Survey of the Sin Malachi

Malachi prophesies to Israel concerning the sins that were prominent in their nation, and were quite deadly to them, for the survival of their nation and their separation as a people were at a very dangerous point in history.

The Lord states a fact -- then the people object to the fact asserted. Then the Lord proves the fact and disproves their objections, then illustrates the fact stated.

Sins of ignorance are just as dangerous to the child of God as open rebellion.

1) Doubted God’s love: wherein hast thou loved us? (Malachi 1:2)
2) Despised and disrespected God’s name: wherein have we despised thy name? (Malachi 1:6)
3) Deceitful in offerings: wherein have we polluted thee? (Malachi 1:7)
4) Divorce and delighting in evil: wherein have we wearied him? (Malachi 2:17)
5) Deceived and delusional in their self assessment: wherein shall we return? (Malachi 3:7)
6) Dishonest dealings: wherein have we robbed thee? (Malachi 3:8)
7) Denial of God’s fidelity: what have we spoken against thee? (Malachi 3:13)

There is no excuse for unknown sin and unknown sin is just as harmful to the believer. Doubting and skepticism breeds evil and when we forget God’s goodness, our world turns black and ugly.


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Douglas Newell IV

Grace Gems

I may be the last to figure this out, but if you do not get the daily devotional via e-mail from Grace Gems, then you need to sign up today. I have received mine for a week and WOW, they are theologically rich, full of depth of Sovereign Grace.

Sign up today.

Also, for all those who love free things, check out their book store. They their books available for free download. Good stuff!


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Douglas Newell IV

Alas and did my Saviour bleed?

Alas, and did my Saviour bleed?
And did my Sov'reign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I have done,
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died
For man, the creature's sin.

But drops of grief can ne'er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away—
'Tis all that I can do!

Studying about the Godman Jesus Christ right now. How it fills the heart with wonderment that my Sovereign would give Himself for me. As I was reading J.R. Graves expounding upon the subject of the humanity and divinity of Christ he quoted the Issac Watts hymn quoted above, which gives the practical application for studying such a message: Jesus, God the Son died for sinners.

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Douglas Newell IV

Boys and Girls Playing in the Streets

Zechariah 8:1-5 Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

As a parent, it is wonderful to sit outside in the summer time, in the cool of the evening and watch children happily playing. When the temperature is just right, the bugs are not pestering you, the children are all in a happy mood while hard at play; it is such a blessing from God.

Often though, we don’t have these scenes as much as we would want. Sometimes it’s too hot or too cold; other times it rains. Sometimes one of the children are in a bad mood and makes playing a chore rather than a joy. Sometimes one will fall and get hurt, other times the game becomes a fight. Young children want to explore past the watchful eye of mom and dad, but must be corral “back where I can see you!”
There is so much danger around us. Cars driving too fast and carelessly near the front of the home. In the back yard other dangers are lurking, whether be snakes, neighbor’s dogs that escaped and the like. Take the children to the park and see the strange man who is lurking about watching the children, or the terrible thought of what would happen if the kids wandered too far away and were taken by some deviant.

Oh the sinfulness of sin! That is why that a evening of joyful play can be a rarity. Sin has affected the weather, the earth, the animals and especially the human heart. Sin hurts and hampers even the simplest joy a family can participate in; it destroys the very act of children’s play. As time progresses, the dangers increase. Men wax worse and worse, life becomes worse and worse.

In our text, we have a concerning the millennial reign of Christ, when Jesus will rule this Earth for 1,000 years. He will rule all things, weather, animals and men. During Christ’s blessed reign, there will be no dangers in the woods, no dangers down the street, sin will not be allowed or tolerated. There will be no Satan to tempt and harm and all will be well.

The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. What a beautiful way of describing the joy of Christ’s kingdom and how it illustrates what we lost in the fall, and what we gain in Jesus Christ. The city streets will not be filled with gangs and violence, but with children and play.


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Douglas Newell IV

How could this idea be any worse?

Cemetery...uh, I mean seminaryFAIL.

John 14:6.
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Douglas Newell IV

More Zeal than Knowledge

From Charles Spurgeon's sermon #2673 Christ Crucified.

By the way, let me tell you a little story about Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. I am a great lover of John Bunyan, but I do not believe him Infallible. The other day I met with a story about him which I think a very good one. There was a young man in Edinburgh who wished to be a missionary. He was a wise young man. So he thought, “If I am to be a missionary, there is no need for me to transport myself far away from home. I may as well be a missionary in Edinburgh.” There’s a hint to some of you ladies who give away tracts in your district, but never give your servant Mary one. Well, this young man started and he was determined to speak to the first person he met. He met one of those old fishwives— those of us who have seen them can never forget them—they are extraordinary women, indeed! So, stepping up to her, he said, “Here you are, coming along with your burden on your back. Let me ask you if you have got another burden, a spiritual burden.” “What?” she asked. “Do you mean that burden in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress? Because if you do, young man, I got rid of that many years ago, probably before you were born.

“But I went a better way to work than the pilgrim did. The evangelist that John Bunyan talks about was one of your parsons that do not preach the Gospel, for he said, ‘Keep that light in your eye and run to the wicket-gate.’ Why, man alive! That was not the place for him to run to! He should have said, ‘Do you see that Cross? Run there at once!’ But, instead of that, he sent the poor pilgrim to the wicket-gate first—and much good he got by going there! He got tumbling into the slough and was like to have been killed by it.”

“But did not you,” the young man asked, “go through any Slough of Despond?” “Yes, I did. But I found it a great deal easier going through with my burden off than with it on my back.”

The old woman was quite right! John Bunyan put the getting rid of the burden too far off from the commencement of the pilgrimage. If he meant to show what usually happens, he was right, but if he meant to show what ought to have happened, he was wrong. We must not say to the sinner, “Now, Sinner, if you will be saved, go to the baptismal pool, go to the wicket-gate, go to the church—do this or that.” No, the Cross should be right in front of the wicket-gate and we should say to the sinner, “Throw yourself down there and you are safe. But you are not safe till you can cast off your burden and lie at the foot of the Cross and find peace
in Jesus.”

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Douglas Newell IV

The Great Commission

Matthew 28:18-20
The great commission is a Kingly imperative issued to the assembly He imparted authority, to carry out the mission that He has left the organization He created, with no room for apathy, modification, improvisation or insubordination.


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Douglas Newell IV

Apples of Gold

John Piper, in his book Don't Waste Your Life says this concerning God supplying our needs and the trouble and afflictions that we have in this life.

"Affliction raised his sword to cut off the head of Paul’s faith. But instead the hand of faith snatched the arm of affliction and forced it to cut off part of Paul’s worldliness. Affliction is made the servant of godliness and humility and love. Satan meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. The enemy became Paul’s slave and worked for him and even greater weight of glory than he would have ever had without the fight. In that way Paul – and every follower of Christ is more than a conqueror."

I finished chapter 6 of Matthew last Sunday night preaching of the portion of the Sermon of the Mount that deals with worry and anxiety. Worry is a dreadful sin because it effects the body, soul and spirit. Anxiety can cripple us. Paul had much he COULD have been anxious about, but He trusted in God and glorified Him in all aspects of life. Oh that we could live with such faith!

The fact that we cannot change anything by worry, shows a lack of faith when we do, and wasted time for us. When we first seek the kingdom of God, our focus leaves the physical, and the temporary, and focus our eye (making it single) of the eternal Glory of Christ and whether we have much or nothing, health or sickness, we are more than conquerors in Christ, and even see the trouble as God’s mercy to us, because we don’t even deserve the blessings viz food, drink, clothes, health, that God mercifully has given us.

