Politicing With Doctrine

Sermons should have real teaching in them, and their doctrine should be solid, substantial, and abundant. We do not enter the pulpit to talk for talk’s sake; we have instructions to convey important to the last degree, and we cannot afford to utter petty nothings. Our range of subjects is all but boundless, and we cannot, therefore, be excused if our discourses are threadbare and devoid of substance. If we speak as ambassadors for God, we need never complain of want of matter, for our message is full to overflowing. The entire gospel must be presented from the pulpit; the whole faith once delivered to the saints must be proclaimed by us. The truth as it is in Jesus must be instructively declared, so that the people may not clearly hear, but know, the joyful sound.

No truth is to be kept back. The doctrine of reserve, so detestable in the mouths of Jesuits, is not one whit the less villainous when accepted by Protestants. It is not true that some doctrines are for the initiated; there is nothing in the Bible which is ashamed of the light. The sublimest views of divine sovereignty have a practical bearing, and are not, as some think, mere metaphysical subtleties; the distinctive utterances of Calvinism have their bearing upon everyday life and ordinary experience, and if you hold such views, or the opposite, you have no dispensation permitting you to conceal your beliefs. Cautious reticence is, in nine cases out of ten, cowardly betrayal. The best policy is never to be politic, but to proclaim every atom of the truth so far as God has taught it to you.

-Charles Spurgeon, from Lectures To My Students; chapter 5 on Sermons-Their Matter

Teachers

Do We Need Teachers?

In 1 John 2:27 we are told, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone  teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”

This is as significant as the Lord saying , “I will never leave you nor for sake you”

In fact Jesus tells us in Matthew 23:10, And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.

God wants us to constantly be dependent upon Him.

God in Christ is our Teacher!

So, If God is Our Teacher, Why Do We Have Teachers Given To Us By God?

This question is not unlike the question of, “If God has elected whom He will save, then why do we need to evangelize and preach and share the gospel?” It’s not that we are needed in this endeavor, it’s that we get to help by being involved. God makes it a special part of our being His people that we are blessed with the command and labor of being about our Fathers business. It is His business and we are His employees, His servants, indeed, even His slaves. We get to teach! We get to be involved! We get to work with Him!

The Duty of Pastors & Teachers

What are the principal duties of the pastors or teachers of the church?

(1)To be examples unto the flock in faith, love, knowledge, meekness, patience, readiness to suffer for the name and gospel of Christ, with constancy therein; (2) to watch for the souls and take care of all the spiritual concernments of the whole flock committed to them; (3) to preach the word diligently, dividing it aright; (4) to preserve and contend for the truth; (5) to administer all the ordinances of the gospel duly and orderly; (6) to stir up and exercise the gifts they have received in the discharge of their whole work and administration of all ordinances; (7) to instruct, admonish, cherish, and comfort all the members of the church, as their conditions, occasions, and necessities do require; (8) to attend with diligence, skill, and wisdom unto the discharge of that authority which in the rule of the church is committed unto them.

(1)1 Tim. iii. 1-7, iv. 12; 2 Tim. ii. 3; Col. i. 24; Phil. ii. 17, iii. 17.8.  
(2) Heb. xiii. 17; Acts xx. 28.
(3) 2 Tim. ii. 15, iv. 2; Rom. xii. 6-8.
(4) 1 Tim. vi. 20; Actsxx. 28; Jude 3.
(5) 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2; 1 Tim. iii. 15.
(6) 1 Tim. iv. 14-16.
(7) Act xx, 18-20, 25, 27; 1 Thess. iii 5; 2 Tim. ii. 24, 25.
(8) Rom,xii. 7, 8; 1 Tim. v. 17

The answer is full and plain.

-John Owen, The Works of; Volume 15, page 499

Self-Confidence & Preaching

…..from one of the greatest preachers of the nineteenth century, James Henley Thornwell:

“It is a great matter to understand what it is to be a preacher, and how preaching should be done. Effective sermons are the offspring of study, of discipline, of prayer, and especially of the unction of the Holy Ghost… My own performances in this way fill me with disgust. I have never made, much less preached, a sermon in my life, and I begin to despair of ever being able to do so.”

Distrust in oneself must mark the preacher. The most-used preachers in the church have always been those who say, ‘No-one knows how to preach.’ A self-confident preacher ought to be a contradiction in terms.  

- Iain Murray, Lloyd-Jones, Messenger of Grace, page40-41

Authority in Preaching

What is authority in a preaching ministry?

