I am back. But to begin with, I thought I would repost an old article and encourage you to join me for a moment of self-examination. I am convinced that done badly this can of course turn into naval-gazing and be unhealthy. But now at the beginning of a new season, is a good time to pause for a moment:

“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3

Stop. Whatever you are doing right now, just stop. I know you are probably busy but you can spare five minutes can’t you? Ask God the following question “am I doing anything out of rivalry or concept? Please show me.”

What about that promotion you applied for at work? Are you thinking of the good of the company? Do you honestly feel you can contribute at that level? Or are you seeking to advance your career selfishly, oblivious to the fact you may be being promoted to your level of incompetency? Have you considered the effects on your family if, by taking on a role not made for you, you are fired in a few months? How would you feel if someone better than you got the job instead?

What about that ministry at church? Notice I didnt call it YOUR ministry. It’s not. Are you serving in the way you are because your gifting meets like a glove the need of the people? Or are you serving because you somehow managed to squeeze yourself like a square peg into a round hole? How would you feel if someone else was found who could better do your role? Would you feel insecure and angry or would you be confident that there must be a more suitable role that you can serve in?

Are you on some kind of “Christian leadership ladder” in your imagination? Do you hope for a steady rise to the so called top. Or are you perhaps longing for a meteoric climb? Are you simply serving time at the moment hoping to build your credentials for a future launch to run your own church? Do you secretly despise the leader you currently pretend to follow? Are you using him so one day you can strike out on your own?

Are you sure that your desire to church plant has been put there by God? Do you think you have all the answers or are you humbly seeking Gods help? Were you surprised when someone suggested it was time you lead? That could be good if it is a sign of humility. But it could be bad if it means that God has never stirred your heart with a godly ambition. Are you actually following the call of man or the call of God?

And Pastor, what of the growth of the church God has entrusted to your care? Are you constantly comparing yourself to others? Do you feel envious of a church growing faster or bigger? Or do you feel superior to one growing slower? Why do you want the church to grow? Is it so that you will look good or is it so God will be glorified by souls coming to know him and worship him as Lord?

It is only as we spend time on our knees being examined by God that we can know the true answers to these questions. Truth be told, all of us have mixed motives at best. Many of us start out as young guns, full of a cocksure confidence that often goes with youth. Those challenging circumstances you face may be Gods way of taking the wind out of your sails. God knows I needed him to do that for me. Has he broken you in as a man might a wild horse?

The irony is, when God truly humbles a man, taking away that sense he can conquer the world with no one helping him, it is then that the man is fit for service. Do you feel weak? Then God can make you strong! Do you exclaim like Paul “who is worthy for such a task?” Then God can qualify you! Do you lack wisdom? God will give it to you. Do you feel alone? God will give you those to serve alongside or under who he has specifically designed to cover your inadequacy. Not everyone is built to plant a church as the top of some pyramid. Far more are called to serve a leader in an existing church. Or, if indeed called and equipped by God to start a new work, to do so under the direction and support of another wiser leader.

If these words have hit a raw nerve in you, they are not intended to make you give up. Though, if you are doing something God never designed you for, a change of direction may indeed be the best thing, as quickly as possible. But perhaps, as God convicts you of independence, you may be able to still do the role you have, but with a different attitude. Perhaps you can find a godly leader who can shepherd your soul. Perhaps you can find a vision bigger than your own to gladly support. Perhaps God will take a humbled almost broken you and use you as a tool in his hands for the advance of his kingdom and his glory.

Will you join me in praying “God, test my heart. Weigh my motives. Purge me of any wrong desires for my glory. You know my heart. You know that even tho my ugly pride rears it’s head from time to time, I have determined to follow you and seek your glory. Make me a tool in your hands. May I bring honour to your name. May I serve you with true humility. And as you advance others may I rejoice that the cause is strengthened. Thank you for dying even for this most ugly of my sins. Thank you for your resurrection power that is given to me that I might be free! Help me to find my identity in you and to cease striving.”

My final sermon of the year was preached at Jubilee Church, London. You can download audio and video or watch it here:

download audio

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”

Speaking about joy—Season of goodwill is upon us—“Happy Christmas” we say, but it can be a stressful and sorrowful time for many.

An epidemic of depression. Some biological, but much caused by wrong thinking and difficult relationships.

Everybody wants to be happy—even the person who kills himself.

Where can we find joy? IN THE LORD is the simple answer.

Alt title: How to have fun and follow Jesus.

Subject that I come to in some trepidation. One of my heroes speaks of God stopping him before he could speak on joy:

“I was at Romans 14:17. I had dealt with ‘righteousness’, with ‘peace’ on March 1st, and there I was stopped. I was not allowed to deal with ‘joy in the Holy Ghost’. I have the feeling that this was not accidental. God intervened and I could suggest a reason why. I was able to deal with righteousness and peace (I had fleeting experiences of it), but the third thing is the profoundest of all. Why was I not allowed to deal with it? Because I knew something, but not enough about it. ‘I want you to speak with greater authority on this,’ God said . . .

Here is what I would put before you. For six months, until September, I did not preach at all. For four months I have had the most valuable experience of being a listener. My general impression is that most of our services are terribly depressing! I am amazed people still go to church; most who go are female and over the age of forty. The note missing is ‘joy in the Holy Ghost’. There is nothing in these services to make a stranger feel that he is missing something by not being there.” READ MORE

(For more information about Lloyd-Jones, see John Piper’s brief biography and assessment of him)
How should we respond? HAS been progress, BUT, do we truly live in the good of 1 Peter 1:8 when it refers to, “joy unspeakable and full of glory” ?

Joy seen at football matches, and concerts, e.g. X-factor / American Idol.

Church should be the happiest place on earth. I am convinced that if we continue to let the Holy Spirit have free reign in our meetings, then real joy and a sense of the presence of God, will be the result.

Christians are not meant to be of all people the most miserable!

We should be the most happy!

Not true that “the more miserable=more holy!!!” Christianity and joyless churches are contradictions” p39 Henry Tyler’s Jump For Joy

So, the Bible gives us PERMISSION to be full of joy, as Christians, but more than that, it COMMANDS us to be full of joy.

Don’t hide behind temperament—those who tend to be positive beware against flippancy and riding roughshod over others. For those who tend to be pessimists; you need to loosen up and receive joy! (That’s easier said than done! Just “telling” them to loosen up isn’t really of much help. You need to tell them HOW to loosen up.)

What is joy = similar to happiness in some ways. Partly the absence of things to make us sad: George “I happy now” when sick. But more than that the presence of something positive. (You may know what you mean here, but I don’t.)

Tomorrow I will begin to share the 11 points I spoke about.

It’s that time of year again. As I have done in previous years, I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect on the year that was. This post will consider personal matters, family matters, and my church.

The year began with my regular tradition of putting the blog onto autopilot to give me time to reflect, pray, and recuperate. I have a tendency to end the year feeling exhausted and drained, and find the discipline of switching off my blog after the holiday period gives me a real lift. This year I am busier than ever, but I don’t feel as drained. I still plan on shutting down the blog during the month of January, and probably into February, as my book deadline looms closer, but I have set Blogger to republish some posts three times a week, and, as always, the Warnie Box remains to lead you to other great sites.

I felt like the year got off to a slow start, but then in February, I took a lovely holiday with two of my children. Watching all five of the kids grow has been another great highlight this year, with the baby becoming a toddler and our oldest rapidly on her way to becoming a teenager, having started high school.

It’s been a good year for me personally. I found myself thrust into new roles, including writing a book, which wasn’t something I ever expected to do. In spite of the business, and the fact that my annual leave was all burned up by the summer, I don’t feel as if I’m ending 2008 running on empty as much as I’ve felt that way in previous years. I praise God for the way he has sustained me.

One joy this year has been that in the latter half of the year I started the Every Day in the Bible reading plan together with my wife (also available as a podcast or printout). We listen to Max McLean, and it has helped my relationship with my wife and my Lord in one fifteen-minute chunk of time every day.

We have enjoyed a stable year as a family. No pregnancies. No births. No house moves. The same job. The same church. No major sickness. We are so grateful to God. We plan on staying right where we are for the forseeable future, still being convinced God has called us to remain here for at least another couple of decades or so. I stay where I’ve been planted, but I hope I can somehow encourage and support those who do go.

I have been so glad to be part of Jubilee Church this year. Our growth continues, we are often over 400 on Sunday morning now, and are seeing a prolonged period of regular weekly responses to the gospel. God is blessing us in so many ways, and we are all very grateful. The kids love the church too. Over the last year I have preached there eight times, as well as giving other talks to smaller groups of people at different times during the week and continuing to serve in the leadership team. Below are links to the sermons I’ve preached this year. Tomorrow I will give a brief review of the blog in 2008.

• Comfort Like a Mother (Mother’s Day Sermon)
• God’s Gift of Life (Thou Shall Not Kill)
• Work Rest and Play (Sabbath-keeping)
• Philippians 1 – Living for the Future
• Philippians 2 – Living for the Good of Others
• Philippians 3 – Living to Know Jesus
• Nehemiah 3 – Building for the Glory of God
• Nehemiah 8 – Back to the Word

John Piper is a great preacher—not just to listen to, but also to watch. I find God stirring my heart through him every time I play one of his videos. It also reminds me of what I’m aiming for when I preach, which is “logic on fire.” I pray that God will draw many into his purposes in the way he has drawn John Piper.

Today I want to highlight one of the sermons in his series on the new birth – Why Do We Need To Be Born Again? (Part 2). Here is an excerpt of this excellent sermon, which serves as a wonderful reminder of how desperately we need GOD to act in saving us. This is one of the sermons that form the basis for his forthcoming book, Finally Alive, which is now available for only $5 on preorder!

No man can make anyone else become a Christian. May God move and bring many into his kingdom.

1. Without the new birth, we won’t have saving faith, but only unbelief. (John 1:11-13; 1 John 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 1:29; 1 Timothy 1:14; 2 Timothy 1:3).

2. Without the new birth, we won’t have justification, but only condemnation. (Romans 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 2:17; Philippians 3:9).
3. Without the new birth, we won’t be the children of God, but the children of the devil. (1 John 3:9-10).
4. Without the new birth, we won’t bear the fruit of love by the Holy Spirit, but only bear the fruit of death. (Romans 6:20-21; 7:4-6; 15:16; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10; Galatians 5:6; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 3:14).
5. Without the new birth, we won’t have eternal joy in fellowship with God, but only eternal misery with the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41; John 3:3; Romans 6:23; Revelation 2:11; 20:15).

— John Piper, Why Do We Need to Be Born Again? (Part 2)

This is the third part in my short series on multiculturalism. The first two in the series can be found here:

1. Multiculturalism—You Are What You Eat?

2. Does Multiculturalism Mean I Have To Eat Blood?

When you mix with a number of different nationalities, you begin to realize that cultural differences are more complicated than you appreciated. They can also extend to quite surprising areas of life. One such area is that of whether or not it’s a good idea to circumcise baby boys.

In the UK this practice is definitely on the decline. Articles in the Guardian and Times have sought to further discourage it, although, even by 1975, fewer than 6 per cent of boys born in the UK were circumcised, whereas in the USA this figure was more like 60 per cent, even today. Christianity Today has an article about the decision-making process on whether to chop or not that stays neutral and lists additional links that provide helpful information.

I was raised within a tradition that was not in any way convinced by the arguments of some that circumcision is good for “hygienic reasons.” It was not all that uncommon during sermons to hear throw away comments about how glad we men were that circumcision was no longer required under the New Covenant. In fact, some would have gone further still and argued that circumcision was not permissible for Christians at all. They would have pointed to verses like the following to state that no Christian should allow themselves or their sons to be circumcised.

“Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:2-3, emphasis mine).

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace . . .

You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! (Galatians 5:7-12).

At first glance these verses would indeed seem pretty conclusive. A bit like the eating blood question, I would, in many ways, love to find biblical support to buttress my prejudices. But not so fast! There are, however, two cardinal rules of biblical interpretation that I must not break. The first is to always consider the context of the passage. The second is to consider the difference between the situation that the words are spoken into and our own situation today, and the implications of this, if any, for our understanding of what the Bible means for us.

So, to the context. Those three dots should be a clue. Let’s have a look at what I deliberately excised from the second passage: “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” Paul here seems to be stating that circumcision itself is not the issue. It would seem that, to Paul, being intact or otherwise is not what’s at stake here. In fact, in Acts we learn that Paul actually circumcised one of his helpers—Timothy (Acts 16:3), and yet on another occasion he strongly resisted doing so for another of his helpers—Titus Galatians 2:3. Can you imagine the locker-room conversations between those two?!

