Semi-Live Blogging the Ocean City Bible Conference Session 4

Monday evening, September 13, 2010

(Disclaimer: These notes are an attempt to capture the main points of the speaker; mistakes are inevitable and I’m certain not every word and phrase was captured exactly.)

Phil Johnson, Executive Director of Grace To You.

A Passion For God’s Glory

No shortage of passion in the world but most of it misplaced.

In politics, the passion you see the most is anger in a pursuit of power.

There is a worldwide glut of anger. The political process is divided. Anger has become the main driving passion in the affairs of men.

Good feelings are found mostly in the arena of the trivial, sports, entertainment. It’s an irony that devotion to God is seen as an imbalance. You can be obsessed about sports, entertainers, no one bats an eye. Dead celebrities have mythological status.

No shortage of passion in modern society, but reserved for all the wrong things.

Should be passionate for God’s Glory. This is the end for which we were created.

Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

God’s glory is one of the main themes of scripture: the Shekinah Glory, Moses’ face shining, divine glory in Ezekiel. The visible palpable manifestation of God’s glory.

Loves Ezekiel’s description, a stunning vision. Provoked terror, awe, great affection, deep humility.

In Ezekiel 1 the verbal description only gives us a sense of it. Inexpressible grandeur.

It’s clear from the OT that passion for God’s glory is a true expression of salvation, the deepest hope of every true believer, the best part of heaven.

Moses knew an unhindered look could be fatal. Only as the glory receded did he get a view. Israelites begged Moses to cover the reflected glory on his face.

David longed to see God’s glory—an unhindered vision of the glory of God.

We were designed to appreciate God’s glory.

Sin marred the image of God in man and left us with a deep longing for the things of God.

Ought to inflame our passions more than any other thing. What our passions were created for in the first place.

One of the central truths of the NT is that the glory of God has been revealed to us in a better way. Jesus is what Adam was designed to be.

Colossians 1:15, 16: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (ESV)

2 Corinthians 4:6: “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.” (ESV)

Hebrews 1:3: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” (ESV)

2 Corinthians 3:18: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (ESV)

That is the Christian life, being transformed into the image of God by God’s glory.

In the Old Testament, God’s glory is veiled, cloudy. We should be more passionate because we can see Christ with unveiled faces. We ought to be most passionate about this instead of some mud spattered sports teams. When we consider the glory of God, when we consider Christ’s glory, it ought to put all other passions in their place.

We invent thins to stir our passions. Our passions should not need to be stirred up. We shouldn’t need to be stirred by entertainment.

Someone sent an article to him about a youth leader who likes to provoke people with gross out games. He said the punch line is, he does this to shock and astound, to create a buzz that will go viral, twitter about it. The idea is to get students here to show them that God is cooler.

This illustrates some of the foolishness of trying to stir artificial passions. As opposed to looking to the grandeur of God to stir genuine passion for his glory.

It’s no wonder the world is not being won to Christ.

It’s more likely the first time someone sees the glory of God the result is sheer terror.

God’s glory provokes wonder and amazement. Peter filled with wonder on the mount of transfiguration.

Artificial religious passion is the bane of our age.

If we would dwell on Christ we wouldn’t need gimmicks. Don’t need to do things to make people think that God is cooler than he is.

Tonight want to focus on a single passage, John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (ESV)

Unlike Matthew and Luke’s beginnings, John goes further back, as far as can be gone, to the very beginning. John is giving us Jesus’ divine pedigree. The creator, by definition, cannot be a created thing. Foundation of Trinitarian doctrine. This is a clear and unambiguous declaration of the deity of Christ. This is an innate, intrinsic glory. Not bestowed. The logos must be God.

John 1:4: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

The eternal glory of God

In vs. 6-8 John the Baptist to declare the glory of God. In vs. 12 all who were his were reborn, saved.

Everything from 6-18 is a digression, but in verse 14 he comes to the point he started at, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (ESV)

“Dwelt among” in Greek is a word that means he tabernacled with us. As in Exodus 40:34-35, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. (ESV)

Likewise when Solomon completed the temple in 2 Chronicles 7:1-2, “As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.” (ESV)

See the parallelism?

Likewise in Ezekiel 10:4, the inner court, and the Glory of the Lord, house filled with cloud.

Ezekiel 43:4, the glory of the Lord entered the temple.

At the end of the New Testament in Revelation 15:8, we see the same thing, “and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power…”

Whenever you have the presence of God in any tabernacle, you have the glory of God.

With Christ in the flesh we have God with us tabernacled in his body, full of glory.

John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (ESV)

So far, all this has been introduction. Wish to concentrate on three words.

Glory, Grace and Truth

I) Glory

Haven’t even attempted to define it. Piper says impossible to define. Glory is like the word beauty. We know what it is by impossible to describe in words.

Glory is a bigger concept than beauty. Everything you can say about beauty is just one aspect of glory.

Though he says it can’t be defined, he does offer a definition that I think is pretty good: “God's glory is the infinite beauty and splendor of His perfect character. It is the radiance, or shining forth, of His amazing perfections.”

Scripture says glory is resplendent, exquisitely wonderful. Every perfection of God is included.

God’s glory is more moving, more exciting, than any other passion of the human heart.

God’s glory is everything we ought to love, everything that really matters. Glory is what makes this world with its evil worth enduring. It’s why everything was created in the first place.

We say “give God the glory.” It’s a biblical phrase. A common expression, doesn’t mean we add to God’s glory, but simply means to give him praise. We don’t make him more glorious than he already is.

Giving God glory has a necessary aspect of humility. In Acts 12, Herod dies because he did not give God the glory. Tried to claim for himself, consumed by worms.

The opposite is what it means to give God the glory, to fear and adore, to praise with our hearts, minds, lips. That is how Jesus manifested the glory of God in his flesh.

This glory is behind the impeccability of Christ, that he couldn’t sin. There was no evil motive, no wrong desire, no claim the devil could make against him.

In our fallen state we are devoid of grace and truth, dependent on God and Spirit to supply.

There are many differences between the OT and the NT depiction of God’s glory. In the OT, it is visible, bright, sparkly. In the OT we have the peculiar radiance of a cloud, the glow of Moses’ faces, the flashes in Ezekiel’s vision. The stress is on the visible radiance. When you think of OT glory you think of the physical luminescence, the same as in the NT, spoken of as light.

The stress here, though, is not any longer on the brilliance of physical light but on spiritual light.

On the mount of transfiguration, Jesus pulled back the veil. Matthew 17:2 tells us, “his face shown like sun.” When John says we have seen his glory, he is likely referencing the transfiguration.

This is an affirmation of the deity of Christ. The King’s son is always treated with the same respect as the King, has the same status. Jesus spoke of God as his own Father. An important part of theology, Jesus’ Glory is of the only begotten of the father. He’s not created or conceived. Eternally begotten, one of a kind son. The glory of Christ is the glory of God. He is saying, in John 14:9, “if you have seen me seen the father.”

Significant that what John describes is not the physical glow, but the moral dimension.

Full of grace and truth.

II. Grace

Hesitate to break up this pair of words, because they always go together. Truth is reality as seen from Gods perspective. John MacArthur defines truth as “that which is consistent with the mind and will of God.”

