SUFFERING FROM TRUTH DECAY?...brush up on your Bible

I was driving by a church when a friend of mine commented on their marquee displayed out on their front lawn. It said, "Suffering from "truth" decay? Brush up on your Bible."

Nashville is in the South and sometimes the "corn factor" is inescapable. But this simple country phrase above really sums up the raison d'être for the "decay" we are experiencing in evangelicalism today... the failure to honor Sola Scriptura. An overdose of sugar, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, etc. can cause tooth decay, produce nasty little cavities and contribute to other bothersome dental problems. In like manner, a spiritual diet of processed theology, sweetened doctrine, and sugary platitudes consisting of seeker friendly, Word/Faith, purpose driven, positive thinking, emergent/emerging, human potentiality, psychobabble will slowly erode "the teeth" of biblical Christianity.

How we do correct this "medical malady?" Through painful, but necessary surgery that gets right to the diseased "root." May we not be content with “sermonettes for Christianettes” from the pulpits of evangelical churches on any Lord’s Day. But, may we hear pastors once again PREACH THE WORD; seeking not to be humorous, liked, entertaining, or only displaying felt-need sensitivity.

The Psalmist gives the only sure cure for truth decay; the "double-edged" scalpel of the sufficient Word of God.

"The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward."
-Psalm 19:7-11

WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE LIVING BIBLE TEACHERS/PREACHERS?...here's my top ten

There's always a danger in making lists that include some and not others. But I wanted to share with you some of the men of God that I listen to or read with great interest frequently and who faithfully teach me the Word of God. I limited the list to ten though there are several others (Irwin Lutzer, Mark Dever, Mark Driscoll, Alistair Begg, Matt Chandler, Tom Ascol, Don Kistler, D.A. Carson, Steve Lawson, etc.) that I could have included as well.

Who are your choices? Please share them in the meta. And as you are mentioning their names, may I encourage us all to pray for them faithfully each day. And especially our own local pastors who faithfully shepherd the flock of God among us.

Grace and truth,
2 Tim. 4:1-5

1. John MacArthur

2. R.C. Sproul

3. Eric Alexander

4. Mike Fabarez

5. Al Mohler

6. Ligon Duncan

7. John Piper

8. Sinclair Fergusen

9. Jerry Bridges

10. James White

RECOVERING A REVERENCE FOR GOD IN EVANGELISM..."the great judgment" by Billy Graham (1958)

My father worked with Billy in the early days and helped launch his ministry in radio around the country. This is the evangelist/Bible preacher I so appreciate. My friend, the late Stephen Olford, told me once of his early encounter with Billy before the Lord granted him a wider audience to preach to. He said that Billy's preaching was average, his understanding of biblical truths ordinary, and the results almost nonexistent. But they embarked together on a journey spiritually over the next several weeks of confession of and repentance of sin; and a concentrated study of God's Word and long seasons of prayer.

I will never forget what Dr. Olford then said to me,

"Steve, for reasons known only to heaven, the next time Billy preached the Holy Spirit was at work; people came and filled the churches; and before the end of the sermon could even be concluded, they were streaming down the aisles in repentance of their sins to receive and follow the Lord Jesus Christ."

How I treasured hearing this message this evening and I pray it will encourage your soul as well. Oh for THAT Dr. Graham to be duplicated once again in today's young men of God seeking to serve the Lord Jesus! There was never the mark in those crusades of the sooty ordure of the culturally driven preachers like there is today. On the contrary: the Word preached faithfully and the gospel presented clearly.

True biblical ministry is not defined by the times, but by the truth of God's Word. It was enough then... and it should be enough in ministry today as well.

Amen? Amen!

THE MARK OF A MAN OF GOD...reverence, maturity, wisdom, faithfulness, truthfulness, the fear of the Lord, honor, and discipline

My lips will pour forth praise,

for you teach me your statutes.

My tongue will sing of your word,

for all your commandments are right.

-Psalm 119:171-172

Sinclair Ferguson spoke at the Desiring God Conference last evening and was brilliant. His message was entitled, "The Tongue, the Bridle, and the Blessing: An Exposition of James 3:1-12."

He was Christ-exalting; God-glorifying; and Spirit-empowering. He preached not as one consumed with self-promotion or trying to appeal to an audience. But he preached to an Audience of One as a man who trembled at God's Word and as a tried and tested servant of the Lord Jesus Christ from behind the sacred desk.

He was thoroughly biblical, theological, doctrinal, expositional, exegetical and practical. He spoke with authority; he spoke with grace, but wielding the double-edge Sword of the Spirit with the skill of a surgeon's scalpel and not the recklessness of a machete. He did not frustrate grace, insult the Lord, turn the truth of God into lascivious comedy, contextualize the message, succumb to cultural pragmatics, or introduce demeaning ribald speech marked by the ordure of depravity to communicate these great truths of the Bible.

But with dignity, grace. and truth, he brought honor to the Lord, glory to His gospel, and reverence to His Word.

May his tribe increase.

How I thank the Lord for this faithful soldier, disciplined athlete and hard-working farmer of the faith (2 Tim. 2:3-6). Clearly, this is a man approved unto God, a workman unashamed, who cuts straight the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15).

The bar has been set beloved; and it is set very high.

Here is Sinclair's resolutions on the taming of the tongue taken from the book of James. They are powerful, convicting, humbling and encouraging. May they stir your heart as they have mine this very hour.

• James 1:5 To ask God for wisdom to speak and with a single mind
  
• James 1:9-10 To boast only in exaltation in Christ, & humiliation in world
  
• James 1:13 To set a watch over my mouth
  
• James 1:19 To be constantly quick to hear, slow to speak
  
• James 2:1-4 To learn the gospel way of speaking to poor and the rich
  
• James 2:12 To speak always in the consciousness of the final judgment
  
• James 2:16 To never stand on anyone’s face with my words
  
• James 3:14 To never claim as reality something I do not experience
  
• James 4:1 To resist quarrelsome words in order to mortify a quarrelsome heart
  
• James 4:11 To never speak evil of another
  
• James 4:13 To never boast in what I will accomplish
  
• James 4:15 To always speak as one subject to the providences of God
  
• James 5:9 To never grumble, knowing that the Judge is at the door
  
• James 5:12 To never allow anything but total integrity in my speech
  
• James 5:13 To speak to God in prayer whenever I suffer
  
• James 5:14 To sing praises to God whenever I am cheerful
  
• James 5:14 To ask for the prayers of others when I am sick
  
• James 5:15 To confess it freely whenever I have failed
  
• James 5:15 To pray with and for one another when I am together with others
  
• James 5:19 To speak words of restoration when I see another wander
  

His unworthy servant in His unfailing love,

Steve

Psalm 145:21

TO THIS ONE WILL I LOOK...God's men in ministry should be different than the world around them

updated

All these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

But this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.

-ISAIAH 66:2

The profane should never mark the pulpits of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Men of God used to tremble at God's Word, preach in the fear of the Lord as they sought to rightly divide His Word, and guarded their words carefully when calling others to be obedient to its truth. They treated sin as the Bible treats it; in that it took the Lord of glory to shed His precious blood on Calvary to propitiate the Father on behalf of the sins of the elect. They didn't consider it a laughable or trivial thing when speaking from the holy text and declaring "thus saith the Lord." They weren't promoters, they were prophets; they weren't showmen, they were shepherds; they weren't entertainers, they were expositors; they weren't popinjays, they were prayer warriors; they weren't stars, they were servants; and they weren't primarily men of the times, they were passionate men of the truth.

Now today the pulpiteers are different. They strut, mock, deride, promote the profane, use scatological speech. smutty humor, tell little stories, want to appeal to culture, and think of attending a live concert by Chris Rock as their best homiletics class they have ever been too.

No wonder the church in America is 3,000 miles wide and a half inch deep; and why it lacks power and stands to reason why 3,500 churches are closing their doors every year. 

"Like people... like priest."

Men of God... do you hear the heavenly charge of your office ringing in your ears this very hour? That charge is not to be relevant; it is not to relate to the culture; it is not to be ribald in your speech; it is not to enlarge your own reputation; it is not to wrest the Scriptures to satisfy the itching ears of restless rebels of the gospel. 

Hear the word of the Lord:

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. -2 Timothy 4:1-5

Oh for men of God whom are serious, solemn and sober-minded to do be that kind of pastor once again. 

Yokefellows of the gospel: may I humbly encourage you to preach each week from the sacred desk for an Audience of One; and then trust the Lord that HE will add to His church daily such as to be saved. Amen?

It is as John Gill has rightly said when expositing 2 Cor. 4:2, 5:

But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty...
Or "shame"; this is a further account of the conduct of the first ministers of the Gospel, and very worthy of our imitation, and in which the apostle strikes at the different manner of behavior in the false apostles: this may respect both doctrine and practice; they abhorred and rejected everything that was scandalous and reproachful to the Gospel of Christ; in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, they had their conversation in the world; they were open and above board, both in principle and practice; the same men in public, as in private; they used no art to cover their doctrines, or hide their conversations; everything of this kind was detestable to them; whereas the false teachers took a great deal of pains to colour over both their sentiments and their lives; and "a shame it was to speak of the things that were done of them in secret," Ephesians 5:12.

Moreover, they were not walking in craftiness;
they used no sly and artful methods to please men, to gain applause from them, or make merchandise of them; they did not lie in wait to deceive, watching an opportunity to work upon credulous and incautious minds; they did not, by good words and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of the simple; nor put on different forms, or make different appearances, in order to suit themselves to the different tempers and tastes of men, as did the false apostles:


not handling the word of God deceitfully.
They did not corrupt it with human doctrines, or mix and blend it with philosophy, and vain deceit; they did not wrest the Scriptures to serve any carnal or worldly purpose or conceal any part of truth, or keep back any thing which might be profitable to the churches:



but by the manifestation of the truth, commending themselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God;
that is, they with all plainness and evidence clearly preached the truth as it is in Jesus, presenting it to, and pressing it upon the consciences of men; where they left it, and to which they could appeal; and all this they did, in the sight and presence of the omniscient God, to whom they knew they must give an account of themselves and their ministry.

For we preach not ourselves...
These words contain a reason why the apostles behaved themselves in the manner described, 2 Corinthians 4:2 and serve to explain in what sense this inspired writer is to be understood, when he calls the Gospel our Gospel, 2 Corinthians 4:3 and most clearly proves the Gospel to be a glorious one, which he had asserted, 2 Corinthians 4:4 since Christ, and not themselves, is the subject of it, "for we preach not ourselves." They did not preach any doctrine of their own devising; they did not set up themselves as lords over the faith and consciences of men; nor was their view in preaching to set forth their learning, parts, and eloquence, or to amass wealth and riches to themselves; nor did they assert the purity of human nature, or the power of man to do anything of himself that is spiritually good; or that justification and salvation are by works of righteousness done by men.

To do any, or each, or all of these, as did the false apostles, is to preach a man's self: but so did not these faithful dispensers of the word, but they preached Christ Jesus the Lord; that is, the doctrines respecting the person, office, and grace of Christ; as that he is truly and properly God, the eternal and only begotten Son of God, God and man in one person, the only Mediator between God and man, and the Saviour and Redeemer of lost sinners; that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the true Messiah; and that this Christ is Jesus, a Saviour, the only able and willing one; and that this Jesus Christ is "Lord" of all, especially of the saints; not only as Creator, but as their head, husband, and Redeemer; that peace and reconciliation, pardon and righteousness, life and salvation, are only by him: and they also declared themselves the servants of the churches, and ourselves your servants. The apostle does not say they were the servants of Christ, though they were, and esteemed it their greatest honour to be so; for he had no need to observe this, since this is included in their preaching him as "Lord": nor does he say they were the servants of men, or menpleasers, for then they would not be the servants of Christ; but he asserts them to be the servants of the churches: and which must be understood, not with respect to things temporal, with which they had no concern; but with regard to things spiritual, particularly to the ministration of the word, and administration of ordinances: and this they professed to be, or Jesus' sake; either for the sake of preaching Christ unto them; or because they were chosen and called by him to this service, and in which they were willing to continue, for the sake of his honour and interest.

May we pray for a new generation of godly men who will take seriously the Word, the pulpit, His church, and the ministry once again.

THE HOLINESS OF GOD...preach the Word with fear and trembling and do not treat it as a humorous thing or of your own opinion

When a man of God enters the pulpit and stands behind the sacred desk to preach God's Word, he should do so with humility, brokenness, urgency, and under the charge of heaven to preach the Word, in season and out of season - and nothing but the Word. His aim is not to tickle ears, or appeal to the congregation, to raise the level of their yearly offerings, to increase attendance, or relate to the culture. His duty is God to proclaim His Word cut straight and to call people to live in obedience to its truths.

If a man does not Preach the Word rightly divided (2 Tim. 2:15) and is only offering his opinions on any given passage, then he has not preached the Word. The people do not need to hear a man’s “take” on a given passage, but to actually hear and know the Word itself - to understand the sense of it; what it actually means; and what it says (Neh. 8:8). If a pastor has wrongly divided God’s Word according to only his own proclivities, moorings, and opinions and not according to the consistent truth of Scripture, and has declared his message to be, “thus saith the Lord” - then that man, regardless of the response of the hearers, is under God’s judgment (James 3:1; 2 Peter 3:16).

How awesome the task for any of us who proclaim the gospel and preach God’s Word to rightly divide it as workmen unashamed, approved unto God; not offering our opinions; but declaring it as it is in fact, the very Word of God (1 Thess. 2:13).

When Isaiah saw a right view of the holiness of God in Isaiah 6, he also saw a right view of his own sin and sinfulness. His first response was not to be funny, cute, witty, jovial, culturally relevant, hip, trendy, etc. The Scriptures tell us that he “came undone”; he pronounced eternal damnation on his sin sick soul when he said in agony “woe is me…” He was brought low and trembled with reverence and godly fear before the one true Lord God of all to whom he would (and you and I as well) would give an account. Is it any wonder, when he was given forgiveness for his sins and was restored to ministry, that this same prophet declared these words: “to this one will I look; who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My Word.” (Is. 66:2).

We don’t see much trembling in the pulpit these days do we beloved? We see men of God strutting; wanting to mimic Chris Rock, be culturally relevant, humorous, on the cutting edge, etc. - but void of true heaven sent power in their preaching. They are drawing crowds, these self made prophets, but heaven is as brass to their easy, smooth words (Isaiah 30:10-12).

“Oh Lord, bring revival to the pulpits of our churches once again. Let these men, called by You, charged by heaven to preach the Word in season and out of season. And may they preach not themselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord! Amen.”

Preach the Word

Neh. 8:8 They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.

2Tim. 4:1 ¶ I solemnly 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:
2Tim. 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

Is. 6:1 ¶ In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
Is. 6:2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
Is. 6:3 And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”
Is. 6:4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Is. 6:5 Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

Is. 66:2 “For My hand made all these things,
Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD.
“But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

2Cor. 5:11 ¶ Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.

2Cor. 4:5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.
2Cor. 4:6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
2Cor. 4:7 ¶ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;