Therefore, it does seem to Paul that whether to agree to a circumcision or not is a circumstantial decision that would perhaps hinge around what meaning is going to be given to it. Modern Christians who do circumcise their children are doing so, not for religious grounds, but for what they believe to be health benefits, or just because, unlike me, they have grown up in an environment where the tradition is that you are expected to do it.

I have yet to meet a modern Christian who believes that to carry out an operation on their son will make him more acceptable to God and in any way contribute to justification. Therefore, it would seem wrong to apply these strong warnings against circumcision to the many thousands who do this as a cultural practice. I should be gracious and accepting of such people, and ensure that if the conversation ever comes up, I don’t appear incredulous that people still carry out this ancient practice. But, equally, I hope that those who do this will not consider those of us on the other side of the fence to be somehow “unclean.”

Of course, this can all seem very irrelevant, and by now some of you may be wondering why I have even taken the time to bring this up. I do so because, if we are building churches together, and even marrying across clear cultural divides, these issues can cause division if we are not careful. The truth is, being circumcised or not can certainly be very important in forging your sense of belonging to a group—your “identity.” Even without a conscious rejection of others who are different, there can easily be a feeling of dislocation and disconnection. For example, a careless joke made by someone from “the other side” about remaining intact (or not!) might go flat and leave people feeling unwelcome.

When two people from groups with different perspectives on this issue marry, they may find that it is best to have the conversation about which way their new family decides to go on this issue before any sons are born.

Should Christians circumcise their sons? If you’re looking for a legalistic answer, I’m not at all sorry that I have to disappoint. Like so many of these issues, while there are some biblical guidelines, the answer is—at least on this occasion—it all depends on why you want to do it.

My friends at Crossway continue to outdo themselves in the area of excellence. I sometimes think I should just issue a blanket recommendation—buy ANYTHING they print. But for some specifics, I thought I’d post some mini-reviews today. They have also recently started a book blog which has already had some great posts, so I’ve decided to award them a “Warnie Award,” which means that their headlines will appear in my sidebar from now on.

Here are a few Crossway books that have helped me as I have dipped into them in recent months:

THE SUPREMACY OF CHRIST IN A POSTMODERN WORLD
Each year the Desiring God Ministries Conference seems to spawn a book. This is one of them, and in it John Piper, D. A. Carson, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, Voddie Baucham, and David Wells all interact with the vital issues of how we can be both faithful to Scripture and relevant to the culture. Avoiding the extremes of compromise and alienation, this book charts a course we would be wise to follow carefully. Here is a quote to whet your appetite:

“This culture basically says that there is no rhyme or reason, so we’re here to make the most of it. Consume. Enjoy. That’s why we’re here. That is the overarching mentality in our culture, both inside and outside the Church, resulting in an unquenchable materialism and causing us to look at children as a blight and as a burden. While many in the poorest nations of the world talk about the number of children with which they can be blessed, we talk about the number of children we can afford. We have houses that are larger than they’ve ever had and families that are smaller than they’ve ever had…. Why? Because they get in the way of our consumption and our enjoyment” (page 60).

WHAT JESUS DEMANDS FROM THE WORLD
For a religion founded on the God-man Jesus, it is amazing how little attention we tend to give to what he said. John Piper’s book goes a long way to correcting this omission. If you thought commands and demands were only found in the Old Testament, this book will surprise you. Far from making things easier for us, Christ actually lays out a set of demands that far exceed the Old Testament law in their reach and challenge to us. Of course, he does this to show us our need for him, but nonetheless, empowered by the Spirit, we are intended to live as Jesus tells us. After all, he commanded us to make disciples of all nations and teach them to obey whatever he has commanded us (see Matthew 28). This book will help you understand and obey these commands.

IN MY PLACE CONDEMNED HE STOOD
We can never have too many books helping us to understand the glory of the cross and everything it accomplished for us. Mahaney recommends reading a book on the cross every year, so it’s no wonder he encouraged his friends in this endeavor, which brings together short essays from Mark Dever and J. I. Packer.

One other fantastic thing about Crossway is that they have published 29 books by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I can’t comment on this author enough. Although based on sermons he preached decades ago, the books sound like they were written for the 21st century. More and more of his talks continue to be adapted for publication. They are supreme examples of what preaching should be like, but also function very well as books. If you haven’t discovered the Doctor yet, where have you been? His sermons are also available at mlj.org.uk. Here is an extract from one recent book, Compelling Christianity, based on Acts 8:

“The Christian message does not stop at the mere proclamation of the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to God. It goes on to say say that this Gospel changes men and women. . . . Christ came into the world not only to bear my punishment and to reconcile me to God, but also to fit me for heaven. He came to do something to me that enables me to enjoy God even in this world. What is it? I must be “born again”….

That is it! We must be made anew, we need a new nature, a new heart, a new mind, we must be new persons. And he has come to do this for us. This is the wonderful, amazing, astounding doctrine of regeneration and rebirth.

This new creation is the act of God. The God who made the world and made man at the beginning makes us anew in Christ. Get rid forever of the notion that becoming a Christian simply means being forgiven or trying to be a little bit better than you were before; you cannot be….

He is there! I am not left to myself. I have a new nature. The Spirit is working in me, getting rid of the pollution, sanctifying me, preparing me for Glory; and even before I get there I have, in Christ, access to God” (pages 59-63).

Finally, I should not neglect to mention a commentary I found helpful when preparing my talks from Philippians earlier this year. It’s a slim volume that nevertheless manages to get to the pith of the message of this vital book. The “Preaching the Word” series deserves to be read.

Yesterday I preached at Jubilee and thought, as usual, that I would share my notes and the audio here. But before I get to that, since it’s Monday and my habit in “normal” times is to share a quote with you from Doctor Martyn Lloyd-Jones, this quote is a good one to begin with as, in many ways, it sets the scene for what I was preaching on.

“What should we be seeking? We should always be seeking the Lord Jesus Christ himself, to know him, and know his love and to be witnesses for him and to minister to his glory . . . The Apostle Paul says that the height of his ambition is ‘that I might know him’. Not that he might have experiences, but that he ‘might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings’ etc…. We should seek to know him and his love. You see, we are told of the Spirit, ‘The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us.’

Now take that great term again, ‘shed abroad’. Do not put your little limit to it and say, ‘Oh yes, I love God’. Paul says that the love of God is ‘shed abroad’ in great profusion, overwhelmingly, in our hearts. Now that is what we should seek. We believe in God, in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the doctrines of salvation. All right! But the question that confronts us at this particular point is not that of believing, but love! A belief that does not lead to love is a very doubtful belief, it may be nothing but intellectual assent. The emphasis of the Bible is always upon love …. ‘What is the first and the chiefest commandment?’ Not that ‘thou shalt believe in the Lord thy God’, but that ‘thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy mind, and all thy strength’ ….

There is nothing that will enable a man to do that but the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You can believe and in a sense have a measure of love; but the thing put before us is not just a measure of love, it is an abounding love …..

Here, then, is the question—to what extent do we know this love of God to us and how do we love God? We are meant to love him with the whole of our being and there is nothing that can make us do so but the love of God shed abroad in our hearts ….

This is New Testament Christianity! New Testament Christianity is not just a formal, polite, correct, and orthodox kind of faith and belief. No! What characterizes it is this element of love and passion, this pneumatic element, this life, this vigour, this abandon, this exuberance—and, as I say, it has ever characterized the life of the church in all periods of revival and of reawakening. That is what we must seek—not experiences, not power, not gifts. If he chooses to give them to us, thank God for them and exercise them to his glory, but the only safe way of receiving gifts is that you love him and that you know him.”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Joy Unspeakable, The Baptism and Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Ed. Christopher Catherwood, Kingsway Publications: Eastbourne, 1995, pp. 360-361.

You can download my sermon or listen to it right here:

The Apostle starts this passage with the phrase, “Finally, REJOICE in the LORD” — and he is going to come back to that, but as he says that, he almost gets excited and goes off into a bit of a tangent, a diversion that will be our subject today. It’s almost as if that word “Lord” triggers something in him, because for him the Lord is, of course, Jesus. It excites him and he starts to think about our subject today. He starts off by saying, “Look, it’s good for me to remind you of these things.” And sometimes I think when we hear God’s Word, especially if we’ve been Christians a long time, we think, “Oh, yeah, I know it all” — and, in a sense, there will be nothing new today. So why does he say these things?

Paul gets angry. Preachers get angry. Why? Because TRUTH MATTERS. He has strong opposition to false teaching. Urges them STRONGLY to avoid DOGS—not talking about pets here! Talking about “street dogs,” dangerous dogs, potential killers. But can be disguised to look like sheep. Watch out for those who mutilate flesh. Outwardly appear on God’s side. Wolves in sheep’s clothing. So Paul then asks what are the marks of living as a true Christian?

MARKS OF LIVING AS A CHRISTIAN

• Christians have the “real circumcision” i.e. HEARTS cut out, new heart, regenerated, devoted to Jesus. It’s not about externals— circumcision, clothing, hair styles, etc. (verse 3).

• Christians are worshippers, every moment of every day, looking for opportunity to give God glory (verse 3).
• Christians worship by the Spirit of God — no confidence in the flesh, not man-empowered. Christians are Spirit-empowered (verse 3).
• Christians glory in Jesus—the one we honor, delight in. Paul could have written our church motto “It’s all about Jesus.”
• Christians have no confidence in human ability/qualifications (verse 3ff) Paul was the Jew of Jews. Thought killing Christians was serving God. You can be sincerely WRONG! He was religiously blameless, but a murderer!! Hypocrisy of religion knows no bounds. But we are not looking for holy people here, rather people who know they need God. Jesus didn’t come for the righteous, but for sinners.
• BIGGEST mark of living as a Christian is simply this: LIVING TO KNOW JESUS

WHAT DOES “LIVING TO KNOW JESUS” LOOK LIKE? WHAT ARE THE RESULTS?

A DECISION — everything is DUNG compared to the SURPASSING WORTH of knowing him, the risen, ascended, glorious, loving King. COUNTS everything unimportant. Do the math! (verses 7-8).

A LOSS — of everything! “I have suffered the loss of all things …” (verse 8).

A GAIN — “… that I may gain Christ and be found in him” (verse 8).

A HIDING PLACE — from the world “in Christ” and from God’s wrath (verse 9).

AN ALIEN RIGHTEOUSNESS — a righteousness that comes from outside of ourself, a goodness. But it’s only those who know Christ. “Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (verse 9).

But notice this! It doesn’t stop there! There’s a goal, not just that your sins will be forgiven, as glorious as that is. Not just that I might feel better, or not feel guilty anymore. Danger of turning gospel into merely something that deals with our felt needs. Rather, A PRECIOUS RELATIONSHIP — THAT I MAY KNOW HIM!!!! We were made to have a relationship with Jesus. He wants us to know him. That’s the goal! It’s not merely about being religious!

A POWERFUL FORCE — the power of his resurrection (verse 10). Christians should be conscious of the glorious power of the resurrection pulsating through their bodies. This is the heritage of the Christian. [Jonathan Edwards' quote—See below.]

A COMMUNITY OF SUFFERING — Not all glorious, however. Don’t want to deceive. We share also with him in his suffering Become like him in his death (verse 10).

A GLORIOUS RESURRECTION — But also become like him in his resurrection. A glorious resurrection to come, but also experienced even in the here and now. (verse 11). “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” — a perfect relationship with Jesus in heaven. But God says in this passage you don’t have to wait until heaven for “pie in the sky” when you die. There is cake on your plate while you wait! There is an obtaining, even in the here and now. Live the resurrection empowered life—know the power of God at work in me, experientially today to foretaste what will be mine in perfection in glory (verse 12ff).

Paul finishes the chapter by talking about an example for others to follow — “Imitate me, follow me, keep your eyes on people who are walking this way, copy them.”

Example not to follow: those who are enemies of the cross. But Christians don’t glory in the damnation of anyone. Don’t have enemies we are angry with, but have enemies for whom we weep. The belly is their god (their desires), running after flesh, whether food, sex, new clothes, etc. But for us, our bodies will be transformed, become like Jesus. They glory in their shame; we glory in our Saviour. Their end is destruction; our citizenship is in heaven. Not of this world (verse 17ff).

Background Quote

“Once, as I rode out into the woods for my health in 1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God as Mediator between God and man, and His wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension. This grace that appeared so calm and sweet, appeared also great above the heavens. The Person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent, with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception, which continued, as near as I can judge, about an hour, which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears and weeping aloud . . . I felt an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated; to lie in the dust and to be full of Christ alone; to love Him with a holy and pure love; to trust in Him; to live upon Him; to serve and follow Him and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure with a divine and heavenly purity.” (Jonathan Edwards, cited by Martyn Lloyd-Jones in An Exposition of Ephesians 1, God’s Ultimate Purpose, p. 275)

Terry introduced Mark by mentioning his currently available books, all of which he highly recommended. You can buy these from the Newfrontiers resources page. It was nice to see my pastor, Tope Koleoso, on the stage praying for Mark just before he began preaching. It was interesting that just a couple of weeks ago Tope also spoke on being missional in a talk that was impacting to me.

