The Best News of All -- Tim Phillips

July 17, 2020, marked the death of noted Christian author and theologian James I. Packer. Dr. Packer is probably best remembered for his book Knowing God, which was first published in 1973. However, my favorite of his works is one I once had read for a seminary class at Erskine: Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. In that work, Dr. Packer lists four essential parts of any presentation of the gospel: 1) The gospel is a message about God; 2) The gospel is a message about sin; 3) The gospel is a message about Christ; 4) The gospel is a summons to faith and repentance. That is, any faithful presentation of a gospel message must tell the truth about God (the God has revealed Himself in Scripture), the truth that we are all sinners who are in need of His redemption, and the truth that it is only through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone that we can have forgiveness of sins and be reconciled with God. All that is well and good, and hopefully no Christian will disagree. However, it is that fourth part (the call to repent and believe in Jesus Christ) that often gets overlooked, even in Reformed circles.

The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church is founded upon two principles that are part of our Presbyterian DNA: the Lordship of Jesus Christ (which we owe to our Covenanter/Reformed heritage) and the Free Offer of the Gospel (which we owe to our Seceder/Associate heritage). So the preaching of the gospel is something that should be an integral part of our churches. We should live it and breathe it. Hearing the promises of the gospel should always be a part of our worship services. But is it?

An elder in our presbytery made the observation several years ago that some of our churches come close to preaching the gospel, some have preached about the gospel, but only a few actually preached the gospel. He based this on a small sampling of 20 sermons he heard at presbytery and Synod meetings, along with a few others he heard electronically. He concluded, "I have only heard the good news of Christ crucified, standing in my place condemned, 6 times." Those are very poor statistics. I do think those numbers have improved in the years since he made those comments, but I also know that a few ministers were personally offended by the elder's comments. I have personally heard many wonderful sermons at Synod and presbytery meetings that faithfully proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ, but I also know I have heard sermons (in various settings) that have fallen short of the mark.

We lament (and rightly so) the lack of biblical preaching in so many evangelical churches in North America. The term "moral, therapeutic, deism" was coined a decade and a half ago to describe what often passes for preaching and teaching in our day: the idea that God simply wants us to be nice to one another, and that good people go to heaven when they die (the moral); God wants us to be happy and feel good about ourselves (the therapeutic), and God is largely uninvolved in our lives, unless we have a crisis (the deism). Certainly the Bible gives us a far more robust (and accurate) view of biblical Christianity than this. Faced with the false god that is proclaimed by our secular society (and in too many churches that should know better), the people in our churches need to hear the truth about the God of Scripture who saves sinners through the atoning work of Jesus Christ, and how they need to come to this precious Savior.

In the Paul's last letter, 2 Timothy, the apostle addresses a concern that could be raised in the 21st century as easily as the 1st century: What do we do when people don't want to hear the gospel any longer? What do we do when they surround themselves with false teachers (or perhaps books and social media) that only tell them what they want to hear (a kind of religious confirmation bias)? Paul's command is very clear: "Preach the word" (2 Timothy 4:2). As part of that command, Paul also instructs Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist" (4:5). Be a preacher of the gospel, Paul says.

Charles McIlvaine was an early 19th century Episcopal minister. His father was a U.S. Senator, and for a time the younger McIlvaine served as a chaplain for the Senate, as well as a chaplain and teacher at West Point, where he helped lead a revival among the cadets (two of his most famous students were Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson). Later, when his duties included ordaining men to the ministry, McIlvaine would always ask them a question: "Have you fled to Christ and committed your soul to Him as all your refuge and righteousness?"

If that question was once asked of ministers, how much more do the people in our congregations need to hear it? They need to know the truth about God, they need the truth about themselves and their need for salvation, and they need to hear the wondrous truth about who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for sinners. But they also need to hear the summons that Christ gives to needy sinners: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29). In a day when our people are constantly bombarded by the sad news of a pandemic, lock downs, riots, economic crisis, and political shenanigans, they need to hear (and hear again!) the good news of Jesus Christ. If they do not hear it from our pulpits, where else will they hear it? 

Preach the Word. Preach the Gospel. Preach Jesus Christ Crucified. It really is the best news of all.