Tag: exposition
6 Spiritual Conditions in Your Congregation

6 Spiritual Conditions in Your Congregation

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The insight of Puritan pastors never ceases to amaze me. One area where Puritan pastors have helped me immensely is in learning how to preach and apply the Word of God. William Perkins in his book “The Art of Prophesying” writes that there are essentially 6 different spiritual conditions that can be found in any collection of people you preach to. Each of these spiritual conditions requires a slightly different preaching approach.

Perkins’ analysis is crucial for any pastor, elder, or person who finds themselves teaching or preaching at Church. Knowing the different spiritual conditions a person might find themself in will aid you in your sermon application, your sermon delivery, and in how you pray for the congregation to receive your exposition. Additionally, these broad categories will help you pastorally as you seek to build up and equip the congregation God has given you to shepherd.

1. Unbelievers who are ignorant and unteachable

The first category Perkins gives is unbelievers who are “ignorant and unteachable.” There are some humans who are both unaware of the state of their souls before God, and who also have no desire to hear the truth explained to them. One might label such people as “hard-hearted.” They are contentedly living a life of rebellion against God and spurn any rebuke or conviction they might receive from Scripture.

For those in this spiritual condition, Perkins recommends trying to reason with them. In particular, you should try to explain to them their wrong attitude and call out any known sins with the hope that their “consciences may be aroused.” The only way an unteachable unbeliever can be helped is for you to plead with them to see sin and its effect in their life. If you start to see the Spirit’s work in softening their hearts and making them teachable, you can continue in a more thorough explanation of truth. But if their hearts remain hard, only God has the power to make them teachable.

The implication for preaching or teaching is clear: be sure to impress upon your listeners the gravity of sin and fearful consequences of living a life in rebellion to God.

You cannot soften a human heart in your own power. But you can boldly and unashamedly proclaim the truth of humanity’s total depravity.

Don’t shy away from specifically calling out sin from your pulpit. It may be the only time an unbeliever gets their lifestyle questioned or challenged. Be like Paul when he preached to Felix on “righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment” (Acts 24:25). And then having preached truthfully and soberly on sin and its consequences, pray that the dead hearts in your congregation would become teachable.

2. Teachable but ignorant

The second of these many spiritual conditions is a person who willing to learn, but who doesn’t possess knowledge of Scripture or the Christian faith. Perkins recommends using the catechism to help such people start to understand the fundamental principles of Christianity. The two doctrines Perkins recommends you start with are salvation and the glory of God. Focus on the “milk” of the Christian faith and seeking to answer clearly and concisely any questions the person may have.

Again, this has implications for how you preach in your Church. Within your congregation, there will be those who have a lesser understanding of Scripture and of its doctrines. Some may be unbelievers but who want to hear more about the Gospel. Others may be young believers who have not been instructed fully into all the different aspects of Scripture and Theology. While I don’t recommend you preach a catechism from the pulpit, seek to define terms clearly and try to anticipate and answer questions your listeners might have.

Don’t assume that every single person in your Church is at the same or even a similar level of knowledge. Even for common terms such as “justification” and “righteousness” seek to give a clear and concise definition. When you are done with your teaching manuscript, read through it and imagine that you are a new believer in the congregation. What questions would you have? Ensure that in the course of your sermon you answer any questions you anticipate a newer believer asking.

3. Have knowledge but aren’t humbled

This third category of people have an intellectual understanding of the truths of Scripture. However, they have not been convicted of sin nor have they been “humbled.” What Perkins refers to here is a “godly sorrow” that leads to repentance. Perkins defines “godly sorrow” as grief for sin because it is sin. In other words, true humbling conviction comes when a person is is sorrowful over sin itself, not merely the consequences of sin.

What Perkins recommends for people in this spiritual condition is the preaching of the law. The goal is to show the height of God’s standards so that a person can actually realize the extent and gravity of their sin. Of course, Perkins immediately clarifies the goal of preaching the law is to lead them to Christ and the hope of the Gospel. But if a person knows truth generally but feels no conviction of sin, the best thing a preacher can do is show them their dire need of a Savior.

Of all the spiritual conditions listed here, this one might be most pressing for preachers in modern-day America. Never before has information about the Bible been more readily available. Many in your congregation no doubt have a dozen different copies of the Bible along with dozens of good Books written by good Christians. Most of the time in your Church, issues won’t arise as much from a lack of information as much as from a lack of conviction of sin.

Remember when you go to preach that your congregation does not merely need to receive more “facts” about the Bible. They need to have their lives confronted with its teaching.

If you pastor or teach in very intellectual congregation, heed Perkins’ advice: lay out for them the moral demands of God’s law. The Bible teaches that “knowledge puffs up” and one of the best antidotes to pride is the humbling effect of preaching the law of God.

4. The humbled

People who find themselves in this category have the strong conviction of sin discussed above. Perkins gives two words of advice for dealing with these type of people: 1. ensure that their humbling is not merely external or superficial and 2. offer the comforts of the gospel. Perkins warns not to give comfort to someone prematurely who has not been truly humbled. I take this to mean you should not give the promise of assurance until you are sure of a person’s heartfelt repentance. False assurance can doom a person to think that they are save when they are not.

When you are preaching, don’t miss the opportunity to “do the work of an evangelist” by preaching clearly the hope of the Gospel. The only hope in life and death you can offer people is Christ alone. Therefore, if you neglect to clearly share the hope of Christ when preaching, you are missing the opportunity to give comfort to those in your congregation who are feeling the weight of their sin. Remind them to turn their eyes to Christ and His finished work, not merely to “try harder”.

5. Believers

Perkins gives three main categories of truths to teach those who are already believers: the gospel, the law, and the danger of indwelling sin. By “Gospel”, Perkins means preach justification, sanctification, and the perseverance of the saints. The law when preached to believers should mainly be calling them to holy living rather than proclaiming the curse of the law since Christians are free from that curse in Christ. However, Perkins does argue for preaching the consequences of disobedience to God, even if a Christian is free from the ultimate curse of the law.

Perkins goes as far as to say that if you want to fight your indwelling sin, you must begin by meditating on the law. Why? To remain humble and to cause you to fear using the freedom you have in Christ as an excuse for sin. And again Perkins states that the ultimate goal is to remind yourself of the gospel as your ultimate rest and comfort.

A whole separate post could be written on these three categories of teaching Perkins recommends for believers. Suffice to say, make sure that you teach on each of these categories frequently. Don’t spend all your time teaching on ambiguous doctrines or obscure texts. These are profitable at times, but ensure you are sticking consistently to preaching the Gospel, obedience to Christ, and war against indwelling sin. Whether your congregation recognizes it or not, these are the three most pressing categories of truth for their lives.

6. Fallen into sin

The last of the spiritual conditions I will discuss is a believer who has “fallen back” from the faith either “in faith or in lifestyle.” Perkins spends several paragraphs describing this type of person and I recommend you read his full discussion, as it is incredibly insightful. By way of summary, falling back in faith comes from falling into error. The pastor must correct any known error and remind the individual of the truths of the Gospel. Falling back in lifestyle means falling into sin such, as David with Bathsheba. Perkins recommends again expounding the law to this person so they can run back to the Gospel in repentance.

Correcting error and calling the congregation to renewed repentance both are necessary components of preaching. In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul commands Timothy to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” There both an instructive and corrective component to preaching God’s word faithfully. And since you likely don’t know the specific spiritual state of each person in the congregation, ensure you are regularly confronting error and confronting sin so that those listening might hopefully avoid falling into either.

Your congregation has a mix of these spiritual conditions

Each of these spiritual conditions is likely represented by someone in your congregation. The visible Church is mixed with believers and unbelievers in various levels of spiritual health. Perkins’ categories are helpful for understanding the spiritual conditions you might encounter and how best to address them. Even though there are nuances to each response, at the end of the day, Perkins recommends constantly bringing people back to the law and the gospel. The hope is that people will see clearly the depths of their sin and their need for a savior.

For more tools to help you prepare sermons and teachings, click here. If you want to read another post on Puritan ideas about sermons, click here. If you found this post helpful, share and subscribe below. Follow the Average Churchman on Instagram to get updated whenever there is a new post.

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3 Philosophies of Sermon Application

3 Philosophies of Sermon Application

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Composing and preaching a faithful, Christ-exalting sermon is a difficult task. Oftentimes, especially if you are a lay-elder or have not had formal theological training, you might struggle with questions such as “how should I structure the sermon?” or “where should I stick to expositing the text directly and where should I apply the text to the congregation?” The former question I answered in a past post, so today I want to give you three philosophies of sermon application that I have seen and heard from different faithful preachers.

It is important to note that I don’t think any one of these is the perfect approach or automatically will make you a great preacher. As I have listened to and read great sermons by great preachers, each one deals with sermon application differently. Spurgeon does it differently than MacArthur who does it differently than J. C. Ryle who does it differently than John Flavel. These three sermon application philosophies are merely the common ways I have seen Pastors of the past and present use.

1. No explicit or structured application section

In this approach, you spend all your preaching time explaining what the text means. You go into detail, you explain it thoroughly but you don’t extract any (or many) specific applications for your particular congregation. Instead, you simply preach the text faithfully and trust that the Holy Spirit will apply the sermon to the individual hearts and specific life-circumstances of the congregation.

A variation of this approach is to sprinkle in occasional application points as you go. In this case, you are primarily focused on simply preaching the text, but if you come to a section of your exposition that warrants a specific word to the congregation, you give a brief direct application. But in both cases, this approach does not have a structured section or approach to sermon application. You simply focus on explaining the passage and leave only limited time for explicit application.

I would argue against using this approach very often because I think part of the job of a faithful preacher is not only to faithfully expound Scripture, but also to explicitly and directly call their congregation to live it out. But there are times when this approach to sermon application is useful. In general, if your text is direct in it’s application, then you can more likely use this sermon application philosophy effectively. For example, if you are preaching “let him who stole, steal no longer”, the application to your congregation is clear. You don’t need a whole “application section” of your sermon to show the text’s relevance to your Church. However, if you are preaching a text that does not have a clear application built in, you might need to use one of the following sermon application philosophies instead.

2. Apply the text as you go through each point

In this philosophy, after each point of exposition in your sermon, you apply that point to the congregation. Let’s say you had a three point sermon structure. You would apply each sermon point right after you teach that point, like you see below:

  1. Point 1
    1. Application of point 1
  2. Point 2
    1. Application of point 2
  3. Point 3
    1. Application of point 3

The advantage of this approach is you are able to give the congregation practical applications throughout the length of the sermon. Additionally, this clear flow helps the Church remember each sermon point and its corresponding application(s). A Church member does not have to wait until the end of the sermon to start hearing and meditating on what the passage implies for their life. Rather, they are given multiple applications throughout the sermon based on each of the main points.

This approach shines when you have a complicated passage with several different main points in your sermon outline. If you are teaching on a large block of narrative, for example, and you extract several main ideas from the text, then you probably want to use this approach. Anytime you find in your sermon outline that there are more than one “main point” you find in the text, then you should likely think of applications for each of the main points. The downside of this approach is you can only do a limited amount of applications on any one point before your sermon becomes too long.

3. Sermon application at the end of the exposition

This philosophy of sermon application you readily find in Puritan sermons. In this approach, you spend the final section of your sermon applying the text your just preached. This type of sermon clearly separates exposition from application in it’s structure. If you used the three point example above, the sermon structure would become something like:

  1. Point 1
  2. Point 2
  3. Point 3
  4. Application
    1. Application of Point 1
    2. Application of Point 2
    3. Application of Point 3

You can see that in this philosophy of sermon application, the application is given as much weight as a single main sermon point. Additionally, the sermon application is the last thing your congregation hears since it is an extended final section of the sermon. Since you are applying all that you exposited in the sermon, you can apply not only your main points, but also apply combinations of those points.

This philosophy of sermon application allows you to spend the most time applying your text to your congregation. By spending the entire latter section of your sermon on application, you can approach text application from a lot of different angles and points of view. This method excels when you are expositing a shorter passage or a passage that has one overarching point to apply. If you can summarize the content of the passage in a single sentence without losing a lot of its nuance, then this sermon application method might be best. However, if you are dealing with a long, complicated, or multi-faceted passage, it might be best to use the “apply as you go” method

Summary of Sermon Application Philosophies

The table below summarizes the different philosophies of sermon application.

TypeUse whenUsers of this philosophy
No structured application sectionText already has a clear application i.e. passages in epistles, Proverbs, Gospels, etc.John MacArthur
Apply each point as you goText has multiple and distinct “main points” i.e. longer passages, narrative passages, complicated passagesMartin Lloyd-Jones, Charles Spurgeon
Application section at end of the sermonText can be effectively reduced to a single central point, when a text warrants extensive application i.e. shorter passages, simpler passages, 1-3 verse sectionsJ. C. Ryle, most every Puritan pastor
Summary Table of Sermon Application Philosophies

As I mentioned at the beginning, there is no “one size fits all” approach to how and were you apply the Biblical text in your sermon. Each of these philosophies excel in different contexts and Pastors should have each in their “tool box.” My recommendation is after spending time studying your text and outlining your sermon, look and see which of these sermon application methods makes the most sense for your particular sermon.

Clear and insightful application of a Biblical text is one of the marks of a good Preacher.

For more tools to help you prepare and preach a sermon, click here. For a post on how to structure your sermon, click here. If you found this post helpful, share on social media and subscribe below. Follow The Average Churchman on Instagram to get more content.
The Authoritative Canon (1689 1:2-3)

The Authoritative Canon (1689 1:2-3)

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Previously, I discussed how the 2nd London Confession opens with a clear and unambiguous declaration that the Bible is the only sufficient standard for Christianity. But the question is which books are considered the authoritative canon? Which documents has God preserved through the ages for His Church? Confusion about the canon of Scripture is as common in the modern world as it was in the days of the authors of the 1689. In sections 1:2-1:3 of the Second London confession, the authors clearly state where Christians can find the words of God.

(1:2) Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these:
Of the Old Testament:

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes The Song of Solomon Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi
Of the New Testament:

Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation

All of which are given by the inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.

(1:3) The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon or rule of the Scripture, and, therefore, are of no authority to the church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings.

1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Articles 1:2-1:3

Good Resources for Further Study

I won’t spend much time today arguing for why the books the 1689 lists are, in fact, the authoritative canon of Scripture. Other authors and theologians have written a number of excellent resources on this topic. I will list a few of them below before analyzing some other parts of this passage from the confession:

Other Texts Affirming the Canon

The authors of the 1689 contain a single verse in support of section 1:2 where the authoritative canon of Scripture is defined. The verse is the most well-known statement on Scripture in the whole Bible.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

Now, this verse is crucial for any Christian’s understanding of Scripture. The authors likely included this text as a citation for section 1:2 because it states all Scripture has authority because it is breathed out by God. However, 2 Timothy 3:16 doesn’t directly give what books Paul has in view when he uses the phrase “all Scripture.” There are several other passages given in the Westminster Confession of Faith that help clarify this:

…and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 3:15 ESV emphasis added

For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

John 5:46-47 ESV emphasis added

But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Luke 16:29-31 ESV emphasis added

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Luke 24:27, 44 emphasis added

Notice that the Old Testament canon contains the sacred writings which are defined as the books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. “Moses, Prophets, and the Psalms” are the three main sections in the Hebrew Bible. Therefore, both Jesus and Paul affirm that the entire Old Testament canon is God’s word. Not only that, the Old Testament is “Christian Scripture” in the sense that it’s main emphasis was communicating truths about the coming Messiah, Jesus.

Time doesn’t permit me to go through the texts which witness to the inspiration of the New Testament Canon. Instead, I refer you to this excellent little article that contains this helpful paragraph:

And far from endorsing a heterodox blend of doctrine, the NT authors always point to one God, one Christ, one Gospel and one faith delivered to the saints. The four Gospel writers are either apostles (Matthew and John) or else close associates who relied on apostolic witness (Mark with Peter; Luke with Paul). The Apostle Paul describes his own teaching, both spoken and written, as the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:15). When he tells Timothy that the labourer deserves his wages, he is quoting the Gospel of his friend Luke as Scripture (1 Timothy 5:18; Luke 10:7). And when Peter refers to Paul’s letters (plural) as Scripture (2 Peter 3:16), he shows that even at this early stage, there was a collection of Pauline epistles circulating with scriptural authority.

From: The New Testament canon: Why these 27 documents? by Subby Szterszky

Scripture (Not Human Writings) Have Authority in God’s Church

Notice that the authors of the 1689 are aware that knowing which books are authoritative canon and which books aren’t canonical has immense practical implications for Christians. Notice first that the authors clearly state the canon only contains books that are inspired by God. The implication is that any book not on this list is not inspired by God. Of the thousands upon thousands of books that have been written since the beginning of the world, only these 66 were inspired by the living God.

The authors then connect this idea of inspiration to the inherent authority of Scripture. If you read a book by a great philosopher, they might have some insightful things to say. But their words do not have authority in your life. You can choose whether to believe and apply their words or to reject them. The Bible, on the other hand, speaks with authority because it speaks the words of your all-powerful Creator. As such, you cannot pick and choose which words of Scripture you will believe and obey.