In case anyone hasn’t been reading blogs for the past two years, Mark Driscoll founded Mars Hill Church in Seattle in 1996. It has grown to over 6,000 people. He co-founded and is President of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network, which has planted over 100 churches in the USA and internationally. Most recently he founded and leads the Resurgence Missional Theology Cooperative. The Church Report has recognized Mark as the 22nd most influential pastor in America. His sermons are downloaded more than a million times a year. Mark is married to Grace and they enjoy raising their three sons and two daughters.

More posts from this conference can be found on my TOAM08 label page. You can download the mp3 of Mark’s talk or listen to it right here:

He explained that in Seattle there are more dogs than kids. Now eleven years into having started Mars Hill Church, they are in the top thirty fastest growing churches in the USA, are seeing many saved, and run a multi-campus church with seventeen services in seven locations. He plans to stay in Seattle for the rest of his life.

Driscoll then humbly explained that through his experiences here in Brighton he wants to learn from those of us in Newfrontiers. He is appreciative for the love of the Spirit and the passion for worship he has seen here. He was not afraid to say that he is also here to serve and build on our movement and contribute something to us. He stated up front that he felt that the particular thing he could contribute was to help us become more precise as missionaries. I found that phrase to be an intriguing one, but he didn’t explain it immediately.

Rather, he began to explain that while he himself clearly holds a charismatic theology and prays for the sick and demonized, he has a number of concerns about charismatics in general. He has often described himself as a “charismatic with a seat belt.”

Having looked at charismatic movements, he listed five problems he has with them, and boldly stated that he believed that we in Newfrontiers have avoided four of the five. He warned us to brace ourselves because some friendly words of rebuke were coming. At that point you certainly wanted to pay attention! As he listed his “problems” and explained them—and as nice as he was when he told us he thought we were okay on them—we braced ourselves for the blows we knew were coming!

MARK DRISCOLL’S PROBLEMS WITH CHARISMATICS

Sometimes charismatics focus on the wrong person. The Spirit’s objective is to teach us to love Jesus. He feels from his observation of Newfrontiers that we as a movement have avoided this common error of an over-focus on the Spirit to the exclusion of Jesus.

Sometimes charismatics focus on the wrong event. He explained that for many charismatics, Pentecost is their primary focus. But Pentecost was not the primary moment—it pointed back to the death and resurrection of Jesus. The cross was not just the prelude to the so-called “main event” of the coming of the Spirit. You only rightly appreciate Pentecost when you see it as the application of the cross. Driscoll also believed we in Newfrontiers have avoided that error and are cross-centered.

Some who love the Spirit have been corrupted by the view that it is all about prosperity. Driscoll commended Newfrontiers for being a Bible-loving people, and that we have not given way to the “health and wealth” teaching. Driscoll’s big problem with such “word of faith” teaching is that it basically says if you have enough faith in Jesus you will not be like him. He was poor and suffering! Some say all Christians should be rich and healthy!

Sometimes charismatics focus on the wrong person as the definition of what it is to be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led. As a result, charismatic leaders are often held up as an example to follow. The person gets lifted up. What Driscoll appreciates about Terry Virgo is that he lifts up Jesus. As Mark would go on to explain, it is in the life of Jesus that we find the perfect example of how to be filled with the Spirit, not in some leader.

Sometimes charismatics are insufficiently missional. He feels this is a big danger, especially if the charismatic is wedded to reformed theology. The danger is that we can begin to say, “It’s all up to God.” I thought here about people who do nothing about sharing the gospel, but instead just wait for revival. This is the one he feels that we in Newfrontiers may not have completely avoided. We are committed to mission, but not quite. We have almost hit the bull’s eye, but not quite. He did not mean this as a criticism, but as a way to help us improve. We have planted a lot of churches, but we should be moving even more quickly. We should be planting more. We should be giving more money. What is lacking sometimes is how we connect to culture and reach out to cultures and plant churches.

ROLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT FROM THE BOOKS OF LUKE AND ACTS

Mark made a strong case for Luke and Acts being a joint work which focuses on the work of the Spirit in the life of Christ and then in the Christian. It is striking how many times Luke reports on the work of the Spirit.

The structure behind Driscoll’s talk was to point out all the different things that the Holy Spirit does.

The Spirit fills people.
Luke 1 — “Filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.” We are to be filled with the Spirit also, and to love the Spirit.

Spirit-filled ministry includes miracles.
The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will overshadow . . .” A virgin gives birth. The Spirit prepares the coming of Jesus, works in the ministry of Jesus, and continues to work in the Church.

Spirit-filled ministry includes prayer.
When Mary met Elizabeth it says that her baby was filled with the Spirit. “The baby leaped for joy.” Elizabeth then prays gratefully, and also blesses Mary.

Spirit-filled ministry includes prophecy.
Zechariah was Spirit-filled and prophesied. Later, when the shepherds were in the fields and the angel came, they were filled with fear, and good news came. The news was revealed to them. Here is a Savior, Christ the Lord—which actually means one who is anointed by God the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was brought to the temple as a baby, more prophetic revelation came.

One of the ministries of Jesus is to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire for mission.
Luke 3:15 — “Baptize with the Holy Spirit.” There was also a division that came. Jesus inspires wonder and worship and also opposition. When the Spirit is in your midst, there is conflict and division. There are seasons of conflict. People get blown away.

At Jesus’ baptism the heavens opened and the Spirit descended on him like a dove. This is one of the clearest pictures of the Trinity in the entire Bible. God speaks from heaven to his Son, and the Spirit comes visibly and publicly. There is a clear demonstration to the public that the Spirit had anointed him. In Acts, the Spirit descends on the Church publicly to anoint the Church in much the same way as he anointed Jesus.

BUT . . .WHY WOULD JESUS NEED ANOINTING?

We must remember how Jesus came. He came in carnal flesh! In meat. The omnipresent came to a place. He who was without beginning and end was born of a woman. There is a great debate about how we are to see Jesus. Hypostatic union — Jesus one person, two natures — fully God, fully man. He did what only God could do.

God doesn’t grow and learn, but as a man Jesus did grow and learn. The God who doesn’t change changed physically. How could God become a man? Jesus didn’t lose or dilute his divinity. Rather he added to it his humanity.

Christians tend to see Jesus as a little more human or a little more divine. The first are liberals. The second don’t believe that Jesus was really tempted, or that he truly suffered. Jesus was like Superman, they say — like a Galilean peasant on the outside, but on the inside indestructible.

How did Jesus live his life? How did he resist sin? How did he love his enemies? How did he live for three years with Judas Iscariot? How did Jesus go to the cross and say, “Father forgive them”?

Some just say he was God. But Jesus was and is fully God, and while on the earth he was indeed still fully God. But he didn’t live a life that we cannot imitate. Jesus wasn’t faking it when he suffered. He was like us and tempted in the same way we are.

Philippians 2:5-11. He laid aside his rights. He emptied himself, became a slave. He was still God, but set aside the rights of divinity. He deserved to be worshipped and was scorned, he deserved to be praised and was mocked. He laid aside the continual use of his divine attributes, not the actual attributes themselves. He chose to learn, he chose to be tempted. He did use the divine attributes from time to time, e.g. to forgive sin. He didn’t use them all the time.

How then did he do it? How did he live his life? He did it by the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why we see the Spirit coming on him and resting on him, to enable him to live his life on earth. He was the second Adam. How did he say “no” to sin? By the power of the Spirit. How did he obey? How did he heal? How did he cast out demons? It was all by the power of the Holy Spirit. He was Spirit-filled, spirit-anointed and Spirit-led. What does it mean to be a charismatic? It means to be like Jesus! Most of the creeds miss out on his life. They say he was born and he died. What else did he do? We must focus on what is missing in the creeds—the Spirit-filled and anointed life of Jesus.

Let’s apply this to missiology. Jesus lived in heaven and came to earth — that’s a missionary. He lived in heaven in a culture of no sin where God was honored. He came to a culture which was rebellious and sinful. We tend to overlook the fact that Jesus was a missionary. The Spirit loves to empower those who are on a mission. Not just so we can pray better, worship louder, give more generously, but that we will be better missionaries to expand the knowledge of God to the ends of the earth. To be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led is to be missional because Jesus was!

[At this point, Mark returned to describing for us all the various things the Holy Spirit does.]

The Spirit leads us sometimes into hardship, testing, and temptation.
Luke 4 — Jesus—full of the Holy Spirit. He was led from the Jordan into the wilderness. He was led by the Spirit to the devil!

We are led to active ministry, and to contemplative ministry. Connect to God before you go to serve him. Anointing leads to silence, solitude, prayer, and contemplation, as well as testing, temptation, and fasting. He tests our character and prepares us. If you go through such a time, remember the same thing happened to Jesus.

Don’t be always doing, but never being. Jesus was tempted and tested, and because he resisted sin, it was confirmed that he was prepared for ministry.

Spirit-anointed ministry includes preaching.
Luke 4:14 — Silence precedes speech and contemplation precedes action. Spirit-filled preaching does not come without periods of silence, prayer, and fasting. The power of the Spirit is needed to preach.

Luke 4:17 — Spirit is still anointing him to do the work. He was anointed to proclaim liberty.

Spirit-anointed ministry includes justice for the poor.

Spirit-filled ministry includes joy in God.
Luke 10:21 — Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. Driscoll feels this is something we in Newfrontiers can give to him. He says that he has a tendency to emphasize the negative, to see sin, to identify errors, to see what mistakes are being made. What he experienced in worship here reminded him of that verse about how Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. That is what we were doing here in the worship times. [Driscoll seemed to have been quite affected by our worship time.]

We can rejoice in God when we still see the suffering of this world, but beyond it we see God. We can weep or we can sing and dance and clap in the Spirit. Jesus saw the grace of God in children and enjoyed their company.

The Spirit is given to us by the Father.
Jesus said in a parable that if you know how to give good gifts, the Father will give the Spirit to those who ask. If you like to live a life like mine, says Jesus, you better ask my Father for the Holy Spirit. The power of the Spirit makes the Christian life possible. We need to continually ask the Father for more of the Spirit so we can learn well, suffer well, serve well, and die well.

The Spirit teaches us what to say. (Luke 12:11)
He enables us to speak to people. He helps us to speak in such a way that there is no explanation for the results apart from his power.

In the book of Acts, Luke continues with what Jesus did. He died for our sins, rose for our justification, conquered Satan. You would think that was enough and that he had done it all. Acts records the rest. Acts 1 says what Jesus did was THROUGH the Holy Spirit. Having seen what Jesus did through the Spirit, Luke introduces us to the idea that the same Spirit could come on the disciples so they could do the same things.

Power is needed to do ministry properly. This power is given so we can be missionaries. How do you know someone has the Holy Spirit? It’s because they are on a mission.

We are on a mission. In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Start where you are. We can’t just go across the world. We need to go across the street. It’s easy to pray for the ends of the earth and neglect the ends of the street. How is your witness in Jerusalem? Do you KNOW people in your road? In your workplace? Is Jesus visible? If you are good witnesses in Jerusalem you will never be lacking for church planters. You harvest church planters in your church, in your neighborhood, in your street.

Jesus ascended into heaven where he had come from. You can imagine they would want to tell the world straight away, “Jesus is alive; he has conquered sin and death.” But they had to WAIT. Some of us have to wait. It’s not yet time. Imagine that—they sit on this news for weeks! It is an astonishing thing that even though their message was so wonderful, they were not allowed to proclaim it until they had been filled with the Holy Spirit.

Charismatics have Acts 2 on the fridge. We all know this one! Sounds like a mighty rushing wind.

Jesus was a missionary. The Church is to be a missionary, too. A Spirit-anointed Jesus anointed the Church. He wants us to do the works of Jesus. We must connect Acts with Luke. We are to be enabled and empowered to live a life like Jesus—a life fill of authority and mission.

The Spirit anoints so that the gospel can be communicated in every language, tongue, and dialect so that the vision of Revelation can come true!

Spirit-filled ministry results in repentance.
Brothers, what shall we do? Repentance is one of the greatest evidences of the work of the Spirit within us. Many today preach encouragement—try harder, do better. But we must preach repentance. Preaching repentance is only fitting for those who practice repentance. We may practice worldly sorrow, but it doesn’t rock us to the depths and compel us to change. We have our back to God and our face towards sin. Repentance puts our face towards God and our back to sin.

