Warfare Praying

Pray then in this way:

Our Father who is in heaven,

hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done, on earth

as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:9-10

I always get amused when I hear the term "warfare praying," like it is some type of special praying, praying specifically designated for the spiritual battlefield. When people use that term I think they are missing something, something noted in the verses above.  

When giving instructions on how to pray, Jesus states that we are to request that the Father's will be done on earth as it is being done each and every moment in heaven. Think about it, each and every prayer should include the request or should be prayed in light of the Father's will being carried out here on earth (beginning with our lives first). If that is how we are to pray each and every prayer, and it is; then each and every prayer is a prayer of spiritual warfare.  

The minute we pray for God's will to be done we are praying against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, as they are always full out against the will of the Father. The minute you pray for the Lord's will to be carried out in your life, the life of the church, or the life of your friends and family, then you have entered into the spiritual fray. If you pray for His will on the mission field, you are praying against the will of the enemy.

The Lord wants us to pray for His will to be done. Our prayers for His will to reign supreme is a prayer against the evil one and all of his schemes, and are used by God as a means by which His will is carried out.  

If this is the case, and it is, then we must realize that each and every prayer that is prayed for the will of God to be accomplished will have spiritual opposition, because our adversary and God's adversary does not want the will of God to be done....ever.  

So, with this in mind, let us pray in a more informed way, and with greater understanding of exactly what is taking place when we pray for His will to be done, and let's always include that request in our prayers.

Prayer Traps

Psalm 16:11b...In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand are pleasures forever.

In our thinking about and considering prayer,

it should not be a task to be accomplished,

something to get done and get out of the way;

but it should be a relationship to be enjoyed,

a communion to be anticipated, a joy and a delight

in drawing near to Him and coming before His throne.

For, after all, the chief end of man is to glorify God,

and to enjoy Him forever. Our enjoying Him should

be part of our existence now, with the greater and fuller joy,

 the hope of the completeness of joy, a promise to be relished.

In considering prayer, I believe there are two traps that are easy for all of us to fall into. They are the guilt trap, and the task trap; and the two go hand in hand.

It is way too easy to make prayer a task, an item on our to do list, something to get done. And when it becomes something to get done, it becomes something to get marked off and get out of the way. When we make prayer a task, it then becomes something that we must do for God. When this is our motive for prayer, our prayers become rote, mechanical, and we are robbed of the joy and enjoyment of prayer. When prayer becomes a task to be accomplished it is one step away from becoming a form of legalism in our life.

When anything becomes a legalism in our life, we have then set ourselves up for guilt. And what happens when we feel guilty about something? Don’t we usually avoid being around the person towards whom we feel guilty? When we start feeling guilty about not praying, instead of motivating us to pray, it almost inevitably demotivates us as we start avoiding coming into the Lord’s presence. The more avoidance the more the guilt; and the more the guilt the more the avoidance. It becomes a self-defeating cycle.

How do we avoid these two traps? We avoid them by having a right understanding of prayer, and why we should pray. In no particular order here are a few reasons we should pray, and this is by no means an exhaustive list.

1. It is one of the means God has ordained in the accomplishment of His will.
2. It is one of the ways we can participate in the accomplishment of His will.
3. It is one of the ways we draw near to Him.
4. It is one of the ways we fellowship with Him.
5. It is one of the ways we encourage and build others up.
6. It is one of our weapons in spiritual warfare.
7. It is one of the means to an abundant spiritual life.
8. It is the means through which we confess sin.
9. It is one of the means of building unity in the body.
10. It is how we talk to God.

Let’s avoid the task trap and the guilt trap, and simply look forward to being with the Lord in prayer, and remember He desires to be with us as well.

The Issue of Inerrancy has Never Gone Away, nor Will It!

In the current evangelical landscape, the sufficiency of Scripture is under assault. Is the Bible sufficient in and of itself without the need of certain lenses of gender, ethnicity, socio-economics, and the like to make it more understandable, relatable, or relevant? This has certainly occupied much of the conversation in the social media world.

However, there is an issue that still has not gone away, in fact this issue underlies the sufficiency issue, and this issue is inerrancy. You see, how you view inerrancy, how you define inerrancy, what you believe inerrancy to be will color your view of Scripture and therefore how you apply Scripture. How you define inerrancy sets a theological trajectory that will ultimately lead you down the right path, or take you out to the theological weeds.

You might be thinking, "What do you mean, how you define inerrancy? Doesn't inerrant mean without error?" Well, not exactly, especially for those in academia. For the average church goer, when someone says they believe in or hold to inerrancy, they take them at face value, just as they understand the word at its face value. However, in academia, there is (and I hate this word when used theologically) nuance applied; and, for some reason, nuance is so so valued in the academic world. In fact, in many circles, you are not thought of as much of a scholar unless you can demonstrate how nuanced you are.

