The Danger of ‘Jesusology’

Lloyd-Jones’ response to the question, ‘Why is divine sovereignty heard so little even among evangelicals?’.

“The answer, he believed, was that in their anxiety to present salvation in terms of the person and work of Christ, evangelicals had become unbalanced and tended to forget God the Father. There was a danger of ‘Jesusology’. The worship of God as three Persons must always be remembered. In particular, the emphasis, ‘I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth’, needed to be restored – not simply God the Saviour, but before that, God the Creator. He pointed out that modern hymns and choruses had encouraged the tendency which he criticized, a tendency which reached a point at which evangelicals would rather have talks on ‘Personal Work’ than on the character of God.”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith, 1939-1981, p. 239.

Any thoughts on this? Do you agree that there is something like ‘Jesusology’ which we should be careful of? In other words, do you think that it is possible to over-emphasize Jesus at the expense of the other two members of the Godhead? Do you see such a thing present today?

Online Resource – Breaking Pornography Addiction

Over at the CCEF website you can find a recent article by David Powlison on this hugely important topic. I highly recommend that you take some time to look it over.. (HT:MA)

Sermon texts for July 27th – Ephesians 5:15-17; Proverbs 15:19

This week’s topic – work.

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

19 The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns,
but the path of the upright is a level highway.

Click here for the sermon audio.

Joel Osteen’s Hope

Sean Lucas offers some reflections after watching Joel Osteen. (HT:TA)

Inward, Then Outward

I am one of those who still believe that the key to the present situation is the individual local church. It is possible for a revival, if we are waiting and praying for it, to start at any moment. Before we think about planning and organizing in order to reach the outsider, let us concentrate upon our own churches. Are our own churches alive? Are our people real Christians? Are they such that in their contacts with others they are likely to win them for Christ and to awaken in their hearts a desire for spiritual things? That would be my own word to you to-day; that instead of spreading outward, we should concentrate inward and deepen and deepen and deepen our own spiritual life, until men here and there get to the place where God can use them as leaders of the great awakening which will spread through the churches and through the land.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith, 1939-1981, pp. 78-79.

Online Resource – True Spirituality: The Transforming Power of the Gospel

I strongly recommend this article to you by Steve Childers (president and CEO of Global Church Advancement). Let me know what you think.

Piper – How Important is Church Membership?

Here’s a link to the transcript from this recent sermon.

Characteristics of True Revival

Curious to hear your thoughts on this selection from Iain Murray:

In true revival, conviction of sin, sometimes amounting to agony of guilt, is widespread, and in the case of those who are finally brought to salvation no human endeavours can unloose them from their sense of bondage. A God-given persuasion of being lost and condemned can only be removed by ‘the Spirit of adoption’ who follows his first work of conviction with the assurance that sin is forgiven. The man who has truly felt his sin will not be prepared to stop short of a conscious persuasion of his salvation, and when he has that assurance the height of his jubilation may correspond to the depth from which he sees himself to have been delivered.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years 1899-1939, p. 217.

Sermon text for July 20th – Proverbs 16:32

Topic this week is anger.

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

Click here for the sermon audio.

The Problem With Present-day Preaching

I’ve been reading Iain Murray’s two-volume biography of Martyn Lloyd Jones and have already been greatly challenged. The quote I’m sharing with you today was a response by MLJ to the complaint that ‘Present-day preaching does not save men, the churches are not getting converts’:

‘there is something even worse than that about the situation as I see it, and that is that present-day preaching does not even annoy men, but leaves them precisely where they were, without a ruffle and without the slightest disturbance….The church is regarded as a sort of dispensary where drugs and soothing mixtures are distributed and in which everyone should be eased and comforted. And the one theme of the church must be “the love of God”. Anyone who happens to break these rules and who produces disturbing effect upon members of his congregation is regarded as an objectionable person….’

[...]

‘If ever anyone knew the love of God, if ever “the love of God” was preached and understood by anyone, that one was Jesus Christ. Yet what was the effect He produced upon His congregations? Did all go home from the service smiling and happy, and feeling very self-satisfied and complacent? Was His perfect ministry one in which no one was offended and at which no one took umbrage? Do His services suggest the type so popular today – the building with “the dim religious light” where nice hymns are sung, nice prayers are offered, and a fine and cultured “short” address is delivered? Look to the pages of the New Testament and see the answer.’

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years 1899-1939, p. 207.