When Not To Be Divisive

There's a lot of heat out there in the evangelical world right now over the centuries old debate between Calvinism and Arminianism. So much could be said about this and how foolish would I be to think that I could resolve the conflict. If you want to hear a strong case for each side of the debate then I recommend Robert Shanks's book Life In The Son for the Arminian case and John Macarthur's teaching series The Doctrines Of Grace for an overview of Calvinistic theology.

My post today is intended to be of a more conciliatory nature. The assaults on the Gospel in this present day demand that true believers don't end up shooting at the wrong targets. Consider the following conversation (paraphrased by John Piper) that occurred in the 18th century between Calvinist Charles Simeon and Arminian John Wesley. The conversation is instructive about how we should deal with people we disagree with, and about how sometimes moderates from both sides of a theological debate are closer than we realise.

Charles Simeon - Sir, I understand that you are called an Arminian; and I have been sometimes called a Calvinist; and therefore I suppose we are to draw daggers. But before I consent to begin the combat, with your permission I will ask you a few questions. Pray, Sir, do you feel yourself a depraved creature, so depraved that you would never have thought of turning to God, if God had not first put it into your heart?

John Wesley - Yes, I do indeed.

Charles Simeon - And do you utterly despair of recommending yourself to God by anything you can do; and look for salvation solely through the blood and righteousness of Christ?

John Wesley - Yes, solely through Christ.

Charles Simeon - But, Sir, supposing you were at first saved by Christ, are you not somehow or other to save yourself afterwards by your own works?

John Wesley - No, I must be saved by Christ from first to last.

Charles Simeon - Allowing, then, that you were first turned by the grace of God, are you not in some way or other to keep yourself by your own power?

John Wesley - No.

Charles Simeon - What then, are you to be upheld every hour and every moment by God, as much as an infant in its mother’s arms?

John Wesley - Yes, altogether.

Charles Simeon - And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom?

John Wesley - Yes, I have no hope but in Him.

Charles Simeon - Then, Sir, with your leave I will put up my dagger again; for this is all my Calvinism; this is my election, my justification by faith, my final perseverance: it is in substance all that I hold, and as I hold it; and therefore, if you please, instead of searching out terms and phrases to be a ground of contention between us, we will cordially unite in those things wherein we agree.

Now this conciliatory approach in no way suggests compromising the Gospel. The Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. The good news is that the Holy Just, Righteous, and Loving God created man. Man rebelled and all of humanity has the sin nature. People are radically depraved and exceedingly sinful. They hate God and are deserving of His wrath and eternal condemnation. God's character demands that he must judge and punish all sin to meet the requirements of His justice. But to demonstrate His great love He sent His Son, fully God/fully man to fulfill the requirements of His law and then die under the punishment of God's Holy Wrath in the place of sinners. That the sins of the sinner would be imputed to Christ's account, and the rightoeusness of Christ would be imputed to the sinner's account. God now calls on all men everywhere to repent from sin and put their trust in Christ that they might be saved from the wrath to come. This is the major theme woven throughout the whole of Scripture - God's plan of redemption and being glorified by saving sinners. Many Arminians and Calvinists would preach this Gospel side by side.

I have been mailed by the odd angry Arminian and the odd hyper Calvinist only to hear them rail about the twisting of Scripture in the "opposing camp". But church history is littered with genuine Christian scholars who practised sound hermeneutical principles and yet arrived at different conclusions on difficult points of theology. Good theology involves harmonizing all of God's Word and that has proven difficult throughout church history on the issue of Calvinism v Arminianism. God speaks of predestining every soul and knows all the names written in the Lamb's book of life, yet He takes no delight in the destruction of the wicked desiring that he would repent. Repentance is a gift from God and yet God holds all men accountable to repent of their wickedness. These truths coexist in Scripture. We should be comforted in the knowledge that God can resolve what is beyond our grasp. All who are saved see the scarlet thread of redemption woven through the entirity of Scripture, but to scale the heights of God's election and man's responsibility is to search out the unsearchable - we all look into this glass darkly. There are tensions in Scripture that are beyond human understanding and different scholars throughout church history have developed theology that attempts to reconcile these tensions. We need to have the grace to recognize that no two people agree on every single point of doctrine and that we can live and serve God within that tension.

There are doctrines that are so important salvation depends on them (these are life and death and must be fought at all costs).

There are doctrines that cause us to fellowship at different local churches but we still extend the hand of fellowship to our genuinely born again brothers who differ on these doctrines.

There are also doctrines which we can differ on but still attend the same fellowship and sit down and lovingly reason from the Scriptures.

Please be big enough to do that for the sake of Christ's great Name and the furtherance of His glorious Gospel.

