Theological Treatises

  " . . . I Do Not Wish Them To Be Brave In The Devil's Service" Though it is probably not  absolutely  historically-verifiable, the story has come down through the years, that Lt. Gen. Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson (CSA), told one of his staff officers that his (Jackson's) troops should, with regard to the Union soldiers, [quote],  "Kill them all. I do not wish them to be brave in the devil's service."   The staff officer had noted the courage of the northern warriors; and Gen. Jackson was concerned that their example of valor would have a savory effect on the other men in blue.  (This incident allegedly occurred during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862.)  It is no wonder that someone who could not understand Gen. Jackson's Christian faith, would call him a "blue-eyed killer," and a "religious fanatic"--as Ken Burns described him (in his Civil War series).   But Gen. Jackson's  command --assuming the truth...

  What To  Always  Do When you Just Do Not Know What  Else  To Do So, this paper is written for Christians who love God in Jesus Christ; and who are  continually  asking,  "What can I do to forward the gospel of Jesus--so that others will hear of Him, and have life in Him?"   More-specifically, this encouragement is for  regenerated  Christians who are  already  members in good standing in faithful Christ-loving, gospel-preaching, Spirit-filled churches.   When all  else  fails, and we have nowhere  else  to turn, in terms of how we may more fully broadcast the good news of Christ--let us  always  do this  one  thing: let us be good and faithful members of the churches (we spoke of above).   . . . And  the  single most important activity we participate in as church members is to worship the Triune God through our faith in Jesus Christ, as we are the gathere...

  Be Satan's Worst Nightmare One of the privileges of the true (regenerate) saints of the church, is that we get to frustrate the devil's designs against us--and hence, make his existence even  more  miserable than it already is (because of his rebellion against God). A principal way we do this, is by sincerely giving our Heavenly Father thanks for *everything* that happens to us, through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, (cf. 1 Thess. 5:18).  When we do this via sovereign gospel grace, it is  extremely  frustrating for Lucifer--because even his  worst  deeds foisted against us cannot wrench us from our love for God through our Blessed Redeemer. Another way we become the old snake's headache, is through sincerely loving our enemies--even when they, at Satan's bidding--come to murder us or torture us or persecute us (in any way). We recognize  who  is behind this undeserved ill-treatment; and we recall that  we  ...

  The Visible Church As a "Corpus Per Mixtum" "Corpus per mixtum,"  is Latin, and it means,  "mixed body."   The term was popularized by the great Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354-430 AD).  In this paper, I will be largely depending on two amazing geniuses: the aforementioned Augustine and Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758 AD).  The point of my abbreviated thesis is this: the  visible  church, i.e. that body of those baptized in the Trinitarian formula in credally-faithful Christian communions, constitute  all  kinds of people--from a "spiritual" point of view.  I do wish to make  this  one preliminary comment, however, and it is this: in fact, ultimately (and most-importantly) there are only  two  categories of persons in the visible church, (or in the world, for that matter); and they are: the  regenerate  in Christ, and all the rest (who are all  not  regenerate).   Both A...

  Bearing Reproach With Jesus Here is what we read, in Hebrews 13:13:  "Therefore let us go to him [Jesus] outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured,"  (ESV).  We are to do this because our Savior  "suffered outside the gate,"  (v. 12a).  Our  "altar,"  (v. 10a), is not in  any  city in this world.  Instead, it is in the  "city that is to come,"  (v. 14b), from heaven. . . .   Because  of all this, the true saints of the faithful church are viewed with scorn and derision by all who seek to find their "altar," their "atonement," their "righteousness" in the people, institutions, works, and performances of this world.  The people of the world  do  not and  cannot  understand us.  They view us with suspicion and disdain--as those who are "too good" for them, too weird in our outlook, and too "anti-social" in our behavior.   But nonetheless--despite ...

  "Does This Glorify The Lord Jesus Christ, Or Not?" The question (above, in the Title), is the  only  query that matters in life.  No other ultimate question has any relevance or importance.   All  that  matters  is, "Will what I do/think/believe/act on/cogitate  glorify  the Lord  Jesus  Christ, or will it not?"   The reason we say,  "The Lord Jesus Christ,"  is because  to  simply say,  "God,"  is  not  good enough.  There are too many  false  conceptions of "God," to make this word useful (in  this  respect and regard). . . . If the question was, "Will this action/etc. glorify  me  or someone  else  or  something  else or some  false  god?"--then, obviously, this is the  wrong  question to ask.  Still, it is better to *face* the fact of actually  making  this inquiry-- th...