Longer days and less vacation

When the nations economy began to sink largely because credit and debt problems, what was the President's answer to the catastrophe? Print off a trillion dollars and sink the whole nation into almost inescapable debt.

Now the President seems to be turning his problem solving skills to our nation's failing Public Schools and true to form he's come up with a plan to solve this problem also; more of it! Longer days and less vacation, that will really do our families some good!

Obama Proposes Longer School Day, Shorter Summer Vacation

Fox News

"President says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe....." more...

Archeologists find 'Joseph-era' coins in Egypt

An interesting little article at the Jerusalem Post:

Archeologists find 'Joseph-era' coins in Egypt

“Archeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian coins bearing the name and image of the biblical Joseph, Cairo's Al Ahram newspaper recently reported. Excerpts provided by MEMRI show that the coins were discovered among a multitude of unsorted artifacts stored at the Museum of Egypt….” more...

The world is a great inn

"The world is a great inn; we are guests in this inn. Travellers, when they are met in their inn, do not spend all their time in speaking about the inn; they are to lodge there but a few hours and are gone. They speak about their home and the country to which they are travelling. So when we meet together, we should not be talking only about the world; we are to leave this presently. We should talk about our heavenly country."

Thomas Watson (1620 - 1686), Heaven Taken By Storm

Good quote Kent! Thanks.

Socialism: Society Coveting by way of Law

"The names for the society whereby men can covet everything that is their neighbor's may vary: socialism, communism, a welfare economy, rugged individualism, fascism, and national socialism are a few of the names common to history. Their goal is the same: under a facade of morality, a system is created to seize what is properly our neighbor's. Not surprisingly, such a system shows a general decline in morality. Theft, murder, adultery, and false witness all increase, because man is a unity. If he can legalize and "justify" seizing his neighbor's wealth or property, he will then legalize and justify taking his neighbor's wife."

-R.J. Rushdoony in Institutes of Biblical Law

Love Constrained to Obedience

A good poem/hymn by William Cowper (1731-1800) a friend of John Newton, writer of Amazing Grace.

No strength of nature can suffice
To serve the Lord aright:
And what she has she misapplies,
For want of clearer light.

How long beneath the law I lay
In bondage and distress;
I toil’d the precept to obey,
But toil’d without success.

Then, to abstain from outward sin
Was more than I could do;
Now, if I feel its power within,
I feel I hate it too.

Then all my servile works were done
A righteousness to raise;
Now, freely chosen in the Son,
I freely choose His ways.

“What shall I do,” was then the word,
“That I may worthier grow?”
“What shall I render to the Lord?”
Is my inquiry now.

To see the law by Christ fulfilled
And hear His pardoning voice,
Changes a slave into a child,
And duty into choice.

William Cooper

Life of John Calvin Part 21, 22

New at Polemos
Biographical
John Calvin
Reformation, The

• Life of John Calvin Part 21
  (The Solas' of the Reformation)
  Joe Morecraft III
• Life of John Calvin Part 22
  (Calvin and Queen Marquerite)
  Joe Morecraft III

New at Polemos...

New at Polemos
Catholicism

• Saved While Officiating Mass
  A Personal Testimony by converted Italian Roman Catholic Priest, Franco Maggiotto.

Ordering Pizza in the Brave New World

Someone else sent me this link. Here's what it's going to be like trying to order a Pizza pretty soon!

• Ordering Pizza in the Brave New World

Saved While Officiating Mass Part 3

"This gave me a lot courage. Of course, I had trouble. I was pushed into another church, an old parish, but with nine churches. They thought that in going around I would have lost my energy and my thoughts to study, but I went and I managed to preach. But almost all the time I was not happy because of my sin. Now I knew where to find out the truth, but what about my sin? What about my soul? I was spending nights kneeling in front of the altar, and the caretaker was helping me in the morning, sometimes because I was kneeling there until the morning. But the Lord had pity on me and He had pity on me just when I was blaspheming.

