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I was sent a little clip from a very short lecture, and I just want to share just a little bit.

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There's really nothing to send other than audio. I mean, there's a video, but it's just a

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PowerPoint slide. It doesn't really accomplish anything. I'm just going to play a couple of minutes.

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This is actually a lecture on philosophical and religious thought, but what this clip is about is about a guy named

49:37

Francois Veron, and he was a Jesuit priest who was part of the

49:43

Counter -Reformation. And the Counter -Reformation, obviously, was highly successful in some areas.

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But what's fascinating is, from my perspective, looking in hindsight, one of the things that the

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Jesuits did in their attempt— well, remember, one of the things they attempted to do in fighting the

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Reformation was the creation of Molinism. But another thing they did was to attempt to attack the foundation of certainty in the

50:18

Scriptures amongst the Protestants, saying, well, you need the church. If you don't have the church, then you can't have certainty.

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I think, in an unintended fashion, history shows us what that has done to Rome, because all

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Rome's done is move the question one step backwards. And if the

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Scriptures aren't enough to give you what you need, Rome isn't either. And you see this in the modern day in just the massive amount of wild -eyed liberalism that continues to exist within the

51:02

Roman Communion and seems to be basically becoming the majority of the leadership.

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And I don't see how it can recover from that, to be perfectly honest with you. But listen to what happened.

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I'll just play a little bit of a section, and we'll see what you think of it.

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There's a figure—I don't have a picture for him, so I just put this all in a text format. François Véran, someone that we don't study much in the history of philosophy, but a very important figure for our purposes.

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He was a Jesuit priest, and he made a deep study of the skeptical arguments that had been unearthed and brought back to common knowledge by people like Montaigne.

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He used them as part of the Catholic Counter -Reformation against the Protestants, and he even wrote a book about the victorious method.

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This was a method of putting the Protestants in an unwinnable position.

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And in fact, he was so good at this, he was an eloquent speaker. He had letters from— Now, listen to what he does here, and see if you can't see that this is exactly what people with Catholic answers continue to try to do today.

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The king of France saying that he had a right to go anywhere in the kingdom and speak at any time that he wanted.

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And so he would go into Protestant churches and say, You have to let me speak. I have letters from the king. And then he would proceed to embarrass the

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Protestant ministers by asking them, What is your source of certainty? How can you have certainty regarding the things that you're teaching?

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The immediate response was, Oh, from Scripture. And then he would proceed to use skeptical arguments to show that they could not be certain with regard to these things in Scripture.

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And in the end, they had no recourse unless they were willing to become Catholics. The Catholic Church, guided by the

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Holy Spirit, would lead them into all truth. So these methods, Veron wrote up, and then they were used by others to go over to England secretly.

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Remember at this time, it was against the law to be a Catholic priest in England trying to convert people.

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But they would go over secretly, and they would try to convert the English to Catholicism. In particular, they would try to convert young men who were studying for the

53:19

Anglican priesthood, members of the clergy, because they thought that would be a very effective way to promote

53:26

Catholicism. But they're doing this by using these arguments, skeptical arguments, designed to show that the

53:34

Protestants don't have a source of certainty. One of the people who was actually actively involved in this was

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William Chillingworth. As a young man, he was studying to be an Anglican priest, and he was accosted by one of these

53:51

Catholics in secret who persuaded him to become a Catholic. Chillingworth left

53:57

England and went across the English Channel to Douai and began studying for the Catholic priesthood in a

54:04

Catholic seminary there. His teachers were so excited that they had actually got an obviously brilliant young man to convert to Catholicism, they asked him to write out his reasons for becoming

54:15

Catholic. He sat down to do it, and in the course of writing out his reasons, he decided he had made a mistake.

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So he went back across the English Channel to England and rejoined the Anglican Church.

54:30

Now, Chillingworth— Now, he then goes on to talk a little bit about Chillingworth. But I just—what was most interesting to me was the reality that if you've ever listened to Catholic Answers Live and they have a thing where, you know,

54:51

Protestant call -in day or whatever, it's like Verone still lives.

54:57

It's the skepticism. You can't have—you've got to have the church. You've got to have the church. It sort of rings really hollow today because of the massive breadth of Catholic beliefs.

55:15

Because of the massive breadth of Catholic beliefs. And when you look at the

55:21

Pope today, again, just rings really hollow. But back then, when you had a united, mainly united,

55:31

Roman Catholic Church, effective argumentation, obviously, you know, we have developed meaningful responses.

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One of the responses back then was, you're not looking for absolute certainty. You're looking for sufficient certainty or assurance or something along those lines.

55:48

But, of course, my response today is a little bit more basic and understandable than that.

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And that is, I will stand on the foundation that my Lord and Savior stood upon. Look at Jesus' view of Scripture.

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Look at the Apostles' view of Scripture. Compare it with the view of Scripture being presented by the skeptic. And then, if they're a

56:05

Roman Catholic, point out that they've got pure glowing hypocrisy in light of the changes in the teachings of the

56:13

Roman Church and the current Pope and things like that to say that they allegedly have any kind of certainty whatsoever.

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The church led by the Holy Spirit, which means that it might mean something today.

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It might mean something different next year. It's hard to say. It's certainly changed over time. Go read the papal syllabus of errors.

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Compare it to the Pope today. It's changed. No question about it. And if you say it hasn't, then you're just being obstinate and not confessing the truth that's right in front of you.

56:43

So, yeah, that's all over the place today. And I found it rather interesting that there's nothing new under the sun.

56:51

And that is the case. This is interesting.

56:57

It allows us to sort of put two topics together in one.

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This is from November 27th, PublicDiscourse .com. Several progressive

57:09

Muslim organizations have signed an amicus brief supporting the same -sex couple in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, which, as we know, was argued before the

57:17

Supreme Court this morning. You know, the sad thing is that basically the only real question about the argumentation this morning is one man.

