i dont even know who wrote these sermons , but they are pretty good... here's the link... i found them by typing numbers sermons in yahoo...
http://my.execpc.com/~crnrstn/sermons/numbers_sermons.htm
at pulpit today, i was referenced to numbers 16...
Showing posts with label sermon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sermon. Show all posts
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
One Final Question
John Piper... year end sermon 2006
One final question: How shall we understand these six promises in verses 7 and 8: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened”?
Does this mean that everything a child of God asks for he gets?
I think the context here is sufficient to answer this question. No, we do not get everything we ask for and we should not and we would not want to. The reason I say we should not is because we would in effect become God if God did everything we asked him to do. We should not be God. God should be God. And the reason I say that we would not want to get everything we asked is because we would then have to bear the burden of infinite wisdom which we do not have. We simply don’t know enough to infallibly decide how every decision will turn out and what the next events in our lives, let alone in history, should be.
But the reason I say that we do not get all we ask is because the text implies this. Jesus says in verses 9-10 that a good father will not give his child a stone if he asks for bread, and will not give him a serpent if he asks for a fish. This illustration prompts us to ask, “What if the child asks for a serpent?” Does the text answer whether the Father in heaven will give it? Yes, it does. In verse 11, Jesus draws out this truth from the illustrations: Therefore, how much more will your Father give good things to those who ask him.
He Gives Only Good Things
He gives good things. Only good things. He does not give serpents to children. Therefore, the text itself points away from the conclusion that Ask and you will receive means Ask and you will receive the very thing you ask for when you ask for it in the way you ask for it. It doesn’t say that. And it doesn’t mean that.
If we take the passage as a whole, it says that when we ask and seek and knock—when we pray as needy children looking away from our own resources to our trustworthy heavenly Father—he will hear and he will give us good things. Sometimes just what we asked. Sometimes just when we ask it. Sometimes just the way we desire. And other times he gives us something better, or at a time he knows is better, or in a way he knows is better.
And of course, this tests our faith. Because if we thought that something different were better, we would have asked for it in the first place. But we are not God. We are not infinitely strong, or infinitely righteous, or infinitely good, or infinitely wise, or infinitely loving. And therefore, it is a great mercy to us and to the world that we do not get all we ask.
Take Jesus at His Word
But if we take Jesus at his word, O how much blessing we forfeit because we do not ask and seek and knock—blessings for ourselves, our families, our church, our nation, our world.
So would you join me in a fresh new commitment to set aside time for prayer alone and in families and in groups in 2007. All the rest of this Prayer Week, with its special booklet prepared for you, is meant as extended application of this sermon.
One final question: How shall we understand these six promises in verses 7 and 8: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened”?
Does this mean that everything a child of God asks for he gets?
I think the context here is sufficient to answer this question. No, we do not get everything we ask for and we should not and we would not want to. The reason I say we should not is because we would in effect become God if God did everything we asked him to do. We should not be God. God should be God. And the reason I say that we would not want to get everything we asked is because we would then have to bear the burden of infinite wisdom which we do not have. We simply don’t know enough to infallibly decide how every decision will turn out and what the next events in our lives, let alone in history, should be.
But the reason I say that we do not get all we ask is because the text implies this. Jesus says in verses 9-10 that a good father will not give his child a stone if he asks for bread, and will not give him a serpent if he asks for a fish. This illustration prompts us to ask, “What if the child asks for a serpent?” Does the text answer whether the Father in heaven will give it? Yes, it does. In verse 11, Jesus draws out this truth from the illustrations: Therefore, how much more will your Father give good things to those who ask him.
He Gives Only Good Things
He gives good things. Only good things. He does not give serpents to children. Therefore, the text itself points away from the conclusion that Ask and you will receive means Ask and you will receive the very thing you ask for when you ask for it in the way you ask for it. It doesn’t say that. And it doesn’t mean that.
If we take the passage as a whole, it says that when we ask and seek and knock—when we pray as needy children looking away from our own resources to our trustworthy heavenly Father—he will hear and he will give us good things. Sometimes just what we asked. Sometimes just when we ask it. Sometimes just the way we desire. And other times he gives us something better, or at a time he knows is better, or in a way he knows is better.
And of course, this tests our faith. Because if we thought that something different were better, we would have asked for it in the first place. But we are not God. We are not infinitely strong, or infinitely righteous, or infinitely good, or infinitely wise, or infinitely loving. And therefore, it is a great mercy to us and to the world that we do not get all we ask.
Take Jesus at His Word
But if we take Jesus at his word, O how much blessing we forfeit because we do not ask and seek and knock—blessings for ourselves, our families, our church, our nation, our world.
So would you join me in a fresh new commitment to set aside time for prayer alone and in families and in groups in 2007. All the rest of this Prayer Week, with its special booklet prepared for you, is meant as extended application of this sermon.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Is Tithing Biblical?
D.A. Carson
Q:The tithe is clearly taught in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament it seems to be downplayed. Are those of us who give 10 percent of our income doing something not required?
--K. Dale Miller, Wilmore, Kentucky
A: A simple yes or no to this question would be horribly misleading.
We know that the law of Moses mandated the tithe (see Lev. 27:30–33), at least in part to support the ministry of the Levites (Num. 18:21–24). Like many other laws, however, it was frequently observed in the breach, although the prophets insisted that failure to pay the tithe was nothing less than robbing God (Mal. 3:6–12).
There were also offerings to be paid. Moreover, faithful Israelites were to be generous with their alms, so that the poor of the land were supported.
In practice, the prophets found themselves inveighing against greed and social injustice (e.g., Amos) and against a raw form of capitalism that squeezed out the poor (Isa. 5:8–10). In other words, even within the Old Testament we should be careful not to isolate the tithe from broader demands of generosity and social justice.
The only passage in the New Testament that explicitly authorizes the tithe does so in a rather backhanded way: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices . . . . But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former" (Matt. 23:23, NIV).
Jesus’ primary point, of course, is to criticize the scrupulous tithing of even a few herbs grown in the back garden if it is at the expense of fundamental issues of justice, integrity, and mercy. But one might have expected Jesus to say, "You should have practiced the latter, and let the herbs take care of themselves"--or some thing equally dismissive. Instead, he says, "You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."
After the Cross and the Resurrection, the New Testament provides no passage with the same explicit conclusion. That raw fact leads to all the usual debates about the nature of the continuity and discontinuity between the old and new covenants.
Does the tithe continue as a divine mandate because it has not been explicitly abrogated? Or is it part of the "old order" that is passing away?
