The Fool Defending the Grave of a Dead Man,

How much of a fool would I look like if I was seen sitting on the grave of a dead man with a weapon in hand, and was claiming, with unflinching determination to defend the dead man with all my concerted energies?

Would I not then look like a man gone mad? Of course I would. Because dead men need no defending, they're already dead. The worst thing that can ever actually happen to them, mortally speaking, has already happened (die).

I reflect on this when I consider my own passionate and fleshly desire to so-often defend myself.

Whether it be defending myself against false accusations, defamation or something silly like having a dispute with my wife and being oh-so determined to be right, simply because I am addicted to being RIGHT.

So who am I defending? Well a dead man of course!

• Am I not dead in Christ?
• Am I not dead to the world and it's foolish, empty accusations?
• Am I not dead to the lusts of the flesh?
• Am I not dead to the inner pride that demands to be defended?
• Am I not dead, and have my life hidden with Christ in God?

Col 3:3 "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

So often I'm just no,t and I desire true and thorough repentance for being a mad man, sitting on the grave of a dead man, determined to be his defence.

Sure there are times when defending oneself is necessary and even helpful to others, but for me it's deeper then that and if I just relied upon that excuse every time I wanted to justify myself in my defence I know I was being hypocritical. My defence stems right from the root of my fleshly heart, which demands to be right and seen as right for all to notice.

Please help me Lord?

God bless you & thanks for reading this small confession.

Craig Ireland

How to Avoid Assuming the Gospel

In Marks of the Messenger: Knowing, Living, and Speaking the Gospel (IVP, 2010), J. Mack Stiles sets out something I’ve heard Don Carson say a number of times: “Losing the gospel doesn’t happen all at once, it’s much more like a four generation process too:

The gospel is accepted —>

The gospel is assumed —>

The gospel is confused —>

The gospel is lost.”

How do you know if your church is beginning to assume the gospel? The answer, Stiles says, is when you no longer hear the gospel. He asks a series of diagnostic questions:

Was the gospel in the sermon Sunday morning?

Could the uninitiated hear that sermon and come to real faith in Christ?

Are gospel principles governing organizational decisions?

Do you hear the gospel in people’s prayers?

Does your fellowship encourage you to say the gospel? And then is it more than just a memorized sketch? Sure, it may follow the form of “God, Man, Christ, Response,” but is it in people’s own words?

Furthermore, do you see it in their actions? Is the gospel lived out?

Is membership based on a true commitment to the gospel or just because someone wants to join an organization—or maybe write an expose?

The healthy evangelist is asking these questions and looking for answers so as to guard the gospel. Here is the critical test.

Could you have preached that sermon if Christ had not died on the cross?

Could you have developed that leadership principle had Christ not been crucified?

I’m not saying be impractical—the Bible has much to say about being practical—but make sure that the practical is tied to the message of Jesus. Otherwise we are on the road to an assumption that will lose the gospel.

(p. 41, my emphasis)

May God give us grace to be men, women, and children of, by, and for the gospel!

Soli Deo Gloria!