Food For Thought: Preaching Christ as Food for Hungry Souls

The other day I came across this quote from Charles Jefferson who wisely observed,

“When the minister goes into the pulpit he is the shepherd in the act of feeding, and if every minister had borne this in mind many a sermon would have been other than it has been. The curse of the pulpit is the superstition that a sermon is a work of art and not a piece of bread or meat… Sermons, rightly understood, are primarily forms of food. They are articles of diet. They are meals served by the minister for the sustenance of spiritual life.”

In light of the above I thought I'd repost this entry from July 2011:

Following up on my two posts (here and here) concerning feeding the sheep through word and sacrament, I want to present a couple of analogies to hopefully amplify what I think is lacking in much of the preaching in churches today.

As a thumbnail sketch: most pastors preach from the Bible.  There is usually a text upon which the sermon is based.  The passage is often presented in terms of its historical, doctrinal, and character settings.  As one listens, he may hear that God is loving, gives grace, and that there is much to be thankful for as a believer.  The listener is encouraged to trust in God's faithfulness as lessons are drawn from the verses.  The believer is admonished to go forth with renewed obedience trusting in Jesus and the ever-present grace and help of the Holy Spirit.  In the same way God was faithful to [list any number of Biblical characters], he is faithful to you, the present day believer.  As the song says, "trust and obey - there's no other way..."  What is missing?

Analogy #1: Imagine you are plagued with a failing heart, one riddled with disease.  You schedule an appointment with a skilled surgeon.  You go to the hospital.  You're taken into the operating room and the doctor enters.  From his scholarly medical books he begins laying out before you the procedures that have been developed over many years that have been shown to be successful in curing heart disease.  He explains in detail the countless individuals who have benefited from these amazing techniques.  Step by step and precept upon precept the medical procedure is detailed.  He concludes by explaining how one can be healed and live a normal life as a result of this amazing wonder of medicine.  He smiles, shakes your hand, gives you a bill  having finished what he came to do.

Analogy #2:  Imagine that you and many others have been invited to a dinner party hosted by a highly-trained chef.  You arrive at the restaurant in a very hungry state.  Upon entering the reserved dining room you observe an elaborately prepared setting.  The finest linen, expensive china dinnerware, sterling silver utensils, and fine crystal glasses adorn the table.  Everyone sits down.  The chef enters.  Appetites are whetted and hopes run high for a much anticipated and needed satisfying feast.

The chef then opens his cookbook and spends the next forty minutes describing how the meal is prepared.  He shows pictures of each course of the dinner while reciting all the ingredients with their proportions and nutritional values.  Most of all, he stresses how delicious, healthful, and sustaining the food is.  He then thanks everyone for coming, bids them farewell until the next dinner party.  The people leave, duly impressed and yet wondering what the aching, empty feeling in their stomach could mean.  You think to yourself, "if only I can remember these recipes and apply them better to my life..."

Preaching is more than good scholarly biblical exegesis. Sheep need to hear why they are hungry and that they are prone to look for food in all the wrong places. Sheep need to be fed.

"For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jer. 2:13) 

  "Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (John 6: 27).  

As Christians we all too often trust in our own judgments and seek our own misguided answers for what ails us.  Or even more often, we settle into the dull despair of guilt and condemnation, wondering whether the problem is that there is something uniquely wrong with me (unlike other Christians!), which keeps me at a distance from God's favor.  In this life believers will always be sinners/saints.  We believe in Christ, seek to be faithful (in our better moments), and yet often wander in the fog of our own failed devices.  We know something is wrong within. Exhortations to "trust and obey" only exacerbate the feelings of failure and spiritual hunger.

* Pastors, identify what is going on in your sheep.  Diagnose it for what it is... our sinful beliefs and behaviors that still wage war against the spirit.  Though saved by the grace of God, sheep come to the church service wearied and dirtied with dust from the week's past sojourn.  Then having rightly diagnosed the inward reality of doubt and self-directed ways of the sheep, wash their feet by once again dispensing the heavenly food which is the Gospel.  Proclaim the Good News of Christ crucified that feeds, renews, sustains, and nourishes the believer's faith:

Oh people of God, what you have failed to do... Jesus has done for you, in your place, by his perfect obedience.  Even more!  Jesus, by his death on the cross, paid your penalty and cleanses you from the filth of all your sin (past, present, and future) which sin so stubbornly assails your conscience. This is God's unbreakable covenant in Christ’s blood for you.

Christians need to hear that their sin which so easily entangles them is in fact that which qualifies them for the remedy of heaven declared in gospel (Luke 5:31-32).  Real food - Jesus Christ crucified and risen for you - that removes sin and assures of God's love (Romans 5:8) now, tomorrow, and forever.  Serve the gospel food that feeds one’s faith and brings forth renewed a heart which redirects the will and bears the fruit of good works.

