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Meaningful Membership According to Spurgeon
Article by Geoff Chang (original source: https://www.9marks.org/article/a-hedging-and-fencing-how-charles-spurgeon-promoted-meaningful-membership/)
In 1851, right around the time Charles Spurgeon began preaching, a religious census was taken throughout the United Kingdom. About 61 percent of the population reportedly attended church. By way of comparison, here in America in 2020, church attendance is around 20 percent; in the UK, it’s closer to 5 percent. Can you imagine if all of our churches tripled in size? Given the religious decline in our day, it’s easy for us to be impressed with these 175-year-old statistics. Simply put, in Spurgeon’s day, to be English was to be a Christian.
But Spurgeon wasn’t impressed. Despite of all the religious activity around him, Spurgeon saw that not all of it was truly spiritual. Speaking in 1856, he said,
In going up and down this land, I am obliged to come to this conclusion, that throughout the churches there are multitudes who have “a name to live and are dead.” Religion has become fashionable. The shopkeeper could scarcely succeed in a respectable business if he were not united with a church. It is reckoned to be reputable and honorable to attend a place of worship, and hence men are made religious.[1]
Unfortunately, many churches weren’t helping with the situation. Their pastors watered down the distinction between the church and the world in an effort to reach the unsaved. Spurgeon reflects,
They say, “Do not let us draw any hard and fast lines. A great many good people attend our services who may not be quite decided, but still their opinion should be consulted, and their vote should be taken upon the choice of a minister, and there should be entertainments and amusements, in which they can assist.” The theory seems to be, that it is well to have a broad pathway from the church to the world; if this be carried out, the result will be that the nominal church will use that path to go over to the world, but it will not be used in the other direction.[2]
With the rise of theological liberalism in his day, there was less and less about the church that was distinct from the world, both in what they believed and how they lived. Even as Christian nominalism was rampant, the church looked more and more like the world.
So how did Spurgeon fight back against all this?
If you’ve ever heard the story of Spurgeon’s life and ministry, you’ve probably heard something about all the sermons he preached, the books he published, the orphanages he started, the Pastors’ College he ran, and on and on. But we tend to overlook that, more than anything else, Spurgeon was a pastor. He wasn’t primarily a Christian speaker or CEO-at-large. No, he pastored a local church. And as a Baptist, one of his fundamental convictions was that churches should only be made up of born-again believers.
This is what we call regenerate church membership. Here’s what Spurgeon says about church membership:
Touching all the members of this select assembly there is an eternal purpose which is the original reason of their being called, and to each of them there is an effectual calling whereby they actually gather into the church; then, also, there is a hedging and fencing about of this church, by which it is maintained as a separate body, distinct from all the rest of mankind.[3]
This work of “hedging and fencing” is what keeps the church distinct from the world. And as the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Spurgeon saw it was one of his chief duties.
THE PRACTICES OF THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE
Now, it’s one thing to talk the church being distinct. But how did Spurgeon practice meaningful membership in a church with over 5,000 members?
1. They guarded the front door.
One of the primary ways Spurgeon promoted meaningful church membership was through his church’s rigorous membership process.
To summarize, this process had at least six steps:
An elder interview
A visitor would come on a weekday to meet with an elder of the church to share their testimony and their understanding of the gospel. The elder would ask follow-up questions and record the testimony in one of the church’s Testimony Books. If the elder felt this was a sincere profession of faith, they would be recommended to meet with the Pastor.
Pastoral interview
Spurgeon would review the testimonies that were recorded, and, on another day, the candidate would come to meet with him. Some interviews were clear cases of conversion and Spurgeon had the joy of rejoicing in God’s grace with the candidate. Other cases resulted in further questions, as Spurgeon examined their story and their understanding of the gospel. It could be intimidating to meet with an elder or pastor, but that was never Spurgeon’s intention. Rather, he saw each membership interview as a chance to begin shepherding. He writes,
Whenever I hear of candidates being alarmed at coming before our elders, or seeing the pastor, or making confession of faith before the church, I wish I could say to them: “Dismiss your fears, beloved ones; we shall be glad to see you, and you will find your intercourse with us a pleasure rather than a trial.” So far from wishing to repel you, if you really do love the Savior, we shall be glad enough to welcome you. If we cannot see in you the evidence of a great change, we shall kindly point out to you our fears, and shall be thrice happy to point you to the Savior; but be sure of this, if you have really believed in Jesus, you shall not find the church terrible to you.[4]
Proposal to the congregation and the assignment of a messenger
The next step would be for the elder who performed the interview to present the name of the applicant and propose him for membership at a congregational meeting of the church. The congregation would then vote to approve a messenger to make an inquiry.
Messenger inquiry
The appointed messenger (usually a deacon or an elder) would visit the candidate’s place of work, home, or neighborhood and make an inquiry about his character and reputation. What were they like at home? Did they have a good reputation at work? On one occasion, a suspended policeman applied for membership at the Tabernacle, and Spurgeon encouraged the messenger to make a careful inquiry at the police station as to the details of the suspension. These inquiries not only verified the candidate’s profession of faith, but they also opened doors for the gospel.
