Good evening and welcome to Ask Ligonier. I’m your host, Nathan W. Bingham, and over
the next sixty minutes our special guest will be answering your biblical and theological
questions live. If you'd like to ask a question this evening,
you can send us a tweet using the hashtag #AskLigonier, you can send us a message
on Facebook, or basically leave a comment wherever you're watching this live stream
this evening. Our special guest tonight is a Ligonier teaching
fellow. He's also a man I once heard R.C. Sproul describe as his favorite theologian. I'm speaking of Dr. Sinclair Ferguson. Dr. Ferguson, thank you for joining us. Thank you Nathan. Glad to be with you. Well, since we announced this event we have
had many, many questions come in through social media. To try and get to as many as possible tonight,
would you be open to us beginning with a lightning round? Okay, let's try. Okay. All right, so—
Lightning is not my thing, you should know. We'll see. Well for a lightning round let's try and aim
for sixty seconds or less. Okay. The first question we have here is from someone
named Kevin on Facebook. He's asking, “What is the difference, if
any, between godliness and holiness?” Okay, well they're obviously different words. godliness means likeness to God. Holiness means a likeness to one particular
attribute of God. There is that linguistic distinction, but
at the end of the day, I think the simplest answer is to say where do you see godliness
most clearly, and the answer is you see it in Jesus Christ. Where do you see holiness most clearly, you
see it in Jesus Christ. I think that answer is helpful because it
personalizes the answer and teaches us that neither godliness or holiness are abstract
commodities, but a development of a Christ-like character. We also have Steve here on Facebook. He wants to know, “When you're thinking
about the order of salvation, what comes first, faith or regeneration?” Okay. Well, I think first of all what Jesus said
in John chapter 3 when He said to Nicodemus that unless you're born from above, which
is regeneration, you'll neither be able to see or enter the kingdom of God. We enter the kingdom of God through faith. So, in that conversation I think it’s very
clear that in order to come to faith first of all God has to give us our new heart. That's really what John had said in the prologue
to the gospel as well, that those who came to believe in Him were born not of the will
of the flesh, or the will of man, but born of God. When we're thinking about it, we realize that
logically regeneration grounds our faith. But when we are regenerated, we come to believe. There's not a gap that we would be able to
detect between being born again and coming to believe. In fact, the way we would recognize that we
had been born again was because that came to expression in our trust in Jesus Christ. They're very intimately related. We have Zach here who's asking us, “How
can he know that he's elect? How can he know that his faith is genuine?” Well, that's a huge question. I think the simple answer to it is that the
way in which we come to know our election is through faith in Christ. We must never try to bypass Jesus Christ because
for example, as Paul says in Ephesians 1, we are chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. So often I think we need to say to people
instead of trying to go directly to your election, you need to go directly to Jesus Christ. When you come to Christ, there is a kind of
confidence that you find in Christ that He has embraced you, and that you are his. Then I think another thing that's obviously
true is that if you have really been born again, then new family characteristics begin
to display themselves in your life and also the Spirit, as Paul says in Romans 8, begins
to work in our lives and witness with our spirits. I think particularly there he seems to indicate
that one of the evidences that God has really chosen us, that we really are His children,
is that when the crisis comes we have this God given instinct to cry out at the Father. That instinctive appeal to God as our heavenly
Father is like the sense that we have inwardly that He has taken us into his family because
He has adopted us, and in that sense chosen us as his children. We have a person here called Ajit, on Facebook. They're asking a question about preaching. They want to know, “How should they preach
the doctrines of grace?” Well, boy that's a huge question as well. I think pastorally one must always recognize
that in some of these areas people do not have the paradigms to be able immediately
to take in what scripture teaches, and sometimes they have been taught in a way that's contrary
to the doctrines of grace. I usually say, at least I say it to younger
man or men younger than myself, one of the best things to do with someone that you think
that really is a Christian is sit down with them, or preach to them with this question
in mind, how did Jesus think about this. Sometimes people think they have intellectual
difficulties that are really emotional difficulties, or difficulties because of what they have
been taught in the past, but if they're the Lord's people then they trust Christ and they
listen to his voice. I think a very helpful thing to do is to show
them what Jesus Himself believed. A good illustration of that in one of the
more difficult doctrines, the doctrine of election, is I find to take people to Matthew
11:28-30, Jesus evangelistic invitation, come to me all you who are weary and heave laden. Then ask people to notice what immediately
precedes it, where Jesus says, “Father I thank you, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that
you have hidden these things from the wise in understanding and revealed them to babes,”
so that Jesus own evangelism has this background of his consciousness of the Father's electing
purposes. If we know Christ and love Christ, and trust
Christ, I think in a sense that reduces some of the emotional prejudice that I think we
often find people have against the doctrines of grace. The other thing I think I would really want
to emphasize is you need to emphasize not the word doctrine, but the word grace. We need to present the graciousness of the