The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion:

                                                      XII. Of Good Works.

Albeit that Good Works, which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after Justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.

Believers-still-sinners are fed by the Gospel preached; nourishing and strengthening a true and lively faith.  

And I will bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.  In those days and at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’ (Jer. 50: 19-20)

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Rom 5: 6-10)

Bucer's Admonition to Proclaim Christ Faithfully...

"But in this matter it is specially to be noted that the doctrine of Christ is to be faithfully proclaimed not only in the public gatherings of the church, but also in the home and to each one individually, following the example of Paul in the third and fifth texts. Thus in the third text [Acts 20:18-21] he states: I have proclaimed the doctrine of Christ to you and taught you in the general and public assembly, δημοσίᾳ-- and also privately from house to house, κατ’ οἴκους. And afterwards: For three years I never stopped warning each of you day and night. And in the fifth text [1 Thess. 2:5-12]: Like a father his children I have warned each one of you &c. The doctrine of the holy gospel is the doctrine of eternal salvation, and on account of our corrupt nature there is nothing more difficult and troublesome for us to learn; that is why this doctrine requires the most faithful, earnest and persistent teaching, instruction and admonition that anyone could ever employ."

Martin Bucer, Concerning The True Care Of Souls: p 181.

Word & Sacrament - Gospel Sanctification

My concern is for the many out there (including myself), the often confused and wondering, asking...

how do we live this Christian life?  If you haven't struggled with this, then you're not paying attention to your own conscience and how you fall short of true holiness every single day...

Continuing with sanctification.... I asked a number of questions in this article that could be summed up simply as, "How does the Holy Spirit sanctify the redeemed in the course of their earthly sojourn?"  Depending on one's school of theological presuppositions, that can be answered in different ways.  For the Deeper Life folks sanctification occurs through experiencing the inward Christ, i.e. a mystical encounter.  Others may hold to the idea of sanctifying merit through good works aided by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit. Both these and other like approaches, unfortunately, turn one's eyes inward and away from Christ crucified as offered in the gospel.

What is so striking to me is that when sanctification is discussed it is almost always in the context of the believer's individual walk with the Lord, alone... out there in the world, by himself. Though that's a part of the picture, it is incomplete, for ... Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Eph.5:25-27).  When Christians gather for worship on the Lord's day, it is then and there that God meets them, ministers to them, nourishes and cleanses them unto sanctification by his Word and Sacrament.  That intersection of heaven and earth the bruised reeds whom he has chosen can take to the bank!

In the Old Testament there were daily sacrifices of a lamb, morning and evening, for cleansing and purging the sins of the covenant people of Israel.  And on the Sabbath day those sacrifices were doubled!  Those doubled sacrifices pointed forward to the fulfillment and efficacy of Jesus' cleansing blood for the sanctification of the people of God as offered in Word and Sacrament each Lord's day.  No striving.  No need to produce sinless works.  No mystical experiences to acquire.

On that day, the preached Word - law and gospel - again, rightly diagnoses our infirmity, i.e. the sin and stain that still touches every thought, word, and deed... yes even our very soul - and proclaims the blood of the Lamb which speaks of Jesus taking away our sins and in exchange imputing to us his righteousness. Hearing with faith and repentance we come to that fount for the purging of sin, shame and guilt as the Spirit applies Christ's merit of obedience and the power of his blood to our consciences. In the Lord's Supper believers are freely offered the bread and wine, Jesus' body and blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood (1662 BCP).  God proclaims and communicates this authoritatively and efficaciously by his Spirit through the means of his Word and Sacrament. And this double sanctifying grace of the gospel is received (upon hearing, eating and drinking) through simple faith with thanksgiving in Christ alone.

Going forth, then, into the week with various vocations, having been cleansed and strengthened in faith, we are assured that our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus, continues to plead in heaven his sanctifying blood on our behalf. Then, as guilty stains of the flesh and dust of the world again begin to cling to us, Let us [again and again] therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need... with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water (Heb. 4:16; 10:22).

More from John Owen's Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit -

This whole matter of sanctification and holiness is peculiarly joined with and limited unto the doctrine, truth, and grace of the gospel; for holiness is nothing but the implanting, writing, and realizing of the gospel in our souls...

The “law,” indeed, for certain ends, “was given by Moses,” but all “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” There neither is, nor ever was, in the world, nor ever shall be, the least dram of holiness, but what, flowing from Jesus Christ, is communicated by the Spirit, according to the truth and promise of the gospel.

(1.) He requires nothing of us (which we had all the reason in the world to expect that he would) to make atonement or satisfaction for our sins...

