Workshop: The Functional Centrality of the Gospel

Pastor Mike Bullmore

WNY Reformation Society Meeting

Transcript

It is an absolute joy for me to introduce to you Mike Boulmore. Mike has
traveled a long way to be with us today from his home in Kenosha, Wisconsin. And
that's where I met Mike. He was then serving at Crossway Community Church as the
lead pastor. Crossway was a church that he was very much involved in planting
and then pastored for 25 years. And saw God do great things there. Prior to
that, Mike received his PhD in rhetoric from Northwestern University. And worked
as a homiletics professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School for 15 years.
Mike is a founding council member of the Gospel Coalition. He's an author of a
recently released 9 Marks book called The Heart of Preaching. The functional
centrality of the Gospel in the life and work of the preacher. He's presently
serving as the interim teaching pastor at Park Community Church in Chicago. Mike
is married to Bev. That's the best thing you've said so far. She is wonderful.
They've been married for how many years? 37 years. 37 years. They're proud
parents of Abby, Maddie, Graham. And who are all now married themselves. And
there are six grandchildren. One thing Mike has told me many times and stuck
with me. How much he loves being a dad. And it was good to hear as I was
starting out being a dad. I got to know Mike as I was a participant in the CPTC,
which is the Crossway Pastoral Training Course. It was a four year program where
I got to learn about pastoring up close and personal way while I was studying at
Ted's. Mike would teach us various aspects of ministry and then open his life to
us around the dinner table. Those are cherished memories. Do you know how many
men made it through the CPTC? I think 68. 68. And they're all around the world
now. These men are now serving in churches all around the world. Mike is a
pastor's pastor in this next season. I know his heart is to train and encourage
pastors. So it is a real joy to have him here with us. And I know that you will
benefit from his insights. I know you're going to benefit from his heart for
ministry and his heart for God. So let me pass the mic over to Mike. I don't
need that. I'm miked up. Micah, you know you're the most important guy in the
room, right? If everything goes well, nobody knows you're back there. If things
don't go well, every head turns, right? So, Jim, thank you so much. And good
morning to every one of you. I've been looking forward to this for several
months, ever since Jim called and said, hey, what's the possibility of you
coming out this way? And obviously one of the major reasons we wanted to come
out was to see Jim and Dana and their boys and to spend some time with them. But
I've been looking forward to this in particular when Jim described what's going
on here. What a privilege for me to kind of be in the room with you guys. I'm
going to date myself here. When I say guys, by the way, ladies, you're included.
I'm going to date myself a little bit here, but I grew up in the era of the
above-ground pool phenomena. I'm assuming most of you know what I'm talking
about, this kind of backyard circular thing that wasn't much bigger than a
bathtub. And we had one in our neighborhood, and so of course during the summer
months, all the kids congregated over at that person's house, and we'd swim, and
invariably, at some point in the afternoon, invariably, someone would say, let's
make a current. And everybody would line up on the kind of outside of the inside
of that pool, and you'd all start moving around in the same direction, and it
was amazing what a bunch of people moving in the same direction could produce.
Usually at some point someone would say, switch, and you'd turn around, and
you'd fight the current that you created, but my point here is it's amazing what
a group of people in a locality can do when they're all moving in the same
direction. And so to know that there's a bunch of people involved in church
ministry, teaching, preaching, and caring about the same things, I know there's
a lot more that happens in these gatherings than just the teaching. I hope my
teaching contributes to what God's doing in the area, but the fact that you get
together on such a regular basis, I know God's putting that to work to help each
one of you maintain momentum. And you know what's interesting, what happens is
then people walk in the door, they sense that current, and they say, what's
going on here? And you have the wonderful privilege of talking about what God's
doing in the world. So all of that to say it's just a sweet privilege for me to
be here. I'm particularly excited about the two talks that Jim has asked me to
do. This idea, this morning, this first talk of the functional centrality of the
gospel. Every one of those words matters, the functioning centrality of the
gospel. Something that has occupied my thinking for many years now, and there's
a part of me that's a little reluctant to say that there's anything
revolutionary here. I'm not going to be saying anything new today. In fact, at
some point you might be thinking, man, they flew him all the way out here from
Wisconsin to tell us this stuff. We know this stuff. But can I just say that
this idea, the functioning centrality of the gospel, has proven remarkably
clarifying for me as a pastor, and it has proven remarkably fruitful for me in
my own personal walk with the Lord. And so I think it actually can be
revolutionary when this, the functioning centrality of the gospel, is pursued,
when it's applied in our lives and in our marriage, in our ministries. Well, in
our marriages, too. We'll cover all the ground we can today. So I'm very eager.
Let me pray, and then we'll get into the substance. I hope you've got something
to write some notes on. I'm going to use this whiteboard a little bit. It'll be
particularly helpful for me in the second talk, but there's a little diagram in
connection with this one that I'll put up there, and I hope that will help us in
our processing. But let's pray first and ask for God's help. Father, thank you
just for the privilege of being able to pull away from things going on in our
lives, ministry-wise. Father, we've all got lists of things that need to be
done. But for now, you have us here, and we recognize nothing gets wasted in
your economy. And so, God, we pray. We know you have good intended for us. I
pray you'd help me to speak with clarity and with right weight, and God, help
each one of us to listen. Open our hearts. We pray, open our ears. I just pray
that you would grant us the kind of humble posture that you'd like to see. Thank
you for that precious promise. You resist the proud, but you give grace to the
humble. And so, God, we're looking for your grace here. We ask for this all in
Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So several years ago, I, along with several other
pastors, received an invitation to participate in a colloquium, a gathering of
pastors from around the country. It was being called by two names you'll
probably recognize, Don Carson and Tim Keller. And it has since that first
initial meeting become the Gospel Coalition, and we were asked before our first
meeting, along with our resumes, if we would submit an answer to this question.
What is the greatest and most crying need in the church today? And here's what I
wrote. What is the greatest and most crying need in the church today? Not just a
biblical theological literacy, but a functioning biblical theological literacy,
especially a functioning gospel. I believe a local church is healthy to the
degree that, number one, its pastor teachers are able, accurately, effectively,
and broadly, to bring the gospel to bear specifically into the real lives of the
people, and two, its people have a deep personal understanding of, and a deep
personal appreciation for the gospel, so as to be able to live in the good of
the gospel daily. One of the greatest challenges, this is still part of my
response, one of the greatest challenges, yet one of the most important tasks of
pastoral ministry is to help people actually see the connections between the
gospel and the thinking and the behavior that make up their everyday lives. We
know well the centrality of the gospel message, but in order for it to have a
functioning centrality, it must be clearly, and I say clearly because there is
so much possibility of vagueness when we talk about this, and carefully, and I
say carefully because there's dangers all around, and then consistently, and I
say consistently because we all have a tendency to drift, and biblically
speaking, friends, drift is always away. You never drift. It's only in Disney
movies that you drift into something good. Biblically speaking, drift is not a
good thing, and so clearly, carefully, consistently, we need to connect the
gospel to the real issues, issues of thought, issues of conduct of people's
lives. This kind of ministry is most greatly needed. So that's what I wrote. Let
me be completely honest. I don't know what the greatest need in the church is
today. I'll leave that to great. Well, actually, I do. It's Jesus. He is the
bread of life. He is the light of the world. He is the way, the truth, and the
life. He's the good shepherd. We know, but let's not drive a wedge between Jesus
and the gospel. The gospel is the Bible's way of speaking about the person and
work of Jesus, and that's what we need. We need the truth of the gospel. We need
the good news of the gospel. So there is really a very great need for this, what
I'm talking about this morning, in the local church. I know it's true in my
local church. I'm just pretty sure it's true in your local church too, a need
for the gospel to function. And I know that, by the way, not as a result of some
exercise in mental reflection. I know that as a personally and regularly
observed need in my own life and in the lives of other people that I interact
with. There's a need for the gospel to function, to do work. And by the way,
we're not asking the gospel to do something that it's not capable of. You know
this, Romans chapter 1 verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the
power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. And after it has done
its work of regeneration, if we can speak in those terms, it continues. This is
a very important thing for us to get. It continues to be the instrument of our
growth and our spiritual progress. Just listen to what Paul says. This is
Colossians chapter 1 verse 6, a very important verse. This is what he says. All
over the world, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been
doing among you since the day that you heard it and understood God's grace. Do
you see the logic of that verse? It did its initial work. You heard it. God's
grace was poured out to you. And guess what? The gospel is doing its work since
then, bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world. So it is this
functioning of the gospel in the life of the local church, in the life of the
Christian that I want to talk about this morning. I'm going to proceed in two
basic steps this morning. First, I just want to talk about, I want to look at a
biblical paradigm for the functioning centrality of the gospel. That's the main
thing I want to communicate this morning. A biblical paradigm, I want to
demonstrate to you that this idea of the functioning centrality of the gospel is
not just something brain-spun. It's a biblical paradigm, a thoroughly biblical
paradigm. And then once we do that, the second step is I'll talk about some
implications and opportunities. I want to spend at least a little time making
sure that, I mean, there's no way we can be exhaustive in that, but I want to at
least have some lines of suggestion along which we can take this and bring it
into our lives and our ministry. So first, Roman numeral one, if you will, the
functional centrality of the gospel, a biblical paradigm. The way that I've
conceived this is through three concentric circles. I know this is going to be
just a real simple diagram, but I trust it'll help you. Think of three
concentric circles, and in this center circle is, just write the words, the
gospel, the gospel itself. And what we're trying to communicate there is what we
might call the essential or theological centrality of the gospel. We can see
this in several explicit statements in scripture, perhaps most notably 1
Corinthians 15 verses 1 through 3, where Paul gives that wonderful summary of
the gospel, especially those five words, Christ died for our sins. I hope you
notice what I just did with my hands. Now this afternoon, I'm going to talk
about the fact that if we speak of the gospel only in terms of Christ's death,
we are being grossly reductionistic. Sometimes in our gospel centrality, we're
too quick to just talk about the death and resurrection of Jesus. This
afternoon, I'm going to talk about the fullness of the person and work of
Christ. But for now, I'm not ashamed at all to say this is the heart of the
gospel. Christ died for our sins. Now I'm doing that with my fingers on purpose.