truth of the gospel. Well one final question for this lighting
round. How do you know if you have been called to
be a pastor? Well we're getting the lightning questions. Yeah. Let me just give up a text really. In II Timothy chapter 1, when Paul is reflecting
on young Timothy who has been called to the ministry, he says to him, I think this is
about verse 8 in II Timothy chapter 1, “Fan into flame the gift of God that is in you
through the laying on of my hands.” I think there are then three elements there
that help us to recognize a call to the ministry. A call to the ministry can come in very different
ways. One of them is that God has gifted us. Another is that beginning to recognize those
gifts, the church begins to make room for them, and so there is a recognition outside
of ourselves. I could have this conviction I'm called to
the ministry and nobody else share that conviction because when I open my mouth I talk nonsense. But when someone is called to the ministry
and has been given gifts by God for that ministry, then God's people will begin to encourage
them. I mean I know for myself that I don't think
I ever would have made it in the ministry would it not for the encouragement that God's
people have given to me, and given to me since I was a youngster. Then the other thing is that Paul says fan
into flame, which means that there is a willingness to commit yourself to Christ for that ministry,
and also a commitment to love the Lord's people. I mean I think there are some people who think
a call to the ministry is the same thing as I really love to teach, but really loving
to teach is really loving to teach. The real issue is do you really love the people
whom God has called you to teach. Just a starting place I would say go to II
Timothy chapter 1 and reflect on these three things that Paul says. Well you survived that lightning round. Lightning round. I promised it would be quick. I wasn't sure whether it was sixty seconds
for the whole, or sixty seconds each, but anyway. Well I didn't promise it was going to be easy,
but you survived. Now the easy questions come. Now tonight is a special occasion, but question
and answers, and times of question and answer is nothing new to Ligonier Ministries. No. For more than forty-five years Christians
look to Dr. Sproul as a place where they could find trusted answers, and continue to look
to the Ligonier Ministries for that, which is why we were really excited to launch in
January of this year a new biblical and theological chat service called Ask Ligonier. So twenty-four hours a day, six days a week,
if you are studying scripture and have a biblical question, or perhaps an unbeliever ask you
a question that you're unsure how to answer, you can go to ligonier.org and click the little
chat bubble on the bottom right hand corner, or ask us on social media, and a well-trained
team of Christians who are positioned around the world will be able to answer those questions
for you. All of this built on Dr. Sproul's decades
of teaching, and of course the teaching of our Ligonier teaching fellows like yourself. I encourage you, if you would like to know
how to ask those theological questions outside of course of tonight's event, you can go to
ask.ligonier.org. That's ask.ligonier.org. That service is available twenty-four hours
a day, six days a week. Speaking of our chat service, we do have someone
actually on our chat service right now with a question. They're wanting to know, “Why should we
pray if God has planned all things?” Well in a way that's a form of a bigger question
that sometimes people who ask that question don't ask, which is, “If God has planned
all things, why should we do anything?” We understand what we do as Christians we
do for a variety of reasons. One is because God has taught us to do it
in his word. The bargain basement level answer to the question
is that we pray because God has told us to pray, even if we don't understand how prayer
works and how He employs our prayer. That's the first thing. The second thing is to say that the sovereignty
of God does not destroy human responsibility, but is actually the foundation for it. The sovereignty of God never destroys secondary
causes. What we want to say is that God plans all
things. We pray because among other things, our prayers
are part of the instrumentation God has planned in order that He would fulfill His purposes. This is really, when you think about it, it's
a really wonderfully gracious thing that God has the power to do things without us, without
our prayers, without our intercession, but he's our Father and so He wants to catch us
up into his purposes just like a father would do with his own children. You could say, “Get out of my way, I'll
do that,” but a true human father doesn't do that. A true human father comes along and brings
his children along, and brings them into his purposes, and delights to see them grow in
fulfilling his aspirations for them. That's a simple and brief answer to the question. It's a good question. We have Lisa on Twitter, and she is asking,
“What are the essential qualities of a Christian?” Well, boy we're really getting the big questions. You can take a little bit more time with this
if you like. What are the essential qualities? Well, think for example about what Paul says
in I Corinthians 13. Here is a church where certain gifts are being
held up before the people as indications of a kind of super spirituality. Basically what Paul says in I Corinthians
13 is you can have all of these gifts and actually be nothing in God's kingdom. What would be the sign? The sign would be that the presence of faith
and hope and love. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in
him. Hope, remember how Peter speaks in I Peter
about the hope that is given to us in Jesus Christ. The third and most obvious one would be a
love for Jesus Christ that produces first of all a love for his people, and then a love
for those who don't know him. A good place to go and answer that question
is in John's first letter. He wrote the gospel in order that people would
come to faith and keep on in faith, but he tells us that he wrote the first epistle to
