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Tag Archives: elders

What should a pastor be?

09 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by memoirandremains in Elders, Ministry, Uncategorized

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elders, Ministry, Pastors

Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, an early martyr for the faith, (c. 70–c. 155), was considered a model of the faithful pastor. Since he had, according to Irenaeus, direct and personal links with eyewitnesses to Jesus’ ministry, his testimony concerning the qualities requisite for ministry had special importance for subsequent pastoral writers. Polycarp described the compassion needed for ministry in this letter to Christians at Smyrna:

As for the clergy, they should be persons of generous sympathies, with a wide compassion for humanity. It is their business to reclaim the wanderers, keep an eye on all who are infirm, and never neglect the widow, the orphan, or the needy. Their care at all times should be for what is honourable in the sight of God and men. Any show of ill-temper, partiality, or prejudice is to be scrupulously avoided; and eagerness for money should be a thing utterly alien to them. They must not be over ready to believe ill of anyone, nor too hasty with their censure; being well aware that we all of us owe the debt of sin. If we pray to the Lord to forgive us, we ourselves must be forgiving. (Polycarp, ECW, p. 146)

Thomas C. Oden, Becoming a Minister, Classic Pastoral Care (New York: Crossroad, 1987), 10–12.  I would draw your attention to this entire work, which is a wonderful discourse on the early church’s understanding of pastoral care.

For something more recent, I would direct your attention here:

  • Men who have an unflinching commitment to obey the Word of God, even if it brings persecution, slander, mocking, and reproach. Though humble and meek, an elder qualified man understands that the only way to love God and give Him glory is to obey the Word of God.

Read the whole thing.

Some brief thoughts on Hebrews 13:17

18 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by memoirandremains in Elders, Hebrews, Ministry, Uncategorized

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authority, elders, Hebrews, hebrews 13:17, Hebrews 13:7, Hebrews 1:3, Jay Adams, Leadership, Opinion, Scripture

(These notes are brief and not “tidied-up”.)

Hebrews 13:17 is often and easily abused passage. It has been more than once to justify lording over the congregation and making the pastor and other leaders beyond question.  However, that is not what it means.

Summary:

The congregation had been taught well (13:7), and the congregation should continue to follow in that path — even though it was difficult work (going outside the camp). Unfortunately, some new teaching had come (which the letter seeks to refute) which had upset the order in the church. The congregation is being told that they should not change their course, but continue to follow their leaders who were going in the same direction. As a further exhortation to follow their leaders, they are told that these leaders will be called upon to give an account for how they have guided the congregation.

There is no warrant to use this passage to mean that leaders are infallible. Christ is the head of the Church. Leaders have only the authority explicitly in the Scripture. They are to lead people to Christ, not to their own opinions. Understood rightly, there is no submission other than to Christ. There is no despotism or abuse in the passage.

Analysis:

Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Standing alone, this sounds like a free-floating command that the elders are all little popes (or at least a counsel of popes). I have heard this defended with the claim that “Jesus rules the church through his elders.”  The argument, played out is
Jesus rules through elders

Therefore, whatever elders say is what Jesus commands.

This, of course, is the divine right of kings. We could call this the divine right of elders.

It is also a defective sort of sovereignty argument: God is sovereign over all things, but that does not mean that all things are “God’s will”. See John Piper’s “Are There Two Wills in God?”

The argument also proves too much: God is sovereign over everything. God is sovereign over the Red Sea, the insects of Egypt, Balaam’s ass, foreign rulers who attack Israel, the death of Christ:

Acts 2:22–24 (ESV)

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

Paul says in Romans 13:1 that God has instituted all governments. When you combine these two elements, you cannot conclude that, since God appoints governments all acts of governments are “God’s will” in the sense that God approves. The murder of Christ, which took place according to God’s plan, was sinful (“the hands of lawless men”).

The same applies for a man who has been appointed a leader in the Church. Just holding an office — even if we say God put him in place (because that applies to everything) — does not mean that everything one does with the office is morally correct.

The second problem with the divine right of elders is that wrenches the verse from its context.

notes:

The first word “obey” is a word that also means “be persuaded”.

The author’s concern is that the community “trust” (peithesthe) and “obey” (hypeikete) their leaders. I take the verb peithō in the passive imperative to mean “depend on” or “put trust” in someone (see also Heb 2:13; 6:9), in order to relieve what otherwise would be a redundancy, since hypeikō—found only here in the New Testament—means to give way or submit to someone (Homer, Od. 12.117; Plato, Laws 717D; Philo, Life of Moses 1.156; 4 Macc 6:35).

Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary, ed. C. Clifton Black, M. Eugene Boring, and John T. Carroll, 1st ed., The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012), 350–351.

The idea is that they are convincing. The obedience is not enforced slavery.  The word submission means to be orderly. Lenski explains the pair as follows:

“Obey and yield.” One obeys when one agrees with what he is told to do, is persuaded of its correctness and profitableness; one yields, gives up, when he has a contrary opinion.

  1. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Epistle of James (Columbus, OH: Lutheran Book Concern, 1938), 490.

There are two things here: Is this a blanket command to do anything someone says who is an “elder?”  Second, what is the purpose of this command. I will take the second question first.

The real thrust of the verse is on the purpose: On Judgment Day, the elders will have to give an account to the Lord for how they have done their work. Since these men will be called to account by the Lord himself (“How have you treated my sheep?”), the writer of Hebrews is asking them to not make the elders’ life even more painful. Some people are needlessly difficult — don’t be one of those people.

logical dependence of these clauses is variously exhibited by different interpreters. It is simplest and best to understand all that follows the injunction as reason for it: ‘Obey your spiritual rulers, for they watch over your souls, &c. (Again, obey your spiritual rulers) in order that they may give their account of you with joy, and not groaning; (and obey your spiritual rulers) for such a sorrowful reckoning for your souls were unprofitable for you.’

Francis S. Sampson, A Critical Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, ed. Robert L. Dabney (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1856), 471–472.

The emphatic pronoun [they] serves to bring out the personal obligation of the rulers with which the loyal obedience of the ruled corresponded; for they, and no other … Comp. James 2:6 f.; 1 Thess. 1:9; Matt. 5:3 ff. The image in ἀγρυπνοῦσιν ὑ. τ. ψ. is that of the ‘watchmen’ in the O. T.: Is. 62:6; Ezek. 3:17.

Brooke Foss Westcott, ed., The Epistle to the Hebrews the Greek Text with Notes and Essays, 3d ed., Classic Commentaries on the Greek New Testament (London: Macmillan, 1903), 446.

Rightly understood, this is one of the most frightening verses in the Bible for a church leader. (This is the sort of thing Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 3 when he speaks of one’s work being burnt up.) The necessity of giving an account is one of the primary reasons for church membership (by the way). A leader who has a good and right fear of giving an account would never abuse the authority nor mistreat the sheep.

Now what is the scope of the elder’s authority.  The rest of the context matters a great deal. Look up above:

Hebrews 13:7 (ESV)

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

There were leaders who started this congregation and set it in a good path.  The “leadership” of the elder pertains to what they teach: Their job is to teach you the Bible and to model godliness. They are going to give an account for how well they teach the Bible and model godliness: Remember that Jesus gave only one command to the Church: makes disciples. We make disciples by what we teach and how we live.

The elder’s authority is solely what is in the Bible, no more or less. That means if the elder says something, he can only repeat what God has already said. If God says X, then we must submit. If an elder has an opinion, that’s nice but it is not a command.

To obey them. (Ver. 17.) The spiritual government of the Church is an ordinance of Christ, and a means of grace to his people. It is not, however, a despotic government. Pastors and presbyters are simply to administer the Law of Christ. They may not demand submission to what is based only upon their own will or caprice. But, within the limits of their rightful authority, they are to be honoured and obeyed.

D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., Hebrews, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 403.

Jay Adams makes this point with respect to counseling:

Counselors, who exercise the authority of God, are not authorities in their own right. Although they must use the authority vested in them by God, they must not exceed the biblical limits of that authority. Nor by their authority may they conflict with the valid God-given authority of the state or the home. Counselors who advise illegal acts or who teach children to dishonor parents violate God’s authority rather than act according to it.

Nouthetic counseling is subject to the directives of the Bible and is not a law to itself. It is counseling that uses (and does not exceed) the authority of God. Therefore, it is neither arbitrary nor oppressive. Nouthetic counselors must learn to distinguish clearly between good advice that they think grows out of biblical principles and those principles themselves. The latter (“You have no grounds for divorce; it would be sin!”) they may enforce with the utmost authority; the former (“Why not set up a conference table in order to begin to learn how to speak the truth in love?”) they must present with more caution. It is possible that one’s deductions from scriptural principles may be false. The counselor must always allow such deductions to remain open for question by the counselee in a way that he cannot allow a plain commandment of God to be questioned. A conference table may be useful, may grow out of biblical principles, but cannot be commanded; speaking the truth in love must be.

Jay Edward Adams, The Christian Counselor’s Manual (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1973), 16.

Thus the counselor’s authority at every point is limited by the Bible itself.

Jay Edward Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resource Library, 1986), 19.

This makes a tremendous difference. The ministry of the Word in counseling, as a result, is totally unlike counseling in any other system because of its authoritative base. This authoritative character stems, of course, from the doctrine of inerrancy. If the Bible were shot through with human error, and were no more dependable than any other composition—if it were not a God-breathed revelation—this note of authority would give way to opinion.6 But, because the Bible is inerrant, there is authority.
This authority must not be confused with authoritarianism.

Jay Edward Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resource Library, 1986), 18.

Thus, when elders decide to take out a loan, change a time for a meeting, pave the parking lot, or any number of other things, they are expressing opinions. When they read the Scripture and say, You can’t commit adultery, they are repeating God. This distinction must be maintained.

In the space between Hebrews 13:7 and 17 we read something which, at first, may seem to be on a different subject:

Hebrews 13:7–17 (ESV)

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

But let us consider this a bit more: The Christians are being called to go outside the camp, to bear reproach. The leaders are those who are taking them to this place, who teaching, guiding, protecting (they are being “shepherds”, which rightly understood is a terrifying and difficult task). This instruction is, “There are faithful men who do not sleep as they seek to care for your souls. They wake and pray while you sleep; they teach what you do not know; they chase off the wolves and find a safe space to rest. Follow them, because they are doing you good.

Lane (and other commentators) note the concern about “strange teaching”. There was something which has invaded the church, something has gone wrong since the former leaders had taught them. There was a conflict in the church about how to proceed. Do they follow the old teachers or do they follow this new teaching? Hebrews says stay in the old paths, follow the same teaching:

The tenor of the passage is clear. The word that the former leaders proclaimed is now threatened by teaching that is inconsistent with the message the community received. The “various strange teachings” competing for their attention are incompatible with the original, always valid, instruction delivered by the founding fathers of the community (vv 7–8). Foreign teaching and the grace of God mediated through the new covenant are mutually exclusive.

William L. Lane, Hebrews 9–13, vol. 47B, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 530–531.

The reason for obedience:

The reason for the obedience is introduced by gar which is left untranslated in the NIV: “[for] they keep watch over you.” The Greek pronoun autoi, “they,” is overtly used by the author in its clause initial position for emphasis. The sense is “they themselves and none other.” This serves to place emphasis on the authority of the leaders. The implied predicate of “submit” may be the direct object “yourselves”712 or an indirect object “to them.”713 Lane and the NIV supply “to their authority” as the indirect object.714 The verb translated “keep watch” implies constant vigilance, wakefulness, or sleeplessness. It is used in Mark 13:33 and Luke 21:36 meaning “to be vigilant in awareness of threatening peril.” Here and in Eph 6:18 it connotes “to be alertly concerned about.”715 The shepherding aspect of pastoral duty seems to be implied in this verb, and this is supported by the author’s reference to Jesus the great Shepherd of the sheep in the benediction in v. 20. The NIV renders the Greek “souls” as “you.” Lane, following Michel, wrongly interpreted “souls” here to be a reference to the eternal life of the readers.716 It is better to take it as referencing their “spiritual well-being,”717 or as simply referring to them as persons.

David L. Allen, Hebrews, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2010), 624–625.

Ἀγρυπνέω: first literally, then as here metaphorically “keep watch” (Eph. 6:18; Ep. Diog. 5:2; Barn. 20:2; MM; Bauer 2). The image of a shepherd is implied, thus indirectly in v. 20 their subordination to Jesus, the great or chief shepherd. As very widely in the biblical tradition, rule and caring are joined (Vanhoye 1980.256–259; Laub 1981–82).

Paul Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1993), 723.

Now, that does not automatically mean that every man with the title is a true leader. It is only to the extent that the leader is following Christ that one follows the leader. As Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

This command must also be read in the context of all other instructions: Jesus, Peter, John & Paul all have only one common command for leaders: do not lord it over Jesus’ sheep.

An elder’s authority is not based upon his having a title — he is a true elder before God only to the extent he is qualified to the job. A man who is lording it over others is not “really” an elder no matter what he calls himself.

Therefore, rightly understood, the submission of Hebrews 13:17 is only a submission to Christ, because the elder only has derivative authority.

The text also ties with the following material:

Nevertheless, I consider this exhortation to be more closely related thematically to the closing material, which gives considerable attention to the leadership figures to whom the addressees ought to be looking for guidance and for the ascription of honor or censure—local leaders (13:17, 24), the author and his team (13:18–19, 22), God (13:20–21), and Timothy (13:23). These are the figures whose opinions should influence the addressees: the local leaders will “give an account” of the people with whose spiritual growth they have been charged (13:17); the benediction reminds the hearers a final time of the central importance of “pleasing God,” assuring them that God is working in them to produce those qualities and fruits that please him (13:20–21); the author and Timothy both expect to visit the hearers in the immediate future, when they will affirm the faithful and censure the wavering in person (13:19, 23) and discover and reinforce the effects of the written sermon delivered in advance of their impending visit:

David A. deSilva, Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle “to the Hebrews” (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000), 508.

 

Hebrews 13:17–25 (ESV)

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you.

Again, the emphasis is upon the movement, the task: there is an emphasis on the ultimate end and the difficulty of the work.

By the way, the Corinthian elders abused Paul (2 Cor. 11). The Apostle John was abused by a church elder (3 John).

Here are some commentators’ remarks:

Obey them, etc. I doubt not but that he speaks of pastors and other rulers of the Church, for there were then no Christian magistrates; and what follows, for they watch for your souls, properly belongs to spiritual government. He commands first obedience and then honor to be rendered to them.These two things are necessarily required, so that the people might have confidence in their pastors, and also reverence for them. But it ought at the same time to be noticed that the Apostle speaks only of those who faithfully performed their office; for they who have nothing but the title, nay, who use the title of pastors for the purpose of destroying the Church, deserve but little reverence and still less confidence. And this also is what the Apostle plainly sets forth when he says, that they watched for their souls, — a duty which is not performed but by those who are faithful rulers, and are really what they are called.

 John Calvin, Hebrews, electronic ed., Calvin’s Commentaries (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1998), Heb 13:17.

Starke:—The teachers of the church, are leaders, conductors, guides; they must therefore so point the way to blessedness, as themselves to lead the way therein, and conduct their hearers to blessedness, not only with their doctrine, but also by their life and example (Phil. 3:17; 1 Pet. 5:3).—It is one of the hidden ways of God that upright teachers of whom there are so few, and to whose preparation so much belongs, are removed by an early death. Disciples who have such teachers should follow them faithfully be times, and hold them as all the dearer and more worthy (1 Thess. 5:12, 13; Isa. 57:1, 2).—Righteous, faithful teachers shine in life and in death. Happy they who dwell in memory, upon their holy walk, and edifying death, and thus secure their own preparation for a future blessed departure (Matt. 5:14 ff.).

John Peter Lange, Philip Schaff, et al., A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Hebrews (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008), 217.

Loyalty and obedience to the leaders of the church, as those charged with responsibility for the brethren, is enjoined. Them that have the rule over you. Better, your leaders. The officers of the congregation are probably meant. Cf. vs. 7, where former leaders are mentioned. They watch. Suggesting the watchfulness of a shepherd or a sentinel. This responsible and arduous service should call forth a ready response in obedience and devotion. That they may do this with joy, and not with grief. Better, groaning. Do not thwart their efforts and make their burdens still heavier by disobedience. This were unprofitable. Disobedience and wilfulness will not only disappoint their efforts, but bring disaster upon you as well.

Edgar J. Goodspeed, The Epistle to the Hebrews, ed. Shailer Mathews, The Bible for Home and School (New York: Macmillan Co., 1908), 121.

Our author evidently has as much confidence in the present leaders as in their predecessors. Perhaps they were leaders in the wider city church from whose fellowship and jurisdiction the group addressed in the epistle was tempted to withdraw. At any rate, the leaders carried a weighty responsibility; they were accountable for the spiritual well-being of those placed in their care. No wonder they lost sleep101 over this responsibility—for the “watching” could well involve this as well as general vigilance—if some of their flock were in danger of straying beyond their control. The readers are invited to cooperate with their leaders, to make their responsible task easier for them, so that they could discharge it joyfully and not with sorrow.102 The idea is on the same lines as Paul’s exhortation to the Philippian Christians to lead such lives in this world “that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain”103 (Phil. 2:16).

101 Gk. ἀγρυπνέω, “keep watch,” has the etymological sense of chasing away sleep.

102 Gk. στενάζοντες, “groaning.” Moffatt (ICC, ad loc.) quotes Sir Edward Denny’s lines:

O give us hearts to love like Thee,

Like Thee, O Lord, to grieve

Far more for others’ sins than all

The wrongs that we receive.

103 Cf. 1 Thess. 2:19f.

F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Rev. ed., The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 385.

As the section began (ver. 7) so it ends, with mention of their leaders. Then they were bidden to remember those who had passed away: now they are to be obedient to the injunctions and tractable to the wishes of their successors. Sleepless, as the shepherd when the wolf is prowling round the fold, such is the phrase which describes their watch for souls; and as the Church is thus exhorted, surely they themselves are searched and stirred. They must give account. Ezekiel’s denunciation of the evil shepherds, and our Lord’s of the hireling, both will apply to them if they are faithless (Ezek. 34:7–10; John 10:10–12). Nay, the flock must suffer if their watch, though vigilant, be joyless and discouraged, through their wilfulness. But a congregation, a parish, is often far more responsible than it suspects for a dull and ineffective pastorate. And then it suffers the penalty in its own spiritual shortcoming: ‘Unprofitable were that for you!’ Now who can read a passage like this, and doubt the scriptural foundation for a stated and authoritative ministry? We obey them as we obey our parents and governors. But as our submission to a sovereign or a father is not absolute, but only while it does not clash with our obedience to Christ, so it is with these: obedience is due to them ‘in the Lord.’

A. Chadwick, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Devotional Commentary, ed. A. R. Buckland, Third Edition., A Devotional Commentary (London: Religious Tract Society, n.d.), 223–224.

TEACHERS and rulers* are again recognized, and the Hebrews are exhorted to obey them, and to yield themselves to their teaching and rule, to adapt themselves to their peculiarities, and to carry out their wishes and arrangements with a willing mind; for therein God is honoured, and the welfare of the congregation promoted. Ministers watch for your souls as they that must give account of their stewardship. Their responsibility towards God is great; their labour towards you is incessant and anxious. You may well meet them with confidence and a plastic mind, trusting that their counsels are the result of thought, prayer, and experience. Nothing discourages a minister more than the want of response on the part of Christians to his advice, entreaty, and plans. He returns from his work to God, not with joy, but with sighs and tears, with complaints and grief. “This is unprofitable for the people.” They only hinder and retard the blessing which would otherwise come to their hearts, homes, and neighbourhood.

* Verses 7 and 17 show that there was a stated ministry, that there were recognised and regular teachers and pastors in the congregation, whose gifts not only, but whose office was acknowledged. Adolph Saphir, The Epistle to the Hebrews: An Exposition & II, vol. 1 (New York: Gospel Publishing House, 1902), 879–880.

Verse 17. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, etc. The import of the phrase, τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ὑμῶν, “your leaders,” or “rulers,” which the Apostle again uses to designate the pastors of the Hebrew Christians, has been explained in the note on verse 7. It is, as we have seen, a very suggestive phrase, indicating the position and duties of those who stand at the head of the Churches.—Dean Alford has correctly marked the difference between the two verbs employed in the first clause, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves,”—that the former refers to the cheerful following of their instructions, and the latter to a dutiful yielding in cases in which personal inclination or preference might be interfered with.—This exhortation is enforced by the consideration of the solemn responsibility which rests on Christian pastors. They have to “watch over the souls” of their people,—to maintain a constant, and, as it were, a sleepless, regard to everything that would affect their safety or impede their growth in holiness, and to strive, in every possible way, to lead them onward in the path of life and peace. And for the faithful execution of this trust they are responsible to the Lord Jesus. Before them lies an “account,” to be rendered to Him who has bought His people with His own blood; and the anticipation of this may well incite them to diligence and fidelity.—The latter part of the verse, “that they may do this with joy, and not with grief,” or, more literally, “that with joy they may do this, and not lamenting,” must be understood as referring not to the final rendering of their account to Christ, but to their present watchful care over their people. And the sentiment which is thus brought out is very impressive and beautiful. The Apostle exhorts the believing Hebrews to follow the instructions of those who stood at their head, and sought, with sleepless vigilance, to promote their spiritual interests, and even to yield to them in some things which might cross their own inclinations; in order that the exercise of this pastoral care, in itself so laborious, and involving a responsibility which might well oppress the strongest mind, might be rendered a matter of joy, and not be connected with deep and constant sorrow. “For this,” he adds, “is unprofitable for you.” If a pastor’s heart is grieved and wounded by the conduct of his people, he will not be able to contribute, as he might otherwise have done, to their edification and establishment; and thus the Church will lose the full benefit which was intended to result from the appointment of the Christian ministry.

Henry W. Williams, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1871), 423–424.

The author is concerned that the listeners put their confidence in them and submit to their authority. The first verb means to put one’s trust in someone (2:13; 6:9), while the second, which occurs only here in the New Testament, is stronger and means ‘to give way, yield or submit to someone’ (usually in authority).155 In response to this exhortation the listeners will adhere to the word of God that their leaders speak and follow their direction rather than revert to Jewish ways of thinking or be influenced by other strange teachings (13:9).

