R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 60

God Abides with Us

Here’s an excerpt from God Abides with Us, Burk Parsons' contribution to the September issue of Tabletalk:

We all have favorite seasons, times of the year, days of the week, and times of the day. Some people love the still darkness of the early morning before the sun rises. Others love the tranquility of the evening as the sun sets. I myself love every season and all times of the year. I have always enjoyed waking on Monday mornings with a full week of work ahead, because I love my work. Being an early riser, I enjoy the quiet and the anticipation of the day ahead. However, my favorite time is the remains of the day as the sun sets, when I get to return home to my beloved wife and children, and, by God’s sustaining grace, I have made it through one more day and am thus one day nearer to my heavenly home. Perhaps partially for that reason, one of my favorite hymns has long been the nineteenth-century hymn “Abide with Me” by Henry Francis Lyte (1793–1847).

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Let the One Who Is Thirsty Come

From his teaching series Blessed Hope, W. Robert Godfrey explains Revelation 22:17.

Transcript:

[V]erse 17. Here's the center, the heart of the conclusion, "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." Now at first glance, maybe when we start to read verse 17, maybe we think we're already praying, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus." We may think this word "come" is directed to Jesus, but it's not. It's directed to the world. This is the great, concluding evangelistic call of the book. As I said as we went through the book, most of the time, the world of Revelation seems sealed into believers and unbelievers. There doesn't seem much movement back and forth. And that's because we're looking at the reality that the church is experiencing most of the time. But here at the end, we're reminded by John and reminded by the inspiration of the Spirit that we are called to an evangelistic task in this world. We do hope for the conversion of sinners. The conversion of sinners does take place in this world. That's why history goes on that the elect may be converted, and it's a beautiful and a tender appeal, the Spirit—that is the Holy Spirit of God—and the Bride, that is to say the whole church of Christ unites in appealing to the world, "Come!" In spite of all the opposition, in spite of all the suffering that the saints have sustained at the hands of the world, they still stretch out their arms and say, "Come, come. Why will you perish?" And, "Come. And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." Isn't that beautiful? It's a lot like Jesus saying in Matthew 11, isn't it, "Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest." It's without price. Jesus paid the price so that the many can be called to come.

4 Ways to Enjoy God

While shaking hands at the church door, ministers are sometimes greeted with a spontaneous, “I really enjoyed that!”—which is immediately followed by, “Oh! I shouldn’t really say that, should I?” I usually grip tighter, hold the handshake a little longer, and say with a smile, “Doesn’t the catechism’s first question encourage us to do that? If we are to enjoy Him forever, why not begin now?”

Of course, we cannot enjoy God apart from glorifying Him. And the Westminster Shorter Catechism wisely goes on to ask, “What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?” But notice that Scripture contains the “rule” for enjoying God as well as glorifying Him. We know it abounds in instructions for glorifying Him, but how does it instruct us to “enjoy him”?

Enjoying God is a command, not an optional extra: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). But how? We cannot “rejoice to order,” can we?

True. Yet, Scripture shows that well-instructed believers develop a determination to rejoice. They will rejoice in the Lord. Habakkuk exemplified this in difficult days (see Hab. 3:17–18). He exercised what our forefathers called “acting faith”—a vigorous determination to experience whatever the Lord commands, including joy, and to use the God-given means to do so. Here are four of these means—in which, it should be noted, we also glorify God.

Joy in Salvation

Enjoying God means relishing the salvation He gives us in Jesus Christ. “I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:18). God takes joy in our salvation (Luke 15:6–7, 9–10, 32). So should we. Here, Ephesians 1:3–14 provides a masterly delineation of this salvation in Christ. It is a gospel bath in which we should often luxuriate, rungs on a ladder we should frequently climb, in order to experience the joy of the Lord as our strength (Neh. 8:10). While we are commanded to have joy, the resources to do so are outside of ourselves, known only through union with Christ.

Joy in Revelation

Joy issues from devouring inscripturated revelation. Psalm 119 bears repeated witness to this. The psalmist “delights” in God’s testimonies “as much as in all riches” (Ps. 119:14; see also vv. 35, 47, 70, 77, 103, 162, 174). Think of Jesus’ words, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). Does He mean He will find His joy in us, so that our joy may be full, or that His joy will be in us so that our joy may be full? Both, surely, are true. We find full joy in the Lord only when we know He finds His joy in us. The pathway to joy, then, is to give ourselves maximum exposure to His Word and to let it dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16). It is joy-food for the joy-hungry soul.

