The Great Tribulation -- When and How Long?
The Great Tribulation -- When and How Long?

I am often asked whether or not the “tribulation” is a seven year period which immediately precedes the second coming of Jesus Christ, or is it the entire period of time between Christ’s first and second advent, the so-called “great tribulation?”

This is an important question for several reasons. First, when most people think of the “tribulation,” they are thinking of the popular dispensational notion that at (or about) the time of the Rapture, the world enters a seven-year period— “the tribulation”—in which the Antichrist comes to power after the unexpected and instantaneous removal of all believers. The Antichrist then makes a seven-year peace treaty with Israel, only to turn upon the nation after three and a half years, plunging the entire world into the final geopolitical crisis which ends with the battle of Armageddon. Dispensationalists believe the seven year tribulation is a time of horrific cruelty and persecution for those who are “left behind,” and that the only way to be saved during this period is to refuse to take the mark of the beast, and not worship the beast or his image, which will likely result in martyrdom. The critical flaw with the dispensational doctrine of a future seven-year tribulation is that it is nowhere found in Scripture—although dispensationalists make appeal to Daniel 9:24-27 (more on this below).

A second reason why this question is important has to do with the rise of various forms of preterism. Full-preterism is properly considered a heresy. But so-called “partial” preterism is not. Preterists (I am speaking here of the orthodox, “partial” variety) contend that Jesus Christ returned in the clouds in A.D. 70 to execute judgment upon apostate Israel, the city of Jerusalem, and the Jewish temple, and its sacrificial system. Those who hold to the various orthodox forms of preterism believe that the great tribulation spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24:21, has come and gone with the events associated with the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Romans. All that remains is the Lord’s return.

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Amillennialism, Biblical Events, eschatologyKim RiddlebargerThe great tribulation Comments
Charles Hodge on the Trinity
Charles Hodge on the Trinity

I’ve always found this definition from Charles Hodge to be succinct and helpful.

“The Father says I; the Son says I; and Spirit says I. The Father says Thou to the Son, and the Son says Thou to the Father; and in like manner the Father and the Son use the pronouns He and Him in reference to the Spirit. The Father loves the Son; the Son loves the Father; the Spirit testifies of the Son. The Father, Son and Spirit are severally subject and object. They act and are acted upon, or are objects of action. Nothing is added to these facts when it is said that the Father, Son and Spirit are distinct persons; for a person is an intelligent subject who can say I, who can be addressed as Thou, and who can act and be the object of action. The summation of the above facts is expressed in the proposition, The one divine Being subsists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This proposition adds nothing to the facts themselves; for the facts are (1.) That there is one divine Being. (2) The Father, the Son and Spirit are divine. (3.) The Father, Son and Spirit are in the sense just stated, distinct persons. (4.) Attributes being inseparable from substance, the Scriptures, in saying that the Father, Son and Spirit possess the same attributes, say they are one in substance; and, if the same in substance, they are equal in power and glory”

From Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, I.444

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Biblical Theology, Reformed ResourcesKim RiddlebargerHodge on the Trinity Comments
Musings (10/01/2022)
Musings (10/01/2022)

  • According to CNN, "Rapture anxiety” is really a thing. An improper understanding of our Lord’s return leads to anxiety on the part of God’s people (when the second coming is to be thought of as the “blessed hope”) and mockery on the part of unbelievers who, barring faith and repentance, should be terrified of the Lord’s return.

  • If Rapture anxiety is really a thing, it is time to check the "Rapture Ready Index" which tells us it is time to "fasten our seat belts!" The cynic in me asks if the whole point of the Rapture is to be caught up with the Lord in the air, why should I put on a seat belt? That might leave a mark.

  • Califonia’s governor, Gavin Newsom, sans mask and while dining at the French Laundry, went after Grace Community Church during the Covid lock-down. Newsom has also paid for billboards around the country with grossly misused Bible verses encouraging women seeking abortions to come to California as a sort of abortion haven. John MacArthur, who won his court case against Newsom, and who clearly occupies the high-moral ground, calls Gavin Newsom to repentance in a very public manner. John MacArthur's "open letter" to Governor Newsom.

