The challenge for Christ’s church is this: “Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).

It isn’t the cleverness of our methods, the techniques of our ministry, or the wit of our sermons that puts power in our testimony. It is obedience to a holy God and faithfulness to His righteous standard in our daily lives.

from Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World, John MacArthur

Some of the most powerful affirmations of Jesus’ deity are a chain of expressions in John’s gospel known as the “I am” statements. Each of these phrases employs the name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush—“I AM” (Ex. 3:14). Jesus applied that name to himself in a series of prominent declarations: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven” (6:51). “I am the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5). “I am the door of the sheep” (10:7). “I am the good shepherd” (10:11). “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25). “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (14:6). And this stunning, inescapable affirmation of deity: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (8:58).

Jesus’ stature as the great I AM of the Old Testament was essential to his role as Savior. Those who refused to acknowledge him for who he is could not be saved: “Unless you believe that I am, you shall die in your sins” (8:24). This set up an extremely difficult barrier for Pharisees who were predisposed to hate him anyway. They understood that he was claiming authority over their greatest patriarchs and prophets (John 4:12; 8:53). Indeed, he was claiming equality with God, and the ramifications of that they could not accept. Therefore, Jesus warned them, they would die in their sins.

On the night before his death, alone with his disciples after Judas had departed to do his evil, turncoat, treacherous deed, the Lord revealed another aspect of his deity to the remaining disciples. And once again he used the highest name of God, I AM:

John 15:1-8
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

from The Gospel According to Jesus, John MacArthur

Whole churches have deliberately immersed themselves in “the culture”—by which they actually mean “whatever the world loves at the moment.” Thus we now have a new breed of trendy churches whose preachers can rattle off references to every popular icon, every trifling meme, every tasteless fashion, and every vapid trend that captures the fickle fancy of the postmodern, secular mind. Worldly preachers seem to go out of their way to put their carnal expertise on display—even in their sermons. In the name of “connecting with the culture” they boast of having seen all the latest programs on MTV; memorized every episode of South Park; learned the lyrics to countless tracks of gangsta rap and heavy metal music; or watched who-knows-how-many R-rated movies. They seem to know every fad top to bottom, back to front, and inside out. They’ve adopted both the style and the language of the world—including lavish use of language that used to be deemed inappropriate in polite society, much less in the pulpit. The want to fit right in with the world, and they seem to be making themselves quite comfortable there.

Let’s face it. Scripture speaks quite plainly against such a mentality (James 4:4) ...

from The Truth War, John MacArthur

Just arrived in the mail today.

In his latest book, MacArthur insists that we can engage contemporary culture using the same techniques that Christ used to meet head-on the challenges of his day.

Available here

Thankfully MacArthur did not pursue his football career.

John MacArthur is 70 years old today and Spurgeon would have been 175.

[HT: Phil Johnson]