2023 National Conference: Derek Thomas and Q&A Session

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back at ligonier's 2023 National Conference in Orlando I'm Nathan W Bingham and I'm glad that you're joining us live this afternoon throughout the conference we're thinking about standing firm in our Christian faith amid a world that seems to be rapidly changing all around us and this requires us to have a right perspective and our next session will show us how the promise of Heaven helps us live faithfully and focused while we're here on Earth our next speaker is Dr Derek Thomas with a message titled the end in sight so stay tuned Dr Thomas will be with us in just a moment well good afternoon and welcome and um I can see maybe 10 of you but but my assigned texts today is second Peter 3 8 through 13 but I'm gonna pick it up right at the opening verse of chapter 3 for some context so second Peter chapter 3 and verse 1. this is now the second letter that I'm writing to you beloved in both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the Holy Prophets and the Commandment of the Lord and savior through our apostles knowing this first of all that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing following their own sinful desires they will say where is the promise of his coming forever since the fathers fell asleep all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation for they deliberately overlook this fact that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through Water by the word of God and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished but by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly but do not overlook this one fact beloved that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness but his patience toward you not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance but the day of the Lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burnt up and dissolved and the Earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed since all these things are thus to be dissolved what sort of people ought you to be in lives of Holiness and godliness waiting for and Hasting the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn but according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new Earth in which righteousness dwells well so far God's holy and inerrant word in may he had his Blessing to the reading of it now this is my assigned text today which has been entitled the end is in sight and that pretty much sums up how Christians ought to live their lives not focusing on the things of this world but on the things that are to come on the end and in the language of Peter reflecting language from the prophet Isaiah the new heavens and the new Earth now Peter is writing we won't go into detail here but Peter is writing before ad68 we know that he was martyred in ad68 roughly at the same time as the Apostle Paul in the city of Rome and therefore this epistle probably comes a year or so before that in ad67 say we are a generation and then some after the death and resurrection of Jesus and only now our new testament Epistles being written inspired breathed out by God and profitable for Doctrine and reproof and correction and instruction in the way of righteousness that the man of God might be thoroughly furnished and to every good work so this period between the Ascension of Jesus and the appearing of the first New Testament letters and gospels roughly in the in the late 50s early 60s was a period of great strife and difficulty and Temptation for the church they they still had the Apostles of course and it was a period Rife with false Apostles false teachers and evidently Peter is writing to churches in Asia Minor principally and false teachers have come pouring scorn on Christian belief in a literal second coming of the Lord Jesus even Christians were confused by it because many of them I think initially believed that they would still be alive when Jesus came it was understandable that they would believe that Jesus had not been clear as to the time of his second coming and therefore early Christians hoped and longed that he would come quickly and come within the lifetime within a span of 25 or 30 years but he hasn't come and so there are those who are saying that the day of the Lord has not come and scoffers false teachers were Fanning the Flames of this problem and Peter would recall Jesus himself in the so-called Olivet discourse in Matthew 24 and 25 keep watch because you do not know when the day of the Lord will come but understand this if the owner of the house had known what time of night the thief was coming he'd have kept watch and wouldn't have had his house broken into so you also must be ready because the son of man is coming at an hour when you do not expect it he's talking to Christians and Christians perhaps who will grow weary of waiting for the second coming and gross slack and leave their doors open and windows open so the thieves can break in and steal but you must keep vigilant because you do not know the day or hour when I shall return both John and the Apostle Paul refer to this text in the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24. Peter and John and and Paul no doubt had on one occasion or another talked about it a coming day an apocalyptic day that'll change everything Associated as it is with the second coming of the Lord Jesus a day of judgment the ushering in of new heavens and new earth in which righteousness will dwell but there's a delay and that's the problem why the delay how long will this delay be as I said Peter was martyred in 1868 so there's been at least 35 years of delay that's a pretty long time and some were doubting now the literal interpretation of the second coming and the conflagration that would accompany it and some of them perhaps were now beginning to think that Jesus only meant this in some kind of quasi-spiritual sense Jesus is addressing that Spirit of unbelief and neglect and thoughtlessness where you leave the door open I lived I lived at a time in my early days when you could leave the front door open for a week and you'd still be safe and you could park your car in the local Village and never bothered to lock it and you'd still be safe we're not in that day now and so let's first of all and I'm going to have to ask you I know afternoon sessions are difficult it's what Spurgeon called when he preached a Sunday afternoon message for a season in his life and he called it roast beef and unbelief time when when some ambulance or sleep took over after that Chick-fil-A dinner that you had today so I'm I'm gonna beg you to I can't see you anyway but I can certainly see Neds that heads that are nodding down I may not be able to see closed eyes as much and we're going to go deep I'm sorry it it it's that kind of Passage because this passage raises some theological tensions that are peculiar to Ligonier I think Peter had ligonia in mind when he wrote this passage because there are issues here about the predestination of God and yet a desire in God that seems to be completely at odds with it and we need to interpret it carefully and so the first thing I want us to think about this afternoon is the timing of God the timing of God is never late didn't Gandalf say something like that God is never late now he appears late to us when you've been praying something for years and years and years maybe for the conversion of a prodigal son or daughter maybe for a cure for an illness and and months and years and decades go by and you and you think to yourself God is late something has held him up he is slow and what is the reason for this long gap of 35 years or so since the Ascension of Jesus and his non-return and it's even worse for us of course because 2000 years have passed and Peter says it is the patience of God the patience of God not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance now we'll we'll come to what all means in a second we asked country where is God it's at the heart of the Book of Job when job is dealing with his suffering his innocent suffering as he viewed it that he was the unjust victim of circumstances and where was God why wasn't God answering his prayers why was he silent why wasn't he doing something in our society if you listen to 10 minutes of Fox News it would drive you crazy and that's your limit for every day why isn't he doing something aren't you asking that as you read your your headlines from your from your news feeds one headline after another where is God why isn't he coming down why doesn't he Rend the heavens and come down we ask about that from time to time why do the wicked prosper it's a question the psalmist asks in Psalm 78 it was as perplexing to him as it is to us why do the wicked prosper all those people who live in California and Florida and the answer is of course that we can never know the mind of God you can never know the mind of God who are you to reply against God isn't that the question put to job who are you to reply against God is incomprehensible you cannot fathom Infinity you cannot father omniscience you cannot fathom omnipotence his ways are not always his thoughts are not our thoughts his timing is not ours he is never late he is always on time what we do know is this that he has a plan it is a plan that is certain it is a plan that cannot be broken isn't that the bubble in which we find tranquility and peace when there's a storm all around us and we're inside that bubble of the plan of God and this this calm and this peace and this harmony and there's hope and there's certainty but outside of it there is chaos and uncertainty part of that plan is to bring the present world order to an end and to renew his creation that's a part of his plan it's an eternal plan and God isn't forever trying to fix that plan there are theologies that so Elevate the absolute Liberty of the will of man that God is forever trying to fix the plan every every millisecond he's trying to put in course Corrections because the plan is is going off Target all the time there's a promise a promise that was put together in the councils of Eternity by the Triune God when the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit decreed to create and decreed to permit the fall and decree to send a mediator and decreed to elect and pass by the reprobate and that decree is inviolable it cannot be broken isn't that what we believe isn't that what brings us together here today the belief in the total sovereignty of God that nothing happens without him willing it to happen and without him willing it to happen before it happens and without him willing it to happen in the way that it happens this delay because it looks like that to us it looks as though there's a delay from our human perspective from our finite perspective and Peter says it is God's long-suffering that's totally amazing how can God be long-suffering how can he be patient how can he be delaying looking as though he's late and Paul says it's because he doesn't want anybody to perish he wants everyone to come to repentance how is that compatible with the plan hasn't God planned everything can the number of the elect be increased can the number of the non-elect be increased the answer is no hasn't God chosen from the very foundation of the world those who are the elect and who will inevitably inviolably inexorably be saved and others as he has passed by and consigned to Eternal petition is God's plan flexible you know there are flexible plans I'm not into Insurance much but and if there are insurance agents here I I do not need to talk to you but I'm told there are flexible plans that you can sell back the plan and get some money for it I'll talk to you if you're prepared to do that but in a way that is compatible in a way that is compatible with God's fixed plan he enters the world of space and time he enters into the world where you and I live of finite things and he practices to us as Calvin says he speaks to us in baby language I am long suffering he says and I don't wish for anyone to perish and I'm giving you time to repent and you say well I don't understand and I say to you take a number because that is precisely what scripture seems to be revealing it is telling us of God's inexorable inexorable plan the doctrine of predestination and yet in the world of space and time he calls and he Woos and he draws John Murray the late great John Murray former professor of systematic theology at Westminster Seminary in the 40s and 50s and early 60s he once wrote that there is a will to the realization of what he has not decreatively willed a pleasure towards which he has not been pleased to decree I hope you took that down it's an amazing statement coming from a calvinist there is a will to the realization of what he has not decreatively willed a pleasure towards which he has not been pleased to decree God reveals himself to us as one who genuinely desires the salvation of the Lost and he doesn't make a distinction here that he only desires the salvation of the elect that's not what Peter says what Peter says is that he doesn't desire the salvation of anyone whether they're elect or not there's a love in the heart of almighty God even for those who may never be saved a love that says to you and to me we must have a similar love because we don't know who the elect and none elect are so we must take the gospel not to the elect that's hyper galvanism that will get you locked in a prison that you can never get out but you must take the gospel to Every Creature to every tribe and every tongue and every nation he takes no Delight in the death of the ungodly he gives room to repent This Is Our God he calls upon Sinners to come to him and to hold his hand and he restrains his actions and he waits do you think the world today deserves to be judged that a great judgment would come down on Washington D.C or San Francisco or name your city yes they deserve to be judged living in complete violation of The Commandments of God putting him to an open shame on a daily basis would God be just to ignite the world in one huge conflagration yes but he is patient and he calls you one more time he says to the reprobit come come unto me all ye that are weary and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for my yoke is easy and my burden is light God's time is different he is in one sense outside of time and yet imminently he is in time and space so that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day sighting from Psalm 90 and verse 4. so in the first place we're looking together at what we called the timing of God and now I want us to look in the second place at the plan of God we've already mentioned it but we need to look at it a little more carefully the plan of God history is not cyclical as in say Hinduism but history has a goal history has an end point scientists talk about the second law of thermodynamics that the world is like an old-fashioned clock that you wind up and it's now ticking down and at some point it's going to stop when the sun's combustion will cease and it's unable to sustain life on Earth and everything will die and that's a world view without God God is in charge of History he's in charge of the past he's in charge of the present and he's in charge of the future we are living you and I in the last days that's what Peter said on the day of Pentecost that with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit as was promised the last days began the author of Hebrews in the first chapter speaks of living in the last days and there is a plan for the last days and Jesus only has one plan I will build my church and the Gates of Hell will not Prevail against it that's the plan he revealed to Peter at caesarea Philippi in Matthew chapter 16. and here he reveals the plan that according to his promise we look for what a new heavens and a new Earth now we talk about heaven and we sometimes confuse heaven with the new heavens and new earth Christians do it a lot I think what happens five seconds after you die I choose five seconds at random You Close Your Eyes in this world and you open them in heaven you are with the Lord to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord you are with the presence of Angels and Archangels and the church triumphant you will be greeted by those who have gone before you in faith and Union with the Lord Jesus it is an intermediate state of which the Bible doesn't say a great deal today Jesus said to the dying Thief you will be with me in Paradise using the same word that Paul uses in second Corinthians 12 of the third heaven that he was caught up into the third heaven what happens when you die as a believer well you'll still be conscious that's your soulish part you'll still know who you are you'll still have self-awareness you'll have self-awareness and awareness of your surroundings and if the parable of Jesus and the rich man and Lazarus is anything to go by you will be aware at least to some extent of what's going on down here but that's not what's in view here in second Peter 3. that's a precious thing that's a beautiful thing to be by the side of someone that you love or someone that you have pastored and hold their hands as they pass from this world to the next and know with an absolute certainty that they are with Jesus that's a wonderful thing to to know that's a wonderful hope and every Christian has that hope every Christian has that hope uncertainty but what Peter is talking about here is the day of the Lord he's talking about the end time he's talking about the second coming of the Lord Jesus and what will happen subsequent to the second coming of the Lord Jesus and I know I I know I know we don't all agree and there are there are different eschatological views in here I'm I'm I'm almost certain but I'm going to tell you the biblical one that at the second coming of the Lord Jesus the new heavens and new earth will be ushered in the world is longing for it groaning for it climate change goodness I can't even go there but it is even even if there's an a modicum of truth about it it is evidence that this world is groaning and travailing in birth waiting for the renewal of all things it's crying out to you that this is not your home and this cannot last forever Christians have always known that we look for a new heavens and a new Earth in which righteousness dwells waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of the Lord because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn but according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells he's quoting from Isaiah 65 and 66. now there was a debate in the in the 16th century between Calvinists and lutherans the lutherans thought that this Cosmos would be entirely destroyed and a new one created out of nothing but the calvinist said there is nothing sinful about creation in itself and so the Calvinists argued that this universe will be restored rather than totally remade it's an interesting debate but far more interesting is what will it look like you know I'm going there don't you will there be dogs there I'm not asking the question for a minute will there be dogs in heaven which is what people normally ask that's the intermediate state I'm asking will there be dogs in the new heavens and new earth and and don't be thinking sentimentally or emotionally and I know that's hard for you because you love your dogs as I do but think theologically what kind of new heavens and new earth will God restore everything that's in this world is the answer everything that God created in Genesis 1 that he said was good and good and good and good and good and good and very good I fully expect to see my beautiful dogs in the new heavens and new earth and I think I can argue it from a calvinistic restorative view of the new heavens and new earth it'll be a place of immeasurable Beauty there'll be no pain or sorrow or fears or death Satan will be cast into the bottomless pit and he will never trouble you again [Applause] what should we make of all of this this timing of God and this plan of God and Peter says in verses 13 and 14. he says you should look for it the good what he goes on to say therefore beloved since you are waiting for these be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace you should be looking for it are you looking for it are you waiting for it can you see it in your mind's eye when you find yourself in trouble when you find yourself facing the darkness facing disease does your mind drift to the new heavens and new earth and the beauty that awaits you the glory that awaits you looking in anticipation and looking in faith wouldn't it be wonderful if Jesus came back in our lifetime I often think about it we'd better hurry because I'm 70. that you wouldn't have to experience the wrenching a part of body and soul and death I don't believe that Jesus can come back in the next five seconds and again you may disagree with me I think there's unfulfilled prophecy the gospel must first be preached in all the world and there are depending on which missiologist you talk to there are somewhere between 8 000 and 17 000 people groups that have never heard the gospel but all of that could be done within our lifetime if we give effort to it are you looking for it are you preparing for it and how do you prepare in Holiness and godliness Peter says by living your lives out and out as Christians live in preparation for the world to come this world is not my home yes I can improve it I can exercise dominion over it I can be a good citizen and Christians should be the very best of citizens astatalian wrote to an Empire that was trying to kill Christians in the second century and he says you're shooting yourself in the foot because the best citizens you have in the Empire are Christians prepare for it and then he says in verse 12 waiting and hastening the coming of the day of the Lord and there it is again that tension that hasn't God got a plan is isn't that planned involved invaluable can that plan be broken no it cannot be broken but from our perspective we can hasten how can you hasten the coming of the Lord he'll come when all his elector gathered in so you must preach and evangelize and never stop and give glory to God and pray with earnestness when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more and the morning breaks Eternal bright and fair when the saved of Earth Shall Gather over on the other Shore and the role is Called Up Yonder I'll be there that's a wonderful Assurance isn't it Sinclair Ferguson and I work together for two years in 2011 to 2013 I was as Lackey it was the greatest two years of ministry in my life and I heard him say on numerous occasions at the end of a service end of a sermon what a wonderful thing it is to be a Christian what a wonderful thing it is to be a Christian I'm not sure that we think like that every day sometimes we think being a Christian is burdened some a trial we think of the pain we think of the sorrow all that self-denial all that cross bearing all that mortification but it's all worth it in the end it is worth it no matter what you deny yourself there's a new heavens and a new Earth coming and I hath Not Seen Nor Ear heard neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those that love him the best is yet to come or I'm not sure who said this You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet let's pray together father we thank you thank you for this passage full of wonderful conundrums and yet so full of Hope so full of promise and fill us with it we pray until we burst for Jesus sake amen that was Dr Derek Thomas with a message titled the end in sight we're grateful for his teaching on the Glorious hope that awaits every believer in Christ as Christians we have the best message of good news that this world will ever know and we need to know the gospel clearly because there are many voices out there proclaiming empty messages and distortions of the truth sometimes these false teachings can even make their way into the church and that's what the book of Galatians is all about Dr R.C sprawl preached through the entire book of Galatians during his pastoral Ministry at Saint Andrews chapel and we'd like to offer you the commentary drawn from his sermons for your donation of any amount to ligandy Ministries will send you the hardcover edition of Galatians and expositional commentary to request this book by R.C Sproul simply visit ligonier.org Galatians and we're going to take a break before our next session at 4 pm eastern time but don't go far because next up is our first q a session of the conference I'm Nathan W Bingham and I'll see you at 4 pm you read about Christ's encounter with all of these people that are unclean unworthy they've been abandoned they're hopeless and Christ does not recoil at them he actually reaches out and Embraces them a lot of times people are one step away from where we are and they don't realize that one bad mistake you know could land you where we are so we're often looked at you know as less than as if maybe the gospel isn't for us too [Music] I went to prison first time when I was 19 years old me and my brother stole a car and uh we got charged with it we went to prison when I was 40 years old 2014 I ended up catching a murder case me and another guy got into an altercation and I ended up shooting and killing him I shot my parents there's no way to sugarcoat it I was I was a murderer I've been in prison now for about 25 years first half of that was it was violent I was really angry really mad really upset and just going down into a spiral of just Brokenness and Brokenness and Brokenness until I hit the uh the bottom I guess the officers told me I was never going to be able to get out I was going to spend the rest of my life in that little cell the truths of the Gospel is what's going to transform and change hearts and once that light comes on and they are transformed by the renewing of their minds they really really just begin to to embrace it these are the people that you don't have to convince them they're Sinners they know you don't have to convince them they're guilty they know I have to convince them there is hope in Christ there's the offer of forgiveness there really is someone who came to seek and save the loss who came to save Sinners and guess what he's right here we've got to take the gospel to them of course God is the one that's changing God is the one that is transforming their lives and with these men when they acknowledge this is where God has me at this point in life I know I did something wrong I know that I hurt people but now I am surrendering my life to God I remember like it was yesterday these men of God and circling me and and it it really had a impact on my life at night I got on my knees and uh I surrendered my life to Christ and uh my life hasn't been the same since after Christ convicted me I stopped getting in trouble 11 years ago and I started reading in that time I had written