57:26

It's one man. You know how four of them on each side are going to argue this, are going to decide this.

57:37

And it's just one man. It's Kennedy again. This not only distorts

57:45

Islamic teaching and anthropology, it also fuels the increasingly powerful movement of militant irreligious orthodoxy.

57:51

This is written by a Muslim. So this is an Islamic take on the

57:57

Supreme Court case. The Quran tells us, Now, I just stopped for a moment to point out that I discussed the

58:41

Quranic teaching about Lot and Sodom in my book primarily because it's a neat example of parallel texts in the

58:51

Quran. So you can point out that if this is dictated by God, then God does it in different ways.

58:58

And he has some details here, some details there. In other words, it's parallel to the synoptic Gospels.

59:03

And so when Muslims criticize the synoptic Gospels for having different perspectives and things like that, or using different words or things like that, the

59:11

Quran does the same thing. It's easy to understand why the synoptic Gospels do it, because they have multiple authors writing it multiple times to multiple audiences.

59:19

Why does the Quran do it? If this is God's perfect word, if Allah said this, then why would one be different than the other?

59:29

That's really, I think, more of a question for the Muslim than the synoptic issue is for Christians. But I've also, as a result, been a little bit mystified by the fact that a lot of my

59:40

Muslim friends stay away from this one. There is clear

59:46

Quranic teaching that homosexuality is not just a sin, but it is a vile sin.

59:56

The Quran is clear about it. You rarely hear Muslims saying that, though, at least in the sources

01:00:02

I read. In America, homosexual sex is officially tolerated. In the case of Burgfell v.

01:00:09

Hodges, the Supreme Court held that the concept of marriage may also be applied to same -sex couples. But the Court took pains to assure us that, unlike in Sodom, those in America who adhere to religious doctrines may continue to advocate with utmost sincere conviction that by divine precepts, same -sex marriage should not be condoned.

01:00:25

Or perhaps not. In 2012, Jack Phillips, a Christian who owns Masterpiece Cake Shop, a

01:00:32

Denver bakery, was asked by a same -sex couple to design a cake for their wedding. The request put

01:00:37

Jack in a dilemma because he believes that in God's eyes, marriage only exists between a man and a woman, and that sex between two men is a sin.

01:00:44

Jack had no animus toward the men as human beings, and would have served them for any other reason, he explained to them, but to help celebrate their wedding ceremony would go against his conscience.

01:00:53

The couple moved quickly. The couple quickly received a cake from another bakery, then filed a complaint against Jack with the

01:00:58

Colorado Civil Rights Commission. I had to stop for a moment and point out, if you don't think this was a setup from the start, you are exceptionally naive.

01:01:04

This was the whole purpose of this. This is the whole reason this was done. I continue.

01:01:10

The commission ruled that Jack had to make cakes for same -sex weddings, regardless of whether it violates his religious beliefs.

01:01:16

Jack lost his appeals in state court, and his case will now be decided by the U .S. Supreme Court. By the way, it was much more than that. That Human Rights Commission, oh, haven't we heard enough about Human Rights Commissions from Canada?

01:01:26

That quote -unquote Human Rights Commission, he was supposed to apologize, and he was supposed to provide written reports every certain amount of time to them as to how he was doing what he needed to do to not do this again.

01:01:42

I mean, it was ridiculous. I mean, these Human Rights Commissions are run by the worst type of bureaucrats you can even imagine.

01:01:54

Just total ideologues. Just leftist communists all the way. It's just, it's unbelievable.

01:01:59

Anyway, to be clear, this is not a case of a businessman refusing to serve customers because of who they are, even because he deemed their actions to be sinful.

01:02:09

Jack merely declined to participate in a celebration of their sinful actions. What harm did the same -sex marriage couple suffer?

01:02:15

They argue that Jack's actions offended their dignity. In suggesting that their marriage was a sinful act, he didn't want to be associated with,

01:02:23

Jack hurt their feelings, and for that, he may lose his business. The same -sex couple's offense is understandable.

01:02:30

The wrongdoing soul is wounded by reminders of its guilt and often turns to pride for solace. And when it is said to him, fear

01:02:37

God, pride in the sin takes hold of him. Quran 2, 206. In this case, the couple's response to Jack's opprobrium was to use the power of the state to destroy

01:02:46

Jack's livelihood and ostracize him as a dangerous bigot. The Masterpiece Cake Shop case should be of great concern to American Muslims.

01:02:54

After all, mainstream Islam teaches that homosexual acts are sinful, and one can easily imagine scenarios in which

01:03:00

Muslim restaurant owners would balk at supporting the celebration of a same -sex wedding just as they might hesitate for religious reasons to cater a party with pork or alcohol.

01:03:10

As the Quran admonishes, do not help one another in sin and transgression and fear God, Quran 5, 2. I find it deeply disturbing, therefore, that several progressive

01:03:18

Muslim organizations, at least one of which is financed by far -left foundations, I mention George Soros there, have joined atheist and gay rights groups in a

01:03:28

Friend of the Court brief supporting the drive to abolish the right of business owners to refrain from participating in activities they deem sinful.

01:03:35

These groups argue that Jack seeks a religious license to discriminate against homosexual customers based on their identity.

01:03:42

If he is allowed to do so, they argue, Muslims will be exposed to ill -treatment because businesses will be allowed to discriminate against customers on the basis of race and religion.

01:03:51

The argument of these progressive Muslims is flawed. To begin with, the religious belief that same -sex marriage should not be condoned is not analogous to racism, and it is deeply repugnant to suggest that it is.

01:04:03

With this argument, the progressive Muslim groups trivialize centuries of black slavery, Jim Crow laws, and civil rights struggles.

01:04:09

They also advance the view that one who believes marriage is between a man and a woman is a bigot, smearing the hundreds of millions of Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and other believers who take their religious teachings seriously in that regard.