Spirit-filled ministry brings conversion.
The verse continues, “Be baptized and you will receive the Spirit. That day there were added to the church 3,000 souls.” Many today are not interested in true conversion. It’s about passing from death to life. We need the power of the Spirit to lead to repentance and conversion.

Spirit-filled ministry brings devotion to one another and awe towards God.
Acts 2 — Awe, prayer, food, fellowship. Jesus is alive! Are you in awe of that? All our sins are forgiven! Are you in awe of that?

We are part of the ministry of Jesus doing anointed work by the power of the Spirit — the same one who raised Jesus from the dead! Do you have a sense of awe? We don’t deserve ministry. We need awe in it. Don’t lose your sense of awe. That is the way Judas Iscariot became what he did.

We also need a sense of gratefulness that the Spirit has regenerated us and enabled and gifted us. Absolute wonder. We get to be a part of it!

We must not resist, quench, or grieve the Holy Spirit.

The Church was birthed by the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Lord added daily those being saved. What constitutes a church? Define what it is and does. You don’t want to lose your faithfulness. It’s not just Word and sacrament. Rather it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit the Church does not exist.

EIGHT MARKS OF THE CHURCH IN ACTS

Community of regenerated believers. You are not a part of the Church if you are not a Christian! Jesus died for us, but the Spirit must regenerate us and cause us to be reborn. 2 Corinthians 5:21. Imputation goes both ways. The great exchange—the doctrine of justification. N. T. Wright gets the resurrection right and the cross wrong! Fight the war for justification, BUT don’t neglect regeneration! Regeneration is that God gives us a new heart. A new creation. My new life as a missionary on the earth. Heart of stone gone, flesh given. Sin nature gone, new nature given. Life patterned after life of Jesus.

The heart is the center of everything—so a new heart means a new identity, a new passion, new gifts, a new purpose, new power, new desires. I get to live a whole new life. LEGALISM tells us that we HAVE TO DO things; the gospel tells us we GET TO DO things. “I want to serve God; I want to pray; I want to read my Bible; I want to learn humility; I don’t want to be ashamed, I want him to say “Well done”; I want to enter into my rest. Living for our strongest desires, not merely to “not sin.” It’s not merely to avoid the bad things, but to love God. It is the Spirit that delivers us and gives us new desires to love God and to do good. Temptations come, but our deepest desire should be for God and the things of God. Joyful, meaningful, purposeful life that never ends, but continues in his presence!

Mark didn’t get a chance to cover all of the marks of the Church in Acts, but implied he would look at them later. He briefly mentioned them. The Church:

1. Is Organized
2. Is gathered
3. Observes the sacraments
4. Is unified
5. Is scattered as missionaries
6. Gives God glory
7. Experiences joy

Holy Spirit longs, desires, wills to anoint us for the glory of Jesus—to live like him, for him, and to him as a missionary to the ends of the earth!

Driscoll prayed for us as a movement and asked God to take our appreciation for the Bible and love for Jesus and unite within us fervent desires to live a life like Jesus, with Jesus, and FOR Jesus! He thanked God who sent the Son as an example, sent the Spirit as an enabler, and sent US to the world. He wanted us to be Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, justified, regenerated, spirit-compelled. He said our goal of 1,000 churches is too small! And that there were many nations where church plants were to be accomplished.

Here are some notes from the sermon I preached this past Sunday at Jubilee Church in Enfield Cineworld. You can download the audio or listen to it online in the following player:

I began by sharing the story of a mother who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and refused the abortion she was offered in order to give the gift of life to her daughter.

She told her husband, “If I am going to die, my baby is going to live.”

Said her husband after she had died, “She knew all too well she didn’t have long to live. So she put little Liam’s life before her own.”

Full story in the Telegraph.

The sermon is based on Philippians 2. The notes are very much just an outline, but they are nearly identical to the notes from which I preached. I have been experimenting with preaching from shorter notes, so I hope they will still at least make some sense to you. If not, you will just have to listen to the message itself.

We will come later in the book to the ultimate goal for living—to know Jesus. But one key way we express our love for God is by loving each other and the world. Jesus said in John 13:35: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It is this love for each other that I am going to call “living for the good of others.”

What is our motivation to live for the good of others?

“Because of” (verses 1-2) NOT “if” — but “assuming there is”

• Encouragement in Christ (paraklesis) ;
• Comfort from love (paramythion) ;
• Participation in the Spirit (koinonia);
• Affection (splanchon – spleen – bowels!) ;
• Sympathy.

Also, we do this to complete our leader’s joy!

What does living for others look like? (verses 2-5 and others)

• The same mind (agreement).
• The same love (warmth, compassion, undertanding).
• Full accord “with united souls” (a combination of the two above – i. e. TRUTH AND LOVE).
• One mind (not clones, but scratch us and we bleed the same way).
• NO rivalry or conceit = opposite = poor me ‘no one talks’ versus living for self.
• Humility, NOT Mariah Heap “ever so ‘umble.”
• Count others more significant than yourselves.
• Look out, not only for your own interests, but for those of others = being kind to others. “IF ONLY EVERYONE WAS LIKE THAT.” JESUS WOULD BE LIKE THAT.
• Do all things without grumbling or questioning (verse 14).
• We are to do EVERYTHING for the good of others, not ourselves (e.g. ministry, workplace, etc.). CHOICES FOR THEIR BENEFIT ARE NOT EASIEST!
• Genuinely concerned for your welfare (verse 20).
• They all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ (verse 21).

How and why do we do it? Mixed in!!! (READ verses 5-13.)

• Constant refrain – “IN CHRIST.” This mind is in Christ—ours by union with him and by following his example.
• MODEL = DO LIKEWISE. He who lived and died for others.
• We have PURPOSE!
• CHOICES—He didn’t grasp his right of equality. he laid his rights down.
• Made himself nothing, rather than self-fullfillment or getting that promotion.
• Made himself like us, not holding himself aloof as superior (e.g. racism).
• Became obedient—not independent. JOURNEY FROM HEAVEN TO THE CROSS.
• Sacrificed himself for us—not just his preferences, but his life! — OUR CHOICES.
• Another reason here is because God raises the humble up.
• James 4:6—But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
• Matthew 23:12—”Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
• Because we need to learn to OBEY this Lord over all! CHOOSE TO FOLLOW.
• Lloyd-Jones: Best summary of the Christian life is to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (verses 12-13).
• BY LOVING GOD, EACH OTHER, AND THE WORLD.

For the unbeliever, it’s no use to just try and live like this. You need the Jesus who died for you and was raised for you to come and live in you and empower you.

To whom is Paul referring when he writes the following words?

“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

— Romans 7

There are some theological questions that are not important. There are others that are potentially important. And then there are some that are always important. The question I want to throw out today falls into the middle group. It is very possible for us to disagree over who the man in Romans 7 is intended to be and still love each other, work together, and actually even have similar theologies because of how we interpret other Scriptures. But different opinions about this chapter can lead to a significant problem in our life if we come to certain conclusions.

There are two main interpretations that are frequently held (although see Piper’s work below for a fuller list of different viewpoints). John Piper, for example, believes that this man is intended quite simply to represent the typical Christian life. John MacArthur would support him, as would many reformed scholars. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Terry Virgo are among those who would disagree and say, as Virgo did in the third of a series of talks on Philippians, that this is a “description of life before and outside of Christ, but looked at from the perspective of life in the Spirit.”

When Piper taught on Romans 7 he argued that his perspective on this verse would help protect against the idea, on the one hand, that Christians can ever become perfect and sinless in this life, and on the other hand, a passive failure to fight against sin. You can decide for yourself how well you feel he holds this balance. Here, though, are some of Piper’s introductory words:

One of the biggest disagreements over this text is who this man is. Whose experience is Paul describing? Is this the experience of Paul, the believer? Or is this the experience of Paul, the unbeliever? Christian or non-Christian? Or should we pose the question with more precision: Is this a morally awakened but unconverted Paul? Or is this the spiritually quickened converted Paul who is new and immature in the faith? Or could this be the mature Christian Paul, but in times of lapsed faith and vigilance? I don’t think I will tell you today what I think the answer is. I would like you to be thinking and studying this passage for yourselves without being sure what I think.

I do believe you can make a more or less plausible case for all of these possibilities and that none of them necessarily leads you into false teaching on the larger, over-all view of sanctification. In other words, it is possible to be wrong on our interpretation of one text but right in our view of the Christian life. You might say, “This text is not about Christian experience,” and still believe that Christians have experiences like this – sometimes doing what we don’t want to do. Or you might say, “This text is about Christian experience,” and still believe that much more victory over sin is possible than this in the Christian life.

So what we conclude (about whether Romans 7:14-25 refers to Christian experience or not) does not describe our whole view of Christian experience. There are dozens of other very important texts in the New Testament that we have to stir into the mix to see the bigger picture of the Christian life. Beware of people who build their views on isolated passages. That is where most cults and quirky interpretations come from . . .

If the man is a Christian or not a Christian, in either case his misery (“O, wretched man that I am,” verse 24) is caused by his indwelling sin, not by the Law. The Law is not sinful and the Law is not poison. I am sinful, and my sin is deadly poison.

Three times at least Paul makes the point. Verse 14: “The Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh.” Verse 16: “If I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.” Verse 22: “I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man.” So the Law is “spiritual” and “good” and a “joy.”

This is true whether we decide that this divided man is a struggling believer or a conscience-quickened unbeliever. In either case, Paul’s main point is the same: Justification by faith apart from works of the Law (3:28) stands, because it does not imply that the Law is sin or poison. And sanctification by faith through death to the Law (7:4) stands, because it does not imply that the Law is sin or poison.

Piper goes on to state that he believes this man of Romans 7 is, in fact, a normal Christian. I do agree with Piper that it is possible to come to different positions on Romans 7 without it affecting one’s overall theological position. However, I also believe it is indisputable that if you do hold Piper’s position—that this indeed represents the Christian—there is a very real danger that, unlike I am sure Piper himself, you might actually conclude that it is all right for a Christian to feel pretty helpless against sin and, frankly, become despairing.

Because of this result, and in light of my study of the matter, I am unusually ready to say here that I think Piper is wrong and Lloyd-Jones and Virgo are right. Why do I say this?

First, Romans 7 and Romans 8 seem to be setting forth two different life styles that are mutually inconsistent. The man who knows no freedom in Romans 7 has been set free from the law in Romans 8. While it is true that without the Spirit we can have the will to do good, but lack the ability to do it, with the Spirit it is no longer true that we cannot carry out good. Paul seems to almost yell at us in Romans 8—you CAN do it! I am no believer in Christians becoming perfect, but I do so hope that your view of Romans 7 doesn’t lead you to a feeling of despair against ever enjoying living a victorious Christian life.

Lloyd-Jones expresses some of his reasons for believing the man of Romans 7 does NOT reflect the normal Christian life as follows:

“When the Christian talks about his sin and failure he does not talk about it primarily in terms of the law; he talks about it primarily in terms of love, about his failure to live to his glory. The Christian does not go on speaking in terms of the law as the man in Romans 7 does. He is no longer ‘under the law’ but ‘under grace.’ Furthermore, as the Apostle will show us . . . the Christian must never allow himself to feel the condemnation of the law . . . the whole object of this great 8th chapter is to emphasise that: ‘No condemnation . . . no separation.’ [MLJ Romans 7:1 to Romans 8:4 pp. 262-263. Cited online here.]

As one writer who holds a similar position to Virgo and Lloyd-Jones on this passage explains, with the understanding of Romans 7 that it does NOT represent the ideal Christian life, greater optimism about our fight against sin is possible:

“If, however, we, Christians, have “died to sin” (Romans 6:2), have been “freed from sin” (Romans 6:7) and are now “in (not ‘controlled by’) the Spirit” (Romans 8:9), then the possibilities of living lives that glorify God are as high and wide and broad and deep as the God who has called us. As people who are “spiritual,” not “fleshly,” we need not fall helplessly before the onslaught of sin (which was our life before Christ) but may with full confidence place our trust in Christ, through whom we have been freed from sin. Whereas before we had no choice but to go on doing the evil that we hated and not the good that we wished, now there is a choice.”

I found the earlier quote from Virgo as part of my preparation for a sermon I will be preaching on Sunday on Philippians. Terry made the link between Romans 7 and the problems with willpower and inability, contrasting it with Paul’s glorious challenge to us which shows that God gives us both the willpower and the ability to be broadly successful in our battle against sin.

“. . . work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13)

These are notes from the sermon I preached at Jubilee last Sunday. They are shorter than usual, but I thought I’d share the outline with you anyway. You can listen to the sermon by downloading it or you can listen to it here:

I. HOW TO LIVE FOR THE FUTURE—Philippians 1:1-11

• Know Who You Are (verses 1-2)
  • A slave of the RISEN Jesus (NOT man) and saints—i.e. set apart and being cleansed.

