Worship Minimovie: The Gospel is Like a New Language

How the Gospel Is Like a New Language from Crossway on Vimeo.

January 10, 2016 | Mark 1:1-15: Jesus is the Gospel, Stupid

Sunday we started a new series walking verse-by-verse through the Gospel of Mark. Like the other Evangelists, Mark's introduction is unique. For him, Mark wants to make it clear that the gospel is Jesus, period.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
 
² As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way;
³ The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.’”

⁴ John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. ⁶ John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. ⁸ I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; ¹¹ and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

¹² Immediately the Spirit *impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. ¹³ And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.

¹⁴ Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Audio
Notes


For more:
The Bible Project: Mark

4 Reasons the Cross is Central to Christianity

At the core of Christianity stands the cross. To most that might sound too elementary but few Christians sitting in our pews have seriously given it much thought beyond Passion week festivities. No other symbol better represents what Christianity is than the cross. While preparing a recent sermon series on the atonement, I sat and wondered what the Bible has to say about the cross and precisely why it matters. Why, of all available options (from a fish to to shepherd's staff) did early Christianity choose the cross to represent them and us today? Is the cross a mere symbol for the Christian or the root of Christianity? Is it merely an event in human history or the crux of human history? If it is the latter, then why? Below, then, are four truths of the cross that show why the atonement is both central and necessary.


1. The Cross is God's Clearest Revelation of Himself

Often when reading Scripture, we approach it as a divine encyclopedia. If I want to know what the Bible says about pride, marriage, suffering, or election I simply open my Bible, highlight a number of verses and suddenly I know what the Bible says about a given subject.

This can be a dangerous and misguided approach to understanding Scripture. We rightly and justly believe that the Bible, all sixty-six books, is God's special revelation to man, however, the purpose and climax of Scripture is to how the Creator redeemed a fallen humanity and cursed cosmos. The Bible is not a collection of stories, it is a story. It is not about a series of characters, from Adam to John, but about its author.

Thus the cross stands as the central message of Scripture. The cross, then, is also a divine act of special revelation. We see God most clearly through the lens of the cross. At the cross we see God's sovereignty, providence, benevolence, justice, power, holiness, mercy, glory, transcendence, immanence, and victory. In short, any study of God - his essence, nature, attributes, etc. - would be incomplete without a study of the cross for at the cross God has made Himself known.

2. The Cross Personifies God's Love

Though highlighted in the first point, the subject of the cross and God's love deserves special attention. One should note that after the cross, God's love is repeatedly referred in the past tense or in direct reference to the cross. Consider the following few examples:

• John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...
• Romans 5:8 - But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
• Romans 8:37 - But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
• Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 
• Ephesians 2:4-5 - But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
• Ephesians 5:2 - and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:16 - Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,
• Titus 3:4-5 - But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared...
• 1 John 3:16 - We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us...
• 1 John 4:9-11 - By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
• 1 John 4:19 - We love, because He first loved us.

One other important text should be added here. In applying his doctrine to husbands, Paul tells men to love (present tense) their wives as Christ loved (past tense) the church (Ephesians 5:25). How did Christ loved the church? He died. Thus for Paul we could say that the only good husband is a dead one! Or better yet, a crucified one.

The point is to show how frequently the New Testament writers proclaim that God loved us (past tense) instead of loves us (present tense). The difference is important. By using the past tense, the apostles are not saying that God's love has ceased but instead reminding us that God's love is continually demonstrated by the cross. We need not doubt the depth of God's love when we approach the cross. God is love because God loved.

3. The Cross is the Means By Which God Saves Sinners

Clearly the cross is declared as the saving act of God toward sinners. Sinners are saved by Christ at the cross. To make this point, the New Testament authors utilize a number of motifs and images of salvation. Here are a few of those motif's and what redemptive doctrine is associated with it.

• The Court - God declares the guilty righteous (justification)
• The Shrine - the wrath of God is satisfied (propitiation) and the sinner is cleansed (expiation)
• The Home - God's sets us right with Him (reconciliation)
• The Orphanage - God adopts sinners as sons and daughters (adoption)
• The Battlefield - God defeats the enemy and peace is declared (Liberation)
• The Market - God sets the slaves free (redemption) and all our debts are paid in full (ransom)

The above are not theories of the atonement, but actual images frequently used throughout the New Testament authors and more could be added. At times, the apostles mix these motifs. For example, in Colossians 2:13-15 Paul intertwines both Redemption (Christ paying our debts) with Christus Victor as the means of forgiveness. 

All of these images point to the central theme of Scripture that God has come down to save sinners. He is the justifier of the guilty, the liberator of slaves, and the adopted Father of spiritual orphans. He pays our ransom, redeems us of our sins, and reconciles us to Himself. And it all happens at the cross. There is no salvation, therefore, outside of the cross.

