Philosophy of Ministry

I. The Benefits of a Philosophy of Ministry. 

Without a philosophy of ministry drawn from non-negotiable biblical principles, it is impossible to have unity of direction.  A philosophy of ministry defines both why the church does what it does, and it defines what the church is to do.

The investigation of Scripture yields explicit teaching regarding implicit methodologies of ministry.[i] “Scripture is the very foundation upon which the church is built and comprises not only the content of the message that the church proclaims but also the methods by which the church operates.”[ii]

As a consequence of the above, a biblical philosophy of ministry is not merely a suggested set of pragmatic guidelines, but a Scriptural mandate on how the church should function.[iii]  As such, the purpose of the church is the same for everybody.  It is a blueprint of what God wants you to do and how to do it.

A biblical philosophy of ministry is necessary in order to be efficient.  With limited time, energy and resources, it is incumbent upon God’s people to clearly understand God’s purpose.  Without a lucid plan drawn from Scripture, human nature is such that it will pursue personal purposes instead of God’s purpose.[iv]

Only by delineating God’s unquestioned goal can the church pursue that purpose with all its strength.  When the church articulates is philosophic foundations, it can determine the scope of its ministry and it can continually evaluate its corporate ministry efforts.  Driving toward a main purpose keeps the church “on task” so that its resources are not diluted.

An established philosophy of ministry allows the church to evaluate its ministry in light of well thought out biblical criteria rather than on the basis of a program’s popularity.[v]

With a philosophical foundation, the church will be better able to keep its ministry balanced and focused upon essentials.  Each aspect of ministry will more easily be defined in relation to the whole.

A firmly established philosophy of ministry regularly articulated by the leadership “filters down” through the rest of the flock to form a consistent approach to ministry.  As a result of such clear articulation to each member, there will be a very high potential for mobilizing a greater proportion of the flock. 

A church that can articulate its philosophic foundations will have a solid criterion for judging the relative merits of a prospective ministry.  Churches without a biblical philosophy of ministry tend to be “program driven.”  In that situation, goals will precipitate toward pleasing people instead of being God-centered.  Felt needs, social oriented ideas, and superficial views of success will tend to shape ministry programs where God’s purpose and plan are not articulated. 

A correct biblical foundation provides the church with a standard that allows her to purposefully choose to cooperate, or not cooperate with other churches and parachurch ministries.[vi]

II. The Purpose of the Local Church. 

            The Church is repeatedly called the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22, 23).  The Church was born in the eternal purpose of God.  In Ephesians 3, it is evident that God planned and purposed the Church throughout eternity, but He did not reveal it until this age.[vii]

            In essence, the Church is the only divinely organized society among men.  It was instituted for a purpose by Christ.  Christ gave it its laws and an economy of methods and order by which to accomplish its sacred mission.[viii]

            The Church exists in order to be a worshipping community.  Her purpose is to glorify God by worship and by godly living.  The glory of God is the Church’s first duty and is foundational to all other purposes (Rom 15:6, 9; Eph 1:5-18). 

            The ultimate purpose of the Church is the worship of the One who called it into being.  True worship can only take place as one is in the realm of the Spirit.  In that realm, one is vitalized and motivated to true worship.  Worship in Spirit is also worship in truth.  True worship only takes place in Christ.  In Him, one is in the supernatural life of the Spirit and in the truth.[ix]

            John 4:19-24 is a paramount text in our understanding of true new covenant worship.  In that passage Christ predicted that a new order of worship would be instituted by God in which the OT pattern would be replaced.  The NT introduces worship in Christ which does not prescribe a specific format.  NT worship has no holy place.  It has no sacrificial system (“sacrifices” are all now spiritual – 1 Pet 2:5: Rom 12:1, 2; Heb 13:15, 16).  A select priesthood has now been replaced with the priesthood of every believer (1 Pet 2:5; Rev 1:6).[x]

            The Church is to ascribe worth to God.  The redeemed community glorifies God not only in its acts of worship but also in its mere existence (Eph 1:3-14).  The Church’s very life and existence are a function of the exercise of God’s mighty attributes (2 Pet 1:1-4).  The community of saints can thus use their own spiritual life and conversion as “exhibit A” of God’s excellencies (1 Pet 2:9, 10).[xi]

            Worship services in the NT include the following: The Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor 11: 17-34), The Edification Service (1 Cor 14:1ff.), The Baptismal Service, The Prayer Meeting (Acts 13:2, 3), The Disciplining Service (1 Cor 5:1ff.).[xii]

            The Church exists in order to be a to be a repository of divine truth (1 Tim 3:15).  The Scriptures teach that believers adhered to a definite doctrinal standard (Acts 2:42; Eph 4:20).  They were to guard the truth (2 Tim 1:13, 14).  They were to contend for the truth (Jude 3).  They were to systematically teach the truth (Tit 1:9; 2:1). 

