The Danger of An Unconverted Ministry

I have been preaching through the parable of the soils in Mark 4 and been thinking a lot about true and false conversion lately. I also had a good conversation with a brother on Sunday about how so many of the older writers (Richard Baxter, Charles Spurgeon, Charles Bridges) would warn aspiring pastors about making sure they are converted before they would enter into shepherding the souls of others. I thought it might be helpful to post a controversial sermon of Gilbert Tennant. He was a contemporary and friend of George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards. He lived in northern New Jersey and was instrumental in starting what was mockingly called "The Log College" but came to be known at Princeton Seminary. The sermon was aimed at many of the clergy in New England who were unconverted. It was said that everyone who heard the sermon knew exactly who Tennant was talking about. Of course, Tennant was labeled fanatical after such a sermon, but he was no fanatic. He just really believed that when Jesus said to the teacher of Israel, "You must be born again" that He meant it. Tennant later regretted his censorious spirit in which he delivered the message, but I think there is great application for today. Due to the length of the sermon, I will post it over several days. BTW, this sermon is public domain. Here is part 1:

THE DANGER OF AN UNCONVERTED MINISTRY


By Rev. Gilbert Tennent

(from the Soli Deo Gloria title Sermons of the Log College, now out of print)



“And Jesus, when He came out, saw much people and was moved with compassion towards them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd.” Mark 6:34

As a faithful ministry is a great ornament, blessing, and com­fort, to the church of God (even the feet of such mes­sengers are beautiful), so, on the contrary, an ungodly min­istry is a great curse and judgment. These caterpillars labor to devour every green thing.

There is nothing that may more justly call forth our saddest sorrows, and make all our powers and passions mourn in the most doleful accents, the most incessant, in­satiable, and deploring ag­onies, than the melancholy case of such who have no faithful min­istry! This truth is set be­fore our minds in a strong light in the words that I have chosen now to insist upon, in which we have an account of our Lord’s grief with the causes of it.

We are informed that our dear Redeemer was moved with compassion towards them. The original word signifies the strongest and most vehement pity, is­suing from the in­nermost bowels. But what was the cause of this great and compassionate commotion in the heart of Christ? It was because He saw much people as sheep having no shepherd. Why, had the people then no teachers? O yes! They had heaps of Pharisee-teachers that came out, no doubt, after they had been at the feet of Gamaliel the usual time, and according to the acts, cannons, and traditions of the Jewish church. But, notwithstanding the great crowds of these ortho­dox, letter-learned, and regular Pharisees, our Lord laments the unhappy case of that great number of people who, in the days of His flesh, had no letter guides, because those were as good as none (in many respects), in our Savior’s judgment. For all them, the people were as sheep without a Shepherd.

From the words of our text, the following proposi­tion offers itself to our consideration: that the case of such is much to be pitied who have no other but Pharisee-shepherds, or unconverted teachers.

In discoursing upon this subject, I would

I. Inquire into the characters of the old Pharisee-teach­ers.

Il. Show why the case of such people who have no bet­ter should be pitied. And,

III. Show how pity should be expressed upon this mournful occasion!

First, I am to inquire into the characters of the old Pharisee-teachers. No, I think the most notorious branch­es of their charac­ter were these: pride, policy, malice, ig­norance, covetousness, and bigotry to human inventions in religious matters.

The old Pharisees were very proud and conceited. They loved the uppermost seats in the synagogues and to be called “Rabbi.” They were masterly and positive in their as­sertions, as if knowl­edge must die with them. They looked upon others who differed from them, and the common people, with an air of disdain and, espe­cially any who had a respect for Jesus and His doctrine. They disliked them and judged them accursed.

The old Pharisee-shepherds were as crafty as foxes. They tried by all means to ensnare our Lord by their cap­tious questions, and to expose Him to the displea­sure of the state while, in the mean­time, by sly and sneaking methods, they tried to secure for them­selves the favor of the Grandees and the people’s displeasure, and this they ob­tained to their satisfaction (John 7:48).

But while they exerted the craft of foxes, they did not forget to breathe forth the cruelty of wolves in a malicious aspersing of the person of Christ, and in a vi­olent opposing of the truths, peo­ple, and power of His religion. Yes, the most stern and strict of them were the ringleaders of the party. Witness Saul’s journey to Damascus, with letters from the chief priest to bring bound to Jerusalem all that he could find of The Way. It’s true that the Pharisees did not proceed to violent measures with our Savior and His disci­ples just at first; but that was not owing to their good na­ture, but their policy, for they feared the people. They must keep the people in their interests. Aye, that was the main chance, the compass that directed all their proceedings and, there­fore, such sly cautious methods must be pursued as might consist herewith. They wanted to root vital re­ligion out of the world, but they found it beyond their thumb.

Although some of the old Pharisee-shepherds had a very fair and strict outside, yet they were ignorant of the New Birth. Witness Rabbi Nicodemus, who talked like a fool about it. Hear how our Lord cursed those plastered hypocrites in Matthew 23: 27–28: “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye are like whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead bones and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also ap­pear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” Aye, if they had but a little of the learning then in fashion, and a fair outside, they were presently put into the priest’s office, though they had no ex­perience of the New Birth. O sad!