(2.) He requireth nothing of us in a way of righteousness for our justification for the future. That this also he would have done we might have justly expected; for a righteousness we must have, or we cannot be accepted with him... Neither is there any mention in the whole gospel of God’s requiring a righteousness in us upon the account whereof we should be justified before him, or in his sight; for the justification by works mentioned in James consists in the evidencing and declaration of our faith by them. 

(3.) God requireth not anything of us whereby we should purchase or merit for ourselves life and salvation: for “by grace are we saved through faith; not of works, lest any man should boast,” Ephesians 2:8,9...

God, therefore, requires nothing at our hands under this notion or consideration, nor is it possible that in our condition any such thing should be required of us; for whatever we can do is due beforehand on other accounts, and so can have no prospect to merit what is to come. Who can merit by doing his duty? Our Savior doth so plainly prove the contrary as none can farther doubt of it than of his truth and authority, Luke 17:10...

Moreover, where sanctification is enjoined us as our duty, it is prescribed under this notion of cleansing ourselves from sin: “Wash you, make you clean,” Isaiah 1:16. “O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved,” Jeremiah 4:14. “Having therefore these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God”...

Nothing do they more earnestly labor after in their prayers and supplications than a cleansing from it by the blood of Christ, nor are any promises more precious unto them than those which express their purification and purging from it; for these are they which, next unto their interest in the atonement made by the sacrifice of Christ, give them boldness in their approaches unto God. So our apostle fully expresseth it, Hebrews 10:19-22: “Having therefore boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water...”

The foundation of all our confidence in our access unto God, the right and title we have to approach unto him, is laid in the blood of Christ, the sacrifice he offered, the atonement he made, and the remission of sins which he obtained thereby: which effect of it he declares, verse 19, “Having boldness by the blood of Jesus.” The way of our access is by pleading an interest in his death and suffering, whereby an admission and acceptance is consecrated for us: Verse 20, “By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated.” And our encouragement to make use of this foundation and to engage in this way is taken from his discharge of the office of a high priest in our behalf: ‘“Having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near...”

But besides all this, when we come to an actual address unto God, that we may make use of the boldness given us in the full assurance of faith, it is moreover required that “our hearts be sprinkled, and our bodies washed;” — that is, that our whole persons be purified from the defilement of sin by the sanctification of the Spirit... 

So is it in the gospel, where the blood of Christ is said to “purge” our sins with respect to guilt, and to “wash” our souls with respect to filth.

Year End Poem...

Romans 6:14 - For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace. 

Inspired by John Owen's A Treatise of the Dominion of Sin and Grace:

On the cross Christ Jesus for sinners procured

Sin's pardon, release from guilt and shame.

Under grace not law, believer's liberty secured.

Sin's dominion broken, no longer to reign.

Yet rebellious remnant still seeks to control,

To assert Satan's power, to regain its sway.

Holy Law gives no aid, cannot make one whole.

"Do this and live" points only the way.

God's foolish Word answers:  Mercy declared!

Power unto salvation Holy Spirit conveys.

Jesus’ blood and body, food rightly shared,

Faith looks not within but to Christ who was raised.

Sweet exchange, man's sin for Christ's merit proclaimed.

No condemnation, comfort alone in Him found.

Faith-repentance liturgy each day, as

Sinners-Saints plod along solid ground.

-Jack Miller

John Owen on Sin, Law, and Gospel - II

Continuing from the last post on Owen's A Treatise of the Dominion of Sin and Grace - which ended with his question, "But how doth this [the gospel] give relief'" - to the believer - regarding the dethroning of sin and delivering him from its dominion to a life empowered unto godliness under the rule of grace?  What follows is a message that needs a hearing and indeed a following in the local church.   It is encouraging and strengthening, reinforcing the proclamation of the Gospel of the grace in Christ Jesus administered in both Word and Sacrament.  In that glorious gospel we receive through faith not only our justification, but also the transforming power of Christ crucified and risen through the Holy Spirit's ongoing work of sanctification in us unto salvation.


Owen:
     "But how doth this [the gospel] give relief?  Why, it is the ordinance, the instrument of God, which he [the believer] will use unto this end - namely, the communication of such supplies of grace and spiritual strength as shall eternally defeat the dominion of sin."
     This is the one principle difference between the law and the gospel, and was ever so esteemed in the church of God, until all communication of efficacious grace began to be called in question:

Owen here is referring to the corruption of the means of grace in both the preaching of the Word and the right administration of the Sacraments in the medieval and then current Roman church.  The two Words of Scripture, law and gospel, had receded from the scene and were no longer employed by the Church in order to bring souls to Christ and build up and strengthen them in faith and godliness.  Owen goes on to explain the purposes and limitations of the law regarding sin and the centrality of the gospel administered in breaking the dominion of sin and as the power of God unto salvation for the work of sanctification in the believer.