            The Church exists in order to be a light to the world through evangelism (Matt 5:13-16; 28:19-20; Tit 2:11-15).  The ultimate goal of all ministry is to reach others for Christ to the glory of God.  Believers’ lives are to be an evangelistic witness – a light to a dark and perverse generation (Phil 2:15).  Our witness is to be through our lives and through our words (1 Pet 3:15).  Missions entails a worldwide view of evangelism.[xiii]

            There is no excuse for a local church neglecting its “own Jerusalem.”  The field is the world, but the world begins in our own backyard, at work, and across the street.  Corporate evangelism is basic to personal evangelism.  Personal evangelism takes on an unusual significance when a local body of mature believers makes an impact on their community by means of their integrity.  Note the character issues that are joined to witness: excellent citizenship (1 Thess 4:11, 12), unselfish behavior (Rom 13:7), orderly conduct (1 Cor 10:31-33), wisdom (Col 4:6), diligence (1 Cor 6:1), humility (1 Pet 2:18).[xiv]

            The Church’s objective is to make disciples of the nations.  The goal is to plant a church in every nation and people group in order that the remainder of that nation may be reached with the Gospel.  Church planting is the primary objective of missions.  The Church is a “debtor” to the whole world.  We are under obligation to let the whole world hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

            Every church should study missions.  The study of the needs of unreached people groups results in missionary intercession, missionary contributions, and missionary sending.

            By evangelism, the Church also is a witness to those who will not believe.  As such, the Church is a restraining and enlightening force in the world.  Believers are the “salt of the earth” (Matt 5:13-16).  By their influence and testimony, believers are instrumental in holding back the unrestrained advance of lawlessness. 

            Though the believer is forbidden to form close partnerships with the ungodly (2 Cor 6:14-18), he is not to break off his support of causes that are positive in the community (those which promote social, political, economic, and educational welfare).  Our good works give evidence that our evangelistic testimony is backed up by righteous character. 

            The Church exists in order to edify itself (1 Cor 12-14; Rom 12; Eph 4).  This purpose includes the “building up of itself in love” (Eph 4:11-16).  The church is to grow to spiritual maturity through the process of edification.  Maturation makes its witness to the world dynamic.  God is honored and glorified in the process.[xv]

            The purpose of edification is to present every man complete in Christ (Col 1:28).  The plan which brings about the purpose is by proclaiming Christ, and by teaching and admonishing every man (1:28).  (“Teaching, admonishing, striving” indicate that the communication of the Word did not stop with preaching.  The truth was fixed in the mind until it was clear to the pastors and teachers that their listeners were doing it.)[xvi]   

            The local church serves as a training center whereby people can grow through the application of teaching and the utilization of their spiritual gifts.[xvii]

            True worship involves service.  Spiritual gifts were sovereignly distributed by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of building up one another (Rom 12:1-8).  Love makes us care for one another as a ministering, active community that exercises its spiritual gifts in order to fill the needs of those in the body (1 Cor 12-14).

            Every new believer must taught the answer to the question, “What do I do with my new found faith?” Answer – consecrate yourself and serve (Rom 12-16; 1 Pet 4:10, 11).

            The local church must be committed to the task of educating its constituency.  Gifted men are God’s gift to the church for the purpose of equipping and perfecting the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph 4:11-16). 

