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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 10:15:34 GMT -5
These were found on the TGC website:
The beautiful “one another” commands of the New Testament are famous. But it is also striking to notice the “one anothers” that do not appear there.
For example, sanctify one another, humble one another, scrutinize one another, pressure one another, embarrass one another, corner one another, interrupt one another, defeat one another, sacrifice one another, shame one another, marginalize one another, exclude one another, judge one another, run one another’s lives, confess one another’s sins . . . .
The kind of God we really believe in is revealed in how we treat one another. The lovely gospel of Jesus positions us to treat one another like royalty, and every non-gospel positions us to treat one another like dirt. But we will follow through horizontally on whatever we really believe vertically.
Our relationships with one another reveal to us what we really believe as opposed to what we think we believe, our convictions as opposed to our opinions. It is possible for the gospel to remain at the shallow level of opinion, even sincere opinion, without penetrating to the deeper level of conviction. But when the gospel grips us down in our convictions, we embrace its implications wholeheartedly. Therefore, when we mistreat one another, our problem is not a lack of surface niceness but a lack of gospel depth. What we need is not only better manners but, far more, true faith.
Then the watching world might start feeling that Jesus himself has come to town:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 10:23:15 GMT -5
At the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in 1974, I heard Francis Schaeffer deliver the address which later became his essay, “Two Contents, Two Realities.” His overall point was this. If we hope to see profound gospel advance in our generation — and we do — then our churches must be marked by two contents and two realities.
The two contents are (1) strong doctrine and (2) honest answers to honest questions. The two realities are (1) true spirituality and (2) the beauty of human relationships. That second reality, and even the way Schaeffer put it — “the beauty of human relationships” — has captivated me ever since.
Modifying Schaeffer’s paradigm, I will venture my own proposal for preconditions of profound gospel advance today. Three threads are woven together wonderfully in authentic Christianity:
1. Orthodox doctrine;
2. Gracious culture;
3. Lasting friendships.
Orthodox doctrine is clear enough. We all want to align closely with the Bible.
Gracious culture is harder to define. This dimension of a church is more atmospheric, intangible. It’s a matter of relational tone and vibe and feel. Hopefully, every church’s culture embodies its orthodox doctrine. But that isn’t automatic or easy. We nurture it. For example, “Therefore welcome one another, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7). So, where can the glory of God be clearly seen in the world today? At your church, at my church, when we welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us. Christ has not just tolerated us but welcomed us — sincerely, wholeheartedly, cheerfully. And when that gospel doctrine in the Bible translates into gospel culture in a church, the glory of God can be seen in the world today. That’s gracious culture, and it is just as authoritative, robust, serious and obligatory as orthodox doctrine.
Lasting friendships matter too, because faithful solidarity over the long haul proves the depth of our authenticity. It demonstrates our willingness to sacrifice for one another, when we feel like walking away. It’s also how we invest in the rising generation. With our track record of lasting friendships, our children can inherit the momentum and inspiration of partnerships that didn’t fragment but lasted through thick and thin.
I believe that orthodox doctrine, gracious culture and lasting friendships, if widely shared among our churches — by God’s grace, for his glory alone — can accomplish something profound in our generation. Much more could be said, of course. But I don’t see us making progress without these threads wonderfully woven together by us, among us.
So, at present, how are we doing? In my opinion, we — people who are drawn to this kind of website — we are strong on orthodox doctrine, but we’re weak in both gracious culture and lasting friendships. It seems to me that our Reformed tribe is less united and cohesive, more fragmented and aloof, than we were, say, ten years ago. Back then, I was wondering if our broad movement of gospel rediscovery might accelerate into historic revival. But by now, I wonder if we have squandered our historic opportunity.
Which leads me to wonder about the underlying quality of our commitment to orthodox doctrine. All our beliefs are of two kinds. We have opinions, on the conscious surface of our minds. We also have convictions, in the hidden depths of our hearts. If we are weak in gracious culture and lasting friendships, I wonder if our orthodox doctrine might be of the nature of opinion rather than of the nature of conviction. Strong opinion, to be sure! But not convictions that have settled deep into our hearts, changing us way down at the controlling center of our beings, sweetening us, drawing us together.
I think of myself as Exhibit A of how this can go wrong. The orthodox doctrine of justification by faith alone meant so such to me for so many years, even as I preached messages that counteracted the freeing impact of that very doctrine. I exhorted people too much, or in the wrong way. Exhortation is a biblical thing for a pastor to do. But the energy driving me deep within was not the happiness that flows from the good news of justification by faith alone. Something else was going on. I felt responsible to preach expositional sermons, marked by orthodox doctrine, to help all those sorry Christians get it together!
As proof of the disconnect between my good theological opinions and my bad ministry convictions, I found a box of hard copy sermons of mine from the 1980s. They were horrible. I was sincerely orthodox. But there wasn’t enough grace in my wretched sermons, not enough encouragement, not enough tenderness, not enough Jesus.
I am so thankful for God’s patience! He didn’t give up on me. He helped me. Now my sermons are less horrible. Hopefully, the beautiful orthodoxy of gospel doctrine is flowing into the pastoral gentleness and comfort and guidance and encouragement inherent in that beautiful orthodoxy. Hopefully, there is more gracious culture in the pulpit, and hopefully, more lasting friendships outside the pulpit. Maybe the Lord can use even me, if not for a profound movement of his power in this generation, then for you younger pastors to enter into that Promised Land through my labors, along with the labors of so many other older pastors.
Which leads me to make a suggestion. Let me ask you younger pastors to think about experimenting with your ministry in 2022. What if, in your preaching, you risk one year of deliberately restraining exhortation and deliberately emphasizing encouragement? Less “challenge,” more assurance. Less “you should,” more “we can.” Less of how your people fall short of God’s standards, more of how God has opened up his treasures in Christ to the undeserving, the stragglers, the exhausted.
If, by the end of 2022, nothing at your church improves, you can always go back. But for just one year, rather than tell people to obey God’s holy law, why not help them obey God’s holy law and live for Christ and walk in the Spirit, as you trust in the power of God’s all-sufficient grace?
Maybe we haven’t lost our historic opportunity, after all. Maybe, for you at your church, it’s only a year away. One short year of reaching out to your dear people, through your preaching, with the gentle powers for good embedded in the very orthodoxy you rightly revere. With some tears. And some confession. And rejoicing to affirm, “In Christ our Savior, we — all of us together — can get traction for the better life we long for!” So, for just one year, maybe move all your chips over onto the square of God’s heart-melting grace in Christ crucified and risen again?
I believe Francis Schaeffer, and others of our spiritual forebears, would rejoice.
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 10:32:38 GMT -5
The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Sam Allberry
Welcome back to you’re not crazy. It’s so good to have you with us. Thank you for joining us. We’re going to be thinking a lot in this episode about the quarrelsome spirit and how to avoid that in our in our Christian lives and leadership. And we’re going to be highlighting a book by an author, I’m sure many of our listeners will know. Well, he is a very prolific author, which is a great thing because what he writes is, is fantastic but crossway have published LEED 12 gospel principles for leadership in the church by Paul David Tripp. It’s a really significant book. So we’ll talk about that at the end of the episode.
Ray Ortlund
Welcome back to you’re not crazy gospel sanity for young pastors. I’m recording them with my friend Sam Albury, by the way, guys, every book Sam has written every opportunity, you have to hear him preach and teach. Take my advice, and take full advantage of Sam’s ministry. Sam is an apologist for the gospel in this generation, and a wise pastor for this generation. And he has a lot to offer you. So, Sam, thanks for being a part of this podcast. Thanks,
Sam Allberry
Ray. You read that word for word when I gave you that? Perfect.
Ray Ortlund
Oh, gosh. You’re wonderful. And you’re ridiculous. A second Timothy chapter two, verses 14 through 26. A bit more lengthy than we’ve sort of thought our way through before. But this is actually hard for me to talk about this passage in Second Timothy precisely because it is so relevant to our generation today. And I don’t know what else we can do. But just put right out on the table. Our responses, our observations, our takeaways from this, this very pastoral wise, fatherly voice warning us away from one ministry style, and guiding us toward another ministry. Mo. Yeah. So let’s just jump in what stands out to you about our passage here for young pastors.
Sam Allberry
It is, it is so practical, Paul is living in exactly the same reality that we are. We just haven’t apparently changed since the time this was written. So it’s evergreen. I mean, it feels like you could have written this, you know, right now with social media and all of its dysfunction. I think the thing that diverse struck me was in verse 14, we’ve just had this this sort of sequence of affirmations about Christ and this kind of poetic, saying trustworthy, saying in verses 11 to 13, he says, remind them of these things, which you’d expect, yeah, these are some big doctrinal kind of markers, and charge them before God, not to call about words, he goes straight into, up there with, you know, remind them of these key foundational truths is make sure people don’t quarrel about words. So it’s interesting that that he anticipates that being such a ready kind of trap we will fall into. We need to assume that quarrelsome spirit is much closer to us, and we think it is, yeah, we might be there’s always someone else who’s more quarrelsome, that you can point to and say, Well, I’m not like that person. But Paul is putting this in such a way that I think means we have to assume we are far more prone to this. This is closer to home than we might realize it is.
Ray Ortlund
Last week, I read the homily and in the first book of homilies, against contention and brawling tennis but the pic of holidays, and that’s found well in the as the Reformation was unfolding in England. The tragedy was that the pastors in the churches were so underdeveloped under invested in, they were not able to preach. So the leaders of the Reformation actually wrote out sermons that the pastors could read in their churches so that the people would be served and instructed, built up and fed. And so those are the homilies, and, and here was a matter of such urgency in the eyes of the English reformers. They said, We have to help everybody to get for this movement of reformation to stay healthy. We’ve got to warn ourselves against a spirit of contention and a spirit of brawling. I’m really struck. I’m solemnized. By this passage, many passages in Scripture and in second Timothy are so uplifting and so fun. This is sobering. He says, For example, in verse 16, avoid irreverence to babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness their talk will spread like gangrene. I noticed in Jerome’s Latin translation he calls it cancer. This is the opposite of the sound words, the healthy words of the gospel. There is, as you’ve said, already, Sam, just sort of like a wildfire across our social landscape right now fed by social media. A kind of bloodlust for argumentation. Yeah. disagreement, winning arguments proving you’re wrong. So I’m proving I’m right, yeah, exposing bad people punishing, stigmatizing bad thinking, and so forth. That is, we are the people who need Paul’s solemn fatherly warning here. So the two things that stand out here in Second Timothy 214, through 16, are, on the one hand, the folly of a contentious spirit. But then the positive alternative, on the other hand, the wisdom of a gentle spirit. And I’m so struck by that, Sam, it is possible for us, this frightens me, it’s possible for me to preach the gospel, the true gospel with such a wrong spirit, that I actually end up unsettling. What I’m saying. Yeah, without realizing it.
Sam Allberry
Yeah, I’m I’m very struck by Well, A, Paul has already told us to follow the pattern of sound words that He has given to Timothy. Words are that powerful, and therefore we can expect the wrong kinds of words to be equally powerful in the other direction. And so much of the warnings in this section are about ill chosen words, irreverent babble controversies, quarrelsome pneus, he’s assuming a lot of the mistakes will make your verbal mistakes, which shouldn’t surprise us words are designed to have powerful effects. So that that is, I think, noteworthy. The other thing that strikes me is we, we have such an established category of in our minds of how you abandon the faith, by false doctrine. Paul is showing us you can abandon the faith by being quarrelsome, you can abandon the faith and your behavior, even while you’re still signing the doctrinal, you know, confession of faith and you know, affirming sound theology. If you’re exhibiting the kind of spirit here, you can be abandoning the faith just by your conduct.
