Quotes for chewing on #2 - Calvin on the Pastor's voice

"The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both."

John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, Baker p.296

Sermon - "The Madhouse of the Universe"

Oswald J. Smith was the Pastor of The People's Church in Toronto, Canada.

He had a burning passion for evangelism, and over the course of his ministry raised millions of dollars for the cause of world missions. He popularized the Faith Promise system of prioritizing missions giving that is still used in thousands of local churches.

"The Madhouse of the Universe" is an evangelistic sermon he preached on the subject of hell. Based on a simple idea and outline, Smith's imagery is vivid and compelling. CLICK HERE to read this classic sermon.

Phil

Quotes for chewing on #1 - Piper on the rightful centrality of God's glory in our lives

"We were made to know and treasure the glory of God above all things; and when we trade that treasure for images, everything is disordered. The sun of God's glory was made to shine at the center of the solar system of our soul. And when it does, all the planets of our life are held in their proper orbit. But when the sun is displaced, everything flies apart. The healing of the soul begins by restoring the glory of God to it's flaming, all-attracting place at the center."

John Piper, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, p.15.

BOOK REVIEW - "Why We're Not Emergent"

Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be), by Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008.

This book has been reviewed quite extensively around the internet since it's publication last year. I bought a copy quite early, but had not gotten around to reading it.

The ideas postulated by the very nebulous group that come under the umbrella term of the "emergent church", is clearly nothing more or other than a regurgitation of the standard liberal theology that rose (and largely fizzled as a real force) in the 20th Century. Emergents claim to be a "revolution" in the church for a postmodern generation, but there is absolutely nothing new in what they are saying, so any thought of being revolutionary is quite ridiculous.

The authors of this book are far less blunt in their writing than I have been in the paragraph above, but their conclusion is the same. I should mention that they have a website where you can download a sample chapter.

This is a good read, and I believe every committed, Bible-believing Christian ought to know something about this movement. (If only to steer others from it, and back to orthodox Christianity.) It's written in a popular style, with the authors alternating chapters. DeYoung is the more pastoral and theological of the two; Kluck the more amusing and provocative. If you want a more scholarly treatment of the subject, D.A.Carson's contribution ("Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church") has been very well received.

My only complaint with the book is that I found it a little repetitive after the first few chapters, and was tempted to start skimming.

For me: 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5.

Phil

Seek ... do ... teach

“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.” (Ezra7:10)

I love this character, Ezra. He was an honorable man, chosen by God to lead in the rebuilding of the Temple. He was not a warrior or a king; nor even a thundering prophet. He was a “plain” man, faithful to his calling as “a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses” (v6). In other words, he was a “workman in the Word” (see 2 Timothy 2:15).

Note what verse 10 says. Ezra gave himself with a serious commitment to “seeking”, “doing” and “teaching” the Word of God. Some people might see these skills, this occupation, as mundane and unglamorous, but God seeks out such a servant to use for His purposes – for “He has magnified His Word above all His Name”. (Psalm 138:2)

Ezra’s distinction was in his devotion to his calling. He “prepared his heart” for it. A lot of people have been deemed great Christian leaders for their charisma or natural leadership ability, but the Christians who have changed the course of world history for God’s glory have been those that have buried themselves in the Word of God, seeking to know His message, and have meticulously applied it to their own lives to be changed by it, and only then have emerged to teach it to others. This is the only right order – “SEEKING” (studying) … “DOING” … then “TEACHING”.

Think of St. Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, and others, who “though dead yet still speak” … men bent over parchments and books by lamplight, wrestling with the great truths of God, and emerging broken and humbled, walking with a spiritual “limp” as real as Jacob’s physical limp after his wrestling match with God (Genesis 32). And only then did they dare to open their mouths and with trembling lips instruct others.

