Ligonier 2012 National Conference (R.C.Sproul) Audio

Stream the messages from the 2012 Ligonier National Conference.

We are now pleased to announce the audio and video from each main session is available either to purchase or stream for free:

• Have You Lost Your Mind? by R.C. Sproul
• We Don’t Need No Education by Robert Godfrey
• Q&A with Ferguson, Godfrey, Lawson, Mohler, Sproul
• I’ve Got Half a Mind Too by Albert Mohler
• The (True) Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by R.C. Sproul Jr.
• Losing My Religion by Sinclair Ferguson
• Rock of Ages & The Age of Rocks by Stephen Meyer
• Q&A with Horton, Meyer, Sproul, Sproul Jr., Tackett
• The Fear Factor by Michael Horton
• When Worlds Collide by Del Tackett
• Ignorance Is Not Bliss by Robert Godfrey
• Foolishness to the Greeks by Steven Lawson
• Love The Lord Your God With All Your Mind by R.C. Sproul

Optional Sessions:

• Parenting by God’s Promises by Joel Beeke
• Thriving at College by Alex Chediak
• The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon by Steven Lawson

How Europe came to the Current Crisis (Part 3: BBC Podcast)

• Europe's Choice - Part Three - 20 Mar 12

  Tue, 20 Mar 12
  Duration:
  24 mins
  Allan Little looks at key moments and issues that brought the European Union to the current crisis. In part three he examines new resentments and divisions within the EU exposed by the crisis.
  
  

Can War with Iran be Averted? (BBC Podcast)

• War Gaming Iran 19 Mar 12

  Mon, 19 Mar 12
  Duration:
  29 mins
  Can war between Iran and the West over Iran's nuclear programme be averted? Leading Israeli, Iranian, American and British voices speak to BBC Analysis; Edward Stourton examines the West's options.
  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

Jesus as the New Israel

A post from Justin Taylor's Excellent Blog. There is also a review of a book David Holwerda's Jesus & Israel: One Covenant or Two which lays out in a lot more detail the arguments touched on in the post below. It's well worth reading. It's not so much a review as a summary of the key points of the book.

Here is an outline of the book:

• Who is Jesus?
• What is His relationship to Israel and the Old Testament with its law and its promises?
• What is His relationship to the promises concerning the temple, the land, and Jerusalem?
• What should Jews and Gentiles think of Him?

Jesus As the New Israel

The New Testament authors understood Jesus to be the culmination of the Old Testament. He is the Last Adam, true Israel, the suffering servant, the son of David, the faithful remnant, the ultimate prophet, the reigning king, the final priest.
Here is a good, concise summary of the Israel/remnant theme from a New Testament perspective:

. . . Jesus had become a remnant of one. He was the embodiment of faithful Israel, the truly righteous and suffering servant.
Unlike the remnant of the restoration period, he committed no sin (Isa. 53:9; 1 Pet. 2:22).
As the embodiment of the faithful remnant, he would undergo divine judgment for sin (on the cross), endure an exile (three days forsaken by God in the grave), and experience a restoration (resurrection) to life as the foundation of a new Israel, inheriting the promises of God afresh.
As the remnant restored to life, he becomes the focus of the hopes for the continued existence of the people of God in a new kingdom, a new Israel of Jew and Gentile alike.
As the nucleus of a renewed Israel, Christ summons the “little flock” that will receive the kingdom (Dan. 7:22, 27; Luke 12:32) and appoints judges for the twelve tribes of Israel in the new age (Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:30).
The church is viewed as the Israel of that new age (Gal. 6:16), the twelve tribes (James 1:1), “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” (Ex. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:9).
A sinful nation, Israel could not suffer vicariously to atone for the sins of the world. The sinfulness of the nation made it unacceptable for this role, just as flaws would disqualify any other offering. Only a truly righteous servant could bear this awful load.

—Tremper Longman III and Raymond B. Dillard, “Isaiah,” An Introduction to the Old Testament, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 315.
The two best books I’ve read on this fulfillment theme are Hans LaRondelle’s The Israel of God in Prophecy: Principles of Prophetic Interpretation and David Holwerda’s Jesus and Israel: One Covenant or Two? (Keith Mathison has a good review of Holwerda’s volume here.)
Jesus is the true Israel, and the church becomes the Israel of God as it units to True Israel. The same is true for ethnic Israel, whom God has not abandoned. But their only hope is to be united with Jesus, the ultimate suffering servant.

30% Discount on Many Logos Bible Software Titles

Logos Bible software is probably the best bible software program there is, and their collection of resources is staggering. Every year around this time they do a sale that sees discounts going from 30% in the first weeks up to 70% in the final weeks on a few titles. It's well worth looking into.

See the current list of discounts at the logos page.

A couple of examples of the great books there are:

Frank Thielman's New Testament Theology (A Chronological & Synthetic Approach)
George E. Ladd's New Testament Theology

European Crisis (Part 2: BBC Podcast)

Europe's Choice - Part Two - 12 Mar 12

Mon, 12 Mar 12

Duration:
24 mins

Allan Little looks at key moments and issues that brought the European Union to the current crisis. In part two, he focuses on the failure to enforce the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact.

Download 11MB (right click & "save target as / link as")