Brilliant!!

[Sing4Him]

Brilliant: John MacArthur’s Keynote at the Shepherds’ Conference
Published March 6th, 2008 by Editor in Discernment


Pulpit Magazine has posted their extensive notes on Dr. John MacArthur’s keynote address at this year’s Shepherds’ Conference. MacArthur pulled no punches as he opened the Holy Word of God and showed the means by which Christ grows His church. And MacArthur correctly points out there are thousands of ways to grow a church filled with tares but there is only one way to grow a true church, one filled with wheat, and that is through God’s Word and the Gospel. Said MacArthur:

There are many ways to build “The First Church of the Tares,” behind which Satan is the real power. It can be done very effectively, it can be big and enduring. The gnostics, the Roman Catholics, the liberals, and the cults have all done it—and they are still around. The Church of the Tares is actually bigger than the Church of the Wheat. And today, those calling themselves “evangelicals” are also doing it. There are churches all around the country where tares gather together and call themselves churches.

If you want to take a shot at competing with the rest of the “tare-pastors” on how to get a large group of tares into a building each Sunday, there are plenty of strategies to do that.

But if you want to build the true church, the wheat, in the way that God commands, then we must discern how Christ builds His church, and how it is that we are to be part of that.

The answer is not vague or obscure. When you ask how it is that Christ builds His church, the answer is not hard to find. In fact, it is so clear and inescapable that we are bound to follow what He commands.

If you are caught up in the church growth mentality, trying every devise to increase numbers, I want to throw the gauntlet today and ask you to make a choice: If you want to build the church of the tares you’re on your own; but if you want to be part of Christ’s work of building the church, that is a different thing altogether.
:yeah
Christ said He will build His church, and the book of Acts describes how He did that. The book of Acts was given to us to show us how Christ built His church, not in theory but in reality. This is exactly how the Lord went about building the church that He promised He would build. Interestingly, the book of Acts provides the greatest story of church growth in history.

Acts 2:39 is a key verse in this regard, underscoring the sovereign call of God and the generational impact that the Gospel has. It is a preview of how the church that Christ built extends across ethnic and generational barriers

Read More Here: http://www.sfpulpit.com/2008/03/05/opening-session-–-wednesday-morning/



http://christianresearchnetwork.com/?p=4645

[Lynn]

Thanks, Sing, for the post on Dr. MacArthur's opening address on this all important issue. Along with some other men from his church, our son is in attendance at the 2008 Shepherd's Conference, after having attended for the last several years. Dr. MacArthur is wonderful, and I'm always blessed to hear/read anything he has to say. :)

[Violet]

Excellent, excellent.
Thank the Lord for exposing the false teachers, the tares. This article sums up the current church growth movement (and all tentacles of it) as the false gospel.
Sing, thank you for all your hard work!

[Kliska]

So, MacArthur is a Calvinist? I've done some research and just want to make sure I understand his position.

[Gabby]

So, MacArthur is a Calvinist? I've done some research and just want to make sure I understand his position.

Yep, pretty much. Actually, it was through MacArthur's guidance that I came to understand election. Personally, I believe we can't thoroughly understand it, but with faith and the Holy Spirit I've just come to see that God called me first before I answered the call.

I know this is controversial, but I'm just saying...I believe He spoke my name before I said yes.

[Gabby]

Sing4Him ~ thanks for putting this up. I'm going to print it out to read later. This week I got MacArthur's book The Truth War. Excellent book. This seems to be his calling for now ~ to expose the wolves. Good stuff and worthy calling to defend the Faith.

[Kliska]

Yep, pretty much.

Thanks for clarifying, some of the websites I went to had differing information, but that makes his satement of faith a bit clearer for me.

Actually, it was through MacArthur's guidance that I came to understand election. Personally, I believe we can't thoroughly understand it, but with faith and the Holy Spirit I've just come to see that God called me first before I answered the call.

I'm neither Calvinist, nor Arminian. I do believe in God's Sovereignty but I do also believe that in His sovereignty he gave us free will, and that Christ's death, and His Blood has provided a path for all who would come to believe. The denial of free will by Calvinists is the part that I believe runs contrary to scripture.

I know this is controversial, but I'm just saying...I believe He spoke my name before I said yes.

I believe that Grace equips a person to make a choice, hence all praise belongs to God, and we cannot save ourselves, but through Grace we are permitted, so to speak, to make a free will choice to bow to God, and to love Him.

