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An Excellent Evangelistic Illustration

August 3, 2015

Many people think that as long as they are not hurting anyone else with what they are doing, they should be able to do whatever they want. At a funeral service this past Saturday, I heard a great illustration by my pastor Dr. Mark Minnick that explains in an excellent way why such reasoning is flawed.

Here is my version* of that illustration that so clearly explained why such a belief is false:

On a long, straight 40-mile stretch of highway in the middle of a desolate part of a Western state of the US, a lone vehicle speeds along at 25 miles above the speed limit with the driver completely oblivious for quite some time to the fact that he is going far faster than is legal. Given that there is no one else anywhere on the road on the entire stretch of the highway, the lone driver of this vehicle “innocently” exceeds the speed limit without even knowing it for a long time because he is caught up in his thoughts about many other things.

When the driver realizes that he is going way too fast, he thinks to himself that what he is doing is not wrong because there is no one else on the road that he is hurting by what he is doing. He decides to keep going at 80 mph instead of the posted 55 mph maximum speed.

About 25 miles down the highway, the driver notices flashing lights coming up behind him and realizes that a state trooper is coming after him. He pulls over and tries to tell the officer that what he was doing was not wrong because he was not hurting anyone else by what he was doing.

After all, there was no one else on the road with him at all. Of course, the office does not buy his argument and tickets him heavily for going way above the speed limit.

Just as the trooper in this illustration did not buy that what this driver was doing was right to do just because the driver thought that he was not hurting anyone, so God is not going to excuse anyone who breaks one of His laws simply because he thought that what he was doing was right to do because he thought that he was not hurting anyone else by what he did. Whatever God says is wrong to do is wrong to do whether we think otherwise because we think we are not hurting anyone by what we are doing.

To read the good news of what God offers to all of us because we have done wrong before Him, please read this post.

* My version maintains the key points of the illustration as it was told by Pastor Minnick. I wrote this version because I wanted to share this great illustration with others and do not have the time to listen to the illustration over and over again and transcribe it exactly as he told it.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Evangelism, Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit
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A Widespread, False Assertion about Corinthian Prostitutes and Paul’s Teaching about Head Coverings

April 18, 2015

Have you ever heard that Paul taught the Corinthians that it was shameful for women to cut their hair short or shave their heads because that was what the prostitutes in Corinth did? Pastor Minnick recently pointed out that Gordon Fee, who is a highly devoted egalitarian, wrote in his standard commentary on First Corinthians that there is zero historical evidence for that idea!

Here is what Fee has written about this very widespread false explanation for why Paul wrote what he did:

“It was commonly suggested that short hair or a shaved head was the mark of Corinthian prostitutes . . . But there is no contemporary evidence to support this view (it seems to be a case of one scholar’s guess becoming a second scholar’s footnote and a third scholar’s assumption).”1

The apostle Paul did not teach what he did in 1 Corinthians 11:5-6 because Corinthian prostitutes cut their hair short or shaved their heads. For a superb treatment of why Paul did teach what he did about head coverings and much more, I encourage you to listen closely to this recent message by Pastor Minnick: Harmonizing 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14.2

1 Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians in NICNT, 511

2 For clear biblical evidence that shows that Paul is speaking about an external head covering, see my post Haman, Head Coverings, and First Corinthians 11:1-16.

See also Why Christian Women Should Have Long Hair

What Is Hair as the Hair of Women?

Does God Care about the Length of Hair a Christian Man Has?

The Teaching of “Nature” (1 Cor. 11:14-15)

 

 

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Interpretation, Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit, Quotes
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Six Principles for Deciding Christian Liberty Issues

November 23, 2014

In his message tonight, Pastor Mark Minnick first rehearsed six principles that 1 Corinthians 8-10 provides us with for deciding Christian liberty issues.

1. Christian liberty issues concern matters that are not actually stipulated or specified in Scripture.

2. Nevertheless, they are Scriptural issues because there are Scriptural considerations that apply to these matters about which there is not explicit teaching.

3. These issues, therefore, are significant—they are not inconsequential.

4. The answers to these issues are not always short.

5. The answers to these issues are not always simple.

6. The answers to these issues are not always the same.

He then exposited 1 Corinthians 10:28-30 at some length to explain how the answers to these issues are not always the same. I highly commend his message Abstaining to you.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

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“Church Music That Is Worship”: Message by Pastor Mark Minnick

November 2, 2014

In his first message about music and public worship, Pastor Mark Minnick this morning addressed the key question, “What is the role of music in public worship?” He based his treatment of this crucial question on two key New Testament passages: Ephesians 5:18-20 and Colossians 3:16.

