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Pastoral ministry is tough, what must you do to be a good servant of Christ Jesus?
Tag: 事奉
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Why Preaching Is Still Necessary for the 21st Century?
Author: Ken Yeo
Date: 2022-11-26
Introduction
Preaching is in danger in the 21st century. In his 1982 influential book, John Scott laid out three contemporary objectives for preaching.[1] First, society is increasing anti-authority. People believe everything is relative and subjective.[2] Second, technology like television and computer has distracted people’s attention from preaching. It is even more true today with the explosive use of mobile phones with videos and social media apps. Third, the Church has lost its confidence in the Gospel. As a result, many pastors are constantly tempted to rob their time of sermon preparation to serve in other capacities like administration, running church programs, counseling, and visitations. My thesis of this paper is to present biblical, theological, and logical arguments on why preaching is still necessary for the 21st century.
The Definition of Preaching
Since I will be arguing for the necessity of preaching, it is important to have a definition of it. Preaching is one of the many different types of ministries of the Word. The New Testament primarily uses three Greek verbs for preaching: euangelizomai, katangello, and kerysso.[3] The most prominent of the three is kerysso.
I will use Dr. Warren’s definition of expository preaching for this paper: “The communication of a biblical proposition discovered from a Spirit-directed exegetical/theological interpretation of a biblical text (or texts) and applied by the Holy Spirit through a preacher to a specific audience for the glory of God.”[4]
The Biblical Argument
God Has Spoken
God is the God who speaks. He spoke this universe into existence (Gen 1:1-31; Ps 33:9; Heb 11:3) and used His Word to make covenants with men (Gen 12:1; Ex 24:3-8; 2 Sam 7:8-16). In the Old Testament, God spoke through His chosen prophets. In the New Testament, God spoke through Christ and His disciples.
God’s Written Word
God did not only speak; He also instructed His messengers to write down His Word. For example, God instructed Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” (Ex 34:27). Similarly, God instructed Jeremiah, “Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.” (Jer 30:2).
Likewise, in the New Covenant, God continued to speak through the first generation of Christ’s disciples, and they wrote down God’s Word so that future generations would know about the person and the work of Christ (Luke 1:1-4; Col 4:16; Rev 1:3). Paul as a minister in the New Covenant, taught that all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness for the church (2 Tim 3:16).
God Speaks Through Jesus Christ
God spoke through the prophets in the Old Testament and through His Son in the New Testament (Heb 1:1-2). Jesus’s preaching is a crucial part of His ministry. When people heard that Jesus could perform miracles, they started to look for Him. But Christ told his disciples, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is what I came for.” (Mark 1:38-39).
Christ Sent His Disciples to Preach His Word
Jesus did not only preach the Word of God; He also called and sent His disciples to preach His Word (Mark 3:14-15). Preaching became even more important after Christ ascended into heaven because He was no longer physically present on earth. Preaching has been vital in the assembly of God’s people since the beginning of the church. A significant event at the church’s beginning was Peter’s preaching, which converted 3000 (Acts 1:41). When the apostles faced other responsibilities, they recognized that their primary ministries were to preach and pray (Acts 6:2-4).
Not only did the apostles view preaching as their primary calling, but they also instructed the next generations of preachers to do the same. Paul urged Timothy to be ready in season and out of season to preach the word to reprove, rebuke, and exhort the church (2 Tim 4:1-2). The training of preachers is to be continued from one generation of preachers to the next (2 Tim 2:2).
Before the Christian canon was completed, Christ spoke directly to the apostles (Gal 1:11-12). The apostles’ ministries were to write (Rom 1:2; 4:3) and preach (Acts 17:2) the revealed Word of God. However, after the Christian canon was completed, God no longer gave new revelation to His church. Therefore, the preacher’s task is not to preach new revelation but to preach God’s written Word in the Scripture and apply it to their listeners.
God has called men as pastors to preach His Word throughout the church’s history. Although Pastors have other responsibilities, their chief task is “fully carry out the preaching of the word of God” (NASB, Col 1:25). They will be judged by their faithfulness to that calling.[5]
Summary of the Biblical Argument
My biblical argument is that preaching is necessary for the 21st century because it is God’s ordained method of communication to His church. God has spoken, His Word has been written, and He has called His messengers throughout biblical history to speak His Word. After the close of the Christian canon, God continues to speak when preachers faithfully expound and apply God’s written Word to listeners. Next, we will discuss the theological arguments.
The Theological Arguments
First, preaching is necessary because preaching is theological. Lloyd-Jones wrote, “the ultimate justification for asserting the primacy of preaching is theological.”[6] He argues that men’s real needs are not physical but spiritual. The only real solution to men’s needs is for them to hear and understand the theology in the Scripture[7]. Many agencies in the world can solve men’s many problems. But only the Church alone can solve the spiritual problem, the real needs of men. And the primary method God has ordained the church to deliver the theology is through preaching (1 Tim 2:3-7).
Second, preaching is necessary because the doctrine of inerrancy demands the primacy of preaching in the church. John MacArthur wrote, “the only logical response to inerrant Scripture, then, is to preach it expositionally.”[8]
Third, preaching is necessary because it is the means of salvation, both in justification and sanctification (Cor 1:28). We are saved on the redemption work of Christ on the cross. But if there is no preaching, the cross of Christ would be emptied of its power. When the word of the cross is preached, the power of God is manifested to us who are being saved (1 Cor 1:17-18). Furthermore, young believers are like newborn infants, they need pure spiritual milk, the word of God, to grow up into salvation, and the word is delivered through preaching (1 Pet 1:25-2:2).
Fourth, preaching is necessary because it is one of the marks of the church. Referring to Martin Luther, Edmund Clowney wrote, “The ministry of the Word and sacraments is, he says, ’a perpetual mark and characteristic of the Church.’”[9] Without preaching, there is no church.
In summary, preaching is necessary because it is theological, it is the practical expression of the doctrine of inerrancy, and it is one of the means of salvation and marks of the church. Next, we will discuss the logical arguments.
