as mentioned in an earlier post i attended the Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference in Grantham, PA last week. it was an amazing conference and i plan to make attendance a yearly thing no matter where i end up in ministry. in giving my reflections, i will follow the categories of the description of the conference from the aforementioned post.

IT’S A PREACHING CONFERENCE: it truly was a preaching conference. this year the theme centered around the doctrine of holiness, and what holiness should mean to a minister of the gospel. i won’t take the time to recount all of the messages that were given at the conference, but i do want to mention the two that impacted me the most. for a rundown on the other talks, visit Tony’s blog (here’s an index of his posts on the conference)

the opening sermon of the conference, given by Ben Short, dealt with Philippians 1:21, wherein Paul proclaims, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Reverend Short expounded on what this should mean to ministers and that this verse should be “the antidote to discouragement.” Christ is everything for us. Christ is first, last, and everything in between, and this should bring to focus the various trials of ministry. one of the biggest tests that a congregation can go through is to see how their pastor(s) deal with strife and suffering.

Short quoted Robert Murray McCheyne in saying (loosely), “the greatest need of the people in my church is my personal holiness.” yet not just holiness when things are going good, but especially when things are going badly. Short reminded us that when we are confronted by jealousy of others’ success, “to live is Christ.” when we are bogged down by church politics, “to live is Christ.” when we have unhappy congregants, “to live is Christ.” when we are faced with any trial whatsoever, we are to remember that “for me to live is Christ.” suffering for the sake of Christ is the test of our boast in him, and people are watching to see how we respond in those times. and so we were challenged to really own what it means to say, “for me to live is Christ” and to truly live that out in our ministry to others.

the second message of the conference was given by Sinclair Ferguson. Dr. Ferguson preached from Titus 2:11-15 on the Father’s purpose and the Son’s purchase of our holiness. there is a sense in which i am still reeling from the effect that this sermon had on me, and i am still processing what was said. so hopefully what follows will make sense. Dr. Ferguson began by stating

holiness in imperatives (commands) is unmovably rooted in indicatives (propositions) powerful enough in grace to sustain the great weight of those imperatives

one could spend hours meditating on that statement alone. what he’s saying is that the commands of Scripture are shocking and difficult (i.e., 1 Peter 1:14-16), but as difficult and heavy as they may seem, there are truths about and promises by God powerful enough to withhold the weight of those commands in our lives. those truths and promises are made manifest in the work of the Holy Spirit who regenerates us and enables us to walk anew in light of both the promises and commands of the Triune God.

that is the purpose of God the Father in our holiness: to choose us that we might be holy, to elect us from the foundation of the world that we might be conformed to the image of his Son through the work of the Holy Spirit. but this purpose required a purchase, and that purchase was made by Jesus Christ, Son of God. often in Reformed circles there is much focus, for good reason, on the purchase of our justification, or right standing before God. yet there is often less focus on Christ’s purchase of our sanctification, which is just as much a part of our salvation and union with Christ as our justification is. in other words, we are purchased in the full of our being and in the fullness of the ordo salutis (”order of salvation”; see Romans 8:28-30).

while the death of Christ necessarily purchased the justification of the elect, the redemptive work of Christ does not end with justification. Christ’s work also purchased freedom, though a progressive freedom, from the effects of sin for all those who are his. Dr. Ferguson listed five ways in which Christ does this:

- Jesus dies to propitiate (satisfy) the wrath of God against those who are called by grace
- Jesus dies as an expiation (purging) of our defilement
- our holiness is effected at the death of Jesus because at his death he died to sin
- Jesus dies to free us from the bondage of Satan
- Jesus purchases for us the gift of the Holy Spirit

justification is purchased by this, yes, absolutely, but so is sanctification. the death of Christ purchases the grace powerful enough to sustain the great weight of the imperatives to live holy lives before God and men. the glory and truth of this, said Dr. Ferguson, is summed up in Colossians 3:12-13, a passage which Dr. Ferguson described as a picture of true, practical Calvinism. as God’s chosen ones, because of what the Father has purposed for us, and because of what Christ has purchased for use, namely the fullness of union with him, may we put on holiness and put off worldliness. “were that it was true that all Calvinists (and i would say all Christians) would live like this.”

what a challenge!

IT’S A FELLOWSHIPPING CONFERENCE: the fellowship at this conference was unlike anything i had experienced before. i rode up with a group of 8 or 9 other men, and though i was a stranger to most of them before the conference, as we returned home i felt that i had known them for quite some time. i am so thankful for having the opportunity to have met them and i hope to continue to grow in relationship with them. what struck me most about the fellowship at the conference was how “real” everyone seemed to be. i never got the impression that anyone was putting on for others or anything like that. much of this is due to the fact that the discussion was not all pleasantries. many of the pastors i talked to were open and honest about their ministries and the great joy they have in their people, but also extreme hardship and struggle that comes along with dealing with sinners on a daily basis. for someone who will be finishing seminary in about a year, the insight and wisdom i gleaned from these men was invaluable and i am eager to learn more from them and to also apply what i’ve learned in my own ministry.

IT’S A WORSHIPPING CONFERENCE: though our current church is more contemporary in worship than not, i’ve never really been one to come down hard on either side of the contemporary vs. traditional music debate, although, if pressed, i would lean more towards the traditional side. after this conference, however, i would say that i’m leaning much more heavily to the traditional side of things. there is much to be said for the stripped down, simple singing and worshiping of God through psalms and hymns. there is something to be said for worship that is more about what is being sung and proclaimed than the variety of instruments or tunes played (though i must say that God is a God of beauty and order and tunes and instruments are tools in reflecting that beauty and order). you could call it almost mystical in the sense of that “mystic sweet communion” not only “with those whose rest is won,” as the old hymnwriter put it, but also with those with whom you are, in unison, proclaiming the great words and truths of Scripture.

spiritually this conference impacted me more than anything i can remember, save the day i put my trust in Christ as Lord and Savior of my life. perhaps, though, i could feel this way only because of where i am in life right now, namely a seminary student on the cusp of entering full-time, vocational ministry. i pray that i will take what i learned from this conference into my ministry and that i will look back on my first experience (the first of many, i hope!) at a Banner of Truth conference with fondness for the rest of my life.

THE REST: on the more material side of things, i can see other reasons why so many pastors, re: bibliophiles, look forward to this conference every year. on the one hand, Grantham is right next door to Carlisle, PA, not only home to Banner’s North American office, but also home to Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service, one of the best places to get great deals on books. over at the Banner office are the famous “secret shelves” wherein there are treasures to be found at 50% off the list price.

and then, of course, there is the legendary “Sinclair Ferguson’s Tour Through the Conference Bookstore.” being skeptical before going to the conference, i am now a true believer in this wonderful tradition. basically Dr. Ferguson leads first-time conference goers through the bookstore and talks about books that every pastor should have, or about the impact of certain books on his own spiritual life. great as it is to get book recommendations from someone like Sinclair Ferguson, the real magic comes in his being a trustee of Banner of Truth and the discounting power that such a position holds. at this particular conference, titles he spoke on were discounted either 65 or 75% off (though i’m told that in the past discounts have reached as high as 80 and 90%), which is just simply unbelievable.

so not only did i come away from the conference literally blown apart by the depth and weight of the teaching, the fellowship, and the worship, but i also came home with an abundance of new reading material. oh that there were more hours in the day for reading.

all in all this conference was wonderful, and i am counting down the days to May 27-29, 2008 when i hope to again be making the trip up to Pennsylvania to attend the conference.

outside of certain passages of Scripture, no description of events has sent such chills of fright down my spine as the following passage:

but before long there came more reports: that the fires drew ever northward, and that indeed Glaurung himself made them…a day came when two men returned to Ephel Brandir in terror, for they had seen the Great Worm himself. ‘in truth, lord,’ they said, ‘he draws now near to Teiglin, and turns not aside. he lay in the midst of a great burning, and the trees smoked about him. the stench of him is scarce to be endured. and all the long leagues back to Nargothrond his foul swath lies, we deem, in a line that swerves not, but points straight to us. What is to be done?’

this description is of Glaurung, the great dragon and servant of Morgoth who is the antagonist in the latest posthumous work of J.R.R. Tolkien, The Children of Hurin. taking place nearly 6500 years before the events in Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, this book is largely the tale of Turin, son of Hurin, who sets out to free his father after he has learned of his capture by Morgoth. yet the journey is not that easy for young Turin, and he soon finds himself alone, stripped of all that he loves and holds dear. because of this he later takes on the name Turambar, or “Master of Doom.”

this story is much darker than Tolkien’s previous works, and rather reminded me of Hamlet or any of the other great tragedies in literature. the last line of the passage above, in fact, rather suits the overall mood of the story: “what is to be done?” the family of Hurin has been cursed by Morgoth, and Turin is constantly in the shadow of Glaurung, even to the point of being bewitched by the Great Worm. anything Turin does to overcome his past, to find his father, or to make a name for himself eventually turns sour and hurts anyone close to him, and the only positive fame he ever receives is due to the elven blade he carries, Gurthang, one of the strongest swords in all Middle-Earth. even when Turin has found love (the second time; the first, of course, ending in tragedy) and married, he and his bride are soon ruined by the truth of their relationship.

this is one of the few tales in which evil ultimately gets the better of the hero, and the hero’s death is more of a relief than anything as it ends the cycle of woe for all the characters in the book.

personally, this book served as a stark reminder of the depravity of man and the importance of community and love. Turin refused to listen to the advice and counsel of those much wiser than he, and he often resorted to shows of force in order to gain control over the groups he would come to lead. yet even in those groups he would often end up fighting alone, the rest of his troupe having been alienated by the arrogance of Turin. he failed to submit to those older and wiser than he, including his parents, and he failed to take anyone but himself into consideration when deciding his next course of action. it is largely this immaturity that would lead to his destruction. likewise, when he is finally married, the relationship seems to be more of a distraction from his past and his troubles (irony at its finest, come to find out). when it comes down to it, though, he even alienates his wife in blind stubbornness, ultimately leading to her destruction.

even through the darkness, however, the story is rather beautiful. in true Tolkien fashion, the descriptions of the landscapes are magnificent, the battle scenes dramatic, and the overall flow of the story is quite poetic. while certainly not as timeless as The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, The Children of Hurin gives further insight into the genius of J.R.R. Tolkien and further unfolds the intricacies of the overall history of Middle-Earth and its people.

so every month christianaudio.com has a special where they offer an audiobook for free. this month they are offering The Best of Jonathan Edwards’ Sermons, read by David Cochran Heath. this audiobook contains three of Edwards’ classic sermons, including “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” “A Divine and Supernatural Light,” and the farewell sermon he preached to his Northampton congregation in 1750.

to get the free download (the normal price is $14.98), click the link above and add the item to your cart. in the checkout process there will be a place to add a coupon code, and after entering JUN2007 this audiobook will be yours to download for free. enjoy!

(HT: Justin Taylor)