From R.C. Sproul: Preaching on the Justification by Faith Alone
* "The Church stands or falls on sola fide."
* "According to Rome (the Catholic church) faith is a necessary condition of justification. According to protestants faith is a sufficient condition for justification."
* "Faith alone is the instrumental cause of righteousness and justification."
* "The imputation of Christ's righteousness to me is the only ground for my justification. The only righteousness that will justify me is Christ's righteousness."
* "We are not justified by understanding the doctrine of justification. We are justified by Christ!"
From John Piper:
John was as powerful as ever. He interrupted his sabbatical stay in England to come and be a part of this conference. I have one word of introduction to these thoughts I share: "Wow!"
I will give his 4 major points and then list the "nuggets" from my notes:
1. Reflections on a kind of preaching:
* Our preaching should be dominated by the greatness, the majesty and the holiness of God.
- leaving the hearers with a spiritual sense of shock.
* We should be broken hearted, bible saturated preachers.
* There is a weight to this office as pastor!
* God planned for His Son to be crucified and for hell to be terrible.
2. A Portrayal of the Glory of God.
* In Scripture, from beginning to end, nothing is more significant than the glory of God!
Jeremiah 13:11; Isa. 43:7; Isa. 48:9-11;Psalm 106:8; Eph. 1:6 (and he listed others, yet was rattling them off so fast I couldn't write them all down!)
*God's ultimate allegiance is to God and then to share tha with you.
* You do not honor fully what you do not enjoy!
* We know the Father with the knowledge of the Son. We know the joy with the joy of the Son.
* When the glory of God is the treasure of our life we will not lay up treasures on earth.
* Every sin flows from a failure to treasure God's glory above all things.
3. How do people become awakened to this? (His text was 2 Cor. 3:18-4:6)
*vs. 3:18 is God's way of transforming people. Our job is to make Him seen. It's the only way to change people.
*2 Cor. 4:4 - you see with your ears. 2 Sam. 3:21.
* There is a famine of seeing and savoring the glory of God.
* Eph. 3:19 speaks of the eyes of the heart!
4. This calls us to Expository Exultation.
* It is the purpose of God to display His glory in the Word.
* Why expository? Because the gospel comes in Word.
* The Gospel Is:
a. A message about historical events.
b. A message about the events achieved. The payment for sin!
c. A message about the transfer of these achievements to particular people. By faith alone! This transfer happens through the Gospel.
d. A message about the good things that are now true about us because of the transfer that has happened.
e. A message about the glorious God Himself as our treasure.
* Forgiveness without the restoration of a relationship is not the gospel.
* And we are to exult in the gospel. That is why preaching is expository exultation.
From C.J. Mahaney Spoke on "Watch Over Yourself and Your Preaching" from 1 Timothy 4:16. This was my first time to hear C.J. in person and I prayerfully hope that it will not be the last:
* 1 Timothy 4:16a is a summary of the pastor's job description. 4:16b tells us what's at stake.
1. Watch Your Life
2. Watch Your Doctrine
3. Watch God Work
1. Watch Your Life:
* # 2 (watch your doctrine) is much easier than # 1 (watch your life).
* It is easier to study doctrine than to examine your own heart.
* skillfulness in public ministry is no substitute for personal piety.
* Our character must be more persuasive than our speech.
* There are limitations to sound doctrine.
*Knowledge of Scripture alone without the grace given by God to apply them is not enough. It leaves us vulnerable.
* We must have a high view of the application. True knowledge is the prelude to grace motivated obedience.
* As we learn all to practice, we must practice all to learn.
* The War within NEVER ends.
* We are commanded to keep watch because of the war within. "Few labor to know themsleves. To study indwelling sin for your own soul's health." John Owen
* Heart work is hard work.
* We cannot effectively watch ourselves by ourselves.
* C.J. recommended this book "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hand." by Paul Tripp
* C.J. gave a great illustration about having "cream chesse on our face." I can't relate it well here but I do remember it well. I encourage you to order the mp3.
* "Your self-perception is like looking into a carnival mirror!"
2. Watch Your Doctrine
* Never lose sight of The Gospel.
* Preach the whole counsel of God - but the cross is the center of the counsel.
* People should anticipate seeing the cross in every sermon.
3. Watch the Savior Work
* Not self-atonement, but the importance & effect of human agents.
Final Session - Dr. John MacArthur(by the way, I did get to thank him for the MacCheese Tray -- read blog entry below).
John began by reading 1 Thessalonians chapters 1 & 2 without comment - but, it was powerful!
* We must be devoted to the Gospel of God.
* We must be committed to certainty. Without certainty there is no clarity. Without clarity there is no conviction. Without conviction there is no affection. Without affection there is no community.
* Make the message clear.
* Expository preaching requires relentless preparation! (through reading)
Expository Preaching:
1. Establishes the authority of God over mind & soul.
2. Exalts the headship of Christ over His church.
3. It is the Word of God which the Spirit uses to save and to sanctify.
4. Strikes a blow at pride becauses it forces me to be in the Word.
5. Honors by example the priority of bible study. When you preach effectively you take them through the hermeneutics so you both (pastor and congregation) arrive at the "eureka moment" together.
6. Keeps people from the illusion that they have heard from God when they haven't.
7. It has a massive impact on the reality of worship.
8. Protects people from error and carnality, which is deadly to the church.
9. Helps you fully understand the mind of Christ.
* "I'm not in the world to give my opinion. I'm here to bring God's Word to the world."
Clif's final thoughts:
I know I missed writing down a lot. Some of the time it was due to the Spirit's conviction to my soul and my needing to just pause and soak it in.
I hope these are as helpful to you as they were convicting to me.
In HIS Grace,
Pastor Clif
2 comments:
Cliff,
Thank you for the post. I am so jealous that I wasn't able to attend. I had many friends who were there, but you took away better nuggets.
Clif(ton),
I just posted this at Tads Blog but then I noticed you had one too.
"Clifton,
I humbly ask your forgivness for me not having a profile. I'm new to all this and may need some guidence. You old pros have to bear with newbies like me that don't knwo what they are doing. I'm trying to catch-up. I didn't realize it was a breach of protocal. I'll try and figure out how to get a profile as soon as possible and get it posted.
BTW...did you think my post was offensive in any way? It was definatley not my intention. I have read some of Tad's comments and his blog and I simply was trying to encourage him. I like the way he thinks. Well, i guess I was trying to be a little silly with the boxers or briefs question!
For the record, I'm Cliff(ord) Easter, Youth and Families Pastor at FBC Metropolis IL. If it's possible, I'll probably just change my ID as well."
BTW...I was at the conference as well. You did a remarkable job of reporting on it here. It was most definatly the best conference I'd been too! Wish we could have met...
Joy,
Cliff
Post a Comment