We think of truth as hard and unyielding, but grace as soft, but they are linked together.

Grace itself is an expression of God’s character, so it cannot be divorced from truth.

We treat them as competing values, but they are linked. There is a human tendency to split the two ideas as if they are incompatible. Defining characteristic of postmodernism is to split grace from truth. Some write of grace as having precedence over truth. People have lost their grip on a biblical definition of grace. Grace is not automatic or universal.

In Titus 2:12, grace teaches us that we should renounce ungodliness and worldly passions.

In 2:14, to purify for himself a people for his own possession.

Grace doesn’t mean always being nice and friendly to the enemies of truth. Jesus wasn’t always mild, but he was always full of grace. His words were liberating, even for his enemies.

In all of John’s gospel, only four occurrences of the word, and they are all in this pericope. Outside of these verses, John doesn’t use grace anywhere else. Truth, however, is everywhere in this Gospel and in John’s epistles. But grace is seen all through. Blind see, lame healed. You see it demonstrated throughout.

III. Truth

We beheld his glory.

One of the most appealing features of Jesus’ glory, is that his grace never interferes with the truth. John is implicitly saying using the word “logos” that Jesus is truth incarnate. Also Jesus was a proclaimer, and expositor of the truth.

The last words of Jesus in John 18, “I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.” Grace and truth defined his earthly mission.

Those who lack a passion for truth cannot claim a passion for God’s glory.

Notice those same twin concepts appear in John 1:17, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (ESV) Not saying the mosaic covenant devoid of grace and truth, not saying nullified the moral principles. If anyone is saved they are saved by grace through faith. Faith by definition lays hold of the truth. The purpose was to leave sinners no hope except in grace.

The most prominent feature of the OT was law. Given for a good purpose, but grace and truth are not the dominant features.

By contrast, grace and truth are the whole substance of the new covenant.

The old covenant filled with types and figures, the new with grace and truth.

Jesus paid the price of sin.

God is glorified by making you and me joint heirs in Christ.

God has expressed his glory in Christ in a way that cleanses us from all sin.

The glory of God in Jesus should make us enthralled. If not, we need a new heart.

Semi-Live Blogging the Ocean City Bible Conference Session 3

Monday morning, September 13, 2010

(Disclaimer: These notes are an attempt to capture the main points of the speaker; mistakes are inevitable and I’m certain not every word and phrase was captured exactly.)

Thabiti Anyabwile

Living the God Centered Life isn’t as simple as it sounds as we set out to do it.

Prayer, evangelism difficult; it also might be the case that when it comes to our own sanctification that we can shift from being God centered to being man centered. We can begin to think that our sanctification depends upon our performance.

Consider Hebrews Chapter 7, Jesus our great high priest. Why he is a superior priest to all other priests? This was written with a pastoral concern for believers who were tempted to turn back to following the law.

In Hebrews 1-7, the author is making his case, demonstrating that Jesus is better. Greater than angels, Moses, a better Sabbath rest. In Chapter 4:14 the writer introduces the idea that Jesus is a better priest. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. (Hebrews 4:14-15, NIV)

Then in Chapter 5:5 we’re introduced to a priest in the order of Melchizedek. Just the name of Melchizedek makes me humble.

In 4:14 the believers are experiencing a crisis of confidence. Then in Chapter 6 he digresses about apostasy. Then in Chapter 7 he confronts questions about Jesus being a better priest. Namely, how can Jesus be our great high priest when he’s not descended from Levi? Why do we even need a better high priest when the law doesn’t mention one?

Why does this matter for us?

I. How can Jesus be our great high priest when he’s not descended from Levi?

Hebrews 7:1-10

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, ² and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means "king of righteousness"; then also, "king of Salem" means "king of peace." ³ Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.^7:4 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! ⁵ Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people--that is, their brothers--even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. ⁶ This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. ⁷ And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater. ⁸ In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. ⁹ One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, ¹⁰ because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor. (NIV)

This is an argument about how Jesus can be the high priest. The key principle is found in verses 6-7. In biblical times, the blessing was always passed from the greater to the lesser. The picture given of a shadowy figure Melchizedek.

In verse 3 you might think the Son of God resembles Melchizedek, but the truth is

not that the son of God resembles Melchizedek, but rather, Melchizedek resembles Christ. The author knows as in Luke 24, that all the Old Testament is about him. Melchizedek resembles Jesus in three ways. His name, his title, his genealogy.

1) His name means king of Righteousness, a King who is also righteous. As in Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (NIV)

2) Melchizedek’s title resembles the son of God—King of Salem, probably reference to Jerusalem. Priest of the Most High God.

3) By genealogy—without father or mother, beginning of days or end of life. Two ways to see this, a literal son of God or a Christophany. Both are problematic. The main idea is that Melchizedek has no genealogy. We have an example in Nehemiah, people had returned, had to demonstrate their descent from Levi. Jesus isn’t in the genealogy; he is excluded from the priesthood. But Melchizedek is a priest, and has no genealogy. He performs the function of priest, receiving tithes, giving blessing. Melchizedek even greater than Levites. Regular priests mortal, Melchizedek lives forever.

Reminds him of when young people interrupt, a mom would say “before you were even dreamed of” to put you in your place. Melchizedek is before the Levitical priesthood, Abraham pays tithes to.

OK, you admit he’s a priest, but how do you get from Melchizedek to Jesus being a better priest?

Hebrews 7:11-28: “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come--one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: You are a priest forever.' “Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. (NIV)

How can Jesus’ priesthood be better?

Three contrasts: the potential, the power, and the pronouncement.

1) The potential.

v. 11 why was there need for another? If it was perfection you were looking for, why would you need another?

Compare this to the power of Jesus in verses 26-28: Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Here is a high priest who is perfect in every way. He was yet without sin. Here is a high priest who is not weak. He is for us, he supplies our need, gives us everything we need to stand before God.

This is why living a God centered life depends on looking at Jesus, to his continual intercession on our behalf. Easy to say, “OK Christ you have died for me, but now I’m going to serve as my own priest.” Offer our tithes, our quiet times, our prayers, thinking they will make God like us.

If we turn inward on ourselves we feel condemnation; if we have a good week, then pride sneaks up. We lay down at night and say, “Jesus, you are pleased on me.” We fall off the side of condemnation on one side, and pride on the other. The only way is complete dependence on the work of Christ.

Because of his grace and his mercy it is in Christ that we stand. Here is a high priest who is perfect in every way.

How do we please God? It is by presenting ourselves through Christ, realizing we no longer live but Christ. Constantly remembering this great high priesthood.

We dare not come in our own perfections. In Matthew 5, he says, “be perfect”; who can do that? Hebrews 12 without holiness no one can see God. How can we do that? The Good News is in Chapter 10: he has perfected for all time those who are in him. Abandon every other high priest and look to Christ.

2) The power.

The Levitical priesthood was powered by the law. Like putting kerosene in a rocket and trying to get to the moon. Tells the story when his son Titus was born. He was so happy that he had a boy. Went to a gas station, so excited, noticed something funny about the nozzle but kept putting in the fuel. When he left the station, noticed the car sounded funny. Then it stopped running all together. Then he realized what had happened. He had put diesel in the tank. His car wasn’t meant to run on diesel. Our lives are not made for running on inferior fuel. The law is like diesel in a minivan.

