NO KNAPSACK BUT NO LACK

 

I’ve heard it said, “Where the finger of God points, the hand of God provides.”  If you want to make a fortune on earth, I would not recommend ministry as a vocation. But, if God calls you to serve Him, and He sends you into the field of Gospel work, then you can be confident of enough here and eternal reward hereafter!

I type this as I sit in a modest house. I drive a car that is about ten years old with around 200,000 miles on it. My wardrobe is not extravagant and my lifestyle not one of the rich and famous. So what?  It does not matter to me.  If I can meet my obligations—it is enough. 

The disciples testified to this reality. Jesus had sent them out without what one would consider even basic supplies. There was an urgency about the mission which did not allow a lot of preparation. They would learn to walk by faith and not by sight. It is how God wants us all to live. It is a counter-cultural approach that summons us to reject man’s natural inclination and live with supernatural direction.

My Father has never failed me. Day by day, He has cared for me. The One who feeds the fowls and robes the flowers, has kept me nourished and clothed. Sometimes what was going out demanded more than what was coming in. It is good to have a budget, but when you crunch the numbers, they may crash us to our knees.  But, that is a good place to be, and I will tell you that “my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭19‬‬). He has not promised to provide for greed, but to meet need. 

I was basically bi-vocational in my first pastorate—a small country church in the mountains. The membership was mainly senior saints on fixed incomes. A typical offering was $300, of which they paid me about a third of it. We went there with my wife expecting our first child. We had no insurance.  They did provide us a place to stay, but we had to pay for the utilities. The old two story, rock farmhouse had windows that were not tight and when the winds of winter blew hard, the curtains moved!  In a hard rain, water would pour in through the worn shingles and we placed jars and cans to catch the water that dripped through. 

I remember coming home with our little family one night and the furnace was off because the fuel had run out. There was nothing to do but call one of our young deacons who let us spend the night. The next day, they put some oil in. Then the church purchased a wood furnace, and they would let me cut wood off some of their land, sometimes even helping me work it up—and we made it through the winter. When it seemed the food would run out, somebody would bring us some beef for the freezer and some beans they had canned.

There are many other stories of this nature I might tell. Nearly half a century has passed and always God has provided.  Trust Him today. Serve Him always. If you have no knapsack, the Lord promises there will still be no lack. 

My old professor, the late William Willingham, sometimes would sing this song to us in chapel:

1. Sometimes the day seems long,
Our trials hard to bear.
We´re tempted to complain,
to murmur and despair.
But Christ will soon appear
to catch his bride away!
All tears forever over
in God’s eternal day!
 
CHORUS:
It will be worth it all
when we see Jesus!
Life’s trials will seem so small
when we see Christ.
One glimpse of his dear face,
all sorrow will erase.
So, bravely run the race
till we see Christ.
 
2. At times the sky seems dark,
with not a ray of light;
We’re tossed and driven on,
no human help in sight.
But there is One in heaven,
Who knows our deepest care;
Let Jesus solve your problems,
just go to him in prayer.
 
3. Life’s day will soon be o’re,
all storms forever past;
We’ll cross the great divide
to Glory, safe at last!
We’ll share the joys of heaven:
a harp, a home, a crown;
The tempter will be banished,
We’ll lay our burdens down.

HE NEEDS YOU

Is this not an amazing and humbling truth?  Here is the Lord of Glory, who was able to walk on water, yet needed a donkey to ride into Jerusalem. There were several reasons why He rode on a donkey. 

He needed to do so because of the prophecy this fulfilled. The Word of God had said, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.”  (Zechariah‬ ‭9‬:‭9‬‬).  Not one Scripture will fail to be fulfilled. Again and again, we read of Jesus doing something in fulfillment of Scripture. As a preacher of God’s Word, I can speak with confidence in the accuracy of that Blessed Book!

He needed to do so because of the position this revealed. Among the Jews we see their rulers riding on donkeys. “The king also said to them, ‘Take with you the servants of your Lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon.’” (‭‭I Kings‬ ‭1‬:‭33‬‬). You also see rulers riding these beasts of burden in Judges 5:10; 10:4; 12:14). Jesus is the King of kings.  When I am faithful to my calling, I am submitting to my King and promoting Him, not myself.  The people did not cry, “Oh look at that donkey!”  They exulted in the Son of David.

