First Century Preaching

First Century Preaching

Suppose it were possible to bring a first century Christian to the assemblies of the church today. Many physical things obviously would be different, but of greater concern would be those spiritual differences. Think for a moment about how different he might find the preaching today from the kind of preaching he heard in the infant church.

first century preaching

What did they preach?

The preaching in the first century can best be described as inspired prophecy. Because they had only the Old Testament, God gave the sermons to prophets who revealed God’s New Testament for men. Read the words of those prophets and think of the differences between those words and those words spoken today.

First century preaching was so plain it convicted those visitors who came to the assembly. Paul described that situation with these words: “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convicted by all” (1 Cor. 14:24). Far too many pulpits today resound with “polished messages” which never bring conviction. Far too many sermons are outwardly perfect but would be welcomed in denominational pulpits. There is little that is distinctive, and visitors go away feeling satisfied without ever having been challenged in their beliefs. Our world is not like the NT world.

Paul’s letters to young Timothy give great insight into the clarity of the messages from inspired preachers (prophets) in the early church. In his second letter to Timothy, he defines what it means to preach the word. Read these words carefully. “Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). The King James translates the word “teaching” as “doctrine,” yet many preachers avoid doctrinal preaching. One cannot preach the word without speaking directly to the religious errors in our land. Paul then gives the reason to convince, rebuke and exhort with doctrine. “For the time will come when men will not endure sound doctrine.” That time has certainly come!

Finally, look at Paul’s words in his first letter to Timothy. In chapter four, he described how inspired preachers taught the truth. He said, “The Spirit expressly says. . .” He described false teaching as doctrines of devils and then specifically described these doctrines. Preaching today often avoids speaking directly about false teaching.

Having described the Spirit’s preaching, Paul told Timothy, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ” (4:6). What does this say about modern preaching? The verse clearly implies that if we do not instruct the brethren, we are not good ministers of Jesus. Our world has changed. Let us speak as the oracles of God!

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Attitude and the Psalmist

Attitude and the Psalmist

As we read through the Psalms it becomes increasingly evident that there is a tremendous difference in the attitude of the Psalmist and the attitude of most people (even Christians) today. In Psalm 56–60 the faithful oppressed and afflicted; tormented and tested; abused, cursed, and neglected, never turns from God, never complains, never gets reacts with wrath or vengeance. Instead he always turns to God, asks His favor, and leaves it with Him.

psalms attitude

How is your attitude in the eyes of God?

What a great lesson for us when we think things are not going as we think they should. We live in a very selfish, greedy, and impatient society. We want, we think, we feel, we wish, and we want it now. When things don’t go our way, when we feel neglected, trou-bled, and rejected, how do we respond? When others take us for granted, abuse us, frustrate us, lash out at us, how does the faithful Christian react? The fact is, we cannot control how anyone acts or what others do, but we can our response. Take it to God, leave it with Him. He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).

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What is the Value of a Christian?

What is the Value of a Christian?

The Bible presents a high view of the worth of each individual person. This view is two-fold. First, there is the fact of a person’s being made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 states, “So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This teaching is reaffirmed in several places in the Bible such as in Genesis 9:6 and James 3:9. Second, that value is reaffirmed in the price that God paid for each person’s life in the blood of Christ. Peter wrote, “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Paul wrote, “for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20).

Christian Value

God puts great value upon man.

Our worth is independent of any accomplishments that we may make in this life because it is not dependent upon us and our actions. Our value is not measurable in our productivity or goodness. Jesus made it clear that each person is worth more than the whole of the world when He said, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

This two-fold teaching of self-worth (being made in God’s image, and being bought by the blood of Christ) shows that each person’s worth is equivalent to God’s worth, which is infinite. This means that each person’s worth is infinite also since it is defined by God and His Son, Jesus.

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Answer to a Question

Answer to a Question

There was a certain day, recorded in the Scriptures, when, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes, backed by the elders of Israel, confronted Jesus with the question: “By what authority are you doing these things? Who is he who has given you this authority?” (Luke 20:1-2)

answer question

Do you want to hear the answer to your question?

People should not ask questions that they don’t actually want the answer to.

When these men questioned Jesus, they were really just looking to score points, perhaps embarrass Jesus, or find a reason to find fault with Him. They did not actually care about whether Jesus had the authority to do what He was doing, or where He got that authority from. They assumed they were the authority in charge, and they knew they had not given Him permission.

Understanding that these men did not really care about the answer, helps us to understand why Jesus responded to them the way He did. Rather than answering their question directly, He supplied a question of His own: “The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men?” (Luke 20:4)

That seems like a simple enough question; and an honest soul would reply with either one or the other of the supplied choices based on what they believed about John. If one believed John was a prophet, then one could safely say, heaven. If one was not a believer, or at least not a believer in John, then it was reasonable to assume John had no authority greater than himselffor what He taught.

But these Jewish leaders were not honest souls. They were politicians, mindful of their social standing. They were more worried about matters of the world than matters of the soul. They reasoned that if they denied John, it would upset the people. If they praised John as a prophet, they would reveal themselves to be hypocrites. So, they took the easy way out and claimed not to know(Luke 20:5-7).

