Review of "Joy Unspeakable" (Martyn Lloyd-Jones) by Mark Heath

My old Dunstable friend Mark Heath has written an excellent review of one of my favourite books; "Joy Unspeakable" by Dr Martyn Ll0yd-Jones. It's really fitting that I read this review so early in 2011 as I have been reflecting on my deep need for a new filling of the Spirit of God and a desire - a desperate desire - for a year of encounters with Him.

It's so good I am going to reprint in

full so here it is;

"This book contains 24 sermons from Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Lloyd-Jones is of course well known and highly regarded in evangelical circles for his outstanding preaching gift. However, the position he argues for in this book is a controversial one, particularly amongst those who otherwise would agree with his every word.

In this book, Lloyd-Jones builds a biblical case that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a distinct experience from conversion. He sees it as the most urgent need for the church of the present day to be baptised in the Spirit, which he believes is the same thing as saying that we need revival.

The first chapter establishes his conviction that the baptism or “sealing” with the Spirit is distinct from conversion. Amongst many examples he gives, he points to Jesus’ own experience of being baptised with the Spirit. He is keen to emphasise the experiential nature of the baptism – it is a kind of “drenching” with the Spirit.

The chief marks of the baptism he highlights are a great joy, a real assurance, and power for witness. He does not believe that it is directly related to sanctification, although it is of course a great encouragement to growth in holiness. He urges those who do not have “joy inexpressible” to seek the baptism. He does not believe that the baptism can only be received once.

Pentecostals and charismatics however should not assume he is uncritically “on their side” in this debate. Though he rigorously refutes cessationism, he also critiques certain charismatic ideas as well. Perhaps most notable is his stress on the sovereignty of God in giving the baptism and gifts. He rejects any assumption that you simply have to follow certain steps to receive them, or that they can be “claimed”. He is highly suspicious of anything that could be interpreted as psychological manipulation or the power of suggestion. Instead he urges people to earnestly seek to receive the baptism, but at the same time indicates that we cannot force God’s hand.

He manages to show tremendous balance throughout. He is aware of the danger of quenching the Spirit on the one hand, and of gullibly being led into error on the other, and is equally forceful in warning against both. Perhaps most impressive is his determination to follow the Scriptures wherever they lead, even if that put him at odds with many of those who moved in the same reformed evangelical circles. He was determined not to interpret Scripture in light of our experience, but to evaluate our experience (or lack of it) in the light of Scripture.

Throughout the book, he illustrates his points with stories of people throughout history who have met with God in remarkable ways. Some have criticised him for making the baptism seem “out of reach” to ordinary people by focussing on these particularly exceptional examples. But that would be slightly unfair, since he takes pains to point out that this experience is available to all kinds of people, even those with the most level-headed of dispositions. Others criticise his emphasis on the sovereignty of God by appealing to Luke 11:13 as a promise that we will receive when we ask. However, he does address this concern, and again it is his determination that we settle for nothing less than the real thing that prevents him from endorsing various charismatic attempts to guide people into receiving the experience.

Although this is quite a long book, I would say it remains essential reading for those wanting to fully examine the biblical evidence on the matter of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He shows how almost all the evidence in the gospels and Acts points in this direction, and is willing to interact with all the counter-arguments that are usually raised (including 1 Cor 12:13). Most importantly though, it stirs up a hunger to personally receive more of the Spirit, and calls us to earnest prayer for our churches to experience true revival".

Terry Virgo proves me wrong ... again!!

I am increasingly loving being proved wrong - I think in the past when I used to be puffed up with pride reading my theological books and liking to convince myself that I was something of an "academic" then being proved wrong was horrid. But as I am growing older I am realising that there is a wonderful joy in being proved wrong especially when it is by older and wiser heroes of the faith!

Many know that I expressed some doubts about our recent visit to Church of Christ the King in Brighton and my discomfort with the style of how they conducted the evening meeting. It seemed a bit too "Driscoll-esque" for my liking and I pondered over how effective it is for churches to be so militantly "missional" or whether our focus should be on seeing the Presence of God break out in our churches and then the unsaved will come - as they did in the book of Acts!

The demonstration of true New Testament churches proved to be irresistable to the lost!

