Goto New website: gfmanchester.com
Terry Rayburn at Grace For Life has written a reformation article examining a current attack on Justification by Faith. Here is a quote:
Until Nov 1, you can download Martin Luther's reformation 24 minute speech whilst on trial "Here I Stand" HERE.
Torchlighters (Voice of the Martyrs) have produced yet another excellent and inspiring DVD. As always there is a 30 min cartoon for children (but they're also good for adults, I've so far cried at each one), and on top of that there is a one hour documentary on the disc.
The October Book Giveaway has now been drawn. The two winners of the The Truth About Man Study Book By Paul Washer are:
"Why do men come to hear if the word never enters their hearts? That has often puzzled us. Some hearers would not be absent on the Sunday on any account; they are delighted to come up with us to worship, but yet the tear never trickles down their cheek, their soul never mounts up to heaven on the wings of praise, nor do they truly join in our confessions of sin. They do not think of the wrath to come, nor of the future state of their souls. Their heart is as iron; the minister might as well speak to a heap of stones as preach to them. What brings these senseless sinners here? Surely we are as hopeful of converting lions and leopards as these untamed, insensible hearts. Oh feeling! Thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason! Do these people come to our assemblies because it is respectable to attend a place of worship? Or is it that their coming helps to make them comfortable in their sins? If they stopped away conscience would prick them; but they come hither that they may flatter themselves with the notion that they are religious. Oh! My hearers, your case is one that might make an angel weep! How sad to have the sun of the gospel shining on your faces, and yet to have blind eyes that never see the light. The music of heaven is lost upon you, for you have no ears to hear. You can catch the turn of a phrase, you can appreciate the poetry of an illustration, but the hidden meaning, the divine life you do not perceive. You sit at the marriage-feast, but you eat not of the dainties; the bells of heaven ring with joy over ransomed spirits, but you live unransomed, without God, and without Christ. Though we plead with you, and pray for you, and weep over you, you still remain as hardened, as careless, and as thoughtless as ever you were. May God have mercy on you, and break up your hard hearts, that his word may abide in you."~Charles Spurgeon
Let's begin with a passage of Scripture from Romans 1:8-12. Paul says to the church:
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.
I would like to discuss our responsibility to minister to our pastor. We have heard many times that all Christians are ministers, according to Ephesians 4:12. We stress in our Sunday school classes the need to pray for each other and encourage each other in the faith, but I think we are prone to forget that our pastor is one of us. So I want to remind us why we need to minister to our pastor, how we might do it better, and what we can hope for as a result.
First, why must we minister to our pastor? The reason is that he is a human and a fellow believer like us. As a man, he is just as susceptible to temptations as any of us. Faith isn't automatic for him just because he is a pastor. It is no easier for him to be a loving, hopeful person than it is for us. His resources in the fight of faith are no greater than ours. He is one of us.
More than that, the unique burdens of his calling demand our faithful ministry to him; for example, the administrative burden of seeing that a hundred details are taken care of. Most of these we are never even aware of. Then there is the burden of hearing and delivering messages from God week after week. Don't ever think that these messages come easily for a pastor. If they are consistently Biblical, they require much hard work. Many tears are shed in a pastor's study over sermons that just won't come. If we feel spiritually dry we might skip church or come for renewal, but where can a pastor go?
Then there is the burden of wanting his people to act more like Jesus and be the light of the world. Paul said to the Galatians (4:19), "I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!" Nothing weighs heavier on a pastor's heart than when his people don’t grow in faith, love, and righteousness.
You could all make a longer list of pastoral pressures, but now let's consider how we can minister to our pastor.
The best way to bear the burden of your pastor is to be a Christian. Paul said in Philippians 2:2-3, "Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." In other words, nothing will refresh our pastor like a humble, loving, Christ-like congregation. Paul said to the Roman church, "I long to see you … that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith" (1:11-12). Our faith is a source of great encouragement to our pastor. So let's be a believing people.
Besides this, I have three specific suggestions of things we can do to build our pastor up and increase the fruitfulness of his ministry.
1) Pray for him every day. Write it down so you don't forget. And don't just say, "God bless the pastor.” Be specific. Pray for his health, his messages, his family, his visiting, his flaws and weaknesses. Put yourself in his place and try to feel with him as you pray.
2) Second, go out of your way to say some gracious words of encouragement. Write him a note on the registration card, send a letter now and then to his home; call him up on the phone. Get him alone sometime, look him right in the face, and say, "I appreciate your work, pastor, and I am praying for you every day." Don't be satisfied with platitudes at the door after Sunday services.
3) Third, admonish him in a spirit of forgiveness. I have never talked to anyone in my life who is completely satisfied with his pastor. There is a very simple reason: All men are imperfect. Some people never seem to learn this. and they hop from church to church in search of the flawless pastor. That's hopeless. It is far better to find a church where you feel at home and to consider it your lifelong responsibility to help the pastor grow. Everyone would like to change something about his pastor, but how many of us have devoted ourselves to earnest prayer about that thing? And how many have sat down with him and with a humble, forgiving spirit admonished him to change? If we love him we will do it ... and he is not all that scary to talk to.
Those are just some of the ways to minister to your pastor. You think of others.
The final question I raised was, what can we hope for as a result of our ministry? In short, we can hope for a refreshed, hopeful, invigorated pastor. Thus our ministry to him will come back to us like a boomerang and will create a refreshed, hopeful, and invigorated people. Then the world will know that Christ is real and is at work among us.
John Piper.
Thank's to Charles and Mona Leiter of Lake Road Chapel we have two copies of Paul Washer's Truth About Man for our October Book Giveaway. Open to residents of Europe; to enter please EMAIL ME your name and address. Draw will take place on Tue 27 Oct:
Listen to our sermon series on the attributes of God.
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