You, who have faith in Christ for your eternal soul’s salvation, at what cost do you have that salvation? The Father, sent the Son, into this wicked sin cursed world, to die for those who loved him not, who knew him not. The Spirit, quickens God’s chosen that they may repent and believe in Christ. All this was done for the children of God. Take that in consideration, and then consider that God will provide the food for birds, simple birds. Here’s the lesser to the greater. If God will provide for the birds, will he not provide for you? Are you not greater than the birds? Why then worry about it?
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Douglas Newell IV

Come, magnify the Lord with me

I preached this morning on Magnifying the Lord in our Hearts. I thought I would share this Isaac Watts hymn with you this Lord's Day.

PSALM 34 PART 1


God's care of the saints; or, Deliverance by prayer.
Lord, I will bless thee all my days,
Thy praise shall dwell upon my tongue
My soul shall glory in thy grace,

While saints rejoice to hear the song.
Come, magnify the Lord with me,
Come, let us all exalt his name;
I sought th' eternal God, and he

Has not exposed my hope to shame.
I told him all my secret grief,
My secret groaning reached his ears;
He gave my inward pains relief;

And calmed the tumult of my fears.
To him the poor lift up their eyes,
Their faces feel the heav'nly shine;
A beam of mercy from the skies

Fills them with light and joy divine.
His holy angels pitch their tents
Around the men that serve the Lord;
O fear and love him, all his saints,

Taste of his grace, and trust his word.
The wild young lions, pinched with pain
And hunger, roar through all the wood;
But none shall seek the Lord in vain,
Nor want supplies of real good.


Isaac Watts


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Douglas Newell IV

Shalom, shalom: Perfect Peace

Isaiah 26:3-4 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

According to Brown, Driver's, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Shalom means "completeness, soundness, welfare, peace." In our text, we have shalom shalom, perfect peace.

The person who will have his mind and affections on the Lord God will be kept in perfect peace because he trusts in the Lord. God is our strength, our rock. When our heart and soul is fixed upon Jesus and what He has done for us, what He is doing for us and what He has promised for us, God will keep us in perfect peace. Will all the problems go away? No, probably not. Fixing our mind on problems that we cannot solve and cannot go away, will that make the problems go away? DEFINITELY NOT!

When our soul is fixed upon Jesus and we trust in Him, and the Word of God, having faith that God is not only able to do what He has promised but WILL do what He has promised, then God will give us that perfect peace in our soul. Trust in the Lord, forever. Today, tomorrow; forever. In the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.


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Douglas Newell IV

The Will of God in Sending the Son

Over 20 times in the book of John, scripture refers to God the Father sending God the Son to the Earth.

(John 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. John 5:23; John 5:24; John 5:30; John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.)

Why was Jesus sent? What was the purpose of sending the Son? What was the intention in sending His Son? God doesn't do things for no reason, so what was the reason? What was the Father’s will in sending the Son? Was the Father’s will accomplished as He desired? What was the Son’s will? Was the Son’s will accomplished? Was He successful in the goal?

Answer these questions Biblically and honestly and you too will believe in particular redemption.


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Douglas Newell IV

Six Honest Serving Men

Last weekend I preached at the Ancient Landmark Bible Conference in Lyons, GA. What a wonderful time in the Lord. Great fellowship and great preaching. We truly appreciate the hard work the people of Landmark Baptist Church put into this conference.

That being said, I was unable to post this week much and am now behind. I have had this for a while and I wanted to share it; today would be a great day for this poem. Perhaps if Christians applied this to their Bible study, and preachers to their sermons, there would be a lot less heresy.

I KEEP six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small—
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!

She sends'em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes—
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!

Rudyard Kipling





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Douglas Newell IV

Obadiah Part II

Last night, as I was preaching, a thought occurred to me about Obadiah, thus Obadiah, part two today.

Obadiah 3-4 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? (4) Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

Edom had carved themselves out a good fortress, a great hiding place in the rocks (think Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). And looking at a military perspective, it seemed as safe and had proved itself so. They had become prideful in what THEY had done. Edom had carved the homes in the rock, and become very proud about their accomplishments, very proud about their hiding place.

Jacob's fortress was not Jerusalem, it was God. Over and again God shows Himself as Israel's protector, their sword and shield. God was Jacob's hiding place. In Zion their will be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions (verse 17).

Jacob was guilty, sinful and God justly sent Babylon in to punish Judah as he detailed in Habakkuk, there there was hope for Jacob in Christ. Edom was lifted up in pride in their own might, their own ability to carve a hiding place, their own deliverance, and God had brought them low. Jacob was brought low by their own pride, yet God is going to raise them up. Why? GRACE. It was Zion, it was not the works of Jacob but the love of God that will provide deliverance.



In our works, there is death and sin. In Christ there is deliverance and holiness; salvation and justification. It is not what we do for God, but what God does for us. It was not Jacob has been the best, but God said "Jacob have I loved."

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Douglas Newell IV

Obadiah

We really don't know much about the man Obadiah; and we really can't be certain where this book falls in chronologically. I think, perhaps, he was a contemporary with Jeremiah based upon Jeremiah 49:7-22 and Obadiah 1-9 prophesyies shortly after the captivity. Maybe around the same time Lamentations was penned. Though many disagree and put him as a contemporary with Elijah. But, it really doesn't matter since God didn't tell us.

The point of the book is the judgment of Edom. The Edomites were the descendents of Esau. (Edom means red, Esau's name after selling his birthright for a bowl of red pottage.) Jacob and Esau's sibling rivalry started in the womb and carried on in life with the stolen blessing an on in the generations after them. Esau left and dwelt in the mountain range of Seir formely inhabited by the Horites. Horite means “cave dwellers” the mountain range named after Seir the Horite. The most famous of the Edomite rivalry happened in Numbers 20:14-22, illustrating their lack of compassion upon Jacob's children.

The children of Esau, the Edomites were to be judged for their sins against God and Judah. They rejoiced when Judah was taken captive, they were proud when Judah was in trouble, they stole and sacked Jerusalem instead of helping and looked and laughed at their calamity. They helped the enemy take all captive, wouldn’t allow Jews to escape, but blocked them and then delivered those that could have escaped to the enemy, for price no doubt. Psalm 137 illustrates their heart in this saddest of times for Jerusalem.

Edom had become proud and self assured. The capital city of that time was Petra, a rock fortress that gave them much (in the flesh) to boast about militarily. They thought that they were indestructible. If you have ever seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the final scene takes place in a mountain cavern, and a temple that was carved on the face of a rocky mountain entering into a cave, that is Petra. The trusted in a fortress, but God is greater than any fortress, and justice ran them down.

There is quite a bit of Divine justice and retribution here in repaying Edom for her crimes and the exultation of Judah again.

1. Edom betrayed and watched as Jacob was taken away; Edom will be betrayed by her alliances
2. Edom stole in Jacob’s calamity; Edom will be taken like a thief, nothing left
3. Edom was violent to Jacob, Edom’s violent men will receive the same
4. Edom was proud and desired Jacob’s end; Jacob is a flame of fire, Edom stubble, fire wood
5. Edom came into possess Jerusalem at the expense of Jacob; Jacob will possess Edom in their final doom

The real story here is God's grace.
Romans 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

I'll close with B.H. Carroll’s lessons of Obadiah:

1. lesson of family feud’s
2. lesson of pride
3. lesson of false assurance
4. lesson of God’s wrath

i. God does not forget
ii. God does not forget crimes against Him
iii. God does not forget the persecutor of His people

5. lesson of hope in darkest times in Christ

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Douglas Newell IV

FAIL

I woke up thinking about my life and how many utterly horrid decisions that I have made. FAIL. What I could have done, what I should have done, what I should have done differently where flooding back into my mind.