Frankly at present the church is anything BUT "irresistable" because we are preaching a mixture of law and grace and bluntly - the non-Christian wants to feel good about him or herself. And they come into church and feel worse about themselves and that is not through an effective preaching of the Gospel for that will bring them to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ - the Saviour! No - the feeling worse is through a preaching of legalism and an atmosphere of judgementalism.

But I digress. I was wrong! Yes I am really grateful that my friend Mark Heath advised me not to judge CCK purely on one service. I guess the danger is to get a snapshot and then draw assumptions from that. My wrong assumption was to worry that since Mark Driscoll's visit to Brighton - CCK, Terry and Newfrontiers were abandoning the charismatic heritage and the emphasis on the Presence of the Spirit for "mission" (excessive!? Me?!?! Well at least I'm not lukewarm Laodecian!).

Terry's latest blog had this comment in it;

"Kings have power downward and priests have power upward prevailing with God. It is through our priestly prayer ministry that we reign with Christ. Without a powerful priestly ministry, ruling is mere ambition. The priority is to reach God, then people – not the reverse".

It is a powerful and wonderful reminder that we have a dual inherited ministry of being a "royal priesthood" and I would love to hear more sermons unpacking that reality in our lives! Rather than constant reminders of how sinful we are. And I love that final underlined sentance - that we reach God and then people! What is the point in going out to the lost multitudes when we have got nothing to show them? What is the point in going if our message is just "words only" but no power accompanying?

I am not saying that we do the Pentecostal-style "tarrying" because we have the power already! The heavens are open! The Spirit has been poured out! We are in a New Covenant!! But the question is are our churches living in the full freedom of that? Are our churches expressions of the full glory of the power and freedom of the New Covenant? Or are remnants of legalism and law still affecting and hanging over? Because I guarantee you on good authority - unbelievers will know when there is law and legalism about. I think they are actually better discerners of it than many Christians.

But John Piper once said that the more we spend time nearer the heart that is white-hot ablaze for God (and there is NONE more white-hot for God than God Himself) the more we will be changed into His likeness "from glory to glory". And that means taking Sundays beyond just the peripheral charismatic "tongues and prophecy". That means prophecies that expose the secrets of men's hearts and cause them to fall down in worship! That means gifts of healing and signs and wonders will be in operation and finally we will see Jesus' declaration come to pass;

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord".

A Day at CCK, Brighton!!

I was fascinated to come back from Brighton to read Mark Heath's latest post looking specifically at four different directions Newfrontiers could be going in. I think they could easily apply to churches generally but what made it so applicable was the experience we have had being at Church of Christ the King in Brighton today. I want to make it clear that the three hour drive back to Birmingham was largely spent discussing in depth the two services we were at this wonderful church so this isn't an "off-the-cuff" post but one that has been discussed and thought through in depth!

Before I get into my report on today - for those who don't have time to get over to Mark's post - here's a very brief summary of the four positions he outlines. Where are we going?

1. Church Growth – (Bill Hybels, Hillsong, Rick Warren)

2. Reformissional - (Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll and maybe C J Mahaney and Wayne Grudem)

3. Neo-Pentecostal - (Rob Rufus, Todd Bentley)

4. Emerging Church (Rob Bell and Brian McLaren and Steve Chalke)

Now before I get into discussing my opinion on where I think Newfrontiers is headed in light of my experience today - here's a more objective report on CCK, Brighton and more specifically what Terry Virgo preached on.

Simon Brading was leading the worship from the keyboard and we began by singing just two songs before one of the leaders came up and led us in a time of communion. Then there were the obligatory notices and the "speak to someone you don't know" - while Terry Virgo got ready to come up and speak.

Terry spent some time bringing a report back from the months he has spent in Australia as this is the first time he has spoken at his home church since getting back. Here's a short video clip;

It was exciting to hear about what God is doing out on the "Pacific Rim" particularly at the interest in Japan there is to hear more about the grace of God. Terry has been invited back in 2010 to speak at a national conference and his book; "God's Lavish Grace" is going to be translated into Japanese. The advance of the Gospel indeed! He then introduced his sermon - a continuing of the series on "Elijah" that he has been doing over the past year or two.

