New West Community Church

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” (Ps 73:25–28) The Bible has much to say about suffering in the life of the saint and why God allows and even ordains it for our ultimate good. In Psalm 73, the Psalmist meditates upon an experience he had in comparing himself with the seeming ease of the wicked. His feet had almost stumbled in envy of the prosperity they had, in spite of their immoral and faithless lifestyles. “All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence,” the Psalmist cried.” You might be able to relate. Your next door neighbour lives without any fear of God, enjoying life, has all the toys, doesn’t seem to really suffer much, and...Continue reading→

“And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.” (Mt 9:30–31) Why didn’t Jesus want His miracles publicized? One of my favorite systematic theologians, Van Mastricht, on page 356 of his fourth volume, gives five answers to the question. I enumerate them here for your consideration: Because he wanted to be made known and become strong not suddenly but gradually, like the sun after dawn proceeds to morning and noon. Perhaps also so that by the abundance of miracles he would not as overwhelm the Jews, and so that he might give time to examine them one by one, and thus the Messiah might be made known to them more certainly and suitably. Because he judged that the rest that had been revealed were sufficient for the present time. Because he appears to have selected the time after his resurrection to make manifest all kinds, indeed all of his miracles throughout the globe, so that from the greatest miracle of all [the resurrection], and the most splendid testimony of divine favor, the rest of his miracles and his entire teaching...Continue reading→

“Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.” (1 Co 14:13–19) Recently, Brother Gideon Fung, one of our elders, produced an excellent paper for Reformed Baptist Seminary that is well worth considering. In it, he argues that the word “tongues”, that is (glōssa), has different meanings in Acts and 1 Corinthians. Included here is his introduction and conclusion, as well as...Continue reading→