01:04:21

The deeper problem with the progressive Muslim's argument is that it distorts Islamic anthropology in positing the equality rights of LGBTQ individuals.

01:04:30

The progressive Muslims accept and advance the modern invention of categories of human beings defined by their sexual desires.

01:04:38

Islam addresses sexual acts between those of the same sex, but it has never recognized those acts to constitute something essential to human makeup.

01:04:46

Sins are not who we are, but what we do. Islam not only makes this distinction, but teaches us to love the former while hating the latter.

01:04:55

Of course, in analogizing religious objection to participating in same -sex weddings and discrimination on the basis of religion, the progressive

01:05:01

Muslims equate the imaginary category of human as defined by sexual acts with the very real category of human as defined by religion.

01:05:11

Unlike our sexual attractions, our search for ultimate truth goes to the essence of who we are. As Edmund Burke wrote, man is by his constitution a religious animal.

01:05:19

Indeed, a Muslim should be ashamed to advance an argument analogizing Islam and unlawful sexual acts.

01:05:26

Worst of all, in supporting the same -sex couple's attempt to use the state to drive Jack out of business, the progressive

01:05:31

Muslims give aid and comfort to the increasingly powerful movement of militant irreligious orthodoxy that seeks to fundamentally change

01:05:38

America's character as a country in which religion has a vital role in the public square. This movement envisions an

01:05:44

America in which the state is the sole source of virtue and morality and the sole definer of worldview orthodoxy and religious dissenters are punished.

01:05:52

The progressive Muslims' brief warns that if Jack is allowed to abstain from participating in same -sex weddings, others could do the same with Muslim weddings.

01:06:00

This argument is legally baseless, but even if it were not, such a consequence would be bearable in light of the alternative, state -mandated participation in what

01:06:11

God forbids. Lot said to the people of Sodom, Verily I am of those who detest your actions, as they threatened him with exile.

01:06:19

His own wife betrayed him to the people of Sodom as they gathered against him, and for that God counted her among them, and he destroyed their city.

01:06:27

Not a single American Muslim organization has supported the Christian baker in the Supreme Court, and several have joined with gay rights and atheist groups against him.

01:06:36

It would have been better for them, and for America, if they had stood with their brother, Jack.

01:06:41

Ismael Royer was the author of that particular piece.

01:06:47

I have, and I'm not going to name names, but I have talked to a number of my

01:06:55

Muslim friends, and I have just been confused as to why there is so little direct speech.

01:07:09

Because it seems to me the Qur 'an is very clear, and it seems, and I will mention one,

01:07:16

I watched a video from Shabir Ali, that was produced about 6 -8 months ago, and I was taken aback.

01:07:24

I really was. There was a rather clear attempt, there was direct parallel to the handling of the text and the hadith, to what

01:07:36

I'm very accustomed to seeing amongst liberals, amongst Christians, in an attempt to soften the clear condemnation of homosexual behavior that is not only a part of the

01:07:51

Qur 'an, but historically, self -evidently, a part of the

01:07:56

Sharia. No matter how you interpret that, whatever judicial school you take, as far as I can tell, and I'm open to being corrected, but as far as I can tell, there really isn't any question about what the historic, orthodox

01:08:10

Islamic position on this subject has been. So I've been a little taken aback, because it would seem to me, given

01:08:17

Islamic teaching, that we are in agreement, not in the sense of sin.

01:08:25

There was one line that I would go, because we have the concept of the

01:08:31

Imago Dei, the image of God. There are some differences, but we believe in a

01:08:37

Creator who defines man for His own purposes, and that that definition given by God of man is the foundation of all moral and ethical delineation, and that man will never truly be happy unless he lives in light of God's law and a recognition of how

01:08:56

God has created him. And I would think that that would be something that there's no disagreement on. Over this subject,

01:09:03

I just, most Muslims I know, it's like, not going to talk about that. Not going to go there.

01:09:09

And I find that interesting. A little bit strange, but I find that interesting.

01:09:17

Okay. Gone for an hour and nine minutes already. And we have only just begun.

01:09:24

No, don't worry. It's like, what? No, we're going to keep pressing on here.

01:09:32

On December 2nd, so three days ago, I was in St.

01:09:39

Charles for my 17th year. Can you believe that?

01:09:46

17 trips to St. Charles, Covenant of Grace Church. And, you know, obviously

01:09:53

I'm quite comfortable speaking there now. But we had a great time there.

01:09:59

And I did post, and I'm not sure if you posted anywhere, because I think maybe I did see you posting somewhere.

01:10:06

Did you put on our Facebook feed the link to the sessions that I did on Reformed Theology?

01:10:15

Yeah, it would be nice if we could link to them on our YouTube thing, because there's a whole channel of stuff there. But I spoke on Reformed Theology and the

01:10:22

Reformation. And so it wasn't just, I didn't just do some five points of Calvinism type thing.

01:10:29

I did a lot of history, sort of wandered around a lot, and wore a coogee, most of the time anyways, and a bow tie on Sunday morning.

01:10:37

And so some people have been watching those and have found them to be helpful. But I was there in St.

01:10:43

Charles, so I didn't immediately respond to it. But Dr. Sonny Hernandez at Reforming American Ministries posted an article on, well actually it says

01:10:53

November 25th. Why did I have... Oh! Oh, okay. This is when

01:10:58

I put it in Evernote. Sorry. So this goes almost all the way back to Thanksgiving.

01:11:04

I apologize for that. Anyways, here is the title. Arminianism is still heresy, a response to moderate

01:11:11

Calvinists that defend Arminianism. I would like to suggest,

01:11:21

Dr. Hernandez, that it is indicative of an imbalanced view of things. That when someone does not take a radical view of something and asks for fairness and balance, when the other side goes, you're defending that, that that is indicative of a problem in thinking.

01:11:46

You can say that the issues of Arminianism are important, strike at consistency, they determine not only how we're going to evangelize, but how we go to the sick room, the death room.

