—Richard D. Phillips, Jesus the Evangelist (Reformation Trust Publishing, 2007), 1, 4.

In his book Jesus the Evangelist, Richard D. Phillips lists “Three key features of a faithful Christian witness” found in the apostle John’s descriptions of John the Baptist. The first is

. . . the content of our witness. John 1:7 says that John “came as a witness, to bear witness about the light.” A Christian witness is first and foremost about Christ.
   We tell people what the early church enshrined in the Apostles’ Creed: that Jesus is God’s only Son and our Lord; That He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary; that He suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried; that He experienced death for three days and then rose from the grave; that he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; and that from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. These claims make up a Christian witness.
   D. Martin Lloyd-Jones put it this way:

We are meant to talk to people about the Lord Jesus Christ and to tell them he is the Son of God and that he has come into this world to save men and women. . . . We are meant to tell men exactly why the world is as it is; we are meant to tell them about sin in the human heart and that nobody and nothing can deal with it save the Son of God. . . . We are very ready to talk about are doctors, and to praise the man who cured us when so many failed; we talk about some business which is better than others, or about films and plays and actors and actresses, and a thousand and one other things. We are always glorifying people, the world is full of it, and the Christian is meant to be praising and glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ.

   John the Baptist set an ideal example of this. His message was not about his experiences or what he felt about God, but about Jesus. When he saw Jesus he declared, “Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). We, too, need to declare that Jesus saves people from their sins. On the next day, “John bore witness” to Christ again, saying “I saw the spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him” (John 1:32). We, too, must testify that Jesus is the one who came to do God’s will by Gods power. John the Baptist said, “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34), and we must too.

—Richard D. Phillips, Jesus the Evangelist (Reformation Trust Publishing, 2007), 12–13.

Continuing from yesterday’s post on “Three key features of a faithful Christian witness,” Richard D. Phillips writes:

   Second, what we read about John the Baptist should inform the manner of our witness. John 1:8a says, “He was not the light.” It is important for us to lead lives that commend our witness to Christ, but our testimony can never be based on what good people we are or what we ourselves have to offer non-Christians. When John began his extraordinary ministry, the priests and Levites came out from Jerusalem to inquire about him. “John answered them, ‘I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes back to me, the strap of whose sandle I am not worthy to untie.’” (John 1:26–27). With these words, John deliberately directed them away from himself and what he was doing to Jesus Christ and what He would do.
   When many Christians give their witness, they talk about themselves. This is why we speak of “giving our testimonies,” that is, telling people about our conversions and how Christ has helped us. There certainly is a placed for testimonies, but they should never form the heart of our witness. I remember seeing an ad in a secular newsmagazine that featured a handsome, smiling young man. It began by talking about his previous problems: He had been into drugs and had been lost and depressed, but now he was clean and fulfilled. The ad was like many Christian testimonies—except that it was on behalf of one of the more bizarre cults spreading today. It is true that cults can help a person get off drugs, but that does not make their beliefs true. Moreover, it is easy for people to brush testimonies aside, saying, “I’m glad it worked for him, but that has on relevance to me.” Our witness must center not on our experience but on the facts of Christ’s coming to this world.
   It is especially important that we never think that what we are doing for Christ is of ultimate importance. James Montgomery Boice warns us, “Whenever a Christian layman, minister, writer, teacher, or whoever it might be, gets to thinking that there is something important about him, he or she will always cease to be effective as Christ’s witness.” We also must never permit people to glorify us for what God has done in our lives. If people notice that you have changed, you should praise God and tell them that it was Jesus’ work, for they will gain what you have, not by admiring you, but only by believing on Jesus. In some cases, redirecting praise in this manner will result in people who previously admired you becoming hostile; the world hated Christ, and it will often hate a faithful witness to Him. But we must accept this risk so as to bear testimony not to ourselves but to Christ.
   In John 5:35a, Jesus said that John the Baptist “was a burning and shining lamp.” Some Bible versions say that John was a “light,” but the Greek word Jesus used (luxnos) means a candle or a lamp. A lamp does not shine on its own. Its light has to be kindled from another source, and it needs a supply of oil or it will go out. The same is true of us. In our witness, we are to shine not our own light but Christ’s light. Just as a lamp requires oil, we depend on our fellowship with Christ and the Holy Spirit’s enlivening ministry through God’s Word in order that Christ’s light may shine through us. To use a different metaphor, we are the moon reflecting the light of the sun. On our own. we are in darkness, but a great light has shined and is shinning on us, and we are to reflect it into the world.

—Richard D. Phillips, Jesus the Evangelist (Reformation Trust Publishing, 2007), 13–15.

This is the last of “Three key features of a faithful Christian witness” from Jesus the Evangelist.

