On 12/29/2019, the sermon preached by Pastor Joe Rosales was based on Deuteronomy 11:1-25.

The pastor noted that our society is inundated with screens and a false sense of reality, especially children, at an increasingly alarming rate.

The truth is that the Internet, video games, and media in general are often too much for young impressionable minds to handle, especially without close parental supervision. They’re highly addictive, even for adults, and much of the content is inappropriate for youth. They foster impatience, heighten irritability, fuel tempers, destroy self-control, the list goes on and on:

https://www.frictionlessfamilies.com/technology-in-the-family

https://www.drkardaras.com/research.html

Parents need to wake up and stop overexposing their kids to technology and media. (“The Right Kind of Traitor: A Review of Ed Snowden’s Permanent Record,” https://thorncrownministries.com/blog/2019/10/12/Book-Review-Permanent-Record-by-Ed-Snowden)

This, combined with many couples’ desire for more stuff, requiring both the husband and wife to work and neglect their children, brings misery and disappointment. A mother’s calling and purpose and fulfillment is grounded in the home.

Our circumstances shouldn’t dictate our happiness. The apostle Paul attests to this, that while he was in prison, he wrote to the Philippians:

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me. (‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:14-18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. ‭‭(Philippians‬ ‭3:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

“Miserable Christians” are therefore a contradiction who reflect Milton’s Satan rather than Paul’s admonitions:

Me miserable! which way shall I flie
Infinite wrauth, and infinite despaire?
Which way I flie is Hell; my self am Hell;

The pastor read from Deuteronomy:

“Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always. Know today that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the chastening of the LORD your God, His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm…but your eyes have seen every great act of the LORD which He did.” ‭‭(Deuteronomy‬ ‭11:1-2‬, 7 NKJV‬‬)

It’s interesting how God said he wasn’t addressing the children in His covenant stipulations. The parents, of course, are charged with instructing their children:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭6:4ff. ‭NKJV‬‬)

The pastor also encouraged us to write our new year resolutions down, and to remind ourselves of and meditate on them throughout the year. The first step to take for the new year is to remember and rejoice in the God of our salvation, and in His mighty works.

Grow in the Word, “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” (II Peter‬ ‭3:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

Be intentional about family worship. Don’t serve God half-heartedly. Be watchful and don’t let the cares of this life hinder your walk with God. “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Luke‬ ‭12:29-31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

New Year Resolutions

1. Sleep!

2. Practice family worship consistently

3. Be punctual

4. “Do all things without complaining and disputing”

5. Read the Bible every day

6. Read good books throughout the year

7. Moderate screen time

8. Evangelize

9. Write consistently

On 12/15/2019, the sermon preached by Pastor Joe Rosales was based on Romans 10:14-21.

We read the account of Christ’s birth:

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (‭‭Luke‬ ‭2:4-11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

The church must remember her first love—Christ: “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent” (Revelation‬ ‭2:4-5‬ ‭NKJV).

Pastors are called to preach the Word and not be concerned with trends to draw people in. We draw people in with the Truth. On the other extreme, Hyper-Calvinists deny the necessity of preaching the Gospel for men to get saved. But God ordains both the ends and the means, and uses means to achieve His ends:

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans‬ ‭10:14-17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

Don’t expect for a voice from Heaven to come down and automatically convert the elect. In fact, the pastor noted that the preaching of God’s Word is the voice from Heaven! The reformers believed that faithful biblical preaching carries the same weight and authority as the Words of God Himself. Here’s Calvin:

The word goeth out of the mouth of God in such a manner that it likewise “goeth out of the mouth” of men; for God does not speak openly from heaven, but employs men as his instruments ….

