Justin Taylor's Blog, page 219

TGC 7: Ligon Duncan, "The Underestimated God: God's Ruthless, Compassionate Grace in the Pursuit of His Own Glory and His Ministers' Joy" (1 Kings 19)

1 Kings 19

1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow."

3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers."

5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, "Arise and eat." 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.

7 And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. 9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

10 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."

11 And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

14 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."

15 And the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him."

19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, …

2 Kings 2:1-14

Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.

2 And Elijah said to Elisha, "Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.

3 And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?" And he said, "Yes, I know it; keep quiet." 4 Elijah said to him, "Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they came to Jericho.

5 The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?" And he answered, "Yes, I know it; keep quiet." 6 Then Elijah said to him, "Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on.

7 Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me." 10 And he said, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so."

11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

12 And Elisha saw it and he cried, "My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13 And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

Luke 9:28-31

28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

2 Corinthians 4:6

6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The Biggest Announcement the Martyn-Lloyd Jones Trust Will Ever Make

Jonathan Catherwood:

Dear Friend,

This is probably the biggest announcement the MLJ Trust will ever make. Starting from tomorrow, April 12th, all 1,600 recorded sermons by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones will be available to download, at no cost, to anyone who wants to listen to them! There are no exceptions, so the Ephesians sermons, Romans sermons, etc. will all be available (it will take a few days to make sure that they are all included in the library). All one has to do is join the MLJ Library (membership is free of course) and start to download! Simply go to our newly updated site at http://www.mljtrust.org and click on "MLJ Library".

This is a decision that the UK Board has been wrestling with for a long time, because by moving away from the sale of MP3 discs (and tapes before that), which has kept the Recordings Trust in existence for 30 years in God's grace, they will become completely dependent (as we are in the United States MLJ Trust ministry), on the voluntary donations of brothers and sisters who feel called to support the ministry while downloading sermons.

In the end, however, and after much prayer and discussion, our brothers in the UK felt that as the world of low-cost distribution through the internet was now far reaching enough that most people around the world (even in developing countries) can gain access to this ministry through a computer, and as many other ministries have had a positive experience shifting to a voluntary donation approach to on-line sermons, they felt (as we do) that this change might be in accordance with God's will.

While there is some nervousness about such a big change, it our our most earnest hope, on both sides of the Atlantic, that this announcement will help us to fulfill the objective that has fueled this ministry since its inception 30 years ago: To preserve, and make as widely available as possible, the doctrinal exposition of God's word by the late Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a man who could never quite believe how God had used him for the benefit of the Gospel over his long ministry in the pulpit of Westminster Chapel.

This announcement eMail has been timed to coincide with our formal announcement at "Together for the Gospel". This morning (Wednesday, April 11th), we will be making the announcement on stage to the approximately 7,000+ Christian leaders and teachers who will be attending, and we never forget that the participation of the MLJ Trust at this conference was made possible by the kind support of our subscribers.

HT: @Phil_Johnson_

T4G 6: David Platt, "Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions" (Revelation 5:1-14)

One Overarching Truth

A high view of God's sovereignty fuels death-defying devotion to global missions.

Pastors who believe that God is sovereign over all things will lead Christians to die for the sake of all peoples.

Three Underlying Premises

This will clarify where we're going, and maybe even disarm you a bit from objections that may already be rising in your mind and your heart.

(1) Local ministry and local mission are totally necessary.

I am not saying tonight—or advocating at any point—that we should neglect local ministry, in the local church or the local community.

(2) Global missions is tragically neglected.

The northern part of Yemen has 8 million people. That's twice the population of the entire state of Kentucky.

Do you know how many believers there are out of those 8 million people? 20 or 30.

There are more believers in a Sunday School class in your church than in all of northern Yemen.

Over 2 billion people in the world today are classified as unreached—which means more than "unsaved" but that the gospel is simply not accessible to them.

(3) Pastors have the privilege and responsibility to lead the way in global missions.

Over 6,000 people groups with over 2 billion people in them are not yet reached with the gospel. This is a problem not for mission boards and mission agencies to address—this is a problem for every pastor and every local church represented in this room to address.

Pastors, we love people in our local churches (local ministry) and we love people in our local communities (local mission) to the end that one day all peoples in all the world receive the gospel of God and revere the glory of God (global missions).

And what drives all of this—in the heart of a pastor and in the heart of a local church—is rock-solid confidence in the sovereignty of God over all things.

Revelation 5:1-14

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?" And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me,

"Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals."

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,

"Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth."

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!"

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"

And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Four Theological Truths in the Text

(1) Our sovereign God holds the destiny of the world in the palm of his hand.

Revelation 5:1, "I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll. . . ."

Revelation 4:11, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy:

Almighty God, just because he is almighty, needs no support.

The picture of a nervous, ingratiating God fawning over men to win their favor is not a pleasant one; yet if we look at the popular conception of God that is precisely what we see.

Twentieth-century Christianity has put God on charity. So lofty is our opinion of ourselves that we find it quite easy, not to say enjoyable, to believe that we are necessary to God. . . .

Probably the hardest thought of all for our natural egotism to entertain is that God does not need our help. We commonly represent Him as a busy, eager, somewhat frustrated Father hurrying about seeking help to carry out His benevolent plan to bring peace and salvation to the world. . . .

Too many missionary appeals are based upon this fancied frustration of Almighty God. An effective speaker can easily excite pity in his hearers, not only for the heathen but for the God who has tried so hard and so long to save them and has failed for want of support.

I fear that thousands of younger persons enter Christian service from no higher motive than to help deliver God from the embarrassing situation His love has gotten Him into and His limited abilities seem unable to get Him out of.

Add to this a certain degree of commendable idealism and a fair amount of compassion for the underprivileged and you have the true drive behind much Christian activity today.

(2) The state of man before God apart from Christ is utterly hopeless.

Revelation 5:2, "I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?' And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it."

The scroll contains the grand purpose of God in the world. And the silence of heaven testifies to the sinfulness of man. No one is worthy, and John is weeping. There is no hope apart from Christ.

Thomas Watson: "Thus it is in Hell; they would die, but they cannot. The wicked shall be always dying but never dead; the smoke of the furnace ascends for ever and ever. Oh! Who can endure thus to be ever upon the rack? This word 'ever' breaks the heart."

George Whitfield used to speak with tears in his eyes of "the torment of burning like a livid coal, not for an instant or for a day, but for millions and millions of ages, at the end of which souls will realize that they are no closer to the end than when they first begun, and they will never, ever be delivered from that place."

The way we talk about hell—helluva game, helluva song—shows we have no idea what we're talking about.

The state of the unreached in the world: they haven't heard of God—and yet they have heard him and seen him.

Romans 1:18-23, "What may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Although they knew God, they neither glorified God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like birds and animals and reptiles."

