R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 532

The Sermon I Would Have Preached at my Wife's Memorial Service

Though it was a close call, I elected not to preach at my dear wife's memorial service. Wasn't sure I could get through it. But in God's good grace I was given a second chance, the opportunity to preach to many who knew and loved her. My friends at Boerne Christian Assembly in San Antonio offered me their pulpit one February Lord's Day, and positively encouraged me to preach on the things I had learned during Denise's battle, and after her victory. Though it was a close call, I made it through. And in God's grace that sermon, The Mountain of the Brilliance of Life, was recorded. I have been deeply encouraged by those who have been reading my pieces through various internet outlets about our journey, who have let me know how they have been encouraged. My prayer is that this sermon would encourage still more, that we would all remember that our heavenly Father loves us, and that Jesus will never leave nor forsake us.

Download and Listen:

The Mountain of the Brilliance of Life (MP3) by R.C. Sproul Jr.

The Challenge of Christian Journalism

Here's an excerpt from The Challenge of Christian Journalism, Collin Hansen's contribution to the May issue of Tabletalk.

I am trained as a journalist. And I'm trained as a preacher. You might be surprised to learn there's significant overlap between these callings. Both teach by distilling complicated concepts about how the world works. Both herald news, good and bad. You might not know about the overlap between these callings because journalists and preachers generally don't like each other. Journalists rank among the most skeptical professionals. They don't trust anyone they cover. They've seen enough double-talk and corruption both within and without the church to last several lifetimes. A pastor recently told me his church convenes meetings for Christian artists, bankers, and many other professionals. Despite the many media outlets in this city, few journalists ever darken the door of his church.

The mistrust is mutual. Preachers know that when they hear from a journalist, something is usually wrong. No one cares to know how many marriages have been saved, new believers baptized, children catechized, or meals served to the homeless. But journalists demand to know all the juicy details about why a group of malcontents left to start their own church. Few journalists bother to learn the intricacies of church life and theology, so when they do write about Christianity, they often bungle the details. Over and over again I have seen ministry leaders sabotage even honest, sympathetic efforts to explain their side of the story because they don't trust the media. They think by ignoring or abusing journalists that they will prevent publication or at least secure a positive outcome. They are wrong.

Continue reading The Challenge of Christian Journalism.

The Infancy Narratives: Part Two — The Unfolding of Biblical Eschatology

This post is a continuation from The Infancy Narratives: Part One

The birth of John the Baptist and Zechariah's response are narrated by Luke in 1:57–80. The response to John's birth is Zechariah's prophecy, known as the "Benedictus" (vv. 68–79). Zechariah proclaims:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

In the announcement of John's birth, the angel Gabriel had spoken of John as the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah. In the Magnificat, Mary had spoken of Jesus as the one in whom Israel's eschatological hopes rest. In the Benedictus, Zechariah speaks of both John and Jesus, tying their redemptive roles together.i Jesus will be the "horn of salvation" (cf. Ps. 18:2; 132:17; Ezek. 29:21). Jesus is the Messiah, and he will come to the people who sit in darkness and death and will be a light of salvation for them.

The birth of Jesus and the immediate responses to it are narrated in 2:1–40. Luke places the birth of Jesus in its specific historical context. He writes, "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria" (2:1–2).ii Augustus had restored peace to Rome after a century of civil wars. He is referred to in inscriptions from the era as "savior." His birthday is referred to as the beginning of the "gospel."iii Luke's infancy narratives indicate that Jesus is the true Savior. His advent is the true "good news."iv

Because of the census, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered (2:3–5). While in Bethlehem, Mary gives birth to Jesus (vv. 6–7). Luke then describes the appearance of an angel to some shepherds, who were watching over flocks in a field. The angel declares, "Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord" (vv. 10–11). The angel is proclaiming the fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6–7. Jesus is the promised child. He is the Savior. He is the Christ, or Messiah. And he is the Lord. After declaring all of these titles of the child, the angel tells the shepherds, "And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger" (v. 12). The paradox here is that Israel's long-awaited Messiah is to be found lying in a feeding trough.