When a man climbs up into the pulpit, is it so that he may be seen from afar and that he may have a higher place than the rest? No, no! But so that God may speak to us by the mouth of man and be so gracious to us to show himself here among us and will have a mortal man to be his messenger. (Qtd. in Glen Clary, “John Calvin: Servant of the Word of God,” https://reformedforum.org/john-calvin-servant-of-the-word-of-god/)

It’s also common for churches to stray whenever the founders pass away. If a strong biblical plurality of elders is not installed in the church, it’s only a matter of time till they fall away or close down, as some of the very first church plants in the Book of Revelation attest:

When Christ said, “I will build my church, and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it,” he was not speaking of any institutional church. The Gates of Hell have prevailed against thousands of institutional churches in the past two millennia. They have become apostate and in most cases have disappeared. The churches to which Paul wrote his letters—Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica, Rome, Galatia, Philippi, Colosse—no longer exist as Christian churches. The Gates of Hell prevailed against the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, and the Lutheran Church. Christ’s church is not be be confused with any visible organization. (John Robbins, “The Church Irrational,” http://trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=290)

The Apostle Paul lost some of his battles. When Paul preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the synagogues, he was persecuted by the original antichrist, Judaism. We do not know, but tradition says that Paul died a violent death. (Jesus himself was almost murdered on the Sabbath by devout synagogue-going Jews who did not like his sermon; see Luke 4.) Most of the Jews of the first century rejected Christ; only the remnant was saved. The wrath of God, exercised through an unbelieving and unwitting General Titus, ended the apostate Temple cult – the vaunted Second Temple Judaism of the New Perspective on Paul. It was only through the writing of new Scriptures, the divinely inspired New Testament, and the establishment of new institutions – churches to propagate the doctrines of the Scriptures, both Old and New – that the Gospel survived the first century. As a Christian, Paul did not use force (as Saul he had). He lost battles, but he won the war. (Robbins, “Why Heretics Win Battles,” http://trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=207)

On 12/8/2019, the sermon preached by Pastor Joe Rosales was based on Romans 10:11-21.

The pastor explained that is easy to confuse the two natures of Christ, as many ancient heresies attest. It is still a major issue today, because Christology is one of the most difficult doctrines of the Bible. The Creed of Chalcedon provides theological boundaries to keep us from straying, though it doesn’t provide a thorough systematic treatment or crucial definitions, by affirming

one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.

Gordon Clark has brilliant contributions to the unresolved Christological problems that the Church still faces in his work on The Incarnation. It’s also important to consider the Reformed Confessions, because “Christ, in the work of mediation, acteth according to both natures, by each nature doing that which is proper to itself; yet by reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one nature is sometimes in Scripture, attributed to the person denominated by the other nature.” (John 3:13; Acts 20:28, https://www.arbca.com/1689-chapter8)

Many churches today preach the love of God but completely leave out or deny the wrath of God. There’s no sense of God’s holiness, as there was with the prophet Isaiah, who cursed himself, saying, “Woe is me! For I am pulverized!” (Isa 6:5) when he saw the Lord sitting on His throne (v. 1). The Reformed tradition, however, has always stressed the importance of this doctrine, even to little children:

Q. What does every sin deserve?
A. The anger and judgment of God (Deut. 27:26; Rm. 1:18; 2:2; Gal. 3:10; Eph. 5:6).

The pastor admonished us to not lose sight of what Christmas is truly about—a Savior being born to redeem fallen mankind from the just wrath of God. This is the gospel, the good news, for all who believe. Christians should not replace Christ with Santa Clause or materialism. It is about being justified—declared righteous by faith alone in Christ alone—and about deliverance from sin and judgment. We’re saved from the condemnation and the power of sin.

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:8-10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

The pastor encouraged us to meditate on two things: That there is nothing good in us, our flesh, and on the greatness of God’s mercy in Christ Jesus: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (I Peter‬ ‭1:3-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

“I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life. I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your precepts” (Psalms‬ ‭119:93-94‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

He closed by highlighting the importance of the doctrine of glorification. What will children who die in the Lord look like in the Resurrection? Using the Reformed principle of deducing doctrine by good and necessary consequence from Scripture, we can see that, in the Resurrection, we will have adult glorified bodies. Adam and Eve were created as adults. Childhood is a transition into adulthood: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (I Corinthians‬ ‭13:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). The same is true for those who die in old age. Surely Moses and Elijah did not look like crippled old men when they appeared during Christ’s Transfiguration (Matt. 17:3). Christ will bless us with perfect, mature, glorified bodies when He returns. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians‬ ‭3:20-21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

On 11/28/2019, the Thanksgiving sermon was preached by Pastor Joe Rosales.