So, when someone in academia, or even the pastorate, uses the word inerrant, you cannot assume they hold to a view that would seem self-apparent to most who hear that word. In academia there are eight primary definitions for inerrancy. How's that for nuance? So, if someone says they hold to inerrancy or believe the Bible to be inerrant, what really needs to be asked of them is which definition of inerrancy do you hold to? With eight different views of the term inerrant, there is much room to hide behind the word and not believe all the Bible is inspired, or truthful, or correct. There is a lot of room here for word games.

For those of us in the Southern Baptist Convention, and for many of those in other denominations, the inerrancy issue never really went away, it went underground.

Back during the inerrancy controversy I read a piece by Jim Denison that listed 8 definitions of inerrancy, which highlighted for me some of the chicanery going on by those in academia who claimed to be inerrantists as some of these definitions give ample room to call oneself an inerrantist while not really being one. Here are the eight definitions of inerrancy were listed in that piece. As you read through them you will see that one can claim to hold to the inerrancy of Scripture, while denying key elements of what makes the Bible the Word of God.

1. A Common Sense/Face Value definition: The Bible can be trusted or is trustworthy in all it states or affirms. This is a God said what He meant and meant what He said and can be taken at His Word understanding of the nature and character of Scripture. This is simple and straightforward, and would be the application that most Christians would make of the word inerrant.

2. Formal Inerrancy. This view includes #1 and those who hold to this view would additionally make the claim that the Scripture does not contradict itself, or the Scriptures contain no contradictions.

3. Material or Strict or Full Inerrancy. This view contains #s 1 and 2 and goes yet further. It is best understood as defined by the Chicago Statement on Inerrancy in the section Infallibility, Inerrancy, and Interpretation. "Holy Scripture, as the inspired Word of God witnessing authoritatively to Jesus Christ, may properly be called infallible and inerrant. These negative terms have a special value, or they explicitly safeguard crucial positive truths. Infallible signifies the quality of neither misleading nor being misled and so safeguards in categorical terms the truth that Holy Scripture is a sure, safe, and reliable rule and guide in all matters. Inerrant signifies the quality of being free from all falsehood or mistake and so safeguards the truth that Holy Scripture is entirely true and trustworthy in all its assertions.

As an aside here, the introductory section, regarding the Scriptures, of the Southern Baptist Faith and Message 2000, mirrors the Chicago Statement above.

4. Limited Inerrancy. Regarding its teaching on faith and morals, the Bible is inerrant; but can contain errors in matters where it addresses history, geography, or science.

5. Purposful or Intentional Inerrancy.  Those that hold to this view of inerrancy would say that the Bible is inerrant in the accomplishment of its purpose(s), such as salvation, sanctification, or edification. However, outside of the Bible's intended purposes, errors can exist; such as science, or history, or geography, since God did not intend the Bible to be a book about science, history, or geography. This view of inerrancy has gained a lot of traction over the last couple of decades.

6. Unified Inerrancy. This approach to inerrancy would consider the unified or overall truth of the doctrines (teachings of specific subjects) of the Scriptures to be inerrant, but would not go as far as saying all words or statements are inerrant.

7. Soteriological Inerrancy. This view or definition of inerrancy means that the Bible is inerrant in what it teaches concerning salvation, but can contain errors in other areas it addresses.

8. Secondary Inerrancy. This view of inerrancy is in regards to the quotations and speeches contained in the Scriptures. Those holding this view would say that the quote or speech contained in the Scriptures is inerrant, but the actual content of the quotes or speeches themselves can contain error.

It is obvious that #3, Material or Full inerrancy, is the strongest definition of inerrancy, and does the best job of safeguarding the Scriptures from downgrade. The others do provide wiggle room; but wiggle room allows the leaven of unbelief to enter and a little leaven eventually leavens the whole lump. A little doubt will eventually turn into denial and disbelief.

 The rub here is that in academic circles you can be viewed as conservative and hold to a inerrancy view above that allows for errors in the Scriptures. This is where, in my opinion, those in academia and pastors can pull the wool over peoples eyes by calling themselves inerrantists, and in academic circles be thought of and promoted as conservative. This is where academia uses the same word but  has a different dictionary. This allows a seminary to trot out a professor and promote him as a wonderful Christian man and scholar and an inerrantist who denies the veracity and reliability of the totality of the Scriptures.

Words, terms, and their definitions are important. So it is important not only to know if a potential pastor or professor holds to inerrancy, but which definition of inerrancy does he hold to.

Having laid this out, this now brings us to the current controversy regarding Dr. Dominick Hernandez at Southern Seminary. On the one hand we have recently terminated OT professor Dr. Russell Fuller who calls into question the views on Job and other issues with Dr. Dominik Hernandez. See here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMfiRWgobOU

And then Southern's rebuttal featuring Dr. Jim Hamilton and Dr. Hernandez. See here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx10NOTO8uw&t=411s

I will bet that all three of these men, who all signed the Abstract of Principles, are not coming from the same definition of inerrancy.

One of the areas Dr Fuller questioned was Dr Hernandez's view of the person of Job, and, therefore, how he viewed Job as a book. One of the keys to note in the rebuttal is the wording Dr. Hernandez chooses to use regarding Job at 6:09 and 6:29. Notice he uses the term, "Seems to suggest that Job was a real person." He does not say, "Indicates Job was a real person." What did he mean by that? Dr. Hamilton did not question him on it. Later in the video Dr. Hamilton asks Dr. Hernandez if he is an inerrantist, and he affirms that he is. But my question is, "What type of inerrantist is he?" Obviously not the same type of inerrantist that Russell Fuller is.

Indeed, the issue of inerrancy is still with us. No matter which denomination or affiliation, people need to understand the terms and decide which definition of inerrancy they want in their academies and pastors.

The Immutability of God--The Anchor of My Relationship with Him

For I, the Lord, do not change; 

therefore you, O sons of Israel

are not consumed.

Malachi 3:6 

If you read any book or article on the attributes of God you will find Him described as immutable, and usually they will go on to talk about the unchangableness of His nature and character. However, the word has a deeper meaning than just being unchangeable, it means that in being unchangeable, one is not capable or susceptible to change. When you grasp that concept, then considering God's immutability takes on a whole new light.

This means that it is impossible for God to change, impossible for God to be other than He is. There is never the potentiality of His changing in any way, in any measure (James 1:17). His mercy will always be His mercy, His wrath will always be His wrath, His grace will always be His grace, His power will always be His power. There will never be any diminishment in who He is, because there cannot be any diminishment in who He is; and He cannot be more than He is, He cannot be improved upon, because He is already perfect. When God tells us that from age to age He is the same, we must understand that from eternity past to eternity future it is impossible for Him to not be the same.  Change in His person, purpose, thoughts, and very nature literally cannot take place. He is the rock that does not erode, the fortress and refuge that is always secure, the love that will never fail. Therefore, His yes is always yes, and His no is always no; and, therefore, His word never changes or shifts, even ever so slightly. He is the model of absolute consistency. He is the same God in the Old Testament as He is in the New Testament.

To me, this is very comforting. It gives me a deeper trust and confidence in not only Him, but in His word. It is this unchangeableness that is behind the Scriptures. It is why the Word of God cannot and will not change to meet the demands of the shifting moral climate of each era of the human race. All of this means that He is absolutely dependable, reliable, and trustworthy. It means there will be a consistency in His dealings with me, a consistency in His love for me, and a consistency in His patience with me no matter the twists and turns that I encounter in this life. It is the anchor in my relationship with Him.

So, my friends, let us consider the absolute unchangeableness of this God who has called us and claimed us, who has loved us and blessed us, and who leads us in the paths of righteousness. Let us draw near and draw great comfort in knowing it is impossible for Him to change.

The God of Forgiveness

One of the things I have noticed over the last few years is the spiritual insecurity of so many Christians. One of the ways this insecurity is manifested is in the area of forgiveness. This seems to be an area of faith where many people are struggling and where a great deal of insecurity resides. Again, in a time when the thrust of most preaching and church life is "all about you" and how God loves you and accepts you for who you are, you would think that people would not be wrestling with this. But when the teaching, preaching, and small group discussion fails to address the basic foundations of our faith because they don't think doctrine is relevant to the lives of the people, how would the people, the flock, have any basis from which to understand forgiveness, much less be able to know they are forgiven? When I was teaching in Dallas in the mid eighties the Minister of Education told me that I was teaching too much doctrine and that I needed to have more application lessons. My response to him was, "Bill, they can not apply what they do not know." This attitude that the ME had has only become more prevalent over the ensuing years. In addition to this, if you teach or preach on forgiveness you must deal with the sin that needs to be forgiven and many churches won't do that because it might make the people feel bad about themselves or offend them.

To get a handle on forgiveness you first must understand the nature and character of God and then understand what He has done so that we can be forgiven. So the rest of this post will be about the nature and character of God as it relates to forgiveness.

The best place to start is with Exodus 33:17-34:7. This section of Scripture relates the story of Moses asking God to show me your glory. I find God's response to this prayer request intriguing as He tells Moses I will make all my goodness pass before you and proclaim My name, the name of the Lord before you. So we see that God's glory is inextricably linked with His goodness and His name. His goodness is His glory and His name is representative of His glory. So God reveals that He is good and in the revelation of His goodness His glory shines forth and is displayed. As God passes by Moses and reveals Himself and His goodness listen to what He says, "The Lord, The Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished..." So we see here that forgiveness comes forth from the goodness of God, and is as much a part of His goodness as His compassion, His grace, His longsuffering, His lovingkindness, and His truth. God forgives because God is good, and His forgiveness of our sins is an extension of His goodness to us. Since His glory is displayed through His goodness, He is glorified in the forgiving of our sins. This alone is reason enough to fall on our knees as grateful beneficiaries of His goodness, which He has chosen not to withhold from us. Being forgiven is the result of the Lord lavishly bestowing His goodness upon us.

