This is my final day at the conference. The conference proper will end at lunchtime today, though attendees are encouraged to remain until after a communion service tomorrow afternoon. However, I will be spending the day in and around Los Angeles before heading to the airport to catch the redeye flight home so that I can celebrate my son's sixth birthday with him tomorrow.

I made my way into the worship center a little bit early today and took a couple of photographs of the daily "pastor rush," something that has become legend around this conference. I managed to get a couple of blurry but humorous photographs which I will post at some point.

Al Mohler will once again be teaching this morning under the banner of The Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

He began with an interesting quote which prec"Preparing to hear and preach the Word of God should have an amazing way of clearing the mind."

Christianity, we are told, must change or die according to Bishop Spong (and so many others). He wrote a book and suggested a twelve-point reformation of Christianity. He said that the twelve points were based on:

Theism is dead. Since it is dead, Jesus cannot be God. Creation and the Fall are myths that are now outdated. The virgin birth is out because it is tied to Christ's deity which is also out. The miracles are out because we no longer believe in the possibility that the supernatural can intrude. The cross must be dispensed with as the center of Christianity because the cross is a barbarian idea. There is no visible resurrection of the dead for Christ. The ascension cannot be translated into our age. There is no eternal, objective standard written in Scripture to judge our ethical behavior. Prayer is out because of the death of theism. The church must abandon guilt and any warning of fear of hell. We must embrace and celebrate all forms of human diversity, including, of course, sexual orientation.

The last couple of hundreds of years have seen heresy after heresy arrive and, in some way, be worked into some manner of what calls itself Christianity. There is a certain fatigue that comes to those who have to respond to form after form of these new heresies. It is a perpetual challenge to deal with all of this. We need some advice from someone who knows a whole lot more about this than we do.

2 Timothy 1:8-14. We need this word. We need this advice and need to hear Paul speak to Timothy as the Holy Spirit spoke through Paul.

A ministry of no shame: "Do not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me his prisoner." Paul was constantly in trouble with the Roman Empire and was in a position of maximum shame, yet wrote these words to Timothy. As long as the minister is faithful, shame is impossible. Paul carried the scars of his suffering as badges of honor. In Hebrews we learn that Christ is not ashamed to call as brothers those who suffer for Him. There is no shame between the Redeemer and the redeemed. Yet one of the reasons that people are always trying to change Christianity is premised on a belief that we should be ashamed of Christ and ashamed of biblical truth. You can be harassed and hurt and slandered, but you cannot be ashamed.

A ministry of no confusion: We see this in verses 9 to 11. "If you want to stay out of trouble, preach in generalities." If you stay on the near side of saying so close to something, people will never get close to being offended. Paul wanted Timothy to be clear about the gospel - to understand the clarify of the gospel. As believers we must be firm on both affirmations and denials. When Paul reasoned with the Athenians on Mars Hill, Paul both affirms and denies. He speaks not in generalities, but in specifics.

There are a few things we must see. First, the divine initiative. This is God's act, for He saves. We need to point this out! It is God who does this. It is Christ who is seeking and saving the lost. Second, divine purpose. God's purpose is grace. He created the world and now saves us to display His grace in the drama of redemption. Third, the divine timetable. This took place in eternity. We need to discover God's purpose in ages past, not only in the present lest we lose the scope of God's work. Fourth, a divine appointment. Paul was appointed for this purpose.

A ministry of no fear: We see this in verses 11 and 12. There is suffering in being in the ministry, at least in part, because of the scorn of the world but also in the hurt of seeing people reject the gospel. We are kept by the power of God and place our trust in Him.

A ministry of no compromise: Verses 13 and 14. There are two imperatives: follow and guard. The priority here is to guard this pattern - there is a pattern of sound words. Timothy's assignment is not to be creative. On the contrary, Paul told Timothy to follow the pattern of sound words he had heard from him! Paul simply told Timothy to preach what Paul had preached, and say what Paul had said. We have an old story to tell and it is not ours to change or modify. It is ours to guard. It calls for tenacity and wisdom and activity. All of this implies that the faith is something that is and will be and always has been. We contend for the same faith that was held by all of the great men of church history.

Where do we find this pattern of sound words? Look how Paul talks to Timothy about this pattern of sound words. 1 Timothy 1:15 - "The saying is trustworthy…" Paul is telling Timothy that is the type of wording he should use. This pattern continues throughout these two epistles. There is a right way to describe the work and person of Christ. We need to learn how to say it right! We learn this pattern through the words of Scripture, but also through creeds and confessions and preaching and hymns. The difference between orthodoxy and heresy is often so slight that we need to be sure we know the right words. "Getting it close isn't good enough." "Theological liberals are never out to destroy the church, but to save Christianity from itself."

The Emerging Church

A motivation: The motivation is to adapt Christianity to this age in a way that is relevant and missional. Their critique of modern Evangelicalism is almost entirely correct. The problem is what is behind that critique, which is, in the case of some but not all, the propositional character of revelation. Many leaders deny that this pattern of sound words is what is to be the sum and substance of our message. In many ways the Emerging Church embraces postmodernism and moral relativism.

Unfortunately at this point Dr. Mohler pretty well ran out of time so was not able to cover this topic in more detail. He went through this information very, very quickly. The obvious point of his examination of the Emergent Church was that it does not follow the biblical pattern of sound words.

This has been an encouraging week. It has been a powerful week. I have learned a lot this week, but perhaps more about service than anything else. I have seen young men, so often the type of people who are proud, joyfully traveling with older men in order to serve them. I have seen a whole church commit itself to the service of thousands of people who are strangers to them. I have met leaders within the North American church who shown not a shred of pride, but have asked me, "How can I serve you?" I have been shown such love and have seen countless examples of God's love in action. I have seen men who have become the message they study and preach. I have been honored to stand in the presence of so many humble, godly pastors, teachers and leaders, some who preach in the largest churches in the land and others who serve in tiny congregations you and I may never hear of. I have come to a deeper understanding of and love for this body of Christ.

This evening we have the great privilege of listening to the teaching ministry of R.C. Sproul. R.C. has long been a stalwart of the Evangelical church - one who is widely respected for his dedication to the cause of Christ. John MacArthur says, truly, "he is a hero to all of us." His contribution to the defense of the gospel and the spread of the truths of the gospel of grace are almost unparalleled in our day. I look forward to learning what God will have to say to us tonight through the preaching of the Word.

