Monday 29 May 2017

Where are the Lord's Mordecai's?

"And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him" (Esther 4:12–17).

I almost gave this blog post the title, "what happens when good men remain silent?". Mordecai is one supreme example of a man who would not be silent in the midst of compromise and the threat against God's people. It seems that at one stage, that Esther was keeping her head down hoping for a quiet ride, but Mordecai gave this vital warning to her, one which we Christians need to hear today:> "For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place ...".

Therefore, it is possible to keep silent for the sake of man pleasing and for a life of comfort and ease. Now I am not exhorting divisiveness. Some people are plain divisive and they seek to work for Satan in causing chaos in the church. Note the warning in Romans 16:17-18: "I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive".

If you associate with people who do not follow due process, those who seek their own agenda in the church rather than the cause of truth, you need to separate yourself from such people. However, there is the need for men especially to stand up for the truth. What are some the issues today that require men to stand up for the sake of truth?

1. The truth of 1 Timothy 2:12 "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man". Worldliness and compromise has entered into parts of the church, one which is promoting women to teach men and also for them to exercise authority over men. This is not permitted by Scripture. Paul writes as an apostle, something representing the whole counsel of God; "I do not permit". The answer according to Paul is that in the church, that women are to "remain quiet". Now this will confront the feminist spirit of the age. The question is, will we bow before the truth of Scripture or not?

2. The matter of a silent genocide called abortion requires the church to "break the silence". The 6th Commandment plainly states that "you shall not murder", yet over 200,000 abortions continue every year in the UK alone and the church remains virtually silent on this matter.

3. The introducing of worldly methods into public worship. The Lord is to be approached with 'reverence and awe' and our hearts are to be filled with gratitude (Hebrews 12:28-29). I suggest reading "Seven Leaders" by Iain Murray, a new book which is published by the Banner of Truth.

May we join in prayer for the Lord to raise men like Mordecai in our generation. They can provoke and exhort us all, including exhorting women like Esther who are in positions of prominence to do the right thing.

Monday 22 May 2017

"Unordained women can do everything, that unordained men can do in the church": Is this true?

Every now and again, new phrases arise in the church. The validity of such catchy phrases vary in their helpfulness; sometimes they are helpful and sometimes they are not. One's such as "once saved always saved", is one that needs unpacking, before it can be taken on face value. A new slogan has emerged in the last couple of years, one which underlies a push for the much greater involvement of women in the life, organisation and ministry of the church. It is this phrase: "unordained women can do everything, that unordained men can do in the church". It is catchy, well thought out, and it is intended to neutralise opposition to suggested changes against the greater involvement of women in the church's ministry and worship. But, what does the Scripture teach?

There are significant pushes from many quarters for change on the role of women in the church. While there are denominations who have pushed for the ordination of women as elders and deacons, contrary to Scripture, some slightly more conservative denominations do not want to follow the liberals that far, but instead they push for a similar agenda with a different strategy. One example of a wholehearted and an open approach to ordain women is the Church of England; they have actively ordained women ministers for the last 25 years and now they ordain women bishops. It is only a matter of time before they install their first woman archbishop. Other denominations who are more conservative, they know that it would not go down well to suggest that women can be ordained ministers, but instead they seek ways to achieve the same goal, but by a different route.

In what way is Scripture plain on these matters?

1. Only qualified, called and gifted men can be elders to oversee the public worship and the work of the church. Titus 1:5-6 "This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife ...". Scripture discriminates against women from holding this office but also against 98% of men in the church. Not all men can hold this office either.

Although an elders wife has an important role, the wife does not hold the office of elder along with the husband. It is not uncommon today to see photos of the husband and wife, both of them called pastors, but this is not biblical.

2. Only qualified, called and gifted men can hold the office of deacon. 1 Timothy 3:12 "Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well".

3. Women cannot exercise authority over men in the work of the church. 1 Timothy 2:12-14 "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor".

I have heard teachers in the church, seek to explain away this summary statement given by Paul the apostle, one that summarises the whole position of Scripture from Creation onwards. Why would professing evangelical teachers seek to explain away such a text? It is because they have an agenda to create space in the church for women to teach, exercise all kinds of ministries and so forth, without them being ordained. However, we must return to Scripture and to first principles to examine such a position.