            The main business of assembly life is the equipping and the edification of believers.  We cannot expect lay workers in ministry to possess developed gifts unless we are totally committed to the mandate of “equipping the saints for the work of the ministry.”[xviii]  “The dynamic of the early Church came from a proper  understanding of the roles of the Body: gifted leaders building up the saints who in turn exercise spiritual ministries throughout the Body.”[xix]

         The Church exists in order to provide a context of loving fellowship for the purpose of mutual edification (Eph 3:16-19; 4:12-16).  The basis of our fellowship is our common bond in Christ by His Spirit (1 Jn 1:3).  Obedience as well as faith is vital to our fellowship with one another – “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 Jn 1:7).  The blessings of the brethren dwelling together in unity is dependent upon truth believed and obeyed, not upon mere sentimentality or compromise.[xx]

III. The Implementation of the Purpose of the Church. 

            Many lay people are highly trained, mature believers.  “Many of our lay people are much more capable of putting together and maintaining ministries than we pastors think they are.”  Sadly, so many churches are structured around one major chord – solely giving lay people more information about the Bible and the Christian life.[xxi]

            Implementation of the purpose of the Church begins first of all by understanding that God alone directs the Church through the Holy Scriptures (1 Cor 4:6); through His gifted people; and through the circumstances He ordains.  The Church belongs to God (1 Tim 3:14, 15).  Church leaders do not rule “in absentia,” for Christ is presently Head of His Church (Eph 4:15).[xxii]

            God’s power, rule, and direction are manifested through the exegesis of His Word.  Therefore, exegesis is the foundation and starting point of all ministry.  As a consequence, church programs must be established by people who are committed to biblical principles.[xxiii]

            Ministry ought to be built around the giftedness of the person, rather than around a job description or a program’s operation manual.  This is especially true in light of the fact that God sovereignly distributes spiritual gifting according to His wise plan.  God builds the church, placing gifted people in the body where He wishes (1 Cor 12:11).

            Pastors and elders are to examine the use of gifts and equip people in light of God’s Word.  The profile of a gift should shape the profile of a ministry.  When elders meet, prayer ought to occupy a majority of the meeting time.  The reason for this posture of submissive prayer is because they are under Christ’s authority.  Seeking to ascertain what God desires to do in the Body must be primary.  God’s leading is always through the authority of Christ’s Word.[xxiv]  

            Every new church member ought to know precisely where the church is headed.  New converts, transfer members – each should be given an understanding of the purpose and direction of the church.[xxv]

            The mission or purpose statement of Saddleback Church serves to demonstrate that implementation of the philosophy of ministry ought to be always tied to results rather than mere activity.  Saddleback’s purpose statement reads as follows: “To bring people to Jesus and membership in His family, develop them to Christlike maturity, and equip them for their ministry in the Church and life mission in the world, in order to magnify God’s Name.”[xxvi]

            Implementation that is stated in terms of results is by far the best way to evaluate and measure whether or not the local body is fulfilling the Great Commission.  Results oriented implementation focuses more upon “growing people with a process, than growing a church with programs.”[xxvii]

            The purpose of the Church only becomes dynamic when it becomes specific.  By that is meant that the Church vision should be “personalized” so that each member understands the privileges and responsibilities of being a part of the Body.  (i.e., The purpose of our church is my responsibility to fulfill and my privilege to enjoy.)[xxviii]

            In order to reach the goal of equipping the saints for the purpose of ministry, it is useful to think in terms of “circles of commitment.”  Circles or levels of commitment provide a biblical structure for establishing a strategy to move the believer toward maturity. 

            The new convert is moved into the congregation for fellowship and worship.  Then he is moved into a committed relationship for discipleship.  Then he is moved into a committed core for ministry.  Finally, he is moved with the committed core back out into the community for evangelism.  This process fulfills all five purposes of the Church.[xxix]

            Central to the discipleship phase of the maturity process is the central task of equipping.  The equipping of believers falls under two broad headings: Equipping for Christian living and equipping for Christian service.  Jesus expects that His disciples will be involved in ministry.  He expects His people to train disciples who are able to reproduce themselves (2 Tim 2:2; Luke 6:50).

            New converts are to be discipled through personalized teaching.  FIRST, they are to be grounded in the Christian life.  This takes place through the worship/preaching service and through small groups.  Small group studies aimed at new believers stress principles for godly living and godly relationships.

            In a small group atmosphere, each believer is nurtured toward Christ-like maturity.  This first essential of equipping is vital, but not specific enough for the believer to assume ministry responsibilities.