When I was a little boy, Sunday school class, Sunday morning, and you know what
little boys are like in Sunday school, right? Fidgety, can't wait to get out. So
as soon as the teacher said, we're done, I scooted out of the room. And then I
heard my name being called. And I turned around and I saw her doing this. Mike,
come here. And I came back to her and she said, hold out your hand. I held out
my hand. And this is what she did. She said, I will never leave you. And she
folded up my hand and she said, that's a promise from God. And you can take that
with you wherever you go. And clearly I've never forgotten that. I share that
with you, but for today, put that in your other hand and free this hand up for
the heart of the gospel. Christ died for our sins. That little phrase contains
all of the essential elements of the heart of the gospel. It talks about the
reality of sin. Christ died for our sins. It's a real thing. It talked about the
reality of the rightness of judgment. Someone had to die for those sins. And
then the wonderful good news of the gospel. Christ died for our sins. So that
phrase, the summary of the gospel, the heart of the gospel, it's a statement
that speaks of the centrality. But the thing that I really want you to notice
from 1 Corinthians 15 is not just the content of that, but notice what Paul says
as a matter of first importance. In other words, it's giving priority to, it's
giving, I'm using the language of centrality to, this essential theological
centrality of the gospel. And we know of that, that priority, for example, in
Paul's preaching. What does he say earlier in this very same book of 1
Corinthians? When I was with you, I resolved to know nothing among you except
what? Jesus Christ and him crucified. Basically the same. He says the same thing
in the book of Galatians. I'm not going to boast in anything except what? The
cross of Christ. So we see in these kinds of explicit statements the essential
theological centrality of the gospel. And by the way, in addition to those kinds
of statements, I mean it's remarkable the language that the Bible uses to
describe the gospel. I quoted Romans chapter 1 a moment ago. It is the power of
God. 1 Corinthians chapter 9, the gospel as the blessing of God. 2 Corinthians
chapter 4, the gospel as the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ. So
there's this explicit giving of priority to the gospel. So that's the first
circle, the gospel itself, and it's central. But now, in order for that gospel
to have a functional centrality, a functioning in our lives as believers,
connections must be made. Connections between that gospel and the places where
people live their everyday lives. The gospel needs to be connected to areas of
thought, patterns of thought. In fact, I would argue deep structures of thought.
The gospel needs to be connected to areas of behavior, patterns of behavior. In
fact, deep structures of behavior. And it's in those connections, it's in making
those connections that the gospel begins to function for believers. It's how the
gospel wields its influence. It's where the gospel begins to bear fruit. And so
that introduces us to the second and the third circles in our little diagram. So
let's go to the second circle. And that second circle, the closest and most
immediate connections to the gospel. What we could describe as doctrinal
implications of the gospel, what I like to call gospel truths. So just right in
that second circle, gospel truths. Please notice that's plural. This is not the
same thing as the gospel truth. That's the center circle. These are things that
are true because of the gospel. Doctrinal implications of the gospel. Gospel
truths. Now, not to push my drawing to an extreme, but the point is these are
getting their shape from the gospel. The reason why this is a circle is because
this is a circle. Does that make sense? In other words, the gospel, these are
being born. You could draw arrows out of this center circle to this second
circle. These things are flowering forth from the gospel. Truths that get their
content, get their substance from the truth of the gospel. By the way, this is
what Timothy talks about or Paul talks about in 1 Timothy when he speaks about,
I quote, doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel. You see the connection,
right? This is doctrine the shape of which is actually determined by the gospel.
