This past weekend, Desiring God hosted its annual national conference.  The topic this year, marking the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth, was “With Calvin in the Theater of God.”

All the audio and video has been posted, and you may access it at either Desiring God, or the conference website, Theater of God.

The Gospel of John is the record of God’s Love toward mankind and His difficulty of conveying that Love. Jesus greatest opposition came not from sinners, but the religious.

Running time: 1 hr 6 min

For the pdf notes on this sermon, click HERE.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit came upon our communion service the week before. This sermon was preached when church members pursued donuts and coffee instead of the Presence of God.

Running time: 1 hr 1 min

For the pdf notes on this sermon, click HERE.

God commanded His people to eat the Passover meal prepared for the deliverance that would follow.

In the New Testament, we are to receive communion prepared for the freedom Christ provided.

Running time: 1 hr 7 min

For the pdf notes on this sermon, click HERE.

This morning I caught up on some blog reading (I only check them sporadically these days).  Here are a variety of links that I found interesting and beneficial:

• Al Mohler, “The Delay of Marriage and the Decline of Church Attendance”
• Al Mohler, “The Real Population Threat”
• “How to Pray for Joni Eareckson Tada” (and many others who suffer):
  • Pray that my fragile bones become stronger.
  • Ask God to infuse courage into my heart daily!
  • Over all, my pain levels are getting much better but still, please pray away any anxiety.
  • Help me not to become me-centered when I’m in pain!
  • Pain medication is never fun to take. Pray that soon and very soon I won’t have to lean as heavily on it.
  • Plead to God that I might know Jesus better through all of this and not “waste” my sufferings!!
• Ligonier’s annual conference (this year’s theme was “The Holiness of God”) was held recently and the videos have been made available to watch for free (among the speakers were R. C. Sproul, Al Mohler, Steve Lawson, Sinclair Ferguson, Ligon Duncan, Alister Begg, and Thabite Anyibwele).
• Free audio sermons by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• Some new or soon to be released books that look to be compelling reading:
  • Jonathan Morrow, Welcome to College: A Christ-Follower’s Guide for the Journey (a brief review and the author’s website)
  • Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice
  • Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something:  A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will
  • Nancy Guthrie, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter
    
• William Zinsser, “Visions and Revisions” (he is the author of the classic book On Writing Well)
• Theological Word of the Day — including movements, people, and theological and biblical terms

A list of collected resources, interesting articles, and even an opportunity or two from the last week:

• Allister Begg’s conference for pastors is always interesting and helpful.  I’ve listened to the audio for the last two or three years, and this year one of the speakers is a guy named Piper.  Hmmm.  I won’t be able to make it, but you do know I’ll listen!
• One reason I cannot attend that conference is that I’ve filled up my conference schedule this year with the Shepherds’ Conference and a Nine Marks Weekender.  Pray that the things I’m exposed to and taught and reminded of will not only increase my knowledge of God, but also equip me to be a more able servant of our church body.
• A leftover Valentine “sweet” from the good folks at Desiring God.
• “It Takes More Than a Recession to End Consumption”
  
• “Quieter Killings:  Physician-assisted suicide is spreading beyond Oregon’s borders”
• A couple particularly helpful blogs from Al Mohler:
  • The Palin Parable — Bristol Says Abstinence “Not Realistic At All”
  • Charles Darwin and the Modern Mind

I have recently listened to the majority of the audio from two recent conferences; both of these sets are worth hearing.  The Bethlehem conference featured Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, addressing the topic of evangelism (which was also the topic of a recent book by Dever).

The Sola conference addressed the reformation truth of justification by faith alone — an important topic.  Lawson is a dynamic and powerful preacher.  These are also worthy sermons.