The innocent man in Africa goes to heaven—the only problem is that he doesn't exist. There are no innocent unreached people in the world. They are guilty before God and thus they need the gospel!

There are over 2 billion people in this world at this moment whose knowledge of God is only sufficient to damn them to hell forever. But there is hope!

(3) The greatest news in all the world is that the slaughtered Lamb of God reigns as the sovereign Lord of all.

"One of the elders said to me, 'Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.'" (Revelation 5:5).

He was promised centuries ago to patriarchs of old: "the lion of the tribe of Judah . . . to whom shall be the obedience of the peoples" (Genesis 49:10).

He is the Root of David: "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him . . . and he will stand as a signal for the peoples" (Isaiah 11:1-2, 11).

"I will raise up," declares the sovereign Lord, "for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king" (Jeremiah 23:5).

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Corinthians 15:55-56).

"Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

Throughout history, from the beginning of time, men have come and men have gone, women have come and women have gone, all of them, the noblest of them, the kindest of them, the strongest of them, the greatest of them—all of them have fallen prey to sin.

All of them—every single man and every single woman—a slave to Satan.

All of them—generation after generation, century after century—every single man and every single woman succumbed to death.

But then came another man—unlike any man or woman before.

This man did not fall prey to sin; He possessed power over sin.

This man was not enslaved to Satan; He was enslaved to righteousness.

And this man did not succumb to death; He triumphed over death.

How? By suffering as a lamb.

He was marred / despised / rejected / stricken / smitten / afflicted / wounded / chastised / oppressed/ pulverized in our place—and all who hide under the banner of his blood will be saved.

The Lamb of God has not only endured death in our place; he has defeated death by his power. He bears the scars of death, yet he is sovereign over death.

Crown Him the Lord of love, behold His hands and side,

Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.

No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight,

But downward bends his burning eye at mysteries so bright.

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave,

And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.

His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,

Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

Revelation 5:7, "He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne."

Breathtaking audacity.

Salvation through sacrifice.

The consummation of the kingdom comes through the crucifixion of God's Son.

Jesus was "obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has exalted Him to the highest place and given Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:8-9).

(4) The atonement of Christ is graciously, globally, and gloriously particular.

"Four living creatures and twenty-four elders fell down and they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed/purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth'" (Rev. 5:8-10).

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has "chosen you in him before the foundation of the world, that you should be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, He predestined you to be adopted as his son through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in Him. In Him you have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of your trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on you according to His purpose. . . . In Him you have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:4-11).

Brothers and sisters, if there are 6,000 people groups that have still not been reached with the gospel of Christ, then we have missed the point of the atonement.

Our obedience to the Great Commission of Christ is incomplete if we just make disciples. Our commission is to make disciples of all the nations, of all the peoples.

Particular atonement drives global missions. So if we believe Revelation 5:9 (if we believe that Jesus died to purchase people from every tribe and tongue and nation), then let us go to every tribe and tongue and nation.

Why? Because we feel guilty that we're reached, that we have all these resources? Aren't we just "guilting people" into going overseas to the unreached? We feel bad so we go?

No.

What drives passion for unreached peoples is not guilt, it's glory—glory for a King.

It's people who know that our sovereign God deserves the praise of not just 10,000 people groups on the planet, but all 16,000 of them. And we're not going to stop until every single people group purchased by Christ is exalting His Name.

Four Implications of What We Should Do

(1) Let us lead our churches to pray confidently (for the spread of the gospel to all peoples).

Tell them Matthew 24:14. Tell them that "the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Tell them that, and then lead them to pray for the end to come. Ladd said this verse is "the single most important verse in the Word of God for the people of God today." "God alone knows the definition of terms. I cannot precisely define who all the nations are, but I do not need to know. I know only one thing: Christ has not yet returned; therefore, the task is not yet done. When it is done, Christ will come. Our responsibility is not to insist on defining the terms; our responsibility is to complete the task. So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get busy and complete our mission."

Teach them how to use Operation World.

(2) Let us lead our churches to give sacrificially.

For every $100 a Christian in North America makes, an average of $0.05 goes to the unreached.

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: "The Bible's teachings should cut to the heart of North American Christians. By any measure, we are the richest people ever to walk on planet Earth."

See Psalm 67.

God gives his people worldly wealth for the spread of worldwide worship. The sovereign God of the universe has willed for us to be wealthy for the sake of his worship.

(3) Let us lead our churches to go intentionally to all peoples.

We need to have short-term, mid-term, and long-term missions.

There's no question that we see Timothy-type people in the NT and Paul-type people in the NT.

God calls Timothy-type people to stay in a church (among the reached) and shepherd the body.

God calls Paul-type people to leave the reached and scatter to the unreached.

And pastor, there are men and women in your church whom God is calling to Paul-type ministry. Maybe not everybody, but some of them. God is calling them to pack their bags and move overseas to spread the gospel among unreached peoples.

So are you

encouraging them?
calling them out?
coming alongside them?
taking time during the year in your preaching and in your pastoring to speak specifically to them?
leading the church to fast and pray like Antioch in Acts 13 and listening, "God, who are you calling out next to go long-term to unreached people groups overseas?" and waiting until he answers.

Are you listening? Could he be calling you?

Why don't we just send money and let the local people do it? There are no local Christians, there are no local churches . . . that's what it means to be unreached. God's design is not for you and me to send them our money so they can lose their lives spreading the gospel instead of us.

(4) Let us lead our churches to die willingly.

A high view of God's sovereignty fuels death-defying devotion to global missions. Pastors who believe that God is sovereign over all things will lead Christians to die for the sake of all peoples.

Romanian pastor Josef Tson recounted a time he was being interrogated by six men. He said to one of them:

What is taking place here is not an encounter between you and me. This is an encounter between my God and me. . . . My God is teaching me a lesson [through you]. I do not know what it is. Maybe he wants to teach me several lessons. I only know, sirs, that you will do to me only what God wants you to do—and you will not go one inch further—because you are only an instrument of my God. Every day I saw those six pompous men as nothing more than my Father's puppets!

Tson again:

During an early interrogation I had told an officer who was threatening to kill me, "Sir, let me explain how I see this issue. Your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying. Here is how it works. You know that my sermons on tape have spread all over the country. If you kill me, those sermons will be sprinkled with my blood. Everyone will know I died for my preaching. And everyone who has a tape will pick it up and say, 'I'd better listen again to what this man preached, because he really meant it; he sealed it with his life.' So, sir, my sermons will speak ten times louder than before. I will actually rejoice in this supreme victory if you kill me." After I said this, the interrogator sent me home. Another officer who was interrogating a pastor friend of mind told him, "We know that Mr. Tson would love to be a martyr, but we are not that foolish to fulfill his wish." I stopped to consider the meaning of that statement. I remembered how for many years, I had been afraid of dying. I had kept a low profile. Because I wanted badly to live, I had wasted my life in inactivity. But now that I had placed my life on the altar and decided I was ready to die for the Gospel, they were telling me they would not kill me! I could go wherever I wanted in the country and preach whatever I wanted, knowing I was safe. As long as I tried to save my life, I was losing it. Now that I was willing to lose it, I found it.

So pastors:

Let us be finished and done with puny theology that results in paltry approaches to missions in our churches.

Let us believe deeply in the sovereign God of the universe who holds the destiny of the world (and our lives) in the palm of his hand.

Let us see the hopeless state of man before God apart from Christ, and let us lead our churches to pray, to give, and to go to unreached peoples with the greatest news in all the world.

We have been saved by a graciously, globally, gloriously particular sacrifice, so let us lead our churches and let us give our lives—let's lose them, if necessary—for the advancement of Christ's kingdom and the accomplishment of Christ's commission.

And let's not stop until the slaughtered Lamb of God and sovereign Lord of all receives the full reward of his sufferings.

TGC 6: David Platt, "Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions" (Revelation 5:1-14)

One Overarching Truth

A high view of God's sovereignty fuels death-defying devotion to global missions.

Pastors who believe that God is sovereign over all things will lead Christians to die for the sake of all peoples.

Three Underlying Premises

This will clarify where we're going, and maybe even disarm you a bit from objections that may already be rising in your mind and your heart.

(1) Local ministry and local mission are totally necessary.

I am not saying tonight—or advocating at any point—that we should neglect local ministry, in the local church or the local community.

(2) Global missions is tragically neglected.

The northern part of Yemen has 8 million people. That's twice the population of the entire state of Kentucky.

Do you know how many believers there are out of those 8 million people? 20 or 30.

There are more believers in a Sunday School class in your church than in all of northern Yemen.

Over 2 billion people in the world today are classified as unreached—which means more than "unsaved" but that the gospel is simply not accessible to them.

(3) Pastors have the privilege and responsibility to lead the way in global missions.

Over 6,000 people groups with over 2 billion people in them are not yet reached with the gospel. This is a problem not for mission boards and mission agencies to address—this is a problem for every pastor and every local church represented in this room to address.

Pastors, we love people in our local churches (local ministry) and we love people in our local communities (local mission) to the end that one day all peoples in all the world receive the gospel of God and revere the glory of God (global missions).

And what drives all of this—in the heart of a pastor and in the heart of a local church—is rock-solid confidence in the sovereignty of God over all things.

Revelation 5:1-14

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?" And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me,

"Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals."

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,

"Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth."

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!"

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"

And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Four Theological Truths in the Text

(1) Our sovereign God holds the destiny of the world in the palm of his hand.

Revelation 5:1, "I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll. . . ."

Revelation 4:11, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy:

Almighty God, just because he is almighty, needs no support.

The picture of a nervous, ingratiating God fawning over men to win their favor is not a pleasant one; yet if we look at the popular conception of God that is precisely what we see.

Twentieth-century Christianity has put God on charity. So lofty is our opinion of ourselves that we find it quite easy, not to say enjoyable, to believe that we are necessary to God. . . .

Probably the hardest thought of all for our natural egotism to entertain is that God does not need our help. We commonly represent Him as a busy, eager, somewhat frustrated Father hurrying about seeking help to carry out His benevolent plan to bring peace and salvation to the world. . . .

Too many missionary appeals are based upon this fancied frustration of Almighty God. An effective speaker can easily excite pity in his hearers, not only for the heathen but for the God who has tried so hard and so long to save them and has failed for want of support.

I fear that thousands of younger persons enter Christian service from no higher motive than to help deliver God from the embarrassing situation His love has gotten Him into and His limited abilities seem unable to get Him out of.

Add to this a certain degree of commendable idealism and a fair amount of compassion for the underprivileged and you have the true drive behind much Christian activity today.

(2) The state of man before God apart from Christ is utterly hopeless.

Revelation 5:2, "I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?' And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it."

The scroll contains the grand purpose of God in the world. And the silence of heaven testifies to the sinfulness of man. No one is worthy, and John is weeping. There is no hope apart from Christ.

Thomas Watson: "Thus it is in Hell; they would die, but they cannot. The wicked shall be always dying but never dead; the smoke of the furnace ascends for ever and ever. Oh! Who can endure thus to be ever upon the rack? This word 'ever' breaks the heart."

George Whitfield used to speak with tears in his eyes of "the torment of burning like a livid coal, not for an instant or for a day, but for millions and millions of ages, at the end of which souls will realize that they are no closer to the end than when they first begun, and they will never, ever be delivered from that place."

The way we talk about hell—helluva game, helluva song—shows we have no idea what we're talking about.

The state of the unreached in the world: they haven't heard of God—and yet they have heard him and seen him.

Romans 1:18-23, "What may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Although they knew God, they neither glorified God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like birds and animals and reptiles."

The innocent man in Africa goes to heaven—the only problem is that he doesn't exist. There are no innocent unreached people in the world. They are guilty before God and thus they need the gospel!

There are over 2 billion people in this world at this moment whose knowledge of God is only sufficient to damn them to hell forever. But there is hope!

(3) The greatest news in all the world is that the slaughtered Lamb of God reigns as the sovereign Lord of all.

"One of the elders said to me, 'Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.'" (Revelation 5:5).

He was promised centuries ago to patriarchs of old: "the lion of the tribe of Judah . . . to whom shall be the obedience of the peoples" (Genesis 49:10).

He is the Root of David: "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him . . . and he will stand as a signal for the peoples" (Isaiah 11:1-2, 11).

"I will raise up," declares the sovereign Lord, "for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king" (Jeremiah 23:5).

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Corinthians 15:55-56).

"Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

Throughout history, from the beginning of time, men have come and men have gone, women have come and women have gone, all of them, the noblest of them, the kindest of them, the strongest of them, the greatest of them—all of them have fallen prey to sin.

All of them—every single man and every single woman—a slave to Satan.

All of them—generation after generation, century after century—every single man and every single woman succumbed to death.

But then came another man—unlike any man or woman before.

This man did not fall prey to sin; He possessed power over sin.

This man was not enslaved to Satan; He was enslaved to righteousness.

And this man did not succumb to death; He triumphed over death.

How? By suffering as a lamb.

He was marred / despised / rejected / stricken / smitten / afflicted / wounded / chastised / oppressed/ pulverized in our place—and all who hide under the banner of his blood will be saved.

The Lamb of God has not only endured death in our place; he has defeated death by his power. He bears the scars of death, yet he is sovereign over death.

Crown Him the Lord of love, behold His hands and side,

Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.

No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight,

But downward bends his burning eye at mysteries so bright.

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave,

And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.

His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,

Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

Revelation 5:7, "He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne."

Breathtaking audacity.

Salvation through sacrifice.

The consummation of the kingdom comes through the crucifixion of God's Son.

Jesus was "obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has exalted Him to the highest place and given Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:8-9).

