October 30, 2010
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the lost treasures of the Church: fools who preach Christ with great joy (letter 86)
Here's another letter in my series of posts on assurance and fighting for joy. I've mentioned in some previous posts some of the lost treasures of the Church, here's another...My deep desires are:
that all of you who are not already saved would come to know God through His Son Jesus Christ, andthat those of you who are already saved would come to know God's love for you in Jesus Christ in greater and greater measure.The thing I can do to accomplish those desires is to proclaim God's glorious Gospel and ask that my words go out not in word only but also in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, trusting God's Holy Spirit will work through my words and work in your mind and heart as you hear them.
Preaching Christ and the cross is foolishness to the world, but to those who are being saved it is the wisdom of God.
Preaching Christ and the cross is the aroma of death to the world, but to us who are being saved, it is aroma of life.
As you read, I am praying God's Spirit would open your mind to comprehend and open your nostrils to smell the love of God poured out on Calvary's cross.
I Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
I Corinthians 2:1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
I am happy to be a fool for Christ. Oh, yes, my flesh, the devil and the world continue to buffet me and tempt me: "Who cares about what you're writing? Who's reading? Where's the fruit? Just quit!"I've said, "I've quit" several times over the past couple weeks, but then in the next breath God's love came in and compelled me, and I found myself saying, "No! I cannot quit. But, Lord, I need more grace to carry on here!"
As Christians who are called to be lights in a dark world, we will all face such dark doubts and we must face them rightly.
First, we must keep going to back to the Father of lights to ask for supplies sufficient for our daily needs. Will He not give us all we need – after all He has already given us His only begotten Son (Romans 8:32)? Will He withhold from us anything we need (Psalm 84:11)? We must keep asking for His Holy Spirit to refresh and renew us. We must pray for fresh supplies of His Holy Spirit. We must ask for those springs of water that are ours as children of God. We must ask for a double portion of His Spirit so we might endure all things for the elect with joy. God's desire is for us to be able to rejoice in Him always, particularly as we are sent into the world to preach the Gospel to every nations, not only for their joy, but for God's glory and our own joy as well.
Second, we must keep going back to the big picture when we begin to be battered down by such discouragements. The devil doesn't want Christ to be lifted up because he knows that the power to save sinners comes through the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There is a spiritual battle going on for lost souls. When the devil works to discourage us, or when he distracts us so we continue round and round in all sorts of other circus discussions about non-essential matters or get mired down in arguments and fights with one another in the Body of Christ, the devil has gotten a great foothold, for he's succeeded in getting us off task, he taken us away from the stewardship of the Gospel and is keeping us from the first and vital way we propagate the faith: through the preaching Christ and Him crucified.
Once again in the past day or so, God gave me sufficient grace to be able to go to the sanctuary again (see Isaiah 8, Psalm 73) and stand back and see myself aright (through God's eyes) and say to myself, "What else would I rather be doing that giving out the words of life that You have given me so they might share in Your life as I have! What else would I be doing that helping others to know You as their chief joy as I have known You! Forgive me for my foolishness and brutishness. What a glorious Gospel and a glorious calling You have given me! I despise myself for once again despising this glorious calling! I despise myself for despising You! You have always been good to me! Always!"
So, yes, I most likely will not be popular. As I've said, I've struggled with that. This is my continuing temptation. Yet even our Lord Jesus had people leaving Him, and in the end, all had forsaken Him, and so I must trust He will give me strength to bear up under each temptation so I might walk in the good works He has ordained for me. I have a great High Priest who suffered, being tempted like me, and yet without sin!
Here is a fact: The Gospel is not popular with the world. And the Gospel never will be popular with the world. In 1739 George Whitefield wrote, "And as for the gospel, when was it preached without dislike?" If we are preaching a gospel the world likes, then it's some sort of distorted gospel. The unregenerate mind is hostile to God. The unbelieving world is blinded to the light of the glory of the Gospel of Christ.
The Gospel is a message that brings us all face to face with our total depravity and sinfulness and our inability. God calls each one of us "an unclean thing" and all our so-called good works "filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6).
Of course, we don't like to hear that we are sinners. We prefer to say we're not that bad. We like to compare ourselves with ourselves – but when we compare ourselves with an infinitely holy God, all we can do is fall down prostrate before His throne and cry out, "Woe is me! You are holy, holy, holy! I am undone! Have mercy on me, a sinner!" We are 100% bad. All of us! No good dwells in any of us. None.
God says, "All right, then, go ahead and keep bringing your own goodness to Me, but it will avail you nothing. You are already condemned to hell apart from receiving My provision of perfect goodness through faith in the sacrifice of My Son for you. There is no other way for you to be saved but by trusting in His precious atoning blood. None. Here I am today stretching out My arms of love, mercy and grace to you because My Son stretched out His arms on the cross! Would that you might come to Me and know Me and My love for you. Believe on My Son and You will have everlasting life and joy and peace – for then You will know Me!"
There is no other message that will bring eternal life and salvation to dying and lost souls. Preaching Christ is what brought the Ethiopian eunuch to faith (see Acts 8 and yesterday's post). Preaching Christ is what the early church did. I challenge you to look through the book of Acts. People don't get arrested for doing good deeds for people or for being so-called "silent witnesses," they get arrested for preaching Christ as the only way of salvation. This zeal of preaching Christ is what the church today has lost today. Let us lift high the cross! And then let us keep lifting it high.