Psalm 130:4 states, "But there is forgiveness with You, that you may be feared." Here we see that His forgiveness is one of the pillars for our holy awe and reverence for the Lord. Understanding His forgiveness, experiencing His forgiveness, reveling in the fact that we are forgiven and that God has not dealt with us according to our sins, but according to His goodness and compassion as He is ever mindful that we are but dust, should bring forth in us an unmatched reverence and a heart that bows low in worship. God magnanimously bestows forgiveness upon His people and in the magnitude of His forgiveness He is glorified and exalted; and we see His worthiness of our reverence and stand in awe of His goodness because deep in our soul we know the depth of our own sin and see that for which we have been forgiven, that which no one knows but us and God.

In Nehemiah 9:17 we see that He is a God of forgiveness and in Psalm 86:5 we see that He is good, ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness for all who call upon Him. What does this mean for us? We can see that since He is a God of forgiveness that forgiveness flows from Him to us. He does not have to be coerced into forgiving us, and it is not something that He must struggle to do or something that He begrudgingly doles out like a scrooge at Christmas. In fact, it is just the opposite as we see that He is ready to forgive, He is poised to forgive, He longs to forgive so that we can be brought into right relationship with Him, and thereby enjoy sweet fellowship and communion with Him. These verses, along with I John 1:9, show us that we do not have to go to great lengths, do great penance, or go through great machinations to be forgiven, but we simply call upon Him and confess to Him our sin and it is forgiven; and we are made clean before Him, not just for that sin, but from all our unrighteousness. This, my friends, is goodness, great goodness, goodness worthy of abundant praise and worship out of a heart that has experienced gladness, true gladness, through forgiveness and cleansing.

Yes, forgiveness is ours because it flows from God to us and He is ready and waiting to forgive, not because of us, but because of His goodness. He forgives us on the basis of who He is and what He has done so that we can be forgiven. Have you asked for the forgiveness of God....so that you can come to Him and be saved, so that you can fellowship with Him, so that you can be cleansed and find rest and comfort for your soul? If not, ask Him today, confess to Him today, and in His goodness He will not refuse.

O Lord, how truly good You are, good beyond the scope of our ability to comprehend and good beyond our ability to measure. May praise and honor be heaped upon You and Your name be exalted this day because of Your goodness and forgiveness. Thank you for Your forgiveness, its availability, and its abundance. You are good and You do good. Great is the Lord and blessed be Your name. Amen.

Certaintiy in a Time of Uncertainty

You are good and do good.

Psalm 119:68

The Lord is good to all and His

mercies are over all His works.

Psalm 145:9

For You are good and ready to forgive,

and abundant in lovingkindness

to all who call upon You.

Psalm 86:5

For I the Lord do not change
Malachi 3:6

The Glory of Israel will not lie
or change His mind.
I Samuel 15:29

Every good thing given and every perfect gift
is from above, coming down from the Father
of lights, with whom there is no variation
or shifting shadow.
James 1:17

And we know that God causes all things
to work together for good to those who
love God, to those who are called
according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

The Lord will accomplish what concerns me;
Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting.
Psalm 138:8

In uncertain times, the one thing we can be
certain about is the unchanging certain
character of our good God.

The Confidence of Patience

I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait.

And in His word do I hope.

My soul waits for the Lord

More than the watchman for the morning;

Indeed, more than the watchman for the morning.

Psalm 130:5-6

After Psalm 119, the longest Psalm and longest chapter in the Bible, there is a group of short Psalms from Psalm 120-Psalm 134.  Each of these short Psalms contains great and profound truths, and this is a great section of the Scriptures to read and mediate upon.

In Psalm 130 we see a wonderful example of patience, and the Psalmist paints a picture for us of someone who is not only patient, but confidently patient. In these verses we see three keys to this confident patience.

1. 
   
   The object of our patience.  The object of our patience, the One on whom we are waiting is the Lord.  Our realization must be that the Lord is sovereign and in control, and will work our situation out according to His timing.  He is neither too early nor too late. We know that when the fullness of time came He sent forth His Son (Galatians 4:4), and at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). We see that the timing of the most important event in the history of mankind was under the control of God.  It is the Lord whom we wait upon and His timing is always perfect. It is perfect in completing His plan and pupose for us. So if our desire is for His will to be done in our life, we can be content and wait for the unfolding of His will in our life. This kind of waiting is an active submission to the Lord's will and plan for our life, and puts our will in its proper place.
2. 
   
