What a wonderful morning we had at T4G! 7,000 strong for worship at 8:00 am and then a message from Thabiti Anyabwile of FBC Of Grand Cayman. He talked about how wrongly engaging the culture adjusts the Gospel. He started by showing the difficulty in even defining what culture is. Then he asked at what level we should be engaging culture; at the pop culture level, ethnic culture level, political level, or the high (structure ideas) level. Then the big question. When we engage culture, how do we define success? Can we know when we have effected it, and more can we ever know the results of the effect? Beyond that, do we know how much it has effected us int he process?
He said that when we set out to engage culture, we may find the Gospel adjusted in the process. He gave Four P's to avoid an adjusted gospel:
I. Paul's Pastoral Purpose - Col. 1:24-2:5; To make the word fully know and to present each one mature in Christ.
Is this our burden and purpose?
II. Evangelistic Philosophy Drives Purpose - Col. 2:6-7; Having received the Gospel, walk in its wisdom and knowledge.
How do we help people walk in the wisdom and knowledge of the Gospel?
III. Evangelistic Practice flows from Purpose - Col. 2:16-23; Judge according to the Gospel Purpose not according to culture.
Was not the first Jew a Gentile?
The church is by definition multi-ethnic, but it is not multi-cultural. We are being pushed up into Christ and being made a distinct new culture (third race). every human culture is fundamentally apostate. We are saved from it into a new life, made by adoption God's people. God gives us a distinct culture as His people and citizens of His kingdom.
IV. Evangelistic Perspective - Col. 3:1-4; Set your minds on things above, on Christ, and have the mind of God, the perspective of glory.
The results are found in Col. 3:5-11; "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all."
After a long and much needed break (Thank You Mark Dever) We heard from another master, John MacArthur. He talked about the Theology of Sleep. That's right theology of sleep. He was responding to an attack against him by one in the emergent movement who accused him of being responsible, at least in part, for the 10's of thousands of people going to hell.
His response to that "neo-Finney Pelagian" attack was that he sleeps well. "I enjoy rest and refreshment because my trust is in God." He gave Mark 4:26-29 as the Magna-Carta on Evangelism. Jesus had large crowds but few real believers and this disturbed the disciples who understood the prophecy about the liberation of Israel and the international consequences of the reign of Messiah. Jesus' response was not to change his strategy (which is the response of the flesh) but to preach the Gospel (which is the response of the Spirit).
What was Jesus' evangelistic response? "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
He talked about John 3 where Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again to enter the kingdom and Nicodemus knew he could not be born himself but asked how he must climb back into the womb. He talked about The second thief on the cross next to Jesus who was converted without any visible human means while the first thief perished.
He then drew our attention to the idea in the Greek text that when the soil produces by itself the word is "automatically." This is the same Divine automatically used in Acts 12:10 when the jail doors open by itself.
The conclusion is that we are the farmer, responsible for casting out the seed of the Gospel, and it is the soil that makes the difference. That soil is the hearts of people , as we learned in Mark 4:1-9 where we see the six types of soil. Jesus connects the two pictures for us in His explanation of the parables in verses 10-25. There is no description of the sower. We are just casting seed. We are the means, now the power. The power is in the seed (Romans 10). I can sow the seed, but I CAN NOT CHANGE HEARTS.
So, there are four results:
1. We sow in Humility - (4:3) It is not us, but the soil that makes the difference 30, 60, 100 fold!
2. We sow in Obedience - (21-23) Because we do possess light, we do not cover it up. We are not the power, but we are the means.
3. We sow in Diligence - (24-25) We will be measured by the same standard as our casting. Our usefulness is measured by our seed sown, and our reward will be measured likewise.
4. We sow in Confidence - (30-34) In faith, our small seed produces exponential results, so that the nations (birds) may rest in it.
The session closed with a great panel discussion including those great men, Dever, Mohler and Mahaney.
Praise God it is time for me to go back for more. I will post the results tonight - Lord Willling!
Grace and Peace!
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