The Supremacy of God In Preaching (1990, 2004) by John Piper, Book Review

The Supremacy of God In Preaching (1990, 2004) by John Piper

 

“There are always two parts to true worship,” writes John Piper, one of the role models who taught me to delight in God, to love the Scriptures, and to proclaim the truth with passion, “There is seeing God, and there is savoring God. You can’t separate these. You must see him to savor him. And if you don’t savor him when you see him, you insult him. In true worship, there is always understanding with the mind, and there is always feeling in the heart. Understanding must always be the foundation of feeling, or all we have is baseless emotionalism. But the understanding of God that doesn’t give rise to feeling for God becomes mere intellectualism and deadness. This is why the Bible continually calls us to think and consider and meditate, on the other hand, and to rejoice and fear and mourn and delight and hope and be glad, on the other hand. Both are essential for worship.” This is one of the most critical passages in the book. If you get this - especially the preachers - you will see why the work of preaching is not just informing but also transforming the mind and the heart of the (listening) hearers to look Godward. Piper continues by saying that the reason that preaching is so essential is that “it is uniquely suited to waken seeing God and savoring God… with the exposition of the Word of God and exultation in the God of the Word.”

Few people like John Piper understand the real goal, purpose, and high calling of preaching today. Perhaps the other preacher is the late Martyn Lloyd-Jones (I’m currently reading Preaching & Preachers by Dr Lloyd), who said: “To me, the work of preaching is the highest and greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.” It is always dangerous, in my opinion, to compare previous faithful preachers with contemporary preachers because times have changed. But if the truth is unchanged, then the means to declare the truth is unchanged too, namely, through preaching. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). But many of the so-called preachings nowadays is nothing more than just a motivational talk or an inspirational sharing or a psychological counselling session. Sprinkling Bible verses here and there, exciting the audiences with music and dramatic actions, delivering TED talks-style man-centred teachings, which people call preaching today. Far from the truth! As much as the judgment of God goes to the modern-day false preachers, the people also play the role and are held responsible for lifting them to celebrity status (read 2 Timothy 4:3). Preachers must teach the truth, and the people must hunger for the truth. How do you know if the preacher is teaching the truth? He will point you to SEE God. How do you know if you are hunger for the truth? You will be longing to SAVOR God.

Read what Pastor John said about the supremacy of God in preaching: “The dominant note of preaching be the freedom of God’s sovereign grace, that the unifying theme be the zeal that God has for his own glory, that the grand object of preaching be the infinite and inexhaustible being of God, and that the pervasive atmosphere of preaching be the holiness of God.” It is God from beginning to end. God reign! There are many gems in this book, and I highly recommend it to every pastor, teacher, preacher, and growing Christian. Although I’m not particularly called to be a preacher but a staff worker, I find this book helps me to remind myself that the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. [Note: The Westminster Shorter Catechism summarizes the chief end of man by using the word “and” to connect the two statements, but John Piper has suggested that the word “by” would be more consistent]. I have read this book for the third time. The first time I was in the FES Penang office during my visit many years ago, the second time I moved back to FES Sarawak, and again this year. Read it!

#ServeToLead #GrowingLeaders #LeadersAreReaders #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain #JohnPiper #TheSupremacyOfGodInPreaching

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A Word to Fellow Pastors and Other Christian Leaders (1875) by Horatius Bonar, Book Review

 

A Word to Fellow Pastors and Other Christian Leaders:

Things Every Minister of the Gospel Must Consider (1875, 2019)

by Horatius Bonar

Every Sunday I will have my Social Media Sabbath and one of the things I love to do is house cleaning. As Jordan Peterson said forcefully, “If you can't even clean up your own room, who the hell are you to advise the world?” As I’m battling with dirt and spider webs, I listened to this audiobook. I’ve read this book many years ago and I’m glad to discover it again in audio format. Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) is a missionary, a preacher, and best-known as a hymn writer. He wrote this book out of his concern for the Christian leaders to be faithful to the gospel of Christ, to win souls for Christ, and to edify the body of Christ. “This is a book for winners of souls, not for loiterers on the highway or for slothful servants of our Master,” reminds Samuel M. Zwemer on the preface, “It is a heart-searching book but also one that gives new courage to continue the daily task.”

I love to learn, read, and listen to Christian classic books. They are so much depth, devotion, and meatiness. Mr. Bonar’s book is included. It is very convincing and challenging. For my 21st century ears, the standard for a leader or minister of the gospel as outline here is very high (if I pause every time a sentence hit me, I would never finish this book. Repentance, in the end, is necessary!) and it should be so. As of this writing, the Hillsong Church is in turmoil due to many controversies, scandals, and misconducts among the leaders. I’m glad that the truth is exposed and yet, I’m sad that it brings shame to the church. I’m guilty of my own shortcoming but the Scripture is clear that we have to hold ourselves to a higher Biblical standard. Paul advises Timothy and every Christian leader: “Keep a close watch on yourself and the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16). James gave this solemn warning, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). The high standard is uncomfortable nowadays, but in the digital era, it is urgent and all-time Biblical.

