In his moment of weakness, Peter, who affirmed his love for Christ and boldly stated that he would die for Christ, denied being his disciple. His denial is puzzling. It does not appear that the girl who asked him was a threat of some sort; that there was some impending danger to him should he acknowledge that he belonged to Christ. Yet, in the moment, he denied knowing Christ. None of us plan to yield to temptation. We all believe that, should the occasion arise where we are forced to acknowledge or deny Christ, we will gladly and confidently acknowledge that we belong to Christ; that we are his followers.
It is the unplanned moment, the moment we falsely think will never be a problem, that men have marked their lives with poor decisions and sinful acts. In the moment, the weakness of our flesh captures us and we yield to unholy and forbidden things. In the moment, things that look like they will bring incredible pleasure bring devastation and heartache.
Satan’s first act of tempting took our first parents from the purity of sinlessness to the corruptness of the human race. God’s entire creation was marred as a result. In a moment, God’s word was denied and everything God made and declared good became objects of his wrath. History was changed, in a moment.
No wonder Jesus taught us to pray regularly: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13); and, keep them from the evil one (John 17:15).
James Montgomery Boice, longtime pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, wrote this in his commentary on John’s account of Peter’s denial: “We can hardly miss the conclusion that if we indulge ourselves in such over-confidence, if we think that we are invulnerable because we are strong, have certain obvious talents, are wise or can analyze the tendencies and dangers of our culture, then we are well on our way to falling. Jesus said, ‘Without me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5). Nothing means nothing! Whenever we forget that, we are in trouble” (James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John, pages 1259-1260).
The challenge is for all of us to recognize the intensity of the spiritual battle. Peter would later warn us with the following: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Monday, November 14, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Do You Doubt Yourself? Good! Tullian Tchividjian
A shift has taken place in the Evangelical church with regard to the way we think about the gospel–and it’s far from simply an ivory tower conversation. This shift effects us on the ground of everyday life.
Shifting Away from Salvation
In his book Paul: An Outline of His Theology, famed Dutch Theologian Herman Ridderbos (1909 – 2007) summarizes this shift, which took place following Calvin and Luther. It was a sizable but subtle shift that turned the focus of salvation from Christ’s external accomplishment to our internal appropriation:
While in Calvin and Luther all the emphasis fell on the redemptive event that took place with Christ’s death and resurrection, later under the influence of pietism, mysticism, and moralism, the emphasis shifted to the individual appropriation of the salvation given in Christ and to it’s mystical and moral effect in the life of the believer. Accordingly, in the history of the interpretation of the epistles of Paul the center of gravity shifted more and more from the forensic to the pneumatic and ethical aspects of his preaching, and there arose an entirely different conception of the structures that lay at the foundation of Paul’s preaching.
Donald Bloesch made a similar observation when he wrote, “Among the Evangelicals, it is not the justification of the ungodly (which formed the basic motif in the Reformation) but the sanctification of the righteous that is given the most attention.”
Focusing On the Individual
With this shift came a renewed focus on the internal life of the individual. The subjective question, “How am I doing?” became a more dominant feature than the objective question, “What did Jesus do?” As a result, generations of Christians were taught Christianity was primarily a lifestyle; that the essence of our faith centered on "how to live;" that real Christianity was demonstrated in the moral change that took place inside those who had a “personal relationship with Jesus.” Our ongoing performance for Jesus, therefore, not Jesus’ finished performance for us, became the focus of sermons, books, and conferences. What I need to do and who I need to become became the end game.
“
Sanctification feeds on justification, not the other way around.
”
Believe it or not, this shift in focus from “the forensic to the pneumatic,” from the external to the internal, has enslaving practical consequences.
When In Trouble Or In Doubt
When you’re on the brink of despair, looking into the abyss of darkness experiencing a dark-night of the soul, turning to the internal quality of your faith will bring you no hope, no rescue, no relief. Every internal answer will collapse underneath you. Turning to the external object of your faith, namely Christ and his finished work on your behalf, is the only place to find peace, re-orientation, and help. The gospel always directs you to something, someone, outside of you instead of to something inside of you for the assurance you crave and need in seasons of desperation and doubt. The surety you long for when everything seems to be falling apart won’t come from discovering the dedicated “hero within” but only from the realization that no matter how you feel or what you’re going through, you’ve already been discovered by the “Hero without.”
As Sinclair Ferguson writes in his book The Christian Life:
True faith takes its character and quality from its object and not from itself. Faith gets a man out of himself and into Christ. Its strength therefore depends on the character of Christ. Even those of us who have weak faith have the same strong Christ as others!
Trust in Jesus, Not Yourself
By his Spirit, Christ’s continuing subjective work in me consists of his constant, daily driving me back to his completed objective work for me. Sanctification feeds on justification, not the other way around. To be sure, both doctrine and devotion go hand in hand, but the gospel is the good news announcing Christ’s devotion to us, not our devotion to him. The gospel is not a command to hang onto Jesus. Rather, it’s a promise that no matter how weak your faith may be in seasons of spiritual depression, God is always holding on to you.