The rationale for this appeal is ‘because they keep watch over your souls’. Hebrews recognizes that the whole community is summoned to be watchful against sin and bitterness and to care for others through encouragement and exhortation (note 3:12–13; 12:15). But leaders have a special, God-given responsibility156 to do this. The verb ‘keep watch’ means ‘to go sleepless’, and from the literal meaning it takes on the sense of being alert or watchful (Mark 13:33; Luke 21:36; Eph. 6:18).157 Godly leaders are diligent and tireless. They look after the lives of all in their care, but particularly those who are negligent or prone to spiritual laziness, or who fail to recognize the importance of fellowship with other believers (2:3; 5:11; 6:12; 10:25).158 As leaders watch over the souls of others, they will strengthen the hope that anchors the soul to heaven (6:19), and foster the perseverance that leads to salvation (lit. ‘to the preservation of the soul’, 10:39).159

Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Hebrews, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), 529.

 

Ministry Directions from 1799

26 Sunday Jun 2016

Posted by memoirandremains in Elders, Ministry, Uncategorized

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Christian Ministry, Conduct, elders, Ministry, Pastors, The Evangelical Magazine

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This letter is found in “The Evangelical Magazine” for January 1799, page 26. It is entitled, “On the Exemplary Behavior of Ministers”.

Dear Sir,
In regard to mankind in general, you must labor to be not only unblamable and unreprovable in all things, but, also, of good report. Study the most rigid equity in all your dealings. Cultivate the most engaging humility of spirit; preferring others to yourself; condescending to persons of low degree; never esteeming yourself too much, nor reaching beyond your station or ability.

Above all things, put on charity, the most tender and loving affection, and about in it’s delightful and winning exercise; ardently loving good men, in proportion to the appearance of Christ’s image in them; highly esteeming them, delighting in their persons and company; readily assisting and supporting them; truly and heartily loving all men, wishing in promoting their real good; pinching yourself to supply the poor; forgiving injuries though often repeated; pitying and praying for malicious and inveterate enemies and rendering them good for evil; being hospitable to strangers, especially to such as are persecuted for righteousness’s sake, or who appear to be extremely destitute.

Let your moderation be known to all men; and readily bearing with, and overlooking there moroseness, passion, imprudence, or the like; interpreting their words and deeds in the best sense which they can bear; yielding from your right to prevent contention and offense; overlooking and forgiving what reproaches and injuries you meet with.

Show yourself to be apt, ready, and inclined to things spiritual. Let your speech be always seasoned with salt; not merely innocent, but edifying. Seize every opportunity of introducing, or maintaining, spiritual converse. In order to this, furnish your mind with an extensive stock of interesting anecdotes and striking hints. In imitation of your Divine Master, Study to draw something serious and instructive from everything you see or hear.

Prudence is no less necessary and guarding against advances of designing men, who hypocritically pretend to esteem and love you; in avoiding the unbridled rage of enemies; and attending, not only to that which is lawful, but also to that which is expedient; and keeping within the limits of your station, while you were endeavoring to extirpate evil, and promote what is good; and never correcting evils by that which will prove as hurtful or more so; and studying to suppress the fame of your good deeds, if it be likely that it will be perverted to a bass use; and a never meddling with, or even inquiring into those things which do not concern you.

By the earnest study of the above duties towards God, yourself, and your neighbor, you will promote your own delightful fellowship with God; you will cherish and maintain the abundant influences of the Holy Ghost, who dwells in you; you will make God delight to honor and bless your ministrations; you will prevent your falling into much sin, snares, reproach and the like; you will increase your fitness for your office; you will render yourself and family noted examples to your flock; You will procure the affection of good men, the help of their fervid prayers, and the esteem of all, on their readiness to attend without prejudice, to instructions, reproofs, and exhortations; you will adorn your ministry, and promote the usefulness of it and the salvation of your hearers; you will highly glorify god, and acting answerably to his nature, his oracles, law or gospel, ordinances or worshipers, with which your ministry is connected; All of which require holiness and virtue in all manner of conversation.

Whereas by unholiness and vice, ministers render themselves unfit to study, understand, or declare the ministers of God’s Kingdom; and are exceedingly hurtful to the church, exposing her ordinances to neglect and contempt. They’re bad example spreads far and wide among the people. Their wickedness introduces manifold errors in corrections into the church. The corrections expose them to the most fearful judgments of the Most High.

A Teaching Outline of 1 Peter 5:1-4

03 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Peter, Elders, Humility, Ministry

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1 Peter, 1 Peter 5, 1 Peter 5:1-4, Acts 20, elders, example, Hosea 4, humility, Instruction, Leadership, Leviticus 10:11, Malachi 2, Pastor, Savage Wolves

Peter’s instruction to the elders of the churches.

A. An exhortation, v. 1.

1. Peter calls himself a “fellow elder” — even though he is the apostle Peter.

2. His qualifications: (a) he has witnessed the sufferings of Christ; (b) he hopes for glory.

B. The instruction to the elders, vv. 2-4

1. The general rule: Shepherd

a. It is God’s flock, not yours (cf. Acts 20:28).

b. He gives three pairs of contrasts which demonstrate the nature of the work

i. not compulsion, rather willingly

ii. not for gain (extracted from the flock), but eagerly

iii. not domineering (lording over), but rather by providing an example.

2. Look for a reward from Christ. (The elder’s orientation must be toward the return of Christ. 1 Peter 1:13).

C. Application and development

1. The danger for the elder is pride

a. It is God’s flock: implication, don’t think of it as your flock.

b. Jesus is the Chief Shepherd; elders are just undershepherds.

i. Example: One time someone called CBC and spoke to Jack. The caller insisted on speaking to The Pastor. Jack kept saying, “I’m a shepherd. If you want to speak to The Pastor, you’ll need to speak with Jesus.”

ii. Example: Mike P told him of his life as a shepherd growing up in Greece. His father was the shepherd of a flock which he loved and cared for. His father was the shepherd. But to help him in his work he had dogs who also took care of the sheep. The elder is in the end, a dog to help the shepherd.

c. The shepherd is warned to not lord over the flock. It is a butcher who drives the sheep about and demands from them. It is a shepherd who leads the sheep through dangerous places, walking ahead, driving off wolves, finding a place to rest. The example of the shepherd must thus be an example of humility.

2. The elder must shepherd God’s flock through suffering to glory.

a. That has been the theme of this letter.

b. Peter grounds his eldership in his witness of suffering and his hope for glory.

3. The elder must be remarkable for his humility.

a. Note that Peter warns the elder against

i. Thinking of the flock as the elder’s flock. The sheep belong to Jesus.

ii. His three warnings against exercising power over the flock. A three-fold warning means that this must not be overlooked. It also speaks to the constant danger of leadership.

b. 1 Peter 5:5, “all of you” are instructed to humble. Thus, the example of the elder must be in accord with the command.

c. 1 Peter 5:6, there is a universal command to humility.

d. The previous commands of entrusting oneself to God’s design, not taking personal revenge or control, blessing in the face of trials all flow from and require humility.

e. Accordingly, humility — a patient hope for the Lord’s rescue from present trials — is the great strength of elder’s shepherding. Implication: if an elder is not example of humility, then he is a usurper and enemy of the flock.

4. Consider the matter more broadly.

a. Jesus on leadership. Mark 9:33-37; 10:42-45.

b. The elder’s authority is one of instructing in the Scripture. 1 Tim. 1:3-2 Tim.4:2. The elder is a steward of Christ’s authority. 1 Cor. 4:1.

c. The distinguishing mark of an overseer is not merely a godly character, it is in particular, the use of Scripture in instruction. 1 Tim. 3:2 “able to teach”; Titus 1:9.

d. The respect due an elder is dependent wholly upon their example of a godly character & their ability to instruct others in Scripture. Hebrews 13:;7 & 17.

e. Elders who fail to make disciples after Christ [by (a) providing a example of godliness and humility; (b) instructing faithfully in the Scripture] after called savage wolves. They are not blessings but dangers to the flock. Acts 20:29-31a. Note that merely holding an office does not mean the man is rightly an elder. (See, e.g., Hosea 8:4a, “they made kings, but not through me”.) You are nowhere commanded to be subject to ungodly men. Consider the example of a wife’s submission. The husband has no plenary control of a wife, but only a charge to care for her. A wife is to submit only “as is fitting in the Lord” (Col. 4:18).

f. The OT example of the priest. The priest had the duty of instructing the people in God’s law. Leviticus 10:11. In Hosea 4:4-6 & Malachi 2:1-9 God condemns priests for failing to provide instruction to the people. See, ESV study Bible notes on Hosea 4: The priests had the responsibility of teaching the people God’s laws (cf. Lev. 10:11; Mal. 2:6–7), but they had failed miserably, and as a result, the people lacked knowledge of God’s laws and his ways. Therefore God says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. But he puts the blame squarely on the priests: because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. On “knowledge,” see notes on Hos. 2:8 and 4:1–2. The statements have the air of a judicial decision and sentence. The kind of knowledge the priests had rejected is further specified: since you have forgotten the law of your God. The consequences of this neglect of God’s Word would be seen in the lives of what was most precious to the priests: I also will forget your children (cf. 2:4). The future tense still may indicate a warning, hinting that repentance might avert this judgment. But the great privilege of knowing God was in danger of being forfeited, even for the next generation.

g. There is a special warning for those who are teachers. James 3:1

God’s Flock and Its Shepherds

25 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Peter, F.B. Meyer, Ministry, Preaching

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Outline of F.B. Meyer’s sermon on 1 Peter 5:1-4, “God’s Flock and Its Shepherds”:

God’s Flock and Its Shepherds

1 Peter 5:1-4

The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according unto God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.

 

First, there is only flock, however many may be the folds:

Wherever God’s people gathered, there was part of his flock. The flock itself was scattered throughout the whole world, and according to our Master’s prayer was one, even as it is to-day. For though there are many folds, there is but one flock (John 10:16)

Though some of the sheep are being led by the living fountains of waters beyond the river ; and others are treading the stony defiles of this side — yet it is the same flock, bought at the same time, marked with the same initials, belonging to the same Owner. And wherever any believers gather, there is a portion of the one flock, and its officers, teachers, and spiritual guides are just shepherds, pastors.

 

184-185.

Suffering qualifies one as a shepherd in this flock:

This is the one qualification for tending the flock of God: not to have received a learned education ; not to be able to talk glibly or eloquently of spiritual things ; not to have been in the imaginary line of apostolic succession— a man may lay claim to all these things, and yet not be competent to feed the flock of God. We must behold, each for himself, the sufferings of Christ, not necessarily with the eye of the flesh, but with the eye of the soul; not with the curious glance of the fickle crowd, but with the fixed loving gaze, which finds in them cleansing for sins and balm for wounds.

 

And to see those sufferings is not only a qualification for shepherdship, but for glory. As surely as a man beholds those sufferings sympathetically and believingly, so surely shall he behold the glory yet to be revealed. The one is the prelude to the other. No cross, no crown. But where there is the true cross, crown there must be. It may seem to tarry long. The heart may turn sick at the long delay. But that glory which shines now and again as we climb the Transfiguration Mount shall ere long make a perpetual heaven for us when it is revealed.

185-186.