help people to understand what the marks of being a Christian are. That we trust in Christ, that we walk in the
light, and that we walk in love. These are the three essentials. Of course, we grow within that and it's a
bit like a tree isn't it, branches grow out of that, but that's a good place I think to
begin. In the past, that was often the place where
Christians began their exposition of so what in practical terms does it mean for me to
be a Christian. We have Dennis on Facebook. He wants to know, “How do we obey the moral
law without being legalistic?” Well, we obey the moral law first of all by
understanding what it's for, and there are various ways of putting this. I happen lifelong to be interested in the
game of golf. Golf is played according to rules. I have never met a golfer who has said to
me if I move my golf ball nearer the hole, never said that's fine because the game ceases
to work when you don't play the game according to the rules. One of the most important things for us to
understand is that, take the Ten Commandments for example, the moral law. The moral law given in Exodus chapter 20,
is a written form and set in a negative cast for sinners of the basic way in which Adam
and Eve functioned as human beings. Of course it's written now for sinners, and
so it has a lot of negatives. But what the law is telling us, this is the
master plan for your life. You only function as the image of God as you
give expression to these principles in your life. As we do that, trusting in the Lord, there
really is, there's no real danger that we will become legalistic. I think it's true that people, many people
say just obedience to the law is legalistic because actually what they are irritated by
is the notion that anybody would tell them what to do. But if you are Christian, Jesus tells you
what to do. He says if you love me, keep my commandments. So faith in Christ produces love for Christ. Love for Christ produces a desire to be like
Christ. Christ fulfilled the law, and so being like
Christ fulfills the law. There are two other elements. One is that's the way we please our heavenly
Father, and the other is that both the Old Testament prophecy of the new covenant and
the letter to the Hebrews twice citing the words says that when you are born again what
is written into your heart is the law. So in a way it's kind of surprising that so
many Christians who believe in the Holy Spirit are apparently not well enough instructed
to know what it is that the Holy Spirit comes to do—that is to work into our hearts an
affection for an obedience to the law of God because of our love for and trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ. So long as we keep our loving heavenly Father
in view, as long as we keep our savior in view, as long as we keep the Holy Spirit in
view, we will be saved from any danger of falling into legalism no matter how much we
may be accused of doing that because we think it's important to be obedient to the law. Usually that kind of accusation comes from
people who are irritated about the notion that anybody would tell you what to do, and
there's a bundle of commands in the New Testament. I think the answer is fairly straightforward. The challenge is growing in grace so that
that becomes a reality in our lives. We have someone using the Ask Ligonier chat
service. They're asking, “What is the meaning of
propitiation?” Well the meaning ... There are several words
that describe what Jesus did on the cross. Some of them come from the Old Testament background
from the ceremonial law, from the sacrificial system. In the sacrificial system, people will remember
once a year on the Day of Atonement the high priest went into the presence of God with
a sacrifice, took the blood, and He poured, sprinkled the blood over the mercy seat. When for example Paul says in Romans chapter
3 that God set forth Christ as a propitiation, in the background is that picture that Jesus
is both the high priest and the sacrifice, and that that particular sacrifice was a sacrifice
blood, which is an expression of the life given up in death. That sacrifice was Christ taking our place,
dying our death in order that the wrath of God, to which we are exposed by our sin, should
actually fall upon Him and not upon us so that when we are united to him, in a sense
we are under the mercy seat. We know the forgiveness of God. We know that God's wrath is no longer directed
against us because it's directed against him. In that sense, the idea of propitiation is
quite simply Jesus bearing the wrath that I deserve in order that I might experience
the welcome that He Himself has by nature and grace. A really common question that Ligonier has
been asked over the decades is: what is reform theology—and questions related to God's
sovereignty. What I want to let those who are watching
know is if you have not contacted Ligonier Ministries before, a really helpful resource
is Dr. R.C. Sproul's book titled “What Is Reformed Theology?” Again, if you have not contacted us before,
we would love to send you a free copy of “What Is Reformed Theology?” if you live in the
U.S. or Canada. Simply visit ligonier.org/reformed. That's ligonier.org/reformed to request your
free copy of R.C. Sproul's book “What Is Reformed Theology?” If you live outside the U.S. or Canada, you
can go to Ligonier.org and search for “What Is Reformed Theology?” and you can watch
Dr. Sproul's video series by that same name for free. Well we have Joe on Twitter, Dr. Ferguson,
and he's asking, “How would you use the apocryphal books as Reformed Protestants?” Well, I'm a Presbyterian, and the confession
of faith that the denomination I'm in uses is the Westminster Confession of Faith. In its first chapter it makes a comment on
the apocryphal books, which basically is that they have no more value than any other piece
of literature. The reason that's characteristic reformed
teaching is because unlike say for example the prophecy of Isaiah or Jeremiah, the apocryphal
books are not recognized by the apostles as part of the cannon of Old Testament scriptures,
and so there is no reason that Christians should treat them in that way. In the Anglican tradition, I think in the