Fixing Our Eyes On The Cross

I spent yesterday with a good friend who recently graduated from a major US seminary. Our conversation revealed major inadequacies in their training in soteriology which was greatly troubling since I was able to debunk them quite easily. Oh for more seminaries that would make the main thing the MAIN THING. John Wesley said "set yourself on fire and people will come to watch you burn". Also, the message/scandal of the cross never gets tired when we set ourselves on fire by preaching it . . .

Just Added - Wesley Gold

Ray Comfort's compilation of golden nuggets from the preaching of John Wesley, has just been added to the resource directory!

WESLEY GOLD
Ray Comfort (Editor), John Wesley
Category: Heroes, Puritans, And Reformers
Click Here To Order
How could one man turn a whole country upside-down? How could he be disciplined to daily read his Bible, have private prayer, meet others for public prayer, and yet not be saved? Why did he say, I went to America, to convert the Indians; but oh! Who shall convert me? What did he read that “strangely warmed his heart” and brought him to Christ? These questions and others are answered in Ray Comfort's compilation of golden nuggets from the life of the great field preacher John Wesley who said that "The World Is My Pulpit". Loaded with great inspiration for evangelism and appreciation for our Christian heritage.

The Background Story To Paul Washer's Shocking Youth Message

Paul Washer is probably best known because of a stunning sermon he delivered at a youth conference back in 2003. Someone filmed it and when the video started to circulate it generated a huge underground buzz. Paul Washer went from an obscure (and faithful) missionary to the most downloaded preacher on youtube. Millions download his sermons all the while Washer remains almost oblivious to the whirlwind. Brother Paul is largely ignorant of the, now massive, internet archive of his preaching. He has his hand to the plow preaching continually like a "dead man walking" - a preacher unaffected by the applause of men, and unencumbered with the need to please them.

It is no secret that Paul Washer's preaching has affected me in a large way. John Wesley once shared this advice with a group of preachers - set yourself on fire and people will come to watch you burn! That comment sums up Paul Washer. But my personal experience of Paul Washer goes beyond that. I know him as a compassionate and affectionate man who cares deeply about lost sinners and God's glory. Someone desperate to be a husband and father who honors God. A man who loves the precious Gospel so much that he rails against preachers who pervert it. A man so broken and acutely aware of his own human frailty (I doubt he would like me saying these things about him. I sincerely hope my comments do not convey a form of human adulation. He is a fellow son of Adam saved from a life of wretchedness to the glory of God. But I cannnot help but speak glowingly of my up close experience of a man being spent in labor for the wonderful Savior). In the video that follows Paul Washer gives the background story to the events that led up to the most downloaded sermon on youtube. Here is a quote from the interview:

When Jesus was persecuted, when people said bad things about Jesus, they were always wrong. When people make critiques of me they are not always wrong. We are men, we are weak, we are failing. I just want people to know that when someone says something about me that is not very positive, they may be right. And I want them to know that I know that they may be right, and it breaks me, and I do want to be more exact; I do want to be more Holy.

So here's the interview, an interview that is fascinating for those who have already been deeply impacted by Paul Washer's "shocking youth message" . . .

The Archbishop Of Canterbury Is Biblically Illiterate!

The worldwide head honcho of the Anglican church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has made another brazen display of sheer incompetence as a "Christian". Not only has Rowan Williams played a large role in perpetuating and expanding the sheer disarray of the Anglican movement. He has also presided over their failure to take a biblical stance on a wide range of issues (including the ordination of unrepentant practising homosexuals), making sissy boy apologies to Muslims (for all that worldwide violence perpetrated by Christians against "peace loving" Jihadists), and a total failure to proclaim the Gospel in a culture being rapidly paganized.

Now he has given another startling display of his sheer biblical incompetence (which is a tragic reproach brought upon the remnant of faithful Gospel preachers that remain within the Anglican movement). Either the Archbishop doesn't have a Bible, or he has one but never reads it, or his Bible highlighter is a black texter. The Archbishop recently vented his self-righteous indignation at what he perceived to be a lack of repentance by all those financial movers and shakers who brought us the global credit crisis. Here is an extract from the article in British tabloid "The Daily Mail":

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said he fears that the City is returning to business as usual with no 'repentance' for the excesses which led to the economic collapse . . . 'There hasn't been what I would, as a Christian, call repentance. We haven't heard people saying "well actually, no, we got it wrong and the whole fundamental principle on which we worked was unreal, was empty".'

Earth to Rowan - get a grip! You are clearly confused about the distinction between believers and those who are unconverted, the scope of church discipline, and the role God plays in dealing with those who are outside the body of Christ. Here's some advice from the Apostle Paul . . . you've heard of him haven't you??

