Transcription
know is that you. When God called me to preach when I was in college, again as a relatively new believer, I never heard the gospel till my first year at university. Um, so here I was as a junior, and I'm preaching and I'm playing football. People are inviting me to come speak at all different kinds of places, but I don't know a whole lot. Um, and so I was convicted about that. So I looked for someplace else, um, where I could go to school so that I could begin to prepare. And uh, so my senior year I transferred from Rice to HBU. Um, and they don't have a football team, so I never played again. But that's where I met Patrick. So he and I go back to the same period of time. So, you know, I I love DTS and I'm glad to be here, but for me, this is all about reunion. Um, so I, I am, uh, you guys just don't know what a blessing this week, um, is to me. And so I'm so grateful for it and so many different ways and on so many different levels.
That said, um, open your Bibles with me if you will to to Romans. Romans chapter 3. We've taken this sort of unusual journey and looked at apologetics from a different perspective, and I've had conversations with many of you who have sort of echoed that that it's been helpful for you to look at this from a different perspective. And on our, in our first session, um, we kind of answered some objections to apologetics, looking there at those first four verses of Jude. Um, and then on yesterday, uh, we looked at the sort of spiritual life of the apologist. And looking at how 1 Peter really puts apologetics in the context of our personal holiness and our suffering, um, as this kingdom of priests. Well, now, what I want to do is sort of turn the corner and answer some of the practical questions in these next two sessions. Questions like, okay, we we know from a from a spiritual, theological, philosophical perspective, um, what this is now, but we still have the question of, uh, how do we do it? And how do we prepare for it? And so that's what I want us to look at today. How we prepare for it.
A couple [snorts] of assumptions. And this is what really helped me. This just, it just blessed me. When you understand apologetics by the definition that I give that I've given you know what you believe, why you believe it, and be able to communicate that in a winsome and effective manner to others. When you understand that, what it does is it really narrows the field. Because if my responsibility is really just to give an answer for the hope that is in me, then then I don't have to know all the world religions. I just got to know the hope that is in me. Amen. I don't have to. There's a lot of stuff. So now there's limitations on what you can even ask me. I'm not responsible, for example, for defending heresies, cuz I don't believe them. I'm not responsible for defending straw men, cuz they're straw men. So I don't even have to know all of the arguments against me. And again, I don't have to know world religions.
Well, what happens when you come up against someone, you know, and they have a different religion and they're making claims from another religion? Here's what I do. I know what Christianity is. I know what I believe and why I believe it. If I learn how to listen. Yes. I'm here to talk about apologetics and I said we need to learn how to listen. Right? And we do. So often in apologetics, that's not even part of the game. Listen for what? That'll take time away from my talking, you know? If we learn how to listen, we will hear those arguments that are in direct contradiction to the truth that we know and to which we hold. Then we respond. I don't have to know your religion.
Here's the other problem. When we go at it from the approach of, well, I need to know all this stuff about all these different religions of the world, we usually come across like the person who knows about Christianity is going to tell you about Christianity, is going to talk to you about, you know, your prayers to Mary. To which you respond, that's what? I No. I don't I don't do that. I don't believe it. That's Roman Catholicism. And often times that's exactly what we do to people. We learn about their religion, okay, writ large, and then we want to sit down and tell them about all the ways that they're wrong. And they sit there and they go, yeah, I don't believe that. Because we have some caricature of their religion. Or it's something that they ought to believe, but they don't know it. You ever had that experience? You sit down and talk to the Jehovah's Witness and you know more about Jehovah's Witnesses than they do. And so you're ending up refuting something that they haven't even come to believe yet. You might have just led them to it.
But if we have this different posture, this posture that says, I'm here to give a defense for what I believe, that this doesn't mean that we ignore everything out there. Let me just add this caveat. So in apologetics, I'm not arguing that it's useless to delve into all of those other areas. But I believe that the effective apologist is the one who first and foremost knows what he believes, why he believes it, and is able to communicate that to others in a in a winsome and effective way. And secondly, takes advantage of the opportunities that God has given him because of the situations and circumstances in his life. Let me explain what I mean by that. If God has put me in a situation where I happen to be a scientist, you know, and I happen to know something about, you know, biology or physics or this or that and the other, and there are areas of discussion over there that I can delve into and help other believers to understand what's going on in those other areas of discussions, that's great. I can go do that and be a blessing. Amen. If I've come from another religion, another religious worldview, another religious culture, and I can help my fellow believers to do that and I can engage in that area. Or if God has just, you know, plopped me down in the middle of an environment where I'm surrounded and constantly bombarded with interactions with people from a particular faith, then okay, I need to delve into that so that I can be better prepared. But this doesn't mean that I automatically assume that there's a checklist of things out there that I've got to go and pursue in order to call myself an apologist.
Well, if this is the case, these things are limited, then there's only a limited number of questions that people can ask. They've got to ask me about the hope that is in me. The hope that is in me is based on what's revealed to me in the Bible, right? So in order to be an effective apologist, I kind of just had to have to have two things. A biblical theology and a systematic theology. That's all. If I know the Bible and I know what the Bible says about the major doctrines in the Bible, then I can be an effective apologist. Why? Cuz that's what I believe. Well, what if somebody asks you something else? You don't have to defend what you don't believe. Be free. Is that not liberating?
So then how do we go about doing this? Want to give you two examples. They both come from the Apostle Paul. One, we're going to look in Romans 3 where he's being really the quintessential expository apologist. He knows what he believes, he knows why he believes it. He's familiar with the biblical text. He has a sound, rooted, and grounded theology. So when people ask him questions, the responses just automatically come out of him. But he doesn't always respond in the same way. He doesn't always respond by just quoting verses. Sometimes he does, but there are other ways that he responds.
Look at Romans chapter 3. There's an overarching statement here, then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. So here's, are these questions just rhetorical devices or are they legitimate questions? I believe they're legitimate questions for a number of reasons. Number one, he doesn't identify them as rhetorical devices, so I'm assuming that they're legitimate questions. But number two, you want to know the thing that really sort of tips this for me? People ask me many of the questions that you find in Romans even to this day. And I love it when they do, cuz I just [laughter] go away and say, "Interesting that you would ask me that question." Cuz that question is asked in the Bible almost the exact same way. These are these are legitimate questions that people are still asking many of the questions that we find here.
Verse 3. "What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?" You've been asked that question. "By no means. Let God be true, though everyone a liar or a liar. As it is written, that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you judge." So there he goes straight to Psalm 51:4. They ask a question, he answers with a scripture. And sometimes that's the way we do effective expository apologist apologetics. Somebody asks us a question, we go directly to a passage of scripture and we answer with that passage of scripture.
Mhm, I know what you're thinking. Cuz I get requests like this all the people ask me this all the time. Uh, there's a particular issue out there. They're having discussions about this issue. The The The The example, the example right now is homosexuality. Same-sex marriage. And I can't tell you how many times I've gotten this. You know, I know apologetics is kind of your thing. I was just wondering if you could give me, um, an effective apologetic response to this issue that didn't rely on scripture. Because I'm talking to people who don't believe the Bible. And when I'm talking to people who don't believe the Bible, I need to be able to give them an answer that doesn't just assume the Bible. To which I usually respond, "Then just quit." Well, well, I, what do you mean? Just quit? Well, just quit because you just lost. Well, how did I just lose? Well, because they stood there and they said, "I don't think the Bible's relevant." And you're coming to me asking me how you can surrender most effectively. Surrender? Yes. They say the Bible's not relevant, you look for an answer that doesn't use the irrelevant Bible. You lose. You lose. Well, what am I supposed to do?
Think about it. Two knights meet each other in medieval times. One draws his sword. The other says, "I do not believe in thine sword." There are two options here. Option number one, you put your sword away and you try to convince them using the science of metallurgy and other things that this is a dangerous thing you have. >> [laughter] >> Option number two, cut him. He will either come to believe or it will not matter. We must not agree with the culture when it says the Bible is irrelevant. We must not surrender that ground. We must show them that what they're saying is this, I have presuppositions and I want those honored. I want you to surrender your presuppositions, throw up the white flag, and agree with me about my presuppositions, and only then can we continue the discussion. Wrong. Wrong.
So there's a three-step process. I I call it the apologetic waltz. >> [snorts] >> Where we do this thing that Paul's doing here. N- Number one, we listen to them and as we listen to them, we discover the argument that they are making. Because they're making a moral argument. What is their point? What is their moral, philosophical, or theological argument? And we make sure that we get that moral, theological, philosophical argument. I want to know I want to understand what it is. You people are wrong because you're forcing your religion upon others. You people are wrong because you're not being loving to us. These are arguments that we're hearing. So I want I just want to get this. I want I want to get this. I want to make sure that I get this that I understand this correctly. You are arguing that I ought to be loving and not unloving. You You You're You're Is that what you Is that what you're saying? You're You're You're arguing that that I ought to be this and not that. I want to get that. I want to understand that.