01:12:11

These are things I've been teaching and speaking on for decades. But when you say that a person can be saved and not hold to every single distinctive of Reformed theology, that is not a defense of Arminianism.

01:12:36

It is a defense of the simplicity, directness, and definability, and knowability of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

01:12:49

When you confuse the distinctives so that you are willing to say that someone is not your brother or sister in Christ because of a disagreement on specific issues that are not defined by the apostles as definitional of the gospel, that's where the imbalance comes in.

01:13:18

And responding to that does not mean I'm defending Arminianism by any stretch of any logical imagination.

01:13:25

So the very title of the response shows an imbalance, in my opinion, because those of us who are

01:13:35

Reformed are not defending Arminianism. We are reacting against a perfectionism, a demand for perfectionism, on the part of individuals who are deciding that the specific, extended, perfectly consistent biblical conclusions of the

01:13:59

Reformed faith are themselves definitional of the gospel itself, the basic saving proclamation of the gospel.

01:14:11

The problem is when the New Testament gives us summaries of the gospel, it never gives us the gospel in that way.

01:14:20

It just doesn't. And so the result, inevitably, when you go to that position is you're not saved by anything less than— it sounds real great.

01:14:35

You're only saved by the true gospel. That's right. You want to point me to anyone on this planet that gets it right exactly every single time?

01:14:47

I certainly hope you don't think you do. I certainly hope, Dr. Nandis, you don't think that you've got it all figured out.

01:14:56

And if you will confess that there may be elements of the gospel that you might be in error about, does that mean that you're proclaiming a false gospel?

01:15:08

Does that mean the people who would believe through your testimony are themselves not saved?

01:15:17

I think these are things we need to be thinking about. And so I'm thankful for this current controversy because it is helping a lot of people to once again turn that light upon fundamental, definitional, important, important, less important, less important, adiophora— draw those circles—issues.

01:15:40

So, in the article, it says, Disclaimer. Two through eight are objections and questions that have been sent to me by various individuals for clarification.

01:15:49

I have excluded names and redacted some content out of respect and love for the men who have asked privately for clarification.

01:15:56

My purpose of posting this article is to help clarify my position and to answer some additional objections that may arise.

01:16:01

Recently, I published an article titled Arminianism, A Cheap Grace Gospel -less Heresy.

01:16:07

As a result, James White posted a question on his social media diary, i .e. Facebook, that was publicly addressed to me.

01:16:14

Here's what I said. I have a question to Sonny Hernandez in light of his article. If a person comes to faith in a good old

01:16:19

Southern Baptist church under the preaching of a barely semi -educated old preacher from the sticks who has never even heard the term reprobation or particular redemption or synergism or monergism but is told if they will repent of their sins and believe in Jesus, they can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life, is that person saved?

01:16:40

Let's say the preacher detests Calvinism and warns people that it is evil and wrong even though he personally has little real knowledge of it.

01:16:50

What then? That's what I posted. I don't remember what I posted. It didn't take time to go back and look.

01:16:56

Number one, cogent and concise response to Mr. White. They just got a thud in there.

01:17:07

Your question falsely assumes that I am arguing that the criteria or standard to determine if an individual is saved is their ability to articulate theological conviction with precision.

01:17:22

This is not my position. Well, I'm glad to hear that. We're going to try to hold you to that, but I'm glad to hear that.

01:17:29

The semi -educated old preacher you described that hates Calvinism may still preach the gospel accurately and simply, as Christ himself said in John 6, verse 47, he that believes in me has eternal life.

01:17:39

The preacher may say this, and a person may believe this to be the truth by God's grace and thus trust Christ.

01:17:45

However, this does not mean that if asked to articulate and express the content of the gospel that the semi -educated old preacher you described would do so correctly.

01:17:53

It is not his view of the gospel that is saved. It is the gospel. Good. Even false teachers may sometimes preach the truth.

01:18:01

If our master is going to save, he will do so irrespective of what anyone thinks or does because it is not man that saves another.

01:18:08

It is and always will be the gospel that is the power of God to salvation. When an individual comes to faith, their salvation must be attributed to the true gospel, not a false one.

01:18:17

As I stated in the article, Arminianism is a false gospel. They cannot save, nor has it ever saved anyone.

01:18:26

This is why I do not popishly assume they are saved, nor do I mislead them by calling them brother.

01:18:32

On the contrary, I witness to them. Now, if you just got a crick in the neck because it seems like we just went hard left or hard right, whatever direction you want to go, you're not alone.

01:18:47

Because somewhere between those two paragraphs, there's something missing. I mean, as I stated in the article,

01:19:01

Arminianism is a false gospel that cannot save. Well, I'm not sure what you think

01:19:07

Arminianism is. Later on, you define it in regards to free will or to universal atonement.

01:19:18

So, that preacher would be preaching free will and universal atonement.

01:19:25

And yet, a person could be saved by that. And is the preacher saved? I'm still not figuring out whether that's the case.

01:19:36

Well, if he is, it's because he believes the gospel. What if he believes wrong things about the gospel? What if he believes in Arminianism?

01:19:42

Well, that's not the gospel. It's never saved anybody. So, what's the difference between the gospel and Arminian gospel? If it's not the distinctives that you insist someone believe, or is it that you just insist that they not reject it when presented to them?

01:19:57

So, if they've never been presented with it, as long as they've not rejected it, so we should shut up.

01:20:03

We shouldn't talk about any of this stuff publicly, only privately, right? Lest someone who is currently saved become unsaved.

01:20:13

But they couldn't become unsaved because you believe in the perseverance of the saints. So, as I say in the article,

01:20:22

Arminianism is a false gospel. It cannot save, nor has it ever saved anyone. This is why I do not popishly assume they are saved.

01:20:30

Popishly? What? Nor do I mislead them by calling them brother.