Thirty-nine Articles they're kind of regarded as well pious reading. In that sense, there's lots of pious reading,
but they do not carry the authority of God. There is no reason that anyone would think
they were in errant. You can certainly get to Heaven, and 99.99%
of Christians get to Heaven without even knowing there is a apocryphal I suspect. We have Braden on Facebook. He wants to know, “Will Christians who have
been forgiven answer for their sins in judgment?” Well, first of all, let me try and put it
this way. When we are justified, we are justified with
the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I sometimes say what that means, if you can
begin to take it in, is that when you stand before God you are able to say, “I am as
righteous before you as your Son Jesus Christ.” Now that can sound very arrogant, but if you
then say well how is that, the answer is because the only righteousness with which I'm justified
is Jesus Christ's righteousness. There's an absoluteness about the perfection
of that righteousness. There is an absoluteness about its completeness
and finality. So, we are all equal justified. The New Testament also teaches that God assesses
us as we actually are. For example, Paul says in II Corinthians 5,
“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive what is due to us
for what we have done in the body.” A number of New Testament passages that indicate
yes there will be an assessment of our lives. Paul, for example, looks forward to receiving
the crown of righteousness. He knows he is justified, but he's looking
forward to receiving the crown of righteousness. I think one might say that every believer
may look forward to the crown of righteousness, but each crown may be differently shaped. I personally have found the parable that Jesus
tells very helpful in this respect. Here are these servants and their master gives
them a certain sum of money, and they all do different things with them. When they come to give account to the master,
there is a relationship between the master's assessment of their lives and the service
they rendered him. But say you've been given five miners, and
you made five more, then so what's the assessment. Well, he says “Well how about me making
you mayor of ten cities.” That's the language Jesus uses, putting people
in charge of ten cities. The only relationship between the minors and
the cities is the number. That's I think a little indication you need
to connect these two things. But what really strikes me is that the result
of the assessment is out of all proportion to any service the individual renders. So, I imagine standing, ourselves standing
before the judgment seat of Christ, so there's you and myself Nathan, and the Lord assesses
our lives. Then He puts you in charge of Adelaide and
Sydney, and Melbourne, and Canberra. You say, “Lord, what did I ever do? I mean I know I did great things for Ligonier,
but what did I ever do to deserve this?” I envision him, theologically at least, saying,
“Nathan will you never understand it is all entirely of my grace?” I would say especially to a Christian who
we can be very nervous and fearful about that final assessment, that we should always remember
that just as our justification is by grace, that assessment will also be by grace. If there's any moment of embarrassment I envision,
I think I might be inclined to say, “Lord, if I'd really understood this, I would have
wanted to serve you even better.” It's grace from beginning to end. But like the question about why then do we
pray, remember what Paul says, “I worked harder than everyone else, but it was the
grace of God working in me.” We never escape his graciousness in the way
in which we fulfill our responsibilities. You brought up one of the parables of Jesus,
and we have someone on our Ask Ligonier chat service now asking the question, “Why did
Jesus speak in parables?” Well He actually answers that question Himself,
or gives one answer to it when, remember when He tells the parable of the sower and the
soils, and his disciples don't get it. They come to Him and say what was that all
about, and He explains it to them. He says now these explanation, I'm giving
these explanations to you because you're my disciples, but one of the reasons I tell these
parables is because when I tell the parables, it actually makes clear whether people really
grasp the meaning of the kingdom or not. I don't know if it's said so often these days,
but there was a time when people constantly said to ministers you should tell more stories
like Jesus so that we can understand. But Jesus didn't tell these parables so much
so that people would understand, they were really test cases of whether they understood
the gospel that He preached in other words. When you think about it, that's the case. I mean think about the parable of the Pharisee
and the tax collector. We all know what the answer to the question
is which man went down justified, but that's only because we don't actually really grasp
the parable. Nobody listening to Jesus thought it would
be the tax collector who went away from the temple justified. I sometimes say to people well, just think
about these two men. You're an evangelical Christian, which of
these two men are you more like? Don't you say to God, “I thank you that
I'm not like other men. God I thank you that you've helped me to discipline
my life. I thank you that you've helped me to give
away money rather than hoard money.” When you begin to think of those things, actually
you sound more like the Pharisee, and that's very, very uncomfortable to discover that
even though you trust in Christ there's a Pharisee deep down inside you. Jesus tells these parables to probe inside
us to see whether we really understand the gospel, and whether the gospel is really beginning
to transform our lives. They're not just stories. They're weapons in spiritual warfare. We have Ashley on Facebook. She'd like to know, “How would you explain
the doctrine of election to an unbeliever?” Well I think the first thing I would say is
that is not the place to begin in talking to an unbeliever. The second thing is that since the reality
