Radstock is at the Gospel Coalition Conference this week, making connections, talking with pastors.

Session 1 is on at the moment. Don Carson is currently introducing Tim Keller. He has just declared ‘The Reason for God' as the most significant apologetics book since CS Lewis's ‘Mere Christianity'.

Tim Keller:
Most of the expositions are going to be on 2 Timothy, but the first and last sessions are going to be on Gospel Ministry. Something that is assumed in 2 Timothy, but not explicit. Acts 19:23-41. An incident depicted without an explanation.

Paul challenges the idols of this place. We will see how to discern, expose and destroy idols.

1. DISCERNING IDOLS
Paul preached the gospel in such a way that it changed their lives. And it affected the culture.
In the passages there is no preaching but there is a synopsis. He says ‘Man made gods are no gods at all'. He went to the marketplace... we just that means shopping. We need to realise that that was where the culture was formed. Pre-printing, this was where development of ideas happened. Things were debated. The arts were here, the law courts etc. Like going to Hollywood, Harvard and the boardroom of the New York Times. Over the marketplace were always the shrines, temples and images of the gods. All cultures look to something to save it and put their hope in something. If something beautiful becomes more than just that, it becomes a god - Aphrodite. Education is a good thing, but make it a god.... you get Athena. Making money is good, but make a god out of it... you get Artemis.

New York: it's "How much to you make?"
Boston: it's "Who do you know?"
Philadelphia: it's "Who's your family?"
And each of these sees the idol of the other. E.g. an artist who makes a lot of money out of it has sold out... etc.

2. EXPOSING IDOLS
3 kinds of idols: personal, religious, cultural

A. Personal idols:
1. Money (artemis goddess of business - fertility, moon, harvest). She was worshiped in ways including through child-sacrifice. I live in NY city, where there is child sacrifice. The goddess of business demands you have sacrifice your family. The jobs are set up that way. You will not be a good father or mother. You can't be. How you demythologise money so that it is just money? With the gospel.
2. Romance. If you love anyone, it is powerful. You look to this person and they make you worthy, valuable... "I'm noone unless this person loves me".
3. Children. Many parents think, ‘if my children are happy, love me, grow up to be successful, then I am happy...' that is idolatry.

Unless you get to the idols, your preaching will be superficial. Luther: Re 10 commandments... it's not an accident that the idolatry commandment is first. You never break 2-10 without breaking number 1.

B. Religious idols:
These people think they are very devoted to God. Three things that busy religious people trust in: truth, gifts and morality.

TRUTH: I am ok because of the rightness of my belief, rather than because of Jesus. Proverbs have several cats of fools: scoffer. 17 times.
2 marks:
a. Dogmatic and closed minded, never admits he is wrong.
b. Always is disrespectful to opponents.
Sarcasm and bluntness is sometimes necessary. But when always like that, you are a fool. Because you are basically a doctrinal Pharisee. You are afraid of losing rank. The internet breeds scoffers. Traffic increases on your blog if you are a scoffer. You can make an idol out of truth.

GIFTS: Jonathan Edwards: critique of mistaking gifts for fruit. Leadership, preaching etc. When you are a great communicator etc, and you re successful, you believe in justification by ministry. ‘Look at what is happening through me'. The Reformed world often makes an idol out of being a great preacher.

MORALITY:
See book ‘The Prodigal'.

C. Cultural idols
Enlightenment - was idol of human reason (a good thing) as an ultimate thing. Cultural elites think reason will rid of all the bad things. The results are devastating.
E.g.
In 1920, HG Wells praised belief in human progress. We will grow from strength to strength.
In 1933, he was appalled by the lack of progress. Need rational intellectuals to seize control and run everything.
In 1945, at the end of tether. ‘Homosapians (means the rational) as he likes to call himself is spent. This is the end.' The fact of original sin forced itself on him, and he reached the end of his tether.

3. DESTROYING IDOLS
How?
It's both objective and subjective.

OBJECTIVELY:
Two Jewish philosophers write on OT idolatry passages and conclude it's a conundrum...
Idolatry is a capital offence... God tells the wife she must die. Yet he wants reconciliation. Profound contradiction: it deserves death, yet the lover wants her back. But how can God both punish and reconcile the adulterous wife? Their conclusion? A limitation of the metaphor. They are wrong! Because Jesus Christ our true bridegroom took our punishment, so being just and reconciling.

SUBJECTIVELY:
What will help me pull my heart off idols? I need to see it, know it. When reality breaks through it frees me in my life. Your career can't die for your sins. Your wife can't die for your sins. I need to worship, pray and think the gospel deep into my heart, and this pulls my heart up to him. Re: marriage... one day one will see the other in a coffin. If your saviour is in the coffin, what will help you?

Do you know how to take the gospel to the idols? Learn how to do that, and turn the world upside down.