Jason K. Allen's Blog, page 34

Lord’s Day Meditation: “The Exceeding Greatness of His Power” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “The Exceeding Greatness of His Power” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 8, Evening)

“The exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.” (Ephesians 1:19-20)

In the resurrection of Christ, as in our salvation, there was put forth nothing short of a divine power. What shall we say of those who think that conversion is wrought by the free will of man, and is due to his own betterness of disposition? When we shall see the dead rise from the grave by their own power, then may we expect to see ungodly sinners of their own free will turning to Christ. It is not the word preached, nor the word read in itself; all quickening power proceeds from the Holy Ghost. This power was irresistible. All the soldiers and the high priests could not keep the body of Christ in the tomb; Death himself could not hold Jesus in his bonds: even thus irresistible is the power put forth in the believer when he is raised to newness of life. No sin, no corruption, no devils in hell nor sinners upon earth, can stay the hand of God’s grace when it intends to convert a man. If God omnipotently says, “Thou shalt,” man shall not say, “I will not.” Observe that the power which raised Christ from the dead was glorious. It reflected honour upon God and wrought dismay in the hosts of evil. So there is great glory to God in the conversion of every sinner. It was everlasting power. “Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” So we, being raised from the dead, go not back to our dead works nor to our old corruptions, but we live unto God. “Because he lives we live also.” “For we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God.” “Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Lastly, in the text mark the union of the new life to Jesus. The same power which raised the Head works life in the members. What a blessing to be quickened together with Christ!

 

How Do You Know if a Sermon is Expository?

What constitutes an expository sermon? Better yet, how might the preacher know if he has preached an expository sermon, and how might the congregation know if they’ve heard one?

The question is a bit more angular than one might initially perceive. It is a question that has struck me in recent months, as I have heard multiple preachers describe their preaching style as expository. Never mind that they give little attention to interpreting the text, applying the text, or actually preaching the text.

Regrettably, the title “expository preaching” has grown so elastic that it has become an almost inadequate, if not altogether unhelpful, designation. Much preaching gets crammed under the heading “expository preaching,” though it bears little resemblance to classical exposition.

In fact, the designation “expository preaching” has become like the designation “evangelical.” There is enough residual respectability in these labels that many want to cling to them, even if their theology or preaching methodology have long since given up any true resemblance to it.

So, what constitutes an expository sermon? Expository preaching begins with a commitment to preach the text. This commitment is rooted in the Bible’s self-attestation that “all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” and that the preacher’s primary task is to “preach the Word.” As he does, the preacher stands on promises like, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the lord endures forever.”[1]

These passages, among many others, provide a rationale for biblical exposition, but they do not delineate its essential, distinguishing marks. A consensus definition of expository preaching proves stubbornly elusive, but there are three essential marks that are supported by Scripture and consistent within most classical definitions of the term. Consider how Alistair Begg, Haddon Robinson, and Bryan Chappel define expository preaching.

Begg defines expository preaching as, “Unfolding the text of Scripture in such a way that it makes contact with the listener’s world while exalting Christ and confronting them with the need for action.”[2]

Robinson’s definition, which has been standard issue in seminary classrooms for several decades, presents exposition as, “The communication of a biblical concept, derived from and transmitted through a historical, grammatical, and literary study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit first applies to the personality and experience of the preacher, then through him to the hearers.”[3]

Chappel argues expository preaching has occurred when, “The main idea of the sermon (the topic), the divisions of that idea (the main points), and the development of those divisions (the sub-points) all come from truths the text itself contains.  No significant portion of the text is ignored.  In other words, expositors willingly stay within the boundaries of a text (and its relevant context) and do not leave until they have surveyed its entirety with their listeners.”[4]

Note, “preaching the word” is marked by these three essentials:

1. The necessity of accurately interpreting the text in its immediate, and broader, biblical context.

2. The necessity of the main point of the sermon and the sermon’s sub-points to be derived from the text.

3. The necessity of the sermon’s application to come from the text and for the text to be brought to bear on the congregation.

These three marks are, admittedly, minimalistic, but they are essential. They are found where an expository sermon is to be found. Consequentially, expository preaching may be much more than this, but it mustn’t be anything less than this.

So, how do you know if a sermon is an expository one?

Is the text accurately interpreted, with consideration given to both its immediate and broader biblical contexts?


Are the main point of the sermon and its sub-points derived from the text?


Does the sermon’s application come from the text and is the text being brought to bear on the congregation?

An expositor doesn’t merely preach from a text or on a text. An expositor preaches the text.  These three essentials mark an expository sermon, and these three questions will let you know when, in fact, the Word has been preached.

[1]  I Peter 1:23-25.

[2]  Alistair Begg, Preaching for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), 23.

[3]  Haddon W. Robinson, Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages  (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980), 21.

[4] Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 131.

*This article was originally posted on 12/6/15*

 

Lord’s Day Meditation: “From Me is Thy Fruit Found” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “From Me is Thy Fruit Found” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 8, Morning)

“From me is thy fruit found.” (Hosea 14:8)

Our fruit is found from our God as to union. The fruit of the branch is directly traceable to the root. Sever the connection, the branch dies, and no fruit is produced. By virtue of our union with Christ we bring forth fruit. Every bunch of grapes has been first in the root, it has passed through the stem, and flowed through the sap vessels, and fashioned itself externally into fruit, but it was first in the stem; so also every good work was first in Christ, and then is brought forth in us. O Christian, prize this precious union to Christ; for it must be the source of all the fruitfulness which thou canst hope to know. If thou wert not joined to Jesus Christ, thou wouldst be a barren bough indeed.

Our fruit comes from God as to spiritual providence. When the dew-drops fall from heaven, when the cloud looks down from on high, and is about to distil its liquid treasure, when the bright sun swells the berries of the cluster, each heavenly boon may whisper to the tree and say, “From me is thy fruit found.” The fruit owes much to the root–that is essential to fruitfulness–but it owes very much also to external influences. How much we owe to God’s grace-providence! in which he provides us constantly with quickening, teaching, consolation, strength, or whatever else we want. To this we owe our all of usefulness or virtue.

Our fruit comes from God as to wise husbandry. The gardener’s sharp-edged knife promotes the fruitfulness of the tree, by thinning the clusters, and by cutting off superfluous shoots. So is it, Christian, with that pruning which the Lord gives to thee. “My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” Since our God is the author of our spiritual graces, let us give to him all the glory of our salvation.

 

The One Passion Every Pastor Must Have

There is no work quite like Ph.D. work. Those who’ve completed the degree know exactly what I’m talking about. You must set aside five or so years of your life to research and write on a topic, ending your labors with a dissertation that makes a unique contribution to your field of study.

The Ph.D. is known as a “terminal degree” because it is the highest degree one can earn, but all who’ve completed one knows it can feel terminal in other ways.

Shockingly, the three letters most associated with the Doctor of Philosophy degree is not Ph.D. They are A.B.D.—all but dissertation. Half of those who undertake the Ph.D. degree never complete it, with most stalling out during the dissertation phase, thus becoming known as A.B.D.[1]

A good friend who’d completed his Ph.D. a few years before I completed mine gave me advice that was, in hindsight, absolutely essential. He told me, “Whatever you do, pick a topic to write your dissertation on that absolutely captivates you; that will animate you day in and day out until you complete your dissertation.”

That was excellent advice. It took me six years to complete my Ph.D. I was serving full-time at Southern Seminary, had served local churches as pastor and interim pastor, and was a husband and the father of five young children. Literally, for years on end, most nights of the week, I put my wife and children to bed at 8 p.m. and worked until 3 a.m. or so completing the project.

That advice is good for those entering doctoral work, but it is even better for those contemplating ministry. Unless you have a singular, overarching passion that will pull you forward in ministry, it may be best not to pursue it. That passion must be for the gospel and the Great Commission.

Spurgeon proves prophetic on this point, saying:

“Brethren, if the Lord gives you no zeal for souls, keep to the lapstone or the trowel, but avoid the pulpit.”[2] He further insists, “We must feel that woe is unto us if we preach not the gospel; the word of God must be unto us as a fire in our bones, other-wise, if we undertake the ministry, we shall be unhappy in it, shall be unable to bear the self-denials incident to it, and shall be of little service to those among whom we minister.”[3]

An Apostolic Pattern

Passion to preach the gospel drove Paul’s entire ministry. He endured hardship, suffering, and eventual martyrdom because of his drive to reach the lost.

Those called to ministry have a passion for the gospel and the Great Commission, and those most used by God in ministry have an extraordinary passion for the same.

The Apostle Paul was set apart from his mother’s womb, and “made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me.”[4] Of this calling, he reflected, “If I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.”[5] Paul’s calling was a calling to preach the gospel.

This is key. Fundamentally, if the ministry is viewed through a humanistic lens, then it is easy to sign up for and withdraw from the ministry based upon the relative feelings of the pastor.  The preacher preaches because he wants to preach; he must preach; he has to preach. Woe is me if I do not preach.

A cursory survey of Paul’s 13 New Testament letters makes this clear. His heart bled for the lost, and it propelled him forward in gospel ministry, in spite of terror and tumult.

For example, consider Paul’s letter to the church at Rome. To the Romans, he reflected:

I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.  So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.[6]

And in this letter, he reflected to the Romans about this burden for his own countrymen, the Jewish people, who, in the main, had rejected Christ. Again, consider the Apostle’s heart for the lost:

I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh… [7]

Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for theirsalvation.[8]

A Personal Responsibility

Evangelistic urgency isn’t reserved for Paul, or some other elite class of super Christians. Every person in ministry is called to the work of gospel proclamation. In God’s divine economy, it is his plan for reaching the world for the glory of his name.  Look at Paul’s airtight logic for gospel ministry.

For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’[9]

Your evangelistic urgency will ebb and flow due to many factors, including the receptivity of your hearers, your own spiritual vitality, and other personal and contextual variables. But I know of no better way to evaluate my spiritual and ministry vitality than how passionate I am about the gospel. If I’m lukewarm about the Great Commission, it points to deeper concerns.

Conclusion

 To pursue ministry but not having a passion for the gospel and fulfilling the Great Commission is like pursuing medicine, but not liking patients. I suppose you can manage along, but you will lack fruitfulness and joy. Most troubling of all, you will hinder God’s divine plan for reaching the world for Christ.

Ministry work is gospel work. A love for the lost, and a desire to see them come to know Christ, will be forward propulsion for your ministry. Don’t embark on ministry without a love for the gospel and the Great Commission. It’s the one passion every pastor must have.

[1] Laura Morrison, Why Do People Drop Out of Ph.D. Programs?GradSchools.com, April 2014. http://www.gradschools.com/get-inform....

[2] Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 26.

[3] Ibid., 29.

[4] Colossians 1:25.

[5] I Corinthians 9:16.

[6] Romans 1:13-16.

[7] Romans 12:1-3.

[8] Romans 10:1.

[9] Romans 10:13-15.

*This article was originally published on 2/22/16*

Lord’s Day Meditation: “There is Sorrow on the Sea” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “There is Sorrow on the Sea” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 7, Evening)

September 7, Evening

“There is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.” (Jeremiah 49:23)

Little know we what sorrow may be upon the sea at this moment. We are safe in our quiet chamber, but far away on the salt sea the hurricane may be cruelly seeking for the lives of men. Hear how the death fiends howl among the cordage; how every timber starts as the waves beat like battering rams upon the vessel! God help you, poor drenched and wearied ones! My prayer goes up to the great Lord of sea and land, that he will make the storm a calm, and bring you to your desired haven! Nor ought I to offer prayer alone, I should try to benefit those hardy men who risk their lives so constantly. Have I ever done anything for them? What can I do? How often does the boisterous sea swallow up the mariner! Thousands of corpses lie where pearls lie deep. There is death-sorrow on the sea, which is echoed in the long wail of widows and orphans. The salt of the sea is in many eyes of mothers and wives. Remorseless billows, ye have devoured the love of women, and the stay of households. What a resurrection shall there be from the caverns of the deep when the sea gives up her dead! Till then there will be sorrow on the sea. As if in sympathy with the woes of earth, the sea is forever fretting along a thousand shores, wailing with a sorrowful cry like her own birds, booming with a hollow crash of unrest, raving with uproarious discontent, chafing with hoarse wrath, or jangling with the voices of ten thousand murmuring pebbles. The roar of the sea may be joyous to a rejoicing spirit, but to the son of sorrow the wide, wide ocean is even more forlorn than the wide, wide world. This is not our rest, and the restless billows tell us so. There is a land where there is no more sea–our faces are steadfastly set towards it; we are going to the place of which the Lord hath spoken. Till then, we cast our sorrows on the Lord who trod the sea of old, and who maketh a way for his people through the depths thereof.

 

Nine Disciplines of a Successful Seminary Student

In the days ahead, tens of thousands of seminarians will begin a new academic year in theological institutions across America. For the student, a new year brings with it cause for optimism and excitement, but just because one attends seminary does not mean he will get much out of it. The wise student will optimize his seminary experience. Here are nine disciplines for the successful seminary student to master.

Choose the Right Seminary

From the outset, one’s choice of a seminary is crucial. Is the institution you have selected doctrinally faithful? Does it serve the local church and love the Great Commission? Is its faculty willing to invest in you personally? These questions, and many more, are worth carefully pondering. If any of these issues are awry, transfer immediately. You only attend seminary once; so do not settle for a subpar institution.

Avail Yourself to Every Seminary Resource

Assuming you have been prudent in selecting a seminary, drink deeply from the well while you are there. Attend chapel and special events. Build relationships with your faculty. Intentionally seek out mentors. Be prepared for class.

Additionally, don’t settle for the shortest or easiest degree. If you envision fulltime ministry service, the Master of Divinity degree remains the gold standard. Quite literally, you are spending several years to prepare for several decades of ministry. Get the most out of it.

Cultivate Habits that will Sustain a Lifetime of Ministry

Seminary can be a challenging season. Many students hold down multiple jobs, parent a growing family, and live with the constant pressures of classroom assignments. For some students, this crucible is unlike any they have faced before. To manage it well, self-discipline, careful stewardship of time, and ability to prioritize the best over the good are indispensable habits to form. If you cultivate these habits in seminary, they will serve you well the rest of your ministry.

Build Relationships

To this day, many of my closest friends in ministry are men I met at seminary. The challenge of rigorous study, the joy of those romantic early years in ministry, and similar life stages are the perfect setting to build ministry relationships that last. My wife also forged some of her closest relationships during those years. For us, these relationships have been a constant source of encouragement as we have traveled the highs and lows of life and ministry.

Be about the Basics

The longer I serve in ministry, the more I realize how important the basics of Christian discipleship truly are. In fact, the purpose of theological education is to enhance and extend the basics of the Christian life, not eclipse them. For the seminarian it is all the more urgent to read your Bible daily, to study it regularly, to pray often, to share Christ at least once a week, to cultivate personal holiness, and to practice other spiritual disciplines. Jesus found the lukewarm church nauseating. How much worse is the lukewarm minister?

Serve Your Local Church

The church is not a place you go to work in ministry after graduation. The church is your ministry, then and now. Join a healthy church and find a way to serve it during seminary. This will beautifully compliment and balance your studies. It will also help you when you seek your first vocational ministry position. Churches want to hire proven ministry servants, not hypothetical ones. Show yourself faithful to God’s people before you are on their payroll.

Think Practically about the Theological

Roughly speaking, seminary classes will range from the theological to the practical. Some classes, like theology, apologetics, and church history, are obviously more theological and content-driven, but do not leave them there. Seek to apply what you learn to your life and ministry. Think through how you can teach theology to your congregants. Imagine how apologetics informs your personal evangelism. Realize that church history class is more than names and dates. Instead, draw practical encouragement from the great cloud of witnesses God has used throughout the church’s history.

Think Theologically about the Practical

Similarly, the practicalities of ministry ought to have a biblical and theological foundation. Preaching, administering the ordinances, conducting funerals, and marriages, fulfilling the Great Commission, rightly ordering the church, applying leadership principles, and every other practical dimension of ministry should be—and must be—informed biblically and theologically. A good professor will connect the dots, but make sure you connect them as well.

Do Not Lose Your Family while Gaining a Degree

Last, but certainly not least, guard your family. The old axiom is true; “It is better get an ‘A’ at home and a ‘C’ in the classroom, than an ‘A’ in the classroom and a ‘C’ at home.” To be sure, one should strive to get an A in both realms, but if something has to give, do not let it be your family. You can have a great marriage without a great ministry, but you can’t have a great ministry without a great marriage.

