ANGELS IN THE PULPIT

The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.  (Revelation 1:20)

One of our deacons stood before our congregation and proclaimed, “Our pastor is an angel—he’s always up in the air, harping about something!”  Of course, that remark met with uproarious laughter—and I joined in.  The reality is, however, that the pastor is an angel!

The Greek word literally means a messenger.  It is true that the dominant use of the word is in reference to a heavenly messenger, but in the first three chapters of Revelation, I believe the term applies to a human messenger.  That suits the context better.

The glorified Christ appears to old John, suffering exile on the rocky island of Patmos—his sole crime being faithfulness to the Lord.  Jesus has a message for His churches—seven of them will receive letters, dictated to John by Christ Himself.  Each letter begins with the expression, “To the angel of the church….”  Who better to be the recipient of the letter than the pastor who will be responsible to share the Word of God?  His eyes would be the first to read the message—and applying the truth to his own heart, then, proclaims it to the congregation.

Men, we are messengers of God!  We do not have to search for something to say.  People do not need our opinions.  Our aim is not to enchant them with our eloquence.  We are simply a conduit to carry living water to thirsty souls—and that is the Word of God.  Be faithful to read the text so that the message is fully understood.  Having grasped the content, let the content grasp you!  Integrate its truth into your own life lest you be a hypocrite—and that drains the sermon of its effectiveness.  People want to see a sermon and not just hear one.

Stand with boldness as a herald of heaven; do not mealy-mouth.  Christ did not.  He had commendable things to say of most of the churches, but He did not refrain from confronting the churches where false doctrine and sinful lifestyles were present.  The “angels” in the pulpit were not to dilute the strong medicine Jesus prescribed.

Will everyone like the fact that the pastor is, “Always up in the air, harping about something”?  No—and the threat of retribution from the members is always possible.  John knew such pain—on that island for preaching the Word faithfully.  Always remember this comforting truth: Christ holds the seven stars in His hand!  Jesus holds His angels—His messengers.  We are secure in His grip; preserved by His power and love for His purposes.  Sure, we may be rejected by our current congregation, but, if so, God has another place of service for us.  We are not necessarily immune from facing the fire of opposition and the heat of hatred, but it will be filtered through the refining purposes of God, and will work for His glory and our good.  So, tune up that harp, and sing the lyrics of heaven.  You are an angel in the pulpit!

THE HONOR OF SERVING GOD

There are times we as God’s leaders go to the House of God with dread and leave with discouragement.  We may know there are critical people who lie in wait to eviscerate us with the sharp sword of their tongue.  Pastors encounter vexing decisions where all options are painful.  You prepare a meal—a sermon you pour yourself into—and many choose to stay away, gorging themselves on the world’s candy.  Then, there are members you once counted on now counted among those who abandoned your flock for the mega-ministry down the road.  It is hard.  We are human.  God understands.  All that I have said is true, but it is not all the truth.

Psalm 84 reminds us that it is an honor to serve God in any capacity.  If our heart is on God, and worshipping Him, we can “have a spell,” in His house, whether anybody else is moved at all.  We can overcome the dread and discouragement with delight and have a passion for experiencing the presence of God among the people of God!

May God give us this perspective:

How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! 

My soul longs, yes, even faints

For the courts of the LORD;

My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home,

And the swallow a nest for herself,

Where she may lay her young—

 Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts,

My King and my God. 

Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;

They will still be praising You. Selah (Ps.84:1-4)

As a man of God, I am still a man—and so as not to give in to discouragement, I need the strength of the Lord—and it is available!  We may call on Him as these worship leaders:

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,

Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. 

 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,

They make it a spring;

The rain also covers it with pools. 

They go from strength to strength;

Each one appears before God in Zion. 

O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;

Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah 

O God, behold our shield,

And look upon the face of Your anointed.  ‎(Ps.84:5-9)

I am convinced that God gives grace and glory.  He has been faithful to me in nearly four decades of preaching the Gospel.  When I look beyond my circumstances to my God in faith, it makes all the difference in my service.