Here are my notes;

1 Kings 18 (NASB) - Elijah

Elijah came and confronted a king about a nation that had tragically lost its way. God had promised Abraham that through him, He would bless the whole world. They had the high privilidge of coming to Sinai and hearing the voice of God. He called them; "My Bride - I am married to you". Look at the Psalms and you will see they knew who they were. In the preceding chapters you will see over 58 years seven kings came and went and they forgot who they were. They ceased to represent God and enjoy God. Having come into the land they saw other gods here. They learned how to cultivate. King after king yielded ground and the nation that was meant to be the light of the world - now made it illegal to worship Israel's God under Ahab. Into this Elijah was sent to confront Ahab and said unless you change, God will act. God will capture your attention and bring you down! It is a bit like God pulling the plug on the banks. We are falling apart - what is going on?! God can turn a flourishing place into a desert (Psalm 107). Ahab will be further confronted by Elijah.

"How long will you limp between two opinions? If the Lord is God follow Him".

1. Behold Elijah.

"Now Elijah ...". No background to him - he just appeared. God is ready to start speaking again. This period of humbling is over and God is going to show mercy. The Bible repeatedly says that God will not over test His people. "If He causes grief then He will have compassion" (Lamentations). It is interesting to see that God initiates this. It is not Elijah saying he wants to have another go. It is not Elijah initiating. It is not for Elijah to get ahead of God. Some like Moses try that and they are not very successful. God had closed the heavens until He was ready to open them again. When he faced Obadiah and Obadiah spoke of doubt - Elijah was solid and said "I will meet him today". Elijah is so submissive to God that it is like you are meeting God. He is truly prophetic! "Elijah arose and went". This man is carving out a life of total obedience. He speaks with frightening authority because he lives in a relationship of total obedience. He is sent by God and knows God will be with him.

We want to look like people who comes from the Presence of God and speaks with authority - that is the true prophetic church.

Where did unlearned fishermen get their boldness on the Day of Pentecost? Down through church history there has been a break out of people who know God.

2. That spells trouble.

He earned the title; "You troubler of Israel". That is a feature when the church begins to be the church! It happened with Jeremiah - another authentic prophetic. When he spoke in his day and promised judgement - "Jerusalem will fall". They called him a treasonous man and threw him in prison. But he was just the authentic voice! An authentic voice does not want to make trouble, it just wants to shed light! They are sharing but it looks like trouble! The one who lives the righteous life will be seen as such! The early apostles hit this kind of come back! (Acts 17) So many people are responding to Paul that people start speaking against him. "These men who have turned the world upside down". The Greek word means literally "revolutionary". John Stott says the same word is used of an Egpyptian terrorist who tried to start a revolt! Revolutionary overtones! But it doesnt say that he caused trouble! (v2, 3) The verbs that describe Paul; "reasoned, proclaimed, persuaded". Paul was just being reasonable but the backlash was - you troublemaker!

"God is light and in Him there is no darkness". Light came into the world but men prefer darkness to light because their deeds are evil. They want to stay in the darkness. The offer of light is seen as trouble but that is the thing that you most need! The words that describe the people that charged Paul; "jealous, wicked men, mob, uproar, riot". That is the reaction that Paul got as truth is told! That is how the church is often regarded as these days. We tolerate everything apart from people who feel they know something. The message of hope and light and life is a Gospel declarer! Not trouble! We are meant to be salt and light! If we haven't got a clear message then we may as well stop speaking! He knew what he was saying was true!

Such kinds of declarations will meet with hostility. Paul says to the believers in Colosse - let your speech always be gracious. Always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in you. Let your speech arrest the corruption. Speak when you can to stop the corrupting trend. Elijah was the hope of the nation! Not a trouble maker!

3. It is time to make your choice.

Jesus was ruthless with religion! The religious were dismissive of the apostles! They didn't like that! They called the blind beggar "untaught" because he was healed! Elijah had no time for the prophets of Baal. But he had mercy on the people. Never has there be someone who came so near as Jesus. Never has there been someone who stood before the Presence of God. Come from God! He grew up in a carpenters home. Just a child of Mary and Joseph. He didnt come near just generally but near to the ordinary people. He offended the religious! He ate and drank and sat and laughed and danced at weddings! John could say that we handled and touched. Mary could say that she anointed His feet with her tears.

It is wonderful to know a God who comes near. He comes near! "Emmanuel - God with us".

We can start our day saying "Thank You Jesus - you are with me!". "How long will you limp between two opinions?". As a nation they hadn't totally abandoned God. Their very identity was linked with God! They knew their history and the Psalms they sang. Even Ahab's sons later in the book of Kings took over and his name was Ahaziah. Ahab called his son "Yaweh has grasped". And the second "Yaweh is exalted". This nation had a divided heart. We are not supposed to follow two masters. Jesus said you actually cant do it. It won't work! "You cannot serve God and money". Jesus used money as a kind of god. What does money offer? It offers some interesting things. "I will care for you - provide for you - give you fulfillment". Who else offers that? Money is coming with the same offer! And Jesus says you cant serve both. When a rich young ruler came to Jesus and there was an attractiveness to him but Jesus enunciates some principles and then saw right into his soul. "Sell what youve got, give it to the poor and follow Me". He couldn't do it. The man went away sad.

The tax collector - a crook and yet Jesus came to his home. He was so different. Although he was very rich and very crooked, he said he would give back. Jesus said; "Salvation has come to this house". We are appealing about who is the Lord of my life?

The only way you get salvation is a revelation of Jesus, Who He is and what He can do.

1 Corinthians 6:12. The prohibitions of Jewish lifestyle were lifted. That approach to God, trying to keep the old laws is irrevelant. You don't have to keep them! All things are lawful! The liberty of the Christian is that all things are lawful! And then he says; "I will not be mastered by anything". A good job, a nice house, a nice car, a nice wife or husband, a good education is all lawful. Christianity recognises it is Gods world and we feel very at home in it! But we aren't going to come under anyones control. Otherwise we are in danger of something becoming an idol and we cannot serve two Gods. The fact that we are free doesn't mean we become a glutton! Is that how we show our freedom?! That's not being free at all not being able to go without something!

Jesus said "Go" but hasn't He said He will work all things together for good?! What matters most? That is the appeal! We can't live with non-negotiables. Jesus is looking for ruthlessness. He calls for a radical commitment! Loving but truly revolutionary! We are saying "Jesus whatever you say". He said "How can you believe yet make no effort to attain the praise that comes from God alone?". Elijah didn't get praise from anyone but wanted the praise that came exclusively from God. 1 Cor 4:3. It is so easy to be zealous if you get some applause. You want people to see it from your point of view! Jesus modelled a completely different lifestyle. He always kept very clear. His passion was to please the Father. Even as a little boy He "must be about His Father's business" and He carried that to Gethsemane. Under the shadow of the Cross itself; "Not My will but Yours". Jesus had one intent - to please the Father.

For Him there was no alternative, nothing else appealing to Him. Here is our focused Saviour, modelling sonship for us. Equal and yet submissive. "The Father sent the Son". He was submissive so that is how He could be sent. He came to a world that lies. He came and showed us what it is like to be a Son. "You came from heaven to show the way".

You can learn objective rules and not love God. It is about how can I please Him and enjoy Him more and get to know Him better!

"For the joy set before Him He endured the Cross". We are His joy! He wants a wife like Him! "Lets go and do the Father's will". Lets not limp between two things. God is willing to bring rain! Let Him be God!".

Terry then called up one of the CCK evangelists who gave a very empassioned short Gospel message to which there was about 10 responses! This was really exciting! Simon Brading then led us in some more worship and it began with one of my favourite songs from the 1970's;

"Jesus we enthrone You, we proclaim You our King,

Standing here in the midst of us - we raise You up with our praise,

And as we worship build a throne - and as we worship build a throne!

And as we worship build a throne - come Lord Jesus and take Your place!".

It was as though my tear ducts were put onto free drainage! That song particularly was so special and reminded me of the truth that Jesus Christ is risen and reigning! We sang a couple of other songs and then a leader came up and closed the meeting. There were no specific spiritual gifts during the meeting - no prophecies but there was a short few minutes of singing in the Spirit.

So the ramblings of a Mystery Worshipper ...

My thoughts! Allow me to begin with the caveat that CCK is one of my favourite churches in the United Kingdom. I first went to CCK when my home church in Dunstable was rapidly becoming rabidly anti-charismatic and I was just thrilled to find that it was possible to find a fully functioning charismatic church that wasn't totally anti-doctrine or anti-the Bible. So when I share my thoughts - I do so with the discomfort about criticising a family member. This isn't easy for me. But I hope that I will carefully explain my observations - and as always I am open to criticism and points that will enable me to hone my attitudes if necessary.

A. Terry Virgo - Grace and Law?

Terry has always been known as a "Grace teacher". Rob Rufus speaks of him frequently as being so key in his life. In 1984 Terry visited South Africa and it was that teaching on the grace of God that began to make Rob the man he is today. I remember being told by one of the former disciples of Stanley Jebb that when Terry Virgo and Newfrontiers went around the country on the "Enjoying God's grace" tours between the Downs Bible Weeks and the Stoneleigh Bible Weeks - my home church and Stanley Jebb was so concerned at this "antinominanistic teaching" that he began a series on the Law!

But during this sermon I noticed that I have become hyper-sensitive to any mixture of law and grace. And I saw it happen again and again. Firstly I recalled that Terry preached a glorious sermon on "Elijah" back in Bristol. That sermon was the most profound explanation of grace that I had heard upto that point. I had just come out of Sovereign Grace Ministries bitter and badly bruised - and that gentle but prophetic teaching drew me back to not turning my back on the church as I wanted to at that point.

I need to say that I have not seen the same grace in this series that he has been preaching. And I am not quite sure why. Terry seems to be trying to apply this Old Testament passage to a New Covenant period that we are in. At the beginning of the message he stated quite firmly that it "could be God pulling the plug on the UK banks". Rob Rufus would differ quite firmly from that. Rob said again and again throughout his glorious "Established in Righteousness" series that we cannot lay the earthquakes, tsnuamis, terrorist disasters and so on at God's door and blame Him. It is logical - God has given us free will. We are not living and governing our countries by His Kingdom economy therefore we are reaping for ourselves the fruit of that.

Secondly he made a number of comments that again I seized on. Near the end of his sermon he was speaking about; "Jesus is looking for ruthlessness. He calls for a radical commitment!" and an example of that was; "If your hand causes you to sin - cut it off! If your eye causes you to sin - pluck it out!". Terry made that comment and then moved on. Those particular Gospel commands of Jesus Christ are something of incredible sensitivity to me because they were used by the SGM pastor while I was being "disfellowshipped". He asked me specifically if I had committed immoral sin with a friend of mine - which I denied.

His reply was then; "Well Jesus said if you look at someone with lust in your heart then you have as good as committed adultery - so you have!".

The obvious reply to that was; "Well so has every man on this planet!". But at the time I didn't think of that. Rob Rufus has gloriously again made me realise how utterly wrong and indeed cruel it is for preachers to apply these New Testament commands of Jesus to us today. Do we see the disciples and followers of Jesus walking around at the time dismembered? With eyes gouged out? Of course not! He would have become known as a sado-masochistic cult leader! What was Jesus saying? Rob said;

"Don't take the outlandish things that Jesus says in the gospel and say 'I've got to live by that!'. See the context is that He is saying this to the arrogant people! Christians say; 'That is the new law of the New Covenant!'. Jesus Christ is preaching under the Old Covenant that you must not commit adultery but under the New Covenant even if you look you have committed it! Oh pleaseeeeee!

There is no faith in that! We are all dead if that is the case! He was preaching Abraham to the broken and the hungry for God and He was preaching the law to the self-righteous and to the arrogant".

So I offer hope to every person like me whose hand has caused them to sin, whose eye has looked at something that we shouldn't have. We do not need to go for the kitchen knives yet. Our bodies are the glorious temple of the Holy Spirit! No - Jesus has taken that radical punishment on our behalf. HIS hands were pierced for us! HIS back was beaten for us! HIS side was pierced until blood flowed for us!

I don't know why Terry said what he did. I can appreciate his heart is missional. He spoke frequently throughout the sermon about Tom Eaton out in Japan and other Newfrontiers folk who have acted radically and "gone". But I don't think the subtle mixture of law and grace is required to keep that radical fire burning. How much better to go because we simply "MUST - MUST - MUST". He is too good to keep to ourselves!

B. Reformissional? Charismatic? Confused?

So finally we come to Mark Heath's excellent summary as to where Newfrontiers are going. I must admit to spending much of the journey home rather confused as to what I had witnessed at CCK. The atmosphere was very different. The lights in the main auditorium were turned out and the stage was lit brightly. There were coloured lights every now and then sweeping over the audience during the singing of songs. And I can say quite honestly that it was a very professional performance. The worship band were excellent and everyone joined in enthusiastically. But I found myself asking why signs, wonders and miracles were absent from the meeting as were spiritual gifts (apart from a brief moment of singing in the Spirit) and were offered at the end after the benediction.

But it was MISSION that dominated the meeting. They showed a "Mobilise" video at one point and encouraged all the teenagers and 20's to get their bookings in before the 28th February "while it was still cheap". Joel Virgo - the lead elder - came up and did a long plug about the famous Newfrontier churches "Gift Days". The figure that the elders are believing God for is £150, 000 and this money will be going to CCK itself to help their work in Brighton. Scott and I discussed on the way home how helpful it is to present the figure that the elders wanted. Does it encourage a "Malachi 3" atmosphere of giving or a "Melchizadek" atmosphere of giving?

I don't know - I am not a CCK member - but I wonder whether my primary motive in giving generously would be out of a heart full of abundance at the lavish grace that God has poured on me? Or because I didn't want to disappoint the elders and have the excruciating news that after "Gift Day" has finished, that Joel Virgo got up and said; "We didn't make it" = guilt. Would it not be more helpful for the elders to keep that figure to themselves and maybe announce it when and if that figure is met?

Finally I was wondering about this "mission" emphasis that Mark Driscoll and Tim Keller (now Newfrontier favourites) seem to be leading the way in. Taking the book of Acts - what did the early church do? Did they go - go - go militantly to meet figures or did they make it their primary ambition to see the Presence of God come down - and then find that the surrounding community were "added to them daily"? It was actually persecution that split them up and sent them to go! A note about communion - the leader who opened up the Lord's Table said something rather odd too. He said; "If you are a guest or visiting us then perhaps you would like to let the elements pass you by". That left both Scott and I very nervous as to whether we should or should not take the bread and the wine. Fortunately the girl sitting next to me didn't seem to know that we were visiting so gave me the bread and wine with no trouble. But I would have felt very uncomfortable if she had bypassed me and not let me join in. Is that something "Reformissional"?

My love for CCK and for Terry Virgo and indeed Newfrontiers remains unchanged - but I found myself leaving the meeting and wondering where dimmed lights and a disco-lit stage with flashy videos and a frantic drive for mission left a sense of "SUDDENLY from heaven". Does that make me "Neo-Pentecostal" under Mark's definition!? Maybe so!

Speaking of which - I spent a ridiculous £30 on a book I found in the CCK bookshop that looks really interesting. It is called "Apostolic Networks in Britain - New Ways of Being Church" by William Kay and was published in 2007. Both Mark Heath and I enjoyed Andrew Walker's "Restoring the Kingdom" and I am relishing seeing what the conclusions are on much of our childhood now that more time has past. I will post a review when I've read it later on this week.

I have every intention of "going" as soon as I can. I KNOW that I will not be staying comfortably in the United Kingdom for the rest of my life earning a pension and paying a mortgage. I have a suspicion that I am never going to own my own house. I know that I will most probably be heading for the Far East and China and whatever that holds for me. But I have got no intention of going unless the Presence of God goes with me and signs and wonders accompany the preaching of the Gospel of grace!

Convicted of Righteousness - a good thing?

There's a very interesting discussion going on over at Mark Heath's website; "Word and Spirit". Interestingly enough he has pulled a verse up for examination that until last October caused me enormous guilt problems and then at "Glory and Grace" in Hong Kong, I saw it in a new light and then caused me wonderful joy! The verse is John 16:8-11;

"And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged".

So at my home church - New Covenant Church in Dunstable - when things were taking a slightly sour cessationist downturn, this verse was regularly used to brow-beat the people of God into showing that the Holy Spirit is given mainly to "CONVICT"! Not to do fun, exciting things like distribute spiritual gifts. And the dangerous mix of Old and New Covenant law and grace was then subtly applied to suggest that if we were not humbly desperately feeling bad about our sin then the Holy Spirit was not really and truly at work within us. Seriously. I have an old church magazine in my possession where the editorial said that the gift of tongues is a SELFISH gift (well if it's selfish to want to build yourself up in the faith by talking in tongues and following the example of the apostle Paul - then gimme more!)

Anyway - so as I said I never really liked this verse until I heard Rob Rufus preach and expound it in his sermon on the Holy Spirit, the Sunday after "Glory and Grace" on the 28th October. He showed that while part of the role of the Holy Spirit is to show the world that they are sinners and need a Saviour - the part of His role towards us is to actually show us and convict us that we ARE righteous and that we HAVE the imputed righteousness of God! Rob asked the question - if we have received "all the fullness of Christ", why would the Holy Spirit come and point out gaps where we need to add works to Christ's finished work? That would suggest that the Cross was somehow defective - and it got us in but hasn't finished us off. And that is blasphemous.

So with that mixed history with this verse I was interested to read Mark's post; "Convicted of Righteousness" and see that he too has been visiting commentaries and examining what this verse means. Typically of Mark's careful scholarship and love of reading he examines commentaries which was helpful - only I was disappointed with Don Carson's usually honest examination of the text. Apparantly Carson thought that the verse had something to do with; "the Spirit is simply continuing an important aspect of the ministry of Jesus, confronting and challenging religious hypocrisy". Hmm ... not convinced!

I left an inital comment mainly because I have been reading Jonathan Edwards "Notes on Scripture" - my new Christmas present! - and was excited to see how similar some of Jonathan Edwards conclusions on law and grace are to Rob Rufus's. So I left a comment with a quote of Edwards I found on Galatians 5:18 that I posted a few days ago. My good friend Julie left a concise and helpful comment too saying;

"Keeping that in mind the interpretation you bring up would make no sense, but that the job of the Holy Spirit is to convince believers of their righteousness in Jesus would be very consistent with the rest of Scripture in the New Covenant".

This is important - it's not so much a case of finding the writer or teacher that best supports your view but examining the explanation that is most consistent with the New Covenant! Julie also had a vital comment on how we view sin in New Covenant life;

"I think you have given a rather old covenant definition of sin, thinking it is primarily bad behaviour. New covenenant definition of sin is unbelief (which could lead to bad behaviour), concerning what we believe about God and how righteousness is obtained".

Last night I was continuing to read Jonathan Edwards and was thrilled to find his exact comment on the verse in question and Edwards wrote this;

"On John 16:8-11;

And when the Comforter has come, He will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, of judgement. He shall convict the world of sin as men must be convinced of their guilt in order to receive Christ. That is the reason that sin and guilt lie upon them because they believe not on Christ and their rejecting Christ above all things enhances their guilt".

(Here it is:)

“Of righteousness” - that is He will convict them of the sufficiency of Christ’s righteousness of the way of REMOVING guilt by Him. Christ finished His work as priest, or what He did for the removing of guilt by His ascending into heaven, His entering into the holiest of all with His own blood to make intercession for us and thereby GAVE EVIDENCE TO THE WORLD THAT WHAT HE HAD DONE WAS ENOUGH”.

That is such good news! Evidence has been given to the world by the fact that Jesus Christ sat down at the right hand of the Father and poured out the Holy Spirit that what He has done is ENOUGH! The Cross of Jesus Christ is entirely 100% sufficient! There is not a gap left to be filled by "our works". Our works can do NOTHING! Our acts achieve NOTHING with the Father! God is only ever and always interested in the perfect righteousness of His Son! Only that - ONLY that will give us bold access to the Father! So yes in a sense my former church was partially right. The Holy Spirit isn't just about tongues and prophecy. His key work is to come into us as a Spirit of sonship and give us assurance that we are accepted in the beloved and He will convict us when doubt and fear set in that we are sons and that Christ's righteousness is accepted - God the just is satisfied!

Okay - I am getting excitable and shouting. Deep breaths! ...

No-One Else Dared Join Them!!

Well we're safely back in Birmingham - landed at half past one and noticing the temperature difference! It's been quite a week and there's lots to reflect on and tell. Thanks to all who took the time to leave comments - I know there's a bit of diversity of opinions on comments. I for one really appreciate them - even the angry anonymous ones ... who I note has been suspiciously quiet lately. Does that mean I am becoming an "acceptable blogger" or has he given up?! Anyway that aside it's been an interesting week in the UK so I see.

Brighton

I was very interested to read what happened at the Brighton conference last week - most of the talk of course centred around new Christian celeb Driscoll (like Luke, I too switch from calling it "Together on a Mission" to mainly just "Brighton conference"!). There are of course the obvious very well-documented reports which I am sure most are aware of. I, myself took particular interest in Mark Heath's comments - an opinion I always trust. Also worth reading is a question I have pondered quite often ... what other guest speakers would be a helpful input to the conference. As I guessed they would - my parent's pastors made the trip down to Brighton to hear Driscoll and brought an SGM opinion to what they thought of the conference.

Terry himself shared a more personal view about Driscoll and what he enjoyed about the contribution that he brought to the conference. Joel Gill wrote two posts so far - here and here. Finally Ant Hilder summarised the conference in just one blog - useful for those of you who don't have the time to read post after post on session after session (plus I was instantly attracted to the fact that here is someone who shares my obsession with McDonald's McMuffins ...).

Lakeland, Florida.

It was quite hard having no access to God TV and not knowing what was going on in Florida! I made-do reading Todd Bentley's latest book; "The Reality of the Supernatural World". More of that to come in a later post! Julian Adams wrote an excellent blog post on Florida. He said;

"I sit writing after having watched some of the Lakeland Outpouring with evangelist Todd Bentley. Man alive, God is moving and using him powerfully. So many healings and God encounters. I have felt the spill over effect of impartation connected to the revival. My friend Richard Maybury prayed for me after returning from Trevor and Sharon Baker’s ministry at the Dudley Outpouring in Birmingham. Since then I have begun to see some exciting miracles and healings".

On the other slightly more cynical hand, I am a subscriber to Evangelicals Now and the latest edition was waiting on the doorstep when I got back. Lakeland, Florida has become enough of an issue for them to address - always a sign that something is here to stay! The review of Todd Bentley's ministry was written by someone called Steve Ridgeway and I was disappointed that once again it was written by a cynic who clearly hasn't taken the time to really investigate what is going on in Florida and has seemingly written his review based on the scare-mongering websites and You-Tube videos rampant against Todd and Florida.

He slates Todd for not preaching the Bible. "While Bentley does occasionally appeal to the Bible when teaching publicly, the appeal is always superficial". But in rather a pot-kettle-black scenario the reviewer also does not use Scripture convincingly to stake his claim as to why Todd Bentley is not within the boundaries of Scripture in his opinion. (Other than quoting Galatians 1). Coming from "Evangelicals Now", I suppose we should not be surprised that he does not like the references to angel Emma and also the manifestations accompanying the healings and signs and wonders.

Interesting point though ... the obvious question to me goes unanswered in this review called "The Gospel of Todd". Is this of God? Is it of the flesh? Or is it of the devil? The reviewer doesn't comment on the authenticity of the healings happening in Florida but merely concludes we should be "gravely concerned" with Todd Bentley ... if we are "discerning" that is ... how I am growing to hate that word when it is used in a context such as this.

It's All About the Church!

The theme throughout these links is the Church! Even disagreements, I notice, are about how best the Church should be. I was thrilled therefore to be taking notes from Rob Rufus's Sunday evening Miracle Healing Weekend - probably one of Rob's best sermons yet - and to hear him deal with something rather obvious from the book of Acts.

"None of the others dared join them".

How is it at your church? Or your conference? Or your family of churches? Or your denomination? Do you make it easy for people to join your church? Rob commented on this verse;

"I am talking about the power of God coming to you to absolutely flood you and equip you and anoint you to walk in His Presence to release you into a new dimension of walking in His Presence from tonight. People in our midst who are sick tonight can get healed while that is happening.

But the focus is to see the power of God released on people. (Acts 5:13) - Because God was so awesome in their midst that people were frightened to casually join that early Church. There was such a density of the concentrated power of God that carnal religious enquirers couldn't handle it! They would freak out! It was too awesome and they didn't join a Church that had such an awesome Presence but God added to their number every single day those who are believing and being saved".

The sermon transcript will be available soon. But it raises a really important question that I've been thinking about all this week. What kind of Church are we building? What are the priorities? Is it the Presence of God? Or is it something else? Are we building a Church that is built around the idea of God - but a Church that doesn't actually KNOW God and His Presence?

Ern Baxter Sermons Online!

I want to draw attention to this amazing service that my friend Mark Heath is offering - as some might not be aware of it. He has managed to put about 20 or so sermons of Dr Ern Baxter on a website in MP3 format!

I have just downloaded all of them onto one CD and so am thrilled with what he has managed to do. It could be helpful for anyone who wants sermons and as yet I haven't managed to get them to in CD format. There are some absolute classics there including the awesome "Thy Kingdom Come" and the "Priestly Clothing series" that I transcribed and Mark kindly hosted for me.

Do go and make use of it. Many thanks for this Mark!