Congregational interview and vote
Once the messenger finished his inquiry, at the next the congregational meeting, he would report on his findings. The candidate would also be present at the meeting, and he would be introduced to the congregation via a brief interview from the chair. Then he would be dismissed, and the congregation voted on his membership.
Baptism (if necessary) and communion
Finally, the candidate would be scheduled for a baptism, if necessary, and after the baptism, at the next communion service, he would receive the right hand of fellowship before the congregation and officially become a member of the church.
The Church Meeting Minutes of the Metropolitan Tabernacle from 1854–1892 reveals that 13,797 people submitted themselves to this rigorous membership process. Even as hundreds of people were joining the church each month, this process was followed consistently throughout Spurgeon’s ministry.
Personally, facts like that encourage me to believe that what took place under Spurgeon’s ministry was a genuine revival. So often, Spurgeon saw great crowds turn out for his open-air preaching. But he often observed that after the service, the people would simply disperse. There was little opportunity for follow-up. But at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, as people were converted, they were baptized, brought into the church, discipled, and engaged in the work of the church. This membership process was the way Spurgeon harvested the fruit of the Spirit’s work of revival. Spurgeon’s brother, his co-pastor, wrote this about the membership process:
We have never yet found it tend to keep members out of our midst, while we have known it of service in detecting a mistake or satisfying a doubt previously entertained. We deny that it keeps away any worth having. Surely if their Christianity cannot stand before a body of believers, and speak amongst loving sympathizing hearts, it is as well to ask if it be the cross-bearing public confessing faith of the Bible?[5]
2. They paid careful attention to the membership rolls.
As the pastor of a large and growing church, Spurgeon faced the challenge of maintaining an accurate account of membership. Speaking to his students, Spurgeon once lamented how some churches simply ignored this responsibility.
I would urge upon the resolve to have no church unless it be a real one. The fact is, that too frequently religious statistics are shockingly false. . . . Let us not keep names on our books when they are only names. Certain of the good old people like to keep them there, and cannot bear to have them removed; but when you do not know where the individuals are, nor what they are, how can you count them? They are gone to America, or Australia, or to heaven, but as far as your roll is concerned they are with you still. Is this a right thing? It may not be possible to be absolutely accurate, but let us aim at it.[6]
When Spurgeon became the pastor of the church, one of the first things he did was to go through the membership directory and find out what happened to the people there. Being in a historic church, the membership roll numbered in the hundreds, but there were only a few dozen attending. As they followed up with people, some expressed interest in coming back because of the new pastor, and they were welcomed back. But others said that they were no longer interested. Some had moved out of the area. Some were dead. Many they couldn’t find. These were all removed from membership. And Spurgeon would keep this work up. It was hard work not only taking people into membership, but also keeping track of people once they joined the church.
In a church so large, how did Spurgeon maintain an accurate membership? One of the primary methods was the use of communion tickets. Upon joining the church, each member received a perforated communion card containing numbered tickets. At a communion service each month, the tickets were collected, indicating the attendance of each member. Those who were absent for more than three months were visited by an elder or sent a letter from the church.
The labor that went into tracking members can be seen in the Elders Minute Books in the Metropolitan Tabernacle Archives. The elders met together frequently, at least once a month, usually on Mondays before the prayer meeting. The primary business of these meetings was to track non-attending members, though occasionally, they discussed other business concerning the life of the church.
Sometimes an investigation resulted in the bittersweet discovery that a member had died, or “gone to heaven.” If the elders discovered that these members had joined other churches, letters were granted and they were removed from membership. Spurgeon believed that Christians should not be members of multiple churches, but should be committed to one church.
In many cases, the inquiry would result in an explanation for the member’s non-attendance. The reasons would vary: distance, a difficult work schedule, having missed the communion service, simply forgetting to bring the communion ticket, illness, and more. In cases of non-attendance due to hardship rather than sin, Spurgeon did not recommend their removal, but encouraged his elders to patiently care for these members.
If a sheep has strayed let us seek it; to disown it in a hurry is not the Master’s method. Ours is to be the labor and the care, for we are overseers of the flock of Christ to the end that all may be presented faultless before God. One month’s absence from the house of God is, in some cases, a deadly sign of a profession renounced, while in others a long absence is an affliction to be sympathized with, and not a crime to be capitally punished.[7]
If the elders’ visit uncovered areas of need, they would work patiently with them to encourage their participation and to provide care for them in their absence. Since each elder was assigned a particular district, he would likely work with other members in that district to provide care.
Sadly, as in any church today, there were some cases where the elders discovered serious, unrepentant sin (“a deadly sign of a profession renounced”). The elders were always involved in the investigation of these cases. The Elder Minutes reveal their regular discussions regarding cases of discipline. Multiple elders were usually involved in a particular case so that multiple witnesses could be established. If the case were serious enough, this would lead to a recommendation to the congregation for discipline. Depending on the seriousness of the case, the elders could notify the congregation of the case at varying points of the investigation.
Discipline cases during the first seven years of Spurgeon’s ministry involved instances of embezzlement, marital abandonment, financial and sexual impropriety, adultery, lasciviousness, lying, neglect of religious duties, repeated thefts, immorality, and spousal abuse. On some particularly painful occasions, the elders led the congregation in disciplining an officer in the church who had fallen into scandalous sin. Though necessary, church discipline was a painful affair for the entire church, leading to many tears.
But as painful as this process was, Spurgeon believed that true Christians could not ultimately fall away. And so, there was always the hope of restoration. In joy, the church saw God use the process of discipline to restore many to repentance. The Minute Books annual meeting membership reports record twenty-one members who were restored to membership during Spurgeon’s years. Here was yet another purpose of church discipline: to awaken backsliding members by bringing them back to the gospel.
Meaningful membership is not about maintaining a pristine church roll. It’s about helping pilgrims finish their journey to the Celestial City.
CONCLUSION
There’s so much about Spurgeon’s life and ministry that just seems mind-boggling. If you ever try to imitate Spurgeon’s schedule and ministries and activities, you probably won’t make it. And that’s probably true. Spurgeon himself once said that he did 40 membership interviews in one day, and he said that nearly killed him, because he was so exhausted.
The point here isn’t for us to try to merely replicate Spurgeon’s ministry. After all, that was a work of God unique to that man’s gifts and time in history. But Spurgeon is nonetheless a model to us of faithfulness in ministry. What would it look like for us to pursue meaningful membership in our churches today just like Spurgeon and the saints at the Metropolitan Tabernacle?
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[1] New Park Street Pulpit, 2:113-114.
[2] Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 33:212.
[3] MTP 24:542.
[4] MTP 17:198-199.
[5] The Sword and the Trowel, 1869:53-54.
[6] C. H. Spurgeon, The Greatest Fight in the World (Fearn, UK: Christian Focus, 2014), 92.
[7] S&T 1872:198.
Gary Demar on “World”
Excerpt:
A similar line of argument is attempted by the skeptic Tim Callahan in Bible Prophecy?: Failure or Fulfillment? “Obviously,” Callahan writes, “the gospel had not been preached to the entire world by 70 C.E., even if we interpret the whole world as being nothing more than the Roman Empire.”[1] He makes a mistake by mistranslating the Greek word oikoumenē in Matthew 24:14 as “world.” Some of the confusion on this issue is because of some less than helpful translations found in the King James Bible where the Greek word aiōn (“world” instead of “age: Matt. 24:3) and oikoumenē (“world” instead of “inhabited earth”: Matt. 24:14).
Oikoumenē is a word that illustrates limited geography. The gospel only had to be preached as far as Rome could tax since the same Greek word is used in Luke 2:1. Had the gospel been preached throughout the Roman Empire before that generation passed away? The Apostle Paul tells us that the gospel had been preached “to every creature under heaven” (Col. 1:23). In other places where we read that the gospel was “being proclaimed throughout the whole world” (Rom. 1:8: here the Greek word kosmos is used) and had been “made known to all the nations” (16:26).
Full article: https://americanvision.org/posts/christians-give-up-the-faith-because-of-this/
Beyond The Gate
This article entitled “All Will Be Well” is written by Tim Challies (original source here: https://www.challies.com/articles/all-will-be-well/)
The young boy had a privileged upbringing and spent his childhood on a fine estate that boasted a large and carefully-tended garden with bright flowers, cobbled paths, high walls, trimmed lawns. He spent hours of every day playing in this garden, exploring it, and delighting in its many wonders.
But there was one part where he never ventured to go. At the very end of the garden stood a grove of trees that grew tall and full and cast dark shade upon the pathway beneath. As he squinted his eyes from a safe distance, he could see that the path winding through the grove led to a gate set in the distant wall. And though he wondered what lay beneath the trees and beyond the gateway, he dared not approach, for when he was small, a gardener had told him an idle tale of ogres that lived among the trees and giants that lived in the land beyond the walls.
Finally a day came when his older brother heard of his fear. Playing in the garden one day, the older led the younger to the very edge of the grove. Leaving the young boy frozen there, stricken with terror, his brother took up a happy song and walked down the path without fear, without worry, without hesitation. Reaching the gate, he opened it deftly and passed through, his voice still audible and still joyful.
And then, having shown his brother that there was nothing to fear, he returned. He entered back from beyond the wall, he retraced his steps along the pathway, until the two brothers once again stood side-by-side. He assured him he had seen no ogres among the trees and no giants beyond the gate. In fact, the gate had opened into a garden even more splendid than the one in which they stood. And now the young boy knew there was nothing to dread, no reason to be anxious. His fears had been allayed and his heart calmed, replaced by the knowledge of his brother’s safe journey. Yet even then, “Let me know when you are ready,” said his brother assuredly, “and in that day I will take your hand and we will walk the pathway and pass through the gate together.”
And just so, our elder brother Jesus knows we live in fear of death and are prone to doubt that joys lie beyond the gateways of this life. He knows we fear what we cannot see and cannot yet experience. He knows our anxiety, he knows our weakness, he knows our frailty. And so he has gone before us. He has made the journey and returned to assure us that all will be well and to tell us that we need do no more than follow in his footsteps. For as the sacred Word tells us, by his death he has broken the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and has freed those who all their lives have been held in slavery by their fear of death (Hebrews 2:14–15). By defeating death, he has liberated us from the fear of death.
Inspired by The Way Into the Holiest by F.B. Meyer
Practical Help for Preaching Longer Books
By Pastor Jeff Wiesner (original source – https://www.9marks.org/article/genesis-exodus-isaiah-oh-my-practical-help-for-preaching-longer-books/)
A fellow pastor recently asked me what I was preaching. After I told him that I was preaching through the whole book of Isaiah, he laughed. “Whoa! Good for you! I could never do that!”
I imagine my brother isn’t alone. Preaching through longer books of the Bible does seem like an impossible task for busy pastors. But contrary to what this brother’s response implied, a commitment to preaching through the Bible’s longest books isn’t only for über-pastors, if such a humorous fiction actually existed. Instead, it arises from a simple conviction that every pastor should share: Faithful expository preaching aims to declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), which includes preaching through the longest books in the Bible.
To this end, I hope the following eight “tips” will help preachers delight in the Scriptures as they prepare to preach—and persevere!—through its biggest books.
1. Before you start, read, re-read, and re-re-read the entire book.
Long before preaching through a long book of the Bible, read and re-read the entire book. The longest books in the Bible take two or three hours to read from beginning to end. You can avoid overwhelming yourself by starting several months in advance and blocking off time for one read-through per week.
As you read, pay attention to your heart. Spurgeon warned, “If you cannot catechise [sic] your own heart, and drill a truth into your own soul, you do not know how to teach other people.” Also pay attention to explicit references to other parts of Scripture, influential people and places, repeated words and phrases, doctrinal themes, embedded clues concerning the circumstances of the author’s audience, distinct literary features, and possible transitions between major sections. As you finish your preliminary readings, try to summarizs the book’s central message (its “big idea” or “melodic line”) in a single sentence.
Many challenges associated with preaching through the longest books of the Bible are mitigated by repetitive Bible reading long before the first sermon is written.
2. Outline the entire book.
If expositional preaching aims to make the shape and point of a passage the shape and point of the message, then “expositional outlining” aims for a similar target: make the shape and point of the whole book the shape and point of the outline.
Weeks before your first sermon, identify the major sections of the book. You might also consider summarizing each major section with a brief abstract statement informed by the “big idea” (see above). This will help you synthesize the book’s flow and strengthen your ability to locate the relationship of any particular passage to the author’s overall aim.
Next, outline the various subsections within each main section, moving from general to specific. Resist the urge to take early shortcuts through extra-biblical resources. Your preaching will benefit you and your hearers most when your understanding of the shape and point of the book is the fruit of your own Word-work. Upon completion, you might sharpen your work by comparing it to outlines from fellow preachers, commentaries, or exegetical guides.
Finally, hold your preliminary outline with an open hand. Young preachers, in particular, may need to mortify the pride of perfectionism. Make your outline a “working” copy, knowing that it may change (often) due to additional study over the course of a long preaching series.
3. Be honest about yourself and your congregation.
Before you move from your outline to your preaching schedule, take time to evaluate yourself and your congregation honestly.
Be honest about yourself.
In other words, assess your ability relative to other responsibilities. In my experience, preaching larger portions of Scripture at once requires more preparation and skill than smaller portions. Likewise, some pastors are more skilled at synthesizing large portions of Scripture in a single sermon than others. If you’re not one of them, that’s okay! Humble yourself and be faithful with smaller portions, even if it means taking more time to preach through the entire book.
Be honest about your congregation.
John Flavel noted, “A prudent minister will study the souls of his people more than the best books in his library, and not choose what is easiest for him, but what is most necessary for them.” What is your congregation’s spiritual maturity? How do you gauge their biblical literacy? Will most of the members present at the beginning of your expositions be there at the end, or is your membership more transient? What long-term goals do you have for instructing your church?
How you answer these and other questions will help determine the appropriate amount of time to spend with your congregation in a long book.
4. Create a preaching schedule,
Based on what you know about yourself and your church, create a preaching schedule from your outline. Plan all of your sermons at once if you plan to preach lengthier portions of Scripture and move quickly through the book. If you decide to preach smaller passages and spend more time in the book, you might plan your sermon schedule one section at a time with strategic breaks in between each section. Taking strategic breaks after many consecutive weeks of preaching will help you pull your head above the proverbial tree-line to plan your schedule for the next major section of the book and make possible changes to your approach. You or another pastor might also use these breaks to preach through a short book from the opposite Testament or on a relevant issue that needs to be addressed before you’re able to finish the book.
5. Begin and end with an overview sermon.
Consider making your first sermon an overview of the entire book (your preliminary reading pays dividends here). Summarize the book’s big ideas, how they testify of the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 5:39), and why the book is essential for Christians today. Let your people know, “This is where we are going, why it’s important, and what we might ask God to do in our church through this book.”
Similarly, a concluding overview sermon says, “Let’s look back at where we’ve been, what we’ve learned, how God has used this book in our church, and what it looks like for us to trust and obey His Word moving forward.” You want to fill your congregation with godly anticipation initially, and then help them reflect and give thanks at the end.
6. Recap the book often.
Many of your members will miss multiple Sundays throughout a long preaching series due providential hindrances like illness or travel or sometimes just sinful neglect. Don’t rely too much on them catching up through recorded sermons. Instead, bring them up to speed by regularly recapping what came before and comes after a given passage. Regular in-sermon recaps also help situate your text within the larger framework of the book itself and in the Bible at large. In effect, you’ll catechize your hearers and grow their biblical literacy by repeatedly summarizing the book.
7. Don’t rush repetition.
If you preach through longer books in shorter portions, you’ll inevitably run into repetitive themes that make you feel like you are essentially preaching the same sermon every week. I remember feeling this way halfway through Isaiah’s oracles (chs. 13–27). Looking back, those many weeks of repetition were arguably the most profitable stretch of sermons in the whole book. We are weak and forgetful creatures. God is good to inspire repetition where He knows we need it most. Resist the urge to rush through repetition for the sake of “freshness” or novelty. Sometimes we need to hear the same truths repeated a dozen times in a hundred ways to remember them and be changed by them.
8. Be patient, and stay the course.
You’ll be less intimidated by preaching through long books if you have a long vision for your ministry. Preaching through Genesis or Isaiah may take one to two years or more. But what are a couple of years compared to decades of preaching in the same church? Whatever you decide, an extended vision for ministry will strengthen your commitment to feeding God’s flock from every part of his Word, not just from the parts that are shorter, easier, and more familiar.
A long vision also guards you against distraction. Present controversies and culture wars will clamor for your attention. Don’t allow them to produce reactive and hasty habits in the pulpit. Stay the course. Controversies and culture wars “wither and . . . fade, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isa. 40:8). Steel yourself with this promise and patiently preach “the next text next.” Persevere through long books over many years, trusting in the Lord to establish and strengthen your church by his grace, in his time, and for his glory.
“He will surely do it” (1 Thess. 5:23).
TULIP in Romans 8 & 9
What Is Man?
Quiet Times?
Does the Bible Direct Us to Have Quiet Times?
This article is adapted from Be Thou My Vision: A Liturgy for Daily Worship by Jonathan Gibson.
In the Old Testament
It may come as a surprise, but there is no explicit command in Scripture to have a time of worship each day, either as an individual or as a family. And yet it is a habit that every Christian believer or Christian family is encouraged to practice. The name of the habit may vary depending on one’s Christian tradition or background—“devotion,” “quiet time,” or “personal or family worship”—but the basic elements of Bible reading and prayer are usually present. I have opted for the general term “daily worship”; it covers a time of personal or family devotion while maintaining the vertical dimension of worship. But from where do we get this idea of a time of daily worship, which consists mainly in Bible reading and prayer? The answer is that the practice is implied in a number of Scriptures.
In Genesis, God says that he chose Abraham so that he might command his children and his household to keep the way of the Lord (Gen. 18:19). This would involve Abraham having a time in the day or week to teach his family and servants what God had commanded him. In Deuteronomy, God commands Israel to love him with heart and soul and mind and strength, a love that is to be expressed by parents taking every opportunity during the day to teach their children the words of God (Deut. 6:5–6). In Joshua, after Moses dies, God exhorts Joshua to be “strong and very courageous” by being careful to obey the law of Moses (Josh. 1:7). The command implies that Joshua would need to familiarize himself with the books of Moses throughout his life, a discipline that would require regular, systematic reading of the sacred text.
At the end of his life, Joshua declares to Israel that his commitment to God is not just personal but familial: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15). For his family to serve the Lord, Joshua would first have to know the law of Moses for himself before instructing his family in it. The practice is reflected in the Psalms where Israel is encouraged to tell the glorious deeds of the Lord to the next generation (Ps. 78:4). The prophetic books contain a similar idea of personally hearing from God in his word before passing on the revelation to others. In Isaiah, the servant of the Lord is said to be awakened “morning by morning” to listen to God’s instruction (Isa. 50:4) before he undertakes the work to which God has called him. In Amos, God says that he does no great work in history without first revealing his secret to his servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). In Ezekiel, the prophet is told to eat the words of God from the scroll as a symbolic gesture of first digesting the word of God for himself before proclaiming it to Israel (Ezek. 3:1–2).
In each of these examples—with Abraham, Israel, Joshua, Isaiah, Amos, and Ezekiel—it is reasonable to think that the personal reading of Scripture or the familial instruction from Scripture would have also involved times of prayer. This is supported by the fact that the canon of Christian Scripture contains its own prayer book. The book of Psalms includes individual and corporate prayers (e.g., Pss. 3; 96) mixed with encouragement to meditate on God’s word and his promises (e.g., Pss. 1; 119).
In the New Testament
The New Testament reflects similar sentiments on reading the Scriptures and praying, either as an individual, a family, or a church. Jesus frequently asks the Pharisees, “Have you not read?” as he rebukes them for not knowing their Bibles (Matt. 12:3, 5; 19:4; 22:31; Mark 12:10, 26), which means that he believed that they ought to have been reading the Old Testament for themselves. Jesus also teaches on corporate and individual prayer. On the one hand, the Lord’s Prayer is intended to be a public prayer said by the church, seen in the plural forms that run throughout it: “Our Father in heaven. . . . Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:9–13).
On the other hand, individual prayer is something Jesus envisages being performed alone, in private: “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret” (Matt. 6:6). So, according to Jesus, there is a time to pray together as a church and a time to pray on our own. We see a similar focus on reading the Scriptures and praying in the writings and lives of the apostles. Peter encourages Christians to crave the spiritual milk of God’s word like newborn infants (1 Pet. 1:24–2:2), while also exhorting them to be alert and sober-minded so that they might pray (1 Pet. 4:7). In his epistles, Paul commands the public and private reading of Scripture (1 Tim. 4:15; 2 Tim. 3:15), alongside prayer (1 Tim. 2:8). He reveals the content of his own personal prayers for the churches (Eph. 1:17–19; 3:16–19; Phil. 1:9–11; Col. 1:9–12), while also encouraging believers toward a similar commitment to daily prayer: “Be constant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12) and “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).
Finally, family instruction from the Scriptures, along with prayer, is implied in Paul’s exhortation to fathers to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). So it is clear from this brief overview that while there is no explicit command to have a time of daily worship as an individual or a family, consisting in reading the Scriptures and praying to God, the habit is certainly assumed or implied in a number of places.
Practical How-To
If this is so, then some questions arise: How should we structure our own daily worship? What should we do and how should we do it?
At a basic level, it obviously involves hearing from God in Scripture and responding to him in prayer. However, can we be more intentional and creative than that? I think we can be. For example, we know that Jesus would rise early in the morning to spend time with his Father. Was this worship time structured or random? I think that we have good reason to believe that it was structured. For one, Jesus knew the Old Testament Scriptures comprehensively and precisely, and he could only have attained such knowledge if he was reading God’s word regularly and sequentially. At the very least, he would have heard the consecutive reading of Scripture at the synagogue.
Second, when Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he provided a basic structure in the Lord’s Prayer of adoration, petition, confession, and further petition. So it is reasonable to assume that when Jesus spent time with his Father each day in worship, he had a system for reading and meditating on the Old Testament as well as a structure for praying. Following our Lord’s example can only serve to improve our own daily worship in terms of Bible reading and prayer. In regard to Bible reading, the last few decades have seen a more systematic read-through-the-Bible approach. This is a welcome advance from the more random verse-a-day reading plan. Systematic reading plans help us to grasp “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), and in the order in which God has revealed it. The sequential reading of Scripture deepens our knowledge of God’s word and aids its memorization.
In regard to prayer, however, I am not sure we have seen much advance beyond saying a short prayer before reading our Bibles, followed by a list of petitions in which we ask God to bless this or that person and this or that endeavor. Let’s be honest: prayer is the hardest part of our devotions and often leaves us feeling distracted and directionless. However, the good news is that help is available to us from those in the past who have exemplified an intentional structure within their prayers as well as a varied use of different prayers, such as adoration, confession, illumination, and intercession. In addition to systematic Bible reading and structured-but-varied prayer, our worship of God each day may be enriched by affirming our Christian faith with a creed or receiving doctrinal instruction from a catechism.
Ordering all these elements in a fixed liturgy provides a healthy and enjoyable rhythm to our worship. This is precisely what a liturgy of daily worship seeks to do. Of course, the aim is not to replace corporate worship on the Lord’s Day; rather, it is to help prepare us for corporate worship on the Lord’s Day by improving our personal or family worship each day.
Calvinism Vs. Hyper Calvinism
Here’s an article by Pastor Josh Buice addressing this theme, entitled “Calvinism Is Not Hyper-Calvinism”: (original source – https://g3min.org/calvinism-is-not-hyper-calvinism/)
Last week, I was interviewed by Chris Arnzen on his radio show, Iron Sharpens Iron on the subject of hyper-Calvinism. It caused me to think about this subject and the importance of using vocabulary properly. As the father of a type 1 diabetic, I spend much of my time explaining to people in random conversations that type 1 diabetes (T1D) is not the same thing as type 2 diabetes (T2D). Therefore, let me begin by clearly stating this point—Calvinism is not hyper-Calvinism. When I engage in conversation with people who want to discuss Calvinism, I’m happy to do so, but I want to be sure that we’re using the same dictionary.
What is Calvinism?
Calvinism is a system of theology that seeks to systemize the teachings of Scripture on the subject of salvation. What is the relationship between the absolute sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man? This is the central issue of Calvinism. It takes the name of the Reformer John Calvin, who was a passionate preacher of Scripture in the Sixteenth Century in Geneva, Switzerland. During the Protestant Reformation, the Reformers were seeking to unleash the true gospel from the intense strangle hold of the Roman Catholic Church. It was through this period of time that the Bible was being printed in the common language of the people and was simultaneously being proclaimed expositionally.
A group of followers of Jacobus Arminius who studied under Theodore Beza (a disciple of John Calvin) drafted a document known as the Remonstrance. It was a detailed refutation of the sovereignty of God in salvation. It elevated the free will of man above the sovereign initiative and power of God. These people were known as Arminians. Their doctrine would eventually become known as Arminianism.
An official meeting, known as the Synod of Dordt, was held in 1619 in order to respond to the submission of the Arminians in their Remonstrance. The overall conclusion was that the Remonstrance was incorrect and that the biblical view of salvation teaches that God is the author and finisher of saving grace. The “five points” of Calvinism came as an answer to the unscriptural five points authored by the Arminians in 1610 me eventually were organized with an acronym T.U.L.I.P. To explain the key teachings.
Historical Timeline Surrounding the Doctrines Known as “Calvinism”
440 Bishop Leo of Rome becomes “Bishop of Bishops.” Asserts Primacy of Rome over the Church; Dark Ages Begin.
1382 John Wycliffe translates Bible.
1384 John Wycliffe martyred by Rome.
1439 (Approximate) Printing press invented.
1517 Luther Nails 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Church Door; The Reformation begins (Post Tenebras Lux).
1522 Luther’s New Testament.
1526 Tyndale’s New Testament.
1536 William Tyndale Martyred by Rome; Institutes of the Christian Religion (John Calvin).
1553 Bloody Mary becomes queen of England and restores power to the RCC. During
Mary’s reign, more than 300 Protestants are burned. John Rogers (publisher of the Matthew’s Bible) is the first to be burned at the stake. Many Protestants flee from England to Geneva.
1559 Calvin opens his college in Geneva. Within five years the college would have over 1500 students.
1560 The Geneva Bible is printed. It was the first Bible with verse references and sold over one million copies between 1560 and 1640. John Foxe publishes Foxe’s book of Martyrs.
1561 Belgic Confession (Guido de Bres).
1563 Heidelberg Catechism (Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus).
1564 John Calvin Dies.
1571 The Synod of Emden (birth of the Dutch Reformed Church).
1609 Jacobus Arminius dies.
1610 Remonstrance (Arminians or Remonstrants led by Johannes Uytenbogaert).
1611 Counter-Remonstrance (led by Pieter Platevoet).
1618 Opening of the Synod of Dort & Opinions of the Remonstrants.
1619 Synod Dismisses the Arminians & Adopts the Canons (AKA – 5-Points of Calvinism).
The system known as Calvinism is really five counter points to Arminianism. Years later, Wesley adopted the Arminian position and thus the Methodist movement was born. Although there are certain exceptions, historically, Baptists and Presbyterians have been more Calvinistic and opposed to the doctrines of Arminianism while the Methodists and groups such as the Assemblies of God have embraced the doctrines known as Arminianism. Today, Calvinism is sometimes known by titles such as Reformed theology and the doctrines of grace.
What is Hyper-Calvinism?
Hyper-Calvinism is not a term used for those who are overly passionate about Calvinism. That’s actually what we refer to as “cage stage Calvinism.” When understood properly, hyper-Calvinism is a technical term for an extreme and unbiblical view that rejects any need for Christians to engage in missions and evangelism. Simply put, hyper-Calvinists forbid the preaching of the gospel and the offer of salvation to the non-elect. Such people believe that God has chosen people in Christ in eternity past and will bring about His results without the help of His people. Hyper-Calvinism is heresy and must be rejected.
To illustrate the views of hyper-Calvinism, consider what happened during a pastors’ meeting years ago. A man named William Carey wanted to organize an effort to get the gospel to what he called heathen nations. Carey stood up and addressed the crowd by requesting that they discuss “the duty of Christians to attempt to spread the gospel among the heathen nations.” Mr. Ryland, and older minister, exclaimed loudly, “Sit down, young man! When God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine.” Carey did not stop. His allegiance was to Christ – not Mr. Ryland. Carey went to India and proclaimed the good news of Christ.
