Author: Robin Brown

“But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end,  that you do no become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” – Hebrews 6:9-12.

I came to faith when I was nine years old, after hearing the Gospel in a Bible program. From that time, I was in Sunday School, and then a youth group in my teens. I was part of a young adult group out of school. Now in those years, there were a lot of invitations to accept Christ. And I can tell you that in my Sunday School class, in an Awana group of over 100, a youth group of over 50, and a young adult group of at least twenty, everyone had prayed to accept Christ.
But as we went through the various grades at school, different ones dropped off. Others would come, and then they would drop off. And by drop off, I don’t mean they began attending another church. I mean they simply stopped going to any church. Today, out of what in the end must have been a few hundred people, probably five people are still serving the Lord. Virtually no one out of that group has persevered in the faith. Now there are three possible explanations for that.

The first is that they were mostly all saved, but at some point, lost their salvation. The second is that they were mostly all saved, and are still saved, but there is simply zero fruit, and hasn’t been any fruit for years. The third is that the faith they had was a man-made, earthly faith, that could only last a few winters before it shrivelled up.

Which of those explanations sounds most likely to you? The first is the most unlikely. Scripture never describes eternal life dying in a person. And as we found out in Hebrews 6, if that were hypothetically possible, then according to Hebrews 6 all those few hundred can never be saved again, and their doom is certain irremediable.

The second explanation is almost equally unlikely. A Christian may have seasons of unfruitfulness, periods of stunted growth, before God’s chastening and conviction brings him out of it. But if you have a tree in your garden that has been dull brown and leafless for ten years, you should probably stop watering it and just admit that it is as dead as the wooden door to your home.

The third explanation finds biblical support. Man-made, earthly, selfish faith does not last because its object is not the life-giving Christ, but something else, like their own safety, their own comfort, their own desires. Earthly faith eventually drifts, doubts, and becomes dull to the things of God. But true faith perseveres. That’s the major theme of the whole book of Hebrews: remaining faithful to the Finisher of the faith. And one of the threats to that faithfulness is a kind of sluggish laziness.

You remember that the writer has been talking to his readers about a kind of dullness and sluggishness that some of them had. That dullness may be benign, and it may be malignant. The benign form is laziness in a true believer that needs to be repented of. The malignant form is laziness in a false believer, that eventually leads to denying the Gospel. One is a true believer who is in a bad patch and now needs to shake off sloth. The other is an almost Christian, whose prolonged spiritual apathy eventually leads to full apostasy: denying the Lord after once having claimed him.
Remember, in Scripture apostates are simply unbelievers claiming to be one of God’s people while denying the Gospel. Unbelievers, apostates, still need to be saved. And saved people, according to this very book, do not deny the faith.

But having taught us both truths that apostates are not saved, and the saved do not apostatise, he now brought them together and said, “And if you still entertaining the idea of dabbling in both faith and unbelief, and want to imagine what would happen if we could mix the two, the answer is you’d need a second crucifixion.” Since that’s impossible, he says, let no man turn back. Let no one who has come to some understanding of Christ now take that knowledge lightly and turn to the world. Wherever you are: true believer, or not, it is a fearful thing to treat the truths of the Gospel lightly. Truth responded to rightly, with diligence endurance will melt and soften your heart. Truth responded to wrongly, with dull sluggishness will harden your heart.

And the remedy for this slothfulness, this spiritual sluggishness is the idea of Christian perseverance. Many Christians from Cassian in the 4th century, through to the Puritans and Jonathan Edwards have recognised something that is called “healing by contraries”. When you have a sinful inclination one way, you oppose that thing with a godly inclination in the opposite way. The thief is cured not simply by stopping his stealing, but by cultivating giving. The angry man is changed not simply by stopping anger, but by practising gratitude. And this is what we see in Hebrews. We deal with drawing back by drawing near. We deal with casting away our confidence by holding fast. We deal with this slothful fading out with diligently persevering in our faith.

This passage is about persevering, enduring, continuing on. Homing in on just the four verses 9-12, we can understand why perseverance is crucial, what it is, how to obtain it. As I think back on those people, I think about perseverance. As you sit here today, I feel what the writer says, desiring that each one of you would show the same diligence to remain faithful to the end. This passage will show us why that matters, what it means, and how to do it.

 

I. The Momentousness of Christian Perseverance

But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.

From a terrifying warning, the writer moves to a warm and gentle encouragement. In fact, this is the only time in the book he uses the word beloved. He has now turned from the hypothetical to the actual. And to his actual readers, he assures them: I don’t think verses 4 through 8 are true of you. I am persuaded, convinced of better things concerning you. You are not those that fall away. You are not those whose dullness eventually causes them to disown the faith. You are neither the unsaved, nor are you part of that hypothetical group of saved apostates. Later, he will say this, Hebrews 10:39 – “But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to
the saving of the soul.”

In fact, he tells us he is convinced that better things accompany salvation in general. In other words, falling away does not accompany true salvation. The fruits that accompany salvation are not the thistles, thorns and briars of unbelief and falling away. No, it is the good fruit of perseverance.

That’s what makes it so important. Perseverance is the mark of true faith. See, don’t get this backwards. It is not that there is this vague generic stuff called faith, and in some people it lasts, and in other people it dies. No. What Scripture teaches is that when you truly close with the living Christ in saving faith, that faith is Spirit-generated. The bond that is made between Christ and believer is a bond of life. We are His body, and He is our head. That is a bond where the each needs the other. Now I understand God does not need us. But the biblical metaphor of head and body is showing us that our union with Christ is an immersive, indissoluble union of joined lives.

The faith that accompanies salvation is permanent because it is God’s investment in His own body. Remember that Paul tells us this in Ephesians 5:
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (vv 25-27)

Because false faith does not unite with Christ, it has no work of God to sustain it. It is self-generated, and will finally drift away. And the writer says, beloved, I know this is not the case with you, because I think you are truly saved, and the fruit that accompanies true salvation will be seen in you. So “even though we speak this way”, it is to lovingly caution the converted, and to firmly warn the complacent. Chrysostom said “It is better that I should scare you with words, than that you should sorrow in deeds.” But it is a momentous thing to have faith that endures. It means there is a supernatural bond between you and your Creator.
What is that going to look like? Is Christian perseverance that you claim you’re a Christian all your life? Is it that you keep going to church all your life?

