A Short Tribute to Dr. R.C. Sproul

Welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist. My name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist. Today we're going to be doing something a little bit different than normal. Every day we look at a passage of Scripture and I talk about that passage of Scripture, but today we're in Romans chapter 12 and what I'm going to do is I'm going to talk about how this passage of Scripture actually reminds me of someone who is very important in my life.

Romans 12 and the Call to Renew the Mind

I want to read the Scripture to you. This comes from Romans 12 beginning at verse 1. It says I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship.

Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect. Well what I'm going to focus on today is where it says renewal of the mind and what this brings to my mind is the late Dr. R .C. Sproul.

Romans 12 the term renewing your mind was actually the name of Dr. Sproul's radio program renewing your mind with R .C. Sproul and I remember when I first heard Dr. Sproul on the radio. It was very near the time I had been saved.

I was listening to radio programs in my truck when I would go to and from work and I remember hearing this man who spoke like no one I'd ever heard before. Dr. Sproul spoke with a sense of gravitas, a sense of a true capturing of truth and and he had such a powerful way of explaining truth and and he was both a teacher and a pastor and I remember when I first heard him I remember hearing that the chalkboard hitting his or the chalk hitting the chalkboard and I remember thinking this man has a chalkboard with him in in his room and I didn't realize at the time that he was not only a preacher but he was a he was a seminary professor and so often he was used to having a chalkboard with him and and later I would see Dr. John Gerstner who was his mentor and I would see that Dr. Gerstner also used a chalkboard and even today if you watch our sermons at Sovereign Grace you'll notice that we keep a whiteboard on the on the chancel up where I preach because often I'll pull it out and I'll use it even in the middle of a sermon.

It's just something that has been so ingrained in me because when I saw Dr. Sproul I saw him as both a teacher as well as a preacher and I've sought many ways to model my teaching ministry after Dr. Sproul I've I've I've just seen him as a model for teaching and a model for a model for what the preaching ministry is.

It's it's it's it's explaining the Word of God it's explaining how the pieces all fit together. Dr. Sproul was the the consummate systematic theologian and he taught me so much and I'm so grateful for him.

And so like I said I just wanted to spend today rather than doing the normal study that I do I just wanted to spend today kind of giving a little tribute to Dr. R .C. Sproul and again based on this passage which he used to name his program renewing your mind renewing your mind radio program began in October of 1994.

The Holiness of God and Otherness

Dr. R .C. Sproul was known best for his teaching on the subject of the holiness of God and in fact his first radio broadcast was on the otherness of God and that's how Dr. Sproul explained what it meant that God was holy.

Dr. Sproul said what it meant to be holy was it meant otherness. It meant to be unique to be separated to be different to be unlike anything else and that's what God is. God is holy he is unlike anything else.

And so when we think of God and his holiness we think about the fact that he is other than anything. And I still keep copies of Dr. R .C. Sproul's book in my office I keep copies of the holiness of God.

I buy it by the case and therefore when a person comes to the church and they've they've wanted to kind of get to know who we are as a church in our theology oftentimes I'll give them a copy of that book and I'll say okay this is what we want you to know about God.

We want you to know that God the God who created all things he is a holy God. And he also wrote a book called chosen by God which was very very influential in me actually becoming a Calvinist. I say today I'm Keith Foskey and I'm a Calvinist.

It was during my formative time of seeking to understand what it meant to be reformed what it meant to be a Calvinist that I picked up Dr. R .C. Sproul's book chosen by God and I read it. I devoured it I loved it.

And again if you're a person who doesn't understand reformed theology if you don't understand what Calvinism is I would encourage you to read chosen by God by Dr. R .C. Sproul and I was blessed to meet Dr. R .C. Sproul on a few occasions he used to have a pastors conference that he held in Orlando or actually in Sanford which is north of Orlando near near to Jacksonville where I'm from and I would go down to his pastors conference and I went down there a few years in a row and it was so amazing.

He only took a certain amount of pastors. You had to sign up almost a year in advance and he it covered food it covered lodging and it was awesome. And he was there and he was right in the midst of everyone he would go he would go walking by and I remember one time I was walking by and I he was sitting in a chair and I remember saying hello Dr. Sproul and he said hello Medford and because my my first name is Medford it was on my card or on my tag and he looked at it hello Medford and he said you're from Jacksonville and I said yes sir and he said I hear you have a football team up there and of course he was talking about the Jacksonville Jaguars and and so we had a few minute conversation just about life and and he mentioned football and he was a he was a big football fan.

Love the Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Steelers. I remember when I visited his home church of st. Andrews the place where he pastor the old building they're now in a much larger building but they used to be in a smaller building and it was still very beautiful very ornate like a castle inside and I remember there was a sign that said Steelers parking only and that was dr. RC Sproul's parking space and I remember going to see him and I remember getting to talk to him at his church and I remember that he was a very kind man.

He was a gentleman as well as a scholar and I enjoyed the few times I got to spend with him. I enjoyed the fact that that he didn't know it but he was. He was a mentor in my life someone who had really changed the way that I understood and taught.

He was so brilliant and he was so effective in my life and I will be forever thankful to dr. RC Sproul for what he has been in my life. I look forward to seeing him in heaven. He taught me to be a better teacher.

He made hard subjects accessible and that is something that I have really sought to model in my own teaching ministry. He helped me to be a better Christian. He certainly helped me to understand Calvinism better and what that meant.

And I remember so many things about him. One of the things I'll never forget I was there for the infamous moment when he when he cried out what's wrong with you people that has become somewhat of a cultural touchstone in the Reformed community where people look back and and they think about dr. Sproul someone asked him a question at a conference.

I'll try to slide the video.

In if God is slow to anger and patient excuse me since God is slow to anger we're always learning. Since God is slow to anger and patient then why when man first sinned was his wrath and punishment so severe and long-lasting.

Timeout. Then we just have that question. A second ago we did that God's punishment for Adam was so severe this creature from the dirt defied the everlasting Holy God. After that God had said the day that you shall eat of it you shall surely die.

And instead of dying thanatos that day he lived another day and was clothed in his nakedness by pure grace and had the consequences of a curse supplied for quite some time. But the worst curse would come upon the one who seduced him whose head would be crushed by the seed of the woman.

And the punishment was too severe. What's wrong with you people. I'm serious. I mean this is what's wrong with the Christian church today. We don't know who God is and we don't know who we are. The question is.

The question is why wasn't it infinitely more severe if we have any understanding of our sin any understanding of who God is. That's the question isn't it. And some people take.

Offense to that and I just a few moments ago I said he was a very kind man. He was a kind man but he was also serious about the gospel and he was serious about people understanding the gospel. He was serious about the holiness of God and he was serious about people understanding the holiness of God.

Renewing the Mind Through Scripture and Teaching

He was serious about us having a renewed mind and so that's my encouragement to you today as we look at Romans chapter 12 the Apostle Paul this is moving into Romans. It's moving into the portion where Paul is giving us the the application of all of the theology that he has given.

And he calls us to renew our minds. And so how do we renew our minds. We renew our minds with the Word of God. We renew our minds by being teachable by being students of the Word. And we renew our minds through the the process of study and learning and seeking that the Spirit would would teach us.

And again I just just looking at the passage it says do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. So dr. Sproul was a man who I loved. He was a man who though again we didn't meet very often.

We didn't meet very much in life. I do look forward to seeing him in heaven one day. And I'm thankful for all that he meant to me. And again this was just meant to be a short tribute to him. Coffee with a Calvinist is a daily program that I put out just as an encouragement to you as Bible students.

And my encouragement to you today is be thankful for good teachers. Be thankful for men like dr. RC Sproul who gave their lives to the teaching of the Word of God. And be thankful that God has inspired men to do those things to do that thing to teach the Word of God.

Be grateful for them and thank God for them. And I thank God for RC Sproul. And I thank God that you have been with us today that you've watched this program and I pray that it has been an encouragement to you.

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Again thank you for watching coffee with a Calvinist. My name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist. God bless you.