A MESSAGE TO
PREACHERS
by
A. W. PINK.
[NOTE. This writing
was published by Soveriegn
Grace Advent Testimony,
(April/June, 2003.) All
scripture
quotations by A. W. Pink were from the Authorised Version (1611): the
Revised
Version (1881) is used instead being a much better translation. Shall
We
Give Up The Truth? (in
part 2) is also from
the same issue of Watching and Waiting
(the S.G.A.T.
quarterly magazine).]
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In
this message we purpose to treat of those things which have a
particular
bearing upon those whom God has called to preach and teach His Word:
those
whose whole time and energies are to be devoted unto seeking the
spiritual and
eternal welfare of souls, and the better equipping of themselves for
that most
blessed, solemn and important work. Their
principal tasks are to proclaim God's Truth and to exemplify and
commend their
message by diligently endeavouring to practise what they preach, and
setting
before their hearers a personal example of practical godliness.
Since it be the Truth
they are to preach, no pains must be spared in seeing to it that no
error be
intermingled therewith, that it is the pure milk of the Word they are
giving
forth. To
preach Error instead of
Truth is not only grievously to dishonour God and His Word, but will
mislead
and poison the minds of the hearers or readers.
The
preacher's task is both the most honourable and the most solemn of any
calling,
the most privileged and at the same time the most responsible one. He professes to be a servant
of the Lord Jesus
Christ, a messenger sent forth by the Most High. To
misrepresent his Master, to preach any
other gospel than His, to falsify the message which God has committed
to his
trust is the sin of sins which brings down upon him the anathema of
heaven
(Galatians 1:8),
and will be visited with
the sorest punishment awaiting any creature. Scripture is plain
that the heaviest
measure of Divine wrath is reserved for unfaithful preachers (Matthew 23:14; Jude 13).
Therefore the
warning is given, be
not many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall
receive heavier judgement (James 3: 1)
if unfaithful to our trust. Every minister of the Gospel will
yet have to
render a full account of his stewardship unto the One Whom he claims
called him
to feed* His sheep (Hebrews
13:17), to
answer for the souls who were committed to his charge. If he
fails to
diligently warn the wicked, and he dies in his iniquity, God declares "his blood will I require at thine hand"
(Ezekiel 3:18).
[* Instead of
feeding the people of
God, they are being left out in the cold to starve to death
today. We
hear nothing from our pulpits relative to responsibility truths or
conditional
promises of God!]
Thus
the chief and constant duty of the preacher is to conform unto that
injunction,
Give diligence to present
thyself approved unto
God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, handling
aright the word of truth (2 Timothy
2:15). In
the whole Scripture
there is no exhortation addressed to preachers which is of greater
import than
that one, and few equal. Doubtless
that is why Satan has been so active in seeking to obscure its first
two
clauses by raising such a cloud of dust over the last one. The
Greek word for 'study'
[as
used in the A.V.]
signifies give diligence;'
spare no efforts, but make it your
paramount concern and constant endeavour to please your Master.
Seek not the smiles
and flatteries of worms of
the earth,* but the approbation of the Lord. That is to take
precedence of everything
else: unless it is, attention to the second thing mentioned will be in
vain.
Entirely subordinate all other aims to commending thyself unto
God - thine
own heart and character, thy dealing with and walk before Him, ordering
all thy
ways according to His revealed will. What are
your
'service,' your ministrations, worth if He be displeased with thee?
[* It would
appear many refuse to disclose certain
truths for the fear of man,
and the possible loss of friendships within their denominational circle. If a doctrine is believed
and proved to be scripturally
true, but contrary to what the oversight or presbytery are
teaching, then it must be rejected, at all costs!]
A workman that needeth
not to be ashamed. Be conscientious,
diligent, faithful, in
the use you make of your time and the talents
God has entrusted to you. Give
unremitting heed to that precept, Whatsoever
thy hand
findeth to do, do it with thy might (Ecclesiastes
9:10) - put your very best into it. Be industrious and
assiduous, not careless and
slovenly. See
how well you can do
each thing, not how quickly. The
Greek
word for 'workman'
is also translated 'labourer,'
and in twentieth century English might well
be rendered 'toiler.'
The ministry is no
place for triflers and
idlers, but for those who are prepared to spend and be spent in the
cause of
Christ. The
preacher ought to work
harder than the miner, and to spend more hours per week in his study
than does
the man of business in his office. A workman is the very opposite of a shirker. If the
preacher is to show himself approved unto God and be a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, then
he will have to labour
while others sleep, and do so until he sweats mentally.
Be diligent in these things; give
thyself wholly to them; that thy
progress may
be manifest to all. Take
heed unto thyself, and unto thy teaching.
Continue in these
things; for in doing this thou shalt both
save thyself, and them that
hear thee (1
Timothy 4
:15-16). This
is another
part of the mandate which Christ has laid upon His official servants,
and a
most comprehending and exacting one it is. He
requires them to put their hearts into
the work, to give the whole of their thoughts to
it, to lay
themselves completely out in it, to devote all their time and strength
thereto.