  • Read it and weep. Ligonier’s annual doctrinal survey is a sad and serious indicator of the fruit of a whole generation of American evangelicals telling us that doctrine doesn’t matter. Evangelicals know premarital sex is wrong (nearly 90% agree), but nearly half embrace the most serious heresy in church history without knowing it (Arianism). Evangelicalism has been swamped by the “subjective turn” — “I think, I feel . . .” Ligonier's "State of Theology" Survey

To read the rest of my “Musings,” follow the link below

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MusingsKim RiddlebargerMacArthur Newsom, Rapture anxiety, Rapture Index, Ankle-Biters, Clark on R2K, Clark on Aquinas Comments
An Exposition of Article Thirty-Four of the Belgic Confession -- The Sacrament of Baptism
An Exposition of Article Thirty-Four of the Belgic Confession -- The Sacrament of Baptism

Before our Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, he left his disciples with the following command: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). Based upon these words of the great commission, it is now the mission of Christ’s church to go into the world, preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations. And how do we make disciples? We baptize them in the name of the Triune God.

We are working our way through articles Thirty-Three through Thirty-Five of our confession which deal with the sacraments. Previously, we made the point that the two sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are visible signs and seals of invisible grace, given to us by a gracious God who is ever mindful of our hardness of heart and insensitivity to things of the Lord.

In Article Thirty-Three, our confession makes the point that the sacraments draw their efficacy from God’s word through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is quite unlike the view of the medieval Roman church. Rome held (and still does) that the sacraments are efficacious because Jesus Christ vested this gracious power in the church through a sacrificing priesthood. Therefore, Rome’s errors regarding the sacraments are two-fold. The water of baptism supposedly regenerates, washing away the guilt of original sin, while the essence of the Lord’s Supper (the Mass) is an unbloody re-sacrifice of Christ’s broken body, which is offered daily by the priests to appease God’s wrath and anger.

Article Thirty-Three also makes the point that the sacraments are means of grace and that God communicates his grace through material things, specifically the water of baptism and the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. The material language of our confession is drawn from New Testament, and our confession is a response to the Anabaptists of the 1560's, who believed that God works directly upon the human heart apart from means. Since Anabaptists did not understand baptism in the context of God’s gracious covenant, they denied baptism to children of Christian believers. As they saw it, baptism has nothing to do with our ratification of God’s gracious promise to us and to our children. Children are not members of the covenant of grace–contrary to what is taught throughout both the New and Old Testaments. Rather, the Anabaptists understood baptism as an act of obedience on the part of someone able to make a decision to follow Jesus. Therefore baptism is our promise to be faithful–not our ratification of God’s promise to be faithful to us and to our children. Baptism is the public confirmation of our personal decision to follow Jesus.

To read the rest of this exposition click here: "The Son of God Is Our Red Sea"

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Belgic ConfessionKim RiddlebargerThe sacrament of baptismComment
"To the Church in Sardis" -- Letters to the Seven Churches (6) -- Revelation 3:1-6
"To the Church in Sardis" -- Letters to the Seven Churches (6) -- Revelation 3:1-6

A Stern Rebuke

When Jesus speaks to the seven churches in Asia Minor, he usually commends these struggling churches before giving them a word of rebuke. Not so with the church in Sardis. This congregation receives only a stern rebuke. “Wake up,” Jesus warns them, or else he will suddenly come upon them in judgment. Although the church in Sardis thinks it is alive, in reality it is near death. This congregation has stopped preaching the gospel in order to make peace with paganism. It is no longer a faithful witness to God’s saving mercy in Jesus Christ. Therefore, this church must wake up and repent, or else face the wrath of Jesus Christ who is the Lord of his church.

Jesus Is and Remains the Lord of His Church

Beginning in Revelation 1:12, John records his vision of the resurrected Christ, along with the seven letters that Jesus addresses to seven historic churches in western Asia Minor. In each of these seven letters, Jesus relates a particular aspect of his post-resurrection glory to specific issues facing each of these congregations. Jesus commends several congregations for those things they are doing well. He points out the issues and struggles that each of these congregations was facing. He promises blessings to these churches when they are obedient to his word, while threatening curses if these congregations fail to repent. But even when there is a word of rebuke, each of these letters ends with a promise of blessing to all those who overcome and who remain faithful to Jesus Christ despite the suffering, persecution, and temptations that these Christians faced.

