I first came in contact with Keith Mathison while in college. I attended an historically Dispensational college where a giant Clarence Larkin Dispensational chart adorned one of the classrooms. I came across a new book through Tabletalk magazine called Dispensationalism: Rightly Dividing the People of God? published by P&R in...

Continue Reading An Interview With Keith Mathison...

The Proverbs tell us "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom and the one who gets understanding" (Proverbs 3:13). The beginning of wisdom is fearing the Lord, the path of wisdom is worshiping the Lord, and the end of wisdom is falling down in the presence of the Lord before...

Continue Reading The Lifelong Pursuit of Godly Wisdom ...

by John Piper The inner essence of worship is treasuring Jesus as infinitely valuable above everything. The outer forms of worship are the acts that show how much we treasure God. Therefore, all of life is meant to be worship because God said whether you eat or drink or whatever...

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Last weekend marked the Ligonier Ministries 2009 West Coast conference in Seattle, Washington. Alistair Begg and Michael Horton joined R.C. Sproul in examining the significance of the resurrection of Christ for worship, preaching, apologetics, and other issues. Our friend Alex Chediak was there as well, capturing on the blog some...

Continue Reading 2009 West Coast Conference Blog Round-up...

by Terry Johnson Rich people are materialistic. We all know it. All they care about is their money and things. Or so I thought. My background consists of a blue-collar neighborhood and an inner-city high school in Southern California. My quick judgment of wealthy people, when first I encountered them,...

Continue Reading The Gain of Godliness...

Jason Stellman, in Dual Citizens:As the saints leave their houses each and every Lord's Day morning and assemble with the rest of God's people, both on earth and in heaven, they are making a much louder statement to the world than a fish emblem on their bumpers ever will (even...

Continue Reading It is man, not God, who is irrelevant...

by R.C. Sproul By grace, God offers the righteousness of Christ to all who put their trust in Him. For all who believe, all who have faith in Him, the merit of Christ is reckoned to their account. Does this exclude good works in the life of the believer? By...

Continue Reading Bearing Spiritual Fruit ...

Dr. Sproul brought the conference to a close with a message entitled He Is Risen! -- The Resurrection and Worship.  INTRODUCTION Dr. Sproul read from Exodus 19, the preamble to the giving of the Decalogue. Imagine that you were there: "On the morning of the third day there were thunders...

Continue Reading 2009 West Coast Conference - Session 8 - R.C. Sproul...

Dr. Begg returned to the pulpit to bring a message entitled In the Likeness of His Resurrection -- The Bodily Resurrection of the Believer, taking his text from 2 Corinthians 5.   INTRODUCTIONHe then read a portion of a message that a pastor might deliver at a funeral.  A text...

Continue Reading 2009 West Coast Conference - Session 7 - Alistair Begg...

The Rev. Jason Stellman is the pastor of Exile Presbyterian Church in the Seattle area.  He is the author of a new book entitled Dual Citizens: Worship and Life Between the Already and the Not Yet, available from Reformation Trust.  In this breakout session, Stellman unpacked a chapter in his...

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"What do you think of Barth's view of the resurrection?"HORTON: Barth was considered a fundamentalist among his contemporaries for believing in the bodily resurrection. Others have been more clear.  Many in Germany and in Switzerland at the time denied either the virgin birth or the bodily resurrection or both.   ...

Continue Reading 2009 West Coast Conference - Session 6 - Q&A - Begg, Horton, Sproul...

Michael Horton began his message reading Paul's Mars Hill sermon from Acts 17.  He then cited a recent Newsweek article from Lisa Miller.  Ms. Miller opined "we're all Hindus now" and her reasoning was (in part) that we all believe in the continuity of life (into an afterlife stage where...

Continue Reading 2009 West Coast Conference - Session 5 - Michael Horton...

As we look around America today, we see what our forefathers envisioned -- a land of freedom and opportunity. Even households at the "poverty level" in this country today have a much better standard of living than those in third world countries. Yet, the resounding theme throughout America today is...

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R.C. Sproul has for many decades proclaimed and defended the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As the founder and president of Ligonier Ministries, his teaching can be heard worldwide on the program Renewing Your Mind, which is available on 230 radio outlets in the United States and in fifty countries worldwide....

Continue Reading 2009 West Coast Conference - Session 4 - R.C. Sproul...

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Continue Reading 2009 West Coast Conference - Session 3 - Q&A - Begg, Horton, Sproul...