What a contrast to the flippancy of our day. The spotlight seems to fall on any novice who can tell a joke with good timing. If a preacher comes out with something that seems ”new” and pithy, it is received with oohs and aahs, regardless of whether it has any substantive basis in rightly interpreted Scripture.

Thank God there are still Ezras. In fact, there is a growing column of “soldiers of the Book”, who love God’s Word and are dedicated to SEEKING, DOING and only then TEACHING it. We need more.

There is a clear challenge here, of course, to pastors and preachers. But not exclusively. Every Christian ought to be a seeker, a doer, and a teacher of God’s Word. Can I challenge you with the following:

1. Avoid “soundbyte” Christianity, where we live on a diet of sermonettes and bumper sticker slogans. Don’t look for “3 steps to a happier life” – learn everything God’s Word has to say about living for His glory. It will take you a lifetime.


2. Prayerfully read God’s Word every day.Learn to study God’s Word (take some training in how to rightly interpret the Bible. CLICK HERE for a resource I highly recommend).


3. Eagerly participate in Bible Study opportunities at your church. Be there when it's being taught, sit up the front, take notes; be determined to get everything you can!


4. Be sure to put what you are learning into practice in your own life; don’t allow hypocrisy in your life by “knowing and teaching” but not LIVING it.


5. Share the truth with others. Tell the gospel to unbelievers, and share the encouragement and correction of God’s Word with other committed Christians to build them up.

Phil

Paul's burden

"For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles ... that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel" (Ephesians 3:1, 6)

We see here what was driving Paul in his passion for preaching the gospel. He had a very evident love for the Lord, and also a love for people; for precious lost souls. He said “I am Christ's prisoner FOR YOU GENTILES." "I wouldn’t be in this prison cell, except for my love for you, that you hear and know the truth, and come to Christ."

It's the same burden that he conveys in Romans 1:14, "I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel ..."

He was a prisoner. He was a debtor. He saw their faces when he was lying down at night trying to sleep. He was haunted by the sound of their footsteps marching toward the precipice of hell without Christ, and therefore with no hope.

God is always looking for the man or woman that He can yoke His passion for souls to. Such people have changed time and eternity by their prayers and preaching.

“Oh mother! Mother! The thud of these Christless feet on their way to hell breaks my heart!” (Willie Burns, at age 17, later used by God to start revivals in Scotland and China)

"I care not where I go, or how I live, or what I endure so that I may save souls. When I sleep I dream of them; when I awake they are first in my thoughts…no amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition of brilliant and stirring eloquence can atone for the absence of a deep impassioned sympathetic love for human souls." (David Brainerd)

"If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for." (Charles Spurgeon)

These men had caught a glimpse of the lake of fire; they had smelled it's rising sulphur. Do WE have any idea what an eternity in hell will be like?

Listen to the words of Jonathan Edwards:

"Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you, in the ineffable strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and majesty. Isa. 66:23,24. 'And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.'

"It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For 'who knows the power of God's anger?'"

(Excerpted from "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God")

If we would only shake off our apathy and stupor, and get this same vision before our eyes, it would drive us to 2 certain things:

1. To examine ourselves and make sure WE are in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5)


2. To reach out to others like nothing else on earth matters at all. “Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:11)

Many will scoff and call this "alarmist". But if the flames are real (and God's Word leaves us in no doubt that they are), we will very shortly wish that we had screamed ourselves to the last breath raising the alarm.

Phil

New Sermon Podcast

BLOG ANNOUNCEMENT: Now you can listen to some of the weekly messages I preach at First Assembly online.

Scroll down to the bottom of this blog page and you'll find my new Sermon Media Player Podcast.

For now, I've uploaded a selection of messages that I had readily available on CD. I'll post a few more through this week, and then my plan (my good intention) will be to upload a brand new message each Monday.

If you have a listen and find the messages helpful, you can subscribe to receive each new weekly update automatically downloaded to your iTunes / iPod. If you think they're worthwhile, tell a friend.

Phil