Are We Preaching Christ or Talking About Christ?

Sobering words and a great reminder from Ray Ortlund. I always appreciate Ray's zeal for Christ and His gospel to be exalted. Read the original post here. 

“My wife always says the most important thing about the man as a preacher was, you didn’t notice him.  He came quietly into the pulpit, started quietly, and then something seemed to happen, and then you became absorbed in what he was saying. . . .

‘We beseech you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God’ (2 Corinthians 5:20).  Spirit-filled preaching — the preacher is in the background.  And something happens.  The worshiper, by the grace of God, is being spoken to by God and by the Word of God.  So Lloyd-Jones would often say, the difference between talking about Christ and preaching Christ, or talking about the gospel and actually preaching the gospel.  It’s a comparatively easy thing to talk about the gospel, but to really preach it is another thing. . . .

So many preachers have to start their sermon with a nice little anecdote or something interesting, to catch people’s attention.  That is a condemnation of the whole service.  If the service has really been in the presence of God, you don’t need to catch anyone’s attention. . . .

I love that quotation of John Knox.  It’s really a definition of the Reformation: ‘God gave his Holy Spirit to simple men in great abundance.’”

Recent 9Marks audio, Iain Murray interviewed by Mark Dever on “The Pastoral Practices of Martyn Lloyd-Jones.”

Are we pastors even thinking in these categories?

What is a Disciple?

What is a disciple? I think Dallas Willard offers a helpful definition. 

"A person who by the power of the Spirit has arranged their life under the life and teachings of Jesus"

A couple quick things that I like about this definition. 

1. A person does not become a disciple by their own power. It is God's gracious initiative. It is by the Spirit's power that we grow. 
2. Discipleship is arranges your LIFE. We have tendency to compartmentalize our spiritual life and our normal life, or our church life and our during the week life. Discipleship flows into all areas of life. It is all encompassing. It is an overarching identity. 
3. At the heart of discipleship is being under the life of Jesus. We are disciples by virtue of our union with Christ. As a disciple, our new life is found in Christ.  We are united to his death, wherein our old self is dead, and united in his resurrection, where we now have new life. If you want to see this. Read Paul's letters (especially Ephesians). 

Faith Will Become Sight

From the Epilogue of Jonathan Dodson's, "Gospel-Centered Discipleship." This was too good not to post.

"One day the fight will be over. Faith will become sight. Our image will be perfectly aligned with Christ's image. Our affection for Christ will be so strong that it will be chief among ten thousand. All competitors for his attention will bow before him, and we will recover a childish, yet mature delight that will never cease to thrill our souls. Every act will be a natural act of obedience sparked by joy. The warnings will fade and the promises will be fulfilled. Threats will no longer be necessary and rewards will abound. The Spirit will have full sway in our gladdened hearts as we live forever in Spirit-led worship. We will no longer lean toward performance or license. The gospel will be central forever. Our conversions will be complete, our community characterized by love, and our mission colored in worship. We will no longer know our sin, fight our sin, or struggle to trust our Savior. Until then, may God grant us his sovereign grace to fight the good fight of faith, for our joy, and for his eternal glory."

Basil the Great on the Holy Spirit

One of the most important Church Fathers, Basil the Great, writing about the Holy Spirit:

"If we ponder the meaning of His name, and the greatness of His deeds, and the multitude of blessings He has showered on us and on all creation, it is possible for us to understand at least partially the greatness of His nature and unapproachable power. He is named Spirit: "God is Spirit," and "the Spirit of our nostrils, the Lord's Anointed," He is called holy, as the Father is holy, and the Son is holy. For creatures, holiness comes from without; for the Spirit, holiness fills His very nature. He is not sanctified, but sanctifies. He is called good, as the Father is good; the essence of the Spirit embraces the goodness of the Father. He is called upright- the Lord my God is upright- but because he is truth and righteousness personified...The Spirit shares titles held in common by the Father and the Son; He receives these titles due to his natural and intimate relationship with them."