Here's the second thing that we do in this waltz. The second thing that we do is the we demonstrate the intellectual, logical inconsistency in their argument. And it's going to be there if they're not arguing from the Bible. It's going to be there. It's not going to work. So first of all, whatever they're arguing for, they probably stole from the Bible. They don't even know it. You need to be loving toward us and not unloving toward us. Really? That's quite interesting because you say you don't believe in the Bible or the God of the Bible, but that's something that comes directly from the Bible. The idea that I ought to be loving toward you. Now, you don't have a philosophical premise that would support it. Unless of course you believe that all men are made in the image of God and because they're made in the in the image of God, they have inherent dignity and value and worth and ought to be treated in accordance with that. Now, if that's the case, then we're both arguing from a biblical framework, then amen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. This will go very well. But if it's not the case, you are stealing from my worldview and condemning me because I believe it.
Step number three, you come back to them and demonstrate how that thing works in your worldview even though it doesn't work in theirs, and you get them to the gospel. >> [snorts] >> Cuz it's not enough to win an argument. It's not enough to win an argument. From a From a spiritual perspective, this is the deadness. This is the spiritual deadness of apologetics. If you are just about winning arguments and you give yourself to apologetics so that you can go out and win arguments, you will end up soulless and dead on the inside. Your spiritual life will shrivel up and die on the inside. Because that's not what we're made for. But if your desire is to bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ, and your desire is to respond to people's legitimate questions with legitimate answers and get them to the gospel, are we right where we need to be spiritually? That's what ought to define us.
And so sometimes we'll actually quote a Bible verse. And then we may, you know, quote something about God is love. We We may do that. This is But he doesn't always do that. Sometimes he makes a more general theological argument. Look at verse 5. "But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? I speak in a human way. By no means. For then how could God judge the world?" He He's there not quoting a verse, but that's a theological idea that God is the judge of the world. Amen? God is the judge of the world. If If that were the case, then God couldn't be the judge of the world. He's showing the illogic of the argument.
Sometimes didn't really give an argument as much as identify a straw man. Look at verse 7. "But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come, as some people slanderously charge us with saying? Their condemnation is just." I'm not even going to answer that. Basically what he says. That's slander. That's not what we teach. Again, remember, we don't have to defend what we don't believe. I do not believe that. I do not teach that. It's not part of my gospel. It's completely inconsistent with the gospel that I preached.
And then sometimes he gives like a theological diatribe. Look at this this next one. Verse 9. "What then? Are we Jews any better off?" Now, all of these questions in rapid succession get us back to this first overarching umbrella issue in verse 1. "No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin." Then he goes to Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, back to Psalms in order to build a doctrine of total depravity. Many verses in rapid succession. H- Here Here's the doctrine. So sometimes you get a verse. Sometimes you get a theological idea. Sometimes you get that doesn't even make sense. Move on. And sometimes you get like a whole doctrinal diatribe. The fact of the matter is you never get, let's put down the Bible. Act as though God doesn't matter. Act as though reason without revelation is anything other than goofy. And do this on your turf. In your territory. He doesn't do that.
But wait a minute. What about over in Acts 17? He doesn't do this over in Acts 17. This is the second approach. In Acts 17 he's doing the same thing. But he's doing it with different information. Here, he's particular Bible verses, particular doctrines. In Acts 17, where he's dealing with a culture that is biblically illiterate. More and more what ours is becoming. Amen? He responds with the meta-narrative. With the overarching story of creation, fall, redemption, consummation.
Acts 17, beginning verse 22. So, Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it." That's creation. "The God who made the world and everything in it. Being a Lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth. Having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. That they should seek God and in hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. As even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring.'" After creation, we go to fall. "Being then God's offspring, we ought not." We're introducing the idea of sin here. "Ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man."
Here's what's interesting. People go to Acts chapter 17 in order to justify cultural compromise. So So, Paul goes to these people and he sees their objects of worship. He's there at the Areopagus, you know, he's there on Mars Hill. He's the Oprah Winfrey show of his day. Right? And he's there. He has arrived and he wants to impress these people. So, he quotes one of their own poets. And then he says, "You sinned by making the stuff that I looked at." Seriously? You sinned. You ought not to think that God is that stuff that you made. You were wrong to think that about God. You are ignorant and I'm here to inform you, Oprah. You don't know? This is what he just did. But wait, there's more. After this, we look at redemption. "The times of ignorance God overlooked. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent." That's a great way to win friends and influence people. Call them to repent. What you did was wrong. You ought not have done it. Repent. Repent. Dripping with cultural compromise, isn't it? Then, just to top it off, now it's consummation, right? Creation, fall, redemption, we got to see consummation. "Because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world. There it is, in righteousness, by a man whom he has appointed. And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." Now, mind you, earlier they called him a a mindless babbler, if you will, because he was preaching the resurrection. They called him a name, a derogatory name, because he was preaching the resurrection. So, in his effort to curry favor with them he starts with creation. He gets to fall, lets them know that they sinned. He calls them to repent and then, oh by the way, he brings back that doctrine that made them call him a bad name. This is not cultural compromise. This is here's what I believe. Here's why I believe it. They don't know the verses, so he doesn't quote the verses. But he's in Bible country the whole time. Giving them the overarching narrative.
So, if this is the case, if this is if this is how we do this, then here's the question. How do we prepare to do this? And how do we prepare others to do this? This is important to me on many levels. Number one, it's important to me individually. Because if what we've said over the last couple of days is true and if this is what we need to be doing, then from a personal perspective, I want to be prepared to do it. Amen? It's also important to me as a pastor and and as a a professor and administrator at an institution, a theological institution. I want to equip people to teach folks how to do this. Amen? I mean, if we believe this, if this is what if this is what we believe, if this is what people ought to be doing, then we we need to be able to equip them to do this. And then thirdly, I'm a father. Got nine kids. Hopefully 10 very soon. Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise. >> [laughter] >> Raising them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. That's not an option.
So, in the time that we have left, let me just give you this. >> [clears throat] >> And let me answer a question that many of us struggle with. How do we disciple people? What's the content? And I want to argue for three things that may surprise you. Creeds, confessions, and catechisms. Creeds, confessions, and catechism. See, when we talk about discipleship, especially with the younger generation, what we usually mean is, you know, we we're going to we're going to we're going to hang out together, right? Cuz a disciple is a learner. And so, we're going to have life on life time and we're going to just do some discipleship stuff. And I you hear people talk about what this person discipled me, that person discipled me. Here's what you do. Ask them, "What did they teach you?" Well, you know, just how to be a Christian and stuff. Just how to. There's a piece to discipleship that we've neglected. It's called indoctrination. We're not indoctrinating people properly. And this is why the Jehovah's Witnesses come and knock on our doors and we've got people who've been in church forever who have absolutely no idea how to respond.
What if somebody had spent several weeks with them? With the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed and had given them the historical context and the biblical framework for those creeds. Interestingly enough, you've had that advantage since you you've been here, right? You know these things, you know their historical, you know, context and you understand the biblical framework for them and you hear that and you go, "Wow, that's awesome. I didn't know that." And when you learned about the historical context, you went the There's nothing new under the sun. We're still dealing with cults who are making this argument right now today. But then you don't make the next step. Maybe we can use these tools that were designed to be memorable and organized so that we can get them to new believers and children so that they can have a theological framework from which to operate so that they can answer questions about what they believe and why they believe it. Nope. We go to class. We learn about these things. We say, "That's great. That's awesome. I see things that I've never seen before." And then we go back to church and try to figure out how to convince people that we can help them, you know, in five easy steps to have. Don't even get me started. So, So, creeds. Creeds. Well, what if there are things in them that that I don't agree with? Just say, "I don't agree with this."
Confessions. Confessions. Those confessions of faith that have stood the test of time. And I'm not talking about the confessions that you find on most modern church websites that are this long on a webpage. But, confessions. Significant confessions. Full disclosure, as a reformed Baptist, I hold to the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689. So, this is what I teach people. Teach people the Second London. Why are we doing this? Well, so that we can connect people to something historically. Ironically, isn't that why many, if not most of you decided to come here? To be connected to this rich, historic, theological tradition and to be trained up in that tradition because you've seen what it has produced and you want some of that. You didn't come here so you could get something else. And if they tried to give it to you, you wouldn't go for it. Like, "No, man, wait. Uh-uh, that's not No, it's I See DTS. [snorts] That's what I That's what I Yeah, this is not This is not that."
And then catechisms. Catechisms were designed to teach confessions. And I believe catechism is the number one apologetics training tool in the world. Why? Well, apologetics, knowing what you believe, why you believe it, and being able to basically communicate that effectively to others. When people ask you questions, you should give them. Well, what's catechism? Learning what you believe through a series of questions and answers. So, even with little ones, the catechism for boys and girls, for example. Who made you? God made me. What else did God make? God made all things. Why did God make you and all things? For his own glory. How can you glorify God? By loving him and doing what he commands. Why ought you to glorify God? Because he made me and takes care of me. Are there more gods than one? There is only one. And how many persons does this one God exist? Three persons. Who are they? The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Who is God? God is a spirit, doesn't have a body like man. Where is God? God is everywhere. Can you see God? No, I cannot see God, but he always sees me. Can God do all things? Yes, God can do all his his holy will. Does God know all things? Yes, nothing can be hidden from God. Who are our first parents? Adam and Eve. Of what were our first parents made? God made the body of Adam out of the ground and formed Eve from the body of Adam. What did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies? He gave them souls that will never die. Have you a soul as well as a body? Yes, I have a soul that will never die. How do you know you have a soul? Cuz the Bible tells me so. In what condition did God make Adam and Eve? He made them holy and happy. Did they stay holy and happy? No, they sinned against God. What is sin? Sin is any transgression of the law of God. What was the sin of our first parents? Eating the forbidden fruit. Who tempted them to this sin? The devil tempted Eve and then she gave the fruit to Adam. Why did they eat the fruit? Because they did not believe what God had said. What happened to our first parents when they had sinned? Instead of being holy and happy, they became sinful and miserable. What effect did the sin of Adam have on all mankind? All mankind is born in a state of sin and misery.
Do you realize how much doctrine I just covered in those few questions? This is how we used to raise our children. Now, do you realize how many people who've been in our churches for 15, 20 years would stumble on some of those same questions? You see, we've seen the effects of dead confessionalism. Dead creedalism. We've seen frozen chosenism. Amen? And every last one of us says, "No, thank you." But, there is a danger in assuming that the problem was >> [snorts] >> the creeds, the confessions, the catechisms. Just like some of you were warned when you came here. Don't let them make you so heady that you're no longer a spiritual. Don't let them fill you up with so much knowledge that you don't you Didn't write Amen? A lot of you've been warned. Some of you're warned every time you go back home. They haven't ruined you yet, have they? Just because there are people who come to a place of coldness and deadness by acquiring some of the things that you're acquiring, doesn't mean that you decide that you're not going to acquire them.
Now, listen, you don't have to hold to the things that I hold to or the things that Luke whoever holds. That's why there's more than one confession. Amen? [clears throat] More than one catechism. More than one. You You don't have to. And if you have a confession or a catechism, you know, you got a catechism and you don't like question 97, but you like the other 112 questions, how about you take the other 112? Amen, somebody. Because here's the bottom line. What we're doing right now is producing a Christianity that is not robust. We're producing passionate people with empty heads who love the Jesus they don't know very well. >> [laughter] >> And who are driven to and fro by every wind of doctrine. And I think it's quite ironic that even some of us who have proven, even by our presence and the degrees that we go and seek, we've proven that it is important to do what Paul tells Timothy in Second Timothy, to hold to that pattern of sound words. Amen? Isn't it interesting that Paul talks about a pattern of sound words that not just everything ever written, but a pattern of sound words? And that in that same epistle you have a canonical hymn, which was designed to do what? Formalize and make memorable the pattern of sound words. If I would add a fourth thing, it would be those great hymns and songs of our faith that for generations have stood the test of time, not just cuz they sound good, cuz most of them don't even sound like they used to sound, but because their content is consistent with our creeds, confessions, and catechisms and the things that are part of that pattern of sound words. So, that our worship is not just about making sure people feel a certain way, but by a faithful but but but about a faithful and full orb communication and delivery of God's truth to God's people.
So, what would that look like? It's kind of up to you. What does it look like now? In the words of that Texas theologian, Dr. Phil, when you look at what we're calling discipleship today, how's that working for you? And how many of these great doctrines are people even aware of? Again, this is not about creating mindless robots or empty, unfeeling souls chock-full of useless information. It's about raising up people who know what they believe >> [snorts] >> and who know why they believe it and who are able to communicate that to others in a winsome and effective way. If you don't like these tools that I've mentioned, by all means, go and find some others that will do the job. And when you do, don't let anybody know. Here's why. If you find something that is short and succinct and that is a good representation of basic doctrine to which you hold, but you are anti-creedal and anti-confessional and anti-catechetical, the minute you give that to someone else, you've created what you despise. >> [laughter] >> Are you smelling what I'm stepping in? So, if you don't believe in creeds, catechisms, and confessions, you've got to find something that will be your own creed, catechism, and confession. Then you can't give it away so that you won't be a hypocrite. Talk to you.
Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for your word. Thank you for this truth. This magnificent truth. This life-altering, world-changing truth that we hold in these jars of clay. Thank you for those who help us and have helped us to understand it better. Grant by your grace that we might walk in their footsteps and help others to understand it better. Both those whom we disciple and mentor and teach and those who ask us for a reason for the hope that is in us. And again, we ask that you might grant this to the end that Christ might have the fullness of the reward for which you died. For we ask this in his name. Amen.