“
The gospel always directs you to something, someone, outside of you instead of to something inside of you for the assurance you crave and need in seasons of desperation and doubt.
”
Martin Luther had a term for the debilitating danger that comes from locating our hope in anything inside us: monstrum incertitudinis (the monster of uncertainty). It’s a danger that has always plagued Christians since the fall but especially Christians in our highly subjectivistic age. And it’s a monster that can only be destroyed by the external promises of God in Jesus.
Peace with God Rests on the Work of Christ
Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is a bonafide peace that’s built on a real change in status before God—from standing guilty before God the judge to standing righteous before God our Father. This is the objective custody of even the weakest believer. It’s a peace that rests squarely on the fact that we’ve already been “reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (v. 10), justified before God once and for all through faith in Christ’s finished work. It will surely produce real feelings and robust action, but this peace with God that Paul describes rests securely on the work of Christ for us, outside us. The more I look into my own heart for peace, the less I find. On the other hand, the more I look to Christ and his promises for peace, the more I find.
So, when pressed in on every side, look up. In God’s economy, the only way out is up, not in.
Shifting Away from Salvation
In his book Paul: An Outline of His Theology, famed Dutch Theologian Herman Ridderbos (1909 – 2007) summarizes this shift, which took place following Calvin and Luther. It was a sizable but subtle shift that turned the focus of salvation from Christ’s external accomplishment to our internal appropriation:
While in Calvin and Luther all the emphasis fell on the redemptive event that took place with Christ’s death and resurrection, later under the influence of pietism, mysticism, and moralism, the emphasis shifted to the individual appropriation of the salvation given in Christ and to it’s mystical and moral effect in the life of the believer. Accordingly, in the history of the interpretation of the epistles of Paul the center of gravity shifted more and more from the forensic to the pneumatic and ethical aspects of his preaching, and there arose an entirely different conception of the structures that lay at the foundation of Paul’s preaching.
Donald Bloesch made a similar observation when he wrote, “Among the Evangelicals, it is not the justification of the ungodly (which formed the basic motif in the Reformation) but the sanctification of the righteous that is given the most attention.”
Focusing On the Individual
With this shift came a renewed focus on the internal life of the individual. The subjective question, “How am I doing?” became a more dominant feature than the objective question, “What did Jesus do?” As a result, generations of Christians were taught Christianity was primarily a lifestyle; that the essence of our faith centered on "how to live;" that real Christianity was demonstrated in the moral change that took place inside those who had a “personal relationship with Jesus.” Our ongoing performance for Jesus, therefore, not Jesus’ finished performance for us, became the focus of sermons, books, and conferences. What I need to do and who I need to become became the end game.
“
Sanctification feeds on justification, not the other way around.
”
Believe it or not, this shift in focus from “the forensic to the pneumatic,” from the external to the internal, has enslaving practical consequences.
When In Trouble Or In Doubt
When you’re on the brink of despair, looking into the abyss of darkness experiencing a dark-night of the soul, turning to the internal quality of your faith will bring you no hope, no rescue, no relief. Every internal answer will collapse underneath you. Turning to the external object of your faith, namely Christ and his finished work on your behalf, is the only place to find peace, re-orientation, and help. The gospel always directs you to something, someone, outside of you instead of to something inside of you for the assurance you crave and need in seasons of desperation and doubt. The surety you long for when everything seems to be falling apart won’t come from discovering the dedicated “hero within” but only from the realization that no matter how you feel or what you’re going through, you’ve already been discovered by the “Hero without.”
As Sinclair Ferguson writes in his book The Christian Life:
True faith takes its character and quality from its object and not from itself. Faith gets a man out of himself and into Christ. Its strength therefore depends on the character of Christ. Even those of us who have weak faith have the same strong Christ as others!
Trust in Jesus, Not Yourself
By his Spirit, Christ’s continuing subjective work in me consists of his constant, daily driving me back to his completed objective work for me. Sanctification feeds on justification, not the other way around. To be sure, both doctrine and devotion go hand in hand, but the gospel is the good news announcing Christ’s devotion to us, not our devotion to him. The gospel is not a command to hang onto Jesus. Rather, it’s a promise that no matter how weak your faith may be in seasons of spiritual depression, God is always holding on to you.
“
The gospel always directs you to something, someone, outside of you instead of to something inside of you for the assurance you crave and need in seasons of desperation and doubt.
”
Martin Luther had a term for the debilitating danger that comes from locating our hope in anything inside us: monstrum incertitudinis (the monster of uncertainty). It’s a danger that has always plagued Christians since the fall but especially Christians in our highly subjectivistic age. And it’s a monster that can only be destroyed by the external promises of God in Jesus.
