Jason K. Allen's Blog, page 27

Do the Work of an Evangelist

In his parting words to Timothy, the Apostle Paul set forth a series of exhortations so that his understudy might fulfill his ministry. As Paul wrote, he faced death, and Timothy faced discouragement. These final words in II Timothy not only strengthened the letter’s namesake but also have instructed and fortified gospel servants throughout the centuries. Second Timothy drips with application for every minister.

Gospel ministers, myself included, tend to identify most readily with Paul’s exhortation to “preach the Word.” The Scriptural emphasis on preaching and the romance of God’s call to preach prompts most pastors to conceptualize themselves fundamentally as a preacher, and their most urgent responsibility, to preach.

While not minimizing the Apostle’s exhortation to preach the Word, a different one of Paul’s charges has held my attention most recently—“do the work of an evangelist.” Doing the work of an evangelist is a charge every pastor must hold fast, and every church must expect of its ministers. This is especially true in my own denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention.

A Denominational Concern

 As reports have consistently indicated the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention, have reported declining baptism rates for years. While such statistics don’t tell the whole story, they do tell enough of the story to be concerned.

Shockingly, last year 25% of churches reported baptizing no one and 80% reported baptizing only one young person. Additionally, a high number of our baptisms are of very young children, who may fail to grasp the gospel and may fail to experience true repentance and saving faith.

The solution is not programmatic, nor should we encourage rushing more people into the baptistery in order to prop up soft denominational numbers. Sloshing the unconverted in water does not a baptism make. But we ought to be burdened, and ought not be afraid of numerical goals.

For example, what if every Southern Baptist pastor sought to lead to Christ, baptize, and disciple one more person each year? What if, by God’s grace, every Southern Baptist pastor did this once a month? The results would be staggering, and the effects on our churches—and the lost—would be massive.

  A Personal Burden

In nearly 20 years of ministry, my highest points have not been preaching in large settings, meeting distinguished individuals, or even leading a seminary. I can truly say that my most memorable moments have been in living rooms, around kitchen tables, sitting in the pastor’s study, or on an airplane leading someone to Christ.

But I must confess, doing the work of an evangelist is harder for me these days. As a seminary president, I live life mostly surrounded by believers, with little marginal time. Over the past year, I have been burdened by my personal lack of evangelism and have had to learn the key of intentionality in my personal witness, like every other area of life.

Intentionality, a Key Step

In any organization, the maxim, “When everyone does it, no one does it” is usually true. General responsibilities, initiatives, and goals usually fail because there is not built in expectation or accountability. The same can be true with our witness. When we intend to witness to everyone, sometimes we witness to no one.

When I intentionally pray for certain people, I find myself more intentional about witnessing to them. When I intentionally engage attendants at the barbershop, laundromat, gas station, or restaurant, I find myself more intentionally witnessing to them. When I intentionally set personal evangelistic goals and hold myself accountable, I find myself, well, doing the work of an evangelist.

In Conclusion

In every church, God blesses certain people with exceptional financial resources and a generous spirit. They give generously and bless the church. But that does not absolve every other Christian from their stewardship responsibilities.

Likewise, as referenced in Ephesians 4, God calls and gifts certain men as evangelists to draw the net, plant churches, and serve as missionaries. The fact that God calls and gifts some in extra measure does not absolve every Christian, and especially every minister, from doing the work of an evangelist.

Evangelism is not primarily about a gift, or even one’s gifting, it is about being a faithful Christian—and a faithful minister. Brother pastors, let us do the work of an evangelist.