The Logical Arguments
First, preaching is necessary in this postmodern world because God’s Word is better than the world’s philosophy. Paul wrote in response to the Greek philosophers’ scoffing at his preaching (Acts 17:18), “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Cor 1:20). Tim Keller, who preached in New York, a hotbed for worldly, made an experienced observation, “No one believes those worldviews anymore. Such will always be the case. The philosophies of the world will come and go, rise and fall, but the wisdom we preach – the Word of God – will still be there.”[10]
Second, preaching is necessary because teaching is not preaching. The fact that preaching and teaching often appear together in Scripture (Matt 4:23; 1 Tim 5:17) implies they are related but different. Preaching involves three characteristics that are not always involved in teaching: exhortation, evangelism, and exultation. Exhortation urges hearers to repent and obey; evangelism heralds the Gospel to non-believers, and exultation leads God’s people to worship.[11]
Third, preaching is necessary because the testimony of the church’s history is that the strength of the church is directly related to the strength of the pulpit. John Broadus wrote in 1870, “When the message from the pulpit has been uncertain and faltering, the church has been weak; when the pulpit has given a positive, declarative message, the church has been strong.”[12] Almost a hundred and fifty years later, Steve Lawson made the same observation: “No church can rise any higher than its pulpit. The spiritual life of any congregation and its growth in grace will never exceed the high-water mark set by its pulpit.”[13] A revival of true preaching has always heralded the revival in the church’s history.[14] Without preaching, there will be no revival in the church.
Fourth, preaching is necessary because God’s people need a bridge to connect the biblical world to their world. That is the thesis of John Stott’s book, Between Two Worlds. Preaching connects two worlds divided by a deep rift of time, the biblical and modern. Without preaching, many people will find the Bible irrelevant.[15]
Fifth, preaching is necessary because the Word of God needs to be proclaimed. People are confused about what the truth is. They are taught that truth is relative to the viewpoint of the person. Fake news on the Internet makes things worse. Personal and small group bible study is not sufficient. People are hungry for the truth to be heralded from the pulpit in a public setting. John Woodbridge wrote, “In today’s spiritually starved world, the need is patent for preachers of unimpeachable integrity who preach with full confidence in the authority and power of the Word of God and who desire to witness Scripture’s “great and glorious fruit” poured out.”[16]
Lastly, preaching is necessary because no other method of communication can replace preaching. In today’s environment, anyone can get any information from books or online media. However, none of these media can substitute preaching. Paul wrote in the epistle to the Romans that he longed to be present with them to preach the Gospel (Rom 1:15). That means even reading an inspired letter will not substitute preaching.[17]
In summary, my logical arguments for the necessity of preaching are that God’s Word is better than the world’s philosophy, teaching is not preaching, no church can rise any higher than its pulpit, preaching makes the Bible relevant, and the Word of God needs to be proclaimed.
Conclusion
In this paper, I have presented the biblical, theological, and logical arguments on why preaching is still necessary for the 21st century. If you are reading this paper, chances are you have been called to preach. Preaching is hard work. Sometimes you will be tempted to work on something else instead of preaching. I hope this paper will encourage you not to give up on your calling. By the grace of the Lord, continue to press on. Preach the Word!
I like to conclude with these words from Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “without any hesitation that the most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the Church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world also.”[18]
Bibliography
Allen, Lewis. The Preacher’s Catechism. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2018.
Broadus, John Albert. On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons. Edited by Vernon L. Stanfield. 4th ed. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979.
Clowney, Edmund P. The Church. Contours of Christian Theology. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1995.
Forrest, Benjamin K., Kevin L. King, William J. Curtis, Dwayne Milioni, and Timothy George, eds. A Legacy of Preaching: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s Great Preachers. Vol. 2. 2 vols. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018.
Griffiths, Jonathan. Preaching in the New Testament: An Exegetical and Biblical-Theological Study. New Studies in Biblical Theology 42. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2017.
Keller, Timothy. Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2016.
Kuruvilla, Abraham. A Vision for Preaching: Understanding the Heart of Pastoral Ministry. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015.
Lawson, Steven J. The Kind of Preaching God Blesses. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2013.
Lloyd-Jones, Martyn. Preaching and Preachers. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1971.
MacArthur, John. “The Mandate of Biblical Inerrancy.” In Rediscovering Expository Preaching. Dallas: Word Pub, 1992.
Merida, Tony. The Christ-Centered Expositor: A Field Guide for Word-Driven Disciple Makers. Nashville, Tennessee: B & H Academic, 2016.
Mohler, Albert. “The Primacy of Preaching.” In Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching, edited by Don Kistler. Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 2002.
Robinson, Haddon W. Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages. Third edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014.
Stott, John. Between Two Worlds. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.
Warren, Timothy. “PM5252 Topical Preaching Class Notes Parts 1-4.” Dallas Theological Seminary, 2022.
[1] John Stott, Between Two Worlds (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), 50–88.
[2] Lloyd-Jones made the same observation, see Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1971), 13.
[3] Jonathan Griffiths, Preaching in the New Testament: An Exegetical and Biblical-Theological Study, New Studies in Biblical Theology 42 (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2017), 132.
[4] Timothy Warren, “PM5252 Topical Preaching Class Notes Parts 1-4” (Dallas Theological Seminary, 2022), 2.
[5] Mohler, “The Primacy of Preaching,” in Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching, ed. Don Kistler (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 2002), 16.
[6] Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, 26.
[7] Kuruvilla urged preachers to preaching the pericope theology of a text, see Abraham Kuruvilla, A Vision for Preaching: Understanding the Heart of Pastoral Ministry (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015), 106.
[8] John MacArthur, “The Mandate of Biblical Inerrancy,” in Rediscovering Expository Preaching (Dallas: Word Pub, 1992), 23.
[9] Edmund P. Clowney, The Church, Contours of Christian Theology (Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1995), 101.
[10] Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2016), 156.
[11] Tony Merida, The Christ-Centered Expositor: A Field Guide for Word-Driven Disciple Makers (Nashville, Tennessee: B & H Academic, 2016), 10.
[12] John Albert Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, ed. Vernon L. Stanfield, 4th ed (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979), 7.
[13] Steven J. Lawson, The Kind of Preaching God Blesses (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Pubblishers, 2013), 16.
[14] Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, 25.
[15] Stott, Between Two Worlds, 137–38.