Publishers and Publishers semi-christian books send me Christian books send me Christian material they sent me RC Sproles chosen by God every Sunday there's guys packing a classroom up just to be able to listen to a Dr sprole you know there's different things that we're being given that guys are just there they want to just be faithful to listening to and watching in the chapel here I found a letter from Ligonier to a to another inmate I didn't have a decent Study Bible I wrote Ligonier and they sent me a Reformation Study Bible we like to be able to say hey we know you don't have much in this wonderful place of prison but we want you to have this once you have a copy of God's word so you can read and study for yourself there's an abundance of competing voices out there pretty much every belief system that you can think of exists behind the Prison Walls a lot of times in this environment with a smaller voice me and the smaller voice doesn't necessarily mean that we're not telling the truth we use the Bible as a means to change a person's heart and change a person's mind and just raise some questions about some of the things that people are taught here thought resources we can't you know be able to give these guys the best opportunity that we can for them to really know who God is Not Just By Word of Mouth but even through walking through some of the classes and studying eyes all these things are so helpful when we're having these classes for a long time I didn't know know him you know people always say I know God I know God I know about him but I think I knew about him I know him now I don't know if I'll get out of prison I don't feel like I ever deserve to get out of prison in the first place but I'm just happy just to know Jesus I'm happy that I'm not the person that I was [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] Grace [Music] it is [Music] he is [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] Jesus songs [Music] close music [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] our Lord [Music] [Music] foreign foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] entered by Reverend Ken Jones he's the pastor at Glendale Missionary Baptist Church in Miami Florida and this weekend you're speaking on justification by grace alone we have a lot of people watching the live stream new Christians maybe those that are unfamiliar with reform theology just briefly what do we mean when we speak about justification and justification by grace alone okay well we begin with the gospel the gospel message is God Saves Sinners through the person and work of his son the doctrine of justification explains the mechanics of God's salvation through his son and he saves us because he imputes to us the righteousness of his son even as he imputes to the Sun the unrighteousness or the sin he charges the son with the sins that you and I have committed and therefore it is all of Grace and we are it is received by faith every all of God's grace is poured into the person and work of his son and it is received passively by faith so why is this Doctrine so important then because without it if you try to to establish a right standing because basically justification says that you have a right standing before God you have a legal moral right standing before God if that's the case there's only one of two ways that you can accomplish that either through yourself which is through the keeping of the law or through someone else's obedience so if the Bible if what the Bible says about us in our natural Fallen state is true then we have a twofold problem number one we come here guilty and number two we are not able to do what the law requires so therefore God credits to us because Jesus has come in the flesh for a reason he has taken on he is our federal head our the SEC the second Federal head which is first being Adam and as our federal head he has met all of the obligations of God's law that are incumbent upon us and as our federal head he is Born the full weight of divine wrath that is due unto us faith in him accomplishes the righteousness that God is required pays the penalty satisfies God God's Wrath so we typically speak about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins but the gospel is more than that it's his life as well exactly and that's the part I'm glad you said that I that's the part that I always say well that that evangelicals have a tendency to get half of the Gospel right and the half that we get right is that Jesus died for our sins but and it's not just a it's it's an overlooking of a central part because if you don't answer that first part that he lived for our righteousness then somehow you're still going to look to your own righteousness either as the basis for Your Right standing or remaining in good standing with God so human obedience and there is a place we must we are being conformed to the righteousness that is imputed to us but that's not what gives us right standing our striving to do the will of God Is Not What gives us the right standing what gives us the right standing before God is that the righteousness of his son is given to us and so therefore we are Justified even in the last week I read someone posting online saying that they've left evangelicalism and they're no longer a Protestant Christian and they said the reason that they're going to another Faith tradition is because Protestants we just make too much of a deal about justification and we need to think about Union with Christ and there's all these other things that are important and we need to not make such a big deal about justification by faith alone why is it that we as reformed Christians as Protestants say no we're drawing a Line in the Sand here absolutely well for one thing the scripture says so uh Paul in in Galatians 1 says that if anyone comes to you with any other gospel other than the one that you've received from us then let them be a curse and then he repeats it if anyone else comes to you with any other gospel whether it's myself or an angel from heaven with any other gospel then let them be a curse and then he goes on to say because there is no gospel there is no other gospel and the gospel that he is defending is the fact that God justifies sinners now if someone is disenchanted because they haven't heard Union with Christ if if that's if that's to the fault of the church because Union in with Christ is the core of justification so we are at in fact that is the basis of our sanctification Paul says in Colossians 3 that if you have been raised with Christ then set your mind on things that are above where Christ is seated why because you have died and your life is hidden in him and then he says in verse 4 therefore put to death the Deeds of the flesh if we begin with putting to death the Deeds of the Flesh in order to be found in Christ then that's what's righteousness and it's either Feud it's going to be futile and it's going to be failing if we begin with our position in Christ by virtue of our faith in him then really we're living we're living backwards we're living not be so that we're living to the glory of God not so that he will accept Us in the end we're living to we seek to live to the glory of God because of and the because of is because of what Christ has accomplished in his flesh on our behalf and because we are united to him amen so there is no separation between justification and Union with Christ well Reverend Jones I'm thankful that you've joined us for the live stream and that you're with us this weekend thank you pleasure Jesus in the midst of the Tempest is sound asleep in the back of the back but they are fearful and they rush to the back of the boat and they grab them and they say geez wake up do something this is what's the matter what's the matter he sees the store because he walks over and he says all right peace be still [Music] and the Sea stops its raging and the winds become calm what's the response of the disciples when Jesus removes the Clear and Present threat of nature does it say they throw their sow westers in the air and rejoice and say oh we knew you would do it no the text tells us that at that moment they became very much afraid we started the study center in the summer of 1971 and what we did was that we had weekend groups of people from various churches we would get a lot of students who came out of the Jesus movement the underground movement who would come to Ligonier and stay for two weeks or two months or two years when we started this friend from Cincinnati had a private owned audio recording Ministry and he would tape all of the lectures that I gave and these tapes were going across the country and really even overseas my strategy was to focus attention as much as possible on the character of God because I thought the biggest weakness in the church both in the liberal church and in the Evangelical Church was a grasp of the character of God the father in the meantime we had a fellow and his wife from Wichita Kansas come and he