I remember one day it was 12 noon Sunday morning and I was leading the singing Mass. I had two priests with me and 25 young people in white dresses on one side, 25 dressed in white on the other side, and the choir was singing beautifully. I was at the foot of the altar, just praying, "You are a cruel God, why do you not kill me here? Why don't you destroy me." And while I was washing my hands at the altar, one young man read Hebrews 10:10; it was like a shock to my mind. While I was battling in my heart, he read, "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." And I was shocked. "You little stupid man. Do you think that I gave up my life for nothing? Do you think that if everybody had said no I would have saved you for nothing? You stupid man, who do you think you are? I saved you because I wanted to save you, because I love you." It was like a hammer in my mind, "and every priest standeth daily ministering and offering often times the same sacrifices which can never take away sins." And I said to the priests who were with me, "Do you hear Him? Have you heard him?" I was looking at them, and they were looking at me, staring at me. "Look, look what is written here. He did the job, we are useless." And I was looking around this big church. The people were groaning and crying, and I said, "But He has done the job and their sins I will remember no more. He did the job, we are useless." I was so happy, I was crying and laughing. Finally something was clear in my mind — that I had got the sack [was fired], and nobody was more happy. Nobody that got the sack was more happy than me, to know that I had been sacked. Once for ever, once for all, He did the job.

They said that I was ill, that all this responsibility for a young man like me was too much. Anyway, I was so happy, I was trying to tell my Bishop the same thing when he came to see me. They did not want me to resign, but I could not say the Mass any more because I was sacked. So they gave me a big college with 800 young people and, of course students and teachers and so on. I was there, but I did not want to attend the Mass. I was trying to even teach the others and the nuns. They were very attentive. It was Saturday evening and the people came to confess. I was asking them, "Why are you here?" "To confess my sin." "Do you love Jesus?" "Yes" "Why do you love Him?" "Because He died for my sins." "So, if He died for your sins, go and praise Him. Why do you come to tell your sins to me? What have I got to do with your sin?" And so the confession was very quick. But the nuns went to the Bishop, and finally I saw that they could not understand. So I left forever the Roman Catholic Church, with my people following me. I had studied in the University of Rome, and in England, and in Holland. I thought that many Protestants had thrown away the Bible. But then I met many born-again Christians, these people with whom I could say that, "Thy God is my God, Thy people are my people." So I have plenty of Christian fellowship now. I am in contact with many priests. Two years ago, I preached to 3,000 priests in Rome. A lot of Christian communities are growing up all over Italy. It is my desire to lead Roman Catholics to Christ, and if at all possible to convert even the Pope."

Abbot & Costello Explain Obama's Stimulus Plan For Workers

A friend sent this to me:

Saved While Officiating Mass Part 2

"When we finished the first translation of the Gospel of Matthew, my parish priest was really upset. He was upset because I was teaching the Bible. "If they know what we know they will never come back, they will never come to the church." But anyway when we came to the end of this chapter something became clear. Jesus saying to His apostles "Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and Lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world." (Matthew 28:20).

So yes, Jesus Christ said to His apostles, "Who listens to you, listens to me, who despises you, despises me." But Jesus never said to His Apostles, Go and teach whatsoever you like; go and teach whatsoever will make you a very important man; go and teach whatsoever will build up a big powerful earthly church; go and teach whatever will make the people happy, and if they despise you, they despise me. He, Jesus, said, "Go and teach whatsoever I have commanded you," everything I have already said to you. And, of course, if you go, and if you say whatsoever I have commanded you, no more and no less, then if they despise you, they despise me. And so I started to think that if there was a gap, I had to see more and more.

So, I read the Scriptures more. And the more you read, the more the grass grows, and I found myself preaching some things that were against me.

I was not using any more my sermon on Sunday mornings to build up my authority, but I was using my sermon against me. But this brought me into trouble. At the beginning they pushed me to the 6 a.m. Mass. In the morning I had very few people, just a few ladies saying their rosaries. I could cry and shout there. But in a few weeks, the 6 a.m. Mass was packed. They knew that something was going to happen, so the Bishop called me, and he was very upset. And he told me that he had wanted to send me into another parish. I was promoted into a big parish of 35,000 people in the town of Imperia, with a new church, a priest under me, and so on.

Out there I found myself in a good position for one so young, I was a senior priest, and I liked to go there with all the other priests around me, listening to people and saying, "Oh, he is so young, he has a good career; what a good looking man." When I look back on it now I am ashamed. But in myself, I was not happy. I tried to do some exegesis. I tried to find out something from the Scriptures, and always when I did that I drew people. Sometimes the people were coming by buses, but again I drew trouble with my authorities. The Cardinal told me there was no truth outside of the church. And he said that when Jesus went up to heaven He gave up His authority into the hand of the Apostles, so the Christian should seek from the Apostle, which is the Pope, guidance and teaching, preaching, teaching, rebuking, and so on. And so I went back, but the people pushed me and the young people pushed. So, I told them that when we come together, I would open the Bible to see what the Lord would do. And so we gather together with these young people. I remember now how we opened at Galatians, and I read Galatians 1. When I reached verse 8,1 could not quote any more, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." I was shocked, literally shocked. Here the Apostle Paul who built up his people to suffer, who loved his people more than his life, was saying to his people, "If I preached to you any other gospel, please throw me away." If any of the Apostles preach to you any other gospel, please throw them away because there is no salvation in the Apostles.

There is not salvation even in an angel who comes from heaven.

We have salvation in the Word of God. So, I said, now I know where I have to start, where I can find out. And I went on with my people. My Bishop was very clever and knew how to make me stop. He said, "You are very proud, who do you think you are? You think that you can understand the Scriptures better than me, better than the Pope?" When the bishop said I was proud, I knew that I was proud. I knew that I liked my position, but now I knew where to look to find the answer — the Truth. I knew that I was a beggar, I knew that I was a poor sinner, and sin was still there to destroy me.

I turned then into the Old Testament to find out where our God said to the prophets, to the fathers, go and interpret my Word. I went to see where God gave up His authority in interpreting the Word, but I could not find the words. So, I went into the New Testament, and I did not find any Scripture, any idea where Jesus Christ gave up His authority to interpret the Scriptures. He never said to the Apostles, go and interpret my Scripture. And then I saw something very clearly. I do not know if it is clear for you, but for me it was very clear in those days there in John 14:26. Jesus Christ telling the apostles before going up to heaven, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." — not in the name of the Pope or the Bishop or the Catholic Peter; not in the name of the pastor, but in My Name. He shall teach you. He is the interpreter. God never gave up His authority to interpret the Scripture."

Saved While Officiating Mass Part 1

Its been a little over ten years ago now that I went to hear Mr. Maggiotto speak at Dr. Joel Beeke's church, I believe it was, in Grand Rapids Michigan and give a very powerful testimony of how God saved him in the middle of performing a mass. I believe that Mr. Maggiotto has passed away since then but I just recently found this flier that I had received when going to hear him and I thought I would share it here in two or three parts.

Saved While Officiating Mass
A Personal Testimony by converted Italian Roman Catholic Priest,
Franco Maggiotto.

When I was in my teens, I was in the Catholic Church. I was going to University to do a degree in philosophy, and I was working in an organization called Catholic Action. I was very active in the Catholic Church, but it did not give me meaning to my life. All these things could not suffocate the sense of sin that I had in my heart. I had in my soul the uselessness of everything. I despaired.

I had everything that a young man could have. My family was well grounded with feet in the ground as we say in Italy. They had money. So I had everything I wanted. I had everything that with human power you could have, but I did not have that which a man must have to live. You can have everything that you have that which a man must have to live. You can have everything that you want, but you are just alive; you do not live.

You can't live without the meaning of life; the sense of life that only the life that comes from above can give you.

So, I went to my Bishop telling these things to him. My Bishop said that all of these things were helpful; that I was a very nice boy, but I did not need to have this kind of stupidity. Because Jesus Christ, before going up to heaven, gave up all His own authority into the hand of Peter, into the hand of the Pope, and the Apostles. Therefore in the church I would find the Kingdom of God. I would find everything about my sin. The church had all the means in the sacraments to cleanse souls and to cleanse even my soul, to make me ready to have a relationship with God. I could use the sacraments to cleanse my soul, to reach through the sacrament a sure way to meet God. And so I chose immediately as many times the young people do with enthusiasm, the hardest that the Catholic Church had, and I became a hermit. I went into a hermitage, just on a hill near Rome. I could see Rome from there. I shaved only twice a week. We did not have any hair at all. I was dressed in just one big dress made from wool, the same in winter and the same in summer. In summer the heat was terrible, and in the winter it was so cold, and the wind was blowing wherever I went. I was doing all these things with all my heart to try to destroy my sin through earthly power, through human will. I had to reach God and I was almost killing myself.

The doctor told me that I had to leave after almost one year. I planned to come back later on when I was older. I went to work in a seminary to study theology. I became a priest, and I was sent into a parish, a big parish with another parish priest. He was more than 80, so I had to do everything.

I tried to be very nice to the people. I was sad, but I was nice to the people, and I saw that the people were very much around me. I enjoyed being a priest, but I was not happy in my soul, in my heart. And notwithstanding everything I did, I did not have anything with which to meet God. I did not have any sense of assurance. My sin was still there. Always when I went to ask, they just told me what to read in the gospel of Luke, and one verse was really a stumbling block for me.

This sentence in the hand of religious power, in the hand of human reason - Jesus Christ saying to His Apostles, "He that heareth you hears me, and he that despises you, despise me, and he that despise me, despises him that sent me." So my bishop said to me that before going up to heaven, Jesus Christ gave up all His authority to us. Therefore, if you do not listen to us, you do not listen to Jesus. If you despise Jesus, you despise God. So I was even afraid of thinking. I did not need to think. I needed just to trust my Bishop.

But one day, almost in desperation, some young people and I started to translate the New Testament from the Greek. It was good fun at the beginning but the more we went on, we saw the gap, and the biggest gap I could see was always Jesus Christ trying always to push men toward God, to face God, and the church always trying to bring men towards itself.

A Sunday Afternoon Bike Ride

The four kids and I had a blast taking a loooooong bike ride this last Sunday afternoon.

Here's Alyssa on her "co-pilot" She likes to tell me she's "right behind me" every few minutes.

We hiked on a few side trails

And saw lots of disgusting nature stuff like caterpillar nests in the trees

a lizard that was too fast to get a picture of (he was right here on this log a moment ago)


and several big ugly spiders.

What a way to enjoy Gods creation!

School is prison. School is prison. School is prison.

While I don’t necessarily agree with everything in this article, it did make me laugh:

“Why Don’t Students Like School?” Well, Duhhhh…
By Peter Gray (at Psychology Today believe it or not)

“….Ask any schoolchild why they don't like school and they'll tell you. "School is prison." They may not use those words, because they're too polite, or maybe they've already been brainwashed to believe that school is for their own good and therefore it can't be prison. But decipher their words and the translation generally is, "School is prison."
Let me say that a few more times: School is prison. School is prison. School is prison. School is prison. School is prison…..

…. If you think school is not prison, please explain the difference.

The only difference I can think of is that to get into prison you have to commit a crime, but they put you in school just because of your age. In other respects school and prison are the same. In both places you are stripped of your freedom and dignity. You are told exactly what you must do, and you are punished for failing to comply. Actually, in school you must spend more time doing exactly what you are told to do than is true in adult prisons, so in that sense school is worse than prison.”

Moral Anarchism

"When the law, whether in church, state, school, or family, ceases to command men morally, it breaks down, and two possibilities then exist. A first consequence is anarchy. We should not he surprised at the anarchy in family life, the business world, or in the state, nor at the lack of discipline in churches. Men will not obey a law which lacks moral structure. Many children are rebellious against parental au­thority, but too many parents, as humanists, have no moral grounds for commanding obedience and have only transmitted moral anarchy to their children. The rebellion of youth in the second half of the twentieth century has been logical; it has been based on the moral premises taught by home, church, state, and school. Christian homes which have sent their children into public schools have denied their faith and asked for moral anarchism. This moral anarchism saturates every area, including business and employment.

Second, the alternative to moral anarchism is naked coercion, the use of terror. Karl Marx saw logically no valid philosophy save an­archism; pragmatically, he recognized the need for solidarity and hence he favored communism. Marxism has, however, communicated moral anarchism. As a result, the logical course for a working Marxist, as Lenin quickly realized, is the institution of terror. The Red Terror thus became a necessary and accepted substitute for moral force.

Nowhere should moral authority be greater than in the church. Because the church is commissioned to teach the word of God, when it teaches it faithfully its authority is very great. Discipline is then written into the hearts and sinews of the people. More than a church court then demands it: the lives of the people create it. Where the discipline is lax, or it is grudgingly obeyed only under pressure, the people are either unconverted, or the church is either apostate or irrelevant, and irrelevancy is a form of apostasy."

-R.J. Rushdoony in Institutes of Biblical Law

A big fat Sumo wrestler?

My 5-year-old recently made me this cute little card with pictures all over it. It had a cute little picture on the front and said "To Dad" in her best 5-year-old hand writing. I opened it up and this cute little picture was inside; she is on the left and I am on the right and I guess we really love each other.

But then on the next page I found this:

"What is that?" I asked.
"That's you as a big fat Sumo wrestler." she exclaimed.

Thank you Alyssa for that very interesting card!

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

-Matthew 7: 1-5

“The first portion of these verses is one of those passages of Scripture, which we must be careful not to strain beyond its proper meaning. It is frequently abused and misapplied, by the enemies of true religion. It is possi­ble to press the words of the Bible so far that they yield not medicine, but poison.

Our Lord does not mean that it is wrong, under any circumstances, to pass an unfavorable judgment on the conduct and opinions of others. We ought to have decided opinions. We are to "prove all things." We are to "try the spirits."—Nor yet does He mean that it is wrong to reprove the sins and faults of others, until we ire perfect and faultless ourselves. Such an interpreta­tion would contradict other parts of Scripture. It would make it impossible to condemn error and false doctrine. It would debar any one from attempting the office of a minister or a judge. The earth would be "given into the hands of the wicked." (John ix. 24.) Heresy would flourish. Wrong-doing would abound.

What our Lord means to condemn is a censorious and fault-finding spirit. A readiness to blame others for trifling offences, or matters of indifference—a habit of passing rash and hasty judgments—a disposition to magnify the errors and infirmities of our neighbors, and make the worst of them—this is what our Lord forbids. It was common among the Pharisees. It has always been common from their day down to the present time. We must all watch against it. We should "believe all things," and "hope all things" about others, and be very slow to find fault. This is Christian charity. (1 Cor. xiii 7)”

-J.C. Ryle in Expository thoughts on the Gospels

Life of John Calvin Part 17 -20

New at Polemos
Biographical
John Calvin
Reformation, The

• Life of John Calvin Part 17
  (Calvin and Knox)
  Joe Morecraft III
• Life of John Calvin Part 18
  (Calvin and Lefévre)
  Joe Morecraft III
• Life of John Calvin Part 19
  (Calvin's Doctrine of Biblical Law)
  Joe Morecraft III
• Life of John Calvin Part 20
  (Calvin's View of the Church)
  Joe Morecraft III

Michael Jackson's REAL cause of death

by Ray Comfort on Hollywood Blvd in front of Michael Jackson's star.

The Children of Caesar by Voddie Baucham

I've seen the village

"Hillary Clinton says it takes a village to raise a child. I've seen the village; and I don't want it raising my child." - unknown

Who’s Leading the Parade?

It doesn’t take a whole lot of deep thought to recognize that public schools here in America are destructive and anti-Christian to their very core.