The pastor opened the message with the debate regarding the very first Thanksgiving. Traditionally we celebrate the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving, but there was an earlier Thanksgiving held in El Paso, TX by Catholics led by Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate, in which “a mass was said by the Franciscan missionaries traveling with the expedition” (https://texasalmanac.com/topics/history/timeline/first-thanksgiving). But as Protestants we unapologetically celebrate Thanksgiving with the Puritans, whether they were first or not!

George Washington gave the first national Thanksgiving Proclamation on 3 October 1789:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” (https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-04-02-0091)

Abraham Lincoln established it as a national holiday during the Civil War:

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union. (http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm)

The Thanksgiving holiday, however, comes only once a year. It’s occasional. But Christians should always be thankful. The Heidelberg Catechism and Hercules Collins’ Orthodox Catechism distill the Christian life in three words: Guilt, Grace, Gratitude. Christians are called to be a eucharistic—a thanksgiving—people, as James White notes, to “pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks (εὐχαριστεῖτε); for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:17-18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). We need to take back the true meaning of eucharist from the Antichrist Church of Rome.

The pastor also noted that cheerful brethren generally make everything better and more enjoyable, for “all the days of the afflicted are evil, but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast” (‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭15:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

Ultimately, God is good. Period. (Etymologically, good in the “Sense of ‘kind, benevolent’ is from late Old English in reference to persons or God.”) And we must be thankful for that, because we were not good, “but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭NKJV). ‬‬Gordon Clark puts it plainly:

God is neither responsible nor sinful, even though he is the only ultimate cause of everything. He is not sinful because in the first place whatever God does is just and right. It is just and right simply in virtue of the fact that he does it. Justice or righteousness is not a standard external to God to which God is obligated to submit. Righteousness is what God does. Since God caused Judas to betray Christ, this causal act is righteous and not sinful. By definition God cannot sin. At this point it must me particularly pointed out that God’s causing a man to sin is not sin. There is no law, superior to God, which forbids him to decree sinful acts. Sin presupposes a law, for sin is lawlessness. Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God. But God is “Ex-lex.” (Religion, Reason, and Revelation, in The Works of Gordon Haddon Clark: Christian Philosophy, Vol. 4, pp. 268-69, http://www.trinitylectures.org/christian-philosophy-the-works-of-gordon-haddon-clark-volume-paperback-p-145.html).

The pastor closed with a prayer from William Jay, “For a Day of Thanksgiving—Evening.”

On 11/17/2019 the sermon, “The Christian’s Guide,” preached by elder Albert Hernandez, was based on Psalm 1.

He quotes Ryan Denton:

What Does Man Teach?

1. The Bible Is Not Reliable

But based on what authority is this claim made? Perhaps you say your own. But why assume your authority carries more weight than God’s? You have limited knowledge of every fact in the universe. You are prone to make mistakes. The Bible says your heart “is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Perhaps you say the Bible is unreliable because “scholars” told you so. But they also have a limited, mistake-prone understanding of the universe. Not to mention, apart from Christ, they have an axe to grind against God. They are “alienated and hostile in mind” when it comes to God (Colossians 1:21). They passionately desire the Bible to be unreliable and so fabricate ways to twist it to their own agenda and eventual destruction (2 Peter 3:16). Also, who determines which parts are correct and which parts aren’t? The culture? Present feelings? Humans? But these aren’t objective standards, nor are they authoritative. These are all subject to change and are vastly finite in their understanding of the universe. (“The Bible's Apologetic-God Speaks!”, https://www.christinthewild.com/blog/2019/11/14/2zphxrvev3htkp7ft00e084pjxya2e)

The elder refers to Psalm 1 as “the Christian’s Guide,” as many commentators do:

As the book of the Canticles is called the Song of Songs by a Hebraism, it being the most excellent, so this Psalm may not unfitly be entitled, the Psalm of Psalms, for it contains in it the very pith and quintessence of Christianity. What Jerome saith on St. Paul's epistles, the same may I say of this Psalm; it is short as to the composure, but full of length and strength as to the matter. This Psalm carries blessedness in the frontpiece; it begins where we all hope to end: it may well be called a Christian's Guide, for it discovers the quicksands where the wicked sink down in perdition, and the firm ground on which the saints tread to glory. (Thomas Watson's Saints Spiritual Delight, 1660, http://www.biblebb.com/files/SPURGEON/TOD/chstp1.htm)

What does the word blessed mean? “Happy”? It means that and more, explains Spurgeon:

"BLESSED" - see how this Book of Psalms opens with a benediction, even as did the famous Sermon of our Lord upon the Mount! The word translated "blessed" is a very expressive one. The original word is plural, and it is a controverted matter whether it is an adjective or a substantive. Hence we may learn the multiplicity of the blessings which shall rest upon the man whom God hath justified, and the perfection and greatness of the blessedness he shall enjoy. We might read it, "Oh, the blessednesses!" and we may well regard it (as Ainsworth does) as a joyful acclamation of the gracious man's felicity. May the like benediction rest on us! (http://www.biblebb.com/files/SPURGEON/TOD/chstp1.htm)

Yet there are Christians who suffer from depression, especially those who are prone to introspection. The elder also explained that counsel doesn’t just mean advice, but also a way of thinking, a way of life. It’s a mindset: “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts” (Psalms‬ ‭10:4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

Planning your life without God, even in your everyday dealings, is one of the patterns of ungodliness and practical atheism: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”” James‬ ‭4:13-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

How mindful are you of the things of God? When you abandon God in your thoughts, you will abandon him in your life. But Christ is the answer, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” I Peter‬ ‭1:18-19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.” ‭‭Job‬ ‭23:12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The elder admonishes us to pray this for the local church:

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (Colossians‬ ‭1:9-12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

Scripture tells us to love people more and need people less: “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts‬ ‭20:35‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

A good admonition for children too is that there’s a time to play, and a time to pray. Everyone is born in Adam, outside of God, “that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians‬ ‭2:12-13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We should meditate on and interpret the Bible holistically. Many don’t reap the benefits from Scripture because they may read but don’t think! It’s not the one who reads the most books or listens to the most sermons, but the one who meditates the most on them:

My brethren, there is nothing more wanting to make Christians grow in grace now-a-days than meditation. Most of you are painfully negligent in this matter. You remind me of a sermon that one of my quaint old friends in the country once preached from that text—"The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting." He told us that many people who would hunt for a sermon, were too lazy to roast it by meditation. They knew not how to put the jack of memory through it, and then to twist it round by meditation before the fire of piety, and so to cook it and make it fit for your soul's food. So it is with many of you after you have caught the sermon: you allow it to run away. How often do you, through lack of meditation, miss the entire purpose for which the sermon was designed. Unless ye meditate upon the truths we declare unto you, ye will gather little sweetness, ye will acquire little profit, and, certainly, ye will be in no wise established therein to your edification. Can you get the honey from the comb until you squeeze it! You may be refreshed by a few words while you listen to the sermon, but it is the meditation afterwards which extracts the honey, and gets the best and most luscious savor therefrom. Meditation, my friends, is a part of the life-blood of every true Christian, and we ought to abound therein. (Charles Spurgeon, “Meditation on God,” http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/2690.htm)

After listening to this quote from Spurgeon and reading his sermon, I fell in love with his writings again:

Do not imagine that the meditative man is necessarily lazy; contrariwise, he lays the best foundation for useful works. He is not the best student who reads the most books, but he who meditates the most upon them; he shall not learn most of divinity who hears the greatest number of sermons, but he who meditates the most devoutly upon what he does hear; nor shall he be so profound a scholar who takes down ponderous volumes one after the other, as he who, reading little by little, precept upon precept, and line upon line, digests what he learns, and assimilates each sentiment to his heart by meditation—receiving the word first into his understanding, and afterwards receiving the spirit of the thing into his own soul. When he reads the letters with his eye it is merely mechanical, but that he may read them to his own heart he retires to meditate. Meditation is thus a very excellent employment; it is not the offspring of listlessness or lethargy but it is a satisfactory mode of employing time, and very remunerative to the spirit.