(4) The atonement of Christ is graciously, globally, and gloriously particular.

"Four living creatures and twenty-four elders fell down and they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed/purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth'" (Rev. 5:8-10).

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has "chosen you in him before the foundation of the world, that you should be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, He predestined you to be adopted as his son through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in Him. In Him you have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of your trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on you according to His purpose. . . . In Him you have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:4-11).

Brothers and sisters, if there are 6,000 people groups that have still not been reached with the gospel of Christ, then we have missed the point of the atonement.

Our obedience to the Great Commission of Christ is incomplete if we just make disciples. Our commission is to make disciples of all the nations, of all the peoples.

Particular atonement drives global missions. So if we believe Revelation 5:9 (if we believe that Jesus died to purchase people from every tribe and tongue and nation), then let us go to every tribe and tongue and nation.

Why? Because we feel guilty that we're reached, that we have all these resources? Aren't we just "guilting people" into going overseas to the unreached? We feel bad so we go?

No.

What drives passion for unreached peoples is not guilt, it's glory—glory for a King.

It's people who know that our sovereign God deserves the praise of not just 10,000 people groups on the planet, but all 16,000 of them. And we're not going to stop until every single people group purchased by Christ is exalting His Name.

Four Implications of What We Should Do

(1) Let us lead our churches to pray confidently (for the spread of the gospel to all peoples).

Tell them Matthew 24:14. Tell them that "the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Tell them that, and then lead them to pray for the end to come. Ladd said this verse is "the single most important verse in the Word of God for the people of God today." "God alone knows the definition of terms. I cannot precisely define who all the nations are, but I do not need to know. I know only one thing: Christ has not yet returned; therefore, the task is not yet done. When it is done, Christ will come. Our responsibility is not to insist on defining the terms; our responsibility is to complete the task. So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get busy and complete our mission."

Teach them how to use Operation World.

(2) Let us lead our churches to give sacrificially.

For every $100 a Christian in North America makes, an average of $0.05 goes to the unreached.

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: "The Bible's teachings should cut to the heart of North American Christians. By any measure, we are the richest people ever to walk on planet Earth."

See Psalm 67.

God gives his people worldly wealth for the spread of worldwide worship. The sovereign God of the universe has willed for us to be wealthy for the sake of his worship.

(3) Let us lead our churches to go intentionally to all peoples.

We need to have short-term, mid-term, and long-term missions.

There's no question that we see Timothy-type people in the NT and Paul-type people in the NT.

God calls Timothy-type people to stay in a church (among the reached) and shepherd the body.

God calls Paul-type people to leave the reached and scatter to the unreached.

And pastor, there are men and women in your church whom God is calling to Paul-type ministry. Maybe not everybody, but some of them. God is calling them to pack their bags and move overseas to spread the gospel among unreached peoples.

So are you

encouraging them?
calling them out?
coming alongside them?
taking time during the year in your preaching and in your pastoring to speak specifically to them?
leading the church to fast and pray like Antioch in Acts 13 and listening, "God, who are you calling out next to go long-term to unreached people groups overseas?" and waiting until he answers.

Are you listening? Could he be calling you?

Why don't we just send money and let the local people do it? There are no local Christians, there are no local churches . . . that's what it means to be unreached. God's design is not for you and me to send them our money so they can lose their lives spreading the gospel instead of us.

(4) Let us lead our churches to die willingly.

A high view of God's sovereignty fuels death-defying devotion to global missions. Pastors who believe that God is sovereign over all things will lead Christians to die for the sake of all peoples.

Romanian pastor Josef Tson recounted a time he was being interrogated by six men. He said to one of them:

What is taking place here is not an encounter between you and me. This is an encounter between my God and me. . . . My God is teaching me a lesson [through you]. I do not know what it is. Maybe he wants to teach me several lessons. I only know, sirs, that you will do to me only what God wants you to do—and you will not go one inch further—because you are only an instrument of my God. Every day I saw those six pompous men as nothing more than my Father's puppets!

Tson again:

During an early interrogation I had told an officer who was threatening to kill me, "Sir, let me explain how I see this issue. Your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying. Here is how it works. You know that my sermons on tape have spread all over the country. If you kill me, those sermons will be sprinkled with my blood. Everyone will know I died for my preaching. And everyone who has a tape will pick it up and say, 'I'd better listen again to what this man preached, because he really meant it; he sealed it with his life.' So, sir, my sermons will speak ten times louder than before. I will actually rejoice in this supreme victory if you kill me." After I said this, the interrogator sent me home. Another officer who was interrogating a pastor friend of mind told him, "We know that Mr. Tson would love to be a martyr, but we are not that foolish to fulfill his wish." I stopped to consider the meaning of that statement. I remembered how for many years, I had been afraid of dying. I had kept a low profile. Because I wanted badly to live, I had wasted my life in inactivity. But now that I had placed my life on the altar and decided I was ready to die for the Gospel, they were telling me they would not kill me! I could go wherever I wanted in the country and preach whatever I wanted, knowing I was safe. As long as I tried to save my life, I was losing it. Now that I was willing to lose it, I found it.

So pastors:

Let us be finished and done with puny theology that results in paltry approaches to missions in our churches.

Let us believe deeply in the sovereign God of the universe who holds the destiny of the world (and our lives) in the palm of his hand.

Let us see the hopeless state of man before God apart from Christ, and let us lead our churches to pray, to give, and to go to unreached peoples with the greatest news in all the world.

We have been saved by a graciously, globally, gloriously particular sacrifice, so let us lead our churches and let us give our lives—let's lose them, if necessary—for the advancement of Christ's kingdom and the accomplishment of Christ's commission.

And let's not stop until the slaughtered Lamb of God and sovereign Lord of all receives the full reward of his sufferings.

T4G Affirmations and Denials

At T4G they have played several kinetic typography videos on the Affirmations & Denials that the T4G principals drafted and distributed in April of 2006. You can read it here in three languages:

English
German
Russian

All I Have Is Christ

One of the more moving experiences for me at T4G was singing Jordan Kauflin's song, "All I Have Is Christ." The Lord used the combination of John Piper's message and that song to give me a fresh appreciation for the glory of the gospel of grace.

The four-part harmony version sung at T4G was a bit different from the version on the Looked Upon CD. If you want to hear the latter, you can hear it for free on this video (which contains pictures from the 2009 Next conference).

I've included the lyrics at the end of this post, along with the sheet music.

I once was lost in darkest night

Yet thought I knew the way.

The sin that promised joy and life

Had led me to the grave.

I had no hope that You would own

A rebel to Your will.

And if You had not loved me first

I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race

Indifferent to the cost

You looked upon my helpless state

And led me to the cross.

And I beheld God's love displayed

You suffered in my place

You bore the wrath reserved for me

Now all I know is grace.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ

Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone

And live so all might see

The strength to follow Your commands

Could never come from me.