The Levites were depending on being born into the office. The word tells us the law was set aside. Paul tells us the law has no power in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Our lives read like Romans 7. Verses 12-17 tell us there has been a shift. Verse 14 tells us our Lord comes from a different place. Jesus assumes the office by the power of an indestructible life, vs. 16. So much glory and truth wrapped up in this phrase, “an indestructible life.”

Verses 23-24, give the implication, Jesus has a permanent priesthood.

John 1:4, “In him was light, and that life was the light of men.” (NIV)

John 5: 26, “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.”

John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

1 John 5:11, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”

Life is found only in Jesus, only in Christ.

If you are here and want to live, you must hear, be born again. Your life is ruined by sin. Implore you to save your self by turning to Christ. Christ dies in our place, he offers to you that same power to be at work in you. Turn from sin and trust in Jesus, rely upon him and him alone. He will give you life.

One last contrast:

3) The pronouncements made about this priesthood.

It is perfect, it comes with a better guarantee. God speaking himself in verses 20-22: “And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.' “Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.”

The author talks about a priesthood that opens a way to God, and says it is by an oath. God said, “The Lord has sworn.” Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee. As for the Levites, no one vouched, no one cosigned. Bu Jesus was sworn for by no less than God himself. You see this at his baptism, when he says, “This is my beloved son.” We hear that God will not change his mind. No election every year, he is king forever.

To have this priest is to have the only one you will ever need, God will not change his mind.

God never spoke an oath about the Levites. Remember Nadab and Abihu? Remember the sons of Eli; did not God put them to death?

This priest (Jesus) was put to death not because of what he had done, but his death is an atonement in payment for our debt. He rose because he offered himself in the power of an indestructible life.

III. We should consider how this matters for us.

Four things that have meaning for us every day.

1) Because Jesus is our great high priest, v.11, we have a better sacrifice, better than any we can make. The mercy of God comes to us in Christ. Any sacrifice we make must be grace motivated. We have a better sacrifice.

2) We possess a better hope and have better worship. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 that we have a better way, nearness to God. Nearness to God is driven, fueled by, recognition of what Jesus has done for us. As we lean into the reality of what he has done, we grow nearer to God. The gospel brings us nearer to God. Better worship, a better hope. Don’t have to stand off at a distance. Enter into the holy of holies, that we might stand close, draw near and look into his face.

3) Because Jesus has come we are sure of a better relationship with God. We have a binding covenant with God. Now Jesus stands as the co-signer, we stand with the beloved.

Here is the ground of confidence.

Says that he loves the analogy he heard last week; gives credit to Matt Chandler: Babies born with big heads, first months of life can’t do much, first balancing on legs, then soon the head goes out of control, parents think he’s walking. When this happens, never seen a parent complain, rather they say, “He’s walking!” Get the camera, throw a party. As Christians we stumble and fall, and the devil says we’re idiots, but God says, “He’s my son.

This one’s mine, look at him learn to walk. Get the camera. This is going to be for my glory.”

4) Because we have a better intercessor, because Jesus has a permanent priesthood, he lives always to intercede. He doesn’t die, all others die. He lives to plead for us. We have an advocate. When we are fighting sin, blood better than Able pleads our cause. Christ pleads for us. Are we joyless, depressed, our strength exhausted? Who intercedes? Jesus, who always lives to make intercession.

The god centered life is a life that turns to Jesus. He is our sacrifice who opens the way.

Live the God centered life by meditating on the fact that Jesus is our great high priest.

Semi-Live Blogging the Ocean City Bible Conference Session 2

September 14, 2010

Kevin O’brien, Pastor, Ocean City Baptist Church

Living the God Centered Life

Began to think of an area where we leave God out. When a pastor applies his message, you often hear him say, don’t just live this on Sunday but throughout the week. Realized we need to keep God not only in the secular, but also in the religious part of our life.

Walking into some worship services these days you may not always see God in them. The same with our prayer lives—often me centered. We are often consumed with our desires instead of Gods desires.

Throughout history there are those who have not been doing God’s business God’s way. The Pharisees—Jesus said woe to them. They did all the right things for all the wrong reasons. Fasted so people would see, praise them. Did God centered things in man centered ways. We do the same, leave God out. We go to worship, but sing praise songs, only going through the motions. We give because of people seeing us do so.

Another of these religious activities that is prone to this, but often man centered is Evangelism.

Sadly we see these days God marginalized in sharing the gospel. Often we minimize the impact of God in the message of the gospel. Many of the approaches leave out God’s wrath, Jesus’ lordship. We put man at the center of the message—you must be special for God to send his son.

Also, there is a therapeutic method—the best life you can have, become all you were meant to be. Find your purpose in life. What’s at the heart of a message like that?

Evangelism is a personal thing, why do it at all? You would think people would stop rather than do it wrong.

What makes it so tempting to take God out, is the cross at the center. It’s intimidating.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (ESV)

The gospel is folly to man. It’s not what people want to hear. So we change the message just a little to make it palatable. Yes I evangelize, and at the same time I can save face. If we adjust it just a little, we’re giving the gospel and pleasing the world. We think they need the practical results of the gospel so it will make sense and then they will come to Christ. This comes from the fear of man. It’s huge in evangelism.

If you are like most people, the fear of man is always near in doing evangelism. We have a free country, can meet to talk about religious matters, but we fear what people will think of us. The last thing we want people to think is we’re a religious nut.

This morning I want to give us ammunition to fear God more than man.

Look to the apostle Peter to learn to put God in the center of every evangelistic opportunity.

Matthew 26:69-75: “Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. (ESV)

Peter had an opportunity to share his testimony, to say “I’ve seen the miracles”, yet before a couple of servant girls, denies Christ. Why would one of Jesus closest disciples deny Christ?

Away from the other disciples, Peter was alone, in fear of them discovering his true self. Perhaps afraid of what they would do to him, scourge, mock, put on trial. Interesting the way he contrasts the boldness of Jesus with the cowardice of Peter.

Jesus remains silent. Jesus responds in a god fearing way, we respond in a man centered way. We hear a message about the gospel, get an adrenaline rush, go into our week, but then an opportunity comes and then we go into evangelistic meltdown.

Thankfully there is grace, second chances.

We see this with Peter after the resurrection. “Peter do you love me? Feed my sheep.”

We may be weak and cowardly, but in Jesus there is unremitting grace.

The next time we see Peter, Acts 2:12-16: “And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel… (ESV)

Then he goes on, takes advantage of the second chance God has given him, boldly and in an uncompromising way. Look at verse 22-23, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” (ESV)

Here is boldness, a man who has learned from his mistakes.

Here are men who could stone him, mock him, put him on trial, but Peter preaches with boldness. What is the result? About 3000 souls added.

Do you believe that God can use you like this?

We often fear man not only because we fear, but also because we lack faith.

It would be nice to say this is where this ends—unfortunately, just like us, Peter goes back to his old ways.

In Acts 2 victory but in Galatians 2:11-14: “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (ESV)

What was the problem? All of sudden Peter is back in the courtyard. Here he is, confronted by men from Jerusalem. He backs down.

Again a question of justification—are we justified by men’s approval or by God?

