R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 65

Will You Pray for Awakening? Download Your Free Prayer Guide

We live in a world that needs awakening. Millions of people do not know Jesus Christ. The church itself needs renewed zeal for the truth, for spiritual growth, and for missions. Scripture reveals how this awakening comes about: by a powerful movement of the Spirit of God. It also tells us that when just two men—Paul and Silas—prayed, the earth itself shook (Acts 16:25–26). So we are dedicating the entire year of 2020 to pray for awakening, and we hope you will, too.

To help as many people as possible, we produced this free prayer guide. Download it today at PrayForAwakening.com, find it in the PrayerMate app, or order the prayer booklet in packs of ten to share with your loved ones.

To use the guide, find the prayer that corresponds to the current week. Each week of the month focuses on a different group to pray for, starting with you and your family and expanding to the world and the global church. You can also share your desire to #PrayForAwakening on social media.

August PRAYER FOCUS:

Week 1: Pray that you and your family will grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 3:18)
Week 2: Pray that your church will be faithful to structure its ministry according to the means of grace—the Word, fellowship, sacraments, and prayer—as God’s way of bringing renewal. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42)
Week 3: Pray that your city will not throw up obstacles to the spread of the gospel as God grants boldness to believers to proclaim His Word. “Now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.” (Acts 4:29)
Week 4: Pray that God will richly bless the church around the world so that unbelievers will see His saving power and be drawn to trust in Him. “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.” (Ps. 67:1–2)

We hope this prayer guide encourages you this year and in future years. Join us in praying fervently for a mighty movement of God’s Spirit today, thankful that He has graciously promised to hear us, and confident that He will answer our prayers according to His will.

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The Three Waves of Pentecostalism

Despite its humble beginnings, the Pentecostal movement has gained a significant influence in the world. From his teaching series A Survey of Church History, W. Robert Godfrey describes three waves of Pentecostalism in the United States.

Transcript:

Pentecostalism, as we look at it historically, we can say has passed probably through at least three stages or has seen three waves. Original Pentecostalism, as we talked about it in the last lecture, was a movement very much oriented to the idea that they wanted to recapture what the early church had had in terms of the presence of the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, particularly in healings and in speaking in tongues. That led to the creation of a number of Pentecostal denominations, because their new insights were not welcomed into most of the rest of Protestantism. Early in the formation of those new denominations, they began to face a very serious problem internally, that some of the early Pentecostals began to reject the doctrine of the Trinity in the name of what came to be known as the "Oneness doctrine," a form of modalism that says there is no real distinction of persons in the Godhead. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are just different names for the one God, and Jesus is the one God come in the flesh. This was very traumatic for the early Pentecostals, because they had most of the Trinitarian Pentecostals labeling these modalists as heretics, but these heretics were all speaking in tongues and performing miracles. And so, how was it possible that the Holy Spirit could be present with the heretics? How could the very signs that they claimed marked them as children of God be present in heretics? The answer to that was that these were demonic counterfeits. So, nonetheless, it kind of blurred the witness a little bit as to the clarity of what was going on. So that's the first wave, the original impulse oftentimes tied to end-times speculation. The second wave arising mainly in the '60s is often labelled as the "charismatic wave." These were kinder, gentler Pentecostals. These were Pentecostals who said, "The baptism in the Holy Ghost is available to everybody, but maybe it's not actually for everybody. Certainly, we don't want to pressure anybody into this. We find it personally very helpful, but you may not, and that’s fine." These folks, many of them, operated within established denominations and were not necessarily driven out. Even within the Roman Catholic Church, there arose charismatic Roman Catholics who claimed to have had these experiences and came to be tolerated within the mainline movements. The old Pentecostals were rather suspicious of these charismatics. They thought they were rather accommodating and rather compromising, but nonetheless there was a profound impact in the '60s and beyond by these charismatics. Then, maybe about the '80s or so, there came a third wave of a renewed kind of more old line Pentecostal, but focusing on different gifts. In this new movement was particularly an emphasis on wealth. Not only health but also wealth was promised by the Holy Spirit. The prosperity gospel begins to attract more attention. Word of knowledge, word of prophecy becomes more significant in some of these movements. So, the basic theology remains the same of the presence of the Holy Spirit, but now there’s now more talk about the restoration of the office of the prophet and even in some groups the restoration of the office of the Apostle. So, it becomes somewhat more radical even and I think certainly more worldly.

What Comfort Does the Doctrine of Providence Bring to Christians during Difficult Times?

In perfect wisdom and might, the Lord moves all creatures and events to accomplish His sovereign purpose. From our livestream event Made in the Image of God, John MacArthur expresses the comfort of God’s providence when we face trials of many kinds.

Ask your biblical and theological questions live online at ask.Ligonier.org.

Read the Transcript

What Does “World” Mean in John 3:16?

One of the most surprising twists of John 3:16 is that we are told God loves the world. We might be tempted to think that there is much about the world for God to love. After all, what's not to admire about cityscapes and farmlands, fine cuisine and backyard barbecues, classical symphonies and folk ballads, Renaissance paintings and kindergarten squiggles? The world we know is filled with texture, intrigue, opportunity, and cheer. The problem is that for all that is good and interesting and beautiful about the world, it is overrun with sinners. Ever since Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the garden, the world has become a wasteland. No matter how wonderful the world may appear, it is not worthy of God's redeeming love.

Understanding how undeserving the world is of God's love is the key to John 3:16. Only then will we appreciate the unexpected gift that God gives. This point was well made many years ago by the esteemed theologian Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield. In his sermon "God's Immeasurable Love," Warfield probes the meaning of the term "world" (Greek kosmos) in John 3:16 in order to plumb the depths of God's love.

What is the meaning of "world" in this passage? Drawing from the insights of Warfield, there are four possible answers.

In the first place, many people believe that "world" means all people without exception. In other words, when John 3:16 says that God loves the world, it means that He loves every person, head for head, equally. The logic goes something like this: God loves every person; Christ died for every person; therefore, salvation is possible for every person. However, this view seems to suggest that God's love is impotent and Christ's death is ineffectual. Otherwise, the natural conclusion of this position would be that every person is actually saved rather than just potentially saved. If God loves every person, and Christ died for every person, and God's love is not impotent, and Christ's death is not ineffectual, then the only conclusion one can draw is that salvation has been secured for every person. Yet this viewpoint contradicts the Bible's teaching on God's judgment as is evidenced by the immediate context in John 3:17–21.

Second, others argue that "world" means all people without distinction. This option emphasizes that God loves more than one type of person or ethnic group. The death of Christ on the cross was not only for Jews but also for Gentiles. The love of God is not confined to national boundaries but extends to all kinds of nations, tribes, cultures, tongues, and peoples. To this, all God's people––Arminian and Calvinist alike––say a hearty "Amen." While this view has the benefit of being undoubtedly right and fits within the larger context of John's gospel concerning the global identity of the "children of God" (e.g., John 1:9–13; 4:42), it doesn't quite capture the jolting contrast between "God so loved" and "the world" that John 3:16 deliberately draws.

Third, a popular nuance of the previous option among Reformed theologians is to argue that "world" in John 3:16 refers to the elect. Throughout John's gospel, Jesus emphasizes the particularity of His grace. "All that the Father gives me will come to me" (6:37). "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me....I lay down my life for the sheep" (10:14–18). "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (15:9). "I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours" (17:9). And so on. The point is that God's people are chosen from an unbelieving world. Again, this view strikes an important note by underscoring the biblical doctrine of election, but the focus of the term "world" in John 3:16 is not so much on the identity of God's people but on the nature of God's love.

This leads us to the final option. A solid case can be made for believing that "world" refers to the quality of God's love. Warfield convincingly states:

[World] is not here a term of extension so much as a term of intensity. Its primary connotation is ethical, and the point of its employment is not to suggest that the world is so big that it takes a great deal of love to embrace it all, but that the world is so bad that it takes a great kind of love to love it at all, and much more to love it as God has loved it when he gave his Son for it.

The world represents sinful humanity and is not worthy of God's saving love. Apart from the love of God, the world stands under God's condemnation. But in Christ, believers experience God's surprising, redeeming, and never-ending love. John 3:16 is not about the greatness of the world but about the greatness of God.

Dr. John W. Tweeddale is academic dean and professor of theology at Reformation Bible College. This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.

$5 Friday (And More): John Knox, the Trinity, & Prayer

It’s time for our weekly $5 Friday sale. This week’s resources include such topics as John Knox, the Trinity, prayer, marriage, the Holy Spirit, the 12th Century, and more.

Plus, several bonus resources are also available for more than $5. These have been significantly discounted from their original price. This week’s bonus resources include:

God in Our Midst: The Tabernacle and Our Relationship with God by Daniel Hyde, Hardcover Book $18 $8
John Knox: Fearless Faith by Steven Lawson, Paperback Book $10 $7
The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul, Paperback Book (Spanish) $13 $10
Making a Difference by R.C. Sproul, Paperback Book $18 $12
The Valley of Vision by Arthur Bennett, Leather-Like Book $27 $18
Rejoicing in Christ by Michael Reeves, Paperback Book $16 $10
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon, Hardcover Book $23 $12
Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves, Paperback Book $18 $12
Getting the Gospel Right by R.C. Sproul, Paperback Book $18 $9
A Simple Way to Pray by Various Authors, Paperback Book $10 $6
Are We Together? A Protestant Analyzes Roman Catholicism by R.C. Sproul, Audiobook CD $17 $10
Recovering the Beauty of the Arts by R.C. Sproul, DVD $45 $15
Don’t Waste Your Cancer by John Piper, Paperback Book $3 $2
What Does It Mean to Be Born Again? by R.C. Sproul, Paperback Book (Spanish) $4 $2
What Does It Mean to Be Born Again? by R.C. Sproul, Paperback Book $2 $1
March 2017 Tabletalk: Secularism , Magazine $3 $1
September 2012 Tabletalk: The 12th Century , Magazine $3 $1
September 2016 Tabletalk: The Church , Magazine $3 $1

Sale runs through 12:01 a.m.–11:59 p.m. Friday ET.

View today’s $5 Friday sale items.

Salt and Light for the World

Here’s an excerpt from Salt and Light for the World, Bill Green's contribution to the July issue of Tabletalk:

One cynic might be tempted to say, “The longer Christians think and theorize about the faith, the more complicated they tend to make it.” When we think about the extremely varied attitudes of Christian participation in the world, from the “escapists” to the “triumphalists,” we might be tempted to agree with that cynic. Another cynic might say, “I’ve never seen people more able at coming up with reasons why not to engage the world as the Christians I know.” Thankfully, these negative reviews apply only to a part of Christ’s church and not all of it.

Continue reading Salt and Light for the World, or begin receiving Tabletalk magazine by signing up for a free 3-month trial.

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.

What’s So Great About Total Depravity?

“I’m not totally depraved, am I?”

The answer from the Bible, and the testimony of universal human experience, is, “Yes, you really are.” But even if we have to accept that this is, in fact, the Bible’s teaching, it’s not obvious why we should like it. This is why some find it odd that Calvinists seem to love total depravity (the doctrine, not the condition) so much. Their question is, “What’s so great about the doctrine of total depravity?

I would offer three answers to this important question. For the doctrine of total depravity is not just something we learn so as to score high marks on some theology exam. Instead, total depravity is a doctrine to live by.

The first answer is that through the lens of a biblical understanding of ourselves, we come to appreciate the gospel truly. The only way to see the greatness of the gospel is to see how bad is our plight. Or to put it differently, unless we know what we are being saved from, we really don’t grasp the glory of our salvation.

People say the doctrines of grace are boring and irrelevant, and that we need to preach something else to keep their attention in church. But this could be said only by someone who does not sense the depth of his problem before God. Indeed, it is when we best see our lost condition that we most treasure the gospel. This is what the doctrine of total depravity tells us–that the only way someone like this, someone like you and me, is going to be made right with God is by radical grace. And when we combine an accurate appraisal of man’s total depravity with a biblical vision of the absolute holiness of God, we see the gospel in all its glory.

It is when we set God’s high and right demands next to our low and base performance, and when we compare His glorious being with our utter corruption, that we see the true problem of life. This is the great gulf between us and God, indeed an infinite one, as high as the heavens are above the earth. It is a problem that could be solved, a chasm that could be spanned, only on a hill far away, on an old rugged cross, “where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain.

The second answer is that the doctrine of total depravity is vital to all true spirituality. At least this is what Isaiah 57:15 tells us: “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’” Do you want the high and holy God to dwell in your heart? Then humble yourself before Him with the truth about yourself, and look in total reliance to His grace for your salvation.