But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler--not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you." (I Corinthians 5:11-13)

Deal with the heretics in your own Anglican camp, Rowan - they're pretty easy to detect, they're the guys who always vote against the clear teaching of Scripture. That is your scriptural scope of responsibility. I find it staggering that you use time and energy lamenting the sins of unconverted heathens who the Bible describes as "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1) and "enemies (of God) in their minds through wicked works" (Colossians 1:21). They need the Gospel, Rowan, because it is the only power that can make those dead bones live! All the while wolves in easily detectable sheep outfits run amok right under your nose and you refuse to impose any church discipline whatsoever.

Furthermore, the moral decline of the once mighty England, that revived and roared in the days of Whitefield and Wesley, is intrinsically connected to the continual dilution, and ultimate abandonment, of the glorious Gospel that thundered across Britain during the Awakening. It is that Gospel which you are called to preach as your primary duty. The time you waste lamenting the sins of pagans in a now secular culture should be spent preaching the Gospel - then, maybe, you might have less of those greedy sinners to complain about.

Some may question my tone in this post and I am willing to concede that I could have ramped up my intensity several notches further. This is so farcical that antics like this demand the sternest possible rebuke. It is not arrogant of me to do so for the Scriptures speak so plainly on this subject that even a knucklehead like me can figure this one out. REPENT ARCHBISHOP REPENT!!!

Paul Washer Sermon Jam - Jesus Christ is Everything

Oh LORD - please raise up preachers like Paul Washer in Denmark and Australia. Listen and hang on every word this preacher says.

There are so many "modern churches" exploring every imaginable innovation to continually capture the attention of a generation with so much ADHD you might as well call it AD. John Wesley said set yourself on fire and people will come and watch you burn.

Young preacher, old preacher - set yourself on fire. Preach as a dead man to people on death row . . . after all - Jesus Christ is Everything! What else is there????



God please give me the strength to spend and be spent in labor that bares eternal fruit . . .

The Long Arm of the Law

In the build up to tonights interview on Revelation TV www.revelationtv.com concerning open air preaching I'd like to take a look at an issue that is one of the greatest bones of contention concerning preaching of the Gospel in the modern era.

One of the great stumblingblocks in modern evangelicalism is a correct biblical understanding of the function of God's Moral Law in evangelism. Mere mention of the word "Law" is likely to evoke responses such as "legalism", "works righteousness", "we are on the other side of the cross", and "we are now in the age of grace".

This is simply not the case. In fact correct expounding of the law reveals our utter hopelessness to meet the requirements of the law and hence our need for alien righteousness found only in Christ. It is true that salvation is by grace but it is impossible to explain grace without explaining the impossible requirements of God's law. Grace is, by definition, unmerited favor. How can we possibly see it is something we don't merit until we see our transgressions against God. How can we preach love without the law when God showed us His love in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). In order to comprehend God's love we must comprehend our sinfulness. In order to comprehend our sinfulness we must grasp the requirements of God's justice system found in the law.

In fact the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5) magnifies the law to the point where Christ points out that

"For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire." (verses 20-22)

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (verses 27-28)

"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (verse 48)

The Law serves as the schoolmaster to lead us to Christ.

Here is what some great preachers through history had to say about preaching the law of God.

A. W. Pink "Just as the world was not ready for the New Testament before it received the Old, just as the Jews were not prepared for the ministry of Christ until John the Baptist had gone before Him with his claimant call to repentance, so the unsaved are in no condition today for the Gospel till the Law be applied to their hearts, for 'by the Law is the knowledge of sin.' It is a waste of time to sow seed on ground which has never been ploughed or spaded! To present the vicarious sacrifice of Christ to those whose dominant passion is to take fill of sin, is to give that which is holy to the dogs."

A. W. Tozer "No one can know the true grace of God who has not first known the fear of God."

Augustine "The Law is not in fault, but our evil and wicked nature; even as a heap of lime is still and quiet until water be poured thereon, but then it begins to smoke and burn, not from the fault of the water, but from the nature and kind of the lime which will not endure it."

C. S. Lewis "When we merely say that we are bad, the 'wrath' of God seems a barbarous doctrine; as soon as we perceive our bad-ness, it appears inevitable, a mere corollary from God's goodness..."

Charles Spurgeon "I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law." Then he warns, "Lower the Law and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt; this is a very serious loss to the sinner rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion. I say you have deprived the gospel of its ablest auxiliary [its most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law. You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ . . . They will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law. Therefore the Law serves a most necessary purpose, and it must not be removed from its place."