  • Conduits of grace and peace.
• Know Where You Are Going (verse 6) BE SURE!

• Know Who You Are Going With — Long-term, heart-felt partnership (verses 5, 7, 8)

• Know What You Are Meant To Do On The Way
  1. Verse 5—“In the gospel,” i.e. live in the good of it and live for its progress, don’t just keep the chair warm! What do we do in its good …

  2. Verse 3—Thankfulness that comes from remembrance.

  3. Verse 4—Prayer that is joyful and full of anticipation.

  4. Verse 9—Abounding, growing love.

  5. Verse 9—Desire to study. We will spend eternity with . . .

  6. Verse 9-10—Resultant wisdom/discernment, i.e. the ability to lovingly apply to life the things we learn.

  7. ALL of this results in verses 10-11—Purity that honors God.

II. RESULTS OF LIVING FOR THE FINAL DAY (Philippians 1:12-17)

• Verse 12-14—Confidence that comes from knowing even tough times are for our good, e.g. prison making confident!

• Verse 14—Boldness to declare this wonderful news!

• Verse 15-17—Preoccupation with the advance of the gospel above all partisanship, etc.

• Verse 17-20—Rejoicing, eager expectation, hope, “full of courage”, honor to Christ.

• Verse 21-30—Glorious indifference to our own life and its sufferings. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22) Let’s study to be prepared to die well.

CONCLUSION
Live a worthy life and fight for the gospel—“It’s all about Jesus!”

BACKGROUND QUOTES

“Hence we have a service which is not a matter of choice for the one who renders it, which he has to perform whether he likes or not, because he is subject as a slave to an alien will, to the will of his owner . . .

[The slave is one] who not only has no possibility of evading the tasks laid upon him, but who also has no right of personal choice, who must rather do what another will have done, and refrain from doing what another will not have done.”

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vols. 5-9, edited by Gerhard Friedrich. Vol. 10 compiled by Ronald Pitkin, Ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey William Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Electronic Ed., 2:261 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964-c1976).

“He is not merely putting up with his circumstances, he is going beyond that, he is exulting in his suffering. He is triumphant, he is jubilant. There is a marvellous element in this, he tells them, if they can but see it. This is characteristic New Testament teaching . . . Do not waste your tears on me or on my condition, says the Apostle.”

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in Ephesians—The Unsearchable Riches of Christ, Chapter 3, p. 17 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1972).

“Death was nothing to these apostles. They had already passed from death to life. Having passed from judgment to life in Him, they were not afraid of death. They knew where they were going—they were going “to be with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:23).”

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Courageous Christianity, 1st U.S. ed., 173 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001).

Regular readers of my blog will remember that, together with my pastor, Tope Koleoso, we had the joy of being able to chat with Mark Driscoll when we went to Edinburgh to hear him preach live. We were deeply impressed with his graciousness and kindness to us. In this, he reminded me of a man who is one of my other living Christian heroes—Terry Virgo.

I know that many people were disappointed not to be able to make it to Scotland to hear Mark. So I am delighted to relay an announcement from Terry Virgo’s blog today. Mark Driscoll has agreed to speak next July at the Newfrontiers Leaders Conference in Brighton, UK. Here is how Terry begins his post:

“The last time I checked, the Pope was still a Catholic, the death rate was still hovering at around 100%, and the chances of getting Mark Driscoll to speak at a conference in the UK in 2008 were averaging at zero.

It is therefore with great delight that I can announce that we have, with the aid of certain friends (for an inspired guess see Adrian Warnock’s blog), arranged for him to be our main visiting speaker at Together on a Mission in Brighton next year, 8-11 July 2008.

In recent months I have found myself listening to downloads of Mark Driscoll’s preaching, probably more than anybody else’s. I find him completely arresting, relevant, Biblical, funny, aggressive, and packing a real punch. I believe he will do us a lot of good.

I love his value system and I am impressed by what has been accomplished by God through his ministry based in Seattle, where a church of several thousand has been built in a few years, starting from almost nothing and largely not through church swapping, but conversion.

He is theologically reformed, Biblically orthodox, and culturally relevant, and particularly addresses the post-modern world with remarkable insight. I have just read his chapter in the Crossway publication, The Supremacy of Christ in a Post-Modern World. I found myself underlining sentence after sentence, and simply wrote ‘Wow!’ in the margin at the conclusion of the chapter. I am deeply grateful to God that he will be with us.” Read more . . .

This is a fantastic piece of news. Terry and Mark are both pastors of pastors. Church planting is a major need of our world today. Leaders themselves need to be trained.

As an example of Terry’s gifting in operation, he has recently finished a series of posts on the vital role of the pastor in the life of a church. He re-examines the biblical teaching. I will finish this post by giving you a taste of each post in the series, but do go and read them all; they are worthy of careful study.

Church Leaders

As a movement, Newfrontiers has tended to emphasise the role of apostles and prophets. The church was originally built on the foundation of apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20) so they gave the people of God their fundamental identity. I have argued that we were not built on a pastoral foundation.

My argument has often been expressed by noting that pastors are called to care for and feed the flock and meet the flock’s needs. An over-emphasis, therefore, on the pastoral role can result in pre-occupation with needs. We could become need-centred instead of apostolic and prophetic, thereby missing God’s intention and forgetting the bigger picture, building churches that gradually become foreign to the atmosphere of the New Testament.

I have been alarmed at the possible danger of a church becoming introverted, developing a culture where personal preference dominates and shepherds major on discerning and serving people’s so-called ‘felt needs’. However, in taking this stance, we may have failed to bring adequate positive Biblical teaching about the vital role of pastors and teachers. They are, of course, the most visible ministers in the local church. They have the most ‘hands on’ role among the flock. Read more . . .

Shepherds of the Flock

Jesus didn’t say, ‘I am the good apostle,’ or ‘the good prophet,’ or even ‘the good evangelist,’ but happily claimed to be the Good Shepherd. . .

Although the Lord was their ultimate shepherd, it is clear that God actually enlisted men to fulfil the shepherding role on His behalf. . .

As the apostles go, their intuitive strategy in obeying the command was to plant churches, establish flocks and appoint shepherds to care for them. Read more . . .

Other Sheep I Must Bring

When Billy Graham came to the UK in the 1950′s and ‘60s, the call to return to God would have been generally comprehended by that generation. Today we live in a different era and though people can be born again through encountering the simplest message, we must not assume that initial conversion will result in inevitable Christian maturity, or even basic understanding of Christian living.

Deconstructing people’s world view
The role of the modern shepherd includes a call to deconstruct people’s previous world view. Nothing can be taken for granted. Lives need to be re-formed. Coming from a fragmented and aimless society devoid of any trace of Christian values, people need to be re-socialised and taught how to relate in godly ways.

Raised on self-indulgence, consumerism and rampant individualism, the new convert won’t automatically be transformed into a mature Christian who knows how to conduct himself in the household of God (1 Timothy 3:15).

God has promised to give His people shepherds after His own heart who will feed them with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:15). This feeding requires a radical approach. We are not called to build on a false foundation with teachings that imply merely personal fulfilment or the grasping of the individual’s full potential, or how to love oneself. The shelves of many a Christian bookshop are filled with titles which appeal to personal fulfilment as the goal of the Christian life. Coming from a culture where demanding your personal rights seems to be the bottom line, new Christians hardly need that diet. Read more . . .

Spirit-inspired Preaching

. . . Holy Spirit-inspired preaching brings about an encounter with God that demands a verdict and produces a changed life based on revelation, faith and love, not cold obedience to external rules.

God’s flock will intuitively hear His voice and respond as truth is fed to them by called and anointed pastor/teachers. Gradually a culture of God-centredness will emerge characterised by worship, faith, grace, mercy, respect, service and the awareness of being an alien people whose fundamental citizenship lies elsewhere (Philippians 3:20) . . .

The shepherd’s ability to feed and be a channel of God’s grace will result in the gathering of a flock. The sheep gather to the gifted anointing of shepherding and thus a flock forms.

The responsibility of the shepherds is not simply to expound truth but to develop relationships of love and trust, and in some cases to ‘parent’ a flock often made up of those who have never been parented before. Read more . . .

Mark spoke about the person of Jesus and his work on the cross. He said that he believed that it was important for preachers of the gospel from time to time to sit and hear the gospel.

He began in 1 Corinthians 2 — “… I resolved to know nothing when I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified ….” The only thing that must be preached is Jesus and him crucified. Apart from Jesus and his death, we have nothing to offer anyone.

It takes three generations to lose the gospel. One generation believes, the next assumes too much, and the third forgets it or denies it. We cannot assume anything. If we say Jesus, Bible, God, cross, sin—we must not assume that anyone has any idea what we are talking about!

Martin Luther said that in our preaching of the cross, we should “ … beat it into their heads continually!”

Many traditions love one side of the jewel of Jesus’ death. Mark believes we must appreciate eleven sides of the cross. We must also think of it in the context of Jesus’ whole life—his incarnation, holy life, death, resurrection, and ascension. We need to emotionally encounter the significance of the crucifixion and all that it has accomplished for us. The Jews couldn’t understand how God himself could be cursed by hanging on a tree.

It is perhaps the most amazing thing that has ever happened—that the cross should become the most popular symbol in human history. To call the day Jesus died “Good Friday” is also astonishing. We must understand the theological aspects of the cross.

1. The Central Theme—Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA)

   We cannot assume anything. A war is brewing over this issue. This is the issue we must be willing to fight over. If we lose this, we lose the gospel. Mark said that if you deny this, you have essentially lost the Christian faith. Isaiah 53:5 — “ … FOR our transgressions.” Romans 5:8 — “Christ died FOR us.” 1 Corinthians 15:3 — “Christ died FOR our sins.” Sin results in death. In the Garden of Eden, our first parents sinned in our place. They substituted themselves for God—they made their own rules and lived as though they were God.

   As we substituted ourselves for God, God substituted himself for us to fix this. Sin is only atoned for in substitution — e.g. in the sacrifices of atonement.

   What does this mean practically? I MURDERED GOD! He died for MY sin! He paid MY penalty of death. As MY substitute he endured what I deserve in order to give me what I don’t deserve. If you lose substitution, you lose all sense of gratitude.

2. Jesus is Our Victor

   Jesus conquered Satan and demons. We don’t like demons, so this is a good thing! Colossians 2:13-15 — “ … disarmed the rulers and authorities …” It looks as if Jesus is defeated on the cross. Isaiah 45:15 — “God hides.” He hid victory in defeat because God is humble. Those who are proud (like Satan) don’t see it! We aligned ourselves with Satan. Being “spiritual” is not good if it’s not the Holy Spirit. Satan is real. There is a real war. Revelation 12:10 — Demons accuse people: “You are a loser; you are not a real Christian …” The devil condemns people and haunts them with past sin. He loves death and wants to kill. Jesus cancelled the rights that Satan and demons have towards the children of God. He has been defeated and disarmed. There is victory over Satan and demons for the people of God.

3. Jesus is Our Redemption

   Don’t teach this from the pagan slave market. Rather, speak about God redeeming his people from the slavery of Pharaoh—in slavery to sin. We can’t stop. We are not free. We can’t escape. But just like the people of Israel, we have been set free to worship God! We are liberated to live new lives. To have joy. To worship God together as his people.

4. Jesus is the New Covenant Sacrifice

   1 Peter —“… precious blood of Christ like that of a lamb.” Blood disgusts us. We must identify the horror of blood and death as sin. God is as disgusted with sin as we are with blood. God is horrified by sin. We should be as horrified by sin as we are by blood. God was the first person to shed blood in the Bible—to cover the sin of Adam. The Bible is a bloody book. The first thing Noah did after the flood was to sacrifice. Noah was not “a good guy.” Noah found GRACE. He found unmerited grace, and then he became righteous. After the flood, it was as though Noah said, “God should have killed me, too”—that was why he had to offer a sacrifice. “I deserved to die.” He, of course, promptly went on to demonstrate why— by getting naked and drunk.

   Hebrews is clear on this. We don’t need a temple or a priest or a lamb because we have Jesus. His blood was shed for our sins. When sinned against we often say, “I want blood!” Well, you already have it. The gospel is the good news that we should have died, but instead we are loved. So we must show love to others!