Let us continue to ask God for continued fillings of His Spirit and for His grace to be multiplied to us, so we might be steadfast, immovable and always abounding in His work and so we might fight the lusts of our flesh, the temptations of the devil and the lures of the world so we might keep preaching Christ as we ought. The Gospel is still today, just as it has always been, the power of God unto salvation. There is no other way for men to be saved. God's plan has not changed to save sinners, of whom I am chief. For those of us who are saved, may Almighty God continue to strengthen us with His grace so we might endure all things for the elect with joy, for we proclaim a message of great joy for all peoples: salvation offered full and free to undeserving and helpless sinners from an infinitely holy God!
May God's grace strengthen us so we might continue to be fools who preach Christ with great joy!
May we pray for the Lord of the harvest to raise up more fools to join us!Here I stand, a fool who preaches Christ. I can do no other!
I am trusting my Lord to help me to so with great joy!
Related:Why I write and minister - My credo for being a godly encourager
"I could write a thousand words" (my credo ~ why I preach the Gospel)
Why preach the Gospel? # 1: Bad men need Good News!
Why preach the Gospel? # 2: Dead men need Life!
Here I stand & from here I cast (devoted to prayer & the ministry of the Word)
Make war (Herod, blogging, appetites, the glory of God & the Word of God)
blogging, view count, comments, numbers and the glory of God
A little child shall lead us: Christ died for our sins (precious penal substitution)
the shepherds' confession: may Christ and His Gospel become a joy and delight to us once more
Naphtali News: God speaking to me about my failures & the one thing needful (a post on the Holy Spirit)
Why not pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
trusting the eagles' wings (reliance on the Holy Spirit)
O prowling lion, Know this ... O my downcast soul, Know this (letter 57 on assurance & joy)
"give me also springs of water" - Will you be an Achsah? (letter 66 on assurance & fighting for joy)
Are you a radiantChristian or a drunken old woman? (letter 82 on assurance & fighting for joy)
asking a hard thing (letter 84 on assurance & fighting for joy)
When they conspire, do I make my prayer to You? (Nehemiah 4:7-9)
the devil and God, passion and vision, lies and truth
Are you "quite content to be a fool for Christ's sake"? (ML-J)
April Fool's Day: What Kind of Fool Are You?
"How mad a true minister of Christ must appear in the eyes of many!" (more from W.H. Hewitson)Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Comments (11)
We don't mind being called a "fool" for preaching Christ, except for the fact that that means the person saying that of us just doesn't "get it." We want so much for people to trust Him and be saved that we sometimes get discouraged.
Noah worked and "preached" with his work seeing only 8 saved (including himself). That's about one convert every 15 years!
On the other hand, Jonah tried to escape his calling and even after being disobedient, a whole city repented.
Numbers have nothing to do with it. I don't think it's just the big business -big government mentality that causes us to desire big numbers. Nor is it only the desire for fame. Some of it is that same love for the world that Jesus has. We look at all the lost and cry for them to come to Jesus, but they won't.
Obedience to Christ's calling makes for hard work, long hours, and much opposition, but the benefits both now and in the future are heavenly!
Right on! God Bless.
Thank you Karen... another post with power! When you get discouraged, imagine John the Baptist: "When will Jesus reveal Himself? Is Jesus the One? None of the judgment I predicted is happening... was I wrong? Was it all a waste?"
No, it wasn't. It was exactly faithful to your calling. Keep faithful to your calling even through times of doubt. God says, "Did I tell you to stop? Then keep going!"
Keep doing what you are doing Karen! Your posts here and on my blog and your prayers have meant alot to me. You may not have a huge following or lots of recognition but the Lord is using you to make a difference and encourage others in their walks!
-AJ
Thanks Karen. My wife and I learned early that when you talk about the church, the service, the sermon, ministering to the needs of the hurting church members, most people are OK with that. However, when you mention Jesus in the conversation it gets tense.
I would say all the churches that I attended and visited in 40 years presented the true gospel. Churches had various ideas about the role of the church and most were into teaching the Bible.
blessings
FRANK
God bless; keep up the holy work.
@quest4god@revelife - Norm, thanks for those Scriptural reminders. I know my motives have been mixed and must continue to ask God to purify them. And yes, there are heavenly benefits now and in the future! As soon as I see that, then I begin to come to my senses. Thanks again for all your support & prayers!
@deathtothenewworldorder - Thank you!
@CitizenDon - Yes, John the Baptist - a wonderful example.
I really loved this:
God says, "Did I tell you to stop? Then keep going!"
Right! Keep going!
Thanks so much for your continued encouragements!
@wanderingthoughtsofabrokenman - Thanks so much, AJ, I really appreciate it. The last couple weeks had been so odd. I've not had anything like this is over a year now, w/ such an extended period of time. I seemed to gain a measure of victory but not long after, the temptation was back again even worse. I can see how God is using it to strengthen me in my faith & trust & perseverance & vision (and subsequently to be able to help others), but I feel I have been really put through the wringer.
@FRANK@revelife - Frank, I agree w/ you that the name of Jesus can definitely provoke people in ways that God doesn't. I've had that happen and particularly when you start talking about the exclusive claims Christ made about Himself as well as sin and the atonement. I think there are churches which have minimized the central teachings of the Gospel, so that's my main concern here.
@TravelingStranger - Thanks, David. Yes it is holy work whenever we proclaim the Gospel, is it not? Thanks so much for saying it that way; I really appreciate that and it reminds me of that we're doing is so precious and wonderful b/c He is so precious & wonderful.
@naphtali_deer - It's the best job in the world, isn't it? Long hours, lots of tears, etc; but joy comes in the morning!!!