We do the same, seek men’s approval.

Ever back down when people snicker or see a furrowed brow? When we fear man all it takes is a look to back down.

When asked, “Do you really believe creationism, Jonah swallowed by fish, believe the Bible literally true”? Questions like this enough to make us back down. We see men who look down on us, we back down.

The same happened to Peter in Galatians 2. Like Peter we are all too prone to back down to make the gospel palatable.

Peter does come around, though.

1Peter 3:13-15: “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…(ESV)

At this point Peter is able to see past fear of man. Peter had grown, now says, “Always be ready to give a defense.”

Maybe we think this means to have an answer ready, but perhaps Peter means to be courageous, to be ready to share boldly.

If we take the lessons from Peter’s life, we can learn to share the gospel today. Look at Peter in the courtyard, the heartache, the anguish, the backpedaling. Learn that the fear of man only brings tragic consequences. If we will put God in the middle of all things God can do great and amazing things. We need to have faith that God will give the increase.

Learn from Peter at Antioch as well, not to contextualize too much to avoid fear of men.

Stand up for the foolishness of Christ. We preach a stumbling block.

In spite of the past, God can use you from this day forward if you come in repentance and faith. Perhaps he will even use you one day like Peter.

May that be our goal, that young people would come along after us and say, “Wow there’s someone who is courageous.”

May we proclaim Christ in a God centered way.

Semi-Live Blogging the Ocean City Bible Conference, Session 1

Thabiti Anyabwile, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Grand Cayman Island

Greetings from Grand Cayman. Thabiti Anyabwile, loosely translated, actually means Kevin O’brien.

Remember tonight those who can’t freely meet to hear the Word of God

The theme for the conference is “Living the God Centered Life”. Question: what else should our life center on if not God? God is supreme in all things but easy for the world to encroach, easy for our eyes to wander to lesser things. Even ministry can compete, as can family, vacations, can intrude upon the place God alone should hold. We need to learn to resist that which clamors for our attention.

Meditate over three talks in the book of Hebrews. Would like to consider Chapter 1 tonight, then Chapter 7 & 8 following nights.

Hebrews 1:1-2:4, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God's angels worship him.”  Of the angels he says,“He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.” But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”  And, You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? 2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 1:1-2:4 ESV)

Three points on which to hang our thoughts tonight:

I. God speaks. II. The Son is God. III. There is no salvation without the Son.

I. God Speaks

Hebrews 1:1,2, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” (ESV)

God is the first speaking being in all creation. When God first spoke there was nothing and it became something. Considering the awesomeness of his word and that we speak, how profound it is that we do this thing called talking. We are but a dim reflection of God with this capacity to speak to us and him. How important is every word God speaks. Thinks this is why the book James tells us about the importance of our words. Words are important. Perhaps this is why Jesus says we will be judged by every idle word.

Heb. 1: 2, “…but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” (ESV)

Something here of what we call progressive revelation. Progressively revealing more of himself in various ways. In the past, sometimes speaking through prophets, dreams, but in these last days God speaks to us through his Son, the final and climatic word, the last word on who He is and what is required of us. If we would hear God speak we must hear Jesus.

John 1:1 and 1:14 tell us of the incarnate word of God, the last days, final climatic revelation of who God is. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (ESV)

With Jesus we are not left to wonder. Recognizing where and in whom God speaks is the foundation and beginning of living a God centered life.

Not everyone understands this. A comment left on his blog not long ago demonstrates listening to God in all the wrong places. This person said he studied every world religion, and now doesn’t believe the Bible, because it is man’s words made up by his own free will. Person went on to say he can’t imagine any father who would forsake his own son. Thinks pagan religions have some merit. Has now started his own belief in a very spiritual, more loving God. Oddly, he doesn’t see a problem using his own free will to create a belief.

Whenever someone rejects the Bible they always end up worshipping a God of their own making.

Thabiti wonders aloud if there is anyone here tonight who has similar leanings. Perhaps you would prefer a softer, gentler, tailored God. How would you explain the creation of the universe? How man was created, given ability to speak in sometimes hurtful ways? Where does sin come from? Where does guilt come from? Why would you call anything wrong?

Christians are often mocked, maligned for believing an ancient book. What if we are right, if in fact in this book God is speaking, and in his son in these last days? Do you really want to think that you have a better idea? Thabiti notes that every time he tries to make something up it fails.

God speaks in the Bible, and speaks clearly and reliably through the Son.

II. The Son is God

Heb 1:2-3, “…but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high… (ESV)

These two verses are simply amazing, they are so full.

Used to work at a non-profit in N.C. training disabled people to work in society. Was trying to help a man named Dexter, born mentally retarded. Dexter was so enthusiastic, his favorite word was Wow. But he was hard to employ, couldn’t keep a job and doesn’t interview well. After getting and losing many jobs, went with him on one last interview. He bombed. Went walking with Dexter trying to figure out what to do next. Dexter is constantly saying Wow at everything. After a while points to the ground and says “wow, did you see that?” Consumed in his thoughts, Thabiti says yes. Then noticed that all of a sudden Dexter got real quiet, looking puzzled. Thabiti turned around asked what was the matter. Dexter said, “If you saw that, why did you step in it?”

Notice what the word says about his Son, four things. Consider the person of the Son.

1) The Son is appointed heir of all things. The son has inherited all that is, and all that is, Christ declares, “Mine”, as Kuyper puts it.

2) In addition, he is the one who creates all things.

3) Look at Jesus, he is the radiance of God’s glory. Remember Moses beseeching God to see his glory. Remember Isaiah seeing God in heaven, the temple filled with glory. In the Old Testament, the highest blessedness is to look upon the face of God, the worst curse to have God turn his face away. Jesus is the reflection the Shekinah Glory. Remember when God departed, the glory departed, Ichabod?

4) He is the exact representation. Wonders if his blog commenter’s religion is the exact representation of God’s being? How do you exactly represent the essence of God? God did it by sending his Son. The God Man reveals his glory, the exact representation. In Philippians 2:6, “…who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped…” (ESV)

Col 1:15-19, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…” (ESV)

Jesus is the only container that can hold the fullness of the godhead.

Have you every met anyone who created all things, radiated God’s glory, was the heir of all things, and was the exact representation of God? This is the person we would watch if we would live a God centered life.

Look what he goes on to say, three things that you can take away from this.

1) Jesus sustains all things by his powerful word. The universe hangs not by a thread, but by a word. Remember when your world is falling apart you are not hanging by a thread, you are held together by God’s powerful word.

2) Look what has done for us. He provided purification for sins. The reason men make their own God is because they don’t believe in the depth of their sin. When they invent gods they don’t have a problem with our sin. Sin is our problem. Sin blocks us from seeing the righteousness, the goodness of God. This is good news: God himself has purified us, his Son, the word, has come with a message, our sin is cleansed.

Not long ago was reading The Kite Runner. In it, the main character’s friend is abused, and he never deals with the abuse and never confronts the abuser, and as a result his conscience is troubled. One day he gets a phone call from the other side of the world: there’s a way to be clean again.