In Conclusion

Seminary can be one of the healthiest and most rewarding seasons of your life. My ministry preparation at Southern Seminary under the leadership of Dr. Albert Mohler was just that. My wife and I, and our expanding young family, loved that season of our life and flourished during it. Now, at Midwestern Seminary, I get to be on the giving end of that equation, and I know as fact that every student can have a great seminary experience. Do not settle for anything less.

*This article was originally published on 8/16/17*

Lord’s Day Meditation: “They Uncovered the Roof” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “They Uncovered the Roof” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 7, Morning)

“And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.” (Mark 2:4)

Faith is full of inventions. The house was full, a crowd blocked up the door, but faith found a way of getting at the Lord and placing the palsied man before him. If we cannot get sinners where Jesus is by ordinary methods we must use extraordinary ones. It seems, according to Luke 5:19, that a tiling had to be removed, which would make dust and cause a measure of danger to those below, but where the case is very urgent we must not mind running some risks and shocking some proprieties. Jesus was there to heal, and therefore fall what might, faith ventured all so that her poor paralysed charge might have his sins forgiven. O that we had more daring faith among us! Cannot we, dear reader, seek it this morning for ourselves and for our fellow-workers, and will we not try today to perform some gallant act for the love of souls and the glory of the Lord.

The world is constantly inventing; genius serves all the purposes of human desire: cannot faith invent too, and reach by some new means the outcasts who lie perishing around us? It was the presence of Jesus which excited victorious courage in the four bearers of the palsied man: is not the Lord among us now? Have we seen his face for ourselves this morning? Have we felt his healing power in our own souls? If so, then through door, through window, or through roof, let us, breaking through all impediments, labour to bring poor souls to Jesus. All means are good and decorous when faith and love are truly set on winning souls. If hunger for bread can break through stone walls, surely hunger for souls is not to be hindered in its efforts. O Lord, make us quick to suggest methods of reaching thy poor sin-sick ones, and bold to carry them out at all hazards.

Keeping the Faith: Spurgeon and the Downgrade Controversy

As Christians, we are called to share our faith, but we are also called to keep it. Like the Apostle Paul, every believer should aspire to the epitaph, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”

Perhaps no one in Baptist history better kept the faith than the illustrious Charles Spurgeon—especially as seen through the prism of the Downgrade Controversy.

The year was 1887, and Spurgeon was in the winter of life. For more than three decades he had enjoyed singular status as the world’s most well-known preacher, but just over the horizon, storm clouds gathered.

The Downgrade Controversy began slowly at first, with three anonymous letters appearing in the March, April, and June (1887) editions of the Sword & Trowel. The three letters (later revealed to be authored by Spurgeon’s friend, Robert Shindler) warned of doctrinal slippage on a downhill slope, thus a downgrade.

While the anonymous letters drew interest, the controversy did not explode until a few months later when Spurgeon directly entered the fray. In the August 1887 issue of the Sword & Trowel, Spurgeon threw down the gauntlet in his six-page editorial entitled, “Another Word on the Downgrade.”

At that time, Spurgeon was less than five years from his death. He was near the height of his popularity in the Baptist Union and globally, but near the depth of his personal anguish.  Physical ailments like failing kidneys and chronic gout wracked his body, and depression plagued his soul. Simply put, he did not need, nor was he much poised for, the conflict he was about to enter. Withdrawing the largest Baptist church in England from the Union would have dire consequences.

Nevertheless, Spurgeon entered his Westwood study, fountain pen in hand, and proceeded to join the battle himself by drafting for publication the six-page article.

I own the original six-page manuscript Spurgeon wrote that day in 1887. It is fascinating to review his words, penned in his hand, with his markings, alterations, and emphases. It radiates the spirit of Paul and the urgency of keeping the faith.  The first paragraph especially has taken on immortality:

No lover of the gospel can conceal from himself the fact that the days are evil. We are willing to make a large discount from our apprehensions on the score of natural timidity, the caution of age, and the weakness produced by pain; but yet our solemn conviction is that things are much worse in many churches than they seem to be, and are rapidly tending downward. Read those newspapers which represent the Broad School of Dissent, and ask yourself, How much farther could they go? What doctrine remains to be abandoned? What other truth to be the object of contempt? A new religion has been initiated, which is no more Christianity than chalk is cheese; and this religion, being destitute of moral honesty, palms itself off as the old faith with slight improvements, and on this plea usurps pulpits which were erected for gospel preaching. The Atonement is scouted, the inspiration of Scripture is derided, the Holy Spirit is degraded into an influence, the punishment of sin is turned into fiction, and the resurrection into a myth, and yet these enemies of our faith expect us to call them brethren, and maintain a confederacy with them!

Spurgeon goes on:

The case is mournful. Certain ministers are making infidels. Avowed atheists are not a tenth as dangerous as those preachers who scatter doubt and stab at faith… Germany was made unbelieving by her preachers, and England is following in her tracks.

Most prophetically, Spurgeon argued true believers cannot be ministry affiliates with those who have compromised the faith. His words portended the schism to come. Spurgeon was a lone voice, but he was the loudest and most revered voice of all, calling for doctrinal fidelity over programmatic confederation.

Spurgeon’s Another Word on the Downgrade landed like a bombshell. It sent shockwaves throughout the Baptist Union and British Evangelicalism. It reverberated throughout the Protestant world.

For decades the press had attacked Spurgeon, but now he would be savaged by his own Baptist Union. Prior to the Downgrade Controversy, if the Baptist Union had a papacy, Spurgeon would have been the unquestioned pope.  But now, his erstwhile brethren brutalized him. They charged him with pugilism, and being a schismatic. They even questioned his sanity with a whisper campaign that his physical maladies had made him mad. Graduates of Spurgeon’s College turned on him, and the leaders of the Baptist Union pilloried him.

Over the next two months, Spurgeon penned two more articles on the Downgrade in the Sword & Trowel. Then, on Oct. 28, 1887, Spurgeon wrote the General Secretary of the Baptist Union, Samuel Harris Booth, to announce his withdrawal from the Baptist Union.

Three months later, in January 1888, the Baptist Union Council voted to accept his withdrawal, and then, the Council of nearly 100 members voted to censure Spurgeon, with only a meager five men supporting the Prince of Preachers.

The Baptist Union adopted a compromise doctrinal statement, which was altogether too weak, neither clear nor comprehensive enough. Though outside the Union, Spurgeon opposed the statement for its obvious deficiencies. Nonetheless, it passed overwhelmingly, by a vote of 2000–7, and can appropriately be interpreted as a second vote against Spurgeon. Most tragically, Spurgeon’s brother, James, seconded the motion to pass the compromise doctrinal statement.

Spurgeon, the “Lion in Winter,” was prophetic, if not popular. He said, “I am quite willing to be eaten of dogs for the next fifty years, but the more distant future shall vindicate me.”

Indeed, Spurgeon has been vindicated. The British Baptist Union is a shadow of its former self. Moreover, Spurgeon’s Downgrade foreshadowed the Fundamentalist/Modernist Controversy of the 1920s and the great SBC Controversy at the end of the 20th century. Doctrinal decay always brings dire consequences.

The controversy cost Spurgeon dearly. It cost him his friendships. It cost him his reputation. Even his own brother disowned his decision. Yet, for Spurgeon, to remain within the Union would be tantamount to theological treason.

Less than five years later Spurgeon would die. Against his previously stated wishes, his supporters erected a massive burial tomb in the Norwood Cemetery. Ensconced on the front of it, beneath the marble replica of his likeness, is a marble Bible, open to II Timothy 4:7 – I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”

Indeed, Spurgeon kept the faith, and his accomplishment must be our aspiration—to keep the faith even when confronted with our own Downgrade Controversies.