Stupid, unwise things I did when I was 12 still affect me today. I cannot go back and change them but have to live with the consequences of my actions. And still Jesus loves me. I think Satan will put these failures in my mind to discourage me, and they sure did for a while. But I thank God that it brought me back to the cross. Jesus the Lord died for ME. He loved ME before the foundation of the world. He shed His blood for ME. He has given ME eternal live and innumerable blessings in this life and the next. Even now, God has overruled some of my greatest failures into wondrous blessings. Had life had gone the way I wanted it, I would have never met my wife, and that is just one example of thousands of how I sinned, I made horrible decisions, I paid the consequences in my life for the decisions, but God overruled them for my good.

Thank God He saved me and that I am forgiven and justified and eternally secure in the finished work of Jesus Christ and that there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.

It is easy to get depressed when you are always thinking about what you did. It is hard to stay depressed when you think about what Jesus did FOR you.

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Douglas Newell IV

Row, row, row your boat

Chuck Swindoll, speaking in a conference to ministers closed with a poem, according to the Christianpost.com which I share with you.

"Row, row, row your boat
Never, ever quit
Loyally, faithfully serving Christ
The captain of your ship."

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Douglas Newell IV

Habakkuk (huh-BAK-uhk)

Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

Habakkuk was a prophet during the same time Jeremiah prophesied in Judah. King Josiah had died in battle and the people had fallen back into grave sins once again. Josiah’s reformation was merely legislative, not spiritual. You can legislate righteous behavior but not a righteous heart.

As Habakkuk looked about his people, he marveled at the sinfulness and that God does not stop the wickedness. He wondered when God would stop the violence, strife, contention, and iniquity that had filled Jerusalem. God answered Habakkuk; God will “raise up the “Chaldeans” or Babylon to come and thrash the land. They were a bitter and hasty nation that was a law unto themselves. They were terrible and dreadful, and will be strong, fast and ruthless, everything you DO NOT want your enemy to be. And when they come, they will take Judah and the people captive and thus God will punish the sins of Judah.

This presented another problem for Habakkuk. He asks in Habakkuk 1:13

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

He prayed, in a way, God you are holy and cannot bear to look upon sin, that is why I asked how you can allow your people to continue to live in iniquity. It is because you are holy and righteous eternally. Yet, I don’t understand how you can raise up a nation who is WORSE than us. How you can give them strength to punish us, though we are bad, we are not as bad as they are going to be?
Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

Something wasn’t right. There was something that just didn’t quite add up and Habakkuk knew it, but couldn’t figure it out. God did come and give him the answer that when the fullness of time comes, he would punish Babylon and every sin that they commit will be accounted for and would come back upon them. It was the inward man, not the outward, the just shall live by faith. God would be faithful to Israel and that God would not allow sin to go unpunished. Habakkuk did answer like he said he would do in Habakkuk 2:1. The answer is chapter three. He remembered the history of Israel, what God had done in the past and that God keeps his promises and He will again.

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

BUT, here is the point. Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

Habakkuk knew something wasn’t right, and he knew it was his thinking that wasn’t right, not God. He came upon a dilemma that he couldn’t understand in God’s sovereignty and sin. In his mind there seemed to be a contradiction. SO what did he do? He said I will see what God says and then I’ll have my answer when I have been corrected. This is the way we should all come to God’s Word. Too often people will pick up their Bibles trying to prove themselves right instead of sitting and being reproved and taught by God. When God shows them wrong by His Word, instead of submitting to it, they rebel against what God says. For some it is better to prove their opinion and live with a contradicting theology rather than say they were wrong and hold to Biblical theology, especially when it comes to church truth. Anything that differs from popular sentiment about the church, regardless of what the Bible says, must be wrong because “if popular sentiment is wrong, then I must be wrong too, and that just cannot be.”

Because Habakkuk knew that there was no contradiction in God, knew that God was both sovereign and holy so he knew the problem was not with God but with himself and his understanding. So he sought God in humility to be shown where he was wrong, not look for texts to prove that his opinion was right.


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Douglas Newell IV

Apples of Gold

We have two quotes this week from the immensely quotable Charles Spurgeon.

“Every heart must be stout, and every arm must be strong; the line must not be composed of here and there a warrior and an interval between, but every man must march forward, with the spirit of a lion and the strength of God, to do battle against the common enemy of souls.” C.H. Spurgeon

"Thou hast loosed me from the bonds of worldly maxims; thou hast delivered me from the fear of man; thou hast rescued me from the stooping and fawning which made me once the slave of every tyrant who laid claim to my allegiance, and thou hast made me now the servant of but on Master, whose service is perfect liberty. Whereas before I spake with bated breath, lest I should offend, and even my conscience had continually to yield to the whims and prejudices of another man, behold now “thou hast loosed my bonds.: As an eagle with my eye on the sun, with wings outstretched true to the line upwards which I soar, bound no longer to the rocks of prejudice or the mounds of worldly maxim—free, entirely free to serve my sod without let or hindrance." C.H. Spurgeon

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Douglas Newell IV

A Psalm for the Lord's Day

PSALM 92 PART 1 (L. M.)

A Psalm for the Lord's day.
Isaac Watts

Sweet is the work, my God, my King,
To praise thy name, give thanks and sing,
To show thy love by morning light,
And talk of all thy truth at night.

Sweet is the day of sacred rest,
No mortal cares shall seize my breast;
O may my heart in tune be found,
Like David's harp of solemn sound!

My heart shall triumph in my Lord,
And bless his works, and bless his word;
Thy works of grace, how bright they shine!
How deep thy counsels! how divine!

Fools never raise their thoughts so high;
Like brutes they live, like brutes they die;
Like grass they flourish, till thy breath
Blast them in everlasting death.

But I shall share a glorious part
When grace hath well refined my heart;
And fresh supplies of joy are shed,
Like holy oil, to cheer my head.

Sin (my worst enemy before)
Shall vex my eyes and ears no more;
My inward foes shall all be slain,
Nor Satan break my peace again.

Then shall I see, and hear, and know
All I desired or wished below;
And every power find sweet employ
In that eternal world of joy.


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Douglas Newell IV

A Faithful Saying, BELIEVE IT!

I Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

The Apostle Paul never got over the fact that God had mercy on him. Paul says of himself that he “was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious” to God’s people. However, Paul obtained mercy from God through Christ; because Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

Jesus did not come to die for good men or for the strong and valiant but came to die for the sinner, the rebel, the unworthy. What mercy, that God showed His love toward us that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.

It is a faithful and true saying that Christ came to save sinners. It is a faithful saying because it is a true saying, one that can be trusted. All those that have believed upon Christ know it to be a faithful saying that has never failed. It is worthy of acceptance since it is true, faithful, but also because of its great value. John Gill said it is "worthy of all acceptation; or to be received by all sorts of persons, learned, or unlearned, rich or poor, greater or lesser sinners; and to be received in all ways, and in the best manner, as the word of God, and not man; with heartiness and readiness, and with love, joy, and gladness, and with meekness, faith, and fear, and by all means; for it is entirely true, absolutely necessary, and suitable to the case of all, and is to be highly valued and esteemed by those who do approve and accept of it.”

