New Thoughts (03/16/17-03/22/17)
Ordinary Providence (03/18/17)
We face something of a conundrum when it comes to the nature of ministry. If everything depends on God, and He can do as He pleases with such certainty that nothing we do could prevent Him from achieving His purpose, why preach? Why evangelize? Why not just, “Let go and let God”? You can hear this play out in present-day perspectives that suggest there is no need to attend an organized church. It’s there in the “Me and my Bible” go-it-alone Christian. It’s there in the purportedly primitivist movement that finds no franchise for a professional, trained clergy.
If they are right, then it must be that we are wrong. The seminaries should be shut down immediately as an offense against God (and, let me just say that many of them likely are an offense in God’s sight, given that they teach godlessness). We ought to disband, and just get out there and live this. No more training, we’ve had too much already. It’s time for action. Action is what counts!
If this is our mindset, we might well come to a passage like this and find support for our views. Sure, Paul was out their planting. What are we doing? We’re hanging out in the pews. See? It’s all wrong! OK, Apollos was out watering, and it’s pretty clear that what is meant by that is that he went and taught. But, he didn’t stay. He kept going. See? We need to get out of our churches and spread! It’s not about churches and ministers, man. It’s about faith in action. This, of course, sets up a false dialectic, insisting that it must be one path or the other. It seems sufficiently clear, though, that God has established that both have their place and their purpose.
As to preaching, Scripture offers sufficient testimony to establish it as a God-ordained feature of the Christian life. What comes to mind most readily is the famous passage from Romans 10. How shall they call upon Christ if they have not believed, and how shall they believe in something they have not heard? How can they hear without a preacher, and who can preach unless they are sent? Just as Scripture said, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things!” But, not everybody heeds the glad tidings, which Isaiah also covered. “Lord, who has believed our report?” What then? Faith comes from hearing the word of Christ. (Ro 10:14-17).
Jesus preached. When He establishes the church (and be clear on that: He establishes the Church), He sets as its officers first Apostles and prophets, then evangelists, preachers and teachers (Eph 4:11). The first come to establish doctrine, the remainder to proclaim it. But, they have this in common, all of these offices: They are involved in preaching the Word of Christ. They are ministries of proclamation. Why? Because this is what God has ordained as the ordinary course of events.
Let it be understood that God could do this without us. Taking up on the imagery Paul has provided, Calvin makes this point well. God could cause the earth to produce fruit without any labor from man. Walk through a New England countryside during blueberry season and you have no doubt of it. But, He has ordained that men shall labor. You can mark it down as an effect of the Fall, or you can see that labor was there in the original mandate for Adam, but it’s there either way. “In toil you shall eat the produce of the ground all your life” (Ge 3:17). The man, Adam, was employed in naming all the other creatures (Ge 2:20), and appears to have been general custodian over the Garden. God didn’t need Adam to do these things, certainly, but He gave Adam the assignment.
So it is with preaching. Preaching is made necessary not because it’s the only way God could achieve His purpose, but because it is the way He has chosen to do it, and has ordained that it be done thus. Just as He ordained that men shall labor to earn their keep (2Th 3:10 – If anyone will not work, neither let him eat), so He ordains the men shall preach to increase the kingdom. Can He do it by other means? Of course. Will He do so when necessary? Absolutely. If it be the case that no preacher can be brought to speak, He can save through dreams and visions, through direct ministration, or whatever means He chooses. He did it with Paul, didn’t He?
This may touch on the oft-asked question of what happens to a baby that dies either in the womb, or so shortly after being born as to permit of no recognizable opportunity to hear the Gospel. Do they get a pass? Are they necessarily condemned? What? If, as Scripture teaches, we are conceived in sin, fallen from the first moment, can God be Just and simply allow entrance into heaven because death came too soon? Can death come too soon? After all, God is in control of this, and not only knows the number of your days, but establishes them by His own determination. But, if all are born in sin, and these die without ever hearing or, if hearing, without any discernable means of believing, surely they must be rejected, right? But, we can’t imagine God being such an ogre. So, we flip the case and decide that they must all get in after all. Maybe Scripture was being a bit loose with its terms when it said we are conceived in sin. This, however, leads into very dangerous territory, doesn’t it? But, what, I must ask, prevents God from intervening where He sees fit in whatever fashion He sees fit to bring the Word of Christ to these tiny lives, and what prevents His Spirit from entering in so as to empower faith to hear unto salvation? Nothing. For, nothing shall be impossible to God.
Can we then require that He save all such ‘innocents’? No. But, we can assuredly offer hope to those who mourn their loss. We can no more know certainly one way than the other. We can no more declare absolutes on the case for the infant than for the one who lives to ripe old age. We can offer our most informed opinion, but it remains opinion. Only God knows the heart.
Returning to our point, though, God has decided that He will have ministers preaching as the ordinary means of grace. It is the economy of faith that He has decreed. Believers speak, others hear. Where the Spirit is sent into both speaker and hearer, faith arises. Those who are called will hear and heed the call. Those who are not will not. But, none shall come to the end of their days with an excuse that they just didn’t know.
As to the ministry of the minister, it is a topic we shall explore further as this study progresses. For now, the simple message is, “God attends EFFORT with success,” as Barnes writes. He does not tend to favor indolence or sloth. The fact that He can do it without those who minister does not excuse the minister from making every effort to pursue that vocation which God has ordained. And, I must stress, those efforts are only to be commended in the minister which are done in the fashion God ordains to the place God ordains at the time God ordains. The labors of the minister are indeed indispensable. But, they are indispensable only because they have been made indispensable by the ordinary operations of God’s providence.
