Get the gospel in there.

The Gospel is what we are to proclaim. Obviously, it ought to be central then to our lives and message. In numerous places on this blog I have referred to what it is, so I won't reiterate it here. No, what I want to talk about here is how central the message of the gospel of the cross of Christ needs to be in preaching. There are a ton of reasons for this, but here is just one.

The Bible is not our message, though the message is in our Bibles. It seems to me that we who are passionate about getting our exegesis right forget a cardinal rule: context--specifically, context at a macro level. We are quick to make sure that the verse we are looking at is understood in light of the sentences around it, the flow of the rest of the book and the intent of the author in that book (especially in the epistles) and as long as we have our exegesis right within that scope we've done our job. And this is right and good to do. But at a macro level, we have to not only look at the context of the verse in the chapter in the book; but also the context of the book in the Bible.

What is the Bible about? We cannot preach rightly without taking that into consideration. In numerous places we find Jesus telling people that the Bible is about Him. On the road to Emmaus after his resurrection Jesus said the scriptures were about him. To the pharisees in John he scolded them for studying the scriptures because they thought the right understanding of them gave them eternal life but they missed it because they didn't see that the scriptures were about him. In 1 Corinthians 15, the gospel is outlined "according to the scriptures"--that Christ's death was foretold there. Paul reminds us that his central message was the cross and that he wanted to know nothing more than Jesus and him crucified among his hearers. In 2 Corinthians, the ministry of every believer is the ministry of reconciliation--the gospel of God restoring his relationship with man through the cross. This is what the bible is about. This is what we ought to be about. It is the only hope for those sick with sin.

When our preaching does not drip with blood of the Lamb, what then have we proclaimed? The blood of Christ must splatter upon those who hear our message or our message is not the message of the Bible. Lord give us blood-soaked preachers.

More Old News

This time in song. You may have to imagine the melody. Because of a gifted friend, I don't. If he finishes what he's started, others will get to hear it too. I'm looking forward to that day but this song points to an even better one. Oh what hope we have!

Let us love and sing and wonder,
Let us praise the Savior's Name!
He has hushed the law's loud thunder,
He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame.
He has washed us with His blood,
He has brought us nigh to God.

Let us love the Lord Who bought us,
Pitied us when enemies,
Called us by His grace, and taught us,
Gave us ears and gave us eyes:
He has washed us with His blood,
He presents our souls to God.

Let us sing, though fierce temptation
Threaten hard to bear us down!
For the Lord, our strong Salvation,
Holds in view the conqueror's crown:
He Who washed us with His blood
Soon will bring us home to God.

Let us wonder; grace and justice
Join and point to mercy's store;
When through grace in Christ our trust is,
Justice smiles and asks no more:
He Who washed us with His blood
Has secured our way to God.

Let us praise, and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high;
Here they trusted Him before us,
Now their praises fill the sky:
“Thou hast washed us with Your blood;
Thou art worthy, Lamb of God!'

Hark! the Name of Jesus, sounded
Loud, from golden harps above!
Lord, we blush, and are confounded,
Faint our praises, cold our love!
Wash our souls and songs with blood,
For by Thee we come to God.

The Old Good News--Again

This is why I try to find the things I try to find and post on this blog.

The Gospel and Ministries of Mercy

An article by Tim Keller on the gospel and how it plays out in ministry to the poor. An excerpt:

So what does it mean to be committed to the primacy of the gospel? It means first that the gospel must be proclaimed. Many today denigrate the importance of this. Instead, they say, the only true apologetic is a loving community; people cannot be reasoned into the kingdom, they can only be loved. "Preach the gospel. Use words if necessary." But while Christian community is indeed a crucial and powerful witness to the truth of the gospel, it cannot replace preaching and proclamation. Nevertheless, the primacy of the gospel also means that it is the basis and mainspring for Christian practice, individually and corporately, inside the church and outside. Gospel ministry is not only proclaiming it to people so that they will embrace and believe it; it is also teaching and shepherding believers with it so that it shapes the entirety of their lives, so that they can "live it out." And one of the most prominent areas that the gospel effects is our relationship to the poor.

