Sea of Fire Ministries

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...

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. Jam...

James Meyers, III gives a message on wisdom based on Proverbs 10:23 and contrasts worldly wisdom and godly wisdom. He traces the origin of wisdom and highlights how godly wisdom leads to righteousness and how the fear of God is a filial fear, one of reverence and love. He concludes with considering the concept of joy for the Christian which can only be found in the wisdom of God, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ.

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In this session of our series, “Against Heresies,” James Meyers III begins with discussing Simon Magus, found in Acts 8, who was traditionally claimed to have founded Gnosticism, before he considers the gnostic heresy called Docetism, which claimed Jesus only “appeared” to be human (coming from the Greek word, dokeō which means “to seem” or “to appear”), but was not truly “in th...

James Meyers, III begins today’s message with heresies which arose out of Judaism, namely that of the Judaizers and specifically, the two main heretical communities derived from them, the Nazarenes and the Ebionites. James considers the Nazarene heresy reflected in what was opposed at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, but had its own forms which don’t immediately fall within what we would call heresy. The Ebionite he...

Before considering many of the early heresies against which the early church had to contend, James Meyers, III first considers the great philosopher, Plato, because many of these heresies derived from his ideas. James gives an overview of Plato’s philosophy which has filtered down to our own day. Therefore, we can get an idea about how these heresies arose, because we can see many of its effects even today.

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James Meyers, III gives a message on Hosea 6:4-7:16, where the people of God are compared to many things which signify their religious inclinations, but they were not truly pious. Even after a call toward piety and godliness, the people are consumed in their own way and not God’s, leaving God frustrated as to how He will deal with His people. They are like “the treacherous bow,” no matter how accurate their aim to...

James Meyers, III preaches a sermon on Hosea 6:1-3, largely seen in light of our resurrection in Christ. James finds this valid, but only in light of what Hosea originally meant. While the vocabulary is correct, and perhaps the intensity with which it was proffered, what is lacking makes it an ungenuine, and thus illegitimate, repentance. There is a tendency to see repentance and how God works as methodical and mechanical, where re...

James Meyers, III begins a new series considering early heresies against which the nascent Church had to combat. However, sadly these heresies live on with different names. James proclaims his desire for the church to return to her fidelity for doctrine to assuage us from such heresies. The lack of doctrine in the contemporary church has given way to these heresies which have permeated the Church. The purpose of this series is to l...

As we have taken a brief overview as to some areas of the New Testament Canon, James Meyers, III considers how we might know what is and what is not Canon. Has God given us a means by which we might distinguish between authentic or inspired books and inauthentic or uninspired books. James gives three main corresponding qualities or attributes which, taken as a whole, give us the means for our own confidence in our New Testament Can...

In this message, James Meyers, III speaks on the fifth chapter of Hosea about the knowledge of God: both our knowledge (or lack thereof) of God and God’s knowledge of ourselves. How known do we desire to be? In our fallen condition, since we are not what we ought to be, we hide from ourselves, from others, and from God fearing complete exposure. However, God knows us and we cannot hide from Him. Rather, we should seek to know...

James Meyers, III considers whether the New Testament authors knew they were writing divinely inspired texts, or whether they were unaware and the church later decided they were inspired and, therefore, should be collected into a Canon. This is another secularist position which reflects the Marcionite mood of disregarding the heritage of Old Testament Scriptures. James considers this and discloses some New Testament texts which dem...

James Meyers, III preaches on the fourth chapter of the Book of Hosea, which is a litigious text, which is essentially an arraignment in which God charges the people for their sins. The three main charges are the loss of truth (or faithfulness), mercy (or love/devotion), and knowledge of God. James considers these as relational, marital, and covenant terms, reflecting the image henceforth of Hosea and his wife, Gomer. James compare...

Today, James Meyers, III preaches on the wonderful third chapter of Hosea. To him, this short chapter is filled with the Five Solas of the Reformation: Sola Scriptura (in Scripture Alone), Sola Fide (by Faith Alone), Sola Gratia (through Grace Alone), Solus Christus (in Christ Alone), Soli Deo Gloria (to the Glory of God Alone), and is one of the finest chapters in the Old Testament containing the Gospel of Christ. In these five ve...

In our last session, James Meyers, III discussed the Historical Definition of Canon, and how the early Christian would have expected a new written dispensation as a conclusion to the Old Testament, the terms of the New Covenant, and the Apostolic ministry. In this session, James considers the Community Definition, or the functional definition, which dates the canon late in the second century. James considers why and whether we can ...

As many secularist scholars are questioning the historicity and, subsequently, the reality of our New Testament Canon, James Meyers, III considers some of their objections through a historical lens. Ultimately, was the Canon some sort of forced document imposed on the early church or was it more organic? Do we have any reason to think the early Chrisian would accommodate a canon, or much more expect it? In this session, James revie...

James Meyers, III preaches on the second chapter of the prophet, Hosea, by emphasizing the means of grace by God to return His people to Himself, even through forsaking them and withdrawing His mercies for a time. James argues that this forsaking and temporary removal of His mercies are in fact a means through which His presence is known and His mercy is found in its loss. In other words, sadly, the Christian senses the presence of...

James Meyers, III considers how we define Canon, and how divergent this subject can be. He gives 3 main definitions, which at first seem mutually exclusive. However, James thinks they are not and in fact all 3 can be useful to define what is Canon. While this doesn’t immediately address the problems discussed in our first session, it is the proper starting point for a proper perspective before considering how we respond to th...