Make this your conviction:

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;

The LORD will give grace and glory;

No good thing will He withhold

From those who walk uprightly.

 O LORD of hosts,

Blessed is the man who trusts in You!  (Ps.84:10-12)

I count it an honor to be employed in the service of my Lord.  Can I get a witness?

HAVE DONE WITH LESSER THINGS

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  (Col.3:1-2)

There is not much difference in the ability of professional athletes.  Those who are champions have that special something that sets them apart—it is the laser-like focus that makes the hoop seem bigger in basketball, seems to slow the baseball down into the hitting zone, and makes the cut through the hole precise in football.  It may be referred to as being “in the zone.”

How is it that a businessman can be fixated with a deal, a sports figure with getting a win, a politician with gaining an office, and a cook with winning a blue ribbon at the county fair, while we as men of God may be content with mediocrity?  It is true that some men collapse morally and become disqualified.  Many more simply muddle along, doing enough to get by—and that is so wrong.

Our focus on God’s Kingdom agenda must be intense and not distracted by the things of the world.  There are bad things we must avoid for certain, but the greater peril may be the good things that drain the energy and diminish the productivity of ministry excellence.

J. Wilbur Chapman said it like this,

My life is governed by this rule: anything that dims my vision of Christ or takes away my taste for Bible study or cramps my prayer life or makes Christian work difficult is wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away from it.

Let us ruthlessly put away all that hinders us and relentlessly pursue all that God has for us!  The cause of Christ is worth it!

Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.

Rise up, O men of God!
The kingdom tarries long.
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great!

Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God!  (William P. Merrill)

 

WHEN TROUBLE COMES

 

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord….  (Psalm 77:2a)

Trouble is unavoidable.  Every minister will have days of trial and nights of tears.  The world is hostile to our cause, the flesh is stubbornly prone to doubt, and the Devil is prowling around, roaring to stir our fear, ravenously waiting to pounce.  Sadly, there are few friends a pastor can confide in during difficult days.  The worst is that church members may not only fail to help bear our burden—they are the ones who can cause it!

So, what do we do?  Asaph cried out to God—and we must (Ps.77:1-2).  He will listen—although it may not seem so at the time.  The psalmist mentions intense petition that God seemingly ignored—sleepless nights of sorrow and prayers that were more complaints—he felt utterly overwhelmed (v.3).  Words choked out, but the groaning continued from the heart, and God understands that language of lament (v.4).

When trouble not only comes, but when it camps out, we must not give in—we must go on!  Trouble may seem to persist, but we must insist—God is there, He loves us, and is working out His purpose.  Our feelings of dread we have when we are drowning in a rising tide of difficulty are undeniable, but may we then extend our hand and cry out from the waves to the Master of the sea!  That is what Asaph did.

He got a grip on the emotions and focused on the truth (v.6).  He is battered with questions—a broadside of the Devil (v.7-9).  I have heard the same haunting, slanderous voice, mocking me.  What will be our response?

The writer is driven to his knees—and there remembers what God has done and recalls who God is (v.11-15).  He meditates on the activity of God that he has seen.  Troubles had come before and the Lord had gotten them through into triumph.  He is utterly faithful—the Almighty can and will be consistent in coming to our aid.  He has promised.

Reading Psalm 77:16-20, reminds me of a quote I recently read from the late Adrian Rogers, “God is not here to keep you out of trouble; He’s here to get in trouble with you.”  God was in the midst of the storm that came sweeping over Asaph.  As Jesus came walking on the waves to His fearful disciples in the Gospel accounts—and at first they did not recognize Him—so we may not see clearly that God is with us in our trouble and that He comes to us on the path of the storm!

Moses and Aaron led the people of God for forty years.  There were blessings, but burdens as well—times of trouble that were intense.  God was leading His sheep, nonetheless.  You may be sure that in the trouble you face in shepherding God’s flock, that the Good Shepherd has a glorious destination in mind.  The trek through the dark valley ends in the light of glory!  Pray on with fervency, my brother; press on in faithfulness.

Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along;
Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along.

Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.  (George A. Young)

THE CROSS AND THE PASTOR

“I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”  (Gal.6:17b)

The cross is at the center of the Christian faith—and thus the cross is the inescapable obligation for every disciple to carry.  Following Christ means self-denial and sacrificial death—it is the Calvary Road.  What is true of every disciple is paramount for the pastor.  He leads by example—and so the pastor bears in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

The word marks is from stigma (στιγμα). The word had various uses. Slaves in the Phrygian temples with which the Galatians were familiar, were attached for life to the service of the temple, and were branded with the name of the deity. The name was the stigma (στιγμα) or mark. Slaves and soldiers bore branded upon their bodies the names of their masters and commanding generals. The marks (stigma (στιγμα)) of the Lord Jesus were the scars that were caused by the scourgings, the Roman rods, and the stoning at Lystra which Paul had received. The word bear is from bastazō (βασταζω) which means “to bear what is burdensome.” Paul’s body, marked by the assaults made upon his person, must often have been wracked with pain. Paul was a man old before his time, partly by reason of the sufferings he endured at the hands of his enemies, the Judaizers. ^[1]

How often we suffer the cut of sharp criticism, are called to endure a late night crisis of a church member, or help lift the heavy burden of a struggling saint.  Our messages are dissected over Sunday lunch, our methods and motives questioned by fellow pastors, our money may run short and stress be compounded out of concern for our family, our manner judged too serious or too frivolous, too legalistic or too liberal—there is no shortage of those willing to critique the minister for these and a myriad of other dimensions of ministry.  Our response may be, “I don’t deserve this!”  True—what we deserve is hell—so anything short of that is grace and mercy!  Do we think we are better than Jesus?  If the only perfect Preacher was crucified, then dare we believe we can avoid the cross?  Paul bore the scars of his service.  So will we—if we desire to be fruitful.  Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”  (John 12:24)

George Mueller was one of those fruitful men of God we ought to emulate.  Listen to him:

There was a day when I died—died to George Mueller, his opinions, preferences, tastes, and will—died to the world, it approval or censure—died to the approval or blame even of my brethren or friends—and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.

We will be wounded warriors, but in the end there is conquest, comfort, and a crown!

---

^[1] Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Ga 6:17). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

LOVING LEADERSHIP

 

But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children....as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children....  (2 Thessalonians 2:7, 11)

Today we honor our mothers and next month we recognize our fathers.   It is a special time of acknowledging the importance of family.  In fact, you cannot understand how church life is to operate, unless you know how homelife properly functions.  Paul speaks of his loving leadership in terms of parenting.  It is the standard church leaders need to imitate.

Church leaders need A MOTHER'S DEVOTION (v.1-10).   Loving leadership must be tender for it is LOVING leadership  Mothers lead by loving. 

They are willing to suffer (v.1-2).  Pain has always been associated with motherhood.  When Eve sinned, God said that labor pains would come.  Paul’s preaching had birthed new believers into the family of God—and it had been painful labor.  If you are not willing to suffer, you can forget being a church leader!

Such love means accepting the responsibility (v.3-4).  Mothers are entrusted with a precious life.  Paul saw himself as a steward of the Gospel—answerable to God.   Church leaders seek to please Him, not people.

We learn about laboring with humility (v.5-6).  There is not much glamorous about motherhood.  Changing a dirty diaper and being spit up on are not glorious.  Church work isn’t about covetousness—about getting—it is about compassion—about giving.  Church leaders don’t seek their own glory and make demands, but seek God’s glory and fulfill duties.

There is loving with sincerity (v.7-8).  A mother begins to share her life with her child from the momenr of conception—nourishing the baby within her womb and then nursing the child with her milk from his or her birth.  Church leadership is about pouring your life into others.

Also, there is toiling with integrity (v.9-10).   Motherhood isn’t so much about inspiration as perspiration.  Working in the church is just that—work!  Paul says that it is to be done with integrity—not just holding a title, but having a testimony. 