Ray Ortlund
And you and I, in this podcast are not saying that abandoning the faith is not a problem. What we’re saying is, it’s actually a bigger problem than perhaps we have taken into account. Yeah, I wrote in my margin here. I just don’t see in my circles, adequately serious consideration of the warnings here in our passage. We are not alarmed by these dangers, the danger of contention and fighting and so forth. disputing spirit. Yeah, we are not alarmed by these dangers, as Paul was. We are alarmed only by defections from the truth, not realizing that a contentious spirit is a defection from the truth.
Sam Allberry
Yes. I’ve, you know, we’ve all seen examples of pastors being fired for sexual sin, or for being bullies or for denying the truth. We haven’t seen I’ve never seen maybe it’s happened. I’ve never heard of it. I’ve not seen a pastor being fired for being quarrelsome online. Wow. But they, that should be a criteria that is disqualifying. And I’m not saying that from a position of this is something I would never have any problem with at all. I’ve I’ve posted things I’ve regretted I’ve, I’ve asked two of our elders at a manual to keep a close look on my social media and to let me know if there’s ever anything they think is right. This is this is something any of us is very capable of.
Ray Ortlund
That’s why it’s in the Bible. Yeah. But it’s that
Sam Allberry
it’s that important. It’s not well, he’s a great preacher. And yeah, he can be a bit a bit much on social media. Now, if someone has been quarrelsome, and disputatious, that is a very serious sign, that they’re not a spiritually healthy person in a position of ministry. Wow.
Ray Ortlund
Well, Paul characterizes this folly as a youthful passion. shown in verse 22, Flee youthful passions, or earlier translations used to say Flee youthful lusts. And I grew up assuming that he’s talking about sexuality, but it’s not. He’s the youthful passion he’s referring to here is the childish, soft Mourik. Lust for debate.
Sam Allberry
Yes. And if one kind of stereotype we have is the grumpy old man, the stereotype we’re less aware of is the is the bolshie, sparring, cage fighting young man, that that zeal and energy is so often, easily kind of miss channeled,
Ray Ortlund
you know, when I sort of discovered Reformed theology in the decades ago, and just, I believe Sam, Reformed theology, just as ideas are incredibly exciting. Yeah, they’re exciting ideas, big ideas, comprehensive. It’s a paradigm shift. It’s a whole worldview, and my young mind coming alive to ideas themselves, I was captivated by Reformed theology. And I think more often than I ever realized, I was dishonouring, that very theology, the heart of which is the grace of God. I was the in the gracious and merciful initiative of God toward the undeserving. I was dishonouring, that very theology and annoying other people, perhaps even harming them by advancing that theology, with youthful passions. Yeah, a total lack of self awareness. Now, that’s one of the regrets I have in life. And so Paul is speaking to all of us here, and pastor, young pastor, wherever you are on that discovery of the truth of Scripture, and wherever you are in your own growth and maturation and so forth. I’m sure you can agree with Sam with me, that the apostle Paul is not wasting his breath, as he warns us against a spirit of contention. Yeah. Now, on the other hand, Paul says, but so Flee youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the name of the Lord from a pure heart. There is a fellowship of sacred pursuits. A fellowship that takes theology seriously loves theology, relishes, theology, loves to open up the Bible, and, and share insights and so forth, loves to read significant books, and, and loves the truth of God. And simultaneously, precisely because of the reverence with which we regard the gospel. We preach and teach that and write about it and tweet about it and post about it with the very beauty that is in that Gospel itself.
Sam Allberry
I’m struck in the midst of this discussion, Paul says in verse 16, sorry, verse 15, you know, present yourself to God as one approved a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. We are very conscious, there is such a thing as wrongly handling the word of truth, it matters how we handle scripture, it’s very, very consequential. But rightly handling the word of truth, should be the very thing that leads us away from from being contentious and frivolous in the things that we say because the very act of rightly handling the Bible is, is it it does sober us as you that word you used earlier at Salah Mises us. The last people who should be quarrelsome, and fractious and divisive are people who are rightly handling the word of truth. That’s right, but in our sinfulness we can turn rightly handling the word of truth into a badge of honor and a form of superiority and become quarrelsome, against everyone else who’s not handling it quite as rightly as we are. Well, it’s
Ray Ortlund
a way of building a platform. It is.
Sam Allberry
And, you know, I think this has been a weakness in, in the broader Christian movement I’ve come out of we were so blessed by preachers like Dick Lucas, who helped us realize God’s Word doesn’t need to be rightly handled. But I think sometimes it led to a pride where we thought we are the ones who’ve got the Bible, right? And it gave us less charity and grace towards others. Whereas really rightly handing the word of truth means that we’re being humbled by it.
Ray Ortlund
I’m really struck by that verse to Sam do your best to present yourself to God? Yeah, do your best so there’s an eagerness an active mu Moving toward God I wrote over here in my margin. Truly Orthodox, accurate preaching and teaching begins with my own self presentation to God. It doesn’t begin with study. It doesn’t begin with winning an audience, not with gaining a following and impressive invitations but with my own reverence, humility, and worship. I’m really struck by this language, do your best to present yourself to God? Am I, the kind of man, the kind of Pastor, preacher and teacher that can be trusted with the blessing of God? Or what I end up corrupting the blessing of God? That requires restraint, self awareness, humility, and gentleness.
Sam Allberry
That verse as I read it, one of the ways it rebukes me is present yourself to God has been approved. I think I’m still seeking the approval of so many other people. You know, I’m presenting myself to all kinds of mental audiences in order to be approved by them. i Yeah. You know, I don’t like people thinking of me, I don’t like the idea. There are people out there who think I’m unsound or, you know, and it’s easy to want to have everyone else’s approval. But Paul knew that. Even though everyone else had had turned away from him, if you have the Lord’s approval, you can live with everyone else’s disapproval. If it comes,
Ray Ortlund
we don’t want that. But when we have to choose, as inevitably at times we do, yeah. Which was God,
Sam Allberry
which reminds me something you said before I knew you talk about it in the book we have coming out. Paul’s approach to pleasing others just share that that insight you’ve you’ve written about?
Ray Ortlund
Well, I’m so struck that in First Corinthians 10, Paul says, I try to please everyone in everything I do. What? That’s amazing, the man was a teddy bear, when it came to relationships with people. He he looked at at the human race. And his whole point is he’s now looking at the nations. And everywhere he goes in the mission field, from one end of the Roman Empire to the other, and different human situations, different cultures, different expectations, he tried to be sensitive and to adapt, so that he would not create an unnecessary impediment to the advance of the gospel. But then in Galatians, chapter one, Paul says, you know, he comes up with these strong statements if you don’t preach the gospel, accurately, anathema. And he says, Am I now trying to please people? If I were trying to please people, I would not please the Lord. So when Paul had a choice between pleasing others, and pleasing himself, he chose to please others. When he had a choice between was faced with a choice between pleasing others and pleasing Christ, he chose Christ. But himself, he always put last,
Sam Allberry
yeah, that is so profound.
Ray Ortlund
You know, and I’m struck to, by verses 20 and 21, here in Second Timothy, to Sam, because these are two of the most important verses in the Bible. For me personally, they’re never far from my mind. He says, Now in a great house. So he paints the picture of a palatial mansion, up on a hill outside town, and that’s the Christian church. Because a lot of people live there. In a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, and some for dishonorable. So, off the kitchen in this great big, lovely house, there’s a pantry, shelves, lining the walls, and there are silver serving dishes, maybe even some gold plate and so forth. And there are wooden bowls, and clay pots and everything for different locations. Therefore, he says, If anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable now, what I love about that, Sam is all he’s asking me to let go of, is what I don’t want anyway. What is dishonorable? What is low? What is the nature of compromise, self intelligence, and so forth? And by the way, I’m looking at the words, cleanses himself, if my theology is so reformed, that I can’t let the Bible tell me to cleanse myself by God’s grace, that I need to agree with the Bible against my theology. Yeah, but I’m grateful for the word anyone. If anyone, however messy, it might be If anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable he will be a vessel for honorable use. Set apart is wholly useful to the master the house ready for every good work, like, ready for every good work like one of these multi tools. Yeah, it has all kinds of you know jack knife blades and screwdrivers and you had your Omni competent, ready for every good work. That doesn’t mean the Lord is going to use you in every way. But you’re ready. So here’s the master the house, the risen Lord Jesus Christ walks into the kitchen, there’s a special occasion coming, he wants to get ready for it. There’s the pantry, he walks in the pantry and he says, I need something special. Let’s see. He’s looking around, you know what the different utensils there? And he says, oh, there that that one is just right for this occasion. He reaches out, takes it off the shelf and go uses it. I want to be ready. Here. When the Lord walks in, and he says I’ve got something I want to accomplish. I need a vessel fit for noble use. Sam, I want to be ready.
Sam Allberry
And I’m really just so helpful. Right? Because it it reminds me that what makes us ready isn’t our ministerial prowess and our you know what other people think of us. It’s cleansing ourselves from what is dishonorable? Yes, if we’re if we’re giving ourselves to that we will be so usable by the Lord. So much of I’m seeing already this theme in Second Timothy, at the very point where we’re often tempted to trust trust in fleshly capacities. We’re being brought back to basic Christian character. Wow, the spirit of of power and love and self control. Rather than you know, you can steamroll anyone into Oh my anything, whatever it might be.
Ray Ortlund
Sam, that is so important. Basic Christian, obvious basics. Sam, if we want to be ready for tomorrow, whatever God has in store, that’s where we need to go and stay. Yeah.
Sam Allberry
Which is again, verse 22. So Flee youthful persons. And you’ve already helped us to see what those are, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Those are there’s things that we return away from, and there are things that we turn to, there are things that we mortified, and there are things that we aspire towards. Pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, we tend to pursue platforms recognition, importance, comfort, money. But as you were to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. And I love that he adds along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart as a sort of sense of, you’re not the only one around here. You know, there’s, there’s others around there too.
Ray Ortlund
That’s a great point.
Sam Allberry
You’re part of a, there’s a
Ray Ortlund
verse 24 is a prophetic word to our generation, the Lord’s servant, and immediately we think of Isaiah and the prophecies of Jesus himself. The Lord servant must not, must not musc must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone. Francis Schaeffer used to say if I have a one hour conversation with a liberal theologian, I want him significant conversation. I want him to leave with two equally clear impressions. One, Francis Schaeffer disagrees with him. To Francis Schaeffer cares about him. Sounds good. Yeah, but kind to everyone able to teach patiently enduring evil, not patiently paying evil back, yeah, but absorbing it. correcting his opponents with gentleness, not body slamming them with the perfect put down. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. So it seems Paul seems to be connecting our department toward very trying people who are truly wrong. Our department toward them, our attitude toward them, the way we treat them, do we dignify them or shame them? Do we push them away or pull them in and connects that with their opportunity to repent? Yeah,
Sam Allberry
I’m so this is so countercultural for us because culturally we live in a time where you agree with someone and are there thereby their friend or you disagree with them and thereby you reject them? What we You don’t have a category for in the world today and sadly often in the church is disagreeing with someone in a way that’s kind and friendly. Yes. Which is what Paul’s talking about here. We’re not to there’s there’s one part of us that doesn’t want to correct anyone for anything because that feels Yes, just too much conflict, too much confrontation, or those people who love to correct people without gentleness. So I think it’s so telling the portal that we do have to do correct in at times, but with gentleness because actually, there’s a positive intent. We are longing for in that correction. That God might perhaps, Grant repentance and I don’t know where I got this from, I doubt I had the wits to make this up. Some I’ll assume I heard this somewhere else. But it’s it stayed with me and helped me in some very conflict situations. But the idea is, always make it easy for someone to do the right thing. Oh, that’s really good. So if someone does need to be corrected, or to repent, let’s bring that to them in a way that makes it as easy as possible for them to do the right thing rather than adding additional barriers, because now not only do they need to repent to the Lord, but you know, it’s going to be a pride swallowing ordeal to have to come back to us after what we’ve said to them. You know,
Ray Ortlund
I’ve seen you do that, Sam. I’ve seen you demonstrate that wisdom.
Sam Allberry
So I hope so
Ray Ortlund
say it’s very, actually, it’s very impressive. Very surprising. I have this wonderful, brief quote from Francis Shaffers. Book, the mark of the Christian. And he said, We should never come to differences with true Christians without regret, and without tears. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Believe me, evangelicalism have not often shown it, we rush in being very pleased it would seem to find other men’s mistakes, we build ourselves up by tearing others down. This can never show a real oneness among Christians. There is only one kind of man, one kind of pastor who can fight the Lord’s battles in anywhere near a proper way. And that is the pastor who by nature is unbelievable aren’t the pastor who finds conflict distasteful, not unthinkable, but his very careful, a belligerent man tends to enter into conflict because he is belligerent, at least it looks that way. The world must observe that when we must differ with each other, we do it not because we love the smell of blood, the smell of the arena, the smell of the bullfight. But because we must, for the Lord’s sake, if there are tears, when we must speak, then something beautiful, can be observed. I think Sam are our only real path into the future is marked by beauty. Yeah, not by winning. Stott, in his commentary says, we would be wise to ask ourselves regarding every kind of teaching, both what its attitude is toward God and what its effect and what effect it has on people. There is invariably something about error, which is dishonouring to God and damaging to people. The truth, on the other hand, always honors God promotes godliness, and always edifies its hearers. It builds them up in faith, love and holiness. That’s the ministry. Second Timothy is calling us to, and is simultaneously I’m so struck by this warning us against many ministry strategies that might appear to work short term. Yeah. But calling us back, as you said, to the basics of character, the basics of orthodoxy and relationships and communication of gentleness, as you said, making it as easy as possible for the person who’s in the wrong to come around and join hands with us again. Yeah. Okay. Go ahead. Well, I
Sam Allberry
was gonna wrap things up better. All right.
Ray Ortlund
So let’s the better. Well,
Sam Allberry
I was just saying, you know, with all of this in mind, you know, when we mentioned our friends across, we’re not simply paying the bills and, you know, checking boxes we we genuinely, with all of our heart, revere the work crossway does they are such a blessing to us. We wanted to mention and to commend Paul Tripps book lead. You’ve come you must have known Paul for a while. How would you describe Paul’s ministry? Yes,
Ray Ortlund
Paul is a sage He is a profound and wise man who knows the Lord with such insight that he knows where the landmines are. And he also knows where the green pastures and the still waters are. And you can lead us away from the landmines and into the green pastures. And beside the still waters. Paul is I have never listened to Paul or read anything by Paul, that didn’t help me significantly. Yeah, he’s he’s an amazing resource. crossways publishing publication of his book, lead is is ideal for an elder team to read through together. And it
Sam Allberry
ties in so much with the passage we’ve just been looking at the subtitle of the book is, it’s called lead 12 gospel principles for leadership in the church. And Paul is so good at identifying those subtle fleshly ways that we try and further God’s God’s kingdom and the gospel cause so we would commend that book to you. We would commend Paul to you he also I think, has the best facial hair in the Christian world today. Historically, epic moustache. Yes, that thing will be unchanged in the new creation, it needs to know. No further improvement. Thanks. As always, thanks for listening. It is such a privilege to have this time with you. We’re grateful to not only to crossway for sponsoring this but to TGC for hosting this podcast and for for all that they’re doing for us as well. Thank you.
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 10:35:36 GMT -5
Sam Allberry
Okay, gospel culture is about to go out of the window.
Ray Ortlund
Second Timothy chapter one, verses eight through 18. Now, the background music turns to a minor key. All right, there’s there’s trouble in pastoral ministry. Every faithful pastor will be opposed, he will be abandoned. There will be hard times. Let’s get ready. So what stands out to you Sam? And Second Timothy, chapter one, verses eight through 18. Yeah, the
Sam Allberry
the one of the recurring themes seems to be shame, shame of being ashamed of the gospel. Paul begins in verse eight. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord nor of me. Paul wouldn’t say that if there wasn’t a chance, Timothy could feel ashamed. There’s that possibility even even for a gospel pastor. Paul continues a bit further down. He talks about why he is not ashamed. And I forgot the metaverse was for that. Oh, there we are verse 12. He says, but I am not ashamed. And you give some reasons why. So I’ve been leaning into that. Because I feel that within myself, I have been in situations where I’ve been the only believer in the room and the prevailing culture of the room has been demeaning towards the Christian faith. And I thought, Do I say something or not? They don’t know. You know, I have felt ashamed of the gospel at times. And so this this is this passage means a lot to me because I feel like I, you know, I need to hear everything Paul is saying, but this really feels like Paul has, has written this for me. So the first thing I’m struck by his word therefore, because it Paul is saying what he’s just told him within the previous paragraph is a reason not to be ashamed of the gospel now. So we were thinking last episode about that that human chain that was involved in Timothy, coming to faith, you use the language of those saints are with us, cheering us on. And the very fact that that Timothy has The same faith that they had, has been given the gift of God. All of those things made me think yes, yes, that is a reason not to be ashamed. Because it isn’t just me, it turns out, it’s me and all of my forebears who I must admire I most of mine, and I really am a Christian in this room. And God has given me the power and the love and the self control to be an ambassador of Christ. So I love that that’s where Paul begins to apply what he’s just said. Because I think I would have taken that first paragraph and applied it in a, you know, getting your study, boy, get it get on with your pastoral visitations, you know, but actually, his application is, therefore don’t be ashamed of the gospel thing.
Ray Ortlund
I think, Sam, I expect that by now, I would be beyond by age 73. Having been in pastoral ministry for decades, I would be beyond and I would be have grown past. feeling intimidated. Feeling out outclassed feeling small, and so forth. That drama going on between my two ears, and I would be forthright and and bold and brave at all times. But like you there are times when I’m tempted to feel ashamed and just shrink into invisibility and silence. Yeah, in the room. And so this is I love the realism. Yeah, this. Yeah,
Sam Allberry
it actually comforts me that Paul needed to say this to Timothy because it makes me think, Okay, I’m, I’m in good company, then. If I’m and the fact that Paul can then say, I’m not ashamed, gives me hope. So I get the comfort from him saying, Don’t be ashamed and the hope from him saying, here’s why I’m not ashamed. I think, okay, there’s, there’s, it’s, my temptation to be ashamed is seen. God has factored that in through Paul writing this letter. And yet, this is something they’re always gonna help me with, because there’s a way to get through it. That striking.
Ray Ortlund
So feeling that temptation and that seduction, entering my heart and so forth, that itself is not disqualifying. Yeah. Timothy was still in the ministry. Yeah,
Sam Allberry
it’s problematic, but it’s not disqualifying. Yes.
Ray Ortlund
What stands out to me here, it’s a couple of things. But one is, now Paul gets around in a very brief summary form. He sums up the essence of the Christian gospel. In verse nine, he talks about, you know, our holy calling, not because of our works, but because of God’s own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before ages began, this long history, this long build up that this, this eternal commitment that God made to us and then what did God do? Verse 10, Paul sums up the gospel in 17 words, our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Again, the gospel is not not about us, making ourselves more religious. It’s about God in grace and long standing patient deeply committed grace, raising the dead to life again, forever through Christ, and who of us doesn’t want to be alive? So Jesus abolished death. Now that can put some backbone into me. Yeah, because what’s the worst this world can do to me, is take me out. Fine, but death is abolished. Defunct, obsolete, temporary, secondary derivative exhausted. For starters, death is a spent force. It is not ultimate. What’s Ultimate is life and immortality, he has abolished death and brought life not just duty and demand, but life and immortality to light through the gospel. So, when Jesus appeared in history, the Old Testament gave us hints and ad impressions and foreshadowings and whispers, and then Jesus came as this great, compelling, non ignorable declaration, through His life, death and resurrection. So, life was here first, life is going to be here forever. And we now share in the immortality the undeniable life, Sam,
Sam Allberry
and it’s more the word life I love because it’s not just existence. Yes, you can exist and not really have life. This is As Paul gave us a hands off in the very opening sentence of the letter according to the promise of the life, yes, that is in Christ Jesus.
Ray Ortlund
So here I am. I’m, I’m interacting with Sam Albury right now across the table. I am right now looking at an immortal being. And not just an immortal soul. That’s a Greek concept from ancient philosophy, and immortal being body and soul. So when Cornelius in his sort of endearing but wrongheaded humility bowed down before the apostle Peter, in Acts chapter 10. And Peter rightly lifted him back up and said, You’re my friend, we just don’t do that. Peter Cornelius was wrong to bow down to Peter, Peter was right to lift him up as his equal and his peer in Christ. But my thought is this. If in looking at you, and any one of us in Christ, if I’m never, if there’s never any impulse, or thought to do honor to just bow down low before another Christian, have I really thought about the gospel.
Sam Allberry
Yet because I’m to borrow language from elsewhere in Paul’s writings, I’m looking at you and thinking, the man in front of me is one day going to judge the angels. And I don’t know what that means. But Paul says that’s, that’s part of our job description in the age to come. Yes. You’re going to you’re a co Ruler of the universe with Jesus.
Ray Ortlund
And what we’re talking about here is not our own wishful thinking, No, it’s our own, you know, our dream or something. Our Savior, Christ Jesus, in His life, death and resurrection, abolished death. We now know it’s a spent force. We know that as a matter of historical record, in this world of death, and brought life and immortality to light. Yeah, he told us about this. He proved this to us, in terms that would be convincing and satisfying to us. So we’re responding to this revelation that God detonated in the first coming of Christ and will consummate in the second coming of Christ.
Sam Allberry
Paul is is getting doctrinal, yes, in these verses, because we need to be doctrinal, ly clear in order to not be ashamed of God, the testimony of Jesus. And Paul says in verse 13, follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith, there is actual real content to what we believe as Christians is not up for grabs. There are words that are sound, and there is doctrine that is unsound. Yes. And we’re going to hear about false teachers in in due course, and they feature all the way through the New Testament. And it’s just a reminder that as we seek to, to promote and to spotlight the need for gospel culture, we are we’re emphatically not. We’re not doing that at the expense of being concerned for forgetting our doctrine. Right, unhealthy?
Ray Ortlund
Absolutely correct. You know, there are those who say, it doesn’t really matter what we believe, as long as we love one another. Yeah. Well, excuse me, that is a belief. Yes. And it’s not a sound belief. It’s not an apostolic belief. Indeed, it is our beliefs that support that support and sustain and create and inspire and energize our love for one another. So you and I are are profoundly abandoned. to true and sound biblical doctrine. Yeah. Because it’s about Jesus whom we love. And we’re so excited about its creative potentialities, in this world where Christian communities called churches can display something imperfectly, but something real of this life that is in Christ Jesus.
Sam Allberry
And even where Paul does talk about these sound words in verse 13, he says, You have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. So even those sound words, again cannot be divorced from the love of Christ that they are to be embodying and speaking of and declaring in which we are to be reflecting in the way that we live.