The Shepherd’s Care:

The shepherd must feed the flock:

It is not enough to preach to the flock once or twice each week. There must be personal supervision; watching for souls as by those who must give account ; seeking them if they go astray; tracking them to the precipice down which they have fallen; and never resting till the straying sheep is brought again to the fold. All this is included in the word; and we need to do all. This if we are to tend the flock of God.

186.

The work must be done from Spirit-wrought love:

There must be the love which is akin to the love of the Chief Shepherd Himself. A love which can endure without return or thanks; which can grow where there is scarcely any soil; and which clings to the least lovely and thankful. That love is only shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

186-187.

For the work, the shepherd will give an account to The Shepherd:

The sphere and people of our ministry should be taken straight from the hands of the Chief Shepherd. We are only accountable to Him. Our work must be done to please Him, and at his direction. We must consult Him about all our plans. We must take his directions as to what part of the green pastures our portion of the flock is to be led into, and by what waters it shall rest. If anything goes wrong we must consider that it should be instantly reported to Him, as the fret and care and burden of direction must certainly be his. If we make mistakes, and the flock suffer through our ignorance, the brunt of the loss must fall on Him. There is no one so interested in the pastor’s charge as the Chief Pastor is. He shares all the anxieties, hardships, watchings, and perils of the work. Not to please the flock, not to attract the applause of men, not to gain name and fame, but to do the will of the Chief Shepherd, must be the aim of each true servant of Christ.

187.

What if the local shepherd fails, will the sheep be lost?

Surely, in this conception of the Chief Shepherd there is comfort for those who constitute the flock. When the under-shepherd fails, the Chief Shepherd may be expected to step in to supply his vacated place, or to do his neglected work. Do not grumble to man, but take your complaints to headquarters. And if He does not replace the worthless under-shepherd by another. He will undertake the office of caring for you with his own hands ; and you shall cry, ” The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” He will see the work done, or do it Himself.

188.

 

 

 

The New Covenant People of God — Part I

07 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Discipleship, Ecclesiology

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1 Corinthians 4:1, 1 Peter 5:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 1 Timothy 3:1, 2 Peter 1:15, 2 Timothy 1:13, Acts 2:22-47, Colossians 1:25, congregation, Ecclesiology, elders, Genesis 2:16-17, Hebrews 13:7, Leadership, Local Church, Matthew 28:20, Overseers, Revelation 5:9–14, Romans 10:14–17, Romans 12:8, Shepherding, Titus 1:5, Titus 1:7, Universal Church

The previous post in this series, The Church and Discipleship, can be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/the-church-is-a-creation/

The New Covenant People of God (Part 1)

The New Covenant People of God: The Universal Church; Leadership in the Local Church

The church exists in a covenantal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This new covenant is established by God and God alone with his covenant partners, or Christ-followers who have heard the gospel of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, have repented of their sins, have embraced Jesus Christ by faith, have been baptized in the name of the triune God, have received forgiveness of their sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and have been incorporated into the church of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:22-47). By means of this covenant, God binds himself to his covenant partners, who in turn observe binding obligations toward him. To the church Christ has given two signs of this covenant relationship: baptism, the sign of entrance into the new covenant relationship with God and into the covenant community, the church; and the Lord’s Supper, the sign of ongoing new covenant relationship with God and the covenant community, the church.[1]

We will begin our consideration of what it means for the church to be a party to the New Covenant with God through Jesus Christ, by considering the aspects of the covenant which may be the most obvious to us in our life in the church: we are in relationship with one-another, because we are in relationship with God in Jesus Christ:

As P.T. Forsyth urged, “the same act which sat us in Christ sets us also in the society of Christ.  It does ipso facto, and not be a mere consequence or sequel, more or less optional. To be in Christ is in the same act to be in the Church …. It puts us into relation with all saints which we may neglect to our bane but which we cannot destroy.”[2]

Thus, the covenantal structures which concern the church are the Church to God in Christ, and the members of the church to one-another. 

The relationship of the members of the church is our membership in the universal church, and our relationships in the local assembly of the church.

 

 

I.          Our Relationship to the Universal Church

A.  If one is in Christ, then one is in the church.

1.   The church began at Pentecost and includes all human beings of any place or any time who are in Christ. Therefore, no Christian can possibly “leave the Church”. Now, those who are not Christians can leave the visible assembly of believers; but such persons were never in the church, because they were never in Christ. Those who are Christians can leave a particular local assembly, but they cannot leave the church.

2.  Therefore, our relationships to the universal church are real and substantial in Christ by the power of the Spirit.  The Body of Christ is all Christians at all times. The church is a vine which is all Christians at all times:

There is a church of which they are a part and that there is only one church, in some important sense: holy, as distinct from the world; catholic, as include true believers everywhere of every age from the apostles onward; and apostolic, in the sense of founded by apostles and as faithfully teaching living out apostolic doctrines.[3] 

And:

We are liberty to affirm that all believers everywhere, when they become believers, enter into the same event. All Christians are joined to Christ’s body in the same. There is only Spirit. Through vital union with Him believers are constituted one divine universal, spiritual body just as the natural body of a man is a natural vital union through the natural life within it.[4]

Chrysostom, preaching on 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 explains:

“In every place, both theirs and ours.” For although the letter be written to the Corinthians only, yet he makes mention of all the faithful that are in all the earth; showing that the Church throughout the world must be one, however separate in divers places; and much more, that in Corinth. And though the place separate, the Lord binds them together, being common to all. Wherefore also uniting them he adds, “both theirs and ours.” And this is far more powerful [to unite], than the other [to separate]. For as men in one place, having many and contrary masters, become distracted, and their one place helps them not to be of one mind, their masters giving orders at variance with each other, and drawing each their own way, according to what Christ says, (St. Matt. 6:24) “Ye cannot serve God and Mammon;” so those in different places, if they have not different lords but one only, are not by the places injured in respect of unanimity, the One Lord binding them together. “I say not then, (so he speaks,) that with Corinthians only, you being Corinthians ought to be of one mind, but with all that are in the whole world, inasmuch as you have a common Master.” This is also why he hath a second time added “our;” for since he had said, “the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord,” lest he should appear to the inconsiderate to be making a distinction, he subjoins again, “both our Lord and theirs.”

[3.] That my meaning may be clearer, I will read it according to its sense thus: “Paul and Sosthenes to the Church of God which is in Corinth and to all who call upon the Name of Him who is both our Lord and theirs in every place, whether in Rome or wheresoever else they may be: grace unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”[5]

B.   Although we would all affirm that such is true in principle, we find it very easy to forget this in fact. 

1.   First, we may forget that other Christians are exactly as much within Christ as any of us. The most important thing about us is that we are in Christ. Therefore, all of our relationships must be filtered through the fact that we are in Christ. This means a Christian in Ecuador is as much my brother as you.

2.  Second, that means that relationships within the body of Christ supersede our kinship. That does not mean that ignore the obligations of kinship. We cannot divorce an unbeliever, unless the unbeliever wants the divorce. We must honor our parents; irrespective of their salvation. We must raise our children, even though they are born unregenerate. However, our obligations to Christ supersede our obligations to even our closest relationships.  Matthew 10:37. 

3.  Third, that means that the incidentals of our personal relationships are not as great as are likely to make them. Due to our finitude, we can only establish and maintain relationships with a limited number of people. However, the ultimate basis my relationship to as a member of the body of Christ is our relationship to Christ. That means that your relationship to someone you have never yet seen with your eyes, still joins you a true unity of the Spirit – provided that you are both in Christ.

C.        This congregation of believers, scattered through space and time, is only a temporary aspect of the church. The current dispersion of the elect across the world will be remedied after Christ returns:

Revelation 5:9–14 (ESV)

9 And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

10  and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth.”

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”

13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

 

When you think of the church, you have a tendency to think of those people you happen to know who congregate at some particular location. Perhaps you think more broadly of the assemblies you have visited; perhaps you generously think of missionaries you have met.  But when you think of the church, you should not think of anything which you have seen. Rather, set before your eyes the glory of this scene: the ransomed in glory around the throne, singing in the midst of angels and living creatures and wonders – and in the midst of this the Lord himself.

Those who only knew Jesus as he grew up in Nazareth never saw the marvel of his ministry on earth. And those who sought his death never saw the wonder of his resurrection. But we who have been ransomed by him will see the glory of his person in perfect beauty and worship.

 

II.         The Relationships within the Local Congregation

A.   We cannot stand in immediate relationship to the entire universal church.

B.   The church in this state of “already but not yet” can only exist in local congregations.

C. The local congregations of believers are a gift of God which permits us to realize certain benefits and beauties of the universal church.

D. The local congregations of the church are the place in which we come as disciples of Jesus Christ to both grow as disciples and to make disciples. Indeed, we are each today Christians because thousand and millions upon millions of men and women before us became disciples of Jesus Christ and thereafter made disciples of Jesus Christ.

E.   The relationships within the congregation can be analyzed in a number of ways. We are going to examine three aspects of the relationships:

1.   The individual relationships of each believer toward one-another.

2.   The relationship of each person to the local congregation as a whole (church membership).

3.   The relationship of each person in the congregation to the leaders of the congregation, and the leaders to the congregation.

 

III.        The Relationship of the Leaders to the Congregation.

A.   The New Testament discusses positions of leadership within the congregation of believers:

1.   1 Timothy 3:1 refers to the leadership as “overseers”.

2.  Titus 1:5 refers to the leadership as “elders”.

3.   Hebrews 13:7 & 17 refer to them as “leaders”.

4.  Romans 12:8 & 1 Thessalonians 5:12 refer to those who lead, guide, direct.

5.   1 Peter 5:1-3 refers to “elders” who “shepherd the flock” and who do not “lord over” them.

6.   1 Corinthians 4:1, “stewards” (Colossians 1:25, Titus 1:7).

7.   Ephesians 4:11 as “pastor teachers”.

B.   We have previously established that the church is created by the Spirit of God using the Word of God. That means that Christian faith has a propositional content. There are words which must be received and believed to be a Christian.

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:14–17 (ESV)

      1.   When Jesus gives the commission to the disciples, he tell them to teach the coming disciples “to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20).

      2.   We read of the apostles referring to propositional instruction which forms the basis of the church’s function. Paul reminds Timothy of the “pattern of sound words” (2 Timothy 1:13); and a “deposit entrusted” to the church (1 Timothy 6:20). Jude writes of “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).  Peter writes a letter to church, “so that after my departure, you may be able at any time to recall these things” (2 Peter 1:15).

      3.   Leaders are those who have the primary responsibility for providing this instruction. The leader brings these words to the congregation.

C. Human beings are by nature in need of instruction/counsel. It was this way even before the Fall. The first bit of information which we learn that God communicated to human beings was that Adam must not eat from a particular tree (Genesis 2:16-17). Jay Adams explains:

Man was created perfect, but that does not mean that he was ever able to live on his own. Perfection itself implies an acknowledgment of his dependence upon God’s revelation. By counsel (he didn’t decide to do it on his own) Adam named the animals. By counsel he dressed the garden. By counsel he learned of the trees in the garden and the proper use of them (as well as the possible consequences of misuse). All this came after creation, to man who was made to be dependent on God’s counsel for all his life, and who was capable of being changed and developed by that counsel.