And so Jesus likewise refused to answer their question.

Why should this matter to us?

For one thing, it is a reminder to each of us concerning how we approach God and Christwith questions.

There is nothing wrong with asking sincere questions of the Lord. The Bible is filled with examples of individuals who asked questions and received forthright replies. When a man approaches God with a sincere heart, and wants a question of life answered, God is willing to supply an answer and, very likely, has already done so in the Bible. There are many answers supplied by God concerning how to be saved, how to live a good life, the causes of suffering, the propriety of this choice or that choice. As it is written, the Scriptures are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, so that the man of God may complete, thoroughly furnished for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

But when we ask a question of God, and we find He has supplied us with an answer, there is a responsibility to accept that answer and act upon it.

If Jesus had told the Jewish leaders that God had sent Him, they would have ignored the answer and done what they were planning on doing anyway. They had no real interest in the truth; they wanted to do what they wanted to do, and they were going to do it regardless of the answer Jesus provided. Their attitude toward the preaching of John showed this. John taught that God wanted the Jews to be baptized. They refused to listen to John and refused to accept the baptism of John. So, as their question was asked in bad faith, Jesus refused to deal with it. One suspects that if they had been willing to act upon what Jesus told them, He would have given a more forthright answer.

Men (and women) are still doing this today.

They want women to be preachers, so they search the scriptures, claiming to want to know God’s will, but really just trying to find any and every excuse to do what they want to do, heedless of what God actually thinks on the issue. They want to drink and be drunk, so they claim they are going to really dig into the word to find out whether God allows it. They want to worship the way they want to worship and so again they make great claims about going to God for answers about worship when really they just want to find a reason to do what they were already going to do.

In almost every case, God supplies clear answers to the questions, but men are not satisfied with those and so insists they are going to “dig deeper.” Normally, in practice, they dig right through the word and out the other side before finding that, lo and behold, they are going to do what they always wanted to do.

If we aren’t going to act upon what God has told us, then why bother asking God at all? It is a waste of our time and a waste of God’s time (so to speak). If you are going to simply do what you were going to do in the first place, then don’t try to use the Bible to validate your prior choices. You aren’t living the way you are because it is pleasing to God; you are living the way you want because it is what you want to do. You are honoring God with your lips but your heart is far from Him.

Only if you are actually willing to submit yourself to the answers God provides does it make sense to go to God with questions: seeking guidance.

If we do have such a humble heart, willing to follow where God leads, learn what God wants to teach, allowing God to act through us according to His will instead of ours – then know that the Bible is a book God wrote just for you and your questions. God gives grace to the humble, but He resists the proud(cf. James 4:6-10). As a loving father, God wants to answer the questions of those who come to Him as penitent children.

But before you ask a question of God, make sure you really want to know the answer. You aren’t going to fool God.

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Fried Worms

Fried Worms

What’s with all the worms?!? Especially those of the half-baked to extra-crispy and overly-crunchy variety found fried to death on the concrete sidewalks around the church building of late? What is it that causes so many worms to suddenly seek to make the journey out of and away from the soft, moist, muddy soil which protects and preserves them, up onto the unforgiving and sun baked concrete which then summarily cooks and kills them? What is the draw that makes them want to leave the shelter of the grass and ground, to expose themselves that openly to the birds who prey on them? Does the grass truly appear that much greener on the other side? Is the warmth of the concrete really so appealing to them that they just have to experience it – despite the slowly immobilizing, petrifying, and (presumably) painful and putrefying death it inevitably brings upon them? Can they not see the crippled, crusty, and crunchy corpses of their extended family members who tried it before them strewn all over the same sun baked surface?

fried worms

Will you be just another fried worm?

Now of course I am applying human wisdom and the ability to think and reason to this situation, seeking to superimpose it onto the worm family – which cannot be done. After all, worms do not have a human brain. They cannot think and reason as we do, or, at least as we should…

You see, I cannot help but consider how similar this wormy sidewalk situation is to our fatal human attraction to sin. Although sin – like that sidewalk – may appear to be warm, inviting, and pleasurable, we both know and understand from the Scriptures as well as life in general that it is nothing more than a well-disguised death trap (Gen. 3:1-24; Isa. 59:1-2; Ro. 6:23; Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Jn. 2:15-17). It only requires the most casual of observations to see the death and destruction that seeking such sinful pursuits has caused so many others – both friend, foe, family member and complete stranger alike. Those of us who truly belong to, listen to, and follow close to the great Shepherd, know that the grass cannot be greener anywhere else on earth, other than where He is and lovingly seeks to lead us (Ps. 23:1-6, 100:1-5; Jn. 10:1-30, 14:1-3).

Let us let the crispy critter corpses of the once-lively worms that often litter our surrounding sidewalks be an ever-present reminder of the powerful pull and always deadly outcome of succumbing to the alluring enticements of sin… lest we eventually join them, where: “Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Isa. 6:22-24; Mk. 9:43-50).

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