was very excited about the programs that we were doing and so he purchased a full video recording studio worth of equipment so that we could have ongoing video studies done at Ligonier right now as as I talked to you I'm in a television a broadcast television studio and I'm surrounded by cameras and cameramen and floor directors and all of that sort of thing and I know that many of you are going to respond and say the thing that we were most amused from these clips are the changes in RC's hairdo one of the early years that we were there the best thing I had been on a cruise one of the things they did for activities on the cruise was they gave introductory dance lessons on the cruise ship and so vest and I took a couple of these and we thought that was really fun because we love to dance people were always asking my wife did do all you do at the dining room table is talk about theology she laughed she said I wish we could all he wants to talk about is the Steelers basically what we do is that we we produce programs on videotape for adult Sunday School classes anything that happens in this world cannot happen apart from Divine sovereignty the biggest impact of our ministry was coming as a result of the audio and video programs and my books Orlando was a young City it had at that time no National Ministries based here we moved our ministry from Ligonier Pennsylvania to Orlando where we are at the present time [Music] from us [Music] to hear [Music] stories [Music] is Jesus Christ [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] us a starting sheep [Music] says [Music] through the sooner [Music] [Music] Jesus Jesus foreign [Music] thank you [Music] please listen please [Music] of them Jesus Christ [Music] please forever [Music] Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Christ [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] not again [Music] all right [Music] just hope was never say we've lost Christmas trees [Music] thank you [Music] closing times [Music] this is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] please [Music] please [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you one hammer in the hand of an obscure augustinian monk changed the world forever [Music] Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenberg Germany calling his fellow professors to examine issues of supreme theological importance thus began the Reformation to which the light of God's word was brought out of the darkness to shine with clarity once more [Music] one of the central cries of the Protestant Reformation was this the just shall live by faith Luther's development of the doctrine of justification by faith alone recovered the gospel that had been hidden during the Middle Ages and at the center of that gospel is the affirmation that the righteousness by which we are declared just before a holy God is not our own it's a foreign righteousness an alien righteousness a righteousness that Luther said is extra nose apart from us namely it's the righteousness of Jesus Christ that righteousness that is imputed or counted for all who put their trust in him because of that affirmation [Music] Luther was involved in serious controversies controversies that culminated and his being brought to trial before the princes of the church and even before the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Charles V and there at the diet of warmth summoned in Germany Luther was called upon to recant his views answered his interlocutors by saying we're a vocal you want me to say revoko that I recant I will not recant unless I'm convinced by sacred scripture or by evident reason I cannot recant from my conscience is held captive by the word of God and to act against conscience is neither right nor safe here I stand I can do no other God help me in every generation the gospel must be published Anew with the same boldness and the same Clarity and the same urgency that came forth in the 16th century Reformation [Music] the church has always done this in both the spoken word and in song producing hymns that tell us of the great salvation that has been wrought by God Alone through Christ Alone these hymns that you hear today are Sacred Music for the church giving glory to the Holy One [Music] please [Music] holy holy Rose [Music] the Lord [Music] holy Christ [Music] foreign thank you [Music] [Music] holy Lord [Music] IES [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] we arise [Music] of precious Ness on Earth [Music] amazing [Music] songs [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] no matter [Music] please live forever [Music] his truth is always [Music] thank you foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] yesterday against [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] and wants arise blessings [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] Jesus Christ [Music] [Applause] [Music] causing [Music] them [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] please foreign [Music] my goodness [Music] all seasons [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] as we draws is [Music] Brothers [Music] this is [Music] thank you is [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you sorry stories [Music] foreign [Music] come on here [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] let's see [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] thank you for joining us for ligonier's 2023 National Conference I'm Nathan W Bingham we are so encouraged that people from all over the world are tuning in to this live stream for three days of teaching from God's word and as you're watching the conference I want to invite you to join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag ligacom that's ligcon we'd love to hear your thoughts from the conference and to read any quotes that you've enjoyed from our speakers and make sure you share the live stream with your friends so even more people can benefit from this teaching during the conferences at Ligonier some of the most memorable moments come from the Q a sessions where our speakers respond to biblical and Theological questions from conference guests we're going to have several q a sessions at this year's National Conference and the first one is coming up moderated by ligonier's president and CEO Chris Larson joining him at Sinclair Ferguson Ken Jones Stephen Lawson Michael Reeves and Derek Thomas our panelists are taking their seats now and the session will begin momentarily we love these opportunities to have our guest speakers teachers with us to ask various questions we've been asking you to send in your questions and so we're going to try and get through as many as we can this afternoon so thank you gentlemen for being here with us we've been talking about this conference theme of standing firm and so it'd be helpful maybe just to have your own reflection on this question that was submitted how would you compare the darkness of today versus other times in church history is it truly darker now than ever before or are we just more aware of it recently that's one question um well I'll start um I think everything is in in that's in a broad sense the darkness of the moment in a sense is relative in other words as someone alluded to earlier we live in a cursed creation it was mentioned that Romans 1 is our reality and how that's experience will it's it's still we're under curse so therefore to one extent The Curse Of God which is progressively revealed it does become more pronounced and so what we're experiencing now and I think we do have to kind of look both inside and out what we're experiencing both inside the church as well as in the world it's going to be more pronounced but the fact remains it's it's still we're under occurs waiting for the full revelation of God's grace and the consummation of Redemptive history so it's hard to to to imagine because sometimes we'll look on one end of history and we'll say well they did this and we've done better or every every tough moment it's always the toughest that we've experienced it's the most difficult that we've experienced so it's it's easy to enlarge that but we live in a cursed creation uh Chris I think what Paul says in second Timothy 3 at the beginning uh verse one he'll be able to quote it um is very helpful where he says in the last days there will be times of stress and the language that he uses there for stress really connotes the notion of a kind of uncontrollability breaking out and it goes on to list some of the features of such a time and I do think he is distinguishing um Derek said earlier on we're living in the last days Pentecost is the sign the last days have begun but Paul does seem to be indicating that the last days will be punctuated by special seasons of stress and when you read second Timothy 3 1 following it does read very much like a description of our own times in the western world and I think it's very helpful for us to recognize that when we look over the whole of church history we've