Oh Father, use my ransomed life

In any way You choose.

And let my song forever be

My only boast is You.

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI), by Jordan Kauflin

Here is the chord chart used at Next 2009, and here is the four-part harmony sung at T4G.

TGC Panel: Gay Marriage

I was unable to take notes for this one—a good conversation between Mark Dever and Al Mohler on gay marriage.

But one of the best talks I've heard on homosexuality, the church, and the gospel was delivered by Mohler at the 2004 Desiring God National Conference. You can listen to it here. A chapter-length version was then published in Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, which you can read online for free.

It might be helpful to reprint a few excerpts.

On living in light of a limp:

An analogy might be useful at this point. Consider a man who has sinned by driving under the influence of alcohol. One night, sinfully drunk and recklessly irresponsible, this man gets into his car and drives it right into a wall at high speed. His body is broken, but his life is saved as he is taken to the hospital and receives emergency treatment. He recovers from the accident, but he will forever walk with a limp. Throughout his life, he will drag an injured leg, which can heal to a point, but will never be fully restored.

Let us follow this man as he comes to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He becomes a wonderful trophy of God's grace, as the grace of God transforms him, reordering his affections right down to the fact that he gains victory over alcoholism. Regeneration has produced a new man, even as sanctification is demonstrated in his growth in grace. Old things have passed away and behold all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17)—but he still walks with a limp.

The work of the Holy Spirit in his life is evident, even as his limp continues as a part of his experience. He will limp all the way to the grave. He has become what only God could make him as a demonstration of God's glory in the salvation of a sinner. But until the day of his glorification, this man will limp.

That limp does not become a disqualification for this man's ability to display the glory of God. As a matter of fact, he may begin to see his limp as a way of explaining to people, "I want to tell you who I was in order to tell you who I now am by the grace of God. You see, this limp is a part of my story. I do not exult in this limp, but this limp is an important part of telling my story about how I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ and how he changed my life."

In reality, every one of us limps. Throughout our lives until the day of our glorification, every one of us will limp. We must look to the moment of our glorification as the moment of our release from every limp. On that day, every tear will be wiped away, every injury will be fully restored, everything will be made right, and everything will be made whole. Everything and every redeemed person will then perfectly display the glory of God. We are the people with the theology adequate to explain this, and thus, we can offer the only genuine means of personal transformation.

On change:

We know better than to say that people cannot change. We also know better than to believe that people can change themselves. As Jonathan Edwards made clear, we sin in our affections, and we do not even understand ourselves in terms of why we love the things we love and desire the things we desire. This is why we are so dependent upon the work of Christ in our lives and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in reordering our affections. This is no easy process, but it is real and it is enduring.

Is our purpose to make homosexuals into heterosexuals? The answer to that question must be both yes and no. We must urgently urge all sinners to repent and abandon their sin, but convincing homosexuals to think of themselves as heterosexuals is not tantamount to salvation. We must be honest about the sinfulness of homosexuality in order that we can show homosexuals their need for salvation and the transforming power of Jesus Christ in their lives. We can promise that this power of transformation will, by the grace of God, lead to a reordering of their lives and require a turning away from the sins of their past. As Christians, coming for whatever our individual background in sin may be—we come under mutual accountability to the Word of God and his command in all things—including our sexuality.

To those struggling with homosexuality:

I want to speak honestly to those who are struggling with homosexual affection. You must know that this is sin, and you must recognize that your affections are corrupted by sin. Even in your own heart, you can probably never even separate your desires and impulses in terms of inner motivation and affection. Like all of us, you are a sinner in the midst of a sinful world, but don't let anyone tell you that you can't change. Becoming heterosexual is not salvation, but the miracle of regeneration and sanctification will produce, by God's grace, the right affections in your heart and desire. Knowing what God has declared to be objectively right and objectively wrong, we must direct ourselves—whether our sinful sexual profile be heterosexual or homosexual—toward the objective glory of God as revealed in his Word. We must claim the promises of God and seek God's glory in every dimension of our being.

Do we want homosexuals to find heterosexuality?

Yes, as much as we want liars to become tellers of the truth and adulterers to be faithful; as much as we want the disobedient to become obedient to parents and the proud to be humble. God's glory is in seeing that God's command is accompanied by God's provision so that we, by his grace, can be transformed so that we will even desire what he wills for us to desire.

This is what the church is all about. We are the people who gather together to exalt in the grace of God and to proclaim the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ as the answer to human sinfulness. We come together to hold each other accountable to the Word of God and to rejoice in what God is doing in us until the very day that we die. We come together in the assurance of the resurrection that is to come and the glorification that will be God's gift. Like the apostle Paul, we are convinced that "he who began a good work in [us] will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6).

To the church:

We must be the people who love homosexuals more than homosexuals love homosexuality. This is a tough challenge. We have to be the people who, because we are possessed by a passion to see God's glory in his creation, love homosexuals more than they love their sin. This means that our love has to be a tenacious love. This will also require that we come to know and establish relationships with those struggling with homosexuality. Armed with an awareness of both the problem and God's provision, we have no right to consider that homosexuals are beyond the grace of God or that any individual is beyond the hope of redemption and transformation. Compassionate truth-telling is deeply rooted in Christian love, and this means that we must love homosexuals more than homosexuals love homosexuality.

Every sinner loves his sin, but the church must love sinners more than sinners love their sinfulness. This is precisely how Christ has loved us, and we must love other sinners even as Christ has loved us.

We cannot allow a homosexual to reduce his identity to being a homosexual. This is a tough message, but we live in an age of identity politics when people say, "What I do in my sex life is who I am—period!" We are the people who know that this is nonsense. Sex is a part of who we are—a vitally important and powerful part—but it is only a part of the total human being. Our sexual desires and sexual practices are genuine pointers to our inner reality and our relationship to God, but sexuality is not the end of the story.

Christians must be the people who refuse to put the period at the end of the sexual sentence. We cannot allow homosexuals to be isolated as a class of persons who are beyond the grace of God and exist in some special category of human sinfulness. We must be the people who say to homosexuals, "I am going to love you even more than you love your sin, because in this same way I was loved until I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone loved me more than I loved my sin, and this is how I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior."

Our doctrine of salvation must be accompanied by a strong doctrine of the church. The ecclesia—the purchased people of God—are a covenanted community gathered in mutual accountability to the Word of God. In the bonds of Christ, we are to love each other even more than we love ourselves. Even in the process of church discipline, our purpose is not only to protect the integrity of the people of God, but to love persons into obedience and conformity with the Word of God. The common life of the church is really all about this mutual accountability, mutual encouragement, and exhorting each other to faithfulness unto the authority of the Word of God. The church sins when we deal with these issues wrongly, unscripturally, and superficially.