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*This article was originally posted 4/4/16*

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Lord’s Day Meditation: “The Myrtle Trees That Were In The Bottom” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “The Myrtle Trees That Were In The Bottom” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 26, Morning)

“The myrtle trees that were in the bottom.” (Zechariah 1:18)

The vision in this chapter describes the condition of Israel in Zechariah’s day; but being interpreted in its aspect towards us, it describes the Church of God as we find it now in the world. The Church is compared to a myrtle grove flourishing in a valley. It is hidden, unobserved, secreted; courting no honour and attracting no observation from the careless gazer. The Church, like her head, has a glory, but it is concealed from carnal eyes, for the time of her breaking forth in all her splendour is not yet come. The idea of tranquil security is also suggested to us: for the myrtle grove in the valley is still and calm, while the storm sweeps over the mountain summits. Tempests spend their force upon the craggy peaks of the Alps, but down yonder where flows the stream which maketh glad the city of our God, the myrtles flourish by the still waters, all unshaken by the impetuous wind. How great is the inward tranquility of God’s Church! Even when opposed and persecuted, she has a peace which the world gives not, and which, therefore, it cannot take away: the peace of God which passeth all understanding keeps the hearts and minds of God’s people. Does not the metaphor forcibly picture the peaceful, perpetual growth of the saints? The myrtle sheds not her leaves, she is always green; and the Church in her worst time still hath a blessed verdure of grace about her; nay, she has sometimes exhibited most verdure when her winter has been sharpest. She has prospered most when her adversities have been most severe. Hence the text hints at victory. The myrtle is the emblem of peace, and a significant token of triumph. The brows of conquerors were bound with myrtle and with laurel; and is not the Church ever victorious? Is not every Christian more than a conqueror through him that loved him? Living in peace, do not the saints fall asleep in the arms of victory?

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Preacher: Ask Yourself These 7 Questions Before Preaching Your Next Sermon

Checklists can be helpful for most every area of life. For example, before traveling I always review a mental list to make sure I’ve appropriately packed and have my logistical bases covered.

Over the years, I’ve also developed a mental checklist that I typically ask of every sermon before I preach it. Like traveling, this checklist is important because in the rush of getting out the door, I can overlook an essential element to the preaching process if I don’t intentionally pause and reflect upon the task at hand. These seven questions help me do just that.

Is my heart pure?

As Vance Havner once quipped, “God can hit a straight lick with a crooked stick.” Thankfully, God often works gloriously through the message despite the messenger. People occasionally survive plane crashes and brain tumors too, but that doesn’t make them preferred circumstances. The preacher shouldn’t hope God works in spite of his sin; the preacher should guard his heart so that God can most effectively work through him. What is more, if my conscience is pricked because of unconfessed sin, it will stymie my confidence, joy, and effectiveness in preaching.

Am I confident I understand the meaning of the text?

Faithful preaching is built upon faithful interpretation. Few things frighten me more than the possibility of misunderstanding or misrepresenting God’s Word. While no preacher bats 1000, if I err in interpreting the text it must be due to the complexity of the passage, not the paucity of my study. In fact, over the years there have been a few times when I’ve aborted a sermon last minute because I was not confident I rightly understood the meaning of the text. On those occasions, I was forced to preach an old sermon, but I would rather preach a repeat sermon than an errant one.

Have I applied the sermon to my own life?

Typically, I accomplish this by praying through the sermon text and manuscript one final time before I preach. Often, in that moment, I will find sin to confess, attitudes to change, actions to resolve to take, promises in Christ to rest in, or other such applications. This process strengthens my confidence in my sermon and gives me added force in my preaching. It also adds relevance to the sermon, because I often know how the text will work in the lives of others by how it has worked in my own life.

Are there any partial truths or embellishments in my sermon?

A good story can hold people’s attention, but God ultimately will not honor partial truths. If the story has to be embellished to make it interesting or to connect it to the text, it is not worth telling. Preachers should never speak with forked tongues, especially in the pulpit.

Is my sermon as clear as it can be?

As has been said, a fog in the pulpit is a mist in the pew. If you cannot clearly state the meaning of the passage, the main points of the sermon, and how the latter are derived from the former, you still have work to do. Moreover, twenty-dollar words and lofty concepts impress no one. However, this does not mean that we have to forfeit the Christian dictionary in the process. Explain words like redemption, propitiation, and justification, but jettison words and concepts that are needlessly confusing. Great preaching simplifies the complicated; it doesn’t complicate the simple.

Do my illustrations amplify or detract from the text?

To illustrate is to play with fire. When contained and rightly calibrated, good illustrations can add light and heat to the sermon. When uncontained and over torqued, they can consume and destroy the sermon. Balance here is key. Ponder this question carefully, “Will this illustration illuminate overshadow what the text says?” And, whatever you do, never illustrate and illustration.

Do I make a beeline to the cross?

As gospel preachers, every sermon should contain the gospel. Usually, this happens quite naturally and organically within the text itself. You don’t have to be an archaeologist to find Christ in the text; you just have to open your eyes. Taking a step back, every passage of Scripture will connect to Christ and to the metanarrative of God’s redemptive work. Intentionally drawing lines from your text to Christ and his cross will ensure your sermon arrives with life-transforming power.

Conclusion

To preach is to live with an impending deadline. The tyranny of the urgent is the way of life. That deadline can focus thought and induce clarity, but it can also lead one to overlook an essential component of faithful preaching. Intentional and rightly targeted questions, like these seven, can help prevent this from happening.

 

*This article was originally posted on 4/27/15*

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Lord’s Day Meditation: “Who Of God Is Made Unto Us Wisdom” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “Who Of God Is Made Unto Us Wisdom” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 25, Evening)

“Who of God is made unto us wisdom.” (1 Corinthians 1:30)

Man’s intellect seeks after rest, and by nature seeks it apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Men of education are apt, even when converted, to look upon the simplicities of the cross of Christ with an eye too little reverent and loving. They are snared in the old net in which the Grecians were taken, and have a hankering to mix philosophy with revelation. The temptation with a man of refined thought and high education is to depart from the simple truth of Christ crucified, and to invent, as the term is, a more intellectual doctrine. This led the early Christian churches into Gnosticism, and bewitched them with all sorts of heresies. This is the root of Neology, and the other fine things which in days gone by were so fashionable in Germany, and are now so ensnaring to certain classes of divines. Whoever you are, good reader, and whatever your education may be, if you be the Lord’s, be assured you will find no rest in philosophizing divinity. You may receive this dogma of one great thinker, or that dream of another profound reasoner, but what the chaff is to the wheat, that will these be to the pure word of God. All that reason, when best guided, can find out is but the A B C of truth, and even that lacks certainty, while in Christ Jesus there is treasured up all the fulness of wisdom and knowledge. All attempts on the part of Christians to be content with systems such as Unitarian and Broad-church thinkers would approve of, must fail; true heirs of heaven must come back to the grandly simple reality which makes the ploughboy’s eye flash with joy, and gladens the pious pauper’s heart–“Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.” Jesus satisfies the most elevated intellect when he is believingly received, but apart from him the mind of the regenerate discovers no rest. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” “A good understanding have all they that do his commandments.”

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Seven Theological Issues Confronting the Church

In every era, Christians are called “to contend earnestly for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints.” Some struggles recur in every generation. Battles such as the veracity of Scripture or the person and work of Christ are perennial ones. The church, again and again, has to articulate and defend these doctrines.

Other battles, such as the Bible’s teaching on marriage, gender, and human sexuality, seem to appear out of nowhere and require the church to be agile, quick, and forceful in response.

Christians are not to be pugilists, always on the lookout for doctrinal fights. But we better not be cowards either, unwilling to find one. In fact, Martin Luther—the reluctant reformer—serves as a good role model. Luther challenged the ruling ecclesiastical and magisterial authorities of his day, under constant threat of death, because his “conscience was bound to the Word of God.”

On the Christian’s willingness to join the battle, Luther purportedly observed:

If I profess, with the loudest voice and the clearest exposition, every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity. Where the battle rages the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battle-field besides is mere flight and disgrace to him if he flinches at that one point.

Protestants understand that there is a balance to be maintained between the church and the truth. The church doesn’t determine the truth; the truth determines the church. The church doesn’t authenticate the Scriptures, the Scriptures authenticate the church. The church doesn’t empower the truth; the truth empowers the church.

