THE PRAYER OF A MINOR PROPHET...recovering the reverence of God in ministry

Too much is being made of postmodernism today. It's not that difficult to figure out, comprehend or confront.

The issue in ministry is what it has always been--a right view of God: of His character, of His gospel and of His Word - proclaimed. No one ever lives greater than their view of God.

So much of ministry today is focused on methodology rather than the Master; and everyone is trying to be the smartest guy in the room, trying to figure out new ways to figure out how to breakthrough the postmodern mindset in evangelism today. This is not that complicated beloved. How "culturally-correct" was Elijah when calling down fire on Mount Carmel; when Paul called the Stoic Athenian philosophers to repentance on Mars Hill; when Moses commanded Pharaoh to "let My people go"; when John the Baptist called the Pharisees coming out to see those being baptized as “a brood of vipers”; or when the Lord shrunk Gideon’s armies of 32,000 to 300 against a foe of 135,000, etc.? They weren't; that wasn’t their concern, focus, or preoccupation. They were not concerned with bringing the times into eternity; but brought eternity into time by proclaiming the truth of God's Word and calling people to live in the fear of the Lord.

But today, the face of evangelicalism has been altered so dramatically that it looks "doctrinally disfigured"
suffering from one too many "botox injections" of pragmaticism and ecumenism; with severe "soteriological 'nips and tucks'" that gifted "plastic surgeons" skilled with the scalpel of New Perspectivism, Inclusivism, Open Theism and Postmodernism have cut away so much of authentic gospel "tissue" that what's left is just a synthetic, artificial substitute. The "religious legislative laser technicians" have almost completely burned away the aged wrinkles of faithfulness to God's Word trying to give a "new face of influence" through political activism--turning the body of Christ into just another lobbyist group or political action committee. Seminaries are having "theological lypo-suction" done at such alarming rates that even the doctrinal positions of the Emergent/Emerging Church are looking strangely... "orthodox" by comparison. And "full body makeovers" of local churches are being done so effectively as to not have to look like church, sound like church, act like church, be called a church, or function as a church that they could be featured on a special ecclesiastical episode of "The Swan."

All sardonic metaphor aside,
here's the plain truth: the rule of faith is no longer the Scriptures, but experience; the goal of faith is no longer holiness, but happiness; the purpose of faith is no longer the glory of God, but being 'in conversation' with the culture; and the object of faith is no longer Christ, but self. In other words, 'Evangelical Christianity' is becoming completely unrecognizable.

What's the solution?
We need to recover biblical ministry in the church today; the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (sola fide - justification and imputation); and a high view of God calling people to live in the fear of the Lord. The Lord never lowers His call on His people because of cultural vacillations or proclivities. IOW, you don't need to pepper church ministry with sponsoring "poker night" this week in order to appeal to pomos in your neighborhood.

The right priority of biblical ministry can be summed up in one phrase beloved:
"It's not about us, it's all about Him."

As you read the following prayer written by A.W. Tozer at the beginning of his ministry, may it encourage you to recover the reverence of God in ministry once again.

"O Lord, I have heard Thy voice and was afraid. Thou hast called me to an awesome task in a grave and perilous hour. Thou art about to shake all nations and the earth and also heaven, that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. O Lord, my Lord, Thou hast stooped to honor me to be Thy servant. No man taketh this honor upon himself save he that is called of God as was Aaron. Thou has ordained me Thy messenger to them that are stubborn of heart and hard of hearing. They have rejected Thee, the Master, and it is not to be expected that they will receive me, the servant.

My God, I shall not waste time deploring my weakness nor my unfittedness for the work. The responsibility is not mine, but Thine. Thou hast said, 'I knew thee - I ordained thee - I sanctified thee,' and Thou hast also said, 'Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.' Who am I to argue with Thee or to call into question Thy sovereign choice? The decision is not mine but Thine. So be it, Lord. Thy will, not mine, be done. Well do I know, Thou God of the prophets and the apostles, that as long as I honor Thee Thou wilt honor me. Help me therefore to take this solemn vow to honor Thee in all my future life and labors, whether by gain or by loss, by life or by death, and then to keep that vow unbroken while I live.

It is time, O God, for Thee to work, for the enemy has entered into Thy pastures and the sheep are torn and scattered. And false shepherds abound who deny the danger and laugh at the perils which surround Thy flock. The sheep are deceived by these hirelings and follow them with touching loyalty while the wolf closes in to kill and destroy. I beseech Thee, give me sharp eyes to detect the presence of the enemy; give me understanding to see and courage to report what I see faithfully. Make my voice so like Thine own that even the sick sheep will recognize it and follow Thee.

Lord Jesus, I come to Thee for spiritual preparation. Lay Thy hand upon me. Anoint me with the oil of the New Testament prophet. Forbid that I should become a religious scribe and thus loose my prophetic calling. Save me from the curse that lies dark across the face of the modern clergy, the curse of compromise, of imitation, of professionalism. Save me from judging a church by its size, its popularity or the amount of its yearly offerings.

Help me to remember that I am prophet not a promoter, not a religious manager, but a prophet. Let me never become a slave to the crowds. Heal my soul of carnal ambitions and deliver me from the itch for publicity. Save me from bondage to things. Let me not waste my days puttering around the house. Lay Thy terror upon me, O God, and drive me to the place of prayer where I may wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Deliver me from overeating and late sleeping. Teach me self-discipline that I may be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

I accept hard work and small rewards in this life. I ask for no easy place. I shall try to be blind to the little ways that could make life easier. If others seek the smoother path I shall try to take the hard way without judging them too harshly. I shall expect opposition and try to take it quietly when it comes. Or, if, as sometimes it falleth out to Thy servants, I should have grateful gifts pressed upon me by Thy kindly people, stand by me then and save me from the blight that often follows. Teach me to use whatever I receive in such manner that will not injure my soul nor diminish my spiritual power. And, if in Thy permissive providence honor should come to me from Thy church, let me not forget in that hour I am unworthy of the least of Thy mercies, and that if men knew me as intimately as I know myself they would withhold their honors or bestow them upon others more worthy to receive them.

And now, O Lord of heaven and earth, I consecrate my remaining days to Thee; let them be many or few, as Thou wilt. Let me stand before the great or minister to the poor and lowly; that choice is not mine and I would not influence it if I could. I am Thy servant to do Thy will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame and I choose it above all things on earth or in heaven.

Though I am chosen of Thee and honored by a high and holy calling, let me never forget that I am but a man of dust and ashes, a man with all the natural faults and passions that plague the race of men. I pray Thee, therefore, my Lord and Redeemer, save me from myself while trying to be a blessing to others. Fill me with Thy power by the Holy Spirit, and I will go in Thy strength and tell of Thy righteousness, even Thine only. I will spread abroad the message of redeeming love while my normal powers endure.

Then, dear Lord, when I am old and weary and too tired to go on, have a place ready for me above, and make me to be numbered with Thy saints in glory everlasting. Amen."

-this has been an encore presentation-

WORSHIP IN THE SPIRIT OF GOD; GLORY IN CHRIST JESUS; PLACE NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH...Paul's definition of a Christian

"No Confidence in the Flesh” a Biblical Reflection by John Hendryx

I often make it a practice to familiarize myself with a book of the Bible by reading and saturating myself in it for 30 days in a row. I find this incredibly helpful. If the book is too long to read in one sitting, then I divide it into sections, reading each for 30 days. Currently I am reading through the Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians and ran across some good material that I wanted to share with anyone who will listen.

In chapter 3 of this book Paul gives us one of the best definitions of a Christian available in the Bible. He also contrasts this with the marks of false teachers.

Paul begins the chapter with the wondrous gift of grace with the hopeless pit of sin. He warns the Philippians against false teachers; those, he says, who have confidence in themselves. That is, anyone who adds conditions for salvation in addition to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul likens to Gentile dogs, those who fail to recognize that salvation is wholly of Jesus.

But then in stark contrast to false teaching, Paul defines what a Christian looks like. He calls true Christians “the real circumcision”, i.e. the true covenant people of God. There are three characteristics Paul gives of Christians found in verse 3. He says they are those who:

1) Worship in the Spirit of God
2) Glory in Christ
3) And put no confidence in the flesh

(1) The first mark of a Christian is that they are those who worship in the Spirit.
They are the true circumcision, Paul says. They do not worship in the flesh. The “flesh” here is not referring to our physical bodies, for there is nothing inherently wrong with physicality. What Paul is referring to is human effort or trust in ancestry – trusting in it for our redemption. Worship in the Spirit of God also means that the source of our life and walk in Christ is the Holy Spirit who unites us to Jesus Christ. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.” (John 6:63) Gal 5:25 likewise says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Thus both our conversion and our sanctification can be attributed to the work of Christ applied by the Spirit.

(2) Christians are also defined as those who “glory in Christ” are those who have no hope save in Christ Jesus.
The mark of a Christian here, Paul says, is that they glory in Christ, that is, give our weight to Him, not anything else. To glory in someone one must have affection, desire and are driven by that someone. Christ is the one they will cherish above all [His sinless life, His once for all sacrifice on the cross for the elect, His bodily resurrection from the grave, His rule and reign as Lord and King, His second coming for His church, etc.] Of course this is a constant struggle even for a Christian. There is a constant heavy pull in the world to glory in ourselves or in something else, but the Spirit who lives in us preserves us. We think we can find ourselves in something less than the real thing and so we disbelieve God’s promises. But the Holy Spirit uses such instances to discipline us as children to draw us nearer to Himself.

(3) Lastly a true Christian is one who has “no confidence in the flesh”.
This means they have utterly dispaired of themselves. When the Holy Spirit does a work of grace in someone, He convicts them of their sin. Not just sins, but convicts of the fact that they are sinners by nature and can do nothing to save themselves. There is no pride in physical decent or in natural abilities. This means one who is brought to faith, repents of both their good works and their evil works. Both are equally worthless to God. False teaching glories in something other than in Christ alone, always pointing to something that we can do; a resumé we can bring before God to curry His favor, not realizing that He has already adopted us as sons. Not unlike the older brother in the Prodigal son who glories that he has worked for his father all his life, not realizing that God does not first ask us to meet conditions to obtain his love. Those who have confidence in the flesh also tend to believe in Christ PLUS this or that. That Christ saved them, but they must maintain their justification before God. Glorying in Christ is the antithesis of glorying in the flesh. Pharisees boast before God of what they have done for him. The Christian is one who has empty hands every day and can only thank God for His mercy. He thus relies solely on the righteousness of Christ.

It is the new Covenant in Christ’s blood which “reminds God” not to treat us as our sins deserve. True Christians flee to Christ as their only hope. A mark of maturity is that we no longer are constantly worrying about our own spirituality but rather our focus is on Christ and His accomplishments. Those who are glorying the flesh will exhaust themselves because they are looking to their own resources. The cross is where we find sanctification. Christians flee to Christ as their only hope casting aside all self-confidence and autonomy. Paul calls everything other than Christ “rubbish”. Are we trusting in rubbish or in Christ? A.W. Pink, I believe captures the point in a sentence:

“Just as the sinner's despair of any hope from himself is the first prerequisite of a sound conversion, so the loss of all confidence in himself is the first essential in the believer's growth in grace.”

DOES REGENERATION PRECEDE FAITH?...yes. spiritually dead sinners cannot choose the living Christ as an act of their free will or volition

"...if anyone makes the assistance of grace

depend on the humility or obedience of man

and does not agree that it is a gift of grace itself

that we are obedient and humble,

he contradicts the Apostle who says,

"What have you that you did not receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7),

and, "But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10).

(Council of Orange: Canon 6)

Your Weekly Dose of Gospel
This issue of regeneration preceding faith raises two important questions: 1. is the faith with which we believe a result of man's own ability to trust Christ and His gospel by an act of his will in response to information that he has deduced as true in and of his own free volition? or 2. is the faith with which believe an act of God's grace alone - His gift to us, through the regenerating ministry of the Holy Spirit birthed by hearing the Word of Christ whereby we confess Jesus Christ as Lord unto salvation? IOW, is salvation a matter of us making a decision for Christ; or God choosing us in Christ? AND, why does this really matter?

I offer the following thoughts and hope you will interact with them.

Campius Stephanus
John 6:35-44

-John Hendryx, Monergism.com

Does Jesus himself teach that regeneration precedes faith?

Question: Does Jesus himself teach that regeneration precedes faith?
Answer: Unequivocally, yes.

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe…And he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father’” (John 6:63-65).

In John 6:65, Jesus says to the unbelieving Jews, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me [believe in Me] unless it is granted him by the Father.” ...No one (universal negative) can believe the gospel, UNLESS God grants it. But in saying, “This is why…” Jesus is referring to the previous verse (v. 64) where He says, “But there are some of you who do not believe.” Belief in Jesus or, as in this instance, a lack thereof is synonymous with the metaphorical idea of “coming” to Jesus. The phrase “but there are some of you...” likewise refers to its own preceding verse (v. 63) where Jesus explains, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.” Note that Jesus does not say the flesh – i.e. human ability – helps a little; instead, he unflinchingly declares that the flesh is no help at all (or, as some versions render the last phrase, “avails for nothing”). “No help for what?” we ask. No help for giving “life.” Only the Spirit gives life (that is, quickens) and it is because of the Spirit’s exclusive role in giving life coupled with the flesh’s inability to give life that some do not believe: “No one can come to Me [believe in Me] unless God grants it.” Just as faith in Jesus and the metaphorical act of coming to Jesus are synonymous, so too God’s “granting” the believer’s coming and the Spirit’s giving of spiritual life are also synonymous. In other words, unless God grants the unbeliever faith though the quickening work of the Holy Spirit, no one will come to Christ. Said negatively, those who do not come to Jesus refuse to approach him precisely because God has not “granted” them to come by changing their naturally hostile disposition toward Him. He leaves them to their own boasted will. It is the Spirit’s giving of life and the Father’s granting of approach that leads from unbelief to faith and not the other way around.

