The instrumentality by which the spiritual reforms of the eighteenth century carried on their operations, was of the simplest description. It was neither more nor less than the old apostolic weapon of preaching. The sword which the apostle Paul wielded with such mighty effect, when he assaulted the strongholds of heathenism eighteen hundred years ago—was the same sword by which they won their victories. Continue reading “True Preaching – by J.C. Ryle”
Category: Ministry
Jelly-Fish Christianity and Affection for the Flock
Quotes from JC Ryle
Jelly-fish Christianity
There is a jelly-fish Christianity in the land; that is a Christianity without bone or muscle or power…of which the leading principle is “no dogma, no distinct tenets, no positive doctrine”. We have hundreds of jelly-fish clergymen, who seem not to have a single bone in their body of divinity…We have thousands of jelly-fish sermons preached every year – sermons without an edge, or a point, or a corner, smooth as billiard balls, awakening no sinner and edifying no saint…and last, and worst of all, we have myriads of jelly-fish worshippers – respectable, church-going people who have no distinct and definite views about any point in theology…they think everybody is right and nobody is wrong, everything is true and nothing is false, all sermons are good and none are bad, every clergyman is sound and none is unsound. Continue reading “Jelly-Fish Christianity and Affection for the Flock”
The Work of the Pastor is to Feed the Sheep
Here follows the first chapter of the book “The Work of the Pastor” written by William Still. This chapter is also freely available on the Internet as an advertisement to buy the book. Well it is worth buying the book for the rest of the chapters (just google it). I ordered my copies through Christian Book Discounters in Rosebank Johannesburg (Christian Book Discounters)
Chapter One – Feed My Sheep
The Pastor
Before we look at the work of the pastor we must look at the pastor himself. The pastor by definition is a shepherd, the under-shepherd of the flock of God. His primary task is to feed the flock by leading them to green pastures. He also has to care for them when they are sick or hurt, and seek them when they go astray. The importance of the pastor depends on the value of the sheep.
Continue reading “The Work of the Pastor is to Feed the Sheep”
Introduction to The work of the pastor
Sinclair Ferguson once said “Every Pastor should read this book at least once a year” If you wonder why, then read what Thabiti Anyabwile have to say about his experience below. In this post I will post the introduction to this book written by William Still, and in the next post, the First chapter of the book which is also freely available on the Internet as an advertisement to buy the book. After that then go ahead and order the book from Focus publishers.
This is what Thabiti Anyabwile said:
On the plane ride to the New Life Bible Conference, I began reading William Still’s The Work of the Pastor. I’ve had the book for a few years, but had yet to pick it up. In recent conversations with some pastor friends, I was strongly encouraged to take up and read. And boy am I glad I did!
The cross and the world
Author: Dr Martin Holdt
This is the first part of a sermon transcribed, in the series, The Cross, by Dr Martin Holdt, entitled: The cross and the world.
Galatians 6: 1 – 8 “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load. Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
If you hear me say things that I’ve said before, please forbear. I say them because it is important that they be said and don’t we all concur that if the truth is worth saying once it is worth saying a thousand times over, provided it comes to us with fear and conviction and we take it to heart and live it out for the glory of God. So, I am going to repeat a few things that you have heard me say before, I do it because it is a burden on my heart and I happen to have discovered what I am sure every minister of the gospel has discovered here. People forget so soon. Continue reading “The cross and the world”
Great Sermons of Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones
One of the most gifted preachers of our times was Dr martyn Lloyd Jones. The following links are to some of this great series. The recordings was done in the fifties and sixties so the quality is not always so good yet can be followed and in most cases are well restored.
