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Three Takeaways from Preaching Through the Gospel of John

My resent sermon series in the Gospel of John has had a personal impact on my life. Here’s what I took away from it.

Preaching through a book of the Bible is a milestone for any preacher. It takes planning and perseverance to work through sequential passages from the same context in an engaging way. It’s a good and rewarding challenge for a pastor on any level.

I just finished presenting the Gospel of John to the church I have the privilege of serving and I wanted to share three takeaways from my time in the text. This wasn’t my first time preaching through the Gospel of John, but it was the most meaningful.

Takeaway #1: The Gospel of John is memorable. It contains quotable verses like John 1:1-4, 1:12, 2:15, 3:16, 4:34, 12;16, 14:6, 15:13-15, 19:26-27, 20:30-31, and 21:15-17, just to list a few. It also contains the seven visually striking “I Am” Statements. It’s hard to forget the images of Jesus as “the bread of life,” or “the true vine.” The book is also memorable because John uses such consistent vocabulary, using and reusing the same terms and concepts throughout the whole book. The English terms, “believe” “world,” and “know” all appear close to or more than 100 times. These factors make it easier to hold on to the teaching of this Gospel.

Takeaway #2: The Gospel of John is personal. The writer refers to himself several times as “The disciple whom Jesus loved” (19:26, 20:2, 21;7, 21:20). This wasn’t a prideful label. It was a subtle way of including himself in the story, without overshadowing Jesus. John was an eyewitness to everything that happened, but he was also profoundly impacted by his interactions with Jesus Christ. In addition, John includes Christ’s touching interactions with Nicodemus, the woman at the well, and Lazarus and his sisters, plus many more. In my view, John does a wonderful job of developing the theme found in chapter 1, verse 14: “And the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us” (NASB).

Takeaway #3: The Gospel of John is powerful. Jesus is presented as the most powerful force mankind has ever known. He turns water into wine, heals a long list of people including bringing Lazarus back from the dead, and walks on water. John inserts an editorial note in chapter 20:30 that states that Jesus did even more miraculous things than he has room to record. But the power of John’s gospel extends beyond the document’s portrayal of Jesus. The message of the Gospel is powerful too. Readers are pushed to consider their own faith and relationship with God in a powerful and undeniable way. It’s hard to walk away from the Gospel of John without thinking about how you should respond for yourself.

A seasoned preacher will experience many sermon series in their ministry. But this sermon series in the Gospel of John has been very meaningful for me. I encourage you to spend as much time as you can reading and studying it for yourself.

Is There a Gap in Our Sanctification?

Is there a gap in our view of sanctification? Church Historian, Richard Loveless certainly through so and here’s why.

This post is the fourth in a series tracing the dynamics of spiritual renewal in the Church as outlined in Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal by Dr. Richard Lovelace. Exerpts in this post were taken from the chapter called “The Sanctification Gap.”

Is there a gap in our view of sanctification? Church Historian, Richard Loveless, certainly thought so. In his book, Dynamics of Spiritual Life, he wrote a very personal chapter about his conversion to Christ and his spiritual journey as a churchman and an academic. In his experience, Loveless found a distressing disconnect between the doctrines of regeneration and sanctification in the average Evangelical church. It’s been a few years since Loveless passed away, and even more since the last edition of his book, but the gap still seems to exist.

In Lovelace’s view, the sanctification gap appeared as a result of the correction and over-correction of the theological pendulum swing. The English Puritans felt like the Reformation had only been a “half-Reformation” so they placed too much of an emphasis on initial conversion and the doctrine of generation which pushed some into Hyper-Calvinism. This was corrected (overcorrection) in the nineteenth century by Charles Finney and others, who stressed easier standards and spontaneous commitment. This Arminian development produced a disconnect between spiritual transformation and spiritual growth in our current understanding.

I believe some progress has been made on this issue since Richard Loveless sounded the alarm. In the past 10 to 15 years, there has been an uptick in interest in discipleship, spiritual development, and spiritual growth programming in the church circles that I am a part of. This shift seems to be an acknowledgment of the gap in our soteriology. Another change has come on the winds of culture change. The disappearance of “Cultural Christianity” in America and the pandemic shutdown have forced church theologians and practitioners to reexamine the essentials of life in the church. This recalibration, if you will, has produced a stronger link between Christian beliefs and active participation in the church.

