How to Be Right With God

This is Sam from the masking journey, podcast or goal with the podcast is help you to try to find your way in this difficult world. Your chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing The Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network Stu Epperson finishing some time in a church where I went to this conference detailing of it and I got to hear a powerful presentation of adversely quote just we go rapidfire like John 316, and we miss the substance of the essence in Pastor Tom Pennington is here preaching the word of God at this Bible conference grace alone, I think, is the theme and you tonsil Rossi owes it like a tea set. Ephesians 289 passes and I wrote it was just a classic moment because horse this weekend is the 500th anniversary of the official beginning of the Reformation and so at the heart of the Reformation was this very true soul brought to you that we are made right with God, not by our own worker our own initiative, but by the divine initiative by the sovereign grace of God. And so to to see that unfold through Ephesians 2 of this conference, which is an amazing experience for me so you're a guy who went from Dallas your your churches in Dallas but you you I have some common pedigree is the best report from Greenville South Carolina right to Masters seminary, Masters college and working you are John MacArthur's associate assistant for so long in a separate area that your him and then you're jealous. Give us the quick got trail man Bob Joseph are my folks went everything but tell us a little bit about your background. You know I went I was a new Christian when I went to college just inside my senior year in high school and so I went to the only Christian college I knew about the time and a lot of wonderful people learn some good things but to just really developed a heart for John MacArthur's ministries I heard on the radio and it really.

I began to resonate with what I heard in an ultimately my wife and I just moved across the country would never been away. We never visited Queensland upper little Toyota Corolla in 1987 we drove to LA for one reason we wanted to see what a living, breathing church look like Greenville I would ever experience that in God's grace. That's exactly what we found and we got there in our first Sunday we cried to the holding of services because it's finally like these are my people. This is what we believe and that just to see the word of God handle such respect and we thought would be there two years ago pastor Lauren had other plans. I was there for 16 years and she said got chance to serve alongside of John still up.

Have a great relationship with him is like a father to me and I have so much respect for him and we all stand on the shoulders of others and and you know I certainly stand on his shoulders.

Pastor Tom Pennington you are fascinating and we will throw some names out in a Bob Jones, John MacArthur, there's a lot but what doesn't change the word of God, and that's what seems to be the common theme is, is the word of God is so much bigger, but hot haole or fermented God you run a MacArthur brothers years to taught you the exposition and so now your expositor telling what you're doing now in the Dallas-Fort Worth area yellow my joy to be there for 14 years at countryside Bible church and to see the Lord grow the ministry and you know all we do is what the church is done for 2000 years. We leasing the Scripture we pray the Scripture we read the Scripture we teach the Scripture and then, as Luther said, you know.

All I did was teach the Bible and then I slept in God that everything else is a word that everything else and that's how we feel. What is it about the word of God is illegal in 57 countries you knows the five-year anniversary of the Reformation here so the Scripture we were being killed 500 years ago for owning about a copy was the high crime to own a copy of the Bible in your own language and how dare you ever read it or distributed. That was that was dangerous to do. They lock you head off or bring elected house. What is it about the word of God that they're not doing that with other books that you know is you get going. Jeff on Harry Potter nausea thrown in jail for having National Geographic what what is it about the power of that book utilizing comes down to what Paul says in second Timothy three and that is all Scripture is the product of the breath of God, these are God's words that every word in Scripture is as much the product of the breath of God as these words I'm speaking out a product of my breath and so they carry both the authority and power of God with them to the work of the spirit. And so you know is I love Spurgeon.

He said he said listen, the word of God is like a lion. You don't need. You need to defendant just open the cage and let it out and it'll take care of itself for your challenge the pastors out there about which would maybe too much criticized pastors lot them are well-meaning but there are some obvious targets out there is helpful prosperity, but we go just on a positive note.

