Walking, Not Just Talking – John MacArthur
July 29th, 2008
(By John MacArthur)
If we really believe the objective, rationally-understood truth of Scripture is both authoritative and incompatible with error — since the Bible is the singular Word of the living God — we must not only study and teach it; we must live it, too. It is not enough to give lip service. If we genuinely believe the Bible is divine truth, we must allow it to permeate our life and ministry. To live otherwise is tantamount to denying the truth. People who think otherwise may “profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work” (Titus 1:16).
Ezra, the high priest in Nehemiah’s time, is the prototype of what every godly minister ought to be. “Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel” (Ezra 7:10, emphasis added).
I learned this lesson from my father, who as a lifelong pastor has been my model of integrity, as was his father before him. I first began to appreciate how difficult the struggle can be when I began in the ministry as a young man in my twenties. I had been in the pastorate for barely a month when I was asked to perform a wedding for a girl in our church who was planning to marry an unbeliever. In a meeting of the church board, some of the leaders urged me to do the wedding because the girl’s father was an influential man. A lot was at stake, they said. We might lose this family from the church if I declined.
I said, “But I can’t do that. I can’t do what the Scripture clearly forbids. Believers are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Second Corinthians 6:14.”
They were already prepared for that. They replied, “Well okay. We understand your feelings. We know a minister from somewhere else who will come in and do it, so that this girl can be married in the church.”
I asked them: “But whose church is this? Is this your church to be used at your discretion, or is this Christ’s church?”
They replied to their great credit, “You’re right; we can’t do it. This is Christ’s church.”
That was the Rubicon for Grace Community Church. That was the moment when the future of our congregation was decided. Yes, an entire family left, and several other people withdrew their membership over that incident as well. But we decided as elders that day that we would not only preach the word of God; we would expect it to be lived out in the corporate life of the church.
That same expectation is laid on all who would claim the name of Christ, both within the church and outside of it. We are those who have been commanded to walk in a manner worthy. This means that the authority of Scripture must be more than something we proclaim. It must be something we live.
Pragmatism in a Postmodern Culture
“What is pragmatism? Basically it is a philosophy that says that results determine meaning, truth, and value — what will work becomes a more important question than what is true.” – John MacArthur
“Another interesting thing that we learned is that the post-modernists are extremely pragmatic in their thinking. Pragmatism has inebriated today’s society. Whatever is easier, whatever is faster, no matter the long term effects or consequences, is right because it’s the easiest end to meet immediate needs. For example, driving through a fast food restaurant to pick up dinner for the family is the easiest solution for dinner, rather than going home and preparing and cooking a wholesome, nutritious meal for the family. I’m not saying that going to pick up fast food is necessarily bad pending on your food choice, but it was the easiest way to meet the immediate need to feed the family for dinner. This pragmatic way of thinking is very selfish, self-centered without thinking of any consequences for themselves or the people they affect.” – Myself from Lesson 5
John MacArthur wrote an extremely informative, insightful article in the blog-sphere today. Its title “Pragmatism: Trend or Trap?” The approach/philosophy of pragmatism is the core of Postmodernism when it comes to its effects on the church. MacArthur explains what the effects are and have been in the past. It truly makes you look at yourself and how you approach the scriptures and it should make you look at the church you are attending to see if its effects have affected your local congregation and pastor(s). The church is Christ’s bride, He died for her. “just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” Ephesians 5:25b. What a dishonor to Christ for allowing the temptations of today’s culture to seep into its stronghold and allow the foundation of Truth to be withered away until it shatters and breaks. If we aren’t preaching the God-intended meaning of scripture, than we are preaching our own doctrine. If we aren’t preaching the True Gospel of Jesus Christ, than we are teaching and leading people to a false Christ. The Bible is the only
Truth. Hold fast and grip strongly to its saving power and its blinding, magnificent light that comes from our Holy God. You are completely disabled from teaching who God truly is if you do not use His Word that He has left us to teach us who He is! How dare us, o humans, to think we know God without learning and studying His true and unfailing character that is laid out in His scriptures in its entirety.
