The Gospel and The Kingdom

I am headed to the conference today…. Look for summary posts towards the end of the week!

In anticipation of the Together for the Gospel Conference coming up next week, I thought I would post a summary of the posts from 2006, as well as my thoughts concerning the events next week. From 2006, here are my posts:

• The Band of Bloggers Fellowship meeting from 2006. I am not able to attend this year’s meeting due to scheduling conflicts.
• T4G 2006 Session 1 - Mark Dever
• T4G 2006 Session 2 - Ligon Duncan
• T4G 2006 Session 3 - Albert Mohler
• T4G 2006 Session 4 - R.C. Sproul
• T4G 2006 Session 5 - John Piper. This was my favorite session for a number of reasons.
• T4G 2006 Session 6 - C.J. Mahaney
• Final Reflections from T4G 2006

I am looking forward to this conference on so many levels. I pray that God’s Spirit prevails over this conference in much the same way, if not more, than in 2006. Singing some of the most Christ-exalting hymns with fellow soldiers in Christ is one of the grandest experiences of my life. I am not joking. The corporate worship at T4G 2006 was absolutely unbelievable. I will certainly miss attending T4G 2008 with my father and uncle. My uncle is a CPA and will be finishing up tax season at his firm. My father, just this afternoon, returned to his post of service in the Kingdom. I am going alone, but know that I will find common fellowship once I am there. I am also looking forward to the books both given to attendees and the bookstore there. If you want to know what was given at T4G 2006, go here. These books, I have now read all but two, have fed my soul much. I am looking forward to being conformed to the image of God’s Son through the preaching at this conference. Even now, I am praying that God would soften my heart so that He may mold it through the words of the speakers there.

Others have already posted their anticipations, here is a short list:

• Thabiti Anyabwile
• C.J. Mahaney

There is no doubt, as with all of you that were there, that this conference has given me much to chew on over the last few days and there is much more to chew on in the coming weeks. 

If I had to say which one speaker had the most impact on me….that would be hard.  Each speaker spoke directly to something I am either facing in my life or in my ministry.  Dr. Dever’s message reaffirmed my call in many ways.  He provided encouragement to my soul in a time that in past months has been needed.  Dr. Duncan provided conviction in the area that I needed.  I have a tendency to preach primarily New Testament books from the pulipt of Elk Lick Baptist Church.  He vividly brought to my attention my failure to preach the whole counsel of God. 

Dr. Mohler provided great encouragement in confronting a culture that is pagan, apathetic, and hostile to a biblical worldview.  Dr. Sproul excited me with great passion for the doctrine by which we as Christians and the Church stands or falls - the doctrine of justification by faith alone. 

Dr. Piper….I can only still respond in awe.  What a passionate plea for biblical, expositional preaching!  I have always preached expositionally…but what an encouragement to hear!  Piper did have one extremely convicting sentence…which I am sure we all know by heart.  “The mantle of preaching is soaked in the blood of Jesus and singed in the fire of hell.”  My prayer since hearing that has been, “God, may I by the power of your Holy Spirit always show the glory of your Son and the justice of your condemnation in all that I preach.” 

C.J. Mahaney provided great exhortation for me to at all times wathc my life so that it matches my doctrine.  I believe that so many Christians, especially pastors, maybe even without realizing it, are hypocritical in their talk and their walk.  This was warning was vividly brought to my attention once again.  I was not able to stay for Dr. MacArthur’s session, but I anxisouly await hearing his sermon once I download the mp3. 

Also, the Band of Bloggers fellowship provided a great source of encouragement through meeting a few other bloggers.  I believe that Dr. Mohler was right when he said that Christians have a duty to have a biblical presence where the culture is.  Blogging is not going away.  There is a generation that has latched on to the blogosphere and we must present the gospel clearly and effectively in all things. 

I am eager to see how this T4G conference impacts pastors in the coming months.  I am sure I will hear about it in the blogosphere.  I am eager to begin correspondence with other bloggers on the Band of Bloggers website.  It is a constant reminder that we are together for and because of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Together with you…

In case you were wondering what books we received from the conference….below you will find a picture.  I was blessed to receive these books.  Just as a general announcement, I will be reading and reviewing these books here on The Gospel and The Kingdom, mostly for my benefit, but for yours as well.  These books, in no particular order, will be the first reviews here on this site, unless some pressing situation should dictate a change in plans.

 

C. J. Mahaney, despite his own thoughts of his abilities, was a rather profound speaker.  His task was to speak to us concerning the duty of watching our life and doctrine. 