Michael Horton is J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California, and he co-hosts The White Horse Inn, a nationally syndicated radio talk-show that explores issues revolving around Reformation Theology in American Christianity. Dr. Horton is a minister in the United Reformed Churches of North...

Continue Reading 2009 West Coast Conference - Session 2 - Michael Horton...

Alistair Begg led us off with the first session.  Dr. Begg has served in pastoral ministry for over thirty years, ministering in churches in Scotland and the United States. He has served as senior pastor of Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio, since 1983, and he can be heard teaching...

Continue Reading 2009 West Coast Conference - Session I - Alistair Begg...

by Derek Thomas "The Holy Spirit has exhorted the faithful to continue clapping their hands for joy until the advent of the promised Redeemer," wrote John Calvin in a comment on Psalm 47:1­2. Paul would heartily concur! Writing from a prison cell from which he had no certain knowledge of...

Continue Reading A Light in Dark Places...

by Tom Ascol One of the most popular sermons I have preached is entitled "How to Fire Your Pastor." I should have been suspicious when so many people requested copies of it! My purpose wasn't to advocate such action; rather, I wanted to help the church know what to do...

Continue Reading A Solemn Discharge of Duty...

Ligonier Academy of Biblical and Theological Studies is accepting applications from qualified candidates for admission to the Doctor of Ministry degree program. Our inaugural courses were held in July 2009, and the response of our first students has been overwhelmingly positive. We are very pleased to announce the following upcoming classes.     2010...

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We are pleased to announce the arrival of the newly revised and expanded editions of Crucial Questions from Reformation Trust Publishing. This series is designed to present Dr. Sproul's insights on various questions that tend to come up often in the minds of evangelicals today. The booklets deal with issues that...

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Released just a few weeks ago, hundreds of people have already purchased The Reformation Study Bible iPhone app. Here's what a few iTunes users had to say:I have a couple of different Bible apps on my iPod. But The Reformation Study Bible app outdoes even the ESV Study Bible app. Well worth...

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Truth and Consequences by Gene Edward Veith God is a unity of distinct persons. The one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So says the doctrine of the Trinity. Some people believe in the unity and oneness of God, but deny that He consists in different persons. Heretics such...

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In his new book, Dual Citizens, Jason Stellman writes about Christians who pursue pragmatism at the expense of doctrine, and popularity in lieu of the gospel:Paul had an odd way of motivating people, especially his young protégé, Timothy. Only a handful of verses into his second letter to Timothy, the...

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by R.C. Sproul God said to Isaiah: "Go and tell this people: 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,...

Continue Reading Opening Our Ears to Hear ...

Ligonier Academy of Biblical and Theological Studies once again establishes Ligonier as a destination for study, fellowship, and collegial interaction essential to Ligonier's goal to "further equip Christians to know what they believe, why they believe it, how to live it, and how to share it." We are pleased to...

Continue Reading The Faces of Ministry at Ligonier: Fowler White...

by R.C. Sproul By grace, God offers the righteousness of Christ to all who put their trust in Him. For all who believe, all who have faith in Him, the merit of Christ is reckoned to their account. Does this exclude good works in the life of the believer? By...

Continue Reading Bearing Spiritual Fruit ...

This past summer has been a fiery trial for believers in Iran. Since the fraudulent elections, the attempted "green revolution," and the subsequent inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Christians in Iran, particularly Muslim converts, have undergone direct detainment. Our contact, who ministers through Trans World Radio, reports that 110 believers from the...

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by R.C. Sproul Jr.Why do the wicked flee when none pursue? Guilt. Why do we by nature exchange the glory of the Creator for corruptible things? Guilt. Why do the nations rage, and the rulers take counsel together? Guilt. Why do the sheep know their Master's voice? Forgiveness. Why do...

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Our understanding of the nature and authority of Scripture is key to our theology. What we think of the Bible will have ramifications on what we think of everything else. What then are some helpful books for those seeking to understand the issues involved? While by no means exhaustive, here...

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by Mark E. RossPhilip Schaff, the distinguished nineteenth century church historian, calls the saying in our title "the watchword of Christian peacemakers" (History of the Christian Church, Vol. 7, p. 650). Often attributed to great theologians such as Augustine, it comes from an otherwise undistinguished German Lutheran theologian of the...

Continue Reading In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity...

Get an additional 10% off the normally discounted prices for all resources at www.ligonier.org through the end of September. Enter promotion code 10PCT at checkout. Offer available online only. ...

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by R.C. Sproul There is an oft-neglected principle taught in the New Testament. I call it the principle of "graduated responsibility." This principle is taught by Jesus in Luke 12:48: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded" (NIV). This saying is part of the parable of...

