Chapel Blogging

Dr. Moore preached to us today in Alumni Chapel from Romans 8 and 9.  He challenged those who do not believe in the doctrine of election to live as such and those who do to do the same.  If you believe in the doctrine of election, then you should find that the Holy Spirit is conforming you to be more like Christ.  There should be conformity in your life:

• Conformity in Prayer
• Conformity in Peace
• Conformity in Mission

Dr. Moore delivered a wonderful challenge of consistent living to your beliefs and doctrines.  Particularly, living your live in accordance with the doctrine of election.  Read the chapel blog here and/or download the mp3 here (scroll down to 28 August 2008).

Dr. Russell D. Moore is the Senior Vice President for Academic Administration as well as the Dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Preaching from Romans 8:26 through 9:6, Dr. Moore taught us on the doctrine of election. Several years ago, I read a testimony of a Presbyterian woman who was drawn to a Baptist church.  She was not sure if it was the kind of church that would believe what she was taught.  She asked what they believed about the doctrine of election.  After many non-answers, she was told that they believed that they could not vote until they joined the church. Election is something we do not think about or talk about in our churches.  I am told there is a great deal of controversy over this doctrine.  I don’t believe it because on the one hand many of our churches testify to this doctrine.  We may not agree on what this looks like and how it fits with other doctrines, but we sing the truths of this doctrine almost every Sunday.  However, I think the doctrine of election is not nearly controversial enough for us. Paul deals with the doctrine of election and predestination in a pastoral sense.  He does not deal with it in a systematic fashion.  He deals with those people who already believe in it.  He challenges them not because they believe it, but because they act as if they do not believe it.  They act as though they deserve it. Yes, it is an election to glory, but it is an election to glory in Christ.  They are elected so that they may be conformed to the image of Christ.  When you look at the history of Israel, you see the ultimate purpose-Christ.  The exact same thing is happening in the life of the New Testament church.  You are called, justified, and glorified so that all things do work for your good so that you may be conformed to Christ.  It is all pointing to Christ. For Paul, this initiation of election is personal.  “Those whom God foreknew” is not like paparazzi that watch from a distance and know what is going on in a celeb’s life.  It is a personal knowledge.  Christ is working toward something here intentionally.  That is, the electing purpose of God. Paul shows that you can know if you are elect by how Christ is conforming you to Himself.  Paul lays out these conformities in this letter.

Conformity in Prayer

If the spirit is within you, then you will be provoked to prayer.  He is interceding for us with groanings to deep for words.  We do not know what God is doing in our lives, but we cry out knowing that He is working for our good.  This kind of prayer has everything to do with your election. If you are in Christ, then it is through the spirit of Christ that you are able to cry out Abba, Father.  We understand that “Abba” is the first word a baby says.  But, this is not the idea of what Paul is trying to give us.  It is a crying out.  It is personal.  It is affectionate.  It is the face of a son having his face ripped off by a pitbull.  DADDY!! You know this is not the way it is supposed to be.  That is the why the Spirit moves you toward this kind of prayer.  You are not able to do it, but the Spirit can. The most horrifying aspect of walking into a Russian orphanage everyday is recognizing that I am standing in a room that is attached to other rooms full of babies…and it is silent.  Their cries were never answered so they quit crying.  We walked in and out in silence…everyday.  I can remember “that little man over there” screaming out and falling on his face. If you say that you believe in the doctrine of election and your life is prayerless, then you do not know what the doctrine of election is.  Because we belong to Christ, we are crying out, “What is your will, your purpose?  What are you doing?”  This happens to us because God is conforming us to the image of Christ. Even though Christ knew that He was to die, He still cried out to His Father all night long in the Garden.  He even cried out to God on the cross.