Ray Ortlund
This whole podcast is about gospel dogs. Turning, creating gospel culture and it’s right here in First Timothy 113 The sound words in the faith and love the intangibles that are in Christ Jesus. I’m also struck Sam by pulse way of putting this in verse 13, follow the pattern of the sound words, this true healthy life giving doctrine. He doesn’t say read the script, no, of the sound words, no reciting the Apostles Creed, the Nicene, creed, and so forth. We love that we we will enjoy that revere that to the end of our days. But I am grateful. And I’m struck by and grateful for the fact that Paul said, Timothy, I have explained the gospel to you, we’ve thought it through together, you understand it, you are ready to go preach, go for it. You don’t have to mouth. What I said. Yeah, follow the pattern of sound words. I’m struck in Hebrews 13. It says, about those who have gone before, imitate their faith, it does not say imitate their style.
Sam Allberry
Yeah. Yeah, that’s important. I’m struck as well. Paul talks about. He’s convinced that God is able to guard what has been entrusted to me. He then says, in Verse 14, God that good deposit entrusted to you there’s, there’s a lovely kind of both and nurse to what is happening there. God, God is guarding what we have been entrusted. And we’re in we’re guarding what has been entrusted. There’s a responsibility that we can trust God for and we don’t have to worry about and yet there is a responsibility he has given us how
Ray Ortlund
striking it’s both and he is able, verse 12, he is able to guard until that day, what has been entrusted to me, verse 14, by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard, the good deposit entrusted to you. Here’s what’s fascinating to me about that Sam, guarding the gospel cannot be done, by intellect alone, or by mere doctrinal staunchness. Alone, rock ribbed and so forth. by the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, guard the good deposit, I’m struck by what Richard loveless in his book The dynamics of spiritual life, there’s another classic Richard loveless is it Tim has Keller has said how important that book was to him, it was really paradigmatic. But in in loveless dynamics, page 183. He says this, in our quest for the fullness of the Spirit, we have sometimes forgotten that a spirit filled intelligence is one of the powerful weapons for pulling down satanic strongholds. Sam, it’s right here in verse 14, by the power of the Holy Spirit, it is a spirit filled pastor who is equipped in every essential to guard the good deposit, to take it from generation to to generation three, undiminished. undamaged.
Sam Allberry
Right, you said earlier that we use the language we have abandoned ourselves to this, this understanding this faith, these promises that we’ve been given. Abandonment comes to us in another way it isn’t in the last few verses of this of this passage, Paul’s own experience and one that he highlights presumably because it’s not going to be unique just to apostles, but part of the deal when it comes to being a pastor, as we got the good deposit, as we proclaim Christ, we will have to endure hardship. What strikes you about that?
Ray Ortlund
When he says in verse 15, you are aware, there’s here’s the sadness of ministry, you are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me. Paul was forsaken, not by one or two, but by a whole sector of the Christian church. Again, coming back to John Stott and his wonderful commentary on Second Timothy. He says here, the Great Awakening had been followed by a great defection. Wow. Yeah. So here was, here was the Apostle Paul toward the end of his life. He was not a popular figure in many churches. And Timothy then would be understandably intimidated if he been terrified by taking the helm of leadership from Generation One, the apostle Paul, when it looks like the movement is falling apart for crying out loud. Paul faces right into that. And, and immediately then points to the household of Anessa forests, who he says often refreshed me was not ashamed of my chains. So many people were living Christians were living in such fear. They didn’t want to be identified with Paul, who had been imprisoned for the faith. They just looked the other way.
Sam Allberry
And Paul is even thinking it’s it’s not inconceivable that Timothy will feel that way because he says in verse eight, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner. So even Timothy, there’s a danger. Timothy might want to kind of put a distance between him and pull.
Ray Ortlund
Yes, but instead this heroic Christian, not an apostle, he, apparently a father with a household Anessa for us, stuck his neck out. And when he arrived in Rome, verse 17, says, He searched for me earnestly and found me. So Anessa forest went into prisons asking, is there a man named Paul? Yes, held in custody here? Yeah, very courageous. And there was such a beautiful solidarity, that Anessa Forrest felt toward Paul. And here’s what strikes me about that. Sam. Paul says in verse 18, May the Lord grant him and so for us to find mercy from the Lord on that day, how we treat one another will matter on that great day of judgment. Yeah, it will be consequential. Yeah. So if we are political with one another, if, if the if we treat one another, like, purchases on the stock market, yeah. And some days the values are up and other days the values are down, if we treat one another perceive one another, through a lens of cost benefit calculation. The Lord sees that. Yeah, he is not pleased with that. Yeah, that’s where is the cross in that kind of relational culture?
Sam Allberry
Yeah. I don’t think it’s an accident that Paul uses a bit of parallelism here because verse 17, he searched for me earnestly, verse 18, May the Lord grant him to find mercy. So in other words, part of the logic of that is, as he’s looking for Paul, to refresh him, to strengthen Him, to stand with him to support him. He’s actually on a journey to finding mercy. So as we as we think of Christians, who might in worldly terms be an embarrassment to us, actually. We’re look, we’re gonna find in them a means of experiencing mercy from God. It’s a sweet thing. But that’s quite dramatic language in verse 15. And by Asia, Paul is not meaning what we think of as, as Asia, it’s not Asia on the risk border, it’s a province in the Roman Empire, but that it’s still a big deal that all who are in Asia turned away from me. It was that it seems to be that widespread, it wasn’t a minority report that we’re abandoning Paul, it was everyone in this in this particular area.
Ray Ortlund
Every young pastor who’s listening to this podcast right now, here’s my personal recommendation. Ask yourself who are the other pastors in my generation, whom I trust and respect? My recommendation is go find those guys have coffee with each one and say to them, Look, we’re not going to get through this faithfully and fruitfully on our own. Can we be friends together through thick and thin? Can we slit our wrists and become blood brothers so to speak? Can we make a commitment to one another, to give our lives to one another in such a way that we can’t take it back? One of my purposes, Sam, in the rest of my life is to stop losing friends. Yeah. I look at the last 20 years of American evangelicalism and I see so much relational loss. Yeah, that is not the power of the gospel. Whatever is going on, that’s not the gospel. What if this rising generation coming up behind me, your generation and younger What if there is a movement of brotherhood? Inspired by the gospel of Christ our brother? Christ searched for us earnestly and found us? Yes, go. Now we know how to live right. Yeah, so let’s go earn as they search out faithful, fruitful brothers, and form friendships like Jonathan and David entering into covenant together and say we’re going to go through this journey together as one we can we can meet maybe once a quarter or once a month, something like figure it, hack it out, figure out a way that where solid inspiring, honest, vulnerable brotherhood can be part of your life from now on with other pastors you trust and respect and would give your life to Yeah.
Sam Allberry
What are the thing I’m struck by here is in verse 16, Paul says that on so for us, he often refreshed me Nearpod may be talking purely, just literally he brought some, you know, bottled water and some Diet Cokes or something. But Paul has has used that language, or she in Philemon, he talks about it in a very similar way. Paul is an apostle, he’s the one writing scripture at this point. But he is not above letting people know that he himself has, has needs. He is He I’m an apostle, but I still need to be refreshed. People still minister to him. He’s not embarrassed to talk about how he has been served, how he has needed that the inputs and Ministry of other people himself, he’s not invulnerable. And again, he’s not self contained. Oh, my goodness. And which means that as we saw, as we, you know, as we seek out all the pastors, we mustn’t think it will be two way. Because Paul here, you didn’t get more senior than than an apostle. But he was being refreshed by the presence of an ESA for us.
Ray Ortlund
I’d never thought of it that way. That’s a great point. Okay, Sam crossway, has the New Testament theology series. And one of their volumes is by Ben Merkel, united to Christ, the theology of Ephesians. It’s just recently come out, I think, and I know this book has been important to you tell us about it. Yeah. Well,
Sam Allberry
this series looks great that the first I think four or five volumes are out. What they’re doing is they’re taking each New Testament book and publishing a theology of that book. So in this case, it’s a here’s a theology of Ephesians. So the passage we’ve been talking about here talks about the importance of sound words and our doctrines and all the rest of it this this series is helping us understand, okay, what is what are the big doctrines of Ephesians. And we’ve been, we’re going through Ephesians, in our Sunday morning sermons, I’ve preached a couple of those recently, and I was just pulling different resources off the shelf for Ephesians. And this was helpful because it takes again, it’s giving you the big themes of Ephesians, and showing you what the whole letter says about those themes. Our union with Christ, the work of the Spirit in us our understanding of the church, it just helped me kind of get a handle on some of the big themes overall, as I was working through particular texts. So I think that’s going to be a great series is edited by Tom Shriner, and Brian wasn’t are those two scholars? I, yes, I’m so grateful for. So I’m excited about this series. I’ve enjoyed using that Ephesians one, I’m looking forward to using the others as well.
Ray Ortlund
The big categories of each book of the Bible, when they they stand out to us we become and they our minds become clear about what they are, then we know what to do with the details, as we’re preaching through a book, and God uses those big categories at to create beauty. I think of the books of the Bible as sort of like the medicine cabinet in my bathroom and I open up by the mirror you know, and behind her the shelves and and I don’t have one medication for every problem and ailment. There are different bottles, different shapes and and I have so many needs. And each book of the Bible is like a medicine for a particular needs. So a book like this, united to Christ theology of of Ephesians by Ben Merkel is a is a medicine a life giving resource for a very real human need. Yeah, and the need is such a sense of Christ that we actually come together can magnificent community. Yeah, a new kind of community.
Sam Allberry
Yeah. These books by the way, from what I’ve seen, they are technically informed but they are they are, they are readable. So they would be you know, I could put put them in church members hands they would be a good accompany. went to a sermon to read through that through that particular book of the Bible.
Ray Ortlund
Fantastic. Well, Sam, thank you for another episode of you’re not crazy gospel Saturday for young pastors. Thank you friends for listening in. See you next time.
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 10:38:46 GMT -5
Ray Ortlund
Oh, painful. Well, Sam, we are in Second Timothy chapter two. What stands out to you?
Sam Allberry
Lots of things. So the theme of enduring seems to permeate the whole section. He gives us three kind of quick fire. analogies of pastoral ministry being a soldier being an athlete, being a farmer, each of those has kind of a long term goal to it. He talks about his own endurance and verse 10. He then talks in verse 12, about our collective endurance if we endure and he opens by by urging Timothy to be strengthened and here’s what I what stands out to me in verse one is it will be so easy to sort of do a pull your socks up, Timothy, come on, get on with it be stronger. But at the very point where he’s wanting Timothy to be strengthened, he’s using very tender language he says you then my child. At the very point he wants Timothy to feel strengthened, he reiterates that fatherly heartfelt love he has for him. And as a reminder that that we’re loved into strength. We’re not browbeaten into strength. And he says be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Yes, Grace strengthens us. Yes.
Speaker 3
If we’re, if we’re weaker, we don’t need
Sam Allberry
you know, some kind of spiritual protein shake, you know, girl type of thing. We We need more of the grace of Jesus that is going to strengthen us. Yes.
Ray Ortlund
And the one sentence that remains in my mind lingers in my mind, and helps me to this day is this one dad said, deliberately reject every strength. That is not of the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Now we pastors of all ages, strengths are being offered to us. Yeah, some of them are, in fact, temptations. And we want to ask the question, this strength that’s being offered to me through this seminar, this new book, whatever is this, of the nature of the grace that is in Christ Jesus? Will this take me more deeply into his grace? Will this translate into greater strength through His grace? If so great, I’m all in, but maybe not. So Paul says, you then my son, here, he’s saying, generation two of this young gospel movement as Paul generation one, hands it off to Timothy, here is the key to your future. be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, we can move all our chips over onto that square. Yeah, the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Sam Allberry
It’s very easy, isn’t it? Even if we have a gospel intention? It’s very easy to trust in a fleshly strength, yes, to get us there. And I’ve, I’ve seen that I felt that that impulse in myself, I’ve seen it in, in other ministries, where we think well, I know I can do this, because I know it will work. I’ll throw my elbows around, I’ll Yes, push my way forward. But because it’s a gospel outcome I’m aiming for therefore it’s okay. Yes. But it just never works that way, does it?
Ray Ortlund
Not that is not faithfulness to the gospel? No, faithfulness to the gospel is is, is richer than that. It’s both doctrinal orthodoxy and pushing forward in the strength that comes from the grace of Christ Jesus, there is. This is strength. That has a sweetness upon it. Yeah. This strength has a reasonableness. It’s not pushy. No, it’s there’s no swagger. Here. There is there’s a resilience,
Sam Allberry
isn’t it? Grace makes us resilient,
Ray Ortlund
well set. So I’m struck that Paul is really defining ministerial success here, in these first three verses. And the first mark is grace as our strength. And then he says, you know, what you’ve heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also, the second mark of successful ministry is other people as our goal, not our own grandiosity, her own platform. But looking down into the future, asking the question in the grace of Christ, how can I give the gospel away to as many other people as I possibly can, who then will carry it on into generation three? But this this can’t stop with me. This is not about me.
Sam Allberry
Yeah, that’s fascinating, isn’t it? Because yes, Paul is handing off. This is now the the apostolic, you know, ministry is being you know, this is this is this is a non repeatable moment in church history, because it’s the apostle Yes, preparing for the non apostolic period. But with a, with a principle that is, is taken on by all of us, but I love that idea that Timothy is already being told to get ready for generation three. And you know, in other words, interesting. You, you’re here to make sure the next generation is well set up. Yes. You’re not here to kind of, you know, have all the attention on you to fulfill your ministry dreams or whatever it might be. You’re here to take what I’ve said and to make sure there’s there’s going to be a generation three, I think it was Mark Devere. Our friend Mark Delta who said once from from day one of your installation as a pastor, you should already be preparing. So the succession, preparing that this will be a healthy place for the next guy.
Ray Ortlund
The true test, I believe, of my ministry now is not my ministry now. But those who come after,
Sam Allberry
yeah. Are we setting them up for success? And there are ways of sort of, you know, doing ministry that is great for us, but actually sets people who coming after us up for failure.
Ray Ortlund
So, young pastor, you fulfill your destiny, not by control Rolling or accumulating or enlarging your platform and so forth. But by giving your best away to others, who then will do something maybe even greater with it long into the future, now invisible to you. Trust God with that, and throw your life away into the future.
Sam Allberry
Yeah, it’s that working for fruit that you’re not going to see. But that you don’t need to you don’t need to stick around to see it.
Ray Ortlund
And that’s how much we actually matter. Yeah, far beyond the present moment. So that that’s a mate’s really stands out to me. And then in verse eight, when Paul says, this is almost embarrassing, that he feels he has to say this. Remember, Jesus Christ? Isn’t that Yep. Paul felt he had to say that note to self. Yeah. What what is going on? What is it about us? That we need to be told that?
Sam Allberry
Yeah, well, he’s just given those. Those quick, parallel illustrations of Christian ministry. He’s talked a bit, you know, verse three, sharing the suffering. As a good soldier of Christ Jesus, no soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits. An athlete has not grown unless he competes according to the rules. It’s the hard working farm who walked out the first show the crops there’s a there’s a proper single mindedness to ministry. A lack of being distracted, a lack of deviation, which I take it as is feeding into verse eight. Remember, remember Jesus Christ, it’s easy, actually, for Jesus Christ to be crowded out by so many other things that are on our plates and calling for our attention, and not to make Jesus the center of all that we’re doing.
Ray Ortlund
John Stott, in his commentary in Second Timothy says, The epitaph over Israel’s grave was, they soon forgot, which is taken from Psalm 106, verse 13, they soon forgot, and start continues even so the church has often forgotten Jesus Christ absorbing itself instead now in barren theological debate, now in purely humanitarian activity, now in its own petty parochial business. Ouch. Yeah, remember Jesus Christ, I remember Shai Linne, preached on those three words at Emanuel church in 2016. I will never forget that verse after Shai preached on it. Remember, Jesus Christ, there’s a three point sermon right there. Remember, Jesus Christ,
Sam Allberry
and the Jesus we are remembering is a one Paul says, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, it’s not just the idea of Jesus that culture has. It is this Jesus, the Jesus, who is in the line of David, and who is now alive and raining. We don’t have the freedom to redefine who Jesus is.
Ray Ortlund
He is the real Jesus, who is actually there. Yeah. And I’m guessing that because Paul is is by grace, strengthening Timothy, stealing his resolve, preparing him helping him setting him up to face pressures, temptations, challenges in the future, risen from the dead. If Jesus was risen from the dead, Sam, you and I can face anything? Yeah, because the resurrection was more than resuscitation. Yeah, the restoring of physical life. I remember S Lewis Johnson at Dallas Seminary back in the 1970s. used to say, the resurrection was the father’s Amen. To the sons. It has finished. So the resurrection was the vindication of Jesus in his life and death. And we are partners in the resurrection. So what every pastor is going to go to the cross 10,000 times in the course of the years, and this is risen. Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead. That assurance enables us to accept the crosses we must bear go to the cross in the course of ministry, because vindication is inevitable.
Sam Allberry
There was a wonderful Australian pastor and Evangelist called John Chapman who died 1015 years ago, who I remember him giving a tour once he was just a wonderful, vivacious man. But he said once that sometimes he would wake up maybe on the day he’s about to preach with all of those feelings of you know, it’s going to fail. I’m not going to you know, All those negative thoughts that swing through your mind and he said one of the things he would say to himself is Have you received fresh evidence during the night that Jesus didn’t rise again? What a great question. You know what get out of bed and get it get to it then if the graves empty. You know, we can we can get after this.
Ray Ortlund
I love that. I’m so struck I was just thinking this morning I took a screenshot of it to old hymns. Here’s a verse from once to every man in nation, though the cause of evil prosper. Yet his truth alone is strong. Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong. Yet that scaffold sways the future and behind the dim unknown, stand with God within the shadow, keeping watch over his own. That is us, following Christ crucified and risen again. And then workman of gotta lose not heart by Frederick William Faber. I love this verse, listen to this, then learn to scorn the praise of man, and learn to lose with God. For Jesus won the world through shame and beckons the his wrote, wow, remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. Okay. Now we know how to live.
Sam Allberry
Which leads into verse nine for which I’m suffering. Yeah, you can suffer for a reason Jesus, there’s no point suffering for a dead and buried Jesus. And I, verse nine is on my favorite verses in in the New Testament. And that last part of it, you know, poor is bound with chains as a criminal, like, I can’t really imagine what that is physically like. But the word of God is not bound. And, you know, we see that through the book of Acts, every time they try and hinder the work of the gospel. It just spreads. We see that throughout church history. But I find it comforting and helpful for me as I as I adjust to, to life in the US church. Religious Religious freedom is something to cherish and to advocate for and to, to preserve. There’s a lot of fear in the US church that we are about to lose all our religious liberties. There’s, there’s, you know, our friend, David French, has written multiple times, there’s no judicial reason to think we’re about to lose it. But even if we were, verse nine says, that is not the thing to freak out about. The worst thing that can happen to the church isn’t loss of religious liberty. If we will get you know, if everyone’s worst political nightmare happens, and someone is elected, who, you know, leads the charge on having Bible believing pastors arrested. That is not game over for the ministry of the gospel that may actually accelerate the ministry of the gospel. We don’t need to fear such a thing. We shouldn’t long for it either all or provoke it in silly ways. But if the Word of God is not bound, we don’t need to worry about if we ever are. That’s not the worst case scenario. The worst case scenarios is us not being faithful to the gospel. Yes. Not preaching. And as Paul says he has so not that I’m blase about that. I’m sure in the moment, there will be temptations to fear in that situation. But you can’t bind the Word of God, you just can’t. It is always going to continue its journey. And the more people try to bind it, the faster it travels, well.
Ray Ortlund
It is such a privilege to be a pastor and to devote our entire lives to the inevitable glory of Christ. Yeah, we are on the right side of history. Let’s enjoy it. Yeah, we’re
Sam Allberry
not on the right side of human opinion. Yeah. And that isn’t history. Right. So I’m encouraged by that. And Paul takes that into verse 10. Therefore, I undo everything for the sake of the elect.
Ray Ortlund
That’s really strong. I hadn’t seen that connection so directly, and clearly. That’s very helpful, Sam. I endure everything for the sake of the elect. It’s It’s very freeing when my life is no longer We’re about me in the moment. Yeah, what a tiny constricting category that would be, how wonderful I endure everything for the sake of the elect. There is grandeur, in that calling. God has scripted the glory of Christ, in the elect in and through the elect. They are on their way into salvation right now, and they don’t even know it. And God will bring them in into course, my role right now is to keep doing the next right thing by God’s grace for His glory alone. And Paul is saying that that endurance in ministry contributes directly to the salvation of the elect in the future, Sam, I find this very exciting. I believe that my life fallible and ridiculous as I am at times, I am thanks to God’s grace alone, contributing directly to the next great awakening. I may not see it my days, that’s fine with me. I love God’s plan, whatever it is, but, you know, our friend John Piper wrote a wonderful book, don’t waste your life, there is another book that I think God is writing for us. I will not waste your life. You give yourself to me, serve my cause, serve my people go love people, give them the gospel, bring them to Christ and so forth. I will not waste your life you endure everything you will be contributing, as far as Human Instrumentality is concerned, to the salvation of the elect.
Sam Allberry
Yeah. And pose pose use of elect there is, I think significant, because then again, in a context of endurance, that is when the sovereignty of God is such a comfort. Yes. Because, you know, everything may be just going badly, humanly speaking. You know, Paul is there in, in chains. And yet, it’s a competence thing, okay. I am relieved of any burden of trying to figure out who is it who might become a Christian who might not become a Christian. God has those he will save
Ray Ortlund
Yes. And you do something I just delight in. Those converts that are coming, they’re on their way they don’t even know it include the most unlikely, the most improbable. Sam, one of my prayers is that the next great awakening might start inside the porn industry. That the risen Jesus might visit that horrible world with his tender mercies and pull right into his heart. These people who have either been forced into or have thrown themselves into heartbreaking evil, and Jesus will go and touch them with His atoning merit, and put his spirit within them. And they will rise from that death with human magnificence. And the rest of us nice church going people will look at them and say, I want what they have. Yeah. I’d love to be part of that.
Sam Allberry
Yeah, that would be a very, that would be very good for it to happen that way.
Ray Ortlund
And, you know, I believe that we are contributing to that. Yeah.
Sam Allberry
I’m struck as well, you know, I keep forgetting. Paul was the one dragging people off to prison at one point, he was the least likely person you would think would one day be writing these letters to strengthen Christians who are being persecuted by the very same kind of persecution he was championing. And back in Acts Eight, it’s the language used of Paul’s opposition. Paul was ravaging the churches. It’s beastial language. There’s something unhinged and animalistic about it. Yes. Get here he is enduring everything for the sake of the elect, so that they also may obtain the salvation so that there is in Christ Jesus, that those who seem like in fleshly terms, our biggest enemies may well be the very people that are going to be ministering to us and encouraging us down the road
Ray Ortlund
that is so powerful. That consideration Yeah, I’m thinking Sam, and every every young pastor listening, I think we’re all thinking the same thing right now. I revere the privilege of being caught up in that grace. I will give my life to that. Okay, well, Sam crossway books We’re thankful to crossway for their sponsorship of the you’re not crazy podcast. We love those dear friends at crossway Rebecca McLaughlin, who is Just brilliant off the charts has written confronting Jesus nine encounters with the hero of the Gospels. Now, you know, Rebecca, personally is I do
Sam Allberry
yeah, fellow Brit in America. So we’ve we’ve bonded over that. She is both both brilliant and hilarious. So I, I have her new book confronting Jesus. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m excited to, because Rebecca has just a gift for showing me things I thought I already knew, but in such a fresh, vivid, compelling kind of way. Confronting Christianity, her first book was wasn’t is a magnificent book, this is a wonderful follow up. So for those who are thinking, okay, maybe I can’t write off the Christian faith confronting Jesus is, is the book to put in someone’s hands to give them a biblical portrayal of who of who Jesus is, and all the different facets that he reveals himself in. So I’m eager to read it because I’ve everything I’ve read by Rebecca has been, has been wonderful, really, really wonderful.