of election is grasped only by faith, that's what we really need to emphasize. I think the third thing, however, that I might
say is the one thing that the doctrine of election does is underline that we are utterly
helpless, and we need God to save us. I think it's true that people sing about that,
and yet when you ask them about it they say, “No, I don't really believe that.” I mean what's the most common song of a religious
or spiritual kind that people seem to sing with gusto in the United States. It's Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that
saved a wretch like me. But once those people stop singing wherever
they're singing it, on mass, and you say oh so you're a wretch are you. What the doctrine of election really says
is you have no capacity to save yourself, God needs to save you. In that sense, one of the things that the
doctrine of election may do when a non-Christian hears about it is bring out their rebellion
against God, bring out their sense of self-sufficiency, that then makes it possible to probe a little
and to show them that such is their spiritual condition that they're not capable of coming
to faith in Christ without God, first of all, loving them and drawing them to Himself. Sometimes people have said to me in response,
“Well, I choose to follow Jesus Christ whenever I want.” I say to them I'm your friend and I really
care about you, so that's okay, but would you just do it just now to prove to me that
you really can do it when you want. If you know people well enough to press that
a little on them, I think it may help them to realize they're absolutely powerless to
come to Christ themselves. Before we go to another lightning round, if
you're so willing, I want to ask you this question. Do you have any advice for new ministers in
the Bible Belt surrounded by charismatic influence? Surrounded by charismatic influence, you know
I think the one thing I would say in a local church situation is make sure your focus is
on the person, ministry, and work of Christ. I think, as we were saying earlier on an answer
to the question about the doctrines of grace, if folks really are the Lord's sheep, Jesus
assures us that they'll hear his voice. I think as we do that, those prejudices, and
often that focus on the Holy Spirit that actually diverts people away from what Christ has done
and who Christ is, in the Lord's people does begin to dissolve. They realize that actually they've been doing
almost the reverse of what Jesus says the Holy Spirit would come to do. Jesus says when He comes He will glorify me. What they've been doing is they've been taking
their eyes off Christ often and focusing on gifts, and their experience, and not on Christ
and all that He has done for us. One of the ways we can probe that is by saying
to people now let's talk about Christ, how much do you know about Christ. Tell me, give me the outline of Mark's gospel. Often if there is a kind of arrogance that
we've got these spiritual gifs, that really exposes that your interest in spiritual gifts
may actually hide a real ignorance of the basics of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are various ways in which one could
go about that, but I really would say help people to be refocused on Christ and then
other things will come out in the wash. So are you ready for another lightning round? Another lightning round, okay. Right. All right, so sixty seconds or less. Sixty seconds or less. Okay well we have Monica on YouTube. She's asking, “In this day where the gospel
is considered offensive and intolerant, how can I work without losing my job?” Well, that's a question you need to go and
ask your pastor or minister really. That's not the kind of question that can be
answered just in a blanket way. But one of the things I would say to people
is please read through the New Testament, and now moving from the gospels also to the
letters. You will find in the New Testament a phenomenal
amount of instruction about how to live in a world that's antagonistic to the gospel. If you think about it, the New Testament world
was a pre-Christian world. We are now living, certainly in the United
Kingdom, we are really living in a post-Christian world. People get angry when you speak about Christ
and the gospel. It's very similar, and therefore in a way
the exciting about it is that we're really living in parallel times to the New Testament. There's a lot of council in the New Testament
about how you live your life in a world like this. I Peter is a great illustration of that. I mean it's interesting to me, a friend told
me recently because he had been a servant of the Lord in a country that was very hostile
to the gospel, he said Christians there found I Peter was the book that spoke to them in
a very special way. The other book I would really encourage people
to get to know is the book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs is full of this is how
you negotiate living a godly life in a ungodly world. But if there are specific questions about
a particular job or vocation, then I think that's something to talk through with people
who know you locally. I do believe myself that certainly in the
United Kingdom, given the present trajectory, it will not be too long before there are certain
elements in important vocations that become closed to Christians. If they follow through that vocation, they
will be required by their employment clauses to engage in actions that Christians regard
as unbiblical and ungodly, and ultimately also inhuman. We have Luke on Facebook. Another good question for a lightning round,
but “What do you hope to see in ministers over the next twenty years? What advice would you give to them?” What do I hope to see? I think the answer to that has got to be,
first of all, that we see a new generation of ministers who love and trust Christ, and
who expound his word, who love his people. One of the things I think obviously we very
much would like to see is God raising up more and more ministers who have evangelistic gifts
in communicating the gospel in the present age. But having said that, I really mean evangelistic
gifts in the context of really having a good grasp of what the gospel is. That's a great need, and I hope that will
