R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 98

Discerning and Stewarding God's Call for My Life

Here’s an excerpt from Discerning and Stewarding God’s Call for My Life, Fred Greco's contribution to the January issue of Tabletalk:

We all want our lives to have meaning. We want to know that we are pursuing a course in life that is in accordance with God’s will—and we can even be afraid that bad things will happen to us if we are out of the will of God. It is not wrong to desire to be in God’s will; after all, Jesus Himself prayed, “Not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). The real difficulty is when we try to discern what God’s will is for our lives. It would be so simple if the Lord wrote a message in the sky or gave each believer some supernatural sign. There would be no doubt if I woke up one morning and the clouds formed “Be an engineer!” (or even better, “Be an electrical engineer for the XYZ Company”). But the Lord has determined in His infinite wisdom not to reveal His particular will for every believer in such a way. If He were to do that, I am afraid I would still miss His will. There is an old story about the man who saw “G.P.C.” in the sky and concluded it was God telling him, “Go preach Christ!” The difficulty, however, was that the man had virtually no ability to communicate and very little Bible knowledge. When he went to a friend and told him his plans, the friend answered, “Perhaps the message was ‘Go plant corn!’”

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Save 50% on over 60 Teaching Series

From Genesis to Revelation, from justification to glorification, our video teaching series apply the truth of God’s Word to a broad range of topics. For a limited time, you can save 50% on over 60 teaching series.

Christians around the world benefit from our vast library of teaching series. With hours of teaching from R.C. Sproul, the Ligonier Teaching Fellows, and others, these series are designed to help you dig deeper into God’s Word. Enhance your Sunday school, small group, or personal Bible study when you order these half-price series during our sale.

Sale ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, January 27.

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What is the Best Way to Grow Spiritually as a Christian?

We can sometimes fail to recognize the remarkable privilege we have in communing with God in His Word and in prayer. From one of our Ask Ligonier events, H.B. Charles Jr. encourages us to develop an appetite for these means of our spiritual growth.

Do you have another biblical or theological question? Ask Ligonier is your place for answers. Just visit Ask.Ligonier.org or message us on Facebook or Twitter.

Read the Transcript

A Unity That Is Evident to the World

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me" (John 17:20–23).

This section of Jesus' prayer is loaded, but a key petition concerned a matter about which He had already prayed for the disciples—the unity of His people. There's a very real sense in which this petition already has been fulfilled. Every person who is a Christian is in Christ, so if you are in Christ and I am in Christ, there is a real unity between us by virtue of our common union with Him. This is true for all genuine believers. Even though we may differ on this point or that point, there is a real unity that binds us together—and that unity should be evident to the world.

In his introduction to the English translation of Athanasius' On the Incarnation, C.S. Lewis tells of perusing the writings of great Christians from history during his student days. He read Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Thomas à Kempis, and others, and while he recognized that all of these people had certain nuances of differences between them, he couldn't get over the oneness that kept coming through their testimony as to the truth of the gospel.

Jesus prayed that those who would believe on Him would have a unity that unbelievers could see, that they might learn various things. He asked the Father that believers would be "made perfect in one . . . that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." The love, concern, and compassion that we have one for another should be so atypical of the world that they serve as definitive proof that Jesus was not merely a great moral teacher but the second person of the Trinity, sent by God. This unity should also testify to the world that God loves believers just as He loves Christ. The clear demonstration of a supernatural work going on in the midst of the people of God shows the love, favor, and grace of God.

Incidentally, believers themselves need a deeper grasp of the love of God for them. In His tender mercies, God has an incredible capacity to love the unlovely. How do I know that? He knows every ugly part of my soul and of my life, yet He loves me. How can that be? We always have to understand that the love He has for us is not because we are inherently lovable. He loves us in the Son, and the same love that He pours out to His Son, He pours out to those who are in the Son. This love that He has for the Son is the only reason I can give as to why God chose to save me.

This excerpt is taken from R.C. Sproul's commentary on John .

What Is a Puritan?

In this brief clip from his teaching series A Survey of Church History, W. Robert Godfrey examines what was characteristic of the Puritans. You can watch this entire message for free.

Transcript

But as the sixteenth century wore on into the seventeenth century, there was a growing concern, "Now, that we have reformed the externals of the church, how do we continue to ensure that there will be true faith, true piety, true devotion, in the hearts of the people?" And one of the growing concerns was what we could call "formalism." It was what Paul was concerned about when he said, "Some people have the form of godliness, but deny the power of it." It's possible to have the externals just right, and yet have people come to church and just take a nap, either literally or figuratively. "How do you ensure that there will be true faith, true piety, true devotion in the lives and hearts of God's people?" And one of the great movements that was concerned about that is the movement that came to be known as "Puritanism." Puritanism, an English phenomenon, but with great impact beyond England. And I suppose a good place to begin is to say, "Are you a Puritan?" I don't know how you react to that word. Some people have very negative connotations to the word "Puritan." Just like some people say, "You’re a scholastic," meaning you're too precise and too dead. Some people say, "You're a Puritan," meaning you're just too negative about everything. In the nineteenth century, one person defined puritanism or defined "a Puritan" as someone who feared that “somewhere someone was having a good time.” I don't think that is fair at all. The Puritans were actually rather fun loving people in their own, sort of, peculiar way. And are not at all to be seen as characteristically dreary and opposed to anybody having fun. What they were concerned about was, how there could be purity and liveliness, true faith in the life of the church.