They are to keep
clear of all secular
affairs and worldly employments, and to show all diligence in the task
assigned
them. That it is an
arduous task appears
from the different designations given them. They
are called 'soldiers'
to denote the exertions and fatigue which attend the proper discharge
of their
calling; 'overseers and watchmen'
to intimate
the care and concern which accompany their office, 'shepherds
and teachers' to signify the various duties of leading and
feeding those
committed to their charge. But
first
and foremost they are to take heed to their personal growth in grace
and piety,
if they would minister effectually unto others.
[* Its
regrettable that Brother Pink has nothing to
say about the future
salvation
for the regenerate thou shalt both save
thyself, and them that hear thee. Could that be because he
does not believe in
the intermediate state and place of the soul in Hades between the time
of a
believers death and that of his/her resurrection? Acts
2: 27; Matt. 16: 18; Rev. 6: 9-11.
But these things are just some of the things that are
being rejected (at
their own peril) in todays ministry!]
Particularly
does the minister need to attend unto this injunction 'take
heed unto thyself' in his study of the Scriptures, reading
them
devotionally ere he does so professionally, that is, seeking their
application
and blessing to his own soul before searching for sermonic materials. As the saintly Hervey
expressed it, 'Thus may we
always be affected when we
study the Oracles of Truth.
Study them not as
cold critics, who are only
to judge of their meaning, but as persons deeply interested in all they
contain; who are particularly addressed in every exhortation, and
directed in
every precept; whose are the promises and to whom belong
the precious privileges. When
we are
enabled thus to realise and appropriate the contents of that invaluable
Book,
then shall we taste the sweetness and feel the power of the Scriptures.
Then shall we know
by happy experience that
our Divine Master's words are not
barely sounds and
syllables, but that 'they
are spirit and they
are life.' No man can be constantly
giving out - that
which is fresh and savoury -unless he be
continually
taking in. That
which he is to declare
unto others is what his own ears have first heard, his own eyes seen, his own hands have handled
(1 John 1: 1-2).'
The
mere quoting of Scripture in the pulpit is not sufficient - people can
become
familiar with the letter of the Word by reading it at home; it
is the
expounding and application of it which is so much needed. And Paul, as his
custom was, went in unto them ... reasoned with them from the scriptures,
opening and alleging,
that it behoved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead"
(Acts 17: 2-3).
But to
reason from [A.V. open]
the Scriptures helpfully to the saints
requires something more than a few months' training in a Bible
Institute, or a
year or two in a seminary. None
but those who have been personally taught of God in the hard school of
experience are qualified to so reason from ['open']
the Word that Divine light is cast upon the spiritual problems of the
believer,
for while Scripture interprets experience, experience is often the best
interpreter of Scripture. The heart of the wise instructeth
his mouth, and addeth
learning to his lips (Proverbs
16:23), and that learning cannot be
acquired in any man's school. No
one
can learn what humility is by means of the concordance, nor secure more
faith
by studying certain passages of Scripture. The
one is acquired through painful
discoveries of the plague of our hearts, and the other is increased by a deepening acquaintance with God. We must ourselves be
comforted of Him before
we can comfort others (2
Corinthians 1:4).
'To seek after mere notions of Truth,
without an endeavour
after an experience of its power in our hearts, is not the way to
increase our
understanding in spiritual things. He
alone is in a posture to learn from God, who sincerely gives up his
mind,
conscience, and affections to the power and rule of what is revealed
unto him. Men may
have in their study of the Scriptures
other ends also, as the profit and edification of others. But if this
conforming of their own souls
unto the power of the Word be not fixed in the first place in their
minds they
do not strive lawfully, nor will they be crowned.
And if at any time,
when we study the Word, we
have not this design expressly in our minds, yet if upon the discovery
of any
truth we endeavour not to have the likeness of it in our own hearts, we
lose
our principal advantage by it' (John Owen).
It
is much to be feared that many preachers will have reason to
lament in the
day to come, They
made me the keeper of the
vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept (The Song Of
Songs 1: 6)
- like a chef preparing meals for others and himself starved.
While
the preacher is to ponder the Word devotionally, he is also to read it
studiously. If he
is to become able to
feed his flock with the finest
of the wheat (Psalm
81:16), then he must needs study it
diligently and daily and that to the end of his life. Alas, that so
many
preachers abandon their habit of study as soon as they are ordained! The Bible is an
inexhaustible mine of
spiritual treasure, and
the more its riches are opened
to us (by hard digging) the more we realise how much there is yet
un-possessed,
and how little we really understand what has been received. If
any man think that
he knoweth any thing, he knoweth not yet as he ought to know
(1 Corinthians 8: 2).
The
Word of God cannot be understood without a constant and laborious
study, without
a careful and prayerful scrutiny of its contents. This
is not to say that it is recondite and
obscure. No, it is
as plain and
intelligible as in the nature of things it can be, adopted in the best
possible
manner to give instruction in the holy and profound things of which it
treats. But none
can be instructed by the best
possible means of instruction who will not take pains with the same. Promise of understanding is
not made to the
dilatory and indolent, but to the diligent and earnest, to those who
seek for
spiritual treasure (Proverbs
2: 3-5). The
Scriptures have to be searched; searched daily, persistently and
perseveringly,
if the minister is to become thoroughly familiar with the whole of what
God has
revealed, and if he is to set before his hearers 'a
feast of fat things.' Of
the wise
preacher it is said, he still
taught the people
knowledge; yea, he pondered and sought out, and sought to find
out, and
set in order many proverbs ...
sought to find
out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even
words
of truth" (Ecclesiastes
12:9-10),
as if his whole soul was engaged in the discovery of the best mode as
well as
the best substance of instruction.
No
preacher should be content with being anything less than a man mighty in the Scriptures (Acts
18:24). But
to attain thereunto
he must subordinate all other interests. As
an old writer quaintly said, 'The
preacher should be with his time as the miser is with
his gold - saving it with care, and spending it with caution.'
He must also remind
himself constantly Whose
Book it is he is about to take up, so that he ever handles it with the
utmost
reverence, and can aver my
heart standeth in awe of
thy words (Psalm
119:161). He
must approach it in lowly-mindedness, for it
is only unto such that the Lord giveth
more grace.
He must ever come to it in the spirit of prayer, crying that which I see not teach Thou me
(Job 34:32): the
enlightening grace of the [Holy] Spirit will
often open mysteries to the meek and dependent which remain closed to
the most
learned and scholarly. A
holy heart
is equally indispensable for the reception of supernatural truth, for
the
understanding is clarified by the purifying of the heart. Let there also be a humble
expectation of
Divine help, for 'according to
your faith be it unto
you' holds good here, too.
It
is only by giving heed to the things which have been pointed out in the
preceding paragraphs that the necessary foundations are laid for any
man's
becoming a competent expositor. The
task before him is to unfold, with clearness and accuracy, the Word of
God.
His
business is entirely exegetical -
to bring out the true meaning of each passage he deals with, whether it
accords
with his own preconceptions or no. As
it is the work of the translator to convey the real sense of the Hebrew
and
Greek into English, so the interpreter's is to apprehend and
communicate the
precise ideas which the language of the Bible was meant to impart. As the renowned Bengel
so well expressed it, 'An expositor should be like the maker of
a well: who puts no
water into it, but makes it his object to let the water flow, without
diversion, stoppage, or defilement.' In
other words, he must not take the
slightest liberty with the sacred text, nor give it a meaning which it
will not
legitimately bear; neither modifying its force nor superimposing upon
it
anything of his own, but seeking to give out its true import.
To comply
with what has just been said calls for an unbiased approach,
an honest heart, and a spirit of fidelity on the part of the
interpreter. 'Nothing should be
elicited from the text but what is yielded
by the fair and grammatical explanation of its language' (Patrick
Fairbaim).
It is easy to assent
to that dictum, but
often difficult to put into practice. A
personal shrinking from what condemns the preacher, a sectarian bias of
mind,
the desire to please his hearers, have caused not a few to evade the
plain
force of certain passages, and to foist on them significations which
are often
quite foreign to their meaning. Said Luther, 'We must not make
God's Word mean what we wish. We
must not bend it, but allow it to bend us,
and give it the honour of being better than we can make it.'
Anything other than
that is highly
reprehensible. Great
care needs ever to
be taken that we do not expound our own mind instead of God's. Nothing can be more
blameworthy than for a man
to profess to be uttering a 'Thus
saith the Lord'
when he is merely expressing his own thoughts. Yet
who is there who has not, unwittingly,
done so?
If
the druggist is required by law to follow exactly the doctor's
prescription, if
military officers must transmit the orders of their commanders verbatim
or
suffer severe penalties, how much more incumbent it is for one dealing
with
Divine and eternal things to adhere strictly to his text book! The
interpreter's task is to emulate those described in Nehemiah
8: 8, of whom it is said they
read in the book
of the law of God distinctly
[or, with an interpretation], and gave the sense
[or, caused them to understand], so that they understood the reading.
The reference is
unto those who had returned
to
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SHALL WE GIVE
UP TRUTH?
By
B. W. NEWTON
If
we see Truth leading to a position which God can sanction and bless and
conscience really feels it is the right place in which to stand, shall
we give
it up because some fair scene that gives joy for a moment crosses our
view? Shall we be
entranced by it and leave as it were,
the side of Abraham? We
may be tempted in that way.
And
what in a certain sense is marked as the abiding characteristic of
What
a contrast with Blessed be
Abram of the Most High God
between Abraham and his seed and
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