So let's talk for a moment about this idea of gospel-shaped doctrine. I'm kind
of belaboring the point here, but it's an important connection for us to get.
This is truth, biblical truth, that's not just true also. You know, over here
we've got the gospel, yeah, we believe that, and over here we've got some
doctrinal truths, yeah, we believe those. No, this is truth that is true because
of the gospel. It grows out of, it gets its shape from the gospel. And that
gospel, these gospel truths, here's the connection, here's the point now, they
bring the gospel to bear, they cause the gospel to function in areas of lived
experience, particularly in the mind. In other words, they're useful in renewing
the mind so that our thinking, the content and the patterns and the structures
of our thinking, I mean, just stop and think about how much of your life you
live right up here. Think about it. All your hopes, all your dreams, all your
desires, all your fears, think about how much of your life happens right up
here. And so don't you want the gospel shaping that? Don't you want the gospel
shaping that life of your people? So this is, by the way, I think this is what
Paul's talking about in Romans chapter 15 verse 13 when he says, May the God of
hope give you all joy and peace. What's the next phrase? In believing. In other
words, by believing certain things, it's going to bear the fruit of real joy,
real peace, real hope in you. Anybody else interested? I mean, people need, we
need these things. And Paul is saying that's going to come about when you
believe certain things that are connected to that grow out of the gospel. So
let's, let's look at a few examples. I'm going to give you just a few examples
here. I'll say this again later, but one of the things I'm trying to encourage
you is to begin to read your Bible to see these connections, to actually fill
out a gospel map of your, of your Bible. So let me just prime the pump a little
bit. As you might expect, the book of Romans is particularly rich in these
gospel truths. So let's consider Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Probably very
familiar to you, but I want you to pay particular attention to the logic which
is indicative of these connections. Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Therefore, since
we have been justified, you see what Paul's doing there, don't you? Since we've
been, he's got both of his feet firmly in that center circle, he's in the
gospel, and now he's saying, therefore, since we have been justified, something
else is true. What is it? We have peace with God. In other words, that is
something that is true because of the gospel. It's not the gospel itself, it's
an implication of the gospel. We have peace with God. Something follows from it.
And that gospel truth, can I just suggest to you, pastorally for a moment here,
that gospel truth, that you are at peace with God, when that is grasped, I mean
thoroughly grasped by something, by someone, that is going to revolutionize
their sense, their fundamental sense of security and safety in this world,
living in a universe that can sometimes feel shaken at times. No matter what
happens, twin towers can come down. I'm not trying to be glib here. You might be
diagnosed with cancer, your spouse might be diagnosed with cancer. Bad things
can happen. No matter what happens, this connection tells you, I tell you, being
at peace with the maker of the universe who holds my future in his hands, that's
something I can live in, even in the face of the kind of world we live in. You
see what I'm suggesting? It's you making that connection that's going to give
weight to this promise that you find in Romans chapter five, verse one. Let me
give you another example. Romans chapter eight, verse one. Please, again, notice
the logic. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus. You see what he's doing? Once again, he's standing firmly with his feet
in the gospel, those who are in Christ Jesus, and guess what? Something else is
true because of that. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus. Paul is standing in the gospel, now sharing a gospel truth, a
doctrinal implication, and friends, don't get familiar with Romans chapter
eight, verse one. I mean, overly familiar. The implication of that truth is
stunning. No condemnation. And when that truth is fully comprehended by a
believer, it will revolutionize their mental world, and the gospel will function
powerfully for them in the face of their ongoing sin. We all know this, right?
Christians still sin. And so we bring the gospel to bear on that because if you
don't have this functioning truth, your options in the face of your own sin are
self-achievement or despair. But when the gospel, when the grace of God in the
gospel is the functioning standard of your thinking with reference to how God
deals with your sin, I mean, oh, how liberating for Christians who are used to
living in condemnation. Listen, it's not that God won't deal with your sin. It's
just that God no longer deals with your sin according to your sin. He now deals
with your sin according to his great love. Radically different. Think about
Romans chapter eight, verse 32. I'm just giving you a few examples here. Romans
8, 32. This is one of my favorites. He who did not spare his own son, but gave
him up for us all. What do you hear there? Gospel, right? Christ died for our
sins. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he
not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Do you see what Paul's
doing? Standing in the gospel, he's now giving us an implication of the gospel,
which is a remarkable promise. How will he not also graciously give us all
things? And when you make that connection for people or for yourself, the
promise of God's gracious provision now kind of flows out of, grows out of the
already established gospel. Thus, the gospel will be functioning for them to
strengthen their daily trust in God's provision for their needs. You see the
principle here. Independent of the gospel, you're going to quote these wonderful
promises from scripture. Romans 5, Romans 8, 1, Romans 8, 32. And you know
what's going to happen to those promises? They're going to come out of your
mouth and fall to the ground. They're going to last about this long in your
people's lives. But if you connect them to the gospel, there is now something
that gives great foundation and great power to those amazing promises in your
Bible. Let me just use an illustration here. Not everybody knows what a flywheel
is. I had to do some research myself to really understand. But a flywheel is
this, it's part of some large machinery and it's designed to be heavy,
ponderous, hard to get it moving. But once you get a flywheel spinning, it's
able to lend its power, its momentum to whatever you attach to it. So the gospel
itself is the flywheel and our jobs as ministers of the word is to get the
flywheel going. Making sure there's an understanding of the gospel, a deep
appreciation of the gospel, and now you start to attach things to it and you're
not making stuff up. I'm trying to demonstrate this. This is right in your
Bible. You're connecting things. You're showing the connection with the Bible
and by so doing, you are lending incredible momentum to this thing, whatever it
is that you're connecting to it. I'll expand on that more when we get to the
third circle. In fact, let's go there right now. There is, in addition to the
shaping of our thinking by these doctrinal implications, there's also the
shaping of our behavior. Another level of connections that link the gospel to
our behavior. So these are behavioral implications, what I like to refer to as
gospel conduct. And the same thing is true here. You could draw your arrows from
that center circle all the way out to this third circle. These two get their
shape. They grow out of, they're born out of the gospel. So gospel conduct.
This, by the way, is what I believe Paul is talking about in Philippians, for
example, when he tells the Philippian believers, conduct yourselves in a manner
that is worthy of the gospel. That's in keeping with the gospel. Or you have
that really interesting episode that's recounted in Galatians, chapter two, when
Paul confronts Peter and his friends. Remember this? Because their conduct was
not in line with the gospel. In other words, there's conduct that should take
its shape from, grow out of, the gospel. So once again, we have this idea of
gospel-shaped conduct that is a direct effect of the gospel. I know I'm saying
the same thing in multiple different ways. I'm trying to bang the drum here. One
of the ways that the gospel functions, and it's meant to function, is by
specifically informing behavior. And I'm using that word specifically. You're
looking for specific connections that God's word makes between the gospel and
our behavior. In fact, I would argue that as pastors, as ministers of the word,
whatever specific ministry of the word God has given to you, you need to be
reading your Bible with an eye to detecting these connections that God's word
makes between the gospel and specific behavior. So again, let me offer a few
examples just to get the wheel moving here. When in 1 Corinthians, chapter six,
verse 18, Paul appeals to the Corinthians to, I quote, flee from sexual
immorality. That's a behavior, right? Flee from sexual immorality. Please notice
the specific, explicit connection that he makes to the gospel, because he wants
the gospel to function as it should with reference to this moral exhortation. So
he doesn't just, Paul doesn't just engage in moralism. He doesn't just kind of
write this letter and say, hey, behave yourselves in this area of your life. Now
he reminds them of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 6, 20. You were bought at a price.
What do you hear there? Christ died for our sins. You were bought at a price.
You belong to God. Therefore, you see the connection he's making now? Therefore,
glorify God in your body. In other words, he attaches this behavioral
exhortation to the already moving flywheel of the gospel. He's been preaching
the gospel in Corinth ever since he got there. He's got that thing spinning
really well. And now he says, I want you to behave yourselves sexually, and the
way that that's going to happen is by you making sure you see the connection
between your sexual purity and the price that we pay. And that's what was paid
for your body. He's making, I mean, you know how long this little moral
exhortation is going to last among your people if you don't attach it to
anything? Flee sexual immorality, period, end of sentence. You know how long
that's going to last? That's going to be like attaching a Post-It note to
midair. That's how long it's going to last. But now you take that moral
exhortation and attach it to the already moving gospel in your people's lives,
and you are providing motive power, momentum to this behavior that is very
glorifying to God, your sexual purity. That's one example. We see the same kind
of thing in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32. Paul says, you probably know this
verse, you probably quote it to me, be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another. There's a behavior, right? What's the next phrase? As God
in Christ forgave you. Paul just takes that, attaches it right to the gospel.
You'd be surprised how often you'll discover. I hope this turns some lights on
for you when you read your Bible and you think, oh, look at that, oh, look at
that, oh, look at that, all these connections. Both the model and the motive
power for your forgiveness of one another is what God has done for you in
Christ. And you making that connection is what connects that call for a behavior
to something much bigger than just moralism. We could spend the rest of the day
just looking at exams. I'm going to give you two more, okay? This is for you
husbands in the house. And those of you who are wives, you can poke your husband
either now or later. But think of the instructions that Paul gives to husbands,
Ephesians chapter 5, verse 25. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the
church and did what? Right? Just another statement of the gospel, gave himself
up for her. So right there at the end of Ephesians 5, 25, you have this
wonderful summary of the gospel, this statement, gave himself up for her. And
its purpose is to give content and motive power to our behavior as husbands, the
gospel functioning. It's not magic, folks. I'll illustrate this in a minute.
It's not magic, but it's an important connection for us to be making for people.
And God uses that. See the same thing in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and 9? Do you
remember what 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 is about? Paul's appeal to the Corinthians
to give? He wants them to give generously. And at several points in those
chapters, he explicitly reminds them of God's generosity to them in the gospel.
See the language he's using. He links this behavior to the gospel so that the
gospel will be the thing that functions to bring about their generosity, not my
pastoral pressure, guilting you or making you feel duty. What does Paul say? See
that you excel in this act of grace also. Listen to this now. For you know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet he became poor so
that you by his poverty might become rich. Reminding you in different terms of
the gospel in order to motivate. So once again, the gospel functioning as it
should to motivate our generosity. By the way, just many, many, many more
examples could be given. The gospel has something to say about racism. The
gospel has something to say about suffering. The gospel has something to say
about self-control. The gospel has something to say about our worship. Listen,
ultimately all Christian behavior should flow out of the gospel. But it's in you
seeing and then helping other people see the connections, the specific lines of
connection, the logic of the gospel, if you will, that really causes the gospel
to function. That's what taps into the momentum and the power of the big gospel
flywheel. And it's your job. I sound like a dad up here. I'm sorry. But it's
true. It's your job. I think a big part of our job as pastors, as teachers,
again translate this into your particular ministry, whatever it might be, any
ministry of the word. It's a big part of our job to make those connections for
people clearly, carefully, consistently. I think that almost defines maturity,
effectiveness. Your skill, your growing skill in making these connections. And
when you do this, you're not just kind of leveraging the logic of the gospel.
You are harnessing the power of the gospel. All right. That's our first step.
That's the paradigm. I believe it's a biblical paradigm. I've tried to show you
that I'm not just making this up. This in fact is how the Bible speaks. So not
just the centrality of the gospel, but the functioning centrality of the gospel
is a biblical paradigm. That's the concept that I want you to see this morning.
Now, I think it might be helpful, step number two, Roman numeral two, to at
least begin to talk about some lines along which this might get applied. So I
want to talk Roman numeral two, implications and opportunities. So let me
suggest just three particular places that this vision, this understanding can be
and should be leveraged. Am I looking at that clock right? Have I been talking
for that long? Is it 1130? Oh, but we okay. We didn't start right at. Am I all
right? Okay. We got 15 minutes? Okay. We're good. Scared me for a minute. Let me
suggest three particular places that this vision, the functioning centrality of
the gospel, can be and I would argue should be leveraged. Three places within
which you need to be clearly, carefully, consistently showing the connections
between the gospel and the thinking, the living of your people. And then I'll
end with just a gentle word of warning and we'll be done. So first, number one,
and this just must not be an unstated assumption. The first place that these
connections need to be made is in your own life. So we all have to do a little
sober self-assessment here, right? Is there really a functioning of the gospel
in my life? Do I have a deep personal understanding of the gospel? And not just
to get me saved, not the gospel for unbelievers, we're talking the gospel for
Christians. Do I have a deep personal understanding of the gospel? Do I have a
deep personal appreciation for the gospel? In other words, are you making the
connections and living in the good of the gospel daily? So the question here is
are you purposefully growing, expanding, deepening in your comprehension of the
gospel? Is the gospel design not just, you know, three circles on a board, but
the fullness of what that represents? Is that being filled out so that it's not
just circles on a page, it's being filled out in the details and connections in
your own life? Are you faithfully reading God's word toward that end? But then
are you growing in your actual living out of the gospel? Here's a good test.
Let's stand in the gospel and protect ourselves from legalism right now. But
here's a good test. Are other people observing this in your life? Do your
children see it? Does your spouse see it? Do the people who you work with see
it? Can I just say that there are very few things that are going to be more
effective for your people than saying, oh, that's what it looks like. Not
perfectly, but well, it's not just talk. It actually is functioning in the life
of my dad, my husband, my fellow pastor. Do they see it in your life? Listen, if
nothing else happens, if these next two things that I'm going to talk about
don't happen at all, that one is going to bear a lot of fruit in your pastoral
ministry. Obviously, it adds credibility to everything you say, but even by
itself. What does Paul say to Timothy? Timothy, be an example. Be an example in
your speech, in your conduct, in your faith, in your love, in your purity. In
other words, let the people see what this looks like. What does Peter say to the
fellow elders? Shepherd the flock among you. Be an example to them. So I just
want to stress this first. The power of God's working in your own life, the
gospel functioning in your own life, it's just hard to put a quantification on
that. Number two, I suppose this is the obvious one. Number two, a second place
that these connections need to be made is in your regular preaching and
teaching, your ministry of the word, whatever it might be. I'm thinking
primarily, just because I'm a preaching pastor, I know that's a good majority of
you in the room, I'm thinking primarily of your typical Sunday morning
preaching, your primary responsibility to feed the flock, to shepherd the flock.
And certainly foundational to that is explicit gospel preaching. And I hope you
know by now that I'm not talking about evangelistic preaching. Not that you
shouldn't do that. I'm talking about preaching the gospel for Christians. We had
a young couple in our church during their membership interview, I'll never
forget this, he said, we came this close to leaving your church because every
Sunday, it's the gospel, gospel, gospel. And then he said, and then you started
your series in Galatians and the penny finally dropped. Gospel for Christians.
Living in the good of the gospel as a Christian. That's what we're talking
about. When I say gospel preaching, that's what I'm talking about. So certainly
foundational, explicit gospel, you've got to keep the gospel flywheel moving.
But I'm thinking also about making these connections, making sure that people
are seeing how this gospel connects to the thinking and the behavior that makes
up their everyday lives. Jerry Bridges is one of the guys that is just so
eloquently talked about. Jerry's written like 10 books and they're all the same.
They're all the same book, which I'm so glad he's done. But in his book, The
Discipline of Grace, listen to what he says. He says, the gospel is not only the
most important message in all of history, it is the only essential message in
all of history, and yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live
their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of
living by it. He goes on to say, I believe part of the problem is our tendency
to give an unbeliever just enough of the gospel to get him or her to pray a
prayer to receive Christ, and then we immediately put the gospel on the shelf,
so to speak, and go on to the duties of discipleship. And as a result,
Christians, Christians are not instructed in the gospel. And because they do not
fully understand the riches and the glory of the gospel, they cannot live by it
in their daily lives. So what I'm talking about when I talk about gospel
preaching is the gospel for Christians and then making sure that you are in the
process making these connections. You're not, you're not, after you preach the
gospel, kind of resorting to moralism. You're helping people see their thinking
and their behavior flows out of. And it's good news, living in the good of the
gospel. Listen, following Jesus is optimal human existence. It's the best
possible life. It's what you were made for. So when you call people to sexual
purity or to let no unwholesome word come out of their mouth, this is not
moralism. This is now behavior shaped by growing out of the gospel, and it's all
good news. All right. I've gotten off script here. I went off-roading for a
moment. In your regular preaching and teaching, you'll have opportunities to
make these connections. I mean, for example, I'll just give you one little
example. Not too long ago, actually, it's many years ago now, we did a sermon
series that was entitled, Ending Well, Living and Dying to the Glory of God. The
first sermon I preached was the last two decades, retiring to the glory of God.
The second sermon was the last two years, aging to the glory of God. And the
last sermon, the third sermon, was the last two weeks, dying to the glory of
God. And in that last sermon, I mean, how could I not kind of seize the
opportunity to make a powerful gospel connection for the people right out of
Hebrews chapter two, where the writer says, speaking of Christ, since,
therefore, the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of
the same thing, that through death, listen to this, he might destroy the one who
has the power of death and deliver all those who through fear of death were
subject to lifelong slavery, which, by the way, occupies your people's minds to
some degree or another, every one of them, fear of death. And so what a
wonderful gospel connection I could make there to address a pattern of thinking
and help them to be free from a fear of death by connecting to the gospel. Now,
my point is, making the connections is a big part of your teaching ministry. And
can I just encourage you, you're going to get better at this. You're going to
get better at this, but not automatically. Nobody drifts into excellence. Got to
do some work. But as you acquaint yourself more fully with the lexicon of the
Bible as it relates to the gospel, the way the gospel, the way the Bible speaks
about the gospel, all of the different kind of images and vocabulary sets that
get used as you become more and more familiar with that freedom and slavery,
guilt and pardon, enmity and reconciliation, life and death, redemption, I mean,
the Bible is wonderfully vivid and varied in its language, the terminology as
you understand that language, the gospel, you're going to have more and more
points of contact with people and thus more able to see the connections. Okay,
number three. So in your life, in your teaching ministry, number three, a third
place that gospel connections need to be made is in your direct pastoral care.
Your interaction with people, whether it's formal or informal, your care and
counsel with people. Listen, if you are faithfully ministering the gospel in all
of its connections, that is going to bring you into another kind of ministry.
You know this. If you've been in pastoral ministry for like two weeks, you know
this. You're preaching is going to generate other ministry. People are going to
come and talk to you. You're going to have an email correspondence that week.
You're going to be on the phone. And these are wonderful opportunities for you.
You got to see this as an extension of your ministry of the word. And you got to
seize that opportunity to continue to help people make connections to continue
to let the gospel function. I am finding that there's so much of people's
spiritual struggles. So much of people's discouragement is the result of a
failure to make a gospel connection. Now, again, it's not magic, but it's real.
So what might this look like? Let me just give you one little example. Some time
ago, after preaching a sermon on forgiveness, I found myself in my office with a
young wife whose husband had sinned, grievously sinned against her. And she was
understandably having a hard time forgiving him. And at one point in the
conversation, she looked at me and she said these words, I'll only forgive him.
I can only forgive him if he promises to never do that again. Now, I didn't rush
in. But at the right time, I said to her, Where would you be if God had dealt
with you that way? I'll only forgive you if you promise to never sin again. You
see the gospel connection. I was reminding her of the goodness, the radical
goodness of God in his forgiveness. While we were still sinners, Christ died for
us. You know what? That's what broke the logjam of resistance in her heart. I
saw it break right before my eyes. I saw the recognition on her face, and then
the tears. Now listen, that was not my profound insight. That was not my
pastoral brilliance. You know what that was? That was the gospel functioning in
her life, setting her free from something. I just, I share that just to
encourage you a big part of your pastoral counseling, whether you're just
talking with a friend on a walk in the park, or you're sitting in your office in
a formal meeting, a big part of your care for people is helping them to see and
believe gospel truths, gospel conduct. All right, a gentle word of warning. And
then I'm going to close with a little bit of an illustration and we'll be done.
Here's my word of warning. If this idea has any merit in your mind, if you feel
like, oh, there's something here I want to lay hold of, I want this to be
something of a paradigm for me and my pastoral ministry, it's going to be super
tempting for you to just repeat the language. Well, let's bring the gospel to
bear on this situation. Well, let's make a gospel connection. Well, let's try to
get the gospel functioning. It's going to be very tempting for you to just bring
the language in. At one point, George MacDonald said this, there is nothing so
deadening to the divine as an habitual dealing with the outsides of holy things.
Same thing here, nothing so deadening to the functioning of the gospel than just
just repeating the jargon. So I know that this idea in God's grace has has
proven useful to people. And the temptation is to pick it up and just kind of
repeat the language as if, remember what I said early on, you got to do your
work carefully, you got to do your work clearly, you got to do your work
consistently, sometimes it takes a little while for the penny to drop for
people. So with great patience and careful instruction, it's how we do our
ministry, right? So I just want to encourage you, be careful, make sure that
you're working. Again, I've said it 10 times already, be clear, be consistent,
be specific. And as you do that, the gospel will exert its influence in a ever
broadening way through your life, your ministry, and the ministry of your
church. All right, let me close with this illustration. Some time ago, I was
reading about a group of men. They were explorer scientists who had dedicated
themselves to the exploration and the mapping of North Africa, great stretches
of the Sahara Desert. That was their passion. Actually, technically, by
training, they were sand dune morphologists. Sounds fascinating, right? But
their love, their true passion was the cartography, the geography and the
mapping of the North African deserts. And I remember reading one of them
describing how after years of study, trying to draw some analogies here, pastor,
work, study to show yourself approved unto God. After years of study, after
research, after reading ancient books, going on expeditions, how after all of
that, they carried in their minds maps. And all it would take, and I'm quoting
here is some offhand comment overheard on the streets of Cairo about some
unnamed ridge, and the whole of the map of North Africa would slide into their
minds. I remember reading that and thinking, that's what I want the gospel to be
like. After years of study, after reading ancient books, after maybe going on
expeditions doesn't work here, but interacting with other people who care about
the same thing. A map of the gospel, this is what we want, a map of the gospel
so that it's not just circles on a board. It's actually a richly filled out,
detailed gospel map that becomes for us a framework through which isn't God
kind, through which God now ministers his grace to his people and strengthens
them in their following of Christ. May it be to his glory. Okay, Jim, what time
do we go to now?