• Bethlehem Baptist Pastor’s Conference — Commending Christ:
  • Mark Dever, “The Need for Evangelism”
  • Mark Dever, “The Pastor and Evangelism”
  • Mark Dever, “The Church and Evangelism”
  • John Piper, “I Will Not Be a Velvet-Mouthed Preacher!” The Life and Ministry of George Whitefield
  • Mark Chandler, “A Shepherd and His Unregenerate Sheep”
  • Michael Oh, “Missions as Fasting:  The Forsaking of Things Present for the Global Exaltation of Christ”
  • Q & A
• Sola Fide Conference:
  • Steve Lawson, “Sola Fide: The Centerpiece of the Reformation”
  • Steve Lawson, “The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards”
  • Steve Lawson, “How Can a Man Be Right with God?”
  • James White, “The Empty Hand of Faith”
  • James White, “Introduction to Islam”
  • James White, “How Then Shall We Live?”

On February 1, Grace Community Church will celebrate the 40th anniversary of John MacArthur’s pastorate there.

In what he called a “pre-emptive strike,” he offered three sermons that provided the reasons for the success of this church:

• “Foundations of Grace, Part 1: The Glory of God”
• “Foundations of Grace, Part 2: The Lordship of Christ”
• “Foundations of Grace, Part 3: The Design of the Spirit for the  Church”

These are not just the reasons for the success of that church, but they will also be at the heart of any successful church — God’s glory, the preservation of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Not only has the Shepherds’ Fellowship (a resource outgrowth of the Shepherds’ Conference held annually at Grace Community Church in Southern California) redesigned their website, but they have also made available all the audio from 2001 – 2008 for free!  In order to access the audio, you will need to create an account, but that too is free.

This should be a resource that will prove to be very helpful.

Also redesigned is the daily web-zine called “Pulpit Magazine.” While it no longer appears to be available as an email delivery, you can read it online, or subscribe to it through a reader.  This magazine addresses many helpful topics — it really is worth checking on a regular basis.

Here are a variety of interesting links that I’ve noted over the past couple of weeks, but haven’t been able to work into a blog:

• Justin Taylor synthesized a detailed response to Newsweek’s recent article, “Our Mutual Joy,” denigrating the Biblical position that opposes homosexual marriage.
• Al Mohler has also offered a variety of responses to this article.
  • “Turning the Bible on its Head — Newsweek Goes for Gay Marriage”
  • “NPR’s ‘Talk of the Nation’ — The Real Issues in the Newsweek Debate”
• “Time.  Redeemed.” by C. J. Mahaney (a synthesis of an article by R. C. Sproul)
• Sinclair Ferguson: An Angel’s View of Christmas — I haven’t had a chance to listen to these yet, but the titles sound intriguing, and I have always enjoyed Ferguson’s preaching.
• Free audio book: Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God (a biography).  This is available only during the month of January.

Two new sermons on the Incarnation with one to follow.

The Miracle of The Incarnation

The Miracle of The Incarnation 1

The Miracle of The Incarnation 2

Part Three (to come later)

Why Faith?

Why Faith? 2

A few weeks ago I noted that Grace to You, the publishing ministry of John MacArthur is making available all the sermons they have archived on their website for free.

I noticed a couple days ago that you can also receive MacArthur’s current Sunday sermons and daily radio program by podcast (meaning the sermons will be automatically downloaded to your favorite podcast software).

All the information you need is located at the podcast section of the Grace to You website.

Next year marks the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth.  A number of books are being published already as biographical retrospectives of his life.

And ChristianAudio is also making available for free one of his books in an audio format.  Of Prayer and the Christian Life is actually a portion of his larger work, The Institutes of Christian Religion.  If you are overwhelmed by the daunting task of reading such a large work, this might be a nice introduction as you make your commute to work.  The instructions for receiving this work are as follows:

Calvin: Of Prayer and The Christian Life

Prayer as Calvin describes it is not giddy, and he goes on to give Scriptural definitions of proper thought, engagement, and attitude. What do the roles of patience and self-denial play in the role of the Christian life and what does Christian piety look like? What should our views be of the present life and the future life? These two sections of The Institutes guide us ever so thoughtfully and gracefully into his theology and practice of Christian living.

Just use the coupon code NOV2008 during checkout.

Add the download format of Calvin: Of Prayer and The Christian Life to your cart and then enter the coupon code NOV2008 when prompted during checkout.