4. The Cross is the Standard of What it Means to be a Christian

In Matthew 16:21-25 an important four letter word is used by Jesus twice to make two very profound points. First, Jesus says He must go to the cross thus establishing its necessity. He could do nothing else and was incarnated for nothing else. This is why in verses 22-23 Jesus rebukes His well-intentioned disciple, Peter, for suggesting that Jesus could build His Kingdom without the cross. Jesus equates Peter's desire with that of Satan Himself. Jesus must go to the cross and it is important for Peter, the disciples, and us to know, embrace, and celebrate that.

In verses 24 and 25 Jesus uses the word again. If Jesus must go to the cross, he adds, then anyone who wishes to follow Him must likewise pick up their cross and follow Him. To where? To Calvary for sure. Thus for Jesus and the New Testament, what it means to be a Christian is summarized in the cross. A Christian is a follower of Christ. A follower is one who has counted the cost and picked up their cross and died with their Savior. Christians are described as having crucified the flesh (Galatians 5:24), we have died to our sins (Romans 6:1ff; 1 Corinthians 15:31; 1 Peter 2:24), and are living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).

The only saving Christ is a dying one. The only living Christian is a dead one.

Conclusion

This is why the cross matters. Though more reasons could be given (for example, the relationship between a theology of the cross and a Christian theology of suffering), the above represents the core of Christianity. At the cross we see God. At the cross we see our true selves. At the cross we are regenerated. The cross matters and stands at the center of God's story of redemption and our story as the redeemed. Preachers must, therefore, preach the cross as their only strength. Sinners must embrace the cross as their only hope. And church members must pick up their cross as their only way to live.

Originally published August 6, 2013.

August 30, 2015 | Galatians 5:26-6:5 - The Gospel is Restoration

Here is the sermon from Sunday morning taken from Galatians 5:26-6:5.

²⁶ Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. ² Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. ³ For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴ But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. ⁵ For each one will bear his own load.

Audio
Notes


For more:
April 26, 2015 | Galatians 1:1-5: The Gospel is Freedom
May 3, 2015 | Galatians 1:6-10: The Gospel is Primary
May 17, 2015 | Galatians 1:11-24: The Gospel is Real
May 24, 2015 | Galatians 2:1-10: The Gospel is Apostolic PDF 
May 31, 2015 | Galatians 2:11-16: The Gospel is Alive
June 7, 2015 | Galatians 2:17-21: The Gospel is Authentic
June 14, 2015 | Galatians 3:1: The Gospel is Wise - Part 1
July 5, 2015 | Galatians 3:1-14: The Gospel is Wise - Part 2
July 12, 2015 | Galatians 3:15-29: The Gospel is Promise
July 19, 2015 | Galatians 4:1-11: The Gospel is Adoption
July 26, 2015 | Galatians 4:12-20 - The Gospel is Love 
August 2, 2015 | Galatians 4:21-51 - The Gospel is New Life
August 9, 2015 | Galatians 5:1-12 - The Gospel is Liberty
August 23, 2015 | Galatians 5:16-25 - The Gospel is New Life  
August 30, 2015 | Galatians 5:26-6:5 - The Gospel is Restoration
May 24, 2015 | Some Things Never Change: The Immutability of God & Why That Matters
July 26, 2015 | 1 Kings 19:1-18
August 2, 2015 | John 3:1-21
August 9, 2015 | Romans 12:1-2 

August 2, 2015 | Galatians 4:21-51 - The Gospel is New Life

Here is the sermon and notes from yesterday morning taken from Galatians 4:21-31.

²¹ Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. ²³ But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. ²⁴ This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. ²⁵ Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.  ²⁷ For it is written,

“Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear;
Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;
For more numerous are the children of the desolate
Than of the one who has a husband.”

²⁸ And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. ³⁰ But what does the Scripture say?

“Cast out the bondwoman and her son,
For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.”

³¹ So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.

Audio
Notes


For more:
April 26, 2015 | Galatians 1:1-5: The Gospel is Freedom
May 3, 2015 | Galatians 1:6-10: The Gospel is Primary
May 17, 2015 | Galatians 1:11-24: The Gospel is Real
May 24, 2015 | Galatians 2:1-10: The Gospel is Apostolic PDF 
May 31, 2015 | Galatians 2:11-16: The Gospel is Alive
June 7, 2015 | Galatians 2:17-21: The Gospel is Authentic
June 14, 2015 | Galatians 3:1: The Gospel is Wise - Part 1
July 5, 2015 | Galatians 3:1-14: The Gospel is Wise - Part 2
July 12, 2015 | Galatians 3:15-29: The Gospel is Promise
July 19, 2015 | Galatians 4:1-11: The Gospel is Adoption
July 26, 2015 | Galatians 4:12-20 - The Gospel is Love 
August 2, 2015 | Galatians 4:21-51 - The Gospel is New Life 
May 24, 2015 | Some Things Never Change: The Immutability of God & Why That Matters
July 26, 2015 | 1 Kings 19:1-18

Worship Minimovie: What is the Gospel?

Here is the worship minimovie from Sunday morning.


What is the Gospel? from Southern Seminary on Vimeo.

May 17, 2015 | Galatians 1:11-24: The Gospel is Real

Here is the sermon audio and notes from this past Sunday from Galatians 1:11-24.