01:20:37

Well, I guess that's what was going on in the debate. I'm not going to call you brother because J .D.

01:20:42

Hall said Leighton's a God -hater.

01:20:48

So, I'm not going to call him brother. I'm not sure what that has to do with the Pope. On the contrary, I witnessed them. Well, what does this look like?

01:20:55

Was that what the debate was about? Was witnessing to Arminians, not to believe the gospel, but to believe your view of atonement, the will of man, maybe the decree of God or something?

01:21:11

Maybe it is your assumption that the content of the gospel is not in any way filled with Calvinist freight, but is merely adiaphora.

01:21:22

I beg to differ. I guess what he's saying is that what he's hearing me say is that something like particular redemption is adiaphora.

01:21:39

That's a huge confusion of categories. Adiaphora is something that there can just be disagreement upon and it's one of the outer rings.

01:21:50

This is definitely an inner ring issue. But where do the disciples teach that you have to have that definitional belief before you can be a

01:22:09

Christian? I believe it's consistent. I believe it's the teaching of the scriptures.

01:22:16

I just taught on it this past weekend. It's one of the sessions where I go through Hebrews.

01:22:26

It's the only, I believe, the only consistent way of seeing the atonement.

01:22:33

But if you say that you have to believe that to be a Christian, there have been very few

01:22:41

Christians down through the history of the world and very few Christians today. I believe it is the teaching of the book of Hebrews.

01:22:48

I believe it's consistent. I believe it's God -honoring. I defend it. I present it. I glory to see people come to understand it.

01:22:55

But that's not listed in 1 Corinthians 15. Christ died for our sins according to scripture is.

01:23:04

But you're going way beyond what you can identify in that text to say, and you have to believe that it's this.

01:23:14

That doesn't make it adiaphora. It means that's the consistent implication and result of seeing all that scripture says on that subject.

01:23:23

But I don't know anyone who's ever come to Christ knowing all the scripture says on that particular subject.

01:23:33

The gospel is about what God has done in Christ. No question. Arminianism denies central aspects of the work of Christ and exalts the powers of man.

01:23:44

Arminianism compromises central aspects of the work of Christ. And Arminianism does unbiblically exalt the powers of man.

01:23:54

But it does so either consistently, and if you're the consistent, full -on

01:24:03

Arminian who believes in work salvation, I would agree with you.

01:24:10

But that's not the vast majority of these people. The vast majority of these people are not out there.

01:24:16

They believe in justification by faith. They believe in justification by grace alone through faith alone.

01:24:25

Is that consistent with their anthropology? No. Is that consistent with their understanding of the knowledge of God?

01:24:32

No, it's not. And it seems like some of you are willing to say, and if they've never really been challenged on that, then

01:24:41

Christ's sheep will hear His voice and when it's presented to them, they'll believe. If it's not presented to them, well, that's part of the mystery of God and leave it from there.

01:24:50

But if it's presented to them and they reject it, well, how about just rejecting it once? How about rejecting it twice?

01:24:58

How many times does it have to be rejected? How long do you get to reject it? I'm not sure how you'd answer that, but those are some of the questions.

01:25:08

The gospel that our Lord preached and the apostles defended was worth starting a fight with a fellow apostle.

01:25:13

Galatians 2. That wasn't about anything about Calvinism.

01:25:21

That was about justification by grace alone through faith alone. But I know many a person who would specifically identify themselves as an

01:25:32

Arminian that believes in justification by grace alone through faith alone. They're not consistent about it.

01:25:38

You're right. They're not. I've been telling them that for a long, long time. But they believe it.

01:25:44

And they'll even preach it. It should not surprise lovers of the gospel when men such as Pritchett and Flowers are dedicated to the overturning of these precious truths.

01:25:55

They have made it their life's work to attack the doctrines of grace, so it should not surprise those that love the gospel that some of us will fight for it.

01:26:03

Well, again, this is... I'm sorry, this is sloganeering. This is rah, rah, rah, the troops.

01:26:09

Let's not waste our time with sloganeering. Let's get to the real issue. You want to talk about Pritchett and Flowers.

01:26:15

You are saying you can judge their heart based upon their opposition to your interpretation of the will and atonement, so on and so forth.

01:26:26

So what you're saying is that you can confess the

01:26:31

Trinity, the deity of Christ, the death, birth, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, justification by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ, union with Christ.

01:26:39

You can confess all those things. That's not enough. If you know what others believe is the consistent application of those things in regards to God's sovereign decree, in regards to the deadness of man and sin, in regards to the nature of God's unconditional election, in regards to the role of Jesus as our

01:27:02

High Priest, the specific nature of the harmony that exists between Father, Son, and Spirit.

01:27:08

The Father decrees to save, the Son dies to save, then the Spirit applies. All those issues. The irresistible grace of God in bringing man from the state of spiritual death to spiritual life.

01:27:18

The perseverance of saints. Unless they, if they disagree with all of that, or at least the majority of that, then their belief in the other stuff is insufficient and they themselves are haters of God and are going to hell.

01:27:36

Is that what you're saying? I mean, it sounds like that's what you're saying. Which doesn't fit with your first paragraph.

01:27:45

But it seems to have something to do with level of knowledge. As if you can know what the level of knowledge is. As if you can read

01:27:50

Leighton Flower's heart and know what his situation is, what his life is, what pressures he's under.

01:27:59

As if you can have knowledge, you can read people's hearts from afar. It seems to be happening a lot on the internet these days.

01:28:06

It seems that there is a spiritual capacity that the internet provides to certain people to be able to look into the hearts of other people and judge their actual relationship with God.

01:28:15

I'm not sure how it works, but it has nothing to do with loving the gospel and fighting for it. Because I've been doing that a lot longer than you have, sir.

01:28:23

Really have. That kind of sloganeering, just leave it off. It's not worth it.

01:28:29

It doesn't do anything. It doesn't accomplish anything. It's insulting. There's no reason to do it.