Conformity in Peace

The end result of our conformity is that if God is for us, what can separate us from our conformity to Christ?  God chooses you because He has a good pleasure and a good purpose.  He is doing something for Jesus and will work it out all the way to glory.  Who can stand against God?  We know that God will glorify us!  Why are we so fretful and anxious?  We are more than conquerors because God loves us. One of the reasons the doctrine of election is so difficult to believe because it casts doubt on whether or not you belong to God.  It is not a sense of uncertainty.  It gives assurance.  If you are longing for Christ, that is God.  There is no uncertainty.  It is not if you have enough “sincerity in your heart” when you pray the “sinner’s prayer.”  We need to recognize that God wants you here.  He is bringing you here.  It is part of His plan. My question is, why do so many people who believe in this doctrine spend so much of their lives living in anxiety?  Some of us in this room can pontificate on this doctrine, but you are in tumult over what is going to happen next and how “x” will be provided for you. If God is beginning something in your life, He will complete it.  If you are living a life of anxiety, then you are completely missing what Paul is saying.

Conformity in Mission

Paul is in sorrow and anguish in his heart for the sake of his brothers.  He would rather be cut off from Christ for their well-being.  What Paul wished he could do for his brothers, Jesus actually did.  When you see in your own life what God has rescued you from, then you see what is at stake.  If it weren’t for the mercy of God, Paul says, Israel would be like Sodom and Gomorrah. One of the saddest things I have ever heard in my life is a preacher not given an invitation because, “God is not a beggar.”  That is not true.  God is sovereign, majestic and a king, but He is pleading that all may come to faith. Paul is telling us that if you understand this doctrine, then there is not a kind of person who are likely to believe the gospel.  However, in Romans 8 and 9, we see that the power of God comes through the gospel.  Romans 9 is not about God keeping people out of the kingdom.  Romans 9 is a missionary text!  God’s power goes forward in the gospel.  He will build for Christ a people. There are some people in this room who have quit sharing the gospel with family members because you think you have said everything already.  You do not share the gospel with the pierced and tattooed person because you are scared.  If you are not more evangelistic now than before you came to understand the doctrine of election, then you have not understood the doctrine of election. God created all things for Jesus.  God created all nations for Jesus.  It is all for Christ.  That is the doctrine of election.  There are always going to be some people who do not like this doctrine.  What are they charging you with?  Let them charge you with what they criticized Christ for.  He was criticized for praying, for His peace, and for His mission.  He ate and prayed with the sinful.  Let it be that in your ministry, you can be charged with the same.  I hope this is Ground Zero, as I am told, for the doctrine of election.

Dr. Jerry Vines is the president of Jerry Vines Ministries in Woodstock, Ga. He has served at president of SBC from 1988-90. He and his wife, Janet, have four children and seven grandchildren.

Dr. Vines preached on John 3:16 today.  He admitted that he would not be able to even begin to scratch the surface of the vastness of this text.  However, he gave it his best shot!  He preached that God’s love is global and that it extends to all people.  He preached that God’s love is sacrificial in that He gave His Son to die for us.  Finally, he preached that God’s love is personal and that Christ died for you.  He concluded his message with and alter call of sorts.  He did not call anyone forward, but he did call everyone to trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Read the chapel blog here.  Download the message from the Audio Resources page here.

Dr. Jerry Vines is the president of Jerry Vines Ministries in Woodstock, Ga.  He has served at president of SBC from 1988-90.  He and his wife, Janet, have four children and seven grandchildren. In the 1870’s archaeologists discovered an obelisk and named it Cleopatra’s needle.  They made it into a time capsule of sorts.  In that time capsule, they placed John 3:16 in multiple languages.  Let us all recite John 3:16 together. You would basically have the entire message of the Bible in this verse.  Every boy and girl can understand the basic meaning of this verse.  Every adult can understand the profundity of this verse as well.   No one has ever been able to plumb the depths of this verse.  Think of how inexhaustible this verse is.  I preached it here in this pulpit eleven years ago-if you are still here, I pray that you graduate soon!  Henry Moorhead used this text as his preaching text every time he preached.  I am going to attempt to talk to you today about the inexhaustible love of God found here.