This IS a faithful saying. The text does not say it “was” a faithful saying, but it IS a faithful saying. This promise and declaration of the gospel is as faithful today as it was when it was penned. This promise was a faithful promise to me; it was a faithful promise to my sister. By God’s marvelous grace, this weekend the Lord of Glory, was merciful to her; not by works of righteousness which she had done, but according to his mercy he saved her. Oh what joy, that Christ came to save sinners; and how thankful I am for my Lord, my God, my King and my blessed Saviour.


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Douglas Newell IV

Quote of the Week: Barnes on Hebrews 1:14

Some Bible commentaries take each verse and comment on the verse alone. John Gill is a good example of that. Other commentaries take sections of scripture and and deal with more of the context. John MacArthur is a good example of that. I like both types for different reasons. When you get to an obscure or difficult passage, John Gill will give you his opinion on it and any relevant (sometimes not so relevant) historical information; whereas the other commentaries tend to skip the tough stuff. But the context type commentaries address the context and the point of the passage, more like a sermon.

I like Albert Barnes because he falls somewhere in the middle when it comes to the New Testament. I was reading a comment on Hebrews 1:14 and found this after his comment on the text.

(Make sure you read the 2nd paragraph. I put the first in for context.)

The Christian religion has a claim on the attention of man. God has spoken to us in the Gospel by his Son; Hebrews 1:1-2. This fact constitutes a claim on us to attend to what is spoken in the New Testament. When God sent prophets to address people, endowing them with more than human wisdom and eloquence, and commanding them to deliver solemn messages to mankind, that was a reason why people should hear. But how much more important is the message which is brought by his own Son! How much more exalted the Messenger! How much higher his claim to our attention and regard! compare Matt. 21:37. Yet it is lamentable to reflect how few attended to him when he lived on the earth, and how few comparatively regard him now. The great mass of people feel no interest in the fact that the Son of God has come and spoken to the human race. Few take the pains to read what he said, though all the records of the discourses of the Saviour could be read in a few hours.


A newspaper is read; a poem; a novel; a play; a history of battles and sieges; but the New Testament is neglected, and there are thousands even in Christian lands who have not even read through the Sermon on the Mount! Few also listen to the truths which the Redeemer taught when they are proclaimed in the sanctuary. Multitudes never go to the place where the gospel is preached; multitudes when there are engaged in thinking of other things, or are wholly inattentive to the truths which are proclaimed. Such a reception has the Son of God met with in our world! The most wonderful of all events is, that he should have come from heaven to be the teacher of mankind; next to that, the most wonderful event is that, when he has come, people feel no interest in the fact, and refuse to listen to what he says of the unseen and eternal world. What a man will say about the possibility of making a fortune by some wild speculation will be listened to with the deepest interest; but what the Redeemer says about the “certainty” of heaven and eternal riches there, excites no emotion: what one from the dead might say about the unseen world would excite the profoundest attention; what he has said who has always dwelt in the unseen world, and who knows all that has occurred there, and all that is yet to occur, awakens no interest, and excites no inquiry. Such is man. The visit, too, of an illustrious stranger - like Lafayette to America - will rouse a nation, and spread enthusiasm everywhere; the visit of the Son of God to the earth on a great errand of mercy is regarded as an event of no importance, and excites no interest in the great mass of human hearts.

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Douglas Newell IV

Happy Monday

One of my favorite bluegrass bands singing one of my favorite bluegrass songs. My dad used to sing this song all time so it stirs up happy memories of my childhood in Kentucky.

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

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Douglas Newell IV

Mother's Grocery Plan and Matthew 6:8

Matthew 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

My wife does a great job with our groceries. Having four boys who seem to grow an inch a week, she does such a wonderful job buying food to keep up with their voracious appetites without breaking the bank. Before she goes to the store, she makes a plan for what we will eat for the next couple weeks. I won’t pretend to know HOW she does this so effectively; but I am thankful she does. Prior to our house becoming total destitute of all sustenance, she will have made it to the store to replenish our cupboards. She has considered every meal for the children based upon their nutritional needs. Certainly four boys would love to eat chocolate cake every day for breakfast, but that is not what they need. The number of meals has been planned, the menu has been predetermined and all materials that are needed to prepare the food has been well thought-out.

My wife usually goes to the grocery while the children are asleep in the early morning. The night before she makes all her preparations with coupons that she has collected and the plan of which stores to go to first and what to buy and is ready to buy the food is laid out. When she arrives back home, we get the food in the house and she places the food in its proper place. The perishables go in the refrigerator and food where it will be safe and preserved the longest. Often all this happens without the children even knowing it.

The boys will wake up, sleepy eyed and stumbling into the kitchen and make a request; “Mommy, I’m hungry, can I have some breakfast?” They are ready to eat and they make their desire for food known.

Their mother knew that groceries were needed in the house. She knew how much food they would need and the number of meals, what nutrients boys need and what foods they needed to eat to fulfill those requirements. She had planned for all this and provided for their needs before they even asked for it.

If parents are faithful in planning and providing the basic needs of their children, how much more is God the Father faithful in providing according to His plan our basic needs? I cannot provide food for my children unless God gives us the means to do it; so even in my example, the planning process of my wife is totally dependent on God providing money and resources to obtain the food. But our menu is only for a couple weeks, God’s plan is for all things, everywhere, at all times. God not only plans, but ordains all things to come to pass. Knowing that I will need food, God planned and provided for the soil, the plants and animals, the farmers, and everything in between the farmers plan to my mouth.

“He [God] could withhold the sun and its influence; He could stop the rain; He could make our land absolutely barren so that the farmer with all his modern implements and chemicals could not raise a crop. He could blast the crop if He wanted to. We are absolutely in the hand of God, and the supreme folly of this century is the folly of thinking that because we have acquired a certain amount of knowledge of the laws of God, we are independent of Him. We cannot live for a day without Him.” D. M. Lloyd-Jones

What a loving Heavenly Father! He knows what we need before we know what we need. Like my children, they ask when they are hungry for food, yet their mother, long before they requested the food, knew they would be hungry for breakfast and provided. Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. So when we pray "give us this day our daily bread" we know that God will give us our daily bread, and we know that He has planned for it and ordained it to come to pass.


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Douglas Newell IV

Survey of Micah: Part 1

Micah, prophet to Judah, preaches a strong message against the sins of God’s people. However, the message, the theme of the book is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only hope for Israel, the nations and the world.

The name Micah means “who is like God”. Micah was from Morasthite; a small town of Judah but there is little is known about Micah. He prophesied in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which means that he preached with Isaiah in Judah and was also contemporary of Hosea for a time (though Hosea in the Northern Kingdom). He was a bold preacher fearing God rather than man and was known for his bold preaching as we learn from Jeremiah 26:18-19. Micah preached concerning Samaria and Jerusalem, speaking to both kingdoms, but to Judah in particular. The message of the book speaks of Israel as the people of God, not restricted to the ten tribes. For example in Micah 7:20 God speaks to Jacob and Abraham, thus not a divided kingdom, but children of promise.

The book can be divided up into three sections. The division can be seen in the chapters 1-3; 4-5; and 6-7. The prophesy shows the terrible consequences for sin, yet clearly shows that Christ is the only hope for Israel, the only hope for the nations, the only hope for the world.

The first section deals with the DISEASE OF IDOLATRY (CHAPTERS 1-3). Chapter one begins with the sins of Israel and their sin of spiritual harlotry (Micah 1:6-7). Israel had gotten wealthy by her false gods and idolatry and they became powerful and prosperous. Israel will be consumed by the very nations and religions by nations whom they copied and took their gods.

Micah 1:9 For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

Here we see the disease of spiritual adultery. We come back to the golden calves. The disease of idolatry had now spread like gangrene. The wound of idolatry had infected the Northern kingdom; the judgment likewise that will come to Israel will come to Judah. The people of God had become infected with spiritual harlotry and what began in Samaria will continue on into Judah. Practically, we can see in our own lives what happens when we do not mortify the flesh and when we allow sin to dwell in us, our house.

In Micah 1:10-16, deals with the coming judgment on Judah. These cities mentioned are found in the region of Judah. There is some word play in this section concerning some of the cities; for example: Micah 1:10 Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust. Aphrah which means “house to (i.e. of) dust”. Micah 1:14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. Achzib means “deceit”.

There are two primary sins that are mentioned, sins of covetous idolatry and not heading God’s Word. The sin of covetous idolatry is first detailed in Micah 2:1-2. This sounds a lot like the words of Amos to Israel. The Sin of oppression, greed and love of money had spread to Judah. God had blessed in the land of milk and honey and the people took the blessings of God and turned the blessings into a god. Micah 3:1-3 speaks figuratively in describing how the rich and powerful were oppressing the poor. A love of sin, love of money and overruling greed birthed a lack of compassion, lack of love, and a lack of mercy. The love of money had brought a hatred of men. Money is a cruel god with a cruel and hateful religion.

Secondly, there was the sin of false gods, false prophets and denial of the truth. Just like in Amos, the people didn’t want to hear the preaching of God’s Word Micah 2:6-7. They would not hear the convicting preaching of the Word. When you are confronted with the Word of God and are convicted of your sins, you have two options; you can hear the word and repent and obey or ignore the word or seek to silence the word. Judah chose the latter.

The people wanted to hear a preacher that preached what they wanted to hear.

Micah 2:11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

Isn’t this the way? People will find a preacher that preaches what they want to hear and find a church that does what they want the church to do instead of hearing a preacher that faithfully expounds the Bible and a church that does what the Bible says to do, not what we want to do. Many will look and find a church that bends to their whims and fancies. That is why there are so many false churches, false doctrines and so many church splits. Micah said that the people would look for a man that would justify their sins. What’s your sin? Want to drink? Find a preacher who will preach you can drink. Want to hear a man centered lie of a gospel? Find a preacher who will lift you up and lower God.

Well, with little surprise, these men that they found were prophets for profit.

Micah 3:5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

They preached for money, gain and prophet. The sad reality is the prophets that they found themselves preachers that would preach lies to them and tell them what they wanted to hear; but these men didn’t care for them. A man that will preach a lie will have no problem leading to destruction. I was visiting family recently and I had to get after my son and nephew because they were doing something that was either going to end in something breaking or someone getting hurt. My nephew said that I was being mean to him because I didn’t let him do what he wanted. Yes, he didn’t like what I said, but I had to get after him, not because I was mean, but because I love him and didn’t want to see harm come to him. The people didn’t like Micah because he spoke hard truths, they did not like Amos for the same reason. The people of Galatia did not like Paul for the same reason.

Gal 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Hard truths to be sure; yet it was out of love that hard truths were spoken.
The consequences for both sins are found in Micah 3:9-12. The leaders and the preachers continued in lying, fleecing and sinful spiritual adultery. They got what they asked for. They wanted religion like the world and they got it and more; they inherited the consequences of false gods and false religion.

Judah will feel the hand of God in judgment for turning from God and trusting in false gods. Yet God will not leave the faithful without hope. God gives wonderful promises to that remnant that loves Him, and shows that the coming Christ was the only hope. As the captivity now looms over their head, God points to Jesus Christ and HIS Kingdom Come, which we will look at, Lord willing, next time.



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Douglas Newell IV

Valuable Books: Part 2

Last time I listed the commentary sets that I use and enjoy.

Today's list are my five favorite systematic theologies.

1. Systematic Theology by Hodge
2. Abstract of Systematic Theology by JP Boyce
3. A Systematic Study of Bible Doctrine by TP Simmons
4. A Body of Divinity by John Gill
5. Seven Dispensations by JR Graves

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Douglas Newell IV

A Funeral Message for the Unsaved

What do you say at the funeral of one who had never made a profession of faith in Christ Jesus? What should be said about a soul where there is no evidence that they ever believed in Jesus Christ, and in faith repented and trusted in His finished work on the cross?

When the family asks a man of God to conduct or be a part of the service, this man has a responsibility first and foremost to declare the uncompromising truth. Will you me a man of God or a boy? Be merciful, be kind, be loving - but love the people enough not to lie to them in their darkest of hours. Love them enough not to deceive them now, for a few pats on the back and a good honorarium. Love them enough to kindly, gently, but boldly declare the glory of God in salvation.

The more common funeral message is to preach the person into Heaven. I am sure we have all been to funerals where the person that had died and was a notorious sinner, by anyone’s standard, especially God’s (Romans 3:10). Yet this preacher, a man that should be a man of God, stands and speaks of this person’s goodness and of their peace with God. I have a real problem with that. Many people who attend funerals may be hearing preaching for the first time, or the first time in years. And here is a man, supposedly speaking for God with a Bible in hand, declaring a wicked man good. What happens to the lost soul who is living a more moral life than the deceased ever did? They must think “If they are good enough to get to Heaven, no problem me getting in.” How could they not? How shameful for a man whose life is supposed to be centered in the gospel message lie to people at such a moment? Why stand up and lie? Would it be better for a lost soul to hear the true gospel or for a man to tell them what they want to hear?

A man can be sensitive to the families hurt for their lost loved one and declare a true message at the same time.

What should be said about a soul who did not make a profession, and is most likely in Hell as you speak? Tell them that you have a message that the deceased would like you to hear.

If your loved one could tell you one thing right now, this is it; salvation is of the Lord.

There is a holy and just God who hates sins so much that He has prepared a place to punish sinners for their crimes. Sin is the reason for all that is bad in the world; pain suffering and death. Yet this same God is loving and merciful, and sent His Son, Jesus Christ into the world to be a substitute for sinners. Though all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, God showed His love toward His people that while we were yet sinners, Christ died, shed His blood and rose again for the justification of all who repent of their sins and believe in Him. This is the message that they would want you to hear, right now.

That would be the message in a nutshell, and I believe it to be truthful way of approaching the funeral. A believer, who is now absent from the body and in the glories and bliss of heaven would most certainly want their Saviour to be praised and the gospel proclaimed. The darkest and vilest of sinners would not want their family to go and be with them in Hell. The soul in Hell would want the gospel to be preached, not for the glory of God, but to spare their family the pain and suffering of eternal torment. Luke 16:19-31

My Dad once preached a funeral message to a family of mostly believers. There was one man who hadn’t been to church in over 50 years. He hated the thought of religion, church and Christianity. He was adamant about how little use he had for the Word of God. My Dad preached a faithful, true gospel message and spoke very little, perhaps one sentence about the deceased, and about 15 minutes about Christ Jesus. This man approached my Dad and sternly said, “I’ll see you at church Sunday.” Long story short, two years later, the Lord saved this man’s soul and also saved His wife.

Brethren, be faithful to God. You have a needed message. You have a powerful message. Be loving to your hearers. Love them enough to give them the gospel. Use the opportunity to tell people about Jesus. While death and eternity is on the mind of every soul in the building, use this opportunity to tell them the truth.

The Home of Hosea

The book of Hosea is difficult to outline, but not difficult to understand. I would, perhaps, be difficult to go verse by verse through the book in a outline form, but that is the style of the book. Where Amos is like an outlined sermon, Hosea is a grieved and broken husband and the style and flow comes out that way.
There are some differences of opinion about the interpretation of the first three chapters of the book. If you read the first three chapters of the book, removing all chapter divisions, I think the meaning is clear. Once you have the story of Hosea’s life and the parallel that illustrates God’s relationship with Israel, then chapters 4-14 are easily understood in that context.

God commanded Hosea to get a wife, a wife of whoredoms from children of whoredoms. Whether Gomer is promiscuous or she is of a land of idols is unclear. I do not believe either interpretation will change the point of the story. He was to go and marry someone that was not exactly a trophy wife for a prophet of Israel. Hosea goes and marries Gomer and starts his family. Gomer bears three children, two boys and a girl. The first child, the Bible says, was born unto Hosea. The next two, I believe, were the result of adulterous affairs.

The second and third children the product of adultery. Romans 9:25 gives us some insight into the other children. As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. These children were called not loved and not my people. This makes it pretty clear they were from her adulterous affairs. Hosea 1:9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Gomer was not finished with her life of ill repute. Hosea 2:2-5 tells us that she was shameful in conception and that she went after her lovers and was no longer his wife. The poor relationship of these two children to Hosea was the result of their mother’s sin, not Hosea’s. The change of the names of the children (as we will notice later)also gives us understanding that they were not his.

The children were to plead with her mother, because she was not longer the wife of Hosea. They had separated because of the adulteries. She went after her lover’s whole-heartedly. But after they had used her, they wanted nothing of her, so she wanted to go back to her 1st husband because he had always taken care of her. When she had her fill of sin and the consequences of her sin had left her to a point of destitution, then she decides to come home. Hosea did not let her come back. She would now reap what she had sown.

Notice the prayer of adulterous Israel and the response of God

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me. (Hosea 6:1-7)

I think that Hosea had left Gomer to her sins. She was no longer being supported by her offended husband, and her lovers no longer care for her. I believe that she was forced either into prostitution or slavery. Israel did that over and over. God would deliver them from their enemies and they would follow Him for a while, then go right back to other gods. Then after they got in trouble and needed deliverance, they would cry out to God. Gomer had done this too. She would go off to her lovers, give them credit for Hosea’s goodness, then when trouble came and she was in need, she would go back to her husband because she knew he would help her. The time had come where Hosea said enough is enough and left Gomer in her sins and deal with the consequences of her adulterous life. God did the same with Israel. Their repentance was not true repentance, but like the morning dew. So Gomer was force, in my opinion, either into slavery.

But, here comes the happy ending. Though Gomer left him, and cheated on Him and sold herself into harlotry, Hosea purchased her out of His love for her.

Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
(Hosea 3:1-5)

I believe this still to be Gomer. God did not tell Hosea to go and marry another, but Go yet, or go again, and love a woman. I think that Hosea is the friend who loved her, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel. What a statement. What a picture of the grace of God. Hosea was to go and purchase this woman who was sold into slavery, who was living the just recompense of her sins. No one was to blame but Gomer, and there was nothing Gomer had done to show that she had changed, or there was nothing in Gomer to love; yet Hosea, out of unconditional love to his wife, bought her from her bondage. She didn’t deserve it, but love compelled Hosea to purchase his wife. Hosea and Gomer’s relationship was not the same, they had no relations, but this pictured that Israel would not have the same relationship until God fully restores his chosen people in the millennial kingdom.

But I can’t help but to see God’s saving grace to the individual as well. When we read the Bible, we like to put ourselves in the situations that make us the hero. We put ourselves in David’s shoes as he hurls the stone towards Goliath’s head, or we put ourselves in Elijah’s shoes as he battles the prophets of Baal. We are NOT Hosea in this story, we are Gomer. We are the adulterous, undeserving wretch.
Hosea’s name means “salvation”(Same as Joshua, same as Jesus in NT). Hosea shows us the love of Christ. This is love. Love is not a “cupid’s arrow” type love, and is more than physical attraction. Love doesn’t look for what you get, this was unconditional love. We see Christ in the forgiveness of Hosea. We see Christ in the salvation of Gomer by Hosea. Hosea redeemed Gomer, he bought her. Hosea went and paid a redeeming price for her which hints to the price of buying a slave. Hosea bought what was his, his love. Redemption in Christ is illustrated here. Christ paid for HIS people, that which belonged to Him. Though we did not deserve it, we did not do anything that warranted Christ purchasing us, Christ paid a great price, not corruptible things, like silver and gold, but by the precious blood of the Lamb. It was not out of righteous works that we have done, but according to His Grace, He saved us.

Now there was restoration. Hosea’s love knocked the “not” off of his children.
“lo” (which means 'not') was removed from the names of the children. Ammi means my people, and Ruhamah means loved. We have a restoration of the family with full, free forgiveness (cf. 13:14-15; 14:4). I think that Hosea had adopted those children that Gomer had outside of marriage. The children that were not his by nature but are now his by adoption, and to show that, he changed their name. By changing their name, he change their relationship. This is the point God showed to Israel, that in the millennial kingdom, they will be restored, brought back to the Lord God. And though I was a child of wrath like other, I am a child of God by adoption in Christ Jesus.

I am not deserving of God’s amazing Grace, yet He loved me, redeemed me, justified me, gave me life, adopted me, preserves me and keeps me by His power.



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Douglas Newell IV

Quiz: Who said it?

“Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan; no one wants to claim it.”
a. George Bush
b. George Washington
c. John F. Kennedy

“Courage is being scared to death—and saddling up anyway.”
a. John Wayne
b. Theodore Roosevelt
c. Robert E. Lee

“Brevity is the soul of wit.”
a. Robert Louis Stevenson
b. Jerry Seinfeld
c. William Shakespeare

“To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection , seems I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”

a. Billy Graham
b. Charles Darwin
c. Jerry Fallwell

“Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong.”
a. Adolf Hitler
b. George Washington
a. The Apostle Paul

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Keep scrolling for the answers below.











ANSWERS

“Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan; no one wants to claim it.”
c. John F. Kennedy

“Courage is being scared to death—and saddling up anyway.”
a. John Wayne

“Brevity is the soul of wit.”
c. William Shakespeare

“To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection , seems I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”
b. Charles Darwin

“Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong.”
a. Adolf Hitler


Surprised at any? How about Charles Darwin saying, “To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection seems I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.” I admit, that was not too shocking to me. God has shown man clearly that He exists. It is evident in creation. Isn’t it odd that one of the few, if not only times that humanist say not to believe or trust in your instincts and what feels to be right and true in your own heart is when they want people to deny what is evident from nature and their own hearts, that there is a God? Darwin was correct in stating that it was absurd in the highest degree to look at the design of the human body and say that it evolved. That is why the Bible says that “the fool has said in his heart there is no God." The Bible does not say the fool BELIEVES in his heart, but the fool (atheist) SAYS in his heart. The atheist lies to himself and tells himself that he doesn't believe what he knows to be true.

What about “Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong?” Again, that should not be shocking. In fact, that is the fruit of Darwinism. Only the strong survive, there is no judge but what we do and what we accomplish. “You can’t tell me what to do!”

The consequences of that are whatever stands in my way whatever I need for my success must be removed at all costs. The Bible tells us success is not the judge of right and wrong, but God is. There is a God, and He is the judge. God has given man His laws and they are the only standard of right and wrong. Man will be judged by His laws, not our feelings, our sincerity or how relatively good we were compared to others.

