R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 492

No Compromise: 2013 National Conference Preview — R.C. Sproul Jr. and Ravi Zacharias

In less than two weeks thousands will gather in Orlando for our 2013 National Conference. These three days will be a call to stand with conviction, not bending with the winds of relativism and faithlessness.

In the lead up to the conference we're giving you a preview of who will be teaching and what they'll be teaching on.

R.C. Sproul, Jr. is chairman and teacher for Highlands Ministries, associate professor of philosophy and apologetics at Reformation Bible College, and a teaching fellow for Ligonier. He travels extensively as a conference speaker and has written several books.

Dr. Sproul, Jr. has spoken at many Ligonier conferences. You can find his past messages here, however, below is his message from last year's National Conference where he reminded us that we cannot have a Christian mind without the Christian gospel.

In addition to a questions and answers session, Dr. Sproul, Jr. will be speaking at one main session and one optional session:

Session 8 — A Good Offense

Has the church capitulated to the politically correct spirit of the age to the point where it is more concerned about not offending men than it is about not angering God? In this message, Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. will remind us that seeking to remove the offense of the gospel is to remove the gospel, and that seeking to remove the gospel is a denial of our Lord Jesus Christ.

OPTIONAL SESSION

Dr. Sproul, Jr. will be speaking on the subject of his teaching series, Economics for Everybody.

Ravi Zacharias is chairman and CEO of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, senior research fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University, and he can be heard teaching on the weekly radio program Let My People Think. He has also written more than twenty books.

Dr. Zacharias has spoken at previous Ligonier conferences. You can find his past messages here, however, below is his message from our 2007 National Conference where he defined and explained postmodernism.

This year Dr. Zacharias will be speaking at one session:

Session 9 — He Is Risen Indeed

The Apostle Paul told us that if Jesus is not risen from the dead, our faith is in vain. Yet, many professing Christians deny the physical resurrection of Christ. In this message, Dr. Ravi Zacharias will give a defense of the bodily resurrection of Jesus against modernist skeptics inside and outside the church and against postmoderns who don't think it matters. He will explain that if Jesus is risen, nothing else matters, and that if Jesus is not risen, nothing else matters.

We invite you to come and hear R.C. Sproul, Jr. and Ravi Zacharias at our 2013 National Conference, "No Compromise."

Twitter Highlights (2/10/13)

Here are highlights from our various Twitter accounts over the past week.

Understanding the Parables is a new course from Dr. R.C. Sproul. Join R.C. as he examines the parables of Jesus goo.gl/63zdq

— Ligonier Connect (@LigonierConnect) January 29, 2013

In the New Testament, Christ comes not to take us out of Egypt, but to free us form bondage to Satan. —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) February 6, 2013

Worship is not simply an experience of feeling; it must involve an understanding of the mind. —R.C. Sproul bit.ly/qnkKWR

— Reformation Trust (@RefTrust) February 7, 2013

We are seeking to redefine what a Bible college is and can be. Learn more: ligonier.org/blog/redefinin…

— RefBibleCollege (@RefBibleCollege) February 7, 2013

"Tolerance" has come to mean not merely allowance for other beliefs, but the acceptance of different views: ligm.in/V1HFB4

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) February 8, 2013

What fools are they who, for a drop of pleasure, drink a sea of wrath (Thomas Watson).

— Ligonier Academy (@LigonierAcademy) February 8, 2013

God does not need me. —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) February 10, 2013

You can also find our various ministries on Facebook:

Ligonier Ministries | Ligonier Academy | Ligonier Connect | RefNet
Reformation Bible College | Reformation Trust | Tabletalk Magazine

Blackboard Priesthood

Education is the sacrament of the Enlightenment. That is, when people caught up in enlightenment thinking, whether inside or outside the church, see a problem, their means of grace of choice is ever and always more education. The priests of the secular realm are, after all, educators. Consider all the public service announcements we are given on radio and television. Are Americans growing too fat? We run PSA's wherein big brother tells us to eat our vegetables. Carnage on the highways? More PSA's of big brother telling us not to drink and drive, and to buckle up.

Every election cycle politicians on both sides of the aisle promise to save us from ourselves, usually by promising to throw money at the education god. "If I'm elected I'll be certain to teach the students x, and then everything will be alright. My opponent is not only opposed to teaching x, but thinks all teachers should be sent to Guantanamo Bay."

Nowhere does this folly show up more frequently than in dealing with sundry issues related to the marital act. Are kids hurting their friends' feelings, using "gay" as an all purpose insult? Well, we'll create anti-bullying curriculum to reinforce the Gay is OK curriculum we already use, that supports the whole K-12 "Whatever You Do With Your Pants Off Must Be Good" program we created last election cycle.

I'm old enough to remember the early debates about whether we ought to have any sex education curriculum in schools at all. Time was we didn't argue about what should be taught, but over whether this was a family issue or a school issue. We eventually gave the issue to the schools. We whizzed past "If you must, wear a condom" to "You really ought to try everything your imagination can come up with" in less than a generation. But, the good news is that the more sex ed we have given kids, the fewer STD's, abortions, and ruined lives we've had. It's a decent trade off, right?

Except that's not what has happened. Their sacrament has failed. Just as with the anti-drug program DARE, the more we "educate" the children, the more we destroy their lives. More STD's, more unplanned pregnancies, more murdered babies, these are the bitter fruits of more education.

The call for more education, more often than not, is the fruit of a failure to understand our problem. We drink and drive, we grow obese, we take off our pants when we should not not because we haven't been told about the consequences, but because we don't care about the consequences. Our problem is not that we are stupid, but that we are seekers of pleasure. Our problem is that we are foolish, and thus foolish enough to believe we can educate ourselves better. No need to confront anyone for their folly. No need to confess our own sins. We will call sin wrong choices, and assume the root is a lack of knowledge. No need to repent. You just need to fill out this study guide.

And in the church we will do the same. We create educational programs, curricula, lesson plans when what we need are prophets. We turn sermons into lectures, when what we need are priests. We turn His body broken, His blood shed into an audio-visual aid to a lesson in our condition, when what we need is to feast with our Husband, the King. Stupidity is not a sin, and that is precisely how we know that stupidity is not our problem. Sin is. We need the gospel preached more than taught, tasted more than explained. We need to repent. But then, we already knew that, didn't we?

Blackboard Priesthood was originally published at RCSproulJr.com

The Intolerance of Tolerance and A Queer Thing Happened to America

Eye-openers. Startling, even shocking eye-openers. Both books reviewed in this article proved to be that for me, as they demonstrated where the culture I live in has been, where it is now, and where it seems to be going. The Intolerance of Tolerance, by D. A. Carson, discusses postmodern ideas on truth claims, demonstrating, with many real-life examples, that the one thing absolutely not tolerated any longer is the stance that a particular belief might be wrong. Carson's book is larger in scope than Brown's. The Intolerance of Tolerance surveys the West in general, examining many different areas where the new tolerance is required. As the title suggests, A Queer Thing Happened in America, by Michael L. Brown, looks only at American culture and deals exclusively with issues of homosexuality and gender preference. While I would differ with Brown theologically on a number of issues, those issues were not the subject of this book. In this book, I was struck by the calm, rational, even compassionate tone he consistently takes on what is often a highly inflammatory subject.

D. A. Carson begins The Intolerance of Tolerance with definitions. Citing multiple dictionary examples, he demonstrates that "tolerate" has traditionally meant "to recognize other people's right to have different beliefs or practices without an attempt to suppress them." Later, Carson elaborates on how this kind of tolerance is right and good. It is right for the law to permit and protect an individual's freedom to believe as he chooses, and it is right for a person to be able to live and interact with others with no abuse or slur for beliefs he holds. In recent years, however, the noun form of the word, "tolerance," has come to mean not merely allowance for other beliefs, but, as in the Encarta example Carson cites, "acceptance of different views." It is no longer enough to accept a person and his right to believe as he wishes; the "new tolerance" requires that we accept his viewpoint as well.

What shocked me in both books were the examples, case after case, every one well-documented, wherein "tolerance" demands acceptance, and even promotion, of actual beliefs. Simply making allowance for people to hold those beliefs no longer qualifies as tolerance. Here my naiveté became apparent; I always thought "diversity" had to do with disabilities, different ethnicities, etc. Evidently, it has come to mean actively promoting the LBGT—lesbian/bisexual/gay/transgender—lifestyle: to be diverse, a company must fly the rainbow on gay pride day and sponsor drag queen events. Brown lists many businesses, banks, and corporations in America—and I guarantee that you do business with at least one, probably several of these, every day—who actively and purposefully pursue "diversity" in these ways. Carson, too, cites numerous examples of the new tolerance. One such instance was that of an adjunct university professor who engaged students on campus at a table representing Students for Justice in Palestine. The professor disagreed with the students' claims that the Israelis treat Palestinians just like Hitler treated Jews. The discussion grew heated (but not violent), and the professor was suspended in spite of his excellent teaching record. His offense: he had argued with students' opinions, and the students—and evidently the university—took that to mean he had insulted and demeaned the students themselves.

Both books describe the history of their subjects. Carson surveys the history of tolerance (tolerance in the old sense) through the centuries, admitting that Christians themselves have sometimes practiced harsh intolerance. He demonstrates, however, that, when that has happened, it has been contrary to what Scripture actually teaches. Western civilization eventually separated church and state, and came to respect an individual's right to his belief. This was a direct result of thinking from a biblical perspective, while the idea of church and state as separate would be completely foreign to a religion such as Islam as it is taught in the Koran. In Brown's historical survey, he chronicles the movement of homosexuality and sexual deviancy in the United States from being unacceptable to being, first, acceptable, then trendy, and now promoted. (Brown describes the day in recent history when 300 LBGT activists were welcomed by the President to the White House expressly to celebrate the progress the movement has made. He tells how Frank Kameny, who has advocated the most extreme forms of sexual perversions and who has described the God of the Bible as a "sinful, homophobic bigot" was singled out by the President with the words, "And we are so proud of you, Frank, and we are grateful to you for your leadership.")

Both books make the point that only biblical Christianity, with its insistence upon right and wrong and truth and falsehood, is not to be tolerated under the new tolerance. The many instances both books provide to back up their points are sobering indeed. From blasts in the media and on social networks over the simple statement of biblical opinions to legal battles against medical personnel refusing to facilitate abortion and photographers refusing to film gay marriages, it is biblical Christians of whom the new tolerance is so intolerant. The new tolerance increasingly denies those holding Bible-based opinions the right to say, "I believe that is wrong,"

Both books also issue a clarion call to the church to be the church in the midst of these cataclysmic shifts in our culture's thinking. Carson reminds us that Christianity is, by definition, a religion built on truth claims. He writes that it is tragic when "many Christians, cowed perhaps by such presentations, are tempted to depict their faith in similarly secular terms. The substance of what the Bible says becomes domesticated. Instead of bearing witness to the gospel, which joyfully announces God's rescue plan and shows how it is intimately tied to the person and work of Jesus Christ, we begin to feel it is more important to show we are nice and compassionate. What is lost, of course, is the simple truth. All of this springs from a widespread cultural intoxication with the new tolerance." If Christians and churches succumb to the culture on these issues, accepting its consensus and refusing to make waves, we do ourselves no favor, we deprive the culture of what only we can give it, and we prove unfaithful to our holy God of truth. As for Brown, he concludes his book (except for the almost 100 pages of source documentation) with these words: "We need to recover scriptural truth in our houses of worship and win the battle of semantics—indeed, the battle for sanity—in the marketplace of ideas. And we need to do all this while walking in genuine love towards GLBT individuals, who will certainly view us as villains out to destroy their lives and steal their rights. Let us persevere through the inevitable vilification and misunderstanding that will be heaped upon us, and let us stand tall and unashamed. History is awaiting our move."

While these two books provide an unsettling view of our nation and its future, Christians who want to be prepared to provide a faithful witness when it is difficult and who are in places of responsibility for preparing others to face the future would do well to read one or both.

Starr Meade teaches high school classes for home school students and is the author of several books for families of children and teens.

No Compromise: 2013 National Conference Preview — Cal Thomas and Sinclair Ferguson

In two weeks thousands will gather in Orlando for our 2013 National Conference. These three days will be a call to stand with conviction, not bending with the winds of relativism and faithlessness.

Leading up to the conference we're giving you a preview of who will be teaching and what they'll be teaching on.

Cal Thomas has served in broadcast and print journalism for more than forty years and is the most widely syndicated op-ed columnist in the United States. He has hosted programs on CBNC and Fox News, and he is a frequent commentator on the major political, economic, and religious issues of our day. He has also authored and contributed to several books.

Mr. Thomas was interviewed last year in Tabletalk magazine. Speaking on Christians and politics, he said the following:

"How can a fallen leader repair a fallen society? He (or she) can’t. Only God can do that through changed lives. And lives can be changed only by the transforming power of Jesus Christ. Indeed, it has always been so. As revivals of the past have shown us, the social impact was astounding. So if believers want to see a culture improved (fewer abortions, less drunkenness, fewer divorces, and so on), let their objective be to lead more people to Christ."

In addition to a questions and answers session, Mr. Thomas will be speaking at one session:

Session 5 — Family Tradition

What is a family, and who has the authority to define or redefine it? Our generation has witnessed radical attempts at redefinition by various interest groups. In this message, Cal Thomas will explore the culture’s assaults on the family and the very practical reasons why the church must speak to family issues. He will remind us that bad policy impacts the lives of real people in very negative ways.

Sinclair Ferguson is senior minister of First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C., professor of systematic theology at Redeemer Seminary, and distinguished visiting professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. He serves as a teaching fellow for Ligonier and has also written more than two dozen books.

Dr. Ferguson has spoken at many Ligonier conferences. You can find his past messages here, however, below is his message from last year's National Conference where he encouraged us to wrestle with the deep things of God and to stretch ourselves by reading some of the great theologians of the past.

In addition to a questions and answers session, this year Dr. Ferguson will be speaking at two sessions:

Session 6 — Doctrine in the Dock

Throughout church history, there have been those who set theology and Christian living in opposition to one another. Yet, this was not the way of Jesus or the Apostles. In this message, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson will affirm the value and importance not only of the study of theology but the application of what we study to our hearts. It will look to Paul as a model of one who combined profound theology and heartfelt doxology.

Session 10 — On This Rock

Two thousand years ago, the church was a tiny band of believers with an amazing message. Despite constant persecution from without and strife from within, this church has grown. In this message, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson will consider God’s promise that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church. He will encourage believers to stand firm in hope, clinging to the promise of God in the face of all that the enemy can throw at us.

We invite you to come and hear Cal Thomas and Sinclair Ferguson at our 2013 National Conference, "No Compromise." Today is the final day to register and save $20.

$5 Friday: The Holy Spirit, The Gospel, & Marriage

It's time for our weekly $5 Friday sale. This week's resources cover such topics as the Holy Spirit, the gospel, marriage, angels and demons, God's love, God's grace, Thomas Goodwin, family, baptism, and more.

Sale runs through 12:01 a.m. — 11:59 p.m. Friday EST.

View today's $5 Friday sale items.

Suffering and the Glory of God

Here's an excerpt from Suffering and the Glory of God, R.C. Sproul's contribution to the February issue of Tabletalk.

"I once visited with a woman who was dying from uterine cancer. She was greatly distressed, but not only from her physical ailment. She explained to me that she had had an abortion when she was a young woman, and she was convinced that her disease was a direct consequence of that. In short, she believed cancer was the judgment of God on her.

The usual pastoral response to such an agonizing question from someone in the throes of death is to say the affliction is not a judgment of God for sin. But I had to be honest, so I told her that I did not know. Perhaps it was God's judgment, but perhaps it was not. I cannot fathom the secret counsel of God or read the invisible hand of His providence, so I did not know why she was suffering. I did know, however, that whatever the reason for it, there was an answer for her guilt. We talked about the mercy of Christ and of the cross, and she died in faith.

The question that woman raised is asked every day by people who are suffering affliction. It is addressed in one of the more difficult passages in the New Testament..."

Continue reading Suffering and the Glory of God or begin receiving Tabletalk magazine by signing up for a free 3 month trial.

Twitter Highlights (2/3/13)

Here are highlights from our various Twitter accounts over the past week.

Tune in and catch up with some of your favorite preachers and teachers.RefNet.fm

— RefNet (@RefNet) January 28, 2013

May you not settle for living for what is merely good. May you pursue what is best—the glory of God in all things. —Steven Lawson

— Reformation Trust (@RefTrust) January 29, 2013

Nothing could be more irrational than the idea that something comes from nothing (R.C. Sproul).

— Ligonier Academy (@LigonierAcademy) January 29, 2013

Understanding the Parables is a new course from Dr. R.C. Sproul. Join R.C. as he examines the parables of Jesus goo.gl/63zdq

— Ligonier Connect (@LigonierConnect) January 29, 2013

You can know about Jesus and not have a personal relationship with Jesus. —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) January 29, 2013

I think more people leave the church over what color they paint the church basement than over doctrinal disputes... —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) January 30, 2013

I think more people leave the church over what color they paint the church basement than over doctrinal disputes... —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) January 30, 2013

You can also find our various ministries on Facebook:

Ligonier Ministries | Ligonier Academy | Ligonier Connect | RefNet
Reformation Bible College | Reformation Trust | Tabletalk Magazine

10 Reasons to Hope (When All Seems Hopeless)

When discouraging and depressing news threatens to flood the nation, the church, and the soul, we need God's help to lift up our heads, hearts, and hands. Posts like this encourage us not to fear. But once fear is cast out, we then have to build positive Christian hope in its place, a beautiful virtue and life-transforming grace that yields multiple benefits:

1. Hope moves us forwards: Christian hope is a realistic expectation of and joyful longing for future good and glory based upon the reliable word of God. The more we long for the future, the less we will yearn for the past. Hope deletes regrets and underlines expectation. It diminishes drag and increases momentum.

