R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 572

Twitter Highlights (8/28/11)

Here are some highlights from the various Ligonier Twitter feeds over the past week.

Reformation Trust The ruling motif in Calvinism is, "In the beginning God..." (Gen. 1:1). -Joel Beeke



Ligonier By definition, the big difference between mercy & justice, is that mercy is never, never, never, obligatory. -R.C. Sproul



Reformation Trust ...a spiritually dead sinner contributes nothing—except his sin—to His salvation, not even his faith. -Steven Lawson http://bit.ly/fB8z7f



Ligonier As soon as we are slaves to human opinion...the message of Christ will be compromised. -R.C. Sproul



Tabletalk Magazine "The glory of God is nowhere more effulgent than in the face of Jesus Christ." - John Murray



Tabletalk Magazine "Yet one thing secures us what ever betide, the Scriptures assure us the Lord will provide (Isaac Newton)."



Ligonier No one preaches the whole counsel of God who is a man-pleaser. -R.C. Sproul

You can also find our various ministries on Facebook:
Ligonier Ministries | Ligonier Academy | Reformation Bible College
Reformation Trust | Tabletalk Magazine

Links We Liked (8/27/11)

Here is a round-up of some of the notable blogs and articles our team read this week.

The Things I Chose Not to Choose - Tim Challies provides helpful insight on the relationship between the rise in the number of choices we have and the rise in the level of our discontent.

Is Steve Jobs Dying for Us All? - Michael Horton: "Like Thomas Edison or Henry Ford, the name Steve Jobs conjures the image of an era more than a product. After battling pancreatic cancer, the Apple co-founder has finally resigned from the company and has resigned himself to one thing over which he has no control: death."

Reformed and Charismatic? - Also from Michael Horton is an important article on the confluence of Reformed theology and Charismatic theology.

A Preacher's Decalogue - Sinclair Ferguson offers a list of 10 commandments for preachers. There is valuable counsel here for anyone who seeks to preach the Word!

Well Enough to Complain

Desperate times call for desperate measures. When we are in fear for our lives, there is precious little we aren’t willing to go through to make it out alive. We will endure long hardship. We will put up with humiliating procedures. We will grit our teeth through pain. We will bite bullets, all hoping to get to that place where the worry will subside, and we can move forward knowing we’re going to be okay. At which point we go back to normal; we begin again to grumble against the smallest irritants, buck against the simplest requests and refuse the mildest indignities.

This is precisely where my bride and I found ourselves. Literally thousands of friends and strangers have faithfully prayed for her after she was diagnosed with leukemia just six months ago. She went through two intense rounds of chemo, weeks at a time in a hospital room, sundry pokes and proddings. She lost her hair, her stamina, even her blood type, but never her will, nor His grace. No leukemia, however, was present in her system, as far as they could tell. The immediate fear had dissipated, and all we were left with was the irritants.

Then we had to deal with the sundry side effects of steroids. Then there were multiple trips to the doctors each week. Then there were needle sticks, competing diagnoses from different doctors. Then we had just enough strength, peace and confidence to be aggravated by it all.

There is a lesson here. All of us, whether we remember it or not, were once not just sick, but dead. What lay before us wasn’t death, but hell, unending torment. When the Great Physician drew near, when He made us alive, we clung to Him, pled with Him, promised Him- Lord, whatever You want from me I will do. Wherever You want me to be, there I will go. Whatever you ask me to endure, I will see through to the end. We were once still caught up in the fear of what might have been. We were once caught up in joyful gratitude for our rescue. We have, however, grown accustomed to His grace.  Now that our feet are on solid ground, oddly we find it all too easy to slip. We take it, and Him, for granted.

Now we expect not just peace with God, and the promise of eternal life, but we expect health, and wealth, and comfort and ease. When these are threatened we do not remember our former promises, nor from whence we have come. Instead we grumble, complain. Instead we act as though something is not right with the world, because we do not have what we want.  Instead we are put out, annoyed.

Fighting leukemia is a hard job, even when leukemia is on the ropes. It is bone wearying work. It is, however, work for the living. In like manner, growing in grace and wisdom is a marathon, not a sprint. But only the living run the race. He has given us life. Our calling is to give Him thanks. Our calling is to lay down our complaints, and run like the wind. 

$5 Friday: God's Glory, End Times & Abortion

Find $5 Friday resources today on the abortion, the church, character of God, end times, prophets, and Bible study. Special thanks to Faro de Gracia Publications for partnering this week. Sale starts Friday at 8 a.m. and ends Saturday at 8 a.m. EST.

View today's $5 Friday sale.

Doctor of Ministry Application Deadline

The deadline to enroll in our Doctor of Ministry program is September 1st.

This coming January, Dr. Ron Gleason, author of a new biography on the great Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck, will be joining us to teach the Reformed Philosophy of Ministry class, and Ligonier Teaching Fellow, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, will be returning to teach our class on Worship.