How Can I Deepen My Understanding of My Own Sinfulness?

The Word of God is a mirror that causes us to see ourselves as we really are. From one of our Ask Ligonier events, H.B. Charles Jr. explains how regular Scripture reading and prayer help us to recognize our sinfulness and our need of God’s grace.

To ask Ligonier a biblical or theological question, just visit Ask.Ligonier.org or message us on Facebook or Twitter.

Read the Transcript

Christians Need Not Fear Scientific Inquiry

There is a sense in which the Christian should be the most passionate scientist of all because he should be rigorously open to truth wherever it is found. He should not be afraid that a new discovery of something that is true will destroy his foundation for truth. If our foundation for truth is true, all other truth can only support it and enhance it. It can’t destroy it. Therefore, Christians ought not to be afraid of scientific inquiry. This does not mean that we should uncritically accept all pronouncements and pontifications of scientists. Scientists are fallible and may occasionally make arrogant statements that go far beyond the realm of their own expertise.

I once read an essay by a well-known Nobel Prize-winning physicist (whose name will remain unstated so as not to embarrass him) who argued that the idea of “spontaneous generation” be abandoned in science once and for all. Spontaneous generation means that something comes into being with no cause. It comes from nothing. So far, so good. I was pleased to see a scientist debunk the myth of all myths, that something can come from nothing. This myth is still pervasive in the scientific community with respect to "chance." Chance is given credit for creating the universe. However, such a prodigious feat is beyond the capabilities of chance. Why? Chance can do nothing because it is nothing. Chance is merely a word we use to explain mathematical possibilities. It is nothing. It has no power. It cannot produce, manage, or cause anything because it is nothing. It is spontaneous generation by another name.

I was glad the physicist repudiated spontaneous generation. My gladness abruptly turned to astonishment when the scientist said, “We must have a new model. We must speak in terms of gradual spontaneous generation.” I couldn't believe what I was reading. "Gradual spontaneous generation"? How can something gradual be spontaneous? How can something spontaneous be gradual?

Our scientist wanted to debunk the myth that something can come suddenly from nothing and replace it with a better myth that something can come gradually from nothing.

I use this illustration only to show that even the most astute scientists can nod. They can fall asleep at the switch and be suddenly very unscientific in their pronouncements. To believe in gradual spontaneous generation of anything is to leap not by faith but below faith to credulity. Such a concept defies both aspects of the scientific method: rational deduction and empirical observation. Not only is the idea in violation of reason (breaking the law of contradiction), but it is impossible to observe empirically. What microscope or telescope is strong enough to observe anything doing something gradually spontaneously?

Occasionally we read an article about why a certain scientist believes in God or why some other scientist does not. I am delighted when a scientist says that he has studied his area of science and is driven to the awesome majesty of God. But he is no more an expert on the existence of God than you are. Why? Because that is a theological question, not a scientific one. Today when somebody steps outside of his area of expertise, people tend to follow and believe him. That is the basis of much advertising. For example, a baseball star may appear on television and promote a particular brand of razors. If that star were to tell me how to hit a baseball, he would be speaking with authority. But when he tells me the best razor blade to buy is a certain brand, then he is speaking outside his area of expertise. Advertisers understand that most people will easily transfer a person's authority in one sphere to other spheres. Scientists may be guilty of this fallacy too. We must be wary of scientists who make theological statements outside the boundaries of their discipline.

The scientific method of inquiry is based upon a combination of two elements of knowledge: induction and deduction. Induction involves observing, measuring, and checking out particulars. Deduction involves applying formal laws of logic and coherency to those particular pieces that have been found. Both elements are needed in seeking truth. Some people are strong at induction and weak at deduction. Others are strong at deduction but are little short on their research, experimentation, or observation.

Christian science is, in the fullest sense, the responsible, sober, careful, humble investigation of truth using both induction and deduction, yet assuming at all times Aquinas’s principle that truth meets at the top. Our age cries for talented scientists who see the scientific inquiry as a true vocation and as a response to the mandate of God Himself. Rather than flee from the scientific enterprise or embrace intellectual schizophrenia that only destroys, Christians are needed by the thousands to venture into the realm of nature, armed with the knowledge of grace. We can show that a God who exists on the other side of the wall is concerned with life on this side of that wall.

When we oversimplify theology or oversimplify science, we encounter many difficulties between the two. Science is a complex enterprise. So is theology. Their relationship is to be studied closely and deeply if we are to discover an ultimate harmony between them.

One of my all-time favorite anecdotes concerns the meeting of a theologian and an astronomer. The astronomer was frustrated with the theologian for making religion too complicated. He said, “Why are you fellows so obscure? You talk about supralapsarian this and traducianism that. You quibble over fine points of predestination and God’s omniscience. For me religion is simple; it’s the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

“I understand your frustration,” replied the theologian. “You astronomers often confuse me with your talk of expanding universes this and exploding novae that. You’re always talking about astronomical perturbations and galactic anomalies. For me astronomy is simple: It’s twinkle, twinkle little star.”

This excerpt is adapted from Making a Difference by R.C. Sproul.

$5 Friday (And More): Free Will, the Holy Spirit, & Worship

It’s time for our weekly $5 Friday sale. This week’s resources include such topics as free will, the Holy Spirit, worship, the last days, baptism, the Puritans, assurance of salvation, and more.

Plus, beginning this week, 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:

Are We Together? audiobook by R.C. Sproul $17 $10 (Save 40%)
ESV Illuminated Bible, Art Journaling Edition, burgundy leather-like $50 $30 (Save 40%)
ESV Journaling Psalter, walnut leather-like $30 $15 (Save 50%)
Everyone’s a Theologian, audiobook by R.C. Sproul $25 $10 (Save 60%)
He Is Not Silent, audiobook by Albert Mohler $25 $10 (Save 60%)
The Legacy of Luther audiobook edited by R.C. Sproul and Stephen Nichols $20 $10 (Save 50%)
Openness Unhindered audiobook by Rosaria Butterfield $20 $10 (Save 50%)

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

View today’s $5 Friday sale items.

The Institute for Expository Preaching with Steven Lawson

Deep within the soul of every expositor, there must reside an unwavering commitment to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. Regardless of the cultural currents of the day and regardless of the changing of the times, the preacher must be persuaded that the truth of Scripture is the only hope and remedy for the souls of men and women.

Especially in these truth-starved days, we must be bold and exclusive in our proclamation of God’s Word. There is a great need for pastors, teachers, and spiritual leaders to hold to the high standard of biblical exposition and be better equipped and energized to preach and teach the Scriptures.

For over five years, OnePassion Ministries has partnered with Ligonier to host The Institute for Expository Preaching around the world to equip and encourage anyone who teaches and preaches the Bible. Our goal has been and continues to be to encourage a new generation of pastors, church leaders, Bible teachers, seminary students, and those interested in the ministry of biblical preaching to stand firm and train them to rightly divide the Word of truth.

I want to personally invite you to attend an upcoming Institute as I share insights from my forty-five years of preaching and teaching. Find a concentrated training seminar in a city near you.

Register for a seminar on “Preaching the Pursuit of Holiness” and examine how preaching on sanctification encourages Christians to seek righteousness and pursue holy living:

Feb. 3–5 | Irvine, Calif., Mission Bible Church

Register for a seminar on “Preaching with Precision and Power” and explore the mandate, meaning, marks, models, mechanics, and motivation of expository preaching:

March 30–April 1 | Phoenix, Ariz., Desert Hills Evangelical Free Church

September 14-16 | Richmond, Va., Grace Bible Church

November 9-11 | Sacramento, Calif., Grace Bible Church

Register for a seminar on “Preaching the Gospel of Grace” and learn the necessary distinctions of the evangelistic preaching of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ:

June 15–17 | Ontario, Canada, more details coming soon

Feb. 3–5 | Conway, Ark., Grace Bible Theological Seminary

Come join me as we seek to glorify God in the preaching of His Word. There is no higher calling.

Ask Ligonier: A New Podcast Providing Trustworthy Answers to Your Questions

Have you ever had questions about a passage in the Bible but you didn’t know who to ask? Has a theological issue sent you searching far and wide for answers you can trust?

Ask Ligonier is a new weekly podcast that allows listeners like you to submit questions about the Bible, theology, the Christian life, apologetics, and more to some of the most trusted pastors and theologians who are serving the church today. Each week, one of Ligonier Ministries’ Teaching Fellows or a special guest draws from years of careful study to provide knowledgeable, accessible answers you can trust. Episode one is now available.

Upcoming Episodes Include:

What Is Grace?
What Is the Gospel?
What Are the Arguments for the Existence of God?
What Should I Do When I Don’t Feel Saved?
What Hope Is There for Christians Who Experience Chronic Suffering?

To submit a question of your own, call 1-800-607-9386 or email an audio recording of your question to askligoniervm@ligonier.org. Your question, asked in your voice, may be featured in a future episode.

We hope you’ll join us every Thursday to hear trustworthy answers to your questions. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, RefNet, TuneIn, Stitcher, or RSS, or by visiting ask.Ligonier.org/podcast.

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