R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 514

God's Love and Pleasing God by R.C. Sproul

We are pleased to announce that two of Dr. R.C. Sproul's books have been republished thanks to David C Cook and are now available from the Ligonier Store: God's Love (originally pubslished as The Love of God) and Pleasing God.

Learn more about these two resources below:

God's Love: How the Infinite God Cares for His Children

Love has come to mean many things. It's used to describe emotions. It's the glue for relationships. It frames countless stories. The greatest of these stories opens before time began and echoes throughout eternity. It's the story of God's unrelenting, overwhelming love for His people. The truth of love is even more majestic, more staggering and more extraordinary than we can understand: God doesn't just love us. He is love.

R.C. Sproul explains this most profound truth. God's Love delves deep into Scripture to explore this dynamic attribute of God, which finds its ultimate expression in His Son. Dr. Sproul also examines the paradoxes, such as a loving God and divine hate, and how love coexists with God's sovereignty.

Buy God's Love from the Ligonier Store.

Pleasing God: Discovering the Meaning and Importance of Sanctification

Sanctification is not an everyday word. It's an idea that has little value in our me-focused, instant-gratification world. Regardless of trends, culture, or opinion, being sanctified—being set apart from the world—remains a vital part of our journey with Christ.

What does this process look like? How do we begin? Is it even possible to live a life pleasing to God? R.C. Sproul believes it is not only possible, it is our calling. Pleasing God delivers an in-depth look at God's plan and pathway for spiritual maturity.

Buy Pleasing God from the Ligonier Store.

The Dawn of Reformation

Here's an excerpt from The Dawn of Reformation, Burk Parsons' contribution to the September issue of Tabletalk.

It is one thing to believe that the Bible is the Word of God, but it is another to believe, or trust, the Bible as the Word of God. We're called not only to believe in God and His Word but to believe God—to trust God—and His Word. Throughout history, the visible church has always professed her belief that the Bible is God's Word. Yet, a cursory study of church history reveals that many popes, priests, and parishioners neglected to read the Bible themselves, and many didn't believe, or trust, the Bible as the final, authoritative Word of God.

Continue reading The Dawn of the Reformation.

Help Us Reach the World through Digital Media

Historically, reformation occurs when God's truth spreads widely. Protestantism arose, in part, because the invention of the printing press made it easier to spread the gospel across Europe.

I often consider such things when I visit Ligonier Ministries' Facebook Page on my phone. Never before has it been so easy to distribute sound Christian teaching to such a wide audience, including those who couldn't otherwise access it.

As Ligonier has always done with new technologies, we seek to redeem digital media for the kingdom. But just as Luther needed assistance from Christ's body to see the printing press' effect, we need the help of God's people to make the most of today's opportunity.

Billions online are asking eternal questions, including pastors with no formal training who need teaching help.

By God's grace, our donor-supported, internet-enabled outreach includes:

Ligonier.org with thousands of hours of practical, in-depth teaching
Tabletalk magazine coming this fall in digital format
Christ-centered teaching on Facebook, Twitter, and our blog
all our Reformation Trust titles available as eBooks for easy sharing and reading
live streams of our conferences
24-hour Christian internet radio through RefNet
Renewing Your Mind and the new Renewing Your Mind Minute podcasts
the Ligonier Connect learning program to help students go deeper with our materials
online courses from Reformation Bible College (expected launch in 2014)

The number of visitors to Ligonier.org has doubled in the last two years, and as more people find answers through our website, the costs to keep it available increase. Thus, we need the help of friends who long to see God glorified through the spread of His truth. Your gift of any amount helps us send biblical truth to people across the globe.

Billions online are asking eternal questions... —R.C. Sproul

To thank you for your gift, we’ll send you an exclusive USB thumb drive loaded with 1 GB of our most popular teaching content from Ligonier.org that can be viewed on any computer with a USB port. You can also use it to store your personal files.

Our forward-thinking use of communication tools enables us to reach as many people as possible. Can you help us use digital media for God's glory? Thank you.

This resource offer expires October 31st, 2012.

