Tim Challies

Why R.C. Whispered Instead of Shouted

It was still the early days of what came to be known as the New Calvinism or the Reformed Resurgence. The Together for the Gospel Conference had been formed in 2006 and now, in 2008, was gathering for the second time. The four founders were joined again by guests John Piper, John MacArthur, and R.C. Sproul (and, for the first time, Thabiti Anyabwile). R.C. Sproul led the conference’s fifth session and spoke on “The Curse Motif of the Atonement.” He preached one of those sermons that is still being discussed long after the event and even long after his death.

The conference summarizes Sproul’s sermon in this way: “Drawing deeply upon the imagery of the Old Testament, RC Sproul richly meditates on the implications of what Jesus suffered on the cross and what he saved us from. Bearing the weight of the curse is either placed upon individuals or freely upon the Holy One who took it from us. Jesus became cursed, so that [we] could be counted righteous in Him.”
I was there that day and, like so many others, found myself completely transfixed by this sermon. I had listened to plenty of Sproul prior to this time and had read some of his most noteworthy books like The Holiness of God. Yet even though the man and the message were familiar, I still sat in rapt attention, both recoiling at the horror of what I was hearing and worshiping at the beauty.
The crescendo of the whole message came in the final two minutes. Sproul was contemplating what happened between the Father and the Son when all of our sin was placed upon Jesus and when he faced the Father’s wrath. He explained it like this: “It was as if there was a cry from heaven—excuse my language but I can be no more accurate to say—it was as if Jesus heard the words ‘God damn you.’ Because that’s what it meant to be cursed, to be damned, to be under the anathema, of the Father.”
In the years since, I have often contemplated what made this message so powerful. And in watching and rewatching it, I am convinced that it was a combination of substance and style—of preaching that accounted not only for what was said, but also for how. Part of what made the message so powerful, and what made this crescendo so powerful, is that R.C. whispered instead of shouted.
I have often been struck by the intensity with which many preachers deliver their sermons. Many preachers are aware of the importance of preaching and humbled by the fact that it falls to them to convey deep truths to an expectant people. It is no small thing to stand in a pulpit and preach the Word. Aware of this fact, preachers seem to bring messages that are intense from beginning to end. That intensity is often expressed in volume. If we were to create a little graphic showing the vocal range of a preacher with a whisper at the bottom, a normal speaking voice in the middle, and a shout at the top, many preachers would deliver the majority of their sermons entirely in the top half of the graphic—occasionally in a normal speaking voice, but mostly at an elevated volume. When they need to pack an extra punch, they get louder and perhaps even shout. But they only ever employ the top half of their vocal range.
I’m struck that Sproul took the opposite approach. Throughout this message, he delivers many of the most important lines in the lower part of his vocal range, and often at a bare whisper. He leans toward the audience and the audience responds by leaning toward him, straining to hear. He slows the tempo and lowers his voice to speak many of his most important lines. (See also this clip from 40:00 – around 41:30)
This is a powerful rhetorical technique that few preachers use at all and few use more effectively than Sproul. It is dramatic without being melodramatic, performative without being manipulative. It complements powerful truths with skillful technique. It’s compelling and potent. And, for many preachers, completely untried. It’s my conviction that most preachers would have shouted these lines rather than whispered them. And it’s equally my conviction that this would have proven less effective.
And so I guess my encouragement to those who preach is to draw some lessons from Sproul. He has long been commended as not only the Reformed world’s best teacher in his day but also as one of its master communicators. And I’m convinced that a key part of his skill was his delivery, and particularly, his willingness to employ not only a part of his vocal range, but the whole of it. He put great care into not only the content of his messages, but also the delivery. He had mastered not only the art of preparing a sermon, but also the craft of delivering it. We’d all do well to learn from him.
(Further to this sermon, see “How R.C. Sproul Blessed the Church by Preaching the Curse” in my Great Sermon Series.)

A La Carte (July 27)

The Lord be with you and bless you today.

The Pilgrim’s Progress
Derek Thomas has written a brief guide to Pilgrim’s Progress. “Many, like C.H. Spurgeon, may boast of having read Pilgrim’s Progress many times, but what might a first-time reader expect?”
Consider Yourself Dead to Sin
“We have already given too much of our lives doing things godless people do. It is time we consider ourselves dead to sin (Romans 6:11).” Doug considers how and why.
Counting Down
“All the rumors are true: time speeds up. I still feel like I used to feel thirty years ago. I don’t know where the time went. I hang around people a generation below me and I think I’m the same age as them, although they never make the same mistake with me.”
20 Jazz Masterpieces You Should Hear
If you’re new to jazz (or still trying to appreciate it, as I am) you may benefit from this introduction by William Edgar.
What Questions Do You Have about Your Faith?
Lauren Whitman considers the kinds of questions we may have about our faith.
Even the Darkness
Meredith Beatty: “It doesn’t matter how you find your way into darkness. You may be suffering with chronic pain. You may have succumbed to the same sin over and over and now realize you’ve backed yourself into a dark corner with no conceivable way out. You may just be under a heavy cloud of despair, unsure where it’s come from. Whatever it is, wherever it’s come from, you can take courage that God sees your situation from a different perspective.”
Flashback: A Few Humble Suggestions for Reformed Worship Services
I want to offer a few humble suggestions to pastors or others involved in planning services that may serve to add an element of freshness to a service, but without adding elements that are desperate, distracting, or flat-out ridiculous.

The world has always measured greatness by the standard a person receives, not by what he gives. But Jesus radically reverses our fallen logic. —Matt Smethurst

A La Carte (July 26)

The God of love and peace be with you today.

(Yesterday on the blog: Flowers Springing Up in the Rain)
The Joys and Challenges of Small Church Ministry
I enjoyed Jeff’s celebration of the joys (and challenges) of ministering in a small town.
What would we be missing if our Bibles lacked the book of Galatians?
I can’t imagine being asked this question off-the-cuff–or answering as well as Derek Thomas does here.
The Transgender Fantasy
Andrew T. Walker: “Pastors have no shortage of issues that they are called up to address in their ministries. The pressure to be an expert on every new issue can be daunting when thinking about everything else on the pastor’s plate. Most pastors need fewer burdens, not more. But when issues of what it means to be human surface — and this is at the center of the debate over transgenderism — it’s important that pastors seek to bring the full counsel of God’s word to bear on the issue at hand.”
Stricter Standards Do Not Always Equal Legalism
Barbara offers an important corrective here: Christians who hold to stricter standards (in, for example, the way they dress) are not necessarily succumbing to legalism.
3 Things to Pray for those Hurting, Suffering and Grieving
Ken Irungu (aka Ken in Kenya): “We all know someone who is hurting, who is suffering or is grieving, don’t we? We promise to pray for them, but at times, we do not know how and what to pray for them. Sometimes all we pray for them is that God would minimize their pain and suffering. But there’s more we can pray for these dear ones, as we clearly see from scriptures.”
Extravagance
“A few weeks ago, NASA released some of the first photos from the James Webb telescope from 932,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) above the earth. Have you been as captivated by those pictures as I am?”
Flashback: Four Sources of Discord in Your Church
In Paul’s letter to Titus he offers four sources of discord and warns us to avoid them (“But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.”). Here, for your consideration, are four sources of disunity that may just exist in your church.

We don’t treat prayer like breathing. We treat it like prescription medication meant to rid us of an infection. Once the infection is gone, so is the frequency and fervency of our prayers. —John Onwuchekwa

20 Hymns To Sing With Your Family This Summer

This post is sponsored by Getty Music. Click here to download your free Family Summer Hymnal filled with sheet music and MP3s for 20 Getty Music songs!

Many of us have fond memories of being a kid in the summer. Long family road trips, sunny pool days, ice-cream cones, and not having to worry about school for a while. These memories often have a soundtrack, a “song of the summer” that we picked up from our family or friends. Maybe you can hear the melody now: your dad’s favorite song he played in the car; the one your sibling wouldn’t stop shouting; or the tune your mom would find herself singing on a July afternoon. Perhaps you remember your parents’ or grandparents’ favorite hymns. Maybe these songs resonate deeper for you in church services or act as anchors for you in difficult moments, all because you connect them with their faith.
The songs we hear and sing as children have a way of sticking with us. These songs, reverberating in our ears for years and even decades, can remind us of times gone by, reinforce foundational truths, and even influence the way we see the world. Lyrics shape us. Music influences us. Songs help make us who we are.
It’s important to recognize that this same thing is happening in the lives of our children now. They are attaching music to moments and people this summer, making connections that may last a lifetime. That is a lot of responsibility for parents, Sunday school teachers, and choir directors as we pick the songs our children sing. Imagine if these summer memories could be attached to timeless hymns – directing the gaze of our children to the Lord and generations of believers before them.
This summer, you can give your children the gift of hymns rich with meaning, truth, and beauty. Now is the time to build in our families a songbook of hymns that last a lifetime, through every high and low for decades to come. Let’s use the songs we sing to build memories—ones that remind our kids even years from now that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Download your free Getty Family Summer hymnal now – packed with sheet music and MP3 downloads for 20 joy-filled hymns at https://bit.ly/tcshymnal.