Peace with God Rests on the Work of Christ
Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is a bonafide peace that’s built on a real change in status before God—from standing guilty before God the judge to standing righteous before God our Father. This is the objective custody of even the weakest believer. It’s a peace that rests squarely on the fact that we’ve already been “reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (v. 10), justified before God once and for all through faith in Christ’s finished work. It will surely produce real feelings and robust action, but this peace with God that Paul describes rests securely on the work of Christ for us, outside us. The more I look into my own heart for peace, the less I find. On the other hand, the more I look to Christ and his promises for peace, the more I find.
So, when pressed in on every side, look up. In God’s economy, the only way out is up, not in.
Monday, August 8, 2011
The Sequoias
The following is an excerpt from The Root of Riches by Chuck Bentley one of our members sent me this past week. Bentley captures the heart of the relationships we have with each other as members of the body of Christ with his analogy.
I picked up a Giant Sequoia cone once on a trip to the Sequoia National Forest in California. I stood in awe as I looked up the trunk of the massive tree pondering the magnificent structure that was once a tiny seed like those contained in the cone I held. Sequoias can grow to over 300 feet tall, the height of a 30-story building. They are the largest living things on earth, but they originate from a tiny seed the size of an oat flake. The Giant Sequoia can grow to over 33 feet in diameter. Twenty average people linking hands would barely circle the base of a mature tree. Their branches can reach seven feet in diameter and their bark has been measured up to 31 inches thick. The oldest recorded Giant Sequoia is estimated to be 3,200 years old. Scientists aren’t sure why the Giant Sequoia lives so long, but I have my own theory. Besides their great size and age, these trees have unusual root systems. Although quite shallow, given the immense size of the trees, their roots seem to interlock with those of other trees around them. I think these majestic, towering examples of strength and beauty stand firm because beneath the surface their roots are joined together, which gives them the stability they need to endure wind, ice, snow, and even earthquakes! They do not stand alone. Is that not a beautiful picture of the Body of Christ? (The) trees do not stand alone. With common roots that feed on God’s enduring love, they allow their love to flow out and nourish others. (The) trees grow to become towering examples of Christ’s love and produce the same glorious, priceless fruit wherever they are planted. When we become He Trees, we join a family. We’re the same species of tree as every boy and girl, man and woman, adult or child who has ever entered the kingdom of God. God designed us with interlocking roots that hold us together as a worldwide community. This unique support system eliminates loneliness as we depend upon each other to weather the storms of life. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Bentley, Chuck (2011-07-20). The Root of Riches (Kindle Locations 2143-2144). FORIAM Publishers in association with Crown Financial Ministries, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
I picked up a Giant Sequoia cone once on a trip to the Sequoia National Forest in California. I stood in awe as I looked up the trunk of the massive tree pondering the magnificent structure that was once a tiny seed like those contained in the cone I held. Sequoias can grow to over 300 feet tall, the height of a 30-story building. They are the largest living things on earth, but they originate from a tiny seed the size of an oat flake. The Giant Sequoia can grow to over 33 feet in diameter. Twenty average people linking hands would barely circle the base of a mature tree. Their branches can reach seven feet in diameter and their bark has been measured up to 31 inches thick. The oldest recorded Giant Sequoia is estimated to be 3,200 years old. Scientists aren’t sure why the Giant Sequoia lives so long, but I have my own theory. Besides their great size and age, these trees have unusual root systems. Although quite shallow, given the immense size of the trees, their roots seem to interlock with those of other trees around them. I think these majestic, towering examples of strength and beauty stand firm because beneath the surface their roots are joined together, which gives them the stability they need to endure wind, ice, snow, and even earthquakes! They do not stand alone. Is that not a beautiful picture of the Body of Christ? (The) trees do not stand alone. With common roots that feed on God’s enduring love, they allow their love to flow out and nourish others. (The) trees grow to become towering examples of Christ’s love and produce the same glorious, priceless fruit wherever they are planted. When we become He Trees, we join a family. We’re the same species of tree as every boy and girl, man and woman, adult or child who has ever entered the kingdom of God. God designed us with interlocking roots that hold us together as a worldwide community. This unique support system eliminates loneliness as we depend upon each other to weather the storms of life. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Bentley, Chuck (2011-07-20). The Root of Riches (Kindle Locations 2143-2144). FORIAM Publishers in association with Crown Financial Ministries, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Monday, August 1, 2011
If You Preach the Gospel
From the Ligonier Ministries Blog
Posted: 25 Jul 2011 06:45 AM PDT
There is something deeply mysterious about Christian preaching, both in terms of its communication and in terms of its content. After all, what we preach is not what the world expects to hear. It is not a message they will hear anywhere else. No human wisdom, no school of philosophy, no secular salesman, no TV commercial speaker selling his CDs is ever going to come up with this on his own. Take a look at what is selling in the bookstores and who is hosting the big conferences. You'll realize that if you can tell people how to buy property and profit from its renovation, you can sell your messages. If you can tell people how to lose weight, you can sell just about anything. If you can tell people how to become handsome and wise, raise children who are well-behaved, and have their pets like them, you will find yourself to be a very popular speaker. You could put your DVDs and CDs together and write books that would be sold in bookstores and hawked on television.
