Ultimately with R.C. Sproul

People in our day want to divorce their religious life from their scientific life, as if to say religion is something strictly of the heart and does not engage the mind. But it is the mind that God has given you as the means to hear, embrace, and to understand His Word.

Mindless Christianity is not Christianity at all, because mindless Christianity would be a Christianity with no content. Welcome to Renewing Your Mind. As we mark 50 years of ministry here at Ligonier, we celebrate the legacy of Dr. R.C.

Sproul. It's enduring because R.C. focused on the things that matter ultimately. With that in mind, we are grateful for the opportunity to let you know about a new resource that we think is of particular interest to you, our Renewing Your Mind listeners. I'm joined by our president and CEO, Chris Larson, along with the president of Reformation Bible College, Dr. Stephen Nichols.

And Chris, we'll talk about this resource in just a moment. But first, in terms of Dr. Sproul's ministry, what did matter ultimately to him? For R.C., as our listeners to Renewing Your Mind know, it was about the character of God. To be able to introduce people, whether they were inside the church or outside the church, to a deeper understanding of who God is. God in His majestic, sovereign holiness. Because he understood that before we can understand who we are, we must know who God is.

So that was R.C. 's passion, and it was what drove him. And whether he was addressing biblical topics or theological topics, something from church history or philosophy or apologetics, or just Christian living, it all centered on the doctrine of God. And that informs every different area that we might want to study as God's people. And so that is really what drove R.C.

Wouldn't you say, Dr. Nichols? Absolutely. He knew how to get through all of those sort of secondary and sort of marginal ideas to get right to the heart of the matter. And it is who God is.

That's how we know who we are, our place in the world. And so it is the ultimate thing. And we are excited to share with our listeners what mattered ultimately to R.C. with a new podcast. It's called Ultimately with R.C.

Sproul. Some of our listeners would certainly know ultimately is one of the ways that R.C. would sum up what he was trying to teach. We did have a bit of internal conversation about what we should call it. And it's been a few weeks now since we launched this podcast. And even some of the listeners to the new podcast wrote in and said you should have called it in the final analysis.

I think that probably would have worked just as well. But I would just encourage you all, if you want to hear more teaching from R.C., to maybe just press pause right now if you're listening to this by podcast and go and search out Ultimately with R.C. Sproul and you'll find it and you'll be able to subscribe and make sure you don't miss another episode. You can also learn more about it at ultimatelypodcast.com. Well, Dr. Nichols, you are a podcast veteran. Your podcast, Five Minutes in Church History, debuted in 2013. Would you talk about how important a platform like this is to communicating the great truths found in Scripture?

Absolutely, Lee. You know, we're all about communicating content. This is what we do as Christians. We believe at the center of our faith is content.

And you go all the way back to the beginnings. It was really the New Testament that brought about the technology of the book, the bibliothon, and the Bible. And getting that content to people has been at the forefront of what Christians have been doing through the centuries.

And it was right there at the beginning of Ligonier Ministries. In the beginnings, it was cassette tapes. Then it evolved into videotapes and, of course, terrestrial radio. And now many people are getting their content and their entertainment and their information through podcasts.

And so to be able to put out there into the marketplace faithful, trusted teaching that is accessible to people in the medium that they are using today is really something that I believe we have an obligation to be doing. And so I'm so excited about these new podcasts that we're doing, and especially this one. And it's been really gratifying for me just to hear from people as to how Five Minutes has ministered to them and been an encouragement to them. And we just trust God as we send this podcast now out ultimately with Dr. R.C. Sproul that, too, will have an impact on people. And as they go through their busy lives, they'll be able to set aside four or six minutes here or there to think about things that ultimately matter. Well, we want you to hear what it sounds like.

We have a clip from the very first episode of Ultimately with Dr. Sproul. It reminds us of the importance of our minds. People in our day want to divorce their religious life from their scientific life or their otherwise intellectual pursuits, as if to say religion is something strictly of the heart and does not engage the mind. I understand how popular that idea is, but church history and the Scriptures themselves bear witness that Christianity certainly involves the commitment of the heart and certainly involves the movement of the will and all of those things.

