This weekend, I’ll be preaching from Joshua 2 concerning the scarlet thread that runs through all of Scripture, foreshadowed and typified by the scarlet line which Rahab the harlot let down from her window. That scarlet thread signaled to the approaching Israelites that everyone in her household should be spared because of their acting by faith that God was God and Savior alone.
This awesome passage, and the theme itself, always reminds me of one of the most inspiring sermons I’ve ever heard… W. A. Criswell’s The Scarlet Thread. He preached through the entire Bible on a New Year’s Eve. The sermon is preserved at wacriswell.org and I’ve posted the links below to the message’s three separate parts. Listen…
The Scarlet Thread Through the Bible Part 1
The Scarlet Thread Through the Bible Part 2
The Scarlet Thread Through the Bible Part 3
I became a Pastor in February of 1997, almost 12 years ago. In that 12 years, I’ve learned a lot about the Scriptures, about theology, and about the methodologies of ministry. But one of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned is to really love people. In one of my early pastorates, I received some advice that, had I taken it, would have in some respects stripped joy all but completely from my life. I was told never to get close to anyone. Always remember that “they” might turn on you. Never trust, never have close friends. I’m so glad I refused that advice.
Even in a leadership situation where I was hurt by many of the words of other people, God also taught me to love people without condition. When Angie and I moved to Kentucky, we fell in love with many people. We enjoyed almost eight wonderful years at Scottsville Road Baptist Church because we loved the people, and they loved us back. It made parting difficult, but God taught us so much there.
Now, living in northwest Arkansas and serving Bethel Baptist Church, we feel overwhelmed and blessed with some of the best friends we’ve ever had and one of the most loving churches in the entire world. This morning, I was reading a sermon by W. A. Criswell on love and he had these words to share…
However, eloquent we may be, however gifted, however wonderfully blessed of God with nine and ten talents, if our spirit is crude and rude and rough, if our heart is not filled with the milk of human kindness, if we’re not actuated and motivated by a wonderful care and concern for God’s fellow creatures, our eloquence is like sounding brass and clanging cymbal. Our gifts of the spirit are nothing and our very philanthropies fall to the ground.
I want to challenge every Pastor, every leader, every fellow human being reading this post to remember to love people. Open up, take the risk, make a connection, trust someone, show affection and appreciation, and lavish upon yourself the joy of loving others, beginning with Jesus Christ.
W. A. Criswell defined teaching (from the pulpit) as “instructing a man in the will and ways of the Lord,” and preaching as “seeking to drive a man’s will God-ward.” There is a raging debate today over how much freedom people really have. A renewed fascination with Calvinism has brought this debate to the forefront. I’m not opening the whole can of worms here – just this one point. Preaching should be directed to the will of a person. Decisions count.
If you carry Calvinism as far as many, you’ll begin to say that there is no free will or free agency with man. This morning I read from Spurgeon’s evening sermon from December 27th, 1874 called Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth. Spurgeon never started a sermon softly. The second sentence declares “This every Christian minister must do if he would make full proof of his ministry, and if he would be clear of the blood of his hearers at the last great day.”
What Spurgeon said just moments later, however, issues a clarion call for addressing the will of our human hearers…
Remember, dear hearers, if the preacher does not push you to this–that you shall be converted, or he will know the reason why; if he does not drive you to this–that you shall either willfully reject, or cheerfully accept Christ, he has not yet known how rightly to handle the great ’sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’
We all do what we want every moment of the day. We make choices and decisions that impact eternity and preaching that does not appeal to the will of man fails to satisfy the expectations of the Great Commission. In case you wonder where I stand on the issue of God’s grace and His role in our salvation, I agree just as strongly with what Spurgeon said later in the same message:
The Lord alone must save you as a work of gratis mercy, not because you deserve it, but because he wills to do it to magnify his abundant love.
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The sovereignty of God is an ever-mysterious issue that we must struggle with and come to terms with as we seek to have an understanding of God’s role. Salvation is all of Him and not of us at all. But there is a receiving, an accepting of Him that must be decided in the human heart upon the call of one sent with the gospel.
Preach to change the mind. Preach to move the emotions. And preach to drive the will of man God-ward.