   The ground of our patience.  The ground of our patience is the word of God. The word of God is yay and amen. His yes is always yes, and His no is always no. In Jeremiah 1:12 He tells us that He stands over His word to perform it. In Isaiah 55:10-1 the Lord tells us that His word will not return to Him empty, without accomplishing His purpose. So we know that we can stand on whatever He says, for He will fulfill it. His word is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path. It not only guides us, but it is our ground to stand on when we are having to be patient and wait for the Lord. His word literally guides us into patience, and aids us and strengthens us to remain in that state of patience that looks unto the Lord.
3. 
   
   The confidence of our patience.  I really love the picture of confident patience the Psalmist paints here. His soul waits for the Lord to a greater degree than the watchman waits for the morning. How does the watchman wait for the morning? Confidently, very confidently, because he knows that the morning absolutely will come. In fact, the morning cannot be stopped from coming...at the exact time it should come. The Psalmist is saying that He is more confident in the Lord, and has a better ground of confidence than the watchman who knows the dawn is coming. In the darkness of the night, the watchman may not know how much longer before the dawn, but he knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it is approaching nearer with every beat of his heart. His is a knowing anticipation of the dawn breaking no matter how long or dark the night. This is a firm ground of confidence. Our confidence should be greater and more secure than this watchman's because it is the Lord we are waiting upon, and we have His word as our guarantee. 

This is faith in action, faith being put to the test and being strengthened and refined. This is the faith the Lord wants to develop in you. This faiths is an active trusting that is willing to wait for the Lord no matter how dark or long the night because it knows the breaking of the dawn is certain. This is the faith that endures as seeing Him who is unseen. This is the faith of one who knows their God.

Let us wait upon the Lord with confidence in His care and concern for us, and the knowledge that His plan is always the best plan, because we have a faithful God who will always stand by His word.

A Testimony of God's Faithfulness

It was in September of 1985 that the big oil and gas bust hit West Texas. We had just moved to Midland in January of that year, as I had taken a position as a life and health producer with an agency in Odessa. We had seen the Lord answer several prayers and provide some direct guidance for us to move to Midland. One of the prayers He had answered was my returning to personal sales after five years in the corporate end of the insurance business. Even though I did not want to move back to West Texas, His guiding me to move back was unmistakable. I do remember on the drive moving out here, when we reached Abilene, half-joking and half-seriously telling the Lord, "I know you want me to move back to West Texas, but I am coming under protest."

However, the situation in Odessa seemed ready made as the agency owner was an old family friend who had approached me about the position when we ran into each other while I was working with some agents in Odessa. I had known this man since my childhood, and his agency was well known. They had never had a full time life and health producer, so when I arrived I was able to hit the ground running.

The first eight months back in West Texas and being back in personal sales was pretty amazing as I had opportunity after opportunity, to the extent the agency owner couldn't believe how much we were selling. Through July of that year I had already earned as much as I had for the entirety of the prior year. We were able to buy a new home and moved into it Labor Day weekend, and that's when things turned bad.

When we moved into the home, I had just closed a sale on a large employee benefit account and had also sold a large life insurance policy on a business owner. I had it all figured out as I was going to take the commission on the life insurance policy to pay for my taxes that year, and the commission from the employee benefit account would have covered the difference between my rent and the house payment. Of course, that is not how it happened as the bust hit that very month. On the large employee benefit account, when I showed up to collect all the applications and the check there were only three employees left, and they were out of business in two months. On the life insurance, when I took the policy out to the business owner to collect the money, he told me that he could either pay the insurance premium or the bank, and the bank would be getting paid.

Not only were these accounts affected, but most of my other insurance clients were as well and my commissions nose dived. So much of that time is still a blur, with bank failures and bankruptcies and high unemployment, which really carried on through 1986. In addition to this, the agency owner did not honor our agreement and withheld my part of the commission on a large life insurance policy I sold on an agency client, and used it to buy fur coats for his wife, daughter, and daughter-in-law for Christmas, all while rubbing my nose in it. Being in sales, I was paying my taxes quarterly and could not pay them, so I had to set up a note to pay off the IRS...after many conversations. What a difficult and trying time that next year was.

Looking back at that 12 month period I remember how the Lord provided for us time after time when our backs were against the wall and we were out of options, out of time, and out of prayers. Each month I would look at my commissions and we would not have enough to match our budget, but in God's providence things always worked out. We did not miss a house payment, we came out with our credit intact, and we did not go hungry. We saw His hand on our situation and His constant care. Even though we could not see a way out, His options were unlimited. Even though we would think we were out of time, His timing was always on time. He answered every prayer according to His will and His timing.

