Caffeinated Reformed

Seed is an appropriate illustration of the gospel. It cannot be created; it is only reproduced. Spreading the gospel is a process of taking that which has been sown and reproduced, and sowing it again. God does not call on us to create our own seed, or message. His Word is the only good seed. There is no such thing as evangelism apart from God’s Word.

— John MacArthur

A change of course is not necessarily God's will simply because we encounter obstacles and misgivings. During Paul's second missionary journey, he had a vision of a man from Macedonia appealing to him, saying "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:9). He arrives at Philippi and ends up getting beaten with rods and thrown into prison (Acts 16:16-40). He moves further into Macedonia where a riotous mob drives him out of town (Acts 17:1-9). But Paul didn't interpret adverse providences as red lights from God.

1 Corinthians 16:8-9: But I shall remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Elsewhere, he writes:

2 Corinthians 7:5 For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within.

Adversities and misgivings didn't cause him to change his course. In each case, Paul had decided on a plan, and he labored to carry it through.

— Mark Chanski

Procrastination and postponement are often displays not of prudence, but of cowardice and passivity.

— Mark Chanski

The most brilliantly conceived plans and decisions, prayerlessly executed, are more often than not doomed to failure.

— Mark Chanski

The wisest men are they who are most sensible of their need to avail themselves of the wisdom of others, and most qualified to make a proper use of counsel.

— George Lawson

The greatest fools are those who have the highest opinion of their own wisdom. Their self-esteem disposes them to neglect the advice of others, and to prosecute their own schemes, however foolish and dangerous, till they meet with fatal disappoint-ments, which, after all, can hardly open their eyes, clean shut with pride and vanity.

— George Lawson

Another element of genuine conversion is submission. Jesus’ invitation does not end with the words “I will give you rest.” He goes on to say, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light” (Matt. 11:29). The call to surrender to Jesus’ lordship is part and parcel of his invitation to salvation. Those unwilling to take on his yoke cannot enter into the saving rest he offers.

Jesus’ hearers understood that the yoke was a symbol of submission. In Israel yokes were made of wood, carefully fashioned by the carpenter’s hand to fit the neck of the animal that was to wear it. Undoubtedly Jesus had made many yokes as a young man in Joseph’s carpentry shop in Nazareth. It was a perfect illustration of salvation. The yoke was worn by the animal to bear a load, and used by the master to direct the animal.

The yoke also signified discipleship. When our Lord added the phrase “and learn from Me,” the imagery would have been familiar to Jewish listeners. In ancient writings, a pupil who submitted himself to a teacher was said to take the teacher’s yoke. One writer records this proverb: “Put your neck under the yoke and let your soul receive instruction.” Rabbis spoke of the yoke of instruction, the yoke of the Torah, and the yoke of the law.

It is a yoke that also implies obedience. The imagery of the yoke itself argues against the notion that one can take Jesus as Savior and not as Lord. Jesus does not bid people come to him if they are unwilling to receive his yoke. True salvation occurs when a sinner in desperation turns from his sin to Christ with a willingness to have him take control.

Salvation is by grace through faith. It has nothing to do with meritorious human works. But the only possible response to God’s grace is a broken humility that causes the sinner to turn from his old life to Christ. The evidence of such a turning is the willingness to submit and obey. If cold-hearted disobedience and deliberate rebellion continue unabated, there is good reason to doubt the reality of a person’s faith.

— John MacArthur

A great reminder for 2024.

False disciples are masters of subtle deception, adept at deluding others. They pretend to love the Lord, but their kisses are the kisses of betrayal.

— John MacArthur

The Lord has wonderfully equipped a large portion of the Body of Christ with brilliant minds and skilled hands that they might use these talents in the business world to the end of their producing financial dividends that will support expensive kingdom endeavors. Sadly some of these choice servants of Christ have abandoned their fields of expertise and instead have tried to force-fit themselves into ministries because misguided teachers have denigrated the importance of non-ministry vocations.

I would not belittle the glorious vocation of the pastor or the missionary. Would to God, that He would send out many who read these pages into the ministerial fields that are white unto harvest. But in the body of Christ, we are not all mouths, fashioned to give ourselves full-time to the oral declaration of the gospel. Many of us are thighs, fashioned to generate the financial muscle, so that the mouths can be carried to the four corners of the earth with the gospel.

Though carnal sounding, cash is the fuel that runs the kingdom machinery. Many kingdom ships that could be launched, end up rotting in the harbor due to lack of funds. Were it not for generous financial supporters, the great missionary Adoniram Judson would never have set sail for Burma.

— Mark Chanski, Manly Dominion

It is typical of false disciples that they get on board with Jesus to get what they want, but when instead of delivering he makes demands on them, they turn away.

— John MacArthur

The mark of a true disciple is not that he never sins, but rather that when he does sin he inevitably returns to the Lord to receive cleansing and forgiveness. Unlike a false disciple, the true disciple will never turn away completely. He may occasionally turn back to his fishing nets, but ultimately he will be drawn again to the Master. When Christ confronts him, he will return to a life of service for the Savior.

— John MacArthur

Sinners never seek God on their own (Rom. 3:11). In our natural, fallen state we are dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1), excluded from the life of God (Eph. 4:18), and therefore totally unable and unwilling to seek God. Only when we are touched by the sovereign, convicting power of God do we move toward him (John 6:44, 65). And thus it is not until God begins to pursue a soul that the soul responds by seeking him. An anonymous hymn writer penned these words:

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me;
It was not I that found, O Savior true;
No, I was found of Thee.

— John MacArthur

Salvation is a supernatural, divine transformation—no less than a miracle that takes place in the soul. It is a true work of God, and it must make a difference in the life of the one whose eyes have been opened. The believing person will see Christ for who he is—sovereign Lord of all—and that revelation, to one who formerly could not see, will inevitably provoke worship, adoration, and a heart that desires to do the will of God. None of that is the result of theological tutoring; it is the work of God’s Spirit in the heart of the redeemed.

— John MacArthur

Salvation always results because God first pursues sinners, not because sinners first seek God. In John 15:16 Jesus said to his disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you.” Luke 19:10 says, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. In Scripture, Christ is always portrayed as the seeking Savior. His divine initiative made redemption possible, and it is through his initiative that individuals are sought out and saved.

— John MacArthur

True faith embraces not only the data of the gospel, but the Person of Christ as well. It comprehends not merely the truth that Jesus died and rose again, but also the corresponding implication: that he did this to deliver us from our sins in order to be the sovereign Master of our lives (Rom. 14:9).

— John MacArthur

God had instituted the sacrificial system and had ordered Israel to follow prescribed rituals, but that was pleasing to God only when it was the expression of a broken and contrite heart (Ps. 51:16–17). When the heart was not right, the ritual was an abomination. God is never pleased with forms of religion apart from personal righteousness.

— John MacArthur

The gospel according to Jesus is first of all a mandate for repentance. I mentioned that in relating this account of Matthew’s conversion, Luke includes two words Matthew omitted: “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32, emphasis added). From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the heart of his message was a call to repentance. In fact, when our Lord first began to preach, the opening word of his message was Repent (Matt. 4:17). It was also the first word of John the Baptist’s message (Matt. 3:2) and the basis of the gospel the apostles preached (Acts 3:19; 20:21; 26:20). No one who neglects to call sinners to repentance is preaching the gospel according to Jesus.

— John MacArthur

The truth is that unless people realize they have a sin problem, they will not come to Christ for a solution. People do not come for healing unless they know they have a disease; they do not come for life unless they are conscious that they are under the penalty of death; they do not come for salvation unless they are weary of the bo***ge of sin.

— John MacArthur

It is absurd to suggest that a person can encounter the holy God of Scripture and be saved without also coming to grips with the heinousness of sin and consequently longing to turn from it. In the Bible, those who met God were invariably confronted with an overwhelming sense of their own sinfulness.

— John MacArthur

All are welcome to join us on Christmas Eve (Sunday 24 December) at 10am for our Christmas Gospel Service.
- Light refreshments will be available following the service.

Sin is no peripheral issue as far as salvation is concerned; it is the issue. In fact, the distinctive element of the Christian message is the power of Jesus Christ to forgive and conquer our sin. Of all the realities of the gospel, none is more wonderful than the news that the enslaving grasp of sin has been broken. This truth is the heart and the very lifeblood of the Christian message. No message that excludes it can purport to be the gospel according to Jesus.

— John MacArthur

The contemporary church has the idea that salvation is only the granting of eternal life, not necessarily the liberation of a sinner from the bo***ge of his iniquity. We tell people that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives, but that is only half the truth. God also hates sin and will punish unrepentant sinners with eternal torment. No gospel presentation is complete if it avoids or conceals those facts. Any message that fails to define and confront the severity of personal sin is a deficient gospel. And any “salvation” that does not alter a lifestyle of sin and transform the heart of the sinner is not the salvation that God’s Word speaks of.

— John MacArthur

One of the most malignant by-products of the debacle in contemporary evangelism is a gospel that fails to confront individuals with the reality of their sin. Even the most conservative churches are teeming with people who, claiming to be born again, live like pagans. Contemporary Christians have been conditioned never to question anyone’s profession of faith. Multitudes declare that they trust Christ as Savior while indulging in lifestyles that are plainly inconsistent with God’s Word—yet no one dares to challenge their testimony.

— John MacArthur

John 3:17 is another rebuke to the religious system Nicodemus represented. The Pharisees were looking for a Messiah who would come to destroy the Gentiles and set up a utopia for the Jews. But Jesus said, “God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.” Those who thought the coming of the Messiah meant glory for Israel and destruction for everybody else were going to be disappointed. He came to bring salvation not just to Israel but to the whole world. That is the reality of redemption. It is offered not just to Pharisees, not just to the Jews, but to “whoever believes in Him” (v. 16).

— John Macarthur

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

— Isaiah 55:7 | ESV

Thus the test of true faith is this: Does it produce obedience? If not, it is not saving faith. Disobedience is unbelief. Real faith obeys.

— John MacArthur

People have always stumbled over the simplicity of salvation. That is why there are so many cults. Each one has a unique slant on the doctrine of salvation—and each one corrupts the simplicity of the gospel revealed in God’s Word (cf. 2 Cor. 11:3) by espousing salvation by human works. Each one of the major cults claims to have a key that unlocks the secret of salvation, yet they are all alike in propagating self-righteous achievement as the way to God.

— John MacArthur

Salvation is impossible apart from divinely wrought regeneration.

— John MacArthur

Not everyone who claims to be a Christian really is. Unbelievers do make false professions of faith in Christ, and people who are not truly Christians can be deceived into thinking they are.

— John MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus