Diagnosing the Disease(s) of Contemporary Preaching

"Contemporary preaching suffers from a loss of confidence in the power of the Word...from an infatuation with technology...from an embarrassment before the biblical text...from an evacuation of biblical content...from a focus on felt needs...from an absence of the gospel..."

--Albert Mohler, from He Is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World

The Savior's Work and Worth

Alas, By Nature How Depraved
John Newton, 1725-1807

Alas, by nature how depraved,
How prone to every ill!
Our lives to Satan how enslaved,
How obstinate our will.

And can such sinners be restored,
Such rebels reconciled?
Can grace itself the means afford,
To make a foe a child?

Yes, grace has found the wondrous means,
Which shall effectual prove,
To cleanse us from our countless sins,
And teach our hearts to love.

Jesus for sinners undertakes,
And died that we may live;
His blood a full atonement makes,
And cries aloud, "Forgive."

Yet one thing more must grace provide,
To bring us home to God,
Or we shall slight the Lord who died,
And trample on His blood.

The Holy Spirit must reveal
The Savior's work and worth;
Then the hard heart begins to feel
A new and heavenly birth.

Thus bought with blood, and born again,
Redeemed and saved by grace,
Rebels in God's own house obtain
A son's and daughter's place.

Christ Was More Than a Martyr

The quote below from J.C. Ryle reminds us why Christ's sacrificial death is different than any other sacrificial death.

Our Lord Jesus Christ did not die merely as a martyr, or as a splendid example of self-sacrifice and self-denial. Those who can see no more than that in His death, fall infinitely short of the truth. They lose sight of the very foundation-stone of Christianity, and miss the whole comfort of the Gospel. Christ died as a sacrifice for man’s sin. He died to make reconciliation for man’s iniquity. He died to purge our sins by the offering of Himself. He died to redeem us from the curse which we all deserved, and to make satisfaction to the justice of God, which must otherwise have condemned us. Never let us forget this!

-- J.C. Ryle

HT: Erik Kowalker

The Parallels between Israel's Indwelling Enemies and Believers' Indwelling Sin

In the Old Testament, Israel was commanded to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan once they conquered the land. In the New Testament, believers are commanded to drive out the sin that still dwells within. Neither of these commands were (or are) fully obeyed. And sadly, our disobedience brings about the same consequences.

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. (Numbers 33:55)

Lord, by your grace and through your Spirit, drive out the sins that act as barbs in my eyes, thorns in my side, and trouble to my soul.

O Most Sweet and Comfortable Sentence to My Soul

It's always fascinating to me to learn about the effects of God's Word on the souls of saints from the past (especially if it's a passage or verse I am studying). This past Sunday, I preached from 1 Timothy 1:15, "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." During my study and preparation, I learned that this verse had a profound effect upon Thomas Bilney, one of the central figures in the famous White Horse Inn meetings and one of the early martyrs of the English Reformation (some even go so far as to suggest that Bilney's conversion was the beginning of the Reformation in England). Here is how Bilney describes the effect of this verse of Scripture upon his soul:

I chanced upon this sentence of St. Paul (O most sweet and comfortable sentence to my soul!) in 1 Timothy 1. "It is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be embraced, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am the chief and principal." This one sentence, through God's instruction and inward working...did so exhilarate my heart, being before wounded with the guilt of my sins, and being almost in despair, that even immediately I seemed unto myself inwardly to feel a marvelous comfort and quietness, insomuch that "my bruised bones leaped for joy" (Psalm 51). After this, the Scripture began to be more pleasant unto me than the honey or the honeycomb....

Bilney was eventually arrested, tried, and burned at the stake for believing in this gospel of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But his preaching of this gospel helped bring the Reformation to the English-speaking world.

Why Luther Believed in Preaching the Gospel Every Sunday

"The gospel cannot be preached and heard enough, for it cannot be grasped well enough."

--Martin Luther

From Whence This Fear and Unbelief?

Faith Reviving
Augustus Toplady, 1740-1778

From whence this fear and unbelief?
Hath not the Father put to grief
His spotless Son for me?
And will the righteous Judge of men
Condemn me for that debt of sin
Which, Lord, was charged on thee?

Complete atonement thou hast made,
And to the utmost farthing paid
Whate’er thy people owed;
How then can wrath on me take place
If sheltered in thy righteousness,
And sprinkled with thy blood?

If thou hast my discharge procured,
And freely in my room endured
The whole of wrath divine,
Payment God cannot twice demand—
First at my bleeding Surety’s hand,
And then again at mine.

Turn then, my soul, unto thy rest!
The merits of thy great High Priest
Have bought thy liberty;
Trust in his efficacious blood,
Nor fear thy banishment from God,
Since Jesus died for thee!

