GospelDrivenLife

Of the making of many tangents?

I believe it was Spurgeon who said that truth is like a portrait of a face.  It must be presented in proper proportions or we have a caricature that is grotesque or humorous.  I am not Spurgeon, but I would agree.  It takes much prayer and skill to present the word of God each week in a way that is proportioned, with emphases on those points which are emphasized in the Bible.

It is difficult because we all have pet peeves in our hearts . . . and my pet peeve is of far more interest to me than than the heart of the Bible.  So, how do I avoid tangents?  How do I guard my heart and my people from tangents?

The Gospel must be everything

What do we mean by Gospel centered? That is a question that is often asked. It is so important.

While there may be many ways to state an answer, this is what I mean: That the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the most significant event in time and eternity. It means that when God writes the final edition of the newspaper, “Great events of history”, it will have one story – Jesus the Son of God was given by the Father and took on flesh, lived a sinless life in submission to the Father, offered up his life as a once for all sacrifice for sinners, then was buried, and broke the power of death in his resurrection. It has many implications.

Here are a variety of thoughts about this:

The Sufficiency of Jesus, 1

We have all known the experience of being in something that was “over our heads.” What we mean by that is that we cannot find the resources within ourselves to face the challenge. Neither our experience nor our learning nor our strength nor our friends and counselors are able to overcome the deficiency.

I do not like being in “over my head.” The image is frightening – going under water, holding one’s breath. Drowning is scary. As I the season finale of LOST I almost stopped breathing when Desmond held his breath under water as long as he did!

Anxiety and fear are the two major indicators that we are outside our resources. Both are what I do in my pride when I marshal all my energies to take control of life and nothing happens. I try to speed up the clock and it does not comply. I try to guarantee a solid savings for retirement and the Dow Jones does not comply. I want to find spouses for my children. I want my sermons and ministry to be far more fruitful than they are. And in every case, whether a frustrated ambition or a threatening disaster, I am out of my powers to affect safety, fruit, security, health, etc So I am fearful, worrying, anxious.

Here is the last truth about Jesus I have been studying: he was never over his head!.

A great resource

Justin Taylor is bringing some summaries from the Gospel Coalition Conference here.  Take a look!

Substitution: Here we Stand

I am not inclined to controversy and find much of it unproductive. But I think there are some very large issues at hand.

There is a remarkable divide happening among professed Christians today, and Adrian Warnock is pointing it out to us over here.  I am not old but I have lived through the revision of many doctrines in the Western church -- the nature of Scripture was considered a "non-essential" in the 70's and 80's -- then there was the doctrine of eternal punishment in the 80's -- and just now both the centrality of the church and the wisdom of the Creator in forming of gender is up for grabs.  The move is to make every thing optional to orthodoxy.

We can bicker about the widening of these boundaries, none of which I agree with.  But at the meaning and accomplishment of the Savior upon the cross, here we must stand.  UCCF is to be commended. It is not pride, but humility, that compels people to hold fast to the truth of God as revealed and as agreed upon for 2000 years.  It is pride to think to re-write the word of God or to think our day is wiser than 2 millennia of  godly study and conclusion.  It is humility to draw those lines with grace and a desire to see agreement, and to point out error without maligning those who teach it.

As the debate goes on, I would add this: we must beware of the slippery use of misquotation. John Stott in agreement with Chalke?  Here is Stott: We strongly reject, therefore, any explanation of the death of Christ that does not have at its center the principle of "satisfaction through substitution" . . . .(158, Cross of Christ)

And we must beware of those who represent church history as mixed or divided.  Let us check out the facts. Having read McLaren's treatment on the various theories of the atonement, I found his treatment historically inaccurate and a misrepresentation of the facts.  Substitution lies at the heart of all theories.

 As the debate rages on, may we have the diligence to check out the references and quotations on either side.  While we draw lines in the sand, our goal is also to convince of error those who wish to minimize the substitution of the Savior for sinners at the cross -- and to persuade them to embrace the full teaching of the NT. 

The Measure of a Sermon: Disabusing us of self

Here is another measure of a Gospel-driven sermon: it disabuses people of their self-righteousness and self-help. . . .

The Measure of a Sermon, 7

Here is another thought: is conviction of sin the measure of a sermon?  I am not sure why, but I used to notice that people would give me the most response to a sermon that was the most demanding.  "Oh Pastor, that was such a wonderful sermon, I was so very convicted."  Should I have found this encouraging?

The Measure of a Sermon, 6

Let me set out a few balancing remarks.  I am convinced that the calling of the minister of the Word is to preach as though the death of Christ has happened, the tomb is empty, death and immortality have been brought to light, and the savior is at God's right hand.  A tone of moral exhortation not founded in the complete work and glorious person of the Savior is contrary to the Scriptures.  Moralism was then, and it is now, the greatest enemy of the Gospel.  "How- to" preaching, that is not soaked in the utter inability of man to save himself and the utter readiness and ability of God to do so through Christ -- is a false Gospel.

But the Gospel is so clear that it actually makes greater demands -- and empowers us in those demands.  Let me give some examples.

The Measure of a Sermon, 5

At this point in the postings, the question comes -- if all we do is preach Christ, will this not lead to moral laxity?  will people not presume upon grace and abound in sin?

I think that question is a wonderful indication that we have made the grace of God and the Savior's sufficiency clear enough -- for that is exactly what Paul heard when he proclaimed the Gospel well.

The Measure of a Sermon, 4

I have learned a great deal from my wife. She is a gift to me – and God has used her in my life more than any other human. One of the lessons she has taught me is about motivation and grace. She did this in the kitchen . . . .