Chan: Preaching and Teaching Preparation

From the DG Blog:


In his message at the National Conference, Francis Chan highlighted the importance of loving the people to whom he preaches. He mentioned seven questions that he asks himself in preparing to preach. Here are the seven questions:

1. Am I worried about what people think of my message or what God thinks? (Teach with fear)
2. Do I genuinely love these people? (Teach with love)
3. Am I accurately presenting this passage? (Teach with accuracy)
4. Am I depending on the Holy Spirit's power or my own cleverness? (Teach with power)
5. Have I applied this message to my own life? (Teach with integrity)
6. Will this message draw attention to me or to God? (Teach with humility)
7. Do the people really need this message? (Teach with urgency)

Theological Triage

Al Mohler on prioritizing which doctrines are essential, which are important, and which are less important.

Biblical Counseling

I actually can't believe I didn't post this link given that I spent so much time listening to these this summer. David Powlison did a seminar at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. It is four parts. Here is part one. You can poke around on the site for parts 3-4.

Sin so that grace may increase. Well, maybe not. But...

 Adding to Our Sins While Repenting of Them

Spurgeon, writing reflectively on Ephesians 2:8-9--

What does faith exclude? Well, I am sure it excludes boasting. 'He that believeth is not condemned' (John 3:18). Oh, if it said, 'He that works is not condemned,' then you and I might boast in unlimited quantity. . . .

No, Lord, if I am not condemned, it is Your free grace, for I have deserved to be condemned a thousand times since I sat down to write this. When I am on my knees and I am not condemned, I am sure it must be sovereign grace, for even when I am praying, I deserve to be condemned. Even when we are repenting, we are sinning, and adding to our sins while we are repenting of them. . . .

Our best performances are so stained with sin that it is hard to know whether they are good works or bad works. . . . Ah, then, we cannot boast! Be gone, pride! Be gone! Quit boasting, Christian. Live humbly before your God, and never let a word of self-congratulation escape your lips.

--Charles Spurgeon, Faith (Whitaker House 1995), 88
 Thanks RP.

The Importance of Ignoring Your Wife

That is--ignore her in order to worship Christ. Here is what I mean...

As men placed in nurturing authority over our families and homes, we often fail to do what we should to lead well. Sometimes we do poorly, and sometimes we do really poorly. And to one degree or another, our/my failures in this area result in a kind of amplification of my wife's insecurities (which is not at all to say we men don't have our own insecurities). Her discontent or discouragement may lead her to be more open to the temptations to find comfort or security in other things--perhaps a more certain financial situation, or a better-suited home, or more money in the emergency fund, or some new clothes, or any other number of things. Then, when we men become aware of these desires for these kinds of things, we can aim to remedy the situation by working in whatever way to provide the very things she wants to feel more secure or desirable.

At least two problems arise at this point. First, we may not want to do those things. We may not have energy or resources even if we did want to. Second, we're enabling her fall into the temptation and sin of seeking security outside of Christ. And furthermore, give it enough time and you'll see (or you already know)--this simply doesn't work. She doesn't grow more secure.

So the remedy is this: ignore your wife. That is, ignore these messages that she may overtly or subtly send and instead, worship God every chance you get. Sing to God. Pray to God. Confess to God. Read the Word of God. Get into meaningful relationship with another man of God. Worship God. Worship is the only way we'll be transformed into the kind of men and husbands who will be courageous enough to be humble enough to pray with our wives (though we haven't in years), and to lead in our homes, and teach the Word in our homes and live and love sacrificially in our homes, and lovingly guide our wives in the gospel that will save both them and us from finding security and meaning outside of Christ.

So ignore--or better yet, wage war to keep your sights on the real battlefield--your worship, and not on the side skirmishes that sap your energy for the real fight of faith.