The old Pharisees, for all their long prayers and other pious pretenses, had their eyes, with Judas, fixed upon the bag. Why, they came into the priest’s office for a piece of bread. They took it up as a trade and, therefore, endeavored to make the best market of it they could. O shame!

It may be further observed that the Pharisee-teach­ers in Christ’s time were great bigots to small matters in religion. Matthew 23:23: “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hyp­ocrites; for ye pay tithe of mind, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the Law, judg­ment, mercy, and faith.” The Pharisees were fired with a party-zeal. They compassed sea and land to make a prose­lyte; and yet, when he was made, they made him twofold more the child of hell than themselves. They were also big­oted to human inventions in religious mat­ters. Paul himself, while he was a natural man, was wonderfully zealous for the traditions of the Fathers. Aye, those poor, blind guides, as our Lord testifies, strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel.

And what a mighty respect they had for the Sabbath Day, in­somuch that Christ and His disciples must be charged with the breach thereof for doing works of mercy and necessity! Ah, the rottenness of these hyp­ocrites! It was not so much respect to the Sabbath as malice against Christ; that was the occasion of the charge. They wanted some plausible pretense to offer against Him in order to blacken His character.

And what a great love had they in pretense to those pi­ous prophets who were dead before they were born while, in the meantime, they were persecuting the Prince of Prophets! Hear how the King of the Church speaks to them upon this head, Matthew 23:29–33: “Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; be­cause ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous; and say, If we had been in the days of our fa­thers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”

Commentaries on Ephesians

OK, so I'm a lazy blogger and its been a long time since I last posted. Well, here I am and after just finishing 1 1/2 years studying the book of Ephesians, I thought I would comment on commentaries that I used while studying the book. Hopefully, it is edifying to those who might study Ephesians in the future.

Harold Hoehner-He has 2 commentaries on Ephesians. One in the Bible Knowledge series and his magnum opus exegetical commentary. I believe his exegetical commentary is the best out there on detailed exegesis. Lincoln is also good, but pretty liberal and I can't stand the formatting of the Word Biblical Commentary series. Hoehner is conservative and labors to be precise and accurate in his exegesis. The Bible Knowledge commentary is also helpful to get a quick summary of Hoehner's interpretation on the passage.

P. T. Obrien "Pillar NT Commentary-Obrien is an excellent NT scholar. Anything the guy writes is worth buying. He is from the land down under and teach at Moore Theological Seminary in Sydney. His commentary is in the Pillar series and not as detailed in exegesis as Hoehner (consistent with other Pillar commentaries), but he always does well in drawing out the meaning of the text with some helpful exegetical footnotes.

John Stott "God's New Society"-Stott as always is masterful in giving a survey of the text and getting at the meaning. He has a gift for explaining the text in a small economy of words. If you are going to study or preaching through Stott, he is accessible to layman, pastor, and scholar alike. Stott's position on women in home is a little weak. Seems almost to apologize for what the Scripture says, but other than that it is an excellent commentary.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones-This is a 8 volume series of sermons on Ephesians. Yes, that wasn't a typo 8 volumes. He is arguably the greatest preacher of the 20th Century. He is gifted at mining a nugget of truth from the text and upholding it throughout the whole sermon (or chapter). The challenge of reading through MLJ is that I would have to read about 100 pages/sermon that I would preach. And I preached 73 sermons in the book of Ephesians! But it's all worth it because I would always find some nugget or some way in which he states a truth that was very helpful. His section on "Sealing in the Spirit" I don't agree with but is worth reading.

I'll stop there and comment on some more commentaries later.

Reformation Day

Today marks the anniversary of when Martin Luther pounded those 95 theses on the Wittenberg Castle church door. This act would lead to another chain of events that would lead to the protestant reformation. I just thought it would be a good thing to remind myself what I am still Protesting against concerning the Roman Catholic Church.

1. I protest against a gospel that says salvation comes through the 7 sacraments of the church rather than the sufficient work of Christ. To add to the work of Christ is to destroy the glory of the work of Christ (Eph 2:8-9; Gal 1)SOLA FIDE

2. I protest against the vile way in which the sacrifice of the mass is performed daily saying that Christ is being crucified afresh. His death was once for all, adequate, and sufficient to pay the price for all my sins. He doesn't need to be crucified again (1 Pet 3:18; Gal 2:21; 3:13) SOLA GRATIA

3. I protest the way in which church tradition and councils are elevated to a level of infallible authority which ultimately trumps the authority of the Bible (2 Tim 3:16-17). SOLA SCRIPTURA

4. I protest the way in which Mary is worshiped, pray to, and adored, to a level which is reserved only for the Trinity. SOLI DEO GLORIA

5. I protest the way in which Mary is upheld as a Mediatrix and substitute for Christ as the 'one mediator between God and man.' 1 Tim 2 SOLUS CHRISTUS

6. I protest the way in which the glory of God is dragged through the dirt by adding the mentrual rags (Isa 64:6) and feces (Phil 3:3-9) of human achievement to the work of salvation. SOLI DEO GLORIA

7. I protest the way in which this false teaching holds captive many of my family and friends and others in the city of Youngstown whom I love dearly.

Even if I'm the last one standing and it costs me my life like Latimer, Ridley, Hus, Tyndale, Hooper, Cramner, Love, and a host of others. By God's grace, I'll stand and protest.

The importance of the Belt of Truth

I just finished reading "A Scottish Christian Heritage" by Ian Murray. I was impressed by the last chapter of the book. I was so riveted reading it, I stay up till past 1 AM reading it.
The last chapter records the apostasty and departure from the truth that took place in the late 1800's. The revivals in Scotland in the 1800's produces men like Hugh Martin, Thomas Chalmers, Robert Murray McCheyne, William Cunningham, Andrew and Horatio Bonar, James Bannerman, Rabbi John Duncan. Indeed, this was a time when there were spiritual giants in the land. So what happened? How is it that so much of Scotland is a spiritual wasteland today?
Men like A. B. Davidson began sowing seeds of doubt upon the Scripture, denying Mosaic authorship of the Penteteuch, embracing higher critical theories from Germany. Then exceptional students were then sent to schools in Germany and would learn the higher critical theories that would attack the inerrancy of Scripture. Then men like Robertson Smith, George Adam Smith, A. B. Bruce began to introduce their attacks upon inerrancy and when they were put on trial for heresy none of the charges could stick.
I find it to be a scary thing that it is difficult to get hired today as a professor in an evangelical seminary without having a degree from a school in Europe that attacks the Scripture and teaches higher critical theories. Take a look at many of the popular evangelical seminaries and read the bio's on the faculty and see many have attained doctorates from schools that attack the Scripture. Even someone like John Piper in the 1970's knew that he wanted to become a professor at a Christian college or seminary. So he went to a school in Germany that attacked the Scripture. I bless God that Piper survived the assault and winded up teaching at Bethel College and Seminary. But I must ask why do evangelical seminaries drool over a doctorate from an institution that teaches God-hating, Scripture-assaulting lies?

Shouldn't we learn from history? Woe to the seminary that sacrifices truth on the altar of scholarship.

I thank God that I attended a seminary (Master's Seminary) that is holding the line on truth and not abandoning the inerrancy of Scripture. Let us pray for the seminaries that train pastors that will be feeding the flock of God for years to come in the US and elsewhere. Let us pray for a revival that would produce giants in the land in the days of mid 19th century Scotland.

Desiring God Conference

Well, it is great to be back from the DGM national conference. It was a great conference. I worked the book table for Mathias Media and was able to have some good conversations encouraging people towards discipleship and evangelism. The talks were all helpful. Sinclair Ferguson opened the conference with an excellent exposition of James 3. It was a very clear exposition of the text that was convicting. He had a great illustration that came from his personal experience. He speaks with a Scottish accent and wherever he goes in the States people ask him where he is from. He asked, "do people know where you are from because you speak a heavenly accent?"

Driscoll was edgy as was expecting but gave some challenging thoughts to think through the different kinds of speech that Jesus used towards sinners versus false teachers.

Tripp's message was excellent. It is no surprise that the man that taught me about heart idolatry would relate our use of words to the heart and our ruling desires and idols.

Piper delivered an excellent message on the place of eloquence in evangelical preaching. He did well exegeting 1 Co 1-2 and answering why Paul was averse to eloquence in preaching in the light of the historical background of the Sophists in Corinth.

If you want to watch, listen, or read any of the messages then you can click here.

The Beginning of the end: UK begins to adopt Sharia Law

I recently read an article here that states that judicial courts in Great Britain are adopting Sharia law in some instances. Sharia law is Islamic religious law. Some estimate that within 20 years the UK will be an Islamic state under Sharia law. One scholar who is on the inside of UK politics believes that this will take place within 20 years. I believe this is an extremely foolish and naive decision for Great Britain. It fails to understand that Islam's goal is to take over the countries by any means necessary.
What is the response of the church. The temptation is to run for your guns, but Christ has something far better. Let us uphold the precious gospel of Christ to our Muslim friends and neighbors. Let us pray for missionaries to Muslim saturated countries. Let us be willing to go ourselves. For straight talk on Islam without the nauseating political correctness of modern media, check out any of Dr. Bob Morey's videos on Islam.

Persecution

I have been struck lately thinking about Acts 12. I first heard this through a Desiring God Ministry newsletter. The contrast is between James and Peter. At the beginning of Acts 12 James is executed at the order of Herod. Then Peter is arrested and appears to be awaiting execution. The church prays and God is pleased to send an angel to deliver Peter out of prison. By the end of the chapter Herod is struck dead and the Word of God continues to multiply.
Sometimes God chooses to magnify His name through His people counting Christ more precious than their own lives and dying in the process. Sometimes He is pleased to deliver His people out of persecution. Regardless of God's doing, we are responsible to pray for our brothers and sisters.

Pray for our brothers and sisters in India undergoing persecution here and here.

Hebrews 13:3 "Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body."