As his text Dr. Sproul read Romans 1:18-25. This afternoon Dr. MacArthur asked the panel during the question and answer session what is the most serious challenge facing the church. They all answered and then Al Mohler stated correctly that all of the other men's concerns had a deeper problem: the nature of truth. Many people are wondering whether there even is truth and whether it is worth searching for. This situation was, of course, predicted by Francis Schaeffer who wrote about "true truth."

Historically there have been times when people have questioned the very concept of truth. Prior to the Reformation, people waited for truth to be decreed to them by Rome. This was destroyed in the Reformation. In the seventeenth century, Descartes began searching for a foundational premise for truth - some truth that would be so foundational that do doubt it would be to affirm it. Descartes came up with "I think, therefore I am."

This evening Dr. Sproul will get back to foundational truth. He will take us to one of the most foundational truths taught by the Scriptures, one that is so important we ignore it to our everlasting peril and the peril of the sheep pastors are called to serve.

Verse seventeen is almost universally regarded to be the thematic verse of the entire epistle. Paul spends the rest of the letter expounding and explaining this righteousness of God. He speaks about a revelation of the righteousness of God - the righteousness that He makes available to us by faith. Paul instantly departs from this positive note and, in verse eighteen, speaks about another revelation and this is the one we will look at tonight. "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." The wrath of God is spectacularly unpopular and pastors seem to seek to shield their people from having to contemplate such a negative, pessimistic idea as the wrath of God.

At the time of the Great Awakening the theologians and pastors developed a theology of wrath so that the preaching of this period was defined by speaking of the depravity of man and the wrath of God against man. The nineteenth century gave us liberalism which denied the depravity of man and thus the wrath of God. The twentieth century turned against the optimism of this and again took seriously the wrath of God, but said that this was merely an expression of the demonic within the being of God - the "shadow side" of God.

Paul is talking about a disclosure that comes from God and it is the disclosure of wrath. We should notice here the word Paul uses for wrath. This word, when transliterated into English, becomes "orgy." The connection to wrath is the emphasis on unbridled passion. What God is saying here is that His wrath is not a mere disturbance, not a slight displeasure, but an absolute fury. God is livid. He is, in a supernatural way, irate about something. When the Scripture tells us God is this angry about something, we need to listen up and learn what it is that can possibly provoke this loving, longsuffering deity to such anger.

We do not need to speculate because God gives us the answer. God's wrath is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. God's anger is not irrational. He is not manifesting His rage in an unjust manner. This is righteous indignation because the object of His anger and wrath is ungodliness and unrighteousness. In our culture, the prevailing suggestion towards God is that if He is really loving and good there can be no room for wrath. "But if God is really righteous and sin is really sin, God cannot not be angry." A judge who is not angry at evil is not good. God's wrath is not arbitrary or whimsical or irrational.

Paul mentions two things: ungodliness and unrighteousness. We could believe that Paul is speaking of two distinct sins, but this is not the case. It is almost universally agreed that Paul is expressing a single sin that is, by its wickedness, is both unrighteous and ungodly. It is both a blasphemous and unethical response. So what sin is it that is both ungodly and unrighteous that has so provoked God's anger?

Paul says, "…who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." There is the sin - the universal sin. The sin that every human being in the world commits. The force of the verb translated "suppress" is that there is a truth God reveals to the whole world and that this truth is willfully suppressed and pushed down by all human beings. All human beings will not have God in their thinking. It is like a giant spring or coil. It takes all of my effort to push down, but I am determined to push it down and I have to work to keep it down, because if I take the pressure off, it will spring right back at me, right in my face. God hates it when people suppress truth!

The most fundamental basis of human guilt for which the gospel is the only remedy is the universal sin of fallen humanity of suppressing the truth of God.

"For what may be known of God is manifest in them." When God speaks of the revelation of Himself to every human being, He is not talking about a vague, dim, obscure, hidden, cloudy idea. What God is saying to us is that His revelation of Himself is clear, manifest. So clear, so manifest you can't possibly miss it. This text is the death blow to all agnosticism. Paul is saying that this revelation is clear, so we cannot blame God for not making Himself more clear. No one will be able to say on the last day that "the student didn't learn because the teacher didn't teach."

"Since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen." There are no contradictions in the Bible, but there are paradoxes. In this verse we see that God's invisible attributes are clearly seen. How is this possible? That clear, manifest revelation makes itself know through the things that are made. I can't see God, but I see the works of His hands, for the heavens declare His glory and the firmament shows forth His excellence. His invisible attributes are clearly known and revealed through the visible.

Every person on the planet knows that God exists, that He is eternal, that He is immutable, that He is self-existent, and that He is holy. This leaves people without excuse. What does Paul have in mind? What excuse does he anticipate? What excuse does every sinner harbor in his heart that he will use on the day of judgment? "If only I had known…" "I had no way of knowing…" Every unrepentant sinner is depending on using the excuse of ignorance to get them by. But Paul says that the clarity of God's self-disclosure to every human being, leaves every human being without excuse.

Now we are getting to this foundational premise. "Because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were they thankful…" When we contemplate the sinfulness of our humanity and ask what it is about our corruption that is so hateful to God, the foundational sin of the human race, is the sin of idolatry. It is there in the beginning. It is in the hearts of all those who stem from Adam's sinful race. It is not that God is mad that they shut out this revelation of God, or that they shut out the light. The sin is that the light got through so that despite knowing God, they refused to acknowledge God. The fundamental sin is the refusal to acknowledge what we know to be true. It's not that we don't know God - it's that we don't honor Him as God! We honor Him, not as God, but in the way we want to honor Him. We honor Him as a bird, a totem pole, a golden calf, or some other idol.

"Their foolish hearts were darkened…" Do you ever wonder why it is that many of history's titanic intellects managed to come to radically different conclusions? The answer is simple: If you begin your system of thought by refusing to acknowledge what you know to be true - if you start with a lie - the more brilliant and consistent you are in following that premise, the further from truth you will go.

"Professing to be wise, they became foolish…" It is the fool that says in his heart "there is no God." In biblical categories, foolishness is not a question of intelligence but of one of a mind that is darkened and that embraces a lie. He claims wisdom despite being foolish. What can be more foolish than to have a clear manifestation of God and exchange that truth for a lie?

The essence of idolatry is found in this concept of an exchange, a swap, a trade - trading one thing for another. You're trading the glory of the unchanging, holy, omnipotent God for the glory of a bird or a totem pole. No wonder the prophets made fun of the pagans of their day! This is what we do, though perhaps in a more sophisticated way. We use our minds to cut away God's righteousness, holiness, sovereignty, and wrath, and we give people what they want to hear.

"Our propensity for idolatry is the most foundational, basic sin of the human heart. It is not instantly cured by conversion. There is nobody who has a perfectly biblical understanding of God, and to whatever degree we have discounted the biblical God, we have replaced God with a creation of our own imagination." If you are in ministry and are not proclaiming the whole counsel of God, and are thus hiding the truths of God, you are exposing yourself to the fury of God.

"What our churches need more than anything else is worship. Worship where the hearts and souls of the people are lifted in a spirit of reverence and awe as they contemplate all that God is. Nothing less will do."

Amen.

Over the lunch break this afternoon I elected not to go anywhere off-campus, but to just sit and relax. This was much needed and was very rewarding. Near the end of this time I was privileged to be given a tour of the seminary library by the librarian, Dennis Swanson. Of particular interest was a room containing a multitude of old, valuable Bibles and other books. The library even has a first edition of John Calvin's Institutes in English. I love books, and especially old books, so was glad to be able to poke around and see the library's impressive collection.

This afternoon we have only one session - a question and answer period which will see John MacArthur asking questions of the various keynote speakers who have blessed us with their teaching this week.

Looking at the five men at the front, sitting in their black suits, MacArthur remarked that this could be a funeral and they could be the pallbearers. He went on to ask questions of Mark Dever, R.C. Sproul, Al Mohler and Steve Lawson: questions about preaching, theology, mentorship, and contemporary issues in the church. This format does not lend itself to blogging so I opted not to write about it. Though I did not and really could not adequately write about it, it was a funny, powerful, positive time. If you are able to get ahold of a recording of this session, you will benefit from it, and particularly so if you are a pastor.

This morning finds us at the fifth and final seminar. I have chosen to attend one led by Carey Hardy, which he has entitled How to Raise a Pharisee: Avoiding legalism in the home. Carey is senior executive pastor at Grace Church and an adjunct professor at The Masters College and Seminary.

The pharisees were the original legalists. Pharisees means separated ones and this is something in which they took great pride. They separated themselves both literally and figuratively and really did believe that their priorities were close to the heart of God. They desired to live out Gods Word, protect it and propagate it. They desperately wanted to protect Gods Word and did this by adding to it and building fences about it. These helpful additions soon became absolutely essential so that Gods laws were no longer enough. They developed another 365 rules that were passed orally from generation to generation. This law eventually became more important to them than the Law of God.

We have pharisees today. There are some who add their own rules and regulations and come to believe that these are equal to the Word of God. Legalists take away personal responsibility for thinking and living by conscience. They create rules and then judge themselves and others by them. Jesus described these men as yeast and leaven, because the yeast of the pharisees was hypocrisy. There was confusion that they caused among the people about what God wanted and expected. It is just as easy for a believer today to be confused by these spreading gangrene of legalism.

There is not a problem in traditions or local distinctions. But there is something wrong when we present personal preferences as eternal truth. So we have the pharisees who are judgmental, prideful and hypocritical.

Hardy has taken notice of practices that, if practiced, will produce pharisees. This is a twelve-step program to increase the probability of raising a pharisee. They all relate to one another and sometimes the line of distinction is not entirely clear.

1. Majoring on external instead of internal issues: The Jews were thinking externally about the Law of God and Christ began to change their thinking to show that God is interested in the heart - in the inside. Parents need to avoid focusing only on the external without providing biblical exhortation and foundation. Adherence to external regulations in the home cannot be equated with a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Parents can be deluded into thinking their children are saved simply by seeing external conformity in their lives. Apparent change on the outside does not necessarily indicate true, lasting internal change.
2. Excessive control: This points to the lack of balance between discipline and instruction. There may be too many rules or restrictions or rules that are pointless, harsh, too strict. There are some parents who are walking minus signs. This involves excessive control in attempting to micro-manage a family, telling a child everything he can and cannot do. We need to find ways of saying yes to our children and allowing them to pursue their dreams and interests. Enter into their world and dont be so quick to point out how impossible or illogical something is. Make your first response positive. Be known as somebody who will listen and this means you need to think long-term. Fads come and go, so dont get too concerned about every fad that comes and go with your child. Many parents become overly controlling on issues of preference and then never allow their children to make decisions on their own.
3. Over-reacting to failure: That includes not allowing the freedom to fail. Youre treating failure as if its the end of the world. Maximizing instead of minimizing it. Failure is an amazing opportunity for teaching. It is the childrens failures that provide the best opportunities to share the gospel and provide the most teachable moments. Over-reacting to failure is performance-based love. Perfectionism - expecting perfection from our children - is not a good thing. It is not the same as the pursuit of excellence.
4. Being unforgiving: This is that grouchy, irritable parent, frustrated over everything that goes wrong, who creates an oppressive, negative atmosphere in the home. There is no visible end to the consequences for sinful choices. Sin must be dealt with, but there has to be an end to the consequences. An unforgiving parent does not want to end the consequences but wants to remain grumpy and mean. Deal with the issue, and be over it. We have to teach what forgiveness looks like. The home is where encouragement and support needs to flourish. If you refuse to forgive your children, you are teaching them to be unforgiving.
5. Elevating preference over biblical principles: Some parents may emphasize personal preferences over what the Bible clearly teaches. A child is expected to obey a house rule (for example, when a child is to do homework or when he may have a snack), but these are not to be confused with Scriptural truth. We need rules based on preference, but do not try to make your child believe that these are biblical rules. Admit that we are doing these things because this is the way dad and mom want to do it.
6. Unnecessary separatism: This has become a huge problem with many homeschooling families. Hardy homeschooled his children when they were young, so he loves and affirms homeschooling. But he dislikes when some people attempt to make a biblical case for homeschooling but there is not one. What he has seen is some families pulling away from other families because the parents do not want their children associating with children who are not homeschooling. But separatism is no guarantee that children will grow to respect their parents or love the Lord. Children must be involved with other children for this is important to their development. Parents need to exercise some care and discernment in allowing their children to be around others, but it is important that they learn how to relate to other children. We must also be careful to interact with people within our neighborhoods and make sure that we are not so separatistic that we ignore the mission fields in our own neighborhoods.
7. Judging others: (especially other families). Be judgmental about the things that are going on at church: roast a pastor for Sunday lunch. A constant rain of criticism will develop a judgmental spirit in them. You usually judge others by your personal convictions and preferences rather than Scripture.
8. Being a fighter (or being belligerent): To this kind of parent, every issue is a fighting issue. Every issue is worth fighting for in church, home and the world. Kids are taught what to fight against, but not what they fight for. They are known for being only negative.
9. Showing favoritism: (of one child or another child). It shows that a parent only likes to spend time with people who are like them. These leads back to separatism. When you prefer one child over another, you harm them both.
10. No humor: You could also say, no fun. A parent needs to know how not to take himself so seriously, and sometimes not to take things in the world so seriously. Let your hair down. We need to teach our children to have a good sense of humor, but not crass humor. We need to make the home a place that is fun and where the children like to be.
11. Building up their self-esteem: Nowhere in the Bible do you find the issue of self-esteem which is a worldly, psychological concept. Nowhere are you taught to love yourself. Our problem is that we love ourselves too much! This encourages children to focus on self and to build-up self. In encourages selfishness. We also need to avoid modeling a self-focus and we may do this by believing that our children exist primarily to make us happy. Finally, dont use your child to bring glory to yourself.
12. A lack of genuine spirituality yourself: Living hypocritically teaches hypocrisy. There has to be some level of pursuing Christ that they see in the parents. Our children should see us reading the Bible and praying in our quiet times. They should see and know the genuineness of our faith. Legalism in your life is a cheap substitute for spirituality

