tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post112736946787691335..comments2023-05-27T03:17:19.681-07:00Comments on PyroManiac: An excellent jeremiad from Mr. SpurgeonPhil Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00649092052031518426noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1129762346607886252005-10-19T15:52:00.000-07:002005-10-19T15:52:00.000-07:00Well Phil, you just aren't hearing truth that come...Well Phil, you just aren't hearing truth that comes your way are you? You will most likely not have this opportunity to hear the truth again. So here is something from my website http://www.newcovenanttheology.com/spurgeon.html :<BR/><BR/> Another similar sermon is found in the book "Soul Winner" published by Associated Authors and Publishers of Grand Rapids, Michigan 49315. On page 40 Spurgeon makes the following amazing comments: "There are some men who are guilty of dishonest transactions in business; you will not see them saved all the while they continue to act so. If they will not give up that trickery, they cannot be saved. There are others who are drinking to excess. People who drink, you know, are often very easily affected under our preaching: they have a watery eye, their drinking has made them sore headed...but as long as a man clings to 'the cup of devils' he will not be likely to come to Christ. With others it is some secret sin, or some hidden lust that is the great difficulty."<BR/><BR/>Of course, the cup of devils spoken of in 1 Corinthians 10:21 refers to demon worship rather than to the sin of drunkenness. Spurgeon, as Protestants have historically done, substituted pettiness for the serious evil which is the worship of demons. Spurgeon's concerns, as first said, were petty indeed compared to the concern of the preachers in the book of Acts. (See Acts 2:22-39, Acts 3:12-19, Acts 5:42, Acts 7:52, Acts 8:5, Acts 9:5, Acts 10:34-43, Acts 17:23-34.) <BR/><BR/>The power of the gospel does not bog down in a seeking of secret sins on the part of the Apostles. Nor is a repudiation of drunkenness or adultery, or false business practice a prerequisite for the power of the gospel. I am not proud about it, but as a young man of 21 I was saved and the gospel came upon me when I was not looking for it when I was living with a woman who had been divorced 3 times! If this gospel that comes to sinners, not reformed sinners, makes you uncomfortable then may God have mercy on you. If Jesus' hanging around prostitutes and tax collectors makes you uncomfortable, then again, may God have mercy on you.<BR/><BR/>After the elect are born from above, after repentance and faith had become a reality in their hearts, I have no doubt that virtue was added to their faith. Certainly, adultery, murder, hatred, false business practices, and drunkenness are wicked works, which Christians cannot pursue. But Spurgeon puts the cart before the horse, the outward reformation before the gospel itself, and the law before the gospel in power!<BR/><BR/>The Protestants including Spurgeon, are the new Pharisees, and they strain out gnats all the while they swallow camels! Scripture teaches that opposition to the truth manifests itself in false doctrine, idol worship, false gods, murder of the Savior and of those who testify in His name. Those who oppose the truth as a result fall into evil passions. But, even homosexuality, which Romans chapter 1 shows as an example of the great corruption of mankind, is a result of a weightier sin, idolatry. The gospel confronts men and women with their religious views which oppose the truth leading to conviction of unbelief. If they have no specific false religious view it confronts them with the ultimate weighty sin of unbelief.Therefore, it is evil teaching to confront sinners with the less weighty sins (drunkenness, adultery, homosexuality, false business practices) in order to get a repentance out of them which does not bring the "convert" into a union with Christ!Gary Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15499434824034613894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1128273603457959362005-10-02T10:20:00.000-07:002005-10-02T10:20:00.000-07:00i forgot one thing phil. I am not in a vacuum. If ...i forgot one thing phil. I am not in a vacuum. If you check out the 1646 First London confession of faith you will see in section 25 the following statement: The preaching of the gospel to the conversion of sinners, is absolutely free; no way requiring as absolutely necessary, any qualifications, preparations, or terrors of the law, or preceding ministry of the law, but only and alone the naked soul, a sinner and ungodly, to receive Christ crucified, dead and buried, and risen again; who is made a prince and a Savior for such sinners as through the gospel shall be brought to believe on Him.