Category Archives: sanctification

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More On Preaching Holiness: Preaching Through Numbers

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One huge benefit of preaching through Numbers is the emphasis on the holiness of God and His people. My current ministry setting is a very conservative faith-family that is used to such concepts and, yet, they still tell me how much being reminded of holiness is helping them. I have a colleague who preaches in a very different setting and he tells me how challenging it is to preach certain doctrines.

Well, frankly, you can’t preach through Numbers without spending time on the holiness of God. So much of the theology of Numbers 5:1–6:21 hinges on God’s own holiness. It’s the only way to explain the bizarre instructions on dealing with lepers, etc. (5:3 “…putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp”), and with those who are “breaking faith with the Lord” (5:6, plus the strange way to handle jealousy in a marriage in vv. 12-31; watch for puzzled looks if you read that section aloud in church!), and the Nazirite vow (6:2ff.).

It all begins with the holiness of God. Then we can move to being a holy people.

Finally, the instructions–though often strange-to-us–provide direction for our desire to remain a holy people. So, there is actual removal (5:3, similar to the discipline prescribed in 1 Corinthians 5), confession and restitution/repentance (5:7-10).

What a great section of Scripture! What’s more important than the holiness of God and being holy because He is holy?!?

The difficulty, as you know, however, is trying to navigate through all the OT specifics that we do not directly apply to our situation. In a 45 minute sermon, for instance, you really have to stay focused providing only the details that are absolutely necessary to convey the theology about God’s holiness and ours.

If you do that, our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21). You’ll be challenged, but, like every other through-the-Book series, it’s entirely worth it.

Randal

P.S. You may recall that the main title of this series is taken from 14:8 “he will bring us into this land.” Each Sunday titles look like this:

“he will bring us into this land”: (subtitle)

This one was:

“he will bring us into this land”: But We Must Separate Ourselves To God

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Preaching OT Examples of Sanctifying Faith: Preaching Through Chronicles

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Someone completed the sentence above with: “lawyer.” I wonder what the reaction would be to that persuasion. Would lawyers take it personal?

Last week I asked our folks, “Which sounds worse to God, ‘I worry sometimes,’ or ‘I don’t trust You.’?”

When you arrive at 2 Chronicles 16:1-9 you encounter an important OT narrative that teaches us about sanctifying faith. The paragraph also contains one of my favorite verses in the OT. Verse 9 reads,

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him…” (stop there if you’re including this reference in your correspondence to parishioners; the last part of the verse is a downer: “You have done foolishly in this, for from now on your will have wars.” Yikes!)

I often word a benediction with the KJV of the middle of v. 9: “May our Lord show Himself strong in your life…”

Verse 1-9 divide very well like this:

  1. The moment of trust (v. 1)
  2. The wrong kind of trust (vv. 2-6, 9b, 10, 12)
  3. The right kind of trust (vv. 7-9a)

My title was: “Direct our hearts toward you, Lord”: So We Receive Your Strong Support.

The words of the prophet in vv. 7ff. hit us hard whenever we are tempted not to trust our Lord’s ability to provide provision, protection, or direction in life. Verse 8 reminds us of those times when we did trust our Lord and He did deliver, despite the odds being against us.

And then, there’s that wonderful description of our Lord’s vision, His eyes darting in every direction waiting to “give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”

The last line provides a wonderful opportunity to describe the Christian life at its finest. It’s why I love preaching the OT. Here is the place to define and describe sanctifying faith.

And, of course, there was only one time in history when God’s eyes turned away from His Son and because He did we can be assured that His eyes will not turn away from us whenever we seek Him by faith.

I hope you’ll preach this some day for the sake of His glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

 

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Transformation, Not Just Information: One Challenge for Preaching on Easter Sunday

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Blessed Easter!

There are many challenges accompanying the Easter morning sermon. One of the most difficult is keeping the sermon aimed at transformation instead of only information.

It’s an important goal for every sermon, but especially important on a day that emphasizes an event such as the resurrection of Christ.

Transformation is also an important goal because both preacher and parishioner expect “spiritual growth” to be the result of preaching. That’s what Carroll discovered in her research (Preaching That Matters, pp. 43-45). The problem is:

“although pastors intend for their preaching to bring about change and parishioners listen desiring spiritual growth, transformative results are rare. The vast majority of sermons accomplish the purpose of reinforcing listeners’ already-held beliefs. Of the hundreds of sermons analyzed throughout this CECL study, more than 95 percent inform rather than transform” (p. 45, emphasis added).

Now, think about Easter sermons. Certainly we’re reinforcing already-held beliefs about the resurrection. So, even more important for us to think carefully about how we’re transformed by such sermons.

When I woke up this morning, the need to aim for transformation and a response to Christ’s resurrection was on my mind. I quickly went to the computer and added the following to the end of my introduction and conclusion:

  • I believe it.
  • I live it.
  • I put my hope in it.

Immediately after the service I greeted someone who was up front and they responded with: “Thank you for ending that sermon in a way that helped me see how the resurrection demands a response.”

May our Lord continue to help us aim for transformative results and trust the Holy Spirit to generate them so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Making Sermons and Making Disciples

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A prominent Christian counselor/author–sorry but I can’t remember who–once wrote that counseling was accelerated disciple-making. That is also an appropriate way to think about our preaching.

Preaching is accelerated, corporate disciple-making.

I’ve been enjoying the insights provide by Carrell’s book, Preaching That matters: Reflective Practices for Transforming Sermons. Especially helpful is the feedback from pastors who were in training sessions with Carrell.

Take, for instance, this response:

“you asked me how I determine the spiritual growth goals for my sermons. I didn’t have an answer.” (p. 29)

Here’s my answer:

  1. Pay as much attention to the purpose or intention of your preaching portion as you do its meaning. In other words, from minute one in your study, begin to identify how God’s Word functions for the church. What is it intending to do to the listeners?
  2. Whether or not you announce this, try this at the very beginning of your sermon notes or actual sermon: “We worship this morning by _______________.” You fill in the blank with the intended response to that morning’s revelation of God (my concise definition of worship).
  3. My dear DTS preaching professor, Dr. John Reed used to urge us to write out what we wanted our listeners to think, feel, and do as a result of hearing the sermon. Those are good, broad categories for applying life to the Bible. Depending on your selected Text, you may be able to add specificity to your sermon application.
  4. Another angle on application is our attempt to usher our listeners into the particular slice of the Kingdom of God that is described in the Text (common options are commands or principles to put into practice and “go and do likewise” or “go and do otherwise” exemplars, interpreted, of course, within a redemptive-historical context).

Before Resurrection Sunday, identify your sermon’s spiritual growth goals so God receives glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Preaching Repentance From Judges 10

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One of the benefits of preaching through the book of Judges is that chapter 10 provides a glimpse into the doctrine of repentance. Repentance is not a doctrine that gets much press these days. You probably are aware that it is a critical doctrine that greatly affects one’s justification and sanctification. Judges, however, is not the place you would likely look to find teaching on repentance.

Actually two kinds of repentance are mentioned. The first one is readily acknowledge: the repentance of God’s people. The second one is hotly debated: the repentance of God.

First, after committing more idolatry, God’s people finally say in vv. 15-16 “‘We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.’ So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord…” God’s people finally repent of their idolatry.

Notice two parts of their repentance: (1) they stopped worshiping “the foreign gods”; (2) they started (re-started?) serving “the Lord.” They stopped sinning and started serving. It’s a pretty simple definition of repentance.

Second, after severely judging His people, God finally responds to Israel’s repentance. The omniscient narrator tells us: “and [the Lord] became impatient over the misery of Israel” (v. 16). The Lord stopped punishing and started saving even though He said back in v. 13, “Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more.”

I don’t claim to understand what was happening in the mind of God. Neither arguments for or against God being able to repent have been completely satisfying.

I am convinced, however, that our congregants need to hear the importance of confessing their sins, turning from their sins, and replacing their sins with righteousness.

Preach repentance and our Lord will continue to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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How Evangelistic Encounters in the Gospels Speak to Christians

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justasiam

It is important to remember that the evangelistic encounters we preachers encounter in the Gospels are designed to speak to Christians, not non-Christians (at least not primarily to non-Christians).

So, for instance, in Luke 19:1-10 Jesus meets Zacchaeus. In this narrative Zacchaeus becomes a Christian. Jesus announces in verse 9, “Today salvation has come to this house…”

It would be very easy to preach this narrative as an evangelistic sermon. You might reason that since it shows Zack getting saved, it should function well as a sermon geared toward seeing non-Christian listeners come to faith too.

I suggest two alternatives:

(1) Stick with the overall purpose of the Gospel and focus on the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 19:1-10 does tell us about who Jesus is and what He came to do: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (v. 10). These narratives are a time to remind Christians what Jesus has done for them. In the process of doing so, any non-Christians overhearing worship have an opportunity to hear the Gospel and respond with saving faith.

(2) Focus attention on what the narrative says about what saving faith is. Zack’s reaction to Jesus helps us see that saving faith includes repentance. In a day when easy-believism continues to show itself in our congregations, we do our Lord and His people a great service by fleshing out what it means to believe. In verse 8 Zack says, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Was that necessary? Could Zack have been saved without this radical change? Now, we all have an opportunity to assess whether our faith is working like Zack’s.

Before Sunday, see if your preaching portion contains any information about becoming a Christian. Then, look for similar ways to show how that information speaks to Christians about their Savior and their relationship to Him.

Preach well for His glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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The Value of Linking Sin With Unbelief

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Red chain link

There is an organic connection between faith and obedience. That means there is also an organic link between unbelief and disobedience. I learned this from reading Hafemann’s book, The God of Promise and the Life of Faith.

So, if it’s true that every act of disobedience is first and foremost an act of unbelief, then we attack disobedience by attacking unbelief. For instance, in Luke 12:22-31 Jesus teaches us not to worry. The sin of worrying is a good example of this approach because in v. 28 Jesus addresses His worry-wart disciples as, “O you of little faith!” Our lack of faith in God’s ability to take care of us is the root cause of worrying. So, in order to repent of the sin of worrying, we need to link that sin to our unbelief.

When I worry, I’m saying to God, “God, I don’t trust you.” Doesn’t that sound worse than saying, “God, I worry about ________”? Imagine having to tell God face-to-face that you don’t trust Him.

Unlike the sin of greed, which is rarely, if ever, confessed, worrying appears to be the sin that is frequently admitted, but rarely conquered. It might help if, instead of giving five ways to be worry-free, we link worrying to unbelief and talk about reasons why we can trust our Heavenly Father.

Use this approach with other sins that are censured in your upcoming preaching portions. Ask how sin X links with unbelief. Explore with your congregants how a particular sin links with unbelief. If the sin is unrighteous anger, how does unbelief fuel that emotion? You want to repent of worrying? Increase your faith. You want to repent of anger? Increase your faith in what God has provided in Christ and His Spirit.

As you practice this approach each Sunday, you will help everyone attack the hidden sin behind the visible sin. Instead of only providing advice to keep anger in check (and that’s probably all our “five ways to curb anger” are), you will also get to the heart of one’s relationship with Christ.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation in the Church and in the world.

Randal

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How To Balance Saint-Sanctifying, Seeker-Sensitive Preaching (Part 8)

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Work-Life-Balance

In this series, I’m presenting my findings from studying the preaching of Jonathan Edwards, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Timothy Keller. I selected those three because of their effectiveness in speaking to both saints and sinners with the same sermon. The trio seems to have had success through the grace of God in accomplishing what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 (the unmasking of the man). I gravitated towards this trio of preachers because their sermons, though seeker-sensitive, were and, in Keller’s case, are heavy on theological insights.

So far we’ve looked at the following aspects of their method:

  1. Categorizing your listeners according to their spiritual condition
  2. Searching the hearts with probing questions
  3. Motivating listeners through both love for God and fear of God
  4. Attack the sin behind the sins
  5. Speak the thoughts of sinners (both the justified and unjustified)
  6. Identify our idols

Next: Show how the Gospel works to recreate the human heart.

One reason why I do not believe the typical seeker-sensitive sermon, “Five ways to (fill in the blank),” (please forgive the stereotype) is the best way to read the Bible is because the application is disconnected from the Gospel. In other words, the sermon gives me five ways to manage my anger, but it is not connected at all to my Christianity. That can lead to the moralistic sermon you’re well aware of.

A friend of mine recently argued against always mentioning the cross. He gave two reasons: (1) The biblical writers didn’t do this. However, a careful read of both Testaments shows God giving the grace-based indicative before the grace-based imperative. You’re probably familiar with Paul’s structure of beginning his letters with the indicative (our position in Christ) and then moving to the imperative (our practice as Christians).

(2) Can’t we assume that faith is intact and that the desire and ability to do God’s will will be there? My answer is “no.” My own experience talking to myself and listening to hundreds of others  over the years tells me that we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves every day (cf. the writings of Jerry Bridges). My reading of Scripture understands the Bible’s purpose to urge Believers to believe in the promise of God to save through Christ in the power of the Spirit.

I find it extremely helpful to follow the example of our three model pastor/theologians and show how the Gospel transforms the human heart. So, for instance, how does the Gospel create humility? Lord willing, this Sunday I’m preaching on Galatians 5:24-26 which includes avoiding becoming conceited. How does the Gospel create humility? It’s a great way to explain how Christianity is different from self-help or other religious options; it’s a great way to accomplish faith-driven application. Check your Sunday sermon’s application and see if you can explain how faith in Christ’s sacrifice creates the particular response.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation…

Randal

 

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How to Balance Saint-Sanctifying with Being Seeker-Sensitive (part 3)

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This post is part of a brief series on how to create sermons that sanctify the saints and justify the sinners at the same time. I’m building off the foundation of Paul’s analysis of the effectiveness of prophesy recorded in 1 Corinthians 14:24-25. The prophetic Word unmasked the man. An insider-directed message reached an outsider. Through my observations of the preaching of Jonathan Edwards (ancient), D. M. Lloyd-Jones (recent history), and Timothy Keller (current), I’ve started a list of ways these effective preachers reach both Christians and non-Christians with the same message. Here’s how they unmasked the man:

1. They categorized their listeners according to their spiritual condition (see previous posts)

2. Search the heart through questions.

In his book, The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards, Carrick cites Kimnach’s observation that Edwards was “perceived by the people of Northampton to be ‘a searcher'” (p. 304). All three preacher’s I read used searching questions to force their listeners to evaluate their spiritual condition. In one of Lloyd-Jones’ sermons on Genesis 3:8-9, I counted 46 of these kinds of questions! That’s 46 searching questions in the span of less than 10 pages. Through these questions, the conscience is pricked. Or, at least that’s the goal.

Here’s one example from Edwards: “Examine yourself as to this matter, and ask what has been the nature of your anger….Has it not been of the nature of ill-will….Has not your anger been…” (Carrick, p. 308). It’s almost as if you are acting on God’s behalf in interrogating someone on His witness stand.

This is different from asking rhetorical questions, questions that don’t really ask for an answer. These questions are effective because the listener’s spiritual condition is being exposed. See if you have opportunity in your sermon this coming Sunday to probe the hearts of your listeners and force them to come face to face with their sin and need of Christ’s righteousness (both saints and sinners).

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation.

Your brother in Christ,

Randal

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Monitoring Our Level Of Obedience

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There are times preaching through the Gospel of Luke (and many other places throughout the Scriptures, for that matter) when we are forced to monitor our spiritual progress. For instance, in Luke 11:28 Jesus says, “Blessed…are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” The rest of the paragraph describes in general terms, through the imagery of light and darkness, what it’s like when we allow Jesus’ teaching to enlighten every area of our sin-infected hearts.

I found it helpful to create a slide that lists some prominent sins. I wanted us to ask if we commit these sins just as much as the non-Christian. You don’t have to use a slide. You could use a handout or simply read the list to your hearers. The key is to somehow help the faith-family monitor their level of obedience. Are we hearing the word of God and keeping it? How do we know?

Skitch

 

Take the same list and transform it into LifePlus character traits. It’s easy now to ask which list, or, more likely, which one(s) on the two lists best describe us.

The Bible forces us to evaluate our lifestyle to help us be sure our faith in Christ is living. This approach is not the only way, but I’ve found I can get a lot of mileage out of these contrasting lists.

If you desire to stay away from moralistic preaching, simply remind everyone that Jesus died in literal darkness (Luke 23:44ff.) so we could be “full of light” (Luke 11:34). The second slide describes the genuine Believer. It’s the difference between a morally restrained heart and a supernaturally changed heart.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation in the Church and in the world.