[16] Benjamin K. Forrest et al., eds., A Legacy of Preaching: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s Great Preachers, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018), 18.
[17] Haddon W. Robinson, Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, Third edition (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014), 3.
[18] Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, 9.
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What must you do to be a good servant of Christ Jesus?
Preached on November 8, 2022 in Dallas Theological Seminary.
Introduction
In 1967, a young man graduated from DTS at age 26. He returned back to his hometown to teach in a bible college for a few years. And then, he was called to be the pastor of a Baptist church in Chicago. It was a large church. After a few years of ministry, he became weary of the many details and responsibilities expected of a pastor. His wife thought they were too young and unqualified for the role.
Pastoral ministry is tough. You are expected to teach and preach weekly in various situations. If preparing for three sermons is tough in a preaching course, think about how much tougher it will be to prepare for sermons, or bible study or devotion every week. You are expected to work with, learn from, and care for the elders, the deacons, and various ministries leaders. You are expected to shepherd the people under your care, be it a small group, a man’s group, a youth group, or even the entire congregation if it is a small church. No matter how much you try to do your best, somebody will criticize you for not doing enough.
Pastoral ministry is tough. The Barna group, the famous evangelical polling firm, had a survey and March 2022 on pastors with this question, “Have you given real, serious consideration to quitting being in full-time ministry within the last year?” 42% answered yes. Up from 29% in 2021. And then, the survey asked, “what is the reason they considered quitting full-time pastoral ministry?” 59% answered, “the immense stress of the job.” The survey also asked the pastors who have not considered quitting full-time ministry this question, “what is the factor that has negatively impacted your ability to lead at the church?” The number one reason is “the immense stress of the job.”
Pastoral ministry is tough, and it is even tougher when you are young and inexperienced in life and ministry. They are many needs in the church that will demand your time and energy. There are programs to run, events to host, marriage issues to counsel, sick people to visit, children to care for, church politics to navigate, and senior pastors and elders to submit. Are you worried? Will you be frightened? Will you be able to handle the pressure? Are you prepared? What do you need to focus your energy on as a pastor?
The subject I want to talk to you about is “What must you do to be a good servant of Christ Jesus?” Again, “What must you do to be a good servant of Christ Jesus?” Why do I choose a good servant of Christ Jesus? Because that is what a pastor is, a good servant of Christ Jesus. Because it was what Paul told the young Timothy to be in 1 Timothy 4:6. Looks at 1 Timothy 4:6 with me. “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.” Therefore, I will be sharing with you what I learned by studying the two letters from Paul to the young preacher, Timothy, when I was preparing for this sermon. We will be looking at three texts today. All of them are in 1 and 2 Timothy. They are 1 Tim 4, 2 Tim 2, and 2 Tim 4. We will look at three principles of how to be a good servant of Jesus Christ based on the two letters from Paul to Timothy.
Body
First Principle: Receive your strength by grace in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 2:1)
First thing first. What is the most important principle for a good servant of Christ Jesus? It is to receive strength by grace that is in Christ Jesus. I get this principle from 2 Tim 2:1. Please look at 2 Tim 2:1 with me. It reads, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
The first thing this verse tells us is our strength ought not to come from ourselves but from the Lord Jesus Christ. Pastoral ministry demands a lot of strength from us. If you serve with your own strength, you will be weary eventually. If you serve with your own power, you will eventually feel powerless. If you serve by drawing from your own well, you will eventually be dry as the desert. If you serve by drawing from the deep well of Christ, you will never be dry. You need to be constantly connected to the power source, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you serve with your own strength, you will be like mowing a lawn with a small manual hand-push lawnmower. If you serve with the strength from Christ, you will be like mowing a lawn with super powerful diesel power, riding lawn mover. Our strength ought not to come from ourselves but from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The second thing I learned from this verse is we need to be strengthened by Christ continuously, all the time. Paul used a present passive imperative here. Present tense means we not only need Christ’s strength on Sunday when we preach, we need Christ’s strength on Monday when we rest. We need Christ’s strength on Tuesday when you prepare the next sermon. We need Christ’s strength on Wednesday when we visit the people under our care. We need Christ’s strength continuously, all the time.
The third thing I learned from this verse is we need to be in a posture to receive strength from Christ by grace. The verb “be strengthened” is a passive verb. Christ is active in this power-generating process. Christ wants to empower you to serve Him! All you need to do is to be in a posture to receive strength from Christ. If Christ wants to empower you, it does you no good when you are not in a posture to receive His strength. It is by grace. It is not something we earn but something we receive from Christ. A good preacher knows how to be in a posture to receive strength from Christ by grace.
Where did Paul get his enormous strength to preach, to serve, and to face challenges faithfully in ministry? Paul knows how to be in a posture to receive strength from Christ. Look at 1 Tim 1:12 with me. 1 Tim 1:12 reads, “I thank Him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because He judged me faithful, appointing me to His service.” Paul thanks the Lord Christ Jesus because it was Christ who supplied the strength to Paul so that Paul could be faithful to his calling. Now I want us to look at the end of 2 Timothy. 2 Tim 4:17 reads, “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.” Again, Christ is active in the strengthening process. Paul knew to be in the posture to receive strength from Christ by grace.
A young preacher who was mightly used by God in the mid-19th century Scottland is Robert Murray M’Cheyne. Although young, he preached powerful sermons and lived a godly life for Christ. His biographer, Andrew Bonar, wrote this about M’Cheyne, “he must first see the face of God before he could undertake any duty.” The young Robert Murray M’Cheyne knew to be in the posture to receive the strength from Christ by grace to serve His church.
How about you? Are you in a continuous posture to receive strength from Christ by grace? No matter how busy you are, you need to make your relationship with Christ your first priority in life. If you developed the habit of drawing from your own strength to write sermon outlines and manuscripts now, to do research, to crank out papers, what is preventing you from drawing from the same power in ministry? I read an article today. If you want to care for your aging parents, you need to care for yourself first. If you want to provide soul care for others, you need to care for yourself first. If you constantly draw from your own strength, you will grow weary in ministry, and you will be burned out. The air plan safety emergency plan always tells you to put on your oxygen mask first before you can help others. The Lord Jesus is your oxygen mark. Jesus is your spiritual air supply. Without air, you will die very quickly. You need to slow down in seminary. Take a deep breath. Spend some quiet, quality time alone with the power source. Make sure you see the face of Christ first before you see the face of man. Learn from Paul, Timothy, and Robert Murray M’Cheyne. Be in a continuous posture to receive strength from Christ by grace.