Joy in Communion

There is joy in the Lord to be tasted in the worship we enjoy in church communion. The church is the new Jerusalem, the city that cannot be hidden, the joy of the whole earth (Ps. 48:2). In the Spirit-led communion of praise and petition; soul pastoring; Word preaching; psalm, hymn, and spiritual song singing; and water, bread, and wine receiving, abundant joy is to be found. The Lord sings over us with joy (Zeph. 3:17). Our hearts sing for joy in return.

Joy in Tribulation

Here, indeed, is a divine paradox. There is joy to be known in the midst of and through affliction. Viewed biblically, tribulation is the Father’s chastising hand using life’s pain and darkness to mold us into the image of the One who endured for the sake of the joy set before Him (Heb. 12: 1–2, 5–11; see Rom. 8:29). We exult and rejoice in our sufferings, Paul says, because “suffering produces . . . hope” in us (Rom. 5:3–4). Peter and James echo the same principle (1 Peter 1:3–8; James 1:2–4). The knowledge of the sure hand of God in providence not only brings stability; it is also a joy-producer.

All of this adds up to exultation in God Himself. In Romans 5:1–11, Paul leads us from rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God (v. 2) to joy that comes in tribulation (v. 3) to exulting in God Himself (v. 11; see Ps. 43:4). The unbeliever finds this incredible, because he has been blinded by the joy-depriving lie of Satan that to glorify God is the high road to joylessness. Thankfully, Christ reveals that the reverse takes place in Him—because of our salvation, through His revelation, in worship’s blessed communion, and by means of tribulation.

Enjoy! Yes, indeed, may “everlasting joy . . . be upon [your] heads” (Isa. 51:11).

This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.

Available Now: The Reformation Study Bible, Spanish Edition

Today, more than 400 million people around the world speak Spanish. Christianity is on the rise throughout the Global South, yet trustworthy biblical teaching is scarce for many Spanish speakers. Much of Latin America remains culturally Roman Catholic but increasingly disenchanted with the empty rituals and moral failings of the clergy. More recently, charlatans have waged war against God and His Word with their prosperity “gospel.” Despite these enemies of the cross, the theology of the Reformation is reaching more people and impacting more churches than ever before.

As I’ve traveled throughout Latin America with Ligonier’s Spanish Outreach team, I’ve been encouraged to see a growing interest in Reformed theology. When local ministers share the key influences that have helped shape their theological views and their embrace of Reformed theology, they so often mention R.C. Sproul.

By God’s grace, the teaching of Dr. Sproul has left a profound impact on the Spanish-speaking church. To help our Latin American brothers and sisters in Christ become further established in the truth of God’s Word, we set forth to produce a full translation of the Reformation Study Bible in Spanish. After many years of labor and prayer, this resource is available now.

Like its English counterpart, La Biblia de Estudio de La Reforma (the Reformation Study Bible) can help Spanish speakers throughout the world become firmly anchored in the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Carefully translated, edited, and reviewed by a skilled team of pastors and translators from multiple countries, it’s been suggested that this resource is the equivalent of a 20-commentary set in a single volume. It offers an unparalleled reading, study, and discipleship experience for every age and stage of the Christian life.

The Spanish edition of the Reformation Study Bible includes:

More than 1.1 million words of verse-by-verse and topical explanations in Spanish
Translated commentary from more than 75 distinguished theologians led by R.C. Sproul
70 translated theological summaries from R.C. Sproul
Historical creeds, confessions, and catechisms from 2,000 years of church history, newly translated into Spanish from the original languages
13 translated topical articles from gifted theologians
Award-winning maps, illustrations, and visual aids
A concordance, table of weights and measures, and more

This groundbreaking Spanish resource is available today in a variety of formats. Our Spanish publishing partner, Poiema Publicaciones, is now also fulfilling orders throughout Latin America.

We give thanks to God for the sustaining grace that has enabled this colossal project to come to fruition. Now, Spanish-speaking Christians everywhere can have a thorough and trusted companion for a lifetime of enriching Bible study. In God’s providence, this study Bible will help the global church dig deeply into the timeless truths of the Christian faith for generations to come.