For more information on the D.Min. program, please visit the website.

The Winter 2012 D.Min. course schedule is:

January 9-13: Reformed Philosophy of Ministry — Dr. Ron Gleason
January 16-20: Worship — Dr. Sinclair Ferguson

All application documents must be received by the Admissions Office no later than September 1, 2010. The deadline for registration is September 15 for Winter courses.

Download the D.Min. application here.

Ron Gleason, Visiting Professor, Doctor of Ministry Program

Ron Gleason is the pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Yorba Linda, CA. He holds a Drs. from the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and a Ph.D. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is the Stated Clerk of South Coast Presbytery of the PCA and president of the California chapter of Exodus.org. He is the author of the biography of the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck.

Sinclair Ferguson, Visiting Professor, Doctor of Ministry Program

Sinclair Ferguson is a Teaching Fellow with Ligonier Ministries and serves as Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, South Carolina, and as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is author of numerous books, including By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me; In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel-Centered Life; Taking the Christian Life Seriously; Discovering God's Will; A Heart for God; John Owen on the Christian Life; Daniel (Communicator's Commentary); The Holy Spirit; The Big Book of Questions and Answers; and The Sermon on the Mount. Dr. Ferguson has also been a contributor to numerous books, including The Westminster Confession Today, The Preacher and Preaching, New Dictionary of Theology (editor), Dictionary of Scottish Church History & Theology; Theonomy: A Reformed Critique; Blackwell's Dictionary of Evangelical Biography 1730-1860; The New Bible Commentary; and The Glory of the Atonement. He has also contributed to the following journals: The Christian Graduate, Discipleship, Banner of Truth, and Westminster Theological Journal.

 

The Gospel and the Oncology Waiting Room

Here is how Mike Polman begins his article from this month's issue of Tabletalk: "I recently sat with my wife in the waiting room at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. We were there to meet with Dr. Lupe Salazar to receive the results of Julia’s latest PET/CT scans. The goal: to determine if the cancer was progressing. This drill is an example of our “new normal” since the diagnosis of stage 4 breast cancer on Mother’s Day weekend in 2009."

He writes about what he has learned from sitting in waiting rooms at cancer clinics. "Cancer clinics (if I may adapt one of C.S. Lewis’ more recognized phrases) are God’s megaphone to a chronically amused people. Through cancer clinics, God brings the significance of the present and the weight of glory to bear on us in ways unlike anything else. Few things, by God’s grace, capture the mind and the heart like an oncology waiting room. And we need to be captured by God — pulled away from the numbing effects of the world."

Keep Reading "The Gospel and the Oncology Waiting Room."

The Heroes of Prayer

Most Christians are familiar with Hebrews 11, a chapter R.C. Sproul titles "The Roll Call of Faith." Hebrews 11 is both challenging to the Christian and a source of encouragement. It challenges us when we compare our lives with those of the saints of old, and yet God also graciously uses their example to encourage us to continue to pursue the life of faith.

I was reading R.C. Sproul's Does Prayer Change Things? recently. In his chapter on the power of prayer Sproul compiles a list of the heroes of prayer in the format of Hebrews 11.

By prayer, Esau's heart was changed toward Jacob, so that they met in a friendly, rather than hostile, manner (Gen. 32).
By the prayer of Moses, God brought the plagues upon Egypt and then removed them again (Ex. 7–11).
By prayer, Joshua made the sun stand still (Josh. 10).
By prayer, when Samson was ready to perish with thirst, God brought water out of a hollow place for his sustenance (Judg. 15).
By prayer, the strength of Samson was restored. He pulled down the temple of Dagon on the Philistines, so that those whom he killed as he died were more than all he had killed in his life (Judg. 16).
By prayer, Elijah held back the rains for three and a half years. Then by prayer, he caused it to rain again (1 Kings 17–18).
By the prayer of Hezekiah, God sent an angel and killed in one night 185,000 men in Sennacherib's army (2 Kings 19).
By the prayer of Asa, God confounded the army of Zerah (2 Chron. 14).

Time would fail me to tell of Abraham, who prayed for and received a son at the age of one hundred years; and Moses, who received help at the Red Sea; and the Israelites, who were delivered from Egypt after much prayer; and David, who escaped the treachery of Saul by prayer; and Solomon, who received great wisdom as the result of prayer; and Daniel, who was able to interpret dreams after prayer. People were delivered from peril, healed from diseases, saw loved ones cured, and witnessed innumerable miracles as the result of fervent prayer.

James, if anything, was understating the case when he wrote that the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much (5:16).

Like Hebrews 11, reading R.C. Sproul's scriptural list of the heroes of prayer is both challenging and a source of encouragement. I am challenged as I consider the lack of fervency in my prayer life. However, I find God graciously encouraging me to grow in my prayer life as I'm reminded afresh that prayer is powerful.

Will you pray today?