However we resolve that broad question, all sides agree that some New Testament writers insist that Christians be a giving, generous people (1 Tim. 6:18). So, at very least, we must insist that believers under both covenants are expected to give generously.
Some may wonder, Is the dispute about nothing more than the amount? Is there something about 10 percent that is entrenched in moral law?
The following two points will help focus the issue.
1. Beware of pride. There is always a great spiritual danger in thinking that if in some area we have satisfied a specific, concrete demand we have done everything that God requires. Ten percent is a lot of money to some folks; to others it’s not very much. Isn’t that one of the lessons to be learned from Jesus’ comments about the widow’s mite? To suppose that God demands 10 percent--and nothing more--can itself foster a remarkably independent and idolatrous attitude: "This bit is for God, and the rest is mine by right." Likewise, if you choose to give more than 10 percent, you may become inebriated from the contemplation of your own generosity.
2. Remember why you’re giving. A strictly legal perspective on giving soon runs into a plethora of complicated debates. Is this 10 percent of gross income or of net? How does this play out in a country where a progressive income-tax system rises to 90 percent of in come? If we choose to tithe from our net income, are we talking "take-home pay" only, or does it include what is withheld for medical insurance and retirement benefits?
It would be easy to list such questions for a page or two without ever asking, "How can I manage my affairs so that I can give more?" That is surely a better question than "What’s the correct interpretation so that I can do whatever’s required and then get on with my life?"
Christians will want to acknowledge with gratitude that they are mere stewards of all that they "possess." Moreover, New Testament ethics turn not so much on legal prescription as on lives joyfully submitted to God.
This is why the most penetrating New Testament passage on giving is 2 Cor. 8–9. Under severe trial, the Corinthians’ "overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity" (8:2). Even so, they first gave themselves to the Lord (8:5).
So, why not aim for 20 percent in your giving? Or 30? Or more, depending on your circumstances (8:12)? "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that . . . for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (8:9).
By D. A. Carson, research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Q:The tithe is clearly taught in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament it seems to be downplayed. Are those of us who give 10 percent of our income doing something not required?
--K. Dale Miller, Wilmore, Kentucky
A: A simple yes or no to this question would be horribly misleading.
We know that the law of Moses mandated the tithe (see Lev. 27:30–33), at least in part to support the ministry of the Levites (Num. 18:21–24). Like many other laws, however, it was frequently observed in the breach, although the prophets insisted that failure to pay the tithe was nothing less than robbing God (Mal. 3:6–12).
There were also offerings to be paid. Moreover, faithful Israelites were to be generous with their alms, so that the poor of the land were supported.
In practice, the prophets found themselves inveighing against greed and social injustice (e.g., Amos) and against a raw form of capitalism that squeezed out the poor (Isa. 5:8–10). In other words, even within the Old Testament we should be careful not to isolate the tithe from broader demands of generosity and social justice.
The only passage in the New Testament that explicitly authorizes the tithe does so in a rather backhanded way: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices . . . . But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former" (Matt. 23:23, NIV).
Jesus’ primary point, of course, is to criticize the scrupulous tithing of even a few herbs grown in the back garden if it is at the expense of fundamental issues of justice, integrity, and mercy. But one might have expected Jesus to say, "You should have practiced the latter, and let the herbs take care of themselves"--or some thing equally dismissive. Instead, he says, "You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."
After the Cross and the Resurrection, the New Testament provides no passage with the same explicit conclusion. That raw fact leads to all the usual debates about the nature of the continuity and discontinuity between the old and new covenants.
Does the tithe continue as a divine mandate because it has not been explicitly abrogated? Or is it part of the "old order" that is passing away?
However we resolve that broad question, all sides agree that some New Testament writers insist that Christians be a giving, generous people (1 Tim. 6:18). So, at very least, we must insist that believers under both covenants are expected to give generously.
Some may wonder, Is the dispute about nothing more than the amount? Is there something about 10 percent that is entrenched in moral law?
The following two points will help focus the issue.
1. Beware of pride. There is always a great spiritual danger in thinking that if in some area we have satisfied a specific, concrete demand we have done everything that God requires. Ten percent is a lot of money to some folks; to others it’s not very much. Isn’t that one of the lessons to be learned from Jesus’ comments about the widow’s mite? To suppose that God demands 10 percent--and nothing more--can itself foster a remarkably independent and idolatrous attitude: "This bit is for God, and the rest is mine by right." Likewise, if you choose to give more than 10 percent, you may become inebriated from the contemplation of your own generosity.
2. Remember why you’re giving. A strictly legal perspective on giving soon runs into a plethora of complicated debates. Is this 10 percent of gross income or of net? How does this play out in a country where a progressive income-tax system rises to 90 percent of in come? If we choose to tithe from our net income, are we talking "take-home pay" only, or does it include what is withheld for medical insurance and retirement benefits?
It would be easy to list such questions for a page or two without ever asking, "How can I manage my affairs so that I can give more?" That is surely a better question than "What’s the correct interpretation so that I can do whatever’s required and then get on with my life?"
Christians will want to acknowledge with gratitude that they are mere stewards of all that they "possess." Moreover, New Testament ethics turn not so much on legal prescription as on lives joyfully submitted to God.
This is why the most penetrating New Testament passage on giving is 2 Cor. 8–9. Under severe trial, the Corinthians’ "overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity" (8:2). Even so, they first gave themselves to the Lord (8:5).
So, why not aim for 20 percent in your giving? Or 30? Or more, depending on your circumstances (8:12)? "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that . . . for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (8:9).
By D. A. Carson, research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The Path of Brokenness
READ | John 12:24
Today’s verse gives a beautiful illustration of brokenness: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” That is, only by falling and breaking can a single grain produce a rich crop. If it remains isolated and protected, it will never produce anything.
That’s how the Lord works to mature His children. He breaks us in order to bring spiritual growth and supernatural ministry into our lives. And the process is always the same:
1. He targets the areas in which we are not submissive to Him.
2. He arranges the circumstances and selects the tools with which to break self-sufficiency.
3. He controls the pressure and timing of those circumstances to bring us back into His will.
If we refuse to be re-formed through this brokenness and instead cling to whatever God wants us to release, then He will put us on the shelf. Just like the single, unbroken grain of wheat, we will become fruitless and alone. Yet we resist brokenness at every turn. We want to hang on to the things we think bring joy. We want to persist in relationships that are stunting our spiritual growth. We want to take the path of least resistance and hope that God will bless our laziness. My friend, this is not the road to maturity that our Father has prepared for us.