According to the law of Moses, a woman was considered unclean for forty days following the birth of a child (Lev. 12:2–4). After the forty days, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as was necessary with all firstborn sons (Luke 2:22–23; cf. Exod. 13:2, 12, 15; Num. 18:15–16). In Jerusalem, they encounter a righteous man named Simeon, to whom it had been revealed that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah (vv. 25–27). When Joseph and Mary present Jesus in the Temple, Simeon takes the child, blesses God, and says, "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel" (vv. 29–32). Simeon here speaks of Jesus as not only the salvation of Israel, but of the Gentiles as well. He is the one who will bless the nations in fulfillment of the ancient promise to Abraham.

Having offered his blessing to God for the birth of the Messiah, Simeon blesses the child's parents (vv. 33–35). He tells Mary, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." Simeon's first statement recalls the Isaianic prophecy of the stone of offense upon which many will stumble (Isa. 8:14–15). Many will stumble over the claims of Jesus. He will also be a sign that will be opposed. Simeon tells Mary of the anguish she will suffer because of the rejection of her son, a rejection that will culminate in his death.

i John Nolland, Luke 1–9:20, WBC 35A (Dallas: Word Books, 1989), 91.
ii A number of historical questions surround these verses. For a helpful discussion, see Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1–9:50 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), 903–909.
iii Hans-Josef Klauck, The Religious Context of Early Christianity: A Guide to Graeco-Roman Religions (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003), 296–98; cf. Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 46.
iv Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke (I – IX) (New York: Doubleday, 1981), 394.

Adapted from From Age to Age by Keith Mathison. ISBN 978-0-87552-745-1
Used with permission of P&R Publishing Co. P O Box 817, Phillipsburg N.J. 08865 www.prpbooks.com

From Age to Age is available in the Ligonier store.

Twitter Highlights (5/6/12)

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

If you take out of the Bible this idea of the wrath of God against sin there is very little Bible left (Lloyd-Jones).

— Ligonier Academy (@LigonierAcademy) May 1, 2012

The real question is not whether Christians will have doctrine but which doctrine or whose doctrine? (@RScottClark).

— Tabletalk Magazine (@Tabletalk) May 1, 2012

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the hinge on which all biblical revelation turns. —@TomAscol bit.ly/eaos1h

— Reformation Trust (@RefTrust) May 1, 2012

The good news...is we don't have to wait until we become perfectly righteous in ourselves before God will deem us righteous —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) May 2, 2012

What you win people with is often what you win them to (@RaviZacharias).

— Tabletalk Magazine (@Tabletalk) May 3, 2012

God treats His millions of children as if each were His only child. —Joel Beeke bit.ly/J5XhZN

— Reformation Trust (@RefTrust) May 4, 2012

Any good deed that I do, any righteous choice that I made, is because God is at work within me. —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) May 4, 2012

You can also find our various ministries on Facebook:

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

Needed Need

We had company today. Darby my 18 year old made a pasta dish. Maili, my 10 year old set the table and poured the drinks. Erin Claire, 12, made a delicious cake. Delaney made a salad, and I made the garlic bread. Our guests were not only well fed, but were engaged in fruitful, God-honoring and laughter infused conversation. We talked of Denise and her many strengths. Everything went wonderfully.

Denise, as her days were drawing to a close, knew she was going to a better place. She had no worries for herself in dying, even as she had no worries for herself in living. But she was worried for those left behind, parents who would lose a daughter, children who would lose a mother, and a husband without his wife. What could I say to her? "We'll be just fine" would be not only untrue, but discouraging. "We won't be able to make it" would not only be untrue, but frightening. My dilemma reflects her dilemma- I want to be needed, but I need to not be necessary. Her dilemma, however, is all our dilemma. We all want to be needed, but all fear being necessary.

The deeper the love relationship, the more we are haunted by this challenge. I can't tell my wife either that I will make it without her, or that I won't make it without her. When I moved our family from the church I planted in Virginia I had the same problem. If they can make it, indeed thrive without me there, why was I there? If they wither and die without me, on the other hand, have I really served them well? And now, as I labor at Ligonier Ministries and Reformation Bible College, the problem is the same. I want to be not just an asset, but an invaluable one. On the other hand, I wouldn't want either institution to whither away without me.