One of the truths that sustained me and encouraged me during that time was the story of Abraham. You may be familiar with the story in Genesis chapter twelve of God calling Abraham to the promised land, but what I think is the most important part of the story, is that the Lord brought him to the land He had promised him right in the middle of a famine. Was God surprised by that? Certainly not! It was in His plan for Abraham. During one of my prayers at that time, when I was asking the Lord why He would move us to Midland when He knew the bust was coming, this story came to my mind. I picked up my Bible and read it and I saw how the famine was in God's plan for Abraham and that God was using that time to train Abraham in trusting Him, and how gracious God was to him even when His faith was not perfect, and He opened my eyes to understand that, just as with Abraham, God knew what He was moving me into, and was using all that was going on in His training of me. My faith certainly was not perfect during that period of time, but the Lord extended His grace to me, just as He had done with Abraham.

We are going through such a time now in Midland. Low oil prices and the Corona Virus are working together to cause calamity for many in our community. People are losing their jobs or taking pay cuts, and the prospects for the immediate future seem pretty grim. But, again, this has not taken God by surprise and in all of this is the working out of His plan in the lives of each one of us who have a relationship with Him through faith in His Son as our savior.

This is a time He will use to demonstrate His faithfulness to us. This is time He will use to test our faith. This is a time He will use to train us to trust Him all the more. Let us look to Him, pray to Him, put our trust in Him, and remember that He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Let us not waste this opportunity to grow in our faith and our love for Him.

During this time let us exercise our faith by trusting Him, being strong, being steadfast, and being a blessing to those around us.

The Gospel Wound

See now that I, I am He, and 

 there is no God besides Me; 

it is I who put to death and give life.

I have wounded and it is I who heal...

Deuteronomy 32:39

Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;

save me and I will be saved,

for You are my praise.

Jeremiah 17:14

For the word of God is living and active

and sharper than any two-edged sword,

and piercing as far as the division of

soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, 

and able to judge the thoughts and 

intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

There is the wound of the gospel. The conviction of sin which breaks the heart and makes the soul contrite. There must be the gospel wound before there can be the healing of the gospel. It is the wound of the sharp two-edged sword of the gospel that cuts into the very heart and soul and mind of man.  

As such, it cannot be and will not be a superficial wound; but it is also never a mortal wound, no matter how deeply it penetrates. Therefore it is a most unusual wound, in that it is the wound which heals. It is the wound which lays bare and then heals the sin sick soul. It is the deep cut which circumcises the heart and makes it new. It is the wound which brings conviction of sin, and the wound which brings one to repentance. It is the wound that causes the blind to see and the deaf to hear. It is the wound which makes man cry out for salvation. It is the wound that renews the mind.

Yes, faithful are the wounds of our covenant friend. So our God, the faithful God, has designed the gospel so as to wound us, and he has also designed that very same gospel so as to heal us. He wounds us, so as to save us. He wounds us, so as to restore us. He wounds us for our good. The same gospel whose blows beat us up is also the same gospel that picks us up. Faithful are the wounds and blows of the gospel, for He has made it so.

The Five Essential Elements of a Gospel Ministry

In Colossians 1:24 -2:5 Paul bares his heart with the Colossians concerning the ministry given to him by God. And in the middle of this section, in verses 1:28-29, he distills the gospel ministry down to its essential elements.

"We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom , so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me."

So in these two verses we see the five essential elements of a gospel ministry. They are passion, preaching, purpose, perspiration, and power. If you look at Acts and the other Pauline epistles you will see these elements in the life and ministry of Paul. Let us look a little closer at these essentials.

Passion

In these verses we see Paul's passion for the person of Christ and for the people of God. We see his passion for Christ in that it is Christ, and Christ alone, that he is proclaiming, and it is Christ likeness that is his goal for every Christian. We also see his passion for Christ in this section of Scripture dealing with his ministry as Christ is the mystery which he seeks to manifest in his fully carrying out the preaching of the Word; and that his desire is for all to have the full assurance that comes from the true knowledge of Christ, Himself. This certainly fits in with what we see in I Corinthians 2:1-2 where he speaks of proclaiming the testimony of God and that he was determined to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. We also see how this fits with his own personal spiritual goal as revealed in Philippians 3:7-12 as he counts all things to be loss, to be rubbish compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord; and he presses on to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, so that He may lay hold of that for which he was laid hold of by Christ.

Here we also see his passion for the people of God, individually, as he uses the phrase every man three times in verse 28. Paul's main concern was not for the church universal, the corporate body, but for the individuals that make up that corporate body. His passion was to present every man, not the church, but, every man, before God as complete (fully mature) in Christ. It is not the church as an institution that Paul cares about, but the church comprised of individual members. We also see this laid out more fully in I Corinthians chapter 12 as Paul talks about the corporate body being made up of the individual members, which he gives particular emphasis to in verses 14 and 27. There is an old adage among us as pastors that if we pay attention to the depth of our ministry that God will take care of the breadth of our ministry. I believe that you can apply that same principle here. If we will take care of the individuals in our own flocks, having a passion for presenting each and every person under our charge as spiritually mature before God, then God will work through them to take care of, shape, and build the church corporately. We see this principle presented more fully in Ephesians 4:11-16.