These letters tell us that Jesus is not an absentee Lord of his church. When John sees the resurrected Lord in his vision, Jesus is walking in the midst of his churches, represented by seven lampstands, which are symbolic of Christ’s presence among his churches. They are also symbolic of the Holy Spirit empowering these congregations to be faithful witnesses of God’s grace in Jesus Christ to those around them who are living in darkness. Jesus knows full well what each one of these seven churches is facing. He knows their struggles, their victories, and their failures. Indeed, these seven churches are also representative of Christ’s church throughout the entire period of time between Christ’s first advent and his second coming. The issues these churches faced in the first century, will mirror situations that Christians will face until Christ comes again with great power and glory at the end of the age. What Jesus says to these first century churches, he says to us in the 21st. Therefore, each of these seven letters ends with the now familiar exhortation: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

To read the rest, follow the link below

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The Seven ChurchesKim Riddlebargerthe church in SardisComment
Warfield on Paedobaptism
Warfield on Paedobaptism

From Warfield’s essay, “Christian Baptism” (Presbyterian Board of Publication 1920), reprinted in Selected Shorter Writings, Vol. 1, (325-331)

Naturally, therefore, this sign and seal belongs only to those who are the Lord's. Or, to put it rather in the positive form, this sign and seal belongs to all those who are the Lord's. There are no distinctions of race or station, sex or age; there is but one prerequisite -- that we are the Lord's. What it means is just this and nothing else: that we are the Lord's. What it pledges is just this and nothing else: that the Lord will keep us as his own. We need not raise the question, then, whether infants are to be baptized. Of course they are, if infants, too, may be the Lord's. Naturally, as with adults, it is only the infants who are the Lord's who are to be baptized; but equally naturally as with adults, all infants that are the Lord's are to be baptized. Being the Lord's they have a right to the sign that they are the Lord's and to the pledge of the Lord's holy keeping. Circumcision, which held the place in the old covenant that baptism holds in the new, was to be given to all infants born within the covenant. Baptism must follow the same rule. This and this only can determine its conference: Is the recipient a child of the covenant, with a right therefore to the sign and seal of the covenant? We cannot withhold the sign and seal of the covenant from those who are of the covenant.

To read this excerpt in its entirety, follow the link below

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B. B. Warfield, Biblical Theology, Reformed ResourcesKim RiddlebargerWarfield on infant baptismComment
Paul's Non-Millenarian Eschatology
Paul's Non-Millenarian Eschatology

Being “In Christ” Anticipates the Glories of the “Age to Come”

Throughout his letters, Paul contends this present evil age will give way on the day of Jesus’ return to the glories of the age to come, just as Jesus went from death (Good Friday) to resurrection life (Easter Sunday). Paul describes a tension between what Jesus has already accomplished (in his death, resurrection, and ascension) and what remains to be fulfilled at the final once for all consummation; when Jesus returns on the day of resurrection and brings about the final manifestation of the wrath of God (cf. Romans 2:5, 5:9, Ephesians 2:3), elsewhere spoken of as the day of judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10). This tension is often described as the “already” and the “not yet” and is found throughout the letters of Paul. What we are “in Christ” anticipates and foreshadows the glories of “the age to come.”

The Main Event — the Return of Jesus Christ

Primarily, however, Paul’s two-age eschatology points ahead to that one critical event which brings about the end of the curse (sin, guilt, and death), and in which all the promises of God are fully realized (forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life).[1] That event, of course, is the bodily return of Jesus Christ at the end of the age to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new. As Paul puts it in Titus 2:13, we are “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” The heart of New Testament eschatology is not the hope of a millennial age in which this present “evil” age is progressively transformed into some sort of earthly utopia either before or after Christ returns. Biblical eschatology cannot be viewed through the lens of secular and cultural progress, nor current events. The end of human history comes about at Jesus Christ’s second advent described by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57. For Paul, Christ’s second advent is the final consummation. This present age with its sin and death will come to a final and dramatic end (as will all things temporal). Yet, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the age to come is even now a present reality (through the work of the Holy Spirit), but awaits that moment when the Lord returns and the temporal finally gives way to the eternal.

To read the rest, follow the link below

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Amillennialism, eschatology, Blessed Hope PodcastKim Riddlebargernon millenarian eschatology Comments
Christ's Three-Fold Office and the "Lordship Controversy"
Christ's Three-Fold Office and the "Lordship Controversy"

“Christ’s Three-Fold Office”

John Calvin spoke of Christ’s “three-fold office”(prophet, priest, and king) as an important and useful means of understanding the person and work of Christ. Calvin devoted a chapter of his Institutes of the Christian Religion (2.15.1-6) to setting forth the biblical data which demonstrates that Jesus is God’s consummate prophet, the great high priest, and all-powerful king.

