R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 586

VIDEO: CrossReference: Called Wonderful

For the past seven weeks, we've been previewing messages from a new series from David Murray and HeadHeartHand media on the Old Testament appearances of Christ as the Angel of the Lord. Today brings the eighth episode in the preview series, which will be available to view for one week.

You can watch the first two episodes of CrossReference: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament here, and the remaining two videos will be available the next two weeks at the Ligonier blog, Challies, and HeadHeartHand. 

The DVD and study guide (sample here) are now available for purchase. Or you can download the films in HD.

Episode 8: Called Wonderful

Live Q&A with R.C. Sproul and the Ligonier Teaching Fellows

Join us on Thursday, May 19, at 2:30 p.m. EST for a live question and answer session with R.C. Sproul and Ligonier Teaching Fellows Robert Godfrey, Sinclair Ferguson, Steven Lawson, and R.C. Sproul Jr.

Start submitting your questions now. Tweet your questions using hashtag #AskLigonier, or write your questions using Facebook from our live events page.

Mark you calendars

Learn more about the Teaching Fellows.

Upcoming D.Min. Courses at Ligonier Academy

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. In the Summer of 2012, Dr. Robert Letham will be joining us to teach a class on the doctrine of the Trinity, and Dr. Mark Ross will be joining us again to teach our course on pastoral care.

We are profoundly thankful to all of these men for their willingness to serve pastors in this way. We are also grateful for the pastors who have been working through this demanding program.

One of these men, Pastor Drew Dinardo has said of the program:

"I cannot conceive of a better institution to continue biblical, theological, and pastoral education than Ligonier Academy (D.Min). I have found the course selection ideal, the professors exceptional, class reading and instruction insightful, and the interaction with other like-minded pastors edifying. The spiritual and intellectual benefits to me personally, as well as to the congregation which I serve, have been incalculable. If you are searching for a degree program that is biblically and theologically grounded, intellectually demanding, ministry focused, philosophically practical, and pastor-schedule sensitive, look no further."

If you are a Pastor seeking further training from a Reformed perspective, the Ligonier Academy D.Min. program is designed for you.

The application deadline for those desiring to begin coursework this coming Winter is September 1.

For more detailed information about the Doctor of Ministry program, click here. To download a copy (.pdf format) of the Application for the D.Min. program, click here.

Because the D.Min. program serves the educational goals of pastors, missionaries, and others in full-time ministry, admission is granted only to ordained men who possess a Master of Divinity degree or its equivalent and three years of ministry experience. Exceptions to these admission requirements are considered on a case-by-case basis, and in such cases admission may be granted only on a provisional basis.

For More Information

Please contact us or have your pastor contact us about the D.Min. program:

E-mail: admissions@ligonier.org
USPS: Ligonier Academy Admissions Office
465 Ligonier Court
Sanford, FL 32771

Phone: 407-333-4244
Fax: 407-333-4233

Christians Get Depressed Too

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 1 out of every 10 adult Americans currently suffers from depression. Depression is not confined to the United States. The World Health Organization describes depression as “common” in the world today, affecting an estimated 121 million persons. If we were to consider those who have not been clinically diagnosed with depression, but who suffer periodically from mild forms of depression, these figures would undoubtedly swell.

Depression, then, is widespread. It is in our families, our neighborhoods, our places of work, and in the church. How ought believers to minister to those who are bearing this burden? Regrettably, it is just here that well-intentioned but uninformed Christians have done more harm than good. Sometimes they offer little more than pious cant. Sometimes they end up blaming the depressed person for his depression. The impact on the depressed Christian can be devastating.

David Murray, Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan, has written the most helpful, concise, and pastoral Christian treatment of this subject that I have encountered. If you have friends or family members who have experienced depression; if you have experienced depression; or if you want to know how to minister effectively to those who have, then you need to read this book.

What are its strengths? This work is clear and understandable. Christians Get Depressed Too manages to be theologically nuanced while also accessible to a general audience. This work is concise and practical. After completing the book’s 112 pages, the reader will walk away with a clearer sense of what depression is and how best to serve those facing depression. This work is well-organized. It consists of six alliteratively-titled chapters: “The Crisis;” “The Complexity;” “The Condition;” “The Causes;” “The Cures;” “The Caregivers.” Many of the chapters have helpful internal structures, from the enumeration of “false” thought patterns in “The Condition;” to “ten areas [each beginning with ‘s’] for caregivers to consider when they are trying to help a depressed person get better” in the closing chapter.

One feature of this work that particularly commends it is its balance and moderation. Take, for example, the question, “what are the causes of depression?” Murray is unwilling to say that depression’s causes are exclusively physical (brain chemistry), spiritual (demon possession or personal sin), or mental (an overactive imagination). In company with the Puritans, Murray rightly recognizes the often unfathomable interrelations of mind and body, concluding that depression’s causes may be manifold, complex, and elusive.