On HS, paragraph 48 (Anderson, 76). 

The Covenant of Redemption

"Thus in a marvelous way the doctrine of the covenant maintains God's sovereignty in the entire work of salvation. It far surpasses the covenant of works to the degree that Christ exceeds Adam. God's threefold being is manifest much more clearly in re-creation than in creation. It is the Father who conceives, plans and wills the works of salvation; it is the Son who guarantees it and effectively acquires it; it is the Spirit who implements and applies it. This entire work of salvation is God's work exclusively; nothing derives from humans, it is all pure grace and undeserved favor."

Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: Abridged in One Volume., page 402.

Assurance: Objectivity, Promise and Holy Spirit

The following texts are from Christopher J.H. Wright's Salvation Belongs to Our God. It is a short and clear outline of redemptive history, and the story of God's covenant with His people. His section on the assurance of salvation really gripped me, and taught me a lot. He outlines this section as follows.

Assurance comes from...
1. The Objectivity of the Story
2. The Promises of God
3. The Witness and Work of the Holy Spirit

....

The Objectivity of the Story

1. "Salvation is not something we ourselves do, feel, think, wish or achieve. If it were, then we might rightly doubt whether we have done enough to be sure of being saved. Or we might worry that we don't feel saved. But the Bible makes it clear that salvation is something that God has accomplished. That means our salvation is grounded in the objectivity of the story. By objectivity, I mean something that stands outside and independent of ourselves...So assurance of salvation comes not from trusting in my own faith for its own sake, but rather from trusting in the object of my faith - what God has actually done to make my salvation possible."

The Promises of God

2. Hebrews 6: 13-20 "For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."

"And you notice how the writer of Hebrews makes the example of Abraham relevant to us by saying at the end of the passage that we too can have the same rock-solid security in our faith because of the character and promise of God."

Romans 8: 28-30 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."

The Witness and Work of the Holy Spirit

3. "Is there not also a profoundly personal, internal, emotional and spiritual experience of salvation? Am I not actually supposed to feel saved? And of course the answer is a resounding and joyful 'YES'!...Then, once we have come into that new relationship with God through Christ, it is the Holy Spirit who bears witness within our own minds and hearts that it has indeed happened - that we have indeed been born again and have become children of God. God has made us sons and heirs, objectively. But it is the Spirit who gives us the inner assurance that it is indeed so, and our life of prayer, in which we call God 'Abba Father', as Jesus did, confirms that relationship."

Romans 8: 15-17 "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."

"So, another aspect of our assurance of salvation comes from the way our lives are being changed more and more into the image of Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit. As we begin to bear the fruit of the Spirit, and to exercise the gifts of the Spirit, and to 'walk in the Spirit', then we grow in our assurance of salvation because the evidence of that salvation at work within us is being seen in our lives."

Wholeness in Christ

A few selections from Charles Sherlock's 'Doctrine of Humanity'

"Wholeness is an idea which has gained much attention in recent decades, particularly in the light of the split that many, especially men, experience in living. Anything which contributes to holistic living is valued highly today, while dualistic impulses are vigorously avoided. Christian faith points to Jesus Christ as THE example of a whole life lived in full integrity, 'without sin'. The distinctive feature of the work of Christ is that he freely gave up his life, so that his wholeness might be offered to all... Salvation in Christ brings healing from the consequences of sin, a healing whose fullness awaits our resurrection but is anticipated in the present through the work of the Spirit."

Revival in Little Rock, AR

Revival: "God's quickening visitation of his people, touching their hearts and deepening his work of grace in their lives." J.I. Packer

An encouraging report of revival in Little Rock, AR. 

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Fulfilled in Jesus

 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, 

   “when I will make a new covenant  with the people of Israel 

   and with the people of Judah. 

It will not be like the covenant  I made with their ancestors 

when I took them by the hand  to lead them out of Egypt, 

because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them declares the LORD. 