Find Spurgeon’s Expository Encyclopedia at Amazon.com
Today I attended the funeral of Larry Markum who served as a Pastor, Missionary, and Church Planter. I was amazed by the number of friends and family who attended from several states to pay tribute to his life and testimony. When I moved to Northwest Arkansas, Bro. Markum called me up just to have prayer with me, and he called me periodically just to check in. The service was moving, a blessing to everybody who attended.
Earlier this week, my wife and I watched parts of the funeral of Jill Attebery, whose life also impacted so many. Angie and I had a conversation about these events in which we grappled with the question, “What would be said about me at my funeral if I died today?” It’s a huge question.
I remember listening to the funeral of W. A. Criswell online and Dr. Mac Brunson spoke of the word “influence” being made up of two words meaning “in flow.” That is, our influence speaks of those who are “in the flow” of our lives.
Let me ask you, who is downstream from you, and how are your choices each day affecting them? What kind of influence do you have and what kind of mark will you leave on the world you leave behind? All of us will leave some kind of legacy. What would you want to be said of you at your funeral?
Here’s an article over at Josh Harris’ site about Mark Driscoll’s preaching style – he uses nothing but a few post-it notes.
Preaching Notes: Mark Driscoll (Josh Harris).
When I was just starting out in ministry, I read the works of W. A. Criswell, who always advised young preachers to start out by keeping 2 admonitions: study in the mornings (keep the mornings for God) and preach without notes. I embraced this philosophy and God has blessed ever since. There are occasions when I will use post-it notes like Mark, but I never prepare a manuscript and rarely prepare more than a skeleton outline before preaching. Now come the questions…
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Paul addressed the issue of sincerity in preaching on several occasions throughout the New Testament. One such instance is 2 Corinthians 2:17, “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” As I have reflected on this verse, it’s given me some comfort to know that the issues that plague modern Christianity also faced the apostles. I’ve also found an important principle in preaching – sincerity.
There are false teachers, hucksters, and impostors in pulpits across the land today. There were in Paul’s day too. It’s nothing new and it will only worsen as we approach the day of Jesus’ return. But the contrast to this trend is a new trend of sincerity in the pulpit. Preaching has been defined by D. Martin-Lloyd Jones as “the communication of God’s truth through human personality.” So we preachers get to represent God’s truth through our very personality. The prayer, “hide me behind thy cross, O Lord,” doesn’t reflect an accurate understanding of what preaching is all about. God has calledme to represent Him as only I can, and for you to do the same.
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I was deeply moved by today’s reading from J. Sidlow Baxter’s devotional, Awake My Heart. He speaks of the mysteries of life, what W. A. Criswell used to call “the imponderables of God.” Baxter mentioned birth, life, personality, human experience, Satan, eternity, etc. All of these are unexplainable. We can begin, but we can never conclude any definition of them.
Baxter goes on, however, to quote an unnamed old Puritan as saying, “Never let what you don’t know disturb your faith in what you do know.” Further, Baxter proclaims that “breaking into all this mystery comes a glorious, transfiguring fact which not all of these problems can discount: it is THE FACT OF CHRIST. He is a certified historical fact; a supremely significant fact; an experientially realized fact….”
We live in a highly skeptical age. To deny this is to prove that one has his proverbial head in the sand. We live in the age of the offensive atheist, exemplified by authors such as Richard Dawkins, who espouses a near hatred of conservative Christianity and writes it off as idiotic nonsense that should be put to an end. In the mix, Christians find themselves wavering and doubting.
So, what do we do with our big questions? I don’t know about you, but I believe God can handle our biggest questions. He has answers. Whether He will provide them or not is within the divine prerogative of God. But in the midst of all of the mysterious, imponderable concepts of spiritual, eternal things lie the rock solid, unbreakable truths of Christianity. In the words of Paul, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16)
This week is very monumental for me. I am preparing to begin preaching through the entire Bible this Sunday morning. It has been a ministry-long dream. Since reading the autobiography of Dr. W. A. Criswell, who preached through the Scriptures over an almost eighteen year period at First Baptist Church in Dallas, it has seemed an unreachable and impossible task. I can’t tell you how much I’ve thought and prayed about this assignment.
