"It is an offense to our rational, truth revealing God; it is an offense to the true work of His Son; it is an offense to the true work of the Holy Spirit to use the names of God, or of Christ, or of the Holy Spirit in any mindless emotional orgy marked by irrational, sensual, and fleshly behavior produced by altered states of consciousness, peer pressure, heightened expectation or suggestibility. That is socio-psycho manipulation and mesmerizm and it is a prostitution of the glorious revelation of God taught clearly and powerfully to an eager, attentive, and controlled mind. What feeds sensual desires, pragmatically or ecstatically, cannot honor God. You have to preach the truth to the mind."
-John MacArthur
From the 1998 Grace to You message from 2 Timothy 3:1-4:4 "God's Word in Today's Church: Five Reasons I Teach the Bible"
What is pragmatism? Basically it is a philosophy that says that results determine meaning, truth, and value — what will work becomes a more important question than what is true. As Christians, we are called to trust what the Lord says, preach that message to others, and leave the results to Him. But many have set that aside. Seeking relevancy and success, they have welcomed the pragmatic approach and have received the proverbial Trojan horse.
Let me take a few minutes to explain a little of the history leading up to the current entrenchment of the pragmatic approach in the evangelical church and to show you why it isn’t as innocent as it looks.
"Our theology must be biblical before it can be systematic. We must start with a proper interpretation of Scripture and build our theology from there, not read into God's Word unwarranted presuppositions. Scripture is the only appropriate gauge by which we may ultimately measure the correctness of our doctrine."
-John MacArthur, Faith Works The Gospel According to the Apostles
"As we talk about current trends in evangelicalism, this is one of the most tragic trends. This new kind of preaching that is all built around human fulfillment. This new kind of evangelizing where the whole appeal to the unconverted person is personal fulfillment, that the Lord will personally fulfill your life. Because when that's the reason for you to come to Christ, then that becomes the reason you came to Christ, and then that becomes what you expect Christ to do for you, and you set people up for an utterly reverse process of sanctification.
"Well here I am Jesus, fulfill me. Here I am Jesus, satisfy me. Here I am Jesus, plug up all the holes in my life. Give me perfect relationships, bring me happiness, success..."
When in fact a proper attitude is-
"Lord save me for Jesus sake, I am not worthy of anything and somehow make my life useful to you for the advance of your kingdom, even if it costs me everything."
-John MacArthur, transcribed from 1996 GTY tape, "5 Keys to Greater Self Discipline"
"Many forces hinder our understanding of this basic truth: the goal of every Christian's life is to become more like Christ. Humanistic psychology is one such force. It teaches that man exists for his own satisfaction---he must have all his perceived needs and desires met to be happy. As a result, in many churches spiritual growth is often equated with ironing out life's problems and finding personal fulfillment.
That kind of mentality ultimately leads to a man-centered theology, which is diametrically opposed to what the Bible teaches. The goal of salvation and sanctification is that we be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). It's been well said that faith looks out instead of in, and the whole of life falls into line. The more you know Christ and focus on Him, the more the Spirit will make you like Him. But the more you focus on yourself, the more distracted you will be from the proper path."
-John MacArthur
He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:38
"A disciple is someone who confesses Christ as Lord and Savior, believes that God has raised Him from the dead, and declares that belief publicly through baptism. He is not some sort of 'upper-level' Christian.
You don't have to wait to become a disciple at some future time in your Christian life when you have reached a certain level of maturity. According to Matthew 28:19-20, a disciple is made at the moment of salvation.
Some claim that there are many Christians who are not disciples. They recall today's verse and say that in order to be a disciple, one has to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Christ. If one is not up to that level of commitment, they think, then he is not worthy to be Christ's disciple. But you cannot separate discipleship from conversion.
When someone is saved, he receives a submissive spirit that manifests itself by a willingness to make a public confession and obey whatever else Christ commands. Are you, then, a disciple?"
"As churches have tailored their Sunday services to suit the tastes of 'seekers,' for example, there is less and less emphasis on edifying the saints and more and more stress on entertaining unbelievers. Drama, music, comedy, and even forms of vaudeville have often replaced preaching in the order of service. That strips Christ of His headship over the church by removing His Word from its rightful place and thereby silencing His rule in the life of His people. In effect, it surrenders the headship of the church to unchurched seekers.
Furthermore, any time a preacher squelches or softens a hard truth of Scripture to make the message more palatable, that preacher has suppressed Christ's true message and thereby usurped His rightful authority as Lord over the church."
-John MacArthur, The Truth War
"We must return to the message God has called us to preach. We need to confront sin and call sinners to repentance---to a radical break from the love of sin and a seeking of the Lord's mercy. We must hold up Christ as Savior and Lord, the one who frees His people from the penalty and power of sin. That is, after all, the gospel He has called us to proclaim."