The dilemma exists, however, because of the truth underlying it. On the one hand I am not in the least ultimately necessary. Whatever I bring to the table, whether it be for my family, for my calling, for my writing or teaching, could be brought by others. Wisdom will assuredly not die with me. Jesus, after all, is the source of every good gift. His is the grace that once flowed through my bride that now flows through my children. His is the shepherding of the saints in Virginia, whether I am there or not. His is the truth being disseminated at Ligonier, whether I am there or not.

On the other hand, however, this same Jesus, for now, is pleased to work through me in my family, in my teaching and writing. He is the one who called me, and when He calls, we go. Of course, I must remember that He didn't call me because of my gifts. Instead He gifts me because of His call. My glory isn't that I am needed. Rather, His glory is that He not only meets my needs, but uses me, a beggar, to meet the needs of others. I need to give up the need to be needed. I need instead to give thanks for being used.

Introduction — A Reformed Approach to Science and Scripture

"How old is the universe?"

During the second Question and Answers period at the Ligonier Ministries 2012 National Conference, the speakers were asked this question in connection with the ongoing debate between Christians who think the universe is less than 10,000 years old and those who think it is much older. Dr. R.C. Sproul took about five minutes to answer the question, and what he said in that brief period of time should be heard by every Reformed Christian who is interested in this subject and by every Reformed Christian who is discussing and debating it.

Please take a few minutes to watch Dr. Sproul's entire response.

The importance of what Dr. Sproul says in this response lies in the fact that he reminds us of certain issues that are necessary to a proper approach to this question, issues that are routinely mishandled, neglected, or simply ignored. Dr. Sproul, for example, reminds us of the source of both general and special revelation, the difference between God's revelation (general or special) and our interpretation of that revelation, and the fallibility of our interpretations of both kinds of revelation. In doing so, he reminds us of several aspects of a distinctively Reformed approach to questions of science and Scripture that have been largely forgotten in the debates of the last several decades.

A Reformed approach to the age of the universe question that takes these issues into account is missing from much of the contemporary discussion. Because of the importance of the question, we will spend the next several weeks discussing in more detail the different issues raised in Dr. Sproul's response.

$5 Friday: Calvinism, Providence, & God's Love

It's $5 Friday! This week we have resources that cover such topics as Calvinism, God's love, providence, church and state, biblical figures, the gospel, apologetics, and more.

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

View today's $5 Friday sale items.

The Bible, the Whole Bible, and Nothing but the Bible: An Interview with Eric J. Alexander

Here's an excerpt from The Bible, the Whole Bible, and Nothing but the Bible: An Interview with Eric J. Alexander in the May issue of Tabletalk.

Tabletalk: Describe how God first called you to ministry.

Eric Alexander: From as early as I can remember, if anyone had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would not have hesitated to answer, "I want to be a doctor." I think that might have had something to do with a story my mother often told us of how her life was saved when she was just twenty-one, when a young and inexperienced doctor performed an emergency operation to remove her appendix. His name was Eric Anderson, and I was named "Eric" after him. So I went to a school that was well known for the number of medical doctors it produced. But soon after I came to faith in Jesus Christ, I was preparing for university when my brother asked me, "Have you asked God what he wants you to be?" Frankly, I had never thought that He would be interested. However, I started to pray seriously about this, and I know my brother (who had led me to Christ) was praying too. Before long, I found I was being drawn (it is the only word I can use) to the idea that God wanted me to be a preacher of the gospel. When I spoke with my minister, he told me that he had become increasingly persuaded of this too. Doors opened in remarkable ways. My desire for medical training receded, and I began to study for the ministry at Glasgow University.

TT: What are a few reasons why preaching the word of God is relevant today?