The SECOND kind of equipping is for Christian service.  During this training, believers are instructed in the use of their spiritual gifts.  The minimal curriculum for this stage of equipping includes the following: 1.) evangelism with hands-on experience, 2.) Bible study methods, 3.) Panorama of the Bible (plus Fundamental of the Faith),

4.) Spiritual gifts, 5.) Foundational doctrines, 6.) Learning to serve, 7.) Apologetics,

8.) Ecclesiology, 9.) Basics of the Christian life (Essentials of prayer, Communion with God, How people change, Christian character).

A church in which every member has been equipped in these vital areas will be well-trained for ministry.

To summarize, we would say that we implement our church purpose by evangelizing non-Christians, by edifying believers in their spiritual growth (equipping stage one), by equipping workers for the ministry of their spiritual gifts (equipping stage two), by entrusting leaders to shepherd the flock.[xxx]

Each of the above four “ministry segments” is reflected in a strategy: 1.) Evangelism: Saturday evening evangelistic Bible studies.  Evangelism training with outreach experience (dinner parties, park evangelism, campus evangelism, visitation evangelism).  2.) Edification: Bible exposition at Lord’s Day meetings, after sermon Q& A, spiritual retreats, men’s ministries with the development of mentoring relationships, women’s ministries, small group studies with an emphasis on the Christian life.  3.) Equipping: Wednesday evening ministry training meetings (Bible study methods, spiritual gifts, apologetics, etc.), bi-monthly Saturday training seminars, service projects, world missions projects, discipling others, biblical counseling.  4.) Entrusting: Personal mentoring of shepherds, training in teaching, leading, administration, shepherding.

[i] Carey Hardy, Building a Biblical Philosophy of Ministry, p. 1.

[ii] Rick L. Holland, A Biblical Philosophy of Ministry, p. 1.

[iii] Alex Montoya, Internship: Pastoral Ministries PM 712, p. 3.

[iv] Ibid.

[v] Ibid., p. 4.

[vi] Ibid.

[vii] Paul R. Jackson, The Doctrine and Administration of the Church, pp. 13, 14.

[viii] Edward T. Hiscox, Principles and Practices for Baptist Churches, pp. 44, 45.

[ix] Robert L. Saucy, The Church in God’s Program, pp. 166, 168, 169.

[x] Montoya, p. 5.

[xi] Ibid., p. 6.

[xii] Ibid., p. 7.

[xiii] John MacArthur Jr., Shepherdology, pp. 45-47.

[xiv] Gene Getz, Sharpening the Focus of the Church, pp. 40, 41.

[xv] Montoya, p. 10.

[xvi] Ibid.

[xvii] Hardy, p. 8.

[xviii] Gary Inrig, Life in His Body, pp. 45, 47.

[xix] John MacArthur Jr., The Body Dynamic, p. 79.

[xx] Jackson, p. 116.

[xxi] Frank R. Tillapaugh, Unleashing the Church, pp. 76, 77.

[xxii] Donald McDougall, Paul’s Ecclesiology of the Church (An Exegesis of 1 Cor 1-6).

[xxiii] Ibid.

[xxiv] Ibid.

[xxv] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, pp. 91, 92.

[xxvi] Ibid., p. 107.

[xxvii] Ibid. p. 108.

[xxviii] Ibid., pp. 115, 116.

[xxix] Ibid., p. 138.

[xxx] D. Massimo Lorenzini, Witnessing Without Fear, A Guide to God Centered

    Evangelism.

Bibliography

Clowney, Edmund. The Church. Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press,

               1995.

Getz, Gene A. Sharpening the Focus of the Church. Chicago: Moody Press,

               1974.

Hiscox, Edward T. Principles and Practices for Baptist Churches. Grand

               Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1980.

Inrig, Gary. Life in His Body. Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1975.

Jackson, Paul R.  The Doctrine and Administration of the Church. 

               Schaumburg: Regular Baptist Press, 1968.

MacArthur, John Jr. The Body Dynamic.  Colorado Springs: Victor Books,

             1996.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_______.  Shepherdology, A Master Plan for Church Leadership.  Panorama

             City: The Master’s Fellowship, 1989.

Saucy, Robert.  The Church in God’s Program.  Chicago: Moody Press,

             1972.

Tillapaugh, Frank R.  Unleashing the Church.  Ventura: Regal Books,

             1982.

Warren, Rick.  The Purpose Driven Church.  Grand Rapids: Zondervan

             Publishing House, 1995.

