If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation, it must be by other means than any now being used. If the Church in the second half of this century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting.Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will be not one but many), he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom. Such a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt-spoken and a little bit angry with the world. He will love Christ and the souls of men to the point of willingness to die for the glory of the One and the salvation of the other. But he will fear nothing that breathes with mortal breath.
A. W. Tozer, The Size of the Soul, 128-129.
Reposted from 7/10/08
12 comments:
Got anybody in mind.??.??...
Nah - didn't think so, and therein lies the problem.
The gospel is not just relegated to pastorial duty. We should all be looking in the mirror and asking "Why not me?". And therein lies the problem. An excellent word again Glenn ... thanks for the read.
Agreed, but in this instance Tozer was referring to shepherds not to sheep - thus the basis for my comment.
Ali, I didn't misunderstand your statement and I realize Tozer,out of frustration, was making a statement concerning the condition of the pulpit. I'm sure the rebuke is also followed by a solution, but I'll still throw in my 2-cents worth [I don't know any better]. While at a session of electing elders at a church I used to attend [they believed in the un-Biblical merry-go-round approach ... elder for a while style] I suggested, much to the ire of my fellow brothers, that if no one met the Biblical qualifications that we shouldn't have any. Sadly, this is the reality of where many of us are. My rebuke is for the church in general. The solution is found on the other side of self-examination and repentance... and then obedience. This is where we'll find the feel-good church everyone's looking for. Still the the buck's going to stop at our own front doors. I vented with my 'Sheep Sheparding Sheep Shearing Sham' on my blog and then started the process of raising up, not only my standards, but a future shepard and therein lies the solution [I've already been the problem for too long]. If you have any luck finding someone, pop a line, I'm always looking for a good purusal, that's why I watch Glenn's site.
I could not agree more CE.
The problem lies within each of us and we as His remnant must be about our Father' business.
If we are looking for another Graham or Moody,Spurgeon or... I for one do not see such a man. Perhaps a closer look in the mirror will help..??..
Maybe we need an OLD type of preacher.
God is the same God now as he has always been--the Great I AM and he can raise up "these stones" to cry out to him even in our day....
Christian Ease is correct in that it starts with each and everyone of us. We must clean up at our own doorsteps before the Lord and let HIM use us as he sees fit..
we look for another Spurgeon, or Tozer etc but God may use what has always been most effective and that is persecution.. This will weed out all who are not truly saved and will purge the worldliness from many anemic Christians..
Matthew 13:44-46
Sell all your possessions . . . and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me (Luke 18:22).
What is the most valuable thing in your life? Some would say family—a spouse, children or parent. Others would list career, education or material possessions. Those struggling with sickness would likely say that health tops the list. Jesus illustrated this same question with two tiny parables (Matthew 13:44-46).
He told of two people who stumbled upon treasures. In both tales the message is the same: Our relationship with Jesus is of such great value that we ought to be prepared to give everything we have in order to possess it (vv.44,46).
Now it’s important not to misapply these parables. We have nothing of value that we can offer to God (Isaiah 64:6). We can’t buy our way into heaven, for our salvation is “a gift from God” (Ephesians 2:8-9). But Scripture does speak of our salvation as a ‘come [and] buy’ transaction of divine grace (Isaiah 55:1-2 NIV; Matthew 13:44-46; Revelation 3:18). I exchange my unrighteousness for Jesus’ righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9). His life for my life (John 10:10; Romans 6:8-9; Galatians 2:20). I can’t have treasure above unless I give up my treasures here below. The rich young ruler in Luke 18:17-24 wasn’t prepared to sell all his earthly possessions in order to have treasure in heaven (v.22). So he went away very sad (v.23).
Both men in Matthew 13:44-46 knew the great risks they were taking in liquidating all their assets. They weren’t wrong in assessing what is truly valuable (Philippians 3:7-8). Missionary Jim Elliot confidently said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Jesus is saying to you: “Sell all your possessions . . . . Then come, follow Me” (Luke 18:22). He promises you “treasure in heaven” and “a rich and satisfying life” on earth (John 10:10).
Anonymous 7/27,
I'm not sure what you are getting at. If what you are saying is that the command to "Sell all your possessions" is for everyone, then you are mistaken.
Please clarify what you meant.
you are quick to think others err, Glenn, possibly the message is for you. What do you treasure? Applause and praise in the galleries. Pride. Arrogance, all.
Prove the failure of validity of Christ's own words.
There is within the human heart a tough fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. It covets `things' with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns `my' and `mine' look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God's gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.”
― A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
Anonymous,
I have the strong suspicion you are the one from the Beth Moore posts, which I blocked. What is it about being anonymous? Even if I have to use “anonymous” to put on comments, I sign my name. I believe being “anonymous” is often due to cowardice.
You make an accusation about me being “quick to think others err.” I’m sorry, but I have to throw that right back at you. You are quick to think I err in my response, however, your last paragraph in the previous comment certainly appeared to be saying what I asked about for clarification. You then imply I seek applause and praise of men, which is totally false because I care only what God has to say.
Jesus was making a point in the Matthew episodes, that even though the claim was to follow Him, the heart was not really there if it meant giving up material possessions. It was NOT a command for everyone to do so. Having material possessions is nowhere condemned in Scripture - only the attitude towards them is condemned. After all, God made Solomon extremely wealthy.
If I was ever asked by Christ to sell all material possessions to follow him, I would gladly do so. But He has not done so, nor is there anywhere in Scripture where this is even hinted at as being a requirement to be a disciple.
In the future, if you are going to make a comment on an article, please keep it germane to the topic at hand.
Anonymous,
Having received and deleted your latest comment, it has been confirmed that you are who I thought you to be.
Your very unChristian behavior and your threats against my life, “in name of God” as so-called prophecy, just continue to demonstrate YOUR arrogance and belief that you speak for God.
You claim that because I have a “public platform” for my blog, I therefore seek the “praise and audience of men.” If that is the case, then you should apply the same charge against Beth Moore, who you so vehemently are fighting for. And the same charge should be leveled at every other blog, all books and all other media by any teacher. But you are hypocritical and attack only ONE person who exposed Beth Moore as a false teacher, while ignoring the hundreds of others who have done the same. You behave very much like a cult member defending the cult leader.
False teachers are to be publicly exposed as such so as to protect the flock. But you would have them continue on their way without any accountability, all the while dragging followers into heavy burdens from such false teachings.
You claim you withhold your identity to protect me, but that is a lie. You are a coward who sits behind your monitor and keyboard claiming prophetic voice from God. Your status as a false prophet will be exposed when I am still here on Saturday.
All of your comments and your letter have been saved so I can press charges. Now please quit harassing me.
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