EA: The primary reason lies in the nature of Holy Scripture, which is the Word of God: it is God speaking to us about every facet of our lives. This is the primary way God communicates His truth to us. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16 that Scripture is literally "breathed out by God." If that is so (and it is), then our primary concern will be to find out what God is saying to us, and the church's primary responsibility will be to teach and preach the Bible.

The second reason lies in the nature of humanity. Men and women have not changed with the changing centuries. The world around us has changed dramatically, but we are essentially the same people. That is why we recognize ourselves in the pages and characters of the Bible: we are like Jacob, Esau, David, Peter, Mary, Timothy, and so on. We find that the eternal Word of God goes to the heart of the human situation as nothing else does. That is why, when we are preaching the Bible, people will say, "He was speaking about me."

Continue reading The Bible, the Whole Bible, and Nothing but the Bible: An Interview with Eric J. Alexander.

Was Haman Hanged or Impaled?

"Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it" (Esther 5:14)

In the Book of Esther, much of the plot is set in motion by the hatred of Haman for Mordecai. When Haman expresses his resentment of Mordecai to his family, they recommend, "Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it" (Esther 5:14, ESV). Some of the more recent English translations offer something different from the ESV. The TNIV, for example, reads, "Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it." The NLT offers something similar: "Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it." At the end of chapter 7, Haman ends up being "hanged" on that same pole. The obvious question raised by this translation comparison is twofold. First, is the construction a gallows or a pole? Second, was Haman hanged or impaled?

Our Modern Western Bias

The problem from the perspective of a modern Western reader is that "hanging" conjures a very clear image of a wooden gallows, a cross-bar, ropes, and trap doors through which the condemned would drop, as pictured in many Western movies. Impaling probably likewise suggests the image of someone thrust down upon a stake, so that the stake goes through the body, and the person is left to die in agony. What does the language suggest?

What Does the Language Suggest?

In a woodenly literal fashion (pardon the pun), the Hebrew text says, "Make a high tree (or piece of wood) fifty cubits and in the morning say to the king that they should hang Mordecai upon it." What we glean from this is that the "tree" is to provide for the "hanging" of Mordecai. Thus, the "tree" is not simply a tree, but at least a pole, and perhaps more. But what about "hanging"? We ordinarily use the word "hang" as a synonym for suspend. Thus, when 2 Sam 18:10, refers to Absalom "hanging in an oak," we imagine Absalom's hair caught in the tree, and he is suspended from the tree. That is obviously not a case of Absalom being impaled. However, that is not the only way the word is used. It is also used in the sense of "hanging something upon." So, for example, in Song of Songs 4:4, her neck is likened to the tower of David, on which are hung a thousand shields. Here, the image is not so much of shields suspended, but rather fastened to the tower in some way. So the use of the word "hang" does not necessarily indicate the manner of hanging, whether by being suspended or by being fastened to something else. The most common use of the word in the Old Testament is to refer to a method of execution. So, Pharaoh's chief baker is hanged (Gen 40:22). The king of Ai is hanged (Josh 8:29). Princes are hang up by their hands (Lam 5:12). Again, however, what is not clear from these passages is the exact method of execution.

The possibilities seem to be:

to be suspended from a frame by a rope (modern Western hanging);
to be impaled upon a pole;
to be fastened to a pole in some fashion.

Conclusion

In the work of the Greek historian Herodotus, impalement is regularly presented as a Persian punishment (see The Histories, 1.128, 3,132, 3.159, 6.30 as examples). Given the setting of Esther, it thus seems likely that the manner of punishment for Haman was in fact impalement. In other words, the fifty-cubit "tree" built by Haman was intended to display Mordecai's body impaled in such a way that no one could avoid seeing it. As it turned out, however, it was Haman, whose death (and the folly leading to it) was put on display for the entire population. This view is also confirmed by both recent commentaries (by Jon Levenson, for example) and by older commentaries (Keil and Delitzsch). In this case, I think the TNIV and the NLT to be more correct in their translation than the ESV or the NASB.

Why Don't Christians Care That They Sin? [VIDEO]

In a questions and answers session at our 2010 National Conference, Alistair Begg and R.C. Sproul answered the question, "Why don't Christians care that they sin?"