Owen:
     The law guides, directs, commands, all things that are against the interest and rule of sin.  It judgeth and condemneth both the things that promote it and the persons that do them; it frightens and terrifies the consciences of those who are under its dominion.  But if you shall say unto it, "What then shall we do? this tyrant, this enemy, is too hard for us.  What aid and assistance against it will you afford unto us? what power will you communicate unto its destruction?"  Here the law is utterly silent, or says that nothing of this nature is committed unto it of God: nay, the strength it hath it gives unto sin for the condemnation of the sinner:  "The strength of sin is the law."  But the gospel, or the grace of it, is the means and instrument of God for the communication of internal spiritual strength unto believers.  By it do they receive supplies of the Spirit or aids of grace for the subduing of sin and the destruction of its dominion....
     Hereon then depends, in the first place, the assurance of the apostles's assertion, that "sin shall not have dominion over us," because we are "under grace."  We are in such a state as wherein we have supplies in readiness to defeat all the attempts of sin for rule and dominion in us.
     But some may say hereon, they greatly fear they are not in this state...
     In answer hereunto the things ensuing are proposed: -

1. Remember what hath been declared concerning the dominion of sin.  If it be not known what it is and wherein it doth consist...  A clear distinction between the rebellion of sin and the dominion of sin is a great advantage unto spiritual peace.
2. Consider the end for which aids of grace are granted and communicated by the gospel.  Now, this is not that sin may at once be utterly destroyed and consumed in us, that it should have no being, motion, or power in us any more.  This work is reserved for glory, in the full redemption of body and soul, which we here do by groan after.  But it is given unto us for this end, that sin may be so crucified and mortified in us, - that is, so gradually weakened and destroyed, - as that it shall not ruin spiritual life in us... although our conflict with sin doth continue, although we are perplexed by it, yet we are under grace, and sin shall have no more dominion over us.  This is enough for us, that sin shall be gradually destroyed, and we shall have sufficiency of grace on all occasions to prevent its ruling prevalency.
3. Live in the faith of this sacred truth, and ever keep alive in your souls expectation of supplies of grace suitable thereunto.  It is of the nature of true and saving faith, inseparable from it, to believe that the gospel is the way of God's administration of grace for the ruin of sin.  He that believes it not believes not the gospel itself, which is "the power of God unto salvation," Rom.1:16... This is the fundamental principle of the gospel state, that we live in expectation of continual communications of life, grace, and strength, from Jesus Christ, who is "our life," and from whose "fulness we receive, and grace for grace."... This faith, hope, and expectation, we are called unto by the gospel; and when they are not cherished, when they are not kept up unto a due exercise, all things will go backward in our spiritual condition.
4. ... Does [sin] take advantage from our darkness and confusion, under troubles, distresses, or temptations?  On these and the like occasions it is required that we make especial fervent application unto the Lord Christ for such supplies of grace as may be sufficient and efficacious to control the power of sin in them all.  This, under the consideration of his office and authority unto this end, his grace and readiness form special inducements, we are directed unto, Heb. 4:14-16.
5. ... we may be sure we shall not fail of divine assistance, according to the established rule of the administration of gospel of grace.

     ... the truth stands firm, that "sin shall not have dominion over us, for we are not under the law, but under grace;"... the law gives no liberty of any kind, it gendereth unto bondage, and so cannot free us from any dominion, - not that of sin, for this must be by liberty.  But this we have also by the gospel.  There is a twofold liberty: - 1. Of state and condition; 2. Of internal operation; and we have both by the gospel... 

     The first consists in our deliverance from the law and its curse, with all things which claim a right against us by virtue thereof; Satan, death, and hell... This liberty Christ proclaims in the gospel unto all that do believe, Isa.61:1.  Hereon they who hear and receive the joyful sound are discharged from all debts, bonds, accounts, rights, and titles, and are brought into a state of perfect freedom.  In this state sin can lay no claim to dominion over any one soul.  They are gone over into the kingdom of Christ, and out from the power of sin, Satan, and darkness.  Herein, indeed, lies the foundation of our assured freedom from the rule of sin.  It cannot make an incursion on the kingdom of Christ, so as to carry away any of its subjects into a state of sin and darkness again...

     2.  ... Again, there is an internal liberty, which is the freedom of the mind from the powerful inward chains of sin... Hereby is the power of sin in the soul destroyed.  And this also is given us in the gospel.  There is power administered in it to live unto God, and to walk in all his commandments; and this also gives evidence unto the truth of the apostle's assertion.

