People have been asking for me to begin placing my sermons online. We do not record our Sunday services, but we gave it a try this week. For Easter I broke from our study of Galatians and preached a topical sermon presenting the gospel as clearly as I knew how. I followed the basic 1. God 2. Man 3. Christ 4. Response presentation. and followed the great witness training outline I picked up from Andy Davis of First Baptist Church Durham NC.
1. I focused on three of God’s offices, Creator, King, and Judge. As Creator God lovingly made all things and therefore rightfully rules the universe as sovereign King. As King God makes both natural and moral laws. When man breaks those laws God stands as righteous Judge. (Genesis 1:1, Acts 14:27, Psalm 47:7, Psalm 103:19, Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 22:34-40, Psalm 96:13, Habakkuk 1:13)
2. Human beings, created in the image of God by our loving Creator debase the image of God when we rebel against Him, the King. The righteous Judge must declare us guilty and pronounce the appropriate death sentence. (Genesis 1:27, Romans 3:10-12, 1 John 3:4, Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 22:34-40, Matthew 12:36, Romans 6:23)
3. Christ, the God-man who came performing miracles, and living a sinless life stands as the only suitable substitute able to take our punishment upon himself. (Isaiah 33:22, Matthew 1:21, John 1:14, Matthew 11:5, 1 Peter 2:22, 1 Peter 2:24, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, Ephesians 1:7, Romans 6:23)
4. Christ calls for repentance and faith. We must not work for our own salvation, because no matter how hard we may try, human beings fall woefully short of the King’s perfect standard. We must instead turn from our own self sufficiency and cling to Christ alone for mercy and grace. Through Christ, God the Creator can make you into a new creation and joyful servant of the King. The righteous Judge provides full pardon as Christ takes the death penalty himself upon the cross for all who turn to him in faith. (Acts 16:30, Mark 1:15, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Corinthians 6:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17 1 John 3:24, John 5:24, John 1:12 , John 11:25-26)
Download the sermon in mp3 format.
James Petigru Boyce founded the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and served as its first president. Al Mohler, the current president of Southern Seminary offers a brief biographical sketch of Boyce’s life and contribution to theological education. He particularly notes Boyce’s influential address, “Three Changes in Theological Institutions,” which launched and directed early Southern Baptist educational endeavors. As an educator, his 1887 textbook, “An Abstract of Systematic Theology,” grounded seminarians and pastors with a solid theological foundation. Roughly 100 years later, Ernest Reisinger provided twelve thousand students and pastors with a reprint of Boyce’s theology book as a testimony to our Southern Baptist heritage. The James P. Boyce legacy lives on especially in his “Abstract Of Principles;” a short confessional statement still used by many Southern Baptists today.
I lifted Boyce’s image from William Cathcart’s 1883 Baptist Encyclopedia and placed it on a whimsical T-shirt for those interested in wearing a bit of stylish historical theology. You can get several T-shirt or sweatshirt styles as well as a coffee mug. The back of the shirts sport Boyce’s definition of regeneration from The Abstract Of Principles.
VIII. Regeneration.
Regeneration is a change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, who quickeneth the dead in trespasses and sins enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God, and renewing their whole nature, so that they love and practice holiness. It is a work of God’s free and special grace alone.
I’m listening the the new Jars of Clay CD, Redemption Songs, released earlier this week. I really like what I hear and this CD will probably spend a good bit of time in my player. The bands answer to the worship album trend borrows heavily from a rich tradition. No one can accuse them of presenting a happy clappy white washed front with this collection of soulful mixes. The CD opens with the 1912 Psalter interpretation of Psalm 51.
God, be merciful to me,
On Thy grace I rest my plea;
Plenteous in compassion Thou,
Blot out my transgressions now;
Wash me, make me pure within,
Cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin.
My transgressions I confess,
Grief and guilt my soul oppress;
I have sinned against Thy grace
And provoked Thee to Thy face;
I confess Thy judgment just,
Speechless, I Thy mercy trust.
