Tag Archives: Pastoral Ministry

Precious Remedies Against Satans Devices: Introductory Epistle (a model for pastoral ministry)

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

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Thomas Brooks’ work Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices begins with a pastoral letter to his reader(s). He first lays out the pastoral office:

Beloved in our dearest Lord, Christ, the Scripture, your own hearts, and Satan’s devices, are the four prime things that should be first and most studied and searched. If any cast off the study of these, they cannot be safe here, nor happy hereafter. It is my work as a Christian, but much more as I am a Watchman, to do my [1] best to discover the fulness of Christ, [2] the emptiness of the creature, [3] and the snares of the great deceiver

Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 1 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 3. In short we are weak, the Devil is deception, but Christ is greater than both our weakness and the Devil’s snares.

There are several “devices” of Satan, because there are various weaknesses and failings of human beings; therefore, the Devil sets his snares to match his prey:

Satan loves to sail with the wind, and to suit men’s temptations to their conditions and inclinations

This work of Satan is no ideal threat; it is a constant, ubiquitous malice which works throughout the world:

From the power, malice, and skill of Satan, doth proceed all the soul-killing plots, devices, stratagems, and machinations, that be in the world. Several

 When we consider both the irrationality of our own sin, and the insanity of the world writ large, we are at loss if we do not consider the malevolence of Satan. Satan, in Paradise Lost (Book I, lines 643-649) realizing that God will not be overthrown by direct war turns his malice to deceit:

Henceforth his might we know, and know our own
So as not either to provoke, or dread
New warr, provok’t; our better part remains [ 645 ]
To work in close design, by fraud or guile
What force effected not: that he no less
At length from us may find, who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.

This malice everywhere present in the world. Now Brooks’ willingness to attribute great effect to Satan is certainly odd in this world. To even posit Satan’s existence, much less agency, is to be considered a bit odd if not ignorant (or perhaps deranged). This is of course a great act of his deception:

He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.

The Usual Suspects. Having laid out his plan, Brooks then prays for his reader. This is a marvelous model of prayer:

My desires for you are,

‘That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God,’ Eph. 3:16–19;

and

‘That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increased in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering, with joyfulness,’ Col. 1:10, 11;

‘That ye do no evil,’ 2 Cor. 13:7;

‘That your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge, and in all judgment;’ ‘That ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere, and without offence till the day of Christ,’ Philip. 1:27, 4:1; and that ‘our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power;’ ‘That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ,’ 2 Thes. 1:11, 12.

And that you may be eminent in sanctity, sanctity being Zion’s glory, Ps. 93:5;

that your hearts may be kept upright, your judgments sound, and your lives unblameable.

That as ye are now ‘my joy,’ so in the day of Christ you may be ‘my crown;’ that I may see my labours in your lives; that your conversation may not be earthly, when the things you hear are heavenly; but that it may be ‘as becomes the gospel,’ Philip. 1:9, 10.

That as the fishes which live in the salt sea yet are fresh, so you, though you live in an uncharitable world, may yet be charitable and loving;

That ye may, like the bee, suck honey out of every flower; that ye may shine in a sea of troubles, as the pearl shines in the sky, though it grows in the sea;

that in all your trials you may be like the stone in Thracia, that neither burneth in the fire nor sinketh in the water;

That ye may be like the heavens, excellent in substance and beautiful in appearance;

that so you may meet me with joy in that day wherein Christ shall say to his Father, ‘Lo, here am I, and the children that thou hast given me,’ Isa. 8:18

My desires to you are,

That you would make it your business to study Christ, his word, your own hearts, Satan’s plots, and eternity, more than ever;

That ye would endeavour more to be inwardly sincere than outwardly glorious; to live, than to have a name to live;

That ye would labour with all your might to be thankful under mercies, and faithful in your places, and humble under divine appearances, and fruitful under precious ordinances;

That as your means and mercies are greater than others’, so your account before God may not prove a worse than others’;

That ye would pray for me, who am not worthy to be named among the saints, that I may be a precious instrument in the hand of Christ to bring in many souls unto him, and to build up those that are brought in in their most holy faith;

and ‘that utterance may be given to me, that I may make known all the will of God,’ Eph. 6:19;

That I may be sincere, faithful, frequent, fervent, and constant in the work of the Lord, and that my labour be not in vain in the Lord; that my labours may be accepted in the Lord and his saints, and I may daily see the travail of my soul, &c.

 Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 1 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 5-6.

 

Doddridge on being a minister

19 Wednesday Apr 2017

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Philip Doddridge, D.D., in Lectures on Preaching and the Several Branches of the Ministerial Office, 1808, Boston. The lectures were not published until after Doddridge had died. A short biography may be found here. Dr. Doddridge begins his lectures with 13 general comments about how one can make himself ready for the work of a minister:

See to it that there be a foundation of sincere piety in yourselves, or else there is but little prospect of your being useful or acceptable to others. — Be therefore firmly resolved to devote yourselves to God, and do so solemnly.

Examination:

Piety is an old-fashioned concept, but it lies at the heart of being a Christian. A pastor is one who undertakes to care for the souls of others, to lead them to Christ and to help shelter them from spiritual harm. To understand the word “piety” here and its importance, it would be useful to see it in the context of Calvin’s use in the Institutes, for instance:

Now, the knowledge of God, as I understand it, is that by which we not only conceive that there is a God but also grasp what befits us and is proper to his glory, in fine, what is to our advantage to know of him. Indeed, we shall not say that, properly speaking, God is known where there is no religion or piety

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 1 & 2, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 1, The Library of Christian Classics (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 39. In a footnote to this section, Battles writes,

It is a favorite emphasis in Calvin that pietas, piety, in which reverence and love of God are joined, is prerequisite to any true knowledge of God. Cf. I. iv. 4. The brief characterization of pietas that follows here may be compared with his words written in 1537: “The gist of true piety does not consist in a fear which would gladly flee the judgment of God, but … rather in a pure and true zeal which loves God altogether as Father, and reveres him truly as Lord, embraces his justice and dreads to offend him more than to die”; Instruction in Faith (1537), tr. P. T. Fuhrmann, pp. 18 f. (original in OS I. 379). For an examination of “pietas literata” with reference to Erasmus, John Sturm, Melanchthon, and Cordier, see P. R. Bolgar, The Classical Heritage and Its Beneficiaries, pp. 329–356. (In many contexts pietas is translated “godliness” in the present work.)

We would not hire a plumber or doctor, lawyer or gardener who did not exhibit skill and interest in that particular subject. Yet many pastors seem more fit for entertainer than a fit guide in godliness. In any event, Doddridge is right. Here are a couple of questions for self-examination on the question of piety.

Meditation: What do I read? Is my reading affective — does what I read (if it is profitable) something which stirs my heart or changes my conduct? Do I ponder and consider what I read? How is my reading of Scripture? Is it perfunctory or diligent and delightful? Do I read, meditate, change?

Prayer: Do I pray — and not just as a matter of course before meals? Do I pray for holiness? Do I pray for others. (Here is a place to start: http://www.icommittopray.com).

Time: How do I spend my time? Take one week, and track your time in 15 minute intervals? What does it show?

Service: Does you life of faith flow out as love to your neighbor?

Holiness: Would someone who spent much time with you think that this characterizes your life? Is there a growth in holiness?

Resolution: Have you — and if not do so — resolve to God that your will demonstrate this piety.

Lemuel Haynes, The Character and Work of a Spiritual Watchman Described (1791) Part 3

26 Saturday Nov 2016

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III. To show, That Ministers Must Give Account to God of their Conduct, more Especially as it Respects the People of their Charge.

This solemn consideration as suggested in the text: just the design of preaching to make things ready for the Day of Judgment. 2 Corinthians ii. 16. To the one we are the savor of dafont to death; and to the other the saver of life onto life: we are fitting man for the masters use– preparing affairs for that decisive court. This supposes that things must be laid open before the great assembly at the Day of Judgment; or, why is it that there are so many things that related thereto and our preferences therefor.

The work of a gospel minister has a peculiar relation to futurity: An approaching judgment is that too which every subject is pointing and which renders every sentiment to be inculcated, Vastly solemn, and interesting. Ministers are accountable creatures in common with other men; and we have the on airing testimony of scripture that God sure bring every working to judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Ecclesiastes xii. 14. If there is none of our conduct too minute to be cognizable, we may well conclude that such important affairs that relate to the working office of gospel ministers will not pass unnoticed.

Arguments maybe taken from the names given to the ministers of Christ, that they must give account. They are soldiers, ambassadors, servants, stewards, angels, and et cetera. that they are sent of God and are amenable to him that sent them; as a servant or stewart count to his Lord and Master with respect to his faithfulness in the trust reposted in him. God tells Ezekiel, If Watchmen or not faithful and souls Parish through their neglect, then he will require their blood at the hands of such careless watchmen. It is evident that primitive ministers were influenced a faithfulness from a view of the solemn account they expected to give it the Day of Judgment. This gave rise to those words, Acts iv. 19, “But Peter and John answered and said onto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to harken onto you more then onto God, judge ye.” If God’s omniscience is emotive to faithfulness, it must be in this view that he will not let our conduct passed unnoticed, but call list to an account.

It was approaching judgment that engrossed the attention of St. Paul and made him exhort Timothy to study to approve himself onto God. This made the beloved disciple speak of having boldness and the Day of Judgment. 1 John iv. 17.

The divine glory is an object only worthy of attention; any displays holy character was the design of God and creation; as there was his other beings existing antecedent thereto, to attract the mind of Jehovah; and we are sure that God is pursuing the same things still, And always will. Cues of one mind and who can turn him? Job xxiii. 13. There is no conceivable objects that bears any proportion with the glory of God; and for him ever to aim at anything else, would be incompatible with his perfections. The Day of Judgment is designed to be a comment on all other days; At which time God’s government of the world, and their conduct towards him, will be publicly investigated, that the equity of divine administration may appear conspicuous before the assembled universe. It is called a day on which the Son of Man is revealed. Luke xvii. 30. The honor of God requires that matters be publicly and particularly attended two; that evidences are summoned at this open court: hence the saints are to judge the world. 1 Corinthians vi. 2.

It will conducive to the mutual happiness of faithful ministers and people, to have matter late open before the bar of God, as in the words following our tax, but they may do it with joy and not with grief. The apostle speaks of some ministers and people who should have reciprocal Joy in the day of the Lord Jesus–which supposes that ministers and the people in their charge are to meet another day as having something special with each other. The connection between ministers and people is such as renders them capable of saying much for or against the people of their charge; and if here is making the same observations with respect to their teachers; and in this way the mercy and justice of God will appear illustrious.

Since therefore, it Work of gospel ministers has such a new relation to Judgment Day; since they are accountable creatures, and their work so momentous; since it is a sentiment that is had so powerful and influence all true ministers and all ages of the world: also there connection is such as to render them capable of saying many things relating to the people of their charge. Above all, since it displays a divine glory are so highly concerned in this matter; we may without hesitation adopt the idea in the text, that ministers have a solemn account to give to their great Lord and Master how they discharge the trust reposed in them.

The Important Concerns of Ministers (1797) Part 1

19 Saturday Nov 2016

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lemuel_haynes

The important concerns of Ministers, and the
People of their charge, at the day
of Judgment

____________________

Illustrated in a
SERMON

delivered at Rutland,
ORANGE SOCIETY
August 22d, 1797, at the interment of the
Rev. Abraham Carpenter
THEIR WORTHY PASTOR

_____________

By LAMUEL HAYNES
Pastor of a Church in Rutland, Vermont
_______________

_________________

PRINTED AT RUTLAND, 1798

1 Thessalonians II.19
For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? are not even ye in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his Coming?

The second coming of Christ is the source of peculiar joy and consolation to the people of God: it is a day in which their hopes and expectations will be fully answered. Tribulation attends the good men while in this life; the scenes of divine providence are mysterious, and many things unaccountable and insignificant without a day of judgment; they will then be explained and adjusted to the joy and admiration of all who love Christ appearing. Many of the events that take place in this life, stand in a solemn relation to the Judgment Day, unknown more so than the gospel ministry; hence it is that the attention of the true servants of Christ is so much taken up with a future state. St. Paul being detained from the church of Thessalonica, since this epistle as a token of his love and respect to them; in which he anticipates that blessed., when he should meet them at the bar of Christ, which would afford such joy and satisfaction asked you more than compensate for all their sorrow, more especially for his being prevented a personal interview with those to whom he wrote.

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? are not even ye in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his Coming?

We have two very important ideas suggested in the words. One is, that ministers and their people must meet each other at the day of judgment.—The second is, that although ministers are often separated from their hearers in this life, Get the people of God among whom a pious creature finishes his work, will be a cause or crown of peculiar joy and satisfaction at the second coming of Christ.

With respect to the first point we may observe, to give us a striking contrast between this in the coming world, we are in the present state subject to many vicissitudes.

What changes are taking place in the empires, states, societies, and families? In nothing is this more observable been in matters relating to ministers and the people of their charge. A persecuting spirit, that prevailed in the apostolic age, was often the mean of parting friends, and especially of driving preachers from their churches: the same causes had influence in every age at the church; but if religious societies are so happy is to escape such a calamity, yet it pleases the great head of the church in his sovereign wisdom, to separate ministers and their people by death; this gets feeling to a pious preacher, And in some degree has influence and every sermon he delivers. That all mankind will be collected before the bar of Christ, to see the great and intricate affairs of the universe adjusted, is a plane dictate I’ve reason and scripture; but that many we’ll meet there as having mutual concerns with each other as evident.

—More especially, ministers and the people one committed to their charge, doubtless will appear in some sense as distinct societies, as having particular and personal matters to attend to. —This supposes that they will have a knowledge of each other: for without this the purposes of their meeting in such a manner could not be answered. How far this will extend, or by what means it will be conveyed, is too curious to inquire.

It seems, unless we are able by some means to distinguish those from others with whom we have been intimate in this life, the designs of the future judgment once some measure be frustrated. The great end of that day is to illustrate divine truth, or make that appear conspicuous to creative intelligence; to affect this, god will make use of mankind is instruments; this is the method he takes in this life, and doubtless it will be most eligible in the world come. For our acquaintance to be summoned as witnesses for or against us at this court, we’ll perhaps be the best means to administer conviction. In this way the great God can speak in language easy for finite creatures to understand.

One design of the world, being divided into distinct societies and communities, without was to prepare matters for the day of judgment. The relation between ministers and people is such as renders them capable of saying much about each other; in this way the justice and mercy of God will be illustrated, divine proceedings vindicated and every mouth stopped. It is our conduct in this life that will direct divine proceeding towards us at the final judgment; that the equity of God’s administrations may appear, ’tis the salvation in damnation of many souls will be through the instrumentality of faithful and unfaithful watchmen: this is an idea contained in the charge God gave to Ezekiel, 32d chapter. It will be necessary that the motives by which ministers have been influenced in their work, be brought out to view: for without sincerity of heart they can never execute their office with any degree of truth faithfulness, and are a high affront to God, and a vile imposition on the people.

At the day of judgment the doctrines with which a minister has entertained his hearers must be examined. However, doctrinal preaching must be discarded by many in such words as metaphysical, abstruse, and etc., are often made use of to obstruct free and candid inquiry. Yeah it is evident that one great end of the gospel ministry is to disseminate right sentiments; hence it is that Paul’s so often exhorts Timothy to take heed of his doctrine. Sound doctrine, as well as could practice, is necessary to constitute the Christian character. Whoever transgresseth and abideth not in doctrine of Christ hath not God, 2 John 9.

A careful inquiry will be made whether an empty parade of learning, elegancy of style, etc., have been the main things with which I people have been entertained; tending only to gratify vain curiosity, and to fix the attention of the hearers on the speaker. This made the St. Paul condemn such a mode of preaching, and determined not to know anything say Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Cor. 2:2.

Whether vague equivocal expressions have been used to convey, or whether to obscure the truths of the gospel; by which anything, and almost everything maybe understood. This is causing the trumpet to give an uncertain sound; and has no tendency to impress or give feeling to the mind, as is the case with the words of the wise, being as goads and nails, Ecclesiastes 12:11.

Whether to please man has had greater influence on our composing and delivering our sermons or the glory of God and the good of souls. People will be examined at the bar of Christ, whether they have not dealt plainly with —

[Whether they had] been told their characters and danger–that they are wholly opposed to God, destitute of everything that is holy, or morally good–

That they are by nature under the curse of God’s law, exposed every moment endless well –that they are hopeless and helpless in themselves–

The necessity of the renewing influence of the Spirit–

The nature of their impudency, that it consists of an evil heart;

That they are therefore altogether inexcusable, and are criminal in proportion to the degree of their inability–

Nothing short of repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the immediate duty of all that hear the gospel.

Ministers and their people must meet before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account whether the true character of God has in any good measure been investigated–

As a sin hating in sin and sin revenging God —

As one who in his sovereign wisdom and goodness has elected some to everlasting life, and others for the display of his power injustice to internal death–

That he governs all things by a fixed on alterable plan.

That of him, and to him, and through are all things.

Without this, the character of God is kept out of sight, people left in the dark, and I’m not able to determine whether they love or hate the true God.

It must be known whether people have had the character and work of the Redeemer set before them —

The design of his sufferings;
the efficacy of his blood,
and the necessity of our union to him.

The manner in which divine truth has been delivered, will be a matter of serious examination at that day; whether with that earnestness and fervor becoming the vast importance celebrity of gospel truth, tending to effect the mind.

The deportment, or examples of ministers among their people will be closely attended to:
their private visits, exhortations and reproof,
holy desires and wrestlings for the souls of their hearers, we’ll not escape notice;
the improvement that people have made of such advantages will be brought into public view.

How often people attended on the ministration of the word, and the manner how, will be matters of serious concern at the Judgment Day. Those excuses that men make for neglecting public worship, will be weighed in at just scale.

Whether people have so far contributed to the temporal support of their ministers as to enable them to devote themselves to the service of Christ: or by to great neglect, have not obstructed the gospel, robbed God, wounded their own souls.

It will be useful that the time of the minister’s continuance among the people be known, as it will serve to set the character of the gospel despisers in a true point of light. That ministers and the people of their charge will meet each other at the bar of Christ as suggested in my text and other parts of the sacred writings.—It has already been observed, that in this way truth will appear a conspicuous, and the conduct of God believe vindicated, and the designs of the Judgment Day in the best manner answered.

It may be further observed, the two matters relating to the gospel ministry are of such magnitude it appears important that it will be attended to; they concern a Judgment Day an eternal state. On ministers and people meet in the house of God it is an acknowledgment that they believe in the future state of retribution, And as a sort appeals to the day of judgment. The influence of a faithful or unfaithful minister is such as to the fact unborn ages; April commonly determine the sentiments and characters of their successors; and in this way they maybe doing good or evil after they are dead and even to the second coming of Christ.

That God’s hatred towards false teachers and against those who choose them, together with their criminality may appear, it will be necessary that these matters I laid open at the tribunal of Christ—. As a proof of the matter under consideration I may only add: that there always has been an important controversy and a greater or lesser degree between ministers and part of their people; it is so with faithful preachers and some of their hearers; wicked man oppose the doctrines they preach, and will not be convinced. Unfaithful preachers, they have advocates and opposers; the dispute involved the character of Christ, it cannot be settled in this world: how necessary that ministers and their people meet at the great day to have the matter decided, the doctrines of Christ vindicated, and the characters of ministers or people exonerated.

II.

Some quick notes on Acts 20

09 Friday Sep 2016

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I was asked whether I thought Paul’s discourse in Acts 20 contain anything normative for the church — in particular, does Paul’s closing require a pastor to not take a salary. These are very brief notes for use and development later.

18 And when they came to him, he said to them:

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

This initial discourse feature is Paul giving the ground for his appeal. He will close with a very similar discourse feature. He is establishing (1) his ethical standing to make demands upon the men present: I am not asking you to do something I would not do; (2) the importance of the work: his life was wholly consistent with this appeal. This is such an important charge, that I took every effort to do. By giving his own example in the concrete: public and house to house, night and day, one would abstract – especially in light of the emphatic imperative in the center of the text – the principle that this work entails constant dedication.

22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

 Paul counts his life as of value only insofar as it supports the ministry given to him. Particulars:

Finish well

Finish ministry

Testify to the gospel.

These are elements being held up as exemplary.  These continue the ethical emphasis: I am going to make a demand upon you which I have made upon myself.

25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.

This is a biographical statement with temporal and person markers which no one else can replicate: none of us can possibly be Paul prior to the discourse (“whom I have gone about”), nor can we be those who will not again see these men who are now dead. Thus, we know that cannot be normative.

There is an exemplary, repeatable behavior: “proclaiming the kingdom”. This will become part of the core of Paul’s emphasis.

 

26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

This is exemplary – but also contains an implicit warning: If I did not proclaim the whole counsel of God, then I would be guilty of blood.

The example coupled with the warning makes this an emphatic imperative for those in ministry. This is followed by a second related demand: protect the flock. Proclaiming the Gospel and driving off wolves.

 

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

Second person imperative, couple with emphatic clauses & warnings – followed by a warning and imperative.

This is unquestionably a normative imperative for the church, even though spoken in a particular locale. The basis for the normative duty is that the basis for the duty: it is to care for the church purchased by the blood of Christ. The entire church is in view.

The biographical flourish “three years” and “night or day” are not imperatives. However, they are exemplary. The detail drives home the importance of the normative imperative.  Again, this closing is consistent with Paul’s ethical standing to make the demand, and his personal example consistent with the demand.

32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

This final example merely demonstrates that Paul was doing the work not for some temporal gain. Paul shows himself ethically proper by referencing the 10th Commandment (cf. Rom. 7). Paul makes a personal application which is presented as evidence of the prior point: I did not covet. I can prove it: I didn’t even take a salary.

No pastor may do the work for sinful motivation (coveting another’s property). The question you are concerned about is whether Paul’s personal proof of not coveting, i.e., working to support himself in ministry, is normative (mandatory in all circumstances at all times for all pastors): Of course not. Paul isn’t saying that – and the structure of the discourse makes that plain.

However, not coveting is necessary for all Christians (not just all pastors). That is easily provable from Paul’s corpus alone. The actions which are necessary to prove that one is not covetous will be context-dependent (we know this because in other biographical instances, we know that Paul took a salary. Paul also instructed Timothy that is not wrong to take a salary).

This is made emphatic by the imperative to help the weak and the aphorism from Jesus.

The only normative command we can take from this passage concerning ministry and salary is that a pastor could be in a circumstance where he should not take a salary – if that salary would hinder the work by making the pastor appear to be covetous.

But there is nothing in this brief passage which in by means indicates that Paul is prohibiting a pastor’s salary – he doesn’t say that. In fact, the argument only works if taking a salary is permissible. (Saying I didn’t do something I wasn’t allowed to do, or was unable to do, proves very little. I cannot prove my selflessness by pointing to the fact that I allowed the President to live in the Whitehouse.)

And finally, this has nothing to do with the normative determinations one would take from a narrative passage.

Why didn’t Paul take a salary at Corinth?

06 Wednesday Jul 2016

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One aspect of the ancient world that we need to keep in mind as we read these verses is the fact that it frequently operated on the basis of informal “patron-client” relationships. In such relationships, a “have” (patron) supported a “have-not” (client) materially. The have-not did not earn or merit such “grace.” The patron or “have” did it for other reasons, such as the prestige of being noble or various other favors a have-not might render. In return, the have-not, the “client,” returned whatever honor or service was appropriate.

In some parts of the Roman Empire, the newly rich would compete for status by accruing as many clients as they could.3 Such clients might be expected to come to the patron’s house once a day and do whatever menial tasks the patron required. In return they would get at least one meal that day along with the possibility of future help. The entanglements of patron-client relationships provide us with a good explanation for why Paul on principle did not receive material support from the churches where he was ministering. He would take support from churches elsewhere, such as the support he received from the Philippian church while he was at Thessalonica (Phil. 4:15–16). But he refused support from the cities where he currently served.

Kenneth Schenck, 1 & 2 Corinthians: A Commentary for Bible Students (Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2006), 136.  Commenting on 1 Corinthians 9

Ministers Must Take Heed

06 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by in Ministry, Preaching, Uncategorized

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(I received this note from one of most godly and dedicated pastors I have ever met)

A good word for preachers of the Word from Thomas Taylor’s commentary on Titus:

“Ministers must take head of earthly-mindedness, not seeking theirs, but them who are committed to their trust; not only to avoid an offense, but also that they may feelingly speak of points which concern forsaking the world in affection, for this is a point difficult enough to learn from the most sanctified teacher.

“If a minister takes not this course, long may he look for a harvest, yea even until his eyes fail, but he shall never see his seed again; He has sewn to the wind, and what can he expect to reap but earthliness and atheism among his people. For men’s minds will be working, and settling themselves upon some pleasurable and profitable object; it’s not upon that which is truly good, yet at least upon that which is apparently good; and their hearts can never be taken off things below, but will remain worldlings still, and unless we show them better treasures elsewhere, and that in such a feeling manner they may think we speak in earnest.”

Book Review: Shepherds After My Own Heart, Timothy S. Laniak

02 Wednesday Dec 2015

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Short version: If you are a pastor, buy and read this book

Long version:

Laniak has written a biblical theology of the Shepherd-Motif which begins in the Pentateuch and ends in Revelation. While the book does create a basis for understanding the work of a pastor in daily church work and does make occasional “practical” comments, this book is not a how-to of the pastor’s office.

It is precisely this lack of detailed “practical” information which I think makes this book particularly useful and necessary. Too many pastoral books and blogs are written without a sufficient grounding in theology. Pastors are trained to be pragmatists, not pastors, and thus have done a better job at filling building, selling things and moving people around than they have in leading people safely to Christ.

Lanai rightly explains, “Biblically, leadership can only be understood in terms of a fully integrated theological vision of God and his work on work” (249). This is where his book is so needed:

Our theology of leadership is informed by this breathtaking choice of God to grant royal prerogatives to his creatures. To be made in his image is rule with him and for him….Every shepherd leader is first and always a sheep who relates to god as ‘my Shepherd.’ (248).

Shepherding is a profoundly theological task — and thus the theology must be rightly understood.

Christ is the True God-Man Shepherd:

Laniak reads the Scripture as one of progressive revelation (thus working out biblical theology in the lines set out by Vos), showing out the pastoral imagery is made complete in Christ.

He begins the work with a useful discussion of metaphor. He explains not merely the how of metaphor, but also the why: metaphors teach us and affect us: “It is precisely in the combining of cognitive content with affective associations that metaphor gains its power” (39). Metaphors help us to understand by both explaining to us and changing us. It is one thing to say that God is in control for our good; it is better to say that God cares for us like a shepherd.

That leads to the second chapter: If we will understand the metaphor, we must understand the original. Most of the readers will be like me — I am not a shepherd from the ANE and I have never been shepherd. My sheep time amounted to a few minutes in a petting zoo at the fair.

Thus, Laniak gives a detailed treatment of the shepherd’s work and the shepherd’s economy. He also shows how the shepherd image was a common one throughout the ANE.

Having provided a background, Laniak begins his analysis of God as the shepherd of Israel in the wilderness during the Exodus. This theme of God as the wilderness shepherd is a strand which Laniak traces throughout the Scripture, tying the understanding of the wilderness shepherd to Jesus as the Shepherd of the Church. The Scripture has an organic whole where the first elements culminate in the last:

The Shepherd of Israel was, through Israel, seeking a remnant from all the nations (cf. Amos 9:12), i.e., ‘sheep which are not of this fold’ (John 10:16 NASB). (93)

Next comes the Davidic King as the development of God as the Kingly Shepherd over the people of God. Unfortunately, the actual kings of God’s people were corrupt and not fit undershepherds of Israel’s God. Therefore, God sent prophets who rebuked the false shepherds and promised the new — true Shepherd — who lead God’s people in a second Exodus.

Interestingly, in the prophetic development of the Shepherd there are human and divine elements. First, It is God who is the true shepherd of Israel (115). Human authority is secondary:
“Isaiah describes God’s rule over his people and the world as unmeditated. The human king, occasionally mentioned, has delegated authority and thus can never claim to be more than a servant of the Lord” (131). Thus, the prophets regularly condemn the false shepherds who fail to recognize God as the true sovereign — these false shepherds use the sheep for their own ends.

Second, God promises to send a new Davidic King to shepherd the people:
Ezekiel 34:23–24 (ESV)
23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.

These two strands: God as the true shepherd and the servant David as the shepherd come together in Christ who is the true shepherd. This culminates in the Jesus Christ of Revelation is God, King, Shepherd and Lamb.

Conclusion

As I stated above, this is a theology book — it is not a how-to blog post with tweet-able quotes. The book is hard work. Laniak sets out and develops a thesis across the entire scope of Scripture. There are footnotes and references to original languages (those always transliterated and always defined). This might scare off some readers.

But if a reader is scared off from a theology book, perhaps that man should not be a pastor.

Polycarp: Duties of an Elder

09 Friday Nov 2012

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From Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippian Church:

chap. vi.—the duties of presbyters and others.
And let the presbyters be compassionate and merciful to all, bringing back those that wander, visiting all the sick, and not neglecting the widow, the orphan, or the poor, but always “providing for that which is becoming in the sight of God and man;” abstaining from all wrath, respect of persons, and unjust judgment; keeping far off from all covetousness, not quickly crediting [an evil report] against any one, not severe in judgment, as knowing that we are all under a debt of sin. If then we entreat the Lord to forgive us, we ought also ourselves to forgive; for we are before the eyes of our Lord and God, and “we must all appear at the judgment-seat of Christ, and must every one give an account of himself.” Let us then serve Him in fear, and with all reverence, even as He Himself has commanded us, and as the apostles who preached the Gospel unto us, and the prophets who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Lord [have alike taught us]. Let us be zealous in the pursuit of that which is good, keeping ourselves from causes of offence, from false brethren, and from those who in hypocrisy bear the name of the Lord, and draw away vain men into error.