As a final exhortation, Hardy challenged us to keep parenting simple. Discipline children when they disobey and give them lots of love. Live life with and before your children.

There is a little newsletter given out here at the conference called (not too originally) The Conference Chronicle. This morning it listed some "food facts." Apparently thus far the conference attendees have gone through 835 gallons of coffee (0 of which can be attributed to me), 6,580 donuts (1 2 of which were consumed by yours truly), 10,000 hard boiled eggs and 750 pounds of potatoes, which were used in a potato salad they will be serving at lunch today. That's a lot of food. Of course it is raining today so the "weather permitting" lunch they offer at this conference may not be permitted.

This morning's session features Steve Lawson, who began with an emotional expression of gratitude towards the Shepherd's Conference and all that it means to the pastors who attend. "For me, this is the one time in the year when everything seems right." Dr. Lawson has been attending this conference each year for the past twenty three years and believes it to be a life-changing time.

His text for this morning will be Nehemiah 8: 1-12. Every great season of Reformation in the history of the church and every hour of spiritual awakening has been a time that ushered in a time of biblical preaching. The only true Reformation is that which emanates from the Word of God. This was certainly the case in the Reformation which saw the recovery of biblical, expository preaching. This was the case in the Puritan era which saw the restoration of biblical preaching in England and Scotland. This was the case with the Great Awakening and the preaching of Whitefield and Edwards. Every great revival and true awakening has been ushered in by a recovery of biblical preaching. Every true progress in church history is conditioned by a new and deep study of the Scriptures. And this is what is so desperately needed today: a recovery not only of preaching, but of biblical, expository preaching.

These verses from Nehemiah provide a case for biblical preaching.

Call for biblical preaching: This passage begins where every great movement must: with a cry for biblical preaching. A huge crowd gathered as one, intent on one purpose - to make their plea to cry out to the leaders to bring to them the Word of God. This cry is coming from the pew, from the people, from the crowd. They are crying out to bring the book. They had been in captivity for seventy years and were thirsty for the reading and exposition of the Word.

Ezra was the man chosen to do this. God had been preparing him for fourteen years (see Ezra 7:10). Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of God. He was a man of the book who dug out the riches and truths of the Scriptures. This is where any meaningful ministry begins - digging out a text alone with the Word of God. This revival began with Ezra alone with God standing before a scroll. When God calls you to be a pastor, He gives you an insatiable appetite to dig into a text. God will make you a student of the Word. The pastor must be a walking Bible. "We have nothing to say apart from the living Word of God."

Ezra not only studied it, but lived it - practiced it. He became a living epistle. Ezra was building the Word of God into his life with strenuous, active, aggressive effort. He was an incarnation of the book he was studying.

Ezra also taught it. He instructed others in this Word. There was an edge in his ministry where he did more than only lay out information. He stood between the ancient world and the people of his day and allowed the Word of God to flow through him. He brought forth no new truth, but was merely an echo of the Word of God.

And so we see that the revival in Nehemiah was truly begun fourteen years earlier as Ezra learned, studied, applied and taught the Word so that he was a walking Bible. It was this man that they called for. He had long been made for this hour. Ezra was prepared for the cry of the people.

The people in your congregation who know God and love God are crying out to the pastor, "Bring the book! Bring it to me!" Pastors all over this country, rather than hearing the cry of their people, are bringing things other than the Bible. They head out to interview unbelievers and bring what they want! (At this point many of the pastors in the crowd were getting awfully excited, crying out with "Amen!" and "Whoooo!").

Characteristics of biblical preaching: Ezra gave the people a particular type of preaching - the old kind of preaching.

Here are five non-negotiables - five indispensable characteristics of biblical preaching:

1. A biblical reading: A reading of the Word of God. Ezra read from the Law, beginning his exposition of the Word of God with a reading of the Word. He simply read the book, knowing that the Bible is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword. This word "read" means "to cry out." He called aloud, roared, proclaimed the Word. This is how a pastor begins the exposition of the Word of God in which the pastor makes a statement that everything that is said will originate from this text of Scripture. "I will be the mouthpiece of this passage of Scripture to this congregation."

2. A lengthy treatment: Ezra read from early morning until mid-day. All the people, despite the length, were attentive to the Word of God. "This was not a sermonette for Christianettes." This was an adult standing in the pulpit, preaching the Word of God using adult language. Through this passage we see that there is to be a full treatment of the Word of God. There needs to be a full disclosure of the truth of the passage and a connectedness fo their lives.