*This article was originally published on 10/4/15*

Lord’s Day Meditation: “If Ye be Led of the Spirit” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “If Ye be Led of the Spirit” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 6, Evening)

“If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:18)

He who looks at his own character and position from a legal point of view, will not only despair when he comes to the end of his reckoning, but if he be a wise man he will despair at the beginning; for if we are to be judged on the footing of the law, there shall no flesh living be justified. How blessed to know that we dwell in the domains of grace and not of law! When thinking of my state before God the question is not, “Am I perfect in myself before the law?” but, “Am I perfect in Christ Jesus?” That is a very different matter. We need not enquire, “Am I without sin naturally?” but, “Have I been washed in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness?” It is not “Am I in myself well pleasing to God?” but it is “Am I accepted in the Beloved?” The Christian views his evidences from the top of Sinai, and grows alarmed concerning his salvation; it were better far if he read his title by the light of Calvary. “Why,” saith he, “my faith has unbelief in it, it is not able to save me.” Suppose he had considered the object of his faith instead of his faith, then he would have said, “There is no failure in him, and therefore I am safe.” He sighs over his hope: “Ah! my hope is marred and dimmed by an anxious carefulness about present things; how can I be accepted?” Had he regarded the ground of his hope, he would have seen that the promise of God standeth sure, and that whatever our doubts may be, the oath and promise never fail. Ah! believer, it is safer always for you to be led of the Spirit into gospel liberty than to wear legal fetters. Judge yourself at what Christ is rather than at what you are. Satan will try to mar your peace by reminding you of your sinfulness and imperfections: you can only meet his accusations by faithfully adhering to the gospel and refusing to wear the yoke of bondage.

 

Three Ingredients for Faithful Preaching

Faithful preaching has three primary ingredients. Creativity and homiletical polish are helpful, but the key ingredients of faithful preaching are preset and established by God. The three ingredients touch on who is qualified to preach, why one should preach, and what one should preach.

Who may Preach?

Though the gospel call is promiscuous, the call to preach is not. In fact, preachers are a conscripted force, mustered by God’s Spirit into service for the church.

As Spurgeon observed, the call to preach begins with an intense, internal, and all-absorbing desire for ministry work. In addition to this internal aspiration, the Apostle Paul set forth sterling character and the ability to teach God’s Word as pastoral non-negotiables (I Tim 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9).

From man’s perspective, most anyone can enter ministry by donning clerical garb, speaking in religious platitudes, and receiving church-based compensation. However, from God’s perspective, only those called by his Spirit, qualified by his Scriptures, and affirmed by his local church can preach faithfully.

Why do we Preach?

 Those called to preach should do just that—preach. Preaching is God’s divinely ordained means of communicating his Word, nourishing his church, and redeeming his people. Other pastoral activities may complement preaching, but nothing should displace it.

God only had one son, and he made him a preacher. Scripture tells us “Jesus came preaching” (Mark 1:14) and then he sent his disciples out to preach. From the prophets of old to Pentecost, to the end of the age, preaching is God’s appointed means of reconciling sinners to himself.

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.”

Whether in the first century or the twenty-first century, man will find signs attractive and wisdom appealing, but God has always been well-pleased through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.

We preach because God ordained it.  We dare not do anything else.

What do we Preach?

Faithful preaching requires sermons be preached from God’s Word. Both prescriptively and descriptively, Scripture is clear—the preacher’s task is to preach God’s Word. We do not look to the news cycle, social media, or pop culture for sermon fodder. We look to the Scriptures. Illustrations, analogies, and applications can be helpful, but they must illuminate and underscore the text, not distract from it.

Biblical exposition—sermons that explain the text, place it with in its biblical context, and apply it to God’s people—is preferable because God has predetermined not only what, but also how, we preach.

There is a measure of latitude here. Whether the expository sermon is 30 minutes or 60 minutes, the sermon series counted in weeks or years, we can find joy when God’s Word is honored, explained, and authoritatively preached.

“The Bible says” remains the most beautiful refrain in the church house. Explaining and applying the Bible to God’s people remains the most noble—and urgent—ministerial task, which is why Paul’s dying words to Timothy bind and instruct preachers in every generation—preach the Word.

Conclusion

Martyn Lloyd-Jones famously observed preaching is “the highest, the greatest, and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.” It is too high and too glorious a calling for just anyone to preach just anything for just any reason in just any way. Preaching is to be done by a man, called of God, who is compelled to herald the Bible with full conviction and faithful interpretation.

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See C. H. Spurgeon, “The Call to Ministry,” in Lectures to My Students(repr.; Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2014), 23–42.

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

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

*This article was originally posted on 3/2/2015*