God’s love is global

“For God so loved the world…”  The verb is love.  The greeks had many words for love.  One of those was eros-erotic.  Another word is philos-social love.  The word used here is agape-love to the highest degree.  This love originates in the heart of God. We use “love” in many ways.  “I love peanut butter” or “I love my wife” or “I love football.”  But, when we open the door of John 3:16, we find a deeper love-a love of God.  This love is of the God. When Jesus came, He talked about God as a God of love.  This is unlike talk of any other gods.  The entire Bible teaches us that God is a God of love.  1 John tells us “God is love.”  This is a complete love understood by the original greek text.  There was never a time in the past that God did not love-He loved you before you were born.  Also, there will never be a time in the future that God will love you. “World” in the greek is kosmos.  This implies putting things in order.  This word can mean the universe or world system.  The meaning here in this verse means “the world of humanity.”  This means God loves every person regardless of race, gender, and nationality.  Think about what kind of world God loves. This world is pictured in the Bible as a sunken vessel diluted with depravity.  The whole world is in rebellion against God.  Yet, God loves every person on this earth.  There is not one person that God would not say, “I love you.” Do you believe this morning that God loves you?   Many people do not always believe this.  There are some here today in this chapel that you do not think or believe that God loves you.  His love is not conditioned on your worthiness. Let me break it down personally.  God loves the world.  God loves the church.  Gal. 2:20 says I am crucified to Christ…God loves me.  Why do we do anything?  Because God so loved the world.

God’s love is sacrificial

“He gave His only begotten son.”  Love is a noun and a verb and an emotion.  Do not minimize the emotional aspect found in love.  Think back to when you were a child about your first puppy-love. Love is also a decision.  It is the nature of fire to shine and burn.  It is the nature of love to give.  You cannot love without giving.  You cannot give without love.  Once again, the aorist tense gives the idea of totality.  God gave His son in totality.  God gave His son definitely.  I can imagine the angels telling Jesus not to go down to earth because of what awaited Him.  Yet, Jesus came.  God gave him. God gave him uniquely.  God gave him only…we have an idea of uniqueness in the greek.  God was made manifest in the flesh through Jesus.  There was a mystery about Him.  Jesus was uniquely born.  Don’t be fooled by those who say it does not matter if jesus was born of a virgin.  I am here to tell you IT DOES MATTER!  If there was no virgin birth, then there was no savior. Romans 8:32 says that God delivered Jesus both to and for the world.  We can only imagine what the crucifixion was like in totality.  Think of the emotional and spiritual aspect of the crucifixion.  Now think of the physical aspect of it.  The cross is the gospel.  God demonstrated His total love on the cross.  When Jesus died on the cross, God showed his unconditional love.

God’s love is personal

“Whoever believes in him shall have everlasting life.”  In this portion of the verse, you and I are the subject.  “Whosoever” occurs over 1,200 times in the Greek New Testament.  This word invites the whole world to God.  “Whosoever” implies anybody, anywhere and at anytime.  Here is where your name would appear in the Bible…if it were to appear.  There is no case of mistaken identity.  This word gives us assurance in our salvation. Whosoever is you.  This is personal to you.  Whosoever believes should not perish.  Here it is referring to a spiritual condition.  Many people are perishing as we speak.  However, whosoever should believe will not perish.  I believe there is a hell…Jesus said more about Hell than anything else.  Matthew 26 (?) talks of everlasting punishment.  It is final. What an awful thought!  That people may go to hell is an unbearable thought.  It is one thing to say there is a hell.  It is another to believe in hell.  If you believe in Hell, it should drive you to share the gospel.  There is no light, death, or love in hell.  We don’t want anybody to go to hell. The moment you receive Jesus as your personal savior, you are taken out of hell.  You are no longer perishing!  You will see heaven wrapped up in this one verse.  I can’t wait to see men like Adrian Rogers and Jerry Falwell and my daddy in heaven. John talks of saving faith as one who believeth (trusts) in Him (Jesus).  There are three aspects to saving faith.  First, there is the mental aspect-there is confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Second, there is the volitional aspect-there is a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Third, there is the moving toward Jesus-there is communion with the Lord. We have only scratched the surface of John 3:16.  We will spend eternity understanding this verse.

The new chapel schedule is live on the SBTS website. Terry Delaney will be chapel blogging again for us this year, plus he’s found a place to type during the sermons. So, they should be posted before noon rather than in the evening.