Second Principle: Live the Word Faithfully (1 Tim 4:6-8)
Once you are in the continuous posture to receive the strength by grace from Christ, you will have the power to live the word faithfully. The second principle of a good servant of Christ Jesus is to live the word faithfully. Please look at 1 Timothy 4:6-8. 1 Timothy 4:6-8 reads, “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
Paul instructed Timothy in order to be a good servant of Christ Jesus, he needs to focus on training himself for godliness. It means to live a godly, sanctified, holy life. It means to live the word that he preached. It means to apply the Scriptures first to ourselves first before we apply to others. John Calvin said, “It would be better for him to break his neck going up into the pulpit if he does not take pains for him to first follow God.”
Paul gave the reason why preachers need to train for godliness. It is because God gave premises to godly people in this life and the life to come. As a preacher, we do not only preach the word faithfully; we need to live the word faithfully. We are not only called to deliver the word of God with our mouths; we are called to deliver the word of God with our life. Your life is to be an example for the flocks of God. Please look at verse 12 with me. 1 Timothy 4:12 reads, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Do you see this, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example!”.
How do you live the word faithfully? We need to train for godliness. Paul used this illustration of bodily training to help us to understand this spiritual truth. He compares spiritual exercise with physical exercise. In the physical realm, if you want your weak bicep to be stronger, you train for it. You go to a gym, you lift weights, starting from lighter weights. You break the bicep muscle down so that it can be rebuilt into stronger muscle. And then you add more weight to your training. It is similar in the spiritual realm. If you want godliness in your speech, you train for it. You speak edifying words to your classmates. And then you add more weight to your training. You speak encouraging words for your friends and family to lift them up, to point them to Christ. If you want godliness in your love, you train for it. You start to pay attention to the needs of the people God has put into your life. And then you add more weight. You can show the love of Christ by sincerely asking how they are doing and offering to pray for them. If you want godliness in your purity, you train for it. You start to take an inventory of movies that you watch or websites that you visit that are affecting your purity for Christ. And then you add more weight. You can make a commitment to Christ that you will keep your purity for your future spouse for the glory of God. Think about one weak area in your spiritual life, and train for it, starting now.
I read an interesting article lately. It says some people are addicted to exercise. But I think the issue for most people is not addiction to exercise. The issue for most people is we do not exercise enough, physically and spiritually. We like to parse the verb for apagao, but we don’t want to train to love our neighbors. To be a good servant of Christ Jesus, we need to train for godliness.
Third Principle: Preach the Word Faithfully (2 Tim 4:1-5)
Living the word faithfully will give you the ethos, or the credibility, to preach the word faithfully. The third principle of being a good servant of Christ Jesus is to preach the word faithfully. When I hear preach the word, my heartbeats rise up. I think you all may feel the same as me. After all, this is an advanced preaching course. You do not have to do this, but you choose it. After all, this is why we are here at DTS, right? What is the motto of DTS? κήρυξον τὸν λόγον, preach the word! This verse is from 2 Timothy 4:2. Let go there with me. I like to read 2 Timothy 4:1-5 for us. “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
A full exposition of this passage will require another sermon. I just want to point out one thing, some people do not like sound teaching, they have itching ears, and we will be tempted to preach to please men instead of to please God. Alistair Begg said this in his recent sermon, some people will come to church with this thinking, “tell me lies, tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies.” Chuck Swindoll said something like this at the most recent chapel. He was fired up in the sermon, “there is a famine in the land, and people are hungry, feast on the word and lavishly serve the banquet of God’s Word to God’s people.”
You will be tempted to water down the word of God. You will be tempted to focus on other things in ministry. Commit to κήρυξον τὸν λόγον, preach the word! Write it down in your bible. To be a good servant of Jesus Christ, you need to commit to preaching the word faithfully.
Conclusion
The young DTS graudate in 1967 was Erwin Lutzer. To prepare for this sermon, I read his autobiography, “He Will Be The Preacher: The Story of God’s Providence in My Life.” It was a fascinating read. When facing pressure from pastoral ministry, he received his strength from the Lord by grace, lived the word, and preached the word faithfully. The testimony of his life is that God used him mightily as senior pastor for the Moody Church for 35 years. Imagine if you faithfully obey these principles from the Word of God, how you can be a good servant of Crist Jesus, and how God will mightily use you for His glory in your life and ministry.
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Eternal Rewards for Pastors
/RSS FeedHow you live for Christ in this life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
- Your motives in ministry will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity (1 Cor 4:4-5).
- Your faithfulness in ministry will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity (Luke 19:11-27).
- Your character in life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity （1 Pet 5:1-4).
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Eternal Rewards for Pastors
Introduction
(Image) Imagine your graduation day has finally arrived. You are extremely excited. You have worked very hard for four years. You have been waiting for this day to come. At the graduation service, your friends and family are there. Your fellow graduates are there. The professors are there. The president, Dr. Mark Yarbrough, is there.
Your name is called. You walked up to the stage. Dr. Yarbrough is examining your transcript for a final check. You are standing in front of him nervously. Dr. Yarbrough finally looks up. He said, “we got some problems. First, a professor in the pastoral ministry department has reported that you plagiarize your outline and manuscript. We have decided that you have not been faithful to the task the Lord has called you to do at the seminary. Second, your parents told us you have never called or visited them during seminary. And the scholarship department has reported that you lied about your financial situation. Therefore, we have decided that your character is unsuitable for serving the church as a preacher. And finally, I can read your heart. Your motive to study at seminary is to glorify yourself with your own power by preaching your ideas instead of God’s word. I am sorry to tell you that you have lost your ThM degree.” And then you woke up. You are on your bed, dreaming. It is not graduation day yet.