Will you join us in praying that the Lord will use this and other translated resources to awaken the Spanish-speaking world to the holiness of God and His gospel of grace? Projects like these are made possible by the generous donations of people like you. Thank you for contributing to the international outreach of Ligonier Ministries.

To tell your Spanish-speaking friends about this newly released resource, send them a link to the announcement in Spanish.

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, September 2020

The September issue of Tabletalk addresses the topic of time and the Christian life. The Word of God has much to say about time, including the fact that “for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1). We hear many things from our culture about time, and there is much confusion among believers regarding how we should spend our time. This issue of Tabletalk seeks to help clarify much of the confusion about time and encourages Christians to glorify God in every moment.

For a limited time, the new TabletalkMagazine.com allows everyone to browse and read the growing library of back issues, including this month's issue. You can also purchase the issue or subscribe to get the print issue every month.

God Abides with Us by Burk Parsons
What Is Time? by Thomas Brewer
Time and Relationships by Jason Helopoulos
Time and Vocation by Grant R. Castleberry
Time and the Individual by Joe Holland
The Time to Come by William Boekestein

Read the Entire Issue

Subscribe to Tabletalk today for only $23 a year, and $20 to renew. You save even more if you get a 2- or 3-year subscription (as little as $1.36 per issue). Get your subscription to Tabletalk today by calling one of Ligonier Ministries’ resource consultants at 800-435-4343 or by subscribing online.

How Is Limited Atonement True When Scripture Teaches That Christ Died for the Whole World?

Did Christ die for every individual in the world without exception? From one of our Ask Ligonier events, John MacArthur discusses the extent of the atonement revealed in Scripture. Ask your biblical and theological questions live online at ask.Ligonier.org.

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If the Lord Marks Iniquity, Who Should Stand?

The Psalmist asked the question: "If the Lord marks iniquity, who should stand?" This query is obviously rhetorical. The only answer, indeed the obvious answer is no one.

The question is stated in a conditional form. It merely considers the dire consequences that follow if the Lord marks iniquity. We breathe a sigh of relief saying, "Thank heavens the Lord does not mark iniquity!"

Such is a false hope. We have been led to believe by an endless series of lies that we have nothing to fear from God's scorecard. We can be confident that if He is capable of judgment at all, His judgment will be gentle. If we all fail His test—no fear—He will grade on a curve. After all, it is axiomatic that to err is human and to forgive is divine. This axiom is so set in concrete that we assume that forgiveness is not merely a divine option, but a veritable prerequisite for divinity itself. We think that not only may God be forgiving, but He must be forgiving or He wouldn't be a good God. How quick we are to forget the divine prerogative: "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." (Rom. 9:15 NKJV)

In our day we have witnessed the eclipse of the gospel. That dark shadow that obscures the light of the gospel is not limited to Rome or liberal Protestantism; it looms heavily within the Evangelical community. The very phrase "preaching the gospel" has come to describe every form of preaching but the preaching of the gospel. The "New" gospel is one that worries not about sin. It feels no great need for justification. It readily dismisses the imputation of Christ's righteousness as an essential need for salvation. We have substituted the "unconditional love" of God for the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. If God loves us all unconditionally, who needs the righteousness of Christ?

The reality is that God does mark iniquity, and He manifests His wrath against it. Before the Apostle Paul unfolds the riches of the gospel in his epistle to the Romans, he sets the stage for the need of that gospel: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men . . . " (Rom. 1:18).

This text affirms a real revelation of real wrath from a real God against real ungodliness and unrighteousness of real men. No appeal to some invented idea of the unconditional love of God can soften these realities.

The human dilemma is this: God is holy, and we are not. God is righteous, and we are not. To be sure, it is openly admitted in our culture that "No one is perfect." Even the most sanguine humanist grants that humanity is marred. But, on balance . . . ah, there's the rub. Like Muslims we assume that God will judge us "on balance." If our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds, we will arrive safely in heaven. But, alas, if our evil deeds outweigh our good ones, we will suffer the wrath of God in hell. We may be "marred" by sin but in no wise devastated by it. We still have the ability to balance our sins with our own righteousness. This is the most monstrous lie of all. We not only claim such righteousness; we rely on such righteousness, which righteousness in fact does not exist. Our righteousness is a myth, but by no means a harmless one. Nothing is more perilous than for an unrighteous person to rest his future hope in an illusion.