¹¹ For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. ¹² For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³ For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; ¹⁴ and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.  ¹⁵ But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.

¹⁸ Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) ²¹ Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; ²³ but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they were glorifying God because of me.

Audio
Notes

Sermon Notes: Religion vs. the Gospel

Though most, at least in my experience, in the pews assume thirty minutes is plenty of time to exhaust a topic or text of Scripture. The truth is, however, one could never fully exhaust the Word of God. That is a constant challenge for pastor's who will one day stand before God and be judged for how they handled His special revelation.

With that said, I want to occasionally either expand upon or pass along something that was said in a sermon or study. Sunday evening I sought to clearly differentiate between religion (or moralism or legalism or traditionalism) and the pure, saving gospel in our discussion of Philippians 3:1-11. One will make us twice the son of hell (Matthew 23:15) while the other will make us adopted sons of God.

Below is that list. Some points are expanded upon.

1. Religion is all about me. The gospel is all about Christ. Religion is all about resume enhancing for one's own benefit. Recall Jesus criticizing the Pharisees for praying to be seen. "They have their reward," he said. The gospel is consumed with Jesus - and only Jesus.
2. Religion is all about what I do. The gospel is all about what Christ has done. If all our works are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) only a blind religious person would brag about what they've done. The gospel only boast in Christ.
3. Religion begins w/ my obedience & ends w/ God’s conditional love. The gospel begins w/ God’s unconditional love & bears the fruit of my obedience. Imagine if I told my little girl that I would love her – her daddy – only when she starts using the potty & I will keep loving her only if she keeps using the potty. Would that not be wicked?
4. Religion is all about your birth family. The gospel is all about new birth. This is why religious people want their kids to be moral so they don’t embarrass them in front of all of the other religious people.
5. Religions is about manipulating God for our own ends. The gospel is about receiving from God His Son for His glory. Religion – God make me happy, healthy, wealth, & successful. “Religion is a stick & God is a pinata.”*
6. In Religion, motivation is based on fear & insecurity. In the gospel, motivation is based on grateful joy. Religion says, "If you mess up, God will judge you." The gospel says, "If you mess up, God will hold you."
7. Religion doesn’t know what to do w/ suffering & pain. The gospel believes in “sanctified affliction.”** The gospel allows us to cry out to God in our pain knowing that He hears us. The gospel reminds us that God is not distant in our suffering, but has entered our universe in the flesh & suffered the pain, the loss, & death itself in the Person of Christ. Religion, on the other hand, can only blame suffering on personal sin (see Job).
8. Religion is outwardly pious, but inwardly corrupt. The gospel transforms the inside. Thus, like the Pharisees, religious people care about church attendance, clean houses, moral lifestyles, charity, & modesty all the while they’re judgmental, unloving, impatient, & unjust. Furthermore, religious people have a hard time repenting b/c it would require them to admit they are hypocrites.
9. Religion sees us as good & them as bad. The gospel sees us all as bad & God as good.
10. A religious prayer usually consists mostly of petition especially in times of need b/c of their need to be in control. The gospel believer prays mostly praise & adoration in an effort to join in fellowship w/ God. The religious pray to get from God. The gospel believer prays to get God.
11. Religion leads to a life of continual uncertainty. The gospel leads to a life of peace & assurance. How do you know, in a religious system, when you've done enough? The gospel, however, forever believes Jesus when he declared, "It is finished."
12. Religion ends in pride or despair. The gospel ends in humility & joy. Ever met a prideful religious person? Ever met a religious person in despair. 
13. Religion is all Law. The gospel is all grace. Throughout his ministry, Tchividjian has offered a lot of contrasting words between law and gospel.*** Here are a few
1. If the Law is the first word, Grace is the last.
2. The Law exposes us, while Grace exonerates us.
3. The law diagnoses, but Grace delivers.
4. The Law accuses, Grace acquits.
5. The Law condemns the best of us, while Grace saves the worst of us.
6. The Law says ‘cursed,’ Grace says ‘blessed.’
7. The Law says ‘slave,’ Grace says ‘son.’
8. The Law says ‘guilty,’ Grace says ‘forgiven.’
9. The Law can break a hard heart, but only Grace can heal one.”

Ultimately, we need to see that religion is a cancer. The gospel is the cure.


* Taken from Mark Driscoll's sermon, "Examining Two Enemies of the Gospel."
** Ibid.
*** See especially his books Jesus + Nothing = Everything and One Way Love.

My Hope: America - The Cross

Last night I highlighted the film the students were watching featuring Billy Graham Called My Hope: America - The Cross. I had a few members ask about the thirty minute video which I believe is very powerful. It is available for free online and I have embedded it below. In addition to it, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association produced other, similar videos that are well worth your time. I will post them below as well.

The Cross




Defining Moments




Lose to Gain




Heaven

News That Brings Joy Worship Video

Here is the video we played in worship Sunday.


Dan Stevers - Gospel from DanStevers.com on Vimeo.