I have long appreciated the ministry of Desiring God making all their audio resources and as many of their print resources as possible available for free.

Now comes this announcement from Grace to You that beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 5, they will make all of John MacArthur’s audio (including his weekly sermons) similarly available for free. Grace to You has long had a very liberal and generous policy about giving away materials and resources.  This is a welcome addition to the grace they have long practiced!

Here is the announcement —

Message from Grace To You ministry:

Dear brothers and sisters of like precious faith, I have some big news to
share with you.  Next week, Grace to You will institute a new policy
regarding the availability of John MacArthur’ssermons. On Wednesday,
November 5th, we will release our entire inventory of sermons on MP3s for
free download via our website (http:// www.gty.org). This policy is not a
temporary promotion or sales gimmick. This is a new and permanent policy
designed to make God’s word available to the widest possible audience.

John and GTY management have made this change because we believe that in uncertain times-an historic presidential election, a struggling economy, and multiplying threats to peace and stability around the world-there’s no
reason to restrict the message of the gospel and its eternal certainty to
those who can afford to pay for it or to those whose governments allow it.

Although Grace to You is making the same hard financial decisions you and
your families are making, we firmly believe God has shown us this path and
that He always honors faithfulness to His will. We know that in God’s
economy there is no risk of being too generous. When the world is anxious we want to be a vibrant influence for the Lord and to offer help instead of
asking for it.

Please pray for His blessing as we step out in boldness to penetrate past
economic and political barriers globally so that the glory of God’s name
might be expanded exponentially.

Feel free to forward this e-mail to your friends and family and keep an eye
on our website (http://www.gty.org) as November 5th approaches.  Please note that John’s Sunday sermons (morning and evening) will also be available for free download each week.

Customer Service
Grace To You

Previous to this date in recorded history all of my sermons have only been available for worldwide distribution on my blog through the medium of word document files, however, I have recently acquired a technology that will allow me to turn the sermons on cassette into mp3’s for your auditory pleasure.  If you go to the “My Sermons” tab, “Reason to Believe” is the first of the recorded sermons that I have digitized.  I will keep uploading more as I get them converted, but in the mean time give this one a listen and let me know what you think.  I’m always open to criticism.  It’s the only way I’ll get any better at this.

*UPDATE*
Well, it was bound to happen, and so it has . . . I officially have my own podcast.  You can subscribe to the feed by following these easy steps:

1. right click on the “My Podcast” link in my blogroll
2. click “copy shortcut”
3. open iTunes and click on “Subscribe to Podcast” under the “Advanced” header
4. paste the copied shortcut in the open text box and enjoy.

Within the next few weeks it should show up in the iTunes podcast directory, but for now this is the way to get it done.  It will be primarily a feed of my audio sermons, but maybe from time to time I’ll throw a little nugget of something else in there too.

I saw it in a headline a few days ago:  “Scary economic times teach hard lessons about fiscal responsibility.”

I’ve heard and overheard it in multiple ways since then, and even two or three different times today, “I know I shouldn’t be, but I’m afraid of (fill in the blank:) the economy, the presidential race, the war…”

Without question, there is great uncertainty about our future.  Will there be a paycheck in six months?  Or any jobs that I’m qualified to do?  What will be the implications from the election’s results?  Will my child come home from overseas?  Will I have a retirement fund when I am ready to retire?  Do I need to go back to work?

What are some Biblical responses to these apprehensions?

• Don’t desire wealth. It’s a snare and does not provide the eternal hope and reward that too many hope it will.
• Believe in the value of suffering.  Suffering offers opportunities to minister the gospel to newly receptive ears, instructing them that there is a treasure given in Christ that is greater than what is lost; suffering purifies and cleanses the church as those who are not genuinely part of the church become unwilling to suffer for Christ; suffering offers opportunities to be the example of a Job who loves God regardless of loss. [Aside:  I just found this afternoon a very recent series by D. A. Carson — "Making Sense of Suffering" — that I believe will be very helpful, though I have not yet had opportunity to even begin listening to it.]
• Understand that, generally speaking, the kind of economic loss most Americans might suffer is not suffering.  There is an economic loss that comes because of faith in Christ that is considered suffering.  What appears to be in its initial stages now is the kind of trouble that all men know and that offers up opportunities to be joyful in Christ.
• Do not be controlled by fear.  Fifty-eight times Scripture says “do not fear.”  Many more times it says, “be at peace.”  Not fearing and being at peace are not emotions that “happen to us;” they are volitional choices and the consequences of obedient trusting in God.  [Remember that love of Christ removes fear of the world.]
• Trust God.  He is loving and desires to do what is best for His own.  He is wise and knows what is best for His own.  He is sovereign and able to do what is best.  You can trust Him.
• Recognize that America has been privileged for three centuries; the freedoms and lack of persecution we have experienced have been extraordinarily abnormal.  Never in the history of the world has one nation offered such freedom for so long to followers of Christ.  This is not the norm for the believer; we should not believe that freedom from suffering is our right.  It is not.

In summary, the introductory words to John Piper’s new booklet “Rethinking Retirement” (available on our book cart!) seem to be appropriate:

Finishing life to the glory of Christ means finishing life in a way that makes Christ look glorious.  It means living and dying in a way that shows Christ to be the all-satisfying Treasure that he is.  So it would include, for example, not living in ways that make this world look like your treasure.  Which means that most of the suggestions that this world offers us for our retirement years are bad ideas.  They call us to live in ways that would make this world look like our treasure.  And when that happens, Jesus is belittled.

Here, in no particular order, and with little comment, are a few articles and blogs that I’ve come across this week that were of varying kinds of interest to me.  They all triggered thoughts that warranted more extended discussion, but I just haven’t had the time to think them all through yet…

• John Ensor, “Magnifying the Gospel in End of Life Issues” — a discussion about the nine questions one family addressed with their mother as she entered “the frowning years,” and how they sought to honor her and glorify God and the gospel in the process.  Just reading the questions they asked and seeing the openness with which the family discussed them was insightful.
• Unashamed Workman, “Home-work” — a compilation of a number of audio sermons to help Dads fulfill their God-honoring work at home.
• John Piper, “Test Revival with Doctrine” — When a “revival” comes to town (like a recent one in Lakeland, FL), how do you determine its validity?  “Our test for every Lakeland that comes along should first be doctrinal and expositional. Is this awakening carried along by a “love for the truth” and a passion to hear the whole counsel of God proclaimed?”
• J. C. Ryle, “A Sketch of the Life and Labors of George Whitfield.” I haven’t had time to read this yet, but I am developing a growing affinity for Ryle, biblical biographies, and the life of George Whitfield.  This will be worth reading.
• USA Today, “For Air Traffic Controller, Terror Still Vivid 7 Years Later.” That is, seven years after 9/11.  It’s good to remember events like this.  We learn from history (or we should).  It’s a reminder to the believer of the supremacy of remembering Christ — both at the communion table and every day.

biblical-headship-leadership

A couple years ago, a friend sent me a link to a sermon entitled “Ten Shekels and a Shirt,” by a pastor/missionary named Paris Reidhead. I was unfamiliar with the sermon or the pastor, but found the message to be very challenging.

This week, I listened to the sermon again, and was challenged afresh over the topic, “why do I serve Christ?”

The audio quality of the message reflects the time period in which it was preached (the mid-60s), but it could well have been addressed to a contemporary audience wrestling with pragmatism in ministry.

I don’t know enough about this ministry to commend all his messages to you, but this message based on Judges 17-18 is certainly worthwhile.

One excerpt:

The question comes then to this, what is the standard of success and by what are we going to judge our lives and our ministry? And the question that you are going to ask yourself, “Is God an end or is He a means?” Our generation is prepared to honor successful choices. As long as a person can get things done or get the job done then our generation is prepared to say well done.