D. L. Moody “It is a great mistake to give a man who has not been convicted of sin certain passages that were never meant for him. The Law is what he needs … Do not offer the consolation of the gospel until he sees and knows he is guilty before God. We must give enough of the Law to take away all self-righteousness. I pity the man who preaches only one side of the truth, always the gospel and never the Law.” EB - Jos 1:7

Dr. Martin Loyd-Jones "A gospel which merely says, 'Come to Jesus,' and offers Him as a friend, and offers a marvelous new life, without convincing of sin, is not New Testament evangelism. (The essence of evangelism is to start by preaching the Law; and it is because the Law has not been preached that we have had so much superficial evangelism.) True evangelism... must always start by preaching the law."
"The trouble with people who are not seeking for a Savior, and for salvation, is that they do not understand the nature of sin. It is the peculiar function of the Law to bring such an understanding to a man's mind and conscience. That is why great evangelical preachers 300 years ago in the time of the puritans, and 200 years ago in the time of Whitefield and others, always engaged in what they called a preliminary law work."

George Whitefield "First, then, before you can speak peace to your hearts, you must be made to see, made to feel, made to weep over, made to bewail, your actual transgressions against the Law of God."

J. C. Ryle "People will never set their faces decidedly towards heaven, and live like pilgrims, until they really feel that they are in danger of hell ... Let us expound and beat out the Ten Commandments, and show the length, and breadth, and depth, and height of their requirements. This is the way of our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount. We cannot do better than follow His plan. We may depend on it, men will never come to Jesus, and stay with Jesus, and live for Jesus, unless they really know why they are to come, and what is their need. Those whom the Spirit draws to Jesus are those who the Spirit has convinced of sin. Without thorough conviction of sin, men may seem to come to Jesus and follow Him for a season, but they will soon fall away and return to the world."

J. I. Packer "Unless we see our shortcomings in the light of the Law and holiness of God, we do not see them as sin at all."

John Bunyan "The man who does not know the nature of the Law, cannot know the nature of sin."

John MacArthur "God's grace cannot be faithfully preached to unbelievers until the Law is preached and man's corrupt nature is exposed. It is impossible for a person to fully realize his need for God's grace until he sees how terribly he has failed the standards of God's Law."

John Newton "Ignorance of the nature and design of the Law is at the bottom of most religious mistakes."

John R. Stott "We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses, to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses, and acknowledged our sin, guilt and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses send us to Christ."

John Wesley "While he cries out, O what love have I to thy Law! all the day long is my study in it. He sees daily, in that divine mirror, more and more of his own sinfulness. He sees more and more clearly, that he is fullness a sinner in all things -- that neither his heart nor his ways are right before God, and that every moment sends him to Christ. Therefore I cannot spare the Law one moment, no more than I can spare Christ, seeing I now want it as much to keep me to Christ, as I ever wanted it to bring me to Him. Otherwise this 'evil heart of unbelief' would immediately 'depart from the living God.' Indeed each is continually sending me to the other--the Law to Christ, and Christ to the Law."

Jonathan Edwards "The only way we can know whether we are sinning is by knowing His Moral Law."

Martin Luther "Satan, the god of all dissension stirs up daily new sects. And last of all which of all others I should never have foreseen or once suspected, he has raised up a sect such as teach that men should not be terrified by the law, but gently exhorted by the preaching of the grace of Christ."

Matthew Henry "Herein is the Law of God above all other laws, that it is a spiritual law. Other laws may forbid compassing and imagining, which are treason in the heart, but cannot take cognizance thereof, unless there be some overt act; but the Law of God takes notice of the iniquity regarded in the heart, though it go no further."

RECOMMENDED BOOKS - JOHN WESLEY

John Wesley (1703-1791) was an 18th-century Anglican clergyman and Christian theologian who was an early leader in the Methodist movement. After being educated at Christ Church College, Oxford, Wesley was ordained in 1725. Upon finishing his studies, Wesley remained at Oxford for a time to teach. At the University John became a member of a small group which had gathered round his brother Charles Wesley. The group of Christians, which included George Whitefield and James Hervey, became known as the "Holy Club" or the "Oxford Methodists." Encouraged by an account of the Great Awakening in New England by Jonathan Edwards and by George Whitefield's successes at outdoor preaching, Wesley swept away his ecclesiastical and High Church views and began preaching in fields at Bristol (1739).
During the following fifty years John Wesley reportedly rode 250,000 miles on the roads of England, Scotland, and Ireland preaching 42,000 sermons. Besides this he published 233 books. His tireless and incessant activity changed the face of British society and the nature of its religion forever.


WESLEY GOLD
Ray Comfort (Editor), John Wesley
Category: Heroes, Puritans, And Reformers
Click Here To Order
How could one man turn a whole country upside-down? How could he be disciplined to daily read his Bible, have private prayer, meet others for public prayer, and yet not be saved? Why did he say, I went to America, to convert the Indians; but oh! Who shall convert me? What did he read that “strangely warmed his heart” and brought him to Christ? These questions and others are answered in Ray Comfort's compilation of golden nuggets from the life of the great field preacher John Wesley who said that "The World Is My Pulpit". Loaded with great inspiration for evangelism and appreciation for our Christian heritage.