     Thirdly, The law doth not supply us with effectual motives and encouragements to endeavour the ruin of the dominion of sin in a way of duty; which must be done...  It works only by fear and dread, with threatenings and terrors... "Do this, and live," yet withal it discovers such an impossibility in our nature to comply with its commands...  Now, these things enervate, weaken, and discourage, the soul in its conflict against sin; they give it no life, activity, cheerfulness, or courage, in what is undertaken.

   ... But the law makes nothing perfect, nor are the motives it gives for the ruin of the interest of sin in us able to bear us out and carry us through that undertaking.    Fourthly; Christ is not in the law; he is not proposed in it, not communicated by it, - we are not made partakers of him thereby.  This is the work of grace, of the gospel.  In it is Christ revealed, by it he is proposed and exhibited unto us; thereby are we made partakers of him and all the benefits of his mediation.  And he it is alone who came to, and can, destroy this work of the devil.... This "the Son of God was manifested to destroy."  He alone ruins the kingdom of Satan, whose power is acted in the rule of sin.  Wherefore, hereunto our assurance of this comfortable truth is principally resolved.  And what Christ hath done, and doth, for this end, is a great part of the subject of gospel revelation.


Amen!

Calvin: The Lord's Supper - the visible gospel...

I recently finished reading the biography Calvin by Bruce Gordon. Gordon gives a very accessible, balanced portrait of the man, his life and theology and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about this 16th century reformer.  I want to draw from Gordon's chapter on "Healing Christ's Body" to highlight a theme I've touched on before (here, here, and here), the feeding of God's people in the preaching of the gospel and the Lord's Supper:

• ... when asked in the Genevan catechism why God had instituted the signs of bread and wine, the response was 'the Lord consulted our weakness, teaching us in a more familiar manner that he is not only food to our souls, but drink also, so that we are not to seek any part of spiritual life anywhere else than in him alone'... Gospel and sacrament, for Calvin, are the same but different, and cannot exist without one another.  Humans, sensuous creatures that they are, require external forms as aid to faith, and this is what God has provided.  Eating the bread and drinking the wine are not simply an act, but together with the Word of God spoken from the pulpit they form the means by which the Christian receives Christ. (p.165)

From A Short Treatise on the Lord's Supper, Calvin wrote:

• Here, then, is the singular consolation which we derive from the Supper.  It directs and leads us to the cross of Jesus Christ and to his resurrection, to certify that whatever iniquity there may be in us, the Lord nevertheless recognises and accepts us as righteous - whatever materials of death may be in us, he nevertheless gives us life - whatever misery may be in us, he nevertheless fills us with all felicity.  Or to explain the matter more simply - as in ourselves we are devoid of all good, and have not one particle of what might help to procure salvation, the Supper is an attestation that, having been made partakers of the death and passion of Jesus Christ, we have every thing that is useful and salutary to us.

Gordon continues,

• Through the instruments of bread and wine God gives Christ to the people - to receive the symbols (bread and wine) is to receive what they signify (Christ).  The dynamic in Calvin's teaching is between knowledge and faith.  Through preaching, catechising and schooling the people are taught the nature of God and salvation through Christ.  They are instructed in the Christian life.  This is the knowledge revealed in scripture and it is the duty of ministers to teach and of laity to learn.  But Calvin did not mean mere head learning, as we might call it - facts about religion.  In learning of God and Christ a person begins to hunger for that salvation.  That is the work of faith, which opens eyes to the reality of sin and the goodness of God.  Yet because humans, even the faithful, are weak and sinful, they need to be continually fed.  This is the role of preaching and the Lord's Supper [emphasis mine]. (p.166)

Food For Thought: Preaching Christ as Food for Hungry Souls

Following up on my two posts (here and here) concerning feeding the sheep through word and sacrament, I want to present a couple of analogies to hopefully amplify what I think is lacking in much of the preaching in churches today.

As a thumbnail sketch: most pastors preach from the Bible.  There is usually a text upon which the sermon is based.  The passage is often presented in terms of its historical, doctrinal, and character settings.  As one listens, he may hear that God is loving, gives grace, and that there is much to be thankful for as a believer.  The listener is encouraged to trust in God's faithfulness as lessons are drawn from the verses.  The believer is admonished to go forth with renewed obedience trusting in Jesus and the ever-present grace and help of the Holy Spirit.  In the same way God was faithful to [list any number of Biblical characters], he is faithful to you, the present day believer.  As the song says, "trust and obey - there's no other way..."  What is missing?