Leadership is about a mother’s devotion and A FATHER'S DIRECTION (v.11-20).  Loving leadership must be tough for it is loving LEADERSHIP.  Fathers love by leading.  How can church leaders learn from fathers?

They give a challenge (v.11-12).  Fathers have a way of challenging their children to be all they can be.  That was Paul’s method and is to be every church leaders’ manner.  Ultimately, it is about buildling God’s kingdom, not ours; seeking His glory and not our own.

They offer a commendation (v.13-16).  Fathers who constantly chide their children and never commend them fail in leadership.  There are times in spiritual leadership we must confront problems, but we must also commend progress.  Paul does that.

They face a conflict (v.17-18).  I know that when I am away from my family I miss them!  You hear Paul’s passion to be with the Thessalonians in these verses.  He loved them and wanted to be with them.  Successful church leaders want to be with those they lead.  There will be a conflict in attaining this.  Satan will try to hinder it!

They enjoy a celebration (v.19-20).  Nothing makes a father happier than to see his children succeed.  It is the crowning achievement of a Dad!  Paul saw the testimony of his faithful ministry in the fruittfulness of those he had discipled.  It will be special to hear Jesus say in eternity, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”  and see lives we have personally touched.

BLINDSIDED BY BETRAYAL

For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; 

Then I could bear it. 

Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; 

Then I could hide from him. 

But it was you, a man my equal, 

My companion and my acquaintance. (Psalms 55:12-13)

Although not pleasant, it is not unexpected that the man of God will face hostility from the world.  The deepest hurts, however, are those wounds from our fellow believers.  That is David's lament in this psalm.  If you have watched football, then you are familiar with the term, "blindsided."  A player's vision is limited by his helmet, and sometimes he doesn't see a hit coming--that is being, "blindsided."  Many a player had been knocked out of the game when they did not see the hit coming.  If you have been in ministry very long, then you know exactly what that feels like--the bruising that comes from the blindside of betrayal.  David was a soldier.  He had stood against giants.  He had faced fierce foes and fought them off.  Yet, this attack by his "friend" had driven him to the turf, and he was aching all over.  How do you deal with this?

David cried out to God (Ps.55:1-5).  He doesn't paste on a phony smile and act as though it doesn't matter.  David complains--and his complaint is not taken to people, but to the Lord.  If you try to deny the hurt and the anger, it will fester as bitterness and destroy you.  Should you retaliate against your assailant, then the Devil has won, for you have stooped to their level.  Someone has said it well, "A bulldog can whip a skunk, but it isn't worth it!"

David did not run away (Ps.55:6-8).  He wanted to!  It is a reflex when we are hurt, to move away from the source of the pain.  Many a servant of the Lord has fled a difficult church when assaulted by members who should have supported him.  Not a small number eventually abandon ministry altogether.  David wanted to run, but did not.  If a man after God's own heart was so tempted, we will not be impervious to the possibility.  Just remember that Satan wants to overwhelm you and when he succeeds he has overcome you.  Consider these words:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (I Pet. 5:8-10)

Cast your burden on the Lord (Ps.55:9-23).  It is too heavy for you to bear.  The good news is that you do not have to--you can take it to the Lord and trust in Him.  God sees.  He knows how you feel.  Jesus has been there.  His most stalwart follower, Simon Peter, failed Him.  When He needed someone to stand with Him, His closest followers fled.  His face would be struck with brutal blows and His beard plucked out, but I submit that the kiss of betrayal by Judas hurt worse.  What did the Son of David do?  He committed Himself to His Father as David did, and as we must.  God can handle it!

TRUMPETING THE TRUTH

“Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps." (Numbers 10:2)

The people of God are to be divinely directed.  Numbers is a book about walking with God.  The Hebrew title of the book is literally, "In the Wilderness."  This world is a wilderness.  We are pilgrims on a journey.  The wilderness is a place fraught with peril.  Our opportunity is limited, our responsibility is large, and our enemy is fierce--therefore, we must be led by the Lord, lest we become diverted by detours, delayed by dead-ends, or decimated by the Devil.  In the previous chapter, God had provided Israel guidance by His presence--the glory cloud--that moved out when they were to move and stopped where they were to camp.  Now, we find they were directed by not only the sight of the cloud, but the sound of the clarion.  The cloud represents the presence of God in His Spirit who guides the believer today, and the trumpet symbolizes the precepts of God in Holy Scripture that guide us as well.