The Fruits of Public Worship

Does our corporate worship make us holy at home? According to Ryle, that is the test for whether or not our public worship is doing us good.

The best public worship is that which produces the best private Christianity. The best church services for the congregation are those which make its individual members most holy at home and alone. If we want to know whether our own public worship is doing us good, let us try it by these tests. Does it stimulate our conscience? Does it send us to Christ? Does it add to our knowledge? Does it sanctify our life? If it does, we may depend on it; it is worship of which we have no cause to be ashamed.

-- J.C. Ryle

HT: Erik Kowalker

The Adequacy of God

Over the last few months, I have been leading a group at our church through J.I. Packer's classic, Knowing God. We finished the book last night with the final chapter, "The Adequacy of God," which is full of quotes worth sharing. Here are just a few:

The simple statement "God is for us" is in truth one of the richest and weightiest utterances that the Bible contains.

Think against your feelings; argue yourself out of the gloom they have spread; unmask the unbelief they have nourished; take yourself in hand, talk to yourself, make yourself look up from your problems to the God of the gospel; let evangelical thinking correct emotional thinking.

There are two sorts of sick consciences, those that are not aware enough of sin and those that are not aware enough of pardon....

Your God is faithful to you, and he is adequate for you. You will never need more than he can supply, and what he supplies, both materially and spiritually, will always be enough for the present.

The meaning of "he will give us all things" [Rom. 8:32] can be put thus: one day we shall see that nothing - literally nothing - which could have increased our eternal happiness has been denied us, and that nothing - literally nothing - that could have reduced that happiness has been left with us. What higher assurance do we want than that?

The Gospel-Centered Wisdom of Bob Kauflin

When Bob Kauflin speaks about worship, it makes sense to listen. While he's far from infallible, he is incredibly wise and has a gospel-centeredness that permeates both his leading of worship as well as his talking (or writing) about worship.

The brief videos below provide an example of that gospel-centered wisdom. The first reminds us that singing and preaching share the same end. The second is a sobering reminder that the gospel has more power to unite us than musical styles do to divide us. And the third reminds us that the tunes we sing are important because they are mediums through which to communicate the truth of God.

Russell Moore on "Preaching Like the Devil"

Russell Moore provides a good reputation for Baptists every time he writes for Touchstone (which readers of this blog will know is one of my favorite magazines/journals). His article in the May/June 2010 issue is no different. It is about preaching, but it deserves to be read not only by preachers, but also those who listen to preaching. It is titled "Preaching Like the Devil" (below is an excerpt).

The devil is a preacher. From the third chapter of the Bible onward, he is opening up God’s Word to people, seeking to interpret it, to apply it, to offer an invitation. So the old Serpent of Eden comes to the primeval woman not with a Black Mass and occult symbols, but with the Word she’d received from her God—with the snake’s peculiar spin on it. Throughout the rest of the canon he does the same, implicitly or explicitly.

Throughout the Old Testament, he preaches peace—just like the angels of Bethlehem do—except he does so when there is no peace. He points God’s people to the particulars of worship commanded by God—sacrifices and offerings and feast-days—just without the preeminent mandates of love, justice, and mercy. Satan even preaches to God—about the proper motives needed for godly discipleship on the part of God’s servants.

In the New Testament, the satanic deception leads the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees to pore endlessly over biblical texts, just missing the point of Christ Jesus therein. They come to conclusions that have partially biblical foundations—the devil’s messages are always expository; they just intentionally avoid Jesus.

So, the scoffers feel quite comfortable asking how a man from Nazareth could be the Messiah when the coming King is of Bethlehem. They find themselves wondering how the Son of Man can be crucified when the Bible says he lives forever. When Jesus says those who follow him should eat his flesh and drink his blood, there’s little doubt that the Adversary was there to point the crowds to Leviticus’s forbidding of the consumption of human blood. When the satanically inspired crowds crucified Jesus, they did so pointing to biblical texts that called for the execution of blasphemers and insurrectionists (Deut. 21).

When the early Church rockets out of the upper room in Jerusalem, Satan is there, with false teachers, to preach all kinds of things that seem to be straight from God’s Word—from libertinism to legalism to hyper-spirituality to carnality. He never stops preaching.

Read the whole thing here.

Creation's Worship

The following words were written (originally in prose form) by Peter Leithart in the "Quodlibet" section of the current issue of Touchstone. I found them to be worthy of poetic form and took the liberty of arranging them so (I hope Dr. Leithart won't mind).

