Monthly Archives: February 2015

What Faithful Preaching Looks Like

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WY, writes:

Faithful Bible preaching is not always easy to find. In some churches the Bible is barely opened, much less preached. And even when it is preached, how do we know that what is happening is faithful and helpful by God’s standards? Things like our feelings or filled pews, for example, are not good barometers.

The following will make a few suggestions on where to start. This is not all that constitutes biblically faithful preaching, but a few things which we should observe as the Bible is opened and preached:

1. A total submission to the Bible.

What the Apostle commanded Timothy, and, all who would stand in a pulpit thereafter, is pretty simple: “preach the word” (2 Tim 4:2). The “word” is that God-given body of Scripture.

The biblical idea of “preach,” comes from the role of a keryx, or “herald.” The job of the keryx was simple: in subjection to their sending superior and by the authority of their master, deliver the message, which did not originate with them, and do so authoritatively, without altering it in any way. He was merely an executive instrument and mouthpiece of his master, entrusted to deliver the message exactly as received (TDNT, 3:687). The herald/preacher demonstrated his subjection to his master by proclaiming the message.

So it is to be with preaching the Bible.

Being a subject of God, the preacher understands that he is a subject of every word of God. He is a servant of the text.

The content of the sermon, then, should demonstrate subjection to the text of Scripture. It should be clear that things like outlines, explanation, illustrations, and applications are derived from the text. Any stories and illustrations, while not taking center stage, purposely serve the text, and not the opposite.

Helpful preaching will have content which also fits into the larger context of the Bible. It will be consistent with major, redemptive theological threads (e.g. God’s sovereignty, sovereign grace, depravity of man, the glory and supremacy of God, the Person and finished work of Christ).

Finally, faithful preaching will demonstrate a spiritual submission to the text. At times, the preacher demonstrates personal conviction of his own sin consequent of subjection to the text.

2. An avoidance of aimless meandering.

Biblical preaching is like taking a group of hikers on a tour of a majestic mountain landscape. As far as the hike goes, the tour guide knows the route well. He has walked it himself, slowly, carefully, and observantly. He has wrestled with various cruxes. He may have gotten lost a few times, but eventually found his way. And he is not interested in creating new landmarks and geographical features on the route, but simply and enthusiastically pointing out the already-existing features. He may move faster in some areas and slower in others, while observing a clearly-marked beginning and end to the hike.

So it is in preaching. As the preacher opens the word, he identifies the features of the text. Things like outline points in the sermon are akin to those significant junctures and landmarks in a hike. The preacher does not create them, but merely identifies the beauty of what is in the text, while bringing things to a close, transitioning, and moving to the next, and so on. All the while, the hearers, like those being led on the hike, have some idea of where they are going. Continue reading →

Foundations of Assurance

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Many Christians base their assurance of salvation on false premises. This Scriptural guide reveals the certain hope that is provided in Christ himself.

HANDOUT SERMON NOTES

Someone might well say “There’s no way anyone can know if there is life after death or if there is a heaven or hell, and there’s certainly no way to know whether you are going to one of those places or the other.”

In to the quagmire of human opinion steps a man called Jesus Christ who makes audacious claims – claims that if not true make him less than a good teacher, symptoms but either a liar who has deceived billions of people, a lunatic (madman)… or else, He is exactly who He claimed to be.

Text: John 14:1-6

Assurance is built in much the same way as a house, brick by brick, laying one truth upon another.

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD – Romans 1 – God does not believe in atheists! God has made the evidence of His existence known to man – all know it but many suppress it.

GOD’S REVELATION – THE BIBLE – It is not a scientific text book as such but when Scripture makes claims that can be attested by science, it stands the test of time in a remarkable (supernatural) way. It is centuries and millennia ahead of its time.

Earth – a circle (Isa 40:22), hung on nothing (Job 26:7) – the moon a reflector of light (does not shine (Job 25:5) – the fact that air has weight (Job 28:24, 25) – time zones (a moment in time that will be night time for some and daytime for others – Luke 17:31-37) – the number of stars “cannot be numbered) Jer 33:20-22) – the water cycle (Ecc 1:6, 7) – Life is in the blood (Lev 17:11) – strict hygiene and sanitation laws (found in Leviticus 13:45-59)) that kept Israel from the spread of disease millennia before germs were discovered (its only in the last 100 years that the regular washing of hands became standard practice in hospitals) – atoms and molecules (things unseen) (Heb 11:3) – ocean currents (Isaiah 43:16; Psalm 8:8) – archaeology – fulfilled prophecy… (Christ, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, His cross and resurrection (Psalm 22; Isa 53), etc. etc.)

JESUS CHRIST – HIS PERSON AND HIS WORK – He existed in history – In a communist Russian dictionary, Jesus is described as “a mythical figure who never existed.” Of course, no serious historian could hold to that position today. The evidence is overwhelming as to the fact that Jesus existed, not just from the Gospels and other Christian literature around the first century, but also from non-Christian sources.
Well respected historians of the day, including Tacitus (a Roman) speak of him, as well as the noted Jewish historian Josephus. He writes

“Now there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him, both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians so named after him, are not extinct at this day.” Josephus: Antiquities XVIII 63f

Of course, a whole book is needed to cover all the evidence regarding the existence of Jesus. In fact, Josh McDowelI has already written one, called “He walked among us.” Suffice it to say that there is overwhelming evidence to say that Jesus was a real historical person. Continue reading →

What’s different about the New Covenant?

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An excerpt from a promise which found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ:

NKJ Jeremiah 31:31-32 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.”

