[SPEAKER_01]: Revived thoughts is a production of Revived Studios.
[SPEAKER_01]: This is Troy and Joel and you are listening to Revived Thoughts.
[SPEAKER_00]: A faithful ministry is one of the greatest blessings a church can have.
[SPEAKER_00]: It brings beauty, comfort and strength to God's people, so much so.
[SPEAKER_00]: That even the feet of such messengers are called beautiful.
[SPEAKER_02]: Every episode, we bring you a different voice from history and a sermon that they delivered.
[SPEAKER_02]: Today, we're going back to 1740 in Nottingham, Pennsylvania, to listen to a sermon by Gilbert, Tenet, and this is one of those situations where we actually know the exact date and time that the sermon was preached, because
[SPEAKER_02]: It's kind of sparked off a 17-year schism in the Presbyterian Church at the time, so kind of a kind of an interesting culminating sermon that we're going to listen to here today.
[SPEAKER_02]: Troy, how you doing?
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm doing pretty good.
[SPEAKER_01]: You guys say if you can have a sermon that caused the 17-year schism, either got a really bad sermon on your hands or a really fun one.
[SPEAKER_01]: He did something bad or bad.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then that's always my fear.
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to preach in the next suddenly cause, you know, a skiz or something somewhere.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm doing well, man.
[SPEAKER_01]: We've got this new studio.
[SPEAKER_01]: We've been working on really hard since we moved into our new house still in Indonesia still over the mood to switch to a new house.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's been great.
[SPEAKER_01]: I love it a lot.
[SPEAKER_01]: I've got, by the way, I forgot to mention this last time we were on.
[SPEAKER_01]: When we were in the States, we went back and
[SPEAKER_01]: And we were able to test out our merchandise store.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you did not know, revive thoughts.com.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have a store.
[SPEAKER_01]: We sell some great items.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was a blanking on this, but now I want you to know, I'm holding my hands Joel, a very important piece of merchandise to me.
[SPEAKER_01]: It says, I care about the snake under Joel's porch, which is a cup that I now own.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think is super great.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you don't know what that's about, go back to some early episodes, but we have a very long history with somebody who did not like it the fact that we talked about a snake under your porch one time Joel.
[SPEAKER_01]: And to them, I would say I was at Jill's porch very recently over late June.
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll see the snake.
[SPEAKER_01]: Den too, snake.
[SPEAKER_01]: I still think he's around.
[SPEAKER_02]: He said he was not coming back out.
[SPEAKER_02]: I do think he's still around.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was a pretty good snake like spot.
[SPEAKER_02]: If I was a snake, that's where I'd want to be.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's right, one of you, too.
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you care about the snake under Jill's porch, a good way to let us know is to co-cute the mug off of the merch store.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you don't want something so quite so silly, we have really good new material.
[SPEAKER_01]: We switched stores actually because when I ordered some of the stuff from the old store, I didn't like the quality.
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't like the amount of time it was taking to make that stuff.
[SPEAKER_01]: So our new store is way way faster.
[SPEAKER_01]: We get things out like quickly.
[SPEAKER_01]: At the old store, literally we promised our Patreon's free stuff from that store and we bought it
[SPEAKER_01]: And like even a couple weeks ago somebody was like, hey, I just got your thing from the store and I'm like, that was eight months, that's ridiculous.
[SPEAKER_01]: New store, we ordered it over the summer, had it within like three weeks.
[SPEAKER_01]: We very, very comfortable shirts.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I actually wear them around the where I can.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I enjoy them quite a bit like they're my favorite shirts to wear at the house.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have a nice one bonifest logging company, which is a great shirt because it's fun.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you know the story of bonifest, if you don't, go listen to it.
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's fun in my community because I wear that shirt around and people actually get it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like people at school that I've taught, would be like, hey, great shirt, Mr. Frazier, I get that joke from class and like, hey, look at that.
[SPEAKER_01]: So when I wore it around in America, didn't get as many of those.
[SPEAKER_01]: But everyone's so out.
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe somebody will look at your shirt and be like, I know what that's about.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have some others too.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's one with like Jonathan Edwards, Martin Luther, I think Calvin, and I can't remember.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm looking on who the other one was, May's Virgin, and it says, I listened to the classics with the Riot Thoughts podcast.
[SPEAKER_01]: Also a great shirt that you should definitely consider getting.
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's some really good stuff over there.
[SPEAKER_01]: Go check it out.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's very comfortable.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if nothing else, get yourself a nice, I care about the, I care about the snake under Joel's porch.
[SPEAKER_01]: Cup, it'll make all your coffee tastes better.
[SPEAKER_01]: Guaranteed.
[SPEAKER_01]: Or, or nothing happens.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's no money back or anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know how any of that works, but we still guarantee it.
[SPEAKER_01]: We think it's going to be good.
[SPEAKER_02]: Joel, with that said, how are you doing?
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm doing okay.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm doing all right.
[SPEAKER_02]: We had a good fake out fall.
[SPEAKER_02]: which is a tradition here around here.
[SPEAKER_02]: You get a really nice fake fall for it was a long one.
[SPEAKER_02]: It was like two or three weeks a fake fall.
[SPEAKER_02]: And now we're back in second summer waiting for real fall to come.
[SPEAKER_02]: So hopefully hopefully that won't be too much longer because it's back being posted.
[SPEAKER_01]: Get a little Midwestern weather updates, you know, nothing like hearing about little fake outfalls and stuff like that to feel satisfied and my never ending heat wave that is in Indonesia.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, the humidity strong, the mosquitoes are out.
[SPEAKER_01]: We are starting to transition into rainy season.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we are beginning to get little sprinkles, but rainy season could be could be taking that time.
[SPEAKER_01]: It could show up in December.
[SPEAKER_01]: No one really knows when it would truly show up, but it it'll get here eventually.
[SPEAKER_01]: But as for now, for the most part, it's just a regular hot and humid, and sometimes dry.
[SPEAKER_02]: Nice.
[SPEAKER_01]: Can you pass it a feedbed by for us?
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah, I totally do it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Where am I?
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm breaking up.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just, I'm just slowing us down today.
[SPEAKER_01]: So sorry.
[SPEAKER_01]: I wasn't even looking at the right script.
[SPEAKER_01]: Joel, what's going on?
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, we go.
[SPEAKER_01]: Over on Spotify, somebody said, what a way to come back from the spring from the summer break.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I believe that was actually in response to our deep dive.
[SPEAKER_01]: The night's Templar part one.
[SPEAKER_01]: We did put that out in the feed.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you really enjoyed that,
[SPEAKER_01]: you should sign it for Patreon.
[SPEAKER_01]: Part two is not on Patreon yet, but it will be on Patreon before everyone else gets to it.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you will get months of a heads up notice, and the script is already written, Joel and I just need to get the time to record it, so it will be out pretty soon.
[SPEAKER_01]: But we really are happy if you enjoyed that episode.
[SPEAKER_01]: Also Richard says, on Spotify as well, very enjoyable deep dive.
[SPEAKER_01]: I learned a lot.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for the massive effort, looking forward to part two.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell you, it is a fun one.
[SPEAKER_01]: I really like this night's Templar because so many of the deep diers.
[SPEAKER_01]: It starts out and everything's like, okay, I'm following this makes sense.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then by the end, you're going, what just happened?
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, none of that.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it just seems like it's not like, it's not a church history deep dive that we're doing.
[SPEAKER_01]: If by the end of it, you're not less scratching your head going away.
[SPEAKER_01]: Did that actually happen the way you said it did?
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's pretty much, I mean, literally, I,
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if we'll get to it all in part two, but everything from discovering America to the CIA is to piracy, comes up with the Knights Templar.
[SPEAKER_01]: They have just an absolutely crazy story, so hope you enjoyed Part 1.
[SPEAKER_01]: Go listen to it if you haven't yet, and get ready for Part 2.
[SPEAKER_01]: uh... another one from fill over on uh... twitter or ex our life does not consist in the abundance of our wealth man revive thoughts is back with a bang spread the word that was on our most one of our recent sermons will be a manner since gots aches gold i agree really enjoyed that sermon that episode
[SPEAKER_01]: another person over there also said yes he says great sermon by the way hubby and i have been watching old westerns recently so super timely and made super easy to visualize what it was like during the time of the sermon if you did not listen to that episode yet will you mention scott was kind of an old went to the old prospectors and preached the gospel to the to the gold miners of california and that was just a fun episode to do so make sure you go check back on those older episode
[SPEAKER_02]: Joy, we're talking about Gilbert Tenet today.