Ray Ortlund
Now she’s, as I understand it, she’s a PhD from Cambridge, English literature. I think so. Yeah. Amazing. And she’s one of the voices in our generation who like Tim Keller and others, is able to articulate the gospel in categories and in words that really connect with skeptical people today. Yeah. So we recommend Rebecca McLaughlin, confronting Jesus nine encounters with the hero of the Gospels, and Sam and I just want to thank everyone who’s listening. It’s such a thank you for attending to this giving this your your your time. We’re grateful. It’s a privilege to serve you. And we look forward to our next chat together with you listening in thank you for doing so. God bless
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 12:41:32 GMT -5
Ray Ortlund
You know, I’m just struck. The Lord knew I needed a middle aged man named Pete Pappas, as the athletic director of blair high school in Pasadena, California to help me take a big step forward. Yeah. And I think that’s some I hadn’t thought of it that way, Sam, but that’s something like that is happening here in this book. Paul is not intimidating Timothy. He’s not threatening him or berating him or belittling him. He’s lifting him up. And right now we’re in chapter one, verses three through seven. And in this series, he is season three of of you’re not crazy. We’re just thinking our way through the book of Second Timothy as gospel sanity for young pastors. Yeah,
Sam Allberry
it’s a field manual. Paul has a shape structure to his letters. It’s his convention that he will begin the letter with a with a note of thanksgiving. But there’s nothing perfunctory or formulaic about it. It always strikes me that Paul’s instinct, his reflex, as he thinks of the people he’s writing to is first of all, Thanksgiving, even if it’s a problematic situation he’s writing into but his his thankfulness for Timnath for Timothy is, is particularly heartfelt here, isn’t it? We talked last episode a little bit about Paul’s language of affection. He’s not embarrassed to share his heart for Timothy he wants some with you to know how he feels about him. That seems to be amplified in this in this section because he he talks about remembering you constantly. I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. I think some of us would shrink back from saying that because it might sound needy or you know, I think Again, part of the worldly messaging we get is if we’re in the position of being in the person with the authority. We’re supposed to be a bit aloof and above it all. And, you know, there’s a sort of, you know, a client, professional relationship or something. But this is so familiar. And so heartfelt.
Ray Ortlund
I’m really struck by that because as we said in our last episode, Paul is emotionally relationally. vulnerable and upfront, without being self indulgent. Yeah, he’s not making it about himself. But he is there’s this strength of emotion and feeling and affection and concern, pouring out of the apostle Paul, upon this young man, Timothy, Paul is all in with Timothy. He’s not holding back. He’s not standing aloof. Sam, what if that kind of abandon went viral among us pastors in this generation? Yeah. That would be compelling. That would be prophetic. Yeah. In this generation here in a world of self protection, and standing behind facades, and you will never get through to me, I will never let you hurt me and so forth. And Paul, just that is the part of the dividing wall that the cross breaks down. And out flows the heart of the apostle for this young man who feels outclassed by the challenge he’s facing. And Paul does not scold him for feeling that way. But fills in those blanks with fatherly and heartfelt real affection.
Sam Allberry
Yeah. Timothy is not a task football. You know, I long to see that I may be filled with joy. I mean, there’s you know, it’s not just he sees Timothy and thinks, Okay, Timothy is I’ve got a teacher nurse. I’ve got to teach them this. I’ve got to teach him this that you know, the he Timothy is not his project.
Ray Ortlund
That’s really good.
Sam Allberry
Yeah, there is it it is. So it is so fatherly, isn’t it?
Ray Ortlund
This is a healthy Christian environment. Yeah. This is what the gospel creates in our churches. Yeah. And not only has Paul stuck his neck out and is sticking his neck out with Timothy. He reminds Timothy of all the other people whose commitment and sacrifice and faith have built him up and gotten him to where he is today. Four times. Paul says, I remember. And then I remember and then I remember in the actually the fourth time is, I remind you, and so Paul looks at Timothy’s backstory, his parentage, his family, upbringing, and so forth.
Sam Allberry
Just Versary Paul remembers his own as well, as did my ancestors. Say he takes a sort of a quick glance over his own shoulder as well.
Ray Ortlund
Sam, every single one of us got here, because somebody cared. Yeah. Now was the Lord in it. Oh, yes, very much in it. But the Lord acted through people, pastors, parents, friends and others, and through other people invested in us, prepared us moved us through life. You and I right now it’s true of every young pastor listening. We are where we are right now because God got us here. And he did it through people. Yeah, there is a story every single one of us represents Yeah.
Sam Allberry
That the gospel slinky as I like to think of it is kind of come down the generations
Speaker 3
but hilarious is me that I’ve never thought of that before. The Gospel slinky i
Sam Allberry
Yeah, I’m constantly persuading Emanuel Nashville to produce a Emanuel Nashville slinky just as a bit of church merchandise are ridiculous. I press on with that battle, but I love this. You know, Paul has things he needs to talk to Timothy about, but it’s not irrelevant to pause. And to remember, and to name Lois and Eunice and Paul would have other names I’m sure he could he could have added to that list. There’s that human story is not is not a distraction from the task at hand.
Ray Ortlund
Oh, my. Sam, I think about my own dad. And how much my dad was the finest man I’ve ever known. So many of us, our dads let us down. Okay, I was unusually for Favorite I think my dad did not let me down. And I grew up in mid 20th century, American evangelicalism, I think at its best, and the the human figures that sort of occupied my world were not only my dad, but people like Billy Graham, and Carl Henry, and Francis Schaeffer and EV Hill and, and other thinkers, preachers, scholars, J. I packer and so forth. And John Stott, and, and I feel personally indebted to them. They stuck their necks out, they laid their lives down for Christ in their time. Which all of which faith and repentance and effort and courage poured into me directly and indirectly got me to where I am. Now. It’s my turn to pour out my life for the next generation, and it will soon be their turn. It’s the Gospels lanky, you’re moving forward in history, how? What a privilege to be part of something larger than ourselves.
Sam Allberry
Yeah. And I think one of the reasons Paul is saying this is because not only is he honoring Lois and Eunice, but it’s strengthening to Timothy, to be reminded of these things, he says to him, I’m reminded of your sincere faith. In other words, just in case, there’s a chance Timothy’s doubting his own legitimacy. You know, he’s facing headwinds and challenges. You may be thinking, Am I Am I even I shouldn’t even be a pastor. Why am I even trusting God in the right way? And Paul is saying, you will you’re legit, you have sincere faith. And I can tell you where that faith humility has come from. Oh, my, because you know, I can think of your your mother and your grandmother and you’ve inherited from them. real honest to goodness, faith in Jesus Christ.
Ray Ortlund
Wow. self doubt, can be paralyzing.
Sam Allberry
Yeah. Well, the devil is the father of lies, that’s his currency. And we all absorb and live in lies, that he just keeps. There’s this. He’s got his own sort of, you know, iTunes shuffle of lies, that they keep going round and round our heads. It’s great. And stuff like this. Correct. Sounds like No, no, no. Timothy, you have sincere faith. Yeah. You have, actually all the faith you need. Because it’s sincere faith in Christ, you have come from people who genuinely taught you the gospel. It’s interesting, isn’t he that there are no men mentioned here? We don’t know anything about Tim’s dad or grandfather. But I think I’m sure it’s not incidental that Paul names these two ladies, because strong men are formed in part by Godly he has women.
Ray Ortlund
Yes. When a pastor is alone in his study, they’d be working on sermon prep or administration, whatever it might be. It can be tempting to feel isolated. We’re alone there in the room. Maybe for for hours on end. And thoughts of isolation feelings of even of abandonment. Yeah, I’ve known that can enter in and cripple us. And in those moments, I think what Paul is talking about here, to use the language of the Apostles Creed is the communion of saints. And young pastor, when you’re in your study, working diligently and you feel alone, you feel isolated, you feel cut off, and maybe even abandoned. I think you have every right in Christ to embrace, receive and experience, the communion of saints. You know who else is in that room with you? The person who led you to Christ is right there cheering you on, in the communion of saints, and for crying out loud, the apostle Paul is there cheering you on? And, you know, I think in my own categories, Sam, my dad, I think, maybe this sounds ridiculous. Thomas Cranmer is a hero to me. His death was one of the most dramatic declarations of repentance and faith in Christ that I’m aware of in Christian history. I cannot think of Thomas Thomas Cranmer without emotion. He’s one of my forefathers in the Lord. And, and that awareness locates Thomas Cranmer. In my reality so I’m sitting there at my desk, but I’m not alone.
Sam Allberry
Now. And part of Paul’s message here is the people that you do look back and look up to the people that you use sat under the teaching of whether, in the case of grammar with a gap of several centuries or your father, part of what Timothy is part of what Paul is saying here is the faith that dwelt in them dwells in you as well, verse five, we often use the phrase I’m sure to mean, I’m hopeful, optimistic that Paul is meaning it literally, that faith now, I am sure dwells in you also. In other words, whoever your spiritual hero is, whoever, whoever you receive the gospel from whoever you feel that spiritual debt is owed to, you have the same faith that they had. You have everything they had spiritually. You reminded me this once ray from John one where from his fullness we have all received Yes, grace upon grace, whoever your biggest spiritual hero isn’t all of church history, you have the same amount of Holy Spirit as they had you have the same, the same spiritual resources to draw from. So it is strengthening for Timothy facing into the challenge is the the opposition’s that the things that would naturally intimidate him. And what are comforted is to know that Paul was expecting Timothy, to need strengthening because we feel our lack of strength as well. But whoever we look back on as Wow, they were they were really faithful, amazing Christian. Part of what Paul is saying here is yeah, you have the same faith that they had. Yes.
Ray Ortlund
So I think on the basis of Second Timothy, chapter one, we can say to every young pastor who is faithfully pressing forward, you are a heroic figure. Your circumstances are unique to yourself. But the faith that’s energizing you deep within is the same faith that the prophets had the martyrs had the most fruitful missionaries, the people you most admire? What was stirring them and energize it, carrying them? Helping them? It’s in you, too? Yeah. And because God is just as committed to you as he is to any of them? Yeah.
Sam Allberry
The other thing I’m taking from this ray is that it is good for us, even in our public ministry, to name and honor people that we have, we have received from you do that wonderfully with your dad, by the way, I have not had a chance to meet your dad, he passed away before you and I got to know each other, but I feel like I know him, and have learned from him because of how much you’ve shared about him. But one of the glorious things that that public recognition does is it reminds everyone that not least the pastor himself that we’re not spiritual islands. We’re not meant to be the self sufficient self contained repository of spiritual resourcing for everybody else. We we are we only have things to share, because we have received and we’ve learned from others who are standing on the shoulders of others. Yes. One of the people I think who does that, unusually well is is Tim Keller, because he he will always let you know, where he’s learned a particular idea from. He will honor the people he has drawn things from he doesn’t want people to think he’s just sort of arrived and come up with all of this stuff himself. So there’s lots of ways in which it’s a healthy thing to do just to show the dependencies we have been part of over the years.