<BR/><BR/>This and the defense of Christ as not being "eternally begotten" set this confession of 1646 apart from the rest. It is interesting to note that these signers did not fellowship with the Protestants who they called the children of the pope. They separated themselves on account of the truth of the bible versus tradition. <BR/><BR/>It is also interesting that Psalm 2:7 is fulfilled in Acts 13:33 as being the resurrection of Christ. This is not an eternall begatting, but rather took place at the resurrection. So then, Calvin is so wrong when he states that as to His essence, Christ is eternal, but as to His person, it has a beginning in God. What a demotion for the Savior, to one who eternally depends upon the Father. And totally unscripturally based upon a misread of psalm 2:7!! <BR/><BR/>So then, I hope you can see here why I do not count myself among the Protestants. And of course this does not count the persecutions made by the Protestants, the murders, the angry words against the Jews by Luther, etc. It is all on my websites Phil.Gary Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15499434824034613894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1128222596187577192005-10-01T20:09:00.000-07:002005-10-01T20:09:00.000-07:00Pure antinomianism upholds the gospel and puts the...Pure antinomianism upholds the gospel and puts the law in its correct place. You will be surprised to see just how antinomian Paul was for example. The law is weak, it is powerless, it is on stone, it is a wimp. It is Godly in its concepts, but is for a physical community. The need to keep days has gone away with the physical kingdom. The need to have dietary laws have passed away with the physical kingdom. This is not rocket science, Phil, however it is by revelation in the heart. I am proud to be reckoned with the antinomians Phil.Gary Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15499434824034613894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1128145292084714312005-09-30T22:41:00.000-07:002005-09-30T22:41:00.000-07:00bgamall: my concern about New Covenant theology is...bgamall: my concern about New Covenant theology is that it often tends toward antinomianism. But what you are espousing doesn't even resemble the best of the most credible NCT proponents. What you're peddling is sheer antinomianism, and you ought to just go ahead and call it that; you'd be a lot less frustrated with the fact that most NCT people disagree with you.Phil Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00649092052031518426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1128138563976755662005-09-30T20:49:00.000-07:002005-09-30T20:49:00.000-07:00Phil, I have not communicated in the past with you...Phil, I have not communicated in the past with you. I see you are a man gifted with verbal power and creative writing. However, I am so tired of hearing about Spurgeon! Charles Spurgeon is one of the last in a long line of law preachers. In spite of obvious scriptural proofs of gospel only preaching like Paul not wanting to know anything but the gospel to the Gentiles, the Protestants to a man rejected this truth, and instead made up their own gospel. And Phil, this legalism has permeated most of New Covenant Theology as well. It is such darkness that people who claim to be Christian leaders have no clue about how divine revelation really occurs in the hearts of the elect. In the face of Acts 2:36-38 they use law to actually water down the doctrine of sovereign grace and predestination. Check out my website regarding Spurgeon where I expose his own admission that he was caught preaching the law! Of course he denied that he was law preaching, not having the strength of his own convictions I suppose. http://www.newcovenanttheology.com/spurgeon.html Gary D AndersonGary Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15499434824034613894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127454130001590892005-09-22T22:42:00.000-07:002005-09-22T22:42:00.000-07:00dude . . was that steve camp on your blog comments...dude . . was that steve camp on your blog comments?<BR/><BR/>i am sooo jealous. I used his "Fire and Ice" album as a backdrop to the dramas and messages at big baptist youth camp some years back. incredible album.<BR/><BR/>Well I am not completely EC, but many of the missionaries I encourage are starting emerging churches (especially house churches) around the world . . so maybe I could speak up on behalf of them.<BR/><BR/>Always good to hear Spurgeon. I read and quoted him so much in my Bible College days that my nickname was 'Spurgeon'. I still get his Morning by Morning each day as a MacSword module.<BR/><BR/>I dont see an immediate connection between the liberalism that Spurgeon encountered and the emerging church, although emergent theory is huge right now in scientific circles which causes me to suspect the effortless adoption of the same terms and concepts by the emerging church without asking how the Scriptures interpret and guide emergent behavior. Always scary when the same language is used by scientists and preachers and the potential for watering down the truth.<BR/><BR/>I think a more accurate parallel to the liberalism that surrounded Spurgeon at The Met would be the scientific reductionism that minimalizes miracles to a level of natural phenomena, denies the supernatural hand of God in all things (even hurricanes) and refuses to believe that God can raise the dead. Still. <BR/>This liberalism that was infatuated with the science of Spurgeon's day, and tried to align the Sciptures with rational thinking was the reason for the fundamentalist response - which was much needed and we still bask in its light.<BR/><BR/>But as for the modern day parallel to Spurgeon's London, we would have to ask the question, <BR/>"Who today is reducing God's truth from the miraculous supernatural story of God's redemption for all creation?<BR/><BR/>The Charasmatics may accuse the fundamentalists, who are denying miracles and spiritual gifts, of the same kind of liberal modernism that Spurgeon preached against.Andrew Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14605531312115198662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127452450470903702005-09-22T22:14:00.000-07:002005-09-22T22:14:00.000-07:00Modernity 2.0You need to copyright that. That's go...Modernity 2.0<BR/><BR/>You need to copyright that. That's good stuff.arthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13621525758313683265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127446104896483842005-09-22T20:28:00.000-07:002005-09-22T20:28:00.000-07:00Amen, Phil.Hear! Hear!Amen, Phil.