3. An authoritative posture: Ezra stood at a wooden podium. There is an authoritative posture - he is not sitting on a stool sharing. He is not walking around gabbing. He is standing at a pulpit because the Word of God is on the pulpit. Ezra mounted the platform in order to be seen and to be heard. You cannot get the Bible open soon enough when you walk to the pulpit. That Ezra stood above the people was intentional for there was a transcendence about this. It showed the superiority of the Word of God and the position of the people.

4. A God-exalting thrust: Ezra blessed the Lord and there was an unveiling of the Word of God. We are to be exaltational expositors. Ezra blessed the Lord and the people cried out "Amen!" bowing low before God. Expositional preaching should be elevating God and lowering man. The more you lower God and raise man, you are trivializing the grace of God. But when God is put in His rightful place, you are magnifying the grace of God.

5. An precise explanation: Until you have given the true meaning of the text, you have not given the text. Christianity is concerned primarily with the mind, not with feelings or relationships, as important as those may be. It is all about truth - God's objective revelation interpreted rationally. A pastor explains the text and gives the author's intent for that text. He explains the text, exhorts with it, and moves on to the next text.

Consequences of biblical preaching: What is the effect of this type of preaching? It may take many years. Some preachers are never privileged to see this, but God requires faithfulness to this preaching.

Repentance: All the people were weeping when they heard the Words of the Law. The Word of God is a mirror that allows ourselves to see who we are as we are. We see ourselves as God sees us. The preaching of the Word removes self-deception so that we see our sin and our need for grace. As they came under this revelation, the people began to weep and mourn as sorrow and brokenness began to come. This always accompanies genuine revival.

Rejoicing: The people celebrated and rejoiced. Ezra told them not to mourn any longer, but to go forth rejoicing. There had been enough weeping over their sin, and a supernatural joy began to flood their souls because their hearts had been cleansed by the preaching of the Word of God.

The passage concludes in verse 12 with telling the reader that the people understood the words which had been made known to them. This is the goal, the apex, of expositional preaching. Ezra had opened the Word of God and made it known to them.

If you are a pastor you absolutely must listen to this message. Never mind the books and brunches and friends and fellowship. It is this type of message that pastors come here, to the Shepherd's Conference, to hear. May God use this message, and others like it, to build the church for His glory.

Tim meets Phil:

Tim meets C.J.:

Tim meets Tommy:

Tim also met Mark Dever today but forgot to ask for a photograph. Maybe next time.

That's it! From now on I'm deciding where we eat for dinner. We ended up going to a great little deli that was supposed to be nearby. It was not exactly nearby and after eating what was admittedly a nice meal, we raced back across town, or attempted to race, through L.A. traffic. We made it with about a minute to spare. I'm sure Dr. Mohler would not have begun his speech tonight without me present, so it's a good thing we made it when we did! After all, what's a conference without liveblogging?

Today has been a long and somewhat frazzled day. I've been on the go, it seems, since first thing this morning. I think that tomorrow I will try to spend a little bit more time by myself during the breaks in the action here, reflecting on what is happening and how I can attempt to let others understand the atmosphere of this conference. To this point, though, the feedback on my efforts here have been encouraging to myself and, I trust, to the conference organizers. Still, if I were to slow down a little bit during those breaks I think there is far more I could do.

Quite a few people asked me whether I had access to John MacArthur's speech last night since I seemed to have typed quite a large quantity of that particular sermon. C.J. Mahaney told me today that he, Al Mohler and Mark Dever were hanging out last night, reading the summary, and wondering the same thing. I did not have prior access to it. And, as you may know, MacArthur does not create a prior transcript of his sermons, or not one that would be legible to anyone but himself! I just typed a lot and typed quickly. I found the sermon incredibly engaging and desired to capture as much of it as I could. I honestly believe that at some point in the future, when people gather a compilation of John MacArthur's greatest sermons, that one may well be included.

Turning to an unrelated item, I will have a few photographs to share tonight or tomorrow. They should be good for a laugh.

And now, without any further ado, we move on to Albert Mohler's speech for this evening. This will mark the first time I have sat under Dr. Mohler's teaching and I am looking forward to it. The session begins with John MacArthur and Mark Dever taking a moment to honor (and roast) Dr. Mohler in gratitude of his contribution to the church.

And with a hug for Mark, he took the stage, exclaiming "One ought not to have that done before one preaches."

He invited us to look around and to enjoy seeing the site of thousands of men whose are tasking with caring for the church of God. He invited the pastors to enjoy being cared for. "Have you ever been cared for better anywhere in your life than here?," he asked. People come here expecting to be fed by the Word of God and as they do so, Grace Community Church takes great care of them.

Right here, taking place, in these days and these hours, is one of the most important events that can take place. It is a deeply subversive activity. If the world really understood what we are plotting, they would hit us with everything they have. Our ambition is total world domination. Not militarily, but evangelistically for the cause of the glory of Christ. And yet we need to admit that there are some within the institutional church that are equally uncomfortable with this. We are talking about things that they have not thought about for a long time. The plan for the recovery of the church of God has only one plan: the preaching of the Word of God. We are living in an age when the ministry is so often seen as a profession, but then we show up with mere words. A message. A sermon. Some would prefer that we showed up with something more impressive or showed up more directly. That is why our culture is drawn to the therapeutic - it is indirect and subjective. Here is Dr. Mohler's counselling method: What is your problem? What would God have you to do about it? Why are we having this conversation?

Have you ever considered that pastors answer to a job description that has not changed in two thousand years? If you want a preacher, you want one who is doing it just as it was done two millennia ago. Paul had a rather restrictive understanding of the ministry. His task was simply the preaching of the Word.

Dr. Mohler's text for tonight will be Colossians 1:24 and following where Paul gives the eternal, unchanging job description for the preacher. This book was written in a situation similar to what we find in the church today. Paul was a minister of the of the Word and a servant of the gospel. Yet preachers and pastors today so often do not see themselves as servants of the Word.

There are six facets to how Paul describes the ministry in these verses.