And so we’ve got to ask ourselves at the very outset of our ministry, and our pilgrimage, and our walk, “Are we going to be Levites who serve God for ten shekels and a shirt?”, serve men perhaps in the name of God, rather than God. For though he was a Levite and performed religious activities, he was looking for a place, which would give him recognition, a place which would give him acceptance, a place which would give him security, a place where he could shine in terms of those values which were important to him. His whole business was serving in religious activities, so it had to be a religious job. He was very happy when he found that Micah had an opening. But he had decided that he was worth ten shekels and a shirt, and he was prepared to sell himself to anyone that would give that much. If somebody came along and gave more, he would sell himself to them. But he put a value upon himself and he figured then his religious service and his activities were just a means to an end, and by the same token, God was a means to an end.

I’ve been listening to an excellent pair of sermons this week by Dave Harvey, entitled “The Surgeon, the Scalpel, and the Saint in Sin.”

Preaching from Luke 6:27-36, Harvey addresses the question of how to confront a sinning believer without becoming self-righteous and judgmental ourselves.

His basic premise is:  “The manner in which we respond to sin should mark us as believers and set us apart from the world.”  He skillfully applies that principle to the question of how to actually approach a brother in sin.  He says this:  Offering truth is most helpful…

1. When it springs from an examined heart
2. When it is addressing a searching soul (we don’t want to create an environment where the accent is on me correcting you. We want the accent to be on me pursuing correction.)
3. When it is based upon “patterns” [not single examples only]
4. When it is humbly offered as an observation, not an assumption or conclusion
5. When the approach is designed to connect the believer with God
6. When the person confronted leaves feeling understood, if he/she has questions

These two sermons are probably at the top of any treatment of this topic that I have read or heard.  The exposition may not be very deep or prolonged, but the wisdom with which he applies Biblical principles is excellent.  It is well worth the investment of two hours to listen to these sermons.

This past weekend I was privileged to hear a dozen sermons and speak to nearly two dozen preacher friends in Kentucky. For the past dozen years I have attended the West Kentucky Bible Lectures in Paducah. This year made the 13^th for me, though it was the 29^th altogether. I had to drive 500 miles one way to make it this year, which is much more than the 15 or so of previous years.

It sort of amazes me how brethren fail to take advantage of good opportunities to study the word of God. Though there are multitudes of churches of Christ within easy driving distance of the Sunny Slope church in Paducah, the building was far from being full at any session that I attended.

This year’s theme was: “Who is on the Lord’s Side?” There were eight preachers participating in the lectureship. A total of ten sermons were presented with an additional Open Forum. All of the lessons were worthwhile and provided good edification. There were three which I consider to be exceptional. I had my digital recorder beside me and recorded those three lessons. The quality of the recording is not the finest, but I believe one can hear the lessons well enough to benefit from them. The lesson from Cliff Goodwin on instrumental music was tremendously well done. Should you care to listen to the three recordings, please Email me your request at the address listed on this page, and I will send it by attached mp3 file.

• The Church in the Eternal Purpose of God, by B.J. Clarke.
• Instrumental Music in the Worship, by Cliff Goodwin.
• Our Lord Prayed for Unity, by Glenn Colley.

Brother Kendal Rasnake was present to video tape the lectures. He makes available a DVD of all of the lectures for $25, an mp3 CD for $15 and other formats. He lists the individual speakers and their subjects at his site. You may visit the site by clicking H-E-R-E.

What is the GIFT of the Holy Spirit?

by David Lemmons

Without question the question of this article is challenging and of interest to all Christians.  It is a question which has been asked and answered in numerous question and answer forums, articles, sermons, and other media.  Sometimes the consideration of this question generates a great deal of emotion and HEATED debate among us.  To attempt an answer to this question is to open up oneself to being treated with suspicion as to one’s soundness in the faith if it is not answered in exact accord with the view held by the reviewer.   On the other hand, many brethren, when addressing this question, show more cordiality or graciousness in the statement of their view than others seem to be able to muster.  It is a question which has tested many keen intellects among us and yet one that has been answered in many different ways.  Why then would this humble scribe attempt answering such a problematic question?  I suppose the best answer to that question I can summon would be that same response to the question of why some men would climb Mount Everest–just because it is there.  But then there is also this void [i.e., "an empty space"] in my own mind that comes as a result of some of the answers given by my brethren whom I love and respect highly.