In treating these passages, he remarked,

Both passages direct us to sing psalms, which directs us back to the Old Testament. We must be careful of thinking about our subject not to make a great distinction between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

He then took us through First Chronicles 25:1-7 to establish that those who directed the worship in the Temple prophesied through the music. Based on this data, he developed six key aspects that this passage teaches us about the role of music in public worship:

1. They were prophesying instrumentally

2. They were prophesying chorally, that is, through singing with musical accompaniment

3. Those who prophesied had a high level of musicianship

4. The prophesying was done in large numbers

5. All of the prophesying was done under the direction of mature spiritual leadership

6. Giving thanks and praising the Lord comprised the content of this prophesying

I highly commend this message to you as one of the finest treatments of this subject that I have ever heard. By listening to this message here, you will avail yourself with profoundly valuable biblical truth about the role of music in public worship!

 

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit, Music, Theology
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Six Prayer Requests for Persecuted Believers

October 11, 2013

In several recent messages on Wednesday nights, Pastor Mark Minnick has instructed us to pray six prayer requests for persecuted believers:

1. Deliverance from Persecutors 

2Th 3:1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: 2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

 —Sometimes believers wonder whether they should pray for deliverance for persecuted brethren. This passage makes clear that it is right to pray for them to be delivered.

2. Unfailing Faith in the Midst of Sufferings

Luk 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

—Satan is the ultimate source of all persecution that believers experience. Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail when he would be tried; we should pray for unfailing faith for persecuted believers.

3. Boldness to Give the Gospel to Persecutors

Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 

—Although Paul was in prison when he wrote these words, Paul asked that believers would pray for him to have boldness in his bonds so that he would continue to be a faithful witness in spite of his sufferings for the faith. We need to hold up persecuted brethren in prayer that they would be bold to give the gospel to their persecutors in spite of their suffering.

4. Patient Endurance of Suffering for Doing Well

1Pe 2:19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 

 21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

 —Peter teaches us that God desires that believers would patiently endure the sufferings that they experience for doing what is right, even as Jesus did. Through praying that persecuted brethren would be like Christ in suffering (without reviling or threatening), we can help suffering brethren endure persecution in a way that is acceptable to God (see also 2 Thess. 1:4-5). 

5. Joy in the Midst of Suffering

Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 

—Jesus taught that believers must rejoice and be exceedingly glad when they suffer persecution for His sake. We can help them do so by praying for them to have the joy of the Holy Spirit even in the midst of much affliction (cf. 1 Thess. 1:6). 

6. Love for Enemies Who Persecute Us

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 

—Jesus proclaimed that we must love our enemies and relate to them in loving ways in keeping with our being true children of our Heavenly Father. We should pray that suffering brethren would have a proper love in the Spirit for those who afflict them. 

Learn more by listening to Prayer For The Persecuted Part I (September 4, 2013, Mark Minnick, 2013 Sermons); Prayer For The Persecuted Part II (September 18, 2013, Mark Minnick, 2013 Sermons).

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit, Prayer
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Six Key Points about the Character and Chronology of the New Heavens and the New Earth

October 6, 2013

In a message on Isaiah 65:17-19 this morning, Pastor Mark Minnick presented six key points about the character and chronology of the new heavens and the new earth. These points provide clarity of understanding about this glorious subject.

The new heavens and the new earth will endure eternally, as will Israel as well (Is. 65; 66:22).

The character of that whole domain [the new heavens and the new earth] will be righteousness (2 Pet. 3:13).

The new heavens and the new earth will follow the destruction of the present heavens and earth (2 Pet. 3:10-13). They will not be a renovation of the present heavens and earth.

The new heavens and the new earth follow the Tribulation, the Millennium, and the Great White Throne judgment (based on the sequence of Revelation 20 and Revelation 21:1).

There will be no death in the new heavens and the new earth (Rev. 21:4). You cannot have new heavens and the new earth without the death of death.

The new heavens and the new earth will feature the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Rev. 21:10ff.).

He also clarified that “Isaiah 65:18-25 tell us that He is creating and will create a New Jerusalem in the present earth.”

For more information, listen to the message Created for Joy here.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit, Theology
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