David Platt begins his message with this video clip. Give is a look.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axPqFuwoubg]
Below is a summary of the key points Platt made in his message this morning. When first personal pronouns are used, they are quotes of David speaking . . .
The last few years have been a crisis of belief in my own life, and it has revolved around the Bible. “Do I believe that it is true?” Not if I believe it is accurate or authentic, but if I believe it to be true. If it is, then the implications of our lives are staggering.
Over 4.5 billion who are without Christ are right now heading to an eternity in hell. That is a vast spiritual need. Add to that a vast physical need. 26,000 children will die today because of preventable disease. God has chosen to determine the measure and integrity of faith by our response to the poor. If this book is true, then we do not have time to play games with our lives. We do not have time to play games in the church. I want to call us this morning to forsake hopes, plans, dreams, possessions, and ideas of a nice, comfortable, safe middle-class American life. I want to call you to forsake it all in radical abandonment for Jesus Christ.
What does it look like when the church is a radical, gospel-centered community that is spending herself for the spread of the gospel in the world?
Christian community is the final apologetic for the gospel, says Francis Schaeffer. Two characteristics of the church from Acts 3:1-10. First, the early church was marked about the radical concern for the needs of the world around them. Those most effective in reaching the many are those most passionate about reaching the one. You want to see if Christ is true? Look at the people who follow him, how they love one another, how they serve the needy! This is the mark of the early church.
The second mark is a radical confidence in the name of the one who saved them. Who’s the hero in this story? Peter? John? The name of Jesus is the hero in this story. The beauty is their realization that they cannot meet the man’s physical need but the name of Jesus.
Do we realize who has saved us? Christ has authority over all things! And we as the church are the fullness of Christ, which means the authority of Christ has been entrusted to the church. We can have great confidence and can rest in the authority of Christ, having been united with Him who has freely given us all things. I encourage you to have confidence in the living and sufficient Word of God.
Faith by itself not accompanied by action is dead. If we are turning a deaf ear to the radical needs around us, we are not the people of God. But it is far easier to feed the poor than to share the gospel. The gospel brings these things in that Christ who was rich became poor so that we who are poor might become rich. Christ alone can produce both of these things.
Gospel-centered community creates a passion to meet the needs of the people around us and a passion to proclaim the gospel which alone can save.
Timmy:
Check out Thursday’s chapel message too. I hope you enjoyed your weekend at SEBTS and time spent with my good friends, the Finns!
Kevin
Timmy, please help me reconcile this. I have embarked on a journey to further identify where my beliefs lie and am leaning towards calvinsim, however I am having trouble with a couple of things. From a calvinist perspective, how does man’s responsibility in reaching and teaching, spreading the gospel reconcile with God’s determination of who is saved? If there are 4.5 billion without Christ and only those who the Father draws will be saved, then what is our responsibility in process and why.
Thanks,
deltabravo, I know you asked Timmy, but this is such a great question because it forces all of us to examine the purpose of the Gospel, and like you said, our role in it. Timmy will add and correct as needed. I just like to ponder this Q&A. We are created for God’s glory, according to His good pleasure (see Ephesians). Paul describes the good news (gospel) as the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16), and being believers of this gospel we cannot glorify God if we fail to proclaim (are ashamed of) His gospel. In Rom 3:23-24 we are reminded that because of sin we ALL fall short of God’s glory, yet by God’s grace, as a gift, we stand justified because of the work of Christ Jesus which paid the penalty due to God’s righteous wrath–>it is God who saves, not the preacher. The preacher (each of us) is a participant in glorifying God by preaching the gospel. And in Rom 10, we are told that God has chosen the the preaching of the word of Christ as the means of getting the gospel into people’s minds. If you examine the “logic”, the statements in Rom 10:13-17 are in reverse order, so we have word of Christ–>hearing–>faith.
If we stand back and say, “Oh, God will save whom He will, so I don’t need to share the gospel,” then we are effectively saying, “I don’t want to glorify God.” God has given us great opportunity and privilege and blessing to speak the gospel.
BTW, I really think we do a disservice to people when we quote only Rom. 3:23… leaving off v. 24 is like ignoring the resurrection after talking about the crucifixion. Which would you rather hear: (sin, short of God’s glory) OR (sin, short of God’s glory, justified, gift, grace, redemption, Christ).
Thanks Bill, for your response.
So what I’m starting to understand, and this isn’t any different from my previous beliefs, is that we are “Called” to spread the gospel. In my previous mindset, the sharing the gospel was the primary means of people coming to know salvation. While I’ve always believed that it is not my ability, this mindset clearly undermines the sovereignty of God. If I choose to be disobedient to the call and not share the gospel, not only do I fail to glorify God but my inaction could theoretically prevent some from being saved.
From a reformed point of view, the primary and only reason to share the gospel is to glorify God. God’s sovereignty is not undermined, others’ salvation is not dependent on my.
Right track here? I’m sure I’ll have more questions as I trek down this path. I appreciate the opportunity for spiritual growth and mentoring.
You’re on the right track. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the “only” reason to share is to glorify God. Hopefully, we will grow to look upon the lost as those who are missing a hope-filled life and are facing an eternity of wrath. But the prime motivation of evangelism is to glorify God; we, as compassionate believers, are rightly (secondarily) motivated by the wanting others to avoid God’s wrath and live in His glory.
I’m really glad you mentioned that concept of “prevent some from being saved.” That’s just plain wrong. How powerful is God if my disobedience in witnessing caused someone to go to hell? On the other hand, do I glorify God if I speak a sloppy or false gospel? So, yes, I want to be obedient for God’s glory, and I want to understand the gospel and speak it well for God’s glory, but I don’t dwell on my mistakes for it is the Holy Spirit that convicts of sin and brings regeneration, it is the Father that draws all whom He has given to the Son, and it is the Son who will never cast out anyone whom the Father has given (John 6). We still plead with people to receive the Gospel because the understand the consequences of sin, recognizing that they will remain blind (to the Gospel AND to the consequence of sin) until God works in their lives.
Correction of last sentence “We still plead ….because WE understand the consequences…”