Preaching to the Inner Man and Preaching for Conversion

Adapted from a Lecture by Hywel Jones, Banner of Truth Conf., 1997

There is a Great Need to Learn How to Preach to the Inner Man.

As preachers we are in need of a “fresh anointing.” We need to be reinvigorated and empowered anew (Ps 92:10-15). God’s anointing is needed because we are called to a ministry that is impossible apart from divine enablement – we are called to make a vital connection between the Word of God and our hearers.

Our preaching is intended by God to connect two worlds; the world of the Bible to the world of our listeners. In order to do so, it must impinge upon our hearers where they are.

So often we fall short of making this connection. There is a kind of preaching that is clear and perspicuous, faithful to the narrow and wider context of the canon, doctrinally accurate, BUT inadequate at reaching the inner man.

We must strive to preach to the inner man. Many expositors focus almost totally on the meaning of the text, but do not set their sights on targeting the inner man. We must not satisfy ourselves with the thought that our listeners “have learned something.” We must aim at reaching the inner man. We must preach so that our listeners’ reflection and conviction is, “This is what God is saying to me today.”

If reaching the inner man is not the goal of our exposition, our preaching will seldom rise above the didactic. This is a cause for serious self-examination. Our messages tend to be too “lecture-like.” They have a term paper feel to them, but they are not nearly prophetic enough in character. They are “atomistic” in the sense that they are consistently precept oriented, but lacking in the ability to stick in the conscience and the affections.

We must develop a deeper awareness of the prophetic character of preaching.

A prophetic thrust to preaching begins in the prayer closet and in the study. Our tendency is to tackle our text with this goal in mind, “I’ve got to deal with this passage.” If our preaching is to be prophetic, we will have to ask the question, “How is this passage dealing with me?” “What on earth has this to do with me?”

Our goal is not just to reach our hearers, but the inner man of our hearers. The inner man cannot be reached unless the mind and conscience is jabbed. Have we allowed the biblical passage to deal with us; has it jabbed our own mind and conscience? We must have the text deal with us first before we can reach the inner man in our hearers.

We must preach with the intent of bringing God into the view of our hearers.

The inner man is transformed by beholding God (2 Cor 3:16-18). We are able to preach with the confidence that we have a new covenant ministry; the wall (veil) between our believing hearers and our message is gone. That is the assurance given in 2 Cor 3:12-4:6. It is a cause for great boldness in our preaching (3:12).

This passage in 2 Corinthians gives us an analysis of our believing hearers: their hardness of heart has been removed (3:16); they are beholding the glory of the Lord (3:18); they have seen the glory of God in the face of Christ(4:6); they are ready to have their consciences addressed (4:2).

Now that the veil is gone (3:16), we can devote ourselves to preaching a life toward God; a life of towardness to God.

Preaching to the outer man is common in contemporary Evangelicalism. But true preaching is not merely focusing upon what we have found in the Word and have mined from Scripture. True preaching brings the inner man to his senses and to his knees. It does so because it touches the conscience in a profound manner (4:2). In true preaching, God comes into the view of the hearer in a life-transforming manner (3:18).

What kind of preacher can preach to the inner man? It is but one man in a thousand who can preach this way. A portrait of this kind of man can be found in John Bunyan. He was grave, serious, earnest in habit, not flippant. His constant mindset was to begat, bring forth, and nurse.

 Bunyan matched the description given of the teaching Levite priest in Malachi 2:5-7. “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My Name. True instruction was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.”

The man who is able to preach to the inner man must be in the habit of hearing in his own inner man. He must see himself as a “beggar” speaking to other beggars. We must experience birth pangs and growing pangs in our own life if we are to reach the inner man in other individuals.

There is a Great Need to Preach for Growth in the Inner Man.

The image of God in man is hopelessly defaced by sin; men are beyond human repair. Yet people tend to live as if the power of repair is under their control. The knowledge of God’s truth is preached in order to transform and repair. The righteousness of God is preached that men might know the sinfulness of sin and the righteousness of Christ. Christ’s righteousness was evinced in His love for God, by His fulfilling of the Law in the place of the sinner.

God alone gives the increase in spiritual growth that we are preaching to induce.

Our preaching cannot produce regeneration or sanctification apart from the Spirit’s work. We must maintain dependence upon God in our preaching for growth. We tend to regard growth as conformity to truth and principles – this is certainly true in part, but there is a dimension we tend to ignore. Growth is the new man asserting itself more and more by the power of the Spirit.

Great care is needed when handling the subjects of the law and sin. If growth is to be equated with more life, freedom and righteousness, then we must not communicate that growth is merely mastering a code (God’s law).

Our emphasis should not be upon keeping the creed or the law, but upon living the life in the Son. It is so easy to burden and to deaden. Christ said that His yoke was easy and His burden was light. The child of God by definition is not under sin and law as a dominating, controlling, condemning force. He has passed from death to life – he is free from the law of sin and death.

In order to preach for growth in the inner man, we must deal with our listeners in their being alive! We must not make the Christian life a burden. Avoid generating a sense of condemnation. We must steer clear of forever talking about duty, focusing on failure, intensifying a sense of grievous disobedience, and deepening a sense of condemnation. This doesn’t promote growth.

If we hammer duty too much it can be a symptom of imbalance in our own ministry. Are we trying to make up for our lack of preaching to unbelievers? Are we seeking to assuage our sense of evangelistic failure by muscling in on believers and imparting our sense of failure to them?

Great transparency before the throne of God is needed in the life and ministry of the preacher. Are we piling up precepts on our people? We must guard against “be good” sermons that leave the listener with the impression, “You have so many commissions to fulfill, so many duties to accomplish.” To preach in this manner is to make them far from grace – it is to place them back under law. It builds a wall to separate them from the fullness of Christ.

Our entire eligibility for God’s favor is Christ; we have the Savior’s blessed availability -- all by gracious donation. We must avoid grieving the hearts of the righteous. Sanctification is relational; it is living the life of toward-ness to God in Christ as His beloved possession.

When promoting growth in the inner man, we are to press down the die of truth on the understanding and the affections. There are particular truths that promote growth. Make much of the love of Christ. The truth concerning His love is a constraining truth that promotes likeness to Him and conformity to His commands. Our obedience is achievable by virtue of His energy. When we deepen these “indentations” by means of the die of truth, growth will result.

How easy it is to lose sight of the Lord Jesus Christ. Other things become central and He is marginalized in the process. Beloved, the Church thrives only when Christ has preeminence in all things.

Christian people are right and correct when they hunger to hear how perfectly suited Christ is for their every need (Heb 7:26, 27). Our preaching must hold Him before Christian people. Set Him before them as their “Source Person” and it will cause them to be like Him.

Our motivation for obedience is the love of Christ. Our framework is His law (Christ holds the law in His hands as a placated Mediator of the new covenant who rules His people by love). Our strength and energy for obedience is His Person.

Christ is to be preeminent and central in all of ministry. He is to have preeminence in everything. Don’t talk more about God than Christ (1 Cor 2:1-3).

The motivation for growth is the Gospel, not the Law. Use the Gospel to keep your people aware of what they owe, who they are, what they were, and where they are headed. The precepts and laws of God must be filtered through Christ and Him crucified. Are we consciously seeking to bring our listeners to delight to receive Christ’s love and law in their hearts? Our tendency as ministers is to make biblical commands stand alone from Christ’s finished work and present power. But, it is the experimental knowledge of Christ’s love that gives us the disposition to love one another, and to bear one another’s burdens. His love gives us the disposition to please. His precepts give us the specifics of how to please God; He directs our love by His precepts. (We need to view our living the Christian life in this way instead of merely adherence to a code.)

We must understand that our being “in Christ” is our strength. Our union with Christ is vital, living, and organic; it is not merely federal representation. Themind of Christ is available, the might of Christ is available – we don’t have to fulfill a single command by ourselves, in our own strength. We operate in the realm of grace full and free. We cannot barter for God’s infinite goodness in Christ, we cannot exchange anything for it; it is still for nothing, it is still all of grace (Rom 5:1, 2).

How do we press down these truths upon the minds and hearts of our hearers?This ministry of pressing down the die of truth has three “tones” or “strands” that function together. The Apostle Paul used them in conjunction (1 Thess 2:11).“Just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children.”

Exhorting: is to appeal by argument. It is not the same as laying down the law. It is face to face, side by side ministry as when the Apostle Paul acted as a spiritual father and mother. Laying down the law is not as effective, though it might seem so. By contrast, the exhorting pastor asks the question, “What will make people rise up, want to be more like Christ, and want to obey?” “What will make them more like Christ in attitude, word, and deed?”