[SPEAKER_02]: Gilbert Tenet is a new name in my vocabulary.
[SPEAKER_02]: Where had you heard this name previously?
[SPEAKER_01]: So maybe just kind of faintly in the background.
[SPEAKER_01]: But somebody had kind of reached out to us.
[SPEAKER_01]: Just talking to us and was like, hey, you know, have you covered Gilbert Tenet?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, like he's a very important part of the great awakening.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, certainly you guys kind of have him on there at some point.
[SPEAKER_01]: And as I did research on him, I was like, you know what?
[SPEAKER_01]: You're right.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have kind of let you down by not getting Gilbert Tenet on here.
[SPEAKER_01]: are rectifying that mistake.
[SPEAKER_01]: We've covered the big names of the great awakening, you know, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, and George Wittfield, and some other guys as well, but it did feel like now I feel like we're getting to the other guys too, and he seems like a great one to know.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, he definitely has, it looks like a recognizable name, you know, I see like a
[SPEAKER_02]: and it seemed like a name that I have seen around, but I didn't know anything about him, so it was all new to me, but he's got it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Even if I haven't, you know, a familiar name.
[SPEAKER_02]: Some people just have a familiar name where he seems like you, you should know that person or that you have.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's kind of how I feel.
[SPEAKER_02]: I feel like Gilbert Tennett was like a, well, he should be on here.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've never read him before, but he should be here.
[SPEAKER_02]: Like if someone asked me like, oh, what would you think of Gilbert Tennett or do you think Gilbert Tennett would have been like Gilbert Tennett?
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I was, well, what do you want to write about it?
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, like, even if I'd never heard of him, like, it just seems like I should be recognizing it.
[SPEAKER_02]: But, uh, but we're going to recognize it here today because we're going to talk all about him.
[SPEAKER_02]: Born in the year 1703, his father came to America when Gilbert was 14 years old to found.
[SPEAKER_02]: What's called a log college, which I'd never heard that phrase before.
[SPEAKER_02]: Had you, are you familiar with that term?
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, when I obviously applied the log college state log call set me, but no, I don't I'm not familiar with log college Weirdly though, there's like a website online.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's called.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I just I just Google to make sure I'm not crazy There is like a like a kind of Christian college or something called log college seminary or something like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a reform group
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think it's the same, I don't think it's the original Law College as the one that this guy found it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Although now that I'm looking at it, here's another one, the Law College Princeton, and there's another one Law College.
[SPEAKER_01]: So maybe it is the same.
[SPEAKER_01]: All I know is that there's occasionally when I'm doing research on some people, there's a website that's called Law College has come up with some information.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, here's one Law College Press.
[SPEAKER_01]: So you know what I don't know, Joel maybe I have run into them before and didn't realize I was using them or maybe I just kind of thought Log college was just the name of the website.
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't realize like maybe it's still like a part of an actual thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I To me I am just like Gilbert tenet is one of those things that I'm like is out there, but I guess I wasn't recognizing it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, and so To explain what a log college is basically it's a pioneer school to train up and raise pastors
[SPEAKER_02]: in America.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think it's specifically America.
[SPEAKER_02]: Is that like...
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's really, it's really crazy to me.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, it's something we don't think of.
[SPEAKER_01]: But America used to be like this untouched mission field, which is a weird feeling to think about.
[SPEAKER_01]: But there was a, we look at the withfields.
[SPEAKER_01]: They were going to America.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, it really wasn't, it was not seen as a Christian nice nation.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, we always know how America was found as a Christian nation.
[SPEAKER_01]: But that part comes after this part.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's what's really strange.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, people in Europe were viewing America as a place to do missions work.
[SPEAKER_02]: We were the mission field, I say, we meaning America, and like, yeah, for I mentioned the Wesley Brothers, Whitfield came to America to do missions here.
[SPEAKER_02]: And you can see the success as America would soon be then sending out its own missionaries.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so it's kind of a great case study where you can see a while look at the how the world reacted to the need for the gospel here.
[SPEAKER_02]: They sent out missionaries and America became this powerhouse of missions in and of itself where it is now sending out its missionaries.
[SPEAKER_02]: You can see it that way.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's also
[SPEAKER_02]: kind of sad if you play the timeline a little bit further because we can kind of see where we've kind of fallen from that in a lot of ways as a country.
[SPEAKER_02]: So Gilbert originally went to school to be a doctor but he switched to theology a few years later which is a common thing on this show.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah I would say that if you are growing up and it looks like you're going to be a lawyer or a doctor or a kid saying that like yeah I'm going to be a lawyer doctor.
[SPEAKER_01]: By revived thoughts standards you've
[SPEAKER_02]: That's true.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you make it on this show, you're definitely more likely to have become a minister as I'm flying.
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, obviously.
[SPEAKER_02]: Gilbert was ordained to preach in 1726, but he had a pretty bumpy start.
[SPEAKER_02]: His first password only lasted a few weeks.
[SPEAKER_02]: There in New Jersey where he was, and I wasn't quite sure why it lasted a few weeks.
[SPEAKER_02]: I kind of get the impression that he just wasn't a very good
[SPEAKER_02]: Speaker yet like he he like his congregation was kind of like let's get somebody else in here like he didn't quite make the That first introductory time Maybe maybe it was that maybe that maybe that first impression really went poorly.
[SPEAKER_01]: He made it.
[SPEAKER_01]: He made it made it full of himself shook didn't shake hands the right way I don't know it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I've never I don't actually can't think of too many other times where the first pastor had only last a couple weeks on this show That is a uniquely awkward moment for him
[SPEAKER_02]: But we see later in his life here, he works hard and gets much better at preaching.
[SPEAKER_02]: And so that's what makes me think that there was room from improvement there.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't have the details.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know exactly why that first pass or only lasted a few weeks.
[SPEAKER_02]: But after that, he went on a traveling, evangelist, kind of road trip with a few other preachers.
[SPEAKER_02]: And was able to practice his preaching that way, but on that row, T-Gat.
[SPEAKER_02]: very sick, a deathly sick, almost died and so went back home to recover, went back home to his father and again his father was operating this log college there and so he kind of got to shadow and hang around this log college which seems to be again a good
[SPEAKER_02]: place for him to be because he was able to from from his account skip master is preaching right become he that's where he developed his preaching style and where he uh it kind of came into his own personality uh and his trajectories a little bit different from there on out.
[SPEAKER_01]: Alright, in 1738, George with Field was in America leading the New Jersey revival, alongside Jonathan Edwards, go go listen episode, we've done them on both of them, and with Field heard Tenant preach, and with Field's the biggest name if you don't know, in the Great Awakening, he's one of the most important people.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so this is a big name hearing a young tenant preach and he said of his sermons in a private journal at the time that he had quote Never heard such a searching sermon before quote in quote.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a pretty big one.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a pretty good one to have for you know I would love to have people say that about me when I preach it there.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, that really got to me
[SPEAKER_01]: In 1740, and 1741, he would join with Field on a few sermon tours, and with Field's nickname for him, and his journal was, again, another, back in his journal, he wrote a film and quote, called him a son of thunder.
[SPEAKER_01]: Again, very high praise.
[SPEAKER_01]: So whatever, whatever he was struggling with, he seems to have shaken it off by now.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, the things have begun to become a problem as the school, the law college that was there, and I did my best to do this.
[SPEAKER_01]: If there's somebody's an expert on this law college, I know exactly.
[SPEAKER_01]: You mess up, I do apologize.
[SPEAKER_01]: What it looked like to me was that they were sending out these passionate preachers or having a big impact.
[SPEAKER_01]: But it looked like the old Presbyterian guard was not interested in this, and they basically this group of old timers had a fight with the new guys.
[SPEAKER_01]: This led to a fight.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes I saw it called the old side and the new side, other times it was called the new lights.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we've actually covered this controversy a bit before.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's come up in the Dearing the Greater Awakening.
[SPEAKER_01]: Many of the people who ran the churches before didn't like some of this stuff.
[SPEAKER_01]: They saw happening the Greater Awakening.
[SPEAKER_01]: They saw this very zealous, emotional movement that was sweeping the hearts of Americans.
[SPEAKER_01]: guard was like, hey, less exercise caution, the stick to the old ways where worried that this is just going to fizzle out and people will go back to the way they were before and it won't lead to any lasting fruit.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jonathan Edwards had a little bit of trouble with them and we really covered the famous missionary David Brainer
[SPEAKER_01]: was actually kind of almost, I think he was thrown out of school partially because he was a new light in the church, the school was hype, wasn't really interested in that.
[SPEAKER_01]: You can look at martyrs and missionaries at the episode David and Brainer for that if you'd like more on that one.
[SPEAKER_01]: At the same time, the new guys were not exactly kind to the old guard either.
[SPEAKER_01]: They weren't exactly a big fan of these big churches that had been around for a long time that weren't effectively reaching the people.
[SPEAKER_01]: Tenant was one of their fiercest critics.
[SPEAKER_01]: Some of his comments, quote, quote, he couldn't hear one of them, that the people of the old, these old guard, he said, quote, no experience of a special work of the Holy Con was that worked on their souls.
[SPEAKER_01]: So he basically called them unsaved.
[SPEAKER_01]: And in 1740, he preached to following Sermon the one we're going to listen to against these men trying to reclaim control of their churches against the Great Awakening, and the Sermon was dangers of an unconverted ministry, and that's definitely a shot across the bow to those guys like, hey, I don't think you guys are saved.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's why you're stopping this work of God.
[SPEAKER_02]: yeah so it was clear that this was against the old guard and this led to a pretty big rift and you know some of this may have been tenets fault you know he was documented as having this very fiery forceful
[SPEAKER_02]: preacher who painted scary pictures of hell for his audience, you know, a kind of kind of, uh, in time with the great awakening styles of preaching we see here.
[SPEAKER_02]: He had no patience for the old ways of doing things, but when we read, I can
[SPEAKER_02]: Counts from his congregants, they don't quite paint that picture, so there was one man that said of him, and this was after a three-month series of sermons that Tinnit gave, and he said, quote, by his arousing and spiritual preaching, deep and pungent convictions were wrought in the minds of many hundreds of persons in that town.
[SPEAKER_02]: and the same effect was produced in several scores and neighboring congregations, in quotes.
[SPEAKER_02]: So it seemed that people liked him, so we're kind of left to speculate as far as what his role was in all of this.
[SPEAKER_02]: It seems like it might,
[SPEAKER_02]: be a case of a very passionate guy who is maybe a bit hard to get along with, which, you know what we see.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've known pastors like that, like they're, they're good, but they are difficult to work with or, you know, maybe they're a little bit insensitive or things like that.
[SPEAKER_02]: Although this rift would last about 17 years, within about five years of that church split,
[SPEAKER_02]: Their fierce love for God, but he did become much more, um, I like that term unity seeking in their, in their tone.
[SPEAKER_02]: And at the end of this 17-year riff, it would actually be tenet himself who ended up being instrumental in helping bring the new lights and the old lights back together under the same roof, kind of in a weird, in a roundabout way, healing the riff that this sermon that we're about to listen to had kicked off 17 years earlier.
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's
[SPEAKER_02]: Crazy things I love about Revye thoughts is we have this full hindsight 2020 picture of people.
[SPEAKER_02]: We don't get that today.
[SPEAKER_02]: We live in such a judgmental culture that if people come against you that's kind of your legacy forever and it's not until
[SPEAKER_02]: a couple hundred years later that people are able to look back on your life and actually get a full complete picture because the reality about people is people change, you know, like life changes, people change and that's not something that we're very good at taking into account in our modern era.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's true, isn't there?
[SPEAKER_01]: Is that passionate, you know, strong man that was needed then grows matures and becomes a little wiser and also becomes, you know, the person who brings them back together, which is what we see here in Tenet.
[SPEAKER_01]: However, we're going to listen to the sermon that had the big impact because even though we're not trying to cause schism, we don't hopefully this, you know, hearing the sermon again won't cause another 17 years schism for anybody.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I do think his sermon was full of truth, a full of passion, and I think he's not wrong that unconverted ministers is just as much of a danger to the church today as it was back then 300 years ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus, when He came out, saw many people and was moved with compassion towards them because they were as sheep, not having a shepherd.
[SPEAKER_00]: A faithful ministry is one of the greatest blessings a church can have.
[SPEAKER_00]: It brings beauty, comfort, and strength to God's people, so much so that even the feet of such messengers are called beautiful.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the opposite is also true, and ungodly ministry is a terrible curse and judgment.
[SPEAKER_00]: False teachers are like destructive locusts, consuming everything good and green in their path.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing should grieve us more deeply.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing should stir our hearts to sorrow and mourning more intensely than the tragic state of those who have no faithful ministry.
[SPEAKER_00]: This heartbreaking truth is powerfully illustrated in the passage before us, where we see our Lord's own sorrow and the reasons for it.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are told that Jesus was moved with compassion when he saw the people.
[SPEAKER_00]: The original word used here describes the deepest, most intense kind of pity, something that comes from the very depths of his being.
[SPEAKER_00]: But what caused such a strong and emotional response in our Lord?
[SPEAKER_00]: It was this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now did the people really have no teachers?
[SPEAKER_00]: On the contrary, they had plenty.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Pharisees were everywhere, trained under the finest scholars, well-versed in the laws, traditions, and teachings of the Jewish faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: By all appearances, they were the spiritual leaders of the people.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yet, despite the many so-called teachers, Jesus still mourned over the people as if they had none at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why?
[SPEAKER_00]: because in his eyes, these religious leaders were as good as useless.
[SPEAKER_00]: They had knowledge, but no true wisdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: They had authority, but no care for the flock.
[SPEAKER_00]: They have a title of shepherds, but they did not lead, protect or nourish the sheep.
[SPEAKER_00]: From the words of our text, we see this truth before us, the state of those who have no other teachers but Pharisee shepherds or unconverted ministers is truly pitiful.
[SPEAKER_00]: First, let us consider the character of the old Pharisees' teachers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their most glaring qualities were pride, cunning, malice, ignorance, greed, and a blind devotion to human traditions in religious matters.
[SPEAKER_00]: The old Pharisees were full of pride and self-importance.
[SPEAKER_00]: They loved the best seats in the synagogues and craved the title of Rabbi.
[SPEAKER_00]: They spoke with absolute certainty as if all knowledge would perish with them.
[SPEAKER_00]: They look down upon those who differed from them, and they despise the common people, especially those who showed respect for Jesus and his teachings.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyone who honored Christ, they condemned as a cursed.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Pharisee shepherds were also cunning as foxes.
[SPEAKER_00]: They constantly scheme to trap Jesus with tricky questions, hoping to turn the authorities against him.
[SPEAKER_00]: At the same time, they weren't secretly to win the favor of the ruling class while stirring up the people's anger against him and they succeeded in doing so, John 748.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yet while they were crafty-like foxes, they were also cruel as wolves.
[SPEAKER_00]: They spread vicious lies about Jesus, violently opposed his truth and persecuted his followers.
[SPEAKER_00]: The most strict and zealous among them led these efforts as we see in Saul's journey to Damascus where he carried letters from the high priest to arrest and imprison any he found following the way.
[SPEAKER_00]: At first, the Pharisees did not resort to open violence against Jesus and His disciples, not because of any goodness in them, but out of sheer political calculation.
[SPEAKER_00]: They feared the people and needed to keep them under their influence.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was their greatest concern, the guiding force behind all their actions.
[SPEAKER_00]: They sought to destroy true living religion, but they found it beyond their grasp.
[SPEAKER_00]: Although some of the old Pharisees sheepers had a very strict and outwardly respectable appearance, they were ignorant of the new birth.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just look at Rabbi Nicodemus.
[SPEAKER_00]: He spoke like a fool when trying to understand it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here, how are Lord denounced these hypocrites in Matthew 23 vs. 27 and 28?
[SPEAKER_00]: woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like white wash tombs, which indeed appear outwardly beautiful, but inside are full of bed men's bones and all uncleaness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
[SPEAKER_00]: If a man had a little learning that was fashionable in those days and looked respectable on the outside, he was quickly placed into the priest's office, even if he had no experience of the new birth.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ah, what a tragedy!
[SPEAKER_00]: For all their long prayers and outward displays of devotion, the old Pharisees had their eyes fixed on money, just like Judas, who kept the disciples money bag.
[SPEAKER_00]: They entered the priesthood for financial gain.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was nothing more than a trade to them, and they did everything they could to profit from it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, what a shame.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is also,
[SPEAKER_00]: worth noting that the Pharisee teachers in Christ's time were obsessed with small and trivial manners in religion.
[SPEAKER_00]: In Matthew 23, 23, Jesus declares, wall to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe of mint and annus and cumin, but you neglected the way to your matters of the law, justice, mercy and faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Pharisees were filled with a blind partisan zeal.
[SPEAKER_00]: They would cross land and sea to make a single convert, and yet once they had done so, they made him twice as much a child of hell as themselves.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were enslaved to human traditions and religious matters, even Paul before his conversion was passionately zealous for the traditions of the fathers.
[SPEAKER_00]: and what great respect they pretended to have for the Sabbath, so much so that Christ and His disciples were accused of breaking it simply for doing works of mercy and necessity.
[SPEAKER_00]: The rottenness of these hypocrites.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their concern was not truly for the Sabbath, but rather for their malice against Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was the real reason for their accusations.
[SPEAKER_00]: They just needed a plausible
[SPEAKER_00]: and how loudly they professed to love the Pious prophets who had died long before they were born while at the same time they were persecuting the prince of prophets himself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here how the king of the church rebukes them in Matthew 23 verses 29 to 33.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, if we had lived in the days of the prophets, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
[SPEAKER_00]: You, serpents, you brood of vipers.
[SPEAKER_00]: How can you escape the damnation of hell?
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, let us turn to the second main point of this discourse.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why those who are no better than the old Pharisee teachers are to be pitted?
[SPEAKER_00]: Natural men have no call from God to the work of ministry under the gospel.
[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't a key part of a true calling of the ministry to seek the glory of God and in doing so, to care for souls as their highest aim,
[SPEAKER_00]: And can any natural unconverted man on earth do this?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no.
[SPEAKER_00]: Every one of them has an evil heart.
[SPEAKER_00]: For no corrupt source can produce what is holy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are not wicked men forbidden from meddling in such things?
[SPEAKER_00]: As Psalm 50 verse 16 declares, but unto the wicked God says, what right have you to declare my statutes or to take my covenant into your mouth?
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, are not all unconverted men wicked, does not our Lord Jesus Himself tell us in John 10 verse 1, He who does not enter by the door under the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way is a thief and a robber.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in verse 9, Christ makes it clear, I am the door.
[SPEAKER_00]: If anyone enters by me, He will be saved.
[SPEAKER_00]: As Matthew Henry explains, this means salvation comes by faith in Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is why we read in Acts 1427 that a door of faith was opened to the Gentiles.
[SPEAKER_00]: This confirms that salvation is tied to the entrance previously mentioned.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remarkable is that saying of our Savior in Matthew 4 and 19, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
[SPEAKER_00]: See, our Lord will not make men ministers until they follow him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those who do not follow Christ may diligently seek a good reputation or worldly gain, but they will not labor for the true conversion of sinners to God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it reasonable to think that they will earnestly care for the salvation of others when they neglect their own?
[SPEAKER_00]: Our Lord rebuked Nicodemus for presuming to instruct others while he himself was a stranger to the new birth.
[SPEAKER_00]: John 3, 10.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus asks, Are you a teacher of Israel and do not know these things?
[SPEAKER_00]: Likewise, the Apostle Paul and 1 Timothy 1, 12.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks God for counting him faithful and putting him into the ministry.
[SPEAKER_00]: This clearly implies that God does not send Pharisees and natural men into the ministry.
[SPEAKER_00]: For how can those be faithful?
[SPEAKER_00]: Who have no faith?
[SPEAKER_00]: It is true that men put themselves into ministry out of unfaithfulness or error, they may be drawn by desire for status or wealth, and the devil may drive them into it knowing from long experience how useful such men can be in furthering his kingdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: but God does not send such hypocritical deceivers.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is why the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy to entrust the work of ministry to faithful men second Timothy 22.
[SPEAKER_00]: And do not the qualifications for church leaders as laid out in 1st Timothy 3, 2 and 3.
[SPEAKER_00]: 9-11, and Titus 1-7-8 clearly require true conversion.
[SPEAKER_00]: How else can they avoid greed for dishonest gain?
[SPEAKER_00]: How else can they hold firmly to the mystery of faith with a pure conscience and be faithful in all things?
[SPEAKER_00]: How else can they be lovers of good, sober, just, holy, and temperate?
[SPEAKER_00]: The Ministry of Unconverted Men is a burden to God's people.
[SPEAKER_00]: The hostility between the offspring of the woman and the offspring of the serpent will always cause conflict.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is no surprise.
[SPEAKER_00]: For as it was in the past so it is now, he who was born according to the flesh persecutes him who was born according to the Spirit.
[SPEAKER_00]: This hostility is just as strong in unconverted ministers as in anyone else.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only difference is that it may be disguised with clever words and polished speech.
[SPEAKER_00]: Covered with respectable names like zeal, faithfulness, peace, good order and unity.
[SPEAKER_00]: because natural men do not truly love Christ or the souls of others.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the preaching is lifeless and dull.
[SPEAKER_00]: It seems to freeze in their mouths.
[SPEAKER_00]: And since they are not sent by God, they lack the divine authority that Christ's true messengers have.
[SPEAKER_00]: Scripture says of Jesus, he taught as one having authority and not as the scribes, Matthew 7th, 29.
[SPEAKER_00]: Heresy teachers having never experienced the transferring work of the Holy Spirit in their own hearts are neither inclined nor equipped to speak frequently, clearly or passionately about such vital matters.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their application of Scripture is either brief,
[SPEAKER_00]: vague or overly general, they fail to distinguish the righteous from the wicked and do not properly divide the word to give each person what they need as Paul instructed Timothy to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, they carelessly serve up a general message and leave it to the people to sort it out for themselves.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is bad enough on its own.
[SPEAKER_00]: But sometimes they do even worse by misapplying scripture,
[SPEAKER_00]: They often strengthen the wicked by falsely assuring them of life.
[SPEAKER_00]: They offer comfort before conviction, so seed before plowing the ground and try to build before laying a foundation.
[SPEAKER_00]: These foolish builders only reinforce people's false sense of security with their soft self-serving cowardly sermons.
[SPEAKER_00]: They lack the honesty and courage to drive the nail of conviction into the hearts of those
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes these Pharisees' teachers go to great lengths to strike fear into the hearts of the righteous, making sorrowful those whom God does not intend to grieve.
[SPEAKER_00]: This often happens when faithful believers begin to suspect their hypocrisy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Something they have good reason to do, because these unconverted teachers seek righteousness as if it comes through works of the law.
[SPEAKER_00]: they fail to distinguish properly between the law and the gospel when they preach.
[SPEAKER_00]: They constantly press people toward duty.
[SPEAKER_00]: duty teaching that good works will earn favor with God or in title them to his promises of grace and salvation.
[SPEAKER_00]: In doing so, these blind guides lead the world to trust in a false foundation, their own righteousness, while shutting them out from Christ, the only true redeemer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Since the actions of unconverted men do not come from faith, love or a renewed heart and are
[SPEAKER_00]: God's glory as their highest aim, but rather flow from and return to self, there works to utterly sinful in God's sight.
[SPEAKER_00]: Such works deserve wrath and judgment.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only encouragement that can rightly be given them is in the path of obedience.
[SPEAKER_00]: There is at least a chance of receiving mercy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unconverted ministers having never struggled with a deep spiritual trials that affect true believers in this life do not know how to offer a word of comfort to the weary when they need it the most.
[SPEAKER_00]: The prayers are cold.
[SPEAKER_00]: lacking child-like love for God and compassion for law souls.
[SPEAKER_00]: The conversations do not carry the fragrance of Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nor are they filled with the sweet influences of heaven.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just as in the preaching, they make little distinction in their personal conduct.
[SPEAKER_00]: They prefer the company of kind and agreeable unbelievers over faithful Christians.
[SPEAKER_00]: In direct contradiction to Psalm 15, 4, Psalm 119, verse 115, and Galatians 6, 10.
[SPEAKER_00]: Poor believers suffer spiritually when they are forced to rely on such barren pastures.
[SPEAKER_00]: These dry nurses as Reverend Arthur Hildersham rightly called them.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only time God's people can tolerate such lifeless ministers is when they themselves are spiritually asleep.
[SPEAKER_00]: But when the Lord revives His people, they cannot help but despise them.
[SPEAKER_00]: It breaks their hearts with grief to see how lukewarm these Pharisee teachers are in their preaching while multitudes of sinners are sinking into damnation.
[SPEAKER_00]: Third, the Ministry of Unconverted Men is for the most part unprofitable.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is confirmed by three sources, Scripture, Reason, and Experience.
[SPEAKER_00]: First, Scripture.
[SPEAKER_00]: God Himself assures us that those whom He has not set will not profit the people at all, Jeremiah 23 vs 32.
[SPEAKER_00]: Matthew Poole rightly explains this verse, saying, no one can expect God's blessing on their ministry if they are not truly called and set by Him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Second, Reason.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is clear how unfit such men are for the work they claim to do, can a blind man serve as a guide on a dangerous path?
[SPEAKER_00]: Can a dead man bring other's life is a mad man qualified to cast out devils?
[SPEAKER_00]: Can a rebel and an enemy of God act as his messenger to bring sinners into peace with him?
[SPEAKER_00]: How can a prisoner in chains lead others to freedom?
[SPEAKER_00]: Would you trust a leper or a plague-stricken man to be a physician?
[SPEAKER_00]: Would you put an untrained man who has never meant to see at the helm of a ship to keep it from crashing on the rocks?
[SPEAKER_00]: An unconverted minister is like a man trying to teach others to swim when he himself cannot.
[SPEAKER_00]: third experience.
[SPEAKER_00]: The unprofitability of such ministers is sadly confirmed by what we see in their congregations.
[SPEAKER_00]: Look at the churches under their care, where spiritual deadness rains.
[SPEAKER_00]: Years pass, without a single soul being truly convicted of sin, get these ministers remain at ease saying, we are doing our duty.
[SPEAKER_00]: But those who have had their eyes opened,
[SPEAKER_00]: and hearts stirred for God's work are not so easily satisfied.
[SPEAKER_00]: They mourn like Micah, feeling as if they are gathering only the leftovers of the harvest instead of reaping a great spiritual crop.
[SPEAKER_00]: Richard Baxter rightly observes that those who are content with such lifeless results will do little good for the church of God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yet, as Mr. Brassal notes, many other ministers believe the gospel is thriving simply because the congregations are at peace.
[SPEAKER_00]: Attendance is high, and people regularly take the Lord's supper.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if their salaries are paid on time, they think it is a great success.
[SPEAKER_00]: How tragic.
[SPEAKER_00]: They comfort themselves with the hope that they are doing good even though they have no evidence of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But what comfort can a faithful minister who laborers with all his heart to see Christ formed in his people take from something he cannot see?
[SPEAKER_00]: Would a hungry man be satisfied with merely dreaming about food?
[SPEAKER_00]: I think not, though I confess a man who is already full might be.
[SPEAKER_00]: What if someone could point to rare cases where unconverted ministers have helped convince people of their lost state such instances are extremely rare and unusual?
[SPEAKER_00]: And as far as I know, just as many cases could be found where Satan himself has convinced people through his temptations.
[SPEAKER_00]: In reality, when something like this happens, it seems more like a random accident, both for the unconverted minister and those he influences.
[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't this why, for so long, there was hardly any talk of real conviction or conversion in the churches until recently, because so many of their spiritual leaders were completely blind and spiritually dead, the ministry of unconverted men is dangerous.
[SPEAKER_00]: The doctrines of original sin, justification by faith alone, and other key teachings of Christ go directly against the natural inclinations of the un-renewed heart.
[SPEAKER_00]: While some ministers influenced by a good education or the hope of career advancement may suppress their natural opposition to these truths, their hostility is not truly broken or removed, only God's saving grace could cause someone to genuinely embrace these humbling doctrines and protect them from being misled by false beliefs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't the worldliness of many ministers today?
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the main reasons why are many inism?
[SPEAKER_00]: So, cynicism, erinism, and deism have spread so widely and alas.
[SPEAKER_00]: What poor guides unconverted ministers are to those experiencing spiritual distress?
[SPEAKER_00]: They either dismiss such struggles entirely calling them melancholy or madness, or they try to cover up the problem with shallow, ineffective remedies.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our Lord tells us that salt, which has lost its flavor, is worth less.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some say it breeds worms and vermin.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now what kind of flavor do Pharisee like Ministers have?
[SPEAKER_00]: In truth, it's rotten and foul one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Both to God and to true believers.
[SPEAKER_00]: As one person put it, those moral hypocrites may speak all the right words, but they only hinder others from entering the narrow gate instead of helping them in.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why Jesus pronounced this judgment upon them in Matthew 23 verse 13, "'Wall to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut the kingdom of heaven and people's faces.
[SPEAKER_00]: You yourselves do not enter nor do you allow those who are trying to enter to go in."
[SPEAKER_00]: Pharisee, like teachers, will fiercely oppose the true work of Holy Spirit in people's souls.
[SPEAKER_00]: They will go to great lengths to discredit it and attack those whom God uses to promote it, especially if it threatens their status or influence.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is exactly how the Pharisees treated our Savior.
[SPEAKER_00]: If someone objects by pointing out that Christ sent Judas, I respond.
[SPEAKER_00]: Judas's ministry was partially legalistic because at that time the disciples were still under Jewish observances, and were only sent to the house of Israel, Matthew 10, 5 and 6.
[SPEAKER_00]: After Christ's resurrection, the disciples waited for a new mission in Acts 1 verse 4, which they later received and it was different from the first, Matthew 28 and 19.
[SPEAKER_00]: Judas's ministry was also extraordinarily necessary to fulfill ancient prophecies about him.
[SPEAKER_00]: We see those in Acts 1 verse 16 through 18 and verse 20 and John 13 18.
[SPEAKER_00]: I fear that misusing this example has led to many judices entering the ministry.
[SPEAKER_00]: Men whose main desire, like their infamous predecessor, is to handle the money and carry the bag.
[SPEAKER_00]: But let's such greedy hypocritical higherlings beware, unless they end up facing the news in this world and a far worse judgment in the next.
[SPEAKER_00]: If someone objects by pointing at that Paul rejoiced when the gospel was preached even if done out of selfish ambition and not sincerity, I respond.
[SPEAKER_00]: Paul's words show his great self denial.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some people tried to overshadow his reputation and caused him distress by preaching contentiously, but they were mistaken.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had long since learned to die to his own reputation.
[SPEAKER_00]: His rejoicing was comparative.
[SPEAKER_00]: He would rather see Christ preach from impure monos than not at all, especially in a time when ignorance of the gospel was so widespread.
[SPEAKER_00]: Plus Paul knew that this trial would be sanctified for his spiritual growth and might
[SPEAKER_00]: That is why he rejoiced.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is certain that we can both rejoice and mourn over the same event for different reasons without contradiction.
[SPEAKER_00]: But how should we respond to this mournful reality?
[SPEAKER_00]: My brothers and sisters, we should mourn for those who are without faithful ministers that have compassion for them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our heart should be deeply moved with tender concern for those fainting souls who are like
[SPEAKER_00]: Dear friends, we must also earnestly pray for them, that our compassionate Savior will keep them by His mighty power through faith, unto salvation.
[SPEAKER_00]: May He uphold their weary spirits as they endure the discouragement of a lifeless ministry and sanctify the little spiritual nourishment they receive under such blind guides when they have no better place to turn.
[SPEAKER_00]: And more importantly, my brothers and sisters,
[SPEAKER_00]: We should pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send faithful laborers into His fields.
[SPEAKER_00]: The harvest is truly great, but the laborers are few.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, how humble believing and perfect we should be in this prayer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us plead with the Lord day and night with cries, tears, and heartfelt
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, fountain of mercy and father of compassion, pour out upon your children a spirit of prayer so that we may obtain this vital blessing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Help us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, eternal God and Father for Christ's sake.
[SPEAKER_00]: And my dear brothers and sisters, we should not stop at prayer.
[SPEAKER_00]: We must also take action.
[SPEAKER_00]: Given the current state of things where universities and schools are often corrupt and misused the best way to fill the church with faithful ministers is to support private schools or seminaries led by wise and godly Christians.
[SPEAKER_00]: Only those who after careful examination show clear evidence of true faith and personal experience with God should be admitted.
[SPEAKER_00]: faithful and spiritually mature young men who have both the natural ability and a sincere desire for ministry should be sought out across the country and placed in these private schools especially where public ones are failing.
[SPEAKER_00]: This approach has great potential for strengthening the church and preparing for the coming of God's kingdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: The church should do what it can to support these young men, especially those who cannot afford their education.
[SPEAKER_00]: And truly brothers and sisters, this kind of charity, giving to the souls of men, is the most noble kind of giving.
[SPEAKER_00]: If the love of God is in you, it will move you to take action for such an important and necessary work.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is hypocritical to stop at mere words and cheap prayers when more is required.
[SPEAKER_00]: don't be surprised that the Pharisees are offended by such a proposal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those cunning self-serving hypocrites are always worried about protecting their own status and influence.
[SPEAKER_00]: But in truth, neither their reputation nor their power is worth anything, despite all the noise they make about them.
[SPEAKER_00]: If they had their way, they would prevent a single, faithful, faithful,
[SPEAKER_00]: If they had their way, they would prevent a single faithful minister from entering the church, so their opposition is actually a sign of encouragement.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let all who follow the Lamb rise up and act for God, no matter the opposition, who is on the Lord's side, who?
[SPEAKER_00]: Now let us apply this subject.
[SPEAKER_00]: If this is true, then the situation of those who have no better teachers than Pharisee Ministers is truly pitiful.
[SPEAKER_00]: what a scene of mourning, lamentation and sorrow is before us because of these swarms of these spiritual locusts, the crowds of Pharisees who have greedily and cruelly crept into the ministry in this corrupt generation.
[SPEAKER_00]: They resemble the old Pharisees described earlier in this discourse as closely as one crow's egg resembles another.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is sure that some modern Pharisees have learned to speak a little more.
[SPEAKER_00]: Or the Doxley about the New Birth and Nicodemus did, yet they remain just as ignorant of its true experiences he was.
[SPEAKER_00]: Only the blind failed to see that this is the reality for much of the clergy in our time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that our heads were waters and our eyes, a fountain of tears so that we could lament it day and night with the deepest sorrow, the miserable state of the church of God because of this.
[SPEAKER_00]: From what has been said, we can see that those who are content under a dead ministry do not share the heart of the Savior they claim to follow, it is a fearful sign that they are blind as moles and lifeless as stones without any spiritual hunger or discernment.
[SPEAKER_00]: And sadly, isn't this the case for so many?
[SPEAKER_00]: As long as they have someone with a title of Minister, a man in a black row to go through the motions on the Sabbath, even if his preaching is cold and powerless, they're satisfied.
[SPEAKER_00]: As long as he avoids scandalous sins and is careful to keep a safe distance from their consciences, never disturbed by his own lack of success, they think, oh, what a fine minister we have here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Such a prudent and charitable man.
[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't harp on terror or constantly preach damnation like those reckless and harsh preachers who trouble people's minds and drive them to despair, despair, what a dreadful thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet poor misguided souls consider seriously these words from the prophet Jeremiah.
[SPEAKER_00]: a horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land, but profits, prophesy, falsely, and priests ruled by their own authority, and my people love to have it, so what will you do in the end, Jeremiah 5, 30 and 31?
[SPEAKER_00]: We should recognize both the mercy and responsibility of those who have the blessing of a faithful ministry.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let such people glorify God for this special privilege and strive to live in a way that is worthy of it, pleasing him in all things.
[SPEAKER_00]: Otherwise, if they take it for granted or abuse it, they risk facing even greater judgment.
[SPEAKER_00]: If the ministry of unconverted ban is as it has been described, then it is both lawful and wise to seek out Godly ministers elsewhere.
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, not only is it not sinful to do so, but if someone sits under a pious minister who despite his sincerity has lesser gifts.
[SPEAKER_00]: and that person has made an honest effort to benefit from his ministry yet receives a little or no spiritual nourishment.
[SPEAKER_00]: While finding real growth that help elsewhere, then he made lawfully go where he receives the most good for his soul.
[SPEAKER_00]: This should be done orderly and respectfully.
[SPEAKER_00]: First, seeking the pastor's consent where he resides, humbly explaining his reasons, it should be done in a spirit of love and meekness without despising or looking down on anyone or acting rashly or in idle curiosity, even natural region.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even natural reason, teaches that we should desire what is truly good.
[SPEAKER_00]: As Dr. Vodius observes, adding greater good to an existing good, makes it even better and therefore more desirable.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even irrational creatures have a natural instinct, placed in them by their creator to seek out what is best for them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Birds fly to warmer climates to escape the cold of winter and no doubt to find better food, for as scripture says where the carcass is, there the eagles will gather.
[SPEAKER_00]: The beasts of the field seek out the wealthiest pastures and the fish of the sea go where they can find the food they prefer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Likewise, the written word of God confirms this principle.
[SPEAKER_00]: Through it, God commands us to earnestly desire the best gifts, and to test everything in whole faster what is good for Corinthians 12, 31.
[SPEAKER_00]: First, that's a loan.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's 521.
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: He also commands us to grow in grace.
[SPEAKER_00]: Second, Peter, three, eighteen.
[SPEAKER_00]: First, Peter, two, two.
[SPEAKER_00]: Every command of God requires us to use the best means available to fulfill it.
[SPEAKER_00]: If there are multiple options, shouldn't we choose the best?
[SPEAKER_00]: Otherwise, how can our choice be considered rational and fitting for an intelligent being?
[SPEAKER_00]: To knowingly choose a lesser option goes against both common sense and religious duty.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is evident the way all rational beings act in matters of far less importance every day.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is undeniable, both from scripture and reason, that preachers have different levels of gifts and graces.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is just as clear to any experience Christian that these differences in gifting directly impact the level of spiritual growth and edification that the heroes receive from them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Furthermore, it is an unquestionable truth that ordinary God blesses the best gifts with the greatest spiritual benefit.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just as he provides the best nourishment through the best food.
[SPEAKER_00]: If this were not the case, then the best gifts would not be worth seeking.
[SPEAKER_00]: If God's people have erect to benefit from all the gifts of all of his ministers, then why shouldn't they make use of them wherever they have the opportunity?
[SPEAKER_00]: And if they travel a little farther than usual, to hear the ministers who help them grow the most,
[SPEAKER_00]: Who does that harm?
[SPEAKER_00]: Our Lord tells His people in 1 Corinthians 3, 22, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cifus, all are yours.
[SPEAKER_00]: The example of our dear Redeemer, further supports this argument, many who had previously listened to the Pharisees and even to John the Baptist, can't be here Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Often not only on witness, but even on the Sabbath.
[SPEAKER_00]: They came in great numbers, and from far away places yet he never rebuked them for it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did not our Lord himself love the Apostle John more than the rest, and did he not take him along with Peter in James to Matt Tabor and get some money ahead of the others.
[SPEAKER_00]: Matthew chapter 17, Matthew chapter 26, forcing people to remain under a particular minister against their judgment and spiritual inclination when they find greater benefit elsewhere is an act of fleshly control.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is a cruel opposition of tender consciences, and a compulsion to sin for whoever doubts is condemned if he eats, and whatever is not a faith is sin, Romans 14, 23.
[SPEAKER_00]: Beyond that, it is an unscriptural restriction on Christian liberty, 1 Corinthians 32.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is a yoke, even heavier than that of Rome itself.
[SPEAKER_00]: As Dr. Vodias noted, even among the papests, the people are not deprived of liberty to choose which sermons they hear.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is a yoke like that of Egypt, where Pharaoh oppressed the Israelites by demanding their full quota of bricks while denying them straw.
[SPEAKER_00]: Likewise we are commanded to grow in grace and knowledge.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yet according to some we are forbidden from using the most effective means to do so.