But if you preach the gospel, you just might discover that it is not quite so popular. But it is powerful and it is mysterious. Why? Because it was a mystery that God hid from previous generations in order that it might be displayed publicly at the time of the Lord Jesus Christ
Excerpted from Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching.
Posted: 25 Jul 2011 06:45 AM PDT
There is something deeply mysterious about Christian preaching, both in terms of its communication and in terms of its content. After all, what we preach is not what the world expects to hear. It is not a message they will hear anywhere else. No human wisdom, no school of philosophy, no secular salesman, no TV commercial speaker selling his CDs is ever going to come up with this on his own. Take a look at what is selling in the bookstores and who is hosting the big conferences. You'll realize that if you can tell people how to buy property and profit from its renovation, you can sell your messages. If you can tell people how to lose weight, you can sell just about anything. If you can tell people how to become handsome and wise, raise children who are well-behaved, and have their pets like them, you will find yourself to be a very popular speaker. You could put your DVDs and CDs together and write books that would be sold in bookstores and hawked on television.
But if you preach the gospel, you just might discover that it is not quite so popular. But it is powerful and it is mysterious. Why? Because it was a mystery that God hid from previous generations in order that it might be displayed publicly at the time of the Lord Jesus Christ
Excerpted from Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
The Shepherd and His Sheep
Glenn Wagner has written a book entitled Escape from Church, INC.: The Return of the Pastor-Shepherd. He wrote the book at a time in which there was a growing movement which viewed churches from a corporate model and pastors as CEO’s. Wagner tells the story of a pastor who was approached by a member following a sermon in which he repeatedly referred to elders as shepherds. The individual’s concern was that no one in our day understands shepherds and sheep and the pastor needed to replace his ancient culture language with a more modern analogy. The pastor took up his friend’s challenge but came to the conclusion that there was no modern metaphor that was suitable. This is what he told this member: “I can’t find any figure equivalent to the shepherd idea in our modern, urban world. Besides, if I drop the shepherd and flock idea, I would have to tear about five hundred pages out of my Bible, plus leave the modern church with a distorted – if not neutered – view of spiritual leadership” (Glenn Wagner, Escape from Church, INC.: The Return of the Pastor-Shepherd, pages 112-113).
Do you recall the words of Jesus to Peter in John 21? Jesus asked Peter three times, do you love me? After each affirmative answer by Peter, Jesus told him to feed and tend Christ’s sheep. Whether you like the analogy or not, Scripture is filled with this analogy in which the people of God are pictured as sheep. The most famous and perhaps beloved chapter in the entire Bible, Psalm 23, paints this picture: The Lord is my Shepherd. What does a shepherd do for his sheep? He cares for, loves, watches over, guards, feeds, and leads his sheep. The concepts of feeding and guarding are prevalent thoughts in the Pastoral Epistles. The focus in I Timothy is guarding the truth against those who would lead the sheep astray by feeding the people of God with his truth. The elder must be able to teach. So much is said in these three books about the teaching and preaching of the Scriptures which feeds the people of God.
Elders must have a deep love and spiritual concern for the people of God so that they minister according to the needs of the people. After all, the sheep belong to Christ, the Great Shepherd, who laid down his life for us.
Do you recall the words of Jesus to Peter in John 21? Jesus asked Peter three times, do you love me? After each affirmative answer by Peter, Jesus told him to feed and tend Christ’s sheep. Whether you like the analogy or not, Scripture is filled with this analogy in which the people of God are pictured as sheep. The most famous and perhaps beloved chapter in the entire Bible, Psalm 23, paints this picture: The Lord is my Shepherd. What does a shepherd do for his sheep? He cares for, loves, watches over, guards, feeds, and leads his sheep. The concepts of feeding and guarding are prevalent thoughts in the Pastoral Epistles. The focus in I Timothy is guarding the truth against those who would lead the sheep astray by feeding the people of God with his truth. The elder must be able to teach. So much is said in these three books about the teaching and preaching of the Scriptures which feeds the people of God.