Every word from God carries the authority of God.

The authors of the 1689 then connect this idea of an inspired, authoritative canon to the topic of Church practice. Human writings or ideas do not have the final say in how God’s Church is to behave. After all, it is God’s Church. Any argument about Church doctrine, practice, or structure needs to be based on support from the authoritative canon of Scripture.

The ultimate authority of the Church rests in the authority of God’s Word to the Church.

Practical Implications

1. Spend most of your time reading the only authoritative source on life

John Wesley has a marvelous quote describing how Christians should react to the Bible.

O give me that book! At any price give me the Book of God! I have it. Here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri [a man of one book].”

John Wesley

“Of making books there is no end” the teacher in Ecclesiastes says. You could also say “of reading books there is no end.” If you spent all day every day reading from morning to night, you would not read half the books that have been written. But if you are a Christian, there is only one book you really need to read: the Bible.

But you must ask yourself the following questions:

  • How much time each day do you spend reading the Bible?
  • Do you spend more time in the Bible than you do reading great works of fiction?
  • Is the Bible your preferred source of wisdom over self-help books?
  • Do you use your spare moments to meditate on Scripture or to scroll through your social media feed?

There has never been a time in history where humans have had more ready access to information. The problem is 99.99999% of the information available to you on a daily basis is not given by God and therefore has no authority in your life. Do you want to know how to live? Then there is one place you should go: the Word of God. To live your life by any other authority is damning and to prefer any other source of information to the Bible is a waste.

Examine your information intake throughout the day. How much of it is spiritually profitable? How can you adjust your habits and schedule to get more time in Scripture?

2. The closer a book is to the teaching of Scripture, the more useful it is

One of my favorite J. C. Ryle quotes from one of my favorite J. C. Ryle books is

Value all books in proportion to the extent they agree with Scripture. Those that are nearest to it are the best, and those that are farthest from it—and most contrary to it—the worst.

“Thoughts for Young Men” by J. C. Ryle

Everyone, even unbelievers, can agree that some books are better written than others, are of higher quality than others, and more impactful than others. But the Christian must also evaluate whether one book is more spiritually beneficial than another. The question the Christian asks is how do you evaluate a book written by a sinful human being and tell whether it is profitable or dangerous? The answer is simple: ask how much of it agrees with the authoritative canon of Scripture.

Ryle’s quote applies not only to books. It applies to any form of information intake. What videos do you watch online? Which podcasts do you regularly listen to?

Any time you receive information from any source, your first question should be “can this be true based on what I know about God’s Word?”

Measure, evaluate, examine all things in light of the Bible. Error is subtle. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be dangerous. If you want to keep your mind fixed on Christ, you will have to carefully consider whether the sources of information you engage with are consistent with Scripture or not.

This post is part of a new series walking through the 1689 2nd London Confession. For other teachings I have done in the past, click here. If you found this post helpful, please share on social media below and subscribe. Follow The Average Churchman on Instagram to get more content.
Scripture is the Sufficient Standard (1689 1:1)

Scripture is the Sufficient Standard (1689 1:1)

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“The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience…” The 1689 Confession of Faith opens with this unambiguous declaration that Scripture is the only sufficient standard of truth. All things pertaining to the Christian faith are found in the canon of Scripture. No where else. The modern world has no objective standard or rule by which to live. Everyone defines their own truth, decides who they are and want to be, and have completely abandoned the idea that there is a God who defines morality and reality. In contrast to this fallen worldview, the 1689 confession summarizes clearly and concisely what Scripture teaches about itself:

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.

1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Section 1:1

Two Sources of Revelation…One Sufficient for Salvation

Notice first that the authors of the confession call out two ways God communicates who He is to humans: the Scripture and the “works of creation and providence.” In doing so, the authors are keeping with Psalm 19 and Romans 1 where the Bible says that God has revealed part of His glory and character through creation. When humans look out at the world around them, they should be able to deduce that there is a powerful, wise, and good ultimate Being who created the universe.

However, the authors are careful to distinguish between Scripture and natural revelation. The former they explicitly say is sufficient, while the latter is explicitly called out as not sufficient. In both cases, the sufficiency in view is “sufficient for salvation.” In other words, Scripture is the only sufficient standard in which you can find how to be reconciled to God. Natural revelation at the best only reveals that there is a God and He must have certain attributes.

Now, what does “sufficient” mean? It means that Scripture has in itself everything you need to be saved from your sins. It exhaustively contains the doctrines needed for being reconciled to God and then living in obedience to Him after you are reconciled. In using the word “sufficient”, the authors are making it clear that the canon of Scripture is all you need for salvation. You don’t need any supplementary or external material in order to understand and believe the Gospel. Not only that, Scripture is the sufficient standard for how Christians are to live in the world.

People can give you wise or helpful life-advice. But at the end of the day, only the Bible contains what the Lord requires of you, your family, or your Church.

Many Ways of Speaking in the Past…One Authoritative Word in the Present

The confession states that in the past God used various means to communicate His will to man. A simple read through of the Old Testament confirms this. God spoke directly to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He communicated to the nation of Israel through Moses, a mediator. When Israel forsook God’s covenant, He sent prophets who said “Thus saith the Lord.” But now, the 1689 asserts, these former ways have ceased. God spoke in many ways in the past, but now His authoritative word is contained in Scripture.

In arguing this point, the authors of the confession cite a very important verse:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Hebrews 1:1-2, ESV

The authors here see a contrast between the past and the present. In the past, God spoke at many times and in many ways. But on this side of the Cross, God has spoken His decisive word: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The confession sees in this verse an implication that the past ways that God used pre-Christ to reveal His will have ceased with the coming of God’s final word.

I think it is important to note here, however, that even when God was speaking directly through prophets, He established a standard in His Word.

“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.

Deuteronomy 13:1-3a, ESV

Notice that even if a prophet made a prophecy that came true, the ultimate test of if they are a false prophet or not is if they lead you away from the Lord. Now, the question is, where would Israel have known to not follow other gods? The 10 commandments, which were God’s written commands. So even in the past, direct prophetic communication had to be examined by God’s written revelation. Therefore, in both past and present, God’s written word held the ultimate authority.

In summary, the Word of God is everything. Scripture is the sufficient standard by which you should measure everything you hear, learn, or experience.

Want to know who God is? Go to Scripture. Want to hear God speak directly to you? Go to Scripture. Want to know how to be saved? Go to Scripture. Want to know how to live your life pleasing to God? Go to Scripture.

Until you see scripture as the sufficient standard of truth, you will never be safe from subtle error.

Practical Implications

1. The Scriptures give certain truth in a confused world

The modern culture has no objective truth or standard to cling to or rely on. “Truth” is defined by the individual and any of the “standards” societies adopt are simply those expedient for them at the moment. Every day through social media and the internet, countless thoughts and opinions are offered for you to hear. What can you fall back on? What can you know for certain? The answer: anything spoken by an unchanging God.

Notice, the confession says the Scripture gives a “more sure establishment and comfort of the Church.” The Church and individual Christians find their certainty in the pages of Scripture. They don’t look to the arguments of fallen humans or whatever the current wisdom of the world is. “To the law and to the testimony!” they cry.

You will never have certainty in your life until you find it in Scripture.

All of life is uncertain except what God has declared to be so from the beginning. Cling to the only comfort you can count on: God’s inerrant, infallible, sufficient, unchanging, authoritative word.

2. Hearing from God means reading the Bible

The very last line of this section of the confession gives a not-so-subtle hint at cessationism: “those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.” What former ways are in view here? I take this to mean that God communicating directly by a prophecy given to an individual has ceased. Hearing from God does not require you to travel to hear someone speak. In fact, the only way to be sure you are hearing God’s words when you hear a human speak is if they are reading and expounding the text of Scripture.

Everyone wants to hear directly from God. Everyone wants to comfort of having a message from the all-powerful creator of the universe. The good news is that God’s words have been preserved for you. God has committed His words “wholly into writing”. Hearing from God is as easy as reading what He has recorded for you. Now, reading can be quite difficult. That is why having tools to help you understand Scripture is vital. However, you will never know God’s will any other way than working through the Bible.

This post is part of a new series walking through the 1689 2nd London Confession. For other teachings I have done in the past, click here. If you found this post helpful, please share below and subscribe. Follow The Average Churchman on Instagram to get more content.

soveriegn election
The Hope of God’s Sovereign Election: Exposition

The Hope of God’s Sovereign Election: Exposition

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Much has been written lately about how the world around us is getting darker. Sin is accepted and celebrated. Our culture is sowing rebellion against Scripture and is reaping the effects of rejecting God. This post, however, is focused on a different danger: the Church falling into hopelessness. Despair. A sense of cynicism or of being defeated. And the only antidote to these is reminding yourself of God’s sovereign election.