(Needs) The story was totally made up. Dr. Yarbrough cannot read your heart to find out your motives to study and serve the Lord. But the Lord can. One day, at the end of this church age, the Lord Jesus will return. You will stand before the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of your life and ministry. The judgment seat of Christ is not about eternal salvation. “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph 2:9) . You already have it. You will never lose it. The Lord has paid the price to redeem you at the cross. His precious blood has cleansed all your sins. Your salvation is secure in His hands. The judgment at the judgment seat of Christ is about eternal rewards. How you live your life for Christ will determine your eternal rewards. It is a very important topic for all Christians, especially for teachers in the church, because “we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1).
(Subject) What I want to talk about today is “How you live for Christ in this life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.” We only have one life. We only have one shot. Therefore, we need to take this topic seriously.
(Text and Preview) We will be looking at three passages of scriptures today. They are 1 Corinthians 4:4-5; Luke 19:11-27; and 1 Pet 5:1-4. We will look at one basis for eternal rewards in each passage, for a total of three bases that will determine our rewards in eternity.
Body
Your motives in ministry determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
(Explanation) First, your motives in ministry will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. I get the principle from 1 Corinthians 4:4-5. “For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”
Some of the Corinthians believers have been judging Paul’s motives in ministry. Paul said, “I have examined my heart, as far as I know, I am not aware of anything against myself. But I am not the judge. Christ is”. When the Lord returns, He will reveal the purposes of our hearts. We will receive praise from the Lord based on our motives in ministry.
(Illustration) I believe Paul gave a parable earlier in chapter 3 that illustrates this principle. He gave the parable of builders. A builder could build a building using gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. At the end of the construction, the building will be tested with fire. Only what was built with gold, silver, and precious stones will remain. What was built with wood, hay, and straw will be burned up.
Similarly, at the judgment seat of Christ, all our motives in ministry will be tested. All the purposes of our hearts will be revealed before the Lord. Any work we did with the motive to glorify ourselves instead of glorying God will be burned up. Only the work with motives that please the Lord will remain.
(Application) What is your motive for studying in seminary? What is your motive to serve the Lord? Is your motive to glory your name or to glorify Christ’s name? While you can hide your motive today, you cannot hide from the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ. If your motive is to glorify yourselves, your work will be burned up at the judgment seat of Christ.
Let’s be honest, no one has completely pure motives all the time in this life. All of us will have some self-glorifying motives in ministry. Therefore, you need to frequently ask the Lord to help you examine your motives in ministry. Every time when you embark on a project or ministry, ask yourself this question, “will this glorify Christ or glorify me?” Ask the Lord to give you a pure heart to serve Him. Ask the Lord to reveal more of His love to you so that your motive is to respond to His love and to glory Him. You serve Him because His love compels you. That is why Paul lived for Christ. He reveals his motive in the second letter to the Corinthians, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor 5:14-15).
Your faithfulness in ministry determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.
(Explanation) Not only will your motives determine how Christ will reward you in eternity, your faithfulness to what Christ has entrusted to you will also determines how Christ will reward you in eternity. I get this principle from Luke 19:11-27, the parable of the minas. Jesus told this parable at the end of His journey from Jericho to Jerusalem. It goes like this. A nobleman went to a far country to receive His kingdom. Before he left, he gave one mina, which is about 100 days of wages, equivalent to about $20,000 in today’s money, to each of his ten servants and told them to engage in business until he returned. When the nobleman returned, he ordered the servants to give an account of what they had done with the one mina.
The first servant reported he had turned the one mina to ten minas. The nobleman praised him, “Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little (v17), you shall have authority over ten cities. The second servant reported he had turned the one mina to five minas. And the nobleman rewarded the faithful servant with five cities. But the third servant did not do anything with the one mina. The nobleman took the only mina he had and gave it to the first servant, who had ten minas. What is the point of the parable? Your faithfulness to what Christ has entrusted to you in this life determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.
(Illustration) I used to work in IT. There are two kinds of programmers. The sloppy and the faithful. How can you tell one from the other? A regular person will not be able to tell because it is behind the scenes. What separates a faithful programmer from a sloppy programmer is his code. A sloppy programmer writes code without proper structure and without comments. But a faithful programmer writes code with proper structure and with proper comments so that other programmers can look at the code and know what he is trying to do. A faithful programmer puts in the hard work behind the scenes that is not apparent to the end users.
(Application) Similarly, if you want to be a faithful preacher, you will need to put in the hard work that may not be apparent to the congregation. (Smile) You cannot avoid it. Some people will think you only work for one hour on Sunday when you preach in the pulpit. But none of the work you do will be in vain. The Lord knows all the hard work you put in behind the scenes, and He will reward you lavishly. In the parable, the nobleman lavishly rewards the first servant who turned one mina, about $20,000, to ten minas, about $200,000, with authority over ten cities. When you are faithful in little things, the Lord will reward you with greater responsibilities in eternity.
In today’s celebrity church culture, men praise famous preachers, but the Lord praises faithful preachers. Faithfulness means doing the hard work of exegesis. Faithfulness means do not compromise the word of God in fear of men. Faithfulness means doing the hard work of knowing God’s people and applying the Scriptures to their life. Faithfulness means praying for the flocks God has entrusted you even when no one knows it. Men praise famous preachers, but the Lord praises faithful preachers. Therefore, serve the Lord faithfully with the spiritual gifts the Lord has entrusted to you.
Your character in life determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.
(Explanation) Not only your motives and faithfulness in ministry will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. Your character in life will also determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. I get the principle from 1 Peter 5:1-4. “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
Pastors are not only called to preach the word faithfully; pastors are called to practice the word faithfully. Pastors are also called to be examples to the flock of God. Pastors are not only called to apply the word to the flock of God; pastors are called to apply the word to themselves first. When the Chief Shepherd, Christ, returns, He will judge pastors based on their character in life and will reward those who reflect the character of the Chief Shepherd with the unfading crown of glory. Character matters.
(Illustration) When I was a young man, I used to love cycling. And Lance Armstrong was my hero. After beating testicular cancer that had already spread to other parts of his body in 1996, Lance Armstrong won Tour de France, the most prestigious and difficult race in cycling in the world, in 1999. Not only that, he repeated the victory seven times in a row before retiring at the age of 33! His status was really elevated, and he became one of the most revered athletes of all time. However, in 2012, US Anti-Doping Agency reported that Armstrong cheated in the races with illegal drugs. In 2013, Armstrong publicly admitted that he doped during each of his Tour de France wins. He was stripped of his seven Tour de France victories. Character matters. Because of his character, he lost all seven of his rewards. (pause)
(Application) Similarly, your character in life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. How you love your family will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
How you treat your friends determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.