Encouraging: is to comfort humans in their frailty. Distressed minds and hearts need to be consoled. So many are distressed within and without. They are living with turmoil of soul, with stress, fear, anxiety, and condemnation. Even under the Old Covenant, the Levitical priest exemplified compassion and empathy (Heb 5:2, 3). How much more do we, under the new covenant, need to show compassion and empathy – we must not send the message that we have arrived spiritually. We can be too hard. Our own infirmities are always with us. Let us not be too censorious, too overbearing, or too demanding.

Imploring: is to warn the indifferent; it is to withstand the rebellious face to face. It is to confront in specific areas where obedience is lacking. We implore in the context of a “spiritual family.” We are to implore our people to go to perfection. Yet, some are not of us. If individuals persevere in disobedience, that sin might bring them to a point of irrevocable apostasy.

Disobedient believers must be taught to submit to the Heavenly Father’s discipline. In some cases of protracted disobedience in a believer, that correction from God may claim the health and life of the individual that their spirit may be saved in the day of Christ Jesus.

In all three of these tones (exhorting, encouraging and imploring), God is the One who is ultimately speaking. He is the One who calls us to call His people into His glorious kingdom. We are called to communion with Christ. We are called up into the light, even at death.

Christ is the gift of all gifts. We need to inculcate more longing and more yearning to know Christ and to be like Christ in Immanuel’s land. In order to preach to the life of God in the soul, we must preach and speak in all three tones: in speaking truth, we exhort, in communicating compassion, we comfort, in exercising firmness we warn.

The Apostle Paul spoke in all three of these tones (1 Thess 2:11).  

There is a Great Need of Preaching for Conversion.

Of course it is only the believer that has an inner man. We will be preaching to many unregenerate men in our congregations. The decay of the outward man is a sad spectacle because in the unsaved man, it is the decay of all that is there. (By contrast, the Apostle Paul did not lose heart amidst the decay of his outer man because his inner man was being renewed day by day – 2 Cor 4:16.)

Preaching evangelically is a serious weakness in Reformed preaching. Not only should we be preaching to produce growth, we should be preaching to produce a birth (James 1:18).  

In the Gospel idea of preaching, one takes a “die” into his hand in order to form impressions. The impression is the divine image of the knowledge of God and true holiness. God made the soul. Our task is not to criticize it, reform it, or alter it. We are simply to take the die and press it down.

The preacher’s business is simply to take what he finds in the Scriptures and press it down on the heart, conscience, and understanding of men. The die is perfect to produce the impression God desires. We must press down this die as those who have had the selfsame die pressed on us in the sight of God (see Dabney, Theological Discussions, pp. 596-601).

There is a morphology in preaching to bring for the new birth. The planting of life (regeneration) takes place beforehand. We do not preach in order to regenerate. The dead sinner’s heart is not reached by our appeals, pleas, and reasons. We preach to bring out the babe that God has conceived. Our task is more of a midwife than a mother or a father (1 Cor 4:15).

We are to harmonize with, as much as possible, the effectual calling of God, so that a healthy birth takes place. What lines of truth are necessary so as to produce the inner man? What truths does God utilize to bring forth life? (James 1:18). (The issue here is the Gospel truths, not just selective texts.)

We must major on the truth of Christ’s cross and the significance of His death. This is our canon within the canon. For in the cross and the Gospel is the message of the love of God providing an escape from the enslaving, corrupting power of sin and from the condemning power of God (in the Law).

Our mission is to press down these truths upon the mind, affections, and conscience. This means we will have to deal with personal sin. We need to bring to bear on our listeners that they have to come to terms with God’s Law. They are dealing with the Holy One of the universe. They must come to term with God’s love. They will have to come to terms with what God has done for sinners.

In order to press down these truths, we will have to preach so as to produce the following:

· a proper recognition of sin (CONVICTION).

· a proper repudiation of sin (REPENTANCE).

· a proper reception of the Savior (FAITH).

To receive Christ’s person is to receive His righteousness in His life and in His vicarious death; it is to receive His perfect satisfaction on behalf of believing sinners. To preach the recognition and repudiation of sin is to exhort the sinner to recognize his personal sin and create an antipathy toward it.