Steve Camp
First of all, we can all take comfort that not even a “bad invitation” can keep the elect from coming to know the Lord. This not only gives comfort in the face of cheap invitationalism, but in the wake of the shallow emerging/emergent seeker sensible ecumenical carnal invitationalism being propagated today. But, we don’t want to frustrate grace either; so yes it does matter. Finneyism, the father of all contemporary make-a-decision-for-Jesus kind of thing, left in its wake many “temporary converts” as Finney himself on his death bed referred to them. The faulty methods eventually breed a faulty gospel (e.g. The Downgrade Controversy).

Secondly, the gospel is not an offer to unregenerate men; it is a call to unregenerate men. A call to repentance from sin (Luke 24:46-49; Acts 2:38, 17:30-31; 2 Peter 3:9); a command to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus Christ as Lord (Roms. 10:9-10; Matt. 16:24-26); and a compelling to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18-21)..

Thirdly, as reformed, I believe that regeneration precedes faith (Titus 3:4-7; 1 Cor. 12:3). IOW, faith is not the instrument which produces regeneration; it is the by-product of one being regenerated. Faith is not a decision; it is a work of grace by God unto salvation. Even the godly sorrow over sin which leads to repentance is the will of God (2 Cor. 7:10).

The 1689 London Baptist Confession affirms this as well:

Saving Faith:
1. The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word;

Effectual Calling:
2. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man, nor from any power or agency in the creature, being wholly passive therein, being dead in sins and trespasses, until being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit; he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it, and that by no less power than that which raised up Christ from the dead.

Justification:
1. Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness by faith, which faith they have not of themselves; it is the gift of God.

4. God did from all eternity decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sins, and rise again for their justification; nevertheless, they are not justified personally, until the Holy Spirit doth in time due actually apply Christ unto them.

Fourthly, making-a-decision invitational-altar-callism embraces the “free will of man” in salvation and denies the doctrine of total inability. It places man as the essential deciding factor in obtaining eternal life denying sovereign grace and election, predestination, foreknowledge and the covenant of redemption. Furthermore, decision-making would also imply the necessity of a sinner’s prayer promoting an easy-believism which would lead one to embrace a non-Lordship view of salvation.

Is Faith Then a Decision We Make Apart From Regeneration by the Holy Spirit?
Decision could be defined as:

a choice made by an act of the will in response to understanding certain information; or a conclusion or resolution reached after consideration.

That definition functionally could rightly be applied if we are buying a new car, a pair of jeans, some groceries, an iPod, or choosing a school for our kids, etc. BUT, when it comes to salvation we cannot simply say that it is “a decision.” Why? Because, before anyone is regenerated unto eternal life through the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus Christ as Lord, we are dead in trespass and sin; by nature children of wrath; no one seeking after God, no one doing what is good, having no fear of God before their eyes, etc. (Roms. 3:10-18; Eph. 2:1-3).

Therefore, if the nature of man being so depraved—so sinful--possessing no ability in and of itself to understand or believe the correct biblical account of the gospel resulting in faith in Jesus for eternal life, he would be sanctioned forever in the fires of perdition eternally unless regeneration had taken place within him already; quickening him by the Holy Spirit upon hearing the Word of Christ, to make confession that Jesus Christ as Lord and believing in his heart that God has raised Him from the dead as to be saved.  Otherwise, one would have to affirm that totally depraved-man IS a moral free independent agent, whom can exercise saving faith in the gospel of sola fide as act of their own will, able to make-a-decision to follow Christ unto eternal life without the Spirit of God first quickening his soul to embrace the gospel.  And that beloved is nothing but the sand of man's own imagination, which I could never affirm.  

Such is the pride of sinners; 

thinking too great of themselves 

and too little of God, in the 

redemption of their lost soul.

Biblically, regeneration--being born again--is not produced because faith is a-decision-we-make. Regeneration precedes faith; it is the quickening of the Spirit of God upon the spiritually dead hearts and souls of the lost sons of Adam, so that we, by His grace alone, can make a confession of Jesus Christ as Lord unto salvation. Faith, then, is always the decision that follows regeneration and never precedes regeneration.

So, if someone might say that the visible sign that we see of man making a decision to follow Jesus Christ is based upon man’s ability to choose Him (faith) when presented the right information about the gospel – that would be unbiblical. However, if someone is saying that the visible sign that we see of man making a decision to follow Jesus Christ as Lord is only in response to that man being regenerated by the Spirit of God and the Word of Christ being used by the Spirit to produce faith within him so that now being made alive in Christ through the Spirit will always manifest a true and genuine confession of Christ as Lord in repentance of sin and a visible decision to follow Him – then that would be biblical.

Is God A Spectator or Originator in Salvation?
Is God a spectator in regeneration; or the originator in regeneration? I believe the later (Titus 3:4-7; Eph. 1:4-14; 1 Cor. 12:3; Heb. 12:2) and that this is what constitutes biblical evangelism and thus, a biblical gospel. If, "salvation is of the Lord" then it is all of grace; God coming to sinful through the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ and redeeming for Himself a remnant people that He has predestined from all eternity past for His own possession, purpose and glory.

As a reformed Christian, both biblically and confessionally, I firmly believe that grace must be at work in regeneration through the Spirit of God in the unregenerate for faith to be birthed and then exercised by confession for salvation to occur. Otherwise, “faith as a decision” unto eternal life IS based on ones “smart quotient” to “get” the information vs. another not getting it.

Consider the following words, from ages past, by two great divines: Spurgeon and Bonar:

Charles Spurgeon
Faith is chosen by God to be the receiver of salvation, because it does not pretend to create salvation, nor to help in it, but it is content humbly to receive it. Faith is the tongue that begs pardon, the hand which receives it, and the eye which sees it; but it is not the price which buys it. Faith never makes herself her own plea, she rests all her argument upon the blood of Christ. She becomes a good servant to bring the riches of the Lord Jesus to the soul, because she acknowledges whence she drew them, and owns that grace alone entrusted her with them.

Horatius Bonar
Faith is not satisfaction to God. In no sense and in no aspect can faith be said to satisfy God, or to satisfy the law. Yet if it is to be our righteousness, it must satisfy. Being imperfect, it cannot satisfy; being human, it cannot satisfy, even though it were perfect That which satisfies must be capable of bearing our guilt; and that which bears our guilt must be not only perfect, but divine. It is a sin-bearer that we need, and our faith cannot be a sin-bearer. Faith can expiate no guilt; can accomplish no propitiation; can pay no penalty; can wash away no stain; can provide no righteousness. It brings us to the cross, where there is expiation, and propitiation, and payment, and cleansing, and righteousness; but in itself it has no merit and no virtue.

Faith is not Christ, nor the cross of Christ. Faith is not the blood, nor the sacrifice; it is not the altar, nor the laver, nor the mercy-seat, nor the incense. It does not work, but accepts a work done ages ago; it does not wash, but leads us to the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. It does not create; it merely links us to that new thing which was created when the “everlasting righteousness” was brought in (Dan 9:24).

And as faith goes on, so it continues; always the beggar’s outstretched hand, never the rich man’s gold; always the cable, never the anchor, the knocker, not the door, or the palace, or the table; the handmaid, not the mistress; the lattice which lets in the light, not the sun.

Without worthiness in itself, it knits us to the infinite worthiness of Him in whom the Father delights; and so knitting us, presents us perfect in the perfection of another. Though it is not the foundation laid in Zion, it brings us to that foundation, and keeps us there, “grounded and settled” (Col 1:23), that we may not be moved away from the hope of the gospel. Though it is not “the gospel,” the “glad tidings,” it receives these good news as God’s eternal verities, and bids the soul rejoice in them; though it is not the burnt-offering, it stands still and gazes on the ascending flame, which assures us that the wrath which should have consumed the sinner has fallen upon the Substitute.

Though faith is not “the righteousness,” it is the tie between it and us. It realizes our present standing before God in the excellency of His own Son; and it tells us that our eternal standing, in the ages to come, is in the same excellency, and depends on the perpetuity of that righteousness which can never change. For never shall we put off that Christ whom we put on when we believed (Rom 12:14; Gal 3:27). This divine raiment is “to everlasting.” It waxes not old, it cannot be rent, and its beauty fadeth not away.