But whatever else it is, it is also profoundly intellectual. That is to say, the Word of God is addressed first to the mind, and nothing can be in the heart or in the will that is not first in the mind. You can't respond with love and adoration, for example, or devotion to nothing or to a mental blankness.

You have to have some idea of the object of your adoration, some idea in your mind of what it is you believe in and who it is you are following. And so, insofar as faith has content, and the only way content can be processed is by the mind, then Christianity at that point is profoundly intellectual. I hate to even take the time to labor that point, and I do it only because I'm convinced we're living in the most anti-intellectual period in the history of Christianity. And again, what I mean by that is not anti-academic, not anti-scientific, not anti-technological, but anti-intellect, anti-mind, as if the mind were some kind of bad thing. But it is the mind that God has given you as the means to hear, embrace, and to understand His Word.

Mindless Christianity is not Christianity at all, because mindless Christianity would be a Christianity with no content. I think our listeners are really going to enjoy what the team has pulled together with ultimately, with Dr. R.C. Sproul, really mining the archives and presenting them in this new format, in these short, shareable nuggets of truth. And it's something that we want to put really into your hands, whether it's through your phone in your pocket or your computer, so that then you can share it with others. These little arrows of God's truth that can pierce to the human heart, that can help people to think about matters.

I still remember R.C. saying in an arresting way as he's trying to get Christians to not fear using their minds when he says, Christians, think. And that charge is emboldening for us as God's people to recognize that we are whole people, that God redeems us and renews our minds. And as R.C.

said, truth can't be in the heart unless it's first in the mind. In case you're just joining us, we're talking about a new podcast from Ligonier Ministries. It's called Ultimately with R.C.

Sproul. And Chris, some of the content that our listeners will hear has never been publicly released before. Is that correct?

That's right. We have gone back deep into the archives and been able to resurface these short little snippets that I think our listeners, particularly those who have listened to R.C. for some time, will really appreciate hearing his thought on a variety of different subjects. And the other thing that comes through as I've listened to this podcast is just R.C.

's passion for the truth. And yes, he does take complex ideas and make them simple to understand, but it's also the way that he does it. I am not aware of another Christian communicator who has done through his life and his ministry what R.C.

Sproul has done. And so to be able to capture these moments and preserve them for future generations of Christians, it's really a stewardship that we feel in launching this new podcast. Dr. Nichols, you have written a biography of Dr. Sproul that will be released soon. I'd like to know, would you share with our listeners what it was like to go back into the archives to research your writing for this book? I ask that question because ultimately takes listeners on a similar journey.

You know, I like to joke, Lee, that you could write a biography just by reading the books and listening to the teaching series of Dr. Sproul. He weaves so much of his own life and his own experiences into his teaching and that stems from his belief that theology is for life. It flows out of the challenges and the questions of life and it answers the challenges and questions of life. You know, we have this little publication here we call Table Talk and that of course goes back to the early days of the study center of naming the newsletter but it goes back to his good friend Martin Luther and the idea of Table Talk was here's Luther with his large dining room table and there'd be traveling dignitaries and fellow faculty and students and there's Luther and his family gathered around the dinner table talking theology, talking about God's word, how it applies in life in the 16th century and that was such an inspiration to what Dr. Sproul was doing not only at the study center but through all of his teaching because again theology is for life. It answers life's questions.

It's not as if we have Christian living in one category and theology and another and it's for academics and the scholars and the educated. Theology is for everyone as Dr. Sproul taught us and so yeah it's just great to hear him, read him and see how he brings his own life into the picture. Well I mentioned that biography that is about to be released so let's hear a clip from Ultimately with R.C.

Sproul in which he takes us back to his childhood. Vesta and I had the opportunity to return to Pennsylvania and to visit our childhood home. I had two experiences that were very meaningful to me. Anytime I get back to Pleasant Hills which is a suburb outside of Pittsburgh, the city of champions.