 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel 

   after that time,” declares the LORD. 

“I will put my law in their minds  and write it on their hearts. 

I will be their God,  and they will be my people. 

No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ 

because they will all know me, 

   from the least of them to the greatest,” 

            declares the LORD. 

“For I will forgive their wickedness 

   and will remember their sins no more.”

God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah of a New Covenant that He would make with His people. It would be a new and better covenant. Whereas with the Old Covenant, God gave His people the law. Yet, they were never able to obey. They're hearts were sinful. They needed a heart transplant. With the Old Covenant, sin caused a separation of intimacy between God and His people. Though God was their husband, though He brought them out of Egypt, and gave them a King (David), and the prophets, Israel repeatedly turned from knowing God in an intimate way, as we were all created to know him. With the Old Covenant, God's people had to constantly atone for their sins through repeated sacrifices. They needed animal sacrifices and the work of the high priests for forgiveness.

However, the in the New Covenant, God fulfilled these things in Jesus. Through the New Covenant, we have a new experience of obedience, a new experience of intimacy with God, and a new experience of forgiveness. The Son came from heaven to earth, taking on human flesh, died on the cross, and resurrected in order to give us this new experience; in order that He would be our God, and we would be His people. 

In the New Covenant, we are united to Christ, and are therefore indwelled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives us a new heart and new life. In our old life, we loved sin. We lived according to the flesh, according to the world. Our taste buds were for sin. Our delight was in sin. Yet, through Jesus, the Spirit dwells in us. The Spirit gives us new hearts; hearts that desire and long to obey God. The Spirit gives us new taste buds. Whereas in the past, sin tasted so good to our souls, it now is disgusting. Our taste buds long to feast on the things of God. We live according to the Spirit. God's law is no longer a burden, but it is a delight. It has been written on our hearts. (Romans 8)

In the New Covenant, we are united to Christ and therefore have an deep intimacy with God. Whereas before, sin and death inhibited us from having fellowship with God. Now, Jesus is our covenant representative. We have access to God through Christ. We were once enemies, but have been made friends. We were once fatherless, but are now called Sons/Daughters! The natural intimacy that Adam and Eve had with God before they rebelled can now be experienced. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me" (John 10:14), and "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." (John 14:7)

Lastly, in the New Covenant, we have a new experience of forgiveness. This forgiveness is different from the Old Covenant in that it is COMPLETE. It is complete in that this sacrifice was once for all. It was for ALL the sins of His people. No longer would God's people have to look to repeated sacrifices of atonement for forgiveness. Rather, with the New Covenant, they would look to their New Covenant representative for forgiveness. The Son came to earth, and died as the all time sacrifice for sins. Our sin greatly angers God. Our sin deserves wrath. It deserves punishment. That is why in the Old Testament, people had to constantly atone for their sins. Something had to pay the price. God is just. Sin can't go unnoticed. But the gospel tells us that God has made a new Covenant, where He would do the most radical thing. His Son would come to earth, and take the once for all punishment for our sins. Even though we have been unfaithful from the beginning. God so loved the world that He (the Son) sacrificed himself on the Cross for His people's sins, once and for all. Let's look at a few verses from Hebrews and Romans...

"he (Jesus) entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats or calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption."  Hebrews 9:12

"But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrews 9:27

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith" Romans 3:23-25

"having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14

The Importance of Being Under the Word

Absent in body and in spirit?

"For though I am absent in body, 

yet I am with you in spirit, 

rejoicing to see your good order 

and the firmness of your faith in Christ."

Colossians 2:5

A quick observation about this passage. Throughout Paul's letter to the Colossians, he expresses his deep pastoral concern for them. Earlier in the chapter Paul mentions how he has gladly suffered for the sake of the Colossians and how he struggles for them. He even says he struggles and suffers for those whom he has never even met! He is deeply connected to these people. Looking at the verse at hand, we again see Paul's deep connectedness to his people. Even though he is not there physically, his heart and thoughts are with them. He is with them in spirit. 

