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0c0ca4b
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The scribes and Pharisees were highly educated and deeply dedicated to understanding and keeping the law. This serves as a warning for us. The Bible is clear enough for any Christian to understand its basic meaning; nevertheless, the Word of God in every generation becomes distorted and misunderstood. These distortions happen not because there is something wrong with the clarity of the Word of God but because there is something wrong with u..
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R.C. Sproul |
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960c9f6
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Augustine once wrote, "The New [Testament] is in the Old [Testament] concealed; the Old is in the New revealed." To"
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R.C. Sproul |
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4ef5919
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We do not "find" God as a result of our search for him. We are found by him. The search for God does not end in conversion; it begins at conversion. It is the converted person who genuinely and sincerely seeks after God. Jonathan Edwards remarked that seeking after God is the main business of the Christian life."
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R.C. Sproul |
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891a8ff
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Love God? Sometimes I hate Him." This is a strange quote to hear from the lips of a man as respected for his religious zeal as Luther."
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R.C. Sproul |
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4ca6df6
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Somewhere, somehow, something must have the power of being. If not, we are left with only two options: (1) being comes from nothing or (2) nothing is (a contradiction). These options would be more miraculous than miracles if such were possible. Some
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R.C. Sproul |
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c0172a5
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in order to be able to count earthly sorrows and afflictions as matters of joy, we have to cultivate the ability to think in terms of the future.
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R.C. Sproul |
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6991593
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What we call "the laws of nature" merely reflect the normal way in which God sustains or governs the natural world. Perhaps the most wicked concept that has captured the minds of modern people is the belief that the universe operates by chance. That is the nadir of foolishness. Elsewhere, I have written more extensively on the scientific impossibility of assigning power to chance, because chance is simply a word that describes mathematical ..
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R.C. Sproul |
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684886e
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if God's sovereignty is limited one ounce by our freedom, He is not sovereign. What kind of a concept of God do we have that we would say that God is paralyzed by human choices? If His freedom is limited by our freedom, we are sovereign, not God. No, we are free, but God is even more free. This means that our freedom can never limit God's sovereignty.
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R.C. Sproul |
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cfa167e
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The Christian formula for the Trinity--God is one essence in three persons--may seem to be contradictory because we are accustomed to seeing one being as one person. We cannot conceive of how one being could be contained in three persons and still be only one being. To that extent, the doctrine of the Trinity in this formulation is mysterious; it boggles the mind to think of a being who is absolutely one in His essence yet three in person.
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R.C. Sproul |
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4b599f6
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Don't ever ask God for justice-you might get it.
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R.C. Sproul |
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40958d0
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Real conversion is an experience of repentance and forgiveness before God. It is not merely praying a prayer, joining a Christian church, or receiving a sacrament. It is being brought to our knees by the conviction of God the Holy Spirit.
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R.C. Sproul |
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ca92a30
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In our society cultural analysts speak of the "politics of envy," where politicians, for their own interests, stir up strife among people to create a kind of class warfare. The poor are set against the rich, employees against employers, women against men. Envy is the breeding ground for strife and even war. Envy is not restricted to the poor."
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R.C. Sproul |
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a1c3f3c
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If God ceased to exist, the universe would perish with Him, because God not only has created everything, He sustains everything. We are dependent on Him, not only for our origin, but also for our continuing existence.
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R.C. Sproul |
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7678ee4
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The prayer of faith is not a demand that we place on God. It is not a presumption of a granted request. The authentic prayer of faith is one that models Jesus' prayer. It is always uttered in a spirit of subordination. In all our prayers, we must let God be God. No one tells the Father what to do, not even the Son. Prayers are always to be requests made in humility and submission to the Father's will.
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R.C. Sproul |
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496a712
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The apostle said he was "hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed." He made no attempt to mask his pain in a fraudulent piety. The Christian is not a Stoic. Neither does he flee into a fantasy world that denies the reality of suffering. Paul freely admitted the pressure he experienced."
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R.C. Sproul |
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b4d2601
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The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether we believe the God we believe in.
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R.C. Sproul |
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21b4564
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The attention at the beginning of these petitions is on the exaltation of God and His concerns. In the initial phrases of the Lord's Prayer, Jesus fixes our gaze not on ourselves but on God. People
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R.C. Sproul |
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ab26c78
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Faith is also the means by which we live in response to the commands of God.
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R.C. Sproul |
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324ab64
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Once we refuse to honor God as God, our whole view of life and the world becomes distorted.
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R.C. Sproul |
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d92bcf4
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Truth may be mysterious, indeed even paradoxical, but never, never, never contradictory.
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R.C. Sproul |
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74072bb
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There was not one way of salvation in Israel and another way in the new covenant (Christian) community. Justification is by faith now; justification was by faith back then. The meritorious ground of salvation in the Old Testament was the merit of Christ, not the merit of bulls and goats.