 

 

 

  – David De Bruyn, Professor of Church History, Shepherds’ Seminary Africa

3. A Disciple Holds Onto This World Slackly… (continued)

In ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’, the Pilgrims Christian and Faithful enter the town, Vanity Fair, which is a picture of the world. It is a massive fair, with the people selling all kinds of things. Everyone in the fair notices they are different by their clothing and their speech, and they begin to mock them. One trader comes up to them and asks them, ‘What will ye buy?’ They respond, ‘We buy the truth.’ That’s the most precious commodity, your most precious possession – truth. And as a disciple, you are willing to forsake all, for the truth’s sake. You hold this world, with its goods very lightly. Salvation is free, but following Christ is costly. Many people come to Christ on the basis of the fact that salvation is freely offered, thinking that because the gift of eternal life is free, that the rest of life will not cost anything.

One of the reasons for so little correlation between the amount of decisions claimed every year for Christ and the amount of changed lives is that people have not looked upon this Christian life as Christ described it. It is a life of loving Christ supremely. It is also a life of following Christ single-mindedly, to the death of my flesh. And it’s a
life of holding this world very loosely in our hands. So to illustrate the cost, Jesus gave two parables. The first is the picture of a man who sets out to build a tower, without calculating the amount of materials required. He just jumps in and gets going, and then runs out of money, and people mock him for his half-finished tower. The man did not think of what it would cost, so he could not finish.

The second pictures a king about to go to war, who recognises he is vastly outnumbered. If he decides defeat is certain, he goes and asks for terms of peace before the battle. He considered the cost before he ends up soundly defeated. The Lord is saying that, to avoid the humiliation of not finishing the Christian life and being defeated in it, make sure you consider just what it is going to cost you. It may cost you everything you have, it may not. The point is – since it may, are you willing to embrace that cost, or end up making a shipwreck of the faith? Have you considered that a disciple is owned by his master – he is not pulled one way by money and possessions and another way by The Lord.

He does not mean that you must avoid coming to Him, He means do not approach something as momentous as following Jesus Christ lightly. He wants to weed out the superficial, light-hearted people who have no real interest in following Christ to the end. He wants to prevent people from coming, who are like that second soil in the Parable of the Sower – who have no root in themselves, and when persecution or trials come, they are offended and wither away. Now you may say, ‘But who on earth is this way? Who loves Christ supremely? Who follows Him single-mindedly? Who holds the world so loosely? Who can possibly keep this standard?’ Though a true believer will have these attitudes at conversion, they will not become perfect actions but by a process of instruction and growth. For this they need discipleship. Being a disciple requires discipleship.

Every believer in the true church is a disciple. Some are more like this portrait than others, but it is Christ’s desire that every believer loves Him supremely, follows Him single-mindedly, and holds this world slackly. For that reason, we need to be discipling one another. Are you willing to yield to this process? Are you willing to be discipled? Are you willing to possibly teach others?

 

  – David De Bruyn, Professor of Church History, Shepherds’ Seminary Africa

2. A Disciple Follows Jesus Christ Single-mindedly … (continued)

So why must I go and die if I want to follow Him or obey Him? A parallel passage will help us here.
Look in Luke 9:23-25 – “Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”
Notice that verse 24 begins with the word ‘for’. In other words, Jesus is giving the reason for taking up your cross. And here it is – if someone tries to save his own life, he loses it, but the one willing to lose it for Christ saves it.

You see, someone carrying their cross is about to lose their life. But Jesus says, ‘if you are willing to embrace death – taking up your cross for me, you will actually live.’ But if you try to preserve your own life, the irony is, you will actually lose it. He is speaking of more than the actual point of physical death. He is speaking of your whole Being, your entire life, your will. He means – if you live so as to preserve life as you want to live it, you cannot follow Me or obey Me, and you ultimately lose. If you avoid the sacrifice, the humiliation, the struggle, the burden of obedience so as to get your own way, you end up losing out. You miss those things you were seeking, and ultimately, you lose the greatest thing of all – your own soul.

But, if you embrace Me as your life, following Me as your life, your example, your authority, your power – being willing to die to your own way, to life lived for self, you will actually find life. Just as Christ’s cross brought resurrection, when you will die to self, when you will turn your back on a life lived for selfish goals and ambitions and desires and pleasures, and follow Christ – you will find life, and find it more abundantly.

Jesus illustrated it this way: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” – John 12:24. A disciple does not simply use Jesus as Saviour; a disciple follows Jesus as Lord. A disciple follows because he or she wants to imitate their master. We want to imbibe His Spirit and imitate His example.
Matthew 10:24-25 – “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.” It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord…” The idea is this – a disciple comes under the authority of Jesus Christ in an absolute way. He obeys Christ single-mindedly. Being a disciple is not a negotiation. It is not a power sharing agreement. It is an all or nothing proposition. Either your self-will dies so his Lordship can live within you, or nothing.

The flesh and the Spirit are contrary to one another. The two cannot be engaged simultaneously. A car cannot be in first gear and in reverse at the same time. The flesh and the Spirit of God cannot be engaged together. You are either mortifying, killing, the flesh, and yielding to the Spirit, or you are feeding the flesh and quenching the Spirit. Your own flesh does not want to follow Him, it wants to follow itself. So the power of the cross has to be brought onto self – ‘I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live..’ ‘Not my will but thine be done’.

Once again, how does a disciple know what Christ’s will is? How does he or she know where Jesus is going so that she might follow? The Word of God tells us. If a disciple is a learner, it is to better follow Christ, better imitate His example. Has the Word of God brought some death and some new life to your life this week?

 

3. A Disciple Holds Onto This World Slackly

One more time, the Lord uses very strong language; language almost exaggerated. He wants the force of His words to shake us. Recall what verse 35 says – ‘great multitudes followed Him.’ It is as if Jesus almost throws the gauntlet down – ‘You want to follow Me, do you?’ Is it just the buzz of the crowd? Is it just the excitement of a new thing, a  fad? Is it for what you can get out of Me? This is what it means to really follow Me – to love me Supremely, to follow Me Single-mindedly, and to forsake all you have. I can picture the crowd thinning out. Now again, does Jesus mean that in order to follow Him, you must sell or give away everything you own? It does not normally mean that, though God does call some to do that.

The word ‘forsake’ actually means bid farewell. Say goodbye to. As if to say, cut the ties between you and your material possessions. Cut the close ties between you and your money. Cut the intimate relationship you have with your bank account. Hold them loosely in your hand. If Jesus needs it, it is His. If He doesn’t, it is still there. The Lord does not begrudge you money or possessions. He means to say, cease acting like an owner of these things. Realise you are a steward, and it is God who owns both you and your goods. The Lord does not mean you should cease being wise with your finances, or He would not have given so much instruction regarding them. He means do not let these things hold on to you.

Matthew 6:19-24 – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” How do you react when your possessions or money is threatened? Are you willing to hold this world so loosely in your hands that you will not begrudge the Lord anything He requires of you? That you can say, ‘My all is God’s. I recognise the cost is all I am, all I have, all the time.’ A man looking back is not worthy – what are you still looking back to? A disciple must have a pilgrim-focus. I am passing through. This world is not my home. It is part of my journey, but not my home. Life is not a playground for me, it is a battleground. But my ultimate place of rest is still coming.

 

 

  – David De Bruyn, Professor of Church History, Shepherds’ Seminary Africa

A Disciple of Jesus Christ, above all else, loves Christ supremely…(continued)

What does that mean?

He loves Christ. He loves Him supremely. Jesus Christ is His chief joy. He is our goal in life. He brings us the greatest pleasure. If there is anyone we want to be with more than anyone else – it is Him. If there is anyone we want to know better – it is Him. A disciple of Jesus Christ does not love anything or anyone more than Jesus Christ. Not other people. Not popularity. Not pleasure. Not money. Not success. Not good looks. Not material possessions. A disciple loves Christ supremely.

Do you know why? It is because nothing on earth deserves to be loved like God does. Nothing created deserves to be loved for its own sake? Everything created is to be loved for God’s sake. 1Tim 4:4-5 ‘For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.’ The moment you love something for its own sake, it becomes idolatry. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only One we love for His own sake. That’s why Paul had counted his bloodline, his education, his status, and his achievements as dung. He could put it in the bin apart from knowing Christ. It also means we do not love Him as a means to an end. A disciple is not using Jesus Christ to get something else. He is not using Christ to look good, or to be admired as pious, or to make life more problem-free and comfortable, or to be healthier and wealthier, to have good luck. Because then Jesus Christ is not his or her supreme love – it is that thing they are aiming at. A disciple of Jesus Christ loves Jesus Christ for that reason – for Jesus Christ. He is the end!

Psalm 73:25 – Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
Think of this illustration from the Bible : Simon the Sorcerer did not love Jesus Christ for Jesus Christ. He wanted power, and he wanted money. And when he saw Peter heal, he showed his true colours – he offered them money for some of that power. Simon had even been baptised – but he was not a true disciple – he was in it for what he could exploit it for. Now how does a disciple come to love Jesus Christ supremely? The answer lies in the word ‘disciple.’ Disciple means, pupil, learner.

How do you come to love someone in the everyday sense? You get to love them by getting to know them, or to put it another way, by learning about them. Why does a disciple love Jesus Christ supremely? It is because he or she is forever in the posture of learning Christ, of wanting to know Him more. To know Him more than sports figures; more than a particular boy or girl; more than the latest financials at work; more than their children’s progress; more than music; more than theology for its own sake.

When you find a professing Christian without a desire to learn of Christ, you have a problem. Because a disciple wants to know – wants to learn. A disciple follows the master around, watches how he sits, stands, and prays. Because the disciple says, ‘I  want to be like you, I want to know you.’ Do you have an appetite for the Word of God, an appetite for Jesus Christ?

• Hebrews 11:6 – But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
• Proverbs 2:1-5 – My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.

How does God treat the one who is earnestly seeking, wanting to learn?How can we love Him if I don’t even know Him?

 

2. A Disciple Follows Jesus Christ Single-mindedly

Now again, Jesus had used some rather intense language. He says, if you do not carry your cross, and come after me, you cannot be my disciple. This same phrase is repeated five times in the Gospels; sometimes with the phrase, ‘deny himself’, added in. What does this mean? Some have taken this to mean Jesus wants us to carry a wooden beam around, and you have had people literally walking around with crosses. But that is not what Jesus meant here.

Remember, Jesus has not yet predicted his own death by crucifixion, so that is not yet in the minds of the disciples, though when they look back after the event, they would understand its great significance. What does Jesus mean? Who would be seen carrying crosses? Criminals condemned to death. It was a further punishment; the criminal had to walk up to the place of crucifixion carrying part of the instrument which would be used to execute him. It would be like a man condemned to the gallows walking down a street full of people carrying the rope and the noose. He is going one way – and it is to his own death. But Jesus adds the words, ‘and follow me.’ It is as if He is saying that this cross carrying is a prerequisite to following Him, or perhaps is part of following Him.

By follow Him, He means obey me – imitate me, follow in My footsteps.

 

 

  – David De Bruyn, Professor of Church History, Shepherds’ Seminary Africa

What is a Disciple?

When your church is growing, it is easy to just keep services going, while people are actually not really growing, and not being held accountable for their walk with the Lord in any real sense. It is important to learn from the pulpit what discipleship is so it can spill over into one-on-one discipleship during the week. So, I want us to look into the Scriptures in a series to understand what we mean by that. What is a disciple? How do you make disciples? What are the costs of being a disciple? How do you know if someone is a true or false disciple? In this message, I want us to see our Lord Jesus answer the question of what a disciple is.

When you read the New Testament, you find that the title used most often for believers is not the word ‘Christian’. The word ‘Christian’ (in the singular or plural form) appears only three times. The word ‘believers’ appears twice. The word ‘brethren’ appears numerous times as the way believers talk about themselves, and to each other – brothers and sisters. But probably the most oft-used term to describe believers is the word ‘disciples.’ ‘Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ’ is how the Bible describes us. Indeed, the Great Commission in Matthew 28 is not ‘Go and get professions of faith.’ It is ‘Go and make disciples.’

This is how God wants us to think of ourselves – disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that word ‘disciples’ has fallen on hard times. When you hear ‘disciple’ you think of some strange cult or religious sect; you may even think of some Eastern religion. Sometimes we think of the twelve apostles – we think they were the disciples. But our Lord made it very clear what a disciple is and what a disciple is not in this passage in Luke 14. There are three marks of a disciple seen in this passage. These three are not the entrance standard for a disciple, because then none of us would be disciples. But it is to be what defines disciples, what we grow into, what we strive after.

Luke 14:25-35 – “Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!””

1. A Disciple Loves Jesus Christ Supremely.

The Lord teaches us this with a striking sentence. He says, ‘You cannot be my disciple unless you hate your parents, children, brothers and sisters and yourself.’ Now what does Jesus mean by this? Is He commanding malice? Is He telling us the condition of following Him is to despise others and ourselves? No, because this would contradict his own teaching. He told us to love our neighbours as ourselves. He told us in the Sermon on the Mount that as we would want others to treat us, so we ought to treat them. He even commanded us to love our enemies – which would make us like the Father. John tells us in 1 John 2:11 – “he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness”.

Furthermore, Paul tells us in Ephesians 5 that no man ever yet hated his own flesh. So if Jesus meant that we must hate ourselves, we would have a contradiction in the Bible. So He cannot mean that we must hate others or ourselves. He must mean something else when he uses the word hate. There is another way the Bible uses the word hate. It uses it to suggest degrees of love. We are told that, when Jacob had the two wives Leah and Rachel, it says in Gen 29:30 that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. The next verse tells us that the Lord saw that Leah was hated. Now Jacob did not hate Leah, but his love for Rachel so eclipsed his love for Leah it was as if she was unloved by comparison. His favour for Rachel was like rejection for Leah. To a degree, this is the case with Jacob and Esau. God still regarded the people of Edom, but by comparison, His love for Jacob’s seed made it like hate.

So this is not about despising anyone, it is about how much you love Christ compared to others. Now who did the Lord list as the examples to be compared with? He listed father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters. Are not these the people in the world we love the most – our spouse, our parents, our own children, our brothers and sisters And then to top it off, He adds, ‘and his own life also.’ Because if there is one person we consistently love more than even spouse, parents, children and siblings it is who? It is self. So the Lord has lifted the bar as high as He can as far as human loves goes. The highest human love in your life must come second to your love for Jesus Christ. Nothing and no one in your life must compete with Jesus Christ. If there is ever a conflict between one of these and Jesus Christ – Christ will come first. If parents, spouse, children, siblings or even your own nature opposes Christ, you must oppose them.

Matthew 10:37 puts it positively: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

 

 

  – David De Bruyn, Professor of Church History, Shepherds’ Seminary Africa

Obeying God Goes Beyond Mere Obligation or Prescription… (continued)

Now understand, Jesus is saying that He is going to obey this law, not because He has to, but because He wants to. He does not want to offend them, and they were not false teachers like the Pharisees, they were simply fulfilling the Law. And Jesus, in love for them, in respect for them, and to keep His ministry blameless says, ‘But I will still obey it.’

If you had to take this to a judge, Jesus would win. Jesus doesn’t have to do this. And if Jesus was a minimalist in His obedience, He would say, ‘I don’t have to pay this tax, so I won’t. I am not guilty if I don’t pay, and that’s good enough for me.’ But Jesus our Lord showed us the heart of obedience. Jesus did things which no law compelled Him to do, but He did it out of love for His Father, and love for man. He was driven not merely by must, but by love.

Now there are things you have to do. But maturity goes beyond trying to do the minimum and wants to do the maximum. Christian, your life cannot be dominated merely by obligation. If you live your Christian life trying to do the absolute minimum that you think you have to do, you will usually do even less than that.

There are many things to which you could say, ‘I don’t have to do that’:
 Church attendance more than once a week.
 Giving to the Lord.
 Memorising the Word of God.
 ‘Who said I can’t listen to this music?’
 ‘Who said I can’t watch this film?’
 ‘I have never found a clear command saying this kind of place is unwholesome and a child of God shouldn’t be there.’
 ‘I have never found a command saying this activity is not fitting for a child of God.’
 Putting off the old man more, and putting on the new man more.

And perhaps, if we took it to a judge, you would be right. But you are missing the heart of being a follower of Christ. A follower of Christ is not trying to defend apathy and indifference and laziness. A follower of Christ is not trying to only get by with what is clearly mandated. A follower of Christ does not try to see how close to the world he or she can get without crossing the line.
It is not about whether or not it is compulsory. It is about what is most pleasing to God, and edifying to man. It must grieve the heart of God to have children that are looking to just eek by, to do as little as they can for Him and still get a ‘pass mark’. Think of it like a husband and wife saying to each other, ‘Must I kiss you goodnight?’ If you are being controlled by merely a sense of some things you must do to tick off your list, you are not experiencing the joy of the Christian life.

The life of a believer is one of being free to do all that you can out of love for God. This is what it means to be under grace vs. being under the Law. Being under grace is not freedom from responsibility. When we free someone, we not only free someone from something, we free them to something.
This is what it means to be under the Law: when all that controls you is the thought of obligation to keep certain rules. You obey a list, not a Person. You serve your conscience, not Christ. Exodus 21 gives a list of things the people had to obey under the Law.

There is a superstitious streak in minimalistic obedience. It acts like God is waiting to punish or harm us if we do not do a basic minimum of spiritual stuff. So it figures, ‘Let me do my stuff, so I will have less trouble in my life, and have more good fortune.’ But that does not honour God, and it is not a walk of faith. The heart of our Lord was not, ‘I don’t have to; therefore I won’t.’ It was, ‘I don’t have to, but I should, and I will.’

Imagine what would happen to our families and our church if our attitude toward the Lord was like this – not ‘What can I get away with’, but rather, ‘What is the most I can do? How much time can I spend in the Word before I will end up being late for work? How many encouraging phone calls can I make before my phone bill gets out of hand? How much time can I devote to my local church, what more can I do there, what ministries can I begin in my church? How many people do I know who I can still share the Gospel with?’

Obedience to God Goes Beyond Ability

Here is the interesting thing about this miracle. It apparently shows how poor Jesus was financially speaking. It appears He did not have, on hand, the money to pay this tax for Himself and Peter. This wouldn’t surprise us – after all, the Bible tells us that Jesus Himself said, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head’.
2 Corinthians 8:9 says, ‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor…’
So, from one point of view, you could say that Jesus did not have the resources on hand to meet his obligation. And Peter, being under Christ’s authority, could argue the same thing. ‘We are not able, because we do not have.’ And they could feel very justified. ‘Not only do I not have to, but I am not able to.’ What more needs to be said, ‘I don’t have to meet this command, because I don’t have the resources to do so.’

But once again, the response of Jesus teaches us that when you want to please God, and love man, God will supply the means to do it. Jesus and Peter don’t have to pay, and they don’t have the money. But Jesus loves God and man, and wants to please His Father and care for these men, so He seeks to obey this command – and it comes true.

Now think for a moment about the kind of power necessary to make this miracle happen. The sovereignty of God would have had to have someone be on a boat with money. And the money couldn’t be just any money; it had to be exactly four drachmas, the exact amount for Jesus and Peter. And the person had to do something to cause the coin to drop into the water. And then one fish in hundreds of thousands would have to be there at that precise moment, and as the coin fell through the water – it swallowed it.
And then Peter would come probably days, weeks or even months after that event, and throw in a hook. He did not use a net, and then have to cut open twenty fish, but a hook, and the very first fish he pulled out, would be that very same fish. Now the kind of power that is behind that miracle is behind obeying Him. Peter learnt, when we obey beyond obligation, and beyond ability, Christ supplies us with all we need.

In 1835, George Mueller had a burning desire to take care of the orphans of England. He wrote: “I was struck in reading the Scriptures with these words, ‘Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.’ I was led to apply this scripture to the orphan house, and ask the Lord for premises, one thousand pounds and suitable individuals to take care of the children”. Mueller never made any public appeals for money, and never went into debt. In reviewing that year’s work, he found that God had given him his first orphanage house on Wilson Street, and seven months after the opening of the first house, he obtained another one located at No. 1 Wilson Street. A review of his financial returns showed gifts for the orphanages of seven hundred and seventy pounds, and he himself had received for his personal needs two hundred and thirty two pounds – coming to one thousand and two pounds.

Minimalist obedience does only what it thinks it can manage. It makes the whole thing very measurable, very controllable – and basically, very human. If your obedience is limited to what you think you can do, what you think you can afford, what you think you are capable of doing, you will always remain on the periphery of serving God.

Obeying God is not about doing what you can in your strength, for your benefit. It is often doing what you otherwise could not do, in the power of God for His glory. It is about seeing what would please God – beyond the letter, and stepping out in faith to please God and seeing what He will do in response.

What have you done lately that was impossible without the Spirit of God? What have you done this week that could not be done without the Lord? What act of obedience so scared you that you shook your head and said, ‘I can’t’. When you go beyond obligation, you will find it. You will see God calling you to do more than greet your neighbour, but witness to them. You will see God calling you to do more than attend a church, but to serve in it. You will see God
calling you to do more than bring your family to church, but to sometimes inconvenience your family. You will see God calling on you to give up something which is dear to you, to start doing something which is new and strange to you. You will see God calling on you to read the Word and pray in a way that you don’t have the strength for – but He does. You will see God calling on you to so live that it will affect your work and job and home and entire life.

This is why faith and obedience are so tied together. True obedience comes from faith because it is seeking to please a Person, not a set of impersonal rules. True obedience comes from faith because, to please God, you must do more than you are capable of doing, and so you have to rely on Him? Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Living on mere obligation and personal capability is what the Pharisees did.

Is this what is governing your Christian life? Merely what I have to do and what you are capable of doing. Then God will seem far away, because your obedience is devoid of faith. The obedience of Jesus is our example. We obey the way He did, beyond obligation, and beyond ability – by faith. That’s what it means to be under grace. I don’t have to, but I want to. If I have to, I’m glad to. Even when I have to – what more can I do – by grace? May this mind be in us, which was also in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

 

 

  – David De Bruyn, Professor of Church History, Shepherds’ Seminary Africa

When I was in school, and the teachers were going through the work, sometimes a student would ask, ‘Do we have to know this for the exam? Is it going to be in the exam?’And what they usually meant was, if it isn’t crucial to passing we are going to skip it out. They wanted to do the absolute basic minimum to pass, and that meant finding out what they could ignore, or leave out, to scrape through.

Sometimes, Christians live like this. They have an ‘Is this for the exam’ kind of mentality. They do the things which the world does; they live selfishly and they say, ‘We are not under the law, we are under grace.’ In other words, ‘this doesn’t count, God won’t fail me.’ They are involved in things which even the world regards as worldly or questionable, but their defence is, ‘You can’t show me a Scripture to forbid this. There is nothing in the Bible which commands me to do this or that. I won’t fail if I do this or don’t do that.’

That is what I call minimalist obedience. It is the Christian who insists on doing the absolute minimum to get by in their walk with God. This is how minimal obedience thinks: ‘What is the least amount of effort I can put into my Christian life and still be OK? How can I do as much as I want to do, and as little as God wants me to do without God getting upset with me and making things go bad for me?’

Minimalist obedience thinks, ‘What is the absolute minimum I can pray, and be OK?’ And some apparently answer, ‘At mealtimes and at church.’ ‘What is the absolute minimum I can read my Bible and be OK?’ And they seem to answer, ‘A chapter lazily skimmed over once or twice a week?’ And so it goes through the Christian life, ‘What is the minimum I can give to God before the angels burst out laughing at my offering? What is the least amount of effort I can put into spiritual growth? What is the least amount of effort I should put into conforming my life to God’s Word without there being negative consequences?’