Especially relevant is his series on Spiritual Depression
A collection of 24 sermons that Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached in 1954 on a subject that few other preachers cover. This extremely helpful collection includes 10 sermons that are not in the book of the same title, which has become a Christian classic.
http://www.mljtrust.org/collections/spiritual-depression/
Preaching and Preachers
recordings of the 16 lectures that Martyn Lloyd-Jones gave to students at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, in 1969. There are also 2 question and answer sessions that were held after the 16 lectures.
http://www.mljtrust.org/collections/preaching-and-preachers/
Romans
The famous series of Friday night lectures on the Letter to the Romans, split into 14 volumes to parallel the books, plus a small collection of 13 individual sermons preached at Westminster Chapel.
http://www.mljtrust.org/collections/book-of-romans/
Ephesians
MLJ’s major series of 232 sermons covering all 6 chapters of Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, plus a small collection of 5 other sermons preached at Westminster Chapel. The major series is a systematic exposition of the epistle that was preached on Sunday mornings between 1954 and 1962.
http://www.mljtrust.org/collections/book-of-ephesians/
John
Good teaching on a Call to the Ministry
If you are in Ministry of the Word of God or aspire to be, and want to be really blessed and helped by excellent teaching please follow the links below to a series by pastor Albert N Martin
You will not regret it!
A Call to the ministry
1 of 5 Six Wrong Reasons to Enter the Gospel Ministry
2 of 5 Four Essential Elements of the Call to the Ministry
3 of 5 Necessary Spiritual Gifts Required for Pastoral Office
4 of 5 Necessary Mechanical Gifts Required for the Office
5 of 5 Necessary Mental Gifts Required for the Pastoral Office
Parting Sermons of Dr Albert N Martin
For over forty years, Pastor Albert N. Martin faithfully served the Lord and His people as an elder of Trinity Baptist Church of Montville, New Jersey. Due to increasing and persistent health problems, he stepped down as one of their pastors, and in June, 2008, Pastor Martin and his wife, Dorothy, relocated to Michigan, where they are continuing their ministry through writing and recording.
In preparation for his transition out of his New Jersey pulpit, Pastor Martin preached a series of nine sermons to his congregation, Parting Words of Counsel to the Members and Friends of Trinity Baptist Church. In them, Martin admonishes his congregation to hold fast to several particular doctrines or practices that have been important to Martin over the last several decades.
This series is excellent council to any christian or pastor and I assure you you will be blessed by listening to it.
Here is the links to these sermons:
Parting Words of Counsel Part 1
Parting Words of Counsel Part 2
Parting Words of Counsel Part 3
Parting Words of Counsel Part 4
Parting Words of Counsel Part 5
Parting Words of Counsel Part 6
Parting Words of Counsel Part 7
Parting Words of Counsel Part 8
Parting Words of Counsel Part 9 – A Farewell Sermon
Reformed Pastor – Part 1- Take Heed of Yourselve
extracts from the work of Richard Baxter – The Reformed Pastor
CHAPTER I – THE OVERSIGHT OF OURSELVES
SECTION 1
THE NATURE OF THIS OVERSIGHT
Let us consider, What it is to take heed to ourselves.
1. See that the work of saving grace be thoroughly wrought in your own souls.
Take heed to yourselves, lest you be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to others, and be strangers to the effectual working of that gospel which you preach; and lest, while you proclaim to the world the necessity of a Saviour, your own hearts should neglect him, and you should miss of an interest in him and his saving benefits. Continue reading “Reformed Pastor – Part 1- Take Heed of Yourselve”
Pelagianism and the modern church
by Dr. R.C. Sproul
This article is also available from this site: http://www.apuritansmind.com/Arminianism/RCSproul%20Pelagius.htm
The rivals of the early church Augustine and Pelagius begin the debate over the depravity of man.
“It is Augustine who gave us the Reformation.” So wrote B. B. Warfield in his assessment of the influence of Augustine on church history. It is not only that Luther was an Augustinian monk, or that Calvin quoted Augustine more than any other theologian that provoked Warfield’s remark. Rather, it was that the Reformation witnessed the ultimate triumph of Augustine’s doctrine of grace over the legacy of the Pelagian view of man. Continue reading “Pelagianism and the modern church”
What’s wrong with evangelism today – introduction
This is an introduction to a book that has been very helpful. It is called: “Today’s Gospel authentic or synthetic?” by Walter J. Chantry. Available from good bookshops.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH EVANGELISM TODAY?
