Reformed Blogging

It's been some time since I paid John 6:66 some attention. Try to notice that the verse is from Chapter 6 and it is verse 66. You get the number 666 which is the number of the Beast. Though Psalm 66:6 doesn't have a negative message. Isaiah 66:6 talks about the LORD's judgment on His enemies. In this case, the Apostle John wrote the verse that really seems to show the upcoming apostasy. However, take note that Stephen Langton created the chapters and verse system. Later on, John Wycliffe used the chapter pattern from Langton. This helped us find the verse so easily. Was it a deliberate attempt to link 666 in Revelation to John 6:66? It seems like it or it isn't. But what we can't deny is that John 6:66 addresses the negative message with the crowd. There were some members in the crowd who went to Jesus, not because of the miracles but because they were fed. They were shallow seekers (John 6:26-27). It's part of the Bread of Life Discourse in verses 22-59. There...

Jeremiah 6:16 has one verse often used by preachers to call for an old-fashioned revival. The world tends to say that the world is "old-fashioned" because of its refusal to adhere to modernistic lies. I'm not saying that modernization is a bad thing. What I want to emphasize is that modernistic preachers are dangerous. It would be a good thing for a church to embrace new technology but not to sacrifice old-fashioned Christian values in accepting them. It's good for a church to accept technology like using Microsoft Powerpoint, digital censorship to filter out unsavory sites from the Internet in the church grounds, use a powerful ventilation system, to provide temperature checks as some churches re-open (limited) during this pandemic, and other new technology. What a church should not do is to embrace modernistic heresies or any heresy that defies the old-fashioned or timeless values that the Church must abide on from the Bible. The problem in Jeremiah 6:16 is the peop...

I remembered the time after I got saved that I was guilt-induced many times. I had an aunt-by-marriage who came from an Evangelical background who later converted to Roman Catholicism. I was told about so and so was once a Protestant, found the truth, and became a Roman Catholic. At first, I was wondering should I go back to Rome? But the more I studied the Bible - the more I realized I had to let go of past ambitions that didn't match up with it. I was told to read the book "Rome Sweet Home" which two Presbyterians became Roman Catholics later on. No one can deny that Steve Ray was formerly a Southern Baptist. Some members of Catholic.com are former Evangelicals. But does that mean that Roman Catholicism is the true Church? Far from it. If you had the Bible known to you by God's grace then you can no longer accept a lie. But these Evangelicals converted into becoming Roman Catholics. John MacArthur's book "Hard to Believe" even had some of his former se...

These verses can be very confusing until you start to do a deeper study. What does it mean to see a sin unto death and sin not unto death? Opponents of eternal security such as the Roman Catholic institution, anti-Catholic cults claiming to be Christian denominations (such as the Seventh Day Adventists), and preachers like Dan Corner will say, "I/we told you that you can lose your salvation when you sin certain sins!" I thought this would mean the sin of apostasy or the person who died in their sins. Yet, John uses the term "brother". Then again Jewish people referred to each other as such. Here's an excerpt from John F. MacArthur's article " The Sin unto Death " which somehow agrees with what I think: First, the sin in question may be that of a non-Christian leading to eternal death. In that case it would be a final rejection of Jesus Christ, such as that committed by those who attributed His miracles to the power of Satan (Matt. 12:31–32). Such u...

I was just reading through "Thru the Bible" commentary of Vernon McGee on Revelation 2-3 and both are rather long expositions . The seven churches in Asia Minor (which today are politically in Europe like Russia is) are being addressed and they are all near each other. What was the reason behind the writing of the letters? I believe these were ongoing events that John was writing these churches. Studying Revelation is very tricky especially when you are dealing with historical events and future events. Not every event in Revelation is unfulfilled. Some events in Revelation are still ongoing. I believe that the Great Whore of Revelation is the Roman Catholic institution. What are the basic summaries of each church? Let's consider these points from the seven churches: Ephesus - The cold orthodox church that teaches the right doctrine but has forgotten its first love. Smyrna - The church that is currently suffering from persecution. Pergamum - The church that ne...

I've begun my study on Jude and I thought about other Greek words revealed from "Thru the Bible Commentary". Now, it's time to do another study on a verse that would warn about false teachings. Jude who calls himself the brother of James (I believe this is the earthly maternal half-brother of Jesus) had written his short epistle. James wrote a longer one than Jude. However, we can't dismiss Jude at all! Jude 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. (KJV)  For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (ESV)  For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among...

Sometimes, some people in the Bible are mentioned only once or a few times and never again. Who can remember Mattias who replaced Judas Iscariot? He was only mentioned a few times and we know nothing of him in contrast to the Apostle Paul. Paul has mentioned a couple of names in his epistles and we never see them again. John himself has also mentioned names too such as Gauis, Demetrius, and Diotrephes in his third epistle. 3rd John mentions the wicked man Diotrephes. 9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. 10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. 11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. (KJV)  9 I have written...

It's very easy to say that Joshua Harris is proof that eternal security isn't true. On the contrary, I would like to defend the fact that he's proof that eternal security or the perseverance of the saints is indeed real. Did he lose his salvation the moment he apologized to the LGBT community and announced he was no longer a Christian? I would have probably said yes before when I once believed it was possible to lose your salvation by getting out of that saving relationship. Rather, we have to see the truth of the Scriptures of him as a false convert. 1 John 2:19 says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."  Harris was once a pastor. Does that mean he became a Christian? Judas Iscariot was once a disciple but it didn't make him a believer. John 17:12 further cements that Judas Iscariot w...

I listened to the lecture on the " The Rise of Cults in America " by W. Robert Godfrey and I'm urged to write this new post. There's the rising trend that has a so-called prophet that says he (or in some cases she) has come to restore the "true church" to its original roots, that they had a revelation from God that the Church had apostasized and it must be restored. But there's one huge problem with that claim. That claim makes God a liar. I would rather trust the words of Jesus or the apostles in the Bible than any religious lunatic because this is what Jesus guaranteed: Matthew 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it . 1 Corinthians 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ . Jesus Himself said that He'd built His Church upon the Solid Ro...

It's no surprise that I get attacked by Roman Catholic faith defenders. It's expected they hurl all sorts of false accusations about me. It's no surprise I get attacked by atheists, Muslims, vile people who call themselves liberal and pseudo-Christian cults either. It's been expected and I'm to expect it. But the worst problem for me is when there are people who claim to be Evangelicals. My reason is because whenever there's someone claiming to be a Baptist or Evangelical I'm willing to work with that person. Some of them may even seem Christian because they're anti-Catholic. But the biggest threat is that they're actually false brothers. They're not necessarily working for the Jesuits or the Vatican. Some of them are anti-Catholic but they're spreading the false doctrine of Antinomianism. The other claim to be Evangelicals or Baptists but they're in league in Rome. Either way, both sides are false brothers and sisters that I must be...

Although the article I found about  Andy Stanley trashing expository preaching was last May 8, 2015 but I found it to be an interesting read. Here's an answer that Stanley gave that made me go dizzy just reading it: Guys that preach verse-by-verse through books of the Bible– that is just cheating. It’s cheating because that would be easy, first of all. That isn’t how you grow people. No one in the Scripture modeled that. There’s not one example of that. I'm really amazed at that really stupid answer. I feel like my stomach is churning too fast and that he calls it "cheating". Cheating? I really want to ask people who are against expository preaching that it's "cheating"? So don't tell me any teacher who expands on subject matters in just any subject in education like history, math and science are "cheating"? On the contrary, verse by verse preaching is not easy. Taking verses out of context is very easy because all you need to do ...