It was against such an illusion that Paul stressed by citing the Psalmist: "For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.'" (Rom. 3:9–12 NKJV)

What comprises just under four verses of the New Testament is so radical that if the modern church would come to believe it, we would experience a revival that would make the Reformation pale into insignificance. But the church today does not believe the content of these verses: There is none righteous—not one.

Who believes that apart from Jesus not a single human being, without exception, is righteous. Not a single unregenerate person can be found who understands God.

Seeking God? We have totally revised corporate worship to be sensitive to "seekers." If worship were to be tailored for seekers, it would be directed exclusively to believers, for no one except believers ever seeks God.

Every person turns aside from God. All become unprofitable in spiritual matters. At rock bottom no one even does good—no, not one.

Good is a relative term. It is defined against some standard. If we establish what that standard is, we can congratulate ourselves and take comfort in our attainment of it. But if God establishes the standard, and His standard includes outward behavior (that our actions conform perfectly to His law) and internal motivation (that all our acts proceed from a heart that loves Him perfectly), then we quickly see that our pretended "goodness" is no goodness at all. We then understand what Augustine was getting at when he said that man's best works are nothing more than "splendid vices."

So what? The equation is simple. If God requires perfect righteousness and perfect holiness to survive His perfect judgment, then we are left with a serious problem. Either we rest our hope in our own righteousness, which is altogether inadequate, or we flee to another's righteousness, an alien righteousness, a righteousness not our own inherently. The only place such perfect righteousness can be found is in Christ—that is the good news of the gospel. Subtract this element of alien righteousness that God "counts" or "imputes" for us, and we have no biblical gospel at all. Without imputation, the gospel becomes "another gospel," and such a "gospel" brings nothing but the anathema of God.

With the righteousness of Christ promised to us by faith, we have the hope of our salvation. We become numbered among those blessed to whom the Lord does not impute sin (Rom. 4:8).

This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.

Bebbington's Four Points of Evangelicalism

From his series A Survey of Church History, W. Robert Godfrey refers to D.W. Bebbington's four points of evangelicalism.

Transcript:

The British scholar D.W. Bebbington suggested that Evangelicalism essentially has four points. It is disappointing, but we have to live with that. He suggested, first of all, that it is characteristic of Evangelicalism that they are committed to the Bible, they are committed to the authority of the Bible, they're committed to the distribution of the Bible, and they're committed to the teaching of the Bible. That certainly would be true and helpful and key to any historic sense of the word 'evangelical.'

Secondly, he said, evangelicals are cross-centered. When it comes to theology, they want to focus on Jesus and on his saving work on the cross. That's at the very heart of what they are, of what they talk about, of the message that they need to get across to people. It is a cross-centered theology.

Thirdly, he says evangelicals are very concerned about conversion. From the Bible, they focus on the cross, and the message of the cross should lead to changed hearts and changed lives. That's a great passion of evangelicals, to see conversions, to see people brought to faith, to see people brought out of darkness into life. That is a characteristic and essential element of Evangelicalism.

Fourthly, he says characteristic of Evangelicalism is a kind of activism. They are at work; they want to be busy about advancing the cause of Christ as they see it. They are busy in evangelism, both corporate kinds of evangelism and individual kinds of evangelism. They are busy in missions; they are busy in moral reform and voluntary cooperation and educational activities. There is a busyness and activity about Evangelicalism, and that is essential to who they are and how they ought to be understood.

Others have suggested that to those four elements, a fifth might be added, and that would be that Evangelicalism has displayed a remarkable adaptability to the cultures in which it has found itself. When people look at Evangelicalism in the late 18th and on into the 19th century, they often find a very rational spirit to Evangelicalism as it seeks to speak to a rather rational age. Now some have suggested in the latter part of the 20th century, when Western culture seems to become less rational, perhaps more irrational or at least more feeling oriented, Evangelicalism too has become more feeling oriented. So, that would suggest there is an adaptability to Evangelicalism that is crucial to its character.

What Books by the Puritans Should I Read?

The Puritans have left us a wealth of timeless writings on doctrine and the Christian life. Which of their books should we read first? From one of our Ask Ligonier events, Stephen Nichols offers several suggestions to get us started. To get real-time answers to your biblical and theological questions, just ask Ligonier.

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Faithful Theological Education

Theological education abounds in America in a wide variety of churches, institutes, colleges, universities, and seminaries. The interesting question before us is: what makes for faithful theological education?