A ministry of suffering: We live in an age that largely sets itself to avoid all suffering. If it cannot be avoided with anesthetize it. We see pain and suffering as things that are artificial and must be overcome. That Paul rejoiced in his sufferings is incomprehensible to us, but it is real. He takes personal ownership of his sufferings because he takes joy in them as it allows him to share in Christ's sufferings. Ministers are called to suffer, but this is set against the backdrop of being joint heirs with Christ, and these sufferings are nothing compared to the glories that will be revealed. A pastor should, then, bear the marks of suffering with joy.

A stewardship of mysteries: We are stewards of the mysteries of God. That is the ministry to which we have been called: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. What are these mysteries? They are strange because they are not secret, but open. They are mysterious only to those who will not see. We have the honor of preaching the message that was hidden but now is revealed. It is a public secret. Christianity is not a mystery cult and our job is not to set a boundary over who may know this mysterious truth. Rather, our task is to make this mystery widely known - to fulfill the preaching of the Word of God. The task of the preacher is not to strategize, thinking that we can target only those who we feel will believe. We are to preach publically and openly.

A destiny of glory: There is an end. Our preaching has a purpose. Our horizon is eternity. We should never meet together as Gentile believers without realizing how counter-intuitive it is that God would include us as He has in the display of His glory. Yet we should see that this is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. In the background is the contrast between the glory of men and the glory of God. And somehow He increases His glory by including the Gentiles in the number of the elect.

A proclamation of wisdom: The only wisdom that matters is the wisdom of God, the wisdom of the gospel. It is two-step: warning and teaching. A task of the preacher is to warn and admonish - hardly popular tasks in our day. Yet these are tasks that are necessary. We cannot avoid dealing with propositional truth. "Truth is more than propositional, but never less than propositional." We are to warn and teach everyone. We have only one tool in our executive toolbox: preaching - expositional, expository, biblical preaching.

A presentation to maturity: Paul's goal is to present every believer mature in Christ. Pastors need to have some plan to make this happen and there is only one plan: the preaching of the Word of God. This is about as revolutionary an assignment as we can imagine. The cause of immaturity in the church is a lack of this type of preaching.

A struggle with energy: No one said this would be easy, but Paul says, "I toil, struggling with all His energy." While we may tire or run out of steam, Christ never will. All the hours of struggle, study, preparation and preaching are toil. Yet the pastor toils with Christ's own energy as He powerfully works within the preacher of the Word. Some have come to this conference concerned that they are not up to this task. Dr. Mohler affirms that no one is up to this task. It is Christ's strength in and through us, for the sake of the church, that propels the pastor.

Failure at the task of preaching is too terrible to contemplate. But do we know how serious this is? Surely God could have found a better way to bring forth the Word of God! But no, for God has made the pastor a steward of mysteries and these mysteries must be proclaimed to the church and to the world for the glory of God.

As we close tonight, I would like to ask if you would pray for my family. My wife tells me that my children are struggling a little bit with my absence, and they are being fussy and weepy. They are unaccustomed to having me away for days at a time. If you would hold them up in prayer, asking that God would comfort them, I would appreciate it. And even more so, Aileen would appreciate it.

Phil, evidently enjoying a conversation, showed up late for this seminar. It took a tap on the shoulder from his wife to get him down to this basement room. Phil, it turns out, likes to talk. Who knew?

This session is called "Dead Right Part 2." Part 1 was a seminar from last year's conference and Phil gave what he felt was a good critique of the fundamentalist movement. It turned out that it was not very well-received in some circles and generated a great deal of controversy. So this is a whole new seminar and not only a reworked version of last year's material.

He will begin with a review on the discussion so far. But first, a few definitions:

• Fundamentalist: "An Evangelical who is willing to contend earnestly for the essential truth of the gospel and is unwilling to enter into an alliance with anyone who denies an essential truth of the gospel." The term has been co-opted and now has primarily negative connotations for the vast majority of believers and even unbelievers. Phil will use the word in a positive sense because it speaks of positive beliefs. Because they are unwilling to compromise, they are inherently militant, but in a good, biblical way. Fundamentalist recognizes that a degree of militancy is legitimate and even what Scripture requires of us. This is, though, not a physical violence requiring deadly force. We would die for our faith but would never kill or harm others to achieve our goals.
• Evangelical: "Someone who truly affirms both the formal and material principles of the Reformation." The formal principle is sola scriptura and the formal principle is sola fide and all that flow naturally and inevitably from them.
• Neo-Evangelical: Someone who identifies with Evangelicals and affirms an essentially Evangelical confession of faith but who formally and emphatically rejects both the militancy and separatism of fundamentalism. The essential philosophy behind this was wrong from the beginning as it is premised on compromise. This view has gained almost complete control of the visible Evangelical movement in our day. Most people today think that this is what historic Evangelicalism is all about.

Phil finds that both movements, fundamentalism and Evangelicalism, consign him to the other. He is an outsider to both of them. Evangelicalism is much larger and popular than fundamentalism today. Phil loves true fundamentalists and the principles of true fundamentalism. Last year Phil suggested that the fundamentalist movement has been a great and spectacular failure. It began with respectable men, began to be dominated by characters, and produced a menagerie of scoundrels. It has ceased to have any significant influence as a movement.

Phil recognizes that there are certain, grave dangers in being too independent as Christians. The kind of dependency he calls for embraces a particular kind of accountability. Our primarily accountability ought to be to our own church and our own conscience as influenced by the Word of God. We cannot allow ourselves to blindly follow the leaders of any movement.

That ends the summary of last year's seminar. And this is where I began to get really confused. As you may have realized by now, it turns out that this seminar was, in many ways, premised on an ongoing discussion which I have not been privy to and which was begun right here at last year's Shepherd's Conference. I had heard a little bit about the controversy about Phil's last seminar that was fought at the blog SharperIron.org, but I had never taken the time to trace it back. There were lots of laughs that rippled across the room that I did not understand. So I am guessing I gained less from this seminar than many of the other attendees. If you are interested in reading more about this, you can find a complete transcript of today's seminar posted here.

And that takes us to today's dinner break. I am not entirely sure what I am doing or who I am doing it with, but I'm sure I'll have a good time. And following dinner, I am looking forward to Al Mohler's upcoming speech which will begin at 7.

This seminar deals with the tendency of so many churches today to be driven by fads and pre-packaged programs to influence the agenda of the church. Phil will attempt to show why this is a really bad strategy.