And the person who thinks this way also thinks the other way: ‘What is the maximum amount of time I can spend in front of the TV before it starts to look like I am a couch potato? What is the closest I can get to my unbelieving friends without the church or other Christians noticing my double life? What is the most time I can spend on my vacations and entertainment and leisure before it starts to look like I don’t take life or eternity or God very seriously at all? What is the closest I can be to the world while still claiming to follow Christ?’

When you live like this – you have missed the heart of what it means to be a follower of Christ. When Christ saves you, He saves you not to be a person doing the absolute minimum for Him, and the absolute maximum for yourself. He saves you to do the reverse. To love Him to the absolute maximum, denying yourself, knowing He will care for you.
“And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”22 Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful. 24 When they had come to Capernaum those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”25 He said, “Yes.”And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” 26 Peter said to Him, “From strangers.”Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money, take that and give it to them for Me and you.” – Matthew 17:14-27

And in this miracle, the Lord Jesus demonstrates that, through His attitude toward the temple tax. Our Lord’s example in obedience is not an ‘Is it on the exam’ kind of obedience. Jesus’ example is going to teach us two things about truly obeying God. Right after the miracle of casting out the demon from the boy, Jesus and His disciples arrive back in Capernaum. And along come some tax collectors. Now they were not tax collectors for Rome. These were Jewish tax collectors. And the tax they were collecting was a tax called for in Exodus 30, where every male over the age of 20 had to give a half-shekel. That was about the equivalent of two days wages. The Greek equivalent was two drachmas – so this was called the two drachma tax. The tax would be used for the upkeep of the Temple, buying some of the animals, keeping up the materials, refurnishing where necessary. It was usually paid at Passover, but you could still pay it later, at Pentecost, or even later at the feast of Tabernacles. It was much later than Passover here, so the temple-tax collectors came knocking. They may well have been looking for more evidence to accuse Jesus; after all, He seemed to overthrow so many of their traditions.

They ask Peter, ‘Your teacher does not pay the temple tax, does He?’ Peter, without asking or thinking, simply said, ‘Yes, yes, He does.’ We have reason to believe Jesus must have paid it in previous years, so perhaps Peter was simply thinking about that. But when Peter enters the house where Jesus is, Jesus anticipates Peter. He knows what has
gone on, and what Peter has thought. So He gently teaches Peter some truths about His identity as Lord, and about obedience.

He asks Peter, ‘From whom do the Kings of the world get their tax money, from their own children or strangers?’ In those days, the royal families were tax exempt. And Peter says, ‘From strangers.’ Jesus says, ‘Well then, the children are free – the children are exempt from the tax. They do not have to pay it. They are not under obligation.’ Who does the Temple belong to? As it were, who is the King of the Temple? God is. Would you tax God to maintain His temple? No. Who is God’s Son? Jesus. Do you tax the Prince to maintain His temple? No. Jesus is exempt. Jesus does not have to pay the Temple tax, because of His identity. His status as God’s Son means He does not have to obey the Law in Exodus 30. So Jesus is also gently correcting Peter’s impulsive answer. Peter isn’t completely wrong – for Jesus does pay, but not for the reasons others pay. But, says Jesus, ‘Lest we should offend them – go and fish, and the first fish you catch will have money for your tax and mine, and go and pay them.’ So here you see the first principle of truly obeying God.

 

  – David De Bruyn, Professor of Church History, Shepherds’ Seminary Africa

The Discipline of Evangelism

Some men do not need to plan their evangelism, it happens as spontaneously as breathing. On the other hand, many pastors find evangelism hardly happening. They are in their study most of the day, or they are visiting other Christians. If that is you, then you must structure things so as to interact with unbelievers. I would firstly say, make sure you pray for opportunities to witness.
Second, keep a list of people attending your church, whose salvation is in doubt. Set up times to meet with them. Third, try to follow up on unsaved contacts that your church gives you.
Fourth, if you haven’t already, work on some kind of corporate evangelism that your church can be involved in. Different communities require different approaches. Nevertheless, we should plan it somehow.

 

The Discipline of Family Worship & Family Time

I would not think that many pastors plan to neglect family worship and family time. But I also don’t think many pastors plan not to. If you don’t plan not to neglect family time, the chances are, it will happen. By family worship, I mean a time together of loving God, learning from Him, speaking to Him, singing to Him. It doesn’t have to be advanced. It doesn’t have to be long, and when the children are little, it shouldn’t be. Just don’t let it be superficial or empty – kids pick up on that quickly.

Try to be consistent – after supper on as many days as you can, or just after breakfast on as many  days as you can. Just like your own times of devotion – you can vary the elements, but the point is to have a heart for God together. The point is to have a love for God as a family – not as individuals going their own way.

Ministry tends to crowd in as much as you will take, so you must also structure a break. Have a day that your family knows they have you to themselves. Plan some times to be with your wife alone. Take your children on dates. Maintain the family dinner table. Do not let it disintegrate into TV dinners, into the teens being everywhere else. Foster a culture that dinner times are family gatherings. Exceptions can be made, but the rule is gathering together for dinner. Read, read, read to your children.

 

The Discipline of Bodily Health

We pastors tend to live a sedentary lifestyle. A lot of sitting, and a lot of reading. We might walk short distances here and there, but it is often the case that we get little physical exercise. When we visit we get more coffee than we need, and cakes as well. We are sometimes up late and up early. If we neglect our bodies, not only will this shorten our lifespans’, but it will decrease our usefulness while here. Spurgeon said a pastor filled with depression often simply needs a stiff breeze in his face and a good walk in the woods. Spurgeon says this won’t give grace to the soul, but it will give oxygen to the body, which is next best.