To understand this topic of hope in a dark culture, I want to go back to the Old Testament to a prophet who fell into hopelessness: Elijah. God’s answer to Elijah when he felt alone and hopeless in a godless culture is exactly the reminder the Church needs today. The main verses I want to focus on are 1 Kings 19:14 & 18.

He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

1 Kings 19:12-18, ESV emphasis added

Initial Analysis

Context of 1 & 2 Kings: The Destruction Sin Brings

The goal of 1 & 2 Kings is to present a causal relationship between Israel and their Kings failure to obey God’s covenant and the exile. Their rebellion leads to exile, in fulfillment of God’s word in Deuteronomy 28. So 1 & 2 Kings are books that focus on sin and it’s consequences. You can see this in the structure of 1 & 2 Kings:

  • 1 Kings starts with Solomon building the Temple and other rulers coming to see Solomon’s great wealth and wisdom
  • 2 Kings ends with the destruction of Jerusalem (including Solomons’ temple) and Judah’s King eating from the table of Babylon’s Ling

1 & 2 Kings highlights the sinfulness of sin and the destruction it brought upon the nation of Israel. In fact, each King listed in these books is evaluated by whether he broke the covenant and led Israel into sin or whether they brought about repentance in the land. But also integral to 1 & 2 Kings are “prophets”: messengers of God who pronounce judgment on Israel because of their behavior and who call for repentance. Elijah is one of those prophets and is the main prophet in 1 Kings.

Context Proceeding 1 Kings 19: From Victory to Despair

1 Kings 19 is a low point in the prophet Elijah’s life and ministry, and it comes right after one of his most memorable victories. Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal and God demonstrated His power over the false idols Israel was worshiping. Additionally, the false prophets of Baal are killed in judgment because God exposes them as frauds.

What happens after this amazing victory? Queen Jezebel promises to kill Elijah just like he had killed her prophets. Elijah’s reaction? 1 Kings 19:3 says Elijah became afraid and immediately ran for his life. Some manuscripts are translated Elijah “saw” and ran for his life. In other words, the most powerful woman in the land is promising to kill Elijah and his life is in immanent danger.

This sends Elijah into despair and depression. In fact, he actually prays to the Lord that he would die.

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

1 Kings 19:4, ESV

But, God answers Elijah’s request by providing food and water for him until he makes it to mount Horeb. So now Elijah is physically safe, but Jezebel has essential driven this prophet of God out of Israel and he is in complete despair. This sad state is where we find Elijah: alone, in cave, seemingly defeated

And this is when God comes to Him and asks “what are you doing here?”

Exposition

Point 1: Observe the Darkness of the God-hating Culture

In his answer, Elijah gives three summary sins that characterized Israel at that time.

Israel had broken God’s covenant

This is no small thing. You know from reading through the Pentateuch that God called Israel out of bondage and slavery to enter into a covenant with them. In this covenant, God promises Israel blessing if they obey but promises judgement and curses if they disobey.

Now if you (Israel) faithfully and obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all His commands I am giving you today, the Lord your God will put you far above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come and overtake you, because you obey the Lord your God

Notice this promise of blessing is build on an “if-then” statement: if Israel keeps their end of the covenant, then God will bless them. This begs the question of what will happen if Israel does not keep God’s covenant:

But if you do not obey the Lord your God by carefully following all His commands and statues I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overtake you…

So, when Elijah says Israel has forsaken God’s covenant, he is putting Israel in the latter category. Israel in Elijah’s time was not obeying the commandments of the Lord. They were being unfaithful to the God who had covenanted with them and living in active, unrepentant sin. And remember: Israel was doing all this even though they had access to the truth of God’s word.

Idolatry was rampant amongst Israel at the time

Elijah describes this sin in terms of Israel throwing down God’s alters. Israel was forsaking the true worship of God and instead going to worship idols, specifically in the context of Ahab’s rule, Baal. By saying Israel was engaged in idolatry, Elijah wasn’t just listing a particular sin. He was accusing Israel of the most fundamental violation of their relationship with God.

Why is idolatry such an heinous sin in scripture? The answer lies in the attributes of God Himself. Exodus 20 says:

Do not have other gods besides me. Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me”

God is a jealous God, therefore Israel was not to worship or serve idols. This prohibition is repeated in Exodus 34 where God actually says his name is jealous.

God, as revealed in Scripture, by His very nature demands exclusive worship and glory and honor.

Therefore, idolatry is not just “a” sin: it is a rejection of God. Rather than loving and serving the true God, you create something in His place.

God’s messengers were being killed

In the Old Testament, Prophets brought the word of God to the people. They would begin their messages with “thus saith the Lord.” So, killing the prophets of God does not merely represent the sin of murder. Rather, it shows that the nation of Israel was rejecting the word of the Lord.

Jeremiah is a great example of this. Jeremiah brought convicting words to Israel, but the nation preferred to listen to false prophets who said “Peace peace” when there was no peace. And what did Israel do with Jeremiah the true prophet? They silenced him and when Jeremiah’s scroll was read to the king, the king tore it up piece by piece.

The same thing is happening here: the Israelite culture in Elijah’s time hated hearing the word of God convicting their behavior, so they silenced God’s prophets by killing them.

From a human perspective, the situation in Israel could not be more hopeless. And that is exactly what you see with Elijah’s answer to God’s question “What are you doing here?”

Point 2: Notice Elijah’s wrong perspective

Elijah is hiding on the mount of God afraid for his life

Even thought he had just seen God grant him a decisive victory against the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, Elijah now is in a state of utter fear and despair. In the face of the sins of Israel and the active animosity towards the prophets of God, Elijah has withdrawn himself from the situation.

He left. Retreated. He is done with it all.

Elijah is faced with a culture that has completely rejected God and is actively killing those who would worship the true God. But God doesn’t just leave Elijah hanging out afraid in a cave. He comes to Elijah and asks “what are you doing here?” And here we get to hear more fully Elijah’s perspective and see the nature of his hopelessness.

Elijah is questioning the effect of his zeal for the Lord

Elijah tells God that He has been exceedingly zealous for the Lord of host and then contrasts this zeal with the culture around him. By saying “I have been zealous, but look at how bad Israel is” Elijah is expressing an attitude of “What is the point? I have been faithfully serving the Lord but what effect has it had on those around me?”

You could summarize Elijah’s attitude as ”what is the point of being exceedingly zealous for the Lord in a culture that is so adamantly against God?” This shows the depth of Elijah’s hopelessness. Every day he is suffering in a sinful culture even though he has been zealous for God.

Is this not a natural human reaction? Beneath this attitude is the assumption that if you are zealous enough, you really can make a difference in the culture and help bring it back to God. In other words, it is the assumption that God will necessarily reward your zeal with the results you want to see

But Elijah is seeing no “results” so to speak. And that leads us to the final aspect of his attitude:

Elijah views himself as completely alone

Elijah says “I alone am left”. That word means “left over.” Elijah thinks he is the one leftover prophet of God and, since Jezebel has a death sentence on his head, Elijah is sure his own life will be over soon.

I think Elijah is implying here that because he alone is left and he has a death sentence on his head, that soon all those who are faithful to God will be wiped out. If Elijah is the last true follower of God and he thinks he is going to die, then it makes sense for Elijah to think that there is about to be no one left who truly worships God.

Elijah sees himself as the last. It is him against all the forces of wickedness in Israel at the time.

So stepping back, Elijah has a completely understandable perspective from a human point of view. In light of the sinful culture around him, he has withdrawn himself, he is questioning the effectiveness of his ministry, and he is sure that there is no one left like him.

It is a very human perspective and a completely wrong perspective. How does God correct Elijah’s perspective?

Point 3: Meditate on God’s response

God does not spend any time joining in Elijah’s depression or self pity. He hears Elijah’s complaint and issues a command: Elijah is to go anoint two kings and also anoint Elisha, his successor. What is going on here? Why is God responding to Elijah’s depression and discouragement in this way?

God is promising Elijah that he will have victory in the end

God will use those Elijah is called to anoint to bring judgment on those disobedient in Israel. What I find most interesting is if you read through Kings, the promise God gives is fulfilled, but after Elijah is taken up to heaven. In the beginning chapters of 2 Kings, Elijah passes the prophetic baton to Elisha and then goes up to heaven. The in chapter 9, Jehu is anointed king and almost immediately starts destroying Ahab and Ahab’s household.