<BR/><BR/>Hear! Hear!Ligon Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09153063931277545598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127443061871925282005-09-22T19:37:00.000-07:002005-09-22T19:37:00.000-07:00If only we could get more people to read this sort...If only we could get more people to read this sort of stuff, and see that Church History is important. <BR/><BR/>Spurgeon is uncannily relevant for today.<BR/><BR/>Google for "Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats" by Spurgeon--it could be written today.<BR/>Many sites have it.pilgrimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06341946961084387134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127426428601475232005-09-22T15:00:00.000-07:002005-09-22T15:00:00.000-07:00Carla,Perhaps they are finding the similarities be...Carla,<BR/>Perhaps they are finding the similarities between the modernists of Spurgeon's day, and the emergents of today, to be close for comfort. IOW, how can they respond? <BR/>Also I believe your blog is perceived as a bigger threat since you deal specifically with the EC. <BR/>A check of the emergent blogs has shown me that you, and emergentno are a hot topic. <BR/>You should be flattered. :-)Chris P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04390302559353767619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127421351511642082005-09-22T13:35:00.000-07:002005-09-22T13:35:00.000-07:00You know... I find this odd. Had I posted this at...You know... I find this odd. Had I posted this at my anti-emerging site, the pro-EC folks would have been all over the comment section for my not being nice. Campi's comment about being nice was pretty accurate. (I wonder if he knows just how vulgar some of these Nice Theology people can be in email when you speak out against the emerging church?)<BR/><BR/>Oddly enough, however, I <B>did</B> post this at my anti-EC site, closed the comments and welcomed the pro-EC folks to come here and comment.<BR/><BR/>Hmmm... I don't see them. I wonder why?<BR/><BR/>Maybe it's okay to fuss and argue with a girl, but if Phil posts the same thing, there's a different standard?<BR/><BR/>Curiouser... and curiouser...<BR/><BR/>SDG,<BR/>CarlaCarla Rolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09395062089776262435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127418797968732952005-09-22T12:53:00.000-07:002005-09-22T12:53:00.000-07:00Listen: if laughing at Dave Armstrong gets me demo...Listen: if laughing at Dave Armstrong gets me demoted from second place on your "Entertaining" blogroll, I'm going to delete all those posts for the sake of maintaing my traffic.<BR/><BR/>It's inhuman, I tell ya. Pratically anti-centuri0n.FX Turkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16798420127955373559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127417130346043332005-09-22T12:25:00.000-07:002005-09-22T12:25:00.000-07:00Sledgehammer said: Where is the next generation of...<B>Sledgehammer said:</B> <I>Where is the next generation of Spurgeon's for today? The pedestals are eerily empty.</I><BR/><BR/>Agreed Steve, Spurgeon is a tough act to follow, ask his son... as for today, how about John Piper?marchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10158311614104904363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127408551408970132005-09-22T10:02:00.000-07:002005-09-22T10:02:00.000-07:00Excelent post! Gotta love that old saint.Excelent post! Gotta love that old saint.Bryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01094589098767077316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127408007736735602005-09-22T09:53:00.000-07:002005-09-22T09:53:00.000-07:00Great quotes here. I would like to use the Chester...Great quotes here. I would like to use the Chesterton quote at my blog.Chris P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04390302559353767619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127407554161720762005-09-22T09:45:00.000-07:002005-09-22T09:45:00.000-07:00Reminds me and confirms to me this thought I read ...Reminds me and confirms to me this thought I read a while ago from a modern discerner...<BR/><BR/>"Post-modernity is proving to be the unfolding of the final stages in modernity, in which, as it were, the beast, now sickened and deranged, has fallen and begun to consume its own innards." - David. F. Wells - "God in the Wasteland"agonizomaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11000556496217805777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127404922448517402005-09-22T09:02:00.000-07:002005-09-22T09:02:00.000-07:00One thing I meant to say earlier is how good it is...One thing I meant to say earlier is how good it is to have a forum to talk about these things. Sometimes I develop a bit of an Elijah complex, and wonder if I am on my own in wondering and worrying about the state of contemporary 'evangelicalism'. To read your blog and the comments left here gives me a sense of fellowship and also hope.<BR/><BR/>Campi's comment about the empty pedestals is so true, but perhaps it takes the likes of what we are witnessing today to genuinely unite those who stand for the doctrines of grace - and move us to train and gird our minds for future battles.