A Tale of Two Sons

John MacArthur’s book/sermon series on the Prodigal Son called, “A Tale of Two Sons” was very well done. MacArthur, from what I know, does not actually write any of his books for the purpose of being a book, but they are all taken from his sermons and study notes on the subject. Which most pastors do these days as they really don’t have time to actually write books since they are studying all week for their sermons and doing other pastoral duties. Not a bad thing, just some insight.

I wasn’t sure how I would like this book as I figured that I knew “what there was to know” about this parable found in the book of Luke. Let’s just say that I was overwhelmingly humbled in my knowledge.

MacArthur masterfully goes through the parable to give you insights to the culture, history and textual criticism to give the reader the understanding of exactly what was going on throughout this parable.

He breaks down the parable in three parts because that is how the parable is focused in on as Christ told it. The three parts are: The prodigal son, the father and the eldest son.

At points throughout this book I believe that MacArthur does look to much into things and takes them as fact, when in actuality the text is silent on the issue so there is no way of knowing. But, this is overshadowed of his brilliant look to the Scripture and the culture to give you a taste of what it must have been like to be standing there as a hearer of Christ.

He teaches you as though you were standing there as either a mere onlooker or a Pharisee and gives you the responses that must have been going through each one's head. I actually think this is the main reason that this makes this book truly well worth the read.

Overall, MacArthur does a great job handling the text and culture to make sure that you really glean as much as you can with this parable, with the focus being on the joy in heaven when even one man repents.

The shocker comes in the end, when MacArthur gives you the last part of the parable that was left out of the Bible for “us to decide.” MacArthur gives it straight on how the parable actually ended and it is an ending that truly made this book stand alone as a great understanding of the parable and what it meant for prophecy and the Pharisees. But, I will let you read that for yourself. Recommended. Link to Buy

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23

This book was written back in 1970 by author Phillip Keller. Mr. Keller is from East Africa as he was born to missionary parents. There he tended sheep as a shepherd and as his life went on, from what I understand, did many other things his in his life.

This book walked through Psalm 23, as the title purports, from the view of the shepherd which was very helpful. The one that really caught me off guard was the commentary on Psalm 23:5b which states, "You have anointed my head with oil." Keller gives insight that for the sheep, this is done to ward off the flies and insects that come and disrupt the sheep and can actually lie eggs in their nostrils and cause the sheep to bang their heads on trees (sometimes to the point of death) so that they can rid themselves of these larvae. This oil is carefully rubbed, by the shepherd, on the sheep's head and nose to make sure the sheep are not bothered by these insects. This parallel makes a lot more sense when thought of our Saviour anointed our head with oil to ward off the things of this world that can so consume us.

This is just one of the many insights given by a shepherd to this great Psalm that is known by so many Christians and non-Christians alike.

The only downfall to this book is that the author is not a scholar nor a theologian. So, when he starts to unravel some of the Psalm he uses other Scriptures out of place and also draws unbiblical examples with the sheep that fall short of sound doctrine. But don't let this draw you away from the book for the good far outweighs the bad, as the bad only came up three or four times to my recollection.

This book would be a good addition to any Christian who would like to glean more from such a popular text. Link to Buy

The Treasury of David

This is a great commentary series on the Psalms and has the same feel as Spurgeon's sermons. Great resource for any teacher and pastor to prepare in study for the Psalms.

Very detailed, which I can't say the same for other commentaries done during this same time period. The price once again shows how many people have lost interest in both commentaries and our past church saints. If you would like to learn more about the man you should definitely check out the Spurgeon Archive. This is what Phil Johnson has to say about the collection:

The Treasury of David is a superb literary achievement. Eric Hayden, pastor of
the Metropolitan Tabernacle a century after Spurgeon's ministry began there,
calls this work "Spurgeon's magnum opus." Spurgeon's wife said that if Spurgeon
had never written any other work, this would have been a permanent literary
memorial.

If you are going to be going through the Psalms in your own study or teaching
you should definitely have this at your disposal. Link to Buy

Drawn by the Father

This is actually a commentary on John 6:35-45 and is small, 63 pages, but these 63 pages are so full of exegetical content that it is hard to put down. White deviates from his other works where he will go into other arguments and point out different themes and arguments, where in this book he completely sticks to the commentary of the one great passage of John 6:35-45. There has been much discussion over this tiny passage of Scripture but in my mind Dr. White has slammed the door shut on discussion. I find absolutely no eisegesis in White's rendering of the text and he allows the text do what it should do: speak for itself. Like usual, White being very knowledgeable and fluent in Greek, allows those who are not, to completely glean from this very important text of Scripture.

Some try to say, "this text really means this" and then give no Scriptural proof of their argument, White does not fall into that trap. He masterfully guides the student and theologian alike through this text where we are finally shown the mystery of salvation by Christ Himself.

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him..." John 6:44

Pick this book up and you will get to glean exactly what Christ meant when He spoke these mysteries to man. Link to Buy

John MacArthur New Testament Commentary

I have found this to be of utmost use for my biblical learning. This set is done very well and very well written. The set is not very technical like Keil and Delitzsch or The New International Greek Testament, but is very readable, and you almost get the sense of MacArthur's commentaries to be really like his sermons on these subjects. If I had to compare these commentaries to any other I would compare them to the great Calvin Commentary set. The commentaries are set up to be readable and technical when need be. Unlike some other commentaries, you very well just sit down and read through these like a book, which I find very useful. The only drawback that I have found is that in places I wish MacArthur would be technical, he sometimes is not. The other thing to watch out for is that MacArthur used to hold to the view that Jesus Christ was not always the Son (eternal Sonship), and they have yet to correct this error in reconstructing the commentary of Galatians. Conversely though, MacArthur does NOT hold to this view anymore and has publicly shown his reversal of this false view. You can read his reversal here. As far as theological persuasion, MacArthur is dispensational, pre-mill, pre-trib, cessationalist and 5 Point Calvinist.

Beyond that I would highly recommend this commentary set for everyone, layman and clergy alike. Link to buy