At the end of Chapter 9, Jezebel is killed and the text makes a point to call out that her death is in direct fulfillment with a prophecy Elijah made. In 2 Kings 10, Jehu kills the house of Ahab and then kills the Baal worshipers in Israel. So in the end, God is going to judge all the wickedness that we see in Elijah’s day, even if Elijah never gets to see it.

Elijah is called to labor in faith that God will fulfill His promises.

God answers Elijah’s complaints by saying He will preserve a remnant of Israel who will not fall into idolatry

“Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

What a powerful verse! God has just announced that He will judge Israel but now God announces that there is a sub-section of Israel who will not be judged. Why? Because they will be true worshipers. God uses the same root word that Elijah used when he said “I alone am left!” God says “No, I have left 7000 who have not fallen into the sins of the nation!”

By saying He has preserved 7000 as a remnant in Israel, God is not saying He has preserved everyone. God isn’t even saying He has preserved the majority of the nation. But He also hasn’t preserved a small number: 7000 is not everyone, but it also isn’t just Elijah and one or two other people.

Additionally, implicit in the text is that these 7000 are known by God even if they are not known by Elijah or anyone else. Elijah’s depression was based off of simply observing the situation around him. But God is saying to Elijah in effect “you don’t have all the information because you don’t have all the knowledge.”

God in His omniscience knows who are His and He knows that there will be a remnant of true worshipers. God graciously reveals this to Elijah to encourage him, but whether Elijah knew about these 7000 or not, God knew and preserved this remnant.

The final thing to notice here is God describes the 7000 to Elijah in teams of what they do not do. They do not bow their knee to Baal and they have not kissed Baal. Both of these are signs of allegiance and worship. God is saying that these 7000 have not allied themself with the rest of idolatrous Israel. 

This remnant has not compromised. They have not rejected the Lord. They are not joining in the sins of the nation.

Is this enough to get Elijah out of his depression and fear? The answer is given in the next verse: “Elijah left there and found Elisha…” After being reminded of God’s promises and sovereign election, Elijah leaves his place of hiding and goes to obey the Lord in faith.

What a glorious response to God’s promises! And remember: from an earthly perspective nothing has changed. Jezebel still wants Elijah dead, Israel is still deep in Baal worship, and Elijah still does not have many allies around him that he knows of. So what has changed? Elijah’s mind has been renewed by the Lord and he has faith in what God has just told him.

Elijah was not told who the 7000 true worshipers were, or where they were. But was enough for Elijah to know that God was preserving a remnant.

The reminder of God’s sovereign election within the sinful culture turned Elijah’s discouragement into confident obedience. The culture didn’t change, but Elijah’s perspective changed.

In the next post in this series, I will give you some implications of this text for your life and the life of your Church.

This mini-series is based on sermon I recently preached. To read other expositions, go to the Teachings page. If you found this post helpful, share on social media and subscribe below.
1 Kings 19: The Hope of God’s Sovereign Election

1 Kings 19: The Hope of God’s Sovereign Election

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This past Sunday evening, I preached a sermon on 1 Kings 19 focusing in particular on verses 14 and 18. I chose this text because of the unique encouragement it offers Christians living in cultures that have rejected the Lord. In such a context, it is easy to become discouraged or feel like you are alone. God’s response to Elijah in 1 Kings 19 is the perfect encouragement for such feelings: God is still active in sovereignly saving people for His own glory even in the darkest of cultures.

The video of the sermon is given below with the link to the audio file.

Link to 1 Kings 19 sermon audio

Outline of the Sermon

Because I only had one week to prepare this sermon on top of full time Master’s classes and caring for a 2 month old, I decided to use the Puritan Sermon structure. This structure particular shines when preaching a couple verses. In my case, because I knew I wanted to focus on two verses in 1 Kings 19, the structure was ideal. It enabled me to develop the following sermon outline in less than an hour. Then I had the rest of the week to fill out the outline.

  1. Introduction
  2. Initial Analysis
    1. Context of 1 Kings
      1. Overall Context of 1 & 2 Kings
      2. Immediate Context of 1 Kings 19
    2. Defining Key Terms in verses 14 & 18
  3. Exposition
    1. See the Darkness of the God-hating Culture
      1. Israel had broken God’s covenant
      2. Idolatry was rampant
      3. God’s messengers were being killed
      4. Wicked leadership
    2. Notice Elijah’s Wrong Perspective
      1. Elijah is hiding in a cave afraid for his life
      2. He is questioning the effectiveness of his zeal for God
      3. Elijah views himself as completely alone
    3. Meditate on God’s Response
      1. God promises Elijah victory in the end
      2. The prophetic line will continue
      3. God is preserving a remnant of true worshipers
        1. The 7000 not a majority, but not a small number
        2. These people not known by Elijah, but known by God
        3. The 7000 have not fallen into the sins of the culture
      4. Effect on Elijah: goes out in obedience
  4. Summary of text and the reality it points to
    1. Elijah despaired in a godless culture but God reminds Him that He has preserved a believing remnant
    2. God’s servants should never despair because God sovereignly elects a believing remnant for Himself even in the darkest of cultures
  5. Implications
    1. Faith and trust in God’s sovereign election should give you indestructible hope
    2. Labor faithfully for God in a godless culture even when you don’t see fruit in the present
    3. God has a remnant from every tribe, tongue and nation who will believe in Christ & the Gospel
    4. Where have you slipped into Elijah-like thinking?
  6. Conclusion

Check out the Tools page to look through resources I use to prepare my sermons and study a passage. To listen to other sermons I have preached, head over to the Preaching page. Share and subscribe below and be sure to follow The Average Churchman on Instagram if you haven’t already.
Bible Word Clouds: A Tool for Finding Main Themes

Bible Word Clouds: A Tool for Finding Main Themes

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As I mentioned in a previous post, I am currently working on a Master’s Degree which has a data analytics element. Last week, I listened to several lectures on data visualization tools and how you can use them to notice patterns in the data. One of the data visualization tools mentioned was “word clouds.” Word clouds are particularly helpful for extracting the most commonly used words in textual data. This got me thinking: are there Bible word clouds out there? And if so, how could I use them in my Bible study?

What are word clouds?

You might not be familiar with word clouds, so here is a quick definition I found that clarifies what I am talking about:

Word clouds or tag clouds are graphical representations of word frequency that give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in a source text. The larger the word in the visual the more common the word was in the document(s).

BetterEvaluation

From this definition, you see three main characteristics of a word cloud:

  • It shows you the most frequently used words in a text
  • Words used more frequently are larger than words used less frequently
  • The words are put together in a “cloud” i.e. a visual made up of the words

Here is an example of a word cloud from my post “We Need Worldview-Confronting Preaching:”

By doing this data visualization, I can quickly find the most frequently used words in the post without having to go through each paragraph and find repeated words myself. In this case, “worldview”, “worldview-confronting”, “God”, “culture”, & “beliefs” seem to be words I used repeatedly. From this, I can start to generate hypotheses about the post, even if I have never read it.

For example, I could reasonably assume from the collection of most-used words that the post focuses on how God’s word confronts the beliefs of the culture. Or I could hypothesize that when the post says “worldview-confronting”, it means the Bible addressing beliefs commonly held in the culture. Notice I said “hypothesize”. My conclusions based on mere word frequency could be wrong. So after looking at the word cloud, it is imperative that I then read through the full text to understand the context and to check the conclusions I came to based on the word cloud alone.

Where can I get Bible word clouds?

Thankfully, Bible word clouds already exist online for you to use. Blue Letter Bible has created word clouds for each book of the Bible as well as the Bible as a whole, the Old and New Testaments, and difference sections of the Bible. They are very visually appealing and the best part is you don’t have to create your own Bible word clouds by importing Biblical texts into an online tool.

You can find all of these Bible word clouds here. Take some time to look through them. Maybe pull up a word cloud from a book you are studying. Since the word clouds already exist and are made for you, this could not be easier for you.

How can I use Bible word clouds?

As I have mentioned before, repetition is one of the ways a Biblical author communicates to you, the reader. Repetition can be for emphasis or point to a main theme or draw your attention to something that is important to a Biblical author. Therefore, one of the most important things you need to do when you study a book or a passage of Scripture is to look for repetition.

This is manageable for small passages or books, but oftentimes it can become time consuming to go through a longer book of the Bible to find the repeated words. This is where Bible word clouds can help. Just quickly glancing at a Bible word cloud for Isaiah, for example, will give you at least a starting idea of the main themes in Isaiah without having to go through each of the 66 chapters by hand and find what repeated words.

Now, it is important to keep in mind a Bible word cloud is simply a visual tool to find repeated words. It will not interpret the text for you and it won’t even tell you which words are important or not. All it is doing is bringing the most used words to the surface for you to look at. You as the Spirit-empowered interpreter need to analyze the results, think about what the word repetition means, and then continue studying to see if the conclusions you hypothesized were correct.