That is the first crucial factor to grasp at the outset: man was created in such a way that for his own good, and God’s glory, it was necessary to depend upon divine counsel and to be changed by it.[6]

D. Pilgrim’s Progress opens with Christian in a state of turmoil. It is only when Evangelist shows up that Christian learns what he must do (proceed to the gate). Later, Christian finds himself in trouble, and Evangelist again shows up to give direction to Christian. In the Palace Beautiful, Christian receives instruction in the Christian life. In particular, Christian spends time with Interpreter. One of the matters which Christian learns is how to identify a guide:

Then said the Interpreter, Come in; I will show thee that which will be profitable to thee. So he commanded his Man to light the Candle, and bid Christian follow him; so he had him into a private room, and bid his Man open a door; the which when he had done, Christian saw the picture of a very grave person hang up against the wall; and this was the fashion of it; it had eyes lifted up to Heaven, the best of Books in his hand, the Law of Truth was written upon his lips, the World was behind his back; it stood as if it pleaded with Men, and a Crown of gold did hang over its head.

Then said Christian, What meaneth this?

Int. The Man whose picture this is, is one of a thousand: he can beget children, travail in birth with children, and nurse them himself when they are born. (1 Co. 4:15. Gal. 4:19.) And whereas thou seest him with his eyes lift up to Heaven, the best of Books in his hand, and the Law of Truth writ on his lips, it is to show thee, that his work is to know and unfold dark things to sinners; even as also thou seest him stand as if he pleaded with men. And whereas thou seest the World as cast behind him, and that a Crown hangs over his head, that is to show thee, that, slighting and despising the things that are present, for the love that he hath to his Master’s service, he is sure, in the world that comes next, to have glory for his reward. Now, said the Interpreter, I have showed thee this picture first, because the Man whose picture this is, is the only man whom the Lord of the place, whither thou art going, hath authorized to be thy guide in all difficult places thou mayest meet with in the way: wherefore, take good heed to what I have showed thee, and bear well in thy mind what thou hast seen, lest, in thy journey, thou meet with some that pretend to lead thee right; but their way goes down to Death.

E.   The leadership has the duty to lead. And they will give an account for their leadership.

1.   Hebrews 13 twice speaks of leaders.

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Hebrews 13:7 (ESV)

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)

2.   Just as Interpreter provided Christian with a description of a true guide, here Hebrews provides us with the elements of a true leader:

a.   He leads as a guide.

b.   He teaches the word of God.

c.   He is an example of Christian obedience.

d.   He is one to be imitated.

e.   The teachers of the church, are leaders, conductors, guides; they must therefore so point the way to blessedness, as themselves to lead the way therein, and conduct their hearers to blessedness, not only with their doctrine, but also by their life and example (Phil. 3:17; 1 Pet. 5:3).—It is one of the hidden ways of God that upright teachers of whom there are so few, and to whose preparation so much belongs, are removed by an early death. Disciples who have such teachers should follow them faithfully be times, and hold them as all the dearer and more worthy (1 Thess. 5:12, 13; Isa. 57:1, 2).[7]

3.   Hebrews 3:17 provides additional details of the leader’s function:

a.   He must watch over the souls of those in the local congregation.

b.   He must give an account for his work.

4.   Note that the authority of the Christian leader is very specific:

The term by which Christian pastors are here designated is very suggestive. They are to stand at the head of their people,—to lead them onward in the way of faith and holy obedience,—to preside over them, maintaining that godly order by which the Church should ever be distinguished,—and to minister continually to their spiritual refreshment and strength. To this end they are to “speak” to them “the word of God,” not seeking to amuse them with their own speculations, or to dazzle them with the display of their own powers, but faithfully to deliver Christ’s message, to bring out the deep import of the truth which He has revealed, and to enforce the duties which He has enjoined[8]

And:

To speak the Word of God. The main function of the ministry is to preach the gospel, and to teach Christian truth. The gospel is a definite “word;” and it is enshrined in a Book which is called “The Word.” The preacher’s text-book is not the newspaper, or the current literature of the day, but “the oracles of God.” The great design of the Christian pulpit is to promote the intellectual and experimental knowledge of the Bible. And no minister “shall have lived in vain if it can be written over his grave, ‘He made the people understand the Scriptures’ ” (Dr. John Hall). 3. To live a consistent Christian life. When a pastor is, like Barnabas, “a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith,” it is to be expected that “much people will be added unto the Lord” (Acts 11:24). A holy example lends incalculable momentum to Christian teaching. “The life of a pious minister is visible rhetoric” (Hooker).[9]

5.   William Gouge in his commentary on Hebrews explains:

Their duty, in that they are in every way, both by preaching and practice, to go before their people, and to guide them in the way of life….

God hath made ministers to be such guides unto his people, in regard of people’s need, and for their good.

….The good that people may reap by ministers being guides is very great. Thereby they are instructed and directed in the way of life.

…As men do stand in more need of guides in regard of their spiritual estate, than in regard to their temporal estate, so the benefit that they reap from those former guides far exceeds and exceeds and excels the benefits that they an reap from the latter guides, even as much as our souls excel our bodies, heavenly commodities excel earthly, and everlasting salvation excels temporal preservation.

a.   The primary duty of the guide is to preach, “Who have spoken the word of God to you”. “There is no way wherein and whereby such as are guides of God’s people may do more good unto them, than by preaching.”

i.    They must preach the word of God, so that people may understand the will God (Ephesians 5:17, Romans 12:2).

ii.    The preaching must make known the glory of God.

iii.   The preaching must bring about faith, salvation, and the obedience of faith.

iv. They must have such lives as one could imitate.

b.   The ministers must watch over the souls of those in their congregation.

i.    Ministers are oft awake when their people are asleep and study and pray for their good, when they have no witnesses but their candle by them, which wasteth itself to give them light; teaching them thereby to be willing to spend and be spent for the instruction, edification, and salvation of their people. This was the apostle’s mind. 2 Cor. 12:15.

ii.    As a tender nurse, they take great care of their people’s weakness….

iii.   As a faithful shepherd, they protect and defend their people from such as are ravening wolves; ….They are further observant of their people’s maladies, to heal and cure them. They are careful to provide good pasture for their sheep, and in seasonable time to keep them in their folds. They are also careful to go before them in the right way where they should go.

iv. As diligent watchmen, they descry the dangers whereunto their people are subject, and give them warning, so that they may prevent the same; and in case their people be as a city besieged, they will espy what succor is coming to help them, and encourage them to hold out, and not yield to the enemy.

 

Note that the office is defined primarily by function, not by title. A man can be a pastor and not a guide; a leader who does not lead.  Second, the authority which the leader exercises is leadership in Christ’s words to God. In the end,

F.   Paul’s Instructions to Timothy and Titus

1.   1 Timothy 1:3

2.   1 Timothy 1:4 (from stewardship)-5.

3.   1 Timothy 1:18-19

4.   1 Timothy 2:1

5.   Compare 1 Timothy 3:1-7 & 8-13.

6.   What is the warning: 1 Timothy 4:1?

7.   1 Timothy 4:6

8.   1 Timothy 4:11.

9.   1 Timothy 6:2b

10. Of whom does Paul warn? 1 Timothy 6:3-4.

11. 1 Timothy 6:20-21.

12. Titus 1:6-8, 9.

13. Titus 1:10-11.

14. Titus 2:1.

15. Titus 2:11-14.

16. Titus 2:15

17. Titus 3:1.

18. 2 Timothy 2:8

19. 2 Timothy 1:11

20. 2 Timothy 1:13.

21. 2 Timothy 2:1-2.

22. 2 Timothy 2:14.

23. 2 Timothy 2:15.

24. 2 Timothy 2:24-25.

25. 2 Timothy 2:14-16.

26. 2 Timothy 4:1-4.

G. Peter’s Instructions 1 Peter 5:1-3

      1.   Shepherd

      2.   Exercise oversight

      3.   Not domineering

      4.   But being an example

H. All authorities of the church leaders are both derivative of Christ’s authority and for the purpose of Christ’s honor.

1.   1 Peter 5:1-5

a.   “The flock of God” (v. 2); Acts 20:28

b.   “The chief Shepherd” (v. 4)

2.   Strauch:

Because the apostles knew that Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, was uniquely present with them as Ruler, Head, Lord, Pastor, Master, Overseer, High Priest, and King, they chose a form of government that reflected this distinctive, fundamental, Christian truth. This concept was no theoretical idea ot the early Christians—it was reality. The first churches were truly Christ-centered, Christ-dependent churches. Christ alone provided all they needed to be in full fellowship with God and one another. Christ’s person and work was infinitely great, final and complete, that nothing—even in appearance—was to diminish the centrality of His presence among and the sufficiency for His people.

So in the first century, no Christian would dare take a position or title of sole ruler, overseer, or pastor of the church. We Christians today, however, are so accustomed to speaking of “the pastor” that we do not stop realize that the New Testament does not. [10]

 

I.    Characteristic of an elder/overseer. 1 Timothy 3:1-7.

1.   For purposes of discipleship by word and deed (Romans 15:18).

2.   A character to imitate.

3.  Apt to teach.

4.   For additional background see the sermons by Dr. Hughes on the CBC website, “Qualifications for an Elder” parts 1-5, March 18-May 6, 2001.

J.   John 10:1-18. The Good Shepherd

K.   Timothy Z . Witmer, The Shepherd Leader

1.   Five observations

a.   All human authority is derived. It resides by nature and right only in the Good Shepherd. Matthew 28:18.

b.   “The exercise of authority is designed to serve the well-being of those under its care”.

c.   “This authority is to be directed by God’s Word.”

d.   “All who hold derived authority are ultimately accountable to the One who gave that authority.”

e.   “The flock is called to submit to that authority.”

2.   Shepherds know the sheep.

a.   “Only by preaching the gospel to our communities will we know who, in his grace, are his sheep as they respond in faith” (111).

b.   The shepherd has to identify those people who actually are Christ’s sheep.

c.   The shepherd must also with some intimacy those in the congregation:

i.    A pastor must come to know the people of his congregation by “inspection” – he’ll have to interact with the people.

ii.    He will have to provide visible care for his people.

iii.   He will have to understand his people and adapt his work to their condition.

3.   The pastor must feed the sheep.

a.   Public instruction.

b.   Private instruction.

4.   Leading

a.   Worship

b.   Education

c.   Fellowship

d.   Evangelism.

5.   Protect the Sheep.

a.   Protect them from themselves

i.    Impress them with the urgency of salvation and the eternal state.

ii.    Church hopping: “The sheep shuffle from church to church, otherwise known as ‘church hopping.’ There is no doubt that a consumer mentality among Christians whose primary question about a church is not ‘Is this a good place for me to serve and where I can grow as a believer?’ But rather, ‘Will this church meet my needs?’” Witmer believes most people leave not because of preaching but because “they are not receiving the comprehensive relational shepherding they need” (180, but cf. Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching, “If the people are not attending places of worship, I hold the pulpit to be primarily responsible. The tendency is, of course, to blame other factors….The moment you begin to try to explain away these things in terms of circumstances you always land yourself ultimately in some such ridiculous position. My contention is that it is the pulpit itself that is ultimately responsible, and that when the pulpit is right, and the preaching is true, that it will attract and draw the people to listen to its message.” (63)).

iii.   Member conflict: “One of the primary reasons that sheep wander off is unresolved conflict with other sheep.” (Witmer, 181).