In my mind, I’ve tried to place myself into the shoes of my church members, some of whom may not survive to hear the end of it all in the Revelation. Won’t we get bored? Won’t we get bogged down in the law, the plans of the tabernacle, the genealogical tables? Will people really be interested? Will the messages be relevant to my life? Nobody has asked any of these questions yet, except for me, but they have lingered in my thinking.
Then I think on the positive side. God’s Word is the source of all the divine wisdom we have at our disposal. He grows people through His Word. My calling to ministry is a call to shepherd God’s people by feeding them the truth of God. No book is more special, no other subject matter is appropriate. Why not preach “all the counsel of God?”
One dominating thought, however, is “what if I mess this up?” What if I don’t cover enough material? Life is too short to rely on “do-over’s” and I will probably get only one or two shots at a series like this in my lifetime. From that thought flows the bottom line issue – I have only this life to spend for God’s glory. This may very well be the last series of sermons I ever preach. Will it be worth it in the end? Absolutely! My life and the lives of the people God assigns to me to shepherd will be forever changed and enriched by hearing the whole counsel of God.
The question I’ve come to grips with is, if preaching through the entire Bible in a single series was the only feat I ever accomplished, it would be worth it – I would have to do nothing in addition to it to have fulfilled my calling as a Pastor.
Already, I’ve become familiar with the greatness of modern science. Many Christians today are at war with the scientific community over evolution, the Big Bang, and other modern ideas. I’m not threatened by these, but rather encouraged, albeit for a strange reason. Both of these theories, hard to swallow as they are, actually substantiate the greatness of the Bible. Let me explain…
The Big Bang proposes that the universe is not infinite, that it had a beginning in time. Until 1913, the world thought the universe was infinite, that it had no beginning and would have no end. But because of the discovery that the universe is expanding rapidly, we can postulate that if you work backwards, everything was once together, before the expansion began. In other words, the universe had a starting point. What baffles modern scientists is, what then? What did things look like before the universe began its explosive expansion? To this the Bible says, in the beginning… God!
And what of evolution? Why in the world would I appreciate this crazy and impossible to believe prognostication? Because evolution is really a fragment of a larger idea that there is a logical progression to the development of life on this planet, and that development concurs with the first chapter of Genesis in its order and structure. The only differences are that what science assigns to billions of years really happened in six literal, twenty-four hour days. First the rocks, then water, then marine and plant life, then the beasts of the earth, and finally man. I was taught in Astronomy 101 that all of this took place over about thirteen billion years. The Bible declares God did it in six days. I choose the Bible, but I stand amazed at science’s validation of the order of creation. I’m no more impressed with the Bible, I’m just more impressed with scientists.
Ultimately, what I’m discovering is that Genesis was never intended to be a science or history textbook. It was not intended to stir up debate over the literal nature of the word “day” or whether there was a gap included for the geological ages. Rather, Genesis’ creation account is a hymn of praise to the Creator! Don’t miss this. The story of creation wasn’t given so that we might use it as a source of scientific data (though I believe its perfect, literal accuracy). It was given that we might know our Creator, be impressed with His creative acts, and choose to serve and glorify Him for eternity!
What an awesome discovery for me! I can’t wait to share it all with the congregation of Bethel Baptist Church. Please pray that I will have the necessary time to invest in the study of God’s Word so that I might not fail to present the whole counsel of God with pastoral wisdom and compassion. Pray that I’ll always see the relevance of each passage to our daily living. Pray that lives will be changed for the glory of God as we “journey through the word” together!
In this decade, conservative Christianity has lost some great giants of the faith. I was reflecting on the passing of Jack Hyles, long time Pastor of First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana. He was an interesting character with a unique leadership style. Far too many young Pastors went to their ministerial deaths trying to imitate his every move. Nonetheless, his impact on the independent Baptist movement and on the kingdom of God in general are immeasurable.
Then I think of W. A. Criswell. He pastored one of the most influential churches in the world, First Baptist Church in Dallas. He once spent almost eighteen years preaching through the entire Bible. His defense of the faith, his exposition of the Scriptures, and his charismatic style made a lasting mark on Baptist life and thought.
Another giant among men who has passed away this decade was Adrian Rogers, Pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, often called the flagship church of the Southern Baptist Convention. Like Criswell, Rogers’ impact upon the nation’s largest non-Catholic denomination was immense, serving as president of the Southern Baptist Convention three terms. His preaching was practical and poignant, but his wisdom in leadership was what elevated him above the average preacher.