Meditation really is vital, “the lifeblood of every true Christian.” It convinced me to read Spurgeon daily, his Morning and Evening as well as his sermons:

https://www.monergism.com/sermons-charles-spurgeon-4-vol-800-sermons

The elder closed with an admonition from the London Baptist Confession of 1689:

Chapter 19: Of the Law of God

6. Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned, yet it is of great use to them as well as to others, in that as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their natures, hearts, and lives, so as examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against, sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ and the perfection of his obedience; it is likewise of use to the regenerate to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to shew what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse and unallayed rigour thereof. The promises of it likewise shew them God's approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof, though not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works; so as man's doing good and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the one and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law and not under grace. (Romans 6:14; Galatians 2:16; Romans 8:1; Romans 10:4; Romans 3:20; Romans 7:7, etc; Romans 6:12-14; 1 Peter 3:8-13; https://www.arbca.com/1689-chapter19)

On 11/10/2019, the sermon preached by Pastor Joe Rosales continued from Romans 9:14-29.

The doctrine of predestination has always been controversial, especially in our democratic and increasingly socialist nation, which demands equality of outcome for all, so God is obligated to save everyone. Romans 9 disposes of such unbiblical views. And if you have a problem with what Paul wrote, you have a problem with God Himself: “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭14:37‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). We should expect objections when explaining the doctrine of election:

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. (Romans‬ ‭9:14-16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

So what does it mean that “the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go”? (Exodus‬ ‭10:20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬) Does it mean that God abandoned pharaoh to his already hardened heart? That God removed his hand of restraint from pharaoh and left him to his destruction? Is it the mere wrath of abandonment? If God actively hardened pharaoh’s heart, would that make him the author of sin? Does not God say that “the king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes”? (Proverbs‬ ‭21:1‬ ‭NKJV).‬‬ Does the Potter form jars of dishonor in an indirect manner? Who is the One who forms/makes (Romans 9:21 (Byz): ποιῆσαι) and prepares (Romans 9:22 (Byz): κατηρτισμένα) the vessels of wrath? The clay or the Potter?

But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans‬ ‭9:20-24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

According to God, “I form light and I create darkness; I make peace and I create evil; I am Yahweh; I do all these things” (Isaiah‬ ‭45:7‬ ‭LEB‬‬). Gordon Clark explains:

This is a verse that many people do not know is in the Bible. Its sentiment shocks them. They think that God could not have created evil. But this is precisely what the Bible says, and it has a direct bearing on the doctrine of predestination.

Some people who do not wish to extend God’s power over evil things, and particularly over moral evils, try to say that the word evil here means such natural evils as earthquakes and storms. The Scofield Bible notes that the Hebrew word here, ra, is never translated sin. This is true. The editors of that Bible must have looked at every instance of ra in the Old Testament and must have seen that it is never translated sin in the King James Version. But what the note does not say is that it is often translated wickedness, as in Genesis 6:5, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth.” In fact, ra is translated wickedness at least fifty times in the Old Testament; and it refers to a variety of ugly sins. The Bible therefore explicitly teaches that God creates sin. This may be an unpalatable thought to a good many people. But there it is, and everyone may read it for himself. As this becomes a major point in predestination, and forms one of the main objections to the doctrine, we shall discuss it later. But let no one limit God in his creation. There is nothing independent of him. (Predestination, http://www.trinitylectures.org/predestination-p-128.html)

And Gary Crampton:

Standing on the “rock foundation” of the Word of God as our axiomatic starting point (Matthew 7:24-25), we have an answer to the problem of evil. God, who is altogether holy and can do no wrong, sovereignly decrees evil things to take place for his own good purposes (Isaiah 45:7). Just because He has decreed it, his action is right. As Jerome Zanchius wrote: “The will of God is so the cause of all things, as to be, itself without cause, for nothing can be the cause of that which is the cause of everything. Hence we find every matter resolved ultimately into the mere sovereign pleasure of God. God has no other motive for what He does than ipsa voluntas, His mere will, which will itself is so far from being unrighteous that it is justice itself.”