Jesus has come to us with a word—there is a way to be clean again. There is a fountain filled with blood, we sing. The sinless son of God has lived his perfect sinless life to satisfy the claims of God. Through faith we are united with God. When the father looks upon those who are in Christ he see their sins cleansed. Gods grace in Christ has freed us from our sins. There is a way to be clean again.

Tonight if you have never turned from your sin, to say “I believe you are the son of God, say I trust you I renounce you as my own”, if you have never done that, do it tonight. His wrath is infinite, flee from it and turn to him. Every promise is yes and amen in Christ. Call upon the name of the Lord. Talk to the person you came with tonight to help you find that life which is eternal. Talk to someone here. The son has come.

3) When he was finished and nothing else needed to be done, so he sat down. Do we know what riches we possess in him? How can you be declared righteous in him? By trusting in him, in what he has done, so that all that he is covers all who we are.

III. There is no salvation without Jesus.

Hebrews 1:4 and following, the author does this thing with name above angels. What is the meaning of this?

In Acts 7:53, Stephen describes his accusers as those who received law put into effect by angels. Even today some believe there are greater messengers, Islam, Jehovah’s Witness, Adventists. The argument in Hebrews is the angels cannot hold a candle to Jesus. The son is the Son, exalted to a higher position. The Son must be worshipped and served by the angels. How you considered how striking it is that God should command someone be worshipped?

Hebrews 1:8-9, The son will remain, sits at the father’s right hand. The son will be exalted.

This is why the writer of Hebrews gives one application: Chapter 2:1, “we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (ESV)

Failing to give careful attention to the son and all he provides risks losing all.

The Gospel needs to be preached daily. We don’t just begin with the gospel, we never move beyond the cross and the tomb…it is the center. Everything God has done is through Christ, so they will remain in this message and not depart.

Consider the great question in 2:3, if every transgression is punished, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? That phrase, such a great salvation, don’t know why but when he thinks of it he hears Johnny Carson. Remember he would say, “That was so great” and then he would ask, “How great was it?”

How great is this salvation?

• It’s so great it takes ruined sinners and turns them into children of God.
• It’s so great that all our sins past and future are nailed to the cross.
• It’s so great it’s unending.
• It’s so great it takes spiritual orphans and reconciles them, adopts them into God’s household.
• It’s so great, while we were yet sinners, we were reconciled.
• It’s so great it simultaneously justifies and sanctifies.
• It’s so great it allows us to behold the face of God, Psalm 17:15.
• It’s so great we are just pilgrims in this world headed to a world where there is no more death, where he will wipe away every tear.

How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?

Hebrews 12:25 gives a final warning—if they did not escape, how will we?

First part, see to it you do not refuse him who speaks. There is one tonight who speaks, who is faithful when we are faithless.

We remain centered in his love when we focus on Jesus.

Four things to take home tonight:

1) Dig, dig, dig into his word.

2) Study with others. What should we speak with others? His word, the encouragement that comes from the gospel.

3) Attend the public preaching of his word. What a privilege to meet in the middle of the week to hear God’s word proclaimed.

4) Take the word to others. Hebrews calls us to go outside the camp where others are, knowing him and making him known, that others might know the joy of his great salvation.

Live a life centered on his word in Jesus Christ.

Live Blogging the Ocean City Bible Conference; Pre-conference

Sunday morning, September 12, 2010 at Ocean City Baptist Church, Ocean City, NJ.

(Disclaimer: These notes are an attempt to capture the main points of the speaker; mistakes are inevitable and I’m certain not every word and phrase was captured exactly.)

Speaker: Vernon Allen, Pastor of the Buff Bay Circuit of Independent Baptist Churches.

Text: Psalm 84:1-2, “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.”

Three headings: A False and Unnatural and Cry; A Vague and Perverted Cry; and A True and Earnest Cry

I. A False and Unnatural Cry

People are now bold to decry their need for God. Because they are advanced in knowledge, don’t think they need God—yet cannot explain one star. Have arrived and don’t need a crutch.

Only foolish men would say such. Psalm 14:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” The fact that we can say there is no God is an affront because it is said with borrowed breath.

God has given us a sense of the divine. The soul instinctively cries out to God.

Example: A follower of Rasta, who does not believe in the God of the Bible, was trapped by an earthquake. He cried out to God to have mercy, saying, “I will go to church!”

To say there is no God is a false and unnatural cry.

Yesterday was September 11, and all of a sudden the scorn of the media changed and were willing to cover prayer services uninterrupted. In times of crisis we turn to God. God is the only one who can help.

II. A Vague and Perverted Cry

OK to talk about God, but not the Biblical God. They want to create God in their own image. To them, God is in everything, ocean and animals.

The true God is separate, transcendent, apart. Involved, but one and the same as creation.

There is a way that seems right to a man….but Jesus says the way is narrow. He is the One God, not who we make him to be.

God is still God in uncertain times.

Example: Jamaica feeling tough times. They have a saying, “when America sneezes, Jamaica catches a cold.” Will we not accept bad times as well as good? God is not like us—does not put up with sin, pours out wrath on his own Son.

Be careful when we make God in our own image. Important to know the only true God.

Some who want God without Jesus—want to go to heaven without Jesus.

Romans 1:18 and following: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shown it unto them.”

III. A True and Earnest Cry

Psalm 84:2, “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.”

We can compare this with Psalm 42, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” His soul longs most intensely—pines, yearns, longs, for God.

Genesis 31:30, “And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?” Jacob yearns for his father’s house, uses the same word in Hebrew translated “longeth” in Psalm 84.

Psalm 17:2, “Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.” The word “greedy” there used of the lion for his prey is also the same Hebrew word translated “longeth” in Psalm 84. The Psalmist is greedy for God, has an internal hunger.

Do we pant after God like that? Is it a cry of our deepest consciousness?

Be careful that we are not just mouthing external words in our worship. King David had animals and wealth to give, but says God desires sacrifice of the heart.

A preacher needs to examine own heart, remind self of this.

How do you come before God? Not just with lips, but with a contrite heart. Like a child who is hungry and wants to be fed. We must cry to God until we are satisfied. A holy love-sickness.

Israel was hard-hearted, wanted to go back to Egypt. The object of this love is the living God. This long for God is the greatest longing we can have.

What does your soul long for? Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

Philippians 3:4-11, “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”

No one can take Christ from you.

What do we long for? Who do we long for?

If you are here and not saved, weep for Him. Ask Him to put this desire in your heart. Oh that you might know him—this God who delights in sinners to come to him, so we can become who we ought to be.

May the world see our great desire for him.

Ocean City Bible Conference; September 12-15

Months ago when I began planning for a September vacation, I started nosing around the internets for news of one of my favorite pastimes: conferences featuring great Bible teaching. At the blog of a personal favorite pastor/speaker/author, Thabiti Anyabwile, I learned about a conference I had never before heard about, The Ocean City Bible Conference.

Turns out the reason I’d never heard of it is because last year was the first year. Anyway, their speaker line-up was a perfect fit for my tastes: Thabiti, Phil Johnson of Pyromaniac fame, Paul Tripp, whose books on Christian growth are some of my favorites, and Fred Zaspel, who’s writing on New Covenant Theology I greatly appreciated.

As soon as I could clear my schedule I signed up. If providence permits, I’ll try to blog a bit about the content. Meanwhile, below is the schedule and below that some biographical info. partly lifted from the conference site and augmented by some of my first hand experience of these men.