Brokenness hurts. The Word, however, proclaims that it hurts far more not to be broken. Don’t be distracted by short-term happiness. Look where your Father is leading you and let Him do whatever it takes to get you there.
Today’s verse gives a beautiful illustration of brokenness: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” That is, only by falling and breaking can a single grain produce a rich crop. If it remains isolated and protected, it will never produce anything.
That’s how the Lord works to mature His children. He breaks us in order to bring spiritual growth and supernatural ministry into our lives. And the process is always the same:
1. He targets the areas in which we are not submissive to Him.
2. He arranges the circumstances and selects the tools with which to break self-sufficiency.
3. He controls the pressure and timing of those circumstances to bring us back into His will.
If we refuse to be re-formed through this brokenness and instead cling to whatever God wants us to release, then He will put us on the shelf. Just like the single, unbroken grain of wheat, we will become fruitless and alone. Yet we resist brokenness at every turn. We want to hang on to the things we think bring joy. We want to persist in relationships that are stunting our spiritual growth. We want to take the path of least resistance and hope that God will bless our laziness. My friend, this is not the road to maturity that our Father has prepared for us.
Brokenness hurts. The Word, however, proclaims that it hurts far more not to be broken. Don’t be distracted by short-term happiness. Look where your Father is leading you and let Him do whatever it takes to get you there.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Job: Reversal in Suffering
Listen | Download | Podcast
By John PiperAugust 4, 1985
Job 42:7-17
Neither bad theology (in the words of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) nor good theology (in the words of Elihu) gives us the knowledge of God which changes a person's heart. "Taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Psalm 34:8). There is a knowledge that only comes through tasting. Five seconds of honey on the tongue will show you more sweetness than ten hours of lectures about the sweetness of honey. "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Until God gives you a taste of his goodness all the theology in the world will not give you a knowledge of his goodness that changes your heart and saves your soul.
Job Tasted and Saw That the Lord Is Good
When Elihu was finished speaking the truth to Job, Job said nothing. Only after God spoke (in chapters 38–41) did Job say, "I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee" (42:5). When God himself came to Job and spoke and took the initiative to make himself known to Job, Job tasted God! And his eyes were opened.
Now Job has a new sense of God's reality. It is more than intellectual or speculative knowledge. It is the knowledge of the heart. He has tasted. And now he sees. And the result is a broken and changed man.
Job Confesses Three Great Truths
In 42:1–6 Job bows in reverent submission to confess three great truths.
In verse 2 he confesses the truth that God is absolutely sovereign: "I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted."
In verse 3 he confesses the truth that God's wisdom makes his own wisdom look like ignorance: "I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."
And in verse 6 he confesses the truth that he is guilty of despicable sin in questioning the ways of God: "I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
A Broken and Changed Person
Job is a broken and changed man. That's what happens when you really see God. It happened to Isaiah: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips . . . for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" (Isaiah 6:5). It happened to Peter when Jesus showed his power: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8). It happened to the centurion when Jesus came to his house: "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof" (Luke 7:6).
Before Job saw God in this way, he had esteemed himself somewhat highly and had not hesitated to assert his righteousness. Now he sees himself more clearly. And what he sees drives him to repentance.
If we don't feel grieved for our sin, and deeply unworthy of God's goodness, then we need to pray earnestly that God would show us himself—that he would cease to be a mere doctrine that we hear with our ear, and instead would become an awesome, infinitely holy, dreadful, and wonderful Sovereign that we taste and see with our hearts.
Jonathan Edwards' "New Sense" of God
Jonathan Edwards wrestled with God as a young man in New England 250 years ago. He wrote in his Personal Narrative,
From my childhood up, my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God's sovereignty . . . But I remember the time very well when I seemed to be convinced, and fully satisfied, as to this sovereignty of God . . . There has been a wonderful alteration in my mind in respect to the doctrine of God's sovereignty, from that day to this; so that I scarce ever have found as much as the rising of an objection against it, in the most absolute sense . . . The first instance that I remember of that sort of inward, sweet delight in God and divine things that I have lived much in since, was on reading those words in 1 Timothy 1:17, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." As I read the words, there came into my soul, and was as it were diffused through it, a sense of the glory of the Divine Being; a new sense, quite different from any thing I ever experienced before.
Edwards was given a "new sense"—a "taste," as the psalmist would say—of the glory and sovereignty of God. It overcame all his objections and it humbled him to the dust. He spoke of his sense of sin in words that are almost unintelligible in our self-exalting culture:
I have had a vastly greater sense of my own wickedness, and the badness of my heart, than ever I had before my conversion . . . My wickedness, as I am in myself, has long appeared to me perfectly ineffable, and swallowing up all thought and imagination; like an infinite deluge, or mountain over my head. I know not how to express better what my sins appear to me to be, than by heaping infinite upon infinite, and multiplying infinite by infinite.
What God Is After in His Dealings with His Children
When God has given us a taste of his own majesty and our own wickedness, then the Christian life becomes a thing very different than conventional piety. Edwards describes it beautifully when he says,
The desires of the saints, however earnest, are humble desires; their hope is an humble hope; and their joy, even when it is unspeakable and full of glory, is an humble, broken-hearted joy, leaving the Christian more poor in spirit, more like a little child, and more disposed to an universal lowliness of behaviour.
That is what God is after in all his dealings with his children—a brokenhearted joy that trusts like a little child in God and returns good for evil.
Two More Things God Does in Job's Sufferings
That is where God has brought Job now; and to prove that he is pleased with Job's "brokenhearted joy" God is going to reverse Job's fortunes and give him his health and ten new children and twice as many possessions as before. But before he performs this reversal for Job, God has two more things to bring about by this experience of suffering.
1. The Humbling of Job's Three Friends
First, he aims to bring Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar to the dust along with Job. Let's read 42:7–9,
After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them; and the Lord accepted Job's prayer.
God seeks to humble these three friends of Job in two ways. He tells them they are theologically wrong, and he makes them seek forgiveness through the very one they had reviled.
In verse 7 God says, "You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." Now God had accused Job of darkening counsel without knowledge (38:2; 42:3), so he doesn't mean that everything Job said had been right. But when it comes to the basic dispute between Job and these three friends, he was in the right.
They had said that the wicked suffer and the righteous prosper. Job had said that the world proves no such thing: the wicked often prosper more than the righteous and the righteous often suffer more than the wicked. Job was right.
Not only that, the three friends saw all justice working itself out in this life. But Job eventually broke through to the truth that much that is amiss in the world would be made right in the life after death (19:25–27). Job was right.