Analogy #1: Imagine you are plagued with a failing heart, one riddled with disease.  You schedule an appointment with a skilled surgeon.  You go to the hospital.  You're taken into the operating room and the doctor enters.  From his scholarly medical books he begins laying out before you the procedures that have been developed over many years that have been shown to be successful in curing heart disease.  He explains in detail the countless individuals who have benefited from these amazing techniques.  Step by step and precept upon precept the medical procedure is detailed.  He concludes by explaining how one can be healed and live a normal life as a result of this amazing wonder of medicine.  He smiles, shakes your hand, gives you a bill  having finished what he came to do.

Analogy #2:  Imagine that you and many others have been invited to a dinner party hosted by a highly-trained chef.  You arrive at the restaurant in a very hungry state.  Upon entering the reserved dining room you observe an elaborately prepared setting.  The finest linen, expensive china dinnerware, sterling silver utensils, and fine crystal glasses adorn the table.  Everyone sits down.  The chef enters.  Appetites are whetted and hopes run high for a much anticipated and needed satisfying feast.

The chef then opens his cookbook and spends the next forty minutes describing how the meal is prepared.  He shows pictures of each course of the dinner while reciting all the ingredients with their proportions and nutritional values.  Most of all, he stresses how delicious, healthful, and sustaining the food is.  He then thanks everyone for coming, bids them farewell until the next dinner party.  The people leave, duly impressed and yet wondering what the aching, empty feeling in their stomach could mean.  You think to yourself, "if only I can remember these recipes and apply them better to my life..."

Preaching is more than good scholarly biblical exegesis. Sheep need to hear why they are hungry and that they are prone to look for food in all the wrong places. Sheep need to be fed.

"For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jer. 2:13)

  "Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (John 6: 27).  

As Christians we all too often trust in our own judgments and seek our own misguided answers for what ails us.  Or even more often, we settle into the dull despair of guilt and condemnation, wondering whether the problem is that there is something uniquely wrong with me (unlike other Christians!), which keeps me at a distance from the blessings of God.  In this life believers will always be sinners/saints.  We believe in Christ, seek to be faithful (in our better moments), and yet often wander in the fog of our own failed devices.  We know something is wrong within. Exhortations to "trust and obey" only exacerbate the feelings of failure and spiritual hunger.

* Pastors, identify what is going on in your sheep.  Diagnose it for what it is... our sinful beliefs and behaviors that still wage war against the spirit.  Though saved by the grace of God, sheep come to the church service wearied and dirtied with dust from the week's past sojourn.  Then having rightly diagnosed the inward reality of doubt and self-directed ways of the sheep, wash their feet by once again dispensing the heavenly food which is the Gospel.  Proclaim the Good News of Christ crucified that feeds, renews, sustains, and nourishes the believer's faith:

Oh people of God, what you have failed to do ... Jesus has done for you, in your place, by his perfect obedience.  Even more!  Jesus, by his death on the cross, paid your penalty and cleanses you from the filth of all your sin (past, present, and future) which sins so stubbornly assails your conscience. This is God's unbreakable covenant in his blood for you.

Christians need to hear that their sin which so easily entangles is in fact that which qualifies them for the remedy of God declared in gospel (Luke 5:31-32).  Real food - Jesus Christ crucified and risen for you - that assures of God's love (Romans 5:8) now, tomorrow, and forever.  The food of  the Gospel feeds our faith in God and brings forth a renewed heart and life which bears fruit, though imperfect in this life, as taught in The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion:

                                                      XII. Of Good Works.

Albeit that Good Works, which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after Justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.

Believers-still-sinners are fed through the Gospel preached, nourishing and strengthening a true and lively faith.  

And I will bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.  In those days and at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’ (Jer. 50: 19-20)

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Rom 5: 6-10)

Dispensing Food - Word and Sacrament...

In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer - The Ordering of Priests, as a new minister is ordained the Bishop exhorts:  And be thou a faithful Dispenser of the Word of God, and of his holy Sacraments; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Following up on my last post, "Feed My Sheep" - Preach Good News, which presents the view that the preaching of the Word is not primarily the giving of Biblical truths and information.  It is not intended to be basically a means of exhortation to more godly living.  The preaching of the Word is a means of grace by which Christ feeds his sheep.  And this food is the Gospel; specifically the righteousness of God received through faith.

Jesus himself makes the point in the Gospels that all of Scripture points to Him.  He is its main character.  His mission as the Lamb of God, the Redeemer of his people is the central drama.