This is especially important with Scripture since a word cloud takes all the words out of their original context. The last thing you want to do is come to a conclusion from Scripture without taking the context into account. With that said, I think there are a couple use cases in which Bible word clouds shine:

  • You are about to start studying a book of the Bible and you want get an idea of what words you should look out for as you work through the book.
  • If you are trying to figure out the main themes of a book, you can start by looking at a Bible word cloud and hypothesize some main themes based on the most used words.
  • If you want to compare two books of the Bible based on their emphasis, comparing the most frequently used words in each book will give you a starting point.

Conclusion

A Bible word cloud is a great starting point in your study or as a supplement to help you think through the main themes of a book. Don’t treat it as a magic bullet or expect it to interpret a text for you. Always remember: it is a visual tool, nothing more.

However, using a word cloud for a Biblical text could not be easier. Blue Letter Bible has Bible word clouds already created and ready for your use. So look at a couple for different books of the Bible. Try to deduce main themes from these clouds and then go into the text to see if you were correct or not. Used properly, word clouds can become useful tools in your personal Bible study or sermon preparation.

The Tools page contains other helpful aids for your personal Bible study, sermon preparation, and more. Click here for more personal Bible study tools. If you found this post helpful, share on social media and subscribe below. Follow The Average Churchman on Instagram to get more content.

book quote of the week
Extracting Patterns from Scripture

Extracting Patterns from Scripture

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I recently started my Master’s Degree and one of the classes I am taking this quarter is “Introduction to Data Analytics.” It is shaping up to be one of my favorite courses, and I find that some of the concepts in data analytics are helpful for the average Christian studying his or her Bible. One of the goals of data analytics is to extract patterns from a set of data to get actionable insights. This got me thinking: Christians do the same thing by extracting patterns from Scripture and then meditating on how those insights impact their lives.

But what patterns should a Christian look for as they study a Biblical text? A helpful answer comes from one of my recommended readings for my Master’s class: “Data Science” by John D. Kelleher and Brendan Tierney. If you want a high level introduction to data science, I highly recommend it. Early on in the book, the authors give four different types of patterns that data analysts look for in a data set. These four categories of patterns are helpful to keep in mind when extracting patters from scripture.

Clustering- “identifying groups…exhibiting similar behavior”

Association-rule mining- identifies connections

Outlier detection- “identify strange or abnormal events”

Prediction- “identify patterns that help us classify things…it is best to think of prediction patterns as predicting the missing value of an attribute rather than as predicting the future.”

Summary of excerpt from “Data Science” by John D. Kelleher and Brendan Tierney

What the quote means

These four different pattern types are listed in a section of the book which asks “What is Data Science?” The authors answer this question by arguing data science analyzes data to find patterns that are not obvious to then turn into actionable insights for a business. These four different pattern types are given as typical patterns one notices when analyzing a set of data.

“Clustering” is an easy concept to understand. It is simply grouping data points together based on their similarities. The example the authors give is a business (like a grocery) analyzing their customers. “Clustering” might show which customers buy the same things or shop at the same times or behave similarly. Another term the authors give for “clustering” is “customer segmentation.”

“Association-rule mining” is a related pattern, but deals with connections between data points rather than finding large clusters in the data. In our grocery store example, if customers frequently bought eggs when they bought milk, you could conclude that those two items are associated. “Outlier detection” is probably the easiest pattern to recognize: you simply find any strange or abnormal data points. Maybe in your grocery store one customer buys a high percentage of your inventory of one of your products. This customer exhibits abnormal purchasing behavior compared to your other customers.

Finally, “prediction” is a pattern which I had trouble wrapping my mind around at first. Typically, prediction means forecasting a conclusion about the future. But these authors use “prediction” to mean the ability to fill in missing attributes of some data based on other data you have. In the grocery store example, if you have a person who is a 30 year old male and you know that in the past 90% of 30 year old males purchase pretzels when they shop, you could predict that this other 30 year old male would do the same.

Why it is important

Pattern recognition is essential to Biblical exposition.

Rarely do you hear a Pastor speaking about extracting patterns from Scripture, but practically speaking, a lot of expositional tools rely on the Pastor noticing patterns in the text, bringing those patterns to the congregations attention, and then showing how those insights impact their Church member’s lives. In one sense, every single Christian who studies their Bible is a “data analyst.”

Now, Scripture is so much more than a mere data set: it is the living, inerrant, and active word of the sovereign, all-knowing God. But the Bible does contain patterns and some of these patterns are exactly the same as the ones given in “Data Science:”

  • There are “clusters” of texts which deal with a single topic. Systematic theologians often use “clustering” to see what the Bible teaches on a certain topic.
  • Texts “associate” with other texts. Biblical theologians are often interested in how a phrase used in one section of the Bible is associated with that same phrase used in another section. Additionally, Biblical authors often associate different concepts together, like how faith in Christ produces a changed life.
  • There are verses in Scripture which the Biblical authors cause to stand out (i.e. an outlier). Pastors oftentimes look for these “outliers” because they often reveal the main point of the original author. An example of an “outlier” would be the Song of Moses in Exodus after Israel parts the Red Sea. The “Song of Moses” is an outlier because it is a poetic section contained within a narrative.
  • Finally, “pattern recognition” makes sure that Scripture interprets Scripture. When you see “God is love” in a text, you also should “Fill in” the idea that “God is just” from other texts in Scripture. Your knowledge of Scripture as a whole enables you to fill in patterns as you study other texts.

At the end of the day, you as a reader of Scripture want to gain insight into who God is and what true reality is from the text. Whether you notice a connection between texts, or whether you remember something you read in a different section of Scripture and use that to fill out a passage you are currently studying, pattern recognition is a vital tool for seeing and understanding the truths given in the Bible. Therefore, if you want to study Scripture better, you must become better at extracting patterns from Scripture.

Takeaways

Today’s takeaways will turn the four different patterns given above into four questions you can ask of a Biblical text:

1. What other passages in Scripture address this same topic?

As an example, if you are studying a text of Scripture which deals with the holiness of God, you should ask where else in Scripture the holiness of God is discussed.

2. Where else in Scripture is this same language used?

This question allows you to trace a theme or an idea throughout Scripture. An example would be the crushing of the serpent from Genesis 3. You might trace this language of God crushing the serpent through the entirety of Scripture to see how the idea develops through time.

3. What stands out in this passage of Scripture? Why? What is the significance?

Oftentimes, if a phrase is repeated over and over again in a passage, that probably means the author is emphasizing something. Repetition is one way Biblical authors create “outliers” in the text, but there are other ways. Look at the passage to find what things stand out and why.

4. What truths from other places in Scripture fill out/clarify/expand on the truths given in this text?

This question is non-negotiable for Pastors who preach expositionally. To “expound” a text, you must fill out and clarify it with other Scripture. The Puritans did this excellently in the way they structured their sermons. An example of this might be when you are teaching the Philippians 3 text “Our citizenship is in heaven.” A text which expands on this idea might be “Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth.” Using the second text to expand on the truths given in the first text is a necessary skill for any teacher or preacher of God’s Word

Click here to read previous “Book Quote of the Week” posts. More tools to help you study the Bible, click here. If you found this post helpful, share on social media and subscribe below. Follow The Average Churchman on Instagram for more content.
7 Discipleship Principles from Jesus

7 Discipleship Principles from Jesus

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Once Jesus was resurrected, He commanded His disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations.” But what does that discipleship look like? How does one go about obeying this command practically? How would the original apostles have gone about doing this? I think the answer is clear: Jesus had spent the past several years discipling the apostles, setting an example for how discipleship is to be done. In short, the apostles would have learned their discipleship principles from Jesus. And so should you.

In this post, I want to extract practical discipleship principles from Jesus by looking at how He behaved towards His disciples. This post will look at the Gospel of Matthew in particular. There are many different ideas and methods put forward today for how to disciple someone. But the most important and foundational principles are laid down by Jesus in the Gospels. You must internalize and meditate on how Jesus interacted with His disciples in order to be effective at discipling others in obedience to the Great Commission.

1. You must initiate the discipling relationship

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he (Jesus) saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Matthew 4:18-20 ESV, emphasis added

It goes without saying, but the 12 apostles didn’t choose themselves to become Jesus disciples. Jesus initiated the relationship. Jesus called the 12 from their different areas of life and commanded them to follow Him. Furthermore, in Matthew 4 Jesus states His goal with discipling Peter and Andrew: He will make these brothers fishers of men.