The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards — 99¢ eBook Sale

For a limited time Reformation Trust is making select titles even more accessible as we lower their eBook price to 99¢. We continue this month by offering you The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards by Dr. Steven Lawson

In The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards, Dr. Lawson examines Jonathan Edwards' life through the lens of the seventy resolutions he penned in his late teens, shortly after his conversion, which cover everything from glorifying God to repenting of sin to managing time. Drawing on Edwards' writings, as well as scholarly accounts of Edwards' life and thought, Lawson shows how Edwards sought to live out these lofty goals he set for the management of his walk with Christ.

[The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards] serves as a powerful reminder that Reformed orthodoxy and Reformed piety belong together, and that to focus on the former at the expense of the latter is not only un-Edwardsean, but also un-biblical.

—Dr. Michael A. G. Haykin
Professor of church history and biblical spirituality,
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards is currently on sale for 99¢ as both an ePub from the Ligonier Store or from Amazon's Kindle Store. Offer expires September 21, 2012.

A Shocking Day That Neither Shocked nor Surprised God

We can all remember where we were and what we were doing on that day. September 11, 2001 remains a truly horrific day in America's history.

As last September marked the tenth anniversary of those terrorist attacks, Tabletalk magazine devoted that month's issue to examining the decade that followed 9/11, paying special attention to America's response and the advance of the gospel in light of such horror.

Burk Parsons, editor of Tabletalk, took the opportunity to remind Christians of this bedrock truth:

"Although the horrific events of September 11, 2001, sent shock waves throughout the world, our sovereign God was neither shocked nor surprised, and though the world has changed and will continue to change, the one and only God of the Bible has not changed but is forever changing His world by building His kingdom through the advance of the gospel by His sovereign hand and for His own glory."

As we did last year, we are again making the September 2011 issue of Tabletalk available as a free digital download so you can learn how to interpret and react to the various issues brought into sharp focus by that dark day. Click the links below to download the digital version to your computer or digital reader.

PDF: September2011.pdf
Kindle: September2011.mobi
iPad, iPhone or other ePub reader: September2011.epub

If you need a free reader you can try Adobe Reader, Adobe Digital Editions, or the Kindle app. The September 2011 issue of Tabletalk is also available from the Ligonier Store.

Principles for Voting

In Acts 14, Luke sets forth for us the events that took place on Paul's first missionary journey, a journey on which Barnabas accompanied him. We've seen this pattern emerge over and over again. The apostles would come into the synagogue or the public square known as the agora. They would proclaim the gospel openly. And there would always be some people who responded in faith by the power of the Holy Ghost while others in attendance would stand up in outright hostility and oppose them. Indeed, it was through great tribulation that the gospel bore fruit in places like Antioch and Iconium. And everyday Paul and Barnabas were subjected to threats, insults, hostility and even physical danger. We can see how things degenerated to such a degree here in the latter part of chapter fourteen: the Jewish leadership actually convenes a kangaroo court and imposes the death penalty upon Paul! A rioting mob is gathered and begins to throw stones at Paul with deadly force. Paul is knocked down by the repeated blows to the face, arms, torso, and head. His would-be executors then drag him out of the city, leaving him for dead.

Now ladies and gentlemen we can't read that and say, "Ho-hum, isn't that interesting?" Passages like this speak to the truthfulness of the adage "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." These sorts of things happened to a multitude of Christians who did not recover as swiftly as Paul did on this occasion. Indeed, many in the Christian community of the first century became human torches in the gardens of Nero. Others were thrown into the arena to go against professional gladiators, or to be fed to the lions while crazed emperors and a depraved public watched the spectacle with perverted glee. That's our history as Christians. And down through the ages every time the gospel has been preached openly in the public square, it has been met with some degree of hostility, violence and persecution. And no doubt such things continue in our day in various pockets of the world.

Now one of the things that I think about in terms of my own ministry is why I've never been cast into jail. Why has no one ever thrown a stone at me because of the boldness by which I preach the gospel? Well, I preach it in a safe zone, I suppose--a zone that has been declared something of a reservation. The church has been banished in our day from the public square, and a deal has been made. The deal goes something like this: If we confine our preaching and teaching to spiritual matters (matters of the world to come) and keep our mouths shut about what's going on all around us in the culture in which we live, then we will be protected by the powers that be. But if we venture off the reservation and intrude our opinions into the public square, then we will feel the full measure of the wrath of the culture and indeed of the government itself.