all been living in the same era if I can use the word we've all been living in the same dispensation since why should the dispensationalists of all the best words since the time of the Apostles but as you review church history if Bob were here he could do this quickly for us you see that there are special Seasons when there are incursions of the powers of Darkness um and I think it's also significant that you see that running through scripture as well so that we've got a whole pattern in Scripture that helps us to view our own times not as being unique and the scriptures give us very clear indications I think of how we respond to these special Seasons when the Christian church or individuals experience unusual degrees of stress we shouldn't think that we're the we do tend to think that we're the first Christians in history ever to suffer and partly it is because we're almost the first Christians in history never to have suffered very much and we don't realize that suffering is actually normal in biblical Christianity that's why Peter says don't be surprised by the fiery trial as though something strange were happening to you so I feel very much we need to we need to be thinking uh in quite different terms from the way in which our even our cultural Evangelical Christianity has tended to think about these things no and that's the balance exactly that we're talking about that in one sense Our Moment is the same as everyone posts as you mentioned uh Pentecost that these are the last days and there will be manifest greater manifestations of that consummating Progressive judgment in various points but yeah it's what's happening is not unique but there are times when there will be a greater manifestation earlier Steve Nichols was talking about uh the periods of of of the martyrs and we don't see now some of it is just not experienced or is not seen but we don't see the kind of martyrdom specifically for the Christian faith as we once saw at a particular point in history there are significant challenges and there are there is there there are sufferings for the cause of the faith there are portions of the world where Christians are attacked by other religions in the name of those other religions but it's not in the same way as it was perhaps at other points but it doesn't mean it's any easier or it's it's any less intense we'll move on thank you when Moses and Isaiah say that they have seen the face of God but no one can see him how is this possible or could you explain what took place I think it's it's uh something that gets picked up in John's gospel that we read no one has ever seen the form of the father but Jesus says when Philip asks to see the father you've seen me you have seen the father that God is in his holy perfection uh unapproachable unnerable so that people say we've seen God we're going to die and it is only in the face of Christ the mediator that that God can be known and approached and so when we see for example um Isaiah seeing the Lord what are we to do with this well this is picked up in John's gospel where John refers to that incident with Isaiah and John says that Isaiah was speaking of Jesus Glory for he saw him so it is not some abstract God that he's seeing it is the revelation of God himself the revealer who's being made known that's what you're seeing very clearly being said by John as the interpretation of Isaiah 6 for us so I don't think there should be a mystery Chris can I say something um I read I remember in Calvin which I thought was a beautiful and simple way into thinking about this he says there are times when the invisible God puts on his outside clothes you don't have to do that often in Florida you know but you do in Scotland you you put on your outside clothes and by putting on these outside clothes He makes himself visible so these manifestations of his glory that we find are moments when God is putting on his outside clothes so that we can see his shape as it were and that what happens this is not Calvin this is Ferguson what happens in the Incarnation is that he puts on permanent clothing in our Humanity that he will never dispense with in the Sun I mean it's often struck me that that Christians maybe of the sense that the Incarnation of Christ was Jesus taking our flesh a bit the way NASA has a booster rocket that falls off when the spaceship is away and that after the Incarnation after the what happens in the Ascension is that somewhere is Humanity Falls to Earth but the Majesty of the gospel and I think the fact God is not going to be any more visible in glory than he is now to us he is the invisible God but he will forever be visible to us in the one way that we in a sense can fully take in in the way he has bound himself in his son to our Humanity forever that that seems to me to be as staggering as the Incarnation itself that it is a forever taking on clothing in his love and condescension to us so that we will always be able to recognize who God is which is just Calvin's way of saying what Mike said Jesus said in John 14 he who has seen me has seen the father but I found that nice little picture that Calvin uses very helpful to my simple mind for where two or three are gathered in my name there am I among them Matthew 18 verse 20. isn't he there when we're alone too well obviously God is omnipresent so there's nowhere that God is not present so he is with us when we are by ourself ourself he is with us where two are gathered three are gathered or any number are gathered uh there's no place where God is not present God is present in heaven he's present on the present on the earth I think he's present in Hell inflicting the Wrath so there's no place where God is not present I think that in that Matthew 18 passage the context is church discipline and that the intent is that God is uniquely involved in maintaining the purity of his church when one has fallen into sin and does not repent and someone goes to him and does not repent two or three Witnesses go he does not repent it's brought before the church he does not repent then he's to be considered as a tax collector or Sinner and be put out of the church and so it's it's to reinforce that the invisible hands of God are actually the ultimate discipliner in this matter working through the elders in a local church so um but God is transcendent high and lifted up God is imminent he is close and near it's not either or it's both Anne and in that particular verse though the the focus is on God's uh activity in the local church to guard and protect the purity of his church when there's sin in the camp sometimes I just have to pause to ensure somebody's not thinking about jumping in on an answer so if we have new Hearts why do we still sin well in reformed theology we we distinguish between um two types of sanctification a definitive kind uh Paul refers to us as a new creation we are in Christ We Are Holy we are Saints we are set apart so something definitive and and unchangeable happens um at the time of regeneration but we also speak of progressive sanctification so although although definitively we are set apart we are sinners still we are saved Sinners but we are sinners still and while we are in this world there is the spirit Wars against the Flesh and the flesh against the spirit there is a constant battle uh between who we actually are in Christ and who sometimes the devil tells us we are and and we forget our true identity in Christ so until until we Slough off this Mortal coil um we will remain uh in a battle between the Flesh and the devil that's my that's my uh no I'm punting it too again no I would just add to that um the concept of new heart does not mean infused righteousness it means an awareness and an affection of the things of God that were not existent before so when Paul says in times pass you were dead in trespasses and sins he's speaking of us being in a condition where we are not aware of Our obligation to God now we have the ability again as we cited earlier Philippians 2 it is God who is at work within us causing us to will and do of his good pleasure so a new heart simply means that we can now respond we can desire to do good and to do the will of God doesn't mean we will perfectly do it but we are aware and at a level that we were not aware prior to Regeneration so uh using the language even of Ezekiel I will take out of you Your Heart of Stone and put in your heart of Flesh and I will put my spirit in you causing you to walk according to my commands so the new heart means an awake being a the language of regeneration being alive unto God for the purpose of obeying him even if that obedience that personal practical obedience itself is not to the level it ought to be there is a desire and so there are holy affections there's a there's a knowledge of God that was not present prior to Regeneration foreign [Applause] if I was baptized in a church that was not theologically sound and that in maturity I have now realized did not preach the gospel should I be re-baptized I