Elders must have a deep love and spiritual concern for the people of God so that they minister according to the needs of the people. After all, the sheep belong to Christ, the Great Shepherd, who laid down his life for us.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Tim Challies' Recommendation of our Book
Elder Governance: Insights into Making the Transition by Daniel Evans & Joseph Godwin. This book speaks about making the sometimes-difficult transition from a board-run church to a church governed by elders. Here is the publisher’s description: “When the leadership of Patterson Park Church looked for a book explaining the process of transitioning from a board-run church to an elder led form of church government, a structure they had come to believe was more in line with Scripture, they found none. God honored their efforts and two of their elders decided a book still needed to be written. Elder Governance: Insights into Making the Transition examines church government from a biblical and historical context and tells the story of Patterson Park’s transition. The authors are hopeful that God will use their experience to help others considering such a transition.” It comes endorsed by R. Kent Hughes, James Grier and Alexander Strauch.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Suffering Well
Last week I preached the funeral of a church member and friend in whcih I made the statement that Craig knew how to “suffer well.” For many this seems like a strange statement. For the believer, this is a view of life we understand. We have watched many dear friends at our church suffer well recently; individuals suffering with terminal illnesses; families who have lost loved ones to disease; individuals who in desperate times of need have trusted God and demonstrated incredible faith and perseverance. These all understand that the sovereign God reigns over all things and makes no mistakes.
I recently attended the memorial service of a long-time friend who died of cancer. His family members spoke of how well he lived and how well he endured the suffering God allowed in his life. He lived well and he died well.
Our small group is reading the book, Humility: True Greatness, by C.J. Mahaney. Chapter 11 in entitled, “Responding Humbly to Trials.” Mahaney speaks of the fact that trials and suffering are inevitable. We will all suffer. How will we handle this suffering? When pain grips our bodies; when relationships go sour; when needs are increasing rather than decreasing, how will we respond? What will others learn about our faith in those crucial moments of our lives?
Mahaney exhorts first us to practice God-centered prayer. We must be passionate about God himself and his glory, even in the midst of suffering. Secondly, we should focus on salvation rather than on suffering. By his mercy, God sent his Son into the world to die for our sins. We should make so much God’s redeeming grace. Thirdly, wait quietly for the Lord. What is he doing? What is he teaching me? How is he conforming me to the image of Christ through my experiences? Finally, humbly rejoice. James reminds us that we are to consider it all joy…when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness (James 1:2-3).
We do not take our trials and suffering lightly, nor that of others. We rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:14). We do trust God will do his sanctifying work in all our lives through the trails we experience.
I recently attended the memorial service of a long-time friend who died of cancer. His family members spoke of how well he lived and how well he endured the suffering God allowed in his life. He lived well and he died well.
Our small group is reading the book, Humility: True Greatness, by C.J. Mahaney. Chapter 11 in entitled, “Responding Humbly to Trials.” Mahaney speaks of the fact that trials and suffering are inevitable. We will all suffer. How will we handle this suffering? When pain grips our bodies; when relationships go sour; when needs are increasing rather than decreasing, how will we respond? What will others learn about our faith in those crucial moments of our lives?
Mahaney exhorts first us to practice God-centered prayer. We must be passionate about God himself and his glory, even in the midst of suffering. Secondly, we should focus on salvation rather than on suffering. By his mercy, God sent his Son into the world to die for our sins. We should make so much God’s redeeming grace. Thirdly, wait quietly for the Lord. What is he doing? What is he teaching me? How is he conforming me to the image of Christ through my experiences? Finally, humbly rejoice. James reminds us that we are to consider it all joy…when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness (James 1:2-3).
We do not take our trials and suffering lightly, nor that of others. We rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:14). We do trust God will do his sanctifying work in all our lives through the trails we experience.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
THE CROSS OF CHRIST
The central theme of the Scriptures and the heart of the gospel are Christ and his cross. Nothing is more prominent throughout the God’s written declaration. Jesus said of himself regarding his incarnation, "the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he announced Christ with these words: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)! Mark tells us that "Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again" (Mark 8:31). In the following chapter, he repeated the statement: "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise" (Mark 9:31).
Paul understood the centrality of Christ and the cross. "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (I Corinthians 2:1-2). In regard to our relationship to each other within the body of Christ, Paul stated the following: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near" (Ephesians 2:13-17).
Long before the predictions of Christ concerning his crucifixion, the Old Testament prophets spoke of the cross of Christ as a future event. Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 are lengthy discourses that speak prophetically of the cross. These vivid descriptions are another reminder of the centrality of the cross in all of Scripture
As we think of the cross with the approach of Good Friday, may we be reminded that the cross should be the driving motivation for our entire lives.
Paul understood the centrality of Christ and the cross. "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (I Corinthians 2:1-2). In regard to our relationship to each other within the body of Christ, Paul stated the following: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near" (Ephesians 2:13-17).