How you love your neighbors determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.
How you serve the church will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
How you live for Christ in this life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
Your character in life matters.
Therefore, you need to cultivate your character to be more like Christ starting today. Are you spending time with the Lord daily? Do you take time to reflect on your relationship with the Lord and with the people in your life? Are you constantly abiding in the Lord like a branch abiding in the vine? Does your family sense that you love them? Do your friends and classmates sense that you care for them?
I like to suggest two applications for you. First, no matter how busy you are, spend some time alone with the Lord daily. Talk to the Lord. Hear from the Lord. Cultivate your relationship with the Lord. Second, look around you and ask the Lord whom you can show the love of Christ in this stage of your life. Take a step of faith and reach out to that person. Help him, encourage her, support him. Cultivate your character starting today because a Christlike character is not formed in one day. A Christlike character is formed slowly over a long period of walking with the Lord, submitting to His will, trusting Him, and taking small steps of faith daily to extend the love of Christ to people God has put in your life. If you do that, slowly and surely, you will be more like Christ, the Chief Shepard, over time. And when you meet Him at the judgment seat of Christ, you will be rewarded with the unfading crown of glory. Your character in life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
Conclusion
(Close intro Image, cast vision, repeat HP and main points) Imagine it is graduation day. But this time, this is not a dream. It is not DTS graduate day. It is your life graduation day. You are not standing in front of Dr. Yarbrough. You are standing in front of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Chief Shepheard, your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Imagine the Lord praises you because the motives of your ministry are to express your love to Him and to glorify Him. The Lord praises you because you have served the Lord faithfully with the spiritual gifts He has given you. Imagine the Lord rewards you with the unfading crown of glory because your life as an undershepherd reflects the character of the Chief Shepherd. One of the Lord’s faithful preachers, CT Studd, missionary to the Chinese, Indians, and Africans, once said, “Only one life, it will soon be past; only what is done for Christ will last.” You only have one life, one chance, one shot; make it counts for eternity. (HP) How you live for Christ in this life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
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Minister failure is ministry failure (Mark 9:14-29)
/RSS FeedWhat can we learn from the disciples’ failure to cast out a demon?
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No sacrifice is too great for Christ (Mark 1:1-20)
/RSS FeedBecause 1) it is our greatest honor to serve Christ, 2) we should follow Christ’s example, and 3) Christ would turn our sacrifice into something greater than anything we could imagine.
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Don’t Grab (Genesis 25:19-34)
Preached on 2022-7-13 at DTS by Ken Yeo.
Introduction
(Put on headscarf)
My grandpa came from a foreign land, why did he come? Because Yahweh spoke to him. Yahweh promised He will make grandpa’s descendants a nation, give them a land, and the entire world will be blessed through grandpa. When dad was 40 years old, he married mom. However, mom was barren. So dad prayed to Yahweh. After twenty years, finally, Yahweh answered dad’s prayer and mom was pregnant with me.
However, there was a problem, I was not alone in her womb, I had a brother, a twin brother. We fight violently inside mom’s womb. Mom could not stand it, so she prayed to Yahweh, and Yahweh told mom something incredible, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” But, I was not aware it at that time, because I was just a baby in mom’s womb. Therefore I tried to grab my brother’s heel so I could come out first. However I lost the race. Because my brother was stronger, he came out first. He was the firstborn. He had the bekora, the birthright.
My name is Yacov, my parents gave me this name because I am a heel grabber. And my brother name is Esav, because he is a hairy man. Since our births, I have been trying to grab my brother’s heel, because I want his bekora, the birthright.
(Take off headscarf)
You and I are like Jacob. Instead of grabbing for bekora, We grab for name recognition among siblings in our family, we grab for praise and name recognition in seminary, we grab for name recognition in ministry, we grab for name recognition in social media. Sometimes through the grabbing process, we hurt our friends, we hurt our wife, we hurt our children, we hurt our coworkers, we hurt our parents. Is there anything we can do to avoid putting ourselves in these situations? Does the bible reveal to us God’s solution to Jacob’s problem as a grabber? The answer is yes. When we carefully read through the story of Jacob in Genesis, we will conclude that the solution to Jacob’s grabbing problem is to live by faith in God. This is confirmed by the author of Hebrews because he put Jacob in the list of the hall of faith in Hebrews 11. In Jacob’s life, we see that he started with little or no faith in God. But God loves Jacob. He relentlessly used the circumstances in Jacob’s life to build his faith slowly but surely.
Today, we will look at Genesis 25:19-34 to see three reasons why we should live by faith instead of by flesh based on the beginning of Jacob’s life. We will see that the lack of faith to God in Jacob’s life is the source of his problems. Again, we will look at Genesis 25:19-34, the origin of the Jacob’s story. Genesis 25:19-34 talks about three events. First the birth, second the family issues, and third the sells of bekora, the birthright.
Because we are chosen by God (25:17-25)
The first reason we should live by faith not by flesh is because we are chosen by God. Verse 23 tells us that God has chosen the older shall serve the younger. This verse is quoted by Paul in Romans 9:12. Paul’s commentary on this verse is this, “though they (Esau and Jacob) had not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of He who calls”. God has chosen Jacob before he was born, apart of his works, before he did anything good or bad. This is the key verse to understand Jacob’s life. Because God has chosen Jacob, God will work in Jacob’s life to build Jacob’s faith towards God. No matter how bad Jacob’s situations become, God was always there behind the scenes, leading Jacob’s to grow his faith towards God.
We are like Jacob, chosen before the foundation of the earth, for salvation and for the fulfillment of God’s purpose, so that God will be glorified in us and through us. You may be facing a tough situation in life right now. Maybe your money is tight. Maybe you have a relationship issue with your girlfriend or wife. Maybe you are dealing with a very difficult person at ministry or at work. Maybe you are not sure how you can study and serve and raise a family at the same time. No matter what is the problem you are facing right now, God is working behind the scenes because you have been chosen by God. Else you would not be seating here today. Therefore, don’t try to handle the situation with your flesh. Trust God, trust His promises to you that are written in His words, trust that God is sovereign, He is faithful, He is all-powerful, and He is working in your life to accomplish His purposes.