I have to admit, this is the first time I have ever heard of a Reformed Charismatic….and worshipping with those Sovereign Grace guys was a hoot.  I can honestly say that the worship at the T4G conference as some of the best worship I have experienced at a “conference.”  But that is a topic for another day. 

Thanks to Timmy Brister, once again, for his wonderful photographical skills and helping out guys like me…

Below are my notes regarding how the minister is to watch his life and his doctrine.

Together for the Gospel
4-28-06 AM Session #1
C.J. Mahaney

Watch Your Life and Doctrine
1 Timothy 4:16

If Spurgeon were present and could only address us once, he would probably do so from this passage. Lectures to My Students begins with an address from this passage. It is entitled “The Minister’s Self-Watch.” Much more important than Spurgeon is the compelling and canonized example of Paul. Paul writes to Timothy equipping him for his leadership responsibilities.

Beginning in 1 Timothy 4:6, Paul begins to address Timothy personally. He addresses him as a dear son. We are being addressed as well. We are included in God’s peripheral vision as He inspired His Word.

In v. 16 we have a succinct summation of our job as pastors. Persist in these things….Paul tells us. We also have a sobering reminder of our eternal consequences as a minister. (For by so doing you will save yourself and your hearers…) Through God appointed means, the preservation of yourself and your congregation is at stake in your obedience to this verse. Faithful pastoral ministry could not be more important; the implications are eternal.

Watch Your Life: The first two, while we distinguish them, they cannot be separated. We cannot study doctrine without application to one’s life. We cannot live life without the evidence of the doctrine that we believe. Both are to be daily passions and priorities.

The easier command to neglect is this one. It is much easier to study doctrine than our heart. We study a text, readily, for a sermon and yet we do not apply that text to our life and heart. We are all tempted to devote more time to ministry than to personal piety. Skillfulness in public ministry is no substitute for personal piety. According to Scripture, it is a man’s life that is a qualification for public ministry. The pastor is to provide a godly, authentic example. Not a perfect example mind you….but godly and authentic.

Our life is also an evaluation of our public ministry. Not just a qualification….but also an evaluation. This has been neglected by those behind pulpits. Where there has been a serious deviation from 1 Timothy 3 and Titus, there needs to be a humble reconciliation/discipline process. When discipline is necessary, it is because a pastor did not watch his life and doctrine closely.

Three things to learn about watching your life:

The limitation of sound doctrine. This conference allows us to make progression in great doctrine. Yet it also makes opportunity for us to think that listening to good doctrine is sufficient. We must pursue true godliness. Sound doctrine is not enough. We must also have a high view of the application of truth to our lives. “It is obedience to the Word that counts in the end.” (Peter Davids in commentary on James) Truth must be both proclaimed and applied. We have not truly heard or learned until we practice.The War Within Never Ends. Paul describes this in Galatians 5:17. This is clearly a post-conversion description of the war with sin. We are to keep a close watch on our lives because of “this” enemy within (ourself). When discussing sin, you must speak of John Owen. J.I. Packer said that Owen brought God closely to him. Owen wrote that many men live in dark to themselves all the day – they never know themselves as they are. We are to know what damage sin is seeking to do spiritually. The old creature is in you and still at evil work. Study indwelling sin for your own soul’s health. You need to and you are in danger if you do not. Can we preach and not tremble at the same time? There is no pastoral suspension or exemption to sin. There is a pastoral command to weaken sin in our roles and responsibilities. If you do not watch your life you will weaken. Are you watching your life closely?

You can’t effectively watch yourself by yourself. We need others. In His wisdom, God has designed it that we need others to help us watch ourselves. We need accountability. We will not discern efficiently the sin within. We conclude that because we can perceive other’s sins clearly, then we have no problem discerning our own sin. Because sin deceives and blinds, we need others to help perceive/discern ours. “We must understand that personal insight is the product of community” (Paul David Tripp). Our self-perception is as accurate as a carnival mirror. Any presence to ignore observations of others is pride. Where are areas you would like to see me grow? Where are areas you would like to see me change? Do you know my present areas of temptation? Do you know my present patterns of sin? Am I easy to reproach and correct? Do I listen?

Practices in which to cultivate a watching of your life:
Pastoral teams and their wives are in small groups for the purpose of watching life and doctrine. There is also a monthly meeting both for men and women. Each year there is a three day retreat as husbands and wives for the purpose to receive council, pray for one another, and cultivate this watching of our lives. This also applies to parenting as well. If we do not cultivate this in our children’s lives, it is a matter of pride for us.

Watch Your Doctrine: In watching our doctrine, we must not lose sight of what is central to our doctrine and that is the gospel. Never lose sight of Calvary. There must be some sighting of Calvary in our sermons. The church should anticipate this sighting. Non-Christians should be given this sighting in every sermon.

Watch the Savior Work: At the end of v. 16, there is a promise for believers. We confess that while salvation is God’s gift alone, Calvin wrote that human ministry is necessary. We must be preserved for that final day. There is one reason Paul can say this….there is one man who stands behind all of this, the Man, Christ Jesus, the Mediator between God and man. We have hope in pastoral ministry.

This was also my first time to hear John Piper preach, in person.  I have listened to, read, and deeply admired John Piper for many years now.  Needless to say, to see him in person was a personal highlight. 

However, I must say that to hear him unload, for lack of a better description, on the topic of expositional preaching as glorifying to God challenged me beyond any description that I currently have.  I am still chewing on my notes from this session. 

If someone asked me if they could listen to one session from this conference, which one would I recommend….I would, without hesitation, recommend this one.

Again, these are my notes….I trust that you will enjoy.  Also, thanks again to Timmy Brister for this picture above. 

 

Together for the Gospel
4-27-06 PM Session
Dr. John Piper

Why Expositional Preaching is Particularly Glorifying to God

Reflections on the kind of preaching God would raise up: Whitefield prayed for men mighty in the Scriptures; their lives dominated by the majesty of God; lives dominated by the doctrines of grace; men who are willing to be fool for Christ’s sake; who will labor and suffer and their supreme desire is to win their Master’s affirmation before the judgment seat.

Mighty in the Scripture…aglow with the truths of the doctrines of grace…..broken for sin……and dominated by a majesty of God. Whitefield believed that preaching was heralding the Word of God from that kind of heart.

Preaching is taking any topic and taking it into the blazing center of the glory of God. In the last century, the man who embodied this best was Martin Llyod-Jones. JI. Packer said of him, “I have never heard such preaching.” Oh that God would raise up men who leave their hearers with a spiritual sense of shock at the sense of God.

We need pastors today who have an amazing gripping of the passion of God’s glory. Pastor’s who know that Christ lays absolute claim on the earth. The death of the Son of God and the damnation of unrepentant sinners is absolutely the loudest cry we could have on earth. There is a weight to this office!!! Where is this weight going to be felt if not from you? Veggie Tales? Not in a million years?

God planned for His Son to be crucified and Hell to be terrible so we would have the clearest possible knowledge of what is at stake. The mantle of preaching is soaked in the blood of Jesus and singed with the fires of Hell.

Some evangelicals denounce the horror of the cross and the horror of the hell. Hell is demythologized into self-misery in the world. We must know that the world is not overrun with a sense of God’s seriousness….there is no excess. Therefore, the joy of millions of Christians today is paper-thin.

Where is the Spirit of Jesus in our preaching? Do we deny ourselves and our life so that we may lose it in Christ? Do we renounce all our possessions? Do we hate our mother and our father? Do we let the dead bury the dead? Fear Christ!!

Portrayal of the glory of God: What you believe about the necessity and the nature of preaching is governed by your sense of the glory of God and how people awaken to this. From beginning to end, in the Bible, nothing is more ultimate in the mind and heart of God is the glory of God.

We are for His glory (Ephesians 1:6; Isa. 6; Isa. 48; Romans 15; 1 Cor. 10:31; 2 Thess 1:9). Therefore, the message of the church is to declare His glory among the nations. What is of value in the mind and heart of God? God! And His glory! Be struck by the passion of God for the glory of God!

From all eternity, God has known Himself and loved Himself perfectly. He has eternally seen His beauty reflected back to Him in His Son. He has savored His beauty. He is therefore, the holiest and happiest of Beings as far as beings can be conceived. We cannot conceive of a greater happiness.

God does intend to share this with us! Knowing and sharing His glory is the reason He created Himself. Cf. John 17:26.

How does God’s aim to share His eternal experience of knowing Himself and showing Himself relates to His love for us? (i.e., where does the love of God fit into your discussion?) This is the definition of His love for us….He has chosen to share this message of His gospel with us.

You don’t honor fully what you don’t enjoy! God is not glorified fully be being known rightly. He is glorified by being known and so enjoyed that our lives are transformed into the kind of lives that display His worth. If you want to live a kind of life that looks like you cherish the King of kings and Lord of lords then it must change!

Cf. Matthew 11:27. Cf. John 15:11. These two texts mean this: we know the Father with the knowledge of the Son and we enjoy the Father with the joy of the Son. Knowledge and joy are invisible to the world….until they change you! Let your light so shine that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father. If your life has about it the bahvior and the flavor that can only be explained by the hope of “another world,” (i.e., heaven) then they might ask you about the hope that you have! When the glory of God is the treasure of our lives, we will not store up treasures on this earth.