Even though the gap is not as wide as it once was, Loveless’s suggestions for closing the gap are still relevant. First, he suggested that we simply acknowledge that the gap exists. Second, he suggested that we forge a valid biblical model of spiritual life for Christians in our day. This includes, from Loveless’s perspective “true revival preaching” which penetrates defense mechanisms, uncovering hidden sin, and leading people to repentance. Third, he suggested reclaiming the explosive heritage of spiritual renewal that is connected to the Evangelical movement. These ongoing practices could help us make even more progress in closing the gap in our view of sanctification.

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Two Disciples, One Savior

What do the examples of Peter and John teach us about following Jesus?

In John 13: 24-25, Peter asked John to ask Jesus who it was that was going to betray Him. These verses don’t name John outright, they only refer to him as “the disciple Jesus loved.” John isn’t named until the last chapter of the gospel, and even then it’s as “one of the sons of Zebedee” (21:2).

The close connection between Peter and John in chapter 13 is sustained throughout the rest of the Gospel. When Christ was arrested, Peter was left out in the cold until “the other disciple” spoke to the doorkeeper at the high priest’s house to let him in (John 18:15-16). In chapter 20, verses 4 and 8, John outran Peter to the tomb and believed in the resurrection first. Peter jumped into the Sea of Galilee to join Jesus on the shore, but it was John who was the first to recognize him (John 21:). “The disciple who Jesus loved” was already following Jesus when Peter asked about his place in Christ’s post-resurrection plans (John 21:20-22).

Gerald Borchert makes a fascinating point in his commentary on the Gospel of John. Borchert states, “One cannot avoid the observation that in all of these cases, the beloved disciple is shown to be superior to Peter in some way.” John and Peter are lifted up as models of discipleship. John is described as an ideal model of what it looks like to follow Christ, and Peter is depicted as the more realistic model of a Christ-follower.

This two-model approach to discipleship is encouraging for followers of Jesus in the real world. Sometimes we live up to our best intentions and follow Jesus with a responsive and fast-paced faith. There are other times, however, when our best intentions end in failure. These portraits of discipleship are helpful, but ultimately, they should remind us to keep our attention on Christ. Instead of comparing ourselves to someone else, we should follow Jesus and the path He has laid out for us.

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Two Strategies for Structural Renewal in the Church.

What does it take to experience spiritual renewal and revival in the local church?

This post is the third in a series tracing the dynamics of spiritual renewal in the Church as outlined in Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal by Dr. Richard Lovelace.

What does it take to experience spiritual renewal and revival in a church? Richard Lovelace answered this question with his Model for Continous Renewal in the Church – the heart of his book, Dynamics of Spiritual Life. Lovelace’s model flows from a study of Church History and biblical precedents and includes primary and secondary elements. According to Lovelace, the primary elements of renewal are an in-depth understanding of the doctrines of justification, sanctification, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the authority believers possess in spiritual conflict. The secondary elements of renewal are the practical application of those doctrines in the church through mission, prayer, community, disenculturation (being freed from cultural blinders), and theological integration.

If you’ve read the two previous posts on this series, you’ll recognize the connection Lovelace wants us to make between the primary (doctrinal) elements and personal renewal in the church. This post is aimed at bringing out Lovelace’s connection between the secondary elements of renewal and revitalization in the local church structure. Of the five practical elements, Lovelace focuses most of his attention on community and prayer.

The biggest barrier to authentic community in the church, according to Lovelace, is overdependence on trained, professional clergy in the church. Pastors are expected to do all the ministry, while lay people (church members) look on passively. Without diminishing the role of pastors and ministers, churches would do well to encourage a mindset that every congregant is expected to serve in the church as a gifted part of the body.

The easiest pathway to building authentic community in the church, according to Lovelace, “is the formation and strengthening of nuclear subcommunities within the larger church community. The most basic subcommunity in the church is the home. In addition, Lovelace calls for the development of cell groups or support groups to provide encouragement and mutual pastoral oversight. This emphasis falls in line with our modern ministry of small groups.

Lovelace combines these two elements in suggesting that these subcommunities should be involved in a comprehensive prayer effort that is focused on spiritual renewal and revival. Corporate prayer should also be encouraged in special church-wide gatherings or as a special segment in the worship gathering.

Believers who want to experience spiritual renewal in their church, as well as in their personal life, would do well to pay attention to Lovelace’s secondary elements of renewal. The importance of community and prayer in the church cannot be overstated. Each church will certainly flesh these emphases out in its own way, but it’s hard to see how an individual church will find a resurgence without them. When combined with the previous elements mentioned, Lovelace’s Model for Continous Renewal is a very helpful pattern to follow.

Pastoral Counseling for Spiritual Renewal

Pastoral counseling is essential for experiencing spiritual renewal and revival in the church, but what does that look like?

This post is the second in a series tracing the dynamics of spiritual renewal in the Church as outlined in Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal by Dr. Richard Lovelace.

Pastoral counseling is essential for experiencing spiritual renewal and revival in the church, according to Dr. Richard Lovelace. In his book, Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal, he places pastoral counseling alongside preaching and teaching as necessary components of personal renewal, which is the precursor to corporate renewal in the church. As individuals are revived, so is the Church.

The kind of counseling that Lovelace recommends follows the historical examples of Richard Baxter and Philip Spener. Baxter augmented his preaching ministry with “house-to-house pastoral visistion” where he worked to apply God’s Word to the realtime spiritual needs of His congregation. A biblical president for this kind of ministry can be drawn from Acts 20:20, where Paul taught both in public and in the home.

Lovelace is skeptical of some counseling practitioners who follow the nouthetic approach. His first critique is their tendency to “write off all non-Christian psychological theory and practice as erroneous.” In addition, Lovelace believes that the nouthetic approach doesn’t take into account the serious nature of indwelling sin and therefore fails at delivering the necessary means of overcoming it. This is far from solving the ongoing debate about nature of Christian counseling in the church, but it helps to introduce a key set of doctrinal principles.

From Lovelace’s perserpective, spiritual renewal rests on four doctrines: justification, sanctification, the indwelling of Holy Spirit, and the authority of the believer in spiritual conflict. These “primary elements of renewal” must all be presented with equal force in context of a pastoral counseling conversation. Counselees should be encouraged to take hold of each of these four elements by faith as separate, but equal benefits of being united with Jesus Christ. They should find security in their adoptive sonship secured by Christ’s obedience and righteousness. They must also be committed to growing in their personal sanctification. Pastoral counselors also need to urge their audience to recognise and the presence and leading of the Holy Spirit as well as take hold of the strength they have in spiritual warfare.

Effective pastors will add personal counseling to the regular preaching and teaching of God’s Word if they want to stimulate spiritual renewal. They should look for ways to apply the truth of God’s Word to the individual situations and needs of their congregants. When these two practices are combined, they can be power and positive part of bringing spiritual renewal and revival to the Church.

Looking for the previous on Spiritual Renewal in the Church?

Find it here: https://wp.me/p1hRxR-Kv

Jesus was Rejected – Failure or Success?

Jesus was rejected by many of His peers. Does that weaken or strengthen His claims?

One of the best ways to persuade others with an argument is to answer their strongest objections. If you can provide a reasonable explanation for someone’s biggest challenge, you can “take the wind out of their sails” and maybe win the day. This approach follows the logic of the familar parable: “The best offense is a good defense.”

John seems to take the same approach at times in His Gospel, which is aimed at converting unbelievers into believers (John 20:30-31). In John 12:37-50, He tackles the potentially embarrassing issue of Christ’s rejection. Why believe in Jesus Christ as the Jewish Messiah and Savior of the World if so many of His own people rejected Him during His earthly ministry? Doesn’t that prove or at least weaken His claim of being sent by God?

Instead of shying away from this objection, John leans into it in the closing verses of John chapter 12. He uses Isaiah 5:31 and 6:10 to point out that God’s messengers haven’t always been well received. Moses, Elijah, Ezekial, and Isaiah all faced signifcant opposition in their day and Jesus experienced the same.

In addition, John reveals the motivation behind much of Israel’s rejection of Jesus. The “rulers” would have been members of the Sanherin, the Jewish “Supreme Court” of its time. Many of these rulers had a private respect and admiration for Jesus, but they refused that share it publically for fear that they would loose the respect of their peers. The problem wasn’t with Jesus and His teaching or miracles, it was with the hard-heartedness of His audience.

John helps us to see that Christ’s rejection was a sign of His failure, but instead, it was a sign of His success. Jesus was faithful to His mission, even if He wasn’t hailed as hero by all of His peers. Popularity can be a poor measure of success and it’s an even worse measure of the truth.

A Well-Placed Confidence

Someone once said, “Confidence is something you create when you believe in yourself.” Confidence is important, but it’s the focus of the confidence, not the strength of it that matters most. An unreliable hope will disappoint every time.

The book of Exodus opens with a serious question mark hanging over the Children of Israel. A new Pharoah arrived on the scene that did not respect Joseph or his accomplishments. He launched an attack on the Hebrews through slavery and infanticide. Things looked dark for God’s chosen people.

But one Israelite mom responded with strange confidence. She responded by faith instead of fear (Hebrews 11:23). She hid her son in a miniature “ark” when she couldn’t hide him in her home anymore. (Exodus 2:3). She stationed the boy’s sister nearby to witness God’s supernatural rescue (Exodus 2:4).

The signs in Exodus chapter 2 are subtle, but they are signs nonetheless. Moses’ mother, Jochebed, was trusting in God to save her son. She knew that the situation was out of her hands, so she put her hope in the Almighty.

Someone today might be tempted to put their confidence in themselves, but that confidence would be misplaced, even if it was strong. A better place to put one’s confidence is in God. He has been reliable from the beginning.

It’s not the strength of the confidence, but the focus of it that matters most.

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Preaching and Teaching for Spiritual Renewal

What is the starting point for spiritual renewal and revival in the church?

This post is the first in a series tracing the dynamics of spiritual renewal in the Church as outlined in Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal by Dr. Richard Lovelace.

Spiritual renewal is another way of describing our biggest need in the Church – spiritual revival. Dr. Richard Lovelace made a name for himself tracing out the dynamics of spiritual renewal as a professor of Church History at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and as the author of Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal. In his book, he identifies preaching and teaching as the starting point for personal spiritual renewal in the life of the local church. As individuals are revived, so is the Church.

The kind of preaching and teaching that brings renewal encourages an intelligent response to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and the empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit. According to Lovelace, the core doctrines of Christ’s redemptive work are justification and sanctification. Justification is God’s full and final forgiveness extended to all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. This state is based on God’s righteousness, not our own. The doctrine of justification leads, by necessity, to the doctrine of sanctification, which is the incremental progress believers make, empowered by the Holy Spirit, towards moral and spiritual maturity. In addition, sanctification means being set apart for God’s holy purposes. As believers are set apart, they should experience the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and a spiritual victory over their sins.

Lovelace summarizes these doctrines with the following statements: You are accepted, you are delivered, you are not alone, and you have authority. From his perspective, these are the themes that are overlooked in churches that struggle with spiritual apathy. Renewed and revived churches, on the other hand, feature preachers who are not afraid to bring these themes out of the pages of Scripture. Vibrant believers need frequent reminders of what it looks like to live in light of Christ’s work and the Holy Spirit’s presence. Vibrant believers are necessary for vibrant churches.

Effective preachers will explain, emphasize, illustrate, and apply God’s Word. Based on Lovelace’s advice, they should also look for ways to highlight these key doctrines. Those who are listening should look for reminders that they are accepted and delivered in Christ. They should take hold of the resources they have in moving toward maturity and victory. These expectations will make preaching and teaching a primary factor in our spiritual renewal.

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Steps to Rejecting Jesus

Why do people reject faith in Jesus Christ and how do they arrive at that point? An excerpt from John’s Gospel pulls back the curtain.

The Gospel of John is full of reasons to accept Jesus Christ. John’s expressed purpose is for readers to believe in Jesus as the Son of God and to experience renewed spiritual life (John 20:30-31). John is also open and honest about those who chose to reject Jesus.

John 11:47-53, John describes the meeting that solidified the Jews’ official rejection of Jesus. This is the only Gospel that provides the rationale behind their decision. When we look at it deeper today, we can find a connection with some of the reasons why people reject faith in Jesus today.

Step 1: Respond from an attitude of fear. The Pharisees were one of two political groups in ancient Judah. Even though they were frequently at odds with the Sadducees, they were unified in their fear of Jesus. He was growing in popularity and their positions of power and influence were at stake.

Fear is a frequent starting point for those who resist the gospel. Sometimes they are afraid of losing something like their reputation or their way of life. Sometimes, they are afraid of what they might have to do in responding to the claims of Christ. Either way, fear is the first response for many.

Step 2: Twist God’s Word to fit your agenda. John tells us that Caiaphas was the high priest that year. As the high priest, Caiaphas was the chief spiritual, political, and legal officer at that time. He looked through Israel’s complicated history to find some sort of precedent to take action against Jesus. He found it, in part, in Leviticus 16:7-10, which describes Israel’s use of a sacrificial and a scapegoat in the Old Testament. Ironically, even the high priest’s twisted use of Scripture fit into God’s plan.

Modern people may use some variation of the Bible to justify their unbelief. They may use some reference to “not judging” to escape any sort of moral accountability for their behavior. They may use a quotation about the loving nature of God to define what they think love is or should be. They might even exaggerate some perceived inconsistency in Scripture to discount the whole Bible, from cover to cover.

Step 3: Band together with others. This whole passage is about a meeting of Jerusalem’s leaders, but John doesn’t miss an opportunity in verse 53 to emphasize their commitment to one another. Based on a favorable vote, “they planned together to kill him.” Sanhedrin made their decision against Jesus as a group.

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Whether it’s friends, a personal association, or just people in the past, antagonists of the gospel find strength in numbers. They assume that the popular decision is always the right decision. It was true in Jesus’ day and it’s still true today.

Like John, I usually focus on positive steps toward accepting Jesus instead of the negative steps involved in rejecting Him. Yet, John includes this decisive moment in history as a lesson for everyone who is willing to learn from it.

“I Have Other Sheep, Which Are Not of This Fold.”

Jesus made a surprise announcement during His extended parable describing the Good and the Bad Shepherd in John 10. After identifying the characteristics of a good shepherd and claiming to be The Good Shepherd, He announced that He had other sheep which where not currently in the the sheepfold (v. 16). According verses 1-5, the sheep were already gathered were the Jews who heard His voice and believed in Him. The Jews who rejected Jesus were not His sheep, but that’s not the group that He was referring to (v. 26). He was referring to the non-Jews, or Gentiles, who are “scattered abroad” (11:52). The Greek that came to Jesus after the Triumphal Entry are representatives of this alternate “flock” (12:20-26).

Jesus announced that He would eventually bring these additional sheep into His fold. They would be responsive to His voice and they would all follow Him in unison. Their mutual faith in Christ would bind these two groups together in a new and powerful way. Here are three things we can learn from this union

Mutual faith in Christ is more important than ethnic barriers. The primary difference between Jews and Gentiles is their ethnic heritage. The Jews all trace their ancestry back to one of the 12 tribes of Israel. The Gentiles have a mixed background, including everyone else. This insight is particularly important during a time when people are driven apart by the color of their skin. There can’t be any racism in the church because our shared believe in God’s Son overcomes that kind of difference.

2. Mutual faith in Christ is more important than religious traditions. The Jews and Gentiles lived very different lives in Jesus’ day. They dressed differently, ate differently, worshipped differently, and spend their lives pursuing different goals. In order to come together, these groups must put fidelity to Jesus Christ and His Written Word above their own desires, preferences, and traditions.

3. Mutual faith in Christ is more important than the passage of time. Christ’s surprised announcement ushered in a new age where Jews and Gentiles could worship God together. Speaking of the power of the gospel message, Paul wrote “It is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16b, NASB). This new age allows all true believers to become a part of the universal Church.

As sheep following the Good Shepherd, it’s important to remember that we aren’t included (or excluded) because of our ethnic background, or religious performance, or even by our time in history. We are included in God’s flock, along with other undeserving believers, because of God’s great mercy and love.

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