There are many pastors and leaders who feel that, to be convincing to their audience, they need to keep abreast of what happens to be the latest craze. There are many web sites that package sermons around whatever is popular in our culture. Christianity Today maintains one of these sites where you can buy dozens of Bible studies that will help you understand the plots and themes in popular movies, including ones that are patently unbiblical and blasphemous. Fads like this are accepted almost without question. Many pastors have bought the lie that not adapting church to popular culture will make a church irrelevant. This is the very thing Paul warned Timothy (2 Timothy 4:3-4). This is what apostasy looks like and it is being actively peddled by supposed Evangelicals.

"Much or most of the contemporary church is already utterly apostate by any biblical standard." By Phil's assessment, the Evangelical movement is not really Evangelical at all anymore. Many fundamental doctrines have been attacked by Evangelical authors and leaders who are still considered Evangelical. "Billy Graham, for example, has repeatedly made statements that undermine the clarity of the gospel and question the exclusivity of Christ." Billy Graham has been making statements like this for almost thirty years and is doing so in increasing frequency and increasingly blatantly. The evangelical movement has been on a long slide so that today even a man like T.D. Jakes, who denies the doctrine of the Trinity, can be considered one of the most influential Christians in America. While he may be influential, he is not an Evangelical, for by the definition of the word, one cannot be both Evangelical and anti-Trinitarian.

Christianity Today is now fifty years old. It was supposed to be a voice for Evangelicals that affirmed Evangelical theology. CT has become a forum for nearly every major theological aberration. The main contribution to the Evangelical movement has been to move the borders of the movement continually outward. Historic Evangelicalism no longer really exists in America as a cohesive, Evangelical movement. If you are consistently and faithfully Evangelical, you are now outside the mainstream of the movement that has co-opted that name. The visible church of Christ is in more serious need of revival and Reformation than the Church of Rome was when Martin Luther nailed his Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church.

As Christians we can affirm that, despite this, God's purposes are being fulfilled. While what is happening today is as disturbing as was the situation in Martin Luther's day, we simply are not getting as agitated about it. We have people worse than Tetzel on the airwaves every day, peddling miracles for money. We are heading towards a biblical ignorance that is as serious and widespread as during the medieval times. Evangelical seminaries are downplaying doctrine and biblical studies in favor of business, branding and management courses. Men like Barna are telling us that it is the audience rather than the message that is sovereign and this philosophy has influenced untold numbers of authors and pastors since then who have adapted their message to the desires of the listener.

Evangelicalism was once almost unknown, but recently has ballooned in numbers, influence and visibility so much so that even Time Magazine has given a cover to this movement. But the list of pastors who make their list shows that Evangelicalism is in big trouble, for even thirty years ago not one of these people would have been considered Evangelical.

So what changed?

The word "Evangelical" has lost its historic meaning and now means nothing. It has systematically rendered itself useless for the advance of Evangelical truth. Time showed that Evangelicalism is having its greatest influence not in theology or culture but in politics. It is now little more than a political lobby and its representatives represent a wide variety of theological beliefs that deny non-negotiable biblical truths. None of the people on the list would agree on any distinctive points of doctrine - not even the simple points of the gospel message. But what they would agree on would be that they'd like to see Evangelicalism become as broad as possible. There is another common trait shared by the people on Time's list: they are the fad-makers. Among these are Rick Warren, Tim Lahaye, J.I. Packer, Richard Neuhaus, and so on.

What is it that makes these trends and programs "fads?" None of them have anything to do with the theological distinctives of Evangelicalism. All of these fads have this in common: Not one program existed thirty-five years ago or would even have been dreamed of. None is likely to last another generation.

Why is it that Evangelicals are so susceptible to these fads? What is it that makes pastors and leaders just wait to catch on to the next big thing? (Phil gave us an aside in which he showed that publishing has become "big business" and this has helped the slide away from hard, Evangelical truths). Phil noted that the latest, greatest fad always manages to draw more people than the previous fad and this shows the power and lure of the fad mentality. It doesn't matter how big or unbiblical or irrational it is - people will line up to be part of it.

Promise Keepers was a recent fad that swept Evangelicalism. That was followed by What Would Jesus Do and Jabez and Left Behind. Publishers were suddenly raking in billions of dollars from these fads. The fads were suddenly bigger but cheaper than ever and were having ever-shorter shelf lives. The Passion of the Christ made a huge splash but petered out before the DVD even hit the shelves. The Purpose Driven Life is the latest and greatest and has become one of the best-selling books of all time. Beyond the success of the book are shelves full of associated merchandise. Every publisher in the world will spend the next five years trying to replicate this and this will guarantee many new fads.

Phil turned to The Purpose Driven Life and asked if there is anything in it to make it deserving of being the best-selling Evangelical book of all time. The truth is, there really isn't. The extraordinary success of the book owes primarily to clever marketing. It hit the shelves at the very moment that the Evangelical culture was right for fads and stampedes. And this is the current atmosphere of Evangelicalism. The next big fad is already here: it is the Emerging church.

What is scary is that professing Christians are becoming less and less discerning and less concerned with the danger of jumping on the next bandwagon. "We have to rescue Evangelicalism from the Evangelical movement." A new generation of pastors needs to rise up who will preach the gospel and say "no" to these fads that continue to come along, for Scripture is better than any fad. Preaching the gospel is better than any method the marketers have ever invented.

Phil turned to Hebrews 4:12 and reminded us of the power of Scripture. It is a rich text full of meaning and significance. Three main qualities of the Word of God as highlighted in this text:

The Word of God is powerful and alive: That speaks of life, vitality, energy. It has the power to impart life to those who are spiritually dead. It has power that is unique to the Scripture. Nothing can take the place of the Bible for it imparts life to the spiritually dead. We don't have to make the Bible come alive, for it is, by its very nature, both alive and relevant!

The Word of God is penetrating: This is portrayed vividly by the author of Hebrews. The Word of God is like a pointed, two-edged sword that cuts no matter which way you swing it or thrust it. In the hands of an amateur it will still work. There is nothing so hard that it cannot penetrate. No human interest or worldly technique is more effective than the Word of God to penetrate the human heart.