Paul says bodily exercise profits a little. He didn’t mean to say it is useless. He was comparing its usefulness to godliness. It does still have some profit. This body needs to be maintained with exercise, decent eating and adequate rest. However you do it, make time for some kind of exercise, even if it is a good walk around your neighbourhood for thirty minutes. Do not think that eating anything is a sign of spirituality. Just because you are a Baptist, does not mean that gluttony is allowed. Food is one area where we sometimes have to deny ourselves something quite lawful to maintain the atmosphere of self-discipline. Continual indulgence in one area, makes it more likely in all other areas.
Do not neglect your body’s need for rest, and do not oversleep.

Now I am sure you might chide me for not including some other disciplines – the discipline of giving, or of memorising Scripture, but I am confident you can see where those might fit in under the ones we have listed. A pastor who gives himself to devotion, intercessory prayer, study, pastoral nurturing, evangelism, family worship and bodily health will not have a field overrun by the thorns of spiritual apathy, dryness or ineffectiveness. The thistles of poor family relationships will be less likely, the hard ground of indifferent church members less likely.

Solomon said something else. He said, “He who has no rule over his own spirit, is like a city broken down, and without walls”. We know that in the ancient world, a city’s walls were its main defence against enemies. Solomon is saying, the man without discipline is defenceless. Against what? Against all that wars against his soul and his effectiveness. These disciplines are bricks. The Spirit of God is the power on that wall defending you against ruin. If the city of your soul is without the wall of discipline, it will take a miracle to defend you against attacks. The Spirit will not do a miracle for you when He could have simply used your obedience.

So, pastor, if the man is not Solomon, but the Lord Jesus, and the field is your life – what does He see?

 

 

 

  – David De Bruyn, Professor of Church History, Shepherds’ Seminary Africa

The Discipline of Intercessory Prayer

I separate this from devotion, not because they are not related, but because intercessory prayer is so much harder than devotion. Devotion is the oil and wine. Devotion is the joy of communion. The prayer of devotion is praise, adoration, thanksgiving, personal confession and supplication. But intercession is the hard work of a priest. Intercession is more like Gethsemane. It may be our hardest work. It is long. It is tiring. If you love your people, it can be agonising. But if you neglect it, the little foxes will be amongst the vines of your family and church and
begging devouring. Spiritual apathy will grow. We read about Epaphras, who was probably the pastor of Colossians:

Colossians 4:12-13 – Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 13 For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you, and those who are in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis.

My suggestion is to separate them. Make sure your own soul is nourished, and then pray with your boots on. Keep a list. I agree with Kent Hughes to split the various needs up according to different days. So for example, one day 1, you might pray for unsaved persons, the country and government. On day 2, you might pray for missionaries, fellow pastors, and for revival. On day three you might pray for pressing church needs, personal growth, and current problems. On day four, you might pray for church leadership, upcoming events, the corporate services. Each day you might be praying for your family, for church leaders, for the spiritual growth and protection of your church. If your church is larger, it’s not a bad idea to split the names up alphabetically.
It is important that you keep reading on this matter to maintain strength and encouragement. Read of the men of prayer; read their biographies. Study the intercessory prayers of the New Testament to avoid the dryness and vain repetitions that can enter in.
This is probably the discipline we are most likely to skip, because it is so hard. But we must do it. Set time aside. I suggest nourish your own soul in the morning, eat breakfast, come back and give yourself to intercession. Or set a particular time of the day when you will do it. Of course, that is just the structure. If we yield to the Spirit, we will find ourselves interceding well beyond our set times.
I will also urge that you foster this discipline corporately. Do not let the prayer meeting of your church die. Keep them going. Keep preaching on the need for it.

 

The Discipline of Study

No pastor can be a shepherd without extensive reading, study. I am not here to lecture you on the time and method of sermon preparation except to say, keep yourself glued to that chair or on your knees until you have understood the text grammatically, contextually, historically and doctrinally . Keep yourself glued to that chair until you have considered and worked out the principles applicable to your congregation. Keep yourself glued to that chair until you have worked out helpful illustrations, clear applications, and a gripping introduction.

Go beyond sermon preparation. The kind of knowledge you need as an ambassador of Christ and a teacher of truth goes beyond preparing homiletical outlines and reading commentaries. We must be reading what the church has said. We must be reading the greatest works of devotion. We must be reading church history. We must be reading biography. We must be reading theology. We must be reading practical, topical works. We must be reading on the ministry, and preaching and counselling. We must be reading to understand our culture and its various phenomena. That’s a lot of reading. It can only be done with planning, and organisation.

Shallow preachers are boring preachers. Don’t be boring, because truth is not boring. Being interesting means reading and studying and knowing more than your congregation does. Plan your study time. Protect your study time. Have a time when you don’t take phone calls. Make certain hours inviolable. If you work on your computer, settle it that you will not surf the web or check emails or flit from task to task. List books you want to get through in the next year.

The Discipline of Pastoral Nurture

I think pastors seem to come in two flavours – bookworms and outdoors types. Some like nothing more than to be locked in a study all day. Some like nothing more than to be out and about, mingling, visiting. If you are the second type, then this discipline will seem like second nature to you, and the discipline of study is probably harder. If you are the studious type, the temptation is going to be to be in your study all day and never be out there as a shepherd. Certainly shepherds feed, but shepherds also tend. They inspect the sheep individually. They clean them, bind up wounds, discipline. Pastors must apply the Word of God to the people of God, not only teach it. Making the phone calls, visiting the sick, getting into hospitals, having coffee with the men one on one, having Bible studies in your home, having one-on-one discipleship, having people over for lunch or dinner, spending much time after the services speaking to people and talking with them. If you are not this way, you must set up plans and structures to make this happen more often. Make sure you nurture the strong ones. How often we spend our time chasing down the unfaithful, the struggling the weak, assuming the so-and-so who comes to every service is just fine. Meanwhile, they may be wasting away spiritually. Jesus spent his time with twelve, not chasing down everyone on the periphery. Spend most of your time strengthening those who are committed. They will start shepherding others. Spend some time going after the weak and apathetic.

