John MacArthur on the Church

Ministering in the church constitutes the highest privilege. Nothing could be more honorable or have greater eternal significance than serving our Christ in His church. This privilege is also the most serious responsibility a person can undertake. Fulfilling this privilege and discharging this responsibility demands a comprehension of the church and its ministries that is correct according to God’s Word. In order to grasp the issues of the church and establish that understanding as a foundation for ministry, we need to understand a few basic truths:

1. The church is the only institution that our Lord promised to build and to bless (Matt. 16:18).
2. The church is the gathering place of true worshipers (Phil. 3:3).
3. The church is the most precious assembly on earth since Christ purchased it with His own blood (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 5:25; Col. 1:20; 1 Pet. 1:18; Rev. 1:5).
4. The church is the earthly expression of the heavenly reality (Matt. 6:10; 18:18).
5. The church will ultimately triumph both universally and locally (Matt. 16:18; Phil. 1:6).
6. The church is the realm of spiritual fellowship (Heb. 10:22–25; 1 John 1:3, 6–7).
7. The church is the proclaimer and protector of divine truth (1 Tim. 3:15; Titus 2:1, 15).
8. The church is the chief place for spiritual edification and growth (Acts 20:32; Eph. 4:11–16; 2 Tim. 3:16–17; 1 Pet. 2:1–2; 2 Pet. 3:18).
9. The church is the launching pad for world evangelization (Mark 16:15; Titus 2:11).
10. The church is the environment where strong spiritual leadership develops and matures (2 Tim. 2:2).

The ten items above are precisely why I love the church and have devoted my life to it. Understanding those truths is the foundation of effective ministry. Unless spiritual men devoted to these realities lead the church, the next generation of churches will not be without blemish. I am concerned over a growing trend to produce strong natural leaders who know how to manage a business or enterprise but do not understand the church from Christ’s perspective. Their leadership style and substance is earthly, not biblical and spiritual.

John MacArthur, F., Jr, Richard Mayhue and Robert Thomas, L., Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry : Shaping Contemporary Ministry With Biblical Mandates, Electronic ed., Logos Library Systems, 3 (Dallas: Word Pub., 1995).

What happened on October 31, 1517?

It’s been 490 years since “a monk with a mallet” nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. God used Martin Luther to start the greatest revival the world has seen. Though there were many benefits to the Protestant Reformation, the publishing of God’s Word in common languages was united to a hunger for the right understanding of that Word. The year 1517 saw a display of God’s grace in human history and every year since we have the opportunity to remember. Let us redouble our efforts to be faithful to the historic Christian faith. Martin Luther is one of the more important figures in Western history, as his thought has impacted family life, politics, church-state relations, individual liberties, and a host of other societal issues. His powerful expositions of the Gospel remain one of his most important legacies. In an era when the Gospel had been eclipsed by a system of human merit, Luther and the other reformers were able to remind the people of God that we are declared righteous in the sight of the Lord through faith alone in the person and work of Christ Jesus. Join Ligonier Ministries in celebrating Reformation Day with a one-day special! On Wednesday, October 31st, buy a hardcover Reformation Study Bible (ESV) for only $15.17. Prefer a leather Bible? Purchase one for only $26.83 more. To take advantage of this special offer, please call our resource consultants at 800-435-4343 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST or order online. Orders may only be placed on October 31st.

Happy 490th Anniversary of the Reformation

HAPPY REFORMATION ANNIVERSARY!

Are you despairing of your own righteousness today, realizing that you are more sinful before God than you had thought before? Are you realizing that when all is said and done you just are not righteous before God? Or perhaps you are thinking more highly of yourself and your good works before God?

If you are doing either of these things, you are looking to yourself and your own righteousness to affirm and assure yourself before God. When you look to yourself you make null and void the work of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:21).

If you have sought your salvation and righteousness in yourself, and you have realized the depth of your sins before God in words, thoughts, and deeds, then you know how Martin Luther felt when he cried out to his friend John Staupitz, saying: “Who can abide the Day of the Lord’s coming? And who shall stand when he appears?!” (Mal. 3:2).

Continue reading "Happy 490th Anniversary of the Reformation" »

Willow Creek Repents

A multi-year qualitative study of Willow Creek reveals that their program-driven philosophy of ministry is not leading to spiritual growth, and Bill Hybels responds: "We made a mistake."

Bill Hybels:

Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.

Read the whole thing.

The Gospel in 6 Minutes - John Piper

What's the Gospel?

What’s the gospel? I’ll put it in a sentence.

The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy.

That’s the gospel.

You Can't Outgrow the Gospel

You never, never, never outgrow your need for it. Don’t ever think of the gospel as, “That’s the way you get saved, and then you get strong by leaving it and doing something else.”

No! We are strengthened by God through the gospel every day, till the day we drop.

You never outgrow the need to preach to yourself the gospel.

How the Gospel Strengthens

Here’s an illustration, and I use it not because it’s any big deal to speak from my life, but because it’s what I walked through and where I most pointedly in the last year experienced the power of the gospel to make me strong. (Many of you are walking through things much heavier than prostate cancer—much heavier.)

Do you remember the verses that I shared with you back in February that were almighty for me? It was that moment right after the doctor says, “I think we need to do a biopsy,” when this stab of fear comes. It didn’t last long, mercifully.

And then came—what? 1Thessalonians 5:9-10. It’s just as pure gospel as you can get.

God has not destined you for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,who died for you so that whether you wake or sleep you will live with him.

Settled. Peace like a river.

The Gospel Is Perfect for Your Needs

That’s just gospel—perfectly timed, perfectly applied, perfectly suited to my need. That’s why the Bible is so thick—because there are so many different needs that you have. And there are suitable places where the gospel is unfolded for you, so that if you immerse yourself in the whole book, always with an eye for what Christ has wrought for you and purchased for you in this thick, glorious history of God’s interaction with people, he will give you what you need.

Therefore, everything in me says, and I hope to say until the day I die, “Now, to him who is able to strengthen me, according to Paul’s gospel, to him—to that God—be glory forever and ever.”

God came into history in Jesus Christ; he died in order to destroy the power of hell and death and Satan and sin; and he did it through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A Plea to Believe

I know that there are people reading this who are not trusting Jesus Christ, and therefore can only expect condemnation. So I’m just going to plead with you here at the end, lay down that rebellion. Lay it down. And simply embrace the gospel that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Righteous One, died for your sins. He was raised on the third day, triumphant over all his enemies. He reigns until he puts all of his enemies under his feet. Forgiveness of sins and a right standing with God comes freely through him alone, by faith alone.

I plead with you, don’t try to be strong in your own strength; it will not be there when you need it. Only one strength will be there—the strength that God gives according to the gospel.

Don’t put it off.

[This text is an edited transcript of the audio. It is excerpted from the sermon, “God Strengthens Us by the Gospel.”]

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