Third, John the Baptist shows the goal of a faithful Christian witness. John “came as a witness . . . that all might believe through him” (John 1:7). Our goal is for others to believe though our witness. Boice writes, “Its is possible for a person to become so mechanical in his witness that he can go through all the motions of witnessing without actually looking and praying for the response to Christ in faith by the other person. If we could remember this, we would find witnessing exciting, and we would learn that winning the argument often becomes far less important than winning the person to the Lord.” Since our goal is to persuade unbelievers and win over sinners, we should labor earnestly in prayer before and after our witness; and we should persist in telling others about Jesus even in the face of hardship and persecution. If we will commit to this pattern of faithful witness, as modeled by John the Baptist, we will find that God will cause people to believe through us. We will have the great joy of being used by the Lord for the salvation of others.

—Richard D. Phillips, Jesus the Evangelist (Reformation Trust Publishing, 2007), 15.

Frank Turk, who, unlike me, likes to argue and does it rather well, is taking on a defender of the Textus Receptus as the only preserved Word of God at his DebateBlog. I expect it to be an interesting and enlightening exchange on a topic that I have been on both sides of. That is, a topic both sides of which I have been on. No . . . a topic on which I have been on both sides. Curse you, prepositions!

Frank‘s opponent, Kent Brandenburg, will affirm that “The Greek Textus Receptus text of the New Testament is God‘s verbal, plenary preserved Word of God (of the New Testament).” Frank will take the “No, it ain‘t” position. I expect him to win handily.

The debate begins here.

Now that I‘ve plugged the debate, I‘m counting on Frank to not embarrass me by getting his butt* kicked.

As the Lord’s Day approaches, I think this excerpt from the Memoirs of the Rev. Augustus Toplady contains some good thoughts for us to think on.

Sunday, 31 [1768]. . . .
   How sweet is the work of the ministry, when attended with the unction of power of the Holy one! My soul has been very barren, ever since last Lord‘s Day; but this sabbath has been a sabbath indeed.
   Spent the evening both agreeably and profitably, in reading the confession of faith, charge, and sermon, delivered at Bristol last August . . . Blessed be God for the advancement of his interest among us, under whatever form. Lord, increase the number of thy faithful witnesses, every where and in every denomination of Protestants!

—Augustus Toplady, The Complete Works of Augustus Toplady (Sprinkle Publications, 1987), 12.

May each of us, especially those of you who serve in ministry, have such a Lord’s Day, and pray such a prayer.

Here are a few pictures from the Together for the Gospel Conference last week. I tried to get pictures of everyone I met, but I didn’t have my camera with me some times, and other times I just forgot. I created images of a couple of those of whom I failed to actually get pictures. There were actually several, but when you see how much work I put into the ones I did, you’ll understand why I only did two. See if you can guess which are the doctored photos.

Me & Tim Challies. After more than three years of reading Challies.com and having the privilege of becoming friends with the World’s Most Famous Christian Blogger®, I finally met the man himself. I was thankful that I had boned up on my Canadian so the language barrier was not too difficult to overcome.

Me & Phil Johnson. What a pleasure it was to meet Phil. No ministry has impacted my life to the extent that Grace to You has, so it was truly a delight to meet the man who keeps that ministry running and edits the majority of John MacArthur’s books. I have also benefited greatly from his Spurgeon Archive, The Hall of Church History, and his Famous Annotated Bookmarks. Oh yes, I think he blogs somewhere, too. My wife (who is not in any of these pictures because she took them) and I got to sit at the end of the table with Phil and his wife Darlene at lunch on Wednesday. During the course of conversation, Phil confessed that Darlene reads his blog posts before he posts them and “tones [him] down.” I can’t imagine why that’s necessary.

Me & Jeremy, Garry, & Steve Weaver. I was excited to meet these guys, and unfortunately did not get the time to visit much with them. Jeremy was much more reserved and well-behaved than I expected. Actually, they all were.

Me & Timmy Brister. Timmy organized the Band of Bloggers meeting that took place just prior to the conference. I would almost have traveled the 1200 miles to Louisville just for that.

Me & Steve Berlew. Steve is the Banner of Truth man, and as such is worthy of reverence. I was careful not to touch him, so as not to dim his shekinah. I’m afraid, though, that he touched me, so if something flaky turns up on the Banner site, it’s probably my fault.

Me & Hank Balch. One of the non-conference highlights of the week was meeting this young Texan SBTS student and having lunch with him on Thursday after the conference. He was kind enough to drive us to Chick-fil-A (I was told we must go there). He also called my wife “Ma’am” until she very nearly fell in love with him. Public service announcement: Hank needs a wife, and he has my endorsement. Your daughters would be blessed to snag a guy like him.*

Me & Jonathan Moorhead. By the providence of God, Jonathan was able to get a last-minute spot at the conference, so we were able to have a good time of fellowship with him. Jonathan is a TMS graduate and has just been ordained to the ministry and finished his Ph.D. at DTS. He and his family will be leaving soon for Samara, Russia where he will teach at Samara Preachers’ Institute and Theological Seminary. Click here to learn more about this ministry and how you can support it.