Man knows that God is true, but how can man know God? More importantly, how can God know us in love? Hebrews 1:1-3. God is revealed to us in Christ Jesus the Lord,God spoke to us in Jesus and in Jesus we see God, the Word, the Power of God, the Majesty of God, the mercy and love of God as Jesus died for undeserving sinners. God sent Jesus to Earth to be a substitute, to die in sacrificial love to meet the demands of God’s justice for sins, believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and have faith that His blood was shed for your sins and be saved.



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Douglas Newell IV

Valuable Books

I was asked a question to list influential religious books that I have read. There were several categories of different types of books. Since making the list I have read several books that I wish that I had put on the list.

Here is the first category; multiple book/volume commentary sets.

Here are the ten that I find most useful, in no particular order.

1. Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible
2. John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
3. Matthew Henry’s Commentary
4. Matthew Poole’s Commentary of the Holy Bible
5. An Interpretation of the English Bible by BH Carroll
6. New Testament Commentaries by John MacArthur
7. Maclaren’s Exposition of the Holy Scriptures
8. Commentary on the Whole Bible by Jamieson Faussset and Brown
9. Expository Thoughts on the Gospels by JC Ryle
10. Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

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Douglas Newell IV

God's Beauty and Our Beauty

God’s Word teaches us that God's holiness is the beauty of His attributes.

2 Chronicles 20:21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalms 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Psalms 96:9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

“Holiness is the sum of all excellence and the combination of all the attributes which constitute perfection of character” says JP Boyce, author of Abstract of Systematic Theology.

God’s holiness is the beauty and excellence of His nature. His Holiness seasons each of His attributes. He has holy strength, holy mercy, holy justice and holy wisdom. Purity, perfection, God in all His ways is pure and untainted in all His actions and affections.

God’s holiness is beautiful, and all His attributes are beautiful. They are pure, perfect and right in every way. His beauty, since holy and pure, is also eternal. God's holiness is absent of all impurity, there is nothing in God that can decay or deteriorate; perfect holy purity.

Beauty is, in this sinful world, fleeting at best. A person with outward beauty is one with few flaws, blemishes and symmetry. The fewer the blemishes, the more beautiful. The young girl who stops traffic with her beauty, will in the process of time, loose her beautiful appearance. The young man, whose beauty is his strength and athleticism, will in the process of time, become slow and weak because of sin. Beauty in mankind is always fading because of the corruption of sin.

But God, who is eternally Holy, never fades, His Holiness never lacks luster or beauty. This is why there will never be satisfaction in pursuing a quest for outward beauty; you will never make it there. Only when we rejoice in the holiness of God can we see true beauty and be satisfied. Instead of hungering and thirsting after vain beauty, we would be better served to hunger and thirst after Jesus Christ and His righteousness.


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Douglas Newell IV

Yes, yes...

This has nothing to do with a person desiring to look nice for their spouse, or a young man or young woman staying in shape and dressing in a beautiful, modest fashion. The point is that our beauty will never equal that of God's holiness because our beauty is flawed by sin.

Back Home

I returned yesterday from the meeting I preached for the Beauty Ridge Missionary Baptist Church in South Shore, Kentucky. We had a great meeting with great fellowship with the church there. It has been several months since I had been in Kentucky and it was good to go back home for a while.

I had the privilege of preaching seven times during the five day meeting and I believe that the Lord blessed the preaching of His Word. The weather was really nice and cool and God blessed us with a cool mountain breeze for the majority of the trip. I rejoiced in getting to spend some time back up on the mountain farm that I was raised and to see how the farm has changed since I left.

God answered many prayers during the meeting and I am thankful for the undeserved blessings of the trip. The church was beyond hospitable and I rejoiced in their Christian love towards me and my family.

This is for my 'Old Kentucky Home".


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Douglas Newell IV

Apples of Gold

Back from a short hiatus, quotes of the week. Two quotes today, one from Spurgeon, the second from Hugh Martin in his work on Jonah.

“It does us good to remember what we used to be. There was no reason in us, by nature, why we should be made the children of God. There were in us no distinguishing traits of character by which we were separated from our fellow-sinners. We ran in the same course; we were possessed by the same spirit; we wroth the same works; we had the same nature; we were under the same condemnation: “children of wrath, even as others.” -- C.H. Spurgeon

“There are few more conclusive and continually operating proofs of the depravity and ungodliness of the carnal mind, than its strange, cool, unaccountable, and settled forgetfulness of the very existence and nature of God as an infinite and omnipresent Spirit.” -- Hugh Martin



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Douglas Newell IV

Jump in where you can and hang on!

Happy Monday!
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Douglas Newell IV

Ronald Reagan on Abortion

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan wrote this article on abortion for Human Events, Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation..

This was AFTER President Reagan was elected. I stress this because modern Republicans are pro-life BEFORE the election, and it is a very important issue until the election is over.

Every legislator, every doctor, and every citizen needs to recognize that the real issue is whether to affirm and protect the sanctity of all human life, or to embrace a social ethic where some human lives are valued and others are not. As a nation, we must choose between the sanctity of life ethic and the "quality of life" ethic.

I have no trouble identifying the answer our nation has always given to this basic question, and the answer that I hope and pray it will give in the future. American was founded by men and women who shared a vision of the value of each and every individual. They stated this vision clearly from the very start in the Declaration of Independence, using words that every schoolboy and schoolgirl can recite:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I also appreciated Reagan's ability to see through the politics and bring the abortion issue down to the true issue, life and murder.

What, then, is the real issue? I have often said that when we talk about abortion, we are talking about two lives — the life of the mother and the life of the unborn child. Why else do we call a pregnant woman a mother? I have also said that anyone who doesn't feel sure whether we are talking about a second human life should clearly give life the benefit of the doubt. If you don't know whether a body is alive or dead, you would never bury it. I think this consideration itself should be enough for all of us to insist on protecting the unborn.

I'm sure the republicans will elect another prime example of prim and proper post-modernity, who says the right things at the right time, who is polite, smiles a lot and eats apple pie. I would rather have an honest man, who speaks the truth, trusts in Christ and unapologetically stands for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, rather than political life, party lines and the pursuit of reelection.


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Douglas Newell IV

Amos: The Man

Amos is one of my favorite prophets. Years ago, I preached at a Bible conference in which each speaker spoke for 30 minutes on one of the minor prophets. Mine was Amos. I was always thankful that I preached that message, for my own edification. I had never preached a single sermon on a whole book before, and it was a blessing to study the book as a whole and preach on the theme, instead of a verse by verse study or a topical study with a single text.
Even if you are not familiar with the so-called minor prophets, when you do a cursory reading of Amos, you know that you are at least familiar with some of his message in verses like:

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Amos 4:12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

I enjoyed what I learned from Amos, the man. Amos made no apologies for who he was and where he was from. He was a farmer and a shepherd from the wilderness of Tekoa. Reading the book, you get the sense that he loved what he did and would have been happy spending the rest of his days honoring God in the fields tending sheep. What I love about Amos is that he didn’t stay; he got up and went when God called him as you see in the parenthesis of chapter seven, when the false prophet tried to shut Amos up, his response shows that he was on a mission from God. I suppose I can identify with Amos. I grew up on a 2,600 acre farm, and would have been happy working there all my life, but I was called to a different field.

Amos was a outdoorsman, a farmer and he talked like one. Amos 2:13; Amos 3:12; Amos 4:9 are some examples of how this plainspoken farmer delivered his message. In J.R. Grave’s book The Seven Dispensations, he has an excellent quote from H.H. Tucker on plenary verbal inspiration. Though every word Amos penned was inspired of God, it still incorporated the speech of Amos.