In the great heritage of Reformed Christianity represented by Ligonier and Reformation Bible College, faithful theological education must be linked to the Bible. Recognition of and submission to the authority of the Bible is the foundation of faithful Christianity and therefore of faithful theological education.

One of the greatest problems in many churches and schools today is that they have drifted or run away from the authority of the Bible. Rather than the Bible standing as standard and judge of what they do, they stand as judge of the Bible. Human minds, judgments, and values decide what parts of the Bible are true and useful today. This unfaithful approach to the Bible has led to the serious decline of churches in numbers and influence and has turned formerly Christian schools into secular institutions.

To be faithful we must recognize the Bible for what it claims to be: the revelation of God written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, clear and complete in its teaching for the salvation of sinners and the life of the church. Without this confidence in the Bible, we can have no faithful theological education.

A formal acceptance of the authority of the Bible, however, does not guarantee faithfulness in education. We also have to understand the character of the Bible and the calling of the church and its ministry in order to evaluate approaches to theological education.

The Bible is a volume of many works by many authors over many years. Almost all of it was written in Hebrew and Greek. Its writings express a variety of styles and emerge from a variety of cultures. These facts do not mean that the basic message of the Bible is obscure or dependent on experts for elucidation. It does mean that faithful theological education will help students understand and appreciate these dimensions of the Bible in order to come to a richer grasp of its meaning.

Recognizing this character of the Bible is what led the Reformers to establish the kinds of schools which they did to prepare Christians and particularly ministers for the study of Scripture. They began by stressing the importance of a liberal arts education to lay the foundation of being able to read and understand a text and its means of communicating. Then they stressed the importance of knowing Greek and Hebrew for reading the Bible in the original languages in which it was written. Among the various academic disciples, they saw the particular need for philosophy to understand human thinking, for history to understand different times and cultures, for careful exegesis for the careful examination of a text, and for systematic theology to see the ways in which the fruits of all the other disciples can be brought together and organized.

We see how demanding this thorough approach to faithful education really is. Faithful theological education for leaders of Christ's church is not accomplished easily or quickly. This great truth is not readily accepted today. In America we tend to seek quick fixes for our problems. We want analysis that can be put on a bumper sticker. And we like speakers who abound in rhetorical cleverness. We want to get to the work immediately rather than spend years getting ready for the work.

When faithful Calvinists founded Princeton Theological Seminary in 1812, they faced a religious environment where the second awakening was creating great enthusiasm in many churches. Some believed that the end of the world was near and that all energy needed to be given at once to evangelism and missions. Calvinists were repeatedly challenged with the question: do we really need all this education when all people really need is the simple gospel? In response to that question and the situation they faced, the founders of Princeton wrote: "zeal without learning and learning without zeal must ultimately prove injurious to the church." Here is a superbly balanced statement. We may be able for a time to operate just on zeal, but in the long run zeal alone will injure the church. In the long run Christianity that is faithful and stable and deep must also have learning.

A commitment to learning flows not only from the character of the Bible but also from the character of the gospel ministry. Today in many churches the minister who is successful is the minister who is clever and entertaining, rather than the minister who is careful and thoughtful in his study and exposition of the Scriptures. Which minister, however, will actually build the church and make true disciples? Numerical success is never the measure of faithful ministry. As Luther said, wherever Christ builds a church, the devil builds a bigger chapel next door. Faithful ministry leads God's people into the Word so that the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit renews them.

The education of faithful ministers requires the kind of faithful education we have been considering. A carefully educated ministry has been one of the hallmarks of Reformed Christianity and is more needed today than ever. In the midst of shallowness and error, faithful ministers are needed to pastor and teach the flock of Christ.

The faithful minister understands not only the authority and character of the Bible, but also grasps the message of the Bible in all its breadth and depth. The Scriptures certainly present a simple gospel. But the Scriptures also teach profound doctrine, instruct on worship that pleases God, show the way in which the church is to be governed, and direct Christians in the path of holy living. They open to us the fullness of what it means that Christ is "our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (I Cor. 1:30). The full teaching of the Bible is the light and life of the church.

Only churches nourished with the Word through a faithful ministry will be strong. Only faithful theological education will provide the faithful ministers which the churches need. Let us pray that the Lord will continue to raise up and maintain faithful schools in our day.

W. Robert Godfrey is president emeritus of Westminster Seminary California and a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow.