NECESSITY OF MINISTERIAL PROGRESS, Part 2

In a previous study, we considered Spurgeon’s words about making progress in the ministry in terms of mental requirements. This lesson is about moral responsibilities. 

Brethren, we must be even more earnest to go forward in moral qualities. Let the points I shall mention here come home to those who shall require them, but I assure you I have no special persons among you in my mind's eye. We desire to rise to the highest style of ministry, and if so, even if we obtain the mental and oratorical qualifications, we shall fail, unless we also possess high moral qualities.  

There are evils which we must shake off, as Paul shook the viper from his hand, and there are virtues which we must gain at any cost.  

Self-indulgence has slain its thousands; let us tremble lest we perish by the hands of that Delilah. Let us have every passion and habit under due restraint: if we are not masters of ourselves we are not fit to be leaders in the church.   

We must put away all notion of self importance. God will not bless the man who thinks himself great. To glory even in the work of God the Holy Spirit in yourself is to tread dangerously near to self-adulation. "Let another praise thee, and not thine own lips," and be very glad when that other has sense enough to hold his tongue.   

We must also have our tempers well under restraint. A vigorous temper is not altogether an evil. Men who are as easy as an old shoe are generally of as little worth. I would not say to you, "Dear brethren, have a temper," but I do say, If you have it, control it carefully." I thank God when I see a minister have temper enough to be indignant at wrong, and to be firm for the right; still, temper is an edged tool, and often cuts the man who handles it. "Gentle, easy to be entreated," preferring to bear evil rather than inflict it, this is to be our spirit. If any brother here naturally boils over too soon, let him mind that when he does do so he scalds nobody but the devil, and then let him boil away.   

We must conquer–some of us especially–our tendency to levity. A great distinction exists between holy cheerfulness, which is a virtue, and that general levity, which is a vice. There is a levity which has not enough heart to laugh, but trifles with everything; it is flippant, hollow, unreal. A hearty laugh is no more levity than a hearty cry. I speak of that religious veneering which is pretentious, but thin, superficial, and insincere about the weightiest matters. Godliness is no jest; nor is it a mere form. Beware of being actors. Never give earnest men the impression that you do not mean what you say, and are mere professionals. To be burning at the lip and freezing at the soul is a mark of reprobation. God deliver us from being superfine and superficial; may we never be the butterflies of the garden of God.   

At the same time, we should avoid everything like the ferocity of bigotry.   

I know a class of religious people who, I have no doubt, were born of a woman, but they appear to have been suckled by a wolf. I have done them no dishonor; were not Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, so reared? Some warlike men of this order have had sufficient mental power to found dynasties of thought; but human kindness and brotherly love consort better with the kingdom of Christ. We are not to go about the world searching out heresies, like terrier dogs sniffing for rats; nor are we to be so confident of our own infallibility as to erect ecclesiastical stakes at which to roast all who differ from us, not, tis true, with fagots of wood, but with those coals of juniper, which consist of strong prejudice and cruel suspicion.  In addition to all this, there are mannerisms, and moods, and ways which I cannot now describe, against which we must struggle, for little faults may often be the source of failure, and to get rid of them may be the secret of success. Count nothing little which even in a small degree hinders your usefulness; cast out from the temple of your soul the seats of them that sell doves as well as the traffickers in sheep and oxen.   

And, dear brethren, we must acquire certain moral faculties and habits, as well as put aside their opposites. He will never do much for God who has not integrity of spirit. If we be guided by policy, if there be any mode of action for us but that which is straightforward, we shall make shipwreck before long. Resolve, dear brethren, that you can be poor, that you can be despised. that you can lose life itself, but that you cannot do a crooked thing. For you, let the only policy be honesty.   

May you also possess the grand moral characteristic of courage. By this we do not mean impertinence, impudence, or self-conceit; but real courage to do and say calmly the right thing, and to go straight on at all hazards, though there should be none to give you a good word. I am astonished at the number of Christians who are afraid to speak the truth to their brethren. 

 I thank God I can say this, there is no member of my church, no officer of the church, and no man in the world to whom I am afraid to say before his face what I would say behind his back. Under God I owe my position in my own church to the absence of all policy, and the habit of saying what I mean. The plan of making things pleasant all round is a perilous as well as a wicked one. If you say one thing to one man, and another to another, they will one day compare notes and find you out, and then you will be despised. The man of two faces will sooner or later be the object of contempt, and justly so. Above all things avoid cowardice, for it makes men liars. If you have anything that you feel you ought to say about a man, let the measure of what you say be this–-" How much dare I say to his face?" You must not allow yourselves a word more in censure of any man living. If that be your rule, your courage will save you from a thousand difficulties, and win you lasting respect.   

Having the integrity and the courage, dear brethren, may you be gifted with an indomitable zeal. Zeal–what is it? How shall I describe it? Possess it, and you will know what it is. Be consumed with love for Christ, and let the flame burn continuously, not flaming up at public meetings and dying out in the routine work of every day. We need indomitable perseverance, dogged resolution, and a combination of sacred obstinacy, self-denial, holy gentleness, and invincible courage.

God, grant it to be so in my life and all those who read these words!

THE GREATEST CHALLENGE IN PREACHING

Preparing a sermon is challenging, but practicing the sermon is the greatest challenge of all. Paul’s words here in Romans 2:1 remind us of this. “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.”

Confronting sin is not to be shunned. The Word of God proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit will convict people and call them to repentance. We dare not avoid it. 

But, if we are unwilling to confront the sin in our own lives, then it becomes judgmentalism and we are hypocrites. Hypocrisy has a deadening effect. Just ask Ananias and Sapphira!  

The old axiom is nevertheless essential: “Practice what you preach.”  

The Sadducees were liberals who would not confront sin. The Pharisees were legalists who were about condemning sinners. I do not want to fall into either camp. So, it is crucial to extract the log from my own eye, that I might see clearly from the pulpit to help remove the painful splinter in the church members’ eyes. 

Let God work you over for six days as you look into the mirror of God’s Word, so you can show the reflection of holiness on the Lord’s Day. Cleanse your hands before you take up the scalpel of Scripture to perform spiritual surgery on church folk. They need to have sin removed, but do not need to contract the deadly disease of legalism from us.

I have often said to people who tell me the message convicted them and commend me for it: “I preach to myself and hope that as others eavesdrop, it will help them too.”

THE MINISTRY OF INTERCESSION

Early in my ministry, I picked up a book in the Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute, where I was a student, that made a profound impact on me. I devoured “The Ministry of Intercession,” by Andrew Murray.  

Murray’s premise was that intercession was not praying merely for the effectiveness of Gospel ministry—needful of course—but, that it was ministry in itself. Prayer does not just prepare us for our work, but it is the work!  When I work, I can do what my hands can accomplish—and that is not much. But, when I pray, the hand of God will work, and He can do all things!

Paul writes in Romans 1:9 of his persistent prayer for the Roman church.  Of the myriad of things that might have rightly claimed the Apostle’s attention, he knew that meeting with God and pleading with God on behalf of the church was to be an unwavering commitment. 

I must confess that saying it and doing it are altogether different matters. There are times that I allow other concerns to crowd out what should be my priority, or even if going through the motions, there is little passion and my mind wanders into a myriad of places. 

But, we should not be surprised that prayer is such a struggle. Satan knows its power and will fight us ferociously. Indeed, when we enter the prayer closet, we have entered the war zone. Paul told us to don the whole armor of God for spiritual conflict and then to pray!  That is where victory is won or the battle is lost.

Here is a snippet of what Murray wrote:

We all know the difference between a man whose profits are just enough to maintain his family and keep up his business, and another whose income enables him to extend the business and help others. There may be an earnest Christian life in which there is prayer enough to keep us from going back, and just maintain the position we have attained to, without much growth in spirituality or Christlikeness. The attitude is more defensive, seeking to ward off temptation, than aggressive, reaching out after higher attainment. If there is indeed to be a going from strength to strength, with some large experience of God’s power to sanctify ourselves and to bring down real blessing on others, there must be more definite and persevering prayer. The Scripture teaching about crying day and night, continuing steadfastly in prayer, watching unto prayer, being heard for his persistence, must in some degree become our experience if we are really to be intercessors, (p. 3, Kindle Version). 

I do not share this to condemn you, but to challenge you. I speak to myself foremost and trust that if you eavesdrop, it will help you also. So, let us renew our commitment to praying unceasingly for the church. It will make us productive and the church powerful. This is the ministry of intercession.

SKILLED SWORDSMEN

While we must ever lean on the Spirit, we can also learn better skills in communication. It is the Sword of the Spirit we must wield, but doing so with competence brings victory.

Spurgeon said:

I heard one say the other day that a certain preacher had no more gifts for the ministry than an oyster, and in my own judgment this was a slander on the oyster, for that worthy bivalve shows great discretion in his openings, and knows when to close. If some men were sentenced to hear their own sermons it would be a righteous judgment upon them, and they would soon cry out with Cain, "My punishment is greater than I can bear." Let us not fall under the same condemnation. (Lectures to My Students, p. 209). 

THANK GOD AND TAKE COURAGE!

 

We face challenging times in Gospel ministry. But, that has ever been true, and will be until Jesus comes. The devil will see to that. Such a champion of faith as Paul seemed to face persistent problems that would have collapsed a weaker man. Being a soldier of Christ assumes we are in a war zone. 

Thank God and take courage!  Thank God you are on the winning side and take courage that all ends well. Your labor for the Lord  is never in vain. 

Paul had arrived in Rome—the hub of the empire. “All roads lead to Rome,” is the old saying. It was true. If Paul were to proceed with getting the Gospel to the ends of the earth, then he needed to get to Rome, where Great Commission activity could proceed exponentially. 

The way he arrived there was not on a luxury liner, but on a piece of lumber from a sinking ship!  He came—not to freedom to preach—but, under house arrest. He had faced many trials in crises, and now awaited a trial in court. 

But, he could thank God and take courage, for the Lord was already at work in Rome. Brothers arrived to console him. That time of fellowship would encourage the Apostle. We need others, for we will face discouraging days. Brothers in ministry who have experienced our plight can pray with us and stand by us. It is why I take time to send out these devotionals. It is in hope that it will help some servant of the Lord to keep going when tempted to throw in the towel.

So, first, “Thank God.”  He has a purpose for our problems. We may not know everything about it, but He has promised to work all things together for our good and His glory, (cf. Rom. 8:28). When we look around us, it can lead us to grumble at our circumstances. But, when we look above us, it can bring us to gladness for God’s goodness. May we cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

I recall flying out of Charlotte airport once and as I looked out the window, ominous clouds shrouded the sky with darkness. As we rose through that, we found ourselves in sunshine and those same clouds now appeared as a blanket of cotton balls below us. It is a matter of perspective. 

Then, “Take courage.”  Reach out a hand of faith and seize courage and take it to heart. It is courage of conviction to stand and courage of commitment to serve. To be DIScouraged is to have courage dissipate from you. To be ENcouraged is to have courage enter you. 

So, look up and thank God. Lean on Him and take courage!

TRUE TO THE WORD

Some fifty years ago, I heard the old evangelist, Vance Havner, warn that the church had become a “non-prophet” organization. If he were still living, what would he say ?  Paul wrote, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (2 Tim.‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬-‭4‬‬). While the number of smooth talking, ear tickling preachers has increased, there are few prophetic voices being raised—men like Micah. 

His audience response was one of hostility as he confronted them for their sin and spoke of the judgment to come. They demanded, “Do not preach…one should not preach such things; disgrace will not overtake us,” (Micah 2:9). Yet, Micah would be faithful to the truth.   Will God’s men be true to His message today, when people set their faces against us and raise their voices to oppose us?

Consider that we have a DIVINE CALLING. It was not that Micah sought to be a prophet, but that God sought him. We do not choose to be a preacher as a vocation among other options, but because it is thrust upon us by God’s sovereign decree.  If you look on preaching as merely a job to draw a paycheck, you are a hireling and not a true shepherd!

This means we have a DIVINE COMPULSION. God put a fire in Micah’s heart. The Lord ignites this fire in our bones that cannot be quenched by those trying to silence us. We are as a volcano with the pressure to preach building up inside us,  until we must erupt with the message. Jeremiah, when facing intense opposition, put it this way, “Then I said, ‘I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.’ But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.” (Jer. ‬20‬:‭9‬‬). 

The Lord has given us a DIVINE COMMUNICATION. God put a Word in Micah’s mouth. It was the word of the Lord that came to Micah. As he did not choose his occupation, he did not choose his proclamation. Our mandate is to, “Preach the Word!”  That is what Paul told Timothy, and by extension the Spirit demands of every preacher. People do not need our opinions crafted in oratorical splendor. They need the plain truth of Holy Scripture! Our words must be informed by His Word. 

The end of this is always a DIVINE CONSIDERATION. God put the truth in Micah’s mind. Micah’s name meant, “Who is like the Lord?”  His life was about seeking the answer to that question and setting forth insights that would bring people to consider more and more the person of God. The Word of God unleashed was to end in the God of the Word unveiled. The subject is inexhaustible for God is incomparable. Only as we know Him can we make Him known. 

The situation in which we are called and the station where we are set is a DIVINE CONTEXT. God put the place for Micah’s feet. He was, “of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.”  Moresheth was southwest of Jerusalem, near the Philistine border. It was farmland—rural and not metropolitan. He was a country preacher who was sent to the city. He was not a man of culture, like his contemporary Isaiah, but a man of agriculture!  Yet, in both cases, God set aside different men from different places to be used as His vessels.  The Sovereign God sets the context for our preparation. The experiences of life mold us into the man He wants us to be. The world needs city preachers like Isaiah, but also country preachers like Micah. Their backgrounds were different, but their message was the same (even identical, cf. Micah 4:1-3; Is. 2:2-4). 

The days in which Micah served were days of spiritual decline—with the exception being a time of revival in Hezekiah’s reign. Yet, even that would dramatically end with Hezekiah’s death and his degenerate son, Manasseh, coming to power. There have been few eras when preaching the truth was in favor. In our present context, we see that respect for Biblical preaching has dropped precipitously and we will likely see even church members moving from previous receptivity, to increasing apathy, and ending in outright hostility toward our message.  The world, of course, hates us already.

Preach the Word anyway!

NECESSITY OF MINISTERIAL PROGRESS, Part 1

(From “Lectures to My Students,” C. H. Spurgeon, pp. 205-207, Kindle Version)

First, dear brethren, I think it necessary to say to myself and to you that we must go forward in our mental acquirements. It will never do for us continually to present ourselves to God at our worst. We are not worth his having at our best; but at any rate let not the offering be maimed and blemished by our idleness. "Thou shalt lore the Lord thy God with all thy heart" is, perhaps, more easy to comply with, than to love him with all our mind; yet we must give him our mind as well as our affections, and that mind should be well furnished, that we may not offer him an empty casket.

Our ministry demands mind. I shall not insist upon "the enlightenment of the age," still it is quite certain that there is a great educational advance among all classes, and that there will yet be much more of it. The time is passed when ungrammatical speech will suffice for a preacher. Even in a country village, where, according to tradition, "nobody knows nothings" the schoolmaster is now abroad, and want of education will hinder usefulness more than it once did; for, when the speaker wishes his audience to remember the gospel, they on the other hand will remember his ungrammatical expressions, and will repeat them as themes for jest, when we could have wished they had rehearsed the divine doctrines to one another in solemn earnest. Dear brethren, we must cultivate ourselves to the highest possible point, and we should do this, first by gathering in knowledge that we may fill the barn, then by acquiring discrimination that we may winnow the heap, and lastly by a firm retentiveness of mind, by which we may lay up the winnowed grain in the storehouse. These three points may not be equally important, but they are all necessary to a complete man.

We must, I say, make great efforts to acquire information, especially of a Biblical kind. We must not confine ourselves to one topic of study, or we shall not exercise our whole mental manhood. God made the world for man, and he made man with a mind intended to occupy and use all the world; he is the tenant, and nature is for a while his house; why should he shut himself out of any of its rooms? Why refuse to taste any of the cleansed meats the great Father has put upon the table? Still, our main business is to study the Scriptures. The smith's main business is to shoe horses; let him see that he knows how to do it, for should he be able to belt an angel with a girdle of gold he will fail as a smith if he cannot make and fix a horse-shoe. It is a small matter that you should be able to write the most brilliant poetry, as possibly you could, unless you can preach a good and telling sermon, which will have the effect of comforting saints and convincing sinners. Study the Bible, dear brethren, through and through, with all helps that you can possibly obtain: remember that the appliances now within the reach of ordinary Christians are much more extensive than they were in our fathers' days, and therefore you must be greater Biblical scholars if you would keep in front of your hearers. Intermeddle with all knowledge, but above all things meditate day and night in the law of the Lord.  

Be well instructed in theology, and do not regard the sneers of those who rail at it because they are ignorant of it. Many preachers are not theologians, and hence the mistakes which they make. It cannot do any hurt to the most lively evangelist to be also a sound theologian, and it may often be the means of saving him from gross blunders, Now-a-days we hear men tear a single sentence of Scripture from its connection, and cry "Eureka! Eureka!" as if they had found a new truth; and yet they have not discovered a diamond, but a piece of broken glass. Had they been able to compare spiritual things with spiritual, had they understood the analogy of the faith, and had they been acquainted with the holy learning of the great Bible students of ages past, they would not have been quite so fast in vaunting their marvelous knowledge. Let us be thoroughly well acquainted with the great doctrines of the Word of God, and let us be mighty in expounding Scripture. I am sure that no preaching will last so long, or build up a church so well, as the expository. To renounce altogether the hortatory discourse for the expository would be running to a preposterous extreme; but I cannot too earnestly assure you that if your ministries are to be lastingly useful you must be expositors. For this you must understand the Word yourselves, and be able so to comment upon it that the people may be built up by the Word. Be masters of your Bibles, brethren: whatever other works you have not searched, be at home with the writings of the prophets and apostles. "Let the word of God dwell in you richly" Having given precedence to the inspired writings, neglect no field of knowledge. The presence of Jesus on the earth has sane-titled the realms of nature, and what he has cleansed call not you common. All that your Father has made is yours, and you should learn from it. You may read a naturalist's journal, or a traveler's voyage, and find profit in it. Yes, and even an old herbal, or a manual of alchemy may, like Samson's dead lion, yield you honey. There are pearls in oyster shells, and fruits on thorny boughs. The paths of true science, especially natural history and botany, drop fatness. Geology, so far as it is fact, and not fiction, is full of treasures. History-–wonderful are the visions which it makes to pass before you–-is eminently instructive; indeed, every portion of God's dominion in nature teems with precious teachings. Follow the trails of knowledge, according as you have the time, the opportunity, and the peculiar faculty; and do not hesitate to do so because of any apprehension that you will educate yourselves up to too high a point. When grace abounds, learning will not puff you up, or injure your simplicity in the gospel. Serve God with such education as you have, and thank him for blowing through you if you are a ram's horn, but if there be a possibility of your becoming a silver trumpet, choose it rather.

I BELIEVE GOD

 Do you believe God?

Preachers are supposed to be men of faith. We call on others to believe in God—to have saving faith. We comfort others in their time of trial to trust in God—to have sustaining faith. We challenge, even confront the wavering with this, “Believe in God!”

Do we believe God?

Saying it can be easy, but showing it is essential—and that is the test. There was David—who brought down a giant, yet often in the Psalms we hear him downcast, “My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, ‘Where is your God?’” (Ps. 42‬:‭3‬). Elijah stands alone on Mt. Carmel against 450 prophets of Baal, sees fire fall from heaven to consume the sacrifice in answer to his prayer, then slays those prophets. But, shortly thereafter we find him fleeing Jezebel and sitting under a juniper tree so despondent he prays to die. John the Baptist thunders a message of repentance and points to Jesus as, “The Lamb of God,” but later we find him imprisoned and feeling abandoned so that he sends words to Christ, his Cousin, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matt.‬ ‭11‬:‭3‬). As old Vance Havner put it, “It is one thing to stand on the banks of the Jordan and give it, and another to sit in the jail and take it!”

Do we believe God?

Some of the champions of faith have wavered, but they withstood in the end. Serving Christ will bring us into difficult, dark days. The devil will see to that. Paul was being tested in a storm, but his testimony was, “Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.” (Acts‬ ‭27‬:‭25).