Along with thousands of others I was richly blessed by the time at Together for the Gospel 2016 this past week. I have not been a Christian very long, but long enough to see T4G hatch and bloom before my eyes. While there are a myriad of challenges before us we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that God has been extremely kind to this generation.
One of my favorite things to do is to talk about the sermons. I did this with the people that came with us from Emmaus and many of the friends I was privileged to visit with. Since being home I’ve been asked by a number of people about what I was impacted by in the preaching. Everything I heard was impactful, however, there were some that God used to make his Word “sing and sting” as D.A. Carson likes to say. In this post I simply want to highlight a few impactful aspects of some of these sermons.
When I listen to Mark Dever’s sermon on pastoral endurance I was like Jonathan dipping his staff in the honeycomb, my eyes became bright (1 Sam. 14.27). With a mature eye upon the cultural idol of success, Mark reminded pastors of the true nature and source of a minister’s success. What pastor was not encouraged to hear that God has responsibilities that we simply do not have? I was deeply impacted by watching what moved him. As a friend observed, “It wasn’t the 10,000 people that made Mark emotional, it was the recounting of the work of grace in his congregation.” Amen. (Dever’s Sermon)
Kevin DeYoung’s sermon could have gone on for a couple of hours and I wouldn’t have noticed. Kevin tackled the ever thorny topic of good works, good news, and assurance. With clarity, charity, and conviction DeYoung pastored us well. At times I found myself thinking that Kevin was taking us up a theological trail with hairpin turns—he could have fallen off on either side. Only he didn’t. As I talked with friends we kept being reminded of the need for personal piety, strong systematics, and knowledge of church history. So often people want to keep up to date with all of the current issues and trends. Kevin reminded us that many of the newest conflicts are just recycled old ones. We would do well to study the Bible, theology, and history. (DeYoung’s Sermon)
John MacArthur preaches for an hour and I walk away with two phrases that I will never forget. First, he asked pastors if they ever call their church to repent. We are very good about calling the world to repent but how about the church? Second, he showed how the path to apostasy (or at least unfaithfulness) travels along the postal route from Ephesus to Laodicea. And the key is losing your first love. I felt like MacArthur was just getting warmed up when he closed in prayer. But he did his work; like a pelting hailstorm I walked out of the Yum! Center with some sanctified divots. (MacArthur’s Sermon)
David Platt got under my skin. Seriously, his sermon on missions in the context of martyrdom deeply disturbed me. I mean this in a good and sanctified way. He recounted stories of many in church history who died for their faith in Christ. As David continued his homiletical power washing of my missional apathy, I was hit on a couple of levels. These martyrs were part of our family. Though we are separated chronologically we are not separated spiritually. If alive at that time I could well have been one to die for my faith. Secondly, I was reminded that the reason for the persecution was not simply for belief but for proclamation. Nobody kills people for what they think it is what they believe and proclaim. After the sermon I talked to a friend and he said, “Send or go brother. This is what we got to do.” When I woke up the next day I was still affected by David’s sermon. Sometimes we need a good sermon to exfoliate some of our flesh. (Platt’s Sermon coming soon)
There were other sermons and moments; I do not limit it to these. However, these are some of the items that struck me and I wanted to share. I praise God for his kindness to deliver his word to us through faithful heralds.
I’m grateful to the folks at T4G who put the sessions online so quickly. You may access them here.