I am evil, born in sin;
Thou desirest truth within.
Thou alone my Savior art,
Teach Thy wisdom to my heart;
Make me pure, Thy grace bestow,
Wash me whiter than the snow.
Gracious God, my heart renew,
Make my spirit right and true;
Cast me not away from Thee,
Let Thy Spirit dwell in me;
Thy salvation’s joy impart,
Steadfast make my willing heart.
Broken, humbled to the dust
By Thy wrath and judgment just,
Let my contrite heart rejoice
And in gladness hear Thy voice;
From my sins O hide Thy face,
Blot them out in boundless grace.
The rest of the track list keeps pace with the high expectations the first song invoked. Let me mention a few of my favorites. It may just be me, but I can’t help but hear echoes of U2’s “Beautiful Day” in their version of John Wesley’s “God will lift up your head.” You may be predestined to crank up the volume on that one. You will not want to turn the volume back down for the next track. Their enlistment of Sarah Kelly’s strong vocals brings the old spiritual “I’ll Fly Away” to new heights. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something cool about bringing familiar voices in for collaboration. I almost expected to hear Larry Norman join in their remake of “It Is Well With My Soul.” The Blind Boys of Alabama provide flavor to “Nothing but the Blood.” (If you do not have their Christmas CD, Go Tell It on the Mountain, in your collection, get it.)
The seventh tract borrows from a 19th century hymn I do not think I’d ever heard before:
O come and mourn with me awhile;
And tarry here the cross beside;
O come, together let us mourn;
Jesus, our Lord, is crucified.
With those lyrics, especially today on Good Friday, I can’t help but think of the excellent article in last month’s Modern Reformation, “Singing The Blues with Jesus.” Michael Horton writes:
We aren’t morbid when we take sin, suffering, and death seriously as Christians. Rather, we can face these tough realities head-on because we know that they have been decisively confronted by our captain. They have not lost their power to harm, but they have lost their power to destroy us. This biblical piety is not morbid because it doesn’t end at the cross, but it also doesn’t avoid it. It goes through the cross to the Resurrection. This is why the Christian gospel alone is capable of refuting both denial and despair. The hope of the gospel gives us the freedom to expose the wound of our human condition because it provides the cure.
Horton concludes:
Death is still an enemy, not a friend, but it is “the last enemy,” and it is already defeated so that now death is not God’s judgment upon us for our sin but the temporal effects of our participation in Adam’s guilt. And because the guilt and judgment are removed, we can both cry out with our Lord in troubled anger at death and yet also sing with the Apostle, “Where O death is your sting? Where O hell is your victory?” (1 Cor. 15:54–55). What we need again is a church that can sing the blue note in a way that faces the real world honestly and truthfully, recognizing the tragic aspect of life as even more tragic than any nihilist could imagine, while knowing that the one who raised Lazarus is now raised to the right hand of his Father, until all enemies—including death, lie in the rubble beneath his feet.
While the latest offering from Jars of Clay doesn’t technically fit into the blues genre, the range of emotions resonate with Horton’s wise council and the biblical Psalmest. Here them sing,
When sins and fears prevailing rise
And fainting hope almost expires
Jesus to Thee I lift my eyes
To Thee I breathe my soul’s desires
Are You not mine, my living Lord
And can my hope, my comfort die
Fixed on the everlasting word
That word which built the earth and sky
Here let my faith unshaken dwell
Immovable the promise stands
Not all the powers of earth or hell
Can e’er dissolve the sacred bands
Jesus to Thee I lift my eyes
Here oh my soul
Thy trust repose
If Jesus is forever mine
Jesus, I lift my eyes
To Thee I breathe my soul’s desires
Jesus, I lift my eyes
To Thee I lift my eyes
Not death itself that last of foes
Can break a union so.
As Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Christ this coming weekend, many question the reliability of our treasured gospel accounts. Even many who call themselves Christians have been swept away into a sea of doubt by Dan Brown’s work of fiction, the The DaVinci Code. Although I have not taken the time to crack open the book myself, all the talk has my curiosity meter twitching. How can the firm reality of the biblical record be undermined by a novel that admits to being a work of fiction?