<BR/>Thanks again.Family Blogshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18139302128402850028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127400208561146222005-09-22T07:43:00.000-07:002005-09-22T07:43:00.000-07:00Ezra 3:6 From the first day of the seventh month t...Ezra 3:<BR/>6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.<BR/><BR/>10And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel. 11And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD,<BR/><BR/> "For he is good,<BR/> for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel."<BR/> And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away. <BR/><BR/>There is much revelation in these verses. Apparently Nebuchudnezzar<BR/>had so thoroughly destroyed the temple, that even the foundations had to be repoured. The prophets knew, the apostles knew, Luther knew and Spurgeon also. Time to pour the concrete again, and come out of her my people. Good post!Chris P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04390302559353767619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127399847368397292005-09-22T07:37:00.000-07:002005-09-22T07:37:00.000-07:00If Spurgeon were alive today he would most surely ...If Spurgeon were alive today he would most surely be a part of the blogosphere. Most assuredly, his "blogentations" would be utterly despised by most of evangelicalism today not only for his unwavering dedication to the veracity of Scripture, but that he wouldn't play politics with the truth to keep "the peace" among others within evangelical circles for the sake of a superficial unity. May his tribe increase! Where is the next generation of Spurgeon's for today? The pedestals are eerily empty.<BR/><BR/>Courtesy of pomos and the "emerging pomos" being "NICE" seems to be the new theology now. Truth be gone--congeniality is everything. How we say what we say is more important than what is actually being said. Tragic. We forget that Satan one time had a very "NICE" conversation of faith with Eve... <BR/><BR/>Great post brother--any Spurgeon articles are always worth an investment of our time to read. Thank you Phil. <BR/><BR/>Campi<BR/>Col. 1:9-14SJ Camphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15844201288864307481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127397043045776152005-09-22T06:50:00.000-07:002005-09-22T06:50:00.000-07:00"To us, at any rate, the signs of the times porten..."To us, at any rate, the signs of the times portend no danger greater than that which can arise from landmarks removed, ramparts thrown down, foundations shaken, and doctrinal chaos paramount."<BR/>-----------------------<BR/>It seems that the "no truth" folks want to collapse the Faith into a pile of rubble but keep the steeple sticking up so they can say, "See, we still like church!"<BR/><BR/>While they place dynamite under the foundations (which they cannot really destroy), they call us "uncharitable" for saying "You can't do that!"<BR/><BR/>Spurgeon's thoughts are comforting.<BR/><BR/>And we thought we were into something new...<BR/><BR/>JRushJohn R.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00494719223133966785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127391205332990472005-09-22T05:13:00.000-07:002005-09-22T05:13:00.000-07:00Just wanted to drop a thank you for your posts on ...Just wanted to drop a thank you for your posts on Spurgeon. They have been great, and I have enjoyed the great resource at the Spurgeon Archive.Eddiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10267414001091535012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127382037739338932005-09-22T02:40:00.000-07:002005-09-22T02:40:00.000-07:00So much of Spurgeon's writing are spookily contemp...So much of Spurgeon's writing are spookily contemporary. I was reading a little paper-back some months ago that really could have been Spurgeon writing to the letters page of Christianity magazine in reply to Mr Chalke.<BR/><BR/> Another voice that is just as fresh about our modern woes is JC Ryle.<BR/><BR/> And, 'Screwtape proposes a toast' could quite easily be a simple descriptive of todays education system, but that's a tad off-topic.Kayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14873728356115837593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127379260014187342005-09-22T01:54:00.000-07:002005-09-22T01:54:00.000-07:00I loved it. As "the scribbler" noted there is rea...I loved it. As "the scribbler" noted there is really nothing new under the sun. Orthodoxy will forever be hated, forever be attacked. But that never stops God. He will have it His way.S.G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09746381491495106590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12723103.post-1127378463536871172005-09-22T01:41:00.000-07:002005-09-22T01:41:00.000-07:00Once again, Mr Johnson, a superb post. I find it e...Once again, Mr Johnson, a superb post. I find it enormously comforting to realise that there really is 'nothing new under the sun'. <BR/><BR/>To me, Spurgeon's comments carry precisely the right balance of contemporary concern and absolute confidence in God's sovereignty. Sometimes when I read articles on emerging websites or in emerging journals and books I feel my blood run cold. I feel a sense of outrage that the central truths of the atonement suddenly seem to be up for grabs. <BR/><BR/>This historical perspective greatly boosts my confidence, but also shows me the increasing need for us to contend for the faith, to take a Spurgeon stand in the face of increasing apostasy. <BR/><BR/>Brilliant stuff. I have only one question: did Spurgeon do any comic book covers? I would love to see them if he did!!!Family Blogshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18139302128402850028noreply@blogger.com