On fatigue about this issue:

It is easy to detect a sense of fatigue setting in among Christians in America who are tired of arguing, debating, and speaking the truth about homosexuality in the midst of a fallen and rebellious culture. This fatigue is evidence of sin, even as it is an understandable response to the difficulty of our task. We are now coming to a point of cultural crisis, and the church is called to faithfulness as we must declare God's truth with a boldness never summoned before. The church must demonstrate even more candor, more courage, and more truth-telling. We must demonstrate more genuine compassion, even as we reach out to a civilization that is literally falling from within. Even as civilization falls, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ must stand as the People of God, determined to keep its wits even as it shows the love of God and seeks the glory of Jesus Christ, in season and out of season.

T4G 5: Kevin DeYoung, "Spirit-Powered, Gospel-Driven, Faith-Fueled Effort" (1 Corinthians 15:10)

Kevin's next book will be The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness (Crossway, August 2012). [Not sure how long this will last, but Amazon has it on pre-sale for 53% off.]

I could be wrong, but in general, I believe that for all the good that we see in the Young, Restless, Reformed movement (or the New Calvinism, or the Reformed Resurgence, or whatever you want to call it)—for all the good that I see (and there is much), I believe that there are critical elements of Christian discipleship that we are not yet known for.

We are, I believe, known for

our commitment to the Scriptures,
our commitment to expositional preaching,
our commitment to the doctrines of grace,
our commitment to biblical manhood and womanhood,
our commitment to the uniqueness of Christ,
our commitment to penal substitutionary atonement,
our commitment to justification by faith alone, and above all
our commitment to the centrality of the gospel.

All of this is to be celebrated and commended.

But there are two critical areas in which I think we need to grow: (1) a commitment to global missions and (2) a commitment to personal holiness. David Platt will speak on the former; I want to take this time to talk to you about the latter.

Hebrews 12:14 tells us to "strive for . . .  for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord."

The writer is talking about progressive sanctification not our positional holiness in Christ. That's why he says "strive for holiness." Without it, we won't see the Lord.

As we celebrate what Christ has saved us from, we must also give thought to and make effort concerning all that Christ has saved us to.

Those most passionate about the gospel of God's free grace should also be those most dedicated to the pursuit of godliness.

This talk is not about why we must be holy, but how we can grow in holiness.

Thousands of people in the church feel "not very holy" and they want to move into the category of "more holy."

What will you do and say? How will you help them get there? How will you get there?

Will you give them legalism?
Will you give them license?
Will you give them platitudes?
Will you ignore the topic altogether we are gospel people and gospel people don't talk about personal holiness?
How do Christians grow in godliness?

That's the question of this message. And here is my answer: Spirit-powered, gospel-driven, faith-fueled effort.

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Paul says that he is last (v. 8) and least (v. 9), but, v. 10: "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me."

Paul is not saying, "don't judge, God made me this way." He's saying, "I'm an apostle by the grace of God. I may be one untimely born. I may be completely undeserving. I may not have the history that the other apostles have. But I am still an apostle by God's grace."

Paul says he is "working hard," and he also says "that's the grace of God at work within me."

Our work is not only a response to grace, but an effect of grace."

Two things you need to understand about the pursuit of holiness: (1) You need to work hard, and (2) God's grace needs to work in you.

Growth in godliness requires (1) Spirit-powered, (2) gospel-driven, (3) faith-fueled (4) effort.

Sometimes we speak in generalities; good phrases—even biblical—but they can become meaningless (like sports inteviews).

"Just look to Jesus." "Just bathe it in prayer." "Just be soaked in the Spirit." "Just be washed in the word." Sure sounds clean!

So we need to unpack what " Spirit-powered, gospel-driven, faith-fueled effort" means.

 

I. Spirit-powered

1 Peter 1:2: "sanctification of the Spirit."

Biblical image 1: Spirit as power, not a weak little spirit (Eph. 3:16; Rom. 8:9-13)

Biblical image 2: Spirit as light, revealing sin (John 16:7-11), revealing truth, revealing glory (John 16:14; 2 Cor. 3:18).

The Spirit sanctifies by revealing sin, revealing truth, and revealing glory.

When we close our eyes to this light, the Bible calls it resisting the Spirit (Acts 7:51), or quenching (1 Thess. 5:19) or grieving the Spirit (Eph. 4:30)—situations where we do not accept the Spirit's sanctifying work in our lives.

The Spirit keeps flipping the light on, but do you keep running into another dark room?

II. Gospel-driven 

Everyone agrees that the pursuit of holiness must flow from the gospel.

But how exactly do good deeds grow out of good news? How does the flow work? We need to connect the dots for our people.

Two examples:

(1) The gospel drives us to godliness out of a sense of gratitude (Rom. 12:1—"in view of God's mercies, present yourself"). A fitting response to grace. Piper: Humility + happiness from  thankfulness tend to crowd out what is coarse, ugly, or mean.  If you have anger problems or bitterness problems, you can be sure you have a gratitude problem.

(2) The gospel drives us to godliness by telling us the truth about who we are.

Certain sins become more difficult when we understand our new position in Christ.

If we are heirs to the whole word, why should we envy?
If we are God's treasured possession, why be jealous?
If God is our Father, why be afraid?
If we are dead to sin, why live in it?
 If we've been raised with Christ, why continue in our old sinful ways?
If we are seated in the heavenly places, why act like the devil of hell?
If we are loved with an everlasting love, why are we trying to prove our worth to the world?
If Christ is all in all, why am I so preoccupied with myself?

We need to do spiritual warfare with the sword of the Spirit.

Remember that there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1).
Remember that the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you (Rom. 8:11).
Remember that you are a child of God, and if a child then an heir (Rom. 8:16-17).
Remember that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39).

Understand your identity. Embrace your identity. Be your identity.

Lady Gaga's "born this way"—it resonates, it's a half-truth, and it conceals a damnable lie. We resonate with the idea that "we cannot be something that we are not." You are absolutely right—but you can be born again a different way.

III. Faith-fueled        

We are justified by faith, and, in a different sense, we are sanctified through faith.

"Sanctification by faith." This can be a true statement, but we should be cautious about using it because we have to mean something different by the word "by" than we do with "justification by faith." The two phrases only both work when you mean something very different by them.

In justification faith is passive (to receive and rest). In sanctification faith is active (to will and work).

We need to be so careful here!

Better to say: the pursuit of holiness is the fight of faith—fueled by belief in God's word to us.

We believe

the gospel
what God says about our identity in Christ
the word of God against the lies of the devil
God's promises

You can see this illustrates in the faith-fueled promises of the Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5:5, 8; 6:1, 4; 7:13.

The holy life is always a life of faith, (1) believing not just in our justification but (2) believing with all our hearts all that God has promised to us now and in the future, and then (3) acting as if it were really true.

IV. Effort 

Not saying

we do it in our own strength,
we do it to make ourselves right with God,
we get justified by faith and then it's nothing but work as we get sanctified.