I bring this up because we live in a culture where most people are often absent both physically and in spirit. In this digital era, our attention is more likely to be grasped by a screen than by people. Even when we are with people physically, we really aren't 'all there'. We might be with people, but our spirit is absent. We are with our cell phones, and laptops, and TV's. Our 'physical' presence is more likely to take the form of text messaging, or facebook than it is a deep spiritual connectedness. Even when Paul wasn't physically there, he was still deeply connected in spirit. In our culture, we lack to be present in both. We lack physical presence in each others lives. Parents get divorced. Kid's don't spend time with their families. People spend more time watching TV than connecting with people. Everything is privatized. And like I said, even when we are 'with people' half the time we are usually texting someone else who isn't even there. We are absent both physically and spiritually. We are all guilty of this. 

So how do we get back to this deep connectedness that Paul seemed to have? It all starts with the Gospel. The Gospel gives us a deep connectedness to God. In turn, we then will have a deeper connectedness to people, because we are united in Christ. The Gospel unites us as believers as we share in the same Spirit. Also, the Gospel gives us the only real motivation to reach out and connect and love people in a deep way, the way in which Paul did. The motivation is this. When we were disconnected, Christ reached out in the ultimate way to re-connect us to the Father. The Son reached out by coming to earth, taking on human flesh, living the perfect life, dying the death that we deserved for our disconnection, and then resurrected, so that our original connectedness that we had in the beginning (Adam and Eve) can be restored. When we were far off and disconnected, God died for us to connect us. To bring us back in. That is beautiful. That is why the Gospel transforms community in a radical way. That is why the Apostle Paul has such a deep connectedness to the Colossians. This verse is an encouragement for me to pursue real relationships. To be deeply connected to people, not facebook. Legitimate connection is found and motivated only in the Gospel. In the words of Jim Elliot, 

"Where ever you are, be all there"

Walking in a Manner Pleasing to Him

"so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. ¹¹May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light." Colossians 1:10-12

What does it mean to walk in a worthy manner of the Lord, in a way that is pleasing to him?

According to God's Word, it means.....

1) Bearing good fruit

2) Increasing in our knowledge of Him

3) Being strengthened by His power

4) Giving Thanks

Moreover, Paul writes that it is God who qualifies us. We bear good fruit because God's seed has been planted in us, and we are new creations. We now live by the indwelling Spirit, who produces good fruit in us. We Increase in knowledge according to what He lovingly reveals to His children. We are strengthened by His power according to His glorious might. We give thanks because of what He is doing in and through us.

Yet, we are to walk this way. We are called to act. We are to press on to live a life pleasing to God. But we do this by looking to God himself, as the source and qualifier of our faith, who, by His grace, will enable us to bear good fruit, increase in knowledge, be strengthened and give thanks.

What Makes us Disciples?

What really makes us disciples of Christ?

Some might say it is primarily

• acting in obedience to God (going/serving in church)
• having the right doctrine
• having the right feelings toward God (experience)
• trying hard to follow God

These are all connected to true discipleship, but fail to get at the core of what being an actual disciple of Christ is. The core of what makes us a disciple is the Life of God in the soul of man. Many (I dare to say most) people who consider themselves Christians, consider themselves as such because they are generally "good" people and "try hard to obey". However, these notions of what it means to be a disciple deflate the reality of John 3:3 that "unless they are born again, they can't see the kingdom of God." The Gospel of Jesus Christ demands change. It is impossible to come to any true knowledge of God without a complete overhaul of one's nature. That's why being a disciple is more than just trying hard and attempting to be obedient to God's commands. We can't change ourselves and our attempts to do so always fail. We are only made disciples by the Life of God taking root in our souls, thus causing us to be born again.