The so-called “three-fold office” was widely accepted as a helpful way to understand those bible passages which speak of Christ’s saving work in both testaments. The three-fold office was soon a prominent theme in most Protestant confessions of faith and catechisms. The Westminster Shorter Catechism speaks of the three-fold office in Q & A 23: “What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?” Answer: “Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.”

You may recall the “Lordship controversy” which raged within evangelicalism several decades ago—and still resurfaces from time to time. The subject of the debate was whether or not someone could “accept Jesus as their Savior” but not make him “Lord over their lives.” While one side argued that it was biblically impossible to come to saving faith in Christ without submitting to his Lordship over every area of our lives, the other side argued that this was to confuse faith with repentance, and in effect, to deny justification by faith alone.

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Wisdom from ConfessionsKim RiddlebargerLordship controversy, Christ's three offices Comments
"To the Church in Thyatira" -- Letters to the Seven Churches (5) -- Revelation 2:18-29
"To the Church in Thyatira" -- Letters to the Seven Churches (5) -- Revelation 2:18-29

“To the Church in Thyatira” — A Unique Set of Circumstances

The letter to the church in Thyatira is the longest of these seven letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3, and perhaps the most difficult to interpret.

As we have seen with each of these letters, it is essential for us to understand something about the historical context of this particular church in order to correctly interpret our Lord’s letter to this congregation. The city of Thyatira is quite unlike the earlier cities we have seen–Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum. These were all large cities and important centers of commerce. Thyatira was not.

All of three of the former cities were dominated by various forms of paganism. The Christians of Ephesus lived in the shadow of the temple of Diana and were immersed in a culture which was dominated by the worship of Diana. The cities of Smyrna and Pergamum were not only filed with pagan temples of every sort, but were also centers of emperor worship. Christians who lived in these two cities found themselves facing death and imprisonment at the hands of the beast–that is, the Satanically empowered Roman government–which attempted to force Christians to confess that “Caesar is Lord” at the point of a sword. Unless Christians in these cities were willing to confess that Caesar was Lord–which is to take the mark of the beast–they were not allowed to buy and sell or to participate in the commercial and cultural life of the city. If you were a Christian living in Smyrna and Pergamum, it truly cost you something to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and that Caesar is not.

In addition to living under such difficult circumstances because of the paganism which was rampant in these cities, Christians in these cities faced another problem. They were slandered by certain Jews who were secularized to the point that although they continued to worship YHWH, they also were willing to confess the divinity of Caesar in order to conduct their business and participate in the cultural affairs of the city. As a result of this intense persecution and slander, Christians in Smyrna were forced to live in abject poverty. Many were arrested and imprisoned. Even though Satan persecuted them to the point of death, Jesus promises to give them the crown of life.

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The Seven ChurchesKim RiddlebargerChurch of ThyatiraComment
An Exposition of Article Thirty-Three of the Belgic Confession — The Sacraments
An Exposition of Article Thirty-Three of the Belgic Confession — The Sacraments

We are a weak and sinful people. But God, in his grace, gives us tangible signs and seals of his promise to save us from the guilt of our sins and to free us from sin’s bondage. These tangible signs and seals are the water of baptism and the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. This brings us to a discussion of the sacraments, the means God uses to nourish and sustain our faith.

We move into a new section of our confession, those three articles dealing with the sacraments (Articles Thirty-Three through Thirty-Five). We begin by noting the obvious–at the time in which our confession was written in 1561, the sacraments were a very divisive issue, separating the Reformed churches from Rome, from the Anabaptists, and from the Lutherans–divisions which remain to this very day. Not only did the new Reformed churches need to summarize what the Bible teaches about the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper (hence the production of our confession), but the author of our confession must also refute both the Anabaptist and Roman Catholic views on the subject, as well as differentiate the Reformed view from that of the Lutherans.

As we work our way through these three articles, it is surely proper and fitting to keep in mind that the author of our confession (Guido de Bres) was put to death by Roman Catholic authorities for serving communion to congregations of Reformed exiles. We should not forget that our confession was written in martyr’s blood.