Carey would write a book titled – An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to Use Means for the Conversion of Heathens. He would argue his case that we should use means to reach heathens – contrary to what Mr. Ryland – the elder minister said in his meeting as he scolded the young Carey for bringing up the subject.
William Carey, in his Enquiry, wrote: “It seems as if many thought the commission was sufficiently put in execution by what the apostles and others have done; that we have enough to do to attend to the salvation of our own countrymen; and that, if God intends the salvation of the heathen, he will some way or other bring them to the gospel, or the gospel to them. It is thus that multitudes sit at ease, and give themselves no concern about the far greater part of their fellow sinners, who to this day, are lost in ignorance and idolatry.”
It must be pointed out that William Carey was a Calvinist. Although William Carey had only a grammar school education – he would shake the world with the gospel. Carey once preached a sermon where he stated – “Expect Great Things – Attempt Great Things.” It was later added – “Expect Great Things From God – Attempt Great Things For God.” That’s exactly what he did as he proclaimed the true gospel of King Jesus. India would never be the same. The world would never be the same. The way the church viewed missions would never be the same – because of this Christ-exalting Calvinist that has become known to us as the “father of modern missions.”
What’s the Difference?
The difference between Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism is the distance between heaven and hell. Calvinism is full of life and passion for God and desires to make God’s glory shine among the nations. Hyper-Calvinism is lifeless heresy that damns people to hell, kills evangelism, and ruins churches. Take a good look at the missionary movement of church history and you will see Calvinists leading the charge. Men like William Carey, Adoniram Judson, and Charles Spurgeon were all Calvinists. Many people overlook the missionary heart of John Calvin himself. He trained and sent out many missionaries who passionately preached the truth. Many of these men were martyred for their faith.
The next time you’re talking to someone with type 1 diabetes, just remember—it’s not the same thing as type 2 diabetes. Also, the next time you’re talking to a Calvinist, remember, Calvinism is not hyper-Calvinism. To call faithful Calvinistic Christians hyper-Calvinists is to consign a massive number of people from church history to the flames of hell (including people like Charles Spurgeon, William Carey, Martin Luther, Andrew Fuller, Adoniram Judson, and George Whitefield). What’s the difference between Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism? Calvinism proclaims the true gospel while hyper-Calvinism proclaims no gospel at all.
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet
What does Paul mean in Romans 16:20 when he tells the church, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under *your* feet?”
Here’s an excerpt from a sermon by Pastor Jeff Wiesner from Isaiah 59-60, “Conquering King, Unshakable Kingdom:”
“In the Bible, Satan is crushed in three stages—he has been defeated, he is being defeated, and he will be defeated. The first and last of these victories—in the past and in the future—both belong to Christ. We play no part. He alone disarmed the power of Satan by his death on a cross (Colossians 1:15) and he alone will destroy Satan once and for all at the end of the age (Revelation 20:10).
We do, however, have a role in the second of these three stages—the right now stage. In Romans 16:20, Paul promises that Satan will be ‘crushed under your feet.’ How do we make sense of this?
Keep Genesis 3 in mind. How did the serpent deceive the man and the woman? He came to Eve offering both her and Adam the knowledge of good and evil. He said, ‘You won’t die! For in the day you eat of this tree, you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Gen. 3:5).’Now understand: Adam and Eve’s sin was not that they desired to be wise about good and evil but that they desired knowledge that was contrary to God’s revelation. He told them, “Don’t eat it!”
Now look at the preceding verse—verse 19—what does it say? ‘For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to—pay attention!—what is good and…what is evil.’
How do we conquer this present age, in Christ? Not with a sword or by force of law or by electing our preferred politicians, but by devotion to the truth of God. The first Adam was a son of God given authority by God to guard God’s garden-temple. He should have kept out sin and falsehood by crushing the serpent’s head, but he didn’t. Christ, the incarnate Son and last Adam, was given authority by God to do the same and succeeded where the first Adam failed. Now in these last days, between Christ’s first and second coming—and Satan’s first and final defeat—Christ has delegated his temple-guarding, serpent-crushing authority to his churches. And that authority is located precisely in keeping out falsehood by the right preaching of the true gospel.
The gospel is corrupted today by false teaching characteristic of antichrist in these last days (Rom. 16:17-18; cf. Tim. 4:1)—false teachers who offer us knowledge contrary to God’s revelation. And when we bite what they offer, we sin against God and our light is dimmed, even extinguished. The devil “wins.”
But when we are wise unto what is good and evil according to God’s Word, our faithfulness to the gospel further crushes the already crushed devil and causes us to shine as lights in the world (Phil. 2:15)—the kind of lights to which God’s elect from every nation will flock, as promised in Isaiah 60:
‘The nations come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising (v 3)…they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (v 14).’”