Charles Spurgeon once wrote something to the effect that it is better to be a lean bird in the woods than a fat bird in a cage. That is a word we need to hear again. A young minister can be tempted to settle down where everything is safe, comfortable, predictable, and well-funded. But a caged eagle is a sad sight, and sadder still is a caged preacher. God did not call his servants to decorate a cage; he called them to proclaim Christ with holy courage.
The apostolic charge is still plain: “Preach the word; be
ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great
patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). The preacher is not a religious
entertainer, a public relations manager, or a spiritual salesman. He is a
herald of the living God, under the authority of Scripture and accountable to
Christ.
The Hour Is Urgent
At the rate America is decaying morally, we may have to
change our national symbol from an eagle to a vulture. That is not said with
joy, but with grief. The church must not learn to be comfortable in a culture
of decay. We are called to be salt and light, to speak the truth in love, and
to call sinners to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and
rest for a while” (Mark 6:31). That is not optional for the servant of God. If
you do not come apart with Christ, you may come apart under the pressure of
ministry. Rest is not laziness. Rest is obedience. The preacher who never gets
quiet before God will soon be noisy without power.
Sometimes the truth does not need a long lecture. It only
needs to be said plainly enough that conscience can hear it.
Too many church members live so far below the biblical standard
that you would have to backslide to be in fellowship with them. We have become so
subnormal that if we ever became normal Christians, people might think we were
abnormal. But Scripture calls us to holiness, not to spiritual mediocrity: “But
as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct”
(1 Peter 1:15).
Illustrations in a sermon are like windows. They let in
light. But a sermon should not be all windows. A good story can help, but I
have heard sermons built several stories too high. The main thing is not the
story; the main thing is the Word of God, rightly handled and clearly preached.
Standing Together Without Losing the Truth
There is value in togetherness. God has designed the church
as a body, and every believer needs the fellowship, correction, encouragement,
and accountability of the saints.
Reasonable flexibility and adaptability are good. If our
backbones were completely rigid, we would have a miserable time. But there is a
difference between being flexible and being spineless. The most perfectly
adjusted people are in cemeteries. The living church must be gracious, but she
must also stand.
The temple of truth has never suffered as much from
woodpeckers on the outside as from termites within. The greatest danger to the
church is not always open opposition from the world. Sometimes the greater
danger is hidden compromise, false doctrine, and unbelief wearing religious
clothing.
Snowflakes are frail, but if enough of them stick together,
they can stop traffic. Do not despise the strength of faithful believers who
stand together in the truth. A praying church, a witnessing church, a holy
church, and a united church can still make a real difference in a dark
generation.
The church was meant to be a soloist, not an accompanist. We
are not here to provide background music for the spirit of the age. We are here
to sing the song of redemption, preach the gospel of grace, and bear witness to
the crucified and risen Christ.
An egotist is a person who talks about himself so much that
you do not have a chance to talk about yourself. The servant of Christ must be
delivered from self-importance. The pulpit is no place for self-display. “He
must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
Some fights are lost even when we win. The preacher must
know when to contend earnestly for the faith and when to refuse foolish and
divisive quarrels. We must defend the truth without becoming quarrelsome men.
The Gospel Is Not Cosmetic
The business of a doctor is not to make sick people happy
but to make them well. When they are well, they will be happy. Christ did not come
primarily to make everyone feel better about themselves. He came “to seek and
to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). He came to save us from our sins, reconcile us
to God, and give us eternal life. Getting sick people to act as if they are
well does not cure the disease. We must deal with sin itself, and only the
gospel of Jesus Christ can do that.
What our Lord said about cross-bearing and obedience is not hidden
in fine print. It is in bold print on the face of the contract. Jesus said, “If
anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily,
and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
We have too often put the demands of discipleship in fine
print because we are afraid we will scare away prospects. But Jesus never
tricked people into the kingdom. He called them to repent, believe, follow,
obey, endure, and count the cost. Salvation is by grace alone through faith
alone in Christ alone, but the grace that saves us also trains us to live for
God. A teachable spirit is not weakness. It is wisdom. The mature Christian
still sits under Scripture.
Whether we can have unity in diversity depends on how
diverse the diversity is. Scripture asks, “Can two walk together without
agreeing to meet?” (Amos 3:3). Christian unity is precious, but biblical unity
is unity in the truth. We must not sacrifice sound doctrine on the altar of a
shallow peace.
Preaching With Fire, Not Formality
Too many church services start at eleven o’clock sharp and
end at twelve o’clock dull. God forbid that our worship should be lifeless,
routine, and safe from interruption by the Holy Spirit. We need reverence,
order, truth, and spiritual life.
Our Lord wanted the Laodicean church to be boiling hot and
repentant. Some of us simmer all our lives and never come to a boil. Jesus
said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent”
(Revelation 3:19). Lukewarm religion is not harmless. It nauseates the Lord.
People sometimes say about unsound books and strange cults,
“But there is some truth in them.” Would you say, “This milk has some arsenic
in it, but most of it is milk, so go ahead and drink it”? In my boyhood home we
had an old clock that would not run. It was right twice every day. God’s Word
is right all the time. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for
teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness” (2
Timothy 3:16).
I believe in being dogmatic where God has spoken. When I go
to the pharmacist with a prescription, I want him to be dogmatic about the ingredients.
When I go to the doctor, I do not want him to say, “Your ailment could be this
or it might be that. We’ll try these pills, and if they don’t kill you we’ll
try something else.” When I ride a train, I do not want the engineer to say,
“I’m tired of this old timetable. It is too dogmatic. We are going to throw it
away and follow no set schedule.” I want a dogmatic preacher who preaches from
a dogmatic Bible. This is not arrogance; it is submission to divine revelation.
My father considered himself to be the head of the family,
and the rest of us were inclined to agree with him. He was not opposed to the
posterior application of superior force, if necessary. He was not afraid he
would frustrate Junior. He saw no conflict between love and discipline. Neither
does the Bible. Our Lord said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So
be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19). Love that never corrects is not
biblical love.
It is good to grow mellow with the passing of the years, but
we must remember that some things become mellow just before they spoil. Age
should make a Christian wiser, kinder, steadier, and more Christlike. It must
not make us careless about truth or soft toward sin.
From Routine to Revival
Sometimes church services are announced “as usual.” Maybe that
is what is wrong with them. Nothing else is “as usual” these days. We are
living ordinary lives in extraordinary times. The emergency requires urgency.
We are passing resolutions when we should be praying for and pursuing a holy
revolution—the Acts of the Apostles kind.
There were multitudes of converts in Acts, but they were the
results, not the goals. On the day of Pentecost, the apostles did not say,
“Let’s shoot for five thousand next time.” They witnessed in the power of the Holy
Spirit, preached Christ crucified and risen, called sinners to repent, and the Lord
added thousands. “So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day
about three thousand people were added to them” (Acts 2:41). If we had what
they had, we would exceed all our goals.
A Closing Appeal
This is no time for caged preachers, sleeping churches, thin
doctrine, or polished religion without power. The need of the hour is not
novelty but faithfulness; not noise but unction; not entertainment but the
gospel; not compromise but conviction; not dead formality but Spirit-filled
obedience.
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