I copied and pasted only a portion of this article for your reading pleasure and edification. To read the full article, please click on the following link:
http://www.sfpulpit.com/2008/07/24/pragmatism-trend-or-trap/#more-1345
The Effects of Pragmatism
Many of today’s church leaders have bought into the subtlety of pragmatism without recognizing the dangers it poses. Instead of attacking orthodoxy head on, evangelical pragmatism gives lip service to the truth while quietly undermining the foundations of doctrine. Instead of exalting God, it effectively denigrates the things that are precious to Him.
First, there is in vogue today a trend to make the basis of faith something other than God’s Word. Experience, emotion, fashion, and popular opinion are often more authoritative than the Bible in determining what many Christians believe. From private, individual revelation to the blending of secular psychology with biblical “principles,” Christians are listening to the voice of the serpent that once told Eve, “God’s Word doesn’t have all the answers.” Christian counseling reflects that drift, frequently offering no more than experimental and unscriptural self-help therapy instead of solid answers from the Bible.
Christian missionary work is often riddled with pragmatism and compromise, because too many in missions have evidently concluded that what gets results is more important than what God says. That’s true among local churches as well. It has become fashionable to forgo the proclamation and teaching of God’s Word in worship services. Instead, churches serve up a paltry diet of drama, music, and other forms of entertainment.
Second, evangelical pragmatism tends to move the focus of faith away from God’s Son. You’ve seen that repeatedly if you watch much religious television. The health-wealth-and-prosperity gospel advocated by so many televangelists is the ultimate example of this kind of fantasy faith. This false gospel appeals unabashedly to the flesh, corrupting all the promises of Scripture and encouraging greed. It makes material blessing, not Jesus Christ, the object of the Christian’s desires.
Easy-believism handles the message differently, but the effect is the same. It is the promise of forgiveness minus the gospel’s hard demands, the perfect message for pragmatists. It has done much to popularize “believing” but little to provoke sincere faith.
Christ is no longer the focus of the message. While His name is mentioned from time to time, the real focus is inward, not upward. People are urged to look within; to try to understand themselves; to come to grips with their problems, their hurts, their disappointments; to have their needs met, their desires granted, their wants fulfilled. Nearly all the popular versions of the message encourage and legitimize a self-centered perspective.
Third, today’s Christianity is infected with a tendency to view the result of faith as something less than God’s standard of holy living. By downplaying the importance of holy living–both by precept and by example–the biblical doctrine of conversion is undermined. Think about it: What more could Satan do to try to destroy the church than undermining God’s Word, shifting the focus off Christ, and minimizing holy living?
All those things are happening slowly, steadily within the church right now. Tragically, most Christians seem oblivious to the problems, satisfied with a Christianity that is fashionable and highly visible. But the true church must not ignore those threats. If we fight to maintain doctrinal purity with an emphasis on biblical preaching and biblical ministry, we can conquer external attacks. But if error is allowed into the church, many more churches will slide down the grade to suffer the same fate as the denominations that listened to, yet ignored, Spurgeon’s impassioned appeal.
Make it your habitual prayer request that the Lord would elevate the authority of His Word, the glory of His Son, and the purity of His people in the evangelical church. May the Lord revive us and keep us far from the slippery slope of pragmatism.
- John MacArthur, www.sfpulpit.com, “Pragmatism: Trend or Trap?”
May God Deeply Bless Your Heart With His Infallible Word of Truth and Wisdom!
Your Sister in Christ, Jodi
How can I witness to a person who thinks the gospel is just my opinion? – John Piper
(The following is an edited transcript of the audio.)
How can I witness to a person who thinks the gospel is just my opinion?
I would do my best to direct people first to the Bible and say, “Now whether you believe the Bible or not, you need to know that I’m not making these things up. They are here.”
This is why I try to preach in an expository way and point people to the exact words of Scripture: because Scripture is amazing. The Bible has a kind of unique authority. It is a sword that penetrates to the division of soul and spirit, bone and marrow. It’s not like John Piper’s words. It has its own divine claim.
So I want to direct people to it and say, “OK, in your mind what I’m saying may just be my opinion, but at least see here where I’m getting it from the Bible.” And then, secondly, as a stage beneath that I would say, “In order to give the Bible credence I would just invite you to consider the portrait of Jesus as it is laid out in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and the rest of the New Testament. And see whether or not your encounter with Jesus Christ will vindicate him as true and a faithful witness to these things in your life.”
But if they won’t go there, that is, to look at the Bible and to look at Jesus with me, then all I have left to do for them is to pray for them as they leave.
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Self-Deprecation – The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers
O Lord,
My every sense, member, faculty, affection is a snare to me,
I can scarce open my eyes but I envy those above me, or despise those below.
I covet honour and riches of the mighty,
and am proud and unmerciful to the rags of others;
If I behold beauty it is a bait to lust, or to see deformity, it stirs up loathing and disdain;
How soon do slanders, vain jests, and wanton speeches creep into my heart!
Am I comely? what fuel for pride!
Am I deformed? what an occasion for repining!
Am I gifted? I lust after applause!
Am I unlearned? how I despise what I have not!
Am I in authority? how prone to abuse my trust, make my will my law, exclude others’ enjoyments, serve my own interests and policy!
Am I inferior? how much I grudge others’ pre-eminence!
Am I rich? how exalted I become!
Though knowest that all these are snares by my corruptions,
and that my greatest snare is myself.
I bewail that my apprehensions are dull,
my thoughts mean,
my affections stupid,
my expressions low,
my life unbeseeming;
Yet what canst though expect of dust but levity, of corruption but defilement?
Keep me ever mindful of my natural state,
but let me not forget my heavenly title,
or the grace that can deal with every sin.
The Deeps – The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers
Lord Jesus,
Give me a deeper repentance,
a horror of sin; a dread of its approach;
Help me chastely flee it, and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be thine alone.
Give me a deeper trust,
that I may lose myself to find myself in thee,
the ground of my rest, the spring of my being.
Give me a deeper knowledge of thyself
as Saviour, Master, Lord, and King.
Give me deeper power in private prayer,
more sweetness in thy Word, more steadfast grip on its truth.
Give me deeper holiness in speech, though, action,
and let me not seek moral virtue apart from thee.
Plough deep in me, great Lord,
heavenly Husbandman,
that my being may be a tilled field,
the roots of grace spreading far and wife,
until thou alone art seen in me,
thy beauty golden like summer harvest,
thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.
I have no Master but thee,
no law but thy will,
no delight but thyself,
no wealth but that though givest,
no good but that though blesset,
no peace but that though bestowest.
I am nothing but that though makest me,
I have nothing but that I receive from thee,
I can be nothing but that grace adorns me.
Quarry me deep, Dear Lord,
and then fill me to overflowing with living water.
Time Flies too Quickly
Good Morning Readers! I wanted to write a quick note to apologize for not writing any new blog posts in the last few weeks. I am working on the last (3) MIT lessons and will be posting Lesson 8 this weekend, if the Lord wills. But for now I will be posting a few Puritan prayers from The Valley of Vision. I hope you find them encouraging and edifying!
May God Deeply Bless You With His Rich Truth!
Jodi @->–
Tolerant Intolerance – By John MacArthur
June 29th, 2007
(By John MacArthur)
Post-modernism’s veneration of tolerance is its most obvious feature. But the version of “tolerance” peddled by post-modernists is actually a twisted and dangerous corruption of true virtue.
Incidentally, tolerance is never mentioned in the Bible as a virtue, except in the sense of patience, forbearance, and longsuffering (cf. Ephesians 4:2.) In fact, the contemporary notion of tolerance is a pathetically feeble concept compared to the love Scripture commands Christians to show even to their enemies. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you” (Luke 6:27-28; cf. vv. 29-36).
When our grandparents spoke of tolerance as a virtue, they had something like that in mind. The word used to mean respecting people and treating them kindly even when we believe they are wrong. But the post-modern notion of tolerance means we must never regard anyone else’s opinions as “wrong.” Biblical tolerance is for people; post-modern tolerance is for ideas.
Accepting every belief as equally valid is hardly a real virtue, but it is about the kind of only “virtue” post-modernism knows anything about. Traditional virtues (including humility, self control, and chastity) are openly scorned — and even regarded as transgressions — in the world of post-modernism.
Predictably, the beatification of post-modern tolerance has had a disastrous effect on real virtue in our society. In this age of tolerance, what was once forbidden is now encouraged. What was once universally deemed immoral is now celebrated. Marital infidelity and divorce have been normalized. Profanity is commonplace. Abortion, homosexuality, and moral perversions of all kinds are championed by large advocacy groups and enthusiastically promoted by the popular media. The post-modern notion of “tolerance” is systematically turning genuine virtue on its head.
Just about the only remaining taboo is the naive and politically incorrect notion that another person’s “alternative lifestyle,” religion, or different perspective is wrong.
One major exception to that rule stands out starkly: it is OK for post-modernists to be intolerant of those who claim they know the truth — particularly biblical Christians. In fact, those who fancy themselves the leading advocates of tolerance today are often the most outspoken opponents of evangelical Christianity.
Look on the Web, for example, and see what is being said by the self styled champions of “religious tolerance.” What you’ll find is a great deal of intolerance for Bible based Christianity. In fact, some of the most bitterly anti-Christian material on the World Wide Web can be found at sites supposedly promoting religious tolerance.
Why is that? Why does authentic biblical Christianity find such ferocious opposition from people who think they are paragons of tolerance? It is because the truth-claims of Scripture — and particularly Jesus’ claim to be the only way to God — are diametrically opposed to the fundamental presuppositions of the post-modern mind. The Christian message represents a death blow to the post-modernist worldview.
But as long as Christians are being duped or intimidated into softening the bold claims of Christ and widening the narrow road, the church will make no headway against post-modernism. We need to recover the distinctiveness of the gospel. We need to regain our confidence in the power of God’s truth. And we need to proclaim boldly that Christ is the only true hope for the people of this world.
That may not be what people want to hear in this pseudo-tolerant age of post-modernism. But it is true nonetheless. And precisely because it is true and the gospel of Christ is the only hope for a lost world, it is all the more urgent that we rise above all the voices of confusion in the world and say so.
Thinking Biblically – By John MacArthur
June 18th, 2008
(By John MacArthur)
In its simplest definition, discernment is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong. Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with an ability to think biblically.
First Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” The apostle John issues a similar warning when he says, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
According to the New Testament, discernment is not optional for the believer — it is required. The key to living an uncompromising life lies in one’s ability to exercise discernment in every area of his or her life. For example, failure to distinguish between truth and error leaves the Christian subject to all manner of false teaching. False teaching then leads to an unbiblical mindset, which results in unfruitful and disobedient living — a certain recipe for compromise.
Unfortunately, discernment is an area where most Christians stumble. They exhibit little ability to measure the things they are taught against the infallible standard of God’s Word, and they unwittingly engage in all kinds of unbiblical decision-making and behavior. In short, they are not armed to take a decidedly biblical stand against the onslaught of unbiblical thinking and attitudes that face them throughout their day.
Discernment intersects the Christian life at every point. And God’s Word provides us with the needed discernment about every issue of life. According to Peter, God “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). You see, it is through the “true knowledge of Him,” that we have been given everything we need to live a Christian life in this fallen world. And how else do we have true knowledge of God but through the pages of His Word, the Bible? In fact, Peter goes on to say that such knowledge comes through God’s granting “to us His precious and magnificent promises” (2 Peter 1:4).
Discernment — the ability to think biblically about all areas of life — is indispensable to an uncompromising life. It is incumbent upon the Christian to seize upon the discernment that God has provided for in His precious truth! Without it, Christians are at risk of being “tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14).
Apologetics & Worldviews, Lesson 7
We are learning so much in our class with Pastor James on Apologetics,
(learning how to defend the faith.) When the last minutes of the hand start ticking away on the clock and Pastor James is wrapping up (or cutting his lesson in half), our hearts are yearning for more! This class is so helpful to me and I am sure for others who are enrolled in it. I lack having a bold drive to defend our faith to unbelievers. I feel I am more persuaded by my tendency to not want to offend anyone or to make them feel uncomfortable. I completely embrace my twittering heart to clam up to avoid any confrontation or any harsh verbiage that can be thrown at me. I honestly think that it’s because I really don’t have the right tools or the confidence to know how to speak that truth to them. Obviously the main hurdle is the “fear of man” which is the fear of offending them. This, of course, is a sin issue of mine and is holding me back to follow out the Great Commission that Christ has given to us to preach the gospel to all realms of people on this earth and to give an account as to the joy that is within us. I have been in many situations with friends and family where I will speak scriptural truth and don’t know where to go from there once it has been rejected and/or thrown back at me in an attack of who’s right or wrong. Attending this class has broadened my sense of understanding those who are around me. I am beginning to be able to break down their core issues by observing their worldview and presuppositions just by what they say. This has given me an overall sense of confidence and an even deeper trust in Christ by developing a more biblical worldview. The bible is the absolute authority because it is God’s truth revealed to us and we must not be weakened by others who truly don’t want their darkened hearts to be exposed to God’s light.
We have learned up to this point that there are categorized arguments of Christian apologetics that are used to persuade that God exists to a fallen world of unbelievers. The three main realms of apologetics are presuppositional, evidential, and a new one that we went over tonight, which is called the classical. So far we have learned the presuppositional apologetic branch. Presuppositionalists believe that we, by ourselves, cannot convince unbelievers to follow God because they are influenced by their presuppositions which are naturally lost and spiritually dead to God. Therefore, we cannot prove that God exists or convince them to follow God unless God grants them that capability and regenerates their hearts to believe in His truth.
During our seventh class session we were taught the classical apologetics. The classical branch can be looked at as more of four arguments that people, Christians and non-Christians, have logically formulated in order to convince others that it is not rational to reject that God exists or the idea of Him. The four arguments have been broken down into the following:
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The Cosmological Argument
Every thing in the universe has a cause. Therefore, in its entirety, this great universe has a cause and logically that cause can only be God.
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The Teleological Argument
The universe reflects harmony, order and an intelligent design. Since it is structured to have purpose, intertwined in harmony, then there must be an intelligent God who purposefully created it to function this way.
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The Ontological Argument
God is a being that is “greater than which nothing can be imagined.” We must then exist to such a being because it is greater to exist than to not exist at all.
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The Moral Argument
Every human has a sense of right and wrong, and a need for justice to be carried out. There must be a God who is the source of right and wrong; who will also administer justice to all.
As we study different arguments in the realm of apologetics, we have to look at each argument with great discernment. Some have great ideas on how to explain God but they are not ultimately persuasive when trying to convert someone’s thoughts about believing in God. Foundationally we need to know that human wisdom cannot bring forth spiritual birth. Being in a sinful state negates the possibility of us being able to understand that truth. Romans 3:10-11 “(10) as it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one; (11) there is none who understands, there is none who seek for God’ “
The bible speaks about unbelievers being spiritually blinded to His truth. We read in scripture that “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4. Humans are so completely dependent upon God’s removal of our blindfolds to give us an intelligent understanding in order for us to actually have saving faith in Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:10-14 “(10)these things
God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. (11)For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. (12)Now we have received not
the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. (13)And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (14)The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
Only God can open our hearts to accept His truth. Only God can grant us His wisdom which is the only tool to understanding His truth. Only God can grant us belief in Him. God must enable us to be persuaded or we won’t ever be able to be persuaded at all.
I pray that our hearts be enraptured in the truth bringing forth spiritual fruit so that the light that is in us will shine and those around us who are captives of darkness will be able to see and taste the glory of Christ.
Your Sister in Christ,
Jodi
John MacArthur on Larry King
I wanted to share this video with our readers in order to encourage us to be bolder with speaking the truth, even in a debate with unbelievers or professing Christians. We must always hold fast to the truth as it is laid out in scriptures and John MacArthur is a perfect example in this video. MacArthur speaks biblical truth even though some might get extremely offended and/or disagree. Also note how he does it in a respectful way. He is such an incredible example to us all, especially in this realm of defending the truth to a postmodern age.
I hope you enjoy it!