John 5:  ³⁹ Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me; ⁴⁰ and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life.
Luke 24:  (Jesus and the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus) ²⁵ And he said unto them , O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  ²⁶ Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory?  ²⁷ And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself... (later, Jesus with the apostles) ⁴⁴ And he said unto them , These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me.⁴⁵ Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the scriptures; ASV

The above passage in Luke makes the point that not only did Jesus show that the entire Scripture foretold and spoke of him, but the he "interpreted to them in all the scriptures the thing concerning himself."  As J. Gresham Machen points out in Christianity and Liberalism, "But Jesus announced not only an event; He announced also the meaning of the event. It is natural, indeed, that the full meaning could be made clear only after the event had taken place. If Jesus really came, then, to announce, and to bring about, an event, the disciples were not departing from His purpose, if they set forth the meaning of the event more fully than it could be set forth during the preliminary period constituted by the earthly ministry of their Master."

And this is what I think Paul was getting at in 1 Corinthians 1 when he states "but we preach Christ crucified"; and continuing he writes, "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption."  The heart and purpose of the preaching of the Word is the putting forth of this good news - Christ crucified and the meaning (doctrine) of his life lived, his death and resurrection - as indispensable daily food - for the believer.  This must necessarily be presented as the context for all that is preached by the preacher precisely because the demands of the God's holy law, whether that in our conscience or that revealed in the Mosaic Covenant are woven into the very image of man and throughout all of Scripture.  The law demands sinlessness and perfect obedience - that which we do not have.  The gospel gives complete pardon for sin and a perfect righteousness received though faith - by the life lived and the sacrificial death and life-giving resurrection of  Jesus Christ.  As believers our sustenance cannot be found in the sacrifice of our obedience and good works offered to God.  No, our spiritual nourishment can only be found in Christ's sacrifice, his obedience and good works offered to God for the ungodly.  It is to this that the Holy Spirit points and bear witness.


Let's look back at that passage in Luke 24 and road to Emmaus account.  
²⁷ And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.  ²⁸ And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they were going: and he made as though he would go further.  ²⁹ And they constrained him, saying, Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent. And he went in to abide with them.  ³⁰ And it came to pass, when he had sat down with them to meat, he took the bread and blessed; and breaking it he gave to them.  ³¹ And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.  ³² And they said one to another, Was not our heart burning within us, while he spake to us in the way, while he opened to us the scriptures? ASV


Here we have the repetition of the Lord's Supper which Jesus instituted before his crucifixion.  He blesses the bread, breaks it, and gives it to his disciples.  From his Commentary on this passage Matthew Henry writes:  "See how Christ by his Spirit and grace makes himself known to the souls of his people. He opens the Scriptures to them. He meets them at his table, in the ordinance of the Lord's supper; is known to them in breaking of bread. But the work is completed by the opening of the eyes of their mind..."  The opening of the Scriptures and the breaking of bread work together to communicate Christ's saving benefits to the one who hears and receives.


Q. 96. What is the Lord’s Supper?
A. The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ’s appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.  (Westminster Shorter Catechism)


Article XXVIII Of The Lord's Supper reads in part:  ... it is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same, the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ, and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ... The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is Faith. (The 39 Articles of Religion)


In the Lord's Supper the Holy Spirit gives and through faith we receive the spiritual body and blood of Christ - the grace of his sacrifice for the pardon of our sins and his perfect righteousness as our own.  Thus in the Supper we eat and drink with thanksgiving the very same spiritual food, i.e. the Gospel, as proclaimed in the preaching of the Word, both being effectual means of God's grace for our justification and our sanctification.  The good news of Christ our righteousness proclaimed in the preaching of the Word thus strengthens and informs our faith as we then come to the Table receiving the same spiritual benefits dispensed in bread and cup.


"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.  In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'  (Jeremiah 33:14-16) ESV

"Feed My sheep" - Preach Good News

^{Gospel food for thought...}

¹⁵ So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. -John 21

In the passage from which the above verse is taken, Peter is commanded twice by Jesus to "feed" his lambs or sheep and once to "tend" his sheep. What does this mean? What is feeding the sheep? What is the food, and what is it aimed at, i.e. what is nourished or strengthened by that food? Whatever the answers, Jesus emphasizes its importance by twice commanding Peter, "Feed My..." This command is at the heart of what should be more in focus when it comes to the preaching of sermons, for it leads to a fundamental question - "what is the purpose of preaching?" Is it to teach? to edify? to inform as to the how to's of Christian living? How the question is answered will determine what will be offered to the sheep by the preacher.

Cutting to the chase - I don't think the sermon is primarily intended to show us how to live the Christian life. It is not essentially an essay of Biblical truth communicated through properly exegeted passages of Scripture in order that believers would walk in a godly manner. It is not implicitly or explicitly intended to be an "if - then" message to God's people. If you trust, if you believe this, if you allow the Spirit, if you walk this way - then blessings...

Any "do this" teaching, in and of itself, is essentially the giving of law. And law inherently proclaims what many Reformers referred to as the works principle - 'do this' and receive blessing, fail to 'do this' and receive curse. As important as it is to hear God's law taught, preaching should present more than just expressions of law. It should by intention also dispense a certain kind of necessary food - a sure means of grace - to the sheep; not an admonition, not examples of faith, not a demand or requirement, but food.