5. Jesus is Our Justification

   No one will be justified by works of the law. God would not be good if he let everyone into heaven. If he did that, when we got there it would be like earth, full of hatred and sin and evil. God’s heart is gracious mercy and forgiveness. But because of his justice, he has to deal with our sin. God’s standard is perfection. No one can say they are perfect. Lust counts as adultery and anger counts as murder. People want righteousness, which is why hard firm religions attract people. When you go to the bathroom, that’s about how impressed I am with your righteousness. Our righteousness is described by the Bible as human excrement and menstrual rags. God hates religion. He despises it. You must call sinners to repentance, and also call “righteous” people to repent of their religious righteousness. Righteousness is GIFT righteousness. It is the righteousness of God. “Jesus was the most despised thing in all creation on the cross” (Luther). Righteousness only comes from faith in Christ. When we stand before God it will be imputed righteousness—that is what will appear on our resume. I trust Jesus.

   It doesn’t end with imputed righteousness. He gives us a new heart and a new nature. This gives us a desire to do right things. He gives us new power through the Holy Spirit to live life. He gives us a fulfilling life. We are regenerated. We change.

6. Jesus is Our Propitiation

   Four times in the Greek New Testament. 1 John 4:10 — This is love—not that we have loved God. It’s not because you are a good person that God loves you. You don’t obey so God will love you; you obey because God already does love you!

   Propitiation is how God demonstrates his love. God hates sinners. You have been told that God loves sinners, but hates sin. No, Gandhi said that! God often says he hates people. We are by nature sinners. “I hate the essence sum and total of what you are, but I really love you.” We have a sinful nature and commit sins. “God hates all who do evil.” God hates a lot of people. God’s wrath is mentioned more than 600 times in the Bible. More verses talk about the wrath of God than those which state that he loves us. The gospel starts with “God hates you and it’s going to go really really bad forever and ever!” Jesus suffered the wrath of God, and it is thereby taken away from sinners who are in Jesus. The question is not, “How can a loving God send anyone to hell?” The real question is, “Why does a holy God take anyone to heaven?” The passover demonstrates the wrath of God passing over the ones covered by the blood of Jesus. Jesus is our passover Lamb.

7. Jesus is Our Expiation

   This is different from propitiation. Propitiation takes away our wrath. Expiation deals with our defilement. This is often overlooked. Sins have also been committed against us. In 1 John it says that Jesus’ blood purifies us from all unrighteousness. Expiation deals with the feeling of being dirty, a feeling that is experienced by both sinners and those sinned against. “Dirty people do dirty things.” Our identity is sometimes about what people have done against us rather than what Jesus has done for us. Feeling defiled, feeling dirty, is a huge issue. The scapegoat was set free. Sin was laid on Jesus and it was taken away. The blood of Jesus CLEANSES us. We are clean. We are clothed in white by Jesus. We should see ourselves and others that way. We can be clean. We don’t need to manage, shift blame, or excuse sin; rather we need to face it and deal with it.

8. Jesus is Our Ransom

   There is only one mediator. Music, Bible translations, etc. don’t mediate. If the music changes, we can still worship God. We owe a debt to God. Every sin or omission is a debt. We have a mountain of debt. We cannot possibly pay it to God. Doing good for awhile doesn’t reduce our debt, it just doesn’t increase the amount of our debt! A mediator pays the debt on our behalf.

9. Jesus is Our Example

   1 Peter 2:21 and Philippians 2 — “Christus exemplar.” Jesus has always been God. He came into human history as man. How did Jesus live his life? It wasn’t a fake—like Superman and Clark Kent— i.e. God can’t be tempted. Jesus DOES sympathize with our weaknesses because he was tempted. Jesus did not cease to be God. He set aside the use of his divine attributes. God knows everything, but Jesus had to learn. How did he do it? It was by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit filled Jesus. He was the Anointed One. All was done by the power of the Spirit. We can now also live Spirit-filled lives. Being spirit-filled means living the life of Jesus. We do what Jesus did. The Spirit led Jesus into temptation, into suffering. We suffer too (Philippians 1). We will be led into difficult times. We are perfected by our suffering, when we suffer like Jesus did, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Don’t waste your pain or your suffering. Use it for a witness, use it for the gospel. Christians are like nails—the harder you hit us, the deeper we go.

10. Jesus is Our Reconciliation

    Sin separates us from God and each other. The cross brings us together. “… be kind … forgiving one another as God forgave you …” We are sinned against and either become bitter or become like Jesus. That is the choice we have. We often have two standards. When we sin, we want mercy; when others sin, we want hell. Bitterness is often caused by the person we love the most sinning in a little way against us. There are only two problems in a marriage—the man and the woman. We can either learn to forgive or let sin destroy our relationships. We can only be true community and reconciled in the cross. We need the Prince of Peace to know true peace.

11. Jesus is Our Revelation

    Who is God? Where do we begin? Start at the cross. Jesus reveals God to us. The centerpiece of Jesus’ life is the cross. Look at the cross to see what God is like. Love and justice. Holiness and mercy. No other religion has a concept of God like that. Our God is not a god who asks for blood; instead, he offers his own. You can talk about the attributes of God all day; it is only in the cross that it all makes sense. The revelation of God comes together at the cross.

Mark closed with a few comments on 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 — the gospel must be reiterated to us, and we must remind our people of it. We must not assume it. If we do, they will deny it. It must be continually proclaimed and declared—not offered as a helpful suggestion! Jesus must be magnified. It must be RECEIVED. It is personal. We must be changed by it. We must go on believing it. It is central in every way. You can’t teach marriage, parenting, work, or for that matter, anything, without the cross. It precedes everything else. The gospel gets passed on. Paul received it and passed it on. If anyone changes it, they are a demon. They are sent from Satan and they are going to hell. We don’t change what we received!

It’s all about Jesus!

• It is penal—Christ died.
• FOR our sins—it is substitutional.
• It is eschatological—Jesus didn’t remain dead, but was raised. Forever is a really long time!

UPDATE—February 19, 2008
In January 2008, the following post was identified as the 2nd all-time most popular post with readers of this blog. The 3rd most-read post was “The ESV: A Bible Translation for Everyone?“

This post was an expression of some of my own concerns and frustrations about the blogging world I have come to love so much. I said some things I had been wanting to say for a long time, and it was not a great surprise that the aftermath of this post would lead me to disable comments on my blog a month later. Tim’s book addresses discernment, which lies at the root of many of my issues with the Christian blogosphere and its direction.

***************

UPDATE—November 3, 2007
Phil has now written part two of his reply, and I have responded with a post entitled, “Of Tone, Discernment, and the Charismatic Question.”

UPDATE—October 29, 2007
Phil Johnson over at Pyromaniacs and I have been debating the issues raised by my criticism of him in the comments section of his original post. Just search for “Adrian” using the “find in page” function if you want to follow our specific debate. Phil has also written a new post, “If you can’t say something nice,” and we are debating in the comments on that post.

I will leave this post at the top of my blog for a couple more days as I want to give you all a chance to read it. If you are interested in some of my related thoughts on this subject, you could read the following posts:

• My Visit to the Billy Graham Center
• I Don’t Want Balance, I Want It All!
• My Comments Policy
• Blogging Principles for Christians

Those of you with an eagle-eye will have already noticed that I am publicizing Tim Challies’ forthcoming book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. I doubt that many are surprised that I should want to encourage you to read his book, and I will show in this post why that is the case.

To begin with, however, I want to be very open and honest with you. When I first heard that Tim was writing a book I was actually a little concerned. This may surprise those regular readers who know how much I respect Tim and enjoy his blog. But I still had in my mind an old paradigm where those who are in some way “approved” as trained experts are the ones who should write books. Tim, like me, has no theological degrees. I also know that, just like me concerning this blog, he has been rather surprised by the way in which his readership has grown to an extent he never predicted (and, I should say, to a substantially larger figure than my own). So I was surprised that Tim put his neck on the line still further by taking on the challenge of writing a book.

Tim and I have both been riding a wave—the wave of blogging. In both the secular field and the Christian field, it seems that the most successful bloggers almost all seem to have something in common; they are not “officially trained” recognized global experts in their chosen fields. Perhaps this is because the real experts are too busy to write on a daily basis, or perhaps this is because of a new phenomena in our culture—one with which I’m not particularly thrilled, to be honest. In our 21st century culture there is a growing mistrust of any form of authority and of academics. It is actually rather sad to me that this now seems to be spilling over into the Church, and that it might seem, at first glance, to also include the Christian blogosphere.

One of the most influential early articles discussing the Christian blogging phenomenon was titled, “We Know More Than Our Pastors,” and it embodied this trend. It concerned me immensely. David Wayne summarized this piece and sounded some very valid concerns about it. For me, I wanted almost nothing to do with the concepts outlined therein.

Even as I have enjoyed the way that I have been able to be buffeted in this hurricane called blogging, I have also been somewhat concerned about some of the implications of this new marketplace of ideas. I suppose that, despite these reservations, I remain in the blogosphere because I am drawn to it as surely as a bee is to a flower in bloom, and as the Apostle Paul was to the debating spots of ancient Athens.

I am also here because somebody has to be. I am certainly not here because I imagine myself to be at the vanguard of some modern reformation that will sweep away the “old guard” in the way some bloggers (usually not Christian ones) speak about. I am here because, ironically enough, I see this new media as a way that we can proclaim the old, old message. I am here because, in some small way, I can act as a signpost to direct passing traffic to wiser heads than mine. The more readers I find visiting here, the more I feel the need to both quote and link to others. Whatever the size of your blog readership, that filtering process is the single best gift you can give both to your readers and to the writers of even the biggest blogs. I am pleased that the headlines from several bloggers who deserve to be read more than I do appear in the “Warnie Winners” box in my sidebar.

The blogging community can be thought of as a road system, a library, an ecosystem, or perhaps most aptly of all, a jungle. With no single classification system or map, what is needed are good wise guides. There are precious few of them online.

One such wise guide is surely Tim Challies. I know that he shares many of my concerns about the world of blogs, and has a similar attitude in wanting to support those in positions of authority in the Church rather than tearing them down. I know that he is submissive to others. I like that he respects those, like me, who might differ with him on secondary issues, but firmly join hands on the Gospel. I have also met a godly man called Paul Martin who pastors him wisely. The more I came to know Tim, the more my concerns about the concept of a non-expert writing a book began to evaporate. If the modern world needs non-experts to grapple with the words of the experts and make them more accessible to the rest of us, then those who have been given that gift should be encouraged to find an appropriate outlet, even if that looks a bit different from previous models.

Writing a book is very different from writing a blog, even though the number of words involved in a blog over the years may be just as numerous. With a blog, there is instant feedback, and a chance to easily go back and reword or retract an argument. With a book, not only is it more permanent, it is somehow expected to be more accurate, so the responsibility feels greater. James 3 is ever present in the mind of a preacher, and should be in the mind of a blogger as well. Speaking personally, I have applied it even more strongly to the concept of writing a book, which quite frankly has always terrified me rather than attracted me.

But for some people there comes a time when a book finds them and demands to be written. That is what has happened to the man I am glad to call my friend, Tim Challies. He is painfully aware of the cacophony of voices available online, and the need to discriminate between them. The average member of your congregation might well be either theologically illiterate or have imbibed a watered-down, overly simplistic doctrinal system which he has heard away from your church pulpit. Blogs, mp3s, books, magazines, TV programs, conferences, and radio all compete for the minds of modern Christians. The battle has never been stronger. How should we respond to this?

There are a number of different approaches that could be taken. We could just ignore what is going on around us, which would not be wise. We could, instead, become great experts in the different types of false teaching that are being purveyed. There are some bloggers who seem to have the goal of ferreting out everything that is less than perfect. These are often termed “watch blogs.” The temptation is to take some kind of perverse gratification out of proving others wrong. As the years have gone on, by God’s grace, that temptation has increasingly looked less appealing to me, although there was a time when I frequently delighted in giving in to it.

Sometimes even bloggers with good intentions can fall into the trap of being over zealous in their discernment. I am sure I have fallen into that trap myself at times. But this past week, in reading a post by Phil Johnson, I thought I saw a classic example of someone who had over-reached himself in reacting to some things he had discerned. Now, don’t get me wrong. I share many of Phil’s concerns. I am indeed concerned about some aspects of Willow Creek’s ministry philosophy. Personally, I am not sure how to interpret their recent “repentance,” and certainly was VERY worried to see that they have invited Brian McLaren to speak at one of their conferences. BUT it bothers me that Phil seemed (at least to me) to be implying that Willow Creek has absolutely nothing to teach us. I am sure that if we fail to recognize something as being good and helpful and true, we fail in our discernment as much as if we blindly accepted everything in a naive way. I know it sounds cliched, but we really must be looking for the good in people, especially in those who have not denied important aspects of the Gospel. It is quite correct to say, “I like what this person says about the following subject, and have learned from them, although I disagree strongly with them on another subject.” If, instead, we lump people and whole movements together into an amorphous lump of theological rejects, surely we risk alienating them and, ironically, driving some further away from the truth of the Gospel that I know Phil and I both love.