If depression’s cause(s) are complex, then so also are its cures. Murray identifies four areas that together comprise what he calls a “‘package’ of healing”: lifestyle, false thoughts, brain chemistry, spiritual life (70-86). None should be considered to the exclusion of the others. Each should be part of a comprehensive approach to one’s own or to another’s depression.

Murray recognizes the importance of informed caregivers and so devotes an entire chapter to the subject. The counsel in this chapter should be spread far and wide in the church. For instance, after noting that “the general rule is to listen much and to speak little,” Murray proceeds to list eleven things one should not say to a person battling depression.

Christians are not immune from depression simply because they are Christians.

As Murray notes at the outset of this work, the Scripture affords many examples of Old Testament saints who experience what we today would likely identify as “symptoms of depression-anxiety.” Solomon reminds us that “the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked” (Eccl 9:2) – Christians are not immune from depression simply because they are Christians. Depression’s darkness, then, reaches far and wide. Thankfully, Murray has shed Scripture light on depression’s darkness, and for that the church is in his debt.

Guy Waters is Associate Professor of New Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi, and a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). He has authored or co-edited seven books, including A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Justification: Being Made Right With God? (Christian Focus Publications), and How Jesus Runs the Church (P&R).

Our Ancient Foe

"Talk of the Devil and spiritual warfare makes some people roll their eyes. We live in an age of particle accelerators, microchips, and organ transplants. The Devil? Why, he’s nothing more than a medieval superstition created to scare naughty children. We can’t take any of that seriously."

But as Keith Mathison shows in his contribution to this month's edition of Tabletalk magazine, "Martin Luther would have disagreed. He took it very seriously and wrote often of his ongoing battle with the Devil. He was very aware of the forces of evil. Most of us have heard the story about Luther throwing an inkwell at the Devil. Whether truth or legend, such an act would not have been out of character for Luther. It is also well known that Luther believed in using contempt to fight the Devil, and some of the things he said to and about the Devil were colorful, to say the least."

Read more in Our Ancient Foe.

What's in a Name?: Introducing Reformation Bible College

When Dr. R.C. Sproul founded Ligonier Academy of Biblical and Theological Studies, his desire was to establish an institution for higher education that unapologetically adheres to the historic Christian faith and the centuries-old tradition of the reformers. Our first charge was to begin to address the needs of pastors in the ministry. The Doctor of Ministry program began at Ligonier Academy in 2009 and in its first two years we have been blessed to minister to many pastors. We look forward to seeing the long-lasting impact for years to come.

Dr. Sproul’s next initiative was to provide young men and women the opportunity to receive a unique foundation in Biblical and theological studies at the undergraduate level. Reformation Bible College at Ligonier Academy was born with a desire to educate a new generation on the things of God. Our first class begins August 2011.

So, why the name “Reformation Bible College”? First, we are a Bible college. We hold that the Bible is the supreme text for all matters of life.

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Second, this college offers undergraduate courses as opposed to graduate level programs like one would find at a seminary. These courses are chiefly for young people who want a biblical worldview to inform all aspects of their lives, whether they become teachers, scientists, business professionals, home educators, or ministers.

Finally, Reformation Bible College holds fast to the centuries-old tradition of the reformers. While our theological roots reach further back than the Protestant Reformation, it is in their same vein that we say, “here we stand.” We are Reformed in doctrine, confessional in what we believe, and reverent in our worship. We are committed to the historic Reformed faith as expressed in the five solas of the Reformation and in the consensus of the confessional standards: the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Cannons of the Synod of Dordt and the London Baptist Confession.

Sola Scriptura – Bible is the sole written divine revelation and alone can bind the conscience of believers.  

Sola Fide – Justification is by faith alone. The merit of Christ imputed to us by faith is the sole ground of our acceptance by God, by which our sins are remitted.

Solus Christus – Christ is the only mediator through whose work we are redeemed.

Sola Gratia – Our salvation rests solely on the work of God’s grace for us and in us.

Soli Deo Gloria – To God alone belongs the glory.

Lord willing, we will see the fruit from Reformation Bible College in the lives of our students for generations to come. Pray with us to that end.

For more information visit us at ReformationBibleCollege.org.

Follow us at:
Facebook.com/ReformationBibleCollege
Twitter.com/RefBibleCollege

Twitter Highlights (5/15/11)

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

Ligonier Academy "Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions" - G.K. Chesterton /via @theolatte



Ligonier If we commit a sin & don't feel guilty about it we shouldn't rejoice in that because that's like having a disease & not feeling any pain -RC



Reformation Trust God’s love is not, like our emotions, a vacillating thing, here one day & gone the next. -Derek Thomas



Ligonier ...we are to exhibit a form of behavior & attitude toward other people that will mirror for them the compassion of Jesus. -R.C. Sproul



Ligonier God, when He created His people, created them not only with the ability to speak, but also to sing. -R.C. Sproul



Tabletalk Magazine "You will have as much joy and laughter in life as you have faith in God" - Martin Luther.