“Fishers of men” is an apt metaphor for discipleship. No one goes fishing by sitting at home and waiting for the fish to swim up on land and come to them. Fishing means going out and catching the fish yourself. If you want to disciple other people, you are going to have to initiate the relationship. If you sit around waiting to be swarmed by individuals dying to glean wisdom from you, you will be waiting a long time.

Fishing for men means taking responsibility to go out and find people to disciple.

Now, unlike Jesus who has all authority, not everyone you approach with immediately follow you as Peter and Andrew did Jesus. But this discipleship principle from Jesus still holds: if you want to have a discipling relationship with someone, you are going to have to take the first steps.

2. Discipleship involves both direct teaching and setting an example with your lifestyle

The 12 apostles were around Jesus for the length of His earthly ministry. During that time, Jesus both taught the disciples directly, and set an example by His conduct. The Gospel of Matthew contains several sections recording the teaching of Jesus, including the famous section “The Sermon on the Mount.” Beyond this formal teaching, the 12 apostles received teaching not given broadly, such as Jesus interpreting parables for them.

But it would be foolish to limit Jesus’ discipleship of the apostles to His teaching ministry. The apostles also:

  • Witnessed Jesus’ miracles
  • Watched Him respond to the Pharisees
  • Listened as He answered questions from the crowd with wisdom

And more. Because the apostles were around Jesus constantly, they had the unique position to both hear what Jesus said and observe how Jesus acted. And this “hearing and seeing” is crucial to any discipling relationship. Certainly a good amount of time discipling others will involve teaching. But just as important is how you yourself behave and conduct yourself.

If you disciple someone, you are not only saying “listen to me.” You are also saying “imitate me as I imitate Christ.”

Just like Jesus, you need to model in practice what you teach in precept. You oftentimes have more opportunities to display godly character in action than you do communicating godly characteristics in word.

3. Discipleship is honest about the joy of following Christ and the cost of following Christ

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30 ESV, emphasis added

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Matthew 16:24-25 ESV, emphasis added

Jesus did not sugarcoat the cost of following Him. Neither did He undersell the peace and joy He provides. Discipling involves teaching this tension. Following Jesus will lead to suffering and difficulty in this world, but Jesus is worth it. If you lose either part of this tension, you will end up obscuring the Bible’s teaching.

A major part of discipling others is displaying for them the worth and value of Jesus. Since the Gospel is at the heart of the Christian faith, you always return to it. You show how it is Jesus and Jesus alone who gives rest for people’s souls. And this rest was only made possible by His sacrifice.

But at the same time, you don’t ever want to make Jesus sound like a “ticket to heaven” or a means to material gain or someone who demands nothing of His followers. Just as Jesus called His disciples to self denial and dying to themselves, so to you will make it clear to all you are discipling that following Jesus requires leaving behind much of what people hold onto in their flesh.

4. You cannot disciple everyone at the same level

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

Matthew 5:1, 10:1, 17:1 ESV, emphasis added

Jesus did not disciple every single person He came in contact with. Even amongst the 12 apostles, He chose three to disciple more intimately. Jesus on several occasions brought only Peter, James, and John with Him to witness key moments in His ministry. You can see these three “levels of discipleship” in the verses above:

  • Jesus had a large crowd of disciples following Him who He taught formally
  • The 12 apostles were specifically selected by Jesus to minister alongside Him
  • Of those 12 apostles, Jesus chose three in particular to devote the most of His time

What is point here? You cannot disciple every single person at the same level. If you have been given an opportunity to teach formally at Church, that is a form of discipleship. Whether a pastor or a teacher, you disciple the congregation by expounding the word to them. But you cannot possibly have the entire congregation over your house every week. You will have to select a subset of the congregation to prioritize when doing that kind of discipling.

But even within that subset that you prioritize, you cannot go deep with every single person. You cannot live out all aspects of a discipling relationship with that entire group of believers. Within the subset of the congregation you devote your time to, there might be a handful that you really disciple at a deep level. And that is okay.

Don’t feel like you have to disciple every person you meet at the same level of depth in order to fulfill Jesus’ command.

There is a breadth to discipleship to be sure, but there is also a depth of getting to really know a few Christians at the level where you feel comfortable sharing your struggles against sins, your doubts, your spiritual victories. Jesus discipled many people during His ministry, but not all at the same level. We would do well to take this lesson to heart when we strategically plan who to disciple.

5. Discipling others involves both asking questions and answering questions

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:13-16 ESV, emphasis added

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Matthew 24:3 ESV, emphasis added

This discipleship principle from Jesus you see throughout the gospels. Jesus is an expert question-asker. His questions get right to the heart of whatever issue or whatever person He is dealing with. Questions are tools to make the other person think and to confront someone else’s thinking. Matthew 16 gives a great example: Jesus asks a general question to frame the discussion and then asks His disciples directly “what do you think?”

If you want to disciple someone else, you will have to become good at asking questions.

It is always tempting to simply tell someone else what they should think. But the goal of asking questions is to lead the other person to see the conclusion for themselves. It takes a lot of practice but no tool is more useful in discipleship, besides prayer and Scripture, than asking good questions.

Of course, the opposite is also true: you will have to answer questions if you disciple others. This leads to another key principle: discipleship is not one-sided. You don’t get to ask all the questions; sometimes you will have to answer hard questions yourself. In Matthew 24, Jesus is asked about the end of the age and ends up teaching for some time before finally answering the question directly. Since you don’t have all knowledge like Jesus, you will often have to consult Scripture yourself as you are asked tough questions from those you are discipling.

6. Discipleship requires patient perseverance

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Matthew 16:16-17, 22-23 ESV, emphasis added

I love the juxtaposition of these verses in Matthew 16. In verses 16-17, Jesus blesses Peter because of His confession. Soon after, Jesus rebukes Peter for adopting a satanic mindset with regards to Jesus death and resurrection. Why would Peter rebuke Jesus in the latter verse when he just confessed Jesus was the Son of God in the former verse? These verses illustrate a vital reality to keep in your mind: discipleship involves both encouraging and discouraging moments.

Think of your own life: is spiritual growth for you a never ending ascent into further and further godliness? Or is it more of a “one step forward, two steps back” kind of a process? Discipleship aims at teaching others to “observe all that Christ has commanded” but when you invest your time and life into others you will be hurt and disappointed often. One moment you will feel encouraged by the other person’s spiritual growth only to weep when you hear about a besetting sin this other person fell into.

What will you do when you get the discouraging news? Give up? Resign yourself to the fact that “it must not be working?” If you learn your discipleship principles from Jesus, you will take none of these options. Jesus persevered with Peter, despite Peter’s frequent mistakes, sins, and setbacks. Discipleship takes perseverance and patience. There is no other way. People don’t change overnight and sanctification is a life-long process. Don’t be discouraged when there are setbacks and issues to deal with. Instead, these setbacks are reminders to persevere in discipling since your work is never done “until Christ is formed” in the other person.

7. Discipleship requires involving someone in your life for a period of time

Stepping back for a moment, you realize that Jesus only had a handful of years to disciple the apostles. During that time, Jesus called them, the apostles went everywhere with Jesus, and Jesus taught them. But that time of walking with Jesus ended. It didn’t end Jesus’ death since Christ conquered death. Rather, Jesus sent out His disciples after His resurrection and then ascended into heaven.

The takeaway here is if you want to disciple other people, you are going to have to involve them in your life. Discipleship is not the occasional coffee shop meet up to catch up on life. Discipling also means inviting people to your home, being willing to talk when it is inconvenient, chatting as you do dishes, coordinating your schedules so you can frequently meet, including your family in discipling interactions, and a host of other things.

Discipleship is less about scheduled occasional meet-ups and more about constant continued closeness between believers as they live their lives week by week.

But don’t think every discipling relationship is a life-long commitment. People move away. Life-circumstances change. There is change and loss. A brother who discipled me in high school I stay in contact with, but I see him only occasionally. So he cannot be my primary means of being discipled. The brother who discipled me in college moved away a year or so ago. When he visits, we talk and go deep. But I need to be discipled by someone physically close to me, someone who can be involved in my life and I in his.

Enter each discipling relationship with a “season” mindset. What I mean by this is don’t assume you have an infinite amount of time to build up this person. You don’t. Instead, start the relationship with the mindset of “in this season of life, God wants me to invest in this person.” Then embrace the season, apply these discipleship principles from Jesus, and when that season ends, find the next person God would have you disciple.

Conclusion: Imitate Jesus, the ultimate disciple-maker

There is much more to say about discipleship and how to go about discipling others. In fact, future posts will look at what other Scripture teaches on the subject. But these 7 discipleship principles from Jesus in Matthew are a helpful and necessary starting point when thinking about how best to obey the Great Commission.

Don’t feel discouraged if you don’t live up to Jesus’ example. Remember: Jesus in giving the Great Commission also promised to be with His Church as they endeavored to obey it. Trust in Jesus, the ultimate disciple-maker, and rely on His strength as you go out and teach those around you what it means to live as a Christian.

This post is part of an ongoing series called “Becoming a Discipling Christian.” Read previous posts here. If you benefited from this post, share and subscribe below. Follow The Average Churchman on Instagram for more content.
Foundations of Discipleship

Foundations of Discipleship

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Discipleship isn’t complicated, but it can be difficult. If you ask a believer who knows the Bible and seeks to live it out, I am confident they will tell you how important discipleship is. But how, in your local Church week after week, do ordinary Church members prioritize discipleship? And how do you become a “discipling Christian?”

As I said, discipleship can be difficult. Sometimes, it is good to go back to the foundational text for discipleship: Matthew 28. It is here you can see the theological foundations of discipleship and can clarify your thinking about what discipleship is, and what it isn’t. I want to give you some brief observations on Matthew 28 before giving you three foundations of discipleship from the text.

Matthew 28

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20, ESV emphasis added

Let me make a few brief observations before we go deeper into what this text is saying. The first is simply this: everything Jesus says in these few verses is based on Him having all authority. All authority in heaven and on earth. There is no authority He is lacking. So, this last command, to make disciples, is based on Him having all authority.

This isn’t like your close friend suggesting you change jobs or move locations. This is the risen Christ who has more power than every human ruler combined. And this Jesus is telling His disciples what they are to do next. This command based on all authority in the entire universe is vitally important and not given lightly.

This leads to the next observation: Jesus uses all His authority specifically to tell His disciples to go and make disciples. Is that strange to you? If you had “all authority in heaven and earth,” would that be your command? To make disciples? I think most people today would use such authority to say “go therefore and solve all the world’s problems” or “go therefore and bring about justice and world peace” or “go and change the world.” But Jesus doesn’t say any of that.

Jesus does not command His disciples to solve all the worlds problems. But He also doesn’t tell His disciples to merely stay together as a group. Jesus doesn’t say “stay therefore together as one group and enjoy the fellowship and forgiveness I have bought.” Instead, He sends His followers on a mission. In order to see the greatness of the great commission, you need to think through all the things Jesus could have said, but didn’t.

So what does Jesus command? He tells his disciples to make disciples. Then Jesus clarifies specifically what this looks like: baptizing them and teaching them to obey all His words. An article in this months Tabletalk magazine describes this as “bringing them in and building them up.” That’s good. Baptism brings new believers into the Church and after that begins the lifelong process of building them up in Christ-likeness. This latter “building up” is what the Church often defines as “discipleship.”

Theological Foundations of Discipleship

Now that you have seen a couple brief textual observations from Matthew 28, I want to give three big picture theological foundations of discipleship. These three truths are crucial for you to understand if you want to become a discipling Christian. Unsurprisingly, each of these truths are centered around Jesus and God’s glory. If you don’t start with Christ and God’s glory, you will fail to understand discipleship properly and will likely become “burnt out” as you try to disciple others.

Foundation 1: Jesus is raised from dead and has all authority

As I mentioned before, Jesus commands His disciples to go and make disciples based on complete and total authority. During His time of earthly ministry, Jesus was a “man of sorrows” and had “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant.” But this command for the evangelism and discipleship of all nations comes after Christ has defeated death. After He has paid for the sins of His people. Jesus was the suffering servant; now He is the glorious, resurrected King.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9-11, ESV emphasis added

Certainly the fullness of Christ’s glory will be revealed when He returns. But now, you and I live after His resurrection. This means Jesus already has all authority; He is Lord of history and Lord of the nations. But not only does Jesus have authority after the resurrection, He also has a people, His bride: the Church.

The Church’s desire is to obey Christ, their glorious resurrected King. So, when Jesus says “go therefore and make disciples,” it is not a painful duty for the Church to perform. It should be every Christian’s delight to obey the commands of their King. Jesus has proven His love and mercy towards you by dying in your place and defeating death on your behalf.

The question is “what then should I do?” If you are saved and believe in the gospel, Matthew 28 answers that question:

No matter where you go or what you do, your mission is to make disciples of all nations.

There are many avenues to obey this command. But the key is not to wait for a “perfect situation” (see my book quote of the week for this Monday). Obey where you are today. You don’t have all authority over your life. Jesus does. And He tells you “make disciples.”

You want to become a discipling Christian? Remember is it Jesus who has authority over your life and He commands you to make disciples.

Foundation 2: Jesus is always with His people

What is amazing about Matthew 28 is Jesus doesn’t just say “go make disciples”; He also says He will be with His Church as they go make disciples. And there isn’t an expiration date for this promise: Jesus says He will be with His disciples always, even to the end of the age.

How can Jesus say this when He is about to ascend back to heaven? If you have read through the gospels you know the answer: Jesus is not going to leave His disciples orphans. Once Jesus ascends, the Holy Spirit descends on the Church. If you read through the book of Acts, you see that the growth of the early Church was a Spirit-empowered growth.

On your own, you cannot make disciples of all nations. But Jesus never asks you to do it alone.

Don’t expect discipleship to be easy. As you seek to obey Jesus command, you will face suffering, persecution, road blocks, and every manner of difficulty. But none of these should ever hinder you as you obey Jesus commands. Why? Because unlike world rulers who issue laws from a far distance, Jesus doesn’t just issue commands. He comes alongside His people to help them accomplish His commands.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Hebrews 13:5-6, ESV emphasis added

Notice the logic of Hebrews 13: Christ will never leave or forsake the believer. He is the Christian’s sovereign, all-powerful helper. So, there is nothing to fear; nothing another human can do to you will stop God’s plan. If you are going to commit your life to obeying your King’s command in Matthew 28, you are going to need to rely on Christ and His strength. You will need to daily draw comfort from the truth that even if everyone else in the world forsakes you, Christ never will.

There is no one who can ultimately harm you when Jesus is your ever-present, ever-faithful helper.

You want to become a discipling Christian? Remember that Jesus is the source of your comfort and strength. There is no obstacle to your obedience which is too great.

Foundation 3: Discipleship is part of God’s plan for the world

The final foundation of discipleship I want to point out is discipleship is a vital component to God’s overarching plan for the world. From Genesis to Revelation, God’s goal is to gloryfy Himself among all people. It is through God getting the glory that blessing comes to us who believe. This plan was not just for one people group; from the very beginning God was going to bless the nations and save true worshipers from the nations.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:1-13, ESV emphasis added

All the ends of the earth shall remember

    and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

    shall worship before you.

Psalm 22:27, ESV emphasis added

It shall come to pass in the latter days

    that the mountain of the house of the Lord

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

    and shall be lifted up above the hills;

and all the nations shall flow to it,

and many peoples shall come, and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

    to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may teach us his ways

    and that we may walk in his paths.”

Isaiah 2:2b-3b, ESV emphasis added

If you want even more verses, read them here. It is overwhelming the amount of times God clarifies in Scripture His end goal is His glory among all nations. That is where the whole story of Scripture ends:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, f“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Revelation 7:9-10, ESV emphasis added

If your heart is not excited by these passages, I recommend you study more deeply Biblical Theology. God’s plan is astounding, rich, and almost too good to be true. If you are not gripped by God’s plan for the world, you will not prioritize discipleship nor be effective in it. In order to do something well, you must have a clear goal in mine.

The clear goal of discipleship is God’s glory among the nations.

This makes it a joy to labor to bring people into the Church and then labor to build them up in obedience to Christ. The actual day-to-day tasks of discipleship might be wearisome. But if you keep in your mind that the goal of what you are doing is so God can get glory, worship and honor, you won’t be shaken by the ups and downs along the way. Biblical discipleship aims at God’s glory among all nations. Not moral improvement. Not “practical advice.” Your focus as you go about discipling should be on eternity, when the redeemed Church of God worships Him forever.

You want to become a discipling Christian? Spend your life not on your own plans and agenda, but labor for God’s glory among all people. Only that agenda is worth your greatest effort.

Conclusion

Discipling others may be the most important thing you ever do with your life. 100 years from now, almost no one will remember what you did in your life. Even your own great-great grandchildren likely won’t remember as much as your name. In light of death and the brevity of life, what can you do that really matters? If you are a Christian, you have the answer: go and make disciples of all nations.

Jesus has all authority and commands you to do this. He also presently empowers you to live in obedience to this command. And you know your time is not wasted, because making disciples is part of God’s plan for the universe. If you want to live for God’s glory, if you want to live in obedience to Christ, if you want your life to “count”, you are going to have to prioritize discipleship. A discipling life is a life worth living.

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