That government today perpetuates a myth which is totally ungrounded in American history. This myth is articulated every day under the rubric of the "separation of church and state". But I defy anybody in this room or in this nation to find such a concept anywhere in the Constitution of the United States of America or in the Declaration of Independence. The phrase originated in some private correspondence from the pen of Thomas Jefferson where he spoke of erecting a wall of separation but it never become part of the fabric of the law of this land historically. And I say today in our age that the concept of the separation of state and church that even Jefferson had in view in the 18th century has also been changed dramatically in its public understanding. What was meant in the 18th century even in the informal way in which Jefferson spoke of it was the division of labor between the church and the state. In other words, it is not the state's responsibility to do the ministry of the church and it is not the state's responsibility to preach the gospel or to administer the sacrament. Those duties have been given to the church that God ordained and to the Christian ministers whom God has called and appointed. But on the other side of the coin God also instituted government for the safety and well being of the people who live in its midst. And the government has been assigned by God the responsibility of preserving, protecting and maintaining the sanctity of human life. The government has been ordained by God to protect those areas of life in the realm of common grace--blessings that God gives to all people--not just Jews or Christians or any other group.  I'm referring to blessings such as the sanctity of marriage. That's why the church recognizes marriages that take place in the secular world. But it is God who ordains the state and before whom the state is ultimately responsible and to Whom it will be held accountable at the end of the age for how it exercised its responsibility.

A few years ago I was invited to give the address at the inaugural breakfast of the newly elected governor of the state of Florida. And on that occasion I said to the governor elect, "Good sir, today is your ordination day. You have received your mandate to govern not from the will of the people, but from almighty God, who Himself establishes government and calls you His minister, not the minister of the church, but His minister as a guardian of the affairs of the state. And I remind you that you will be judged by Him in how you carry out your duties." But in our time the separation of church and state has come to mean the separation of the state from God. It is one thing to say the state is not accountable to the church, it's another thing to say the state is not accountable to God. And when the state assumes its autonomy and declares its independence from Almighty God it is not just the right but the duty of the church to call the state to task: Not to ask the state to be the church, but to tell the state to be the state under God.

And that has been the task of the church throughout the ages, throughout the pages of the Old Testament and into the New. I know there are people in Christendom who believe that the church should never say anything about the public square or what happens in the political realm. But given our biblical history I wonder how anybody can come to that conclusion. You read the pages of the Old Testament and you read the history of the prophets. You see a king like Ahab using the power of his secular authority to confiscate the personal private property of neighbors.  And nobody says a word until Elijah risks his life to declare it unjust and call him to task. Isaiah was raised and anointed to go into the palace and speak to king after king after king, bringing God's criticism to the nation. Amos was the one who cried in the marketplace "let justice roll down like an ever-flowing stream." And for calling the culture of their day to righteousness every one of those prophets faced hostility, bodily harm, and death. Why was John the Baptist beheaded? Because he called attention to the immorality of the king, and the unjustness and illicit basis of his marriage. Jesus criticized Herod as well, calling him a fox. And when He called the nation of Israel to righteousness, corrected the Sanhedrin, and criticized the leading authorities and their corrupt practices, He was arrested and executed. He was not executed because he said, "Consider the lilies, how they spin." He was executed because He said, "Consider the thieves, how they steal."

Jesus took His message to the public square. But Uncle Sam has cut a deal with us, and here's the deal: They'll give you and I a tax exemption whereby we can deduct from our income taxes our tithes and offerings that we give to the church. But on one condition: that we not speak out on the political issues in our day. Ladies and Gentlemen that's a compromise that the church can never afford to make. I'm not allowed by law at this point to tell you who to vote for, to recommend or endorse a particular candidate, and I'm going to obey that law because I'm called to obey the civil magistrates even when I disagree with those civil magistrates. But at the same time I'm going to protest against that condition and say to the church if it means that we have to give up our tax deductions so be it. Because we shouldn't be giving our donations and charitable gifts to the church just so we can get a tax write-off. Our responsibility to tithe to the Kingdom of God is there whether we receive any benefit from the secular government or not. Surely we must all understand that. And I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, but I am going to tell you some things you should be concerned about when you go to the voting booth.