Flowers Springing Up in the Rain

In the past couple of years I have learned more about cemeteries than I would ever have cared to know. I have learned about purchasing plots and commissioning monuments. I have learned about proper etiquette and how different cultures relate to their dearly departed in very different ways. I have learned that a grave offers a place to go to grieve and, as importantly, a place to leave grief behind for a time.

One thing we learned quickly is that while a cemetery will take great care in burying a loved one, raising a monument, and sodding over the stark, bare earth, they will take very little care in watering that grass or ensuring that it grows and thrives. Once the grave is closed and the grass replaced, they will offer only the barest maintenance. That’s true, at least, of the cemetery we chose for our son.
We cannot tolerate the thought of Nick’s grave being covered in dry, brown grass. We cannot tolerate the thought of it becoming overgrown with weeds. We cannot tolerate the thought of it looking overlooked and abandoned. And so we tend to it with great care. We visit it regularly. We water it diligently. We maintain a tiny garden that sits up against the gravestone, adapting it to the seasons.
I might have been tempted to believe that grass would grow best if was only ever sunny and that flowers would thrive best under the constant glare of the sun. I might have been tempted to believe that days of gloom and cloud would slow progress and inhibit growth. But I have come to observe that this is not the case, for clouds bring rain and rain brings life. Meanwhile, unbroken sun quickly dries the ground and leaves it parched. We have come to look forward to dark skies and brooding clouds, for we know the grass will soon be greener, the flowers brighter and straighter, all of it more colorful and more beautiful.
You and I are not too different from grass and flowers, for as God sees fit to have them grow through sun and rain, he sees fit to have us grow through joy and grief. As it is his will that they display their beauty through good weather and bad, it is his will that we display our beauty through easy times and difficult. The beauty he wishes for us to display is the beauty of character that is heavenly rather than worldly, that is divine rather than so naturally human.
Such character does not come easily to us, for we enter the Christian life with long-established patterns of sinfulness and selfishness, of caring much for ourselves and little for others. For our lives to display godly beauty, we must be changed, we must be transformed. And this kind of transformation needs more than ease, more than merely good times.
For this reason God leads us into times of grief and sorrow, times of sickness and loss, times of pain and persecution. He knows that for us to truly thrive in this world and for us to truly be fit for what lies beyond it, we need both sun and rain, both joy and sorrow. In the bright sun of the best of times we may grow in love and joy and peace and patience, for these virtues tend to be the ones that spring up first and bloom fastest. But it is often only in the dark gloom of the worst of times that we grow in kindness and gentleness and self-control, for virtues like these tend to grow slowly and only under specific conditions. If we are to be the Christians God wishes us to be, we must have sun and rain, clear days and cloudy.
And so, as we approach times of sorrow and suffering, when they sweep over us with all their pain and all their tears, all their agony and all their uncertainty, we never need fear that God has forgotten us or forsaken us. We never need fear that we will emerge worse than we entered in. For God has ordained that these times are necessary for our growth, necessary for us to take on the beauty of godly character. God has ordained that we will be like flowers—flowers that spring up in the rain.

A La Carte (July 25)

Grace and peace to you today.

Today’s Kindle deals include books by John Piper, Kevin DeYoung, and Wayne Grudem.
(Yesterday on the blog: I Shall Be Satisfied Then)
Let’s Talk About Bodies
This article speaks to an issue that confuses many people. “It can feel confusing to know how God wants us to think about our bodies. What is too much? What is too little? Are bodies spiritual or are bodies unspiritual?”
How “Above Reproach” Lay Elders Saved My Ministry
“A special elders’ meeting was called. This time, I, as the senior pastor, was the subject of concern.” Gary Kirst tells how godly elders may have saved his ministry.
Evading The Comparison Trap Among Servants
“As we serve the Lord within our local communities, we’ve experienced a time or two when we’d rather be someone else and possess their giftings or abilities: We’ve felt frustrated, discouraged, and envious. While we know and believe God has created each of us with our own set of talents, strengths, and passions, as an integral part of His body, why do we so easily linger on the service of others?”
My Hundred Homes
What does it mean when Jesus says “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time…?”
Unction and Preaching
“Unction is a topic not often discussed in books on preaching and even less often in Reformed books.” I’m not sure that I agree with Wes Bredenhof’s take on unction, but I was glad to read it nonetheless.
FAQ: Is it Okay to Question the Bible?
Is it okay to question the Bible? It all depends on what you mean by the question.
Flashback: A Practical Guide to Culture
We speak of culture’s dangerous encroachment on the church, of our need to avoid it, engage it, or redeem it. But what is this culture thing anyway?

You’ve been tasked with sounding the call, not raising the dead. That’s God’s job. —Will Dobbie

He Is Not Ashamed – A Review

In the next two chapters Raymond focuses on those who have nothing to give and those who are weak before turning to those who still sin, people like you and me who have been saved by his grace but who still commit deeds that are so very rebellious and so very dark. “Run your finger across the pages of the Bible, and you find many examples to prove that God delights to lavish his forgiveness on sinners.

We are at an interesting point in history in which, when people look to the past, they seem more likely to cringe than to celebrate. It has become customary for people to look to their forbears and then disavow them or apologize for them in what has become almost a ritualistic purgation. There are many who are ashamed of their roots, ashamed of their family, embarrassed to admit who and where they have come from.
But isn’t it interesting that this is not the case with God? God has been adopting people into his family for thousands of years and along the way has welcomed many whose pasts are shady at best and scandalous at worst. And despite their sins, despite their scandals, he loves them and refuses to turn away from them. God’s enduring and unashamed love for his people is the subject of Erik Raymond’s new book He Is Not Ashamed.
If we were to assemble a great portrait of God’s family, “we’d find people with unflattering stories. Some are known as the chief of sinners, the sinful woman, the thief on the cross, and the prostitute. We’d also see those who were overlooked and disregarded by society. We’d find weak people unable to give God anything. We’d even see those who wore the uniform of opposition to God. Here in the portrait of grace, we’d find a multitude of misfits. It would be quite the picture.” It would be the kind of picture we might be embarrassed to hang on the walls of our homes. Yet in the very middle of this picture we’d find Jesus, the very best of men, standing side-by-side with some of the very worst. “At first glance, we might think that Jesus doesn’t belong with people like this. What business does majesty have with outcasts? But poring over the Scriptures, we see something else. In this family photo, Jesus may seem out of place, but in reality he’s exactly where he belongs. Even more, he’s right where he wants to be. Instead of being ashamed of them, he calls them family.”
In this book, Raymond examines the kind of people who would be included in this portrait which is to say, the kind of people God delights to identify with. And thankfully, “nobody has a story that can make Jesus blush” for his heart is oriented toward those who need him most, no matter what they may have done or how they may have sinned.
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I Shall Be Satisfied Then

I have long appreciated the poems of the 19th century American poet Hannah Flagg Gould. Among them I found this sweet work which reflects on the beauty of breaking free from “this prison of clay” to be with the Lord. I hope it proves an encouragement to you as it has me.

May I in thy likeness, my Saviour, awake,And rise, a fair image of thee;Then I shall be satisfied, when I can breakThis prison of clay, and be free.
Can I but come forth to eternity’s light,With thy perfect features to shine,In raiment unsullied from time’s dreary night,What honor and joy will be mine!
Yes, I shall be satisfied then to have castThe shadows of nature all by—When, darkness and dust from the dull eyelid past,My soul sees with full-opened eye.
How fain would I know the great morn drawing near,When earth’s dreamy visions shall fade,If I in thy semblance indeed may appear,And stand in thy beauty arrayed!
To see thee in glory, O Lord, as thou art,From this mortal, perishing clayMy spirit immortal, in peace would depart,And, joyous, mount up her bright way.
When on thine own image in me thou hast smiled,In thy holy mansion, and whenThy fatherly arms have encircled thy child,O I shall be satisfied then!

When God Took Away

We can be confident that God has important purposes for our suffering, and we can be equally confident that one of these purposes is simply for us to stand strong, to continue to profess our allegiance to him. If Paul could say that his imprisonment “has really served to advance the gospel,” why shouldn’t we say the same of our bereavements (Philippians 1:12)?

There is a deep mystery to suffering. While the Bible makes it plain that we must expect to encounter times of sorrow and loss, of trial and grief, we often don’t know why these times come. Though we know he is weaving together a marvelous tapestry that will wondrously display his glory, we also know it is one whose beauty we will fully appreciate only when faith becomes sight.
It was in the waning weeks of 2020 that my family faced our darkest hour, for it was then that the heart of my 20-year-old son Nick suddenly and unexpectedly stopped, and he went to be with the Lord. One moment he was a seminarian leading some fellow students in a game, and the next he was in heaven. His departure shocked us, devastated us, and left us wondering why. Why would God choose this for us, and why would God choose us for this?
In the aftermath of that dreadful evening, I turned to some of my dearest friends, friends who lived and died many years ago, but whom I’ve come to know through the books and sermons they left behind. If a multitude of advisers is necessary for planning well, how much more for grieving well (Proverbs 15:22)? In the most difficult days and darkest hours, they counseled and consoled me.
Suffering as Witness
Theodore Cuyler was a close and steady companion who encouraged me to accept that God always places bright blessings behind the dark clouds of his providence. F.B. Meyer assured me that peace would come through submission to God’s will, and that I should trust him in the taking as much as I had in the giving. But it was in the words of the old preacher J.R. Miller that I found one piece of wisdom that especially helped quiet my heart and direct my path.
Ofttimes the primary reason why godly men are called to suffer is for the sake of witness they may give to the sincerity of their love for Christ and the reality of divine grace in them. The world sneers at religious profession. It refuses to believe that it is genuine. It defiantly asserts that what is called Christian principle is only selfishness, and that it would not stand severe testing. Then, godly men are called to endure loss, suffering or sorrow, not because there is any particular evil in themselves which needs to be eradicated, but because the Master needs their witness to answer the sneers of the world. (“The Ministry of Comfort”)
In every age, we hear of professed believers who abandon the faith as soon as they are called to suffer. They are glad enough to express confidence in God as long as his will seems perfectly aligned with their own, as long as his providence decrees what they would choose anyway. But when they are called to lose instead of gain, to weep instead of laugh, to face poverty instead of prosperity, they quickly turn aside and fall away (Matthew 13:20–21). Like towers built on sand, many who stand strong in days of calm collapse in days of flood (Matthew 7:26–27).
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Weekend A La Carte (July 23)

May you enjoy the Lord’s richest blessings as you serve and worship him this weekend.

Today’s Kindle deals include some newer and older titles.
(Yesterday on the blog: He Is Not Ashamed)
Is Jordan Peterson almost there?
Steven Wedgeworth interacts with some recent comments by Jordan Peterson. “Is Peterson a Christian? And is he right about young men and the church? Almost.”
Which Sins Are Feeding Your Sin of Lust?
This is a long but valuable piece by the late David Powlison.
Thinking Sensibly About Ourselves
“When walking the narrow road of the Christian life, many of us fall into one of two traps when it comes to our gifts: viewing ourselves too highly or too lowly. Some of us have permanently taken up residence in one of these ditches and refuse to move. There is water flooding in, garbage pooling around us, and frogs laying eggs in our hair, but we refuse to move from our ditch.”
The ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ Deserves No Respect
Andrew Walker and Carl Trueman have a piece at National Review that is quite interesting. “The cravenness of Republicans who are looking to ‘move on’ from supposedly divisive ‘social issues’ will deserve their comeuppance should they vote for this bill.”
The 2022 Audubon Photography Awards
There are some beautiful images to see among the winners and honorable mentions of the 2022 Audubon Photography Awards.
A Doctor Shares the Secret to Dying Well
“For almost 20 years, I’ve been working as a hospital doctor. While being a doctor isn’t nearly as glamorous as what you see on TV, it can still be intense. I care for people in the best and worst moments of their lives. Of all the different situations I’ve faced, the most memorable professional encounters have been caring for terminally ill patients.”
Flashback: Parents: To Join Social Media Is To Witness Death
One moment I’m looking at pictures of nieces and nephews celebrating a birthday, and the next I’m looking at someone being gunned down in the streets. Joyful celebrations join brutal murders in this endless stream of information.

We must hide our unholiness in the wounds of Christ as Moses hid himself in the cleft of the rock while the glory of God passed by. We must take refuge from God in God. —A.W. Tozer

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