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Posts Tagged with Preach

The Head of the Church

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Who would have thought that a claim of a global pandemic would help wake up the sleepy western church?

Today, the local church has to at least ask questions about who they believe the head of the church is. Fundamentally; is the state the head of the church, is the pastor the head of the church, or is Christ the head of the church?

One will treat the church depending on how they answer this question.

If the pastor is the head of the church, that church will soon collapse. Personalities come and go. Trends eventually need to be adjusted to stay in front of the secular trends.

If the state is the head of the church, that church will capitulate to another God ordained institution that does not have the jurisdiction to be the head of the Lord’s bride, the church. That local church would eventually look to the state for permission to speak, meet, act, read, sing, evangelize, etc… The state is responsible to protect the church from infringement from any other, including the state.

If Christ is the head of the church, and He is, then no other institution under heaven has the authority to instruct the church on when, what can be said, what to wear, or what percentage of its seating capacity can attend.

Most are watching what will come of the recent arrest and imprisonment of a pastor in Canada. James Coates, pastor at Grace Life Church in Edmonton, Canada was arrested this past week for preaching to a gathered people of more than what the government permitted them to have. When told he could go home if he promised to not preach to more people than permitted he informed the authorities that he would not and could not make such a promise. The result, he will remain in jail until his trial date of March 31.

What now?

First, do you see how important it is to how you answer the above question? Who you say is the head of the church is how you will act toward the church.

Then, you should not willingly abandon the church house this coming Lord’s Day. Heads of homes, gather your family together before Sunday morning and instruct them that we are no longing treating the bride of Christ with such careless attention.

I encourage you to gather your family together and listen to the sermon James Coates preached the day before he was arrested and imprisoned (see link below). Put Christ in front of yourself and your family and be resolved to not let any temporary discomfort keep you from gathering with the local followers of Christ ever again.

Dear Southern Baptists,

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To my spiritual kinsmen, Southern Baptists,

I’m far removed in distance and unfamiliarity of the people and issues that are facing us as a denomination of Gospel advancers. May I attempt to articulate a few thoughts of caution to us from my vantage point in Twin Falls, Idaho?

First, today is a reminder to this gospel preacher to give as much attention to walk humbly before my God as I begin to look toward the finishing line of my own ministry days. (I’m not numbering my days, I’m just saying that that finish line is closer than it was 33 years ago when I first began the path down this ministry road.) From time to time there needs to be some attention given to re-calibrating that which has drifted off course, but our primary duty is to keep our gospel shoes on and enter the battle field with the aim of advancing the gospel banner.

Second, let’s be careful to not let the issues facing the Southern Baptist Convention today confuse us lest we get lost on the wide, fast lane toward liberal, unbiblical temptations.

As Bible students, it is easy to see God holds men and women equal in value, importance, and blessed and neither superior to the other and neither taking advantage of the day to belittle the other. If we are not careful, this re-calibrating to the plumb-line of Scripture could unknowingly over calibrate (ride the pendulum to the other side) and find ourselves on the path of many before us toward an unbiblical opinion rather than proclaimers of Biblical Truth. To be a proclaimer of Biblical Truth is not permission to be rude, arrogant, or a bully in behavior. It means we walk carefully and circumspectly. When we find ourselves in a dangerous day it is even more important to watch our steps and guard our tongues. (I have many scars to prove my own past foolishness.)

Finally… It’s a good day to be the church. Let’s take advantage of the day to turn the conversation to the Gospel. God has shown us what is good, now do that! “Act justly, Love mercy, and walk humbly before your God.” (Micha 6:8)

The greatest danger that is before us right now is that we don’t let the secular culture throw us off our “game.”

The abuse in the secular world of men over women is tragic. Men in our culture don’t have a right to behave as they want and say what ever they want just because they are men. Men who have abused their authority in Christianity, organizations, institutions, and churches ought to know better. Shame on any who have not behaved godly.

Church, let’s walk carefully in this day. Call out those who are clearly in the wrong for their own benefit because we love them and don’t want them to face the more strict judgment they deserve from God by taking advantage of their duty, but let’s not do it like the secularist who have no interest in a Gospel witness.

It is clear that those who have responsibilities to deal with those who have acted unbecomingly are doing their duty. Today, it appears some re-calibrating needs to take place, so we have to give attention to the issues. Let’s not labor long here in the winter barracks lest we grow unfit for the battle. Let’s get our gospel tools sharpened and prepped and get that gospel banner back on our shoulders and send it on the field with the vanguard.

Preacher, get to your post and preach. Church, guard these posts and don’t let foolishness rule the day. All of us have a responsibility to finish, and finishing well is done when we are found doing our God ordained duty faithfully.

Preach It Full

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“I will preach it full!” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

I think this may be among the most humbling statements a preacher could hear. In a day where the appeal to the local church, ministry, or pastor is to employ nearly every idea man could dream up to fill up a church, it’s easy to set down this duty of preaching and fill the church with people who love everything/one before God and to not care for preaching.

I recently heard this quote from Lloyd-Jones in a regular podcast I listen to by Jason Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, on Reasons why Sermons Fail. I was stopped in my tracks when I heard this. I was encouraged that this labor in the Gospel is a preaching labor. Yes, pastoring has more duties, but the duty at the gathering location on the Lord’s Day is to faithful, biblical preaching.

I think it is best to see that the goal is not to “fill”, the goal is faithful to the duty biblical preaching. If God is to fill the church it be upon the duty of faithful biblical preaching. If God is to empty the church let it be the result of faithful biblical preaching. It is God’s work to fill the church, it is my duty as a shepherd to faithfully preach biblical sermons.

———
Dear Fellow Preacher,

Let’s commit to set down every distracting methodology of men and pick up the pulpit duty of faithful biblical preaching. If God is to fill our churches, let it be upon the preaching of His word. I’m praying for you as you prepare to preach this coming Lord’s Day.

To our pulpits; PREACH!

A recent sermon from Isaiah:

 

This Age of Religious Complexity

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The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found in the modern church of the western culture. In the place of this simplicity are complex program, methodologies, organization and a basket full of nervous activities that require time, attention, and a lot of money that cannot be seriously considered as honoring to God. Rather, much of what the western church has invented complicates our ability to loyally honor and obey our master because we have another god we’ve created that is always demanding our time, attention, and money.

The shallow, hollow and imitation of the world that marks our methods all testify against us that we, today, are more “this-worldly” minded rather than being, as A.W. Tozer put it, “other-worldly”, meaning heavenly minded. No wonder there is so little peace in God, so little rejoicing in Him. Many don’t even know God, much less are at peace or rejoice in and with God.

It was A.W. Tozer in his book, “The Pursuit of God”, where I was first introduced to the idea of how much of this world I had employed to do things I thought was pleasing to God. He was not the first to say it, just the first time I paid attention, that Scripture is sufficient, meaning all that is needed. If Scripture is inerrant and reliable, which it is, why employ so much of this worlds methods and simply behave like it is sufficient?

The voice of God, the word of God, is not merely the most powerful, most important component in nature, it is what sustains everything in nature, making God altogether different.

We’ve heard people accusing some Christians as “being so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good”? I say it’s important the church be “other-worldly” heavenly minded so that we are of earthly good (salt and light).

It is the bible that puts the importance on words to advance the gospel, not entertainment, musicians, movies, games, or general silliness. The Bible even says that this duty of speaking words (preaching) is considered foolish by the unconverted. Yet the Bible calls out those who “have ears to hear, to hear what the Spirit says to the church”.

This may not be the day when men take kindly to an exhortation to listen.

Listening today is not part of the popular means because it implies another is speaking and we are of a worldview that celebrates the individual and even elevates his emotions and personality above truth, thus leaving him in a worse state than before.

Church, this coming Lord’s Day, come to hear a preached word from the word of God. Come prepared to listen. Then go and obey.

Preacher, this coming Lord’s Day, God’s people are expecting to hear what the Spirit says to the church, go to preach a word from the word of God. Away with your silly enticements and this-worldly mindedness. Be other-worldly minded so we may be of good to the sons of men.

Preacher – preach. Church – listen. All, go with authority from upon high into the byways of life advancing a gospel of a heavenly kingdom releasing the sons of men from the bondage of this world.

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