 

 

 

 

  – David De Bruyn, Professor of Church History, Shepherds’ Seminary Africa

The Problem of Discipline

However, one of the dangers of emphasising discipline is that it attracts something in us that is proud. There is a certain nobility, a certain strength in disciplined people, and very often, the flesh wants to capitalise on this. If we are not careful, we can come to idolise the disciplines.
Whenever discipline becomes an end in itself, it has malfunctioned. Whenever it becomes bigger than the thing it is supposed to help you achieve, you have lost focus. When you are more impressed with the time you get up than with what you do with that time, you’ve missed the point. If you are more impressed with how faithful you have been in your Bible reading plan than the truth of what is in the Bible, you have missed the point.

Paul warns against the dangers of asceticism in Colossians 2. When strict severity to the body and self-denial has become more than a means, we have crossed over a line. We have made these things the means of our sanctification instead of the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul says they have the appearance of wisdom, but are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

The problem we have with discipline is the same problem we have with works and grace. We think the one nullifies the other. We think we must major on one or the other. We think if it about our discipline, we are rejecting the empowering work of the Spirit. Or we think that if we are Spirit-filled that we must be passive and not striving in our own strength. So you have people on the one end, who strive in their own strength, but without depending on the Holy Spirit. Or you find people on the other end, who wait for desires to produce a discipline in them that their desires are not big enough to do.

The simplest way of resolving this tension in our minds is Colossians.
Colossians 1:29: To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. 

God does the work by His Spirit in and through us, as we give ourselves entirely to it. Discipline is part of giving yourself entirely to it.

Philippians 2:12-13: Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. The Spirit will stir up desires and enable obedience, but sandwiched in there are the acts of surrender, self-denial and submission that constitute discipline.

So here is how we can think about discipline: While discipline is not self-empowered, it is self-imposed.
Discipline is a fruit of the Spirit – temperance. But from Paul and others we can tell God’s will, that we impose it upon ourselves, and He will grant the power. In other words, pay the price and God will supply the goods.
“To avoid this danger the minister should voluntarily impose upon himself a life of labor as arduous as that of a farmer, a serious student or a scientist. No man has any right to a way of life less rugged than that of the workers who support him. No preacher has any right to die of old age if hard work will kill him.”

 

The Types of Discipline

With the need and idea of what discipline is in our lives, I want to spend a brief amount of time outlining the disciplines we ought to have in our lives as pastors. I am not going to spend time detailing them, because you have no doubt heard many messages on them, studied them as topics, and read books by far better and godlier people than I, who have explained better what these are and how we should do them. Instead, I want to sketch how these disciplines form part of our lives, their value and some personal observations. The truth is, discipline is mastering our time and abilities. We all get the same 24 hours every day. We are awake for 16 to 18 of those hours (or we should be). What you do with those hours, how you divide them up, plan them, organise them, supervise them and are held accountable for them, amounts to how disciplined you are. When it comes down to these practical matters, discipline is going to be in how you plan, monitor, and correct .

Many a minister who would be shocked at the thought of doing nothing, nevertheless gets nothing done because he has acquired the habit of frittering away his time. Late hours, requiring compensatory late sleeping, several trips to the store, assisting with the family laundry, standing in line to buy a reservation for his wife’s niece who is going on a visit to [another city] —these things, or others like them, eat up the time and leave him spent and empty at the end of the day.
After a day occupied with trifles, our prophet faces his audience in the evening mentally and spiritually out of tune and altogether unprepared for the holy task before him. His confused smile is attributed to his humility. The audience is tolerant. They know that he has nothing worthwhile to say, but they figure that he has been so busy with his pastoral duties he has not had time to study. They generously forgive him and accept his threadbare offering as the best they can expect under the circumstances. I’m going to suggest that the following seven disciplines should form part of our days, some of them part of every day.

 

The Discipline of Devotion

There seem to be debates amongst ministers today as to whether a pastor should have a quiet time, since he is going to spend time in sermon preparation anyway. The Biblical answer is: regardless of your vocation, every believer should set time aside to adore and commune with their Lord. Pastors who spend hours on sermons, but are perfect strangers to communing with God, will quickly become powerless, hollow and eventually loveless.
Now it is true the Bible lays down no commands for having ‘the quiet time’. It does not command a time, nor lay out a methodology. But flowing out of the Scriptures are examples of devotion, beginning with the Lord Jesus, and flowing out to include the apostles, the prophets, David, the other psalmists, the kings, the judges, the priests, the patriarchs. God is worthy of His people presenting themselves before Him individually – adoring Him for who he is, thanking Him for new mercies, confessing failures and sins, surrendering to His work, hearing His comforting, rebuking, challenging, promising Voice.- responding with submission and commitment. God deserves it, commends the examples of it in Scripture, church history and biography is replete with the examples of those whose lives were marked because they were devout.

I find it interesting that in Israel’s law, there was both a morning sacrifice and an evening sacrifice.  Exodus 29:38-39: Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. 

Devotion to God at the start of the day; devotion to God at the close of the day. Not only so, but God told them a fire was always to be burning on the altar of burnt offerings.

Leviticus 6:13: A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.

This, brothers, is how we must see the discipline of devotion. Kindle the flame of love for God in the morning; keep it burning during the day, close off well at night. In other words, if by quiet time you simply mean ticking off a chapter of Scripture or mindlessly reading some clichéd devotional book, then, sure, it’s not worth doing. But if it is the means of blowing on those sparks of love for God, so as to set the tone of abiding in Christ throughout the day – it must be done. We are to pray without ceasing, meditate day and night; in everything give thanks. In other words, devotion is not something you switch on and switch off. But it is something you need to strengthen and foster – from the start of your day till the end. Our hearts need to be aflame. Sleep does not revive us spiritually. Every day, we need to rekindle the embers, get them burning, keep them burning and close off with some extra oil.

I will lay no method upon you except to say that critical to devotion is prayerful meditation on Scriptures and honest heart praise, thanksgiving, confession, surrender and submission. I think you should keep a hymnal with you and sing as you should. If you meditate better when you write, then write. If you will remember your surrender better if you write, then write. But plan to give yourself enough time. Set your alarm if appropriate. Vary the elements but remember that the commitment is what keeps it intense. If it costs, the devotion is felt. Costly devotion rises up to God as a sweet aroma.

 

 

 

  – David De Bruyn, Professor of Church History, Shepherds’ Seminary Africa