It is a consequent of unction, and not of office. The scribes had an outward call to teach in the church; but they had no unction, no anointing, that could evidence they had the Holy Ghost in his gifts and graces. Christ had no outward call; but he had an unction,—he had a full unction of the Holy Ghost in his gifts and graces, for the preaching of the gospel. Hereon there was a controversy about his authority. The scribes say unto him, Mark xi. 28, “By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?” The Holy Ghost determines the matter, Matt. vii. 29, “He preached as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” They had the authority of office, but not of unction; Christ only had that. And preaching in the demonstration of the Spirit, which men quarrel so much about, is nothing less than the evidence in preaching of unction, in the communication of gifts and grace unto them, for the discharge of their office: for it is a vain thing for men to assume and personate authority. So much evidence as they have of unction from God in gifts and grace, so much authority they have, and no more, in preaching: and let every one, then, keep within his bounds.

- John Owen, The Works of, Volume 9, page 454-455; on the duty of a Pastor – to read this book click here

Owen’s point is that you don’t get the authority to preach from the institution that hands you a degree. You don’t get your authority from the ordination of your assembly you are membered in. Authority comes from God. All the rest, is merely a garnish and an outward approval, but not a requirement.

Fuller on Preaching

Though expounding the Scriptures be an important part of the public work of a minister, yet it is not the whole of it. There is a great variety of subjects, both in doctrinal and practical religion, which require to be illustrated, established, and improved; which cannot be done in an exposition. Discourses of this kind are properly called sermons.

Unless the subject-matter of your preaching be truly evangelical, you had better be any thing than a minister. When the apostle speaks of a necessity being laid upon him to preach the gospel, he might mean that he was not at liberty to relinquish his work in favour of ease, or honour, or any other worldly object; but he was not bound to preach merely, but to preach that doctrine which had been delivered unto him. The same may be said of us; woe unto us if we preach not the gospel!

It may seem to be a very easy thing, with the Bible in our hands, to learn the truth, clear of all impure mixtures, and to make it the subject of our ministry. But it is not so. We talk much of thinking and judging for ourselves; but who can justly pretend to be free from the influences which surround him, especially in early life! We are insensibly, and almost irresistibly, assimilated by the books we read, and the company with which we associate ; and the principles current in our age and connexions will ordinarily influence our minds. Nor is the danger solely from without: we are “slow of heart” to believe in a doctrine so holy and divine, and prone to deviate at everypoint. If, therefore, we were wholly to think for ourselves, that were no security for our keeping to the mind of Christ.  

I mention these things, not to deter you from either reading or thinking for yourself; but rather to inculcate the necessity of prayer for Divine guidance, and a close adherence to the Scriptures. Though we must think for ourselves, we must not depend upon ourselves, but, as little children, learn at the feet of our Saviour.

-The Works of Andrew Fuller, Banner of Truth

I found encouragement and conviction when reading this for the first time. I am encouraged with the exhortation to continue in the evangelical motive or else hold my tongue. I found conviction in my occasional over-zealous appreciation for the books that I use to help me in my study and pursuit of the Truth. This blog is dedicated mainly to the uncovering and discovering of the great teaching and preaching found in Puritan and Puritan influenced writings, of which there is a tremendous wealth. But the warning should be, needs be, used to be our caution in approaching these great books, that they are not to be used firstly nor even secondly in our learning, but to be used only thirdly, and that only after prayer and the reading of the Word of God.

Christ, Our All

In chapter 2 of the book Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper gets at the heart of having a passion for God. For the Christian, living is all about Christ, only for Christ and there is no other way to not waste our life if our desire is not entirely focussed on Christ and His glory. There is no other! How many of us are wanting less of self and more of Him? What gets in our way?

Here’s Piper

God loves us by liberating us from the bondage of self so that we can enjoy knowing and admiring him forever.

…then what must love do? It must rescue us from our addiction to self and bring us, changed, into the presence of God.  

God’s passion for his own glory gives birth to ours.

Christ must be explicit in all our God-talk. It will not do, in this day of pluralism, to talk about the glory of God in vague ways. God without Christ is no God. And a no-God cannot save or satisfy the soul. Following a no-God—whatever his name or whatever his religion—will be a wasted life. God-in-Christ is the only true God and the only path to joy.

There is no point in romanticizing other religions that reject the deity and saving work of Christ. They do not know God. And those who follow them tragically waste their lives.

When we embrace Christ, we embrace God. We see and savor God’s glory. There is no savoring of God’s glory if we do not see it in Christ. This is the only window through which a sinner may see the face of God and not be incinerated.

-John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, chapter 2 (to read this book, click here)

So You Wanna be a Preacher

This was posted today over at The Oak Log blog by Jude St. John:

Six New Testament metaphors for preachers

In chapter four of Between Two Worlds ((Stott, John R. W. Between Two Worlds The Challenge of Preaching Today. Boston: Wm. B. Eerdmans Company, 1994), author John Stott presents 6 different images that the Bible uses to illustrate what a Christian preacher is.

1. The Christian preacher is a herald. (1 Corinthians 1:23)
2. The Christian preacher is a sower. (Luke 8:4-8)
3. The Christian preacher is an ambassador. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
4. The Christian preacher is a steward or housekeeper. (1 Corinthians 4:1)
5. The Christian preacher is a pastor or shepherd. (John 21:15-17)
6. The Christian preacher is an approved workman. (2 Timothy 2:15)

“What is immediately noticeable about these six pictures is their emphasis on the ‘givenness’ of the message. Preachers are not to invent it; it has to be entrusted to them. thus, good news has been given to the herald to proclaim, good seed to the farmer to sow and good food to the steward to dispense, while good pasture is available to the shepherd to lead his flock there. Similarly, the ambassador does not pursue his owm policy but his country’s, and the workman cuts a way for ‘the word of truth’, not for his own word. It is impressive that in all these New Testament metaphors the preacher is a servant under someone else’s authority, and the communicator of someone else’s word.” (136-7)

Click here to see it for yourself.

Christ’s Cross or Christ Crossed Out

Some time ago, I attended a meeting concerning the youth group at a church I was going to and the topic of discussion was what we should be teaching the kids. There seemed to be some disagreement as to which course of study should be taught and emotions were beginning to flare, just a bit. The leader was trying to go about making the choice in a very democratic way, which, quite frankly was just not working. It seemed to me that the purpose and intention of the youth group had been either forgotten or at the very least overlooked. So, I (throwing caution to the wind) being newer to this conglomeration of well-intending leaders and teachers, decided to ask a question once I was prompted for input. I know, I know, first mistake: I was new. Well I’m still trying to learn that one. Anyway, when asked for input, I asked for someone, anyone, to tell me in their own words what they considered the purpose of the youth group to be. Well, I got a few blank stares, baffled looks, and a moment of excruciating silence. Finally, I had a taker. Now, I have to tell you, because of the way the meeting had been going, I had a pretty good idea of what the answer would be and knew already how I was going to respond to it. The leader speaks up, goes into, actually a very good answer on the function of the youth group but never once mentioned anything about Jesus Christ. Well, yes I did, point it out to him. I told him that his answer was great, but that he didn’t even once mention Jesus Christ. To which he seemed rather offended by that and then someone said it was an issue of semantics. I was actually concerned more with that response than I was the first.

(Honestly, I was (inwardly) a little  belligerent during this whole meeting. I was not speaking out of love and concern for my brothers and sisters in the room. After this whole thing, I came under some heavy conviction for the way I had conducted myself. I called the leader of the meeting, and asked him to forgive me for the way I had acted, which he was gracious to do. Even if I was correct in the way I assessed things, that did not mean I was correct in how I used it. We should be careful with what we do with the truth. Are we using it to build or destroy?)

It is so easy for us to lose sight of Christ and His cross. It begins so subtly with distractions and turns into full blown idolatry. Why is it so important to keep a firm, fixed focus on Christ? Is it only an issue of semantics? In the epistle to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul mentions Christ specifically eleven times just in the first chapter. I would ask, why would he mention the Lord so much? Paul new better than we, how imperative it is to be specific about who we serve and who we belong to.

John Owen puts it best:

It is scandalously proposed and answered, “Of what use is the consideration of the person of Christ in our religion?”  Such are the novel inquiries of men who suppose there is anything in Christian religion wherein the person of Christ is of no consideration – as though it were not the life and soul that animates the whole of it, that which gives it its especial form as Christian – as though by virtue of our religion we received anything from God, any benefit in mercy, grace, privilege, or glory, and not through the person of Christ – as though any one duty or act of religion towards God could be acceptably performed by us, without a respect unto, or a consideration of, the person of Christ – or that there were any lines of truth in religion as it is Christian, that did not relate thereunto. (Works of John Owen, Vol. I, page 42)