Long before the predictions of Christ concerning his crucifixion, the Old Testament prophets spoke of the cross of Christ as a future event. Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 are lengthy discourses that speak prophetically of the cross. These vivid descriptions are another reminder of the centrality of the cross in all of Scripture
As we think of the cross with the approach of Good Friday, may we be reminded that the cross should be the driving motivation for our entire lives.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sproul and Piper
I first read Desiring God in the early 90's. The book was a birthday gift from an associate pastor and my administrative assistant. I was captivated by what Piper wrote and consequently his writing and preaching have impacted my view of Scripture and ministry of the Word. It was probably around the same time that I became acquainted with R.C. when I listened to video series on the Holiness of God.
I have heard both men speak numerous times both in large conferences and in smaller contexts (one of my my most treasured experiences is the Doctor of Ministry class with R. C. on the subject of Justification - a whole week with just twelve us us listening to him lecture and interacting with him). Many of their books on on my shelves.
Below is Justin Taylor's comparison of the two men and their ministries.
Piper & Sproul
At one level, all Christians are the same. We are made in the image of God, saved by the grace of God, and live for the glory of God. We are blood-bought brothers and sisters, members of the same family, children of our heavenly Father.
On another level, we are each unique. The apostle Paul said that the body of Christ is like, well, a body: many parts, each with different shapes and sizes, each indispensable in characteristic and function.
The differences between R. C. Sproul and John Piper are easily discerned, even for the casual observer. I’m tempted to enumerate some of them, but it will be more fruitful to focus on the common threads that tie together their remarkable ministries.
Young R.C. SproulBoth men became Calvinists during seminary, as their resistance was overcome by God using a professor who insisted on taking God at his word. Both men discovered and were deeply impacted by Jonathan Edwards during their seminary days. Both men pursued doctorates in Europe before returning to the United States to teach at the college level. Both men started ministries—Ligonier and Desiring God—designed to serve and strengthen the church of Jesus Christ. The landmark books for both men —The Holiness of God (1985) and Desiring God (1986)—are about trembling before and delighting in the one true God. And both men found their ultimate calling not in the classroom but behind the pulpit (though it happened for Dr. Piper at the age of 34 and for Dr. Sproul at the age of 58.).
Theology is not something they merely study and teach. It is something they breathe. The Bible is not something they only read and preach. It is the food upon which they feed. R. C. Sproul and John Piper love Jesus Christ. They love to glory and revel in their Redeemer. Yes, they are extraordinarily gifted preachers, prodigious authors, talented theologians. But they have never gotten over the stunning fact that they were treasonous rebels who were graciously summoned to the King’s banqueting table and clothed with the righteous robes of the King’s Son. They have now walked with Jesus for decades, but they have never lost their childlike wonder that they have been called God’s sons. For them, to teach and preach God’s Word is not a duty but a delight. And they will continue to do so, as Dr. Sproul has said, until someone pries the Bible from their cold dead fingers.
Young John PiperSome thought it was hyperbole a few years ago when Time Magazine’s feature on Top 10 Ideas Shaping the World included “New Calvinism” (a contrast not to “Old Calvinism” but more to doctrinally ambivalent “Old Evangelicalism”). But in reality, Time had stumbled upon something true. Each year thousands of young people are discovering and celebrating the doctrines of grace and having their world turned upside down. Ligonier Ministries and Desiring God have been two of the means God has used to shape and transform our view of God.
As believers in secondary causation, it’s appropriate for us to ask why. Why, under God, are people attracted to the teaching of Dr. Sproul and Dr. Piper? Why do so many folks see them as “spiritual fathers”?
One reason is that younger believers, in particular, have highly attuned “boloney detectors” (to use the technical term). They are hypersensitive to hypocrisy and phoniness. And when they hear Dr. Sproul and Dr. Piper teach and preach, they hear authority and authenticity, truth and love, passion and power, combined in a compelling and arresting way. It’s not merely the God-centered, biblically saturated content. It’s that this deep theology is creatively presented and passionately believed. These men do not merely teach; they herald, they summon, they exhort, they plead, they yearn. In a way that’s difficult to describe in a non-clichéd way, the timber of their voices contains both sorrow and joy. And in that sense, I think they echo the tone of their sorrowful-yet-always-rejoicing Savior.
John Piper turned 65 this year, and R. C. Sproul recently turned 72. They will not be with us forever. What will we say of them when they pass from the evangelical scene? Their mutual mentor Jonathan Edwards put it best when he instructed his flock about the blessing of godly pastors:
Useful men are some of the greatest blessings of a people. To have many such is more for a people’s happiness than almost anything, unless it be God’s own gracious, spiritual presence amongst them; they are precious gifts of heaven… .
Particularly, I would beseech and exhort those aged ones that yet remain, while they do live with us, to let us have much of their prayers, that when they leave the younger generations, they may leave God with them.
When their earthly course is completed, I believe this will be the legacy of R. C. Sproul and John Piper: they labored by the grace of God to leave us with a vision of God.
To Him alone be the glory.
Click here to see John Piper and R.C. Sproul in conversation at the 2011 Ligonier Ministries National Conference.
Justin Taylor is vice president and editorial director of Crossway Books & Bibles in Wheaton, Illinois, and is author of the blog Between Two Worlds.
I have heard both men speak numerous times both in large conferences and in smaller contexts (one of my my most treasured experiences is the Doctor of Ministry class with R. C. on the subject of Justification - a whole week with just twelve us us listening to him lecture and interacting with him). Many of their books on on my shelves.
Below is Justin Taylor's comparison of the two men and their ministries.
Piper & Sproul
At one level, all Christians are the same. We are made in the image of God, saved by the grace of God, and live for the glory of God. We are blood-bought brothers and sisters, members of the same family, children of our heavenly Father.
On another level, we are each unique. The apostle Paul said that the body of Christ is like, well, a body: many parts, each with different shapes and sizes, each indispensable in characteristic and function.
The differences between R. C. Sproul and John Piper are easily discerned, even for the casual observer. I’m tempted to enumerate some of them, but it will be more fruitful to focus on the common threads that tie together their remarkable ministries.
Young R.C. SproulBoth men became Calvinists during seminary, as their resistance was overcome by God using a professor who insisted on taking God at his word. Both men discovered and were deeply impacted by Jonathan Edwards during their seminary days. Both men pursued doctorates in Europe before returning to the United States to teach at the college level. Both men started ministries—Ligonier and Desiring God—designed to serve and strengthen the church of Jesus Christ. The landmark books for both men —The Holiness of God (1985) and Desiring God (1986)—are about trembling before and delighting in the one true God. And both men found their ultimate calling not in the classroom but behind the pulpit (though it happened for Dr. Piper at the age of 34 and for Dr. Sproul at the age of 58.).
Theology is not something they merely study and teach. It is something they breathe. The Bible is not something they only read and preach. It is the food upon which they feed. R. C. Sproul and John Piper love Jesus Christ. They love to glory and revel in their Redeemer. Yes, they are extraordinarily gifted preachers, prodigious authors, talented theologians. But they have never gotten over the stunning fact that they were treasonous rebels who were graciously summoned to the King’s banqueting table and clothed with the righteous robes of the King’s Son. They have now walked with Jesus for decades, but they have never lost their childlike wonder that they have been called God’s sons. For them, to teach and preach God’s Word is not a duty but a delight. And they will continue to do so, as Dr. Sproul has said, until someone pries the Bible from their cold dead fingers.
Young John PiperSome thought it was hyperbole a few years ago when Time Magazine’s feature on Top 10 Ideas Shaping the World included “New Calvinism” (a contrast not to “Old Calvinism” but more to doctrinally ambivalent “Old Evangelicalism”). But in reality, Time had stumbled upon something true. Each year thousands of young people are discovering and celebrating the doctrines of grace and having their world turned upside down. Ligonier Ministries and Desiring God have been two of the means God has used to shape and transform our view of God.
As believers in secondary causation, it’s appropriate for us to ask why. Why, under God, are people attracted to the teaching of Dr. Sproul and Dr. Piper? Why do so many folks see them as “spiritual fathers”?
One reason is that younger believers, in particular, have highly attuned “boloney detectors” (to use the technical term). They are hypersensitive to hypocrisy and phoniness. And when they hear Dr. Sproul and Dr. Piper teach and preach, they hear authority and authenticity, truth and love, passion and power, combined in a compelling and arresting way. It’s not merely the God-centered, biblically saturated content. It’s that this deep theology is creatively presented and passionately believed. These men do not merely teach; they herald, they summon, they exhort, they plead, they yearn. In a way that’s difficult to describe in a non-clichéd way, the timber of their voices contains both sorrow and joy. And in that sense, I think they echo the tone of their sorrowful-yet-always-rejoicing Savior.
John Piper turned 65 this year, and R. C. Sproul recently turned 72. They will not be with us forever. What will we say of them when they pass from the evangelical scene? Their mutual mentor Jonathan Edwards put it best when he instructed his flock about the blessing of godly pastors:
Useful men are some of the greatest blessings of a people. To have many such is more for a people’s happiness than almost anything, unless it be God’s own gracious, spiritual presence amongst them; they are precious gifts of heaven… .
Particularly, I would beseech and exhort those aged ones that yet remain, while they do live with us, to let us have much of their prayers, that when they leave the younger generations, they may leave God with them.
When their earthly course is completed, I believe this will be the legacy of R. C. Sproul and John Piper: they labored by the grace of God to leave us with a vision of God.
To Him alone be the glory.
Click here to see John Piper and R.C. Sproul in conversation at the 2011 Ligonier Ministries National Conference.