A Day 452 Years in the Making

Today we welcomed our first class at Reformation Bible College. Even though the Ligonier staff has been working diligently for several years, this college is 452 years in the making.

When Dr. R.C. Sproul first laid out his vision for Ligonier Academy and the college that would eventually develop here, he explained the world-changing work undertaken in John Calvin’s Geneva. Looking to that school in the mid-16th century, Dr. Sproul took encouragement for the educational goals he had in mind. It was there in Geneva in 1559, that John Calvin welcomed the first students to the Academy. That work blossomed within a few years as the Protestant refugees came from throughout Europe to learn God’s Word and be discipled for the hard work of reformation.

In a touching letter to French Protestants, John Calvin wrote to these persecuted brethren and encouraged them to “send us wood and we will send you arrows.” The work of the Geneva Academy would go on to be a blessing to the worldwide mission of the church as students and churchmen circulated through the school for years to come, learning from the likes of Theodore Béza and Francis Turretin.

It is our prayer that students from Reformation Bible College would be sharp arrows in the hand of the Lord to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:5). Dr. Sproul has committed Ligonier to expand its outreach to include formal undergraduate education. This multi-generational emphasis brings focus to Ligonier’s mission to proclaim, teach, and defend the holiness of God to as many people as possible. Indeed, to serve the cause of biblical reformation through the church we must invest in the next generation.

Here we stand at the start of the school year with grateful hearts and hopeful vision. All glory belongs to God alone. He has brought us to this day through thousands of generous, prayerful donors who have given to help these students embark on this journey. (And if you know of potential students in your family or church, we are already starting to look for wood for next year's class.)

Great Quotes from The Prayer of the Lord

I recently had the opportunity to read through almost all of the books of R.C. Sproul. Along the way I built a collection of some of the best quotes from each one of them. Here are 5 of the best from The Prayer of the Lord.

Prayer does change things, all kinds of things. But the most important thing it changes is us. As we engage in this communion with God more deeply and come to know the One with whom we are speaking more intimately, that growing knowledge of God reveals to us all the more brilliantly who we are and our need to change in conformity to Him. Prayer changes us profoundly.

I find it striking that when Jesus taught the church how to pray, the first thing He chose to tell us to pray about is that the name of God might be regarded as sacred. Very few people today would list the hallowing of the name of God as a top priority for the supplications of the people of God. It almost seems foreign to our environment to place so much emphasis on proper treatment of a name.

I don’t think that anything reveals the state of a person’s soul more clearly than the words that come out of his mouth. I understand that Christians are capable of all kinds of sin, but I can’t understand how a regenerate person could ever use the name of Jesus in a blasphemous way. How can you worship Someone whom you routinely blaspheme? I don’t see how it’s possible.

If we find that God’s hand seems to be invisible to us and that we cannot discern His providential intrusion into our lives, that may be due partly to the way we pray. We have a tendency to pray in general. When we pray in general, the only way we will see the hand of God’s providence is in general. As we enter into prayer, this conversation and communion with God, and put our petitions before Him, pouring out our souls and our needs specifically, we see specific answers to our prayers. Our Father has invited us to go to Him and ask Him for our daily bread. He will not fail to provide it.

Yes, my sins have all been paid for, once and for all, on the cross. But Jesus taught us to pray for forgiveness as part of our ongoing communion with God. We need a fresh understanding, a fresh experience, of His grace and of His forgiveness every day. There is no greater state than to get up from your knees knowing that in God’s sight you are clean, that He has forgiven every sin you’ve ever committed. Without that grace, without that forgiveness, I don’t think I could live in this world for another sixty seconds. This is something we all desperately need, and we have but to ask for it.

I think the greatest weakness in the church today is that almost no one believes that God invests His power in the Bible. Everyone is looking for power in a program, in a methodology, in a technique, in anything and everything but that in which God has placed it—His Word. He alone has the power to change lives for eternity, and that power is focused on the Scriptures.

Twitter Highlights (8/21/11)

Here are some highlights from the various Ligonier Twitter feeds over the past week.

Ligonier Academy "It's not the long walk home that will change this heart, But the welcome I receive with the restart." - M&S



Reformation Trust Salvation is by grace alone, in Christ alone, by faith alone, & all that is necessary for salvation is taught in Scripture alone. -Ferguson



Ligonier God is the one who is the author of salvation, & yet to be saved...is not simply to be saved by Him, but to be saved from Him. -R.C. Sproul



Tabletalk Magazine The glory of the gospel is that when the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it (Martyn Lloyd-Jones).



Ligonier God despises any worship that doesn't come from the heart. -R.C. Sproul



Tabletalk Magazine God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering (Augustine of Hippo).



Ligonier It's because Jesus spoke so frequently about hell that the church...should take the concept seriously. -R.C. Sproul

You can also find our various ministries on Facebook:
Ligonier Ministries | Ligonier Academy | Reformation Bible College
Reformation Trust | Tabletalk Magazine