Here the Lord says that the New Covenant will be different than the Old Covenant which the the people of Israel broke, and He implies that the difference will be that it will be an unbreakable covenant. That this is so – and how it is so – becomes clear in the following verses:

NKJ Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

The New Covenant will not be like the old, breakable covenant because God will ensure that those who participate in the New Covenant have the law within their hearts. Indeed, there will be no one who has partaken of the New Covenant who does not have a new heart. Ezekiel put it this way:

NKJ Ezekiel 36:26-27 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

So we can have assurance that we will be preserved in covenant faithfulness such that we will never lose the blessings of the New Covenant, and this will come about through the gift of the Holy Spirit and the transformation of our hearts. But there is more:

NKJ Jeremiah 31:34 “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

There are two New Covenant blessings mentioned here:

First, unlike the Old Covenant, everyone who is a member of the New Covenant community knows the Lord.

Second, unlike the Old Covenant, everyone who is a member of the New Covenant has his sins forgiven.

It is clear that when God says that all in the New Covenant will know Him, He does not just mean that they will know about Him, but rather that they will have a personal relationship with Him as believers who have been forgiven by Him.

The Crusades

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Few incidents in the history of the church are as controversial as the Crusades. The tragic loss of life that resulted from this movement has, sadly, discredited the Christian faith in the eyes of many. Today, Christians are sometimes uncertain about how they should view or react to this chapter in history. In this lecture, Dr. Godfrey offers valuable insight about how Christians can best understand and learn from this dramatic period in the church’s past.

Inerrancy Defended

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From the recent G3 Conference:

Dr. James White. 1st Message: “Unashamed of Inerrancy: Jesus’ Plain, Unquestionable Teaching on the Authority of Scripture”

2015 G3 Conference – James White from Josh Buice on Vimeo.

Dr. James White. 2nd Message: “Harmonization Isn’t For Wimps: Allowing Ancient Texts to Speak For Themselves Is Hard Work”

2015 G3 Conference – James White (2) from Josh Buice on Vimeo.

Why the Bible?

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bible-preaching-300x207In an article entitled “How Do You Know the Scriptures are from God? One Testimony in the Early Church” we need to be able to answer this question when asked.

Let me say from the outset that there is not just one answer to this question. I think there are many ways that Christians can come to know the Scriptures are from God. God can certainly use historical evidences to convince us of the truth of his Word (though it is important to understand the limitations of evidence). And God can use the testimony of the church to convince us of the truth of his Word (I cover the details of this in Canon Revisited).

But, it is noteworthy that throughout the history of the church many Christians have ascertained the divine origins of the Bible in yet another way: its internal qualities. Apparently some Christians were persuaded of the Bible’s authority by reading it and observing its distinctive character and power.

Tatian is one such Christian. Tatian was a second-century Christian thinker, a disciple of Justin Martyr, and the author of an apologetic work known as Oration to the Greeks (c.165). In this work, Tatian makes his case for the truth of Christianity. During one section, he lays out his personal conversion story and recounts how he carefully examined all the pagan religious writings and found them incoherent, problematic, and, sometimes, downright evil. But, then he happened to come across the Scriptures and began to read:

I was led to put my faith in these by the unpretending cast of the language, the inartificial character of the writers, the foreknowledge displayed of future events, the excellent quality of the precepts, and the declaration of the government of the universe as centered on one Being. And my soul being taught of God, I discern that the former class of [pagan] writings lead to condemnation, but that these [Scriptures] put an end to the slavery that is in the world (29).

This is a profound statement. Tatian, the impressive intellect that he was, was not persuaded by historical evidence nor from the testimony of the church (though, as noted above, both are legitimate when appropriately utilized), but by the internal qualities of the Scriptures themselves. There was something about the Scriptures that came alive to him. How did he discern this? As he indicates, “my soul being taught of God.” Presumably this is a reference to the work of the Holy Spirit.

And Tatian was not the only one who thought like this. One century later, Origen says something very similar: Continue reading →

Understanding 1 Timothy 2:4

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What-Abouts-Cover-High-ResChapter 10 of my book “Twelve What Abouts.”

WHAT ABOUT 1 TIMOTHY 2:4?

How can Sovereign election be true when 1 Timothy 2:4 clearly says that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”?

In the previous chapter, in doing so, be lost forever. Once again, much could be said for this interpretation. Yet once again, I believe a close examination of the text itself points us in a different direction, which I will seek to outline here.

Before I do so, let me just say that it is entirely possible to go for many years without asking questions about a text of Scripture because we assume we have already understood it. This is the very hallmark of tradition. Blind to our own assumptions we see no need to look at the text objectively and see if our understanding of the text can be verified by the text itself. However, if we take a deep breath and summon up the courage to ask the simple question, “What does the context tell us about the use of the word “all” here in this text?” I believe we will come away with the correct interpretation. Actually, it is absolutely vital we do this because context tells us how a word is being used.

THE MEANING OF THE WORD “ALL”

The word translated “all” in 1 Timothy 2:4 is the Greek word “pas.” As I also mentioned in the last chapter, sometimes the word “all” refers to all people everywhere. On other occasions it means “all kinds” or “all classes or types” or “all within a certain type or class.”

In the same letter, written obviously by the same author, Paul, we read the very familiar words of chapter 6 and verse 10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil…” (KJV).

More modern scholarship recognizes that the word “pas” sometimes means “all” and sometimes means “all types” or “all kinds,” depending on the context in which it is found. Therefore the ESV translation of 1 Timothy 6:10 is “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” The NASB says, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil…” The NIV reads, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Again, the Greek word “pas” can mean “all types” or “all kinds.”

I mention this because when we examine 1 Timothy 2:4, I believe the word “all” is being used in a similar sort of way, referring to “all types” of people. I say this based on the context.

Here is the passage in 1 Timothy 2:1-4: Continue reading →