This weeks White Horse Inn program tackles the topic, Faith, History & The DaVinci Code. Mike Horton talks to Paul L. Maier, history professor and author of The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction. Maier characterizes the historical claims of the novel as “falsehood piled upon distortion.” He literally laughs at most of the so-called historical claims found within Dan Brown’s book. For example, Dan Brown’s historian character doesn’t even date the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls accurately, not to mention the fact that he completely fabricates the scrolls content.
Darrell L. Bock, New Testament professor at Dallas Theological Seminary also provides a full length Critique in his book, Breaking The Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everybody’s Asking. Some of these questions include:
- Who was Mary Magdalene?
- Was Jesus Married?
- Would Jesus Being Single be Un-Jewish?
- Do the So-Called Secret, Gnostic Gospels Help Us Understand Jesus?
- What Is the Remaining Relevance of The Da Vinci Code?
If you want a quick introduction to the key points, let me suggest, Not InDavincible: A Review and Critique of The DaVinci Code by internet apologist J. P. Holding. The radio show “Issues Etc.” recently interviewed Holding on the subject and you can catch the audio on his Tektonics web site.
The fiction of The Da vinci Code even made it onto the table at last months Biblical Reliability Conference hosted by the University of Minnesota. Craig Blomberg of Denver Seminary presented a two part lecture: 1. The DaVinci Code: Was There a Plan to Suppress “Secret” Gospels? and 2. The DaVinci Code: Was There a Conspiracy to Concoct a Divine Jesus? You can listen to the two hour talks yourself, but at the end of each talk he offers the simple answer to each question - “no.”
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
Last night we tried a new Lord’s Supper bread recipe. For me, the store bought wafers sort of ruin the moment of reverence when you taste the Styrofoam flavored host. My son and I looked at several Passover unleavened bread recipes and concocted a simple one of our own. We received several positive comments after the service.
- 7 Tablespoons Water
- 7 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 7 Tablespoons Honey
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
Mix all ingredients together and knead well on a flowered surface. Roll into 7 balls. With a rolling pin, flatten each ball into the thickness of thin pizza crust. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes. Cut into half inch squares.
Patrick, Saint, the Apostle of Ireland, was of Scotch birth. His proper name was Succathus; the name by which we designate him is of Latin origin; patricius means noble, illustrious; it was a surname and a title of honor at the same time given to him by his grateful admirers. Patrick was wild and wicked until his sixteenth year, when he remembered the God of his fathers and repented him of his sins, and enlisted in the divine service. There is no ground for doubting but that he preached the gospel of repentance and faith in Ireland, and that his ministrations were attended by overwhelming success. There are accounts extant of a number of his baptisms, but they are all immersions. There is one baptism mentioned by Nennius (History of the Britons, p. 410. Bohn, London) and by Todd (St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, p. 449. Dublin), and found in many other histories, of which O’Farrell writes (Popular Life of St. Patrick, p. 110. New York, 1863), “When the saint entered Tirawly the seven sons (of Amalgaidh) assembled with their followers. Profiting by the presence of so vast a multitude, the apostle entered into the midst of them, his soul inflamed with the love of God, and with a celestial courage preached to them the truths of Christianity; and so powerful was the effect of his burning words that the seven princes and over twelve thousand more were converted on that day, and were soon after baptized in a well (a spring or fountain) called Tobar Enadhaire, the well of Enadhaire.” A number of other fountain baptisms of St. Patrick may be found in “The Baptism of the Ages,” pp. 62-70. Publication Society, Philadelphia. We have strong reasons for regarding St. Patrick as a Baptist missionary, and beyond contradiction his baptism was immersion.
- The Baptist Encyclopedia: Edited by William Cathcart. (1883) pp. 886-7
Also, let me highly recommend reading, in his own words, The Confession of Saint Patrick.