be the case twenty years. Matt on Facebook would like to know, “What
level of importance should church history have in his walk as a Christian?” Well, it's helpful at many different levels. First of all I think just at the ordinary
level these folks are your family as a Christian, and it really is terrific to get to know them. The second thing is that the more we know
about the past, the more we are preserved from repeating the mistakes of the past. The third thing is that we learn that even
our heroes had feet of clay. That's a very important lesson for us to learn
so that we don't engage in a kind of guru idolatry in our time. Then I think just speaking personally, I think
ordinary Christians can best learn about the history of the church by reading about different
figures in church history. That's always a challenge. It always involves instruction, and I think
also it does two things. One is it helps us to see that the gospel
works in any culture, and to read a variety of biographies really encourages you to believe
that. It also, and this goes back to one of the
earlier questions, it also shows you how Christians have negotiated an anti-Christian world in
a way that hasn't born much fruit. It's of tremendous value really, and it's
also very enjoyable. On our Ask Ligonier chat service, someone
is asking, “What is the greatest challenge in the church today?” You know I think the greatest challenge in
the church today is probably no different from any day. That is that if we really believe in God and
his sovereignty, we'll learn to pray together. I think one of the things that has always
burdened me is that in the life of the church it's the prayerlessness of the church that
stands out most of all. Also, I think another challenge in the church
is this, that in the Western world, especially in the Western world, life is becoming tremendously
dysfunctional. Families are becoming tremendously dysfunctional. We can moan and groan and lament that, but
one of the things I think that this oppresses upon us is that the church is God's family. I don't think it's always been true in the
history of the church that Christians have realized we are family here. One of the things I notice, certainly in our
own land, is that the more the church is the family of the heavenly Father and those relationships
of normality, and affection, and safety for the children, and youngsters with older people,
and vice versa is manifested in the church, no matter how much people may hate the particularities
of what we believe, when they encounter that they don't see that anywhere else. That's a super natural reality. I think it's one of the things that in the
future in churches will actually be the stepping stone to many people and many families becoming
Christians. I believe, for example, that young families
in our church that the days are coming now when there are peer groups as parents will
be turning to them and saying to them, “How do you do that because we really don't know
what we're doing or why we're doing it. We're all at sea. We don't know who to trust. We don't know how to bring our children. But you actually seem quite normal.” In the midst of a difficult time, I think
there are tremendous opportunities for us to serve Christ. We have Puritan Wise on Twitter who is asking,
“What book or resource would you recommend to a new believer?” To a new believer, again I think it depends
who they are. Some new believers are just not readers at
all, and so the most important thing is just to encourage them to read the scriptures. For that reason, you might want to find a
book for them that would give them simple help. The most obviously answer to that question
in this culture is Tabletalk may be the best book. A subscription to Tabletalk means that this
new Christian will be led on day by day in the study of scripture, and also be able to
read these short articles, there are short articles on different aspects of the Christian
faith and different doctrines. Sometimes when we ask the question what book,
maybe book will not be the answer. Something like Tabletalk might be. If they're intelligent students, one of the
books I would really recommend to them is R.C.'s book on “Everybody's a Theologian”
because at a very accessible level it gives a real overview of the whole of the Christian
gospel. I think it's a superb book for that purpose. But again, I think you just need to know the
individual, but those are two suggestions. Well I appreciate the segue with mentioning
Tabletalk. If you have never read Tabletalk magazine
before, you can try it free for three months. Simply visit trytabletalk.com. That's trytabletalk.com, and you can request
a free three month trial. I promise that this was not planned. You can also go to tabletalkmagazine.com,
and you can read the articles there as well. Well a final question in this lightning round
Dr. Ferguson, someone asking via our Ask Ligonier chat service, “What is the best way to describe
repentance to an unbeliever?” Well, I think actually the best way may be
to use an illustration that you think of either from their life or from your own life. I could think of just a ... The Hebrew word
for repentance means returning. The prodigal son is a story like that. He goes away from home, and he returns home. I've sometimes used an illustration ... One
night when we were in Glasgow, I was driving down the freeway on my way to church, and
going up the other direction I noticed the car of one of my elders. I knew it was his car because it was the only
elder who had a personalized number plate. I thought “why is he not going to church?” Then I realized I was actually heading in
the opposite direction. No matter how fast I traveled or how far I
went in that direction, I would never arrive at my proper destination, so I had to turn
around and get there. That's the word picture of repentance. It's turning round. It's understanding you've been facing away
from the Lord and you need to turn around in order to come and trust him. Repentance and faith are really two sides
of the same coin. Well a question related to repentance, and
by the way congratulations on surviving another lightning round. Okay, it's over is it? Yes it is. Okay good. But another question related to repentance
is, “Is suicide the unpardonable sin?” No, I think one can say absolutely definitely
that the unpardonable sin is not suicide. The reason for that is that Jesus speaks about
the unpardonable sin in a very particular context. It seems to be a combination of two things. One is a resistance, an ongoing settled resistance
to Jesus Christ that is simultaneously a rejection of the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit. I think another thing to say is that many
people become concerned that they have committed the sin against the Holy Spirit. The best thing to do in these situations is
... I had a friend I remember saying when somebody asked him about that. He said when someone comes to me and says,
“I think I've committed the sin against the Holy Spirit,” the first thing I say
is, “Well first of all let's talk about the forgivable sins.” They're coming and saying I've committed the
unforgivable sin, and the real test of whether they want forgiveness is actually well let's
talk about the forgivable sins. That really, I think, tests whether people
are actually wanting forgiveness. If they're not wanting forgiveness, then it's
not possible to bring comfort, and peace, and assurance to them. On the one hand, that I think helps us to
deal with the situation of people who say they have committed the unforgivable sin. But clearly in the gospels when Jesus speaks
about it, it's a permanent and irrevocable rejection of Jesus Christ, even although the
Holy Spirit has given every evidence to you that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It really is in that sense, it's not related
per se to suicide, although, often perhaps in particular in the medieval tradition, that
was actually what happened. We have Carrie on Twitter asking, “What
is the relationship between the Holy Spirit's work and our effort in sanctification?” That's a wee bit like the question of God's
sovereignty and our responsibility. I think that the best place to go for a one
sentence answer to that is Philippians 2:12-13 where Paul urges the Christians to work out
their salvation, which is not working up their salvation, but working out the salvation that
God has already worked in. He says, “Work out your salvation in fear
and trembling because it's God who is at work in you, both to will and to do of his good
pleasure.” We fulfill all the responsibilities that God
has given to us in his word as we trust in Jesus Christ and seek the help of the Holy
Spirit to fulfill that. There's an integrated relationship, but we
are never in a position where we can say, “Oh, that was the Holy Spirit,” and “Oh,
that was me,” because what we do is always the fruit of the spirit of the working in
us. Daniel on YouTube is asking, “If a new believer
becomes paralyzed or brain dead and never shows 'good works,' how do they know that
they are saved? How do we know that they are saved?” Well, I think if you unpack the question,
in a sense you've already said here is a new believer, somebody who's trusted in Christ. If they go through some traumatic accident
that makes us feel they are beyond our reach, then there's no reason that we should doubt
their faith any more than Jesus doubted the faith of the dying thief on the cross who
from one point of view did not have long to produce the good works that are the fruit
of faith. I think that, you know I think the second
thing to say is there are mysteries to human existence, and when that happens to somebody,
something as catastrophic as that, we should be able to trust that if they have trusted
in Jesus Christ, then they are resting in him. I sometimes think in this connection of the
23rd Psalm because something interesting happens in the 23rd Psalm. “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.” Then the dialogue changes, and when the psalmist
goes through the dark valley, the nature of the dialogue changes so that the person who
is reading the Psalm, or listening to the Psalm, is actually hearing the Psalmist not
giving testimony, but in this kind of hidden place where he's engaged in fellowship with
God, and where we are not able to see into that dark valley, but there's an intimation that
comes out of that dark valley that there is still fellowship with God. I think that it's actually really worth reading
through Psalm 23 to notice that because I don't think it is always noticed that you
are now there over hearing something that is beyond your sight and beyond your reach. I've sometimes thought of that in connection
with believers who have begun to suffer from dementia, and Alzheimer's, and those who have
no capacity to communicate to us what is happening in the engagement of their soul with God. I think that's worth really reflecting on. Rebecca on Twitter says, “Based on Acts
16:31, 'Believe you will be saved, you and your household,’ can we ask God to save
our families if we are believers?” Well we should, yes. Now, the Philippian jailer is one context. There you've got the head of the household
who has come to faith in Christ. I was brought up in a family that never went
to church. My mother and father never went to church
until after I was converted. I remember praying desperately the Lord would
work in his heart, and kind of complaining to Him after six months He didn't seem to
be answering my prayers. It was actually only years later when my folks,
my dad started coming with me, and then my mom as well. It was only years later I actually discovered
how He had been working in my family. I just didn't have the discernment to understand
what He was doing. As a young Christian, I actually didn't have
the patience to wait. I was so desperate that they would experience
what I had experienced. I think it is a great thing to understand
that what happened in the fall, one of the things the serpent was aiming at was the destruction
of the family. He did that fairly successfully, Genesis 3,
Adam and Eve falling out, and then Cain and Abel and the martyr. So it seems to me that what we should actually
expect, and therefore pray for, as God works the grace of salvation is, as Herman Bavinck
says that the rivers of grace will run through the dried up water beds of our fractured lives,
and that God will be pleased, and not just to work in us as individuals, but to work
in us as families. Among my mother's last words were, and I was
so desperate as a fifteen year old that she would know the Lord, and among her last words
were I am trusting the Lord. If this is a young person, do continue to
be patient and look to the Lord to restore your family to Christ. Joshua on Facebook would like to know, “How
would you relate the doctrine of adoption with the sacraments?” Well, that's a good question. What happens in baptism is we are baptized
into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I sometimes say the inner significance of
baptism is that it's a naming ceremony, and we are now being named for a new family. Because people sometimes find that difficult,
I say well at some point or another my mom and dad went along to some register's office
and the person said, “What is the child's name?” They said, “His name is Sinclair Buchanan
Ferguson.” That did nothing to me internally, absolutely. I didn't even know it was happening, but it
certainly didn't do anything to me internally. But that naming has in another sense determined
the whole of my life. It's who I am. In the same way, baptism is saying to either
an infant as that infant grows, you have been named for the family of God, or someone who
is baptized on profession of faith, you need to understand this is saying much more about
what God gives you than anything you have ever done, including coming to trust in Christ. This is telling you who you are. This is a naming ceremony. In that sense, baptism is a sacrament of our
adoption. It gives us the new name, and we then are
called to trust the significance of that new name and to live in fellowship with the Father. When it comes to the Lord's Supper, what does
that have to do with adoption? Well, it's the family meal, and it's Christ
as our elder brother. As it were saying to us, I know these are
small, this sip of wine, this piece of bread, but the really important thing about these
gifts is who gives it to you. This is a gift of your elder brother who has
died for you. This is a gift that I have brought to you
from the Father's heart of love. This is a gift that the Holy Spirit will seal
in your life, and He is the Spirit of adoption. Since both baptism and the Lord's Supper are
sacraments of Christ and sacraments of the gospel, they remind us much about the adopting
grace of God. Well before we go to a couple of final questions,
I just want to remind those that are watching live that if you live in the U.S. and Canada
and have never contacted Ligonier Ministries before, we'd love to send you a copy of Dr.
R.C. Sproul's book What Is Reformed Theology?. You can request your free copy by visiting
ligonier.org/reformed. That's ligonier.org/reformed. Well Dr. Ferguson, we have Damien here on
Facebook. He's asking, “Are all Christians called
to be missionaries and/or do the work of missionaries?” Well, we're all called to serve Jesus Christ. The word missionary just means somebody who
is sent. We're all sent, we're all drawn into Christ
and we're sent out by Christ to live in the world as witnesses to Christ. In that sense, wherever God places us we are
sent by Him with the gospel. If there is a broader question, then that's
the question of where do we do that and in what context do we do that. Now that's a question, again, that someone
would need to talk through with their elders, or with their minister, but the central thing
is that wherever we are, wherever God places us, he's sending us into the world to serve
Him and to bear witness to him. We do that with all of the gifts he's given
to us, and we do that also, and I think this is important, as part of the fellowship of
the church, so we're not lone wolf missionaries. A final question for you Dr. Ferguson. Mark on Facebook is asking, “What are the
pros and cons of formal church membership?” Well, thank you Mark and all the other people
who have asked questions. They've been great questions. The really important thing is that it's by
however a church does it, and churches do it in different ways, what we are actually
doing is saying I'm committing myself to you. I'm committing myself to the Lord, and I'm
committing myself to you. That brings together two really important
elements in the Christian life, our faith and trust in Christ and our life for him,
but also this, that we commit ourselves to all those in the fellowship to whom He has
committed Himself. Becoming a formal member of the church is
very, very important because if you don't do it, in a sense you're like a child in a
family who's saying well I don't think I really want to play with you all. When that happens, the parents know something's
gone wrong with the child. So actually not formally, or informally, however
a church does it, committing yourself to the church dishonors Christ, and I think grieves
the Holy Spirit. The other side of it is it's only when we
do that that elders and others will feel a responsibility for us. It's only when we give ourselves to their
shepherding of us that they are really able to shepherd us. It's also only in that context when people
know that we are committed to them. If God has given us gifts, then the space
will open up for us to exercise these gifts. There's no reason why the church should say,
“Well you're not committing yourself to us, but we really want you to exercise your
gifts,” because that would be a denial of our commitment to them, and our denial of
the love of the Lord Jesus in our hearts for them. It's really of supreme importance. Well Dr. Ferguson thank you so much for your
time this evening. Thank you Nathan, I've really enjoyed being
with you tonight. And thank you to all those that watched live,
and for all your questions. Remember, when you have biblical or theological
questions, you can always ask Ligonier. To learn all the ways that we can answer those
questions for you twenty-four hours a day, six days a week, you can visit ask.ligonier.org. Well I'm Nathan W. Bingham and I look forward
to seeing you next time.