Dr. Mohler Is Bringing The Goods

When I was one campus more, I always wondered why Dr. Mohler didn’t preach more frequently in chapel. This semester he’s scheduled for seven messages. That continues the trend from recent semesters, but it still seems like a lot of preaching. Does anyone know if he’s doing a series?

Other Speakers To Watch

• Dr. Jerry Vines, retired pastor and preaching-book writer (8/26)
• Dr. Gene Mims, Nashville pastor and church-growth writer (9/16)
• Rev. Daniel Montgomery, pastor of Sojourn in Louisville (9/23)
• Dr. Johnny Hunt, pastor and SBC president (10/15)
• Dr. Jerry Rankin, president of the IMB (10/21)

It’s a lineup with a lot of big name baptists, which is a something you should expect next semester too as we lead up to the Convention and 150 year SBTS celebrations. You can leave your reactions in the comments below. HT: Steve “Mr. Baptist History” Weaver and Blake “Barabbas” White

Clyde T. Francisco (1916-1981) was a professor of Old Testament interpretation at Southern Seminary. He died of a massive heart attack while preaching in Helen, GA.

Ken Schmidt, the 2008 Clyde T. Francisco Award recipient preached the chapel message today in Alumni Chapel from Matthew 18:21-35. The main thrust of his sermon was the necessity of forgiveness in the church body. There were four main points to his message:

1. We must not be passive aboud dealing with sin
2. There is a very real possibility that you will be sinned against by another brother
3. If we are not characterized by forgiveness, there is a good chance that we have not experienced God’s forgiveness.
4. Failing to forgive shows us to be a liar about God and blasphemes the gospel–it may kill the church or missions agency where you are serving at.

You can listen to Ken’s message here. Board of Trustees Meeting Dr. Mohler made a couple of announcements today regarding the spring meeting for the board of trustees. First, Dr. Gregg Allison was elected to be professor of theology. Second, an enormous project was unanimously approved to enable SBTS to be a more visitor-friendly campus. The first major change will be to add a large tower to show where the entrance (on the half circle) is for the seminary. There will also be a small welcome house at the entrance that will be manned during major events in order to help direct traffic. A second major change will be the addition of a rotunda and carport drop-off entry way where the loading dock is now located. There will be a theater located inside that has a running “infommercial” of SBTS. The admissions office will be moved there along with the campus security with video surveillance. The third major change will be with the Founder’s Cafe. It will triple in size and become a two level cafe for study and fellowship. The new Founder’s Cafe will be all the way to the center of the Honeycutt Center (up to Dillard’s Chapel I believe) and will overtake the study lounge on the second floor. Across the hall where the “additional seating” is now located will be expanded and renamed the Edgar’s Center (in honor of E.Y. Mullins, our 4th president).

Dr. Tom Elliff, an Southern Seminary alumni, and the Senior Vice President for Spiritual Nurture and Church Relations, gave today’s sermon in Alumni Chapel from Psalm 95. He gave us three mission imperatives:

1. We should hear God. We should be listening for God’s voice through His Word.
2. We should heed the command of God on our lives. Every day you wait to heed God is “one more day to repent of and one less day to repent in.”
3. Finally, we are to hurry. You can only respond to God’s command today. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow has yet to happen.

There was much more that took place before the message today during chapel service.

First, Barak Tjader was presented with an award from LifeWay recognizing his accomplishment as a student at SBTS. The award is given to a graduating student who has been called to the pastoral ministry. Tjader is currently serving as the worship leader at Highview’s Valley Station campus.

Second, Dr. David Dockery, president of Union University thanked the seminary for the donation towards the special library that was destroyed in the tornadoes on 5 February. There was $40+ million dollars in damage to the campus in Jackson, Tn. but no loss of life on the campus. Praise God.

Finally, it was announced that Dr. Chuck Lawless, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions has been brought on by the International Mission Board as the global consultant to the IMB for theological education. Fortunately for SBTS, he will retain his role as dean. Be sure to be praying for Dr. Lawless as this will certainly add to his already busy schedule.

Dr. Tom Elliff Sermon On Missions From Psalm 95

You can listen to the sermon here (scroll down to April 22, 2008) and can read my further treatment here.