“Let there be light,” are the first words of God recorded in Sacred Writ. It should be no surprise, therefore, that Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, for in Him is life, and the life is the light of men. However, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.James Meyers, III preaches a timely sermon as a witness to the Light of Christ, for He says, “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.” As transformative as Christ is to make bad people good, He primarily does so by making dead people to life. It is He Who gives us life in Him that we may not stumble, but walk in His light as it is written, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

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James Meyers, III begins a sermon series on the Gospel of John by introducing the concept of the Word in the beginning. He finds the first verse of this gospel rather illuminating and inexhaustible. James preaches on what it means to live in the Word and find life in Him. He draws from other parts of the Gospel to unfold the riches of God’s eternal love for His people.

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James Meyers, III discusses an early heresy known as Monarchianism which had two forms, that of Dynamic Monarchianism and Modalistic Monarchianism. James finds these heresies to have revived as early as the 19th century and warns against Modalism in particular as he finds this to be as close to orthodoxy as you can be while being heretical.

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James Meyers, III preaches on the subject of forgiveness, which is a true and popular framework within Christianity. However, in order to have forgiveness, one must have guilt. James considers the distinction between guilt and guilt feelings, or objective guilt and subjective guilt, and how these find themselves in our lives, and how they are to be reconciled. Are we commanded to forgive in every case, or only if the offender repents? James discusses this and more in this timely message.

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In this session, James Meyers, III considers Montanism which has historically been deemed a heresy. Montanism was formed by a man named who claimed to be a prophet, Montanus, and two prophetesses, Maximilla and Priscilla. Montanus said that he embodied the promised Holy Spirit and thus was able to prophecy new revelation. However, that new revelation must be according to the original revelation found in Sacred Scriptures according to Montanus. James finds this movement to be a fanatical distortion, but not necessarily a heresy against Orthodox Christianity. However, with that caveat, James considers the distortion which, while technically not heretical, was enough to be discarded as authentic Christianity. Sadly, where the gnostic, Marcion, stripped the Bible and reduced Christianity to a form of dualism, Montanus mistakenly superseded the Bible and to a form of legalism.

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James Meyers, III preaches on the controversial text found in Isaiah 45:7 where the KJV translates as, “I make peace, and create evil.” James considers the word evil and the context in which it is given. He then shows how Isaiah 45 is about God’s sovereignty, not about His creation. He then shows how this is given to the unregenerate and regenerate alike, and how all things resound to the glory of God. He concludes by considering that the suffering in the world cannot be truly considered without the suffering of the Son of God, and that through Him, we have peace with God. Finally, he calls those who have not peace with God have not peace, and that the Cross of Jesus Christ calls out to poor sinners with the Savior’s arms outstretched to receive such an one to Himself, reconciling us to God, and to the peace and joy found in Him.

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In Tertullian’s great tome composed of five books entitled, Against Marcion, he uses the first three to argue against Marion’s dualism, defends the goodness of the God of the Old Testament, and identifies Christ as the Creator’s Messiah. James briefly traces his argumentations to illustrate how Marcion’s attempt to strip Christ from the Creator was a fool’s errand, and how the Christian is not merely a New Testament believer, but that we are children of both Testaments and encourages us to seek God through His entire disclosure found in His revelation. As Augustin said, “The new is in the old concealed, the old is in the new revealed.”

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James Meyers, III discusses the early gnostic, Marcion, who beyond advocating a certain form of gnosticism, constructed his own canon of New Testament Scriptures. These stripped the Gospels of anything which alluded to the God of the Old Testament as he thought He was an evil demiurge. Few today would attempt such a diversion, but there are many who think the God of the Old Testament is meaner than the God of the New Testament. James shows the fallacy of this position. However, as sinister as Marcion’s motives were, by God’s Providence, it was largely because of Marcion’s false canon that encouraged the Church to finally codify the true Canon (See our Series entitled, The New Testament Canon).

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