I would want to identify myself with those described above who show more cordiality and graciousness as I state my own answer to the question.  I could be wrong in my view!  I recognize that giving a different answer from those given by men who are sound in the faith and whom I respect and love needs to be done only after having carefully considered the arguments presented.

To those who give answers that involve the Holy Spirit acting directly upon the hearts of men today without agency, I say I can have no fellowship with you.  The relatively recent views expressed by the Deavers is a position of false teaching and leaves no room for fellowship as I understand the position.  I was recently viewing a DVD which presented the view that the gift of the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit Himself.  The person presenting his answer to this question was claiming a literal indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but was not claiming any direct operation of the Holy Spirit upon the life of the Christian.  I believe that view is false, but not consequential enough to become the basis of withdrawing fellowship.  Brethren among us have lived and worked together on both sides of that issue for many years [e.g., the Woods/Nichols discussions at Freed-Hardeman], and I think that is wise.

The answer to this question which is given by a great number of my friends and brethren for whom I have the greatest respect and appreciation (and with whom I hope to maintain close fellowship), is that the GIFT is miraculous, coming from the laying on of hands of an apostle.  I have to state that this view is possible.  I could be wrong in saying that I do not believe it is the correct answer to the question.  The problem that comes to my mind about this position is that it leaves in my mind that void as defined above–an empty space.  How is it that this GIFT, given only to some who lived in the first century, a gift to me?  Yes indeed, I do benefit from the confirmation of the word which resulted from the miraculous signs performed by the apostles and those on whom they laid hands.  I certainly do not deny this!  But is this really the natural reading of this text?  I cannot get it through my feeble brain how this view does anything but cause part of verse 38 of Acts 2 to be snipped out of my Bible.  Is it required that I give a detailed explanation, involving other chapters in the Book of Acts, to those who ask me about why people living today do not get this GIFT?  If the GIFT is the miraculous ability derived from the laying on of apostles’ hands, brethren, I DIDN’T GET IT!  I don’t have any such ability.  There was no apostle to lay their hands on me at the time I was baptized!  It seems to me that the folks who repent and are baptized are the ones who are PROMISED a gift.  It does not seem reasonable to me that only the ones who repented and were baptized IN THE FIRST CENTURY, and who had hands of an apostle laid on them, received the GIFT.

What then is the GIFT?  I think a much simpler answer is the correct one.  I think the immediate context provides an insightful clue to the answer.  Let us notice… Acts 2:39  “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”  The last part of verse 38 surely sustains a relationship to the next verse, does it not?  Beginning with the word FOR, surely tells us that an explanation is being given relating to the GIFT mentioned in the last part of verse 38.  As simply as I know how to put it, the GIFT is salvation.  I identify salvation with the PROMISE of verse 39 and the GIFT of verse 38.  Some will say, but this has Peter stating the same thing twice in his answer to the question of verse 37.  You have him granting the remission of sins and then also saying salvation which are equivalent.  Brethren, is it so strange that Peter, a Jew, would address his Jewish audience with a figure used so abundantly in Hebrew Scripture–synonymous parallelism.  What is so wrong with stating twice the blessing that comes from repentance and baptism?  I also relate the GIFT to the fact that all spiritual blessings are in Christ (Eph 1:3) and the only way to get into Christ is by being baptized INTO Him (Rom 6:3; Gal 3:27).  When we repent and are baptized, brethren, we have access to all of those spiritual blessings.

Do we receive the GIFT today?  Yes, we do.  Is it miraculous in nature? No, it is not.  The gift is salvation–that same salvation promised long ago to the father of the faithful.

___________

For further study of this answer to the question above, consider the article in PDF format H-E-R-E, or the mp3 audio file featuring Marvin Weir H-E-R-E.

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