To read the rest of An Exposition of Article Thirty-Three, "to Nourish and Sustain"

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Belgic ConfessionKim Riddlebargersacraments, baptism, Lord's SupperComment
Postscript to Season One of the Blessed Hope Podcast on the Book of Galatians Is Live
Postscript to Season One of the Blessed Hope Podcast on the Book of Galatians Is Live

We’ve completed our fourteen-part series on the Book of Galatians. But one question remains unanswered. What happened after Paul sent his letter to the churches in Galatia? In Acts 15, we get our answer. The Judaizing heresy became an issue of concern far beyond Galatia. In response, the Apostles and elders of the Jerusalem church convene a church assembly–known to us as the “Jerusalem Council.” The assembled churches and their leaders wanted to hear from Paul about the great success of the Gentile mission. But they must also address the controversy in the churches which arose precisely because so many Gentiles were coming to faith in Jesus Christ. The question was being asked in many churches where there were also Jewish converts to Christianity present. Must Gentile converts live as Jews? How does the law of Moses apply to the people of God in light of the gospel? Although Paul addressed these matters in his Galatian letter, the issues raised by the Judaizers were being debated throughout Judea and especially in Antioch, where Paul and Barnabas were currently ministering. It became necessary for the collective churches to meet in Jerusalem and respond to on-going the Judaizing controversy.

In this episode I’ll also answer listener questions and offer a first-take critique of N. T. Wright’s new commentary on Galatians.

Postscript to Season One of the Blessed Hope Podcast on the Book of Galatians

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Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerJerusalem Council, Blesed Hope Listener QuestionsComment
I Was a Guest on the "Depends on How You Look At It" Podcast
I Was a Guest on the "Depends on How You Look At It" Podcast

I was recently interviewed by Isaiah Burridge, host of the “Depends On How You Look At It” Podcast.

We had a wide-ranging conversation on all things amillennial—from the Antichrist, postmillennialism, preterism, dispensationalism, to the date of the Book of Revelation: You can listen to it here (by following the link below) , or you can go directly to the podcast feed ("Come Lord Jesus: A Discussion of Amillennialism with Dr. Kim Riddlebarger")

To listen to the embedded podcast here follow the link below

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Kim Riddlebarger
Musings (9/7/22)
Musings (9/7/22)

To read the rest, follow the link below

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MusingsKim RiddlebargerDr. Robert Godfrey, The end of Christendom, Lying Comment
Season One Finale of the Blessed Hope Podcast Is Up!
Season One Finale of the Blessed Hope Podcast Is Up!

The Season One finale (Episode Fourteen) has been posted — The Blessed Hope Podcast

Updates:

  • Season Two (on Paul’s Thessalonian letters) is in the works. Look for a release later in the Fall, Lord willing.

  • Season One Epilogue will be posted soon. I cover the Jerusalem Council, answer listener questions, and pick on NT Wright.

  • Also, a special premium is coming for all of you who listened to Season One. Watch for details!

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Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerComment
The "Drone Defender" -- Has 1950's Science Fiction Come To Life?
The "Drone Defender" -- Has 1950's Science Fiction Come To Life?

I recently saw a news story with pictures of a Ukrainian soldier using an odd rifle-like device to disable Russian drones. Apparently, these “drone defenders” (American made) are quite effective in disturbing the radio signal directing the drone, causing them to crash land.

So, I did a quick google search and found a short instructional video demonstrating how the thing works. As the modern battlefield and security needs change, weapons like this will become increasingly important and commonplace.

To read the rest and watch the videos follow the link below

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Kim Riddlebarger1950s Sci Fi come to life Comment
Athanasius on the Death of Arius
Athanasius on the Death of Arius

I am the first to admit the temptation to take delight in the affliction experienced by obvious villains. But when it comes to the death of an arch-enemy of the gospel (Arius of Alexandria), there is a measure of satisfaction when what appears to be divine justice prevails. It falls to Athanasius (the famed defender and of the faith) to inform us of manner of Arius’s death, the very night before the latter was to be ordained as Bishop.

“When the Bishop Alexander heard this (that Arius had under oath declared that he held the right faith) he was greatly distressed, and entering into the church stretched forth his hands unto God, and bewailed himself; and casting himself upon his face in the chancel, he prayed laying on the pavement . . . . `If Arius is brought to communion tomorrow let me, Thy servant depart, and destroy not the pious with the impious; but if Thou wilt spare Thy Church . . . . take off Arius, lest if he enter into the Church, and the heresy also may seem to enter with him, and henceforth impiety may be accounted for piety.’ When the Bishop had thus prayed, he retired with great anxiety, and a wonderful and extraordinary circumstance took place. . . . Arius . . . talked very wildly, [but] urged by the necessities of nature withdrew, and suddenly, in the language of Scripture, `falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst,' and immediately expired as he lay, and was deprived both of communion and of his life together. Such has been the end of Arius.”[1]

Athanasius concludes, “the antichristian gang of the Arian madmen has been shewn to be unpleasing to God and impious.”[2] Indeed, “will not the judge of the whole earth do right” (Genesis 18:25)?

