SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/29/2018 7:28 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “Exhortation”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 20:1a,
2b
Message of the verses: “And after the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them…and had given them much exhortation”
I want to finish the long quote from John MacArthur’s
commentary this morning on the problems of not really having a lot of
exhortation in the church in our time.
“A second contribution of the demise of biblical
preaching comes from some who claim to uphold the authority of Scripture. A sad legacy of the fundamentalist and
evangelical movements has been those narrow-minded and legalistic pastors who
are overbearing, compassionless, and harsh.
They abuse the authority of the pulpit.
Ignoring Peter’s warning against ‘lording it over those allotted to
[their] charge’ (I Pet. 5:3), they have in effect set themselves up as little
gods in their churches. They not only
exercise abusive authority in the church but often also in their people’s
private lives, with tragic results. God
expects the shepherds of His flock to feed the sheep, not beat them.
“The preaching of such men is often bombastic
denunciation of those with whom they disagree, or dogmatic declarations of
their particular legalistic concerns.
They play on their people’s emotions, intimidating them into abject
fear. Such ungracious pulpitism may have
contributed as much to the demise of biblical preaching as the undermining of
Scripture’s authority.
“How pastors and congregations view the ministry hinders
sound doctrinal preaching. The apostolic
focus of the ministry on ‘prayer’ and ‘the ministry of the word’ (Acts 6:4) can
be lost amid the demands placed on pastors.
A man who is expected to be visitor, evangelist, counselor, social
worker, and administrator of the church schedule will obviously have little
time left for long hours of rich study in preparation for preaching. Personal sin factors, such as laziness and
apathy toward study by some pastors, have also contributed to preaching’s
demise. (For a biblical view of pastoral ministry, see John MacArthur, ed., Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry [Dallas:
Word, 1995].)
“But nothing currently contributes more to the decline of
biblical preaching than the rise of a market-driven philosophy of
ministry. Attempting to be
‘user-friendly,’ churches have jettisoned preaching in favor of movies, drama,
concerts, the testimonies of Christian superstars, and other forms of
entertainment. And no wonder, since
preaching the biblical truths of sin, judgment, and God’s sovereignty in
salvation is decidedly not user-friendly.
In a philosophy of ministry where pragmatism reigns supreme, the large
crowds drawn by such alternative ‘worship’ services serve to validate
them. Such shortsighted thinking,
however, misses the point. The problem
with churches is not poor attendance but poor spiritual health. And what people need most is not to be
entertained, but to be taught the truths of God’s Word (2 Tim. 4:1-4). (I critique the market-driven philosophy of
ministry that pervades today’s church in my book Ashamed of the Gospel [Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1993].)
“A sure mark of genuine love for the church is selfless,
tireless exhortation from the Word of God.
Though weary, busy, and persecuted, Paul devoted himself to teaching
everywhere he went. His consuming
passion, even at the risk of his life, was to see believers brought to
spiritual maturity. As he expressed it
in Colossians 1:28, ‘We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every
man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.”
So here we have it as far as being able to look for a
church that first of all preaches and teaches the Word of God on a regular way,
and not look for one that specializes in entertainment as a means to get the
people to come to their church. Nothing
can replace the god biblical preaching of the Word of God.
I just finished a book entitled “Winning the Battle for
Your Mind,” last evening and I have to say that this book stepped on my toes in
many parts of it. Richard L. Strauss is
the author of one of my favorite books “The Joy of Knowing God,” has a
wonderful way of showing that the mind is the first step in understanding God,
or it can be what causes a believer to drift from knowing God. I have to say that being convicted after
reading a book, along with understanding what to do about that conviction is
worth the read. Reading wonderful
biblical base books can help a person understand how to grow in their walk with
the Lord as they too are a part of exhortation.
Once again it is so very important to understand what kind of church to
attend, making sure that the focus is on the exhortation of the Word of God,
and not the entertainment of the congregation.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Fourteen days” (Acts 27:27).
Today’s Bible
question: “Where is the parable of the
fig tree found?”
Answer in our next SD.
6/29/2018 8:07 AM
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