We have looked at first reason why you should live by faith not by flesh. It is because you have been chosen by God. The second reason you should live by faith not by flesh is because life is full of trails.
Because life is full of trials (25:27-28)
Look at verse 27-28 with me. “When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”
Growing up, Jacob probably knew God’s has chosen him to carry out God’s covenant with Abraham and Isaac. However his father loved his elder brother Esau, not him. Jacob would be wondering when will Isaac ever transfer the birthright to him? Will God’s word come true? Imagine the kind of conflicts this cause to Jacob’s family. The conflict between Isaac and Rebekah. The sibling’s rivalry between Esau and Jacob.
You and I are like Jacob. We are chosen by God. God has promised us eternal life in Christ. But God never promised a life without trials. Instead it is the opposite. The Lord Jesus told us “in the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). 1) Some trials are just there because we are living in a fallen world. 2) Some trials are there because Satan is attacking us. 3) Some trials are there because you are the victim of sins of other people in your life.
I don’t need to convince you because you know that. Some of you are going through trials right now. 1) Maybe you are being hurt by someone you loved because of his words or actions. 2) Maybe you are not getting the recognition or appreciation for your hard work at home, at work, at seminary or at ministry. 3) Maybe you are having a conflict with your wife, or your parents, or your siblings, or your children, or your coworkers because they misunderstood your words or motives.
How do you respond to trials in life? 1) Do you grow in bitterness to the person who hurt you, or do you live by faith by praying to God for the capacity to forgive and love the person? 2) Do you take the matter with your own hands to work for recognition and appreciation, or do you live by faith by bringing the matter to God and be content with God’s recognition for your faithfulness? 3) Do you respond to conflict with arguments and anger, or do you live by faith by responding with patience and love to others?
We have looked at two reasons we should live by faith not by flesh. First, because we are chosen by God. Second, because life is full of trials. Now, let’s look at the third reason.
Because we want to avoid the consequences of sins (25:29-34)
The third reason we should live by faith not by flesh is because we want to avoid the consequences of sins. Let’s look at verse 29-34 with me.
“Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.” (Gen 25:29-34)
In this story, we see two negative examples of living by faith. Esau and Jacob are great role models if you want to live by flesh. Jacob took advantage of his brother weakness to obtain the birthright. He wanted the birthright and he wanted it now. “Sell me your birthright now.” “Swear to me now.” He could not wait for God’s timing.
How about you? Maybe you desire a certain ministry result. Maybe you desire to get an internship. Maybe you desire to get a wife. Are you willing to live by faith to trust God in His timing, or do you live by your flesh to grab what you want, now?
Jacob was a person who was willing to sacrifice his relationship with others to grab what he wants. He was willing to get ahead or get protection at the expense of others, including his family.
One time I had an opportunity to lead a group of Chinese Christians to Israel for a study trip. Since that was my first trip as a group leader, I wanted to do well. So I told my wife to seat at the back of the 60 seats tour bus to make it easier for me to work with the tour guide to explain the biblical land while we were on the tour bus. The problem is the tour guide was a rather attractive Jews lady. You could imagine the hurt I have inflicted to my wife. The sad thing was, I did not even know I hurt her at that time because I was blinded by my desire to do well in ministry. I was grabbing for my bekora, at the expense of my wife. My wife was upset with me for a while. By the grace of God we finally reconciled. If I would have asked my wife to seat next to me on the bus, and trust that God would take care of the ministry, I would have avoided the consequence of my sin.
How about you? What is your bekora? 1) Are you getting great grades at the expense of quality time with your wife? 2) Are you getting ahead in your ministry at the expense others? What are you grabbing?
Esau is the reverse. He despised his bekora. He sold his bekora for a cup of red bean soap. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 16 warn us not to be like Esau, because he is immoral, unholy, godless, worldly. How about you? 1) Are you selling your testimony as the disciple of Jesus Christ for worldly gain? 2) Are you selling your spiritual blessings for a cup of red bean soup?
Jacob had to face the consequence of his sins in his life because he did not live by faith in God’s promise. You will face the consequence of sins too if you live by flesh instead of by faith in Christ.
Is there hope for Jacob? Yes! When we read the rest of his story, we see that God never give up on Jacob. The reason is, God has chosen Jacob before his birth. Jacob’s story is an amazing redemption story of God. God relentlessly worked in Jacob’s life in spite of his lack of faith. God patiently worked in Jacob to grow his faith, so that eventually Jacob would become Israel, the father of the nation chosen by God to reveal His redemption plan and ultimately from Israel came the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Like Jacob, you too have hope because have also been chosen by God. No matter what kind of problems you get yourself into in life, God will never give up on you. He will relentlessly work in your life to mold you into the image of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Because those He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, and those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified, He also glorified.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we need to live by faith instead of by flesh because we have been chosen by God, because life is full of trials, and because we want to avoid the consequence of sins.
(Put on headscarf)
My name is Yacov, I am now 147 years-old. I will die soon in Egypt, but I trust Yahweh is going to bring my body, and my people, into the promised land.
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Minister Failure is Ministry Failure (Mark 9:14-29)
Preached on 2022-7-6 at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Introduction
I like you to think of a minister who had failed in his ministry and is well known in the Christian community. I will give you some profiles as examples. A world-famous apologist who believed in his own ability to convince the audience but had a secret perverted sexual lifestyle. A megachurch pastor who believed in his own ability to draw large crowds but had an abusive, authoritarian, bullying lifestyle towards his coworkers and the church members. Do you have a name in your mind yet? Good. You do not have to tell me who he is. Each of you might have different names in your mind because, sadly, there is no lack of ministers who failed in their moral conduct in today’s church. You can verify that with a simple google search for “pastor misconduct.” I am sure none of us want our name to appear in this google search. What can we do to avoid moral failures as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ? As I was doing the research, I noticed a pattern. They were successful in the past, and their success seems to contribute to their failure.
