Preaching in the Advent Season

(cross-posted at capsministry.com)

When it comes to Christmas, some preachers are faced with one or more dilemmas:

• Should I temporarily step away from the book I am preaching through to preach a special Christmas message or series of messages throughout December?
• What texts and topics shall I cover?
• How can I present the old, old story without coming across in a stale way? How do I stay fresh with texts and topics I feel I have exhausted?

Some preachers will not deviate from their normal preaching, but will continue through the book or series they are working through. Some of these will probably recognize the season somewhere in the service. Others will continue their normal preaching rotation, but may use the Christmas story as an illustration of the text. If they are preaching on humility, they may point to how Christ’s first coming provides a perfect example of humility.

Others, however, will devote entire messages to the themes of Christmas. If this is your preference, here are some ideas that may help you present fresh, helpful, Biblical messages for the Advent season, whether you are a pastor or are filling in this month.

Expository Series

• Preaching through a portion of a book – the most obvious idea here would be to preach through Matthew 1 & 2 or Luke 1 & 2. One year, I had the opportunity to fill in at a church in December and preached consecutive messages from Matthew 1:1-17, 1:18-25, 2:1-18, and finished with 28:18-20 (connecting the coming of the King to His marching orders in the Great Commission).
• Preaching through selected passages – one could take a theme and preach expository messages from key passages related to it, for example: “Christmas prophecies made and fulfilled” or “Christmas with the patriarchs & prophets.”
• Preaching stand-alone messages – one could select various passages to preach messages that are not part of a series, except that they share the Christmas theme (such as Genesis 3:15, Genesis 12:1-3, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:1-9, Micah 5:2, Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2, John 1:14, Galatians 4:4-7, Philippians 2:5-11, Hebrews 1, etc.).

Topical Series

• Biographical studies – perhaps “the characters of Christmas”; could focus on the significance of the individual in the larger story and lessons we can learn (positive & negative) from individuals such as: Mary, Joseph, shepherds, magi, scribes, King Herod, Elizabeth, Zacharias, John the Baptist, Simeon, Anna, the angel Gabriel, Caesar Augustus (well, maybe not a whole message on him, since he is just mentioned in passing… but there could be some great contrasts between him and the true Ruler), God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and of course, Jesus.
• Geographical theme - trace the events from Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth to Calvary or something similar.
• Christmas carols - take the song title as the sermon title, give the background to the song in the introduction and the preach on the main text or truth the song declares (make sure it does teach truth — see the next suggestion).
• Christmas: fact or fiction? or “the myths of Christmas” – could debunk common errors (Really a “silent” night? Is it true that “little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes?” Did the shepherds look up and see a star? Did the wise men visit Jesus immediately after the shepherds?) and focus on giving an accurate account, encouraging the people that it is necessary to know what God’s Word actually says for ourselves.
• The scandal of Christmas – man finds fiancée pregnant before marriage! king born in a cow trough! etc. — there is plenty of shocking material in the Christmas story that points to the glory of God in using the lowly and unexpected to bring His plan to pass.
• The wonder of Christmas – could deal with all the wondering and marveling that the people in the narratives do (Luke 2:18, 33) and how we ought to be far more amazed at what God has done than we are.
• The necessity of Christmas – we don’t need a lot of the stuff we have or get, but we desperately needed for Jesus to come; one could preach a series on our accountability to God our Creator, the punishment our sin deserved, how Christ was qualified to be our sacrifice, and what He accomplished in His life and death

There are many ways to preach helpful, biblical messages for the Advent season. And they can be intermingled as well (for example, preaching a biographical message each year and using the rest of the Sundays for an expository series). But none of them will be as helpful and as biblical as they should be unless you also remember to do the following:

• Connect passage to its context and main point, even if you’re focusing on a minor point.
• Locate the Christmas story in the storyline of the Bible – particularly in how it is fulfilling God’s promises to bring salvation to sinful mankind.
• Be sure to bring out who Jesus is, and the wonder of the incarnation – God taking on flesh, fully God and fully man (but perfect) – it is also good to connect His humble birth, perfect life, substitutionary death, victorious resurrection, exalted title, and His future glorious return.
• Explain why Jesus needed to come – although you could preach a whole message on this topic (one of the suggestions above), it needs to be present in some way any time we preach, if we are to be “gospel” preachers who preach the gospel. And the whole reason Christmas should be so glorious is that it is an announcement of the gospel: “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10).

The Unashamed Workman blog also has some suggestions for dealing with the “Challenges of Christmas Preaching” here.

Two related articles:

"An Ambivalent Hallmark Calendar Guy" by Dr. Michael Lawrence

"100 Failed Human Predictions" by Dr. David Murray

Recommendation: Pierced for Our Transgressions

Jeffery, Steve, Michael Ovey & Andrew Sach. Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution. Forward by John Piper. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007. Trade Paperback, 373 pages. $25.00.

reviewed by Doug Smith (This review originally appeared at SharperIron.)

