On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the 272 word Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

—Abraham Lincoln

The following audio file contains a reading of the Gettysburg Address by Mr. Sam Waterston as it was broadcast on NPR’s Morning Edition on November 19, 2003.

The Gettysburg Address

In October of 2006, the White Horse Inn broadcast a short two-part series of interviews between Dr. Michael Horton and former Muslim and professor of Shari’ah Law, Sam Solomon. The series was titled “Christianity Confronts Islam” and the discussions centered on the true nature of Islam, the confrontation between Islamic and Western cultures, and the theological convictions at the root of the conflict.

The free podcast versions of the original episodes are no longer available for download as the broadcast archive only extends back about three months. However, they are presented here for those who are interested in this important topic.

Christianity Confronts Islam – Part 1

Christianity Confronts Islam – Part 2

If you are interested in learning more about the White Horse Inn please visit their website and sign up to receive the free podcast version of the broadcast.

As a follow-up to the previous post on Yom Kippur I want to present the audio from a portion of Dr. R.C. Sproul’s presentation at Together for the Gospel 2008. The title of his presentation was “The Curse Motif of the Atonement” and it was one of the finest messages I’ve ever had the privilege to hear. FYI – this audio selection is a little over 13 minutes in length.

You can view the entire presentation at Ligonier’s website or download the audio at the T4G website.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals recently posted a video on their Facebook page of Dr. R.C. Sproul responding to a question about justification by faith or by perfect obedience. Here is the audio version of his response which is just terrific. It is vintage Sproul…

This is a transcript of Dr. Sproul’s response:

Here is a question, that in the asking of it, violates one of the most basic informal fallacies of logic: the fallacy of the false dilemma – or sometimes called the “either/or” fallacy. The question goes as follows: considering the lack of depth in much of the Church’s preaching today, please answer and expand on the meaning of this question: are we saved by faith, or by a life of perfect obedience.

Yes. We are saved by faith, and we are saved by faith in a life of perfect obedience.

The central issue in the sixteenth century between the protestant reformers – it was the issue then, it is the issue now – was the issue of what is the ground or the basis of our justification. And the Roman Catholic Church then, and now, teaches that the only way God will ever declare a person just is if that person has righteousness inhering, the latin inherens according to Trent, in his person. The person can’t have inherent righteousness without the assistance of grace, without the assistance of faith, and without the assistance of Christ. But, with the assistance of those things, by the human cooperation with those acts of grace, the person must come to the place where they are inherently righteous before God will ever declare them just.

That, to me, demolishes the good news altogether. And if that doctrine of Rome is true, I promise you I will sleep in tomorrow morning and will never glance again at the Christian faith because it is a doctrine that leaves me without hope. There is not enough time in eternity, for me in purgatory, to reach a level of pure inherent righteousness.

Thanks be to God for the gospel that tells us the righteousness by which we are justified is a righteousness that Luther called an “alien” righteousness. A righteousness that is extra nos – outside of us. It is the righteousness achieved by Jesus, and by Jesus alone, in His life of perfect active obedience.

So, the way in which I am saved and you are saved is by having faith or trusting in Christ’s righteousness. Justification by faith alone is merely shorthand for the doctrine of justification by Christ alone.

The only righteousness that will stand the scrutiny of God on the day of judgement is a perfect righteousness – and the only person who has ever achieved that is Christ.

Without the clothing of His righteousness I am without hope and without a gospel.

—Dr. R.C. Sproul

I really enjoyed the Together for the Gospel conference this week and was greatly encouraged by all the speakers. Today I’ve been thinking about my role and purpose in Christ’s kingdom and how to take what I learned at this conference and put it into action. The theme of this year’s conference was “The (Unadjusted) Gospel” and while reflecting on the messages it occured to me that there is so much manipulation and distortion of the true Gospel message that perhaps a clear biblical explanation of “the Gospel” is in order.

This three minute audio clip from Dr. R.C. Sproul contains one of the best explanations of the Gospel that I have found.

Here is a transcript of that recording:

There is no greater message to be heard than that which we call the Gospel. But as important as that is, it is often given to massive distortions or over simplifications. People think they’re preaching the Gospel to you when they tell you, “you can have a purpose to your life”, or that “you can have meaning to your life”, or that “you can have a personal relationship with Jesus”. All of those things are true, and they’re all important, but they don’t get to the heart of the Gospel.

The Gospel is called the “good news” because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness – or lack of it – or the righteousness of another. The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.

The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable was that sacrifice that God pronounced it valuable by raising Him from the dead – so that Christ died for us, He was raised for our justification. So the Gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did. And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith – and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him – and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity.

— Dr. R.C. Sproul
Ligonier Ministries

I can’t think of a better way to end this post than with the closing line from Dr. Sproul’s message at T4G 2008: “If you believe that, you will stop adding to the Gospel and start preaching it with clarity and boldness, because, dear friends, it is the only hope we have, and it is hope enough.”

As far as I know that audio version of Dr. Sproul’s presentation at Together for the Gospel 2010 is not yet available for download. However, I took a few moments this morning to extract the audio layer from the video presentation and want to make it available.

Here is a direct link to the audio file for playback in mobile devices that do no support Flash.

I love the internet. After bouncing from site to site following a series of hyperlinks I stumbled upon this beautiful Easter hymn written and performed by Andrew Peterson, one of my favorite artists. If you have a few minutes to spare do yourself a favor and listen to this recording of Andrew performing this song live.

As with most songs written by Andrew Peterson, the beautiful melody and lyrics combine to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is indeed a “feast for the soul” and poetic expression of praise at its finest.

And so the winter dies with a blast of icy wind
Like a mournful cry—it’s giving up the ghost again
Another sheet of snow melts away to gold and green
Just look at Peter go, he’s racing to the tomb to see

Where has my Jesus gone?
He is not dead; he is risen, risen indeed

And now the flowers bloom like a song of freedom
Behold the earth is new, if only for the season
And so the seed that died for you becomes a seedling
Just put your hand into the wound that bought your healing

And let your heart believe
He is not dead; he is risen, risen indeed

And the rain will fall on the furrow
It immerses the earth in sorrow
Mary, the sun will rise again
Mary, the sun will rise again
Daughter, listen, listen
Daughter, listen
He speaks your name

Father Abraham could not have dreamed of this
Could never understand the end of all those promises
How all the pieces fit, every star and grain of sand
Is safely hid in Jesus’ hand

Let every tongue confess
He is not dead; he is risen, risen indeed

Mary, the sun will rise again
Daughter, listen, listen
Daughter, listen, he speaks your name.

—Andrew Peterson
Risen Indeed

Let every tongue confess “He is not dead; he is risen, risen indeed!”

Via: The Rabbit Room

I originally posted the audio from this NPR interview with Dr. John Piper on August 7, 2008, but I thought it was especially timely in relation to the recent disaster in Haiti and wanted to make it available again. This is a thoughtful, biblical response to people that question the sovereignty of God in the face of tragic events, in this case the subject of the interview was the 2005 Tsunami. The interview is about 30 minutes long but well worth the investment of time.

Related: You can download or listen to the interview at Desiring God.

This is an excerpt from John Piper’s sermon entitled “For Whom Did Jesus Taste Death?”

The entire sermon can be found here.

This is an excerpt from the first message John Piper delivered at the recent Resolved Conference. The title of the message was “God’s Sovereignty Over Satan’s Fall.”

You can listen to the entire message here.

Via: Desiring God