think this is three against two I'll put my bid in if it was a Christian baptism in a Christian Church I'm not an anabaptist let the reader understand I'm not an anabaptist well let me let me pitch in here um our tradition Ferguson on myself and I guess yours says that the efficacy of baptism does not depend on uh the the faithfulness of the one doing the the baptism and that if if that baptism has come to fruition in faith in Christ then it has then it has done what it's supposed to do however um in my in in my experience uh uh especially in Belfast where the predominant population um was either Protestant or Catholic Roman Catholics who were converted were never convinced by what I've just said they had come out of darkness and into light they had they had an experience of Christianity which was an entirely works-based um sacramental based view of Salvation and now they're experiencing the joy of assurance and forgiveness and and they wanted to be baptized and and my my instinct was to say rather than go through life with a guilty conscience better to go through life with with that part of your conscience dealt with and so I would baptize them technically under their view I wasn't re-baptizing them because they they weren't crediting their first baptism as valid in the first place so it it really from their point of view it wasn't a re-baptism and I could live with it I could live with that well I've done the same thing so yeah I I am I mean I think that there are there are pretty strong arguments if you are a confessional Presbyterian for taking that position that was debated in the 19th century in in by two of the greatest theologians in presbyterianism uh taking quite different views and one to which I have been somewhat sympathetic was that our confession of faith says that baptism has to be administered by a gospel Minister who has been properly ordained and therefore I think there is a case for saying that if you accept Roman Catholic baptism you are ipso facto accepting Roman Catholic ordination and I don't know any Presbyterian denomination to which father or Flannery rose up and they say come in you're welcome but I think those are questions where odd things happen so that some of us make more of baptism than I think scripture does and others of us make less of baptism than scripture does under there are areas I think where we tend to look for simple answers to every conceivable situation and since I think there are Arguments for quotes baptizing people who have been quotes baptized as Roman Catholics I think there are certainly situations where that would be a legitimate thing to do although I wouldn't mandated you weren't born a Roman Catholic were you um no sir um if someone was baptized in a cult I would not accept that as a Christian baptism like a Mormon Baptist baptizing for the dead I I consider the Roman Catholic Church a cult apostate so I would not accept that as a Christian baptism I would say they've never been baptized so I would not be re-baptizing them I would be baptizing them for the first time so that's not a a re-baptism type of thing so that I would want to be clear on that what about a situation where uh-oh yeah what about a situation whatever Sinclair says what what about a situation and let's call it a Brethren group or Plymouth Brethren okay but there are there are degrees of of Brethren groups where the father baptizes his teenage son but he's regarded as an elder because there are no ministers in this church there are only Elders is that a valid baptism well I'm not a confessional Presbyterian on that so go ahead yeah yeah yeah yeah you're nicer to me than Bob is so uh that that might that might come to pass um if he was an elder in their church I personally would accept that and if they preach the true gospel I would accept that and that's that's the point that I I make when I say you can almost I'm sorry but you could almost like look to the book of Acts and and the bad some of the baptisms that took place there uh Philip on the with the Ethiopian eunuch um Paul within the Philippians 16. and the strangers in their Gates I'm not taking the bait no no but go ahead don't we usually don't we usually recognize that there are differences of orders in the different denominations or church fellowships to which we belong and we recognize that in different situations pretty much exactly the same principle is operative and it's that that gives us a kind of latitude you know over the point and there are many churches that don't even have elders but when it comes to a couple of guys uh having a coffee and deciding they're going to baptize one of the pals yeah but see that again when when we say we're not tell me you were uh this is your personal experience so please the reason this becomes so important is because especially in Baptist Churches and Believers Baptist settings there is a tendency to rededicate oneself over and over and over again and so someone might say well I was baptized in fact I've had that recently where someone came to me I was baptized at a certain point but now I've had this new Awakening and I want to be baptized again and we don't baptize again a if we acknowledge it as a Christian baptism and I think the parameters that are set is a if it's a Christian baptism regardless of the denomination as Steve was saying if if it's a gospel church then you're baptized into the church and so we're not going to re-baptize just because you have a greater Awakening or greater sense of of the Gospel if that's if that's the case so it's not just an emotional response it's no it's not a knee-jerk reaction uh it's it's not a response to a particular thing that happened to you baptism is something in particular now when it's if it's Mormons if it's something else that's not a church so we're not standing on the same on the same gospel ground so obviously like like Steve says that's not an that's not a Christian baptism so therefore it's not a re-baptism it is a baptism and the uniqueness of the Catholic issue and the Presbyterian order again I think we have to begin with the ordinary and then reason out to those extraordinary situations and circumstances Hodge Charles Hutch mix I think a helpful distinction that I think has been used a great deal in the last few centuries and that is the difference between irregularity and invalidity it's not always simple to make that distinction but we we mustn't make the mistake of thinking that because there are according to our church polity irregularities that that necessarily invalidates the baptism of another communion now Hodge accepted Catholic baptism indeed he was that he was on the other side he was a confessional Presbyterian so was his opponent who was our predecessor indeed next question since I was introduced to the reformed view my joy and salvation has disappeared because instead of a loving undeserved Redemption of a gracious God it is just a transactional selection of the chosen am I missing a puzzle piece that would once again restore the joy of his salvation for me yes why did I think you were going to answer I really wanted to jump in on that one because I'm so sorry that whoever that is has felt that there's a a misunderstanding a truncated shortened understanding of the Gospel here that reformed love to talk about justification by faith alone how we have a new status because of Christ's righteousness imputed to us now that is all forensic language that it's about legal status that as a sinner I do not have the right to stand before God but I'm clothed with Christ's righteousness so I have a legal right to stand before God because of God's Divine declaration but that's not the sum total of our Salvation that is a that is right at the heart but it's not the totality of what our Salvation is for in order to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ the spirit must regenerate you give you a new heart uniting you to Jesus Christ and that means two things one being given a new heart as we're hearing before means that you are given affections and desires you did not have before you are made to know glorify and enjoy God because of this other side regeneration enables you to enjoy God and the justification comes as part of being united to Christ which means being given not merely the status of Christ before the father as as righteous but also being given the relationship and communion that the son enjoys with the father and that is what we're called to enjoy so I think what I would recommend would be two things for this person one you need to have a richer understanding of what our Salvation means that we are brought to be United to Christ which means that we are given the son's communion with the father communion to enjoy him so I would suggest read some good books on that on our Union with Christ second the privilege of being united to Christ is that we're given this communion with God so read some great books on I don't know the Holiness of God read some great books on who God is that you might know him better because what reform theology should teach you is not simply that we can be justified by faith alone but it presents to you the highest most glorious most beautiful vision of God for us to enjoy which is what we're made for and if you're not doing that it's because you've not actually been taking advantage of what is the central privilege of this theology what is what do we believe what is the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy him forever what words of encouragement or help would you give to parents of adult children who have left the faith well I think one point of encouragement would be that salvation is of the Lord and that no parent can guarantee the salvation of their own child and in the Book of Proverbs when he says train up a child in the way they shall go and when they're old they will not depart from it that's just simply a general observation it's not a promise that would be to misinterpret Hebrew wisdom literature um a a parent just simply needs to know that before God we have done the best that we knew to do at that time and we looked to God and tried to bring that Christian influence to Bear upon their life but we cannot coerce them into the kingdom we can't manipulate them into the kingdom there's only one who can bring them into the kingdom and that is God the Holy Spirit and so we just have to have a realistic understanding that again salvation is of the Lord and it's it's not of man every parent wants their children Longs for their children prays for their children uh to be in Christ but at the end of the day no parent can save their child no parent can give repentance and Faith to their child God must do that work of Grace So for an encouragement it would begin there and second that I would say is the story is not over a child that becomes a prodigal May yet come home and a gracious father will receive them and clothe them with the righteousness of his son and wash their sins away and until you know that child is is in the grave there's still a hope that God will yet work so the third thing I would say is God will do what's right and God owes salvation to no one it is I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion upon whom I will have compassion and Jacob I loved and Esau I hated and there should be great encouragement for every parent that God will do what's right what should amaze us is any child that actually is saved and is converted they become a trophy of Grace and we can understand the wayward child it takes divine intervention for God to rescue a child and bring them to himself so I I would say those three things by way of encouragement and to continue to pray and to continue to love and continue to reach out um knowing that the end of the of the book has not yet been finished God May yet bring them to Christ I would add and I had this from a presbyterian point of view um that that my understanding of Covenant is that God desires to be not just my God but the god of my children also and that that desire on God's part um symbolized in baptism doesn't end when when the child is 17 or 19 or 28 or 46 or 83 . um God is patient and long-suffering not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance including those who bear his Covenant signs so however much you long for the Salvation of your prodigal child God Longs for it in a far greater fashion than you do I think that's part of what that text I was preaching on earlier means I am a reformed Christian girl should I only marry a reformed Christian well I think that there needs to be a Oneness of mine and a Oneness of heart and it would be a challenge to love someone who sees the world in a totally different way who sees God in a totally different way who sees salvation in a totally different way who sees the church in a totally different way and so I I think that anyone who is reformed who is who has a high view of God and including a Christian world view in the in the doctrine of Providence it would be very hard to raise up children where you're pulling in One Direction and the other one is pulling in a different direction quite frankly and it's almost like one foot's on the gas pedal and the other foot's on the brake and you're canceling out each other at home as it relates to teaching about the Bible and God Etc so I would strongly encourage if if you are a reformed single that you would want someone who is like-minded with you could there be exceptions to that certainly there could be exceptions to that I mean Martin Lloyd Jones married an unconverted woman um I mean there can be exceptions to that he just didn't know that at the time and she didn't know that at the time um but there could be exceptions but I think that would be a a rare exception just briefly in the last couple minutes I think this is an important question just to maybe hear some counsel um briefly again from each of you or several of you what is one piece of advice you would give to a lead Pastor in reaching the Next Generation preach the Bible it transcends all generations the Bible speaks to every person on planet Earth exactly where they are it's living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword so obviously there's 16 more things that could be said but the tip of the spear is for a lead Pastor to reach the next generation is preach the word of God I mean I preach virtually every Sunday in a church in Dallas I'll be next month 72 years old I church is about three or four years old I assumed everyone in the church would be within 10 years of my age um you would think I'm preaching in a fraternity house or a sorority house you would think I'm preaching in a football locker room or something there are so many young people it's just unbelievable and there's only one explanation for it it's the word of God it connects with everyone exactly where they are you don't have to dress up the Bible you don't have to even dress up Church you just let the lion out of the cage you know I I heartily agree and to to punctuate that point I think we have to emphasize to the Next Generation the sufficiency and that's of leaders and members the sufficiency of the Gospel we have to stop trying to chase something outside or the external appearances of success or as we hear it among ministers and I know what they mean my Ministry my Ministry we don't have a Ministry we have been called into the ministry of Christ and so if we're trying to build our ministry then we're going to be sidetracked so for the Next Generation Christ is Enough preach the gospel preach Christ not only is that sufficient for our salvation but if someone gets bored with God's grace in Christ there's nothing you can do for them there's not enough puppet shows that are going to drive them back [Applause] going once let's thank our panelists this afternoon thank you thank you always appreciate the Q a sessions at leading your conferences and we'll get to see before you run off for dinner a couple of but I want to let you know that with my communication discipleship resources tomorrow when you come and park available for you at significant discounts in our online conference bookstore so you can save on teaching series books and more when you visit ligonier.org bookstore I think you'll find materials there to benefit you your family your Bible study or members of your church another favorite resource from Ligonier Ministries is table talk our monthly Bible study Magazine with its feature articles monthly columns and daily studies from the Bible table talk makes for an excellent addition to your personal or family devotions it even has a Bible reading plan to help you read through God's word in a year and more than a quarter of a million readers look to table talk each month as their preferred devotional resource if you've been thinking about subscribing to the magazine or renewing your ongoing subscription to table talk now is really the best time to do it because subscription rates are going to increase this summer but you can lie lock in your lowest right now if you subscribe or renew today simply visit gettabletalk.com we have one more session for you tonight but we're going to take a break here in Orlando for dinner we'll be back at seven eastern time with Dr Stephen Lawson who's going to address how the word of God equips us to stand firm so we may contend for the faith once we're all delivered to the Saints I'm Nathan W Bingham and I'll see you back at 7 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Keywords: Ligonier, Ligonier Ministries, Reformed Theology, Reformation Theology, Theology, Educational, ligonier, ligonier ministries, ligonier national conference, christian conference, christian, Christian ethics, ethics, biblical ethics, educational, god, bible, ethical questions, reformed, reformed theology, theology, michael reeves, ligonier q, ligonier q&a, ligonier questions and answers

Id: tJgLSiK_gqY

Length: 188min 40sec (11320 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 23 2023