So we see that the pastor must have a personal passion for Christ, must seek to have Christ at the center of his preaching, and must have conformity to Christ as the goal of his preaching. His concern must be focused on the individuals of the church rather than the church corporately. And we see that Paul's spiritual goal was the same for those he was ministering to as his personal spiritual goal. Shouldn't it be the same for those of us who are pastoring today?

One of the things that has bothered me about the Church Growth movement has been the emphasis on the church as an institution. Church Growth conferences and seminars deal with the strategies, techniques, and methods to grow the church corporately, but that is never the emphasis given in the Scriptures. The emphasis in the Scriptures is always on the spiritual growth, the growth in salvation of the individual, his Christ likeness, his conformity to Christ, his growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and his understanding of the will of God for his life. When the emphasis is put on the growth of the church rather than the growth of the individual, then the individual becomes a replaceable cog in the wheel, part of the means to the end, and his only value is related to his ability to help the church reach its goal; and when he is no longer deemed useful he is discarded and someone else is plugged in to take his place; and when this takes place spiritual growth grinds to a standstill.

Preaching

Everywhere that Paul went he followed much the same pattern in his preaching, which was proclaiming Christ, admonishing, and teaching. The word proclaim means to declare or to announce aloud, to make known publicly. Paul always publicly declared the truth, the facts about the person of Christ and the work of Christ in order to make Christ known. We see this in Acts 17 as Paul was in Thessalonica and was saying "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." Later in Acts 17 as he was preaching to the Athenians he spoke of Christ and His resurrection. In Acts 13 :14-41 Paul preached the story of Jesus and proclaimed forgiveness of sins in His name. In I Corinthians 15:1-8 Paul makes known the gospel which he preached to them and this gospel centers around the person of Christ. In the epistles Paul talks about our position in Christ, our identity in Christ, our conformity to Christ, our reconciliation in Christ, our inheritance with Christ, our walk in Christ, our baptism into Christ, our freedom in Christ, our salvation in Christ, our righteousness in Christ, our redemption in Christ, our justification in Christ, our peace in Christ, our sanctification in Christ, our obligation to Christ, our relationship to Christ, our strength in Christ, our growth in Christ, our marriage to Christ, our hope in Christ, our faith in Christ, the love of Christ, the work of Christ, the person of Christ, the power of Christ, Christ our wisdom, Christ the living Word, the glory of Christ, the beauty of Christ, the headship of Christ, God's purpose in Christ, and we could go on, but in all of this we see the power of God unto salvation, in all its fullness, in the preaching of Christ. Paul determined to know nothing except Christ and Him crucified, so that He alone would be the focus of our faith, not only for salvation, but for daily living as well.

Along with his proclaiming Christ Paul also admonished and taught. These two terms are really the two sides of the same coin. To admonish means to put into the head, to warn by instructing. It is to say don't do this because this is what will happen if you do. We see an example of this in I Corinthians 10:1-13 as Paul uses the example of God's dealing with the Israelites and the consequences of their sin as a warning to the Corinthians, and to us as well. In I Thessalonians 4:2-8 we see another admonishment, this concerning sexual immorality. In Paul's presentation of the gospel to the Athenians in Acts 17 he warns them of the day of judgement to come. In Ephesians 5:15-17 Paul admonishes the Ephesians by telling them to be careful about how they walk and to not be foolish, but to understand what the will of the Lord is. Admonishment puts sense into the head where it is needed.

The word for teaching means to instruct or to explain. It is telling someone what to do, how to do it, when to do it, why it should be done, and the basis or foundation for doing it. We see Paul instructing and explaining in the verses immediately following this section in Colossians where he bares his heart. We see his instruction in I Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing. In Romans 12 he tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, giving our bodies as a living sacrifice so that we may prove what the will of God is; that which is good, acceptable, and perfect. The pattern in all of Paul's letters was to lay the doctrinal foundation first, then move to application, with both being instructional, which follows the pattern given in this section of Colossians....proclaiming Christ, admonishing, and teaching. Should we not follow the same pattern in our preaching as well?

Purpose

As I mentioned earlier Paul had the same spiritual goal for those he ministered to as he had for himself and this was his purpose, his chief aim, in his ministry, to present every man before God complete (fully mature) in Christ. Notice, it was not to build a big church, to have a certain number of baptisms, to get them plugged into the life of the church, or merely about getting them saved, but it was about them becoming complete (fully mature) in Christ, and for them to stand before God in that mature state. This was the chief aim of the greatest evangelist/missionary of the New Testament. This is the fullness of the making of a disciple.