Every sin flows from a failure to treasure the glory of God above all things. Therefore, one crucial, visible way is through humble, sacrificial, self-denying service to other people.

How people awaken to the glory of God: This is your goal as a pastor. I want to so live, pray, preach, lead, suffer, so people will not scratch their heads at a message such as this. How do you awaken a heartfelt, “YES!!” Fewer stories….more Him!

2 Corinthians 3:18. This is God’s way of changing people….transforming them into His likeness. We do not need a new technique. People are changed the way God wants them to change – by beholding His glory. If you have found another way that “works,” are you really producing people who behold Him correctly? Our job as preachers is to make Him seen – this is the only way we have to change people.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6. This is 2 Cor. 3:18 brought to light. Christ and the Father – ONE. The gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ. We behold the glory of the Lord most clearly and most crucially in the gospel. So much so that Paul calls it the gospel of the glory of Christ. Here is why this is so massively important – the gospel is a message, sentences, words, and proclamation. Here is the paradox – we must see glory by hearing the gospel coming out of the preacher’s mouth. We see with our ears!

Cf. 2 Samuel 3:21 as illustrative of the above point. God revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the Word of the Lord. The Lord appeared by the Word of the Lord. People must see with the eyes of the heart (Ephesians 3:19). We must aim our words at the eyes of the heart. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ because Christ appears in the Word of Christ…He and His glory!

How this all calls us to a preaching called expository exultation: Expository exultation is Piper’s definition of preaching. If it is the purpose of God to display His glory in the world and if we display it because we have been changed by knowing and enjoying it and we behold it best in the gospel and the gospel is proclamation…then proclamation of the glorious gospel of Christ is our job!!

Expository. Why? Because the gospel comes in word. It is an amazing thing that Paul puts so much stock in the glory of Christ and His Word. Piper’s five components of the gospel – each one begs for exposition.

1. The gospel is a message about historical events. 1 Corinthians 15:3. There is no gospel without the person, life, and death of Jesus Christ.
2. The gospel is a message about what those events achieved. For example, the payment for our sins. The completion of perfect obedience. The removal of the wrath of God. The installation of King Jesus as Lord of the earth. The destruction of death. All before you were ever born.
3. The gospel is the message about the transfer of the achievements to particular persons. How does this happen? The gospel!! If it is by works then it is no gospel. This is BY FAITH ALONE!
4. The gospel is the message about the good things that are true about us because the achievement has been applied to us. For instance…God is now only merciful to you because of Christ. You are counted righteous in Christ. We are freed from guilt. We are positionally and progressively holy.
5. The gospel is a message about the glorious God Himself as our final, eternal, all-satisfying treasure. We cannot stop at #4. We cannot give the impression that justification or forgiveness is the end of line. There is no gospel if that is the end of the line.

Again, all of these beg for exposition!!

Exultation. Woe to us if we do not exult in this over the Word. Our face, tone, demeanor, and life must display exultation in the value of the gospel. The value of the gospel is as important as the truth of the gospel. Don’t lie about the preciousness of the gospel by your demeanor over this Word.

This was my first time to hear Dr. R.C. Sproul in person.  I was greatly impressed.  God used this man as He did the others to teach and instruct me in areas that I needed. 

I know that justification by faith alone in Christ alone is at the center of preaching.  But I believe it is helpful for preachers, such as myself, to hear this as well. 

Thanks to Timmy Brister for this wonderful photo of Dr. Sproul!

Below, you will find my notes…

Together for the Gospel
4-27-06 Afternoon Session
Dr. R.C. Sproul

Justification: The Center of Christian Preaching

An Historical Reminder of the Importance of This Doctrine: Luther has stated that the doctrine of faith alone is the doctrine by which the church stands or falls. Further, it is indeed the article by which you or I stand or fall. Calvin added that sola fide is the hinge upon which everything turns.

This is not the common assessment of the importance of this doctrine today. Leaders, pastors, theologians have described this doctrine as the “small print” of the gospel, the “tempest of a teapot,” and even said to be no longer a serious issue today. Some have said that indeed the Reformation is over. Protestantism and Catholicism have mended their fences. With the rise of the New Perspective, we have had the rise of a “misunderstanding” of Paul’s teaching, thanks to N.T. Wright.

Towards the end of his life, Luther warned that church that the gospel will have to be reaffirmed in every generation because if you ever preach the doctrine of justification by faith alone boldly and accurately, it will produce conflict. You may not be threatened with burning at the stake today, but you will be faced with the loss of your pastorate…if you preach justification by faith today.

The RCC Understanding of Justification: This is a brief reconnaissance into Roman Catholicism. Rome has taught/teaches that justification is a sacerdotal matter; justification is administered by the church through the priesthood. In baptism, grace is infused into the recipient of the sacrament. The church teaches that to a degree, you actually become righteous through this. You will be in a state of grace as long as you keep yourself from mortal sin. This sin is mortal because it “kills” the justifying grace that has been infused into the soul.

The 2nd Council of Trent states that while this state of grace can be lost, true faith can remain.

Another sacrament comes into play – the sacrament of penance. If you lost your justification through mortal sin, you do not get it back through another baptism. You now need a 2nd sacrament and this is penance (confession, priestly absolution, and works of satisfaction). It is important to note that Luther retained confession. We confess to Christ in the name of Christ. In RCC, the priest does not absolve sin, it is the priest absolving sin through Christ on behalf of the people and through works of satisfaction.

This is what was lurking behind the indulgence controversy in the 16th century and the rise of Martin Luther’s 95 Thesis in 1517.

Make it clear that Rome teaches that in order to be justified, one must have faith – Protestants get this wrong about the RCC. Faith is the initiation, the foundation, and the root of justification. The problem is that faith, for the RCC, is that faith is a necessary condition, but it is not a sufficient condition. Sproul uses the illustration of fire and oxygen. Oxygen is necessary for fire, but not sufficient.

Protestants say that it is the presence of faith that justifies. This is enough to create the need for reformation. Faith alone through grace alone. Rome states that it is grace + merit.

One of the greatest debates in the 16th century was the debate of the instrumental cause. When Rome talks about justification, she says that the instrumental cause of justification is #1 the sacrament of baptism and #2 the sacrament of penance. The Reformation said that the instrumental cause is not in the sacraments, the one instrument alone is faith.

Luther says that the person who is justified is at the same time just and a sinner. This sent Rome reeling. This is exactly what the gospel is…. God does this by imputation. The meritorious cause that you have to be justified is the imputation of the righteousness of God to all who believe.

This is no abstract theological doctrine. It is not just important for us to believe it, but also defend and contend with our all for this doctrine. The righteousness of Christ that God imputes to us is righteousness outside of us. (What do you have that was not given?)

We are not justified by the doctrine of justification by faith. You can give your intellectual ascent to the truth of that idea without having the faith that will alone justify you. It is the possession of faith not the profession of faith that transfers people from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. Our only hope is the atonement of our Savior.

The gospel is good news..…the RCC has no gospel, a bad gospel, it is bad news.

The Roman view starts with baptism and gets recovered by penance.

The Reformed view starts with an acknowledging of sin, despairs of our own righteousness and trusts in Christ and Christ alone. All that He has is mine and we are now justified not just for today, but for eternity. Is there any better news than that? Preach justification by faith over and over and over. The church needs to hear it!!

Dr. Mohler was by far the most personable that I have ever seen him in my career at either Boyce College and now at SBTS.  In the panel discussions, I saw a completely different Dr. Mohler.  In the pulpit, as was said in a panel discussion, his sermon was “vintage Al.” 

His charge was to tackle the subject of preaching with the culture in view.  Boy!  Did he do that.  I am going to provide my notes to you.  I will do this for each of the sessions, except for John MaCarthur as I was unable to attend the last session.  Keep in mind….these are my notes that I took while the preachers were preaching.  I am NOT Tim Challies and do not have anywhere near the ability that he has.  I would recommend visiting his site to read his posts from the liveblog of the conference.  I just pray that my notes may be helpful for instruction and encouragement to you as I was instructed and encouraged.

 

(Thanks to Timmy Brister for this wonderful shot of Dr. Mohler)

So without further delay….

Together for the Gospel
4-27-06 AM Session #2
Dr. Albert MohlerPreaching With the Culture in View    

We come together for the gospel and we come together in a sense of crisis.  In our times, there is a polarity of dangers.  There are some who see no danger in the culture; there are some who think culture is an irrelevancy to our preaching.  We are in a culture in which we assume many things, yet Christians do no take into account the culture, of which they take for granted, in which they live.

In setting the stage, we must define expository preaching.  It is the mode of Christian preaching that takes as its central motive the task of preaching the Bible.  As the Word of God, the Scripture has the right to establish both the substance and the structure of the sermon.  It makes clear how we establish the identity and worldview of the people of God.

Preaching to culture.  Our first task is to present the biblical text the way the apostles would have presented it.  Its authority is unchanging.  If we do this, we will find ourselves unavoidably applying the Word in the world in which we live.  We as the church start from a different place of meaning when talking about the culture.  We don’t talk about cultural renewal or recovery; we preach the gospel to sinners.  We look to culture to find sinners; it is not about the culture itself

The primary conviction that we must bring to preaching the culture in view is the conviction that the Bible is a message to persons within every culture.  We are the only ones with a message that does not need to be transformed and redefined in every culture.  The problems and sin and the solution of the cross of Christ transcends all cultures.