(Review copies courtesy of Crossway Books.)

Purchase: Crossway | WTS | CBD | Amazon | Moody (Kingsport, TN)

ISBNs: 1433501082 / 9781433501081

Special Features: Bibliography (pp. 337-351), Index of Names, and Index of Biblical References

Table of Contents

Excerpts (includes ten pages of Endorsements, Forward by John Piper, Acknowledgments, and Chapter 1: Introduction)

Subjects: Theology, Soteriology, Atonement

Steve Jeffery is a pastor at Holy Trinity, Lyonsdown, in North London. He has a M.S. and Ph.D. in experimental physics from Oxford University. He is married to Nicole, and they have three children: Ben, Becki and Abi.

Mike Ovey is principal-elect and lecturer in Doctrine and Apologetics at Oak Hill Theological College. He has a Ph.D. in Trinitarian Theology from King’s College, London. He is married to Heather, and they have three children: Charlie, Harry and Anastasia.

Andrew Sach studied theology at Oak Hill Theological College and is now on the staff of St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, in central London. He has a Ph.D. from York University.

The word controversy does not usually suggest pleasant thoughts. We often associate division, harsh words, and even confusion with the concept of controversy. But controversy can have its benefits. Some serious controversies in church history have actually been great blessings to the church. They sharpened fuzzy thinking on the deity of Christ and on the Trinity. These controversies resulted in clarity, making clear the distinction between false teaching and sound doctrine. The controversy over the Bible doctrine of Christ’s penal substitutionary death has brought to light such works as Pierced for Our Transgressions: Recovering the Glory of Penal Substitution. This book is a blessing because it not only brings clarity to the controversy but also edifies in its tone (as opposed to being harsh as some would expect in a polemical work), evangelistically useful, and theologically sound.

Description

Two sections compose Pierced. Part one makes the case for the doctrine, and part two answers its critics. The chapters are complemented by a short but substantive foreword by John Piper and an appendix for preachers with cautions about illustrating the doctrine.

Part One

The authors make their case after setting forth the need for it. They recognize that foundational doctrines have always been attacked, but assert that “[t]he more disturbing thing is that some of the more recent critics of penal substitution regard themselves as evangelicals, and claim to be committed to the authority of Scripture” (p. 25). They wisely lay a good, positive foundation for the doctrine before proceeding to overturn critics’ objections.

The book takes a four-pronged approach in arguing the case “that God gave himself in the person of his Son to suffer instead of us the death, punishment and curse due to fallen humanity as the penalty for sin” (p. 21). The biblical foundations, theological framework, pastoral importance, and historical pedigree of penal substitution are presented in a helpful survey. In chapter 2, the authors zoom in on key passages to examine the doctrine as found in Exodus 12, Leviticus 16, Isaiah 52:13-53:12; the books of Mark, John, and Romans; and Galatians 3:10-13. Chapter 3 explores the place of penal substitution within the big picture of the Bible and finds it central to our understanding of doctrines, such as creation, the fall, sin, the Trinity, and redemption. Chapter 4 details the relationship the doctrine has with pastoral concerns, such as assurance of God’s love, confidence in His truthfulness, passion for God’s justice, and realism about our sin. Chapter 5 embarks on a jet tour through church history, showing that the doctrine has been embraced and articulated not only by the biblical authors but also from the second century to the present; in other words, it is not a new teaching.

Part Two

Chapter 6 introduces the debate over penal substitution, arguing that it is important to engage and thoughtfully answer critics’ objections. The authors proceed to directly answer a cadre of objections, many of which are quite serious. The objections Pierced answers include the following: that penal substitution is not taught in the Bible or, if so, that it is not a significant part of it (chapter 7); that it is a product of our culture or that it is irrelevant to it (chapter 8 ); that it encourages violence, that it can be characterized by terminology like “cosmic child abuse,” and that it contradicts Jesus’s message of peace and love (chapter 9); that it is unjust, that it undermines true divine forgiveness, and that it implies universal salvation (chapter 10); that it is contrary to the character of God (chapter 11); and that it cripples true Christian living (chapter 12).

Evaluation

A 373-page book on doctrine does not sound appealing to many in an age of sound bites and light devotional reading. But this book is thoroughly doctrinal, interesting, and devotional. It has much potential to be useful for the church. In addition, it could be a good book to give to someone who has no acquaintance with the gospel or a poor understanding of it.

The authors are aware of recent scholarship on this doctrine, including Leon Morris (The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross), John Murray (Redemption Accomplished and Applied), and John R.W. Stott (The Cross of Christ). But the fresh onslaught against the doctrine certainly merits a fresh treatment in our day, and in Pierced we find a clear articulation of biblical doctrine that refutes false teaching. Allegations such as those of “cosmic child abuse” by Steve Chalke and Alan Mann in The Lost Message of Jesus must be answered, and they are answered in Pierced.