6.   Seven Essential Elements of Effective Shepherding

a.   It must be biblical.

b.   It must be systematic.

c.   It must be comprehensive.

d.   It must be relational.

e.   It must include knowing, feeding, leading and protecting.

f.    It must include accountability.

g.   It must include prayer

IV.        Why Such Information Matters to One Who is Not an Overseer

A.   The characters which must mark the elders and overseers of a church should generally mark all Christians.

B.   Even if not holding the office of “overseer”, one who disciples or counsels another must exhibit the same characteristics of guidance and shepherding as an overseer.

C. Discipleship in a congregation will tend to reflect the discipleship exhibited by the overseers.

D. The obligations of a Christian to be submissive to oversight are strictly bound by the Word of God. An overseer has only derivative authority to guide one to Christ.

 


[1] Allison, Strangers and Sojourners, 124.

[2] Allison, 124.

[3] Culver, Systematic Theology, 808.

 

[4] Culver, 873.

[5] John Chrysostom, “Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on the First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians,” ed. Philip Schaff, trans. Hubert Kestell Cornish, John Medley, and Talbot B. Chambers, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series: Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1889), 3–4.

[6] Jay Edward Adams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: More Than Redemption (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resource Library, 1986), 3.

[7] John Peter Lange et al., A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Hebrews (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008), 217.

[8] Henry W. Williams, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1871), 413.

[9] H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., Hebrews, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 400.

[10] Biblical Eldership, 115.

Russell Moore: Deacons

02 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Deacons, Ecclesiology, Elders, Ministry

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There’s an entire generation of conservative evangelical churches where one would be more likely to find an unfrozen caveman in the congregation than a biblically-functioning deacon.

Some churches have known little more than a “board” of deacons making decisions for the church. Some have, at worst, a thugocracy in which the meanest and most aggressive men in the church intimidate the rest of the Body through verbal bullying or the threat of a loss of financial support.

Russell Moore, “Is a Deacon Just a Servant?”  http://www.russellmoore.com/2009/09/30/is-a-deacon-just-a-servant/

 

Moore correctly notes that deacons are officers of the church (“not just servants”) — they are leaders in the congregation. How then do they differ from “elders”. Moore makes the following statement in the comments section following the article:

 

  1. Russell D. Moore

    View October 5, 2009

    Ross, I do not believe that elders are lay leadership at all. I think the biblical pattern is that “elder” is synonymous with “pastor” which is synomymous with “overseer” which is synomymous with “bishop.”

    That means that an elder must meet all the 1 Tim 3 requirements for pastoral ministry, including a call to the task and an “aptness to teach.”

    Now many of these pastors are bivocational (or trivocational) as was the Apostle Paul, so the issue isn’t whether he is “full-time.”
    Still, I think the pattern of churches calling out highly gifted “laymen” for the task of elders, without a recognition of them as bona fide pastors with a call to ministry, is an error.

     

A Sermon on Discipleship, Matthew 28:16-20

26 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Peter, Apologetics, Biblical Counseling, Discipleship, Exhortation, Fellowship, Hebrews, Matthew, Preaching

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(The following sermon was given on November 25, 2012 at Calvary Bible Church in Burbank calvarybiblechurch.org. While the basic doctrine remains the same between the sermon as given and the text, there are points of emphasize which differ from the two formats. The text is posted with the audio at https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.calvarybiblechurch.org/audio/sermon/2012/20121125.mp3

When I was in law school, I was broke. Of necessity, I would cut out luxuries, which at times included food. Thus, free food was of great interest.  On a Friday evening, a fellow student led me down to the Hare Krishna Temple for a free vegetarian dinner. At the end of the meal, my friend, who had some expertise in the religion began to explain the meaning of various pictures hung around the room. A recent convert sat with us and tried to help explain the religion. My friend had to correct the young acolyte on his theology.

At that point, I felt sorry for the young man: he had shaved his head, put on a saffron robe and didn’t really understand what he had joined.

Yet, something similar takes place with Christians all the time:  Christians regularly fail to understand the prime directive of our religion: let me prove that to you. Turn to Matthew 28, and I will show you the command — and the problem.

We will start in verse 16 for some context:

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Look down to the middle of verse 18, Jesus first states his credentials:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

When we call Jesus Lord, this is what we mean. We mean the man Jesus the Christ, resurrected from the dead, is the Lord of heaven and earth.  Revelation 1:5 says of the exalted Lord:

Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

Hebrews 1:4 tells us that Jesus, “sat down at the right hand of majesty on high”.

People sometimes identify conspiracies or speculate on whether this group or that group secretly rules the world. Yet, here Jesus claims to rule everything, heaven – earth, living – dead. There is no secret ruler of the world who stands behind Jesus: he rules it all.

When someone refers to their authority, it is best to give closer attention.  Imagine some random guy drives up next to your car and Hey you! Pull over!. If he produces a badge which reads, FBI the authority of his office would require more response from you.

Jesus does something similar here: Matthew 28:17 says that some people doubted, that is, they hesitated before Jesus and did not know what to do: Should we worship or no? What was the status of Jesus: was he like Lazarus, merely alive again? What should we do with this man? Jesus answers their shifting hearts:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Have you ever seen the movie scene where a character shoots off a gun to get everyone’s attention? Jesus does something even more striking. What then does he say?

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

This bit contains a command and an encouragement. The command is quite simple, Make disciples.  The encouragement is that the God-man who commands heaven and earth will be with you always. That command is the prime directive, it is the prime purpose of the Christian church. While we may do many particular things, everything we do must in the end support our duty to make disciples.

Unfortunately, Christians routinely fail to understand the command to make disciples. We fail to understand the means of discipleship. We think it is some discrete action, special and separated from our “real” life — usually entailing reading a book together, it also appears requires meeting in a coffee shop.

In truth, we constantly make and made as disciples. We may do that poorly or well. You may be making disciples of the flesh or disciples of Christ, but you are constantly making disciples. Therefore, you must become more aware of how disciples are made so that you can be both a more godly disciple and disciple maker.

As you will see, discipleship involves both formal instruction of deliberate teaching and the informal instruction of living together. Ignorance of the nature of discipleship hurts us all, because we all need one-another’s spiritual gifts put into service in order to grow in godliness.

Second, we fail to understand the purpose of discipleship. Discipleship means to bring human beings to the end that they give glory to God in Jesus Christ as Lord:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Whether it entails caring for one’s children, prayer, working hard at one’s vocation, or bible study — the is always God’s glory. As the Catechism puts it, The chief end of man is to glory God and to enjoy him forever.  See this, discipleship requires far than even your personal godliness. Disciples proclaim  the glory of Jesus Christ as Lord of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, the honor of King flows from our diligence in discipleship.

For the rest of the time this morning, we will examine the command. First, observe the structure of the command. It consists of two parts, which will be our two points:

1) Baptize

2) Teach

I am going to cover a great deal of ground.Yet, in case you miss something, I will have my notes posted on the website.

Here is the first point: Make disciples by baptizing.

On its face, we might think that the first element of disciple making, baptizing only happens in the brief of moment of actual baptism. However, when we look at the practice of baptism as mentioned in the book of Acts, we will see that baptism is a shorthand which refers to the introduction of one into visible membership within the Christian church.  It takes place along the boundary between the world outside and the life inside the Church.

To fulfill the command Go, make disciples by baptizing entails three elements. First – believers – must proclaim Jesus as Lord. That proclamation is the good news: God became a man, incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, who fulfilled the law, suffered and died for the sins of mankind, then rose again on the third day. This same Jesus now possesses all authority in heaven and earth.

Second element, the one who hears the good news commits to this Jesus as Lord.

Third, the one who hears and believes is then baptized – marked off as a member of the Church.

This is the first aspect of discipleship: Believers proclaim. Those who hear, believe. Those who believe, are baptized.

When we look at the descriptions of Acts we see a larger pattern. First, Jesus is proclaimed. Second, someone believes. Third, the believer is baptized.

Let me show this in the book of Acts. If we wish to understand what the command to baptize means, we would do well to see how the Apostles understood and lived out this command.

The first reference to water baptism takes places in Acts 2:38, where Peter calls for baptism by those who believed the message preached. Verse 41 reads:

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

The next reference to baptism comes Acts 8. Philip tells the Ethiopian eunuch of the work of Jesus. Acts 8:35 reads:

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. Acts 8:35 (ESV)

The man hears, believes, is baptized.

The same pattern is repeated throughout the book: Jesus is proclaimed, people believe, they are baptized. Peter proclaims Jesus to the household of Cornelius, people believed, they are baptized (Acts 10:47-48).

Lydia is baptized upon hearing of Jesus (Acts 16:15);

Paul proclaims Jesus to the Philippian jailer and his household, they believe and are baptized (Acts 16:33);

the Corinthian believers hear Paul preach that “Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 18:5), those who believed were baptized (Acts 18:8).

So we see that the command to make disciples begins with the proclamation of Jesus which, when believed, results in baptism.  Thus, to obey the command of Jesus to make disciples, we must first proclaim Jesus.

            A.         Two points about the proclamation

I will take a small detour and make two comments about the proclamation: First, we proclaim Jesus. Second, we proclaim Jesus at all times.

                        1.         We proclaim Jesus

            There are two basic mistakes which I have seen when it comes to understanding evangelism. Neither one of these mistakes are bad in the sense they are heretical or foolish. They are mistakes in that they take a secondary aspect and make it the primary point.

            The first mistake is to think the proclamation is a reasoned defense of the faith: it is answering questions and countering objections. Those things are important in their place, but they are not the main thing. When Peter stands up in Acts 2, people have questions about the disciples speaking other languages. He answers by telling the people this is not about us, it is about Jesus.  He quotes a prophesy about the Messiah and then turns to the story of Jesus:

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Acts 2:22–24 (ESV)

In Acts 13 we get a sample of Paul’s evangelistic message. Paul tells the story of Israel to a group of fellow Jews. After giving some introduction, he gets to his point:

God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus. (Acts 13:23).

He then tells the story of Jesus: his life, crucifixion, burial and resurrection.  In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul gives the summary statement of the message which was of first importance:

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 (ESV)

It is not complicated, difficult, hard to remember.  We have rebelled against God. God, to remedy that breach, promised and then sent Jesus who fulfilled the law, who died for our sins. Yet, death could not hold Jesus. So Jesus rose from the dead and is now King of King and Lord of Lords.

There are no questions. Someone may refuse to believe history, we cannot overcome that with arguments – although the arguments may take away an excuse. But in the end, the fault does not lie with the story but with the refusal to believe that

            All power in heaven and earth

Belongs to Jesus.  The problem is not information, it is a refusal to receive Jesus as King. Thomas Nagel, an atheist philosopher put it like this:

I am talking about something much deeper—namely , the fear of religion itself. I speak from experience, being strongly subject to this fear myself: I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers…. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and, naturally, hope that I’m right in my belief. It’s that I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe to be like that.

Sure we can answer questions, but in the end realize that the you have been commanded by the Lord of heaven and earth to proclaim that he is the Lord. It is that simple.

The second error is to make this proclamation overly personal.  Often we give our testimony, wherein we tell what Jesus has done for us. We tell a story of what I was and what I have become and how Jesus has made by life better. Those things are all true and they have their place. But in the end, the proclamation is not my life is better because of Jesus. Rather it is, Jesus is the Lord, the ruler of heaven and earth. Repent and believe!