It might be helpful to define culture; the United Nations defined it as set of distinctive social, spiritual material within a group…… (**Look for this on the UN Webpage)  An academic definition is a system of shared values, beliefs, and artifacts that are transferred from generation to generation….  We are living in a time in which culture is being celebrated and cultural diversity has become a social observation.  This diversity is actually very arbitrary.  Culture encompasses everything about our experience, our knowledge, our thinking.  It is like Aristotle’s thinking on the fish and being wet.  Aristotle said the last person to ask about being wet is a fish…he does not know what it is like to be dry.

The main idea of trying to understand culture came from the 1950s and 1960s in mainline Protestantism.  Neibert saw five types: (1) Christ against culture, which is seen in the New Testament.  You cannot withdraw from culture.  After Genesis 3, we are deeply embedded in culture.  (2) A combining of church and culture without distinction.  Christ is understood to make no cultural claims on His people.  The problem is painfully obvious.  We must see a distinction between the world and the church.  (3) Christ above culture.  Christ and culture are understood to make claims on the people.  (4) Christ is culture in paradox.  There is no point of contact between them.  The problem is that you cannot bifurcate these two.  If you hold this position is that there is an ethic for the world and the church and the two do not touch.  (5) Christ the transformer of culture.  It is the mission of the church to transform the culture with Christ.  In the end, he says there is no right answer

If there is no answer – what are we to think?  Dr. Mohler suggests that there is no real answer for all people at all times for the church.  We would think or look at this differently at different times in church history.  OT Jews, NT Christians, and us today face very different challenges.  It is through the same good hand of our Great God, but it is in different cultures.  Today, there is a divided and confused mind among evangelical pastors on this issue.

Culture is as fallen as the human beings who are behind it.  It is a must for us to make sure that we are so deeply immersed in it to where we cannot communicate what is necessary – the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We must go back to Augustine, not Neibert, to understand this.  Augustine’s City of God is wonderful for understanding culture today.  Augustine spoke of the city of God and the city of man.  He defined these two as two different minds, loves, and passions.

Augustine understood that only one city is eternal – that is the city of God.  The earthly city is passing.  Empires rise and fall and none survive.  God’s people are saved by the blood of the lamb and belong to the city of heaven.  We do not live there yet, but our citizenship is more real, there.  As Augustine would say, we do not care about culture for culture’s sake.  We care about culture because we must proclaim the city of God to them.

Ontologically, we should consider ourselves as in heaven.  Yet we are not there yet.  So what do you do?  Reject?  Scandalize it?  Embrace it?  No!  Do not love the city of man, but love those who are in the city of man.  Jesus made it very clear that love of neighbor is derivative of love of God.  We cannot love God if we do not love our neighbor.  The city of man is falling and passing and yet it is filled with men whose passions are for that city.  They will not find it there.  We should not be surprised that sinners act like sinners.  We must point them to Christ.  We cannot withdraw from the people.

In a sense, we do have a dual citizenship.  We must be careful how we see it, though.  One is doxological (city of heaven) and one is missiological (city of man).  When Paul said that our citizenship is in heaven, he was not denying that we do have an earthly citizenship (he invoked his Roman citizenship).

In one sense, we should see culture as a gift, so that we can communicate the gospel to them.  Yet we must keep culture at a distance because of our allegiance to God alone.

Why our culture, right now, presents significant problems to the Christian gospel.  As a culture, we assume that things change…they are always liquid.  Most of our culture does nothing with our hands anymore.  We work with symbols and knowledge and ideas.

How do we understand, missiologically, where we are…with the gospel….in culture.  We have inherited a National Geographic understanding of culture.  That is over there.  We are here.

Here is a description of our culture today.  We must keep these in view if we are to preach with the people of this culture in view.

Self-fulfillment.  We live in a culture full of self-fulfillment.  We want an exciting, exhilarating, life.  We are now living in an age in which the primary question by persons is “am I well.”  Our culture sees this as all human beings as either in therapy or in denial.  Even current Christian commercial literature has Christianized this.  Most Americans believe that what their problem is is something that has happened to them and their solution is found within.  They believe they have an alien problem and the solution is within.  The gospel says that the problem is within and the solution is alien (outward) grace from God.

Self-sufficiency.  We can provide what we need.  The gospel is not how to become more self-sufficient.  Any word that begins with self is counter to the gospel.

