Miles McKee Ministries
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Part 3 continued
Hijacked!
Today, many pulpits have been hijacked by purveyors of wood, hay, and stubble. They agree that Christ is the foundation but hastily depart from Christ when building His Church substituting instead their own novel fancies and inventions in place of Him. Their labors will not stand the test of fire in the day when their work will be examined. Every man’s work shall be made manifest, it shall be laid open to view, to his own view, the view of others and the view of Him with whom we have to do.
Hijacked!
Today, many pulpits have been hijacked by purveyors of wood, hay, and stubble. They agree that Christ is the foundation but hastily depart from Christ when building His Church substituting instead their own novel fancies and inventions in place of Him. Their labors will not stand the test of fire in the day when their work will be examined. Every man’s work shall be made manifest, it shall be laid open to view, to his own view, the view of others and the view of Him with whom we have to do.
“For the day shall declare it (every man’s work), because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is.” 1 Cor 3: 13.
Thomas Brooks rightly observes,
“A man's most glorious actions will at last be found to be but glorious sins, if he has made himself, and not the glory of God, the end of those actions.”
True Growth
Christ is not only the foundation of the Church He is also the head. He is also the one who holds everything together for by Him all things consist! And what is true growth? True growth is growth into Him. Paul writes,
“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” Eph 4:15.
A true apostle, therefore, knows that the people of God must not only have their foundation in Christ but they must also grow into Him. We all start out as spiritual babies but the goal is to grow and mature in Christ. We are to “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:18).
True growth is growth in Christ. Christ and His glory should be our goal. If Christ Jesus is not the head of all things then our growth will be stunted and small.
The Apostle’s Only Boast
Paul gave us a standard by which we must measure true apostolic ministry. Paul raised the dead, healed the sick, planted churches but declared,
“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” Gal 6:14.
This is the heart of a true apostle. Of all the many successes and ministries of which he could have boasted he mentions none. His boast and glory was in the Cross of Christ. In his day and age there were many roaming the country claiming to be apostles. Some were, but others were wolves masquerading as ministers. He warns the Philippian assembly,
“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:” Phil 3:18
These enemies of the cross were a breed of ministers who were not Christ centered. They were not running around the place with banners crying, “Down with the Cross, down with the cross.” No rather, they were preachers who had relegated the cross of Christ to a place of minor importance.
What would Paul call the men of today’s pulpits? And furthermore, what will Jesus say to today’s popular preachers on the day when their work will be examined. But what about you, is your ministry centered on the Christ of the cross?
Pre-
There is a huge temptation for the preacher to stray from the Gospel and get into other things which seem more appealing. A true apostle, however, will never do this. He will have too high a regard and love for his Master. The true apostle will be pre-
“It is not for you to know the times or the seasons,-
-
But it can’t all be about Christ!
Someone says, but it can’t all be about Christ.
I know and am fully aware that much ministry nowadays is little more than success in life coaching. If you have been raised with such a diet, then perhaps everything I am saying in this book will seem wrong. Regardless, young ministers need to decide whether or not to become “Life Coaches” or Ministers of the Gospel. To chose the former will be the path of least resistance but although that way has a certain amount of appeal for the flesh, I’m reminded of the old saying that tells us, “the path of least resistance makes both men and rivers crooked.” Becoming a life coach preacher will probably build a big crowd but don’t confuse this with building a church.
A true New Testament minister, however, will be a Gospel minister, regardless of the size of the attendance in the meetings. He will be Christ centered in all He does, especially in the pulpit. A sermon with out Christ is a waste of time. I like what Spurgeon said about such sermons; he says,
“A sermon without Christ as its beginning, middle, and end is a mistake in conception and a crime in execution.”
(CHS, Sermon 1625 Without Christ, –Nothing)
He goes on to say,
“There are some preachers who cannot or do not preach about the blood of Jesus Christ, and I have one thing to say to you concerning them,—Never go to hear them! Never listen to them! A ministry that has not the blood in it, is lifeless, “for the blood is the life thereof;” and a dead ministry is no good to anybody.”
