Iain Murray on D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Preaching

"Preaching is a gift from heaven. Revelation is necessary to understand the vital importance of preaching, and why its absence is a disaster worse than a lack of bread and water.* The advance of the church is ever preceded by a recovery of preaching, and in that recovery the memory of those who have spoken with 'the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven' (1 Peter 1:12) has often played an important part. Eminent examples give light to later centuries."

-- Spoken of D. Martin Lloyd-Jones by Iain H. Murray

in the preface to his book, Lloyd Jones: Messenger of Grace.

*"The time is surely coming," says the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the LORD." - Amos 8:11

Calamity will follow calamity; rumor will follow rumor. They will look in vain for a vision from the prophets. They will receive no teaching from the priests and no counsel from the leaders. - Ezekiel 7:26

The Text of The Chicago Statement On Biblical Inerrancy

From the Preface of

The Chicago Statement On Biblical Inerrancy

The authority of Scripture is a key issue for the Christian Church in this and every age. Those who profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are called to show the reality of their discipleship by humbly and faithfully obeying God's written Word. To Stray from Scripture in faith or conduct is disloyalty to our Master. Recognition of the total truth and trustworthiness of Holy Scripture is essential to a full grasp and adequate confession of its authority.

The following Statement affirms this inerrancy of Scripture afresh, making clear our understanding of it and warning against its denial. We are persuaded that to deny it is to set aside the witness of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit and to refuse that submission to the claims of God's own Word which marks true Christian faith. We see it as our timely duty to make this affirmation in the face of current lapses from the truth of inerrancy among our fellow Christians and misunderstanding of this doctrine in the world at large.

The Holy Word of God

The Holy Word of God was written by Joshua Drake in 2004. He writes: "I wrote this hymn while in Glasgow under the ministry of C. Peter White at Sandyford-Henderson Church of Scotland. Mr. White regularly de­fended the authority of scripture and I wrote it as an encouragement to him."

The Holy Word of God:
It is the Christian’s rule
To teach, correct, rebuke and train—
The Church’s priceless jewel.

Let others rule by whim
Their lives from day to day.
God’s children have his Holy Word,
Which gladly they obey.

God-breathed, yet penned by man,
Preserved by arms and art,
The Church has born it in her breast—
She dare not from it part!

Nor could she ever do,
Else truth she could not know,
But set adrift in lies and myth
On wayward paths to go.

Yet we’ve no cause to fear.
God’s promises are true.
The gates of hell will not prevail
O’er those His grace imbues.

So let God’s true Church sing:
Those who His word do love—
Whom, as is written, shall be saved
To join His courts above.

There is a God. You are not Him.

Think about it.

A Promising New Book Is Coming!

Following are Don Kistler's pre-publication comments on Sola Scriptura: The Protestant Position on the Bible. It is due out in November and promises to be a great resource to those of us who are Sola Scriptura in our orientation to God's Word. Watch for it in the bookstores or order it from https://store.ligonier.org/.

Sola Scriptura, the formal principle of the Protestant Reformation, is essential to genuine Christianity, for it declares that the Bible is the inspired word of God, the church's only rule of faith and practice. Yet this doctrine is under assault today as never before, both from outside and and inside the church. In manifold ways, both blatant and subtle, the idea is being put forth that the Bible is inadequate for the needs of modern man. Such suggestions represent an attack on the very foundations of the Christian faith.

In this book, several leading Reformed pastors and scholars, including Joel Beeke, Sinclair Ferguson, Robert Godfrey, Ray Lanning, John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, Derek W. H. Thomas, and James White, unpack the meaning of the doctrine of sola Scriptura("Scripture alone"). They also explain where the attacks on the Bible are coming from and show how those who accept the Bible as God's inspired Word should respond. Sola Scriptura: The Protestant Position on the Bible is a treasure trove of information and a comfort to those who grieve to see the twenty-first-century church wandering away from the safe harbor of the Bible.

A Gentle Question - Why?

I watched a major league pitcher serve up a ball to a sure-fire home run hitter—a hanging curve right up there in the strike zone—a hitter’s dream. As the pitcher watched his offering disappear into oblivion the camera caught the frustration on his face and his mouthing the one word, “Why?” over and over again. “Why? Why?" In other words, "Why did I throw that pitch?”

As discouraging as it was I’m sure he got over it. But it occurs to me that we all face serious Why questions. And these are Why questions not quickly gotten over; questions that can haunt us throughout life, at death, even into eternity. For Christians it might well be the unspeakably painful Why of a life wasted by disobedience. I’m thinking of the times God showed us His leading and we said, “No.” We had a better idea.

God used a tract to move missionary James Fraser to a life of obedience in Burma. It asked: "If our Master returned today to find millions of people not evangelized, and looked—as of course He would look—to us for an explanation, I cannot imagine what explanation we should have to give. Of one thing I am certain, that most of the excuses we are accustomed to make with such good conscience now, we shall be wholly ashamed of then."

The last sentence haunts me. It means that there will be no defense. No justifying. No other word for our disobediences. No excuse will stand and we will be “wholly ashamed.”

That’s one very big, WHY.”

Does it haunt you? For many it means nothing. Maybe because they believe there can be no regrets once we die. However, I think that our good conscience excuses help explain why North America no longer leads in world missions. It is also why almost 7,000 unreached people groups number more than 50% of the world population.

Closer to home, excuses might account for neighbors, family members, and coworkers who are still unsaved. Or it might help to explain why agencies like TEAMS cannot find missionary home staff and why there is so little interest in career missionary opportunities—little interest but plenty of those good conscience excuses. And sadly, they are excuses that any thoughtful person should be wholly ashamed of now—not to mention then, when Jesus might finally ask us His own Why question.

When Isaiah (6:8) offered himself in response to God’s Who question—”Who will go?”—he never again had to worry about the Why question. Know that God is still asking that question and He will continue to do so until that Day—the Day He finally asks it one last time.

America's Ugly Exported "Gospel"

Watch an excerpt of John Piper protesting the prosperity gospel and the ugliness that follows when teaching goes beyond Scripture; but then, exulting in God, whose glory shines in suffering.

America's Ugly Exported "Gospel"