"...[as I go through this very controversial passage,] I'm sure I'll scare a few snakes out that I can't kill.... you know... before... You see a sermon is like throwing a rock into a bush. And all these snakes come out. And the job of the preacher is to kill all the snakes before the sermon's over."
"... the trouble is, for some of these passages, that's impossible; so I'm going to try to get at some of the biggest snakes. Some of these little worms and squiggles you can come after me on [them] later."
---Tim Keller, in Tongues and Worship via Youtube.
More yummy snippets from the same sermon:
"... in the middle of these services, people got convicted. But not convicted in a bad destructive way. If you look at this and you say, 'convinced that they're sinners?? that sounds psychologically destructive that sounds traumatic that sounds painful!' It is [actually] sweet.
'With pleasing grief and mournful joy,
My spirit now is filled;
That I should such a life destroy,
Yet live by him I killed.'
[–John Newton, “Hymn 57 – Looking at the Cross,” in Olney Hymns. (London: W. Oliver, 1779), pp. 250-251.]
The hymns are filled with this. And if you haven't experienced this yet I pray that someday you will. Of course there is a bitterness of course there is a conviction, but it's sweet! You see your heart for the first time, and you're convicted, but you can go to Him, and drink deep, there is a tremendous sweetness to it.
Your hearts are wounded with sweet words. Your joy is like swords. Your tears are the very wine of blessedness. And, are we ready for that? God really comes down. But do we seek it; do we expect it even when we go to church?"
--Tim Keller in the sermon "Tongues and Worship". See link above.
"... the trouble is, for some of these passages, that's impossible; so I'm going to try to get at some of the biggest snakes. Some of these little worms and squiggles you can come after me on [them] later."
---Tim Keller, in Tongues and Worship via Youtube.
More yummy snippets from the same sermon:
"... in the middle of these services, people got convicted. But not convicted in a bad destructive way. If you look at this and you say, 'convinced that they're sinners?? that sounds psychologically destructive that sounds traumatic that sounds painful!' It is [actually] sweet.
'With pleasing grief and mournful joy,
My spirit now is filled;
That I should such a life destroy,
Yet live by him I killed.'
[–John Newton, “Hymn 57 – Looking at the Cross,” in Olney Hymns. (London: W. Oliver, 1779), pp. 250-251.]
The hymns are filled with this. And if you haven't experienced this yet I pray that someday you will. Of course there is a bitterness of course there is a conviction, but it's sweet! You see your heart for the first time, and you're convicted, but you can go to Him, and drink deep, there is a tremendous sweetness to it.
Your hearts are wounded with sweet words. Your joy is like swords. Your tears are the very wine of blessedness. And, are we ready for that? God really comes down. But do we seek it; do we expect it even when we go to church?"
--Tim Keller in the sermon "Tongues and Worship". See link above.