Paul uses this analogy when confronting the confusion in the Corinthian church, "For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?  So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken?  For you will be speaking into the air."  (I Cor.14:8-9)  Communicating God's message must be done clearly.

There were three basic purposes of these trumpets.  This is most instructive to the church today.

They were sounded for WARNING (Num.10:1-8).  Think of them as an alarm going off.  When God directed them by the movement of the cloud, the priests were also to blow these silver trumpets to warn the people it was time to move or time to stop.  We are too easily distracted by the world or dulled by slumber and so we may miss God's leading without someone putting the trumpet of truth to their lips and waking us up.  The teacher and preacher seek to do this each Sunday morning--to wake us up and move us out!  God has places for the church to go.

The silver trumpets were for WARRING (Num.10:9).  The people of God are not sightseers on a walk, but soldiers in a war!  The church is God's army.  On Sunday morning, we assemble at headquarters to receive our marching orders.  The preacher puts the trumpet of truth to his lips and conveys the battle plan.  We are equipped for the spiritual conflict awaiting us on Monday by hearing the truth on Sunday.  There is the "fog of war," and we cannot fight effectively without clear communication from our Commander.  The Word of God is our powerful weapon too!

The trumpet blasts were also for WORSHIPPING (Num.10:10).  Israel was to be assembled for worship as the trumpets sounded.  The Word of God is central in our worship.  That is why you find the pulpit at the center of most sanctuaries.  Whether that truth is sounded in song or sermon,  we will not have worship apart from the communication of the Word.

One of these days, the last trumpet will sound, and God's saints will be gathered home!  Until then may the truth be trumpeted loud and clear--for we will give an account (see 2 Tim.4:1-8).

A LEADER LED

Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents. (Numbers 9:17)

Moses was the leader of Israel, but he was a leader led.  He had tried his own ingenuity and ability once before--killing an Egyptian with his own hands--and that had not gone well. The result of that effort was forty years on the backside of a desert, pastoring his father-in-law's flock, until he died to self-will and self-confidence.  Moses had learned his lessons in the school of hard knocks, where the school colors are black and blue.  You are smart to learn from your mistakes, but you are smarter to learn from the mistakes of others.  So, we have within the pages of Scripture these wonderful examples to encourage us, and monumental failures to warn us.

What do we learn here?

The lesson is that if we want to be men of God, leading the people of God, it demands that we be leaders who are led.  God manifested His presence in the cloud that filled the tabernacle and rose above it--a shield from the sun by day, and a fire to light and warm the night.  Besides that, the cloud was their heavenly GPS.  When the cloud moved, they moved.  When the cloud stopped, there they camped.  The Israelis learned patience--to wait on the Lord--until God directed them to go as they stayed in place.

The church has called the pastor to lead them.  That is what shepherds do.  The critical matter is to make sure that we have not dreamed up a direction and are attempting to fulfill that vision according to human wisdom and in the energy of the flesh.  We must be a leader led by the Lord.  We have no cloud above us, but we have the Spirit within us.  He will lead us if we fill our minds with the Word He has inspired, humbly ask God to guide us, take the next step of faith and obedience, consult with godly counselors, and see how circumstances are either aligning or calling for adjustment to the plan.  Always bear in mind that something may be God's will, but is not yet God's time. Doing the wrong thing is never right.  Doing the right thing, the wrong way, is never right.  Doing the right thing, the right way, for the wrong reason, is still not right.  Doing the right thing, the right way, for the right reason, but at the wrong time, is still wrong!  It is when we do the right thing, the right way, for the right reason, and at the right time that it is right!

That is the lesson of the cloud.  The cloud charted the course.  May we, like Moses, be leaders who are led.