The call of Christian preaching is never to make effort at godliness apart from the power of the Spirit, the truths of the gospel, or the centrality of faith.

But  neither do the realities of Spirit, gospel, and faith eliminate the need for human effort.

"Effort" should not be a four-letter word in your theological vocabulary.

Romans 8:13 says by the Spirit we must put to death the deeds of the flesh.

Ephesians 4:22-24 instructs us to put off the old self and put on the new.

Colossians 3:5 commands us to put to death what is earthly in us.

1 Timothy 6:12 urges us to fight the good fight.

Luke 13:24 exhorts us to strive to enter the narrow gate.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 speaks of running a race and beating the body.

Philippians 3:12-14 talks of pressing on and straining forward.

2 Peter 1:5 flat out commands us to "make every effort!"

Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus says the reward of eternal life goes to those who conquer and overcome.

As gospel Christians, we should not be afraid of striving, fighting, and working.

Ryle: "The child of God has two great marks about him: he is known for his inner warfare and his inner peace."

Calvin: "As it is an arduous work and of immense labor to put off the corruption which is in us, he bids us to strive and make every effort for this purpose. He intimates that no place is to be given in this case to sloth, and that we ought to obey God calling us, not slowly or carelessly, but that there is need of alacrity; as though he had said, 'Put forth every effort, and make your exertions manifest to all.'"

Hodge: "In the work of regeneration, the soul is passive. It cannot cooperate in the communication of spiritual life. But in conversion, repentance, faith, and growth in grace, all its powers are called into exercise. As, however, the effects produced transcend the efficiency of our fallen nature, and are due to the agency of the Spirit, sanctification does not cease to be supernatural, or a work of grace, because the soul is active and cooperating in the process."

Monergism v. synergism is not the right debate for sanctification. That has to do with regeneration.

Bavinck: "Granted, in the first place [sanctification] is a work and gift of God (Phil 1:5; 1 Thess. 5:23), a process in which humans are passive just as they are in regeneration, of which it is the continuation. But based on this work of God in humans, it acquires, in the second place, an active meaning, and people themselves are called and equipped to sanctify themselves and devote their whole life to God. . . ."

We don't just say "get more gripped by the gospel." We also need to work. We don't hold to Keswick's "let go and let God." Sanctification is not by surrender but by divinely enabled toil and effort.

V.  Applying this to ourselves and to our people.

 To ourselves. 

Being a pastor is hard work.

Colossians 1:28-29: "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me."

People should see in us an example of faithful toil.

What about workaholics? Family neglect? Lack of sleep? We can't work too hard (just like you can't be too gospel-centered or too focused on grace). But we can work in the wrong way (just like we can be gospel obliterating or have a one-dimensional view of grace). We can work in an imbalanced way (or not work hard at resting or turning away from emails or saying no to requests).

No one is in danger of working too hard—but we can be working very foolishly. You need to work hard at resting, at not being distracted, at being present when you come home in the evening, to guard your day off. Working 80 hours a week as a pastor is not hard work—working 60 is. It's easy to be a lazy workaholic.

 To our people.

I think many of us are getting scared to tell people to do some stuff—and not do some stuff. The Bible is full of lots of texts telling God's people to do things (Great Commission—teaching them to obey the commands of Jesus!).

I don't meet any hardcore antinomianisms (against the law). But plaguing some of our churches could be nomophobia (afraid of the third use of the law). But law came after gospel. Ten commandments after deliverance.

If you preach on David and Bathsheba and never say anything about great David's greater Son who succeed for David failed, then you aren't connecting the dots.

But if you preach on David and Bathsheba and don't say anything about adultery and sexual sin and how the thing David had done displeased the Lord, then you aren't preaching the text. It ends: "the thing David had done displeased the Lord."

Luke 18: the parable is told so that they won't stop praying and will not lose heart. There's a legalistic way to lay into people about this—it's easy to do. Everyone feels guilty for everything you're talking about. But as an alternative, the climax of a sermon on prayerlessness ends with forgiveness. There are lots of things to motivate us in the text (elect, God as father, faith).

Preach not just the content, but the mood of the text.

You cannot assume that everyone in your church needs a kick in the pants—or a hug. Preach the text!

Making an effort to be holy is not somehow sub-gospel.

The gospel is the good news about salvation. And salvation is in three tenses—it's about God saving you

from wrath
unto holiness
for glory.

Don't give people half a Savior—half of the grace of God. When we get to obedience we are still talking about grace—the grace that will change you.

Benediction from Hebrews 13:20-21:

    Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Rock of Ages:

Rock of ages, cleft for me,

let me hide myself in thee;

let the water and the blood,

from thy wounded side which flowed,

be of sin the double cure;

save from wrath and make me pure.

With faith in the gospel, the power of the Spirit, and the grace of God at work within us, we will be teaching pigs to fly.

But without the biblical exhortation to effort we'll be confused, wondering why sanctification isn't automatically flowing from a heartfelt commitment to gospel-drenched justification. We'll be waiting around for enough faith to really "get the gospel" when God wants us to get up and get to work (Phil 2:11-12).

When it comes to sanctification, we need to understand two points: (1) holiness does not happen apart from trusting, and (2) trusting does not put an end to trying.

T4G 4: Thabiti Anyabwile, "Will Your Gospel Transform a Terrorist?" (1 Timothy 1:12-17)

The greatest hindrance to the gospel is the Christian's lack of confidence in the gospel itself.

Is there any obvious, compelling marks in your life revealing a deep and unshakeable confidence in the power of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ?

More specifically, do you have confidence that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is enough to transform the people who seem to you the farthest away, with the hardest heart toward the Lord?

Do we underestimate the gospel's ability to change what we think are the worst or sinners, the hardest hearts?

The title of my sermon refers to "terrorists."  Many of us have particular images that flash to mind when we hear or read that word.  But don't just think of the dominant stereotype.  Try to get in mind the person(s) that provoke fear in your heart, the person you're tempted to view as unreachable.  It could be the imagined Muslim terrorist detonating bombs in civilian marketplaces or the radical Hindu burning down churches.  Or, it could be the prostitute down the street, the drug dealer in that neighborhood, or uncle Clint the violent alcoholic.  It could be Mrs. Hatcher, your third grade teacher, or Granny Jones who used to kiss you with that hairy mustache.  Fix that person in your mind and ask: Am I confident—down in my bones with Romans 1:16 styled unashamedness—that the gospel of Jesus Christ will transform this person?

Is Romans 1:16 really our boast?  Is that boast obvious in our lives and ministries?  If not, what do we need to do?  How do we need to repent of our unbelief?

 1 Timothy 1:12-17 ESV

"I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

1. The Great Change in One Terrorist's Life (1 Tim. 1:12-13)

Paul begins his instruction by calling Timothy to deal with false teaching and false teachers (vv. 3-4).

This falsehood is destroying faith and Christian witness (vv. 5-7).

This turn from the truth to the Law is contrary to the intended audience of the Law (vv. 9-10), contrary "to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which [God] entrusted to [Paul]" (vv. 10-11).

When Paul mentions "the glorious gospel of the blessed God" entrusted to him, the mention of the gospel has a certain effect on him.  We've all had the experience of driving along in our cares when "our song" comes on the radio.  No matter what we're doing, we're instantly transported back to the time and the frame of mind when the song first became "our song."  The glorious gospel of the blessed God is Paul's song and it takes him back.

Verses 12-13 give us a dramatic "before and after" testimony-portrait of the apostle.

The After Picture

Verse 12: "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that He considered me faithful, appointing me to His service."

The Before Picture

Verse 13—"once. . . "  "Even though I was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man. . . "

When first meet Paul as Saul. See Acts 7:54-8:3; 9:1-2; 22:4; 26:9-11.

Three Questions

1.1. Why do you suppose Paul remembers these things he once was so vividly?

Sin had left its crimson stain.  Sometime the deeper the sin the deeper the remembrance.

1.2. Why do you suppose Paul threw himself so fully into what appears as such a demonic and destructive course to us? 

In a word, Paul was lost.

We can define "lostness" as convinced blindness and misdirected love resulting in eternal damnation.

We don't tend to use this word that much anymore. What happens when Christians lose certain words key for gospel understanding?  When we lose words we also lose the ideas and meanings for which the words were containers.

We lose the necessity of repentance (because no one is seen as going in the wrong direction).
We lose the necessity of substitution (because man only needs to reform himself).
We lose the love-worthy majesty of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (because other loves are seen as more satisfying—especially in this right now, gotta have it, materialistic and worldly life).
We lose wrath and hell (because man isn't at enmity with God if man is not lost; he's simply on a journey, a seeker, and it would be cruel of God to be angry with or to eternally judge people doing their best to make their way).
We lose missions and evangelism (because no one really needs to be saved from anything if they're not willfully blind with misdirected affections).

Lose "lostness" and you lose the whole shootin' match.

1.3. What caused Paul's great change?

The gospel.

2. The Great Cause of Paul's Change (1 Tim. 1:14-16)

2.1. Paul Tells Us the Gospel Supplied His Need.

Verse 13: "I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief."

Verse 14: "The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."

All that he lacked was now supplied in Christ. All that had ruined him was renewed in Christ.

2.2. Paul Tells Us the Gospel Is Trustworthy.

Verse 15: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."  The cookies are on the button shelf; this is a neon sign. "Put your confidence HERE!" It's trustworthy, and it's all here in one sentence:

Christ—a chosen Messiah, an anointed one from God
Jesus—the historical and eternal Son of God
Came into the world—from where? (glory) How? (the Incarnation)
To Save—Salvation, and implied damnation and wrath
Sinners—all of Adam's posterity need this

3.3. Paul Tells Us the Gospel Reaches the Worst and He Is Simply an Example.

The gospel comes to the worst of sinners. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst."  Paul is just an example meant to inspire others to believe.  Verse 16: "For this very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners. Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."

What Would Confidence in the Gospel Look Like?

9 marks:

(1) We would be around the worst of sinners looking for gospel opportunities.  We would strategically place ourselves in locations and times conducive to gospel conversation.

(2) We would share the gospel slowly and clearly.  If the gospel does the work, then we only need to release it.  Are we trying to release the gospel or are we trying to help it out?

(3) We would redirect our fears from man to God.  We would fear being unfaithful more than we would fear being unfruitful.  Fruitfulness lies in God's hands; faithfulness lies in ours.  It is required of stewards that we be found faithful (1 Cor. 4:1-2).

(4) We would endeavor to preach the gospel in every sermon.  On what Sunday do expect there will be no lost people in your congregation?  On what Sunday do you think Christians can go without hearing the gospel?  If the Good News is our confidence then we will show that by legitimately working from every text of Scripture to Christ and to the gospel.  Our manner of preaching should say every Sunday, "My confidence is in the Good News."  Our lack of confidence will likely show itself in a desire to say a lot of things other than the gospel.

(5) We would be careful with new converts and with our evangelistic methods. It's tempting to see Paul's sudden and dramatic conversion on the Damascus Road as paradigmatic for all conversions.  Many, if not most, of the conversions in the NT appear to us like gradual dawnings of truth on the minds and hearts of the lost. Richard Peace, Conversion in the New Testament, p. 5:

The implications of this insight became quickly apparent.  In its evangelistic work the church has sought to replicate in others what happened to St. Paul: a sudden, point-in-time transformation based on an encounter with Jesus.  Thus evangelism has focused on a single issue: accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior now, at this moment in time.  It was assumed that all people at every moment in time were able to answer the question: "Will you accept Jesus?"  There was little room for those still on the way in understanding who Jesus is.  Evangelistic methods were geared around producing instantaneous "decisions for Christ."  Mass rallies ended with a call to come forward and make a decision for Jesus.  Visitation evangelism dialogues were designed to confront people with the need to accept Jesus at this moment in time, lest they die and not go to heaven.  Tracts were written that always ended with a prayer of commitment.  Certainly the impulse behind such efforts was and is positive.  Concerned Christian men and women long for others to enter into the kind of life-changing experience of Jesus they themselves have had.  But these evangelistic methodologies are derived from an understanding that the  model for conversion is what happened to St. Paul.  To confront people with the need to decide in a moment for Jesus is derived from a punctiliar understanding of conversion.

Ask, "Do I need to see something happen in order to bolster my confidence that the gospel worked?"

(6) Study the gospel in deeper and more varied ways.  Take one aspect of the gospel per month—justice, wrath, substitution, joy, forgiveness, etc.  Search the scriptures for the entirety of that month peering into the gospel indicatives and imperatives regarding that theme.

(7) We would preach in order to open eyes, not just transfer information (Acts 26:18). We need to bring insight that leads to turning and forgiveness of sins and eternal lives.

(8) Ask, "Is my confidence in myself (e.g., my preparation, delivery, eloquence, wisdom ) or in the power of the gospel itself?" 

(9) Preach in a way that relies on God's power. 1 Corinthians 2:5, "so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

3. The Great Celebration that Results from the Gospel (1 Tim. 1:17)

Verse 17: "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever, amen."

Missional that Ignores Foreign Missions Is Not Missional Enough

A very important post here from Jonathan Dodson. Here's how it starts:

The missional church in the United States is not missional enough. The local focus of mission is shortsighted. If we only make disciples who make disciples in our cities, thousands of unengaged, un-discipled peoples of the earth will not hear the gospel. To be sure, many ethnic groups are migrating to cities, which brings some of the nations right into the neighborhood. However, there remain many ethnic groups that do not migrate to Western cities. Western churches must send missionaries, not only across the street, but also across the world.

Read the rest.