-John MacArthur
"Biblical ignorance within the church may well be deeper and more widespread than at any other time since the Protestant Reformation. If you doubt that, compare the typical sermon of today with a randomly chosen published sermon from any leading evangelical preacher prior to 1850. Also compare today's Christian literature with almost anything published by evangelical publishing houses a hundred years or more ago.
Bible teaching, even in the best of venues today, has been deliberately dumbed-down, made as broad and as shallow as possible, oversimplified, adapted to the lowest common denominator---and then tailored to appeal to people with short attention spans. Sermons are almost always brief, simplistic, overlaid with as many references to pop culture as possible, and laden with anecdotes and illustration. (Jokes and funny stories drawn from personal experience are favored over cross-references and analogies borrowed from Scripture itself.) Typical sermon topics are heavily weighted in favor of man-centered issues (such as personal relationships, successful living, self-esteem, how-to lists, and so on)---to the exclusion of the many Christ-exalting doctrinal themes of Scripture."
-John MacArthur, The Truth War
"Proof that ungodliness is rampant in evangelical circles is evident in megachurches that purposely cater to the preferences of the ungodly---furnishing entertainment and amusements in place of authentic worship and Bible teaching. More proof is found in a popular doctrinal system that deliberately removes the lordship of Christ from the Gospel proclamation to give a theological justification for 'carnal Christians'--- people who profess to believe in Christ but live ungodly lives."
-John MacArthur, The Truth War
“When a sinner wanders into the church and sits through skits, mimes, interpretive dances, and the like, and yet never hears a clear, convicting message about his dangerous and tenuous spiritual situation– that he is a depraved sinner headed for an eternal fire because he is a daily offense to a holy God– how can that be called successful? You could achieve the same level of success by sending a cancer patient to receive treatment from a group of children playing doctor. A sinner must understand the imminent danger he is in if he is ever to look to the Savior. What’s worse is when seeker-focused churches baptize the masses with their watered-down gospel, assuring them that positive decisions, feelings, or affirmations about Christ equal genuine conversion. There are now multitudes who are not authentic Christians identifying with the church. As you set your strategy for church ministry, you dare not overlook the primary means of church growth: the straightforward, Christ-centered proclamation of the unadulterated Word of God.”
-John MacArthur
"Repentance has always been the foundation of the biblical call to salvation. When Peter gave the gospel invitation at Pentecost, in the first public evangelism of the church era, repentance was at the heart of it. 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins' (Acts 2:38). No evangelism that omits the message of repentance can properly be called the gospel, for sinners cannot come to Jesus Christ apart from a radical change of heart, mind, and will. That demands a spiritual crisis leading to a complete turnaround and ultimately a wholesale transformation. It is the only kind of conversion Scripture recognizes."
-John MacArthur
"The goal of the church is not to provide an environment where unbelievers can just feel comfortable. It is to be a place where they can hear the truth and be convicted of their sins so they can be saved (Romans 10:13-17). Gently (2 Timothy 2:24-26), lovingly, graciously, yet firmly, unbelievers need to be confronted with the reality of their sin and God's gracious provision through Jesus Christ. Sin will never be suppressed by compromising with it."
-John MacArthur, Because the Time is Near pg. 69
DILUTED GOSPEL
"Listen to the typical gospel presentation nowadays. You will hear sinners entreated with words like, 'accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior'; 'ask Jesus into your heart'; 'invite Christ into your life'; or 'make a decision for Christ.' You may be so accustomed to hearing those phrases that it will surprise you to learn that none of them is based on Biblical terminology. They are the products of a diluted gospel."
—John MacArthur
JOHN PIPER QUOTES
"Gospel doctrine matters because the good news is so full and rich and wonderful that it must be opened like a treasure chest, and all its treasures brought out for the enjoyment of the world. Doctrine is the description of these treasures. Doctrine describes their true value and why they are so valuable. Doctrine guards the diamonds of the gospel from the pirates who don't like the diamonds but who make their living trading them for other stones. Doctrine polishes the old gems buried at the bottom of the chest. It puts the jewels of gospel truth in order on the scarlet tapestry of history so each is seen in its most beautiful place."
-John Piper, God is the Gospel
"Many people are willing to be God-centered as long as they feel that God is man-centered"
- John Piper
"One of the reasons we are not as Christ-centered and cross-saturated as we should be is that we have not realized that everything---everything good, and everything bad that God turns for the good of his redeemed children---was purchased by the death of Christ for us. We simply take life and breath and health and friends and everything for granted. We think it is ours by right. But the fact is that it is not ours by right. We are doubly undeserving of it."
-John Piper
"At these moments, when the trifling fog of life clears and I see what I am really on earth to do, I groan over the petty pursuits that waste so many lives--- and so much of mine. Just think of the magnitude of sports--- a whole section of the daily newspaper. But there is no section on God. Think of the endless resources for making your home and garden more comfortable and impressive. Think of how many tens of thousands of dollars you can spend to buy more car than you need. Think of the time and energy and conversation that go into entertainment and leisure and what we call 'fun stuff.' And add to that now the computer that artificially recreates the very games that are already so distant from reality; it is like a multi-layered dreamworld of insignificance expanding into nothingness."
-John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life
JAMES WHITE QUOTES
"If your heart is grieved when you see the Church turned into a place that's entertaining, a place where you have to try to trick people to come through the door with a dog and pony show, you are seeing the result of that theology. If you can't trust the Spirit of God to apply the gospel of Christ to the hearts of His elect people and bring them to salvation, you're gonna have to start reaching around for something else, and that's what we see today. Theology matters."
-James R. White
"The doctrine of irresistible grace is easily understood. Once we understand the condition of man in sin, that he is dead, enslaved to a corrupt nature, incapable of doing what is pleasing to God, we can fully understand the simple assertion that God must raise the dead sinner to life. That is all, really, the phrase means: it has nothing to do with sinners rebelling against God and 'resisting' Him in that way. It has nothing to do with the fact that Christians often resist God's grace in their lives when they sin against Him. No, irresistible grace means one thing: God raises dead sinners to life."
-James R. White from The Potter's Freedom
"If someone pays my bill, I no longer owe the money. The Arminian view leaves us with a contractual situation where Christ offers to pay the bill based upon the performance of the free act of faith. "
-James R. White from The Potter's Freedom
"It has become traditional in evangelical Protestantism to preach the cross as follows:
THE ATONEMENT: ACTUAL OR CONTRACTUAL
God so loved the world that He gave His Son to die upon the cross for every single individual in all the world. By exercising faith in Christ, you can receive the benefits of Christ's death on the cross. If you do not believe, Christ's death, even though offered in your place, will do you no good. You will still suffer for your sins. Christ truly wants to save you, if you will but believe.
UNDERSTANDING ATONEMENT
Is this the message preached by the Apostles? Is this the preaching of the cross of Christ? Calvinists say 'no,' and they do so because of the biblical doctrine of atonement. In its simplest terms the Reformed belief is this: Christ's death saves sinners. It does not make the salvation of sinners a mere possibility. It does not provide a theoretical atonement. It requires no additions, whether they be the meritorious works of men or the autonomous act of faith flowing from a 'free will.' Christ's death saves every single person that it was intended to save."
-James White, The Potter's Freedom pgs 229-230
JOHN STOTT QUOTES
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORSHIP AND PREACHING
"All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God, because it is the adoration of his Name. Therefore acceptable worship is impossible without preaching. For preaching is making known the Name of the Lord, and worship is praising the Name of the Lord made known. Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the Word are actually indispensable to it. The two cannot be divorced. Indeed, it is their unnatural divorce which account for the low level of so much contemporary worship.
Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor, and our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor. But when the Word of God is expounded in its fullness, and the congregation begin to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe and joyful wonder before his throne. It is preaching which accomplishes this, the proclamation of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God."
-John Stott, Between Two Worlds
WE WERE DEAD
"We must never think of salvation as a kind of transaction between God and us in which He contributes grace and we contribute faith. For we were dead and had to be quickened before we could believe."
-John R.W. Stott
"Our evangelical emphasis on the atonement is dangerous if we come to it too quickly. We learn to appreciate the access to God which Christ has won for us only after we have first seen God's inaccessibility to the sinner. We can cry 'hallelujah' with authenticity only after we have first cried 'woe is me, for I am lost'"
-John Stott
"Either we preach that human beings are rebels against God, under his judgement and lost, and that Christ crucified who bore their sin and curse is the only available savior, or we emphasize human potential and human ability with Christ brought in only to boost them, and with no necessity for the cross except to exhibit God's love and to inspire us to greater endeavor."
-John Stott
"Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor, and our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor."
-John Stott
OTHERS:
"The request for decision without doctrine is an offense to human beings, for it is little less than a mindless manipulation."
-John Stott
"Worship... rises or falls with our concept of God; that is why I do not believe in these half-converted cowboys who call God the Man Upstairs. I do not think they worship at all because their concept of God is unworthy of God and unworthy of them. And if there is one terrible disease in the Church of Christ, it is that we do not see God as great as He is. We're too familiar with God."
-A.W. Tozer
"Every day of our Christian experience should be a day of relating to God on the basis of His grace alone. Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace."
-Jerry Bridges
UNFAILING GRACE
"You can't fall, because grace won't fail. To fall again, you've got to have some failing grace."
-Elder D.J. Ward from this message given at the 2007 Sovereign Grace Bible Conference
"Were it not that God had chosen some,
heaven would have none."
-Elder D.J. Ward from this message given at the 2007 Sovereign Grace Bible Conference
"One of the most fearful things about sin is its power to harden the one who practices it. The deeper a man goes in sin, the less sin bothers him. . . . Every sinner finds himself now committing sins that he once despised, and the sins that he now despises, he will someday find himself committing.
It should shock us to remember that Adolph Hitler was once a little boy playing with toys just like other little boys. Man knows the beginning of sin, but no man has ever known the end of sin."
-Charles Leiter
Hard to Believe pt 1
15 years ago
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