He needed to do so because of the purpose this unveiled. A king would at other times mount a mighty horse, should His purpose be to go to war. The riding on a donkey represented that the king was coming in peace. Jesus will come the second time on a white horse to conquer those who war against God, but in His first advent, He was coming to be crucified—to bring us peace with God.  God sends sinners who have surrendered to Him to share with other sinners how they can be forgiven.  He could have used an angel to trumpet His truth, but we have a story that holy angels do no have—the testimony of amazing grace that saved wretches like we were.

He needed to do so because of the prosperity this promised. These beasts were used to plow the land and transport the produce. 

“Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground Will eat cured fodder, Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.”  (Isaiah‬ ‭30‬:‭24‬‬). Canaan was the Promised Land—a place of abundant milk and honey. Yet, because of Israel’s sin, they never enjoyed the fruitfulness God desired for them. Jesus was coming to reverse the curse, and give abundant life, (cf. John 10:10). You be faithful and trust God to make you fruitful. He can cause the hardest ground to yield the sweetest fruit!

Almighty God needs nothing. He is self-existent. We can neither add to nor take from Him in His self-sufficiency. Jesus, fully Divine, needed nothing. But, He told the disciples, “I need that donkey.”  God in His sovereign grace created man in His own image and set him to cultivate the ground and care for the creation. He calls us to share the Gospel and disciple the nations. In this sense, God needs a donkey like me!  Apart from God, we cannot, but apart from us, He will not.  Don’t get the idea that God lacks anything and is fretting over whether you are going to come through or not. His will is going to be done—with or without me. If I am silent, He can make stones cry out, (Luke 19:40). To accomplish His inexorable will, however, He has decided to use a vessel of clay like me and you. 

Paul put it this way, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”  (I Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬-‭29‬‬).

God used a jackass to speak to Balaam (cf. Num. 22:21-35). If God could communicate through that donkey, then He can speak through me. How astonishing!  Omnipotent God needs weak men to communicate the power of salvation through the foolishness of the cross!  Stop bemoaning your weakness and making excuses. Humble yourself before God, open His Word, stand up and speak up, trusting God to show up!

Old E. M. Bounds put it this way in his classic little book, “Power through Prayer,”

God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. …What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use—men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men—men of prayer.

Will you be that man?

ENVY OF MEGA-MINISTRY

 

As I read a devotional from Stephen Olford, these thoughts came to mind. 

Who among us has not listened to a preacher on a podcast or listened to one in a pastors’ conference who leads a megachurch and not wondered, “Why not me?”  There may be several responses to that—none of them good. 

The first is to belittle ourselves. “Well, I just don’t have such gifts.  I wouldn’t be capable of leading a church like that.”  Yet none of us know what will unfold in the providence of God—if we will be faithful in that little place. But, if we become discouraged, it can hinder our growth. We should have a passion to be all we can be for God, but leave the results to Him. 

The second is to belittle others. “I am sure he compromises doctrine and that is why people flock to hear him. I will not do that!”  Or we may accuse him of rustling sheep from smaller flocks.  “They offer all this stuff to entertain the people and we are not going to do that!”  The reality is that sometimes that is true. But, not always. Some megachurches are solid as a rock doctrinally and grow evangelistically. They want to help smaller churches be healthy. Some have a kingdom mindset—and it is about God’s kingdom and not their own. Charles Spurgeon pastored a megachurch and who can question his fidelity to Scripture and faithfulness in soul-winning?

The third is to boost ourselves. We seek status. We become a ladder climber and a name-dropper. Then, we pad our resume’ and that never ends well. We plagiarize the sermons of prominent preachers to impress others. Eventually, we will be exposed. Just be who God made you to be and serve where His providence has placed you.

Be faithful and let God sort all that out. I have wrestled with these same temptations. I would like to say that I have never succumbed to envy of mega-ministries, but that would be another sin—lying!  So, when that temptation arises, let us resist and if we give in, immediately repent!

THE MAGNETISM OF THE MESSAGE

 

In many circles today, there is a call to focus on edifying the saints in the sermons preached on the Lord’s Day.  The thought is that if God’s people are growing, they will “go and tell,” in reaching their neighbors with the Gospel. There is no doubt that our messages are to motivate Christians to mature and carry the message of Christ to those God brings across their path. 

Yet, we dare not neglect preaching to evangelize the sinners who may be among us. Paul acknowledged in the Corinthian church that what was communicated in worship needed to be clear to those who were among them in need of regeneration, (cf. 1 Cor. 14:23-25). 

Some of our reaction against evangelistic preaching in the worship service is likely due to an overreaction to extremes in the “attractional” model of worship. In the attractional church, the likely sincere effort to reach lost souls and attract them to Christ has sometimes resulted in diluting of sound doctrine. A desire to connect with the uniformed and unbelieving makes it tempting to take the edge off truths that might offend sinners. Such churches have tended to avoid speaking about these uncomfortable texts at best or abandoning such truths at worst. 

I want to caution of letting the pendulum swing too far the other direction. Paul commanded Timothy to, “do the work of an evangelist,” (2 Tim. 4:5). While this should move the preacher out of the church building and into the harvest field, the command is set in the context of our preaching ministry. “Go and tell,” is commanded, but Scripture also beckons, “Come and see,” (Jn. 1:35-39). 

Some also decry a Gospel invitation at the end of the sermon, where people are called to respond publicly to the message. I do not want to be uncharitable, so it is important to note that solid preachers do extend a call to commitment, even if the form in which it is presented is not that which became common to evangelicalism. If you do not call people to commitment and preach the Gospel, then there needs to be some soul-searching as to the purpose of your preaching.

Again, I think this has risen from a rightful concern about “easy-believism” and emotional manipulation that has brought too many of the unconverted into the church membership. They went into the baptistery as dry sinners and came out wet ones—but still sinners!

But, while we are on the subject of water, let us not “throw out the baby with the bath water,” as the old saying goes. An evangelistic sermon with an evangelical invitation can still be effective. Just consider the Jesus model. He attracted sinners to Himself. They heard Him eagerly.  While the religious crowd was scandalized, the sinful were magnetized. 

The reality is that Jesus still draws a crowd. Sinners will be attracted by the work of the Holy Spirit through the power of the Gospel. Sinners should be invited to salvation as we go to them, but in going to them we should also invite them to come hear the Gospel message. Where the Body of Christ manifests His love and grace, sinners will be drawn.  Also, there ought to be children growing up under sound Gospel preaching that will respond to the Gospel. Likewise, the Spirit will open the eyes of unconverted church members who are yet unregenerate. 

Throughout the Scripture, multiple witnesses were required to confirm the testimony given, (Deut. 19:15; Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1; 1 Tim. 5:19; 2 Tim. 2:2). So, it might look like this: a man and his wife share the Gospel with their neighbor. They invite them to the worship service and hear the Gospel in music and message. As the preacher speaks the Word, they hear the, “Amen’s” from the congregation. The confirmation of the message convicts them and they respond to the Gospel invitation. At that point, the process of discipleship has only begun—but, at least, it has begun. Sadly, some will make a start who do not finish, but no one will finish who does not make a start!

Church members need to hear the Gospel with regularity and fervency also. Those who are saved dare not forget what it was like to be lost. The cross is central in our preaching, even if we think we are “preaching to the choir.”  If that were not so, then why did Jesus command the consistent observance of the Lord’s Supper?

The old Gospel song put it:

Roll back the curtain of memory now and then,
show me where you brought me from
and where I could have been,
oh remember I'm human and humans forget,
so remind me remind me dear lord.

Invite sinners to Christ. Preach Jesus. There is magnetism in that message. Call men and women to repentance with urgency!  

Stephen Olford wrote this:

“Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.” – Luke 15:1 

What a grand fact! It is interesting to note how the ministry of the Lord primarily attracted the publicans and sinners. It is recorded: “The common people heard Him gladly” (Mark 12:37). He said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matt. 9:13). “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Paul testifies: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief ” (1 Tim. 1:15). In the light of these few verses, it is obvious that the Lord's ministry not only attracted sinners but also was primarily for them. How important to have His message and mission today!

O, that Your ministry, Lord, through mewould draw the publicans and sinners to Yourself.  (According to Your Word, p. 58, Kindle version)