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Scenes from the Life of Christ is the newest recording from Ligonier's music division. For composer Tom Howard, the music emerged after meditating on the Scriptures, where the emotional impact of each passage inspired themes, melodies, and textures. Hear the composer's heart for these timeless stories expressed in vivid and dramatic...

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Tolle Lege: Take Up and Read by Keith A. Mathison The relationship between the Mosaic covenant and the new covenant remains one of the most controversial and difficult topics in theology. As the notable American theologian Jonathan Edwards said, "There is perhaps no part of divinity attended with so much...

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Seek Ye First by R.C. Sproul Jr. Unity matters. However, so does diversity. Indeed, unity and diversity unite in the very nature of God. God is three persons united in one essence. The world around us fails to see how God's creation reflects the Trinity, and it always therefore either...

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by R.C. Sproul The key to understanding the cry of Jesus from the cross is found in Paul's letter to the Galatians: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree'"...

Continue Reading Treasuring Redemption's Price...

by R.C. Sproul The Westminster Catechism defines sin as "any want of conformity to or transgression of the law of God." We notice here that sin is defined both in negative and positive terms. The negative aspect is indicated by the words "want of conformity." It points to a lack...

Continue Reading Exploring the Boundaries of God's Law ...

Fire from the BrambleJudges 9:42-49So each of the people likewise cut down his own bough... put them against the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire above them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women (Judg. 9:49). After defeating Gaal and...

Continue Reading Tabletalk Devotional from
September 11, 2001...

Generation to Generation by Bruce K. Waltke "Better than a bronze sculpture by Cellini, or a marble one by Bernini, or even a Beethoven symphony," I was saying to my colleagues, while our waitress with tray in hand waited attentively for my climatic closure, "I enjoy a great sermon," whereupon...

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Recently, I posted a blog on the nineteenth century debate between Charles Hodge and John Williamson Nevin regarding the Lord's Supper. In that blog, I posted links only to the documents related specifically to the Lord's Supper debate. It was suggested that it might be helpful to provide the links...

Continue Reading Princeton vs. Mercersburg: Some Primary Sources...

Pro Ecclesia: For the Church by Michael A.G. Haykin In the final letter that we have from the apostle Paul, written in a lonely prison cell in Rome while he was expecting death for the sake of the gospel, he reminded his closest friend Timothy of the utter necessity of...

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Recently, I completed a series of posts listing what I believe to be the most helpful commentaries on each book of the Bible. What I would like to do now is something similar with other biblical, theological, and historical topics. This will be, Lord willing, the first in a series...

Continue Reading Systematic Theologies: Recommended Reading...

Pastor's Perspective by Gary L.W. Johnson The English Reformer Hugh Latimer once remarked, "We ought never to regard unity so much that we would or should forsake God's Word for her sake." Wise words from a man who went to the stake, rather than compromise the truth of the gospel....

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by R.C. Sproul Let's continue the experiment we began in the previous meditation. Study the excerpts from the apostle Paul that accompany this reading. Does this sound like a man who believed the law of God has no place in the Christian life? Read Paul's writings carefully and you will...

Continue Reading Reaping the Benefits of the Law ...

by R.C. Sproul A survey by George Gallup Jr. revealed a startling trend in our culture. According to Gallup, the evidence seems to indicate that there are no clear behavioral patterns that distinguish Christians from non-Christians in our society. We all seem to be marching to the same drummer, looking...

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by R.C. Sproul Albert Einstein was once asked by a student, "Dr. Einstein, how many feet are there in a mile?" To the utter astonishment of the student, Einstein replied, "I don't know." The student was sure the great professor was joking. Surely Einstein would know a simple fact that...

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Right Now Counts Forever by R.C. Sproul Is the Reformation over? There have been several observations rendered on this subject by those I would call "erstwhile evangelicals." One of them wrote, "Luther was right in the sixteenth century, but the question of justification is not an issue now." A second...

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Coram Deo: Living Before the Face of God by Burk Parsons We have all heard it said, and some of you have even said it: "Let's just agree to disagree." If memory serves me, I have never used that expression, primarily because I don't think it makes much sense and...

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The September edition of Tabletalk is out. This month's theme is "What Is True Unity?" It examines biblical unity between Christians as well as the difference between true and false ecclesiastical unity. Contributors include R.C. Sproul, Michael Haykin, Gary Johnson, Albert Mohler, Mark Ross, Thomas Schreiner and Bruce Waltke. We...

Continue Reading Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, September 2009...