But here is what I'm going to tell you to do when you vote. As a Christian you have obligations opposed upon your conscience that in some sense other people don't have, although they should have. And the first thing is this: You have to understand what a vote is. The word vote comes from the Latin votum, which means 'will' or choice. And when you go to the ballot box and you vote, you are not there to vote for what's going to benefit you necessarily. Your vote is not a license to impose your selfish desires upon the rest of the country. You only have the right to vote for what is right. And not only do you have the right to vote for what is right, but when you vote you have the duty to vote for what is right.

I'm reminded of the work of William Wilberforce in England. You may recall that in debate after debate after debate, and in election after election after election, Wilberforce was soundly and roundly defeated when he sought the abolition of slavery in the British Commonwealth. But if ever there was an exercise in perseverance, it was by Wilberforce. Wilberforce refused to give up. He simply would not walk away from being the conscience of the English nation. And he publicly testified that slavery was wrong and he promised to oppose it as long as he had breath in his body. And finally in the providence of God, Parliament woke up and abolished this unethical practice that was a plague on the English speaking world.

We've gone through the same plague in the history of America, and thanks be to God slavery has finally been abolished in America. But I believe that slavery is the second most serious ethical issue that our country has ever faced. From my perspective the number one ethical issue that this nation has ever faced is the issue of abortion. Abortion is not a matter of private choice--not for the Christian who understands anything about the sanctity of life. The first century church made it very clear in their day, explicitly stating that abortion is murder.

I've written over 70 books. The book that had the shortest shelf life of all of my books was my book on the case against abortion. I talked to pastor after pastor and sought to understand why they weren't using this material (for which we also made a video series). They told me, "Well, we agree with it but we can't do it in our church." And I said, "Why?"  They responded: "It will split the congregation." And I said, "So be it!" A million and a half unborn babies are slaughtered wantonly in the United States of America every year in the name of women's rights. If I know anything about the character of God after forty years of study, I know that God hates abortion. And I could never vote for a candidate who supported abortion--even if I agreed with that candidate on every other policy position. If he supported abortion I would not vote for him and I urge you to do the same.

I know that abortion is not the number one issue in this campaign because it has become acceptable. Just like slavery became acceptable. But it cannot be acceptable to ethical people. The people of God have to rise up and say 'NO'! We are not asking the state to be the church but we must say to the state, "Please be the state. God ordained you to protect, maintain, and preserve the sanctity of life, and you are not doing it." So that has to be on your mind when you walk into that voting booth.

And a second ethical issue that you need to keep in mind before you vote is this: Don't be a lobby group of one. I read in the Sentinel that they did a poll of athletes, asking them for whom they were going to vote. And one said it straight out. He said "I'm going to vote for the one who's going to give the most money away." How many times have you heard the phrase 'I'm going to vote my pocketbook'? I'm going to go to the trough of the public and drink as deeply as I can. Alexis de Tocqueville, when he came and examined the great American experiment of democracy, said two things can destroy this experiment: One is when people learn that their vote is worth money, that you can bribe people to get their vote or that you can use the vote to somehow shelter yourself from financial or other obligations imposed upon others. Have we taken the blindfold away from lady justice? Are we not all equal under the law?

On the contrary, we have an income tax structure today that is inherently unjust. We almost never hear anybody discuss this injustice. But when God set up a system of taxation, He did things differently. God said I'm going to impose a tax on my people and it's going to be ten percent from everybody: The rich man and the poor man are not going to pay the same amount. The rich man's going to pay much more than the poor man, but they're both going to pay the same percentage. They're both going to have the same responsibility. That way the rich man can't use his power to exploit the poor man, saying, "I'm going to pay five percent, but you're going to pay fifty percent." The rich weren't allowed to do that. Nor were the poor allowed to say, "We're going to pay five percent and the rich are going to pay fifty percent because they can afford it." What that is ladies and gentlemen is the politics of envy that legalizes theft. Anytime you vote a tax on somebody else that is not a tax on yourself, you're stealing from your brother. And though the whole world does it and though it's common practice in the United States of America, a Christian shouldn't be caught dead voting to fill his own pocketbook at the expense of someone else. Isn't that plain? Isn't that clear? And until we get some kind of flat tax, we're going to have a politicized economy, we're going to have class warfare, and we're going to have the whole nation's rule being determined by the rush for economic advantage at the polls. Don't do it. Even if that means sacrificing some benefit you might receive from the federal government. Don't ask other people at the point of a gun to give you from their pockets what you don't have. That's sin.