From The Westminster Shorter Catechism:
Question: How is the word made effectual to salvation?
Answer: The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them [converted sinners] up in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.

Indeed it is the Holy Spirit who is at work applying God's grace to us believers, believers who are still yet sinners. The sermon is meant to address a condition, and that condition is not an information problem, an encouragement problem, etc. The problem, if you would, for the believer is the same problem for the unbeliever. It is the moral problem resulting from the knowledge of God's law and the presence of sin - the ever present reality of how, in and of ourselves, we fall miserably short of the perfection required by God's law. And ever-lurking on our shoulders is the judgment of that law. This is not just some external template. It is written on our hearts, our consciences bearing witness.

From Romans 1:
¹⁹ because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them...
³² who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they that practise such things are worthy of death...
and Romans 2:
¹³ for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified:
¹⁴ (for when Gentiles that have not the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are the law unto themselves;
¹⁵ in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness therewith, and their thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing them);

David VanDrunen in his essay "Natural Law and The Works Principle Under Adam and Moses" (The Law is Not of Faith) writes: ... they [many Reformed theologians] teach that it is precisely the image-bearing nature with which God created human beings that makes his imposition of the works principle [moral law] upon them appropriate and even that the image-bearing nature itself impresses this natural knowledge of the law and its consequences upon human consciousness. [pg. 288]

As a sinner made in the image of God I'm inwardly aware of God's law and its consequences. I can't escape that. And as a sinner saved, I am also aware of an internal conflict between my new right-willed heart desiring to do good and my all-too-often reflexive sinful nature that does evil.

The Apostle Paul gives expression to this reality in the believer in Romans 7:
¹⁹ For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise...
²¹ I find then the law, that, to me who would do good, evil is present.
²² For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
²³ but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.
²⁴ Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?


Someone will say, "but we have been forgiven - justified - saved from sin!" Indeed the penalty for our sin has been borne by our Savior. By faith we have been accounted as righteous for Christ's sake. As our Mediator, Jesus has fulfilled our obligation to the law. But please don't assume that this is just information or truth which everyone has already absorbed. Jesus said, "Feed My lambs." We are but lambs who need to be fed again and again that gospel food for our comfort when the Word is preached. As Article XI from the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion states in part: "...Wherefore that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort..."

So here is a lamb sitting in the pew as law (do this) is preached - preached as it should be. Whatever is required of him - Old Testament or New - triggers an automatic image-bearing reality within him, uncomfortably reminding him not only that he has fallen short in the past (sins) and that of his own works he will fall short again in the future, but also of an evil resistance (sin) to holiness very present in him. And this corresponds to the true state of things as noted above by Paul. In this case the resultant judgment in his conscience is no trick of Satan, the Accuser of the brethren. Instead, it is the just verdict of God upon the things he has done and left undone in thought, word, deed and upon the very principle of sin which dwells within him.  From whence comes his comfort?

OK, back to the WSC - Question: How is the word made effectual to salvation?
Answer: The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.

The word rightly preached is an effectual means of grace applied by the Holy Spirit to sinners when the announcement of God's free gift of righteousness in Christ is proclaimed, heard, and believed. It declares good news that sinner-saints need to hear - news that strengthens faith and is laid hold of only through faith. We find no righteousness that faith can receive nor rely upon either in the law (it only demands and doesn't give) or within us. Preaching must cause us to look not only within, which the law does as it highlights our plight - our sinful condition - causing us, out of desperate need, to look for another righteousness. The sermon also needs to present God's comfort - the gospel - which invites us to look away from our rags of failed righteousness to the perfect righteousness of Another, One who has accomplished for us what we should do but can't. The food that feeds our faith is Christ Jesus crucified for our sins... Christ raised for our justification... Christ our substitutionary law-keeper. There in Him, our mediator, we find credited to us the verdict of "well done." In Him we find justification now and cause for a sure hope... the hope of righteousness on that final day. It is in the proclamation of this good news that the Holy Spirit leads us to the food of God - the Lamb slain for lambs. It is the very same food of grace that is offered and received by faith when we partake of the Lord's Supper. Food that convinces, converts, and builds holiness and comfort in sinners through faith which finds its object only in the always needed good news of the cross of Christ... And it is that gospel food that nourishes the sheep. And their response by the grace of God... is thankfulness with encouraged hearts and renewed obedience, walking by faith that looks not for a righteousness within themselves but a faith that looks away unto Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption. (1 Cor. 1:30)

All Scripture verses from the American Standard Version.