Paul’s Prayer
Paul’s burden, like the burden of all genuine apostles was to preach the Gospel. Listen to Paul as he requests prayer; he says,
“ Praying ------- for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,” (Eph 6:18-19)
Paul, as a genuine apostle, could not envisage a time in His life when he would not preach the Gospel. He writes in 1 Cor 9:16,
“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!”
It was a necessity, for Paul, to continue to minister and preach. This is what he had been set apart to do. But it was not enough to merely preach, his burden was to keep the message Gospel centered!
Gospel Ministry
For Paul, his whole ministry was the Gospel. This was the work of a true apostle. He writes to the Philippian assembly saying he was careful to thank God for their financial investments in his ministry saying,
“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you ------For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Phil 1:3,5
Notice how he characterizes his ministry -
Again, writing of Timothy he again summarizes apostolic ministry as being Gospel centered saying,
“But you know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel” (Phil 2:22).
As for people ministering along side him he writes,
“And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life. (Phil 4:3)
When Paul speaks of ‘ministering in the Gospel’ he is not speaking of any and every type of ministry. For Paul, the Gospel was specific; it was Christ, His person and accomplishments in history. His apostolic burden was, therefore, to preach Christ. Thus he writes,
“For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me -
In Conclusion
The word Gospel occurs 101 times and in 95 verses: It is the heart of the New Testament because it is the good news of Jesus the Christ in all His excellencies and beauty. We should be careful to take note when listening to modern day ‘apostles’ or any preacher for that matter. We should ask ourselves, is Jesus Christ the center and core of the sermon? Or is Jesus, rather, an appendage or footnote who is given an occasional polite mention? Is Jesus center stage? For the Apostle Paul, Jesus was the center of his message and apostolic ministry. William Reid says,
Paul was so taken with Jesus that nothing sweeter than Jesus could drop from his pen and lips. It is observed that he hath the word Jesus five hundred times in his epistles. "Jesus" was his constant subject of meditation, and out of the good treasure of the heart his mouth spoke and his pen wrote.
The Rev. William Reid, M.A. The Blood of Jesus. Cpt 2
I’ll finish with a marvelous illustration again from the pen of Spurgeon on this very subject. He says;
“A young man had been preaching in the presence of a venerable divine, and after he had done he went to the old minister, and said, ‘What do you think of my sermon?’ ‘A very poor sermon indeed,’ said he. ‘A poor sermon?’ said the young man, ‘it took me a long time to study it.’ ‘Ay, no doubt of it.’ ‘Why, did you not think my explanation of the text a very good one?’ ‘Oh, yes,’ said the old preacher, ‘very good indeed.’ ‘Well, then, why do you say it is a poor sermon? Didn't you think the metaphors were appropriate and the arguments conclusive?’ ‘Yes, they were very good as far as that goes, but still it was a very poor sermon.’ ‘Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?’ ‘Because,’ said he, ‘there was no Christ in it.’ ‘Well,’ said the young man, ‘Christ was not in the text; we are not to be preaching Christ always, we must preach what is in the text.’ So the old man said, ‘Don't you know young man that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?’ ‘Yes,’ said the young man. ‘Ah!’ said the old divine ‘and so form every text in Scripture, there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ. And my dear brother, your business is when you get to a text, to say, 'Now what is the road to Christ?' and then preach a sermon, running along the road towards the great metropolis—Christ. And,’ said he, ‘I have never yet found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it, and if I ever do find one that has not a road to Christ in it, I will make one; I will go over hedge and ditch to get to my Master, for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savor of Christ in it.’
(CHS sermon #242 New Park St. Pulpit)
And that’s The Gospel Truth!
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The Gospel and the True Apostle Part 2
The Gospel and the True Apostle Part 1
For Gospel Ministers Only
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