Anytime I have a chance to get back there I always make a pilgrimage to 150 McClellan Drive. I take my car and I drive down the street and I look wistfully at the house that my father built where I was born and where I grew up. And this trip was no different and I drove down McClellan Drive and as I slowed down approaching our family home I saw a woman out in front of the house clipping the hedges. She was obviously the owner of the house and I pulled the car up alongside and I said hello. I said you know my father built that house and she said really she said I said yes and I explained it. We had moved way back in 56 and she said would you like to come in and see the house?

And I said I'd love to. So her husband came out and they brought us in and they escorted me through the house and showed me what they had done with this room and with that room. But it was exciting to see that. It was as though something were laid to rest in my soul. And then the next day I drove out to our old baseball field, Maury Park, and as I entered the entrance way of Maury Park I noticed that there was a monument built out of stone and on the monument was chiseled the date of the dedication of this baseball field. It said May 30, 1955. And then it had underneath it the names of the city commissioners who had been there for the dedication of that baseball field.

And ladies and gentlemen I saw that. I went nuts because I remembered May 30, 1955. I played in the first baseball game that took place on that field. We started out at the Stefano Drug Store and we were in our baseball uniforms and we marched in the parade with the fire trucks and the bands and we marched two miles out the road and came into the entrance of Maury Park. I'll never forget it, but this day as I went back to Maury Park there wasn't anybody there. Nobody.

Nobody on the field, nobody in the stands, nobody in the dugouts. So while I knew no one could see me, I walked out on the field and I stood in my old position where I had so many memories. And I stood there and all of a sudden I felt like I could do it again. And then I thought this was 31 years ago and then that thought came to me and 31 pounds ago.

And then I checked that thought again and I thought no, it's more than 31 pounds ago. But as I lived with the ghosts of my friends and my teammates there on the field and then walked off the field again, I realized this, that there's no going back. There is a future for the people of God. The promises in the New Testament say to us that we shall not all perish, but that when Christ returns, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, as the trumpet is sound and our Lord appears in Shekinah glory, in an instant the graves of our loved ones will be opened and there will be new life. My Father will live again.

You will see your loved ones again because the God we are assembled here this morning to worship is the God who is the author of life. He is the one who holds the keys of death. He is the one and the only one who has the power and the ability to bring something out of nothing and to bring life out of death.

And my dear friends, he has promised categorically and immutably that the dead in Christ shall rise. Dr. Sproul was just such a compelling communicator and such a wonderful storyteller because at the center of the story, of course, is this ultimate truth of who God is. But the way he is able to wrap his own life's experiences and stories around that ultimate truth, it really is something, Lee. You know, he firmly believed that you take this message to the people and he cared so much about the content that he was that diligent in presenting it as a communicator.

And you can sense it in the way he crafts the story, the drama with which he brings to it and the passion with which he tells the truth. He preached the Word of God. He taught theology. He taught church history.

All of these subjects were such a diligence because these subjects are of eternal consequence and they truly do matter ultimately. Well, we hope you're as excited to listen to this podcast as we are to make it available to you. And if you'd like to subscribe to Ultimately with R.C. Sproul, you can visit ultimatelypodcast.com or simply search for Ultimately with R.C.

Sproul or Ligonier Ministries in your favorite podcast app. Well, R.C. was never shy about weaving a reference to one of his favorite pastimes into a theological point he was going to make. So let's listen to a portion of another clip from Ultimately.

R.C. Sproul, Jr. Have you ever seen a flock of sheep without a shepherd? I'll never forget the time I was playing golf someplace and this herd of sheep came from the fields next door and started running all over the fairway, interrupting the golf game. Nobody could… we didn't know where they were going to go. They'd go this way, then they'd go that way, and one would turn in the other direction, the next group would follow them.

They were all over the place. Blind it seemed, aimless, sheep without a shepherd. And when Jesus saw people acting like that, He wasn't angry. He felt sorry for them. These people need a shepherd.

Oh, how I love that image. It goes through all the Old Testament and all of the prophecies of the coming Messiah, who will be a shepherd king, who will be the good shepherd, who will be the one who lays down His life for His sheep. And so in His compassion, the good shepherd looks at these human beings who are acting like sheep without a shepherd, and He will address their need immediately. So He began to teach them.

So He began to teach them many things, and now the day was far spent. And so the disciples come to Jesus, and they said, well, this is a deserted place. You know, we're outside the city now. We're away from the villages.

It's a nice grassy plain, but it is deserted here, and it's late. Send them away. So they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. Jesus, it's time to call a halt to this.

Seminar's over. You need to send them away so that they can go into the villages before it's too late, before all the stores are closed, so they can get something to eat. Jesus said, you feed them. I've been feeding them here all day.

Now it's your turn. You feed them. And once again, they're flabbergasted.

I mean, they're gassed as definitely flabberg when they hear this. They say, how do you expect us to feed them? It would take two hundred denarii, it would take a year's salary to buy enough bread to feed this mob. Where are we going to get that kind of money? We don't have that kind of money here.

How many times have you heard that? We can't do this. We don't have what's necessary to accomplish this task. You know, I learned when I was a kid, I can't, never did anything except sit there and say, woe and alas, about all the obstacles that stand before our mission.

And that's the way the disciples, we can't do that. It would be a whole year's salary. What do you have? See what you have. So they checked around, and they said, we've got a couple loaves of bread and a couple of fish.

Okay. That's all you have? You take what you have, and let me bless it. And we'll see what God does when you give Him what you have. We'll see what God does when you do what you can do. You do what you can do. You give what you can give, and then get out of the way and watch God work.

That's really impactful for me, because I think R.C. 's summary statement there wraps around the overarching narrative of what God has done through Ligonier Ministries over the years. And He's brought together thousands of supporters to this ministry now that is reaching millions of people every year around the world. It's really a reach that when I would talk to Dr. Sproul about the origins of this ministry, it's not something that he had in mind in terms of this worldwide broadcast and teaching and discipleship and resource publishing ministry.

And yet that is exactly what is happening today, not just in English, but in many different languages now. And so I would hope that our listeners would be encouraged. It's one of the reasons why we want to invest in this new podcast, because we know that God can use it to bring more people into fellowship with Him, to know more about the Lord Jesus Christ, and then to be sent out in service to the Church and the kingdom of God.

Well, again, if you'd like to subscribe to Ultimately with R.C. Sproul, visit ultimatelypodcast.com for all the links. But as Chris mentioned, Ligonier produces many podcasts, so simply search for Ligonier Ministries in your favorite podcast app, and you'll find Ultimately with R.C. Sproul Renewing Your Mind, this broadcast, along with Five Minutes in Church History, Simply Put, Ask Ligonier, and others. Dr. Nichols, thank you for being with us. Chris Larson, thank you as well. And thank you to our generous donors that make outreaches like Ultimately with R.C.

Sproul possible. I want to repeat what R.C. said there at the end of that last clip that we played. We'll see what God does when you do what you can do. And as we mentioned, you have made this possible for us, and we are grateful to you. For your donation of any amount today in support of this new podcast, along with Renewing Your Mind and the global outreach of Ligonier Ministries, we'd like to send you the R.C. Sproul Teaching Collection, Bible Study Basics.

It includes eight teaching series, four on DVD and four on MP3 CD. As we have talked about today, R.C. dedicated his decades-long ministry to helping Christians know and understand and apply the truth of Scripture to their lives, and this resource that we're offering is a great example of that. You can reach us with your gift of any amount when you go to renewingyourmind.org or when you call us. One of my colleagues is standing by at 800-435-4343. The web address again, renewingyourmind.org, and our phone number, 800-435-4343. Thank you for being with us today, and we hope you'll join us again Monday for Renewing Your Mind. God bless you.