R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 78

Overview of the Twentieth Century

Here’s an excerpt from Overview of the Twentieth Century, S. Donald Fortson III's contribution to the May issue of Tabletalk:

In 1900, the German church historian Adolph von Harnack gave a series of lectures that were later published as What Is Christianity? (1901). He argued that the kernel of the gospel is the commandment to love and the establishment of a just social order based on the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. Harnack was following the lead of the German theologian Albrecht Ritschl, who had argued that ethics are the core of Christianity and called for a just and moral society that emulates Christ’s example and thus realizes the “kingdom of God.” This “social gospel” understanding of Christianity was advocated in the United States by the Baptist minister Walter Rauschenbusch, who critiqued laissez-faire capitalism as the culprit of the growing gap between rich and poor in America.

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How Can Christians Unite during COVID-19 to Serve Our Neighbors?

Not everyone is agreed on the best way to move forward amid COVID-19. But our common responsibility as Christians during this time is to make Christ known. From our livestream event Made in the Image of God, John MacArthur encourages believers to be gospel witnesses above all else.

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Jesus' Prayers Keep You From Stumbling

The author of Hebrews wrote, "Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption" (9:11–12). We have a great High Priest who offered a sacrifice for us on the cross once and for all—His own blood. That portion of His priestly ministry is finished. But His priestly work for us goes on as He intercedes for us. On the night before He died, Jesus prayed:

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. (John 17:6–11)

We have a doctrine called the perseverance of the saints. I do not like that name for it; while saints do persevere, it is not because they have the power of perseverance within themselves. If it were left to me to persevere in my Christian walk, I would fall and stumble in a moment. The One who really perseveres is God. He perseveres with His children and thereby preserves them. One of the chief ways in which God preserves His people is through the priestly intercession of Jesus.

We see an example of this from the night when Jesus was betrayed. When Jesus and His disciples gathered in the upper room, He announced to them that one of them was going to betray Him, speaking of Judas. The disciples were perplexed, wondering which of them it might be. Finally, Jesus identified Judas by handing him a piece of bread and saying, "What you do, do quickly" (John 13:21– 27). After that, Jesus dismissed Judas to carry out his treachery. However, there was another disciple at the table who was going to deny Jesus that night. So Jesus said to him: "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren" (Luke 22:31–32).

What was the difference between Judas and Peter? Jesus did not pray for Judas. He said, "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" (John 17:12). Peter was one whom the Father had given to Jesus. His denial was a ghastly and heinous crime, but Jesus had prayed for him, and He commanded Peter to strengthen his brothers when he returned. Not if he returned, but when. So, the prayer of Jesus for Peter was effective.

Today, Jesus is in heaven, interceding for you and me, if indeed we belong to Him, and His prayers for us are equally effective. We should rejoice that He has taken up this priestly ministry on our behalf in the heavenly tabernacle.

This excerpt is adapted from The Work of Christ published by David C Cook. Publisher permission required to reproduce. All rights reserved.

The Beginning of American Presbyterianism

How did the Presbyterian church arrive in the United States? In this brief clip, W. Robert Godfrey employs his characteristic wit to tell the story as it relates to a Quaker in Pennsylvania.

Transcript:

The Presbyterian church was a church that was founded largely in the 18th century in America by immigrants. Presbyterianism in America was long an immigrant church of Scots and Scots-Irish people who had been Presbyterians in the Old Country. When they came as immigrants to America, they established the church of their fathers here. The story goes that the Scots-Irish immigrant movement was encouraged by William Penn, who was a Quaker and the founder of Pennsylvania. What he discovered was that Quakers don’t make very good guardians of borders because Quakers are pacifists. So, he decided he needed somebody in the southeast of Pennsylvania to protect his borders from the people in Delaware and the people in Maryland that were constantly putting pressure on the border. And so, the story goes that he looked around the world to find the most difficult, bellicose, and pugnacious people on the face of the earth and concluded that was Scots-Irish Presbyterians. So, he invited them to Pennsylvania, and that was the beginning of the Presbyterian immigration and community in America.

Does COVID-19 Provide Us with Unique Opportunities to Declare the Gospel?

COVID-19 reminds us that we are not in control of our death—we must be ready for when it comes. From our livestream event Made in the Image of God, John MacArthur considers how our present situation affords new opportunities for us to address ultimate questions with the ultimate answer of the gospel.

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What Is Discernment?

Someone I know recently expressed an opinion that surprised and in some ways disappointed me. I said to myself, "I thought he would have more discernment than that."

The experience caused me to reflect on the importance of discernment and the lack of it in our world. We know that people often do not see issues clearly and are easily misled because they do not think biblically. But, sadly, one cannot help reflecting on how true this is of the church community, too.