Creation's Worship
Peter Leithart, 2010

Why do birds sing at daybreak?
Why does frosted gravel sparkle
like diamonds in the sun?
Why do spring lilacs
cast their aroma out on the air?

Hearing, sight, smell -
all are senses that receive their pleasures
at a distance. But why?
For whom or what?

For us, no doubt.
Smells, sounds, and sights
draw us from a distance,
inviting us to draw near
to taste and touch.

But not only for us.
For the Christian,
the ultimate answer is liturgical.
Creation exists to offer praise to the Creator,
and in her worship,
the Church participates in that cosmic liturgy -
humanly articulating the sounds, sights, and aromas
that already ascend to heaven.

Edwards on Pride and Humility

An excellent quote from Jonathan Edwards on the difference between spiritual pride and Christian humility:

Spiritual pride tends to speak of other persons’ sins with bitterness or with laughter and levity and an air of contempt. But pure Christian humility rather tends either to be silent about these problems or to speak of them with grief and pity. Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others, but a humble Christian is most guarded about himself. He is as suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart. The proud person is apt to find fault with other believers, that they are low in grace, and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are and to be quick to note their deficiencies. But the humble Christian has so much to do at home and sees so much evil in his own heart and is so concerned about it that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts. He is apt to esteem others better than himself.

HT: Ray Ortlund

The Precious Blood of Christ

'Tis Jesus Precious Blood
William Irons, 1812-1883

What sacred fountain yonder springs
Up from the throne of God,
And all new cov'nant blessings brings?
'Tis Jesus' precious blood.

What mighty sum paid all my debt
When I a bondman stood,
And has my soul at freedom set?
'Tis Jesus' precious blood.

What stream is that which sweeps away
My sins just like a flood,
Nor lets one guilty blemish stay?
'Tis Jesus' precious blood.

What voice is that which speaks for me
In heav'n's high court for good,
And from the curse has set me free?
'Tis Jesus' precious blood.

What theme, my soul, shall best employ
Thy harp before thy God,
And make all heav'n to ring with joy?
'Tis Jesus' precious blood.

Confidence in the Bible, Not in Remnants of Ancient Timber

Al Mohler's article today on "Relics, Gopher Wood, and the Sufficiency of Scripture" is a helpful corrective for evangelicals who get more excited about suspicious archaeological finds than they do the Bible itself. Of course, he also reminds Roman Catholics that their fascination with relics both confuses the gospel and subverts the Bible's sufficiency. It's a worthwhile read.

Wrongly Applying Right Doctrine

A helpful reminder from J.I. Packer about wrongly applying right doctrine:

...a ministry which is wholly concerned with gospel truths can still go wrong by giving those truths an inaccurate application. Scripture is full of truth that will heal souls, just as a pharmacy is stocked with remedies for bodily disorders; but in both cases a misapplication of what, rightly used, will heal, will have a disastrous effect. If, instead of dabbing iodine on, you drink it, the effect will be the reverse of curative! And the doctrines of new birth and new life can be misapplied too, with unhappy results.

--Quoted in Knowing God, J.I. Packer

Unashamed Tears

The following poem was inspired by a conversation I had with a young man last week while in Romania. His unashamed tears flowed from the loss of his earthly father and the gain of a heavenly Father.

Manly Tears
© 2010, M. Justin Wainscott

There's no shame in a man crying.
In fact, there are times
When it's a shame for a man not to cry.
There is shame, though, in the man
Who has no good reasons for which to cry.

Prayers for Romania (Day 7)

Day 7

Please pray that we would have safe travel as we return to the States today.

And thank you so much for your prayers over the last few days!

Prayers for Romania (Day 6)

Day 6

Please pray for me as I preach today at Grace Baptist Church.

Prayers for Romania (Day 5)

Day 5

Please pray for both Josh and me as we preach several times today and tonight at a youth conference.

Prayers for Romania (Day 4)

Day 4

Please pray for me today as I will be training local pastors in the morning (on preaching and pastoral ministry) and preaching to a group of youth in the evening.

Prayers for Romania (Day 3)

Day 3

Please pray for Josh, a fellow pastor on our team, as he will be preaching tonight at Grace Baptist Church.

Prayers for Romania (Day 2)

Day 2

Please pray for renewed fellowship and continued partnership among the many Romanian brothers and sisters we will be meeting with today. Many of these men and women have been partnering with our church for more than a decade.

Prayers for Romania (Day 1)

I will be in Romania (the southwestern portion of the country) until May 10, training local pastors and preaching the gospel. I would certainly appreciate your prayers while I'm there. In order to better inform your prayers, I will provide a brief prayer point for each day of our trip. Thanks so much!

Day 1

Please pray that our team would have safe travel and arrive rested and ready to go.