A push for women to exercise all kinds of roles in public worship, one's such as the leading of the worship, the reading of Scripture, the serving of the Lord's Supper, and the preaching of the sermon, is contrary to Scripture. Therefore the ditto phrase that "unordained women can do everything unordained men can do in the church" is a spiritually unhelpful and a muddied phrase, one that probably masks an agenda to promote women exercising authority over men in the church.

The issue at stake is the matter of the authority of Scripture. Do we accept and submit to the plain teaching of Scripture or are we going to throw off the yoke of the Lord and walk contrary to his will?

John the apostle instructed the church in 1 John 4:1 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world".

Friday 19 May 2017

Matthew Henry, "A Way to Pray".

This hardback book, now published by Banner of Truth has been edited and reviewed by O. Palmer Robertson. What a gem this book is! It is the only book I know of, apart from the Bible, that I would recommend it should be used on one's knees. I do not say the Bible should always be read on your knees, but this book is best used in prayer on your knees.

The first four major sections are prayers founded on Scripture on four main headings. These are:

Praise
Confession
Petition
Thanksgiving

I suggest getting on your knees in prayer, putting pieces of paper inside each section, then taking a portion of each of these sections in order in prayer. It will warm your heart as you approach the Living God. This book as you use it prayer, may so warm and soften your heart that you may even rise from your knees without dry eyes. We need helps in prayer and this book is about as good as it comes.

Palmer Robertson has used this book his whole life in his personal communion with the LORD. This indicates the ongoing usefulness of its biblical content in this book. There are many other prayers provided, one's based on Scripture, one's which you can expand, but it gets you started in prayer. There is an expanded directory for the Lord's Prayer as well.

Robertson writes in his introduction: "According to his own notations, Matthew Henry considered another work of his to be so important that he interrupted the writing of his commentary and as a consequence never completed it. That other work was his laying out a method for prayer altogether based on the expressions of Scripture.

I wholeheartedly commend this book to you, as indeed I commend people to take some time to pray on their knees. This follows the example of the Lord Jesus Christ and Paul the apostle.

'And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” '. Luke 22:41-42.

"For this reason I bow [bend] my knees before the Father ... " Ephesians 3:14.

Friday 12 May 2017

"Preaching made Practical" by O. Palmer Robertson

A new book published by Evangelical Press has come out on preaching. It is by O. Palmer Robertson with a forward by Ian Hamilton. Ian Hamilton writes that this book "could well become a standard text used in seminaries and Bible colleges to help equip men become preachers of the word".

This is a welcome publication. In an age where preaching is so little found and where propositional preaching is not the flavour of the day, this book could help men already called to preach and those considering the call to preach and pastor. Really, preaching and pastoring go "hand in hand". Every pastor has to be a preacher, though he must be more than a preacher.

Listen to Paul the apostle instructing the Corinthians:

1 Cor 1:23 "But we preach Christ crucified"

1 Cor 9:16 "For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!".

Monday 8 May 2017

The Foolishness of Preaching

1 Cor 1:18 "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God".


Paul knows that that the preaching of Christ crucified is foolishness in the yes of the world. Indeed it always was, is and will be. Therefore, we must cease seeking cultural relevance at the expense of presenting the truth. The means of preaching and the content of the message of the crucified Christ is foolishness. BUT. But this is what the Lord has promised to bless and use for the extension of the church.

This does not mean then, that those who preach should not work at their preaching. Far from it! A new book on preaching has come out by O. Palmer Robertson called "Preaching made Practical" and it is published by EP. I recommend it. Palmer says on page 14 "If God has called you to preach, don't dare do anything else".

If you are a man who has a desire to preach and to be trained to preach I would love for you to contact me. We must have our gifts tested out but the church needs a whole new generation of preachers. Let us all join together to pray for labourers. preachers who will stick to preaching and to preaching the message of the cross, apart from all the other duties of pastoring.

Matthew 9:37-38 "Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest".