Jackals Among Ruins

There are some who have preached the gospel of Christ faithfully through dependence upon the Word, Sacrament and Prayer, who turned to preach out of the poison well of their ideas or the ideas of others. They not only forfeit their ministries, they become “jackals among ruins.”

Remember the words of Paul:

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers (1 Tim. 4:16).

As I begin my time with you as your president and as the newest faculty member, I pray that we will remember that, as Charles Hodge would tell his new students at old Princeton, “you will learn nothing new here.” He meant that his students would come upon no novel ideas, but only the faith of the Reformers. You will, we pray, learn nothing new here, unless you come to taste the newness of the truth of the gospel fresh upon your soul. I do pray that you will receive from our teaching of the Word God the essential teachings that will help you to stand and preach, teach and minister faithfully. I pray that we will recommit our lives today to the inerrant and infallible Word of the Living God, to dependence upon the Holy Spirit, and to focusing on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In all of this, I pray for you, a prayer that was prayed over me when I began seminary and a prayer I felt was answered in that season of ministry where you are: that you who are beginning your studies here at RTS Charlotte will love Jesus Christ more at the conclusion of your studies than at the beginning. I pray that our seminary will be used of God to train up shepherds of Christ who will scatter the jackals among ruins and raise the cross of the Savior. I pray that all who look upon the One on that cross and repent of their sins, trusting in the finished work of Christ alone, will be saved.

This sermon was preached at the Convocation at RTS Charlotte, 2008.

Read The Death of Protestant America by John Piper for his good thoughts on our culture.

References

Brown, Louise Fargo. The Political Activities of the Baptists and Fifth Monarchy Men in England During the Interregnum. New York,: B. Franklin, 1964.

Burroughs, Jeremiah, and Don Kistler. Gospel Worship, or, the Right Manner of Sanctifying the Name of God in General: And Particularly in These Three Great Ordinances : 1. Hearing the Word, 2. Receiving the Lord’s Supper, 3. Prayer. Orlando, FL: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 2006.

Burroughs, Jeremiah, and Pre-1801 Imprint Collection (Library of Congress). The Rare Iewel of Christian Contentment. London,: Printed by P. Cole, 1652.

Calvin, John. Commentaries on the First Twenty Chapters of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, “Ezekiel 13.1-4” Accordance Bible Software 8.02, 1565 [cited August 14 2008].