Most of us doubtless want to distance ourselves from what might be regarded as "the lunatic fringe" of contemporary Christianity. We are on our guard against being led astray by false teachers. But there is more to discernment than this. True discernment means not only distinguishing the right from the wrong; it means distinguishing the primary from the secondary, the essential from the indifferent, and the permanent from the transient. And, yes, it means distinguishing between the good and the better, and even between the better and the best.

Thus, discernment is like the physical senses; to some it is given in unusual measure as a special grace gift (1 Cor. 12:10), but some measure of it is essential for us all and must be constantly nourished. The Christian must take care to develop his "sixth sense" of spiritual discernment. This is why the psalmist prays, "Teach me good judgment and knowledge" (Ps. 119:66).

The Nature of Discernment

But what is this discernment? The word used in Psalm 119:66 means "taste." It is the ability to make discriminating judgments, to distinguish between, and recognize the moral implications of, different situations and courses of action. It includes the ability to "weigh up" and assess the moral and spiritual status of individuals, groups, and even movements. Thus, while warning us against judgmentalism, Jesus urges us to be discerning and discriminating, lest we cast our pearls before pigs (Matt. 7:1, 6).

A remarkable example of such discernment is described in John 2:24–25: "Jesus would not entrust himself to them . . . for he knew what was in a man" (NIV).

This is discernment without judgmentalism. It involved our Lord's knowledge of God's Word and His observation of God's ways with men (He, supremely, had prayed, "Teach me good judgment . . . for I believe Your commandments," Ps. 119:66). Doubtless His discernment grew as He experienced conflict with, and victory over, temptation, and as He assessed every situation in the light of God's Word.

Jesus' discernment penetrated to the deepest reaches of the heart. But the Christian is called to develop similar discernment. For the only worthwhile discernment we possess is that which we receive in union with Christ, by the Spirit, through God's Word.

So discernment is learning to think God's thoughts after Him, practically and spiritually; it means having a sense of how things look in God's eyes and seeing them in some measure "uncovered and laid bare" (Heb. 4:13).

The Impact of Discernment

How does this discernment affect the way we live? In four ways:

1. It acts as a means of protection, guarding us from being deceived spiritually. It protects us from being blown away by the winds of teaching that make central an element of the gospel that is peripheral or treat a particular application of Scripture as though it were Scripture's central message.

2. Discernment also acts as an instrument of healing, when exercised in grace. I have known a small number of people whose ability to diagnose the spiritual needs of others has been remarkable. Such people seem able to penetrate into the heart issues someone else faces better than the person can do. Of course, this is in some ways a dangerous gift with which God has entrusted them. But when exercised in love, discernment can be the surgical scalpel in spiritual surgery that makes healing possible.

3. Again, discernment functions as a key to Christian freedom. The zealous but undiscerning Christian becomes enslaved—to others, to his own uneducated conscience, to an unbiblical pattern of life. Growth in discernment sets us free from such bondage, enabling us to distinguish practices that may be helpful in some circumstances from those that are mandated in all circumstances. But in another way, true discernment enables the free Christian to recognize that the exercise of freedom is not essential to the enjoyment of it.

4. Finally, discernment serves as a catalyst to spiritual development: "The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning" (Prov. 14:6, NIV). Why? Because the discerning Christian goes to the heart of the matter. He knows something about everything, namely that all things have their common fountain in God. Increase in knowledge, therefore, does not lead to increased frustration, but to a deeper recognition of the harmony of all God's works and words.

How is such discernment to be obtained? We receive it as did Christ Himself—by the anointing of the Spirit, through our understanding of God's Word, by our experience of God's grace, and by the progressive unfolding to us of the true condition of our own hearts.

That is why we also should pray, "I am your servant; give me discernment" (Ps. 119:125, NIV).

This excerpt is taken from In Christ Alone by Sinclair Ferguson.

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The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail

Here’s an excerpt from The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail, Burk Parsons' contribution to the May issue of Tabletalk:

Nearly twenty years ago, when I first began serving on the editorial staff of Tabletalk, we decided to begin what became a two-decades-long overview series of church history. Since that time, the world has drastically changed, but the church has changed even more drastically. The twentieth century ushered in sweeping changes across the global landscape of Christianity, and those changes have continued into the new millennium. We have witnessed significant growth of the church in not only the Global South but also in places such as Iran, Afghanistan, and North Korea, where the church is growing faster than in most other countries.

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The Gospel of the Father's Love

In the gospel, we see the Father’s loving choice to carry His people home in the arms of His Son. In this brief clip, Derek Thomas explains how one of the Bible’s best-known verses reveals the gracious heart of our heavenly Father.

Transcript:

The origin of the gospel is not simply Jesus; the origin of the gospel is God the Father. Think of John 3:16: "For God (the Father) so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." The gospel is not that Jesus makes a reluctant Father gracious to us. The initiative of the gospel, the initiative to save, the initiative to bring us out of the clutches of Satan and into the arms of Jesus safe and secure forever from the consequences of our sin, that initiative lies in the heart of our heavenly Father.