“A man does not cease to be himself when God uses him. His powers are not changed, they are merely controlled so as to effect the very purpose, and no other, which God would accomplish. It is as if a musician were to play first upon a flute and then upon a cornet; each instrument would give its own sound wholly different from the other, but the breath that makes the sound and the genius that inspires the music is the same. Moses, David, Isaiah, James, Paul, Peter, were some many different instruments, though not mechanical instruments, each with personal peculiarities of his own, but all were used by the same God as the media of communicating with men.”

The people of Israel to whom Amos was called to preach were rich and sophisticated. That is one of the sins for which God judged them. They were oppressive and covetousness. They were a materialistic society. Amos prophesied during the height of Israel’s economic success. This country man, this rustic farmer goes to the big city, to the well to do aristocracy and delivers a stern message of impending doom. Imagine a country preacher walking into a high rise in Manhattan and declaring the Word of God to the wealthy, influential men and women of New York. This was Amos’ calling.

One of my favorite passages is One of my favorite verses Amos 4:1 when he calls the ungodly calf worshiping women “Cows”. Could you imagine? Not very nice of God some would say, but true. These people did not need nice, they needed truth. This is why I like Amos, he was there to do his job, preach. The parenthesis I spoke of earlier is in chapter 7:10-17. The enemy prophet, Amaziah had the king’s ear. He was the well favored, well loved priest of the people, but hated and despise by God. The message of the false prophet was to Amos, not the people. “Go away ‘seer’ we are intellectuals here, we do not subscribe to your “old way” of preaching.” Amaziah was a lost man, had no spiritual understanding or knowledge of what it was to really be a prophet. He said “Go back to the country, Go back to your poverty, eat your meager bread with the sheep. Your over your head and no one wants to hear your message, go back home.”

We see the boldness of Amos, because he didn’t go home. “I didn’t ask for this, I would have happily served God in the field, I would have loved God with my family and friends back home. I didn’t ‘inherit’ this job, I didn’t ask for this job, but it is mine, and I’ll do it or die trying.” Amos stresses God’s call and God’s message. The Lord TOOK ME, He laid hold of me, He seized me to this work. “I didn’t send myself here, God sent me.” This isn’t what anyone would want to do, no one would like to preach such a message, but God sent him and woe to him if he did not preach. He sort of told Amaziah “You won’t tell me what to say, you won’t tell me when to leave, nor will you intimidate me as I am following God’s calling in my life.”

Amos wasn’t a seminary man. He didn’t go to the school of the prophets, proper. He went to the true school of the prophets, God’s seminary. We would be much better off with more men of God rather than more seminary students. More men who study God’s Word rather than more men who study other men. More men God calls and uses rather than homiletical machines. There is certainly nothing wrong with education, and I don’t want to seem that I am anit-education; however, if men took four years and studied the bible instead of four years studying at most seminaries they would be much better off.

Amos was a bold country preacher, and one of my favorites.


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Douglas Newell IV

Fantasic Mr. Fox

Fantastic Mr. Fox, the movie.

I know that I’m late to the party with this, but I just caught this movie on Netflix. The movie was based upon a childrens novel by Roald Dahl.

Good cartoons will have a simple story, loveable characters, a clear protagonist, and will have a captivating storyline that adults can enjoy the deeper struggles and themes of the movie that children might not yet fully grasp. UP! is an excellent example of such a film. Too often cartoon movies fall into either side of the ditch. They are either so childish and moronic that there is no story, but goofball antics and silliness, good for kids, bad for me and Momma on movie night. The other extreme is jokes that are over the child’s head, not because the child might not grasp the greater moral dilemma presented, but because the crude locker-room humor is lost on a young child, as well it should be. I think Dreamworks films are notorious for this.

Somehow, someway, Fantastic Mr. Fox seems to have fallen on all three categories at the same time. The storyline is very simple and captivating from the start. I loved the stop action animation and it was a nice change of pace from CGI. Big stars with recognizable voices can take away from the movie, especially if they have a recognizable voice, but George Clooney did a great job as Mr. Fox. I couldn’t decide whether the movie was intended for children or hipster college kids who have finished a semester of philosophy; my guess, the latter. But, at the same time the absurdity of much of the movie is endearing to children. As far as the language, coarseness of the dialoged was unnecessary. Replacing expletives with the word “cuss” isn’t very clever, especially when the vulgarity is unambiguous.
The theme of the movie is my biggest problem. Mr. Fox sums up the theme for us. After suffering a midlife crisis, Mr. Fox is unhappy with his life. He has promised his wife that he would no longer steal chickens after a near death experience caught in a fox trap and learning that she was pregnant. Mr. Fox, feeling unfulfilled and unhappy says:

“Why a fox? Why not a horse, or a beetle, or a bald eagle? I'm saying this more as, like, existentialism, you know? Who am I? And how can a fox ever be happy without, you'll forgive the expression, a chicken in its teeth?”

The existentialism philosophy runs through the whole movie. Mr. Fox defined his life and his happiness by what he does and what he wants. By not being able to steal and lie and do all the things that are natural to him, he questions his purpose. When asked how he could lie to his wife he says “I’m a wild animal.” The philosophy of the movie teaches that we define what is right and wrong for us, we define truth and our existence and how we exist define who we are. When Mr. Fox had found a way to steal and be deceptive for the good of others, he was happy again, thus his life had meaning, for him. There was no redemption, only a shifting of the moral standard. Though the “evil corporations” to whom Mr. Fox was stealing their wares, were pouring out a ridiculous amount of wrath upon the animals to try and kill the fox, and had become obsessed with their vengeance; but they had every right to try and kill the fox. The enemy in the film is the enemy for protecting their property and the hero is the hero for saying that the end justifies the means. Class warfare at its most basic, yet so devilishly subtle, you almost miss it; because you need an antagonist. The only reason that farmers were hated was because they were rich. Rich = bad, poor = good; unless of course you are a filmmaker or actor, then it’s OK to be rich.

Without God and Jesus Christ, there is no meaning in life. Why a fox? Because God made him a fox. Why are you who you are? Because God made you who you are, and you were made to glorify God, not yourself. The emptiness Mr. Fox felt was because he was the center of his universe, and if you are the center of your universe, then you must do all that you can to make yourself happy. He could not be happy unless he was doing what he wanted to do, steal chickens. Doesn’t matter if that was right or wrong to steal, he wanted to, it was in his nature to, so in order to be happy, he had to fulfill all the desires of his heart, despite the consequences it had on anyone else. When confronted on this very issue, the answer was that he couldn’t help it, it was in his nature. Mr. Fox, in his atheistic, humanistic existentialism had ironically made himself a god who determines right and wrong for himself, while at the same time condemning others for being evil and unjust for living by the same rules.

Who am I, why am I here? The Bible tells us. We are here to glorify God, yet we have sinned and come short of God’s glory. Who am I? A sinner. God provided a way of Salvation and reconciliation in His Son, Jesus Christ, dying for our sins and giving us life. We have a reason to live, for His glory, we see the purpose of life, we see that life is not only about our existence and we are not the center of the universe, there is a right and a wrong, good and bad but we are not the judge of that, God is. The Bible shows us that in whatever state we are in, we can rejoice and be content because life is more that the possessions we have and the situation we are in because God is the center of all things.

I thought of the book of Ecclesiastes in light of this film. King Solomon and tried the existentialist lifestyle and provided himself with every possible pleasure and every possible way of happiness, but was left at the end depressed and unfulfilled. There is no true joy, happiness or fulfillment outside of God, in Christ Jesus. Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Long story short; the movie has a dangerous anti-christian worldview. I do not recommend it.


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Douglas Newell IV