But if Phil was harsh on Willow Creek, he went on in the same post to be even harder on the charismatics. I mention this because this kind of over-zealous discernment is sadly quite common. Again, quite rightly, he was pointing out the sin in a specific charismatic minister. Also, quite rightly, he was pointing out that due to an absence of discernment this kind of error is all too common in the charismatic movement, and sadly is often covered up. So far so good. And, despite his claim that his charismatic friends would be angry at these comments, I agree! What I struggle with, however, is that he then makes plain that he believes that charismatic doctrine itself is to blame for these sins and the lack of discernment that allows them to continue unchallenged. Phil applies the red card of his disapproval to the entire movement that, despite all its acknowledged weaknesses, I am thrilled to have been part of for decades. Should we use discernment with such a broad brush stroke?

My dear friend, Jesse Phillips, took Phil to task admirably in the comments section and repeated this on his own blog. No one seemed able to answer his arguments that while it is true that some second-order implications which people draw from core charismatic doctrine do encourage gullibility and an absence of discernment, the core doctrines themselves do not need to do so. Phil, in reply, claimed that reformed charismatics were a new breed, and only caused by alien influences on the movement. This is not true. Men like Terry Virgo and C. J. Mahaney and the groups of churches they lead have been around for many decades now. Perhaps these groups are not as visible as they could be, but I know they are also not alone in being committed to a firm grasp on reality and the wisdom of the Bible.

To simply dismiss the entire charismatic movement in just one sentence does not seem a wise response to the fastest growing segment of Christianity. It is not, of course, wrong to disagree with charismatic theology (some of my best friends online are cessationists, like Tim himself, of course), but Phil does not seem to recognize any good that has come out of the movement. It would be like me refusing to acknowledge the fantastic work being produced by cessationists. Much as I disagree with some of the positions cessationists take, I am willing to go so far as to state I learn as much and perhaps even more helpful theology from their teachers as I do from fellow charismatic teachers. Doesn’t discernment require that we identify helpful material even when it comes from those we disagree with on relatively minor points?

There is surely another way to respond to the marketplace of ideas to which we are exposed in today’s church. The single best approach to discerning truth from error is to focus on understanding and proclaiming the truth more (while remaining aware of what is being taught around us). We need to learn to recognize the truth for ourselves by studying the Bible. But we must recognize that we ourselves are not immune to error. We need to ask God for humility wherein we submit ourselves to the views of others and are willing to be taught by them. Indeed, we should be willing to use our discernment as a sieve to strain out the good bits from a mixture of error in order to do so. None of us has a monopoly on truth, or for that matter, error. Some may grasp certain aspects of the truth with remarkable ease, while others of us may struggle to understand it for years. There is, in my view, often much truth in the very ministries of those who we eagerly criticize. We can learn from more people than we like to think we can—provided we have discernment. I am frequently provoked when I read the writings or listen to the teachings of others who come from different parts of the Church than I. This must be done with caution, of course, and requires that I have studied the Bible for myself first. The more we understand the biblical truth for ourselves the better skilled we will become at testing everything and holding onto the good. I love the way Tim says it in his book:

“We can best know what is wrong by first knowing what is right. Experts on counterfeit currency know this as well. They train others first to know the traits of genuine currency because such knowledge will make apparent what is fraudulent. Christians need to dedicate themselves to learning and knowing truth so that what is evil and abnormal will appear obvious. For this reason the Apostle writes, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). He encourages us to think first and foremost about what is right and true and pure and lovely. In Romans 16:19b he says this as well, exhorting the Roman church “to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.” Never does the Bible tell us to dwell primarily or repeatedly upon what is false.

The relationship of truth to error is such that we can best know error by knowing truth. The opposite is not true. People who invest undue effort in concentrating upon what is false will not necessarily be able to identify what is true. By dwelling upon the beautiful truths of Scripture we will subsequently learn discernment. A discerning person will know that he must focus his heart upon what is true and pure and lovely, having confidence that in doing this God will bless Him with the ability to expose darkness.”

Tim Challies takes us from the turbulent marketplace of ideas that is the modern western church back into the world of the Scriptures. Sadly, today many people fall into the trap of being naively blown from one wind of teaching to another. Others become so expert at straining out the gnats of what they believe to be error that they are unable to learn from anybody. Instead they believe themselves to be the guardians of “true” doctrine. Tim shows us from the Bible itself how to avoid both errors. Tim’s reliance on the Bible is refreshing in an age when doctrinal pillars of our faith are being challenged by prominent preachers, and there is a constant search for novelty in parts of the Church. This book, like no other I have seen, aims to give ordinary Christians like you and me the tools we need to learn how to discern truth from error. I wholeheartedly urge you to get yourself a copy and read it, and then buy one for a friend.

I will close by quoting another passage from Tim’s book that expresses well his aim in writing the book:

This book is written for the general reader who wishes to understand discernment, to understand what the Bible teaches us about discernment, and who wishes to equip himself in this discipline. It is not written primarily for people with theological training, though I trust they, too, can benefit from it. Rather, it is written for you and for me—average Christians living in a culture and in a church where it so often seems that anything goes. It is written for those who look at much of what is said and done in the name of Jesus and ask themselves, “How can this be right?” It is written for all those who believe that it is the duty of every Christian to think biblically about all areas of life so that they might act biblically in all areas of life . . .

I do not intend to do the work of discernment for you. There are many books, web sites, and ministries that claim to teach discernment but do so by simply listing all the things you must do and the things you must not do. This book approaches the subject differently and is the result of my studies in Scripture to find the tools of discernment that God provides to us in his Word. And so I will not present a list of ministries you should avoid or endorse, authors whose books you should burn or buy, and music you should not listen to or that you should immediately download to your MP3 player. Rather, I hope to teach biblical wisdom on how you and I can become more discerning. I will present to you the wisdom of the Bible as it teaches us how we can become men and women of discernment. I will present principles you can use as you walk this life distinguishing between what is truth and what is error, what is right and what is wrong.

During a brief trip to the USA this past week, I had a layover in the Chicago area. I had an amazing few hours. I ate lunch with two great friends who I had never met in the flesh before. It struck me that the impression I had of them when finally meeting face-to-face was almost identical to the one I already had through our electronic communications. I thank God for the people I have been privileged to meet through this blog.

What I want to focus on in this post is what happened next. I hadn’t even realized that there was a connection between Billy Graham and the town I was visiting. At my friends’ suggestion, I headed to the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.

I am well aware that there are at least two different perceptions of Billy Graham among evangelicals. You can read about both perspectives in a 2006 MSNBC interview and the Wikipedia page about Billy Graham. There are many evangelicals who, although they might have some concerns, greatly rejoice in what God has accomplished through his preaching of the Gospel. In Philippians 1, Paul rejoices that Christ was preached even by those who had bad motives. Surely all Christians can rejoice at the preaching career of a man who has been in the media spotlight for five decades and yet has never been accused of a lack of integrity.

Wikipedia believes that 2 billion people have heard Billy Graham preach the Gospel and that 2.5 million of them made a public declaration of faith in response. There is no doubt that Billy has preached to more people than any other Christian minister in the last 2000 years. If there have been some weaknesses about Billy over the years (and certainly Billy himself believes that there are) then surely the fact that God chose to use someone weak in such a dramatic way only underlines the glory of his grace.

The Billy Graham Center moved me profoundly. An overview of evangelical history in America led into a more detailed report of the life of the man often called “America’s pastor.” The focus was not on his role as personal counselor to every president since Harry Truman. Rather it was his preaching and crusades that were reported in most detail. Walking past photographs of massive crowds while listening to clips of his preaching brought tears to my eyes. It seemed that in every era the extracts of the messages they had playing said almost the same thing, which I have paraphrased as follows:

Christ died, took the guilt for you, became sin for you, and rose again. He’s a living Christ. He’s here right now. He wants you to repent, trust him, and ask him to be Lord of your life, to come into your life so you can then follow him as Lord and Saviour.

The focus was not just on the death, but also on the resurrection. It was not just on sin and wrath, but also forgiveness and love. He was not content to speak only of God in heaven, but also of Jesus living in our hearts. I stood behind Billy’s traveling pulpit and listened to his voice and wept that God would raise up more preachers of Christ in our day who can fill stadiums with the Gospel.

As the exhibition closes, if visitors are in any doubt about who the organizers really want to glorify, you are led through a passageway to the foot of an enormous cross. Then you are taken into a dark passageway clearly intended to be the grave. As you round the corner, a simple inscription is written on the wall “He is not here, but risen!” The passageway then opens into a light room clearly intended to reflect glory. I was quite simply undone by this and had tears welling in my eyes.

I was left with a strong impression of the need for us to preach the simple Gospel of Jesus’ death AND resurrection. I also remember reading these words of Billy Graham there (which sadly I did not write down in a notebook, so they may not be 100 per cent accurate, although the sense is definitely there):

I find that when I preach the simple Gospel with authority, quoting the very words of the Bible, the Holy Spirit drives it home into the hearts of people.

The Holy Spirit was a major focus of the exhibition in several quotes. Oh, for a return to such an emphasis on the living Jesus sending his Spirit to convict the world and bring them salvation. Deliver us from an overly intellectual Christianity, oh God. Remind us that the Gospel is indeed simple enough that a farm boy with no theological degrees can become its most prolific ambassador!

The impression left on me was striking indeed. So much so that, somewhat surprisingly for such a fan as I am, seeing the writing desks of C. S. Lewis and J. R. Tolkein, not to mention the wardrobe which inspired The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, was frankly an anticlimax!

As regular readers will realize, this week I am swiftly working through the glorious doctrines of grace—the so-called “TULIP.” Today we reach irresistible grace.

Today’s first quote comes once more from Charles Simeon:

“A river flowing with a rapid and majestic current to the sea would defy the efforts of the whole world to turn it back again to its source; yet by the returning tide it is not only arrested in its course, but driven up again with equal rapidity towards the fountain-head. It is thus that a sinner, when rushing with the whole current of his affections towards this present world, is stopped in his career of sin, and turned back with an irresistible impulse towards high and heavenly things. Let men, yea, let all the angels in heaven, attempt to effect this change, and their united efforts would be in vain. Who then that witnesses this change, and beholds the believer’s victories over sin and Satan, and his progressive advancement in the ways of holiness, must not adore that power by which so great a miracle is wrought? In this Christ is indeed magnified: “the exceeding greatness of his power is made known;” and the sufficiency of his grace is incontrovertibly established.”

Simeon, Charles: Horae Homileticae Vol. 18: Philippians to 1 Timothy, London, 1832-63, S. 25.

The second is from the Doctor, Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

“. . . it is the internal operation of the Holy Spirit upon the soul and the heart of men and women that brings them into a condition in which the call can become effectual. And when the Spirit does it, of course, it is absolutely certain, and because of that some people have used the term—which I do not like myself—irresistible grace. I do not like the term because it seems to give the impression that something has happened which has been hammering at a person’s will and has knocked him down and bludgeoned him. But it is not that. It is that the Holy Spirit implants a principle within me which enables me, for the first time in my life, to discern and to apprehend something of this glorious, wondrous truth. He works upon my will. ‘It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do.’ He does not strike me; He does not beat me; He does not coerce me. No, thank God, what He does is operate upon my will so that I desire these things and rejoice in them and love them. He leads, He persuades, He acts upon my will in such a way that when He does, the call of the gospel is effectual, and it is certain, and it is sure. God’s work never fails, and when God works in a man or woman, the work is effective.”

Lloyd-Jones, David Martyn: God the Holy Spirit, Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Books, 1997, S. 73.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our doctrine of the cross that we forget the ULTIMATE PURPOSE FOR WHICH CHRIST DIED AND WAS RISEN. It was, in fact, not first and foremost for us, rather it was for Him. It was—like everything God does—for the sake of His own name and His own glory. He died and rose again so that one day everyone would acknowledge His supremacy and His right to rule over the entire universe. The following Scriptures will help us to lift our gaze from the mundane and be filled with the vision of this glorious victorious resurrected Jesus.

• “ . . . he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:8-11)

• “ . . . according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1:9-10)
• “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:27-28)

The GOAL OF THE CROSS AND THE RESURRECTION FOR US was that we would be changed, and that we would come to know Him—a knowledge we will know fully on that day, but which is given to us in part now through the Holy Spirit.

• “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” (1 Peter 2:24).

• “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:13-14)
• “ . . . that I may know him” (Philippians 3:10)

I am joined again today by Terry Virgo, leader of the reformed charismatic group, Newfrontiers.

Yesterday I spoke with Terry about his ministry and his view of the wider evangelical scene. Today I would like to begin by taking him back to the early days of his Christian life.

Adrian
Terry, can you tell us who particularly inspired you when you were a new Christian?