Yet, the church and truth enjoy a symbiotic relationship. The church is called to proclaim and practice the truth. After all, the Apostle Paul designates the church as “the pillar and support of the truth.”

In the spirit of Luther, the church—and especially those who lead it—must continually ask itself, “where is the battle raging? Which truths are under assault? Against what attacks should Christians mobilize and engage?” When considered in this light, seven theological challenges surface for the church to confront.

First, the church must recover the exclusivity of the gospel. The evangelical church persists in a state of evangelistic slumber. In my own denomination, baptisms and giving for missions continue to slump. What is even more concerning is our collective lack of concern over these trajectories. The statistics are not just numbers. They are people—people in need of Christ.

At its root, neither the causes nor cures are methodological or programmatic. The issue is theological—do we still believe that people who die apart from Christ are eternally separated from God and will endure punishment in Hell? Even for those who still profess the exclusivity of the gospel, our practice often tells another story. We must recover the exclusivity of the gospel.

Second, the church must defend the nature and power of Scripture. This is a perennial concern, but an especially urgent one as well. Thankfully, in recent years the inerrancy of Scripture has received renewed attention. John MacArthur hosted The Inerrancy Summit and recently released The Scripture Cannot Be Broken: Twentieth Century Writings on the Doctrine of Inerrancy. Additionally, D. A Carson’s newly released, The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures, is a massive contribution.

Yet, for evangelicals, we can believe the Bible without BELIEVING it. The latter so values the Bible that it forms our convictions, dominates our pulpits, shapes our leadership, fills our minds, and drives our counseling. The church must defend and seek this type of belief—a belief in the full truthfulness, authority, and power of Scripture.

Third, the church must articulate a comprehensive view of sexuality, gender, and marriage. Albert Mohler has helpfully pointed out that the pastor simply cannot speak to every issue all the time. Rather, he must always be assessing what can be assumed versus what must be articulated.

Perhaps no facet of human experience has more quickly migrated from the “can be assumed” to the “must be articulated” category than issues of sexuality, gender, and marriage. In order to equip our own church members, protect the testimony of the church, and for the glory of God in the home and church, we must be speaking consistently—and loudly—to these issues.

Fourth, the church must nurture an experiential Christianity. The advent of the Internet has led to the proliferation of content and the possibilities to learn unlike any other time in human history. A world of knowledge is only a click away. Christians are now corks bobbing in an ocean of data, with books, articles, blogs, and posts all beckoning us to read them.

While there is much to celebrate and many healthy ways to leverage these technological innovations for the gospel, we must beware of clinical Christianity. This is the kind of Christianity that so values learning, knowledge, and the consummation of data—albeit good data—to the neglect of the heart, the soul, and the experiential. The best truth is applied truth, and the church must nurture that kind of Christianity.

Fifth, the church must rediscover its eschatological hope. Throughout its history, the church has oscillated between a preoccupation with the return of Christ and an irresponsible neglect of this doctrine. In the 20th century, the pendulum swung too far toward towards end-time speculation and eschatological sensation. In the 21st century, the pendulum has swung back too far the other way.

Prophecy charts and eschatology conferences have given way to a studious indifference to the Eschaton. A healthy eschatological hope provides ballast for the church. It provides support for persecuted Christians and balance for those who’ve attained material gain and earthly comfort.

Sixth, the church must recover regenerate church membership. This concern, and the next, are more provincial, applying more specifically to my Southern Baptist context. When churches populate their rolls with those who show no signs of conversion—and leave them on their rolls with no concern—they undermine the integrity and witness of their church, hinder the testimony and integrity of the congregation, and limit God’s glory through the congregation to the community.

Additionally, unregenerate church membership undermines the integrity of congregationalism as a form of church government. How can the church be rightly governed if a substantial number of those entrusted with governing it show no signs of conversion?

Seventh, the church must reassert the primacy of the ordinances. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the two ordinances given by Christ to the church and for the church. Baptism by immersion is an unmistakable New Testament command and is central to the believer and the church. Moreover, it is central to what it means to be a Baptist and to neglect teaching and practicing this ordinance will surely erode our Baptist identity.

Similarly, Christ gave the Lord’s Supper to the church for the church, and it is stewarded by the church. Christians have long held that only baptized believers, in good standing with their church, are invited to take the Lord’s Supper.

In Conclusion

President Bill Clinton once mused that he’d never be considered a truly great president because no major national crisis occurred on his watch. Lincoln had to save the Union; FDR had Pearl Harbor and World War II; and Reagan had the consummation of the Cold War. Immortal actors need a grand stage to stride across.

There is something far worse than not having a crisis to engage. It is having a crisis but not engaging it. Faithfulness in our generation requires the church—and especially the pastors that lead it—to do our duty of preserving the faith and supporting the church. Are you ready to do yours?

Jude 1:3.

1 Timothy 3:15.

*This article was originally published on 5/4/16*

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Lord’s Day Meditation: “Just And The Justifier Of Him Which Believeth” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “Just And The Justifier Of Him Which Believeth” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 25, Morning)

“Just, and the justifier of him which believeth.” (Romans 3:26)

Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Conscience accuses no longer. Judgment now decides for the sinner instead of against him. Memory looks back upon past sins, with deep sorrow for the sin, but yet with no dread of any penalty to come; for Christ has paid the debt of his people to the last jot and tittle, and received the divine receipt; and unless God can be so unjust as to demand double payment for one debt, no soul for whom Jesus died as a substitute can ever be cast into hell. It seems to be one of the very principles of our enlightened nature to believe that God is just; we feel that it must be so, and this gives us our terror at first; but is it not marvellous that this very same belief that God is just, becomes afterwards the pillar of our confidence and peace! If God be just, I, a sinner, alone and without a substitute, must be punished; but Jesus stands in my stead and is punished for me; and now, if God be just, I, a sinner, standing in Christ, can never be punished. God must change his nature before one soul, for whom Jesus was a substitute, can ever by any possibility suffer the lash of the law. Therefore, Jesus having taken the place of the believer–having rendered a full equivalent to divine wrath for all that his people ought to have suffered as the result of sin, the believer can shout with glorious triumph, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” Not God, for he hath justified; not Christ, for he hath died, “yea rather hath risen again.” My hope lives not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, he is my righteousness. My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what he has done, and in what he is now doing for me. On the lion of justice the fair maid of hope rides like a queen.

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The One Gift Every Pastor Must Have

In the midst of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, Warren Buffet famously observed, “It’s when the tide goes out that you see who’s skinny dipping.” Buffet was reflecting on the banks and investment firms that had insufficient capital to meet their financial obligations during the great recession.

Buffet’s observation applies to the ministry as well. When you stand before God’s people with Bible in hand, the tide goes out. It is in those moments when you attempt to speak on behalf of God, that all will see the veracity of your calling.

For pastors, preaching and teaching God’s Word has a way of stripping us all bare; it exposes us and puts our gifting on public display. You can’t finesse your way through a sermon with polished appearance, warm people skills, or seminary credentials alone. In the moment of truth, your ability—or lack thereof—to teach and preach God’s Word reveals much about your calling.

This is the way it should be because the one called to the ministry is called to a ministry of the Word. God sets him apart to teach and preach His Word. This clarifying stipulation both challenges and reassures us. Those whom God has truly called; he has truly gifted for the task. Every pastor must be gifted to teach the Word; and every qualified pastor is.

“Able to Teach”

In I Timothy 3:1-7, the ability to teach is the distinguishing mark between the elder and the deacon. Both are expected to be godly, but only the office of elder requires an ability to teach. There are a thousand ways a minister can serve the church, but he has one indispensable and non-negotiable responsibility—to preach and teach the Word of God.

Since the pastor’s primary duty is to preach and teach God’s word, he who would hold the office must be equal to the task. Literally, lives are at stake. The health of the church rises or falls with the pulpit.

Preaching includes teaching, but teaching may or may not include preaching. Both convey biblical truth, but the latter includes public proclamation—heralding the truth of Scripture to the gathered congregation.

Preaching and teaching are not distinct categories, but rather distinct venues or distinct outlets. As a wise professor once told me, “Preaching should never be anything less than teaching the Bible, but it should always be more than a Bible study.”

It is interesting that the “ability to teach” is the only qualification related to the pastor’s gifting or ability. I’m struck by what God left out of this list. In addition to sterling character, the would-be pastor isn’t required to be a gifted leader, a competent manager, a creative genius, or possess a magnetic personality—all of which come in handy in ministry. There is one gift, and only one gift, the pastor must possess. He must be able to teach.

Why Preaching?

 Preaching is God’s divinely ordained means of communicating his Word, of nourishing his church, and of redeeming a people for himself. Other ministerial activities may compliment preaching, but no ministerial activity should displace preaching.

As Spurgeon warned:

“I do not look for any other means of converting men beyond the simple preaching of the gospel and the opening of men’s ears to hear it. The moment the church of God shall despise the pulpit, God will despise her. It has been through the ministry that the Lord has always been pleased to revive and bless his churches.”[1]

God only had one Son, and he made him a preacher. Scripture tells us, “Jesus came preaching,” and then he sent his disciples out to preach.[2] From the prophets of old, to Pentecost, to the end of the age, preaching is God’s appointed means to convey his message.

Preach the Word, a Simple Command

Every preacher can readily identify with the Apostle Paul’s binding charge to Timothy, “Preach the Word.” This charge is situated at the end of Paul’s final letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, and it encapsulates the broader biblical expectation that ministers faithfully discharge their responsibilities of faithfully preaching and teaching the Word.

As Paul is writing II Timothy, he knows his death is near. Christians are being persecuted. False prophets are plaguing the church. Many who named Christ as Savior have fallen away. Timothy himself is vacillating in the faith and questioning his call. Paul is writing his final letter, as the dying words of a dying man, to a distressed church and a discouraged son.

In this salutary charge, he tells Timothy, “Preach the Word.” This exhortation occurs—explicitly and implicitly—throughout Scripture, but nowhere more conspicuously than here.  And it appears with added momentum, because of its context in this book, and in the lives of Paul, Timothy, and the church. There is a degree of narrowing earnestness, of focused deliberateness from Paul to Timothy, to us.

In II Timothy 3, Paul documents the catastrophic effects of man’s sinfulness and presents the ministerial antidote—preaching God’s Word—which is inspired, inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient. We are called to “Preach the Word” because the days are evil, and the Scriptures are powerful. For preachers, II Timothy 4:2 has a certain romance to it—a magnetic pull, calling us back again and again and again to our central responsibility.

The call to preach—in light of so many problems in the society and the church—appears simplistic, but those are God’s instructions. To preach means “to herald, to lift up one’s voice, to proclaim.” It is to speak boldly, even loudly, without fear, and to make truth known.

Again, there is simplicity in Paul’s charge, “Preach the Word” There is a beautiful simplicity, an unmistakable clarity to this instruction. There is no need to clarify which word, or whose word.  Rather, we are called to preach the Word—God’s Word. In fact, the premise of preaching the Word is built upon the entire canon of Scripture, and it roars throughout this book.

If you are not convinced of Scripture—its truthfulness, authority, relevance, and power—then you will be disinclined to preach the Word. You may look to it for sermon points because that is what evangelical preachers are to do, but you’ll never let the Word be the point and points of your sermon.

Essential Ingredients of Preaching and Teaching

While a quick wit, booming voice, and strong self-presentation are helpful elements, the key ingredients of faithful preaching should be preset. Faithful preaching has two essential ingredients, and he that is called to preach should cultivate both.

These two components are study of the Word and proclamation of the Word. To emphasize either to the de-emphasis of the other is error. Here we must maintain intentional balance.

Some more naturally enjoy the process of preparing sermons. They enjoy digging into the text of Scripture, rightly interpreting it, constructing an exegetical outline and stitching together a sermon. This is good, and no one should enter ministry without intending to delve into the text.

Others more naturally enjoy presentation. The act of preaching itself animates them. They enjoy delivering the goods to God’s people. Great preachers excel at both, and you should cultivate both strengths in your own ministry.

Conclusion

 Martyn Lloyd-Jones famously observed that preaching is “the highest, the greatest, and the most glorious calling to which one can ever be called.”[3] In fact, it is too high and too glorious of a calling for just anyone to preach just anything for just any reason in just any way.

Like any other ability, teaching and preaching God’s Word is an acquired skill. Gifted by the Spirit of God, yes. But practice makes perfect, and it might take quite some time to clarify your gifting to preach. Don’t expect to sound like a veteran preacher your first time in the pulpit. In fact, you may not ever become an accomplished preacher.

Seminaries can grant a degree and churches can hire a pastor, but only God can make a preacher. Preaching is to be done by a man, called of God, who is compelled to herald the Bible with full conviction and faithful interpretation. The Bible details many character expectations of the pastor, but there is only one gift he must have—he must be able to preach and teach the Word of God.

 

 

[1] C. H. Spurgeon, Autobiography, Volume 1: The Early Years (London: Banner of Truth, 1962), v.

[2] Mark 1:14; Matthew 28:16-20.

[3] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1972), 9.

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Lord’s Day Meditation: “I Sleep, But My Heart Waketh” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “I Sleep, But My Heart Waketh” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 24, Evening)

“I sleep, but my heart waketh.” (Song of Solomon 5:2)

Paradoxes abound in Christian experience, and here is one–the spouse was asleep, and yet she was awake. He only can read the believer’s riddle who has ploughed with the heifer of his experience. The two points in this evening’s text are–a mournful sleepiness and a hopeful wakefulness. I sleep. Through sin that dwelleth in us we may become lax in holy duties, slothful in religious exercises, dull in spiritual joys, and altogether supine and careless. This is a shameful state for one in whom the quickening Spirit dwells; and it is dangerous to the highest degree. Even wise virgins sometimes slumber, but it is high time for all to shake off the bands of sloth. It is to be feared that many believers lose their strength as Samson lost his locks, while sleeping on the lap of carnal security. With a perishing world around us, to sleep is cruel; with eternity so near at hand, it is madness. Yet we are none of us so much awake as we should be; a few thunder-claps would do us all good, and it may be, unless we soon bestir ourselves, we shall have them in the form of war, or pestilence, or personal bereavements and losses. O that we may leave forever the couch of fleshly ease, and go forth with flaming torches to meet the coming Bridegroom! My heart waketh. This is a happy sign. Life is not extinct, though sadly smothered. When our renewed heart struggles against our natural heaviness, we should be grateful to sovereign grace for keeping a little vitality within the body of this death. Jesus will hear our hearts, will help our hearts, will visit our hearts; for the voice of the wakeful heart is really the voice of our Beloved, saying, “Open to me.” Holy zeal will surely unbar the door.

“Oh lovely attitude! He stands

With melting heart and laden hands;

My soul forsakes her every sin;

And lets the heavenly stranger in.”

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Him We Proclaim: Heeding Spurgeon’s Call to Preach Jesus from the Entire Bible

On March 13, 1859, the preeminent preacher of Victorian England, Charles Spurgeon, delivered one of his most memorable sermons, “Christ Precious to Believers,” to a congregation of over 10,000. The congregation, having long since proven too large for Spurgeon’s New Park Street Church now filled London’s largest indoor auditorium, the Music Hall of the Royal Surrey Gardens.

Impressing upon his hearers the centrality of Jesus and the imperative to preach Christ from all of the Bible, Spurgeon paraphrased a recent exchange between a sage, elderly pastor and minister in training. “Don’t you know, young man, that from every town and every village and every hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London? So from every text in Scripture, there is a road toward the great metropolis, Christ. And my dear brother, your business is, when you get to a text, to say, ‘Now what is the road to Christ?’ I have never found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it, and if ever I find one . . . I will go over hedge and ditch but I would get my Master, for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a saviour of Christ in it.”[1]

The apostolic mandate to “preach Christ and him crucified” that Spurgeon exemplified with force and animation in Victorian England is all the more urgent for the 21st-century church. Moreover, Spurgeon’s call echoes forward to this day in homiletical classrooms across America. This call is not merely a nudge toward a more polished homiletical delivery; rather it comes with the weighty knowledge that the message of a crucified and risen Christ alone saves. Thus, it is indeed “Him we proclaim.”

Our culture finds itself at the intersection of geopolitical tumult abroad, encroaching secularism at home, and a general sense of the decay of so many markers of Christian civilization that generations past held constant and sure. This backdrop accentuates the need and the promise of preaching. Not just any preaching will do, however. We must settle for nothing less than preaching that is muscular in biblical content, courageous in delivery, and Christ-centered in focus. Moreover, we must be about the business of producing preachers who are submissive to the authority of Scripture, under compulsion to declare the whole counsel of God, and who exult in proclaiming the riches of Christ every time they fill the pulpit.

Spurgeon’s preaching legacy lives on through the massive 63-volume collection of his pulpit ministry at both New Park Street and the Metropolitan Tabernacle. It has been noted that you can turn to the last page of any of Spurgeon’s preserved 3,563 sermons and you will find him pointing his hearers to Christ. As president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which owns Spurgeon’s 7,000-volume library and various other memorabilia from his ministry, including his writing desk, I am reminded again and again of his relentless desire to preach Jesus.

Likewise, those who are called to preach must point their congregants to Jesus, and those who train preachers must have a similar gospel emphasis. Exegesis and hermeneutics classes must show students how faithfully to interpret Christ. Systematic theology classes must point students to Jesus, the apex of the whole Bible. Evangelism classes must be designed to train students to spread the gospel of Christ most effectively and energetically. And, of course, homiletics classes must equip young preachers with the tools to preach Christ. This continuity of study bespeaks a collective intentionality to see the name of Christ known among the nations.

Declaring Christ from the entire Bible is more than a theological trend or an interpretive approach; it is a biblical mandate, a Great Commission necessity, and the primary aim of biblical preaching. Spurgeon’s goal must be our own—to preach Jesus in every sermon.

[1] Charles H. Spurgeon, “Christ Precious to Believers,” sermon at Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens, London, March 13, 1859.

*This article was originally posted on 10/21/2013*

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Lord’s Day Meditation: “For I Was Ashamed” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “For I Was Ashamed” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 24, Morning)

“For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.” (Ezra 8:22)

A convoy on many accounts would have been desirable for the pilgrim band, but a holy shame-facedness would not allow Ezra to seek one. He feared lest the heathen king should think his professions of faith in God to be mere hypocrisy, or imagine that the God of Israel was not able to preserve his own worshippers. He could not bring his mind to lean on an arm of flesh in a matter so evidently of the Lord, and therefore the caravan set out with no visible protection, guarded by him who is the sword and shield of his people. It is to be feared that few believers feel this holy jealousy for God; even those who in a measure walk by faith, occasionally mar the lustre of their life by craving aid from man. It is a most blessed thing to have no props and no buttresses, but to stand upright on the Rock of Ages, upheld by the Lord alone. Would any believers seek state endowments for their Church, if they remembered that the Lord is dishonoured by their asking Caesar’s aid? as if the Lord could not supply the needs of his own cause! Should we run so hastily to friends and relations for assistance, if we remembered that the Lord is magnified by our implicit reliance upon his solitary arm? My soul, wait thou only upon God. “But,” says one, “are not means to be used?” Assuredly they are; but our fault seldom lies in their neglect: far more frequently it springs out of foolishly believing in them instead of believing in God. Few run too far in neglecting the creature’s arm; but very many sin greatly in making too much of it. Learn, dear reader, to glorify the Lord by leaving means untried, if by using them thou wouldst dishonour the name of the Lord.

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