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R.C. Sproul |
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b072126
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Todos tenemos una lucha cuando evaluamos nuestra vida cristiana. Podemos ver cambios para bien en nuestra vida, pero tambien vemos las cosas que no queremos ver; las cosas que no queremos que nadie vea. Asi que, al analizar el estado de nuestra alma, no necesitamos preguntar donde estabamos cuando nacimos de nuevo, ni siquiera como sucedio. Mas bien debemos preguntarnos si hay alguna evidencia de un cambio en la orientacion interior de nues..
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R.C. Sproul |
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694e59b
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Christ comes from the Greek word christos, which means "anointed." It corresponds to the Hebrew word translated "messiah." When Jesus is called"
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R.C. Sproul |
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b98be2b
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when the Bible speaks of hope, it is not referring to a desire for a future outcome that is uncertain, but rather a desire for a future outcome that is absolutely sure.
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R.C. Sproul |
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352ec47
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Far from God seeking to destroy the "self" as many distortions of Christianity would claim, God redeems the self. He heals the self so that it may be useful and fulfilled in the mission to which the person is called."
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R.C. Sproul |
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4fe2ef4
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I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, but I know that God knows what tomorrow is going to bring. So if God promises that tomorrow will bring something, and if I trust God for tomorrow, I have faith in something I have not yet seen.
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R.C. Sproul |
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38051b5
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The Christian is not a Stoic. Neither does he flee into a fantasy world that denies the reality of suffering.
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R.C. Sproul |
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c671b86
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No sin has ever made any person happy. Sin simply cannot bring happiness, but it can deliver pleasure, and when we confuse pleasure with happiness, we are wide open to the seduction of the enemy.
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R.C. Sproul |
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72cd4a2
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a knowledge of the invisible God is revealed to us through that which is visible. The creation itself screams out the reality of the Creator.
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R.C. Sproul |
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0f5d6ab
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Prayer is not simply a soliloquy, a mere exercise in therapeutic self-analysis, or a religious recitation. Prayer is discourse with the personal God Himself.
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prayer
jesus
prayer-life
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R.C. Sproul |
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95e2452
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We have all heard evangelists quote from Revelation: "I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me." Usually the evangelist applies this text as an appeal to the unconverted, saying, 'Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. If you open the door, he will come in.' In the original saying, however, Jesus directed his remarks to the church. It was not an ..
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R.C. Sproul |
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44ce46a
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Any time we discuss a historical event, we review the facts, and sometimes we argue about what really took place, what was said, what was observed. However, once we agree on the facts (or agree to disagree), we are still left with the most important question we can ask: What is the meaning of the event?
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R.C. Sproul |
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42a0849
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if God is not sovereign, God is not God.
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R.C. Sproul |
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5366e28
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it must be good that evil exists, because God sovereignly, providentially ordains only what is good. In terms of His eternal purpose, God has esteemed it good that evil should be allowed to happen in this world.
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R.C. Sproul |
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47b5db6
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Needless to say, the reign of our Lord is a tremendous benefit for those who love Him and follow Him. For this reason, it is clearly better for us that Jesus left than if He had stayed.
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R.C. Sproul |
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7962fbb
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Likewise, abortions performed to save the lives of women are exceedingly rare. The real issue is abortion for convenience or because the child is simply not wanted.
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R.C. Sproul |
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4856901
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If an unjust law is passed and enforced, then anyone coerced to comply with the law is a victim of injustice.
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law
justice
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R.C. Sproul |
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128c6ad
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We may go to the house of mirth, to a party, where we have fun, kick back, have a good time, and enjoy entertainment. Parties are not all that serious; we don't have to be contemplative in order to enjoy ourselves there. Certainly there is a time to laugh, a time to dance, a time to celebrate-a time to have a party. But how much do we learn in those circumstances? Times of mirth do very little for the good of our souls.
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R.C. Sproul |
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3adf3c5
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I would counsel her to maintain the pregnancy on the grounds that the developing baby within her is a co-victim of the rapist's heinous crime. To kill the fetus, who is innocent of the offense, is to add insult to injury.
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R.C. Sproul |
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ea4127c
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Even if it were decided in extreme cases that abortion is an ethical option, the extreme cases should not dictate the general law.
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R.C. Sproul |
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01bf9f8
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Satan's chief device of temptation is to attack the truth of God.
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temptation
christianity
satan
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R.C. Sproul |
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7256567
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God requires perfection to get into his heaven. We either find that perfection in ourselves or we find it somewhere else, in someone else. If we think we can find it in ourselves, we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us (see 1 John 1:8).
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R.C. Sproul |
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a4b0303
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Do you not know that God dwells in light inaccessible? We weak and ignorant creatures want to probe and understand the incomprehensible majesty of the unfathomable light of the wonder of God. We approach; we prepare ourselves to approach. What wonder then that his majesty overpowers us and shatters!"13"
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R.C. Sproul |
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8034145
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If I hope in anything or anyone less than One who has power over suffering and, ultimately, death, I am doomed to final disappointment. Suffering will drive me to hopelessness. What character I have will disintegrate. It is the hope of Christ that makes it possible for us to persevere in times of tribulation and distress. We have an anchor for our souls that rests in the One who has gone before us and conquered.
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R.C. Sproul |