______________________________________

[1] Athanasius, “To Serapion, Concerning the Death of Arius,” in NPNF, Vol. IV. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1978), 564 ff.

[2] Athanasius, “To Serapion, Concerning the Death of Arius,” in NPNF, Vol. IV. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1978, 565.

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Athanasius, History and CultureKim RiddlebargerDeath of Arius Comments
"To the Church in Pergamum" Letters to the Seven Churches (4) -- (Revelation 2:12-17)
"To the Church in Pergamum" Letters to the Seven Churches (4) -- (Revelation 2:12-17)

Throughout the Book of Revelation, Satan is depicted as an already defeated foe, who, in a final act of desperation, wages war on the people of God. In certain instances, we read of Satan empowering the Beast to persecute Christ’s church using the full power of the state and the point of the sword. But in other instances, Satan takes a much more subtle approach. As the father of lies, Satan is not only the persecutor of the church, he is also the seducer of the church. In the Book of Revelation we not only read of the Beast who makes war upon the saints, we also read of the harlot, who seduces the peoples of the earth. Like the church in Smyrna, the church in Pergamum faces intense persecution from the God-hating Roman empire. But the church in Pergamum also faces an enemy from within, a seductress who entices God’s people to commit spiritual adultery.

When we come to Christ’s third letter to the churches of Asia Minor, our Lord’s letter to the church in Pergamum, it is important to recall that each of these seven letters are part of a larger vision which began in Revelation 1:12 with John’s description of the resurrected Christ. When John is granted the privilege of seeing Jesus in his post-resurrection glory, he attempts to describe what he sees. But words obviously fail him. John describes the struggle between Jesus Christ and his ancient foe, the devil, using apocalyptic language in which words are used are symbols to point to the “story behind the story,” namely, Jesus Christ’s certain victory over Satan and all of those allied with him.

No longer depicted as a bruised reed, the Jesus of the Book of Revelation is the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the one who was dead but who is now alive forever more. Jesus is the great high priest who not only purchases us with his own blood but who also makes us to be a kingdom of priests (Revelation 1:5). In this book, Jesus is God’s final prophet, as Jesus speaks to us about the course of this present evil age which is the great tribulation, that final period of human history, depicted throughout the New Testament as the “last days.” In the Book of Revelation, Jesus is described as God’s all-powerful king.

To read the rest, follow the link below

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The Seven ChurchesKim RiddlebargerThe church in Pergamum, The error of the NicolatiansComment
An Exposition of Article Thirty-Two of the Belgic Confession
An Exposition of Article Thirty-Two of the Belgic Confession

There is no subject which brings as much tension as the subject of church discipline. While church discipline is always a difficult thing to do, it is something we must do. A church which does not discipline erring members is a church which risks heresy in its midst, or which allows erring members to profess that they are Christ’s and then through shameful conduct bring disgrace to the master whom they claim bought them (cf. 2 Peter 2:1). While we are all sinners, we are not allowed to bring scandal upon the church, nor shame to its head, Jesus Christ.

We miss the whole point of church discipline if we see it as people often do, the self-righteous removing unpopular or victimized people from their midst. That is not what church discipline is about. Church discipline is about ministers and elders who have been called to shepherd the flock, driving savages wolves away from the sheep. No one likes doing it, but it must be done.

We come to the last article in the Belgic Confession dealing with the doctrine of the church. In Article Thirty-Two, our confession now fleshes out some of the practical ramifications of Paul’s exhortation to the church of Corinth, “but all things should be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40). As we have seen, the New Testament teaches that local churches are to be governed by elders together with the minister(s), and that these same churches are to be served by deacons who ensure that no one in the congregation goes without. Collectively, these men form the church council, which conducts the day to day business of the church.

We have seen that the local church is the visible manifestation of Christ’s invisible body, and that God equips the members of his church for service by giving us gifts of the Holy Spirit for the common good. Since the church is so important to the well-being of every Christian, the New Testament has no category for someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ, but who is also not a member of the local church. Our confession has also identified the three marks of a true church; the clear and consistent preaching of the gospel, the proper administration of the sacraments, and the exercise of church discipline. It is the third mark–church discipline–which is the subject of Article Thirty-Two.

To read the rest, An Exposition of Belgic Confession Article Thirty-Two

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Belgic ConfessionKim RiddlebargerDecently and in Good Order, church disciplineComment