What do we mean by that, “ordinary operations of God’s providence?” Quite simply, ordinary operations of God’s providence are everywhere around you. The continuation of seasons, the regularity of daytime and nighttime, the fact that snow only happens below a certain temperature, and so on: These are all the ordinary operations of God’s providence. Trees producing fruit in keeping with their kind, the wonder of birth given to new life, and the continuance of life in what is born; these are all due to the ordinary operations of God’s providence. The fact that scientific inquiry is possible, and that men can discover sufficient knowledge of how the universe works to allow for travel to the moon, to Mars, and beyond? All due to the ordinary operations of God’s providence. In short, these ordinary operations of God’s providence define how things naturally happen, how things are done. They do not confine or constrain God. He can step outside those ordinary operations as He sees fit to achieve a particular goal. We speak of these as miracles; things like the extraordinary birth of Christ without the ordinary operations of God’s providence on the part of a man.
In terms of spiritual rebirth and spiritual life, ministry is the ordinary operation of God’s providence. Fellowship in the family of the Church is the ordinary operation of God’s providence. Each of us making use of such gifts as God gives us in order to aid one another in spiritual growth is the ordinary operation of God’s providence. Can He and will He make exceptions to this ordinary operation? When necessary, He assuredly will. But, unless He makes such exception, this is how it is to be done. This is what He has established as the way He expects us to operate. This is the task He has assigned us, the mission He has given us, the privilege He has bestowed upon us: That we get to be part of what He is doing.
This certainly informs the minister as to his work. It ought to inform the one ministered to as well. I’ll let Calvin express the point. “That man, then, who, in the neglect of this means, expects to attain faith, acts just as if the husbandman, throwing aside the plow, takes no care to sow, and leaving off all the labor of husbandry, were to open his mouth, expecting food to drop into it from heaven.” This is, I dare say, the case of the go-it-alone Christian. Here he has been handed an embarrassing wealth of means of grace by which to be fed and to grow, but it requires actually making the effort of availing oneself of those means. Instead, he eschews what God has bestowed and insists he has a better, easier way. He may starve to death, but he’ll do so with mouth open, waiting expectantly. Surely, God will not fail him. See his faith? But, no. It’s not faith we see, but foolishness.
The sum of the message we have before us is simply this: God does not reject our efforts at cultivation, indeed commands that we pursue them. He does, however, insist that any success that comes of those efforts depends exclusively upon Him blessing that work. That is to say that for both minister and ministered to, if there be any good in us, it is such, ‘that He may have the entire praise’. Are you among the elect? It is no cause for boasting in yourself. It has come to pass solely in order that He may have the praise. Take it not upon yourself. Is the ministry flourishing? Again, it is no cause for the pastor boasting in his skillful presentation of the Gospel. No. It is entirely God’s praise. If any have heard to benefit, it is because He has opened heart and ears. If the words have succeeded in conveying His intended meaning, it is entirely because He has filled those words. In all things, it is all in order that God may be all in all. Let Him have the praise – the ENTIRE praise, and reserve none unto yourself, lest you find yourself guilty of robbing God.
Rightly Viewing the Minister (03/19/17)
There is sufficient correction in this passage to address everyone. We shall have to take it in turns. I shall start where Paul starts, and that is with the leadership. This was necessary for him, given that the Corinthians were forming up ranks around their various chosen leaders. The Corinthians had lost sight of a critical truth, and Paul must remind them: Whoever your particular favorites may be, they are but instruments.
When we listen to a particularly fine piece of music, most of us can probably discern what sort of instruments are being played. In many cases, we may even be able to identify the player. But, what is highly unlikely is that one could, by listening, determine the particular make or model of a given instrument, or the microphone used to record it, or what have you. We do not listen to that piece and offer our praiseful appreciations of the instrument. If we offer praises, it is for the skill of the musician, or of the composer. But, for purposes of this illustration, let’s stick with the musician and his instrument.
As I say, we may very well be able to discern the musician by his sound. There are saxophonists that I can generally spot simply by their sound. There are many others who all sound of a piece, and one must look at the label to find out which it was. Similarly, there are a few guitarists whose sound is so distinct that even if you’ve not heard the particular song before, you will likely recognize whose playing you are hearing. Here’s a fact: A large part of that signature sound does indeed relate to the particulars of the instrument or, for the guitarists particularly, the setup into which said instrument is played. But, we still don’t give our applause to the instrument, or really even give it a thought. I’ll make exception for those who actually play said instrument, who may have a professional curiosity.
Here’s another fact: Duplicating the selection of instrument and accoutrements will not grant you the power of duplicating the sound. It may get you closer. But, it will not get you there. Here’s yet another: The instrument, however well made, cannot play itself. It cannot produce music without input from outside of itself.
All of this should be understood when we return our eyes to the minister. He is but an instrument. Where’s the musician? The Musician, in this case, is God. It is He who chooses the notes, and He who produces the music by means of His instruments. As with music, so with ministry: Our praise ought not to go to the instrument, but to Him who plays the instrument. This is true of our pastors and teachers. It’s true of the greats, the heroes of the faith as we fashion them. It is true of Calvin, of Augustine, of Luther and Leo and Basil and all the others who have helped to establish the shape of Christian belief. It is true of the Apostles. Even here, we must be careful that we do not inadvertently deify them. After all, as Mr. Henry (another we ought have on the list) points out, not even the apostles could have ministered to any effect unless God gave the increase.
This is Paul’s point here. In this business of ministry for the kingdom, God alone gets the glory. If Paul is a master builder, God gets the glory, for it is only by His doing that Paul is who he is. If the Church is growing, God gets the glory, for it is only by His doing that the people hear to good effect. If the sermon hits home, and the believers are edified, built up, it is God who gets the glory, for it is only by His doing that the words succeed in conveying truth to hearts prepared to receive it to benefit.
Consider, as Mr. Clarke has done, the reality of the situation, and we must conclude that God alone gets the glory because God alone deserves the glory. After all, the seed is His, the ground is His, and the workers are His. This being the case, whatever produce may come from seed, ground and worker combined, comes from Him. If He is not in the work, no work is done that is worth doing. Do not, then, deify the worker. He is but an instrument in the hands of an entirely praiseworthy and glorious God.
Rightly Viewing the Congregation (03/19/17)
Well, then, if there is correction in our view of the minister, there is also correction for the minister’s view of the congregation. Paul brings this out in verse 9, although it is done by way of further reducing ministerial pride. “We are God’s co-servants. You are God’s field, God’s building. This gets right back to what Mr. Clarke was saying. We are all God’s possession and God’s workmanship.
Yes, this is said to help the congregation keep perspective. Your ministers are servants of God. They are, as it were, in His pay. You, on the other hand, are His direct workmanship, and the object of His effort. You are the object of that effort He calls upon His servants to make. If this is the case, surely you have no cause to be adulating His servants! They are, if anything, of lesser stature than yourselves. But, this is not where we are to take it. No. We are all equals in this regard, for we are all His. We are all, it is to be hoped, doing our assigned part. But, more importantly, He is pursuing His purposes through all of us together and combined.
The minister, in this view, is but a servant pursuing his assigned task, acting under orders. And, if he should pursue that assignment with his best abilities, he is but doing what he should. He has earned no honors by this. He has merely obeyed. If there is a fruitful result to his obedience, it is entirely due to the wisdom of God who directs, God who empowers, God who owns the fields.
Turning my eyes back toward the congregation, every minister and elder and teacher does well to remember one thing: The fields belong to Him, the Church belongs to Him. That being the case, any harvest that comes from the field likewise belongs to Him. It is not yours, nor is the honor for there being a harvest. The whole operation is God’s and God’s alone. We are not automatons being put through our paces, but as we seek to serve, as we seek to grow into the sort of people God desires us to be, we do so in the humble confidence that if we are to succeed it shall be because God is with us, doing as He will to see that we are as He will have us to be.
If I might take one further point for consideration here, I would join Paul in altering the picture from farm to house. A foundation has been laid, and the wise master builders that God sent to establish that foundation ensured that it was laid square and true. It is absolutely level and solidly placed. There will be no shifting of that foundation. But, a foundation alone cannot house a man. It requires that we build upon the foundation if we would have a structure in which to make our abode. Here, we labor together, side by side. For, we are not each involved in making individual houses, and this is where, I think, the go-it-alone Christian really falters. He is making a house, perhaps, but it is a cottage for one. God has set us the task of building a far grander edifice, a house suited to a nation of priests offering holy sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. We build together. As we do so, we are charged with caring for one another, watching over each other’s part of the construction as if it were our own house we were building.
Think about it. A contractor might cut corners as he builds for another. The plasterer might not be so careful that the walls are entirely flat and smooth if he is laboring on another’s room. But, if it’s their own? Every care will be taken to ensure that everything is done just right. This work we are doing as we build together is indeed the building of our own structure, though it belongs to God. It is where we shall dwell. It is what we shall be living with day in and day out for eternity. Surely, we would be wise to take care how that gets built, yes?
And we are building together. My mind is drawn back yet again to the example of Nehemiah 4:9. “We prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.” The story of Jerusalem’s rebuilding is familiar enough. God had arranged for the return of His people, but those who had been left in the land at their exile opposed the work, and sought to make trouble. So, it was necessary to marry faith and wisdom. It leads to perhaps the only footnote I have ever seen fit to highlight – this coming from a Harper’s Study Bible. “Prayer and works are perfectly illustrated here. We are to pray as though we had never worked and work as though we had never prayed.” Just so, as we build, we ought to pray and watch over the work. We must be diligent that the faith we are building aligns to that foundation which has been laid. We must be diligent to care for our brother next to us, warn him should his structure begin to vary from true, and heed his warning as he points out our own errors.
Let me continue the analogy of Jerusalem’s rebuilding. There was a wall around the city that needed to be repaired, and each man had his section to work on. Success required not only that each man do his part, but also that he do it in such a fashion as to hold well with the work done to either side of him. Think of great engineering achievements, be it a bridge over some deep chasm, or a dam like the Hoover Dam, or even the Intercontinental Railroad. Take that last. However carefully laid the tracks, however level the railway bed, and however firmly each spike has been sunk; as those laborers work both ends toward the middle, if they wind up in different places, all that work has achieved little. If only they had been able to check one another’s course along the way! Oh! West Coast team, you’ve veered just a wee bit to the North. Oh! East Coast team, you’re building things up just a bit too high. It may not have been much at the time, but then as construction continues, the errors accumulate, and you wind up with one piece of track fifty feet down the wrong mountain from the other. The structure fails because the workman weren’t checking each other along the way.
Appropriate Boasting (03/19/17)
All that said, if we succeed in building the house God wants built, it remains the case that all glory and praise for the result goes to Him. If we have watched one another, it is because He has kept us alert, and given us the wisdom to recognize the problem early. If we have received correction, it is because He has given us hearts able to do so without the flesh rising up. If we have done something worthy of commendation, it is because He has been at work in and through us, and all the glory yet goes to Him. So, what do we do should somebody take notice of our work and praise the result?
Here, we tread a very fine line. On the one hand, we run great risk of developing spiritual pride. Matthew Henry writes, “Spiritual pride is abominable: it is making use of the greatest favors of God to feed our own vanity, and make idols of ourselves.” Yes, it is assuredly so! If, as last week, we come to the end of service and somebody comments that the saxophone playing was ‘on fire’, shall I take the credit? I am, after all, the musician in this case, right? No. I’m the instrument. Frankly, I generally find myself pleasantly surprised in such circumstances because I don’t think my playing was that good, and it is a sign of God’s gracious intervention that He was yet glorified (apparently) by the resultant sound. But, how to respond? Do I tell this person, “No, I wasn’t good at all”? Do I insist, “It wasn’t me, it was God!” I mean, that’s true and all, but do you know, it very quickly becomes spiritual pride in a different guise. Do I insist that they ought not to speak that way? Do I suppose, perhaps, that I was playing too aggressively and ought to seek to be less noticeable next time? None of these seem right.
Let me present Mr. Henry’s counterbalance. “It is no crime in a Christian, but much to his commendation, to take notice of the good that is in him, to the praise of divine grace.” Does this give us a sense of direction? It’s no crime to say, “Thank you.” Perhaps, to be careful of crossing the line, we can alter that to, “Praise God!” There’s certainly nothing wrong in doing so. But, we could as easily offer something like, “Thanks, I’m glad I could to serve,” or words to that effect. The challenge is this: We can be so carefully humble in our response that we wind up proud of our humility. And, even if this is not the case with us, we may come across as evincing spiritual pride, which is almost as bad.
There is a very basic reality to church life that we do well to keep ever in mind. The dispensation of gifts and talents for ministry is the Spirit’s prerogative. He can and will give as He sees best suits the purposes of ministry. Whether we are talking the flashy, charismata type gifts, or the simple things like a gift for administration or the gifts needful to a sexton’s labors, the same fact remains true. God, the Holy Spirit, gives out His gifts and talents to whom He wills when He wills for the purpose He wills. Our part is to perform the ministry that is given to us, whether that involves preaching and teaching, providing a service of worship, or performing works of maintenance and sanitation. If we are doing the thing God has given us to do in His house, we are doing well. If we are managing not to insist that everybody else do as we do, we are doing even better. If, on the other hand, we are forever taking our toys and going home to do our service to God in private, we have become selfish hoarders and cannot possibly be supposed to be utilizing the gifts God gave us for the purpose He gave them.
We each of us have a ministry to perform on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are each called to be part of the family of Christ, who dwell in the house He is building. Whatever our role may be in this family, I dare say we shall give an account of our efforts to our Lord. If we have not been building one another up, if we have not been watching over one another, but have instead looked only to ourselves, what answer shall we give? What assessment shall we hear?
A Life of Service (03/20/17)
Every minister is, as has been said, an instrument in the hands of God. They are a subordinate instrument, and can but do as He directs. I was reading in this morning’s Table Talkin regard to the extent of God’s Sovereignty, and how it can be that His Providence may include evil men pursuing evil ends without it being the case that He Himself does evil. I would have to say that in that case, as well as in that of the faithful minister, the man remains an instrument in the hands of God, and even a subordinate instrument. After all, that evil man could no more choose to oppose what God has ordained than could the faithful minister. Here is the distinction: The faithful minister is subordinated to God with a mindset of ‘Thy will be done’. The evil man, to the degree he has so much as a thought for God, insists on pursuing his own will, saying, ‘my will be done’.
Now, this was not an avenue I had intended to travel, but it raises so many questions. Of the minister, we can say with assurance that God could perform His work without them, but does not ordinarily do so. Can the same be said for the evil man? If God is incapable of doing evil, does this not therefore require that there be evil men to do it for Him? It is one thing to say that nothing shall be impossible for God. It is quite another, though, to propose that He could do that which would, were it to be done, require Him to cease being God. That is a boundary, yes, but it is one that results from what is at base a logical absurdity.
But, let us return focus to the minister and his ministry. As noted, God does not require them, but chooses them. He could do it without them, but does not except where extraordinary circumstance makes it necessary. They, on the other hand cannot possibly perform their work without God. We have discussed this already, I believe, but view it afresh. The immediate purpose Paul has in view is to engender humility in those who serve as ministers in the house of God. If it is a danger to view yourself as indispensable to the workplace, it is more dangerous yet to suppose oneself indispensable to God. Moses was dispensable. Had he refused the mission to Egypt, God would have found another. But, to suppose such a thing possible has already lost sight of God’s Sovereignty. For all that Moses hemmed and hawed, there was never a chance he was going to refuse, any more than there was ever a chance that Pharaoh would respond positively. These things were not in the purpose of God, and therefore were not going to happen.
If it is cause for humility in the minister to recognize how entirely dependent he is upon a God who really doesn’t need his help, thank you very much, it is also a great comfort. Indeed, it is evidence of inestimable privilege. Let me offer a few quotes to paint the picture. “Here we have an admirable commendation of the ministry – that while God could accomplish the work entirely Himself, He calls us, puny mortals, to be as it were His coadjutors, and makes use of us as instruments.” There’s Calvin’s perspective, and it is a fine one.
It is an illustration I return to often, but discussions such as this one ever bring back memories of ‘helping’ Dad around the shop or the garage. It was a rare occasion indeed that I could account myself a willing assistant, more likely viewing it as a duty to be endured. But, as a kid, one simply doesn’t perceive the event from the parent’s side. Here was Dad, rolled in under the chassis of the car and in need of some wrench or socket or what have you. Jeff, go get me a 5/8ths. Off I would trundle, and poke about in the toolbox. On a good day, I would return with a wrench of the correct size, but, no, an open-end.” Oh. Or, I might return with something entirely incorrect – a regular screwdriver when asked to fetch a Philips, or some such. The point is that I could hardly be accused of saving Dad labor. There was nothing I was offering to the task which he could not have done for himself, and probably faster. Yet, he would make me a part of the work. As I say, at the time it seemed just a thing to be endured, but in fact it was an act of love, and an honor.
“There is no higher honor than for a man to be engaged in doing the same things which God does, and participating with Him in accomplishing His glorious plans.” Barnes writes this. If it was an honor to be asked to help Dad, how much more when we are asked to become part of what God is doing? What greater honor can one seek than to be a participant in the glorious work of our Father Who is in heaven? It’s not a place for pride, but it is most assuredly a place to recognize what one has been granted.
As I have been seeing more and more in recent weeks, we have a perverse, utterly sinful propensity for taking this honor and making it an onus. It was playing out there in the garage, helping Dad. If we are not keenly aware of our stature, it will play out in ministry. It happens every time we arrive at, “I’ve got to.” Tonight there is a meeting of the Elder Board. How shall I view this? Is it a task I’ve got to perform? It will become an onus, a thing to be endured, just one more annoyance of life in the church; part of the painful cost of maturity. Sigh. But, that’s not how it’s supposed to be! We ought to be serving with joy. Now, admittedly there is much that we must address as elders which can hardly be found cause for joy, but that’s not the point! The point is this: “I get to!”
Paul recognized this as perhaps no other. Let me relay a comment from the Wycliffe Commentary. “God might have used angels or even sinners, but to use the ‘chief’ of sinners was a never ending marvel to the beloved apostle.” If Paul could marvel at the wonder of being used in God’s service, how can we not? Is it a duty? Absolutely. Is it often arduous? To be sure. Is it an honor and a privilege? Far and away beyond anything we could ever suppose ourselves worthy to experience!
We are but instruments, yet we are honored to be played by a Master. The music that pours forth from our lives of service is ever so beautiful – beyond compare. But, it is so not because we are such fine instruments. Far from it! We are battered and care-worn. We show the dents and scratches of long use. But, such is the skill of the Master Musician that even such instruments as ourselves, even broken instruments like Peter and Paul and you and me, produce a symphony beyond Brahms and Bach and Beethoven together to have composed. And part of the beauty of that symphony lies in the harmonious work of the many who minister.
Unity of Ministry (03/20/17)
If we are servants, it is because we serve. If we are servants of the Most High God, then we serve one Master to one purpose. We are not, or at least ought not, to be in competition. We cannot, and should not try to commend ourselves to His notice. He has taken notice. He has assigned. To lift ourselves to His notice is to belittle not only our co-laborer in His field (for we who have nothing in ourselves to offer can only commend ourselves by tearing down the guy next to us), but we belittle God Himself. Look at me, God! Look what I’m doing for You! Why, You are so fortunate to have me on Your team. But, no, the only possible cause for excitement would be to remind yourself to look upon what God is doing. To the degree that we are involved, and to be sure we are, it is by way of making an extended love offering of our lives. We cannot present a love offering of competition to God. He asks for no such thing. Our love offering must take into account that, “all faithful ministers of Christ are one in the great business and intention of their ministry,” as Matthew Henry reminds.
If we are on one mission, why do we involve ourselves with sniping at one another? Is my doctrine so perfect that I can stand in wise judgment over yours? It would be unworthy of God to be so devoted to Him if I thought my doctrine no more than a best guess. The God of Truth deserves better. At the same time, it would be grossest overestimation of my own meager skills to suppose I have arrived at perfect knowledge. It would be grossest idolatry to suppose that the great men of Christian history did so. Calvin, Luther, Sproul, Augustine, Clement, name your name: They all made mistakes. I could argue that were we to have the complete writings of the Apostles themselves we might well discover erroneous thoughts therein. But, we don’t. We have those which the Holy Spirit mandated be preserved. We have the enscripturated Word of God, a work fully overseen and directed by the Holy Spirit so as to ensure that every word we have is accurate, every point conveyed True. This shall be said of no other.
But, we are fallen creatures, and prone to envy. If we see a brother ministering over there, and he seems to be doing better than we are, we may forget ourselves and withhold praises from God. Why him and not me, Lord? We may look upon those who pursue their ministry by ways we would not choose as being somehow inferior, or worse yet, at risk of being heretical. We may be right, and there is a need to be watchful. We do not wish to see error creep in undetected and poison the work of God. At the same time, we do not wish to become that poison by erroneously persecuting those who are in fact coworkers in God’s fields. “He who knows best what is best for His Church, has distributed both gifts and graces according to His own mind,” writes Mr. Clarke. The necessary conclusion is this: His judgment being infallible, the distribution must be right. If God has sovereignly decided that the church down the street shall minister by means charismatic and this church shall minister the plainspoken message of the Gospel, what is that to you? Are you serving one God? Then rejoice in one another. Join together and let the kingdom grow.
Are your neighbors Arminian in their beliefs? Anabaptists? Catholics who love God more than pope? I know, we may have issues with the latter, and certainly there is much that is practiced in the Catholic church that is beyond suspect, beyond the pale. But, there are many in the pews whose love for God and faith in Christ is in absolute earnest. Are they any less children of the living God because of where they sit? No. If they are of His kingdom, they are His children. If they have limited lights, well, so do you.
Here, then, is a boundary for our ministry; one not immediately related to the matter of unity, and yet not so far removed. If, in pursuit of our ministry, we move from obedient service at God’s command to insistent demands that God act according to our wants, we fail. It doesn’t matter our gifts and programs and what have you. We fail. If we preach with every art of the speaker, and with clearest exposition of the Gospel, the fact remains: If the Lord has not said, “Preach,” we preach in vain. If we create a ministry of healing, and insistently advertise that God is going to heal you tonight and you come and we whip out our gifts and get at it, if God has not in fact said, “Be healed,” all of our gifts shall be poured out in vain. You can speak in tongues all you like, and gesticulate as wildly as the priests of Baal back there when Elijah was at work. But, if God’s not in it, it ain’t happening.
If we are united in ministry, then it must be that we are united as servants of the Most High God. If we are servants, we don’t call the shots. If we are obedient servants, we are ever mindful of what it is God is doing, ever on the watch to see the first hint of what it is He would have done so that we can get after it. If we are honest in praying, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” then we can have no other mindset. You have spoken, and I go. You have not spoken, therefore I stand. My will doesn’t enter into it. My preferences don’t enter into it. My desire to see the fruit of my labors doesn’t enter into it. It is Thy will, and Thine alone.
Careful Ministry (03/21/17-03/22/17)
This really is the primary question we must ever consider: Are we doing as God instructed? This runs counter to our programming. We are results-oriented. We want to see results, and we want to measure the value of our efforts by the results that come of them. But, that’s not how it works. To put it in perspective, consider this: Paul was as faithful in doing as God instructed in Athens as he was in Corinth. He was as faithful in Lystra as in Ephesus, though we hear almost nothing of a church in Lystra, and Athens appears to our eyes to have been a total waste of time.
Part of this is that we get this mindset that the preaching of the Gospel is designed to one end only: That of converting sinners. If they are not converted, we are doing something wrong. But, the same Sovereign Providence that declares preaching the Gospel to be the primary means by which the kingdom grows also declares that the majority who hear will not hear to good effect, but rather to their doom. Does that sound harsh? It certainly is harsh for those who are thus condemned. But, it is to God’s glory and for His good purpose. Our opinion of His purpose really doesn’t enter into it. The question remains the same: Am I doing as God instructed?
If our work is done from a desire to see God’s will being done, as our prayers so often indicate, then we cannot be judging that will by whether the results meet with our approval. Think about Jonah. Granted, his motives were a tad suspect, given that his reticence came of not desiring to see God’s grace poured out on an enemy of his people. But, I have to think that of Moses has known the full horror of what would befall Pharaoh and the Egyptians, he would have had difficulty pursuing the course laid out for his ministry. God was merciful in only displaying bits and pieces of what must come about. God was good in both His rescue of Israel from out of Egypt and His destruction of Pharaoh’s army. Moses, up on the hillside after forty years of leading this stiff-necked people must have wondered. Was this really the best plan? Was this really how God intended things all along? By our measure, it would be hundreds of years before he was witness to the resounding, “Yes!” By our measure, even that moment would have seemed pretty questionable. After all, these thousands of years in planning had resulted in, what, 120 disciples? The people God had led out of Egypt seemed more inclined than ever to reject Him, and then God Himself, live and on the scene, is declared a criminal, an enemy of the state, and put to death. This is the plan?
But, success with God is not measured in numbers. It’s not measured by the quantity of work we have done, the number of conversions we have logged. If we are concerned with the reward we shall have of our obedience, we had best understand that it comes not for quantity but for quality. It’s not enough to have collected the most claimants to belief, whether by hands raised, “Sinner’s Prayers” prayed, cards filled out, trips down the aisle, or any other measure we may choose. It’s not enough. Where are they a month later, a year, a decade? Are they still in church? Are they growing? Are they being fed? Are you caring for them, seeing that they don’t get dragged off by the myriad wolves whose depredations harass the flock of God? Are you doing as God instructed?
Be mindful that fruitfulness may not look the way we expect it to look and what fruitfulness there is may not come during our tenure in the vineyard. Last night, my brother elder brought forward a devotional discussion centered on the life of Noah. One striking feature of this may get overlooked. Here was a man who was faithfully preaching the word of God for 120 years! What did he have to show for it? What fruit did he see come of his ministry? Outside of immediate family, we see not one convert, not one believer. And yet, he had been faithful to do as God instructed. How happy would the present-day preacher be to have the epitaph given Noah in the Faith Hall of Fame? “By faith Noah, being warned about things not seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Heb 11:7). Sure, and we are pleased to be heirs of righteousness, and certainly our deepest desire is to know our household safely accounted for among the elect. But, to be known as the man who condemned the world? There’s not a preacher out there looking to have that amongst his list of honors. And yet, Noah, by doing so, was doing exactly as God instructed. Noah, by doing so, furthered the good and perfect purposes of a perfectly Good God. And so, at the end of his days, Noah went to his reward.
But, that reward, the reward of which Paul speaks here, is not some sort of merit payment. It’s not like Paul went the extra mile so he gets a bonus this month. No, Apollos hadn’t earned a trip to the Bahamas because he was Gospel salesman of the year. It’s spoken of as a reward, but it’s not payment for services rendered. Rather, as Mr. Barnes describes it, this reward is an appropriate blessing by God of His children. If we consider it in terms familiar from life, the time comes when our parents have passed on and, if they have been diligent to save as they so often are, there may be some inheritance that comes our way. We could speak of it as a reward, but a reward for what? Staying alive? Remembering to write or call every now and then? For the most part, I think you would find that parents will endow their progeny with the inheritance even where there has been great failure on their part. Oh yes, there are times when somebody gets written out of the will, but the greater likelihood is that you will not. The inheritance is not, after all, a marker of merit, but an appropriate blessing. We see it as appropriate that what the parent has accumulated in their lifetime ought rightly to go to their children. What their children do with it is another matter entirely, but it is right that they should have this. The same applies with our Father in heaven.
He has set our course. He has established the promised inheritance. He has set us to our respective labors, and to the degree that we are pursuing those labors for love of our Father, then we have every reason to expect that we shall hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” As something I read recently pointed out, it’s good and faithful servant, not good and profitable. Fruitfulness may not look like we expect it to look. Fruitfulness may not come to the vineyard until after our departure. We may never know the impact we have had this side of heaven. We may not even know then. I certainly don’t know now. But, we can know this: If we pursue God’s plans according to His instructions in the time and place that He gives us to pursue them, we do well. If we pursue any other course, we do not. Indeed, we do harm.
As such, we who teach need to take care that the instruction we give aligns and fits with the Apostolic foundation. That foundation is set as our guard against false teaching. I will argue it is set as our only guard against false teaching. This being the case, we who seek to explore and explain the foundational texts are charged with a greater care. The message is clear. It is all but shouted from verse 10. Take heed how you instruct the Church! Then, too, there is great reason for such care declared in verse 9. The Church belongs to God. It is His by its establishment. It is His by ownership. It is His to defend, His to rule; and that which the Church produces is His to enjoy.
With these thoughts in mind, it is absolutely imperative that we recognize a simple fact that comes forth as we align ourselves to the Apostolic foundation. We are not in an age that can admit of Apostles. I can, just barely, accept that one might see an apostle in that form that Barnabas was an apostle: One sent on specific mission by the church. I would suggest that we have another word that fits the case without confusing minds about the possible restoration of the Apostolic office. That word is missionary. The missionary is sent on a mission. The church is the sending authority, as it serves in that authority delegated to it by God. So, yes, there is a sense that the missionary is sent as one called to that duty by God, but the call is confirmed by the governing body He authorizes: The Church.
To be an Apostle of Christ, appointed to one’s mission by the immediate and unmediated command of the King is, according to the criteria laid out in the written records of the King, quite simply impossible. One cannot reasonably claim to have walked with Christ during the brief years of His public ministry. One cannot claim to have been eye-witness to all the events from His baptism to His crucifixion. To lay claim to that office is to lay claim to an authority equal to that of Peter, Paul, John, James, and the others, which is to say the authority to author Scripture – divine text, and to declare what is true doctrine inerrantly. But there can be no new foundation, no addition. There is only that one which is laid, which is Christ Jesus (1Co 3:11). The very claim to that office in our day and age is necessarily an attempt to lay new foundations, and therefore cannot hold true to the Cornerstone.
What we are in great need of are custodians. I am not, let me be exceedingly and abundantly clear, suggesting a new office for the church. The church is not in need of new offices. It is in need of those who will carefully preserve the offices established by her Head. It is in need of custodians who see the truth once for all declared to the saints preserved, proclaimed, and defended. There are too many by far who will declare whatever thought enters their heads and claim divine inspiration. There are too many by far who will accept every lie of the enemy and promote it as the new dogma of the church.
This is a need as great in conservative as in charismatic churches. It is a need that is present in every age and ought rightly to be the concern of every believer. If you’re a believer, to quote a song from my misspent youth, what do you believe? Why do you believe it? We have one foundation for belief. We have one God, who has revealed one body of Truth, devoid of contradiction and, in plain point of fact, incapable of contradiction. That which speaks another message and calls it true must necessarily be false, a false gospel that can lead only to damnation.
The stakes are high in this matter. It’s not just a minor issue of one man’s opinion over against another’s. It’s a question of whether we have true saving faith in the true Savior, or if we are simply setting up idols of our own design, naming them Jesus, and then worshiping these imposters to our own destruction.
Dangers of False Ministry (03/22/17)
These are exactly the sorts of issues that first encouraged me to come study this book. As one who has been (and in some degree still is) a charismatic, and who is now (and in some degree always was) a conservative in nearly full accord with Calvin’s understanding of doctrine, this epistle is a matter of deepest concern, and also one I would just as soon have avoided. Coming to it, it seemed to me, would require discovery that either one or the other end of my spectrum of faith must be rejected as incorrect and invalid. I have found, however, that this is not the case. Rather, it is the case, much as with Romans, that those interested in finding support for their opinions more than in finding the Truth God has declared, will find their support here, whether it exists or not.
It is amazing, isn’t it, how many completely, absolutely contradictory beliefs can take the same text to be supporting their conclusions! Clearly, somebody got it wrong. Likely, everybody got it wrong. We must remain careful of our handling of this most precious Word. We must remain vigilant against our own tendency to find the meaning we want and reject the point we’d as soon not have to hear.
We must avoid the urge to make a name for ourselves along the way. Even if we find our assigned purpose is to stand in staunch defense of the Truth of the Gospel, there is nothing in this upon which to make a name. We are but servants of Christ, and His name, His highest office of Lord, Yahweh, is the one name to be made great. If we are not employed upon the work He has given, but have instead become enamored of our own reputation, our own interpretation, then we neither plant nor water. Rather, as Mr. Clarke lays it out, we are employed ‘in rooting up and burning’.
Let those who root up and burn, in the guise of planters and waterers beware! This is God’s field. The one who sowed tares may for a season enjoy his amusement. But, the end of those tares is as certain as is the end for the wheat amongst which he sowed. The elect will not be finally deceived, though they may very well be damaged and set aback for lack of care. As for the tares? “First gather them up and bind them in bundles to burn them up” (Mt 13:30). If these ‘sons of the evil one’ (Mt 13:38) are thus gathered up and burned, know with certainty that the planter of those tares will join them. Don’t be that planter! Don’t tolerate that planter.
Such as pursue this course, though they may do so unaware of their true impact, may very well suppose they are doing the work of God, are no servants of Christ. Think about it. Paul, prior to Damascus, was absolutely certain that his one-man jihad was truly a holy thing. He was absolutely concerned with upholding the holiness of God. As to motives, I do not suppose one could possibly fault him. As to accuracy? Well, there we have a problem. But, God brought correction and made of Paul, the great enemy of the church, its best defender and promoter.
What, we must ask, prevents God from doing today as He did then; taking those who are at present promoting what is really nothing but New Age tripe in Christian trappings, bringing them to repentance, and making of them sound and fruitful ministers of Truth? I don’t suppose there can be anything that prevents Him doing so, should He so desire. I do, however, question whether any of these promoters of a new order do so from motives as God-centered as did Paul. Paul’s error was at least honest. He had not gone out seeking to deceive or to stand athwart the work of God. His pursuit was of holiness. But, his eyes were blinded until Christ saw to it that vision be restored. Can the same be said of the myriad charlatans on the airwaves and the internet, promoting their programs for fee, and leading astray those of weak understanding and too much time? “They do not employ themselves in planting and watering, but in rooting up and burning.” May the God who appoints sower and waterer alike, care for His field and cause these destroyers to be recognized for what they are! If it be in his heart to save them, as He has saved us, praise be to His name, and Amen to His purposes!
But, please, God, guard the hearts of Your children. Let not this onslaught of deceit give them cause for tears when they awake from their foolishness. Let their faith not suffer setback, nor their desire for holiness be sullied by such idolatrous pursuits. You, O, Lord, are our Shepherd, our only Shepherd. You are our only Lord and Master, and we are Your field, Your building. Do Thou defend. Do Thou do valiantly on behalf of Your sheep, Your bride. Oh, God, the danger is great, and we are so weak. Come, Lord, and let Thy Word be once more our strong tower, our Standard. Let Your Truth prevail, as surely it must.
“Error sanctifies no one,” writes Barnes. Oh, Amen to that! We are all to prone to bending the Word to suit our own preferences rather than allowing the Word to bend our preferences to God’s will. We become, as the phrase goes, possessors of just enough knowledge to become dangerous, and proceed to become very dangerous indeed – to ourselves, to others. The incalculable evil of false instruction comes not just in the form of self-destructive propensities, but also in the influence our lies may have upon others, who mistakenly view us as pillars of the church. There is a reason why the fall of a Christian leader causes such widespread damage. Until the lies are exposed, they are presumed to espouse truth, and those who have sat under their ministry are inculcated in those lies. They root up and burn.
I close out this point with something particularly sad that I read from Mr. Barnes. “Vast evils are constantly occurring in the church for the lack of proper instruction to young converts.” What is sad about this is not so much the observation itself, although it is troubling enough as it is. What is sad is that this was written well over one hundred years ago, and it seems we have done very little to rectify the situation. When it comes to new believers, we are thrilled to see their acceptance of faith. We pat them on the back, or hug them, or applaud them as our particularly cultures may suggest. And then they pretty quickly become just part of the crowd. Hey! They’ve come to God. God will take care of them.
Well, yes, He will. But, again, there’s this matter of ordinary providence. You are that ordinary providence. Here is one who has not even really got the foundation yet. He’s seen it. He can appreciate the squared off angles, and the levelled expanse of it. But, understanding is not yet established, let alone a capacity for building. Can you, upon observing a foundation, suppose yourself capable of now erecting a solid house? Have you the tools? The skills? These are not guaranteed for having seen the low cement wall. As likely as not, you have limited knowledge of carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, or what have you. You may have some understanding that walls ought to be vertical, but do you know how to ensure that, or how to check? You may have ideas of where you would like to see a door or a window placed, but do you know how to do so without threatening the structural integrity of the building? Certainly, you don’t have such skills simply from having seen the foundation, or even from understanding what is required of the foundation.
Likewise, coming to Christ does not provide some instantaneous comprehension of the full doctrine of God, nor even, necessarily of the full Gospel. These things must be explained, imparted. The skills of faith and holiness must be taught, repeatedly and patiently. The one who would frame a house had best learn first how to nail two planks together so as to remain square to one another. This is not the place for on the job training. It is the place for training in advance so that the workmanship brought to the task of building is such as will produce results that stand the test of time.
We can’t stop with the foundation. We can’t stop with framing. We have to provide discipleship to go with our evangelism. We have to provide food suited to the development of those who come to faith, for those who have grown up in the faith, and for those who are mature in their faith. For none of us who still draw breath can claim to have completed our construction projects. The work continues. The need for discipleship continues. We cannot be faithful servants of our Master if we do not heed the call to, “Go, and make disciples.”