Me & Paul Martin! Paul is Tim Challies’ pastor, and approximately 7’13” tall! He is a much better preacher than he was a Prime Minister! Paul smiles a lot and uses far too many exclamation points!

Some of the other bloggers I met and failed to shoot were:

Dan Phillips, who is a very unassuming, pleasant, mild-mannered fellow.

Frank Turk, who would probably be surprised to learn that I was very disappointed that I didn’t run into him again after our initial meeting at Band of Bloggers.

Thabiti Anyabwile, who was also a conference speaker. Thabiti is a warm and very authentic guy. That doesn’t, however, mean that emergents should like him. I feel that I must inform you that I knew how to pronounce his name before I heard it, although I cautiously refrained from doing so out loud until I was sure. No, I’m not bragging. Thabiti also brought his wife, Kristie, who reads this blog and is more attractive than Thabiti, although not as tall.

I will have more on the conference later this week.

I still haven’t recovered from my week of travel and conferencing, and I’m a little busy today. I also have a dentist appointment this morning. Since I promised more on Together for the Gospel 2008, and I don’t have time to really think about it, I give you —

Things I didn’t like about Together for the Gospel 2008:

• Too much packed into one day. It would have been nice to have had more time for fellowship. The same conference spread over four days instead of three would have been nice — and far less exhausting.
• I registered too late to get a room in the hotel I would have preferred, causing some inconvenience. The conference organizers should have warned me. I blame Mark Dever.
• I ate too much on Tuesday. Phil Johnson sat next to me eating nothing but a salad — with an air of superiority, I might add — and I was compensating for him.
• The books were too heavy. All those ushers in their nifty vests should have been assigned to carry them to our cars or hotel rooms for us.
• I had John MacArthur sign The Gospel According to Jesus and spoke briefly with him. He didn’t ask to join me for lunch.
• I had an argument with my wife. Clearly, someone was quenching the Spirit. I think it was Mahaney.
• Louisville is too far away. I propose the conference be moved to Bismarck, North Dakota for 2010. Seriously, can you think of a more central location for the US and Canada? I didn’t think so.
• 1200 miles, one way. $3.59/gallon gas. 14 miles/gallon.
• We had drinks at the Galt House on Thursday evening. Two drinks, $13.00. T4G should have arranged discounts in the hotel bar. This, no doubt, is Mohler’s fault.
• T4G. I despise the internet shorthand that spawned this. I despise the fact that I have stooped to using this abbreviation myself a few times. How difficult is it to type out Together for the Gospel? Not difficult at all, IMHO.

I had meant to write something more substantive about Together for the Gospel, but failing that, and as a suppliment to this post, here are —

Things I liked about Together for the Gospel 2008:

• Books. Who doesn’t like free books?
  • Band of Bloggers
    • Christ is All: The Piety of Horatius Bonar ed. by Michael Haykin and Darrin Brooker
    • The Mortification of Sin by John Owen (Puritan Paperbacks, Abridged)
    • Walking as He Walked by Joel Beeke
    • reThink by Steve Wright
    • Dear Timothy: Letters on Pastoral Ministry ed. by Tom Ascol
    • When I Don't Desire God by John Piper
    • Young, Restless, Reformed by Collin Hansen
    • A Tale of Two Sons by John MacArthur
  • Together for the Gospel
    • English Standard Version (ESV) Compact Bible
    • The Truth of the Cross by R. C. Sproul
    • Culture Shift by Albert Mohler
    • If You Could Ask God One Question by Paul Williams and Barry Cooper
    • The Gospel & Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever
    • The Faithful Preacher by Thabiti Anyabwile
    • In My Place Condemned He Stood by J. I. Packer and Mark Dever
    • The Future of Justification by John Piper
    • Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin
    • Pierced for Our Transgressions by Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, and Andrew Sach
    • Why We’re Not Emergent (by Two Guys Who Should Be) by Kevin Deyoung and Ted Kluck
    • Preaching the Cross by Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C. J. Mahaney, & Albert Mohler
    • The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur
    • The Courage to be Protestant by David Wells
    • Christ & Culture Revisited by D. A. Carson
• Community. It was exhilarating to be surrounded by thousands who were not only thinking about the same things I do, but, in many cases, thinking the same things about the things I think about as I do.
• Fellowship. Although there was not nearly enough free time, it was wonderful to visit with like-minded Christians. The immediate familial bond was evident, from the kind words we received from some, to the good-natured insults we — that is, I — received from others.
• Music. The songs were very well-chosen, and Bob Kauflin did an excellent job leading the singing. It was so moving to sing these great hymns of the faith in unison with thousands of brothers and sisters.
• Preaching. Oh, yes, there was preaching. You can, and should, go here to download the General Sessions and Panel Discussions. Be prepared to be encouraged, challenged, and convicted.
• Ligon Duncan. Duncan demonstrated why faithful pastoral ministry cannot exist without sound theology.
• Thabiti Anyabwile. Have I mentioned that I can pronounce his name? Thabiti Anyabwile. See there, I did it again. I spelled it right, too, even though spell-check disagrees. Thabiti gave the best message on “race” that I have ever heard, saying what I have believed for years, but applying it in ways that have never even occurred to me.
• John MacArthur. MacArthur was, as always, MacArthur. His message, The Sinner neither Able nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability, left me feeling like a sinner, and all the more grateful for the grace of God and the cross of Christ.
• Mark Dever. Dever spoke on Improving the Gospel. In short, you can‘t, so don‘t.
• R. C. Sproul. Sproul is one grand, magnificent old man. Due to the vertigo he suffers from as a result of a stroke a few years ago, he was wheeled in and out of the auditorium, and sat behind the podium. Yet, as he preached, there was no hint of frailty. He preached with all the passion and drama that those who have listened to him for years have come to expect.
• Albert Mohler. Can there be any doubt that Mohler is the smartest man in the world? Mohler dismantled the arguments against Penal Substitution with great clarity.
• John Piper. Piper is one of those uncommon preachers whose passion is not a substitute for substance.
• C.J. Mahaney. What is one to think of Mahaney? I‘m afraid he is one of those people who I wouldn‘t want to meet before noon.