The preacher faces two obstacles in his task to produce conviction: the nature of the sin, and the condition of the sinner. The nature of sin can be described as blinding, enslaving, and deceiving. The condition of the sinner is as follows: his inability lies in his corrupt nature, his inability is traceable to his darkened understanding, his inability lies in the corruption of his affections, and his inability resides in the total perversity of his will (Arthur Pink, Obstacles to Coming to Christ).

Sin lives, rules, and reigns in the sinner. Sin is beyond all human knowing. It is so deceitful one cannot know it comprehensively. It is impossible to run an objective analysis upon it. It is not superficial. It has literally captured the heart and made the sinner a willing hostage. “Dead in sin” can be defined as that which disables and blinds (see Lloyd Jones, Ephesians Commentary, Eph 4:17-19).

To get the sinner to identify his sin, and reject his sin goes against his whole nature. He is willing to die for his sin, he loves it. If he could plunge a knife into the heart of God in order to keep sin, he would do so.

Sin makes one daring to commit high crimes against heaven. It destroys the fear of God; it is presumption. It is spiritual insanity. It is suicidal in its course. The false prophet Balaam pursued the object of his lust with abandon and “madness” (2 Pet 2:15, 16).

Sin is deceitful because its father is a liar (Jn 8:44). Sin promises, but never delivers what it promises. We must show its deceitful character by unmasking its true colors. We are preaching to sinners who are blinded to what sin is and what it does to the sinner and to God.

We are to depend upon the Word and the Spirit in order to explain what sin is. The law is a standard, a yardstick expressed in specific commandments, each of which is “exceedingly broad” (Ps 119:96).

Romans 7:9 declares, “when the commandment came sin became alive.” That is the Spirit taking up the commandment and bringing it home to the mind, affections, and conscience. The Spirit makes a man realize the inward influence of sin (subjectively). The sinner has to be brought to that level. The Spirit will take it infinitely deeper than we can take it so that the sinner will know sin and feel death.

Prior to the Spirit’s conviction, the sinner thinks that he can ingratiate himself to God. He imagines he can obligate God with a little moral exertion. People need to die to their pride, their confidence, their hope. They need to die to everything but an ever-increasing comprehension of the nature of sin. As preachers we must deal with sin and death. We must make people aware of what wretched men they are.

Jesus called sinners, not the righteous. He alone is fit to handle our ruin. He is perfectly suited (Heb 7:25-28). He kept the Law, and bore its curse.

When we preach, we are to call for the obedience of faith. In saving faith there is a giving of oneself away to God; it is casting one’s entire welfare upon the Lord.

God justifies the ungodly. We are to call upon people to turn, to flee, to look past themselves upon Christ who lived, and died, and rose again.

So great a salvation, full and free, was at the behest of the Father. Command them to come, command them to repent. Assure them that they won’t be cast out. If they will but call, He hears, He will answer. Like the father of the prodigal son, He will run and meet him, He will kiss him and clothe him, and reinstate him.

As preachers, we have to plead. We’re better at commanding than pleading, better at assuring than pleading. If we do not plead, we are not proper ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20). There must be pleading and beseeching in Christ’s stead. He is speaking through us. Our listeners must know that God wants them saved and Satan doesn’t.

The ambassador maintains dignity, but descends to entreaty – he communicates God’s condescending grace. God is Savior. He goes before us to regenerate. He takes the poor soul from darkness to light, from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of His dear Son.

Once the spiritual infant is produced by God, the inner work will become visible (Jn 3:7, 8). There may be a difference of degree of vigor in the life principle imparted. It may be a whimper, or a cry, but in regeneration, new life is present (see Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience, p. 23).

Your view on God’s regenerating work will affect your ecclesiology. Do you lean toward a position of decisional regeneration in which man’s decision initiates regeneration? Then you may focus more on faith made visible in a decision.

Pastors operating from that perspective may assume a higher number of their parishioners to be saved. They will tend to not expect too much of everybody.

There is another view of the regenerating work of God. Do you regard the regenerating power of God to be of the same magnitude of might God exercised in the resurrection of Christ? (see Eph 1:19, 20). If that is your position, then you will correctly expect some degree of vital faith, life, light and love to be evident in each and everyone of those spiritually newborn. You will preach to that new life accordingly – as a newly conceived inner man whose life needs to be asserted by the Spirit’s power.