Should they believe, then they may be baptized and enter into the Church.

                        2.         We proclaim Jesus at all times

It is good and right to proclaim Jesus in public. It is good and right to proclaim him on the streets. But we must also proclaim him in private, in our lives and with our dearest relations. Not everyone is supposed to preach on a corner, but everyone must proclaim Jesus.

Do you have friends or family, children or parents, co-workers and cousins? Proclaim to them. But someone will say,  I do not have a door to proclaim.  It is the holiday season, surely you can find some reason to raise the fact of Jesus at Christmas!

But you do so by means of your life. Your life must look different, there must be  a graciousness, a love, a hopefulness in trials which opens the door.  Look at 1 Peter 3:13-15:

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:13–15 (ESV)

Do you see that? Your life is supposed to be such that your mere existence will lead others to question you about your hope – your living hope – and you are to do this by the way you live. Your life is to be a testimony to Jesus, a demonstration of hope. When others see that life, they will ask and you respond by proclaiming Jesus.

            B.         The Problem

From what I can tell, the reason most Christians hesitate to share their faith is that they believe themselves hypocrites, their own life is so lacking that they do not feel it right to proclaim Jesus. And so, feeling themselves to be disobedient, they disobey to lessen the pain of the disobedience – which only makes it worse.

The solution is two-fold. First, we are not called to proclaim ourselves, but Jesus.

Second, our failure to follow the first element of the command to make disciples relates to our failure to the second half of Jesus’ command

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you

It is to that command that we will turn.

Here is the second point: Make disciples by teaching.

            Let us look at the contents of the command, you will find it in Matthew 28:20. You are to make disciples by

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you

This element of the command has three parts: First an action: You – all of you – teach. Second: teach them to obey – keep the command, observe the commands. Third, the content of the instruction, all that Jesus has commanded the disciples.

We are going to focus our time on the first element, the action, teaching.

            A.         A Disciple Learns and Follows

            A disciple is someone who learns and follows. All of us are disciples – indeed, everyone in the world is a disciple of something or some idea. People who change their clothing and style and entertainment choices in response to the directions of our overlords in the Burbank entertainment business are being discipled. Schools are disciple making machines. Families are disciple making machines. Governments make disciples. Businesses and cultures make disciples.

            Disciple takes place in formal, prescribed education and in informal moment by moment encouragement, discouragement or imitation.  You are all busy all the times making disciples and being disciples. Jesus is not introducing a completely new thing into the world. Rather, he is saying that discipleship must be built around him.  We are called to make disciples who proclaim Jesus as Lord.

            A.         Formal Teaching

            By formal teaching, I mean the exposition of the Scriptures. It is the pattern we see in Nehemiah 8:8:

8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. Nehemiah 8:8 (ESV)

Read the Scriptures, explain the Scriptures, apply the Scriptures.  This is the primary element of disciple making for those within the church. Discipleship begins at the pulpit. Thus, when you come to church on Sunday morning, you come to be discipled.

The formal exposition of the Scriptures within the congregation is at the top of the list of our responsibility as a congregation: to teach, to be taught and to support those who teach. Let me show from the Scriptures. Turn to 1 Timothy.

The first command which Paul gives to Timothy is found in 1:3: Protect the teaching of the doctrine to the church:

remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine.

Paul ends the letter with the command to protect the teaching of the church:

20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you. 6:20-21:

Here’s the summary:

Command: Protect the doctrine delivered to you.

Enemy: those who teach a different doctrine.

Purpose: Right doctrine leads to faith.

And the end sought is found in 1 Timothy 1:4:

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Doctrine leads to life: Throughout the letter, Paul ties proper doctrine to proper conduct.  Thus, Paul throughout 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus stresses the importance of teaching, training teachers, selecting teaching, do not get sidetracked from teaching. Elders are those who are (1) able to teach, and (2) those others should imitate.  When Paul writes to Titus, he puts the emphasis on teaching.

In 2 Timothy, Paul waits in a miserable prison knowing he will be killed. How then does he end his instruction and encouragement for his dear friend and ministry help?

1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 2 Timothy 4:1–2 (ESV)

That sounds like Jesus proclaiming, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

I charge you in the presence of God of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom

This is solemn, terrifying: a dread command follows:

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching

Do you see the pattern? Jesus says, I am the Lord, therefore, proclaim me, teach everyone everywhere to follow me. Paul says, God himself requires something of you, teach, preach, everyone to follow Jesus as Lord.

                        1.         Question: Must Everyone Become a Preacher?

At this point, someone will decide that they must become a preacher and that they are sinning if they keep their job as an electrician or a salesperson or a policeman. Does this mean that all of you must become vocational teachers and preachers? No, the NT nowhere gives such an instruction. In fact James writes in the third chapter:

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. James 3:1 (ESV)

In 1 Timothy 3:6, Paul warns against permitting new convert to become overseers and instructors. In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul prohibits women from the work of teaching the entire congregation. And in 2 Timothy 2:22, Paul warns of the excesses and dangers of young men teaching. Paul gives rather exactly limitations on which may be able to hold such positions, 1 Timothy 3:1-7 & Titus 1:5-11.

                        2.         You do have an obligation, support, listen, obey.

In short, most people won’t be the primary expositors for a congregation. However, that does not mean that you have no responsibility in that regard, your regard is to support and uphold the men who have the responsibility for the congregation. That is a very different sermon, but I will commend you all as being so kind and generous that I am often humble by your goodness.

But there is something more: you have an obligation to come near and listen:

1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:1–2 (ESV)

Your job is to both support those who do teach and come to learn, with hearts and ears prepared to receive and apply the word of God.

I want you to see how coming near to learn and to apply is part of your discipleship: Discipleship requires a willingness to submit, to learn, to change. One who will not hear and obey cannot change. All the instruction in the world means nothing if you will not take it to heart.

I say this to you as a solemn warning: If you hear the words of Scripture exposited and you refuse to listen and to obey to the commands of the Lord, you will be broken by that same Lord. In Luke 12:47, Jesus warns:

And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. Luke 12:47 (ESV)

No, train yourselves for godliness, as Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7.

                        3.  There are many places for teaching

Without question, a congregation must have common exposition from the Scripture. But not all exposition will take place in this room.

We also have classes on Sunday morning where you can ask and discuss the Scripture. In Acts 19:8, we read of Paul reasoning and persuading with men form the Scriptures. In verse 9 we read that Paul took disciples and reasoned with them daily from the Scriptures. This seems to be a bit different from the public expositions. We see a similar pattern with Jesus: he preached to everyone, but he had a smaller group whom he taught in more detail.

There are also small groups, and home Bible studies.

We at times will do personal exposition of the Scripture help brothers and sisters when the understanding and application of the Scripture becomes particularly difficult. This is called biblical counselling.

What I want you to see is that in each of these instances, from preaching on Sunday morning to personal exposition to help a marriage, there is particular gifting – that means someone has the abilities to do the work – and there is training. One of our primary jobs as overseers of the congregation is not to do all the teaching ourselves.

Rather, a great part of our responsibility is to train the people in the congregation to rightly handle the word of God. That is why we have Sunday evening classes and interns and other classes to help you become fit to administer the word of God.  I do not want to make this sound elitest – it is not. Rather, it is the model of Scripture: Paul trains Timothy. Jesus trained the 12. Paul instructs Timothy to train other men.

It is also common sense: I have no training in electrical work – I don’t even have much gifting with such things. Which of you would ask me to rewire your house?  Who wants me to program their computer to handle their bills?

Before I became a lawyer, I had to go to school for seven years. Then, when I graduated, I effectively became an apprentice for another few years. Having dealt with the law and dealt with theology and scripture, I can tell you that handling the Bible as it requires is far more difficult and certainly more frightening than picking up a statute.

I want you all to become better equipped to handle the word of God. I want more of you to be trained to be Sunday School teachers and biblical counsellors. That is the desire of our the elders here. If I were to die in this pulpit, it is good to know that there are men here who could step up and finish out the sermon – would to God that there were more.

            B.  Informal Teaching

This is one of the elements of discipleship which many Christians miss: You are all called to be constantly discipling one-another. While it not be as formal as holding a Bible and expositing the Scripture from a pulpit, it is just as important. However, the content of all such informal instruction is always and only Scripture. It is small, applied portions of Scripture – pre-digested if you will – but always and only Scripture. Your own experience of itself is nothing.

Some of this informal teaching involves actually instruction.  For example, fathers are to instruct their children:

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:6–7 (ESV)

Parents, you have a constant duty of discipleship for your children. You are to constantly train them in the words of God.  Yes, you cannot make them believe, but you can take away any excuse for ignorance.

Husbands, you have a duty to your wives. In Ephesians 5, Paul writes:

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, Ephesians 5:25–26 (ESV)

Therefore, you husbands who have suffered in difficult marriages: have you instructed you wife as to the Lord. Have you washed her in the word? Have you exhibited the grace of Lord in giving himself up for us all? Before you come to a pastor and ask about your marriage, ask first about yourself: have you cared for the discipleship of your wife?

Because in the end of the day, she has been given to you so that you may lead her to Christ. She does not exist for your ease, but for your responsibility. If she sins, it is either because she does not know the Lord or she has not been taught to observe all that Christ has commanded.

Wives, you are not off the hook here. Now, I know that some of you have husbands who do not follow your Lord. What then are you to do? As John Street says, Do not write Repent! at the bottom of his beer can.  No, you are to instruct your husbands in the ways of the Lord, but exhibiting the hope and grace of the Gospel:

1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 1 Peter 3:1 (ESV)

Now you wives you have difficult husbands, let me ask you this: If I were to follow you about for a week, a month, and were to see how you actually speak to your husband and you actually treat him, would we – you and I – conclude that your conduct was chaste and respect, gentle and quiet – as Peter prescribes for you?

And so, if your husband is a misery to you could it possibly be because you disobey the Lord you claim to follow?

4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 1 Peter 3:4 (ESV)

Do you see, husband and wives, parents, that much of your grief comes at your own hands? First, you have failed to be obedient disciples of Jesus because you are not obeying him. Second, you have not sought to be disicplemakers, you have not sought to bring you child, your wife, your husband to become a follower of Jesus – but rather, you have sought to turn your children and your husband and your wife into followers of you?

Are you even surprised that having rebelled against the Lord, that the Lord will not bless your home?

But there is more to disciple to be done:

3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Titus 2:3–5 (ESV)

This is not formal classroom stuff – it can include class room instruction, but it is deeper and more informal than that. This is a young mother who is friends with an older woman who has raised her children and they are friends.  This cannot happen if we segregate every adult on the basis of age.  It takes time and effort to be friends.  We cannot simply assign this mother to this woman.

You women who have raised your kids and have been married for 1700 years have a duty to these new moms.  You have to find them, invite them over – or invite yourself over to her house and drink tea and help with her children and encourage her. When the young wife complains of her husband, you set her straight. When feels overwhelmed because her son can’t read at 2 years of age, laugh and encourage her.

I remember my wife, after having been married for several years, crying because there was so much she didn’t know and had learned the hard way and no older woman had taught her what to do.

The same applies for you men. It is not the elders’ job to train every man here in the day to day responsibilities of being a man. And you older men know this, these younger men have not been told much of anything which is true about marriage.

I don’t want to hear any more about our senior congregants not knowing where to serve. The church needs the wisdom acquired from living in this world and working out the Scripture in real life. The entire congregation suffers when you fail to apply this command

This is an instruction: You are grown up and you know the world and you know the unbearable pain of being a husband or wife or parent – you know what it is to cry over an erring son, or to feel at your wits end because you can’t make a mortgage payment. God let you experience those difficulties and gain comfort so that you could share that with others:

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (ESV)

You don’t have go through a book or do homework assignments – you just have to comfort and encourage and help them live like a Christian.

But there is even more! All of you are supposed to be doing this with everyone. No Christian has an excuse for not discipling others. In Romans 15:14 Paul writes:

14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. Romans 15:14 (ESV)

And in Colossians

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

And in Hebrews

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24–25 (ESV)

Do you see that? You are all obliged to one-another. And also that cannot happen unless you are together, a lot. If your church life is 90 minutes on Sunday morning, then do not be surprised when your life looks like it. This also means you. You personally, whether old or young, God has called you to this work.

            C.         Live Together

            The end of the instruction is love:  “love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:4). The commandment is to love – God and man.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)

This only happens when we are together. In Acts 2:42-47 we get our first description of the early church. Listen to this and not how often they were together:

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:42–47 (ESV)

Do see something amazing? They spent their time living like Christians and the Lord added to his church.  The church didn’t grow because some crazy program or scheme or attraction or stadium rally – the Lord made it grow.  The job of Christians is to be disciples. The job of the Lord is to change hearts.

In that living together, they were able to learn, to teach, to obey, to provoke, to encourage, to exhort, to confront – Hebrews 3:13 tells us that this must take place every day. In his sermon the section of Acts 2 quoted above, Martyn Lloyd Jones makes this observation:

Christianity of theirs was central in their lives. It was the controlling factor of their lives. It was everything to them. This is true of every Christian, and it is here that we see the contrast with those popular views of Christianity that I have tried to dismiss. The popular view is that Christianity is something that we add to our lives. The main tenor of our lives is very much the same as that of everybody else in the world, but we have one difference—on Sunday mornings we go to a place of worship for a brief service (Authentic Christianity, Heart, Mind, Will, 70).

Discipleship is a process by which we become something new (2 Cor. 5:17).  To become fit to live with The Lord forever becomes the dearest thing of our lives. Imagine you are preparing to move your entire family from one house to another — it becomes all consuming — packing, carrying, planning, traveling. Your life becomes shaped to fit your new home. We would think someone terribly amiss you spent all his effort on accommodating his live to the house he was leaving. But isn’t that what do in how organize and spend our lives. As Thomas Brooks wrote, the world will be burned for being a witch. And yet we live as if this world and our life upon will be forever.

Discipleship fits for us for leaving.  Discipleship is the Holy Spirit unfolding the Word of God in our hearts and lives and making us into people who love God and who love one-another:

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,

25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

1 Peter 1:22-25.

You see, discipleship is not an add-on or option — it is what we are. The Ruler of Heaven and Earth has commanded that it be so — and, when he speaks, it causes it to be so. To be a Christian is to become a disciple of Jesus.

            D.  Imitation

The final leg of discipleship is imitation. This last element is another sermon in itself. I have about 7,000 words of rough notes on the topic – but I have only room for about a tenth of that.

We act and live like those around us.  Now, people do not look so much like where they are from but rather what they watch in movies or shows or games and music. But the principle is the same, you will become what you see you and hear. Parents, by painful and shameful experience, you know your children will imitate you.

When Christians are around one-another more often, they will begin to imitate one-another.  Our ultimate source for imitation is God. Peter repeats the command from Leviticus, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Pet. 1:16). Paul, in Ephesians 5:1 writes, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” Jesus in Luke 6:35-36 tells us to imitate the Father.

We are also told to imitate Jesus. Jesus says to follow him (Mark 10:21) and Peter writes,

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21 (ESV)

Now those who imitate the Lord and are called to be models for others to imitate. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:16,

 I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

Paul also writes:

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)

This is a pattern which carries down to the church today – we cannot follow Paul or Jesus by natural sight, but we can follow in the faith:

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Hebrews 13:7 (ESV)

Again, this is a process which entails all y’all. First, you must imitate the faith of other more mature Christians. Second, you – whether you want to be or not – are a model for others; people will see you and imitate you. That should cause you some concern for how you live.

Conclusion: What then is to be done?

            The work of discipleship is a work which requires each of you.  Knowing that, listen to these words of Peter and take them to heart, hear them and obey them knowing that in so doing, you will be about the Lord’s work and fulfilling the Lord’s command.

This work is difficult, flesh-crossing work. You will be checked at almost every step. The Devil will seek to destroy you. The world will seek to distract you.  People will seek to unravel your faith. Your flesh will seek to lead you to sin. Your heart will prove traitor. These enemies, coupled to the curse which lays upon this world, will cause you to suffer and sorrow.

Discipleship causes pain, because discipleship turns on destruction. You born into rebellion, into a foreign kingdom — and now have been rescued, translated into a kingdom of light. But the thoughts and hopes of that old kingdom still stick to your heart. Discipleship entails nothing less than the destruction of every hint of that kingdom to raise Christ as king alone:

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

1 Corinthians 1:18-19

We would not send soldiers into battle without training — and even then, training continues. The soldier in Afghanistan cannot forget for a day he is at war — but he knows that one day he will come home if the enemy does not kill him in the field.

The Christian cannot fall by pain or death — it is only sin which can derail the believer. Therefore,

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:8–11 (ESV)

“Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken”

by Henry Francis Lyte, 1793-1847

1. Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee;
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my All shalt be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I’ve sought or hoped or known;
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still my own.

2. Let the world despise and leave me,
They have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me;
Thou art not, like them, untrue.
And while Thou shalt smile upon me,
God of wisdom, love, and might,
Foes may hate and friends may shun me;
Show Thy face, and all is bright.

3. Go, then, earthly fame and treasure!
Come, disaster, scorn, and pain!
In Thy service, pain is pleasure;
With Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee Abba, Father!
I have stayed my heart on Thee.
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather,
All must work for good to me.

4. Man may trouble and distress me,
‘Twill but drive me to Thy breast;
Life with trials hard may press me,
Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me
While Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me
Were that joy unmixed with Thee.

5. Take, my soul, thy full salvation;
Rise o’er sin and fear and care;
Joy to find in every station,
Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee,
What a Father’s smile is thine,
What a Savior died to win thee;
Child of heaven, shouldst thou repine?

6. Haste, then, on from grace to glory,
Armed by faith and winged by prayer;
Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee,
God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close the earthly mission,
Swift shall pass thy pilgrim days,
Hope soon change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

The Alchemy of God

16 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Genesis, Mark, Ministry, Service

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1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, alchemy, Carl Truman, cross, elders, Genesis, Mark, Martin Luther, Ministry, reversal, Self-denial, Service

The alchemists hoped to work by reversal and turn lead into gold. Such was human aspiration. But God can and does reverse the lead of sin and transform it into the gold of God’s glory. Sin always aims at the shame and ruin of God:

1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

Psalm 2:1-3.

And yet God never quails:

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

Psalm 2:4-6. The pattern runs throughout the Bible. For example:

Joseph to his brothers:

19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Gen. 50:19-20.

Service in Mark 10:

42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

Trials in 2 Corinthians 12:

8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Death itself:

53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Cor. 15:54-57.

Such reversals in the end leave God with all glory:

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

1 Cor. 1:27-31.

Here is a bit on Carl Truman making a similar with reference to Luther’s teaching and as to eldership:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/mobile/article/justintaylor/the-difference-between-a-theologian-of-the-cross-and-a-theologian-of-glory

Translation 1 Clement 1.3

29 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Clement, 1 Peter, Greek, Hebrews, Titus

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1 Clement, 1 Peter, elders, First Clement, Greek, Greek Text, Hebrews, hebrews 13:17, Hebrews 13:7, Hebrews Authorship, home, leaders, Luke, Luke 22:26, order church, Paul, subjection, Titus, Titus 2, worker at home

1 Clement 1.3:

ἀπροσωπολήμπτως γὰρ πάντα ἐποιεῖτε, καὶ τοῖς νομίμοις *. τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπορεύεσθε, ὑποτασσόμενοι τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ὑμῶν καὶ τιμὴν τὴν καθήκουσαν ἀπονέμοντες τοῖς παρ ὑμῖν πρεσβυτέροις· νέοις τε μέτρια καὶ σεμνὰ νοεῖν ἐπετρέπετε· γυναιξίν τε ἐν ἀμώμῳ καὶ σεμνῇ καὶ ἁγνῇ συνειδήσει πάντα ἐπιτελεῖν παρηγγέλλετε, στεργούσας καθηκόντως τοὺς ἄνδρας ἑαυτῶν· ἔν τε τῷ κανόνι τῆς ὑποταγῆς ὑπαρχούσας τὰ κατὰ τὸν οἰκον σεμνῶς οἰκουργεῖν ἐδιδάσκετε, πάνυ σωφρονούσας.

For you have been doing all things without partiality, according to what God commands; subjecting yourselves to your elders, showing honor to the elders appointed over you; instructing the young men to think what is fitting and reverent; you charged the women to fulfill all things with a blameless, reverent, pure conscience, showing their own husbands the love which is fitting: you taught them to work in their home according to rule of obedience with reverence and all sobriety.

Notes:

“You have been doing”: imperfect, to do. The tense refers to an act which went on the past. The relationship to the present is unclear as of this point in the letter. Something has plainly happened with which the writer contrasts the past – when this always took place.  The force seems to be that such action was common in the past, an iterative imperfect (Wallace, 546).

“Leaders” this particular word is used in the NT only at Luke 22:26 Hebrews 13:7 & 17: “Futhermore, hegoumenoi is used in the sense of church leaders only by Luke and Hebrews” (Allen, Lukan Authorship of Hebrews,  25).  This is another point of contact between 1 Clement and Hebrews. If Allen is correct, then the contact with not merely with Hebrews but even perhaps with Luke.

“Elders”: while the words is merely old men, in this context the theological term seems appropriate in that it comes in close proximity to “leaders” which Hebrews uses as a term for a church leader.

“Young men”: this shows connection to 1 Peter. The quick movement from church order, church leaders and young men in the church takes place in 1 Peter 5:1-5.

There may be a reference here to 1 Timothy 3 and the instructions for church leaders. The word “reverence” appears in that passage.  The closest connection would be the combination of women and “reverence” in 1Timothy 3:11.

A closer connection would be Titus 2:2-6:

Older men/elders are told to be “reverent” (“semnos”). The parallel between Titus 2:4-5 contains multiple parallel ideas: (1) and “worker at home”, the strongest connection between the passages (seeing that it is the rarest word; (2) sobriety/sound thinking (this is a key word in 1 Peter, also); (3) purity; (4) reverence; (5) training/teaching [however the words are different];); (6) love of husband (different word).

“Rule of obedience”  this phrase has a Pauline flavor: the word for rule is used only by Paul in the NT. Obedience appears in 1 Tim. 2:11 & 3:4.

This sentence sets up the problem discussed in the remainder of the letter, to wit, the lack of subjection within the church.


* Clem. Alex.: τοῖς νόμοις AC in lege S

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