So God humbled these three friends by showing them that the very one they condemned was in fact the better theologian even if he was not perfect.
But their humbling is not yet complete. They cannot simply go to their closets and say a simple prayer for forgiveness and be done with it. They must go to Job with their sacrifices and ask him to pray for them. This must have been a deeply humiliating thing. The very one that they had accused of being far from God must become their priest to bring them near to God. In other words God is seeing to it that the only way the three friends can experience reconciliation with God is through experiencing reconciliation with Job. They must humble themselves before Job, not simply before God.
But it cuts both ways.
2. The Proving of Job's Repentance
There is a second thing that God is doing before he restores the fortunes of Job: he is proving the repentance of Job. When the three friends come to Job seeking his intercession with God, it's not just their humility that is on trial! Job is now being asked to love his enemies and pray for those who abused him. He is being asked to bless those who cursed him and not to return evil for evil.
And he is still a very sick man! God has not yet reversed his misery. Why? What is the lesson here? Isn't it the same as Matthew 6:14?
If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
In other words, it is repentance and faith that receive the forgiveness of God. But the genuineness of repentance, the authenticity of faith, the reality of your change of heart must prove itself in your willingness to forgive those who sin against you. If the forgiveness of God that a repentant sinner claims to have received does not flow through him to others, the claim is a delusion. He is still in his sins.
So God puts Job to one last test. Will he lay down the weapons of revenge and accept the terms of God's treaty and extend amnesty to his three friends the way God has? Yes. Job passes the test. He is a broken man. His own sins have bent him down in dust and ashes. How can he exalt himself above another man! How can he not give the forgiveness that he has freely been given! So verse 9 ends, "The Lord accepted Job's prayer."
Conclusion
So the book closes with the sediment of pride strained out of Job's life through the sieve of suffering, the bad theology of his three friends corrected and their foolishness humbled, the brotherhood of God's servants restored and purified, and the honor of God's name vindicated over against the accusations of Satan.
May the Lord grant us grace to learn that while his ways may not be our ways and his thoughts may not be our thoughts, yet they are the wisest of all ways; and are full of mercy for all those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
The summary of the book in James 5:11 is on target:
Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
By John PiperAugust 4, 1985
Job 42:7-17
Neither bad theology (in the words of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) nor good theology (in the words of Elihu) gives us the knowledge of God which changes a person's heart. "Taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Psalm 34:8). There is a knowledge that only comes through tasting. Five seconds of honey on the tongue will show you more sweetness than ten hours of lectures about the sweetness of honey. "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Until God gives you a taste of his goodness all the theology in the world will not give you a knowledge of his goodness that changes your heart and saves your soul.
Job Tasted and Saw That the Lord Is Good
When Elihu was finished speaking the truth to Job, Job said nothing. Only after God spoke (in chapters 38–41) did Job say, "I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee" (42:5). When God himself came to Job and spoke and took the initiative to make himself known to Job, Job tasted God! And his eyes were opened.
Now Job has a new sense of God's reality. It is more than intellectual or speculative knowledge. It is the knowledge of the heart. He has tasted. And now he sees. And the result is a broken and changed man.
Job Confesses Three Great Truths
In 42:1–6 Job bows in reverent submission to confess three great truths.
In verse 2 he confesses the truth that God is absolutely sovereign: "I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted."
In verse 3 he confesses the truth that God's wisdom makes his own wisdom look like ignorance: "I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."
And in verse 6 he confesses the truth that he is guilty of despicable sin in questioning the ways of God: "I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
A Broken and Changed Person
Job is a broken and changed man. That's what happens when you really see God. It happened to Isaiah: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips . . . for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" (Isaiah 6:5). It happened to Peter when Jesus showed his power: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8). It happened to the centurion when Jesus came to his house: "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof" (Luke 7:6).
Before Job saw God in this way, he had esteemed himself somewhat highly and had not hesitated to assert his righteousness. Now he sees himself more clearly. And what he sees drives him to repentance.
If we don't feel grieved for our sin, and deeply unworthy of God's goodness, then we need to pray earnestly that God would show us himself—that he would cease to be a mere doctrine that we hear with our ear, and instead would become an awesome, infinitely holy, dreadful, and wonderful Sovereign that we taste and see with our hearts.
Jonathan Edwards' "New Sense" of God
Jonathan Edwards wrestled with God as a young man in New England 250 years ago. He wrote in his Personal Narrative,
From my childhood up, my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God's sovereignty . . . But I remember the time very well when I seemed to be convinced, and fully satisfied, as to this sovereignty of God . . . There has been a wonderful alteration in my mind in respect to the doctrine of God's sovereignty, from that day to this; so that I scarce ever have found as much as the rising of an objection against it, in the most absolute sense . . . The first instance that I remember of that sort of inward, sweet delight in God and divine things that I have lived much in since, was on reading those words in 1 Timothy 1:17, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." As I read the words, there came into my soul, and was as it were diffused through it, a sense of the glory of the Divine Being; a new sense, quite different from any thing I ever experienced before.
Edwards was given a "new sense"—a "taste," as the psalmist would say—of the glory and sovereignty of God. It overcame all his objections and it humbled him to the dust. He spoke of his sense of sin in words that are almost unintelligible in our self-exalting culture:
I have had a vastly greater sense of my own wickedness, and the badness of my heart, than ever I had before my conversion . . . My wickedness, as I am in myself, has long appeared to me perfectly ineffable, and swallowing up all thought and imagination; like an infinite deluge, or mountain over my head. I know not how to express better what my sins appear to me to be, than by heaping infinite upon infinite, and multiplying infinite by infinite.
What God Is After in His Dealings with His Children
When God has given us a taste of his own majesty and our own wickedness, then the Christian life becomes a thing very different than conventional piety. Edwards describes it beautifully when he says,
The desires of the saints, however earnest, are humble desires; their hope is an humble hope; and their joy, even when it is unspeakable and full of glory, is an humble, broken-hearted joy, leaving the Christian more poor in spirit, more like a little child, and more disposed to an universal lowliness of behaviour.
That is what God is after in all his dealings with his children—a brokenhearted joy that trusts like a little child in God and returns good for evil.
Two More Things God Does in Job's Sufferings
That is where God has brought Job now; and to prove that he is pleased with Job's "brokenhearted joy" God is going to reverse Job's fortunes and give him his health and ten new children and twice as many possessions as before. But before he performs this reversal for Job, God has two more things to bring about by this experience of suffering.
1. The Humbling of Job's Three Friends
First, he aims to bring Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar to the dust along with Job. Let's read 42:7–9,
After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them; and the Lord accepted Job's prayer.
God seeks to humble these three friends of Job in two ways. He tells them they are theologically wrong, and he makes them seek forgiveness through the very one they had reviled.
In verse 7 God says, "You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." Now God had accused Job of darkening counsel without knowledge (38:2; 42:3), so he doesn't mean that everything Job said had been right. But when it comes to the basic dispute between Job and these three friends, he was in the right.
They had said that the wicked suffer and the righteous prosper. Job had said that the world proves no such thing: the wicked often prosper more than the righteous and the righteous often suffer more than the wicked. Job was right.
Not only that, the three friends saw all justice working itself out in this life. But Job eventually broke through to the truth that much that is amiss in the world would be made right in the life after death (19:25–27). Job was right.
So God humbled these three friends by showing them that the very one they condemned was in fact the better theologian even if he was not perfect.
But their humbling is not yet complete. They cannot simply go to their closets and say a simple prayer for forgiveness and be done with it. They must go to Job with their sacrifices and ask him to pray for them. This must have been a deeply humiliating thing. The very one that they had accused of being far from God must become their priest to bring them near to God. In other words God is seeing to it that the only way the three friends can experience reconciliation with God is through experiencing reconciliation with Job. They must humble themselves before Job, not simply before God.
But it cuts both ways.
2. The Proving of Job's Repentance
There is a second thing that God is doing before he restores the fortunes of Job: he is proving the repentance of Job. When the three friends come to Job seeking his intercession with God, it's not just their humility that is on trial! Job is now being asked to love his enemies and pray for those who abused him. He is being asked to bless those who cursed him and not to return evil for evil.
And he is still a very sick man! God has not yet reversed his misery. Why? What is the lesson here? Isn't it the same as Matthew 6:14?
If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
In other words, it is repentance and faith that receive the forgiveness of God. But the genuineness of repentance, the authenticity of faith, the reality of your change of heart must prove itself in your willingness to forgive those who sin against you. If the forgiveness of God that a repentant sinner claims to have received does not flow through him to others, the claim is a delusion. He is still in his sins.
So God puts Job to one last test. Will he lay down the weapons of revenge and accept the terms of God's treaty and extend amnesty to his three friends the way God has? Yes. Job passes the test. He is a broken man. His own sins have bent him down in dust and ashes. How can he exalt himself above another man! How can he not give the forgiveness that he has freely been given! So verse 9 ends, "The Lord accepted Job's prayer."
Conclusion
So the book closes with the sediment of pride strained out of Job's life through the sieve of suffering, the bad theology of his three friends corrected and their foolishness humbled, the brotherhood of God's servants restored and purified, and the honor of God's name vindicated over against the accusations of Satan.
May the Lord grant us grace to learn that while his ways may not be our ways and his thoughts may not be our thoughts, yet they are the wisest of all ways; and are full of mercy for all those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
The summary of the book in James 5:11 is on target:
Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Who Shall Shepherd the Flock?
By John Piper
April 24, 1994
1 Peter 5:1-4
Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
The Seriousness of Elder Accountability for the Flock
Probably no issue has occupied more of the elders' time over the past several years than the issue of how to provide pastoral care and oversight to about 1,100 people scattered all over the Twin Cities. Verse 4 says that someday the "Chief Shepherd" is going to appear and there will be a reckoning with the under-shepherds, the elders. That is a sobering thing to those of us in leadership.
We have become increasingly convicted by texts like Hebrews 13:17, which says to the church:
Your leaders [the elders] keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account [namely, to God]. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
Or Acts 20:28 where Paul says to the elders of the church in Ephesus:
Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
You can hear the earnestness and the seriousness in those words: you elders shepherd the people "whom God purchased with his own blood." In other words, don't take this work lightly. Don't be casual and cavalier and breezy about this responsibility.
An Emerging Vision of "District Pastoral Care"
The fruit of all our study and prayer and work is an emerging vision of a district pastoral care eldership teamed up with district deacons and small group leaders who together will shepherd the flock of God called Bethlehem, and give an account of each member before the Lord.
The aim is to build a people, through the Word of God and prayer and all kinds of practical caring ministries in the districts, who in their hearts have a vision of a great, glorious, sovereign, gracious, wise, all-sufficient, all-satisfying God; and who savor that vision of God in worship, strengthen that vision of God in mutual encouragement and care, and spread that vision of God in works of love, local evangelism, and world missions.
Tom Steller will say more about the details of the pastoral care elders in a few minutes.
What I want to do is put the vision in a biblical context from 1 Peter 5, that proved to be far more relevant to our situation when I began to study it, than I thought it was going to be.
Why Does Peter Exhort the Letter Here?
The text begins in chapter 5: "Therefore, I exhort the elders among you." If we ask, "Why did Peter feel the need to exhort the elders here at the end of his letter?" we get a clue to the answer in the word "therefore." Something is happening . . . "Therefore, I exhort the elders." (Again I build half my message on a word that the NIV simply chooses to drop!!! Look to the NASB or RSV.)
Warnings of the Coming "Fiery Ordeal" of Judgment
Peter has been warning the church about the "fiery ordeal that is coming upon them for their testing" (4:12). He says (in 4:13) that the Christians may share the sufferings of Christ for a season and then exult in the glory of Christ when he comes. This is what Peter says about himself in 5:1 when he calls himself a fellow elder with the elders he's writing to. He says he is a witness to Christ's sufferings and a sharer in the coming glory. This alerts us that this "fiery ordeal" (4:12) probably has something to do with the elders in chapter 5.
This gets even clearer in 4:17. Peter explains why this "fiery trial" is coming on the church. He says (v. 17), "For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (18) And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?"
These verses have to do with the whole church. The fiery ordeal that comes as punishing condemnation on unbelievers hits the church first as fires of purification and refining (cf. 1:7).
The Background of Ezekiel 9
But what about the elders? Is there anything special for them in this? There are two Old Testament background texts that suggest there is. One is Ezekiel 9. God's own people have committed abominations and God resolves to judge his own city. God says to his angel (v. 4),
"Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst." [Like blood on the doorpost at the Passover.] 5 But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity, and do not spare. 6 Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary [same idea and words as here in 1 Peter 4:17]." So they started with the elders who were before the temple.
So if Peter has in his mind the way God once began his judgment from the house of God—especially from the elders—he may well see a special need to exhort the elders in view of the fiery ordeal that is coming.
The Background of Malachi 3:1–3
The other background text is Malachi 3:1–3 where God says that his messenger is going to come to his temple—to his house or his people as Peter says (in 2:5):
2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3 . . . He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.
The "sons of Levi" are the priests. Now it's true that in 1 Peter 2:5, 9 all believers are priests. But it is not easy for a leader to read this and fail to see that the refining fire of judgment has a special reference to leaders. The fire purifies the leaders first.
The Judgment of God Begins with Elders
So when Peter says in 4:17, "It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God," it is easy to see why he would say in 5:1, "THEREFORE, I exhort the elders among you . . ."
So my answer to the question, "Why does Peter feel the need to exhort the elders?" is that this "fiery ordeal" in 4:12 is a judgment from God that begins with the house of God—and in the house of God begins with the elders, the leaders.
It is a fearful and wonderful thing to be an elder in the house of God. If the elders lead the church into strength and glory, they will also lead the church into the refiner's fire of God's purifying judgment. They will not stand above the church or outside the church giving suggestions for how to cope with fire; they will lead the church into the fire.
Peter Practices What He Preaches
So when Peter calls himself in verse 1 a "fellow elder," it's not that he is laying claim to an exalted title (he could have called himself an apostle!); he's expressing a willingness to suffer in the refiner's fire along with the rest of the elders. In fact I think this is what he means when he calls himself in v. 1b a "witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed." I think "witness" here means more than, "I was there and I saw them." I think he means, "I bear witness to them by my words and by my life. I am with you in the struggle. I am with you in the fire that purifies and refines the elders of God's people."
In other words he is practicing what he preaches in verse 3—that elders lead by example not by lording it over the flock.
So Peter believes that the elders need a special exhortation here at the end of his letter. Fire is painful; judgment is serious. It is coming on the house of God; and on the elders first. In this situation elders need warning and they need hope. Peter gives both.
Three Warnings for Elders
Three warnings. Warnings against three typical failures in the eldership. A warning against laziness; a warning against greed; and a warning against pride. The lust for ease, the lust for money, and the lust for power and prestige.
1. A Warning Against Laziness
First, a warning against laziness—the lust for leisure and comfort and ease. Verse 2: "Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God."
He warns them against drifting into a lazy or distracted pattern of ministry that requires some kind of external "compulsion" to overcome. Don't be sluggish and unconcerned. Don't be like the mule that has to have a bit and bridle. Be willing.
Or it might be that it's fear he is warning against here and not laziness. It might be fear that makes an elder unwilling to serve. Don't be fearful of doing what you are called to do. Do it voluntarily.
This is why we do not want to pressure anyone into the eldership at Bethlehem. God wants men who want the ministry, not those who act out of external compulsion.
2. A Warning Against Greed
Second, Peter warns the elders against greed—the lust for money. Verse 2c: "Shepherd the flock . . . not for sordid gain, but with eagerness." This would apply especially to us who make our living in the ministry. Do not begin to look on your eldership merely as a means of making a living. Watch out for the temptation to make "godliness a means of gain," as Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:5.
Rather do your ministry with "eagerness." That is, love your work. Find joy in your work. Remember, as Paul said to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:35, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." And remember what Hebrews 13:17 says, "Let [the elders minister] with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you."
3. A Warning Against Pride
Third, Peter warns the elders against pride—the lust for power and prestige. Verse 3: "[Shepherd the flock . . . not yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock." Pride is the failure to realize deeply that without Christ we can do nothing. And so the proud heart starts to feel that it can be self-reliant. And then it begins to feel that it is indispensable. And then it starts to act that way and exalt itself and seek the praise of men.
But Peter says to the elders, don't exalt yourselves like that; lead—you must lead (as v. 5 implies)—but lead with servant lowliness; lead by example.
When the fiery trial comes to you first, lead by example. You don't escape it or run from it. You walk through it with the sheep.
Those are the warnings we need. A warning against living for ease; a warning against living for money; and a warning against living for power and prestige and praise.
Hope for Elders
But in this fiery situation elders also need hope. This is what Peter gives them in verse 4: "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory."
Yesterday in the seminar on the urban poor Viv Grigg referred to the words of Jesus in Luke 14:13–14 about ministry to the poor. Jesus holds out the same kind of hope Peter does here:
When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
In other words there are ministries we should do that may be thankless in this world. If we need a lot of strokes, we will probably not do what Jesus calls us to do. It's too hard and there's not enough reward here and now.
But if we really believe that we will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous, if we elders really believe that "when the Chief Shepherd appears he will give us the unfading crown of glory," then we will have motivation and strength to do what he calls us to do.
There may be times when our elders feel like the refining fire is too hot. We may feel that, if it takes this much fire to burn away our sloth and our greed and our pride, then it's not worth it. But that would be because we have taken our eyes off eternity, and off the all-satisfying Chief-Shepherd, our Lord Jesus.
Tom Steller is going to come and say a word about the pastoral care eldership at Bethlehem. My prayer as he comes is that God would cause gifted and qualified men at Bethlehem to sense the call of God on your life. There is a great work to do. A great fiery battle to be fought. And a great reward beyond all measure.
April 24, 1994
1 Peter 5:1-4
Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
The Seriousness of Elder Accountability for the Flock
Probably no issue has occupied more of the elders' time over the past several years than the issue of how to provide pastoral care and oversight to about 1,100 people scattered all over the Twin Cities. Verse 4 says that someday the "Chief Shepherd" is going to appear and there will be a reckoning with the under-shepherds, the elders. That is a sobering thing to those of us in leadership.
We have become increasingly convicted by texts like Hebrews 13:17, which says to the church:
Your leaders [the elders] keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account [namely, to God]. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
Or Acts 20:28 where Paul says to the elders of the church in Ephesus:
Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
You can hear the earnestness and the seriousness in those words: you elders shepherd the people "whom God purchased with his own blood." In other words, don't take this work lightly. Don't be casual and cavalier and breezy about this responsibility.
An Emerging Vision of "District Pastoral Care"
The fruit of all our study and prayer and work is an emerging vision of a district pastoral care eldership teamed up with district deacons and small group leaders who together will shepherd the flock of God called Bethlehem, and give an account of each member before the Lord.
The aim is to build a people, through the Word of God and prayer and all kinds of practical caring ministries in the districts, who in their hearts have a vision of a great, glorious, sovereign, gracious, wise, all-sufficient, all-satisfying God; and who savor that vision of God in worship, strengthen that vision of God in mutual encouragement and care, and spread that vision of God in works of love, local evangelism, and world missions.
Tom Steller will say more about the details of the pastoral care elders in a few minutes.
What I want to do is put the vision in a biblical context from 1 Peter 5, that proved to be far more relevant to our situation when I began to study it, than I thought it was going to be.
Why Does Peter Exhort the Letter Here?
The text begins in chapter 5: "Therefore, I exhort the elders among you." If we ask, "Why did Peter feel the need to exhort the elders here at the end of his letter?" we get a clue to the answer in the word "therefore." Something is happening . . . "Therefore, I exhort the elders." (Again I build half my message on a word that the NIV simply chooses to drop!!! Look to the NASB or RSV.)
Warnings of the Coming "Fiery Ordeal" of Judgment
Peter has been warning the church about the "fiery ordeal that is coming upon them for their testing" (4:12). He says (in 4:13) that the Christians may share the sufferings of Christ for a season and then exult in the glory of Christ when he comes. This is what Peter says about himself in 5:1 when he calls himself a fellow elder with the elders he's writing to. He says he is a witness to Christ's sufferings and a sharer in the coming glory. This alerts us that this "fiery ordeal" (4:12) probably has something to do with the elders in chapter 5.
This gets even clearer in 4:17. Peter explains why this "fiery trial" is coming on the church. He says (v. 17), "For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (18) And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?"
These verses have to do with the whole church. The fiery ordeal that comes as punishing condemnation on unbelievers hits the church first as fires of purification and refining (cf. 1:7).
The Background of Ezekiel 9
But what about the elders? Is there anything special for them in this? There are two Old Testament background texts that suggest there is. One is Ezekiel 9. God's own people have committed abominations and God resolves to judge his own city. God says to his angel (v. 4),
"Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst." [Like blood on the doorpost at the Passover.] 5 But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity, and do not spare. 6 Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary [same idea and words as here in 1 Peter 4:17]." So they started with the elders who were before the temple.
So if Peter has in his mind the way God once began his judgment from the house of God—especially from the elders—he may well see a special need to exhort the elders in view of the fiery ordeal that is coming.
The Background of Malachi 3:1–3
The other background text is Malachi 3:1–3 where God says that his messenger is going to come to his temple—to his house or his people as Peter says (in 2:5):
2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3 . . . He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.
The "sons of Levi" are the priests. Now it's true that in 1 Peter 2:5, 9 all believers are priests. But it is not easy for a leader to read this and fail to see that the refining fire of judgment has a special reference to leaders. The fire purifies the leaders first.
The Judgment of God Begins with Elders
So when Peter says in 4:17, "It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God," it is easy to see why he would say in 5:1, "THEREFORE, I exhort the elders among you . . ."
So my answer to the question, "Why does Peter feel the need to exhort the elders?" is that this "fiery ordeal" in 4:12 is a judgment from God that begins with the house of God—and in the house of God begins with the elders, the leaders.
It is a fearful and wonderful thing to be an elder in the house of God. If the elders lead the church into strength and glory, they will also lead the church into the refiner's fire of God's purifying judgment. They will not stand above the church or outside the church giving suggestions for how to cope with fire; they will lead the church into the fire.
Peter Practices What He Preaches
So when Peter calls himself in verse 1 a "fellow elder," it's not that he is laying claim to an exalted title (he could have called himself an apostle!); he's expressing a willingness to suffer in the refiner's fire along with the rest of the elders. In fact I think this is what he means when he calls himself in v. 1b a "witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed." I think "witness" here means more than, "I was there and I saw them." I think he means, "I bear witness to them by my words and by my life. I am with you in the struggle. I am with you in the fire that purifies and refines the elders of God's people."
In other words he is practicing what he preaches in verse 3—that elders lead by example not by lording it over the flock.
So Peter believes that the elders need a special exhortation here at the end of his letter. Fire is painful; judgment is serious. It is coming on the house of God; and on the elders first. In this situation elders need warning and they need hope. Peter gives both.
Three Warnings for Elders
Three warnings. Warnings against three typical failures in the eldership. A warning against laziness; a warning against greed; and a warning against pride. The lust for ease, the lust for money, and the lust for power and prestige.
1. A Warning Against Laziness
First, a warning against laziness—the lust for leisure and comfort and ease. Verse 2: "Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God."
He warns them against drifting into a lazy or distracted pattern of ministry that requires some kind of external "compulsion" to overcome. Don't be sluggish and unconcerned. Don't be like the mule that has to have a bit and bridle. Be willing.
Or it might be that it's fear he is warning against here and not laziness. It might be fear that makes an elder unwilling to serve. Don't be fearful of doing what you are called to do. Do it voluntarily.
This is why we do not want to pressure anyone into the eldership at Bethlehem. God wants men who want the ministry, not those who act out of external compulsion.
2. A Warning Against Greed
Second, Peter warns the elders against greed—the lust for money. Verse 2c: "Shepherd the flock . . . not for sordid gain, but with eagerness." This would apply especially to us who make our living in the ministry. Do not begin to look on your eldership merely as a means of making a living. Watch out for the temptation to make "godliness a means of gain," as Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:5.
Rather do your ministry with "eagerness." That is, love your work. Find joy in your work. Remember, as Paul said to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:35, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." And remember what Hebrews 13:17 says, "Let [the elders minister] with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you."
3. A Warning Against Pride
Third, Peter warns the elders against pride—the lust for power and prestige. Verse 3: "[Shepherd the flock . . . not yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock." Pride is the failure to realize deeply that without Christ we can do nothing. And so the proud heart starts to feel that it can be self-reliant. And then it begins to feel that it is indispensable. And then it starts to act that way and exalt itself and seek the praise of men.
But Peter says to the elders, don't exalt yourselves like that; lead—you must lead (as v. 5 implies)—but lead with servant lowliness; lead by example.
When the fiery trial comes to you first, lead by example. You don't escape it or run from it. You walk through it with the sheep.
Those are the warnings we need. A warning against living for ease; a warning against living for money; and a warning against living for power and prestige and praise.
Hope for Elders
But in this fiery situation elders also need hope. This is what Peter gives them in verse 4: "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory."
Yesterday in the seminar on the urban poor Viv Grigg referred to the words of Jesus in Luke 14:13–14 about ministry to the poor. Jesus holds out the same kind of hope Peter does here:
When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
In other words there are ministries we should do that may be thankless in this world. If we need a lot of strokes, we will probably not do what Jesus calls us to do. It's too hard and there's not enough reward here and now.
But if we really believe that we will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous, if we elders really believe that "when the Chief Shepherd appears he will give us the unfading crown of glory," then we will have motivation and strength to do what he calls us to do.
There may be times when our elders feel like the refining fire is too hot. We may feel that, if it takes this much fire to burn away our sloth and our greed and our pride, then it's not worth it. But that would be because we have taken our eyes off eternity, and off the all-satisfying Chief-Shepherd, our Lord Jesus.
Tom Steller is going to come and say a word about the pastoral care eldership at Bethlehem. My prayer as he comes is that God would cause gifted and qualified men at Bethlehem to sense the call of God on your life. There is a great work to do. A great fiery battle to be fought. And a great reward beyond all measure.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
How to Listen to the Word of God
by Charles F. Stanley
A. Introduction: Why is it that some people can come to church and get comforted and overjoyed, and others go the same service, but leave empty and burdened? How can you make the most of listening to the Word of God?
B. Scripture: Nehemiah 8:1-7, 12-17
1. The Israelites were in captivity in Babylon, and Jerusalem’s wall was in ruins. Nehemiah asked the Babylonian king for supplies and time off so he could help rebuild the wall. With God’s help, he and other exiles rebuild the wall in 52 days, despite opposition from their enemies. The people then asked to hear the word of God.
2. If you go to a church where the pastor doesn’t preach from the Bible, you are in the wrong place.
C. How can you listen to a message from the Word of God and have it impact your life? You must listen:
1. Eagerly (Neh. 8:1-2).
* When you come to a worship service, ask God to speak to your heart.
2. Attentively (Neh. 8:3).
* God says, “My Word will not return void” (Is. 55:11).
* Example: Students who didn’t want to go to a missions conference for fear they would hear God calling them to the mission field
* Your attention span is determined by your desire to know God and His will for your life.
3. Trustingly (Neh. 8:4-5).
* Our world is uncertain. We need something we can place our faith in that will give us assurance.
4. Expectantly (Neh. 8:5).
* Even though the people couldn’t understand the original languages of the scrolls, they stood in anticipation of hearing the Word of God.
* Example: Dr. Stanley visited a church in Korea, and his spirit was blessed by the message although he didn’t understand the words.
* Example: God speaks through Dr. Stanley—sometimes saying things to people that he knows he didn’t say!
5. Prayerfully.
* The people bowed low and worshipped the Lord (Neh. 8:6).
* Those who accumulate worldly treasures—money, possessions, position, fame––will leave them all behind the day they die.
* Obedient believers who love the Word and apply it are rich with a wealth that no one can ever take away.
6. Patiently (Neh. 8:7).
* The people listened for hours to the reading of the scrolls.
* If you can watch a movie for an hour and a half, you can listen to the Word of God for 45 or 50 minutes.
7. Humbly (Neh. 8:6).
* They fell on their faces, thanking God and humbling themselves because their ancestor’s sins had caused them to miss God’s blessings.
* How much value do you place on your Bible?
* Example: Dr. Stanley’s grandfather had a worn Bible he treasured.
8. Purposefully (Neh. 8:12-17).
* They wanted to gain insight into the law.
* Each time you come to church, ask God for insight into who He is.
* The people discovered they should celebrate with booths (temporary huts), and they did. Are you as committed to obeying the Word?
9. Happily.
* There was great joy when the people listened to the reading of the law.
* You are responsible for your own attitude towards church.
10. Repentantly (Neh. 9:1-3).
* The people listened with a repentant heart.
* If God brings something to your attention, don’t blame the preacher. Be honest with God about it.
* If your pastor is true to the Bible, thank God and support and love that pastor.
D. Closing: When you get home, write those 10 words in the flyleaf of your Bible. Read them before next week’s sermon. Then ask God to help you be attentive, and He will begin to speak to you in ways you can’t imagine.
A. Introduction: Why is it that some people can come to church and get comforted and overjoyed, and others go the same service, but leave empty and burdened? How can you make the most of listening to the Word of God?
B. Scripture: Nehemiah 8:1-7, 12-17
1. The Israelites were in captivity in Babylon, and Jerusalem’s wall was in ruins. Nehemiah asked the Babylonian king for supplies and time off so he could help rebuild the wall. With God’s help, he and other exiles rebuild the wall in 52 days, despite opposition from their enemies. The people then asked to hear the word of God.
2. If you go to a church where the pastor doesn’t preach from the Bible, you are in the wrong place.
C. How can you listen to a message from the Word of God and have it impact your life? You must listen:
1. Eagerly (Neh. 8:1-2).
* When you come to a worship service, ask God to speak to your heart.
2. Attentively (Neh. 8:3).
* God says, “My Word will not return void” (Is. 55:11).
* Example: Students who didn’t want to go to a missions conference for fear they would hear God calling them to the mission field
* Your attention span is determined by your desire to know God and His will for your life.
3. Trustingly (Neh. 8:4-5).
* Our world is uncertain. We need something we can place our faith in that will give us assurance.
4. Expectantly (Neh. 8:5).
* Even though the people couldn’t understand the original languages of the scrolls, they stood in anticipation of hearing the Word of God.
* Example: Dr. Stanley visited a church in Korea, and his spirit was blessed by the message although he didn’t understand the words.
* Example: God speaks through Dr. Stanley—sometimes saying things to people that he knows he didn’t say!
5. Prayerfully.
* The people bowed low and worshipped the Lord (Neh. 8:6).
* Those who accumulate worldly treasures—money, possessions, position, fame––will leave them all behind the day they die.
* Obedient believers who love the Word and apply it are rich with a wealth that no one can ever take away.
6. Patiently (Neh. 8:7).
* The people listened for hours to the reading of the scrolls.
* If you can watch a movie for an hour and a half, you can listen to the Word of God for 45 or 50 minutes.
7. Humbly (Neh. 8:6).
* They fell on their faces, thanking God and humbling themselves because their ancestor’s sins had caused them to miss God’s blessings.
* How much value do you place on your Bible?
* Example: Dr. Stanley’s grandfather had a worn Bible he treasured.
8. Purposefully (Neh. 8:12-17).
* They wanted to gain insight into the law.
* Each time you come to church, ask God for insight into who He is.
* The people discovered they should celebrate with booths (temporary huts), and they did. Are you as committed to obeying the Word?
9. Happily.
* There was great joy when the people listened to the reading of the law.
* You are responsible for your own attitude towards church.
10. Repentantly (Neh. 9:1-3).
* The people listened with a repentant heart.
* If God brings something to your attention, don’t blame the preacher. Be honest with God about it.
* If your pastor is true to the Bible, thank God and support and love that pastor.
D. Closing: When you get home, write those 10 words in the flyleaf of your Bible. Read them before next week’s sermon. Then ask God to help you be attentive, and He will begin to speak to you in ways you can’t imagine.
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