The Apostle Paul writes, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ..." (2 Corinthians 5:17). We see here, that this new life is only given by God. Moreover, this new life is supernaturally given through Christ. We are reconciled to God through our union with Christ. The only way for us to have a complete overhaul of our nature, and thus become disciples, is by Christ supernaturally causing us to be born again into new creations through His power, manifested in His law fulfilling life, sin defeating death, and life giving resurrection.

In other words, being united to Christ is what makes us His disciples. Not human effort, not behavior modification, and not a warm fuzzy feeling. It is the supernatural indwelling of God in the soul of the believer. This is called union with Christ, and it is the grounds for our

• Justification: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" Romans 8:1
• Sanctification: "and from him you yourselves are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom for us from God, and righteosness and sanctification and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30
• New Life: "But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness." Romans 8:10
• Glorification: "God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by His power" 1 Corinthians 6:14

"Because I live, you also will live. In that day, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." --John 14:20

What Do You Rejoice In?

"What you rejoice in is the thing that is your central sweetness and consolation in life. To rejoice is to treasure a thing, to assess its value to you, to reflect on its beauty and importance until your heart rests in it and tastes the sweetness of it."

Tim Keller

What do you rejoice in? The Bible says we are to 'rejoice' and 'delight' in God. Sometimes I wonder why it often so hard for me to do this. It is far easier for me to get excited, and treasure watching my favorites athlete (Derrick Rose) take over a game in the 4th quarter and lead his team to victory. I have no problem delighting in earning good grades, or having a good time with friends. This sunday, I will be quick to rejoice when the Bears score. But why is it so hard for me to delight in God? Why is reading the Bible more like pulling teeth than it is a joyful delight. Why am I more drawn and enamored with stuff instead of God and His Word. Why do I often times delight in trivial 'things' more than God.

At a fundamental level, it is because I do not fully believe the Gospel. I think Tim Keller's quote hits the nail on the head. We delight in something because it is valuable to us, because we have assessed it's beauty and treasure it. If this is true, the reason I don't delight in God is that I have failed to properly assess God's value and the true treasure that He is. I have failed to see the beauty of the Gospel. In my few moments of Gospel sanity, when for a moment, I taste the overwhelming goodness of the Father expressed through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on my behalf, in those moments, I am apt to delight in God. During those glimpses of grace (shout out Erik Most), I experience the fullness of joy that is in Christ.

However, in order to do this, we must properly assess the value of the Gospel. Tim Keller defines the Gospel as the fact that we are far worse, and far more hopeless than we could ever imagine, yet, in Christ, we are more loved and accepted than we could ever hope. In order to assess the value of the Gospel, we must understand both sides. If we don't see ourselves as utterly sinful, naked, blind, poor, lost, miserable souls, who if it weren't for the sheer grace of God, would be justly consumed by His wrath, the Gospel will never be valuable to us. It will never be good news. There is a reason Jesus said, "He who is forgiven little, loves little. But he who is forgiven much, loves much". Grace won't be amazing to us unless we realize what we've been saved from. A shackled slave who is redeemed rejoices. A beggar who has been adopted by the King and made into a Son rejoices. Someone who thinks they are a generally good person and deserves salvation on their merit does not rejoice.

More so, we will only be able to rightly rejoice in God when we realize God's absolute benevolence towards His children. If you are in Christ, you are beloved. You are more loved than you can imagine. Christians should rejoice in God because they have been saved from their utter state of sin and brought into the glorious light. We were unlovely, but we have been loved by the most lovely. Love to the loveless shown, that we might lovely be. When I dwell on this, I treasure God above all else. Knowing both ends, that we are utterly sinful and hopeless, yet completely loved and secure in Christ's finished work, will cause us to rightly assess the Gospel's value, to rightly treasure it, and to see its pure beauty. And when this happens, we will rejoice and delight in God.

I pray God will continue to illuminate my heart to the true treasure that Christ is, and the absolute beauty of the Gospel; that God saves messed up sinners.