It is, of course, the American way. But we Christians should not be involved in that sort of thing. Rather we should be voting for what is right, what is ethical. And our consciences on that score need to be informed by the Word of God, not by our wallets. And so I plead with you: When you enter the voting booth, don't leave your Christianity in the parking lot. And be bold to speak on these issues, even if it means somebody picks up a rock and throws it in your head. Because it is through tribulation that we enter the Kingdom of God. I pray for you, beloved, and for our nation in these days to come.

Twitter Highlights (9/9/12)

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

Where the pain in a community festers is where the Church should be. —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) September 3, 2012

Learn from examples in history lest thou be made an example (John Boys).

— Ligonier Academy (@LigonierAcademy) September 4, 2012

Jesus not only had to die for our sins, but He had to live for our righteousness. —R.C. Sproul ligm.in/SgEhD1

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) September 4, 2012

Prospective college students can receive FREE admission to the Ligonier Fall conference at Reformation Bible College bit.ly/RkPQlj

— RefBibleCollege (@RefBibleCollege) September 5, 2012

Prayer is the secret of holiness... —R.C. Sproul bit.ly/qFURja

— Reformation Trust (@RefTrust) September 6, 2012

Grace is the mother and nurse of holiness, and not the apologist of sin (Spurgeon).

— Tabletalk Magazine (@Tabletalk) September 7, 2012

We always choose according to our greatest inclinations. —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) September 8, 2012

You can also find our various ministries on Facebook:

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

Where Would You Send Your Children to College?

There are not just different reasons why people go to college, but different legitimate reasons. There are in turn perfectly appropriate reasons why some people don't go to college. I am not of the mind that anyone's mind is wasted if it has never matriculated, or doesn't know what matriculated means. As such, there is no one size answer fits all. Which is why I am framing the question the way I am framing it, answering how I look at the question. What follows may sound something like a commercial. I apologize for that- it flows less from being a faculty member, and more from being a grateful parent.

My two oldest children are students at Reformation Bible College. There are some obvious reasons why this makes sense for us, though it might not make as much sense to you. First, I teach there. I love, after years of homeschooling, continuing to have my children as my students. They, I trust, at least like it. Second, it is naturally close to home, and third, it's a good deal in terms of the cost.

There are, however a number of reasons why we chose Reformation Bible College that might fit into your own calculus as well. First, it is a Bible college. That is, here my children continue to study what they have, and God willing will study all the days of their lives. They are not merely getting the best wisdom men could come up with, but are receiving wisdom from the God of heaven and earth. They are studying the words of life. There are any number of things that are fitting for people to study, that are perfectly acceptable, even beneficial. There is, however, only one book that equips us for EVERY good work. I'm thrilled that my children get to study the Bible.

I am thrilled also about the men with whom they get to study the Bible. I know, respect, admire, and most of all trust the men who teach my children. These are men committed to the authority and inerrancy of the Bible. These are men who are committed to the Reformed faith. These are men whose hearts I know, which means I am confident they are men who are committed to the spiritual well-being of my children. They are not just my colleagues, but are my friends, because I don't just respect their intellects, but I look up to their characters.

Though I couldn't have known this when we first enrolled my two oldest, there is a third blessing I would be remiss to leave out- the students. The men and women, young and old who study at Reformation Bible College are earnest, godly, and honorable. I have no fear that the spiritual or moral momentum of the student body might be a strong, negative pull on my children. We do not have a bevy of rules here, on purpose. We do not have an army of staff assigned to keeping the students out of trouble. We have instead a shared and common goal, to grow in grace and wisdom, and to honor the Lord who redeemed us. We're still sinners here, but sinners saved by grace.

Faithful curriculum. Faithful faculty. Faithful students. That's why we chose Reformation Bible College.

Are you a prospective college student? Learn how you can attend Reformation Bible College's Preview Weekend and receive free tickets to Ligonier's 2012 Fall Conference.

Top Ten R.C. Sproul Lectures

One of the great joys of writing the daily studies for Tabletalk and performing various other editorial tasks is that I must regularly listen to the teaching series that Ligonier Ministries has produced. Recently, I was asked to list what I believe to be the top ten lectures from R.C. While others might disagree with what follows at certain points, this list represents what I have found to be the most important and useful messages that R.C. has ever delivered.