Schedule

Pre-Conference Vernon Allen
Session 1 – Thabiti Anyabwile
Session 2 – Kevin O’Brien
Session 3 – Thabiti Anyabwile
Session 4 – Phil Johnson (open to the public)
Session 5 – Thabiti Anyabwile
Session 6 – Breakout Seminars
Session 7 – Paul Tripp (open to the public)
Session 8 – Fred Zaspel
Session 9 – Phil Johnson

Speaker Bios

Thabiti Anyabwile: Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. I first heard him speak at the 2008 Together For The Gospel and was deeply appreciative of his presentation, Bearing the Image: Identity, the Work of Christ, and the Church. (This talk explored a concept I’d never before heard, and yet the truth of it. I call this effect Déjà New.) Thabiti previously served as an Assistant Pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and is the author of several books, including The Faithful Preacher, The Decline of African-American Theology, What Is a Healthy Church Member?, and The Gospel for Muslims. Having spoken briefly with Thabiti a couple of times, I gleaned this deep insider info: he is quite tall, and affectionately calls his sweet wife, Shorty, though Kristie is quite normal in height when compared to most anyone else.

Phil Johnson: Not sure whether Phil is more well known as the Executive Director of Grace to You, (John MacArthur’s radio ministry), editor of MacArthur’s books, or as proprietor of Pyromaniacs. Years ago I first learned about Phil from his world class compendium of links to matters theological, Phil Johnson’s Bookmarks. Phil also maintains the premier internet collection of all things Spurgeon, The Spurgeon Archive. He used to maintain a web page describing peculiar foods he enjoys, but I can’t find a link. On top of all that he’s a trustee of the U.K.-based D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust. Phil and his wife, Darlene, have three sons, one of which has written the funniest single blog post I’ve ever read.

Paul Tripp: President of Paul Tripp Ministries, he is on the pastoral staff at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Professor of Pastoral Life and Care at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas, as well as the Executive Director of the Center for Pastoral Life and Care in Fort Worth, Texas. He has written eleven books on Christian living including Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, How People Change, War of Words, and Age of Opportunity. He and his wife, Luella, have four grown children. I’ve used his book A Quest for More in two men’s groups so far, and it’s great, thought provoking material. Age Of Opportunity ought to be required reading for parents of adolescents.

Fred Zaspel: Pastor at Reformed Baptist Church in Franconia, PA and an instructor in Bible and theology at To Every Tribe Ministries in Brownsville, TX. A second-generation pastor, he is a graduate of Bob Jones University and Biblical Theological Seminary and has a Ph.D. from The Free University of Amsterdam. He is the author of numerous articles and booklets and is the author of a new work on B.B. Warfield, which is due to be released in September. Fred and his wife, Kim, have two children. As I mentioned above, I mostly know about Fred from his writing on New Covenant Theology.

Kevin O'Brien: Senior Pastor of the host church, Ocean City Baptist, where he has served since 2002. He is a graduate of Word of Life Bible Institute, Baptist Bible College (Penn.), and The Master's Seminary. Kevin and his wife, Beth, have two children. I don’t know much about Kevin, other than the fact he attended TMS with my good friend, Alex Crain, whom he asked to lead the worship singing at the conference.

Vernon Allen: Pastor of the Buff Bay Circuit of Independent Baptist Churches, a group of six churches in Portland, Jamaica. He has ministered there since graduating from Toronto Baptist Seminary in 1982. He also currently serves as the Vice-President of the Jamaica Fellowship of Independent Baptist Churches. Vernon and his wife, Cindy, have two sons. Vernon will be preaching Sunday morning at Ocean City Bible Church before the conference formally starts.

Lord willing, I’ll post some thoughts from these folks over the next few days.

The Mystery of Mystery

For about as long as I can remember studying the Bible, I have heard it taught that the word “mystery” in the New Testament means “something hidden, now revealed”. Lately I’ve had reason to question that definition in light of Paul’s statement about marriage in Ephesians 5:32, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” (ESV) To be sure, some things are easily understood the moment one considers that a link exists between marriage and Christ’s relationship with the church; however, it is not hard to imagine that there are unfathomable depths to explore as well.

So along comes ubiquitous theological nugget-finder Justin Taylor with a helpful post quoting Graham Cole in his book He Who Gives Life: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, in which he quotes E.L. Mascall writing in Words and Images: A Study in Theological Discourse:

“In the first place, on being confronted with a mystery we are conscious that the small central area of which we have a relatively clear vision shades off into a vast background which is obscure and as yet unpenetrated.

Secondly, we find, as we attempt to penetrate this background . . . that the range and clarity of our vision progressively increase but at the same time the background which is obscure and unpenetrated is seen to be far greater than we had recognized before. . . . .

The third feature of a mystery . . . is the fact that a mystery, while it remains obscure in itself, has a remarkable capacity of illuminating other things.”

As a bonus, he throws in some thoughts from John Piper regarding limits (actually the lack thereof) to pondering a mystery.

I found the entire article  especially helpful in thinking about the whole concept of mystery. You can read it all here.

Terrific Practical Assistance

I love the saying I first learned from Tim Keller that the Gospel is not just the “ABC’s” of the Christian life, but the “A to Z” of the Christian life. In other words, the good news of Christ’s life, death and resurrection not only works to save me, but also to keep me saved, make my life pleasing to God and enables me to worship and serve Him.

A good question, though, is how does it do this in everyday life? If you’ve ever wondered about this, Elyse Fitzpatrick has crafted an outstanding essay describing the process. Here’s the final paragraph:

“It is the whole message of the gospel that has the power to transform impatient, guilty, selfish, despairing idolaters into free and joyful worshippers of the Living God. The whole message of the gospel includes His incarnation, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, ascension, reign and return. Seeing Jesus and His glorious work is the only power strong enough to transforms us from “one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18) or as John Owen wrote, “Here in this life, beholding the glory of the Lord [true believers] are changed into his likeness. Hereafter they will be like Him for they will see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).”

Do yourself a huge favor and read the whole thing.

Thanks to Tullian Tchividjian for publicizing her article.

Three ways to live

Just in case someone stumbles here by providence, I thought it might be a good idea to post something edifying lest said stumbler worry that the proprietor here has deserted the place.

A few weeks ago the preternaturally productive Justin Taylor posted an essay by C.S. Lewis which I had never before seen. I commend it to you as well worth reading. Lewis has one of his trademark insights about human nature that makes you feel bad because it describes some failing of yours to a “t”, but leaves you with hope because he also describes the remedy.

“There are three kinds of people in the world.

The first class is of those who live simply for their own sake and pleasure, regarding Man and Nature as so much raw material to be cut up into whatever shape may serve them.

In the second class are those who acknowledge some other claim upon them—the will of God, the categorical imperative, or the good of society—and honestly try to pursue their own interests no further than this claim will allow. They try to surrender to the higher claim as much as it demands, like men paying a tax, but hope, like other taxpayers, that what is left over will be enough for them to live on. Their life is divided, like a soldier’s or a schoolboy’s life, into time “on parade” and “off parade,” “in school” and “out of school.”