On Sunday, May 6, two other leaders were taken on to heaven. Dr. Lee Roberson, Pastor of the Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee and founder of Tennessee Temple University, went home to be with the Lord. Within an hour of his passing, Dr. Viola Walden also slipped into her eternal home. She had been personal secretary to Dr. John R. Rice since he began The Sword of the Lord. At age 91, she was at her desk at work on the Friday before she died.
God’s timing, sovereignty, and wisdom are all unquestionable attributes. I know that His intention was to take them home, to give them a final rest with the saints. But from our perspective, they seem like missing links in modern Christianity. My great question would be, who will replace them? Who will be the anchors of the church in the next half century? Have we reached the end of an era of Christianity that will never be revived again?
Some would say that the face of Christianity must change. I’ve listened to far too many upstarts criticize the elder leaders among us as “behind the times.” I have a different perspective. Though we’re moving swiftly through the information age with little clue what lies next, we can still rely on twenty centuries of a very faithful pattern. Namely, God has always raised up men who have challenged their generation to think biblically.
Consider Paul, Peter, and Polycarp who faced Rome without trepidation. Think of Athanasius, who stood virtually alone to combat Arianism. Dwell upon the reformers who, with all of their shortcomings theologically, stood against the established church leadership of their times to call Christianity back to sincere and emboldened faithfulness to God’s Word. And think of the evangelistic-missionary age with the Spurgeon’s, Torrey’s, and Moody’s.
Until Jesus comes again, He’ll be building His church out of the stock of saved humanity. He’ll be calling forth leaders to stand in the gap for the land. And they will respond, for Jesus promised it would be so. With all the “missing links” the real question that remains for us is, are we willing to continue the tradition? Will we be surrendered to a life of holiness and passionate, Spirit-filled zeal? To say that the survival of God’s kingdom depends in any way on our abilities would be negligent of the self-sufficiency of God. But to recognize that the future of God’s Kingdom depends upon our availability simply serves to remind us that God has chosen to use people in the redemption of this lost and sinful planet. Will you stand in the gap?
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” -Romans 10:17
What do you think of preaching? For some, the word “boring” instantly popped into your mind. You’d rather be watching grass grow. Ask yourself, why did the Puritans sit in church services for three to four hours hearing a twenty-seven point message and demand more when it was over? I’ll tell you my opinion – they didn’t have TV!
Today, we have our choice of entertainment from an array of captivating nothingness. From soap operas which make the drama of our own lives seem dull, to “reality shows” which really just capture the most controversial forty-five minutes of the previous week for a group of people, detective shows which portray to us the most degrading side of humanity, citcoms that trivialize life’s most serious issues, and even adolescent programming that heightens every pre-teen’s social sensitivity a few notches. Preaching simply can’t compete… or can it?
For the Christian, hearing the preaching of the word of God is like an oxygen line to a firefighter in a burning building. It is the steady diet of meaty substance which carries us through difficult weeks. Without preaching, life becomes trivial. Without preaching, we live on spiritual cotton candy, but we need meat, we need substance. That’s simple one reason why hearing the Word of God expounded is a significant need for every human being. But consider something else…
Preaching is God’s chosen central feature of Christian worship. It is through hearing the Word of God that our faith is increased. When we hear the Word of God expounded, real worship happens. W. A. Criswell explains:
This is worship at its highest; all the faculties of the mind and all the power of the soul are raised to their highest use. It becomes an offering up to God of the truth proclaimed in his name. Ritual is no substitute for reality; ceremony cannot displace consecration… Faith cometh by purification? by candlelighting? by incense burning? by liturgy repeating? No, but by hearing the word of the Lord.
The next time you’re tempted to skip out on the preaching of God’s Word and opt instead for watching football, heading to the lake, or simply sleeping in, realize that the God of the universe wants to speak directly to you. The Bible is His “thus saith the Lord” for every area of your life. He’s given you a message that contains all you need to survive and thrive spiritually, but you must open it, read it, study it, soak it in, and hear it preached. God has chosen the foolishness of preaching to counfound all the wisdom of the world. Jesus Christ is our object of worship and the Bible is our manual of worship. Let’s return to hearing the Word of God, loving it, “Amen”-ing it, and living it out loud.
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