Jesus put it simply when he said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” And I think what happens in the Republican party or the Democratic party or the United States Congress is really irrelevant to the advancement of the kingdom of God. The message of Jesus is to go into all the world and make disciples, not make Republicans. Our message is a message that Jesus died and rose again to save us from our sins and death and hell. And when evangelicals have convoluted that message, sublimated that message to a political agenda, they have missed the point.  And in many ways we have turned the mission field into the enemy.  Homosexuals are not our enemy; they are our mission field, like all other sinners are. . . .

Just exactly which sinners are we going to exclude [from a political party]?  Are we going to throw out all the people who have been unfaithful to their wife?  All the people who have cheated on their income tax?  All the people who have falsified their expense reports?  All the people who have watched pornography?  Just exactly where do we go with this morality thing?  We’re not going to have anybody in any party because we’re all sinners (John MacArthur, edited transcript).

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This is the trailer for the Resolved 2009 Conference, June 12-15.

If God permits, I’ll be there!

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Why are you reluctant to involve yourself in moral political movements?

Politics isn’t the issue.  The pattern that I want to follow is the pattern of Christ who never got involved in a political issue.  Because the price was too high.  If you take sides with that stuff, which is very volatile, within which there are many opinions, you will run the risk of making people think Christianity is a certain political viewpoint or lobby position.  Once you mix the thing with politics, people begin to see evangelical Christianity as a right-wing viewpoint.  People really do see that.  And I think that price is too high to pay (edited transcript).

The following is taken from John MacArthur’s Ashamed of the Gospel (see it on Google books).

Charles Finney was born in 1792 in Connecticut but lived most of his childhood in Oneida County, New York. His parents were not Christians, and Finney grew up largely ignorant of Christian doctrine. He remembered no preaching or gospel witness in that part of New York (which he called “a wilderness”) — though the historical records indicate there was at least one strong evangelical church in the community.

The religion Finney remembered as a child was, he said later, “of a type not at all calculated to arrest my attention.” (more…)

Today, John MacArthur released his massive archive of sermons for free download at Grace to You (previously they were sold at $3/sermon).  I’m glad MacArthur has joined the growing number of preachers to offer sermons for free online.

The internet is a crazy thing.  I think it’s one of the main tools driving the massive renewed interest in Reformed Christianity in America and around the world.  But it’s also one of the main tools driving the multi-billion dollar porn industry.

Praise God that now countless more hours of Christ-exalting preaching are available through John MacArthur’s ministry.

HT: Recover the Gospel via Sho Baraka