Ray Ortlund
And that inheritance that’s coming our way from from the past, is not fading away. We are not a dead end we are not a lost cause. He says here I remind you to fan into flame, the gift of God which is in you through the laying on my hands. So as generation one hands off the ministry to generation to generation two can burst into flame just as brightly as generation one did. And and Timothy is responsible to fan into flame. The gift of God which is in him. John Stott says, If we ask the question, well, what is the gift of God that Timothy received Start says it has both the office and the spiritual equipment needed to fulfill it. So the the ministry opportunity, the ministry position and the inner wherewithal to fulfill and live well in that ministry position, which he then describes in the in the next verse as a spirit, an intangible, an energy, not a fear, but a power and love and self control,
Sam Allberry
which is striking because that way with all and equipping isn’t merely skills. He didn’t give you a spirit of exegetical progress. Although we we, you know, we need to handle the word rightly, as Paul himself says, but it’s so bound up with character, isn’t it? Power, love, self control. You can be very, very, you can be the most skilled person in the room and yet not be spiritually equipped for the task if you’re not manifesting that. That power, love and self control.
Ray Ortlund
The apostle Paul is soon to die. He has no time to waste on secondary issues. Yeah, everything he’s talking about in Second Timothy matters as and is an urgent consideration to him. And so I’m really struck Sam, that he talks about the intangibles of ministry. Now, he also talks about the doctrine, the good deposit, we’ll talk about that in due course. But the intangibles the the personal characteristics of power, and love and self control as opposed to self pity. Retreat. Face saving, and so forth. Timothy, go ahead. stick your neck out. Go to the next right thing. Yeah, the Lord is with you. You’ve been called to this. And the the power of the Holy Spirit that was given to you that was located in you that faith that dwells in you, I’m so struck by that word dwells. Yes, this is not marginal. This is not a Sunday, Only Christianity, that faith that dwells in you fannett into flame, let it burn. Let other people see you, burning for Christ.
Sam Allberry
I’m also struck by that that Triad of Power, love self control, any two of those without the third would be very incomplete. Can you imagine someone who has power and self control but not love? I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t want to sit under their ministry.
Ray Ortlund
We you have seen that kind of ministry, I presume, yeah.
Sam Allberry
Or love and self control that has no power. And that the spirit is not saying God is not saying pick, pick two of the following items from from this this menu. Actually, these three things go together because love and power and self control are all other piece. When it comes to the work of the Spirit in someone’s life.
Ray Ortlund
You know, Sam, it is such a privilege to be a pastor. It’s so dignifying that God is He’s not asking us to settle for something. This is an upward call. Yeah of God in Christ Jesus. This is something to reach for by faith and repentance. And every single pastor listening to this can realize, oh my goodness, God is giving me that a whole lifetime to grow. Yeah, and these wonderful ways and to reach by faith. And a year from now, five years from now. 10 years from now I’m going to be richer, deeper, more fruitful in all these ways. Hallelujah. Here we go. Yeah. Now, amen. Sam crossway is republishing J i Packer’s classic. That word is overused today, but this is a classic, knowing God and it’s coming out I think in being rereleased in March springtime
Sam Allberry
Yes. Sounds like they already be out by the time people hear this. Why Does
Ray Ortlund
knowing God by J i Packer matter to you?
Sam Allberry
Yes, it’s it’s one of those. One of those I remember as I was finding my feet as a new disciple of Jesus. The books that I kept being told to read were the cross of Christ by John Stott and knowing God by J i Packer. And it is it’s just Packer at his finest he is helping us understand who God is. And I think one of the things I’ve that’s really helped me in ministry is I’m now not that interested whether or not someone believes in God because it’s not whether or not they they believe in a deity is do they know the God who is there? Do they know this God? Do they know what he’s like? The God revealed to us in Jesus Christ. So it’s been, it’s been a very defining book.
Ray Ortlund
I’m so struck by it for many reasons. Here’s one in the section, the chapter on the wisdom of God. He actually has a section on the book of Ecclesiastes Sam main who writes a book about knowing God, and includes a section on Ecclesiastes. Yeah. So Packer was making connections. Yeah, that often surprised me. Because he sees he sees things with more profound depth than I do.
Sam Allberry
The chapter that most shaped me was the chapter. I think it’s entitled The jealous God, which was an aspect of God’s care character that I had never, never thought about before, but has stayed with me ever since. I don’t think I’ve read that chapter since the late 90s. But I still remember it vividly.
Ray Ortlund
That’s a sign of a great book. Yeah. So
Sam Allberry
be glad to see it coming out again, this time without the kind of cheesy sunset on the front cover.
Ray Ortlund
Okay, Sam, thank you so much. And we thank our listeners and it’s a privilege to serve you, and we’ll see you soon.
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 12:43:23 GMT -5
In a conversation prompted by a new book about A. W. Tozer, John Piper offers this insight:
“Not feeling loved and not being loved are not the same. Jesus loved all people well. And many did not like the way he loved them. Was David’s zeal for the Lord imbalanced because his wife Michal despised him for it? Was Job’s devotion to the Lord inordinate because his wife urged him to curse God and die? Would Gomer be a reliable witness to Hosea’s devotion? I know nothing about Tozer’s wife. She may have been far more godly than he. Or maybe not. It would be helpful to know.
. . . Tozer may have blown it at home. . . . But I have seen so much emotional blackmail in my ministry I am jealous to raise a warning against it. Emotional blackmail happens when a person equates his or her emotional pain with another person’s failure to love. They aren’t the same. A person may love well and the beloved still feel hurt, and use the hurt to blackmail the lover into admitting guilt he or she does not have. Emotional blackmail says, ‘If I feel hurt by you, you are guilty.’ There is no defense. The hurt person has become God. His emotion has become judge and jury. Truth does not matter. All that matters is the sovereign suffering of the aggrieved. It is above question. This emotional device is a great evil. I have seen it often in my three decades of ministry and I am eager to defend people who are being wrongly indicted by it.”
When a church’s mentality — the very categories and assumptions with which they process reality — is not biblical but therapeutic, this “great evil” can be perpetrated without any troubling of the conscience. But no one should ever be pressured to confess as sin aspects of their behavior which the Bible itself does not identify as sin. It is the Word of God, chapter and verse, and only the Word of God, not human expectations or emotions, which defines sin. When we forget this, we exalt ourselves to the place of God with our own self-made demands and haughty accusations. This is indeed a great evil, though self-exaltation rarely feels evil. Misguided moral fervor feels good, even virtuous.
But there is a reason why the Bible includes this:
More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore? Psalm 69:4
And there is a reason why the Bible includes this:
Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 2 Timothy 4:14-18
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 13:20:45 GMT -5
Leadership
What to Remember When It’s Going Poorly
Article
06.30.2020
“Be ready in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2).
Pastoral ministry is seasonal. I made this simple observation in my last article, “What to Remember When Pastoring Is Going Well.” Briefly, we thought through together the seasons of ministerial abundance. But what about the hard times? What should we remember when tragedy overwhelms us, or when we lose our way in confusion, or when we seem unable to please anyone and the congregation is stiff and cold—or even walking out?
1. Remember to accept hardship as ultimately from the Lord himself.
If the people aren’t responding well, maybe you’re the reason. Maybe, without realizing it, you’re doing something to put them off, sabotaging your ministry. It might not be you at all. But maybe?
“Who can discern his errors?” (Ps. 19:12), David asked. In verse 13 he speaks of “presumptuous sins”—proudly obstinate sins. But the “errors” in verse 12 are a matter of our obliviousness. We can offend our Lord and step on people with the best of intentions! So our loving Lord allows the negative impact of our errors to land on us. It hurts. But that shock and embarrassment—it is of the Lord. He is opening our eyes, so that next time we’ll be more careful, more sensitive, more respectful. Let us therefore deeply accept our Lord’s discipline and let our defenses down and have a good laugh at ourselves—and do some healthy changing.
We ministers, in accepting the Lord’s call to gospel work, have planted our flag for his kingdom with profound sincerity of heart. But sincerity is not enough. Indeed, our earnest sincerity can, by its very nature, make us feel more virtuous than we really are. We need others to help us discern our irritating mannerisms and discourteous words and unconvincing emphases. It’s like a guy with bad breath. Who will love him enough to tell him?
I believe that every man should be in regular conversation with other godly men, with this humble appeal as the agenda: “Brothers, help me see myself.” Who wouldn’t benefit from that? Who can be above it? Your dear wife will help you, of course. But she might be too biased in your favor. Let other men, whom you trust, help you too. The Lord himself will be in it all, honoring your humble openness. Brother, your ministry can become “acceptable to the saints” (Rom. 15:31).
Remember to stay teachable.
2. Remember that you are fully equipped in every essential.
I love 1 Corinthians 2:1–5 where Paul rejoices in his ministry. He knows what he has going for him, even with his modest persona and rattled nerves. Moving through the sophisticated cultures of our world, as Paul did then, facing both passive indifference and bold rejection, what can you and I count on everywhere we go? Nothing less than “the testimony of God, . . . Jesus Christ and him crucified, . . . the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” What in all this world can compete with that?
Your church might be small in numbers, but you are mighty with divine power. You might be lowly in prestige, but you are exalted with Triune glories. You might be limited in programs, but you are immeasurable in eternal significance. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Stop resenting that big church across the street. Your small church is fully equipped in every essential with the truth of the gospel and the power of the Spirit. Your small church might well become Ground Zero for the next worldwide awakening.
How wonderful to remember that, with God, you just never know what he might do next! Stay close to him. Keep “swinging for the fence.” And the Lord will surprise you with encouragements and breakthroughs, as you give your all to him.
Remember to stay confident.
3. Remember that your rugged, cheerful endurance will prevail.
The power of faithfulness is so great, our Lord Himself claims it as one of his own glories: “the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love” (Deut. 7:9). If our Lord doesn’t resort to a quick-fix but works faithfully over the long-haul, can we resent walking that same path?
We don’t like patient waiting. Amazon Prime is counting on us being impatient! But it is those who “wait on the Lord” who renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31). The medieval rabbi, David Kimchi, explained that that Hebrew word “wait” suggests stretching, lengthening, extending. So “waiting on the Lord” is not like resting in a hammock with a glass of iced tea; it’s like holding a plank position until our coach tells us we’re done. But that place of unresolved tension is spiritually creative and surprisingly refreshing. Our strength is renewed. So we fight on, and we will prevail, because the Lord will come through for us.
“We wait with patience” (Rom. 8:25). The early church understood that. Yes, they saw miracles. But look at Romans 16 and how Paul greets his friends: “They risked their necks, . . . he worked hard, . . . my fellow prisoners,” and so forth. They were powerless. But they prevailed. How? They waited with patience and refused to quit. They believed God is in no hurry, so they were in no hurry. They believed God is in control, so they felt no need to be in control. They believed God is powerful, so they didn’t get pushy. Bishop Cyprian wrote to his suffering people, “As servants and worshipers of God, let us show the patience that we learn from the heavenly teachings. For that virtue we have in common with God.”
One final thought. The world is racing toward final judgment. But God is with us. All his promises are true, all his purposes successful. And now it’s our turn, in our generation, to bear witness to his glory. How? Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going. And when we’ve done that, keep going! And that is how we prevail.
Remember to stay faithful.
By Ray Ortlund
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 13:46:23 GMT -5
The Ordinary Means of Grace
Ray Ortlund
6 Min Read
True awakening or revival is a glorious season in the life of the church when for His glory alone, God causes the ordinary means of His grace to make an extraordinary impact on many people.