But the third class is of those who can say like St Paul that for them “to live is Christ.” These people have got rid of the tiresome business of adjusting the rival claims of Self and God by the simple expedient of rejecting the claims of Self altogether. The old egoistic will has been turned round, reconditioned, and made into a new thing. The will of Christ no longer limits theirs; it is theirs. All their time, in belonging to Him, belongs also to them, for they are His.”

You can read the rest here.

At Once Simple, True and Beautiful

John Bunyan:

"Run, John, run
The law commands
But gives neither feet nor hands
Better news the gospel brings
It bids us fly and gives us wings."

Thanks, Jared Wilson, for finding and posting this gem. Made my day.

Together For The Gospel 2010

Ask anyone who attended last weeks gathering in Louisville, and one of the first things you’ll hear is wonder at the sheer quantity of books given to each participant. One reasonable guess I heard was that nearly $2 million dollars worth of books were given away. Those who attended the Band of Bloggers pre-session received another 12 books, so I returned with a total of 33 free books. I’m amazed that you can go to a conference where you are given gifts worth more than the conference fee.

Thanks to Justin Taylor, here is a nicely formatted list of he books from T4G with links to where they can be purchased:

• R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God
• Michael Reeves, The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation
• Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence, It Is Well: Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement
• Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift that Changes Everything
• The ESV Study Bible
• Thabiti Anyabwile, The Gospel for Muslims: An Encouragement to Share Christ with Confidence
• Greg Gilbert, What Is the Gospel?
• John MacArthur, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ
• Joshua Harris, Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters
• John Piper, Finally Alive
• Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney, Jonathan Edwards on Beauty
• Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Plight of Man and the Power of God
• Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney, The Essential Jonathan Edwards Collection
• Christopher Ash, The Priority of Preaching
• Albert Mohler, He Is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World 
• Ligon Duncan, Fear Not! Death and the Afterlife from a Christian Perspective 
• T4G, Proclaiming a Cross-Centered Theology
• D.A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus
• J.I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
• Jonathan Leeman, The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline
• J. Mack Stiles, Marks of the Messenger: Knowing, Living and Speaking the Gospel

And here is the list from Band of Bloggers:

1.   Holy Subversion: Allegiance to Christ in an Age of Rivals by Trevin Wax

2.  Your Jesus Is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel-Good Savior by Jared Wilson

3.  Welcome to a Reformed Church: A Guide for Pilgrims by Daniel Hyde

4.  When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus’ Vision for Authentic Christian Community by Joseph Hellerman

5.  Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt

6.  Reaching and Teaching: A Call to Great Commission Obedience by M. David Sills

7.  The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism by Kevin DeYoung

8.  Entrusted with the Gospel: Paul’s Theology in the Pastoral Epistles edited by Andreas Köstenberger

9.  Abide Practicing Kingdom Rhythms in a Consumer Culture (DVD + Book) by Jared Wilson

10.  “A Habitual Sight of Him”: The Christ-centered Piety of Thomas Goodwin by Joel Beeke and Mark Jones

11. Stray Recollections, Short Articles and Public Orations of James P. Boyce by Thomas Nettles

12. A Call to Prayer by J.C. Ryle

You know you want to be there for T4G 2012.

Perilous Addiction

My close friend, Bob Withers, writing at his new blog, Mind on Fire, has an insightful and convicting post that describes a serious obsession affecting many (most? all?) Christians living in the 21^st century developed world: Electronic Cocaine.

This drug is taken not by mouth or injection, but through the ears and eyes. Bob’s article begins,

“An article on msnbc.com titled, Blunt the Email Interruption Assault, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35689822/ns/business-small_business/, reminds me of a Saturday morning men’s Bible study in my church years ago. As we were discussing the challenge of mediating on Scripture and responding to God’s Word in obedience in a society with increasingly shortened attention spans, Kenny Brelsford said, “Pastor Bob, the way we live with all the noise and interruptions is like being on electronic cocaine.”

He goes on to note how the constant stimulus brought to us through our ever-present electronic devices competes against God himself for our attention:

“Short attention spans are incompatible with meditation on the Word of God, as they are incompatible with looking to the LORD our God. We cannot give God sustained attention if we are addicted to interruptions. We cannot give people humane attention if we are on electronic cocaine – we come to see people as just interruptions to be dispensed with so that we can move on to the next interruption – and of course we think nothing of interrupting others.”

The whole article is worth your consideration. If you are as convicted as I am you will read it and weep.

Breaking Blogger Design News

I never have been thrilled with Blogger’s stock templates, but not having the time to master CSS and web design, I’ve stuck with it because it’s well, better than no blog at all.

Today, however, Blogger has made a number of new templates with easy customizations available. To experiment or implement a new design, simply go to Blogger in Draft, click on the “Layout Tab” and then “Template Designer” and you are ready to play around. You can see the changes as you make them. If you like what you see, click “Apply” and voila, you’ve got a new face for your blog.

The Dark Side of E-mail

As the (tongue-in-cheek) “World’s Most Famous Christian Blogger”, Tim Challies doesn’t need any publicity from me, but an article he posted today demonstrates why reading him is so worthwhile. In his distinctive style of analyzing of both himself and the broader culture at the same time, Tim has some especially relevant thoughts on the power and effects of e-mail. He writes,

“I recently came to the realization that email owns me. A good technology that should be at my disposal has instead taken over and put me at its disposal. And if you’ve read Postman you’ll know that technology is very good at this. No sooner do we put a technology in our service than we find that it has so changed our lives that suddenly we have become enslaved to it.

When I find myself compulsively glancing at my screen every time I walk by, hoping to see an icon telling me I’ve got a new message, when I unthinkingly pull out my iPhone to check to see if I’ve got any new email, I realize I’ve got a problem. When I sit in meetings with email open, glancing as often to the screen as to the person speaking, I understand that something has gone wrong. Somehow I’ve given email more than it deserves. In my mind I’ve made it into something it is not and something it should never be. Email was never meant to be the first thing I look at in the morning or the last thing I look at before bed.

Hear me when I say that email is not a bad thing. It’s not a good thing either, really; it’s just a thing. I wouldn’t want to say that email is somehow innately destructive. It is an excellent medium for communication and one that serves many purposes very well. It is exceptionally efficient, at least when at its best, and gives us amazing levels of instantaneous access to one another. I wouldn’t want to cut it out of my life and certainly do not intend to.

But email is demanding, especially when given the reins. Recent scientific studies show that there may well be some kind of a correlation between the psychology of email and the psychology of slot machines. A variable interval schedule, as psychologists might know it, draws us back time and again, hoping for the occasional payout. Though most of the time there is no payout when checking email, just like there is usually all cost and no payout when playing slots, there is always the promise of something great. Occasionally we may win a jackpot and occasionally we may get a bit of very good news by email. But most of the time there is no payout at all. Yet our brains seem hard-wired to keep searching, to keep driving us back to the inbox, hoping against hope.”

If you’re one of those who can’t sit through a meeting without checking your in-box, you ought to read the rest here.

Rugged, but worthwhile reading

Earlier this year, First Things, a Catholic publication founded by Richard John Neuhaus, began hosting a Protestant group blog, Evangel, featuring some of evangelical Christianity’s most influential writers. I’m almost always challenged and edified by the content there, though reading it can be pretty intense and time demanding. But I’m consistently the better for having read it.