Thank you so much for the info, and for sharing your view! :wave (BTW, I've enjoyed reading your posts around the 'boards!)

[Kliska]

I guess if I'd read a little closer in the link, I'd have seen this instead of having to ask, "He makes a reference to last year’s title, and states that this year his session will address: why every true Calvinist must embrace a biblical ecclesiology and reject church growth theory."

Reading over the paraphrase of the address, I do see it in the text now more clearly:

"If a person believes that God is sovereign in salvation, that Christ will build His church, that the Father will draw everyone whom He has chosen, and that Christ will receive all whom the Father draws and will keep them and raise them on the last day—the question is, how does church growth theory fit into all of that? God has already determined who will be saved from before time began. Furthermore, the Lord has fully propitiated the just anger of God over the sins of the elect by suffering in full the righteous judgment of their sins. The death of Christ was an actual payment for sins, not a potential one."

[Gabby]

Thanks for clarifying, some of the websites I went to had differing information, but that makes his satement of faith a bit clearer for me.



I'm neither Calvinist, nor Arminian. I do believe in God's Sovereignty but I do also believe that in His sovereignty he gave us free will, and that Christ's death, and His Blood has provided a path for all who would come to believe. The denial of free will by Calvinists is the part that I believe runs contrary to scripture.



I believe that Grace equips a person to make a choice, hence all praise belongs to God, and we cannot save ourselves, but through Grace we are permitted, so to speak, to make a free will choice to bow to God, and to love Him.

Thank you so much for the info, and for sharing your view! :wave (BTW, I've enjoyed reading your posts around the 'boards!)

I hear everything you're saying. :) This election/freewill ~ heavy stuff. Somedays I find myself really shifting on it...and I've just come to the conclusion that it's too vast for my small mind to comprehend. I see the merits on both sides ~ after long debates with myself, I finally just left it in God's hands and realize I can't know all that He is. But I sure do hear what you're saying about free will.

I've enjoyed reading you too ~ actually, I gained much from your conversation with whoever it was that didn't believe and got himself banned or something...not sure what really happened, but I did very much enjoy your dialog with him. You defended the faith well! I've much to learn in that department...your words were concise and well-presented to one who doesn't believe.

I'm very grateful that God has supplied and equipped some of us to speak clearly and boldly to unbelievers. Of which I'm not one ~ but I sure do admire those of you who are. I'm not complaining...He's given me other jobs to do, but that doesn't stop me from admiring you guys who defend the Faith. He will supply and muliply the seeds that we sow...that verse just ran through my head as I'm writing to you. Hey, wait a minute...that's an answer to prayer for me! I have been praying this week that He would help me remember His Word as I encounter different happenings in my life...mostly on a daily basis. You know, so that the Word would be truly abiding in my heart. And just writing to you that verse popped up! You were just part of an answered prayer and you didn't even know it! Oh, isn't it wonderful when God surprises us like that!

Nice to talk to you! :wave

[Kliska]

I hear everything you're saying. :) This election/freewill ~ heavy stuff. Somedays I find myself really shifting on it...and I've just come to the conclusion that it's too vast for my small mind to comprehend. I see the merits on both sides ~ after long debates with myself, I finally just left it in God's hands and realize I can't know all that He is. But I sure do hear what you're saying about free will.

I've enjoyed reading you too ~ actually, I gained much from your conversation with whoever it was that didn't believe and got himself banned or something...not sure what really happened, but I did very much enjoy your dialog with him. You defended the faith well! I've much to learn in that department...your words were concise and well-presented to one who doesn't believe.

I'm very grateful that God has supplied and equipped some of us to speak clearly and boldly to unbelievers. Of which I'm not one ~ but I sure do admire those of you who are. I'm not complaining...He's given me other jobs to do, but that doesn't stop me from admiring you guys who defend the Faith. He will supply and muliply the seeds that we sow...that verse just ran through my head as I'm writing to you. Hey, wait a minute...that's an answer to prayer for me! I have been praying this week that He would help me remember His Word as I encounter different happenings in my life...mostly on a daily basis. You know, so that the Word would be truly abiding in my heart. And just writing to you that verse popped up! You were just part of an answered prayer and you didn't even know it! Oh, isn't it wonderful when God surprises us like that!

Nice to talk to you! :wave

:heythere I was actually just think something similar about your posts. You seem to uphold others and support them in a way I find a bit difficult sometimes, I get there, but usually only by directly quoting scripture. Ah! The Body of Christ, all of us with slightly different gifts/talents...when they work together it's great to see!