In discussions
with our evangelism team in Canada these are some of the issues that have
arisen…
Even
though in all these discussions Jesse has provided no concrete evidence of
divisiveness, we agree with him that there may be some of those people in the church who
would ascribe to WOTM (which is why Tony Miano has emphasized the terrible
error of Nomadism - Pyromaniacs:
Sound familiar?).
However there may also be people out there
who ascribe to the teaching of Dr. MacArthur and are divisive. We have yet to
see a session at something like the Ligonier Conference regarding why MacArthur
needs correcting and causes divisions. Tough to see why this needed such a huge
platform. Furthermore it needs to be acknowledged that vast numbers of people
who have started actively reaching out to their communities and loved ones have
nothing but seeker sensitive churches to attend and have been grievously abused
by numerous pastors in the last decade - to their extreme grief and heartache.
Aside from the scriptures that
have been referenced today - here are a few other quotes regarding the 10
Commandments that seem hard to dismiss lightly from men we highly respect.
Although we don't agree with all the doctrines that they affirmed or taught, it
does not seem wise to disregard them without fearful consideration…
Matthew Henry - Commentary on Exodus 20 --
"1. The law of the Ten Commandments …….This law God
had given to man before (it was written on his heart by nature); but sin had so
defaced that writing that it was necessary, in this manner, to revive the
knowledge of it." (reinforcing and summing up the moral law with the Ten
Commandments)
Martin Luther's Smaller Catechism -
"Section 4 - Christian Questions with Their Answers
1. Do you believe that you are a sinner?
Yes, I believe it. I am a
sinner.
2. How do you know this?
From the Ten
Commandments, which I have not kept."
Today's Gospel, Authentic or Synthetic Walter Chantry
- Required Reading for Masters Seminary students and the Grace Evangelism
program that Jesse helped to write…
Chapter 2 - Preaching the Law of God (the chapter in
it's entirety) and these parts specifically...
"If sinners are unaware of the Decalogue’s requirements
for themselves, they will see no personal significance in Christ's broken body
and shed blood. Without knowledge of the condemnation of God's holy law, the
cross will draw sympathy but not saving faith from sinners....Hosts of
Christians have a dreadful fear of God's law, as if it were the useless relic
of a past age, the use of which in our day would keep sinners from the grace of
God. Our Saviour used the law as a primary tool in evangelism. He knew that
preaching the Ten Commandments was the only way to teach a sinner his guilt and
thereby stir within him a desire for God's grace...The present moment of
history finds more ignorance of God's law than in many previous generations.
The pulpit ignores Exodus 20...To the natural man, God's laws are as chains,
the harsh imposition of a ruler's will. Thus the law reveals in him an absence
of love for God and men...It is essential to declare the commandments in order
to show the sinner his heart of hatred toward God and enmity toward men. Only
then will he flee to the grace of God in Jesus Christ to provide him with
righteousness and love. Men are not turning to Christ because they have no
sense of sinning against the Lord. They are not convicted of sin because they
don't know what sin is. They have no concept of sin because the law of God is
not being preached. You cannot improvise a hasty sop, "All men have
sinned." You must dwell on the subject at length. Exposit the Ten
Commandments until men are slain thereby (Romans 7:11). When you see that men
have been wounded by the law, then it is time to pour in the balm of Gospel
oil. It is the sharp needle of the law that makes way for the scarlet thread of
the Gospel...Do you see that Jesus was not looking for intellectual assent to
the fact that the young man (Rich Young Ruler) was less holy than God? Christ
wielded the sword of God's law until it made deep and painful gashes on the
ruler's conscience…"
Finally - We understand that every time Dr. MacArthur
uses the word Law he doesn't mean the Ten Commandments but we will need some
clarification from him if we have misunderstood him in sermons like the
following because he seems to be saying the same thing as Ray...
"The Law, the moral law was given by God to kill you.
That's why we have to preach it. That's why you just have to have
the moral law, you just have to hold it up and keep the standard high so that
it slays people….Go back to 2 Corinthians 3 and one last comment there.
He says, "If the ministry of death," and we know he's talking
about the Law because of the next statement, "in letters engraved on
stones." What's he talking about there? The Ten Commandments,
right? Exodus 32 verses 15 and 16. You remember that Moses was in
the mountain, God was giving him the Law...gave him the Ten Commandments
written in rock. It says in those verses, 32:15 and 16, "Moses
turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in
his hand, tablets which were written on both sides...they were written on one
side and the other...and the tablets were God's work and the writing was God's
writing engraved on the tablets." That's what Paul has in mind, that
very Scripture, no doubt, engraved on the tablets, when he writes here about
the Law engraved on stones. Now what was the Ten Commandments?
Listen carefully. It was simply the summary of the moral law.
It was the summary of the moral law reduced down to ten commandments.
But really, the whole law is encompassed in those ten as the whole ten is
encompassed in the two, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul,
mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself." So God wrote His
moral law in stone. And the purpose of that was to destroy. "
We would encourage everyone to read those sermons in
full.
We Thank God
for you Ray, as you are a precious gift to us from Him whom we love --
And He gave some as apostles,
and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors
and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service,
to the building up of the body of Christ Eph 4:11-12
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