Sin and evil therefore exist for good reasons: God has decreed them as part of His eternal plan, and they work not only for His own glory, but also for the good of his people. With this Biblical premise in mind, it is easy to answer anti-theists, such as David Hume, who argue that the pervasiveness of evil in the world militates against the existence of the Christian God. (“A Biblical Theodicy,” http://trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=141)

And Clark again:

…God [is] the cause of sin. God is the sole ultimate cause of everything. There is absolutely nothing independent of him. He alone is the eternal being. He alone is omnipotent. He alone is sovereign. Not only is Satan his creature, but every detail of history was eternally in his plan before the world began; and he willed that it should all come to pass. The men and angels predestined to eternal life and those foreordained to everlasting death are particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished. Election and reprobation are equally ultimate….

The secondary causes in history are not eliminated by divine causality, but rather they are made certain. And the acts of these secondary causes, whether they be righteous acts or sinful acts, are to be immediately referred to the agents; and it is these agents who are responsible.

God is neither responsible nor sinful, even though he is the only ultimate cause of everything. He is not sinful because in the first place whatever God does is just and right. It is just and right simply in virtue of the fact that he does it. Justice or righteousness is not a standard external to God to which God is obligated to submit. Righteousness is what God does. Since God caused Judas to betray Christ, this causal act is righteous and not sinful. By definition God cannot sin. At this point it must me particularly pointed out that God’s causing a man to sin is not sin. There is no law, superior to God, which forbids him to decree sinful acts. Sin presupposes a law, for sin is lawlessness. Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God. But God is “Ex-lex.” (Religion, Reason, and Revelation, in The Works of Gordon Haddon Clark: Christian Philosophy, Vol. 4, pp. 267, 268-69, http://www.trinitylectures.org/christian-philosophy-the-works-of-gordon-haddon-clark-volume-paperback-p-145.html).

“The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom” (Proverbs‬ ‭16:4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

On 11/3/2019, the sermon preached by Pastor Joe Rosales was based on Romans 9:14-29.

The pastor commented on the use of creeds and confessions, which reflect order and consistency. Some don’t like order or being tied down by a coherent system of doctrine, but when you ask them what they believe about the Bible or the doctrines it teaches, they will inevitably recite to you a statement of faith, likely an incomplete and inconsistent one.

The doctrine of predestination, of sovereign election, is offensive to many today, including church folk. And there are many perverted notions of fairness, ranging from socialism, communism, and Marxism, to Arminianism or synergism and the doctrine of free will, that are completely at odds with Scripture.

Many have trouble with the doctrine of hell too. How can a good God predestine people to hell? That’s like asking, How can a good judge send criminals to prison? The amazing thing about God is not that he sends people to hell, for we’re all natural-born sinners in rebellion against a thrice holy and just God who deserve nothing but hell; it is that He, out of his sheer grace and mercy, decided to save any of us!

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:6-10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

The pastor also clarified the meaning of an often misinterpreted passage: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter‬ ‭3:9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). This does not mean that God desires all men to come to repentance, but that He “is longsuffering toward us”—toward believers, and desires believers to come to repentance. Even so, “these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead”” (‭‭Acts‬ ‭17:30-31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

But just because God commands all men to repent doesn’t necessarily mean He desires all men to repent. God ultimately neither loves nor desires all men to repent because He hates and hardens the reprobate:

For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? ‭‭(Romans‬ ‭9:17-24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

The pastor warned against people who attempt to reconcile difficult doctrines prematurely, like the Trinity or Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility, since these doctrines are often considered “mysteries.” He admonished us to stick to the Scriptures, and if the person you’re discussing this with continues to object, then use Paul’s retort: “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God?” (Romans 9:20). A biblical mystery, however, is something that God obscured in the Old Testament but reveals or explains in the New:

