Aaron Sauer

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.

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

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Audio excerpt taken from Bible Questions and Answers, Part 44: Grace To You

Click here to download:

Q&A - What Is Your Position On Dispensationalism.mp3 (4693 KB)

Click here to download:

MacArthur Q&A - What Is Your Position On Dispensationalism.pdf (65 KB)

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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 John MacArthur's The Gospel According to Jesus

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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 John MacArthur's The Truth War

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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

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Thankfully MacArthur did not pursue his football career.

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

[HT: Phil Johnson]

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Truth Endures is a commemorative book that celebrates John MacArthur’s fortieth anniversary as the Pastor-Teacher of Grace Community Church. It includes twelve of MacArthur’s landmark sermons spanning from 1969-2009, a testimony to how biblical expository preaching of the living Word of God has the timeless power to transform lives.

Phil Johnson writes,

“…this is merely a sampling of John MacArthur’s best-known and most important messages … This book was assembled entirely without John MacArthur’s knowledge, as a surprise to him, to honor him on his golden anniversary in ministry and his fortieth year as pastor of Grace Community Church.”

Also included is a 60-page essay by renowned biographer, Iain H. Murray, which serves as an introduction to the sermons. Murray’s work is not only fascinating in its detail, but it is also insightful in how it places the life and ministry of John MacArthur into historical context.

Twelve landmark sermons by John MacArthur: Click on each link below to read the transcript and/or download the MP3:

• How to Play Church (February 9, 1969)
• The Simple Gospel (December 26, 1976)
• Which Way to Heaven? (May 18, 1980)
• A Jet Tour Through Revelation (December 5, 1982)
• How to Obtain Eternal Life (May 29, 1983)
• The Purpose of Trials (June 8, 1986)
• Making the Hard Decisions Easy (July 20, 1986)
• Jesus’ Death Shows Us How to Live: A Look at the Seven Sayings on the Cross (March 26, 1989)
• 15 Words of Hope (April 23, 1995)
• A Biblical Perspective on Death, Terrorism, and the Middle East (September 16, 2001)
• The Starting Principle of Discipleship (November 3, 2002)
• The Childlikeness of Believers: Confronting Sin (January 6, 2008)

>>>Video: Retrospective on 40 Years – John MacArthur and Rick Holland<<<

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In a series of blog posts entitled The Rape of Solomon's Song, John MacArthur addresses Mark Driscoll's handling mishandling of Song of Solomon. MacArthur begins by saying:

"Apparently the shortest route to relevance in church ministry right now is for the pastor to talk about sex in garishly explicit terms during the Sunday morning service. If he can shock parishioners with crude words and sophomoric humor, so much the better. The defenders of this trend solemnly inform us that without such a strategy it is well-nigh impossible to connect with today's "culture." (In contemporary evangelicalism that term has become a convenient label for just about everything that is uncultured and uncouth.)"

MacArthur goes on to state that Driscoll's approach to the Song of Solomon "is not exegesis; it is exploitation."

"I keep encountering young pastors who are now following that same example, and I'm rather surprised that the trend has been so well received in the church with practically no significant critics raising any serious objections. So we're going to analyze and critique this approach to Song of Solomon over the next couple of days, including a look at some specific examples where the line of propriety has clearly been breached."

• The Rape of Solomon's Song (Part 1)
• The Rape of Solomon's Song (Part 2)
• The Rape of Solomon's Song (Part 3)
• The Rape of Solomon's Song (Part 4 - Conclusion)

Here are a couple of other posts with helpful thoughts on this issue:

• Irish Calvinist
  Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, Mark Driscoll and a Frat Party
• Tim Challies
  Missing the Forest for all the Trees
• Expository Thoughts
  A Word about Mark Driscoll

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