Ligonier If God ceased to exist for a second the universe would perish with Him. - R.C. Sproul



Reformation Trust Salvation: "...if you have it, you never can lose it, & if you seemingly lose it, you never really had it." -R.C. Sproul

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

How Do We Learn to Best Pick Our Battles?

How do we learn to best pick our battles?

The devil, who is more crafty than any of the beasts of the field is well aware of the nature of our warfare. He knows that eternity is at stake, and delights first to make us forget the reality of the war. As we identify with the world we lose sight of the antithesis, and find ourselves at home in Babylon. If, however, we are rightly conscious of the battle, such doesn't mean we are rightly focused on the issues that matter most.  If the devil can distract us, encourage us to focus our energies on peripheral issues, it's almost as good for him as if we weren't fighting at all.

There are, after all, innumerable problems in our world. We live under a rapacious and irresponsible government. The evangelical church is sliding swiftly toward theological liberalism. Souls remain under the wrath of God, and babies are being murdered in broad daylight as I type. All of these issues matter, but some matter more than others.

The temptation (there's the devil showing up again) we all face is to measure the relative importance of this battle or that based mostly on what we're good at, or what merely interests us. Reformed people are apt to be more passionate about theological looseness than abortion. Broad evangelicals are going to be more concerned about lost souls than political issues.  There is an element here of body life, that some in the church are called to be eyes and others are called to be hands. As we all serve the same Master, and will answer to Him, we don't want to be looking down our noses at His calling on another.

So how can we tell what issues matter most? First, consider what is actually at stake. I believe passionately in limited government.  I hate it that the state thinks itself God, and confiscates more than a third of all that I make. I have friends who have devoted their lives to toppling not the state itself, but its idolatrous self-aggrandizement. Some of them are persuaded that income taxes are not only immoral (I agree) confiscatory (I agree) and intrusive (I agree) but are illegal, or not required (I don't pretend to know.) The irony is that these same people understand quite well that our entire system is based on worthless paper. They risk their liberty and their families in order to protect federal reserve notes.  Should my passion be more over the state's unbacked paper, or its backing of the wanton destruction of God's littlest people through abortion?  Jesus tells us where to place our priorities when He reminds us that our money bears Caesar's image. Our children bear His image.

Second, if the issue is regular fodder in sundry forms of mass media, it is likely it doesn't much matter.  Conservative talk radio is a virtual propaganda department for the devil, not because what they teach is wrong, but because it isn't nearly as important as they make it out to be. Talk radio is a mildly more sophisticated soap opera, as we tune in each day to find out what the villain at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. has done this time. And like soap operas, if you tune out for a week or 20 you'll find the same drama, the same issues are still being addressed with the same hysteria. If conservative talk radio were conservative, how could a day pass that isn't devoted to the 3500 babies that will die on that day?

Finally, if worry is causing you to lose sleep, whatever is the source of the worry isn't an issue that should concern you. If, on the other hand, guilt is what keeps you up at night, that's what you need to be focused on. Repent, rest in Christ's provision, and then get to work. You'll sleep much better.

Jesus' priorities include political issues, life issues,  cultural issues, family issues, theological issues, evangelistic issues. But most of all His priority is that we would seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, that we would grow in grace and so tell the world that His kingdom has come.

The Father's Gift to the Son

The motif of the gift of the elect to the Son is expressed by Jesus on various occasions, particularly in the Gospel of John:

This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (6:39-40)

In this passage Jesus makes it clear that He is concerned about every believer being raised up at the last day. This qualifies His statements about what the Father has given Him that would never be lost. It is believers who are given to Christ by the Father, and these believers will never be lost. This affirmation builds upon what Jesus declared only moments earlier:

But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (6:36-38)

Jesus is emphatic in His assertion that all whom the Father gives to Him will in fact come to Him. The order here is crucial. Jesus does not say that all who come to Him will then be given to Him by the Father. We do not determine by our response who will be the Father's gift to the Son. Rather our response is determined by the prior election of God for us to come to the Son as gifts to Him.

The concept of believers being the gifts of the Father to the Son forms a central element of Jesus' high-priestly prayer in John 17. Jesus makes repeated references to this "giving":

Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. (vv. 1-2)

Christ speaks of the authority He has received from the Father to grant eternal life to certain people. Those certain people are the ones the Father has given to Him.

I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. (17:6-12)

In this prayer it is clear that believers are the Father's gift to the Son, a gift that is not to be lost or destroyed. Jesus prays that these gifts may be kept and not discarded. He thanks the Father that all have been kept except the son of perdition, who is elsewhere described as having been a devil from the beginning. The son of perdition refers here to Judas.

The concept of our adoption in Christ as the Father's gift to the Son is also declared by the author of Hebrews:

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying:

"I will declare Your name to My brethren;

In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You."

And again:

"I will put My trust in Him."

And again:

"Here am I and the children whom God has given Me." (2:10-13)

This text confirms that the elect are given to Christ as His adopted brothers and the Father's adopted children. This is the astonishing love that would provoke John to utter later, "Behold, what manner of love is this?"

Excerpted from Loved by God.

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