Unbeknownst to the people of Moses' day (it was a "mystery"), marriage was designed by God from the beginning to be a picture or parable of the relationship between Christ and the church. Back when God was planning what marriage would be like, He planned it for this great purpose: it would give a beautiful earthly picture of the relationship that would someday come about between Christ and His church. This was not known to people for many generations, and that is why Paul can call it a "mystery." But now in the New Testament age Paul reveals this mystery, and it is amazing. (George Knight, qtd. in https://thorncrownministries.com/blog/2017/08/08/review-of-when-sinners-say-i-do)

And while Paul does rebuke his opponents, he continues to demolish their objections in verses 21 and following. He answers them squarely with some of the strongest statements in the Bible. I appreciate the wisdom of men like Gordon Clark, who unabashedly deals with the problem of evil, and A.W. Pink when it comes to harmonizing difficult doctrines, which is why their writings are classic contributions that build up the church:

This is, admittedly, the most difficult branch of our subject. Those who have ever devoted much study to this theme have uniformly recognized that the harmonizing of God's Sovereignty with Man's Responsibility is the gordian knot of theology.

The main difficulty encountered is to define the relationship between God's Sovereignty and man's responsibility. Many have summarily disposed of the difficulty by denying its existence. A certain class of theologians, in their anxiety to maintain man's responsibility, have magnified it beyond all due proportions until God's Sovereignty has been lost sight of, and in not a few instances flatly denied. Others have acknowledged that the Scriptures present both the Sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man but affirm that in our present finite condition and with our limited knowledge it is impossible to reconcile the two truths, though it is the bounden duty of the believer to receive both. The present writer believes that it has been too readily assumed that the Scriptures themselves do not reveal the several points which show the conciliation of God's Sovereignty and man's responsibility. While perhaps the Word of God does not clear up all the mystery (and this is said with reserve), it does throw much light upon the problem, and it seems to us more honoring to God and His Word to prayerfully search the Scriptures for the completer solution of the difficulty, and even though others have thus far searched in vain that ought only to drive us more and more to our knees. God has been pleased to reveal many things out of His Word during the last century which were hidden from earlier students. Who then dare affirm that there is not much to be learned yet respecting our inquiry! (The Sovereignty of God, https://reformed.org/books/pink/index.html?mainframe=/books/pink/pink_sov_08.html)

On 10/20/2019, the sermon, “A Heart for the Lost,” preached by Pastor Joe Rosales, was based on Romans 9:1-5.

The pastor gave a good comment on labels: Some Christians are too fundamentalistic, insisting, like some of the immature and divisive Corinthians, that they have no labels, no creed, because they are “of Christ”:

For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians‬ ‭1:11-13‬ ‭NASB‬‬)

The point is that these men are all part of the body of Christ, so these factions are divisive fabrications. None of the men listed are at odds with each other. We are all one in Christ. Those who deny any subscription to a creed or confession only need to be asked, “Which Jesus do you believe in?” “Who do you say that Christ is?” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬).

In keeping with the sermon’s title, the pastor stressed that Hyper Calvinism is not Calvinism. Paul clearly expresses his longing to see his native people, the Jews, saved, wishing even “that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans‬ ‭9:3‬ ‭NASB‬‬). But Paul also recognizes that it’s ultimately up to God, who “has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires” (Romans‬ ‭9:18‬ ‭NASB‬‬).

The pastor also emphasized that Jesus taught a Limited Atonement, for “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep” (John‬ ‭10:14-15‬ ‭NASB‬‬). Christ died only for His sheep, not for the goats. The term “Limited” Atonement is misleading, however, because, while monergists or Calvinists limit the scope of the atonement, in that it was only for the elect, synergists or Arminians also limit the atonement of Christ, namely its power to save, because it doesn’t become effectual unless the sinner ultimately chooses Christ out of his own free will. So Jesus died even for Judas, but because Judas didn’t believe, his redemption was in vain. So Christ died in vain for all those who end up in hell, because their redemption ticket was never “redeemed” by their free will choice.

On 9/22/2019 the sermon, “The Cry For Revival,” preached by elder Albert Hernandez, was based on Micah 7.

Micah means “Who is like Jehovah?” The book starts with judgment for Israel and Judah but ends with eschatological hope following the destruction.

The preacher said that repetition is important. God frequently repeats Himself to His people, for we often forget and go astray. That’s also why reform is often necessary. Hezekiah, for example, starts well and leads religious reforms but doesn’t end well. “After Hezekiah’s illness, he was visited by envoys from Babylon. Hezekiah shows them all of Jerusalem’s treasuries. Isaiah rebukes him for this and prophesies the Babylonian exile (2 Kgs 20:14–19)” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary).

The elder encouraged the church to use the Reformed confessions and catechisms. Our church reads from reformed catechisms every Lord’s Day. Most are available free online and in print from Chapel Library:

https://chapellibrary.org/book/cfba/catechism-for-boys-and-girls-a-hulseerroll

https://chapellibrary.org/book/lbcw/the-london-baptist-confession-of-faith-of-1689-with-preface-baptist-catechism-and-appendix-on-baptism

He also quoted the Westminster Confession, Chapter V, On Providence:

The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave, for a season, his own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to [chastise] them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled;t and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.

J.C. Ryle said the greatest trials we face are disappointments in those we love:

Finally, let us leave the passage with a deep sense of our Lord's ability to sympathize with His believing people. If there is one trial greater than another, it is the trial of being disappointed in those we love. It is a bitter cup, which all true Christians have frequently to drink. Ministers fail them. Relations fail them. Friends fail them. One cistern after another proves to be broken, and to hold no water. But let them take comfort in the thought, that there is one unfailing Friend, even Jesus, who can be touched with the feeling of their infirmities, and has tasted of all their sorrows. Jesus knows what it is to see friends and disciples failing Him in the hour of need. Yet He bore it patiently, and loved them notwithstanding all. He is never weary of forgiving. Let us strive to do likewise. Jesus, at any rate, will never fail us. It is written, "His compassions fail not" (Lam. 3:22). (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels)

Another good point the elder made is that sermons are for judgment and rebuke in addition to comfort and edification. God rebukes and chastens those He loves, and pastors are likewise commanded to do the same. We have consolation that God will judge on our behalf and avenge us rather than judge us.

The little foxes ruin the entire vineyard. Ryle said little habits matter:

“Oh, my dear children, who can tell the power of the littles? The power of littles is very wonderful! No one knows what can be done by a little, and a little, and a little.” Ryle continues: “Oh, the importance of little habits! Habits of reading, habits of prayer, habits at meals, little habits through the day—all are little things. But they make up the character, and are of utmost importance.”

The elder noted the last verse of Micah 7, a profound message, and encouraged the church to study it, specifically the words “tread” and “cast”: “He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea” (Micah‬ ‭7:19‬ ‭NASB‬‬).

I’ll end with food for thought. A couple of Sundays ago we sang the hymn “God of Grace and God of Glory.” The lyrics seem fine, nothing questionable, but I tend to check the author of every hymn we sing. I was surprised that the author was Harry Emerson Fosdick, “the foremost proponent and popularizer of theological liberalism” who opposed Gresham Machen during the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy. This begs the question: Is it proper for churches to use hymns written by liberals or false teachers, even if the hymn may not contain questionable content? Pastor G. Craige Lewis sheds light on this issue. There’s a distinction between the lyrics of a song and the spirit—motive, intent—behind the song. Just because the lyrics may not be questionable doesn’t necessarily mean that the spirit the author wrote it in is right. Take the slave girl in Acts 16, for example:

It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”

It turns out that she was telling the truth about Paul and company, but…

She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment. (‭‭Acts‬ ‭16:16-18‬ ‭NASB‬‬)

The slave girl had perverse motives for telling the truth—to make her masters more money by tapping into the Christian market. It’s possible to say the right thing in the wrong spirit.