[SPEAKER_00]: If the primary purpose of hearing the word can be fulfilled just as well, or even better, by listening to another minister rather than our own than I see no reason why we should be bound by necessity to hear only him that is our parish minister all the time.
[SPEAKER_00]: After all, what is the purpose of hearing the word if not to receive grace and grow in it, Romans 1014?
[SPEAKER_00]: As First Peter 2.2 says, like newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow by it.
[SPEAKER_00]: For just as young kids do not settle for empty bowls, so living souls do not desire stagnant pools.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well then, can these purposes not be fulfilled outside of our parish boundaries?
[SPEAKER_00]: Faith we are told comes by hearing Romans 10, but the Apostle does not say by hearing only your parish minister.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is the same word of God preached outside of parish?
[SPEAKER_00]: And are the promises of blessing upon the preaching of the word limited only by those who remain within their parish boundaries?
[SPEAKER_00]: If they are, I have yet to find such restriction.
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I could confidently say that based on what can be known in such cases, I have seen people receive saving grace for their souls by listening beyond their parish.
[SPEAKER_00]: That is why I am so passionate in defending this practice.
[SPEAKER_00]: The main reason for listening to any preacher should be the good of our souls, or even greater good where it can be found.
[SPEAKER_00]: If we care about our eternal well-being, we should seek out preaching where we can grow the most.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyone who listens with lesser motives acts like a fool and a hypocrite.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, if it is lawful to step away from the ministry of a pious man for the reason is already stated, how much more so from the ministry of an unspiritual man?
[SPEAKER_00]: Surely, it is not only lawful, but wise and necessary for these same reasons we mentioned about the unsafe man, let me add a few more thoughts to this.
[SPEAKER_00]: To entrust the care of our souls to those who have little or no concern of their own.
[SPEAKER_00]: To those who are both unskilled and unfaithful is completely contrary to how thoughtful people handle their bodily faith and financial affairs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Would we trust an untrained and careless doctor with our lives?
[SPEAKER_00]: Will we put our estate to the hands of an elegant steward?
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: Doing so would show that we make little of our souls and do not turn the care what happens to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: For if the blind lead the blind, will they not both fall into the ditch?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it so surprising that God does not ordinarily use the ministry of His enemies to bring others into His friendship?
[SPEAKER_00]: Since He works through suitable means.
[SPEAKER_00]: I cannot believe that God has given any promise to be with and bless the laborers of unspeared
[SPEAKER_00]: I can either see nor hear of any general spiritual fruit from these men's work, unless it is an exceedingly rare and unusual occurrence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, the Ministry of Faithful Men flourishes, bearing fruit clearly as Aaron's rod when it blossomed.
[SPEAKER_00]: as the Lord declared in Jeremiah 2322, but if they had stood in my counsel and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are commanded to turn away from those who have only a form of godliness, but deny its power, second Timothy, three, five.
[SPEAKER_00]: And are there not many of such people today?
[SPEAKER_00]: A Lord warned his disciples to be aware of the leaven of the Pharisees, Matthew 166.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what did he mean by this?
[SPEAKER_00]: Mark 815 and Luke 121 make it clear.
[SPEAKER_00]: He meant their false teaching and their hypocrisy, both of which are thoroughly corrupting.
[SPEAKER_00]: A striking example of Christ's view on this matter is found in Matthew 15, 12 to 14.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then his disciples came to him and said, do you know that the Pharisees were offended by what you said?
[SPEAKER_00]: Any answered, every plant which my Heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
[SPEAKER_00]: Leave them alone, their blind guides for the blind, and if the blind lead the blind bolt will fall in the ditch.
[SPEAKER_00]: If it is argued that the views and practices described here would stir up conflict and division among people, I would answer that such actions, when carried out with love, making us and humility, are not the true cause of division, but only the response to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: They do not produce division in and of themselves, but merely expose pre-existing tensions.
[SPEAKER_00]: If a person with sincerity of heart and without any attention of offense, chooses to attend the preaching that most benefits their soul while still treating their minister and neighbors with kindness and respect, is that a valid reason for resentment?
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure, anyone be angry at such a person simply because they seek their own spiritual growth rather than being like a lifeless stone without discernment, feeling or spiritual hunger.
[SPEAKER_00]: must we abandon every duty that might lead to disagreement if so, we would have to give a true religion entirely for all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution 2nd Timothy 312.
[SPEAKER_00]: In particular, we would have to stop preaching faithfully.
[SPEAKER_00]: Since that has known to cause disturbances and divisions, especially when accompanied by divine power.
[SPEAKER_00]: As Paul writes in 1st Thessalonians 5 and 1st Thessalonians 1, 5 and 6, our gospel came to you as Paul writes in 1st Thessalonians 1, 5 and 6.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our gospel came to you not inward only but in power.
[SPEAKER_00]: and he adds that they received the word in much affliction.
[SPEAKER_00]: The apostle Paul was accused of being a trouble maker just as Elijah was before him, yet neither of them stopped preaching because of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Indeed, our Lord himself declared that he did not come to bring peace on the earth, but a sword to bring division, fire, and conflict, even among close family members.
[SPEAKER_00]: The truth is,
[SPEAKER_00]: that when the strong man fully armed, keeps his house as possessions remain undisturbed, but when the stronger one comes, he overthrows him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And very often, ungodly men, who are the true causes of these divisions, act towards God's servants just as potifers wife did toward Joseph.
[SPEAKER_00]: They shift the blame for their own wickedness onto the righteous and make a great outcry against them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those who believe that opposition and division arising from genuine godliness and powerful preaching were the only problems in the early days of Christianity, likely understand neither themselves nor the gospel of Christ, for surely the nature of true religion and the nature of men and devil's remain the same in every generation.
[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't the visible church made up of people with entirely opposite characters?
[SPEAKER_00]: While some sincerely serve God, are there not many who, though outwardly religious, are in reality, servants of Satan?
[SPEAKER_00]: And do they not these have a deep, seated hostility toward the others?
[SPEAKER_00]: How then could true harmony exist between them until their very natures are changed?
[SPEAKER_00]: Can light?
[SPEAKER_00]: with darkness?
[SPEAKER_00]: Without question, it is a great duty to avoid giving any just cause for a fence.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is also vitally important that true believers maintain unity and harmony among themselves despite their differences in minor matters.
[SPEAKER_00]: No doubt this is the purpose of many of the extortations to peace and unity found in scripture.
[SPEAKER_00]: yet surely we are not commanded to pursue unity in anything that is sinful or harmful to the well-being of our souls.
[SPEAKER_00]: That would be like the unity of demons, a whole legion, living peacefully together in one man, or it would resemble the unity of a Habs' false prophets.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those 400 fledvers who were very agreeable with one another, all repeating the same pleasing message
[SPEAKER_00]: but some still object to people going to hear other ministers besides their own.
[SPEAKER_00]: They might refer to First Corinthians chapter 1 verse 12, where Paul speaks of some saying, I am a Paul, and others I am of Apollos, and claim that such behavior is carnal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Vodius responds in this objection by saying,
[SPEAKER_00]: The apostle reproves those who created factions, saying I am of Paul and I of Apollos.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we likewise reproove them, but this is entirely different from the freedom one has in choosing which sermons and preachers to hear.
[SPEAKER_00]: For at any given time, we cannot listen to all, nor does the explanation and application of every minister equally suit every person in every situation or condition, nor equally
[SPEAKER_00]: So you see, in this passage.
[SPEAKER_00]: the apostle, rebukes, and excessive attachment, or admiration of certain ministers when it leads to sinful controversy.
[SPEAKER_00]: The rejection of other God they minister is in the formation of factions.
[SPEAKER_00]: To argue from this, that we should make no distinction in choosing which minister we hear, or in how much we esteem different ministers based on their varying gifts and graces is unreasonable as saying that because gluttony and drunkenness are forbidden, we must neither eat nor drink at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nor make any choice in food or drink regardless of our needs or constitution.
[SPEAKER_00]: Surely the very nature of Christian love, in clients believers who love others chiefly for their godliness and therefore in proportion to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Since the objection rests on the mistaken assumption that we should love all good men equally, it actually undermines the very foundation of brotherly love as laid out in scripture,
[SPEAKER_00]: In this way, the objection itself is truly carnal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another objection might be that this practice grieves our parish minister and disrupts the unity of the congregation.
[SPEAKER_00]: To this, I answer.
[SPEAKER_00]: If our minister is grieved because we seek our greater spiritual good, or if he values his own reputation more than our growth in grace, then he has far greater reason to grieve his own hypocrisy and spiritual corruption.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as for the fear that the congregation will be broken apart, simply because people seek the word of God where they profit the most, is as hard they are real danger, given the widespread spiritual blindness and deadness that prevails.
[SPEAKER_00]: The sad truth is that only a few have any real spiritual hunger.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most people are quite content to entrust their souls to any formal speaker and to be
[SPEAKER_00]: But does the apostle not say that Paul and Apollos are nothing?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, it is true.
[SPEAKER_00]: They, like all ministers, are nothing by themselves.
[SPEAKER_00]: They could not change men's hearts, but were they nothing as instruments?
[SPEAKER_00]: Their objection suggests one of two things either, that there is no difference in methods when it comes to their effectiveness, or that there is no reason to expect a greater blessing from the best methods.
[SPEAKER_00]: but some may further object perhaps of the great show of zeal that all this talk of people receiving spiritual benefit or even greater benefit outside their parish boundary is pure fiction because they are acting outside of God's will.
[SPEAKER_00]: To this I answer such an objection contains three glaring errors.
[SPEAKER_00]: Assuming the very point in question,
[SPEAKER_00]: First, let it be demonstrated that they are outside God's will, and then I will freely submit.
[SPEAKER_00]: But until this is done, bold assertions being little to anyone except those who are gullible or ignorant.
[SPEAKER_00]: Plus, it is highly inconsistent for those who cry out against uncharitableness to be so guilty of it themselves.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it not rash to judge a matter they have never truly examined?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yet those who have personally experienced spiritual benefit and know their own sincerity will not be troubled by human judgment.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let Tertalus mount the stage and dress up the subjection with the finest rhetoric, it will know more convincing that what they have felt is mere imagination that if someone were to tell a man who sees what they saw was just as imagination, or to tell a man who feels pain that it was just a phantom, he knows better.
[SPEAKER_00]: The subjection also has a problem because it limits the whole of his real.
[SPEAKER_00]: A grievous sin, for which the Hebrews were sternly revoked.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is an act of arrogance to attempt to measure the infinite depths of God's being and works with our finite understanding.
[SPEAKER_00]: So far as question in Job 11, 7 and 8 remains both just and reasonable.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you by searching Find Out God?
[SPEAKER_00]: The humble apostle Paul, in awe, confessed that God's ways are beyond human comprehension.
[SPEAKER_00]: Surely the wind blows where it wills, and we cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Does not Jehovah ride upon the dark storm cloud and make darkness his dwelling place?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is not his path of the great waters beyond human tracing?
[SPEAKER_00]: Psalm 77, verse 19.
[SPEAKER_00]: I will conclude these reflections with an earnest command to all who are the blessing of a faithful ministry.
[SPEAKER_00]: You must sincerely and diligently profit from this rare and invaluable privilege.
[SPEAKER_00]: Otherwise by your in gratitude, you may provoke the righteous God to remove those means of grace from you, or withdraw his blessing, leading you exposed to even greater miseries in the life to come.
[SPEAKER_00]: For surely, sins committed against greater knowledge of the light and mercy are more awful, ungrateful and inexcusable.
[SPEAKER_00]: They show a deeper, contempt for God's authority and a greater disregard for His mercy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Such transgressions grievously wound the conscience and reveal a love for sin itself.
[SPEAKER_00]: These offenders recklessly throw themselves against the very shield of God, inviting destruction without defense, embracing their own ruin with open arms.
[SPEAKER_00]: Therefore, as divine just as proportionally punishes sinners according to the severity of their crimes and as God truth warns, you must expect that even greater damnation.
[SPEAKER_00]: Surely, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for you, unless you repent.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let those who have received God's grace be moved with the deepest compassion for those who have no teachers but Pharisees.
[SPEAKER_00]: And let them show this pity in the ways previously described.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let them take to heart the example of our Lord in the passage before us, allowing it to stir them to action.
[SPEAKER_00]: And let them also be encouraged by the immense and gracious rewards that attend such a noble and
[SPEAKER_00]: Moreover, let all who sit under the ministry of lifeless men, whether these men merely wear the outward form of religion or not, seek out the preaching of the living, where their souls may be truly identified, let them do so, no matter who oppose it, the wise and godly Mr. Dudley Fennard made a keen observational.
[SPEAKER_00]: The wise and godly, Mr. Dudley Fender made a keen observation on this matter, if there is a sincere believer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Or anyone truly seeking this salvation of their soul, who finds themselves under the teaching of a blind guide, they cannot step outside their parish to seek better instruction without causing great offence.
[SPEAKER_00]: It will be seen as...
[SPEAKER_00]: restless instability and a disrespect toward their own minister.
[SPEAKER_00]: When people from every surrounding town came to hear John the Baptist, there is no doubt that this stood resentment against him, along with hostility toward those who were not content with the teaching they received in their own synagogues.
[SPEAKER_00]: Though your neighbors may murmur against you, and though they may reproach you for doing your duty in seeking good of your soul, bear their unjust criticisms with Christian meekness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do not be discouraged, but continue steadfastly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember that suffering is a portion of Christ's true followers, and that the eternal benefits of growing in grace and truth far outweigh all the temporal troubles that may arise along the way.
[SPEAKER_00]: all that vacant congregations would take great care in choosing their ministers.
[SPEAKER_00]: In this matter they must move carefully and wisely.
[SPEAKER_00]: The church in Ephesus was praised for testing those who claimed to be apostles but were found to be liars.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hippocrates despise any form of discernment or judgment for it exposes their corruption just as thieves fear a church because it will uncover their stolen goods.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yet, the more they try to conceal their true nature, the more they end up revealing their own shame.
[SPEAKER_00]: Doesn't the spiritual person judge all things?
[SPEAKER_00]: While we may not be able to infallibly determine the hidden hearts of subtle hypocrites, can we not make a reasonable judgment about who the seven sons of Skiva are by observing their manner of praying, preaching, and living?
[SPEAKER_00]: Many Pharisee-like ministers have memorized long, polished prayers, ensuring they are never at a loss for words.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their words and sermon are often of the same length, both as lifeless, as stone, without any true spiritual vitality.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you to consider this, there was little hope of receiving true spiritual nourishment under the ministry of such men.
[SPEAKER_00]: In Christ's eyes, they are not true shepherds, certainly not faithful ones.
[SPEAKER_00]: In many ways, they are worse than having no minister at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: Over time, they tend to do more harm and good.
[SPEAKER_00]: They work to keep faithful ministers away from their congregations, and when true goviness arises near them, they rise in opposition.
[SPEAKER_00]: They conspire, scheme, and unite against it, treating it as a threat to their position, because it exposes their deception.
[SPEAKER_00]: And with great skill, persuasive speech, and even an apparent society that disguises their opposition to Christ's kingdom, just as Pharaoh's magicians imitated the miracles of Moses, so do false teachers and deceitful workers imitate the apostles of Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: I close with the words of the Apostle Paul from 2 Corinthians 11, 14 and 15.
[SPEAKER_00]: And no wonder, where Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light, therefore it is no great surprise if his servants also masquerade as ministers of righteousness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their end will be according to their deeds.
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you for listening to today's episode of Revive Thoughts.
[SPEAKER_02]: Today's sermon was narrated by Pastor Ed back in.
[SPEAKER_02]: All big thanks to Pastor Ed always love it when he's able to come out and read it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean I feel like you can say a Revive Thoughts classic himself he is out.
[SPEAKER_01]: Red so many sermons for us throughout the years.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's been with us since I think the very first year we did this show, and we are always extremely blessed How many of these he's done for us so very grateful to him and we we're hoping for many more and if you want to go if you were like I enjoyed that passion and the voice of that guy you spoke just put into the search engine pastor at back L into the revised thoughts or going our website and use the search bar for it and you'll find several other wonderful sermons one of my favorites is the
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a, it's a sermon on the cross by Christmas Evans.
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[SPEAKER_01]: It is still one of my all-time favorites from the show.
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