We can spend many many hours to many hours talking about people doing wrong okay but without going there. Can you speak of this, this little these three words tucked away in seconds and before preach the word we speak to the need for every pastor hear my voice right now every person in those churches the challenger pastors of studying and preaching the book and not just about the book and not just glossing over and doing chunks at a time, but the word verse by verse and go to that report just say this behavior betrays belief you want to know what you really think about the Scripture look at what you do with it.

Every Sunday and if you really believe the word of God is the word of God that it is sufficient and authoritative that it's all God's people need and that's what you'll do. And if you're not doing that, then you need to take a checkup because it means you don't really believe that people are starving for the wordiness is just as simple as studying what is God saying you just give us a basic on what I would say this, but if you go back to Moses you go to to Ezra you go to Jesus and his pattern in the synagogues every week you go to the apostle Paul in his pattern in the synagogues. What you find is a pattern of consecutive exposition of the Scripture. And that's what created the Reformation looking Luther look at the ministry of John Calvin. That's what we need today men who were committed to God's words rather than their own, and who will commit themselves to a pattern of consecutive exposition to the Scripture tremendous the word of God preaching it and letting it do its work convicting the heart all those things it does long for his permit converting a soul suggest some social you know that's what I learned under John MacArthur.

What I learned there was that I could have confidence in Scripture. I just needed to preach it in the spirit of God would do what he does and I can be confident in that case, a lacrosse hero quick, there's the five souls. The Reformation and for listeners. I don't know what you want. Quick. These are critical foundations or just say 20, maybe with a brief sentence about you.

I mean, obviously, these, these were not expressions that they themselves used. These are efforts to frame what the essence of their message was solar Scripture are our confidence. The ultimate authority in our lives is not tradition. It's not mysticism, it is the Scripture alone. That was in contradiction to the to the where the Roman Catholic Church was, you have soloed brought to that is that the initiative in our salvation is not ours but sovereign grace alone. God seeks us out because of his grace. You have soloed the day that is that we are saved we are justified before God not based on our own works, not based on our own efforts, but based solely on the faith that God grants us and faith alone solus Christus that are our righteousness is not our own righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. That is the foundation of our acceptance before God and all of that together leads to the culmination of solely Dale Gloria that when the Scripture frames what you think when you are made right with God by grace alone through faith alone. Through the work of Christ alone, then God alone gets the glory. Solely Dale Gloria is awesome.

The five souls. The Reformation blood was shed, standing up for what those things teach they weren't necessarily labeled that way or articulate that with everybody you taught us a lacrosse you tonight so important that it's it's his grace alone, and you talk about so that no one can boast. What is about human nature. We just want to throw ourselves out or know it was a good idea like what I perform. Now it's part of the fallen human condition to be able to say I did something I did this and as I said Spurgeon said that we are so it's so much a part of our human nature that even if we don't believe we can earn our way to heaven were tempted to want to have a little part of a contribution to the last mile. That's just the human heart and so God says no. I'm not sure my glory, and so I'm gonna save you in such a way that I alone get the glory. And that soloed brought to you Pastor Tom. It is preached at a conference. Twin Cities Bible church church in Winston-Salem is not afraid to teach the word place was pretty packed and on a subject like this a lacrosse yet it was a conference there doing on the whole Reformation celebration. No, a passage on to, or quick name, your church and also the name of your radio program, which is online now I know the website, they can learn more about you. Maybe the church website. We don't ever going yeah no I'm pastor countryside Bible church in Southlake, Texas between Dallas and Fort Worth, just west of the airport there and the been there for 14 years and yes they can go to countryside Bible.org or my ministries called the word unleashed. The word unleashed.org.

It's a play off of course like Spurgeon quote that you just let the lion out and that's what preaching does is it unleashes the truth as you explained to me. Thank you – they will find a place that program on the Truth Network on these days we need more preachers or like you think you think you're being a shepherd to so many shepherds and like a lot of passions came tonight to hear and in this team here so TruthNetwork.com will puts more information about him.

There and it will take a picture or two and then I would also getting on Instagram deals out there.

God bless you my friend, this is the Truth Network