This idea of "the means of grace" answers these questions: How do I, as a believer, access the grace of the Lord for my many needs? Where do I go, what do I do, to connect with the real help He gives to sinners and sufferers here in this world? I know I am saved by His grace alone. But Jesus said,
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt. 11:28–30)
I believe that. I want that. But, at a practical level, how do I come to Him for His grace?
God's Way
Our gracious Lord is not playing "catch me if you can" with us. He wants us to be sure of Him, come to Him, and draw strength from Him so that we can live fully for Him. But He does not give Himself to us in any way we might devise. He has made Himself knowable and accessible in specific ways of His own wise choosing. His appointed avenues of blessing are the means of grace. We are profoundly thankful to our Lord for providing open avenues of grace for us as we walk through this world, crowded as it is with enticing means of "anti-grace" pressing upon us every day.
Westminster Shorter Catechism question 88 asks, "What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption?" The catechism's answer is,
The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.
God does not limit Himself to His wonderful means of grace. Jesus said that the wind of the Spirit "blows where it wishes" (John 3:8). But if we are wondering where we can be sure to find the Lord, the answer is His standard means of grace, made effective by His own living presence. His chosen means are not intended to restrict His availability, but the opposite. His chosen means identify where He has concentrated His availability, like a gushing fountain of mercy for sinners who are so desperate that they are finally coming to Christ on His terms.
The Means of Awakening
Awakening or revival occurs when these ordinary streams of divine blessing flow out with unusual power, and the benefits of the gospel pour out upon us with wonderful impact that is clearly of God and not at all of ourselves.
If we long for our churches to experience more of this awakening power in the gospel, the remedy is not to invent our own delivery systems for God's grace. The remedy might be found in correcting our neglect or misuse or corruption of God's age-old means of grace. We do not need to improve on God's methods. We might need to engage with God's methods more reverently and humbly than we ever have before.
Westminster Shorter Catechism question 85 asks, "What doth God require of us that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?" The answer is:
To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.
The catechism thus wisely urges upon us "the diligent use of all the outward means," that is, coming before the Lord with a heart of faith and a purpose of repentance, setting no preconditions on Him but welcoming His lordship over the whole of our lives.
Zacchaeus did something like this, when he climbed that tree in order not to miss Jesus as He passed by. He could not force Jesus to pay attention to him, but he did place himself in the Lord's path. Jesus was pleased to visit him, and Zacchaeus entered into a whole new life:
And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:9–10)
Our Way
We do not always seek the Lord with that spirit of openness. Sometimes we even make poor use of His wonderful means. The people of God in the Old Testament corrupted their worship. They treated His means as their mechanics, as if God's grace could "work" in an automatic way, like putting a coin in a gumball machine. Isaiah, for example, denounced the worship of God's people, though their form of worship adhered to the book of Leviticus and their participation in it was full to the extent of being lavish. But God said through Isaiah, "When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood" (Isa. 1:15).
God's people were misusing God's means, and He would have none of it. What were they doing to offend the Lord so intensely? They were compartmentalizing. They were brutal toward one another, with human blood on their hands. Then, without seeing the horrible irony of it, they went to worship at the temple and spread out those bloody hands before God in prayer. But God saw. And God said their unexamined lives were not ready for His blessing. The people were treating God's means of grace as a way of evading costly obedience rather than as a way of inspiring fuller obedience throughout the whole of their lives.
The people of God in the New Testament also misused the means of grace. Members of the church in Corinth were receiving the Lord's Supper "in an unworthy manner" (1 Cor. 11:27), that is, in a divisive and arrogant manner, which is opposite to the dying love of Jesus proclaimed in that very sacrament. Their selfish abuse of His sacred gift turned it into its opposite, namely, a means of judgment:
For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. (1 Cor. 11:29–30)
If we treat the means of grace as the mechanics of grace, as if we were in control, God is offended. But if we bring to God's clear "findability" our own total availability, the Lord will gladly bless His means to our hearts.
Humility and Sincerity
How awakening it is when we come before the Lord through His means with the humble faith and sincere repentance that the gospel calls for. The early church was living proof of the power of the ways of God:
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. . . . And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42, 47)
The striking thing about the early church here is how simple their pattern of life was, and yet how compelling it was. How do we account for that? To use the language of Jonathan Edwards, these early Christians were laying themselves "in the way of allurement," that is, they were joyfully placing themselves in the path of Christ's promised power. No wonder the early church flourished.
Charles J. Brown, a minister in the Church of Scotland during a season of revival, quoted an eyewitness account of the power of God's grace in the churches at that time:
"It was a common thing, as soon as the Bible was opened, after the preliminary services, and just as the reader began"—here, you will observe, it was the simple reading of the Word without preaching. Yet such was the power upon the minds of the people that "it was a common thing, as soon as the Bible was opened, after the preliminary services, and just as the reader began, for great meltings to come upon the hearers. The deepest attention was paid to every word as the sacred verses were slowly and solemnly enunciated. Then the silent tear might be seen stealing down the rugged but expressive countenances turned upon the reader. The Word of the Lord was precious in those days."
There is awakening power in God's means of gospel grace. What more do we need?
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Post by Admin on Nov 9, 2023 13:53:08 GMT -5
Shortly after I first met my friend and mentor Ray Ortlund, he gave me a copy of his book A Passion for God: Prayers and Meditations on the Book of Romans. The Afterword includes as prophetic and powerful an evangelical manifesto for gospel reform as I’ve ever read.
An Earnest Call For Evangelical Leaders To Recover The Gospel From Its Present Humiliation
A wave of authentic revival sweeps over the church when three things happen together: teaching the great truths of the gospel with clarity, applying those truths to people’s lives with spiritual power, and extending that experience to large numbers of people.?? We evangelicals urgently need such an awakening today. We need to rediscover the gospel.
Imagine the evangelical church without the gospel. I know this makes no sense, for evangelicals are defined by the evangel. But try to imagine it for just a moment. What might our evangelicalism, without the evangel, look like? We would have to replace the centrality of the gospel with something else, naturally. So what might take the place of the gospel in our sermons and books and cassette tapes and Sunday school classes and home Bible studies and, above all, in our hearts?
A number of things, conceivably. An introspective absorption with recovery from past emotional traumas, for example. Or a passionate devotion to the pro-life cause. Or a confident manipulation of modern managerial techniques. Or a drive toward church growth and “success.” Or a deep concern for the institution of the family. Or a fascination with the more unusual gifts of the Spirit. Or a clever appeal to consumerism by offering a sort of cost-free Christianity Lite. Or a sympathetic, empathetic, thickly-honeyed cultivation of interpersonal relationships. Or a determination to take America back to its Christian roots through political power. Or a warm affirmation of self-esteem. The evangelical movement, stripped of the gospel, might fix upon any or several of such concerns to define itself and derive energy for its mission. In other words, evangelicals could marginalize or even lose the gospel and still potter on their way, perhaps even oblivious to their loss.
But not only is this conceivable, it is actually happening among us right now. Whatever one may think of the various concerns noted above as alternatives to the centrality of the gospel—and some of these matters possess genuine validity and even urgency, especially the family—not one of them is central to our faith. Not one of them is the gospel or deserves to push the gospel itself to the periphery of our message, our agenda and our affections. But the gospel of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ is today suffering humiliation among us evangelicals by our conspicuous neglect of it.
When we think of the gospel, we may have a feeling that “We already know that. Ho-hum.” We assume the gospel as a given. We assume that the people in our churches know the gospel, and we are anxious to move on to more “relevant” and “practical” topics. The gospel is being set aside in our minds and hearts in favor of a broad range of issues, as broadly ranging as evangelicalism is fragmented, while the heart and soul of our faith is falling into obscurity through neglect. The holy mysteries of the incarnation, cross, resurrection, ascension and heavenly reign of our Lord, the great themes of election, propitiation, justification and sanctification, the power and deceitfulness of sin, the meaning of faith and repentance, our union with our crucified, buried and risen Lord, the infinitely superior value of our heavenly reward compared with anything this life has to offer (including the Christian life), the final judgment and eternity—these glorious themes which lie at the very center of our faith, which made the church great at her greatest moments in the past and which can do the same again for us today if only we will recover them and exploit them confidently, prayerfully and biblically, these infinitely precious treasures are being bypassed in favor of legitimate but secondary matters of concern. We must guard the centrality of that which is central.
We should not think, “Well, of course we have the gospel. The Reformation recovered it for us.” Such complacency will cost us dearly. Every generation of Christians must be retaught afresh the basic truths of our faith. The church is always one generation away from total ignorance of the gospel, and we today are making rapid progress toward that ruinous goal. Rather than carelessly assume the gospel, we must aggressively, deliberately, fully and passionately teach and preach the gospel. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. If we do not intentionally search them out, we will miss them.
Pastors and church leaders, in particular, are under enormous pressure today to satisfy the immediate demands of the marketplace at the cost of the gospel. People want what they want when they want it, or they will drive down the street to the First Church of Where-It’s-At to get it. Are we leaders losing our nerve? Have we come to feel that the gospel itself meets people’s needs less convincingly and helpfully? But think about it. Without a clear understanding of the central truths of our faith, where will the wisdom and motivation to live godly lives come from? We are constantly offering people “Five Steps to (whatever)” in answer to their problems. But it is not working. To a shameful degree, we Christians are morally indistinct from the world. Why? One reason is that we think piecemeal, and our lives show it. We do not perceive reality from God’s perspective. We perceive reality from the perspective of our ungodly culture, and then we try to slap a biblical principle onto the surface of our deep confusion. Consequently, very little actually changes. What we really need is not to be pandered to but to be re-educated in reality, as it is interpreted for us by the gospel. We need to know who God really is. We need to find out who we really are. We need to understand what our root problem really is and what God’s merciful answer really is. And we need that new perception of reality to percolate deep down into our affections and desires, reorienting us radically and joyfully to a whole new way of life. But if we frankly feel that the plain old gospel offers very little for people’s real needs, then we have never really known it at all.
We evangelicals today are suffering massive defeat, brilliantly disguised as massive success. A record high 74% of Americans eighteen years of age and older say they have made a commitment to Jesus Christ, according to a recent Gallup Poll. That could suggest a high degree of effectiveness in our witness. But at the same time—as if we needed verification of the fact—a survey by the Roper Organization shows little difference in the moral behavior of “born-again” Christians before and after their conversion.?? If we come under the spell of ratings appeal rather than the imperatives of the gospel, what room can there be for the narrow gate and the hard way? Even as our churches enjoy a measure of outward success, we remain the influenced, not the influential, as long as we shift our power-base from the ways of God to the ways of man, from Spirit-anointed biblical truth to human skills and novelties. Operating in a man-centered rather than a God-centered mode, our churches do not necessarily fail. They stand as good a chance of success as any other franchise network. Some even become popular—but popular as what? As a religious pastime, or as a force for God?
And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.
— Jeremiah 4:30
O desolate evangelicalism, what do you mean by your stylish fads and restless search for ever new “relevance”? Why are you so insecure that you long for the world’s approving recognition? They despise everything you hold dear! “All things to all men” is no license to cater to the whims of the consumer. Christ alone is Lord. Or have you yourself forgotten his majesty? And why are you so boastful of your numbers and dollars? How poor you really are! Come back to the gospel. Come back to the wellspring of true joy and life and power. Sanctify Christ again as Lord in your hearts. Wake up! Strengthen what remains, for it is on the point of death. But if you will not return to the centrality of the gospel as God’s power for the church today, then what reason does your Lord have for not abandoning you altogether?
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