The Permanent Fall of Judas - Part Three

By James Boice

Theme: The only sure path to salvation.
This weeks lessons show us the difference between remorse and repentance.

SCRIPTURE
Matthew 27:6-8

But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

How exactly did Judas die? And how should we understand Matthew’s strange reference to Jeremiah to explain the priests’ decision to use Judas’ blood money to buy the potters field? “Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “‘They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potters field, as the Lord commanded me’” (vv. 9, 10). It is a pity to break the application of Judas’ story to ourselves in order to deal with these problems. But they are well known. You may be wondering about them, and we need to get them out of the way before we wrap this study up.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Jesus' Power

Posted 5/8/15 by Donald Barnhouse

Somehow it is not surprising that such a display of Christ’s divine authority should unleash the forces that would most vehemently oppose it, that is, the demonic world (Mark. 1:23–26). Can you imagine the scene? Jesus was teaching, and suddenly the door opened, and a man came shrieking into the room. The demons within him were crying out, “Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee?” (v. 24, KJV) That’s a revealing confession. There was nothing in common between them; there is nothing in common between the Lord and evil.

Theme: The Life of a Servant

SCRIPTURE
Mark 1:21-28

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Making God’s Word Plain is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Making God’s Word Plain and the mission of the Alliance.

New Life in an Old Prayer

by David Hall • May 07, 2015
Real Title: 
New Life in an Old Prayer?
Hide feature image within individual post view: 
Show featured image

So having first told his disciples how NOT to pray, Jesus also told them what to do; and now he moves on to give them a model or perfect example for prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. The parallel in Luke 11 reports that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray (Luke 11:2). His primer is found in these next verses.

Read Mt. 6:9

So having first told his disciples how NOT to pray, Jesus also told them what to do; and now he moves on to give them a model or perfect example for prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. The parallel in Luke 11 reports that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray (Luke 11:2). His primer is found in these next verses.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Place for Truth is a voice of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Place for Truth and the mission of the Alliance.

Position: 
Archive

The Permanent Fall of Judas - Part Two

By James Boice

Theme: The only sure path to salvation.
This weeks lessons show us the difference between remorse and repentance.

SCRIPTURE
Matthew 27:3-4

Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.”

Yesterday we looked at the first part of Judas’ confession. Today we’ll look at part two.

2. Judas confessed that Jesus was innocent. “I have betrayed innocent blood.” was his testimony. Once again, a true statement. It was a powerful testimony to Jesus’ flawless character and a harsh indictment of the wicked character of the men who had condemned Jesus and to whom Judas spoke, But confessing the innocence of Jesus by itself never saved a single soul. Pilate did the same. In fact, he confessed Jesus to be innocent three times over during the course of the Roman trial: “I find no basis for a charge against him” (John 18:38); “I find no basis for a charge against him” (John 19:4); “I find no basis for a charge against him” (v. 6). But Pilate still turned him over to be crucified, just as Judas had betrayed him. Even the crowds that stood by and witnessed the crucifixion exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54). But it is not recorded that any of them passed from spiritual death to spiritual life through faith in Christ.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Jesus’ Teaching

Posted 5/7/15 by Donald Barnhouse

As Mark opens his account we find Jesus in the synagogue, teaching the people. We are reminded immediately that the Lord Jesus Christ was God. When He stood up to speak, He spoke as God, and the ring of authority was in all He said. The people were immediately aroused to the fact that here was something new. The Jewish teachers of Jesus’ time spent their days poring over the Law, telling the people what they could and could not do. They spent much more time on the “sin” of lifting a sick person on the Sabbath than they did on the needs of their people. Jesus countered this by clearing away the things that impeded the blessing of men. His words went to the heart of the matter: people were in need, and He had the answer to their needs.

Theme: The Life of a Servant

SCRIPTURE
Mark 1:21-28

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Making God’s Word Plain is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Making God’s Word Plain and the mission of the Alliance.

Fear and Sonship

by Nick Batzig • May 06, 2015

The Scriptures seem to give us contradictory statements about the roll of fear in the life of the believer. On the one hand we are called to fear the Lord (e.g. Lev. 25:17; Deut. 6:2; 1 Samuel 12:14; 2 Kings 17:39; Psalm 2:11; etc.) and on the other hand we are told, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18). So how are we to explain the difference between the two kinds of fear that are taught in Scripture? And, what roll is fear to play in the believer rendering obedience unto God? 

On a prima facia reading, the Scriptures seem to give us contradictory statements about the roll of fear in the life of the believer. On the one hand we are called to fear the Lord (e.g. Lev. 25:17; Deut. 6:2; 1 Samuel 12:14; 2 Kings 17:39; Psalm 2:11; etc.) and on the other hand we are told, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18). So how are we to explain the difference between the two kinds of fear that are taught in Scripture?

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Christward Collective is a conversation of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Christward Collective and the mission of the Alliance.

If Grace Is So Amazing Then Why Do We Struggle With It

by James Rich • May 06, 2015
Real Title: 
If Grace Is So Amazing, Then Why Do We Struggle With It?
Category: 
Article
Position: 
Archive
Hide feature image within individual post view: 
Show featured image

As one of the solas of the Reformation, the centrality of grace in the Christian life is hard to overstate, but it seems Christians struggle somewhat to understand exactly what it is and how it operates.  To demonstrate this misunderstanding, here’s a quick quiz: “True or false; we are saved by faith.”  Sounds insultingly easy, doesn’t it?  But if you answered “True” you get only partial credit.  That’s right.  The statement “we are saved by faith” is true, but not fully because it’s merely shorthand for the Reformation’s emphasis that a person can stand right before God only through trust in the gospel of Christ, as opposed to Roman Catholicism’s accent on participation in the sacraments.  You receive full credit if you answered “False” because the biblical formula for how a person is justified is spelled out in Ephesians 2:8 which says, “for by grace you have been saved through faith….”  The apostle succinctly shows that our salvation is due first and foremost to the gracious work of God in Christ; faith works as an instrument by which we appropriate God’s graciousness.

As one of the solas of the Reformation, the centrality of grace in the Christian life is hard to overstate, but it seems Christians struggle somewhat to understand exactly what it is and how it operates.  To demonstrate this misunderstanding, here’s a quick quiz: “True or false; we are saved by faith.”  Sounds insultingly easy, doesn’t it?  But if you answered “True” you get only partial credit.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Place for Truth is a voice of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Place for Truth and the mission of the Alliance.

Jesus’ Earthly Ministry

Posted 5/6/15 by Donald Barnhouse

Imagine yourself for a moment as one of the angels who longed to look at Jesus during His earthly ministry. Perhaps you were one of the heavenly chorus who announced His otherwise lowly birth. In subsequent years, perhaps you peered over heaven’s gates to watch Him grow to manhood in the obscure setting of Nazareth. Then finally the day arrives for Jesus to begin His messianic ministry. He is baptized by John in the Jordan, and the Spirit descends like a dove. The Father’s voice thunders past you to the earth below: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). Though human eyewitnesses may have failed to grasp the significance of these signs, inhabitants of the spiritual world would appreciate the marks of heavenly blessing.

The Life of a Servant
Jesus’ Earthly Ministry

SCRIPTURE
Mark 1:21-34

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Making God’s Word Plain is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Making God’s Word Plain and the mission of the Alliance.

The Permanent Fall of Judas - Part One

By James Boice

Theme: The only sure path to salvation.
This weeks lessons show us the difference between remorse and repentance.

SCRIPTURE
Matthew 27:1-10

When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.

Matthew chapter 27 begins with the handing over of Jesus to the Gentiles in the person of Pilate, the Roman governor. This was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy as well as of Jesus’ own predictions of his death. He had warned the disciples, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life” (Matthew 20:18, 19). The Gentiles' mocking, flogging, and crucifying of Jesus will now be described. But before Matthew recounts those events, he pauses to record the fate of Judas, the betrayer. Matthew is the only one of the four gospel writers to do this.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Bully Pulpit: Revisiting an Old Favorite

Posted On Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Time for another book review, and we're giving this one three thumbs up! Our hosts discuss the recent republication of The Church of Christ, a classic of Scottish Presbyterian polity and theory by James Bannerman. This book highlights the Church's role, power, and importance during a time the world (and even Christians!) struggles to see its purpose. Does the church stand a chance in societies that continually belittle its values and undermine its presence? Not surprisingly, the world is growing more uncomfortable for Christians, so we must purpose to understand what God intended for His Bride and keep heart. Bannerman helps us do just that.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Syndicate content

PLACE FOR TRUTH

Depravity and Deliverance

Reformation 21

Gentle & Lowly In Light of a Few Years