2. Hope energizes the present: It is worth living today because the eternal tomorrow is so much brighter. What's doomsday for most, is coronation day for us. What most dread, we desire.

3. Hope lightens our darkness: Hope does not deny nor remove the reality of dark and painful providences. However it does shine a bright light into these valleys and points to the sunrise at the end of them.

4. Hope increases faith: Faith fuels hope, but hope also fuels faith. As Hebrews 11 makes very clear, hope and faith are very closely tied together, the one enlivening the other. Without faith we cannot soar in hope, but without hope faith will limp home. The greatest believers are the greatest hopers…and vice versa.

5. Hope is infectious: Just as we can drag others down by our recriminations and moping, so we can inspire and motivate through our inspiring hoping. It not only encourages other sagging Christians but it also impacts depressed unbelievers who cannot but ask a reason for the hope they see in us (1 Pet. 3:15).

6. Hope is healing: When I counsel depressed people, one of the first things I do is try to give them hope. By definition, depression is a sense of hopelessness. Things cannot and will not get better. That's why I want to give them the hope that in the vast majority of cases, they will get better, there is a way out, and there are things that they can do to help themselves in their felt helplessness. That hope itself is a huge step towards healing.

7. Hope is practical: Hope does not mean we just sit and wait for Utopia to appear. Not at all! Hope motivates action. When we hope for better days for the church, we serve the church. When we hope for the conversion of our children, we are motivated to share the Gospel with them. When we hope for God's blessing on His Word, we listen to it much more avidly. Hope produces action.

8. Hope purifies: Whatever persecution we experience in this world, the day is coming when we will not be just called sons of God, we will be like the Son of God. This is what inspires and motivates the apostle to persevere to the end and to persevere in holiness. "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:1-3).

9. Hope stabilizes in the storm: There are sixty-six drawings of anchors in the catacombs, the caves and tunnels that persecuted Christians hid in during the Roman persecutions. Hope was their anchor during those dark and stormy days (Heb. 6:19; 10:34). Like the anchor, hope grabs what is out of sight. As one puritan put it: "The cable of faith casts out the anchor of hope and lays hold of the steadfast rock of God's promises."

10. Hope defends: Paul also depicts hope as a defensive helmet (Eph. 6:17; 1 Thess. 5:8) that must not be taken off and laid aside until the battle is over. The helmet also points us to the area of greatest vulnerability and danger – our mind or thoughts. That's where Satan usually works to present reasons to doubt and despair. And that's why we need our minds daily renewed by the power of hope.

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, February 2013

The February edition of Tabletalk is out. This issue features articles examining the nature of the union shared by the communion of saints with her Savior, Jesus Christ. The Westminster Larger Catechism states that "the communion in grace which the members of the invisible church have with Christ, is their partaking of the virtue of his mediation, in their justification, adoption, sanctification, and: Whatever else, in this life, manifests their union with him" (Q&A 69). This issue seeks to unpack this definition by addressing various aspects of our union with Christ and illuminating the consequences that flow from it.

Contributors include R.C. Sproul along with Sinclair Ferguson, John V. Fesko, Joel R. Beeke, Ken Jones, R.C. Sproul Jr., Dan Cruver, Joseph Pipa, Jim Coffield and Michael Horton.

We do not post all of the feature articles or the daily devotionals from the issue, so you'll have to subscribe to get those. But for now, here are links to several free columns and articles from this month:

Suffering and the Glory of God by R.C. Sproul
In Christ by Burk Parsons
Together in Suffering by R.C. Sproul Jr.
A Heart for Adoption by Dan Curver
Going Outside the Camp by James Coffield
Union with Christians by Ken Jones
The Gospel-Driven Life: An Interview with Michael Horton
Dealing with Lust by Joseph Pipa Jr.

If you have not yet subscribed to Tabletalk, now is the perfect time. Your print subscription also gives you free access to the digital edition of Tabletalk. For those living in the U.S. and Canada it's only $23 for a year, and $20 to renew. You save even more if you get a 2- or 3-year subscription (as little as $1.36 per issue). We offer special discounts for churches or businesses who want multiple copies of each issue.

Get your subscription to Tabletalk today by calling one of Ligonier Ministries' resource consultants at 800-435-4343 or by subscribing online.