WesleyGospel Ministries

Although I have doctrinal and practical differences with Dr. MacArthur’s ministry, at the end of the day, I can sincerely thank him for publishing The Gospel According to Jesus in 1988. It caused evangelical pastors to reevaluate just what the Bible teaches about salvation from sin and Hell. It caused pastors to refocus on the necessity of the fruit of the Spirit and obedience to the commands of Christ and Scripture as evidence of saving faith in the cross. And in contrast, it helped Christians to be able to identify the counterfeits of easy believism, cheap grace, antinomianism, and hyper-grace. He also published Ashamed of the Gospel in 1993. Although I don’t agree with him putting down Charles Finney within it, from what I know, it was still a good exposé of seeker-sensitive attitudes within our churches, and explains how pastors often shy away from preaching on Hell, repentance, and the blood of Jesus. For a full list of Dr. MacArthur’s books, see here. Dr. Jack Deere’s Surprised series has more than adequately replied to MacArthur’s cessationist books; and I will always lean in Deere’s direction on the gifts of the Spirit. Although MacArthur’s from a slightly different camp than myself, I tip my hat to him with goodwill, and expect to see him in Heaven. –J.B.

¹² How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! ¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. ¹⁵ Yet thou shalt be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the pit.
–Isaiah 14:12-15 (KJV)–

³ Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. ⁴ Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
–Philippians 2:3-4 (KJV)–

Love conquers all.
–Virgil–

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Got Questions, “What Does the Bible Say About Ego?”

Well+Good, “How to Spot an Egotistical Personality.”

Confessions of a Nazi Spy (Warner Bros, 1939).

Gaslight (MGM, 1944).

Part 3, 11:50 – Not to lend credence to friendship evangelism. I doubt the authenticity of JP’s conversion, but it’s true that he said those things. Chris eventually backslid into skepticism and I never heard from him again. –J.B.

I do not know how it is, but this simple doctrine is the hardest doctrine to make plain. It seems so easy, and yet many will mystify and doubt. “What, no good works, no good feelings!” All these things are fruits of grace; but salvation does not depend upon them. Salvation is in Christ, wholly in Christ, in Christ alone, and the moment any of you do trust him unfeignedly to be your sole and only Saviour you have accepted God’s propitiation, and God has accepted you. It is not possible for the Lord, unless he could reverse his nature, stain his honour, belie his character, make his word a farce, and the atonement of Christ a falsehood, to reject any man under heaven who believes in Christ, and takes him to be his all in all. This day is called Good Friday; may it be a good Friday to some of you. Perhaps I have some here to whom I have preached these last seven years, and yet you have remained unsaved. I am clear of your blood if you had only heard but this one morning sermon, for God witnesseth I know not how to put the plan of salvation more plainly than I have done. “God hath set forth Christ to be a propitiation through his blood.” I bid you look to Christ bleeding, to Christ sweating drops of blood, Christ scourged, Christ nailed to the tree, and if you believe in Christ’s blood he is the propitiation of your sins.
–Charles Spurgeon–

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. ¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
–James 5:13-18 (NIV)–

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R. A. Torrey, Divine Healing.

Andrew Murray, Divine Healing.

A. B. Simpson, The Gospel of Healing.

A. J. Gordon, The Ministry of Healing.

Dr. John R. Rice, Healing In Answer to Prayer.

John Wimber, Power Evangelism.

—. Power Healing.

Herbert Lockyer, All the Miracles of the Bible.

Dr. James Goll, Signs, Wonders, and the Supernatural Life (Regal, 2010).

Your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
–1 Corinthians 2:5 (NKJV)–

You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.
–Matthew 22:29 (NKJV)–

Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road,
and while He opened the Scriptures to us?
–Luke 24:32 (NKJV)–

He might have said, “These philosophers are very wise men; if I would be a match for them, I must be very wise, too. These Corinthians are a very noble race of people; they have been for a long time under the tuition of these talented men. I must speak as they speak, in enigmas and with many sophisms; I must always be propounding some dark problem. I need not live in the tub of Diogenes; but if I take his lantern, I may do something with it; I must try and borrow some of his wisdom. I have a profound philosophy to preach to these clever people; and if I liked to preach that philosophy, I should dash in pieces all their theories concerning mental and moral science. I have found out a wondrous secret, and I might stand in the midst of the marketplace, and cry, ‘Eureka, Eureka,’ ‘I have found it,’ but I do not care to build my gospel upon the foundation of human wisdom. No, if any are brought to believe in Christ, it shall be from the simple unadorned gospel, plainly preached in unpolished language. The faith of my hearers, if they are converted to God, shall not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”
–Charles Spurgeon, “Christ Crucified” (Part 2)–

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Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter.

—. The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict.

Norman Geisler, When Critics Ask.

—. When Skeptics Ask.

—. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics.

The Evidence Study Bible.

Dr. William G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology.

Dr. Thomas C. Oden, John Wesley’s Scriptural Christianity, ch. 7.

WesleyGospel, “Why Cessationists Don’t Hear the Voice of God.”

—. “Debunking Cessationism.”

—. “Why Do Some Christians Not Have Any Spiritual Experiences?”

Dr. Jack Deere, Surprised by the Voice of God (Zondervan, 1996), chs. 16-19. Argues that cessationists don’t have charismatic experiences because of their unbelief and their stubborn pride of feeling they are right in their views (Acts 7:51); the same probably applies to most atheists, agnostics, and skeptics (Romans 1:18; 1 Corinthians 2:14).

Dr. James Goll, The Beginner’s Guide to Hearing God (Regal, 2008).

Dr. Craig Keener, Miracles Today (Baker, 2021).

Richard J. Foster, Streams of Living Water (HarperCollins, 1998).

Thomas Dubay, Fire Within (Ignatius Press, 1989).

Augustin Poulain, The Graces of Interior Prayer (Kegan Paul, 1910).

Ira Milligan, Understanding the Dreams You Dream (Treasure House, 1997).

Charles Finney, “The Self-Hardening Sinner’s Doom,” 1.3. Refers to belief in Hell dreams – adhered to by both Jonathan Edwards and Finney.

Daniel Jennings, The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley.

—. The Supernatural Occurrences of Charles G. Finney.

Jeff Doles, Miracles and Manifestations of the Holy Spirit In the History of the Church, ch. 7. John Knox and the Scottish Reformation preachers were all into dream interpretation and the gift of foretelling prophecy.

John Wimber, Power Evangelism (Harper & Row, 1986).

—. Power Healing (HarperCollins, 1987).

N. Clayton Croy, Prima Scriptura (Baker, 2011).

Rocks thud against battered bodies
One must die to see life
Take me
Strike me down
Let me bleed
Let them see

Rejoicing in what’s happened to me
Let my screams attract you all

My call is your great fall
One must sacrifice his life to save his tribe
Better one than all
Captured by a lie
And put to death by his own brother

Take me in, strike me down
I will pay for your life
With my blood and my pain, you will be saved from death
By my price I paid for your sins on the cross
I will purify you and give you life

My sin, my shame, takes its toll on my heart
Oh how I long to be pure
Purify me Lord, take my pain away
Purify me take my pain away
Daddy where are you?
Take my pain away
Cover me in your precious blood
I came to this world
I bled
I will save your soul
I bled
I will give you new life
I bled
I will give you peace now
I bled
–Mortal Treason, “Khampa Nomads”–

This is some STRONG fundamental Baptist preaching on Hell. At the end, people are crowding the altar, screaming, and crawling over one another.
–J.B.–