Self-definition.  We now define what it is to human, male, female, marriage.  We are self-defining at we claim for ourselves the right to do so.  This comes hand in hand with postmodern definitions of truth

Self-absorption.  This leads now to expressive divorce.  “I divorced because I needed to….”  We generally think that this life is all about us.  In this culture, we believe that we can make the world come to terms with us.

Self-transcendence.  This explains why people are so enamored with spirituality.  They will hear your preaching of the gospel as another spirituality.  Recognize that there is a spiritual capacity within us – this is what the world would tell us today.  We really have to be clear about the “mono” in monotheism.  We live in Canaan and the Canaanite bookstore is propagating to the people in our pews.

Self-enhancement.  What culture would have the kind of debate we have been having about baseball players who take metabolic steroids and get away with it.  We live in a culture in which this makes sense to people.  Plastic surgery is now aesthetic surgery.

Self-security.  We have warnings on coffee cups, childproof caps, vaccines, antibiotics, cat scans, OSHA, bumpers on our cars, seatbelts, and the like.  We have a massive military, a police force, and hospitals.  We think we are safe.  We have investments when we retire.  We feel safe.  Most Christians throughout history did not feel safe.  There is a sense, of sorts, in which the gospel is about safety.  Romans 8 would say that there is no other safety.

1 Peter 1:1 & 1 Peter 2:9.   The ESV translates 1 Peter 1:1 as “elect exiles.”  Do we consider ourselves as elect exiles?  All of culture is missiologically important, yet eternally insignificant.  We are elect exiles.  We cannot just withdraw from culture…this would deny our commission.  We cannot negate our true citizenship…this denies our identity.  Our task is to preach and teach the gospel until we see the eschatological vision of every tribe, people, and language around God

Dr. Ligon Duncan provided two things for me.  First, he provided an amazing address on the pastor’s duty and delight of preaching from the Old Testament.  Second, he provided a hearty laugh through his hip-hop abilities!  Thanks to Timmy Brister for this wonderful photo.

Dr. Duncan set out eight principles that all pastor’s need to apply to their preaching.  In opening his address, he asked all pastors who were currently preaching through a book of the Bible to stand.  There was a vast majority standing.  Then he asked for those preaching from a New Testament Epistle to raise their hands and proceeded through this list: a Gospel, a Minor Prophet, an OT History, a book from the Pentetuch.  I cannot explain the decrease in the amount of hands that were raised from NT Epistle to Minor Prophet.  Yet, at the end of his illustration when questioning about the amount of pastors currently preaching through a book of the Pentatuch, I was floored.  Out of almost 3,000 people, there were only a handful of visible hands.  That alone was convicting for me.  I have preached through Old Testament books at my church, but overwhelmingly I preach through New Testament books. 

Again, I want to say that these are my notes.  I just hope that they might bring someone some benefit.

Together for the Gospel
4-27-06 Session #2
Dr. Ligon Duncan   

Preaching from the Old Testament
2 Timothy 3:16-17

There are eight things that pastors must do to preach from the Old Testament:

Preach the Old Testament as a Christian Book:  Paul urged Timothy to do just this (Cf. v. 25).  The “writings from your youth” is the Old Testament.  In v. 16-17, Paul has in his sights the Old Testament.  Now it applies to all of Scripture, but at the time of Paul’s writings, the Old Testament was the Scriptures.  In 1 Timothy 5:17, Paul quotes from both Deuteronomy and Luke and calls them both Scripture.  This idea was not lost in the early church fathers either (Cf. Irenaeus and his Demonstration of Procalamation).  We MUST plant our feet firmly on the rock that is the Old Testament…these books were breathed out by God!

Preach the Old Testament Expositionally:  We must expound books of the Old Testament (Cf. v. 16).  In Luke 24:27, Christ preached Himself to the disciples from the Word beginning with Moses and the prophets.  He expounded from the Old Testament….this is our example in Christ. 

We need to listen to good exposition of Old Testament books.  We need to read good writers on the Old Testament. 

Preach Christ from the Old Testament:  In Luke 24, Jesus told his disciples that they would be foolish NOT to believe in what the prophets said.  [And they preached Christ!!] 

Notice these examples for preaching Christ from the Old Testament….(1) Isaiah 6 with John 12:41 or (2) Psalm 118 with Acts 4:11/1 Peter 2.  These two are easy to preach.  But what about other passages that seem obscure?  As Spurgeon has said, we can take any text in the Bible and run to the cross! 