Justin Taylor is vice president and editorial director of Crossway Books & Bibles in Wheaton, Illinois, and is author of the blog Between Two Worlds.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Elder Governance: Insights Into Making the Transition
Three years ago, Patterson Park Church, where I serve as a vocational elder and teaching pastor, transitioned from a "church board" form of church government to an "elder led" form of government. That transition took place over a one-year period. Our board, the deacons and the associate pastors, studied the Scripture's teaching on spiritual leadership and concluded that an elder led form of church government was more in line with Scripture. After six months we formed a committee to flesh out what this would look like and how it would impact our congregation and our constitution.
During the process we looked for resources to help us through the process. We read some very helpful books related to the concept of elder governance (Alexander Strauch, Gene Getz, etc). As far as making the transition, we did not find any resources to help direct us through the process. God was gracious and our congregation responded with an overwhelming affirmation (95%). After the transition took place, Dan Evans, one of our non-vocational elders, and I talked about how our experience could help other churches considering such a transition. We decided to write a book, a first for both of us. Wipf and Stock agreed to publish it under their Church Resources division. Kent Hughes wrote a very gracious introduction. Alexander Strauch and Jim Grier both wrote kind endorsements.
The book is available on the Wipf and Stock website as well as at Amazon.
Dan and I are most grateful to all who contributed to the publication. Our sincere desire is that God would use it for his own glory and for the help of churches considering such a transition.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Great Advice on Preaching from a Great Preacher
The preacher’s danger:
To love to preach is one thing, to love those to whom we preach is quite another.
The golden rule:
At this point there is one golden rule, one absolute demand–honesty. You have got to be honest with your text.
The definition of preaching:
It is theology on fire.
The purpose of preaching:
What is the chief end of preaching? I like to think it is this. It is to give men and women as sense of God and His presence.
The romance and the realism of preaching:
Any many who has had some glimpse of what is it to preach will inevitably feel that he has never preached. But he will go on trying, hoping that by the grace of God one day he may truly preach.
Taken from Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers.
thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/
To love to preach is one thing, to love those to whom we preach is quite another.
The golden rule:
At this point there is one golden rule, one absolute demand–honesty. You have got to be honest with your text.
The definition of preaching:
It is theology on fire.
The purpose of preaching:
What is the chief end of preaching? I like to think it is this. It is to give men and women as sense of God and His presence.
The romance and the realism of preaching:
Any many who has had some glimpse of what is it to preach will inevitably feel that he has never preached. But he will go on trying, hoping that by the grace of God one day he may truly preach.
Taken from Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers.
thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
THE FATHER AND THE SON ARE ONE
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise (John 5:19).
This is NOT a statement of humility, though Jesus certainly demonstrated humility; nor of inadequacy. This is a statement of equality with the Father; a statement of oneness and unity with God.
Leon Morris says this: “It is not simply that he does not act in independence of the Father; he cannot act in independence of the Father… the things the Father does, that the Son does too, not in imitation, but in virtue of his sameness of nature” (Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, page 277).
There is never a conflict between the Father and the Son. They exist in perfect harmony. There are not two wills in which each yields to the other but their wills are in perfect unity because they are one. One’s will is the other’s will.
John Piper uses this phrase: “they act in perfect synchronization.”
The unity of the Father and Son is such that what the Father does the Son IS doing as well because they are one and do not act independently of each other. In other words, as S. Lewis Johnson put it in a sermon on this text, "the Father and the Son are not simply one in will, but one in essence."
This is NOT a statement of humility, though Jesus certainly demonstrated humility; nor of inadequacy. This is a statement of equality with the Father; a statement of oneness and unity with God.
Leon Morris says this: “It is not simply that he does not act in independence of the Father; he cannot act in independence of the Father… the things the Father does, that the Son does too, not in imitation, but in virtue of his sameness of nature” (Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, page 277).
There is never a conflict between the Father and the Son. They exist in perfect harmony. There are not two wills in which each yields to the other but their wills are in perfect unity because they are one. One’s will is the other’s will.
John Piper uses this phrase: “they act in perfect synchronization.”
The unity of the Father and Son is such that what the Father does the Son IS doing as well because they are one and do not act independently of each other. In other words, as S. Lewis Johnson put it in a sermon on this text, "the Father and the Son are not simply one in will, but one in essence."
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Calvin on John 3:30, "He Must Increase"
“John the Baptist proceeds farther; for, having formerly been raised by the Lord to the highest dignity, he shows that this was only for a time, but now that the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2) has arisen, he must give way; and, therefore, he not only scatters and drives away the empty fumes of honor which had been rashly and ignorantly heaped upon him by men, but also is exceedingly careful that the lawful honor which the Lord had bestowed upon him may not obscure the glory of Christ…he declares that he will most willingly endure to be reduced to nothing, provided that Christ occupy and fill the whole world with his rays; and this zeal of John all pastors of the Church ought to imitate by stooping with the head and shoulders to elevate Christ” (John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries, Volume XVII, Gospel According to John, pages 135-136).
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