Truth and unity
Evangelicals know that all is not well in their churches and missions. Behind the facade of glowing missionary reports and massive statistics there is a profound awareness that the church has little power in evangelism. While bravely trying to produce an aura of joy and victory among their followers, church leaders are uneasy and deeply dissatisfied with their present experience and the results of their efforts. Continue reading “What’s wrong with evangelism today – introduction”
The Pelagian Captivity of the Church
R. C. Sproul
borrowed from: http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=printfriendly&var2=383
Shortly after the Reformation began, in the first few years after Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg, he issued some short booklets on a variety of subjects. One of the most provocative was titled The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. In this book Luther was looking back to that period of Old Testament history when Jerusalem was destroyed by the invading armies of Babylon and the elite of the people were carried off into captivity. Continue reading “The Pelagian Captivity of the Church”
Liberalism or Christianity
by J. Gresham Machen
An address delivered, in substance, in the Wayne Presbyterian Church, Wayne, Pennsylvania, November 3, 1921, before the Twenty-Eighth Annual Convention of the Ruling Elders’ Association of Chester Presbytery, on the subject, “The Present Attack against the Fundamentals of our Christian Faith, from the Point of View of Colleges and Seminaries.” Originally published in The Princeton Theological Review, Vol. 20, No. 1, 1922, pages 93-117, Machen later turned this short essay into a manuscript which was published in 1923 under the title: Christianity & Liberalism (Macmillan, 1923). This article is now in the public domain (original pagination is preserved in {brackets} for purposes of reference).
The Princeton Theological Review, Vol. 20, No. 1, 1922, Page 93
The attack upon the fundamentals of the Christian faith is not a matter merely of theological seminaries and universities. It is being carried on vigorously by Sunday School “lesson-helps,” by the pulpit, and by the religious press. The remedy, therefore, is not to be found in the abolition of theological seminaries, or the abandonment of scientific theology, but rather in a more earnest search after truth and a more loyal devotion to it when once it is found. Continue reading “Liberalism or Christianity”
Emerging church and old liberalism
by John MacArthur
borrowed from: http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2006/03/been-there-done-that.html
also available from the new Shepherds’ Fellowship blog, Pulpit Live. John MacArthur now blogs there weekly along with several staff and lay pastors of Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, CA. The Shepherds’ Fellowship is a resource primarily designed to extend the benefits of Grace Church’s annual Shepherds’ Conference to pastors year round. The new blog gives the rest of us an opportunity to listen in.
John MacArthur is senior pastor of Grace Community Church and perhaps is best known as the teaching voice of “Grace to You,” heard daily on hundreds of radio stations worldwide.
Harry Emerson Fosdick and the Emerging Theology of Early Liberalism
In the early part of the 20th century liberalism took mainline Protestant churches by storm.
In fact, it might be argued that the first half of the century ushered in the most serious spiritual decline since the Protestant Reformation. Historic evangelicalism, which had dominated Protestant America since the days of the founding fathers, was virtually driven out of denominational schools and churches.
In a few decades, liberalism virtually destroyed the largest Protestant denominations in America and Europe. Continue reading “Emerging church and old liberalism”
Not corrupting the word
by JC Ryle
borrowed from: http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2006/03/word-from-late-bishop-of-liverpool.html
J. C. Ryle’s book Warnings to the Churches contains a sermon preached in August of 1858, titled “Not Corrupting the Word.” The following excerpt from that sermon was published exactly ninety-nine years later, in the August 1957 issue of The Banner of Truth. That issue of the magazine is included in a wonderful compilation recently re-released by the Banner of Truth Trust: The Banner of Truth: Magazine Issues 1-16, Sept. 1955—Aug. 1959. (The following excerpt may be found on page 265). I highly recommend the whole book – Phil Johnson.
Ryle’s words here offer some much-needed advice to pastors ministering in the morass of modern and post-modern churches would do well to heed. Continue reading “Not corrupting the word”