01:28:37

That's the end of his response to me. Two through eight are additional objections and questions that may arise. Responses are included for each of them.

01:28:47

It's dry in Phoenix right now, folks. The relative humidities are way down, which is nice, but still.

01:28:57

I do want to go through these, then we're going to wrap it up. I was going to do one more thing, and I'll leave it for later.

01:29:04

It might fit a little better with something I want to respond to Ajaz Ahmed about, but I wanted to read through the principles of parsimony in CBGM, but some of you probably would go into a coma if I did that anyway, so we'll leave that for another time.

01:29:18

I'll have to wear a really, really, really bright coogee that day.

01:29:27

We need lights. We need lights. I heard from our brother in London today.

01:29:34

Good. Because I find myself staring off into the who knows where.

01:29:42

Maybe even getting little arrows. Hold them up, wave until I see them, and then we can move together instead of me just sitting here staring at a dead camera.

01:29:54

I'm just going for a profile shot, man. It's cool. But now it's harder to read, so I'm going to be looking in this direction.

01:30:03

I know several devoted Arminians that can faithfully articulate the legal and forensic doctrine of justification.

01:30:16

Therefore, they are saved. Answer, according to whom? A devoted Arminian is committed to partial inability, universal atonement, and freedom of the will that precedes

01:30:28

God's free grace. The implication of these aforementioned doctrines do not represent the teachings of our

01:30:34

Master's Gospel in John 6, 36 -40. Therefore, please explain how a devoted Arminian can affirm justification by grace through faith while holding to their distinctions of being a devoted Arminian.

01:30:46

Good luck. Wait, they're inconsistent? Which is what we've been saying all along. Yeah, they're inconsistent.

01:30:54

So, consistency is the issue then. You said up above it wasn't. Or was it just simply knowledge?

01:31:03

What's the difference? They are inconsistent. No question about it. We should glorify

01:31:08

God by seeking to be consistent with the truth. No question about it. Been arguing that again long before anyone started presenting your viewpoint.

01:31:18

But, it sounds like good luck. Yeah, they're inconsistent. Now, I wouldn't argue like the questioner.

01:31:28

I mean, therefore they are saved. No, the point is they are confessing an orthodox statement of the

01:31:34

Gospel, even if inconsistently. Dr. Hernandez, you're not inconsistent about anything?

01:31:42

You better be careful. How much inconsistency is allowable? How much?

01:31:49

Where do you get the line as to be able to judge someone's heart?

01:31:55

And can you see why some of us go, you know, some of these people might not be saved. Then again, some

01:32:03

Calvinists might not be saved either. But I don't get to decide that. I can't see into people's hearts.

01:32:09

I can't draw that line. I have to draw the line where Scripture draws that line. Galatians chapter 2.

01:32:16

You want to add to the work of Christ? You want to say you have to do this before Christ can be saved?

01:32:21

You got to be circumcised and enter into the Old Covenant and all the stuff they were doing there.

01:32:28

You want to do what Rome does with the sacramental system? Justification?

01:32:34

Yeah, that's a dividing line that we can't avoid. No question about it. But it seems like you're saying, yeah, but that's not enough.

01:32:42

Okay, give me an example where the apostles went beyond that. I mean, I can with incarnation, person of Jesus, stuff like that.

01:32:51

Where with particular redemption? Which I believe in. Which I preach. It's beautiful.

01:32:56

It's biblical. But where do the disciples ever say, and if you don't believe it in this fashion, you're anathema.

01:33:05

Hmm. Uh... Also, this question appears to be arguing that merely giving account of justification by faith is what saves.

01:33:16

These are your words, not mine. I am arguing that the gospel saves, not merely knowing it. Did you understand the concept of imputation and forensic justification when you were saved?

01:33:35

Specifically? I was pretty young. Maybe I wasn't saved.

01:33:43

Seems to be the implication. Number three, if my Arminian friend has been truly called and regenerated by the spirit and justified by grace through faith, but cannot explain the gospel correctly, and will not leave his

01:33:54

Arminian church, then are you going to tell me that he is not saved? In this theoretical illustration, if the individual is truly called and regenerated by the spirit and was justified by grace through faith, then it would be attributed to the gospel -saving power, not

01:34:07

Arminianism. Well, if I'm saved, it should be attributed to the gospel -saving power, and not

01:34:14

Calvinism. Right? That should be what we're saying? If that saved individual is attending an

01:34:22

Arminian church that teaches free will, that precedes God's free grace, partial inability, and universal atonement.

01:34:28

Notice, this is the second time. Those are the big three. Evidently, those are the three things that need to be added in to have the real gospel.

01:34:37

Of course, I believe in total inability, particular redemption, and the absolute sovereignty of God's grace.

01:34:48

But I recognize there are people who don't understand those things and think we're saying something else, or whatever else it might be, who still believe that they can only be saved by faith in Jesus Christ.

01:35:03

He will eventually come out from among them, the same way Luther came out from among Roman Catholicism.

01:35:09

Now, that's interesting. That's interesting. He will eventually come out from.

01:35:15

So, if he dies in that state, he must not have been saved. So, this position is, it is never

01:35:22

God's intention that any of his elect would ever finish their lives in a sub -biblical church.

01:35:34

Where were the elect during the Middle Ages, I wonder? They must have had a tough time. Had a tough time.

01:35:43

So, we can actually assert that even though God may have allowed us to live many years before our coming to recognize the truthfulness of the doctrines of grace, and God did it at his time and in his way, we can actually say, but he must do it.

01:36:09

Right? How many Calvinists do you know, Dr. Hernandez, that know what perichoresis is?

01:36:20

I don't know many. Seminary grads, some people go to strange churches.

01:36:27

They might know it. Evidently, it's God's will to allow many of his elect people to be reformed without a deep

01:36:38

Trinitarian theology. Why might that be? Could I make an argument that they're not saved?

01:36:44

I mean, it would seem to me to be just as central to the faith to have a deep

01:36:51

Trinitarian theology and not a shallow one or even an inconsistent one.

01:37:00

Have you ever met a reformed person that was functionally modalistic? They lost?

01:37:09

Was their Calvinism enough to overcome their functional modalism? And that Luther thing, that was a process.

01:37:25

That was a process. And Luther, have you read 1525

01:37:36

Luther? I'm not even going to get into that. Not enough time. We've already gone past the jumbo limit that I wanted to do.

01:37:43

I'm going to try to wrap up here fairly quickly. And also the same way the Bible commands those who are truly regenerate.

01:37:49

2 Corinthians 6 .17. Remember, the sheep hear his voice and will follow him. Yes, they do. So what you're saying is you always know exactly what the shepherd is going to say to the sheep and what time he's going to do it.

01:38:00

It seems to be what you're implying. I believe Arminianism is wrong.

01:38:06

However, I do not believe it is a false gospel it cannot save. I think it is wrong to argue that Arminianism is a false gospel.

01:38:11

If you posit Arminianism is not a false gospel it cannot save, then I would like to know, according to whom? You? Please explain how one person in the

01:38:19

Bible that was saved was so because of their free will. Please demonstrate.

01:38:24

Well, wait a minute. Play the devil's advocate here. The Arminian doesn't say they're saved because of their free will.

01:38:32

They say their free will is absolutely vitally important to the demonstration of God's justice, but they don't say they're saved because of their free will.

01:38:40

I mean, if you're going to represent the other side, at least represent it accurately. Please demonstrate from the

01:38:46

Bible where someone proclaimed that election to salvation is a condition of unforeseen faith. The person was not saying that they find the person said,

01:38:56

I believe Arminianism is wrong. So why are you asking them to show from the Bible where Arminianism is true? You're not actually answering the question.

01:39:05

Please explain exegetically how Christ died literally for all without exception, including those whom his Father consigned to hell.

01:39:11

Again, Arminianism is a gospel that cannot save, nor has it ever saved anyone. This is why witness to Arminians.

01:39:19

The efficacious true gospel can save Arminians and deliver them from their false gospel. Now, once you start using this type of language, then you're saying the

01:39:28

Arminian is no different than the Roman Catholic. And that means you are, whether you recognize it or not, elevating the conclusions of sound biblical reasoning to the same level as the essential definitions of the gospel in 1

01:39:47

Corinthians chapter 15. So Paul did not give us a sufficiently broad definition of the gospel.

01:39:53

He didn't do it. Why not? That was just misleading.

01:40:01

Because it sounds like when Paul listed for us what the gospel was in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, that he did not go nearly far enough to explain to us what really needs to be there.

01:40:19

The efficacious true gospel can save Arminians and deliver them from their false gospel, but also deliver them from men that mislead them into believing they are saved.

01:40:27

Therefore, when you say, I think it is wrong to argue that Arminianism is false gospel, that is your first problem.

01:40:33

You think and you do not read. Well, la -dee -da.

01:40:38

I know a large percentage of well -known and popular Calvinists that do not believe that Arminianism is heresy. When you say that you know a very large percentage of popular

01:40:45

Calvinists that disagree with my position, does that mean that you rely on the opinions or popularity of others as a standard or criteria to determine what is right or wrong?

01:40:53

That is not how to arrive at truth. Historically, there are large numbers of Calvinists that have asserted the opposite.

01:40:59

The bottom line is, what saith the Scriptures? Well, that may be true, but it would be helpful if you might meaningfully interact with what other people are saying and why we're saying the things that we're saying.

01:41:11

That would sort of be helpful. Why don't you stop focusing on Arminianism and start focusing on refuting

01:41:18

Oneness Pentecostalism and Catholicism and Mormonism that teach heresy? Answer, Arminianism, Oneness Pentecostalism, Catholicism, Mormonism all operate under the guise of a

01:41:27

Christianity that has never saved anyone, nor will it ever, because none of them proclaim the true gospel at all.

01:41:33

At all. Please notice the extensiveness here. So, there is a direct connection here.

01:41:44

Without any recognition of what the differences are. If they don't have our perfect line, they're all out there.

01:41:53

This kind of thinking is very, very attractive to certain kinds of people.

01:42:01

It will completely break down the first time any of the folks who buy into this actually get to know either the systems that they are all throwing into one lump and how they differ from one another, or actually get to know people in those systems and actually seek to minister to them in a meaningful and gracious fashion.

01:42:22

I mean, it's fine if you're a flamethrower, you stand outside tossing tracks at somebody, holding signs, you know, that kind of thing.

01:42:28

You keep people at a distance when you do that kind of stuff. But when you actually start trying to graciously minister in somebody's life and show them the love of Christ, this kind of flamethrowing really falls apart.

01:42:46

Therefore, Christians should not show partiality towards Arminianism, but expose and witness to all these heresies, including

01:42:52

Arminianism. That is because they are all false gospels that will only delude and not deliver. And of course, my response to this is, one is

01:43:00

Pentecostalism has the wrong God. It does not have the Son. If you don't have the Son, you don't have the

01:43:05

Father either. That's the point of 1 John. Catholicism has the wrong gospel. And that gospel very plainly condemns the apostolic proclamation of justification by grace alone through faith alone.

01:43:20

By specific words. Now, the current Pope doesn't really condemn anything overly clearly except, well, capitalism, but that's another issue.

01:43:29

Mormonism, wrong God. So you've just connected two groups that have complete errors in regards to the nature of God.

01:43:44

One that has a historical dogmatic condemnation, called the

01:43:50

Council of Trent, of the gospel with John Wesley and others because of your views of free will and maybe the extent of the atonement.

01:44:02

Something along those lines. Okay. There are Calvinists that have done that.

01:44:08

There are Calvinists that have done that. I don't want to be one of those Calvinists. I want people to understand that, but there are those that have done that.

01:44:17

Boy, this gets long. Let me just drop down to the bottom.

01:44:24

In closing, because I'm running out of time, I want to finish up here. In closing, it is important to note that just because the word heresy is used, this does not mean that all our minions will automatically go to hell.

01:44:35

Absolutely not. The gospel can save them by God's grace. However, our minions attack the doctrines of grace.

01:44:42

Praise God for Dorotean Calvinists, that's the new term, Dorotean Calvinists, who witness to our minions by telling them the truth.

01:44:50

The false gospel of Arminianism cannot save, but the gospel can. Moderate Calvinists are misleading our minions by popishly declaring them to be saved and calling them brothers.

01:44:57

I don't even begin to understand that. It is so... Wow. Now I understand what happened in that debate.

01:45:05

Now I understand why it was just all over the place. Okay. Can anyone else make...

01:45:12

Can you make it... Does that make sense to you? Okay. This does not mean that all our minions will automatically go to hell.

01:45:19

Absolutely not. The gospel can save them by God's grace. However, our minions attack the doctrines of grace.

01:45:26

Not all of them. Some of them don't even know what they are. Praise God for Dorotean Calvinists. Bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop.

01:45:34

Who witness to our minions by telling them the truth. We need to... What? I almost did.

01:45:40

I almost reached back there and... But I don't want to knock... I don't want... No. This one

01:45:48

I could get, but I was going to get the Maximus sword, but I didn't want to destroy the Enterprise D in the process.

01:45:53

That really did cross my mind. But that would become a meme in and of itself.

01:45:59

Oh, would that become a meme? Me holding the sword. Because that claymore is heavy, man.

01:46:04

And while this isn't sharp here, that point is, you could run somebody straight through with that baby. There ain't no two ways about it.

01:46:10

It's something else. And someone did ask me, this is Maximus' sword from Gladiator. So at the beginning, that battle scene with the

01:46:18

Germans, this is the sword that he actually left in the tree when he chopped that guy's head off.

01:46:24

There's a brief clip where you can see that exact sword. Well, not that exact sword, obviously.

01:46:30

Buried in the tree. So, for those who are asking. Anyway, sorry about that. Swirl! It's been a long program.

01:46:38

Our minions attack Diver's Grace. Praise God for Dorothy and Calvinus, who witness to our minions by telling them the truth. The false gospel of Arminianism cannot save...

01:46:46

So... Evidently, I think what he's saying when he says this does not mean that all our minions will automatically go to hell, is that they still got a chance to become

01:46:54

Calvinists, so they can go to heaven. I think that's what it's saying. I don't know how else to put it together. Moderate Calvinists...

01:47:02

And I love that. Moderate Calvinists. That's what Norm Geisser used. Which, as I pointed out, are

01:47:10

Arminians. Moderate Calvinists are misleading Arminians by popishly... What is this popishly thing?

01:47:17

I mean, it's the Pope that thinks he can declare who isn't going to heaven. That's what you're doing!

01:47:23

Not me! I'm saying, leave it up to God! That's not what the Pope does. Popishly declaring them to be saved and calling them brothers.

01:47:33

Look, when someone says to me, I believe that God is triune.

01:47:43

I believe that the second person of Trinity took on human flesh as Jesus Christ.

01:47:51

That he lived and died. He gave his life on Calvary's tree.

01:47:57

The word of God reveals what he taught and what he wants us to know.

01:48:06

He rose again the third day. He's returning again. I believe that a man is made right before God by belief in Jesus Christ alone.

01:48:15

I do not believe I can add to that faith by a series of works or sacraments.

01:48:24

I believe I am justified by my faith in Jesus Christ. Now, at that point,

01:48:32

I want to encourage them to consistency, to think through what all of that means, because the only way to be consistent there is to understand it the way the doctrines of grace presents it.

01:48:44

But there are people who, for all sorts of different reasons, have inconsistencies that flow from that confession of faith.

01:48:55

But I'm here to tell you, I cannot popishly proclaim them saved, because I can't popishly proclaim anybody saved.

01:49:04

He who endures to the end shall be saved. I leave that to God. But we are called in this life to love the brethren.

01:49:14

And so you have to decide, who am I going to treat as my brethren? And let's put it this way,

01:49:23

I'm going to treat a whole lot more people as my brethren than evidently you are. You've got it pretty easy.

01:49:31

You've got a pretty small group. Evidently, it doesn't even include me. That's a pretty small group.

01:49:37

More power to you. I'll pray for you. But someone who makes that confession of faith, you want to stand before God someday and explain?

01:49:54

But you couldn't save him? I go,

01:50:00

Christ leads His sheep to come understand His truth as Christ deems it proper to do so.

01:50:09

I wasn't saved the day I read Palmer's Five Points of Calvinism and figured out the fifth point and went,

01:50:16

Oh! Yeah! That's not the day I got saved. I was saved before that.

01:50:23

So in Christ's sovereignty over His sheep, there was, wow, nearly two decades before I came to understand that beautiful divine truth.

01:50:39

But I was still saved. And you know what? I'm hoping to learn even more beautiful divine truths before I die.

01:50:47

But I'm still going to be saved before I learn them. Before I learn them. So there you go.

01:50:53

First Apocalypse of James, John 3 16 in Mounts, Francois Veron, American Muslims on the

01:50:59

Cake issue, and Sunny Hernandez and the Armenians. The description field is not big enough.

01:51:07

This is true. Maybe I can come up with an acronym.

01:51:14

Yes, for the whole thing. So it is only going to get up to 72 in Phoenix today so I get to wear my coogies again.

01:51:22

That means I'm hot and sweating. But it's worth it because the heat's coming again.

01:51:28

Anyways, thanks for watching Divine Line. Should be back on Thursday. There might be something that might get in the way. I might have to move around.