Note 2 Samuel 7….David’s son will sit on his throne forever.  The Old Testament Jew’s thought that God’s promise to David had failed.  The prophets wrestled with this.  Jeremiah 31 answers this thought….the New Covenant is coming.  Ezekiel 37:24 describes the same thing that Jeremiah speaks of.  Christ is David’s son (He says, “I am David’s greater Son”).  Peter taught the New Testament Christians this in Acts 2 at his sermon at Pentecost. 

We must preach Chrsit from the Old Testament….It foretells of Him, “who came to take away the sin of the world.”

Preach the One Plan of Redemptive History from the Old Testament:  Here, Dr. Duncan gave a simple and succint overview of the Redemptive history of God. 

• Genesis 3:15
• Genesis 12:1-3
• Genesis 15
• Exodus 2 and then the Exodus event itself
• 2 Samuel 7 (Psalm 78)
• Jeremiah 31/Ezekiel 37
• Luke 22:20

Praise God for His faithfulness to deliver His people….now we must preach His message!

Preach Grace from the Old Testament:  It is interesting in v. 15 that when Paul wants to prove sola fida, he goes to Genesis 15!  Grace can be proved from the Decalogue.  God’s people are saved to worship.  Notice the gospel logic…I have saved you, says God, so be like Me.  Gospel logic always has grace before Law.  We, as preachers, must expound the Law in light of God’s redeeming grace.  See 2 Samuel 23:13-17.  David tells the others that he is not worthy of that kind of devotion.  David knows that he can never plead his own faithfulness….it is always the faithfulness of God (Cf. Psalm 51).

Preach the Character of God from the Old Testament:  Dr. Ligon Duncan noted that R.C. Sproul is a wonderful model for this task.  The Old Testament is the primary source for the doctrine of the attributes of God. 

Preach Experientially from the Old Testament:  John Calvin, and others, have expressed that it is the Psalms that express the Christian experience.  Perhaps the greatest expression is Psalm 22.  The Psalms give you the song to sing as a Christian. 

Preach the Christian Life from the Old Testament:  We can find morals in the Old Testament.  Paul says this explicitly in 1 Corinthians 10:6.  These things happened as examples for us!  We can find morals in the Old Testament

Dr. Dever had the task of speaking to us in the opening session concerning the “Pastor’s Understanding of His Own Role.”  Immediately, when I heard his topic, I anticipated what he would have to say to us concerning this topic because of his love for church history and his conviction for solid, expository preaching. 

Again, what is below are my notes.  My prayer is that in some small way, you may benefit as did I.

Together for the Gospel
4-26-06 Session #1
Dr. Mark DeverThe Pastor’s Understanding of His Own Role
1 Corinthians 4

There is a striking contrast between real pastors and fake ones.  There are three marks of a real minister:

The minster has a cross centered message (v. 1-7).  We are called as ministers only so long as we give His message to the people.  God’s people have never made God’s Word.  Rather, God’s Word has made God’s people.  In Genesis, God spoke the world into existence out of nothing.  In Genesis as well, God spoke His covenant with Abraham.  In Exodus, God spoke to Moses His commandments.  In Ezekiel, god told his prophet to preach to the dry bones in order to give them life.  In John 1, we are told the the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  In Romans 10, we are told that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  Pastor - preach the Word. 

We are mere stewards of His message and a steward, above all, is faithful.  Our conscience being clear is not enough….the Word is the Judge.  No mere human can judge, Chrsit and His Word are our judgement.

Paul tell’s us in verse 5 that we preach God’s Word to be commended by God.  As messengers of God, we are to be esteemed as messengers pointing to Christ and Christ alone. 

What do you have that you did not receive???

The minister has a cross centered life (v. 8-13).  C.J. will discuss much of this in his address on “Watching Your Life and Doctrine.” 

Paul’s life was a bit more humble than the wise Corinthians.  They reigned, he was last.  They were wise, he was a fool for Christ.  They were honored, he was dishonored for Christ.  They were strong, he was weak.  As a pastor, what do I think of myself?

The only way to truly follow Christ is to die, daily, to self-interest.  Real minsters live cross centered lives.

The minister is a cross centered follower (v. 14-21).  Ministers are examples….don’t forget this!   Paul tells the Corinthians in v. 14 that he was writing to warn, not shame them.  This is all on the basis of Acts 18 where he becomes their spiritual father.  The implication that we want to emulate to our churches is, “Trust your leader to live a cross centered life!”

We must lead by example.  We must humble ourselves…it is our duty.  Our congregation is proof of our minsitry because we are their example!

Over the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 4, Paul displays both humility and confidence.  Humility before God and His throne and confidence in Christ to provide the necessary strength, boldness, mercy, grace, and love to live as an example before his people. 

The cross is the center but praise God it is not the end!  Praise God that Christ lives again!