’Tis not for us to trifle! Life is brief,
And sin is here.
Our age is but the falling of a leaf,
A dropping tear.
We have no time to sport away the hours,
All must be earnest in a world like ours.
Not many lives, but only one have we —
One; only one; —
How sacred should that one life ever be —
That narrow span!
Day after day, filled up with blessed toil;
Hour after hour, still bringing in the new spoil.
(Poet by Horatius Bonar)

This book contains five (5) powerful chapters: Ch. 1: The Importance of Being Hot for Christ; Ch. 2: The Importance of Being Right with God Ourselves; Ch. 3: The Danger of Unfruitful Ministry; Ch. 4: The Importance of Eliminating Our Faults; and Ch. 5: The Need of Revival in Ministry. If I were a senior pastor in the local church or team leader in a Christian organization, I would make this book required reading for every minister before entering the high standard calling of ministry! (Be glad, I’m not )

#ServeToLead #GrowingLeaders #LeadersAreReaders #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain

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Romans 1:17 The Righteous Shall Live by Faith (#LetterToTheRomans)

"The righteous shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17). When Martin Luther, the Reformer, read this verse before his conversion, he writes: "I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God... I was angry with God." But after the Holy Spirit revealed to him its true meaning, he then said: "Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates!" What happened? #ServeToLead #PreachTheWord #TheRighteousnessOfGod

To watch previous short studies of #LetterToTheRomans CLICK HERE  http://bit.ly/LegasiRomans 

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What Is Reformed Theology? Understanding The Basics (2016 Edition) by R.C. Sproul, Book Review

 

What Is Reformed Theology? Understanding The Basics (2016 Edition)
by R.C. Sproul

One day a group of Muslim students approached me with interest. I was obviously (and intentionally wanted to be seen) reading my Bible at the canteen while waiting for Christian Fellowship to start. The spokesperson said to me that he doesn’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God. After I asked him why and patiently listening to his explanations, I replied, “In that case, I also don’t believe in this ‘Jesus.’ Let me tell you the real Jesus of Alkitab...” So I opened the Bible and planted the seed of the Gospel in their hearts [The rest of the story? Censored. This is Malaysia, remember?]. In the same way, when I heard some people said, “I think the Reformed Theology is wrong,” “This theology is divisive,” “The Reformed people don’t believe in the Holy Spirit...”, etc. and then asked them to explain it, I noticed that they have many misconceptions regarding the basics. I think many things in the world are unworthy to dig deeper or invest our time and energy, but I beseech you to consider learning more about Reformed Theology. At least the basics. And at least if you reject it or speak against it, you’re not doing it out of ignorance. In this book, the late Dr. R.C. Sproul (1939-2017) as if replying to the disagreements, “Let me tell you what Reformed Theology is...” So he opened the Scripture, The Westminster Confession of Faith, and the writings of the Reformers and planted the seed of the grace of God in our hearts.

One of the terms that many Christians are allergic to is THEOLOGY. They look the other way whenever they come across books or events with “theology” as its title. Let me deal with this first before I go through the book review. Theology simply means the study of God (Greek, theo means ‘god,’ and the suffix -logy means ‘the study of’). Informally, when we talking about God, discussing about God, having ideas about God, we engage in theology. Of course, some people are formally and academically called Theologians. But basically, we are all theologians either consciously or unconsciously, good ones or bad ones. I say, be a good one! Don’t fear the term anymore; embrace it. Now, let’s go to what is REFORMED THEOLOGY? R.C. Sproul wittily said, “Reformed Theology is a Theology.” By this, he means it is driven first and foremost by its understanding of the character of God, not just the study of religion. “When we engage in the quest to understand God, it is theology,” he continues, “When our quest is limited to understanding how people react to theology, it is religion.” The centrality and the supremacy of the triune God of the Scripture is the hinge of the Reformed theology. “For this reason, it is often called ‘God-centered’ theology,” said Joel R. Beeke, co-author of Reformed Systematic Theology. Although it is not utterly unique from the other branch of theological systems such as it is systematic (attempts to discern the coherent and unified teachings of the Scripture), catholic (refers to ‘universal’ truths of the Christian faith), and evangelical (part of the Protestant reformation) but has its own distinctiveness. In the two parts of this book, R.C. Sproul slowly made the distinctions:

Part 1: Foundations of the Reformed Theology

a) Centred on God
b) Based on God’s Word alone
c) Committed to Faith Alone
d) Devoted to Jesus Christ (The Prophet, Priest, and King)
e) Structured by Three Covenants

Part 2: Five Points of Reformed Theology

a) Humanity’s Radical Corruption
b) God’s Sovereign Choice
c) Christ’s Purposeful Atonement
d) The Spirit’s Effective Call
e) God’s Preservation of the Saints

When people think of Reformed Theology, the Five Points with the familiar acrostic TULIP always come to mind: T stands for Total Depravity, U stands for Unconditional Election, L stands for Limited Atonement, I stands for Irresistible Grace, and P stands for Perseverance of the Saints. But if you noticed the lists in Part 2, Sproul suggests another way of saying the same points with different wordings to avoid misleading. Of course, the acrostic TULIP is easy to remember. Still, it seems very forceful to insert the meanings that can lead to misunderstanding (like when Reformed is equating to Calvinism. It is a misleading term, in my opinion, because although John Calvin was a principal figure in the development of this theology, he was not the sole originator and contributor). So I really appreciate what Sproul did here. After reading this book, three thoughts came to mind: 1) I praise God for His providence. My group weekly Bible Study on the Book of Isaiah and the series of studies on the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, and the Epistle to the Romans that I create for LEGASI.tv have helped me tremendously understand the big picture of the Word of God. So when I read this book, I can connect to a large extend to what Sproul is writing here; 2) I found that there are thoughts that came to my mind when I read the Word of God but couldn’t put it into words are explained effortlessly by Sproul throughout the book. Just wow! and 3) I’m still reluctant to either calling myself a Reformed or not. There are more questions to discover and some interpretations that I’m still skeptical about. There are strengths and weaknesses in every form of a theological system. And, there is no Biblical mandate or obligation to make the decision (although it is helpful to know where one stands theologically). For sure, I’m more REFORMING than I was before reading this book. If it’s good, then Soli Deo Gloria!

Here are some helpful YouTube videos to help me comprehends this book further:

1) Teaching Series on What Is Reformed Theology? by R.C. Sproul at Ligonier Ministries [12 parts], CLICK HERE 

2) Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism [4 hours 18 minutes documentary], CLICK HERE

3) Why I Think Calvinism Is Unbiblical by Mike Winger, CLICK HERE  (Check out Dr. Leighton Flowers’s YouTube Channel Soteriology 101 too for more videos challenging Calvinism teachings. I encourage you to read and watch the other videos and debates by those who have opposing beliefs than you. This is a constructive way to learn and test your beliefs.)

 
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Summary of Christian Doctrine (1938) by Louis Berkhof, Book Review

 
Summary of Christian Doctrine (1938) by Louis Berkhof

This book is a summary of the Manual of Christian Doctrine (1939, was known as Manual of Reformed Doctrine), and that itself is a condensed version of his huge classic Systematic Theology (1932). What I like about Berkhof, late professor of Dogmatic Theology in Calvin Seminary, is that he teaches in a very clear (except for some parts) and understandable even for people who are brand new to the Christian faith, the beginners. For an average person like me, when I first noticed that this book was written in 1938, I thought it's going to be using outdated language and boring. But I was wrong. I mean, he did use archaic KJV or Authorized Version as the main Biblical text, and this is understandable since the more modern and reliable versions were unavailable yet during his lifetime, but the manuscript is in the simplified language (In the preface, Berkhof did say that he made some changes and omitted “technical terms and unfamiliar words”). Perhaps 5 years ago or so, a book like this will bore me to death. As we are getting more mature in the faith, our taste in the types of books we read evolves, and our appetite for knowledge increases. At least, ideally, that should happen to anyone who professes to be a Christian a.k.a. a Christ-follower a.k.a. a disciple which partly means - a learner.

 

There is another thing that I like – and at the same time not so excited – about this book and his Systematic Theology in general, namely, since Berkhof is through and through Reformed or to be exact, Calvinist, his writings is obviously biased toward that theological views and interpretations. I say I like NOT totally in agreement. When I read a book, it is helpful – and safe! – if I know the author’s theological stands and/or ideological background instead of being very vague and taking a long time to figure out (this is a case for me with N.T. Wright). I know Berkhof is a Reformed and so I should read this book as such. Aware of his biases and knowing my own biases is one of the keys to learning. But what I’m not so excited about? Well, another key to learning is knowing other alternative perspectives before I make my conclusion. And this is where you mustn’t hold on to one or two favorite authors to inform you about Christian theology. The worst is when you idolize them. You cannot learn everything from only a few people (your favorite pastors or theologians) but you must learn as many views as possible. “Bible only,” sounds pious… and ignorant. Learn from great men and women of God before us! For me, Louis Berkhof is on my list and I recommend him to you too.

 

This book is divided into seven (7) parts: 1) Introduction: Religion, Revelation & Scripture; 2) The Doctrine of God and Creation; 3) The Doctrine of Man in Relation to God; 4) The Doctrine of the Person and Work of Christ; 5) The Doctrine of the Application of the Work of Redemption; 6) The Doctrine of the Church and the Means of Grace; and 7) The Doctrine of the Last Things. In closing, if the words ‘theology’ or ‘doctrine’ overwhelm you, let me reminds you what Paul wrote to Timothy which MUST be applied to all of us, Christ-followers, especially teachers of the Word: “Take heed [or “Keep a close watch”] to yourself and to the DOCTRINE. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (2 Timothy 4:16, NKJV, bracket and capitalize mine) #ServeToLead #PreachTheWord #LeadersAreReaders #GrowingLeaders #LouisBerkhof #ChristianDoctrine #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain

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John Wycliffe on The Name of Jesus

John Wycliffe, 1330 - 1384

After church service yesterday, I decided to go to the church library and borrowed some books. Three books; John Wycliffe: Herald of the Reformation, William Tyndale: Bible Translator and Martyr, and Martin Luther: the Great Reformer. Before this, I have read Jonathan Edwards: the Great Awakener and Charles Spurgeon: the Great Orator (my favorite) – and more to come. This exciting biographical Heroes of Faith series by Barbour Publishing, Inc. explore the lives of famous Christian men and women throughout the ages. I like reading these 208 pages each of inspiring biography because they remind me to walk in the faith, to treasure Christ and His Word, and to make a difference in people’s lives.

I picked up John Wycliffe biography first and read through it. I want to share a sample of his sermon on ‘The Name of Jesus.’ Read and be blessed:

“Whoever desires to love God, if you will neither be deceived nor deceive, if you will be saved and not fail, if you will stand and not fall, study to have this name Jesus constantly in mind. If you do this, the enemy shall fall and you shall stand, and the enemy shall be enfeebled and you shall be strengthened. Therefore, seek this name, Jesus, hold it and forget it not. Nothing so quenches flames, restrains evil thoughts, cuts away venomous affections, or alienates from us vain occupations.

This name, Jesus, truly held in mind, roots up vices, plants virtues, brings charity or love to men, gives men a taste of heavenly things, removes discord, produces peace, gives everlasting rest, and does away with fleshly desires. All earthly desires, all earthly things, it turns into heaviness. It fills those that love it with spiritual joy. The righteous man deserves to be blessed, for he hath truly loved this name, Jesus. He is called righteous, because he seeks earnestly to love Jesus. What can go wrong for him who unceasingly yearns to love Jesus? He loves and he desires to love, for thus we know the love of God to stand; for the more we love, the more we yearn to love.

It is said, ‘They that eat me shall not hunger, and they that drink me, shall not thirst.’ Therefore the love of Jesus by itself is delectable and desirable. Therefore no joy shall be lacking for those that seek earnestly to love Him whom angels desire to behold. Angels see Him always, and ever desire to see Him; for they are filled so full that their filling does not take away their desire, and they desire so much that their desire does not take away their fullness. This is full joy; this is glorious joy.

Therefore many men wish to joy with Christ, but as they love not His name, Jesus, they shall have sorrow without end, whatever they do. And if they give all things that they have to poor men, unless they love this name, Jesus, they shall labor in vain. For only such shall be gladdened in Jesus who have loved Him in this present life. Those that defame Him with vices and foul thoughts, and turn not again, there is no doubt but they are put out from the glory of God. Therefore a man shall not see the glory of God that has not joyfully loved this name Jesus.

In truth, an evil man does not find Jesus for he sees Him not where he is. He tries to seek Jesus in the joys of this world, where He shall never be found. Why therefore do you say, ‘We shall be saved in Jesus,’ while you cease not to hate Him, without whom you cannot have health?

I am not surprised that a man, being tempted, falls, if he does not have the name of Jesus lasting in his mind. Truly this name cleanses the conscience, makes the heart clear and clean, and drives away fear. It gets man warmth of love and lifts up the mind to heavenly melody.

O what a good name! O what a sweet name! O glorious name! O healthful name! O name to be desired! Wicked spirits will not abide with you when they behold Jesus, either in mind or hear you proclaim His name out loud. I sought to love Jesus, and ever the more I grew complete in Him love, so much the sweeter His name became to me. Therefore, blessed be the name of Jesus forever and ever. Amen.” (Refer to page 171 – 172).

Because of this name, Jesus, John Wycliffe burned with a desire to make God’s Word accessible to every individual. He was the first man who makes God’s Word available in English language. And for the rest of his remarkable story, get a book and read his biography… Enjoy reading! God bless you.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.