Here are my notes for a sermon I preached on “The Inspiration of Scripture” at the Greenville Seminary Conference on Tuesday Evening.

One obvious way to practice a pro-life worldview is to support adoption. David Prince, in a sermon published at Reformation21, does an excellent job of putting a biblical, theological foundation under the ministry of adoption. And his sermon has a particular challenge to men. Is there something “manly” about adoption?

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David Prince will be one of the speakers at the upcoming Adopting For Life conference in Louisville next month.

We want to love the gospel. But if we’re honest, some days we love television or sports or books or shopping or computers or whatever, more. How does this change? As John Piper explains in this video excerpt from last weekend’s sermon, we come to love the gospel when we reckon with the sinfulness of our own hearts.

Here’s a video clip from John Piper’s recent sermon, “They Will be Taught of God” (John 6:41-51). Would you go to prison for preaching the gospel?

In this excerpt from John Piper’s recent sermon titled “Skeptical Grumbling and Sovereign Grace” he makes the point that our wills, when it comes to spiritual things, are dead apart from sovereign grace. And what is the response of the believer to this? Humility.

If you’re in vocational ministry or even thinking about it, listen to this sermon on Hebrews 11 by Matt Chandler. As you do, ask yourself (as Chandler counsels): Is Jesus enough?

[Sermon given at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on November 12, 2009.]

D. A. Carson preached on “The Purpose of the Parables” from Matthew 13:10-17, 34-35 in chapel at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School on October 29, 2009. Here are some notes:

Why did Jesus tell stories and use parables? Three answers are common.

1. Jesus told stories because he used them as illustrations. But that doesn’t make a lot of sense of Matthew 13:11–12.
2. Jesus told stories because he favored the enigmatic, thought-provoking, and open-ended rather than truths, propositions, and narrow-minded, modernist, foundationalist stuff like that. But it doesn’t take much reading of the Gospels to realize how many different genres Jesus actually preached in. For example, he preached using wisdom literature, apocalyptic, laments, exposition of OT texts, extended discourses, proverbs, beatitudes, one-liners, non-narratival extended metaphors, dialogue, and provocative questions. Further, Matthew 13:34–35 suggests that Jesus is trying to disclose something to them.
3. Jesus used parables in order to hide things from the non-elect, to mask the truth. Yes, there is an element of that, but Matthew 13:34–35 suggests that Jesus is trying to disclose something to them.

So why did Jesus use parables? The text suggests two reasons.

1. Jesus tells parables because in line with Scripture his message blinds, deafens, and hardens (Matthew 13:11–15). Matthew 13:14–15 quotes Isaiah 6:9–10 because Isaiah’s commission points forward and finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus himself. There are some audiences to whom you preach where the preaching of the word guarantees that they will not hear. Cf. John 8:45: “Because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!” Sometimes the truth itself elicits unbelief because people are so corrupt that the truth is repulsive. Cf. Acts 5:41. When people insult you, don’t get defensive. Don’t get angry. Don’t get even. Rejoice! You’re in! You’re in this long line, this trajectory, that culminates in Jesus himself. There are some people who will not believe, and if you speak the truth, you will cause them not to believe.
2. Jesus tells parables because in line with Scripture his message reveals things hidden in Scripture (Matthew 13:34–35). Matthew 13:35 quotes Psalm 78:2. The Jews of Jesus’ day did not have a category for a crucified Messiah, but those categories are in the OT. Jesus refers to “the secrets of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 13:11). A “mystery” in the NT does not refer to a “Whodunit?” It occurs 27 or 28 times in the NT and almost always is bound up with things hidden in the past in Scripture but now disclosed in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. “They’re there, but I’m going to reveal to you what has been hidden. The pieces are already there.” Hence, Matthew 13:16–17, 52.

Three Pastoral Reflections

1. We should gain wonder in worship where there is a fresh grasp of how God has put the Bible together. The Bible is not a collection of arbitrary proof-texts. The more you dig into it, the more you unpack its simplicity and profundity.
2. We should gain gratitude and humility for the gift of seeing the truth about Jesus and his gospel. We are just as perverse as others. We should never tire of being overwhelmed by the sheer privilege of grace in our lives.
3. We should gain discretion in witness where there is a hostile environment.

From the 2006 Irish Preachers Conference:

• An exposition of 1 Timothy 1:1-20
• An exposition of 1 Timothy 2:1-13
• An exposition of 1 Timothy 6:3-21
• An exposition of 2 Timothy 3:1-4:8
• An exposition of Titus 2:1-3:11

Preaching yesterday from John 6:1-15, John Piper, in the video excerpt below, warns against seeking Jesus merely for his “usefulness.” (For the full sermon go here.)

God Exposed: Session 3: Michael McKinley preaches from Luke 10:38-42 on The Centrality of the Word:

God Exposed: Session 3 – The Centrality of the Word from Southeastern Seminary on Vimeo.