On Friday, one of the regular contributors, Paul McCain, a Lutheran, posted this quote from Augustine:

“When you have to listen to abuse, that means you are being buffeted by the wind. When your anger is roused, you are being tossed by the waves. So when the winds blow and the waves mount high, the boat is in danger, your heart is imperiled, your heart is taking a battering. On hearing yourself insulted, you long to retaliate; but the joy of revenge brings with it another kind of misfortune: shipwreck. Why is this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What do I mean? I mean you have forgotten His presence. Rouse him, then; remember him, let him keep watch within you, pay heed to him…A temptation arises: it is the wind. It disturbs you: it is the surging of the sea. This is the moment to awaken Christ and let him remind you of those words: “Who can this be? Even the winds and the sea obey him!”

St. Augustine; Sermons 63.1-3

What a great thought, to remember Christ’s presence within when tempted or tried.Or better yet, to not forget in the first place.

Great Conversations

In his blog today, Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers offers a number of guidelines for great conversations. Read the whole thing, but here are some nuggets worth taking to heart:

Ask open-ended questions. As the hosts, Gail and I have a singular goal: we try to ask interesting questions. We try to make these questions open-ended, so that people must elaborate and give us some insight into them as a person. For example,

• What is your idea of a perfect vacation?
• If you could design your ideal job, what would it look like?
• What is the best book you have read in the last 12 months and why?
• What is the most important lesson you learned from your father?
• When is your very favorite thing about your spouse?
• If you were by yourself, and could listen to any music you want, what it be?
• If you could spend a day with anyone on the planet, who would it be?
• What it is like to be your friend? or to be married to you?
• If you were suddenly the President of the U.S., what would you do first?
• Looking back over your life, what would you describe as your proudest moment?

Ask a second question. The most interesting conversations come after the initial answer. It takes extraordinary discipline to refrain from answering your own question and, instead. answer a second question. Yet this is where the deepest conversations occur. I like to ask questions like these as follow-up questions:

• How did it feel when that happened?
• Can you elaborate on that?
• Why do you think that is important to you?
• Do you think you would have answered the same way five years ago?
• What emotion do you feel when you describe that?

How to think about the healthcare debate?

A few weeks ago I enjoyed a spirited discussion with three knowledgeable friends concerning the current debate over a national healthcare policy. Among other things, these friends pointed out the need for something to be done, and reflected on what a Christian obligation might be.

Shortly after this conversation took place, I listened to Ken Meyers, of Mars Hill Audio, interview Paul A. Rahe, author of Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville, and the Modern Prospect. While not specifically about the current healthcare legislation, the interview was one of the most helpful aids to framing the issue that I have yet come across. Rahe makes a number of observations that each bear heavily on how we ought to think about legislation such as is currently before congress.

He points out a number of realities that any form of government must deal with:

· What he calls the “tyrannical impulse”, that is, the tendency of those in authority to consolidate and increase their power.

· Challenges to governing presented by size and scale—the larger a territory and its population, the greater the number of decisions which must be made and actions undertaken.

· The necessity of morality on the part of the governed—he offers the hypothetical example of a nation composed entirely of substance abusers and asks if it is remotely possible that this group could successfully govern itself.

These three factors combine in numerous ways to complicate governance of any populous country with a large geographic area. In the interview Rahe frequently cites two of the authors mentioned in the subtitle of his book, Montesquieu and Tocqueville, who thought and wrote about these matters in the 18^th and 19^th centuries respectively. Perhaps the key insight relevant to the healthcare debate is this: when the executive branch consolidates for itself the power of the judicial and legislative functions (as is now the case with federal agencies) the effects of all other institutions are marginalized. When these other institutions are marginalized, what is lost are the sources of positive moral transformation. Thus proceeds a populace spiraling downward, less and less able to care for themselves, who then turn to government to solve their problems, while the head of the government utilizes the opportunity to become more powerful and entrenched in office.

In my opinion, this has already taken place to a considerable degree. An example in recent history is observable in national attempts to address poverty. As the federal government became the principal provider for the needs of the poor and needy, the influence of other institutions—such as the church—waned. Since the church is the institution foremost able to accomplish lasting moral transformation, a vicious cycle was initiated. The power and influence of centralized government grew through the votes of those seeking its care, while the morality of the voting public waned, which fostered irresponsibility, poverty and more need, causing more and more people to seek a government bailout from their troubles.

Nationalized healthcare appears to be the next logical step in this progression. It’s not impossible to envision a future when people check themselves into the hospital for the free room and board because they are too crippled morally to lift food from the plate into their mouths. (Proverbs 26:15)

The Mars Hill interview is long on diagnosis and short on prescription, but Rahe does point to one way forward—what Catholic thinkers term “subsidiarity”— what The Oxford English Dictionary defines as “the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level.”

It makes sense to me that the closer a person or institution is to the problem or need, the better the chance that the need will be met properly and the likelihood diminished of power being unhealthily consolidated far from the point of need.

This hundred-year-plus trend towards centralized power in American governance has produced a state of affairs that cries out for the church to, as they say, “be the church”. No other entity has the capacity to respond as well on both the local and national levels, to effectively transform a people’s morality, and at the same time deliver the only known antidote for the tyrannical impulse—the self-denying, soul-satisfying Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Concluding a year with the Institutes

I’m experiencing mixed feelings about coming to the end of a year of reading daily through Calvin’s Institutes. On one hand, it’s taken a lot of effort to avoid getting behind—some days required serious mental fortitude to get through. On the other had, it has been a marvelous learning experience, full of surprises and wonderfully edifying insights. Certainly, my appreciation for Calvin only increased as I read, due to his pastoral heart and his seemingly comprehensive grasp of the entire Bible’s contents. It never ceases to amaze me that such a work could be produced prior to the advent of computerized concordances and modern word processors.

Today’s reading, section 4.20.24-27, provides a great example. Contemplating the Christians duty to civil authority, he reasons from numerous scriptures that Christians are bound to obey even wicked magistrates, because their authority comes directly from God.

Here’s a sample of how he gets at this:

“When we hear that a king has been ordained by God, let us at once call to mind those heavenly edicts with regard to honoring and fearing a king; then we shall not hesitate to hold a most wicked tyrant in the place where the Lord has deigned to set him. Samuel, when he warned the people of Israel what sort of things they would suffer from their kings, said: "This shall be the right of the king that will reign over you: he will take your sons and put them to his chariot to make them his horsemen and to plow his fields and reap his harvest, and make his weapons. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. Finally, he will take your fields, your vineyards, and your best olive trees and will give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards, and will give it to his eunuchs and servants. He will take your menservants, maidservants, and asses and set them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks and you will be his servants" [1 Sam. 8:11—17, with omissions; cf. Hebrew]. Surely, the kings would not do this by legal right, since the law trained them to all restraint [Deut. 17:16 ff.]. But it was called a right in relation to the people, for they had to obey it and were not allowed to resist. It is as if Samuel had said: The willfulness of kings will run to excess, but it will not be your part to restrain it; you will have only this left to you: to obey their commands and hearken to their word.”

All in all, reading the entirety of the Institutes has been a demanding but satisfying journey.