Are We There Yet?

This past week I attended the Ligonier Pastor’s Conference in Orlando, Fl.  This was an excellent week of fellowship and encouragment.  We heard multiple times from R.C. Sproul, Sinclair Ferguson (Sr. Pastor of First Presbyterian of Columbia, SC), and Steve Lawson (Sr. Pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist in Mobile, Al).  In addition to preaching/teaching there were several Q & A sessions- which are always a highlight.  We were fed extremely well- I’m hesitant to get on the scale!  We were also housed quite comfortably in the Marriott of Lake Mary.  A particular highlight for me was to spend those days with my best friend from seminary, Ty Blackburn.  Ty pastors the Providence Church in Duluth, GA where he has been for 15 years.  Ty and his wife, Patti, were our neighbors at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS and Connie and I were especially close to them both.

What did I learn?  I reviewed my notes just this morning.  I think the main thing I came away with was to keep the main thing the main thing.  What do I mean by that?  What was continually stressed was to preach the gospel faithfully through the regular exposition of Scripture.

Let me give you a flavor of what was heard.  Steve Lawson told us that “the pulpit obscures the glory of God if the Word is not central.”   He opened the conference by calling pastors to proclaim the Living Word (Christ) in and through the written Word.

R.C. Sproul exhorted us from John 21 to feed the sheep.   It is in John 21that we find Peter’s encounter with Jesus after the resurrection where Peter is told three times by Jesus to “feed my sheep.”   Sproul reminded us that pastors are placed to take care of lambs bought and purchased by Christ and that there is no greater sacred trust.   Jesus told Peter to feed my sheep- not entertain my sheep.  The only thing that will feed and nurture the sheep is God’s Word.  Sproul asked of those gathered, “What are you feeding the Lord’s sheep?”

Dr. Ferguson made the statement that far too little focus is on the glory and grandeur of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He called us to ask of ourselves this very penetrating question, “Am I really preaching Jesus Christ and is that what I’m known for preaching?  Is it easier for me to speak of people’s sin that it is to speak of their Savior?”

In looking at Jesus’ encounter with the disicples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, Dr. Ferguson said that preaching should be:

1. Biblical-  Jesus interpreted the resurrection events by pointing to the Scriptures, He was saturated with the Scriptures.  So must we.
2. Christological- Redemptive history is the lens through which we understand the Old Testament.  I loved this statement:  The whole of Old Testament history is a series of footnotes to Genesis 3:15 (the first announcement of the gospel).  Preaching must be Christ centered as is all of Scripture!
3. Profitable-  2 Timothy 3:17 says that Scripture is useful/profitable for rebuke, correction, and training in righteousness.   Our preaching should be so profitable.  It was said of Jonathan Edwards’ preaching that “His doctrine was all application and his application was all doctrine.”
4. Cardiological- preaching must touch the heart.  The disciples in Luke 24, after this encounter, asked “were not our hearts strangely warmed?”

This is only the tip of the iceberg of what was taught.  I was both encouraged and convicted to give myself more to preaching the Scriptures and doing so expositionally.   Is HLPC offering enough opportunity and encouragement to her people to be in the Scriptures and to be exposed to Christ centered, expositional preaching of God’s Word?   Am I being a man saturated by God’s Word and growing in my expertise in handling it so that my knowledge and understanding of the word rivals a lawyer’s understanding of the law or a doctor’s of the human body?  May God help me to put into practice what was learned and give me wisdom in how to do so.

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