10. "Knowing Each Other" from The Intimate Marriage
At the root of all marital problems is the failure to know one's spouse and how to communicate with him or her. I love this lecture from R.C. because it is such a helpful reminder of the importance of getting to know one's husband or wife even after we are married so that we can serve our spouses more lovingly and faithfully. It is an excellent lecture for newly married couples and for those who have been married for decades.

9. "The Beauty of Worship" from Worship
I'll admit that for a long time I did not view visual beauty in the worship setting as all that important. After hearing this lecture for the first time about five or six years ago, I began to realize how God puts a premium on beauty because, of course, He is the standard of beauty Himself. This lecture is great for helping people develop a more comprehensive understanding of worship and all that is part of it.

8. "The Sword and the Keys" from Church and State
I think it is safe to say that there is a ton of misunderstanding in both the church and wider culture today as to the respective functions of the state and the church. This lecture is an excellent overview of the basic roles of each, explaining how each is actually a "minister" of God tasked with their own particular functions, which functions are not to be assumed by the institutions to which these functions have not been delegated.

7. "What Is Free Will?" from Chosen by God
In my twelfth-grade English class at a public high school we looked at Genesis 3, the story of Job, and some other biblical texts, all the while endlessly debating the reality of free will. I realize now how our collective understanding of free will was philosophically naïve and not reflective of biblical teaching. Had I heard this lecture at the time, I would have had a much different perspective. R.C. tackles the issue of free will, shows how it is more complicated than most people commonly assume, and explains simply the biblical understanding of our free decisions.

6. "Finding a Job that Fits" from Knowing God's Will
During my senior year of high school and first year or two of college, I spent a lot of time agonizing over my life's calling and what I should choose as a vocation. I wish that I had heard this lecture back then because it would have corrected the almost mysterious/mystic view that I had of how God would reveal His will for my life. R.C. points out in the lecture how it is in one sense very simple to discern one's calling while making essential theological points about the decrees of God.

5. "What About Human Freedom?" from The Providence of God
People who are new to the study of Reformed Theology often have a hard time understanding how God can be sovereign, how man can be free, and how God is not responsible for evil. I certainly struggled with these questions and would have benefitted from this lecture from R.C. on how all these things fit together. It is one of the best, most comprehensible, and concise explanations of this complex subject I have ever heard.

4. "The Drama of Redemption" from The Cross of Christ
I know that R.C. considers The Cross of Christ to be one of the most important teaching series he has ever released as it looks at the purpose and effects of the atonement — the central doctrine of the Christian faith. This lecture from the series explains the depth of our transgressions and explains why God cannot just wave His hand and say "all is forgiven." It provides a great starting point for understanding why an atonement had to be made if we were to be saved.

3. "The Great Exchange" from Justification by Faith Alone
I have long admired R.C.'s courage to stand firm for the biblical doctrine of justification when so many evangelicals have ignored it, watered it down, or acted as if it is really not that important in the pursuit of Christian unity. The heart of justification is the doctrine of double imputation — our sins to Christ and His righteousness to us — and it is brought down to earth in this important message.

2. "Counting It All Joy" from Joy
When I was growing up, other Christians that I knew often denied the reality of pain in their life because they thought Christian joy was incompatible with the admission of difficulty in their lives. Even I have thought at times that Christian joy means pretending that things are all right when they are not. That view creates a lot of problems. I love this lecture because R.C. looks at how the Bible addresses how we can be joyful without pretending that things are good when they are not.

1. "The Importance of Holiness" and "The Trauma of Holiness" from The Holiness of God
I am counting these two lectures as one because together they are an exposition of Isaiah 6:1–7, and collectively they feature what is probably R.C.'s most famous teaching on God's holiness. This teaching has awakened thousands of believers to a better understanding of the Lord's awesome character in a day when the holiness of God has been all but forgotten. Everyone I know, myself included, count these as must-hear lectures.

$5 Friday: Martin Luther, Theology, and Charles Spurgeon

It's time for our weekly $5 Friday sale. This week's resources cover such topics as Martin Luther, worldviews, the gospel, biblical studies, church and state, providence, theology, evangelism, Charles Spurgeon, the Holy Spirit, apologetics, and more.

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

View today's $5 Friday sale items.