The Word of God is precise: The sword pierces with surgical precision. It cuts with painstaking accuracy and cuts what otherwise cannot be divided.

We ought to make better use of the Word of God in our ministry and we must ignore all of these Evangelical fads that come and go. We are called to do this as leaders and pastors. Only the Word of God has the power, penetration and precision necessary to change lives.

The sense of anticipation in and around this building has built to a crescendo. No, it has nothing to do with the speaker who will next take the pulpit, nor with the topic he will address. It has to do with books. The patio outside the worship center is filled with tens of thousands of books and everyone knows that in just another hour, the doors will fling open and all of the pastors will be invited to take one of each of these books. The number I hear most often is "28," as in, "everyone will get 28 books." And what do pastors like more than books? Not much, in my experience. I am guessing that the stampede to get to those books will by far exceed the stampede to sit near the front of the worship center during the sessions. From my seat I can see a large stack of copies of C.J. Mahaney's book Humility. Wouldn't it be ironic to see pastors pushing and shoving to get ahold of a copy?

Well, that's not likely to happen. But in just another hour or so, everyone walking around this campus will do so with a large stack of books. In fact, many people have brought an extra bag just to haul away their newly acquired treasure.

Having looked around a little bit (while actually seeking a Dr. Pepper - thanks for nothing, Paul) I can see that I already own several of the books. I may take them up on the option of having the books sent to me for the cost of shipping.

And now John MacArthur has opened the microphones for the annual question and answer session.

"Children of disobedience or children of the devil." What do you call them and are they destined for hell and does God love them?

This can be answered by showing that the love of God for the unregenerate is displayed in non-salvific ways through common grace. MacArthur has written a book on this (The Love of God). Unbelievers are given many blessings of God's grace and this is expressive of a loving God. God also expresses his love towards sinners in a measure of his own sympathy and compassion in that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Also, the love of God is shown in a universal expression of truth so that all men, elect or not, are able to know of the truth of God through creation. It is also shown in the Great Commission, which tells us that we are to take the message of the good news to all men. God has love and kindness towards humanity, not only the elect. The elect are loved by God in a special way. To say that God loves the world is a true statement and to say that God loves the elect is a more refined statement.

You referred to John Calvin and his three-fold definition of a church. We planted a church three years ago because there was not a single church that did that. Another conservative church in the area has accepted a person into membership that we have disciplined. What should the nature of our relationship be with them?

Grace understands this because they are a church that faithfully exercises church discipline. What has happened through all these years, is that when a person will not repent, is that a person who has been disciplined runs to another church. Grace immediately notifies the staff of another church and lays out the situation and the reason that the person was put out of the church. It is becoming more and more difficult to make people in another church care about this, and so it poses a difficult question.

Do we now engage in community enterprises with this church? That is a difficult question to answer because it seems that there ought to be consequences for the unfaithfulness of the church, and yet we are not responsible for being the punitive hand of God. It seems wrong to punish the entirely body of that church for something they may not be aware of. And so a church will have to exercise some degree of wisdom.

Romans 1:19-21 - a question about elect sinners.

Unfortunately I could not hear the question, so while I heard the answer, it did not make a great deal of sense to me.

It is a question about people who come "close" to salvation - Hebrews 6 and how it relates to sovereignty and election and human responsibility.

MacArthur affirmed the importance of knowing to whom something is written, whether we are discussing the Bible or even a book of human authorship (he mentioned The Purpose Driven Life in particular). Hebrews 6 speaks about people who were exposed to Christ in the apostolic era. These people saw Jesus, heard His word, sampled the word of God, sampled the power of the Spirit of God - they had all the revelation that was available, and still fell away. If your decision after a full disclosure is to turn away, then nothing else can be said.

So how does this incomplete faith fit into the sovereignty of God? Did God try to save them and fail? No. Did someone come to a full understanding and then, of their own power, reject God? No. It is just that there are some who will never hear the word of God and be damned and there are some who will receive a full disclosure and be damned.

If you can reduce God and all the elements of the gospel to categories which can be fully understood, you have just denied them. There are just no categories for some of these things - they have no rational, human explanation. If you spend all your time trying to rationalize these things, you will inevitably corrupt them. You will have pulled Him down from His transcendence. So just enjoy the fact that you don't know anything. That is comforting, because if you did, you would be God.

A question asked by the pastor of an Iranian Baptist Church in Dallas. When do we get our glorified bodies? Is that when we leave the earth or only after the rapture?

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. To be with Christ is immediate when we leave this world. MacArthur believes that the resurrection has not yet happened, but is tied to the arrival of Jesus Christ. The dead in Christ rise first and then the ones who are alive and remain are caught up with the Lord. Romans 8 says that we are still waiting for the redemption of the body and so we long for the redemption of our bodies. We will be embodied in an everlasting body.

After bringing greetings to "Johnny Mac," (a term which MacArthur does not object to) a pastor asked about the propriety of naming names when it comes to heresy. When a person reads a passage from a "bad" book from the pulpit, should he publically mention a person's name?

When a book or ministry is public, it is exposed to necessary and public criticism. MacArthur invites criticism of his words. Once we put something out there it is subject to assessment and evaluation to guard both the truth and the people of the truth.

A question about inerrancy and the fact that inerrancy is applicable only to the original autographs.

MacArthur affirms the classic doctrine of inerrancy that Scripture was inerrant in its original autograph. So it is not currently, in every case, inerrant. But, the good news is, that the discrepancies and differences are minute. God has preserved His Scripture and this is a work of the Spirit. The great watershed event on this was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls which proved the accuracy of Scriptures hundreds of years old. The hand of God is obvious in the preservation of the Bible, not just in the message of Scripture but in the very words.

A question in regards to church leadership and a person who disagrees with the pastor in the area of falling away from salvation.

MacArthur believes that the best teachers are those who are most teachable. He would urge caution towards those who feel they already know a great deal and are unwilling to be taught. He also is nervous about people who seek to lead without seeking to serve. In Grace, those who are in leadership have served their way to that position.

At this point I stopped being able to hear and pay attention as many of the attendees began to file out (which I suppose is a cost of sitting near the doors). I'm guessing that some people are making a break for the book table and lunch lineup!

I believe I am now heading for Tommy's to eat one of those world famous chili burgers. It could be a long, heart-burning afternoon.