This is part 5 of a series.
Part 1 :: Why I Am a Calvinist: Introduction
Part 2 :: Why I Am a Calvinist: Depravity
Part 3 :: Why I Am a Calvinist: Election
Part 4 :: Why I Am a Calvinist: Atonement

I was raised, as I believe I have stated before, on a strange mixture of evangelical Lutheranism and Arminian revivalism.The Lutheranism was of the best kind, but the revivalism, while certainly nowhere near the worst, was confusing enough. In Sunday School and Confirmation, we learned sola fide, and at evangelistic meetings — which were certainly not called “revival meetings,” we were plied with the fiction of gospel songs like the one that follows:

Almost Persuaded
by Phillip P. Bliss

“Almost persuaded” now to believe;
“Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;
Seems now some soul to say,
“Go, Spirit, go Thy way,
Some more convenient day
On Thee I’ll call.”

“Almost persuaded,” come, come today;
“Almost persuaded,” turn not away;
Jesus invites you here,
Angels are lingering near
Prayers rise from hearts so dear;
O wanderer, come!

“Almost persuaded,” harvest is past!
“Almost persuaded,” doom comes at last!
“Almost” cannot avail;
“Almost” is but to fail!
Sad, sad, that bitter wail—
“Almost,” but lost!

Have you ever read anything so calculated to manipulate? Couple those pathetic lyrics with the mournful melody, which, if you can stand it, you can listen to at cyberhymnal.org, and you are guaranteed to get some poor, emotionally assaulted sinner to walk — or crawl — down the aisle to “make a decision for Christ.”

“He who is al­most per­suad­ed is al­most saved, and to be al­most saved is to be en­tire­ly lost,” were the words with which the Rev. Mr. Brun­dage end­ed one of his ser­mons. P. P. Bliss, who was in the au­di­ence, was much im­pressed with the thought, and im­me­di­ate­ly set about the com­po­si­tion of what proved to be one of his most pop­u­lar songs.

One of the most im­press­ive oc­ca­sions on which this hymn was sung was in the Ag­ri­cul­tur­al Hall in Lon­don, in 1874, when Mr. Glad­stone was pre­sent. At the close of his ser­mon Mr. Moody asked the con­gre­ga­tion­ to bow their heads, while I sang “Al­most Per­suad­ed.” The still­ness of death pre­vailed through­out the au­di­ence of over fif­teen thou­sand, as souls were mak­ing their de­ci­sions for Christ.

Sankey, Ira Da­vid. My Life and the Sto­ry of the Gos­pel Hymns (Har­per & Bro­thers, 1906) 112.

Did I really use the word “fiction” to describe Almost Persuaded? Yes, as the scenario described in Bliss‘s gospel song — from which the Gospel is mysteriously absent — has never occured. Certainly, sinners sit and listen to preachers call them to repentance and faith in Christ and walk away untouched. I almost dare say that happens every time the Gospel is preached. But the call of the preacher, which has no guarantee of any specific result, is not the supernatural call of God. Scripture assures us that this call always results in saving faith in the hearer.

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:30)

With that verse, I could almost end this series. Really, what more needs to be said? But, though I do aim for brevity, I have more to say.

Next :: Why I Am a Calvinist: Perseverance