Why is this important to Paul? Why is it the purpose in his ministry? Because this is God's plan and purpose for each and every person! We see this purpose in Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son. We have this promise in Philippians 1:6 ...that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. And we see a picture of its fulfillment in I John 3:2-3 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Paul knew and understood the heart of God and the purpose of God for us as His children, and he did not waver and was not deterred from this purpose in his own ministry. Look at what he told the Galatians in 4:19 My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.

You see, when we are presented to God, and stand before God, how will God measure us, what will be the standard He will use? It will be Christ, the God-man, the perfect man, the man who fulfilled all righteous, the man who was absolute in His obedience, the One who was heard in the time of His tears because of His piety, the One who was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. He is the One who is holy, undefiled, separated from sinners, exalted in the heavens, and is sitting at the right hand of the One before whom we must appear.

If this is God's purpose and, as such, Paul's purpose, should it not be our purpose as shepherds of God's flock and caretakers of His purchase? Are we given another purpose in Scripture? Is this not fulfilling His command to make disciples? Think about it! What could give more glory to God than for all of His children, all of us who have been purchased out of the slave market of sin, to be like Him? And the more we are like Him the more glory we bring Him. So, what is the focus of your ministry? What is the purpose in your preaching, in your vision-casting, in your day to day activities? Is this what drives you, and is it the spiritual completeness of your flock when they stand before God for which you are laboring and striving? Is it for you or for them that you labor and strive?

Perspiration

Speaking of laboring and striving, that is exactly what Paul was doing to accomplish the purpose of God. The word for labor is kopiao, which means to weary one's self with labor or toil. It pictures the bone deep fatigue that comes from relentless hard labor. The word for striving is agonizomai, which means to strain to the uttermost, and we see a picture of this in an athlete straining with every muscle to win a race. The word here is in the present tense, so we see that this working and striving is a continued state in which Paul lives. We see that the working toward presenting every man complete in Christ is an endeavor in which Paul is continually active and a goal for which he is relentless. Let's not kid ourselves, being involved in a gospel ministry is hard work, should be hard work, and we should not only expect to work hard, but endeavor to work hard. In

I Corinthians 15:10 Paul talks again about his own hard work. We see his expectation of this same hard work in others in I Thessalonians 5:12-13 But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor (kopiao) among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. In his first letter to Timothy, in 4:10, he uses the words labor and strive to describe the effort they were to make in their ministry. This labor and striving was not confined to the physical demands and hours involved in the gospel ministry, but as we see in I Timothy 5:17 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard (kopiao) at preaching and teaching. It takes continuous labor and striving, it is hard work and agonizing, to preach the word in season and out.

Preaching and teaching is meant to be hard work, and coupled with the other demands and concerns that go along with a gospel ministry along with the demands of being a husband and father, and you can see how it can be wearisome and taxing. If a pastor is working to the point of weariness and fatigue then where does His strength to accomplish all of this come from? Which leads to the last, but most essential of the essentials of a gospel ministry.

Power

Paul does not continuously labor and strive in his own strength and ability. Because if he did he would have collapsed under the load and or would have been burned out (see II Corinthians 11:23-29). His own labor was in accordance with the power, the strength of God. The word for power is dunamis, which means mighty power, strength, or ability. It is the word from which we get our word dynamite. Paul's power was in accordance with God's power, and his ability was in accordance with God's ability, and this power or ability was working within Paul himself. It was Christ in Him, working in him and through him that gave Paul the power to do that which God had given him to do. Paul's obedience to the will of God lit the fuse that unleashed the power of God in his life and ministry. There is a distinct correlation between our obedience to His will, our effort to accomplish His will, and his empowering us to perform His will. Paul speaks to this in I Corinthians 15:10 By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

We see a parallel to this regarding our own sanctification in Philippians 2:12-13 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. As preachers and ministers of the gospel, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God, God unleashes His power within us to accomplish His will through us as we work and strive to do our part in accomplishing His purpose of Christ likeness in those whom He has put under our care and our charge. When His purpose becomes our purpose then we are empowered by His power through His Holy Spirit who indwells us.

We are never spiritually self-sufficient. Christ tells us so in John 15 when He says apart from Me you can do nothing. We are told in Psalm 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Paul understood this and understood this well as he asks the question in II Corinthians 2:16 And who is adequate for these things? Then he goes on to answer his own question in 3:4-6 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. His power will empower us as we seek to perform His purpose in our ministry, which is the perfecting of the saints who will appear before Him.

Yes, these are the five essentials of a gospel ministry. We see them in the life and work of Paul, and because of them we see the spiritual effectiveness of his ministry not only then, but as it continues now through his letters. Let us who have been called into the gospel ministry, and have been made stewards of the grace of God, seek to have these essentials be such a part of us that they automatically flow out of our life and ministry; and may we, like Paul, be spiritually effective, eternally effective, in our gospel ministry.