Starving Under Expository Preaching?

I am a big fan of expository preaching and teaching. To preach the Word of God verse by verse and "give the meaning" is one of the highest forms of honor to God's Word, and the most fulfilling food to the sheep...unless...it is devoid of Christ and His Grace. "The Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17). Jesus is the true Bread of life, and even the most accurate and well-delivered exposition will leave malnourished sheep hobbling along the path with their ribs sticking out, if that Bread is not a part of every meal. Preachers and teachers, please don't let a sermon or lesson leave your lips, without our precious Savior and Lord, and His wonderful Grace, being an integral part of it.

Hear Mr. Spurgeon's little story:

A young man had been preaching in the presence of a venerable divine, and after he had done he went to the old minister, and said, “What do you think of my sermon?” “A very poor sermon indeed,” said he. “A poor sermon?” said the young man, “it took me a long time to study it.” “Ay, no doubt of it.” “Why, did you not think my explanation of the text a very good one?” “Oh, yes,” said the old preacher, “very good indeed.” “Well, then, why do you say it is a poor sermon? Didn’t you think the metaphors were appropriate and the arguments conclusive?” “Yes, they were very good as far as that goes, but still it was a very poor sermon.” “Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?” “Because,” said he, “there was no Christ in it.” “Well,” said the young man, “Christ was not in the text; we are not to be preaching Christ always, we must preach what is in the text.” So the old man said, “Don’t you know young man that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?” “Yes,” said the young man. “Ah!” said the old divine “and so from every text in Scripture, there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ. And my dear brother, your business is when you get to a text, to say, ‘Now what is the road to Christ?’ and then preach a sermon, running along the road towards the great metropolis—Christ. And,” said he, “I have never yet found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it, and if I ever do find one that has not a road to Christ in it, I will make one; I will go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my Master, for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savour of Christ in it.”
(From "Christ Precious To Believers", preached March 13th, 1859)

The Sheep Will Run Wild!

Sincere Christians often ask me something like,

"If this Grace stuff is really true...if God really does love me and accept me in Christ, apart from my performance...if there is nothing I could do to make Him love me more, and nothing I could do to make Him love me less...if He really has forgiven me of all my sins, past, present and future, so there is no condemnation for me...then why don't more preachers preach that, Terry?"

Here's why. Actually one of two possibilities, in my experience:

1. They have been so brainwashed with legalism and performance-based Christianity themselves, that their own eyes haven't been opened to the radical nature of Grace after salvation. Ask them about Christ "living His Life through me", and they will jump to remind you about your duty to buckle down and discipline yourself with self-control. If you remind them that self-control ironically is a fruit of the Spirit, and it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives through you [Galatians 2:20]...they will look at you as if you were some alien from another world. And if they are biblically knowledgeable, they will begin to quote you rule after rule, duty after duty, sin after sin, to beat down your "grace" once and for all, you...you...Antinomian! (They love that word, because it keeps them from having to examine the biblical nature of Grace after salvation).

or...

2. They pretty much see the radical nature of New Covenant grace, but they are scared. Scared that if they preach it in all it's glory...if they truly preach "it is finished"... if they preach it without a mixture of the Law...then the sheep will run wild! Actually, the opposite is true. Real born-again Christians are new creations. Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new. We love Jesus, in our heart of hearts. We hate sin in our heart of hearts. When we hear how radically He has saved us, when we hear of His love that no sin or failure on our part will diminish, then the love of Christ constrains us to follow Him, to desire His ways, to fellowship with Him, to be filled with His Spirit.

The sheep don't run wild under grace. They run wild under Law, which quenches the Holy Spirit and inflames sin.

Here's a little test...complete this verse:

"For sin shall not be master over you, for _______" (Rom. 6:14)

Pretty important verse, wouldn't you say? A verse that explains why sin shall no longer be master over us? Important, no? Give up? Here's the whole verse:

"For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace."

When's the last time you heard that verse preached? Maybe never. Why? Ask around. See if your friends, preachers, teachers, can complete the verse. You might be surprised. And there's a good chance that either they don't believe it (watch them try to twist such an elegantly simple verse to mean something else), or they don't want it spread around. The sheep will run wild.

Grace for Terrorists?

August 29, 1929 was the birth day of Mohammed Yasser Abdul-Ra'ouf Qudwa Al-Husseini.

He grew up to be one of the most beloved figures in modern history. Won the Nobel Peace prize. Not bad for your basic mass murderer and terrorist. You know him best as Yasser Arafat.

What is a Christian to say about the death of a sweet little guy who routinely ordered kidnappings, assasinations, bombings, and tortures? 3 things:

1. There but for the grace of God go I. This is my favorite cliche. It has the time-tested feel of a comfortable old shoe. But it's true. If God hadn't reached down and touched me with His mercy and grace -- who knows? The unregenerate human heart is capable of all kinds of evil. "Not that evil, Terry!" You only say that because you think some rebellion against the Holy Creator of the universe is "not so bad". And that's what sustains the self-righteous in their foolish prayer, "Thank you Lord that I'm not like that tax collector over there." Foolish. Foolish.

2. Arafat may have been saved in his last moments of consciousness.

"Terry, how could you?!" Well, would you be offended if he was? Would you say, "How could God save such a wretch, who did all that evil?", or, "Damn his soul! Don't talk to me about God saving that anti-Christ dog!" O.K., I'll just talk to you about God saving me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind but now I see. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Do you think I would be less saved if it was on my death bed? And if God was pleased to save Arafat, we won't be greeting the little guy in heaven, clothed in his righteousness-of-Christ robe, saying, "Brother Yasser, you were a b-a-a-a-d boy. Tsk, tsk, tsk!" No, we'll both be raising voices in praise to the Lamb Who was slain before the foundation of the world.
(I'm not, of course advocating waiting to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor am I very hopeful of Arafat's place in heaven. But I don't ever want to reach the point of forgetting that where there is life there is hope. Stifles our prayers, you know?)

3. We forget too easily the simple wisdom, "Love your enemies". I know, I know. It's hard enough loving our friends, sometimes. But Jesus can do it. We have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live but Christ lives in us. And the life we now live, we live by faith in the Son of God who gave Himself for us. Walk in the Spirit. Jesus can do it.

Shall we move on to Saddam Hussein? "Now you've crossed the line, Terry."

God And Elections

BUSH 51% - KERRY 48%



O.K., full disclosure: my guy won. ;-)

Even fuller disclosure: I happen to be a political Conservative, both "Economic" (I favor free enterprise, low taxes, smaller government, etc.), and "Social" (I favor biblical morality, favor creation science, oppose abortion-on-demand, oppose gay marriage, etc.).

But that's not my point, here. My point is simply this. Whether my guy, or the other guy won, the fact would remain that the Lord raises up and brings down all of the following: nations, governments, kings, presidents, garbage collectors, you and your job or business, and the dust raised by a car driving down a dirt road --- down to the last atom of dust settling when and where He wants it to settle.

Obviously it's a little easier for me to rejoice in the sovereignty of God when He chooses to bring my desires to pass. But He does all things well. He is always right. He operates from a character that is good, and a vantage point that sees the end from the beginning. And He works all things together for good to those who love Him, and are the called according to His purpose.

I'm still smiling that my guy won. It doesn't always happen that way.

But I am intent on praising the Lord for His sovereignty in all circumstances.

Join me?