Their epistemological commitment to human autonomy makes true knowledge impossible to obtain. Their rejection of the fear of the Lord guarantees that wisdom will be withheld and foolishness taught. Their presupposition that men can think rightly without the revelation of God ensures that they will not think rightly. Their rejection of the Law of God as the standard of right and wrong makes immorality unavoidable. Their ignorance of the fall renders them incapable of dealing with groups of fallen children in the proper manner. The States usurpation of parental jurisdiction guarantees calamities of all sorts and their rejection of the Lordship of Jesus Christ makes them an enemy of Christ.

Why in the world would any Christian parent send their children to such an institutional enemy of Christ when they don’t even have too? Why?

But what I really want to know is where are all the Shepherds who are supposed to be guarding their flocks? Why are they silently watching as so many of their sheep throw their little lambs to the wolves?

I was speaking to a Sheppard of a small rather conservative Church about issues of education and public schools when he looked me straight in the eye and said “people around here already think that we are strange, if we said stuff like that they would really think we’re weird.” There were no arguments with what I had said, no appeals to scripture, no “but the Bible says this…..” just the pure unadulterated fear of man.

Another local pastor asked me to meet with him on several occasions to discuss the education of children. Upon our last meeting he too looked me in the eye and said “I can’t argue with anything that you’re saying, I agree with you completely, but if we started teaching things like that some of the people would probably leave our church.” In other words this pastor was saying that he knows that he’s not teaching what the Bible says about this issue and he’s certainly not going to start now because someone might possibly leave the church over it. I just wanted him to give the issue some further thought, I wasn't even suggesting any sudden or radical teaching or changes.

I could probably wear you out with similar stories. What I want to know is where are the shepherds that truly have the sheep’s best interests at heart? Where are the shepherds who want to guard the flock at all costs? Where’s the courage, integrity and judgment day honesty? Where is the rod and the staff?

Who’s leading the parade if the leaders are following the led? No wonder we’re making so little progress, we’re going in circles!

Drawing the silken thread of comfort and salvation

“When God means to save a man, He usually begins by making him sorrow on account of his evil ways. It is the sharp steel needle of the Law of God that goes through the convicted heart and draws the silken thread of comfort and salvation after it!”

-C.H. Spurgeon

Babies Win Wars

An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal:

• Babies Win Wars
  By GUNNAR HEINSOHN

Dying nations are usually defined as those with fertility rates of 1.5 or lower. By that measure, 30 European countries are either dying today or -- like France -- seeing their cultures and populations transformed by growing ethnic and religious minorities.

Europe is shrinking just as the population in Islamic, African and Asian countries is exploding. In 2020, there will be one billion "fighting-age" men (ages 15-29) world-wide; only 65 million will be Europeans. At the same time, the Muslim world will have 300 million males, often with limited opportunities at home.

Little can be done to reverse Europe's demographic fate. Germany's 80 million inhabitants would need 750,000 skilled immigrants every year up to 2050 to offset the declining fertility rate that started in 1975. Even if such an unrealistic immigration level could somehow be achieved (only 10,000 skilled immigrants a year are arriving now), Germany's median age would still jump to 52 from 42 while ethnic Germans would become a minority in their own country.....more

A Few Problems With Arminianism and a Case For Calvinism

Well said Dr. Bruce Ware!

???

Preaching the Law -Part 2

Preaching the Law
By A.W. Pink
(Studies in the Scriptures, March 1934)

There is a threefold knowledge of sin and the law. First, a speculative knowledge. Men may have, to a con­siderable degree, clear and sound intellectual views with respect to the Law of God and to sin. They may per­ceive the reasonableness of God's Law, the obligation they are under to obey it, their great lack of conformity thereto, and the infinite evil there is in all sin. They may reason accurately about these things, and yet their hearts remain quite unaffected by them. They may live at the greatest ease, trouble not themselves about their disobedience, and continue sin­ning with a high hand. So it was with Israel of old; so it is with many today who are familiar with he letter of God's Law.

Second, there is a convicting knowledge. Unregenerate persons may have their consciences awakened, so as to attend to these things in some mea­sure as solemn realities, and with par­ticular application to themselves. They may feel themselves condemned by the law and under the curse of Him against whom they have so grievously rebelled. They may have such a sense of majesty, holiness, and power of God, the dreadfulness of His anger and their constant exposedness to be cast into Hell, as to fill them with sore dis­tress and horror. Self-interest, the instinct of self-preservation, and the movings of self-love may cause them to be greatly concerned how they shall escape the wrath to come. Later, their convictions fade and disappear.

Third, there is a regenerative knowledge. Those who have been born again have a heart-realization of the superlative excellence and glory of the Divine character, by which He is infi­nitely distinguished from all other beings, and they feel the deep obliga­tions they are under to love Him per­fectly with all their hearts forever. They discern reasonableness, the spirituality, and extent of the law in such a manner and degree as produces heart approba­tion and love to it, and their souls exclaim, "The law is holy, just and good." Hence they perceive what sin is. It appears to them infinitely odious and ill-deserving, a dreadful opposition to the Divine character and Law, and they hate and abhor sin, and wish to be done with it forever.

Preaching the Law

Preaching the Law
By A.W. Pink
(Studies in the Scriptures, March 1934)

The fairest face on earth, which was endowed with the most comely features, would soon become ugly and unsightly if one feature continued to grow while all the others remained undeveloped. No matter how well formed or beautiful the mouth, if it became ten times the size of the eyes or ears, how repulsive would it appear. Beauty is principally a matter of proportion. So it is with the Word of God: its beauty and blessedness are best perceived when it is presented in its true proportions. To be all the time dwelling on the love of God and be silent about His wrath, or to be constantly expounding His righteousness and say little or nothing about His mercy, is to present a caricature of the Divine perfections. So also to preach ten sermons on the Gospel of God's grace to one upon God's Law, is to lose the balance of truth, and to present the truth disproportionately.

It has long appeared to the writer that the greatest and most deplorable defect in modern "evangelism" is the almost total absence of the preaching of God's Law. And as this little magazine is sent to a considerable number of preachers and mis¬sionaries, the editor feels it laid upon him to write a short article thereon. Before a servant of God is warranted in setting before the unsaved the Divine way of sal¬vation, he needs to make very clear wherein lies the need of salvation. This is the order of Scripture throughout. The Old Testament precedes the New. The ministry of John the Baptist comes before that of the Lord Jesus: and the former came "in the way of righteousness" (Matt. 21:32), calling to repentance. Romans 3:10-20 (read it!) precedes Romans 3:21-26, and so it should be in all preaching.

"By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20): then why not preach God's Law! Does not the Apostle to the Gentiles tell us, in that wondrous and blessed biographical passage of Romans 7, "I had not known sin, but by the law" (v. 7)! Fellow-preachers., the knowledge of God's Law is absolutely necessary in cider to a true knowledge of sin. Because God's Law is the rule of man's conduct, of a.11 his heart exercises and outward actions, so that he is sinful, or not, just in proportion as he conforms to the law, or does not conform thereto, it necessarily follows that he cannot possibly judge of his own char¬acter and determine whether he be a sinner or no, if he is completely igno¬rant of the law; and he must be igno¬rant of his own sinfulness, however great a sinner he be, just in proportion to the degree of his ignorance of the law he is under.

"Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4): therefore, where there is no law, there is no sin; and he who has no idea, no apprehension or knowledge of the law, has no real idea of sin; it is impossible that he should have, for every person's notion of sin will be according to his notion of the law. If he thinks God's Law requires that which it does not, then he will judge that to be sin which in truth is not so. If he thinks the law he is under does not require what it does (for example, heart-purity), then he will look upon that to be no sin, which in truth is so; and so far as he sees not, the ground and reasonableness of the law he will be ignorant of the crime or real sinfulness in transgressing it. While he is ignorant of the excellency of the law, and the authority of its Giver, and so sees not the glory of the law, he must be blind to the turpitude of sin, and can have no true idea of it.