My subject for today is, “Ministry failure is doing ministry by believing in ourselves instead of believing in Christ.” Or, to say it in another way, “Ministry failure is doing ministry by trusting in ourselves instead of trusting in Christ.” The text I was assigned is Mark 9:14-50. Due to time constraints, I will be focusing on Mark 9:14-29 only. This is the story of the disciples failing to cast out an evil spirit from a boy. My devotion has three parts, the problem, the solution, and the application.
Problem: Disciples experienced failure in ministry because they believed in themselves instead of in Christ (9:14-19a).
What is the problem in this passage? To see the problem, we need to see the bigger picture of the book of Mark. In Mark chapter 6, verse 7, Christ has called the twelve, given them authority over the unclean spirits, and sent them out for ministry. And then we are told in verse 13 that they cast out many demons. Fast forward to chapter 9, after Peter, John, and James saw Christ’s transfiguration, they came down from the mountain. Mark wrote in verse 14, “And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw Him, were greatly amazed and ran up to Him and greeted Him. And He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for He has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So, I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And He answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”
The disciples failed to cast out a demon in a boy and ended up arguing with the scribe, and the crowds were watching. Similar situations can be seen today. Pastors’ moral failure has caused arguments among Christians and non-believers on Television and social media. What kind of image is the church portraying to the watching world?
The rest of the story is mostly about the interaction between Jesus and the boy’s father. This is the pattern of the gospels; the Lord oftentimes uses His interaction with other people to teach the disciple what it means to follow Him and be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Brothers, can you relate yourself to the disciples? Have you had ministry failure in the past, and the Lord taught you a spiritual lesson through other people in your life?
Most commentators agree that “O faithless generation” was Jesus’s rebuke towards the disciples. Their previous success in casting out unclean spirits has caused them to have faith in their own experience and ability instead of faith in Christ.
Brothers, we are getting some of the best education in DTS, and some of you have years of ministry experience and success. However, as your knowledge and experiences increase, you will face greater and greater temptation to believe in yourselves instead of believing in Christ in ministry. If you ignore this problem, your pride will continue to grow, and you might end up in the result of a google search of “pastor misconduct.” The worst thing that can happen to you as a minister is not that you failed to grow the size of the ministry that you serve. The worst thing that can happen to you as a minister is failing to grow your trust in the Lord in ministry.
Solution: Jesus used the opportunity to teach the disciples to believe in Him instead of in themselves (9:19b-29).
So, what is the solution? Let’s continue to read the text. Verse 19, after Jesus rebuked the disciples, he instructed them, “Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
After Jesus rebuked the disciples, He instructed them to bring the child to Him. Brothers, we need to bring our challenges to the Lord. This will become harder as we gain more experience because we think we can do ministry with our own strength.
When the spirit attacked the boy again, the father asked the Lord to help his son, although he was not sure Jesus had the ability to help him. Interestingly, Jesus said it is possible for one who believes. Brothers, I think the Lord is teaching us to believe He is all-powerful but also trust Him with the result because He is sovereign. We need to ask Christ for help and also ask that His will be done in our ministry.
Then the father replied that he believed, but he was also honest in asking Jesus to help with his unbelief. Brothers, we as seminarians and ministers are very good at hiding our doubts in ministry. We do not need to hide our weaknesses from the Lord. On the contrary, we need to be real with Jesus. Jesus can handle our doubts. We need to frequently examine ourselves and ask the Lord to help us with our witnesses.
Application: Cultivate a lifestyle of believing in Christ for ministry through prayers.
We talk about the problem and the solution and let’s talk about the application. Let’s read the remaining of this passage. Verse 25 to 29 reads, “And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
Since most of us will not face demon-possessed situations, how do we apply this text in ministry? I think the application of this text to ministers of the gospel is we should not serve the Lord by believing in our own ability. Instead, we should believe in Him. Ministry failure does not happen overnight. It is a result of a lifestyle of trusting in ourselves. Therefore you need to cultivate a lifestyle of trusting the Lord starting from now.
Doing ministry by believing in our own ability is like running a marathon with illegal drugs as your energy drink. You will be disqualified. Doing ministry by believing in Christ is like running a marathon with the official sanctioned energy drink. Chris is our God-sanctioned energy drink. Disciples are called to live by faith in Christ, not faith in ourselves, “My righteous one shall live by faith” (Heb 10:38). “Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6).
A lifestyle of dependency on Christ is cultivated and manifested in prayers, therefore don’t sacrifice your prayer life for seminary and ministry. I urge you can examine your prayer life right now. What is your attitude when you pray? Do you pray out of routine, or do you pray because you truly feel you do not have the ability to write the paper or serve in ministry without Christ? Do you just go through the motion of prayers, or are you honest with God? Do you bring your doubts to Christ, or do you hide from Him? Why don’t you spend some time tonight to pray about what is one thing you can improve in your prayer life to help you to depend more on Christ instead of yourselves in ministry? Maybe you already pray a lot. Maybe you don’t need to pray more, but you need to pray more sincerely.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my proposition is, “Ministry failure is doing ministry by believing in ourselves instead of believing in Jesus.” We have looked at the problem, the solution, and the application. The problem is as we continue to increase in our knowledge and experience in ministry, we will experience more and more temptation to trust in our own ability instead of trusting in Christ in ministry. The solution is to bring your ministry challenge to Christ, believe Christ is all-powerful but trust the result to Him, and be real to Christ by bringing your doubts and weaknesses to Him. The application is to examine your current prayer lifestyle and ask the Lord to reveal one area where you can improve in your prayer life to help you to depend more on Christ in ministry.
No matter how hard we try, we will inevitably experience some failures in ministry, but Christ will never give up on us. He will turn every one of your failures into opportunities to teach you to trust in Him. When the disciples could not cast out the demon, Christ came down from the mountain to look for them. It is Christ who took the initiative to tell the disciples to bring the demon-possessed child to Him. On the surface, the Lord was teaching the father, but what the Lord was doing was teaching the disciples who were watching. The Lord desires the disciples to trust in Him by telling them they need to pray. Brothers, none of us want our name to show up in a google search of pastor misconduct. Let’s cultivate a lifestyle of believing in the Lord instead of ourselves in ministry so that Christ will be glorified through our life and ministry.