And lest we think that these false teachings are not in our own circles, let us remember that the doctrine of penal substitution is contrary to our sinful nature, and we should therefore never take the doctrine for granted. Some fundamentalists have looked to Charles G. Finney as a hero of the Christian faith, but his denial of penal substitution would actually be just cause to warn others about him.

Pierced is scholarly yet readable and useful for the average church member as well as the trained pastor or scholar. It is edifying and would also make a good textbook. The table of contents is helpfully organized with subtopics for each chapter, making the material easy to outline. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 could easily be adapted for teaching in a context like Sunday school. Preachers might consider preaching a series on the cross by expounding texts like those covered in chapter 2. A seminary professor teaching on this doctrine would profit from mining the riches of the entire book (which includes a good bibliography and extensive footnotes).

Before the publicizing of this book, I had never heard of the authors. I had a minor concern that the writing would be stilted with three authors sharing the responsibilities (and no clear distinction of who wrote what), but their labors blended well into a clear and flowing read. The book is marked by good illustrations, making a large work easier to digest. For example, they view the doctrine in relation to the rest of Scripture as a key piece in the puzzle, apart from which the pieces do not connect.

The book also gives a good warning about illustrations in its appendix. Some inadvertently teach the following by using ill-thought illustrations of penal substitution: denial of the active, consenting involvement of the Father and the Son; conflict between God’s law and God’s will; that God is unjust to avert our punishment; a conflict between God’s wrath and God’s will; a conflict between God’s attributes; that God did not foreordain Christ’s work; and that no one actually benefits from Christ’s saving work. One of the most serious offenders is the illustration of the railroad switchman who opts to sacrifice his son who has wandered onto a clear main track rather than the multitude on the train who would perish by crashing into parked freight cars if the switch were thrown to save the son. While realizing that no analogy will correspond to every point in reality (they cite Isaiah’s comparison of Christ to a sheep that is silent before its shearers, but understand that Isaiah is making one point and not saying Christ is like a sheep in every respect), we must take care to not accidentally teach false doctrine by the illustrations we choose to employ. Good illustrations illuminate truth and make clear the point(s) of comparison.

The vigor and thoroughness of the authors’ defense of particular redemption may disturb some readers (pp. 268-278). The writers believe that the doctrine of penal substitution and the teaching of the Bible itself clearly imply that Christ died for a specific group of individuals to actually secure their redemption. They may convince those who have struggled with such a teaching to finally see it in the Bible. But those convinced otherwise can still profit much from this book while being reminded that every theory limits the atonement in some way (by extent or design) except for universalism.

Pierced takes us back to a fundamental doctrine, proving it from the Scriptures and showing its implications. Penal substitutionary atonement is at the heart of the gospel. The cross is the centerpiece of the Bible and human history, and a better understanding should help us live a life worthy of the gospel and point sinners to the Savior.

The book’s website provides primary documents from church history and writings related to the present controversy over penal substitution.

Conclusion

Pierced makes a thorough, airtight case for the glorious doctrine of penal substitution and convincingly answers the critics. The book gives us a better understanding of the teaching and how to share it, should motivate us to faithful evangelism and preaching, and should result in worship of the Lamb who was slain and redeemed us by His blood.

The authors model Titus 1:9, where Paul says that an elder “must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (ESV). They give us a good example of how controversy can result in clarity. I heartily and unreservedly recommend Pierced for Our Transgressions.

Book Review-The Gospel and Personal Evangelism

Mark E. Dever, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2007), 124 pp.

Reviewed by Doug Smith

What exactly is the Gospel? What exactly is evangelism? Whose job is evangelism? How should we evangelize? Why should we evangelize? Why don't we evangelize?

According to Mark Dever, the Gospel is such good news that Christians actually ought to share it. Of course, this idea is found in the Bible itself. This should be no surprise to us. Yet, it seems we find many excuses and reasons to neglect evangelism. At the seminary I'm taking courses through, we are required to take a course on personal evangelism. Doesn't it seem a bit odd that we are required to witness to people? Could that be because evangelism is done so little by many of us and that we also have difficulty knowing what kind of approach to take? Mark Dever is the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D. C., and founder of 9Marks Ministries. His book is a welcome help to those of us who struggle with personal evangelism and who would like to make it a regular lifestyle. In seven short chapters, he labors to present an accurate understanding of the Gospel, to press upon us the obligation of Christians to evangelize, and to equip us with practical ideas to help us obey faithfully with joy.

Description

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism is a short book filled with Biblical foundations for and vivid illustrations of personal evangelism. Dever often writes from his own experience. Early in the book, he disarms us of some anti-evangelistic weapons we might be tempted to employ: excuses, many of which stem from selfishness, apathy, and fear of man. Dever does not neglect the relevant and controversial matter of the doctrine of God's sovereignty for evangelism. He is straightforward and to the point: "It was Paul who wrote one of the clearest biblical passages about God's sovereignty (Romans 9) and then went on to write one of the most pointed biblical passages about man's responsibility" (p. 28). God's sovereignty is actually an encouragement to evangelize and should never be used as an excuse to neglect this duty. Dever clarifies what the Gospel is and isn't. While the Gospel is not simply the idea that God is love, that Jesus wants to be our friend, nor the idea that we’re all okay, it is:

[T]he good news is that the one and only God, who is holy, made us in his image to know him. But we sinned and cut ourselves off from him. In his great love, God became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law himself and taking on himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever turn and trust in him. He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted Christ's sacrifice and that God's wrath against us had been exhausted. He now calls us to repent of our sins and trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness. If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God.(p. 43)

All Christians are called to share the Gospel. The local church should be viewed as having an important role in evangelism. Principles and methods of evangelism are shared in chapter four, while chapter five details what evangelism isn't, reminding us that personal testimony, social and political activism, apologetics, and the results of evangelism should never be confused with evangelism. Nor should imposition be confused with evangelism, as declaring the objective truth of God and the repentance and faith that He requires of all people is not the same as imposing our own ideas and opinions on someone else.

Dever discusses the types of responses to the Gospel (negative and positive), how we should view them, and how we should handle them. The book gives us reasons and encouragements to evangelize, including obedience to God and love for Him and others. The conclusion deals with the issue of "closing the sale," pointing out bad evangelistic assumptions that tend toward making false converts and encouraging us that if we have shared the Gospel clearly, we have faithfully evangelized, regardless of the person's response.

A brief annotated bibliography and a word to pastors rounds out the book, giving suggestions for further resources and practices to be faithful evangelists.

Evaluation

This book is short, simple, convicting, encouraging, and useful. It can be read in one sitting of a couple of hours. Dever communicates clearly with simple language and helpful illustrations, making for an easy and interesting read. The book should shock us out of our apathy, selfishness, and lack of love, but it should also provide encouragement in the joyful obedience of spreading the Gospel.

This book is useful for any Christian, but busy pastors and seminarians should especially take it to heart. The Gospel and Personal Evangelism would be an excellent resource to make available in a local church, and would be a helpful book for a study in a church setting or in personal discipleship. The practical suggestions, such as frequenting businesses to build relationships and intentionally provoking people to think about spiritual things, are quite clear and helpful.

Mark Dever leaves us with no excuse for neglecting evangelism, while encouraging us to be proactive, honest, urgent, and joyful in the spreading of this good news of Christ, the Gospel. Thank you, C. J. Mahaney, for encouraging Mark to write this book, and thank you Mark for writing it. May it bear much fruit for the sake of the Gospel.

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This review first appeared at Said at Southern. A couple of other opinions to check out are Jesse Johnson’s review on the Pulpit Magazine blog and Jason Button's preliminary thoughts (I will post a link to his full review when it appears). I have posted a list of related resources here.

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism: Related Resources

Said at Southern has posted my review of Mark Dever's recent book, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism.

Thanks to Crossway for providing a review copy.

Endorsements for the book are here.

Free sample: Foreword, Introduction, and Chapter 1 (free .pdf) Another excerpt: "What Evangelism Isn't"

Below are some resources for further study.

Books & Resources Dever refers to in The Gospel and Personal Evangelism:

• Robert Plummer, Paul's Understanding of the Church's Mission: Did the Apostle Paul Expect the Early Christian Communities to Evangelize? (Carlisle, UK: Paternoster Biblical Monographs, 2006)
• Evangelistic Presentation: Two Ways to Live - http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl
• Mack Stiles, Speaking of Jesus (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1995) (examples of turning the conversation toward Christ)
• Randy Newman, Corner Conversations (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2006)
• Will Metzger, Tell the Truth (best single book on evangelism, according to Dever)
• Iain Murray, Revival and Revivalism (chronicles the fallout of a history of poor evangelism)
• J. I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
• Canons of the Synod of Dort (deepens one's understanding and appreciation of the Gospel)
• Christianity Explained (Scripture Union) (good tool to teach evangelistically through the Gospel of Mark)
• Tools and articles on evangelism at www.9marks.org (These include: Mark 3 - A Biblical Understanding of the Good News; Mark 4 - A Biblical Understanding of Conversion; and Mark 5 - A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism)

Especially for pastors:

• Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor
• Horatius Bonar, Words to Winners of Souls
• Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry
• C. H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students (other Spurgeon materials may be helpful as well)

Related resources by Dever:

In February 2006 Dever delivered a number of messages on evangelism at Sovereign Grace Ministries' Pastors' College Evangelism Conference. These four talks are available as free MP3 downloads.

• What Is Evangelism?
• A Biblical Theology of Evangelism and the Gospel
• Evangelism for the Pastor or Preacher
• The Church Practice of Evangelism

Free download of the message that the book is based on: The Gospel and Evangelism.

Evangelism: What It Is and What It Isn't (Noah Braymen's summary of Dever's talk from the 2007 Gospel Growth Conference) - there is a chapter quite similar in the book.

In this Adrian Warnock interview with Dever, they talk about his book on evangelism.

The book is also referenced briefly in this interview with Gary Shavey. "Election, the Gospel and Evangelism" Founders Breakfast 2006 (CD: $3 plus $1.50 S&H; Download: $1.50 - and worth it!) - Dever points to Romans 9 and 10 of proof that God's sovereignty motivated Paul to evangelize and it should move us as well.

Update (1/30/08):

Al Mohler’s review of the book

Al Mohler interviews Dever on personal evangelism

(HT: Justin Taylor, Said at Southern)

The Danger of Getting Bored with the Gospel

By Doug Smith

This article is a part of the 2007 Reformation Day Symposium hosted by Tim Challies (www.challies.com).

Four hundred ninety years ago today, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the castle church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Today, we celebrate Reformation Day to commemorate what took place through men such as Luther and John Calvin. Their study of the Scriptures brought them to a clear understanding of the Gospel. The Gospel had been obscured through ignorance, false teaching, and unholy living, but the Reformers helped to recover the Bible's clear teaching about the good news of Christ.

The Gospel is the good news that God sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins and raised Him from the dead. The holy God created man in His own image, to reflect His glory and worship Him. Man chose to go his own way and rebel against God, thus imaging a lie about God instead of accurately representing Him. Man therefore deserved eternal punishment for offending this great God. Yet, God in His mercy sent a Savior. Jesus was God in the flesh, who lived a perfect life as a man. He was a sinless substitute, bearing the wrath of God for all who would turn from their sin and trust Him alone for their salvation. God will forgive the sins of everyone who repents and believes in Christ. He will count Jesus' righteousness to their account, and give them eternal life and a guarantee that they will share in Christ's resurrection and enjoy God forever. The Reformers understood these things and knew that the salvation revealed in the Scripture alone is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone.

It has been said that the Gospel is embraced by one generation, assumed by the next, and then forgotten or rejected. Although the Reformation helped recover the truth of the Bible concerning the Gospel, we are in danger today of losing it again. Far too many among those who call themselves Christians (and even "evangelicals," ironically, since that word comes from the Greek for gospel) assume or reject the Gospel. We are threatened with the loss of the true Gospel and the substitution of a false one.

Even in the early days of the Christian church, there were those who were in danger of embracing another Gospel. The apostle Paul addresses this matter in his epistle to the Galatians. He writes in Galatians 1:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (verses 6-9, ESV)

The Galatians were moving away from the Gospel Paul had proclaimed clearly to them. They were beginning to look like traitors. They were yet in the process of moving away, but they were moving. False teachers were agitating them so much that they were deserting the only hope and truly good news there was.

People are moving away from the Gospel in our day as well. People who know better are moving away from the Gospel. Churches and denominations blessed with a history of a clear Gospel witness are deserting the truth. False teachers are leading many astray. Why?

While ignorance, false teaching, and a love for popularity surely contribute to widespread defection, I think there is another malady much closer to home than many of us would like to admit. I believe boredom with the Gospel can plant the seeds for deserting the truth.

A friend recently attended a conference for ministers and overheard this response to a sermon: "It was very good, even if it was a simple gospel message." It would appear that some think that a simple gospel message is simply pedestrian and ordinary. No big deal; it's just the gospel, right? But when we begin to lose the wonder and awe we should have at the fact that the righteous God has lavished His mercy and grace through Jesus Christ on sinners who deserve His punishment, we should never be bored. We should forever be in shock that He would do such a thing! We should overflow in praise and thanksgiving upon hearing the Gospel, no matter how many times we have heard it.

Some say that the people of God need edifying messages, not another evangelistic message. But is the assumption that the Gospel is not necessary for edification, or that once you've "got" it, you can move on? Saints should never tire of hearing this good news that secured their salvation. And even if a text does not have an explicit summary of the Gospel in it, it surely touches on an element of the Gospel, such as God's character, how we deserve judgment for our sin, the person and work of Christ, and the need to turn to Him in repentance and faith. As Christ is the focal point of Scripture, so biblical expository preaching should always include a natural presentation of the Gospel, as each book and passage is part of God's big story. Paul never tired of preaching Christ and Him crucified, and neither should we. In this spirit, Spurgeon labored to make a bee-line to the cross from his text, and so should preachers today. Apart from the Gospel-context, sermons can easily tend toward moralism and a distortion of the purpose of the Bible.

Speaking of things people say, does the Gospel interest us enough that we actually tell other people about it? Yes, fear of man can squelch our evangelism, as can being overly busy, and failing to love others as we ought. But could it also be that we're not sufficiently interested in the Gospel? Could it be that we'd rather talk about our hobbies and aspirations and problems than the best news in the world? If it's true that we feel the deepest about the things we think about the most, should we not spend more time reading and meditating on God's Word, so that that Gospel will cause a spontaneous combustion in our lives that affects those we come into contact with? If we are interested in the Gospel, will it not result in us sharing the message of the Gospel?

What do our lives reveal about our interest in the Gospel? A holy life says that we take the Gospel seriously. A flippant, indifferent, careless attitude toward sin says that we never understood it in the first place or that it's really not that important.

Getting bored with the Gospel leaves us wide open to false teaching. We may even unwittingly distort the Gospel ourselves. It may mean that we eventually come to think that since the Mormons talk about Jesus and Christians talk about Jesus, that we're pretty much on the same page. However, this is a different Jesus and a different Gospel. Paul wrote of his fear that the Corinthians would falter in this area: "For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough" (2 Cor. 11:4).

We may be tempted to embrace heretical elements of the New Perspective on Paul that deny the Scripture's clear teaching on the Gospel (which the Reformers correctly apprehended). We too might end up calling imputed righteousness "nonsense," as Bishop N. T. Wright has done, if we are not sufficiently impressed with the biblical Gospel.

Penal substitutionary atonement might also fall by the wayside if we're bored with the Gospel. It's not too popular; it's been called "divine child abuse"; would God really require this? Yet, if there is no substitution of a sinless sacrifice in the place of sinners, there is no Gospel and no salvation.

Getting bored with the Gospel has many other ramifications. Boredom with the Gospel may mean that we turn to the business world for ministry models instead of viewing the Scriptures as sufficient. It may mean preaching gets squeezed out by entertainment and other things we think will better "reach" people. It may mean that we neglect private and family worship. It may mean that we seek our hope in politics and spend our time endorsing political candidates out of a misguided understanding of how we are to impact our culture, instead of proclaiming and living the Gospel. It may mean that we actually do begin to think and live as though "our best life" really is now, and pander to those who would rather hear that God wants them to find a good parking space rather than that God is so concerned that His name be honored and that His people have joy in Him that the Father punished the Son for our sins on the cross. Boredom with the Gospel will surely fail to prepare us for opposition and persecution for the sake of Christ.

Finally, and quite seriously, boredom with the Gospel that leads to its distortion also results in destruction. Paul could not have used stronger words for anyone who preaches a different Gospel: let him be accursed – that is, cut off from all blessing. Those who embrace and teach another Gospel have no hope, but only damnation in the life to come.

Reformation Day is something to celebrate, because of the recovery of the Gospel. But this day also reminds us that there is something we must guard. We must guard the purity and clarity of the message of the Gospel. But we must also guard our own hearts so that we never become immune, inoculated, or bored concerning the wonderful news that Jesus Christ really does save sinners. We must never assume that it is known, understood, and embraced. We must make sure that we know, understand, and embrace the Gospel ourselves and that we faithfully share it with others. Let us have the fires of our heart continually stoked with this good news, so that we may be faithful witnesses who speak and live in light of what God has done by His grace and for His glory.

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In celebrating the Reformation all this month, I have posted several other articles:

· A Review of Reformation Resources

o Books

o Music

o Websites (including links to Reformation Day Celebration resources, such as a free activity/coloring sheet)

o Movies

· Prayer, Meditation, and Trials in Psalm 119: Luther's Instructions for Studying Theology as a Biblical Hermeneutical Method (by Dr. Rob Plummer of SBTS, published here with permission)

o Part 1: Introduction

o Part 2: Luther's Basis for His Prescription

o Part 3: Prayer

o Part 4: Meditation

o Part 5: Trials

o Part 6: Conclusion

· Book Review: The Expository Genius of John Calvin by Steve Lawson

· "The Call to Witness" – a sermon by Calvin on evangelism, election, and suffering for the Gospel

Second Life, Disembodied Evangelism, and Other Considerations in Sharing the Gospel of Christ

Our church just held its third monthly men's theology discussion meeting. We gather on a Saturday morning to consider a topic and its application to us. In July, we discussed the Christian Sabbath. In August, we began a discussion of evangelism and concluded it this past weekend. Involved in this profitable discussion were visitors, other pastors, and a staff member of Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship. They contributed a good deal to the conversation in addition to what men from our church brought to the table. What follows is an unofficial distillation and summary of that conversation mixed with some expanded thoughts of my own mixed in.

What Is the Gospel?

We discussed the need to know what the Gospel actually is. It is good news. It is about someone who actually did something. The first promise of the Gospel, Genesis 3:15, reveals that it is fundamentally about One who would actually accomplish the crushing of the serpent's head. Jesus Christ, the God-man, died and rose again so that our sins could be forgiven and we could receive eternal life. But there are other things we need to share for this to be understood as good news. People need to know who they are as sinners, and who God is. God created all things for His pleasure, and made man in His image, to reflect His glory. We must set before people the holiness, perfection, and majesty of God and show them the stark contrast of it with their sin.

By sin, man misrepresents God. Instead of communicating that God is good, wise, trustworthy, and has authority over us, sin sends the message that God is not good since He denies us something that we want, that God is not wise, that we can't trust God, and that we don't have to obey God but can do our own thing. It is slander and treason against the King of the universe and worthy of eternal death. Sin cannot be seen as "no big deal" or something to simply be overlooked when we consider it in this light. And this pertains to those who outwardly appear as moral persons as well. They are not "being good" for God's glory, but are living for themselves. They desire to avoid negative consequences, to live longer, to be more successful, to gain a good reputation for themselves, instead of living to make God known and show Him as supremely valuable and worthy of worship.

The law shows us how these things personally apply to us. When we look at the commandments and at Jesus' explanation of them in the Sermon on the Mount, for example, we should realize that we do not measure up to God's perfect standard and that we are guilty in His sight. There is no way that we can make amends and fulfill His demands upon our lives. That's bad news. But that's why the Gospel is good news.

The Gospel is also a call to commitment. It is not a mere intellectual decision that amounts to what the demons have (James 2:19). It is a call to repent of our sin and trust in Jesus. This call is both an invitation and a command. In regard to the invitation aspect, we should not see it as an invitation to a pancake breakfast by a social club, but as an invitation to appear before the President, only much more commanding of our attention!

In sharing this message, it is appropriate and even necessary to clarify that this is not an additive or something to make our lives more comfortable. It is not "ask Jesus into your heart" and then go your merry way. It is about having God's wrath against our sin dealt with. It is a call to die. It is a call to forsake our sin and embrace Christ. It is a summons to cease our rebellion and become followers of Jesus. We must not spread the false idea that discipleship is a later option for a believer. If we come to Christ, believing, we are to follow Christ. This is the inevitable fruit of a changed heart. It doesn't mean that we do a meritorious work to get God's favor or that we are perfect in thought and deed in all ways immediately after trusting Christ, but it does mean that we actually are relying on Jesus Christ as our righteousness and the One who came to deliver us from sin.

The Centrality of the Local Church in Equipping the Saints

Christ died for the church. We should see it as important, and such a view takes concrete expression when we are committed to our local church. In this context we should get equipped to share the Gospel. Parachurch ministries can be helpful, but they should not be allowed to usurp the place of the local church. There is an accountability and opportunity for further growth and involvement in one anothers' lives that an evangelistic crusade or parachurch ministry cannot fulfill. In connection with local churches, some good can come of parachurch ministries in evangelism. God can certainly use any means He likes! But the mess left by some evangelistic events or the concept that evangelism is something we go and do somewhere else (on a special trip, for instance) is not helpful in building up the bride for which Christ died.

Thinking about Our Hearts and Our Responsibility

This responsibility is for pastors and the people of the church (Acts 8:1-4). We should be motivated to share because, as Piper argued in Let the Nations Be Glad, the reason missions and evangelism exist is because there are people who are not worshiping God - He deserves worship, and they need Him.

We must not only be motivated, but we must also be prepared (1 Peter 3:15) to share the Gospel. This involves making sure we are cultivating our relationship with the Lord and have right relationships with others. It is easy to clam up when we are not spending time with God in the Word and prayer as we ought or when there is discord between us and others. For me, I know of nothing that has cooled my love and boldness more than neglect of spiritual disciplines. We ought to share when we have opportunity. But we ought to cultivate hearts that are prepared and eager to tell this good news. In addition, we ought to regularly pray for particular persons and be looking for appropriate avenues to meet them, build relationships with them, and share the Gospel with them.

Thinking about Methodology

How are we to share the Gospel? As we discussed this, we concluded that some methods are inappropriate, but that we do need to be sharing. We also concluded that some methods may not be best for everyone. Some may be better geared for "in-your-face" kind of evangelism, whereas others may better serve by having a serious talk with someone over a cup of coffee.

Going to something along the lines of Mardi Gras, for instance, would probably be quite unhelpful. We have no example of the apostles going to places of orgiastic, pagan worship. This would also relate to setting up displays at conventions where the purpose is to promote the industry of pornography. One could easily be placed into a compromising situation in these contexts. We tended to agree that crashing someone else's party is not the best approach to evangelism.

We discussed some things that might not be for everyone. I don't think any of us would be comfortable with "beach evangelism" but perhaps that's something that some people could do and still maintain their purity (but I doubt it would be a group of teenage boys!). We discussed David Platt's practice of setting up a "We will tell your fortune for free" booth next to a fortune teller. Is this a deceptive peddling of the Gospel, or a legitimate approach? It sounded like they were simply using this as an inroad to get to the Gospel, like Jesus talking about water with the Samaritan woman. His goal was not merely to talk about water and trick her into spiritual things. Instead, He was using a time-tested method of communication of starting where people are and explaining the unknown by the known or the unfamiliar by the familiar. Is there a direct parallel here? I don't know. Does setting up such a booth cheapen the Gospel, like pathetic piggy-back slogans taken from the advertising of the world, such as "This blood's for you" (replacing the brand name of a beer with the word blood)? I'm not sure. But it may be something that those who have a good conscience can engage in and others of us may take another route.

Let us be sure we are taking a route to share the Gospel. Let us not deserve the answer to critiques of others' methods that they like the way they do evangelism better than the way we don't do it. The important thing is that we actually do communicate the Gospel faithfully and clearly.

Paul went to places with a variety of ideas. Mars Hill - the contemporary counterpart of which may be National Public Radio, according to some - was a place for the hearing of ideas. They were looking for new and novel things. They might be false ideas, but it was a sort of open forum for all kinds of thought. Paul presented the Gospel in this context with clarity, and not as one option among many. Thankfully, others have done similar things - such as the faithfulness of John MacArthur in presenting the truth clearly on Larry King Live, for example.

Another idea was that of going into liberal churches. A place where the gospel is not preached faithfully might provide a ripe field for evangelism for a prepared evangelist who attended the Sunday School gatherings there with the purpose of challenging false teaching and disseminating the Gospel, and possibly stirring up some major changes. Jim Renihan calls this "synagogue splitting," and this certainly appears to have precedent in the book of Acts!

Although we see connections with the past (confronting ideas in public forums and telling the truth to the religious), there are also modern, contemporary challenges to the philosophy and practice of evangelism. I posed a hypothetical situation that others have actually discussed in reality. What if a converted teenage boy asked his pastor about the legitimacy of sharing the Gospel via a virtual reality program like Second Life? The sage counsel our elders would give amounts to the following:

The incarnation is the answer to this question. Christ came in the flesh, not as an avatar [the term for the virtual persona]. We have been given a real life, and many of us don't have enough time in the day to live it, much less a second, third, or fourth life. This is disembodied evangelism.

We also talked about the matter of a "virtual" conversion. If your avatar shares the Gospel with someone else's avatar and that avatar becomes a believer, then the person controlling it could say that his avatar was saved but he was still on his way to hell! Personally, I think this is a way to justify an addiction to electronic media, one of the idols of our day. It simply legitimizes and "sanctifies" a pastime that no one really has time for if he or she is accomplishing anything significant in life and maintaining meaningful relationships with real people.

Our pastor emphasized the need for us to be deliberate in evangelism. We should be ready to share the Gospel, but we won't do it without intentionally making an effort. And when we do share it faithfully, we can leave the people with God. It is not a failure if we have been clear in telling the truth. We cannot force people into conversion. We don't have to feel guilty for not leading them in a prayer, but at the same time, we should make clear that the good news of Christ calls for a response. It is not mere knowledge to be added to the things we already know. It is an an announcement of fact, but it is also a summons to act and commit ourselves to Him.

A personal testimony can be a useful way of sharing the Gospel. Paul did this on multiple occasions (such as Acts 22). This is not something that requires a lot of training! It is not wrong to involve our own experience here, although we should explain that these things are true in themselves, and counter the response of "well, that worked for you."

We need to remember that there are basic truths and terms people do not understand. Avoid theological jargon unless you can carefully explain it. Make sure that you are actually communicating and not talking past people.

Let us not live as though we believe in the power of total depravity more than in the power of the Gospel to save. Let us seek to take the good news to the lost. As for results, we must trust God to use His Word. We must be patient, not expecting microwave results, but remembering how many of us heard the Gospel repeatedly before trusting Christ. We must believe that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16-17).

Resources

Some resources that some of us have found useful in understanding evangelism include:

• R. B. Kuiper, God-Centred Evangelism (Banner of Truth)
• Will Metzger, Tell the Truth (IVP)
• Charles Spurgeon, The Soul Winner
• Thomas Boston, The Art of Manfishing
• J. I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (IVP)
• D. James Kennedy, Evangelism Explosion
• John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad (Baker)
• Ray Comfort & Kirk Cameron, The School of Biblical Evangelism
• Don Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (chapter on evangelism) (NavPress)
• John Frame, "A Theology of Opportunity" (article available online)

In the conclusion of our time, we asked for prayer that we would be delivered from the fear of what others think and from a lack of love for God and others that stifles the faithful sharing of the good news of Christ.

I am grateful for this ministry of our church, and look forward to next month as we look at the Biblical basis and practical implications of the doctrine of the Trinity.