Terry
My first pastor was a man called Ernest Rudman, who loved the Bible, was a real man of prayer and was committed to world missions. While the way he did church and did missions would be very different to the way I would do so later, I learned those three values that would stay dear to me for the rest of my life.

Then, in the 1960′s I was both baptized in the Spirit and also read my first Banner of Truth book—A. W. Pink’s Sovereignty of God—and hence became a charismatic Calvinist.

I longed for the Holy Spirit. I was looking for a more godly and effective experience. My pastor, Ernest Rudman, had experienced something more than the conventional following a crisis of faith which had led to something which he couldn’t articulate or explain very well. As a young pastor, he had a crisis and an experience with God over a few days—praying for hours about Romans 12:1-2. He said, ‘I gave my hands to God, my eyes to God,’—gave his body as a living sacrifice. Intriguingly, before that he had a tiny church, while after that experience, he had a big church— one of biggest Baptist churches in the country at the time.

I was longing for more, and aware of the inadequacy of my own experience of God, so I turned to two theological heroes of mine—Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and John Stott. I studied both of them on the issue of being baptized in the Spirit and found that they totally disagreed with each other. I thought if these two heroes of mine can’t agree, what hope is there for me? So I was thoroughly confused.

Then out of sheer agony of longing for more, I went to a Pentecostal church with a friend and someone laid their hands on me. I felt the power of God go through me and spoke in tongues. That opened up a whole new world.

Adrian
What did you feel were the implications for you of this new experience?

Terry
During those days two distinct schools of thought developed. The first was the renewal school which emphasized the personal aspect of our experiences. We were told not to “mess with the church.” I immediately felt drawn to the alternative perspective—the restoration school.

I felt that what had happened to me was so radical that it had immediate implications for how we do church. If the Holy Spirit has come, we couldn’t do church the same way. It was like a string of dominoes, the fact that I now spoke in tongues, had the potential of the prophetic, and a far more intimate sense of God’s presence meant that we needed a new wineskin for this new wine. This meant that I was committed to the restoration perspective. This was simply a goal of recovering New Testament church life.

As we started new churches that had no history or tradition, we had to learn. How do you do church? Who leads it? We started by looking at elders. We asked the New Testament the following questions: Who appoints them? Who starts churches? This all became a journey which led us to a rediscovery of things like apostles. Although I respect men like Lloyd-Jones and Stott, I felt their appraisal of these things was wholly unsatisfactory.

Adrian
What then was the destination you arrived at in terms of the structure of church life?

Terry
Alec Motyer in his opening remarks in his commentary on Philippians eloquently describes the structure of the church as seen in the New Testament. Paul writes to the saints, the elders, their deacons, “We have a remarkably full summary of the constitution of the New Testament Church: the body of believers, the local church officers, the over-arching apostolic work of Paul, and the occasional ministry of a person like Timothy coming into the local situation from the outside.”

Scholars like Motyer describe it. We say, “Let’s do it!”

Motyer describes exactly what we aim to do in Newfrontiers. G. K. Chesterton once said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. As I said in Does the Future Have a Church, maybe this is true also of the biblical pattern of church life so simply described by Alec Motyer, but so manifestly ignored by most ecclesiastical systems in our day.

Adrian
What does that look like in practice?

Terry
When we first got started I had a very intimate relationship with all the Newfrontiers churches, most of which I personally helped get started. I would pay regular visits, praying for the people, teaching apostolic doctrine, modeling worship, and highlighting things like the grace of God, until it was obvious that the church was enjoying grace and the Holy Spirit. Now teams of men do that. Currently some churches within Newfrontiers are more intimately interwoven than others. My desire is that every church should feel that security of apostolic involvement intimately, and the enjoyment of being caught up with that apostolic figure and the team that is working with him. As we grow on as a movement we need to see multiplied apostles with their teams serving the churches.

In the end the ascended Jesus gives gifts to people—whether it be evangelist, pastor, teacher, prophet, or apostle. We are told to ask the Lord of the harvest to thrust out workers. We are asking God to give gifts to people. Although someone might go to Bible college or be trained in a certain way, in the end they have to be supernaturally empowered. Training can improve a person, but only God can give a gift. In summary, apostolic ministry today lays a foundation, and functions in a fatherly way—it is not only biblical exposition, but relational.

Adrian
Tomorrow we will talk more about just what this modern-day apostolic ministry looks like.

Continued in part 3 . . .

It was a real delight to have the opportunity to spend some time with the leader of the family of churches I am a part of when Terry Virgo came to preach at the church I attend. He was kind enough to sit with me for what was a very interesting and open interview.

Terry is perhaps not as well known to my American readers as he ought to be. He is , however, widely perceived among Christians of different backgrounds as something of an elder statesman in the UK church. Together with John Piper and Don Carson he will be a key speaker at next Easters New Word Alive conference.

Having founded a reformed charismatic family of churches in the 1970′s, called Newfrontiers, there are few with a wider breadth of experience in church leadership than Terry. Newfrontiers has a lot of similarities with Sovereign Grace Ministries which is headed by Terry’s long-time friend C.J. Mahaney.

Incidentally, it is not too late for you to sign up for this years Newfrontiers conference Together On A Mssioin which will take place in Brighton, UK from 10th-13th July 2007.

Terry Virgo is a man on a mission, and this interview will give us insight into how he is feeling about the church in general and Newfrontiers in particular at the moment.

Thanks for joining us Terry, Please can you start by telling us a bit about yourself and your ministry?

I am married to Wendy and we have five grown up children. I live in Brighton where I was born. I lived away from Brighton for 14 years but have been back for 25 years. I am one of the elders of the Church of Christ The King and also lead the Newfrontiers family of churches. Newfrontiers is now in five continents and is made up of 500 churches. There are now a number of teams of leaders that serve those churches.

Well, that sounds really busy, Terry. I understand that on top of all that you have recently added to your responsibilities a blog and personal website. Can you tell me how that came about?

I travel a lot and keep hearing about blogs wherever in the world I am. I was in America recently and discovered that people had already got some of my material from my church website but were asking about other material. It made me feel that perhaps I should have a site on the internet for my thoughts and teaching. I had no feel for blogging at all, but as time has gone on it has grown with me that I should do it. The more I think about it the more motivated I am to do so. It also gives people a chance to see my diary and pray for my trips.

Talking of your future diary, I notice that you will be speaking for the UCCF and Keswick next spring at the New Word Alive conference in North Wales. How did that arise?

I was first invited to speak at the UCCF forum two years ago, which was out of the blue to me. I had already become an advisor to them prior to this. When I went to Forum we had an exceptionally good time. I was impressed by the responsiveness to God’s word by the student leaders listening to my preaching on Romans. Afterwards, I was told that the mp3 downloads of the preaching were very popular. Then, when they felt they were going to do a separate conference in 2008 they wanted to get me involved. They know that I embrace a reformed theology and have a high view of Scripture.

How do you feel about the wider evangelical scene at the moment?

Well to be honest, I am not very encouraged by the Evangelical situation in England. Although recent years have seen more harmony across the various denominations, my heart aches to see the gospel having more impact in the nation. Where are people of weight coming together? There are a lot of encouraging things happening in the States, however. There is a whole group of people, including John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Mark Dever, C. J. Mahaney, Mark Driscoll and others. They all love the Word and have found each other as friends. I am encouraged to see Driscoll’s evangelistic impact in seeing many saved.

The Together for the Gospel initiative is fascinating. There is an energy among people who hold the scriptures dear and are trying to work it out. I fear that in England there is no equivalent group coming together in friendship and influence in a similar vein.

At the same time we have to work with where we are. I feel a sense of commissioning to gather some Christian leaders together, and am beginning to do so. I am praying about throwing a wider net to include more from reformed backgrounds. I am looking for men of the Bible who are men of goodwill to see what would happen. It has to be on a relational basis. I am not just looking at those who ‘ought’ to be there. It seems to me that the key is to bring together people who really care.

I would love to see a rallying point that was not just charismatic but for those who value the Word. I do feel God has given me a desire to have fellowship with leaders beyond Newfrontiers. We love the Word and want to see the Cross upheld as do others. I would love to see some kind of bridging of the Together for the Gospel type of movement in the UK.

It’s encouraging to hear you speaking of meeting with other leaders from different church groupings. Which groups do you feel that you have learnt most from?

It is very important for me and the other guys I work with to rub shoulders with those outside our circles – both theologically for sharpening and also for spiritual breakthroughs. As an example, we met with a leader from a family of churches in Thailand who had seen success in church planting we had never dreamed of. As a result we experienced a surge of church planting.

We have also been shaped by our exposure over several decades to CJ Mahaney. He is a huge influence on me in his purity of soul and his zeal for God . He is a real delight and hugely provocative. Dudley and Tyrone Daniels and their group of churches are also currently stirring and provoking us.

Over the years there have been others that have similarly taught us things and, I am sure that there are more groups we can learn from if only we got to know them more.

You mention learning from others. What about what we can all learn from you? What do you feel your life message is that you can share with others in the wider church?

To recover New Testament church life is a real passion for me. That has to do with both the message and also its expression through the local church. The gospel is often lost through legalism or through sentimental ideas of what it is. Sometimes, there is a failure to grasp the overview of the Bible from Abraham through David to Jesus. The message of the Bible is that we, who are in Christ are the people of God and are the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham and his seed (Galatians 3:16).

Today, many Christians still live secular lives, attend church but have a privatized religion and a ‘personal savior’ instead of being captivated by the fact that we are God’s people and are therefore at the centre of world history. Some people focus their attention on secular Israel and fail to understand that those who have embraced Israel’s Messiah are the people of God, as Paul argues in Philippians 3:3.

What thrills me is a local church full of individuals celebrating the triumph of grace, knowing what it is to be a son of God, full of the Holy Spirit, enjoying personal fellowship with God in an intimate way and also reveling in a huge picture of our world mission to glorify Jesus among the nations, and the vast place of the Church in world history. That vision is both intimately personal and massively broad — both things thrill me.

To be continued…

In an article posted just this week, John Piper writes about how the cross has efficacy because Jesus lived an obedient life. In the debates about the atonement, some people criticise us for over-emphasising the cross at the expense of the incarnation or resurrection. I have been arguing in my series on the resurrection that the cross and resurrection are an inseparable unit. Here Piper argues that the cross and Jesus’ obedience as a man throughout his life are also inseparable

If you put these ideas together, you come up with the conclusion — which might seem obvious, but nonetheless is worth saying in this climate of debate — Jesus life, death, and resurrection as a unitary event planned before the foundation of the world saved us. If you like, Jesus was our obedience substitute during his life, our punishment substitute in His death, and our rebirth substitute in His resurrection. The doctrine of unity with Christ teaches us that we become united with Jesus in such a way that His life of obedience, death of pain, and resurrection into glorious power are all credited to our account! What a Saviour!

Here is some of what Piper said:

“. . . so the death of the Son of God is sufficient to cover all our sins as the climax of a sinless life. This is no disparagement to the cross. It is not adding to the cross. The New Testament writers saw the death of Christ as the climax of his life. His whole life was designed to bring him to the cross (Mark 10:45; John 12:27; Hebrews 2:14). That is why he was born, and why he lived. To speak of the saving effect of his death was therefore to speak of his death as the sum and climax of his sinless life.

Similarly, the final obedience of Christ in his death is sufficient to justify his people as the climax of a sinless life. It is not likely that the apostles thought of Jesus’ obedience on the cross as separate from his obedience leading to the cross. Where would one draw the line between his life of sinless obedience and the final acts of obedience? Any line would be artificial. Do we draw it at the point where he submitted to the piercing of his hands? Or at the point when he submitted to his arrest in the garden? Or at the point where he endured Judas’ departure from the supper? Or at the point where he planned his final entry to Jerusalem? Or at the point where he “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51)? Or at the point of his baptism where he said, “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15)?

It is more likely that when Paul spoke of Jesus’ obedience as the cause of our justification he meant not merely the final acts of obedience on the cross, but rather the cross as the climax of his obedient life. This seems to be the way Paul is thinking in Philippians 2:7-8: “He emptied himself . . . being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Notice the sequence of thought: He became a human. That is, he was found in human form. >>> He humbled himself. >>> The way he humbled himself was by becoming obedient. >>> This obedience was so complete that it willingly embraced death. >>> Even death in the most painful and shameful way—on a cross.

What this text shows is that between “being born in the likeness of men” at one end of his life and “even death on a cross” at the other end of his life was a life of self-humbling obedience. The fact that it came to its climax on the cross in the most terrible and glorious way is probably what causes Paul to speak of the cross as the sum and climax of all his obedience. But it is very unlikely that Paul would have separated the obedience of the final hours from the obedience that designed, planned, pursued, and embraced those final hours . . . .”

— John Piper