This is what marked the difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector of whom Jesus spoke in Luke 18. The two men went into the temple to pray. The one thanked God for how good he had become, though admittedly with some help from the Lord. The other refused even to look upward, but beat his breast and cried out, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). Jesus commented, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

Likewise, it was when the prodigal son realized what a swine he had become that he finally turned his heart to his father. His return to spiritual life was marked with the words, “I am no longer worthy” (Luke 15:19, 21). This is true spirituality, for it leads us home to God.

The third answer is that total depravity exalts the cross in our eyes and fills our hearts with a holy delight. I think about a pastoral encounter I had some time ago. A young man came to speak with me about his lack of spiritual joy. He began by informing me that his doctrine was impeccable. He fully subscribed to all five points of Calvinism. He accepted covenant theology and despised all “inferior” products. But, he went on, “I just don’t feel anything.” Then he asked, “Is that a problem?”

How do you respond to such a question? I answered that, so far as his testimony was true, he did not have impeccable doctrine, nor did he even subscribe to the truths of the doctrines of grace. Not really, anyway. In short, if in his entire Christian life he had never “felt anything,” as he insisted was the case, then the reality was that his Christian life had never really existed. In ministering to this young man, I did not start by expounding the doctrine of election; in such a situation, it would be silly to inquire, “Do you think you are elect?” Neither did I expound on God’s marvelous love. The question, “Don’t you know that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?” can have no meaning to someone who has heard the gospel but felt nothing. Instead, I started where Paul started in Romans and where the doctrines of grace truly begin. I said, “Evidently, you do not realize what a wretched person you truly are, and what an offense your depravity is in the holy sight of God, if you can feel nothing in response to the atoning death of God’s Son.”

Without a quickened awareness of our depravity, we are Pharisees at best, though most of us are far worse. The best we can approach is a religious performance that brings glory to us and leaves us looking down on everybody else, just the way many Christians today look down on the rest of society, the Pharisee gazing down on the abortion doctor and the pervert.

Jesus knew Pharisees well, and He didn’t like them. Far better to Him was the sinful woman who burst in at the home of a Pharisee named Simon and threw herself at Jesus’ feet. Jesus said to him: “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. . . . Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven–for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little” (Luke 7:44, 47).

Awe and gratitude drive the true Christian life and draw us joyfully to God’s grace in Christ. It is from the pit of our lost condition that we gaze up toward a God so high and perfect in His holiness. But from that vantage point we come to see fully at least one of those four dimensions of the cross that Paul would long to have us know: its height. The cross of Christ then rises up to span the full and vast distance that marks how far short we are of the glory of God, and that cross becomes exceedingly precious in our eyes.

“I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. (Isa. 12:1–2)”

This excerpt is adapted from What’s So Great about the Doctrines of Grace? by Richard D. Phillips.

Ask Ligonier with Steven Lawson

On July 28, Dr. Steven Lawson joined us as a special guest on our Ask Ligonier team and answered your biblical and theological questions live online.

Dr. Lawson is president and founder of OnePassion Ministries, a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow, host of The Institute for Expository Preaching, and director of the doctor of ministry program at The Master’s Seminary. His numerous books include Foundations of Grace and The Moment of Truth.

This special online event was streamed live on Ligonier’s blog, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also watch a recording of the event below.

Ask Ligonier with Steven Lawson: Live Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET

Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, Dr. Steven Lawson will join us as a special guest on our Ask Ligonier team to answer your biblical and theological questions live online.

Dr. Lawson is president and founder of OnePassion Ministries, a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow, host of The Institute for Expository Preaching, and director of the doctor of ministry program at The Master’s Seminary. His numerous books include Foundations of Grace and The Moment of Truth.

Simply tweet us your questions by using the hashtag #AskLigonier or leave them as comments or messages on our Facebook page. This special online event will be streamed live on Ligonier’s blog, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. We hope you’ll join us tonight.

Supporting Missionaries

Here’s an excerpt from Supporting Missionaries, Craig Sheppard's contribution to the July issue of Tabletalk:

In the spring of 1982, just months after my life had been won to Christ, two missionaries visited my church. They captured my heart as they shared stories of their ministry in the remote interior of Papua New Guinea, recounting in both humorous and heartbreaking ways the difficulties they faced, the fruit they saw, and the Lord’s redeeming grace in it all. They also challenged our church to join with them in the support of missions through two simple means: by giving and going. Though it was a simple challenge, it changed my life.

Continue reading Supporting Missionaries, or begin receiving Tabletalk magazine by signing up for a free 3-month trial.

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.