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Related Topics: Curriculum, Marriage

God's Design for Building Your Marriage: A Study for Wise Women

Even before the first man and woman sinned, God established marriage. It is not a prison established by culture but a beautiful institution created by God for the best in family and society. So often we seek answers to our marriage problems from the world--psychologists, secular family counselors, friends, or even the Oprah Show--instead of from the only One who knows. Where have you sought help for your marriage? Have you been guilty of thinking that people know more than God? Join us on a ten-week adventure of discovering what God says about His plan for marriage.

Related Topics: Curriculum, Marriage, Women

Lesson 17: Lessons in Loneliness

Kate rolled over at the sound of the alarm, glanced at the clock, and wondered if she wanted to get up. Why bother? The house was silent. All three of her children had left for college over the past two days, and their absence hung heavily in the air. To make matters worse, the family dog had died a month ago, and even his friendly little wagging form had been removed from her life.

She wandered into the kitchen where her husband Hank was reading the sports page. "Hi, honey," she murmured. "Hmmm . . ."

Hank's eyes never left the paper. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the window, staring at the September garden.

Hank stretched and groaned, got up and headed for the closet. Grabbing his suit coat, he walked toward the front door. "See you . . ." The door slammed, and Kate listened as the car started and backed out of the driveway, its sound fading into the cool morning air.

How would she fill another empty day? Kate dialed a couple of friends' phone numbers, but reached only their answering machines. She turned on the TV, made her way around the channels, then flipped it off in frustration. "I'll go to the mall," she decided aloud, smiling grimly at the bumper-sticker reality: "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping."

The mall was crowded. Kate was caught in a tide of last-minute back-to-school shoppers, yet the crowds made her feel lonelier than ever. She sat at Starbuck's sipping a latte, watching the people chattering, laughing, and smiling at each other. 'Tears stung her eyes—she felt like the oldest shopper in the mall and the only one shopping alone. She fought off the idea that the world had somehow passed her by.

When she got home, Kate began to look forward to Hank's return from work. She decided to fight off her depression by making his favorite meal, which she did. The sound of his car pulling into the driveway gave her a surge of hope. Her solitary confinement was over!

Unfortunately, although Hank seemed to enjoy the dinner, he did so without comment. "How was your day, honey?" she inquired sweetly.

"Fine. Where's the TV Guide?"

She handed it to him, and he studied it during dessert. While she cleaned up the kitchen, Hank turned on the first in the series of sitcoms he would watch for the next three hours. Kate had a choice. She could sit at his side and watch with him. Or she could go into the den and spend the evening reading the new book she'd bought during her mall excursion. Either way, she would find no relief from the loneliness that seemed to follow her everywhere, dogging her steps like an unwelcome companion.

Lonely, But Not Alone

Loneliness. Even the word sounds sad, doesn't it?

What does it mean? Is being with people a solution? Is being married a remedy? Is having lots of friends a sure cure? Is being alone the same as being lonely?

According to Les Carter, "Loneliness is a feeling of separation, isolation, or distance in human relations. Loneliness implies emotional pain, an empty feeling, and a yearning to feel understood and accepted by someone."23

Here's another interesting observation from Tim Hansel: "Loneliness is not the same as being alone. Loneliness is feeling alone . . . no matter how many people are around you. It is a feeling of being disconnected, unplugged, left out, isolated."24

This means that we can be in a crowded room and feel isolated, locked in a bubble of our own. Like Kate, we can be married and lonely, yearning to be accepted as we are. This is one of the saddest kinds of loneliness there is. We can be at family gatherings and feel at a distance from other relatives. Loneliness is a feeling, not a circumstance. And all of us have felt it at some time because I don't think it's possible to find anyone who feels completely understood and fully satisfied all the time.

A Man Called to Loneliness

As we consider loneliness, we're going to revisit a man we met a few chapters ago. God called the prophet Jeremiah to live a very lonely life, and his loneliness came as a result of his commitment and obedience to God. In fact, that might be the very reason why some of us feel isolated and distanced from members of our families and some of our friends today.

As we read in Jeremiah 1 and 2, God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, a spokesman for God. He was to give God's words to a nation of idolatrous, wicked people. His messages were to be warnings of impending disaster, a judgment upon their rebellion against God and their worship of the pagan idols around them. We know Jeremiah was not courageous by nature; in fact he was timid and insecure. But God promised to make him strong and able to stand alone against the whole nation.

It was clear from the beginning that Jeremiah would never be a popular preacher who told people nice things about themselves. His message didn't exactly build their self-esteem. He gave them God's Word—and they hated it! Nobody ordered tapes of his messages. He didn't make many friends. Instead, he made very powerful enemies. TO make matters worse, the Lord gave Jeremiah some very hard orders. We find them in chapter 15 of the book of Jeremiah:

"Then the word of the LORD came to me: 'You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place' For this is what the LORD says. . . . 'They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like refuse on the ground.' . . . 'Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity from this people.' . . .

"'And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink. . . . Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place" (Jer. 16:1-5, 8-9).

Jeremiah would never know the intimacy, comfort, and joys of marriage and family. He couldn't even enjoy a normal social life, sharing the joys and sorrows of his community. God wanted his lonely life to be an object lesson for what would soon happen to the whole nation. Talk about isolation and loneliness! There was no safe place, humanly speaking, for Jeremiah to be loved, encouraged, and accepted.

God gave His prophet a very tough assignment, and it lasted more than forty years, growing progressively worse. It's a real comfort to me to observe that Jeremiah wasn't always on top of things. He had deep feelings. There were times when he mourned for his people and times when he bitterly complained about his lot in life, including his relationship with God. Here are just a few of his grievances:

"Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people" (Jer. 8:21-9:1).

"Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me! . . .

"I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long" (Jer. 15:10 and 20:7-8).

Wouldn't you agree that Jeremiah was a very lonely man? He was angry, frustrated, fearful, uncertain, and depressed. He knew his enemies wanted to get rid of him. He couldn't trust his friends. He felt sometimes that even God had deceived him. His life was so painful he wished he had never been born.

The interesting thing is that he expressed his feelings. He told God what he was thinking. Some of his complaints were a mixture of good and bad. He'd complain, then he'd remember God's promises, then he'd complain again. The reason Jeremiah was able to fulfill his mission for all those years was that he always came back to the Lord and remembered his promises to him. He said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you" (Jer. 32:17).

In the same way that Jeremiah was distressed because he believed God's promises of disaster and exile, he was encouraged and enabled to endure because he believed God's promises of a future restoration of Israel to the land that would be permanent. In the generations to follow, there would be no rebellion because God would bring His people under a new covenant that would be written on their hearts, not on tables of stone (see Jer. 31:31-34).

The Strength to Go On

Jeremiah could bear the hatred, the treachery, the plots against him, the imprisonment, the loneliness, even being stuck in the mud in the bottom of a cistern till he almost starved to death—he endured it all for the Lord's sake. He endured it because he knew he was doing what God told him to do, and he could see the big picture. He believed God would bring His people back to the land and to Himself. And even though Jeremiah wouldn't live to see it, he found comfort in its certainty.

Some of us experience isolation and distance from husbands, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers, just because we are believers and are living in obedience to God. Perhaps you aren't invited to family gatherings. Maybe your husband is angry because you won't do some of the things he wants to do. Or it could be that some of your friends have dropped you since you've begun to be serious about living according to Scripture. Jesus knew this would happen to those who trusted Him. He invited us to take an eternal perspective on what happens to us here for His sake, saying, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matt. 5:11-12).

Just as Jeremiah demonstrated for his people what was in their future, Jesus modeled for us what we can expect when we choose the narrow road of faith and obedience.

Imagine growing up with Jesus as a big brother—He must have been easy to live with, because He never sinned at all. Yet in spite of that fact, when he embarked on His ministry, His own brothers didn't believe in Him and thought He was crazy (see John 7:5 and Mark 3:21). He often felt isolation and lack of intimacy with His disciples in the three years He was training them. They were selfish, ambitious, unspiritual, and often unbelieving. Even when He needed them most as He prayed in the garden before His agony, they kept falling asleep, unable or unwilling to share that terrifying, heartbreaking time with Him.

Jesus certainly knew what it was to have His closest friends betray, deny, disappoint, and abandon Him. And the worst part about His substitutionary death for us was enduring, in the hours He hung on the cross, a seeming eternity of separation from God—the penalty for sin.

There was ultimate loneliness in Jesus' heart-rending cry: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:45). He endured separation from God, which is spiritual death, so we would never have to know it. He died to spare us the agony He experienced. And He lives today, willing to help us solve the problem of our lonely feelings.

The Causes of Loneliness

There are three basic causes for feelings of loneliness or alienation: separation from God, from others, and from ourselves. Let's examine each of these causes and consider ways to ease the pain of loneliness.

Separation from God

God created us to live in fellowship with Him, but sin broke that fellowship. As human beings, we are born with a capacity to know God; but we are also born without the knowledge of God and without a relationship with Him. God loved His fallen race so much that He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to die for our sins so that we might be restored to fellowship with God through faith in Christ.

Even those of us who have trusted Him and have been given new life experience times when we feel alienated from our heavenly Father. Fortunately, we're always the ones who have moved away—sin breaks our fellowship with God. That's why He has provided a way for us to be continually cleansed and forgiven when we confess our sins to Him. He doesn't want us to be lonely for Him.

We may be lonely for people, for friends, for a mate, but if we have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, we never have to be lonely for God again. We have His constant assurance that He is always with us and in us. Augustine rightly said, "Our hearts are restless, O God, until they find their rest in Thee." In order to grow closer to Him, we need to cultivate our fellowship with God. There are some practical ways we can do that:

Quiet Time. Take just fifteen minutes at the start of your day to read some Scripture and pray.

Memorize Scripture. During the day, when you have to wait in a doctor's office or even at a traffic light, work on memorizing a verse you have in your purse or taped to your dashboard. Have verses available in your office desk so you can work on them at lunch or during your breaks. You'll be surprised at how many lost minutes you can recapture in a day.

Practice the Presence of God. Send up "arrow prayers" all day. Keep the spiritual "phone lines" open. This will cause you to be more responsive to the nudging of His Spirit. You will be more sensitive to sin. You will be more obedient to His Word. And you'll find that your close fellowship with your heavenly Father will ease the loneliness, which is the worst of all, that sense of separation from God.

Separation from People

God also created us to have relationships with other people. When He first created Adam, He said, "It is not good for man to be alone." But every relationship has its times of stress and disappointment. We all want to be perfectly free to be ourselves and to be accepted as we are, but that never works 100 percent of the time. There are times, for various reasons, when close friendships are disturbed. Occasionally, we even feel a distance from those we love the most.

It's very lonely to know a lot of people who are just acquaintances. We all put on happy faces when we meet. But how do we establish the kind of friendships in which we can be ourselves? How do we connect at a meaningful level? There are some steps we can take.

Reach Out to Others. Instead of waiting for the phone to ring, take the initiative. Many times the friend you want to know better is waiting for someone to call her. Suggest lunch or a casual dinner at your place. Plan an outing together, if you are both interested and compatible.

Share a Common Interest or Service. Another way to make friends is within church groups. Women get better acquainted when they share studies or serve in an outreach together. As we work side by side, share our needs, and pray together, we find other women who are drawn to us, and vice versa. Women need each other. We accomplish more as a team than we could ever accomplish alone.

Accept Others As They Are. Don't make friends to reform them. This doesn't mean that friends can't help each other overcome bad attitudes and flaws. But it can't be done within the context of condemnation. Love is the great motivator. When I know that I am loved and appreciated, it's not as painful to hear someone advise me that I should try a different approach to a situation.

Share Your Thoughts As Your Confidence Grows. Friendships deepen when we realize we can trust another person. Once trust is established, we are able to open our hearts to each other, drop our masks, and be real. Many times we struggle with loneliness because we keep our problems and real feelings all bottled up inside. But when we begin to talk about them, they are whittled down to size. Even if a friend has no solution, just talking about a difficulty helps. Knowing that someone else cares and is praying for us often eases our sense of isolation. We need to recognize that pride is often what keeps us from being honest and real, adding to our sense of isolation.

Sometimes our feelings of loneliness indicate a sense of alienation from ourselves. When we are completely honest, we'll admit there are things in our personalities we don't like. There are times when everything seems to be going wrong and we are frustrated and discouraged. When we dwell on our failures and shortcomings, we generate our own loneliness. And this usually leads to more problems.

There are some positive efforts we can make to change our sense of self-alienation:

Respond to God's Love. Choose to believe that God loves you, and receive His love. You are His unique creation. He will give your life significance. When you and I accept God's evaluation of us, we won't be controlled by our own feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. We will have confidence in His ability to make us the person He wants us to be. We will be free to be ourselves, controlled by His Holy Spirit. When you know you are loved, it changes the way you feel about yourself.

Jeremiah's isolation and loneliness were eased when he remembered who God is and when he believed His promises. Jesus experienced the worst separation in time and eternity so that we could have the love, fellowship, presence, and guidance of God forever. The psalmist said it well:

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever . . .

As for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds. (Ps. 73:23-26, 28)

The psalmist's words are as true today as they were then. We may be alone, but we don't have to be lonely all the time.

Knowing God loves us and has control of our lives should give us an assurance that He will meet our needs. He may not give us all we want, but He will give us what we need. If you have been living with a feeling of loneliness and you've put your life on hold until things change, stop it today! Tell the Lord that knowing Him is more important than any other relationship. Tell Him you want to get out of the spiritual playpen and grow to maturity. Emotional immaturity will hinder your spiritual maturity. Your feelings aren't the most important part of you.

Act with Your Will. God gave you a will so you can make choices, and He intends for you to act with your will. He wants you . . .

  • To choose to obey Him.
  • To choose to be satisfied with the life He's given you.
  • To choose to be thankful for the way He has made you.
  • To choose to accept the love, forgiveness, peace, joy, and fellowship He offers you in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Every blessing of God is wrapped up in Jesus. When we act with our will to receive Him for our salvation, He comes to live within us, bringing with Him all the promises of God. We don't have to look anywhere else to find joy, peace, acceptance, security, and significance. We must simply act with our wills to receive whatever we need from Him. Provision for our every need is offered to us without cost, through the mercy and grace of God. But it isn't really ours until we take it for ourselves—by faith.


23 Carter, Mind Over Emotions, 121.

24 Tim Hansel, Through the Wilderness of Loneliness (Elgin, Ill.: David C. Cook, 1991), 59-60.

Related Topics: Women's Articles

2. Show Me Thy Glory

Some people thoroughly fascinate me. Soon after I meet them I sense that there is something extraordinary about them. They think deeply and profoundly about things. Their ideas are creative and interesting. Their suggestions are practical and profitable. They exude an unusual radiance and concern for others. I find myself asking them questions and listening intently to the answers because I want to get to know them better, find out what they think, how they feel, and what makes them the people they are. Getting to know them is immeasurably helpful to me.

One day it occurred to me that God is the most fascinating person alive and that getting to know Him could well be the most helpful thing that ever happened to me. The more I probed His nature the more convinced I became that knowing Him is the solution to most of my problems. And as I listened to others share their burdens with me as their pastor, I became convinced that knowing God better was the answer to many of their problems as well. I decided that I want to get to know God intimately, and that I want to help others get to know Him as well, if I possibly can.

Many Bible students believe as a result of their examination of Scripture that the Christian’s most important occupation is getting to know God. Would you say that you know God personally? If so, how well? Barely? Casually? Intimately? Polls reveal that, in spite of the increased secularization of our society, the great majority of Americans still believe in the existence of God. Nearly everyone has had doubts about it at some time or other, but when the average person considers the evidence thoughtfully, he comes to the convinced persuasion that there is no other logical explanation for things as they are or life as we know it. There must be a personal God.

But if those same people were asked, “Do you know God personally?” many would admit that they had never actually thought about it. Having a personal and intimate relationship with God is something that has never occurred to them. In fact, they are not even sure that God is knowable, or that they would want to know Him if they thought they could.

All of us have our own mental image of what God is like. Psychologists tell us that it is formed largely through our relationships with our earthly fathers. For some, God is an angry tyrant who is upset with them most of the time. Who wants to know a god like that? For others, God is a strict disciplinarian who is always watching over their shoulders, ready to rap them on the knuckles if they step out of line. They want to get as far as they can from a god like that. For still others, God is an absentee father who is too busy or too aloof to care about them. He created them but now He has more important things to do. There isn’t much sense in trying to get to know a god like that. And for yet others, God is like an old fashioned great-grandfather who might be nice to know, but who really wouldn’t understand them or have much in common with them if they did know Him. So why bother to make the effort?

Most people would like to feel that God is on their side rather than against them, or that He will be there when they need Him. But know Him personally? That concept is foreign to them. I have often wondered what God thinks about all this. He is a person, you know. He does think. And He does have feelings. How would you feel if you kept sharing yourself with others in overtures of friendship, but most everybody to whom you reached out refused to accept you or refused to believe what you had to say about yourself? They insisted instead on perpetuating their own preconceived notions about you and went on ignoring you. That may be how God feels about the situation.

God is knowable, and He does want to be known. As a matter of fact, He tells us that our eternal state depends upon knowing Him. Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Knowing God and His Son Jesus is the heart of the whole matter of eternal life. The word know in this verse does not refer to a casual acquaintance either. It is the kind of knowledge that comes through living contact and personal relationship. If knowing God is that important, maybe we ought to talk about how we can get to know Him.

The One To Be Known Must Reveal Himself

What does it mean to know somebody? Obviously, we must first know something about him, what he is like, how he thinks, and how he is likely to act under certain circumstances. And that can only happen when he reveals himself to us.

If I want to get to know you, I need to make myself available to you, reach out to you in a friendly way, and show an interest in you. But that will accomplish very little unless you are willing to reveal yourself to me. You are the key. You decide whether or not I will ever get to know you. If you want me to know you, you will open up and tell me about yourself—what you are thinking, what you really believe, what you are feeling. You will be yourself in my presence, that is, act in a normal manner consistent with your true personality. You won’t put on airs, wear a facade, mask your true self, or always put your best foot forward.

One reason some Christians enjoy so few genuine friendships is that they are afraid to let people know them, afraid they wouldn’t be liked or trusted if anybody knew the real person inside. So they play the old game of cover-up. God is not like that. He wants to be known. He is confident that the better we know Him, the more we will love Him, trust Him, worship Him, and serve Him. So He takes the initiative and opens up. He tells us about Himself. He reveals Himself to us. It has to be that way. There can be no personal knowledge of God unless He makes Himself known.

How does God reveal Himself? One way is in nature. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). He also reveals Himself in history. As King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon learned, “the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind” (Daniel 4:17). The Apostle Paul taught us that God reveals something about His holy standards through man’s conscience (Romans 2:14-16). But none of these give us very many particulars about God’s personality or nature. We need something more. We need to have Him talk with us. And He does that, not through spooky voices or mystical experiences, but through Scripture. They are God’s words to us. They were given by the breath of His mouth (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16; Matthew 4:4). In the Bible God tells us what He is like. We learn how He thinks, how He feels, and how we can expect Him to act. If we want to know God, we must begin by opening the Bible and reading what He has to say about Himself.

But God is infinite, and we are finite human beings. How can the finite ever really understand the infinite? How can the human ever truly know the divine? It seems that God must reveal Himself to us in some way more personal than mere written words if we are ever to know Him genuinely. And that is exactly what He did. “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:1-3). Jesus Christ is the out-shining of God’s glory and the perfect expression of God’s essential being. To know Him is to know God. Jesus Himself made that claim when He said, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him” (John 14:7).

While Jesus has returned bodily to Heaven, God has given us both the inspired record of His life as well as the spiritual faculties we need to know Him personally. We can know Christ just as intimately as if we walked with Him on earth as His first disciples did. And to know Him is to know God.

Of course, the spiritual faculties we need are not operative when we are born. Scripture says they are dead. They need to be made alive toward God (cf. Ephesians 2:1). God does that for us when we acknowledge our guilt and put our trust in Christ’s payment for our sins at Calvary. In a second birth, a spiritual birth, a birth from above, He gives us eternal, spiritual life (cf. John 3:3, 16). He enters our being in the person of His Spirit and brings us into a personal relationship with Himself. Then we can confidently say, “I know the Lord.” The knowledge of God begins at the cross of Jesus Christ. This is the knowledge He was referring to when He claimed that eternal life was a matter of knowing His Father and Himself. Knowing God in this sense means becoming a true Christian.

From that point on we have the spiritual resources to get to know Him better. And that is what He wants us to do. He encourages us to grow in His knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). But how is that going to happen? He has taken the initiative and has revealed Himself. The next step is ours.

The One Who Wants To Know Must Respond

Cultivate a Desire. Let’s go back to our human illustration for a moment. If I want to know you, first you must open up to me and share yourself with me. But I am still not going to know you very well unless I respond to your self revelation. The quality of my response will depend to a large degree on the intensity of my desire. Has my first insight into your personality whet my appetite to know more? Do I wish to pursue the relationship and carry it to a deeper level? While you were the key originally, now I am the key. I decide whether or not I will ever know you better.

Some Christians have not made much of a response in their relationship with God. They have learned enough about Him to acknowledge their need for salvation, and they have met Him personally and experientially in a saving relationship, but they have never moved on from there. Unfortunately they have gotten lousily entangled in too many other pursuits, and their time for getting to know God better has been crowded out. Though they know Him, it is not a very intimate and thorough knowledge. That could explain some of the problems in their lives, things such as nagging worries, endless fears, stifling guilt, a sour disposition, a gloomy outlook, and spiritual or emotional depression, since an inadequate knowledge of God will affect all these areas of life. And things will probably not change very much until they do develop a burning desire to know God more intimately.

Getting to know God better could well be the single most important issue in the Christian’s life. It affects so many aspects of our spiritual walk. For example, most believers who desire to please God want to know His will. They are asking, “What does God want me to do?” Knowing Him better will provide the answer to that question. As our knowledge grows, we will begin to think as He thinks, see things as He sees them, be burdened about the same things that burden Him. We will not need to ask what He wants us to do. We will know. And that is a good reason to begin cultivating a desire to know Him.

Moses had that desire. We read about it shortly after Israel’s idolatrous worship of the golden calf. Moses had pitched a tent outside the camp and was meeting there with God regularly. God was speaking to him face to face as a man speaks to his friend, and Moses was getting to know Him. But he wanted to know Him much better. “Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found favor in Thy sight, let me know Thy ways, that I may know Thee” (Exodus 33:13). That was the desire of his heart—to truly know God. His request resulted in a great promise from God: “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). It was a beautiful assurance of God’s perpetual guidance and care.

But even that was not enough for Moses. Every new revelation of God stirred a hunger in his heart for more. With a longing in his soul he cried, “I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!” (Exodus 33:18) God’s glory is the sum total of all his attributes. Moses yearned to know all that a human being can possibly absorb about an infinite God. His soul thirsted for a knowledge of God. That is how a person gets to know Him. He realizes that life in this world is empty and meaningless apart from an intimate and thorough knowledge of the living God who made the world and controls it, who made him and gave him life. He longs to know God and he cries out from the depths of his soul, “Show me Thy glory.” That person is ready for an earthshaking, life changing, experiential knowledge of God.

David had the same desire. We see it repeated throughout the Psalms:

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to meditate in His temple (Psalm 27:4).

To dwell in the house of the Lord was to live in intimate fellowship with the Lord. That was David’s passion:

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for Thee, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
Where shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1-2)

O GOD, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly;
My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1).

Paul had the desire as well: “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8). All the position, praise, power, prestige, and possessions of earth were like trash compared to the excellency of knowing Christ because those things have no eternal value. They were not worth occupying his mind.

Why would anyone want to sit around and long after trash? Yet that is exactly what some believers are doing. They crave the things of the world instead of the knowledge of God; they long for the debris at the city dump when they can have the best life has to offer—an intimate relationship with the living God. The overpowering passion of Paul’s life was to know Christ (Philippians 3:10). That may have been one of the prime reasons God used him so powerfully. The desire was there. Ask God to give you that same desire, to help you cultivate a thirst for Him. Then begin reading His Word with an eye open to what He says about Himself. Each new revelation will create a desire to know more.

Accept What God Reveals. After cultivating the desire, the next step in our response to God’s self revelation is to accept what He makes known about Himself. That is the body of information we call the attributes of God. An attribute is an inherent characteristic, whatever God reveals as being true of Himself. It is not so much a part of God or a quality that He possesses as how He is or what He is—the essence of His being, His nature, His character. God and His attributes are actually one. As we study these attributes we are going to learn not only what God is like, but who God is.

Some theologians draw a sharp distinction between God’s essence and His attributes, but that seems to be unnecessary. The sum of His attributes constitutes who He is, His essential being. If you described all the properties of something you would be describing what it is, its essence. Just so, if you could describe all of God’s attributes you would be describing His essence, who He is.

Obviously, we do not know everything there is to know about God. We are limited to what He has revealed about Himself in His Word. And with our finite minds we cannot even comprehend all of that. But what we do grasp of what He has revealed can enrich our existence on earth immeasurably and provide us greater pleasure than any other pursuit in life. It brings us into personal touch with the living God.

There is also a debate among theologians concerning how the attributes of God are to be classified and cataloged. Some distinguish His natural attributes from His moral attributes, that is, those that belong to his constitutional nature in contrast to those that qualify him as a personal, moral being. Others separate the communicable attributes from the incommunicable, that is, those that can be understood by comparing them to something in human life in contrast to those that have no human counterpart. Others insist there are immanent attributes that relate to God as He is, and transitive attributes by which He reveals Himself to His creation. Why do we need to classify God’s attributes? He is who He is. I would prefer simply to know Him as He is and not try to pigeonhole each attribute.

As we see God reveal Himself in His Word we may say at times, “That is not the way I have always thought about God.” But what we have always thought is not particularly important. Concentrating on that may only confuse us. We need to focus on what God has told us about Himself. For example, if I have preconceived ideas about you that are inaccurate, yet I continue to hold on to those ideas after you tell me the truth about yourself, I will obviously never get to know you. I must accept what you tell me about yourself. Just so, when God tells us who He is and how He acts we need to believe Him. That is essential to knowing Him. But there is still something more that we need to understand.

Involve Your Entire Being. After the desire has been cultivated, and the decision to accept what He reveals has been made, there must be a definite commitment to Him that involves our total being. In our human illustration, I cannot get to know you intimately unless I commit myself to spend time with you, take an interest in what interests you, get concerned about what concerns you, and rejoice in what brings joy to you. I must become totally involved in your life. Unfortunately, many of us have stopped short of that point in our knowledge of God.

If we really want to know Him, it is going to involve our total person—intellect, emotions, and will. Unfortunately, we live in a day of extremes. On one hand are the superintellectuals who know all the doctrines about God, yet feel nothing in their relationship with Him. On the other hand are the supersentimentalists who can drum up a great emotional religious experience, but do not know the facts about God. In between are all kinds of people who say they know God yet do not exercise their wills to obey Him.

All three parts of our personality are involved in knowing God. First, we learn about Him with our intellects. We study the Word, absorb the information He reveals about Himself, meditate on it, then think through its implications and applications to our way of living. That is all the function of the mind. The mind must be involved in knowing God. If we do not have accurate information about Him, we cannot say we know Him.

But we must not stop with the mind. As we learn more about Him we become more emotionally involved with Him. And that is nothing to be afraid of. There is no reason to back away from the emotional expression of our faith. When we see the depths of His love for us it might well bring tears to our eyes or shouts of joy to our lips. It will certainly inspire greater love for Him. When we understand the far reaching implications of His goodness and grace toward unworthy sinners such as we are, we may burst into song, even if we cannot carry a tune. When we realize how deeply we have hurt Him by our sin we will feel grief. When we experience the reality of His forgiveness we will feel relief, and love, and joy, and a sense of security. When we see people spurn Him our hearts will be saddened. These are all emotions, and a true knowledge of God cannot eliminate them.

But we do not stop with an intellectual knowledge of the facts and some exciting emotional experiences. We must do something about what we have discovered. We must choose by an act of our wills to live in a manner consistent with the information we have received and the feelings we have encountered. Not everyone does that. Paul told us about people who professed to know God but denied Him by their deeds (Titus 1:16). John went so far as to say that the person who says he knows God but refuses to obey Him is a liar (1 John 2:4).

Let’s go back to the human illustration again. If I have gotten to know you intimately, you will expect certain things from me, things such as loyalty, faithfulness, trust, fellowship, an open sharing of myself with you, and a desire to please you. Those are things I must choose to do by an act of my will.

We cannot really say we know God just because we have accumulated some facts about Him or had an emotional experience with Him. If we truly know Him we will choose to do what He wants us to do. We will talk with Him, freely tell Him what is going on inside us, honestly admit where we fall short of His expectations, implicitly trust what He tells us, depend on Him, submit ourselves to Him, obey Him, and worship Him all because of who we have discovered Him to be. As we relate to Him in that way our personal knowledge of Him will grow even more meaningful and fulfilling.

Our willingness to obey God can increase our understanding of Him immensely. For example, if I express my willingness to obey your instructions, I am going to learn a great deal about you from the things you ask me to do. The more I obey, the more you will instruct me, and the more I will learn. When I stop listening to what you want me to do I will stop growing in my knowledge.

Anne Sullivan, who tutored the blind and deaf Helen Keller, recognized that it was useless to try to teach her anything until the young girl learned to obey her. She became convinced that obedience is the gateway through which knowledge enters the mind of a child. The same is true for the child of God. Obedience is the gateway to our knowledge of Him. Some of us have reached a roadblock in our relationship with God. Knowing Him better will first require yielding our wills to Him fully and deciding to obey Him unreservedly.

If that issue is settled and you want to go on growing in your knowledge of God, I would like to help by bringing together some of the information He has revealed about Himself in His Word. I feel most inadequate to do that, but I want to try. The rest is up to you. You will need to believe what God says, then commit yourself to total involvement with Him. It may mean some changes in the way you live, but the benefits will be enormous. Maybe it would be profitable to review a few of those benefits before we go on to explore God’s attributes. That is the purpose of the next chapter.

Action To Take

Determine first that you will ask God daily to show you something about Himself, and secondly that you will read some portion of Scripture daily, looking for some truth about Him. Begin right now.

Related Topics: Theology Proper (God)

The Net Pastor's Journal, Eng Ed, Issue 20 Summer 2016

Summer 2016 Edition
Author: Dr. Roger Pascoe, President,
The Institute for Biblical Preaching
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
(http://tibp.ca/)

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“Strengthening the Church in Biblical Preaching and Leadership”

Part I: The Power For Preaching, Pt. 3 Continued

“The Power of the Holy Spirit”

In the last three editions of this journal we have been discussing the subject of the power of the Holy Spirit for preaching. In the last edition, we asked several questions like: (1) What is Spirit-empowered preaching? (2) Why do some preachers seem to have the power of the Spirit while others do not?

In this edition we are going to address another question that this subject raises: What is the difference between the “filling” of the Spirit and the “empowerment” of the Spirit? Here it is important to understand three distinctions between the baptism, the filling, and the empowerment of the Spirit (adapted from Dr. Stephen F. Olford).

1. The baptism of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13) represents our “spiritual position” in Christ. This occurs only once at the time of our regeneration, at which time we are “indwelled” by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Tim. 1:14; James 4:5). All believers are baptized / indwelled by the Spirit.

2. The filling of the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) reveals our “spiritual condition” in Christ. There is one baptism of the Spirit but many fillings of the Spirit. Filling signifies saturation, no room for the flesh, self, or sin. This is not the indwelling of the Spirit (that is a fact of new birth). This is being controlled by the Spirit, as we have already discussed. This is a function of living according to the new birth. This involves obedience to, submission to, dependence on, and allegiance to the Holy Spirit in everyday living. “This is normal Christian living and Christ-likeness” (Olford, Anointed Expository Preaching, 216). We are to “be filled” with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). This almost seems like a grammatical impossibility – an imperative in the passive voice; a command to do something that is done to us! But the conflict is resolved as follows: we obey the command by actively ridding our lives of anything that would grieve or quench the Spirit (by virtue of our manner of life, holiness etc.) and, in response, we are passively (i.e. something done to us) controlled by the Spirit as He works in us and through us in our lives and ministries.

3. The empowerment of the Spirit (Acts 1:8) reinforces our “spiritual vocation” in Christ. In order for our ministries to be effective for God, we need to be empowered by the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:1-5; 1 Thess. 1:5). We cannot produce spiritual results ourselves. We are engaged in a spiritual vocation which demands the sanction and efficacy of the Spirit in order to be effective. So, we must first be filled with the Spirit before we can be empowered by the Spirit to effectively preach God’s word. And I would argue that if we are truly filled with the Spirit, we will be empowered by the Spirit.

So, let me ask the same question as last time: Why are some preachers Spirit-empowered and others not? The difference has nothing to do with indwelling of the Spirit for all believers are indwelled by the Spirit. Rather, the difference seems to lie in the “filling” of the Spirit. Some preachers are “filled” with the Spirit and, thus, are able to serve in the “power” of the Spirit while others are not. If a preacher is not “filled” with the Spirit, then it stands to reason that his preaching will not be accompanied by the empowerment of the Spirit. Some preachers are living in obedience to the Spirit while others are not. Some preachers are gifted by the Spirit to preach and others are not. It’s all a question of how we live (whether we are in submission to and dependence upon the Spirit or whether we are living in our own resources) and how God has gifted us.

Therefore, if there is present in your life’s activities, thoughts, desires etc. anything that would “grieve the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 4:30), then the Holy Spirit will not be active in your life and ministry. It’s impossible. I am not denying the sovereignty of the Spirit to use even dumb donkeys or even unsaved people to achieve his purposes, but the principle in the believer’s life is that the Spirit does not operate for blessing when our lives are not suited to his indwelling. Similarly, if there are things in your life that would “quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19), then the Spirit will not be active in blessing or empowering your ministry.

It is right and proper, then, that we should want the empowerment of the Spirit in our lives and ministries. Indeed, we cannot conduct meaningful, fruitful ministry without the empowerment of the Spirit and the liberty of the Spirit to do his work in us and in our audience.

In order to preach with power, we must allow the Spirit of God to do His work in us, sanctifying us (so that we are usable by God), illuminating us (so that we understand the Word correctly), and enabling us (so that we can express the Word properly). And, the Spirit of God must do His work in our audiences, convicting them concerning sin, righteousness, and judgement to come (Jn. 16:11), and transforming them into people of God, Christ-followers. This is the evidence of the empowerment and, therefore, blessing, of the Spirit – vessels who are fit for the Master’s use and audiences whose lives are radically changed.

Let me now add a word of warning and a word of encouragement. First, a word of warning. Beware of “having a form of godliness but denying the power” (2 Tim. 3:5). Beware of thinking that because you can create a certain atmosphere in the congregation or draw out a certain response from them, that you are preaching with power. Beware of focussing on experiences, phenomena, and subjective feelings, while missing the genuine work of the Spirit. Beware that you don’t confuse preaching in the flesh with preaching in the Spirit. “When you preach in the energy of the flesh, you feel exalted and lifted up. When you preach in the power of the Spirit, you are filled with humble awe at the work of God” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, cited in Arturio G. Azurdia III, Spirit Empowered Preaching, Christian Focus Publications, 2003, preface).

We must be convinced every time we preach that “the message I am preaching can do no good to anyone unless it is accompanied by the Spirit of God” (Stuart Olyott, Preaching Pure and Simple, Wales, Bryntirion Press, 2005, 154). It is only the empowerment of the Spirit of God that can produce spiritual results. On our own, we can accomplish nothing.

How do you know, then, if you are preaching with the empowerment and blessing of the Spirit of God? You know it when the Word of God applied by the Spirit of God produces a response from the people. And you know that people’s lives are being changed when some get saved, marriages are restored, relationships are healed, people become more devoted disciples of Christ, people become more engrossed with the Word etc.

Now, a word of encouragement. This analysis of “the empowerment” (anointing, unction) of the Spirit ought to be a great encouragement to preachers, who day in and day out, year after year, are quietly serving God in their ministries, who are faithfully and accurately explaining and applying God’s Word, who are trusting the Spirit of God to take his Word and use it to the conversion of souls and the transformation of lives, such that people become fully devoted followers of Christ “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect person, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).

That’s Spirit-empowered ministry. It is the preaching of one whose sole desire is to glorify God, to magnify Christ, with a view to “presenting every person perfect in Christ Jesus” (Col. 1:28). I would argue that what we should seek in our preaching is God’s blessing, which will be manifested in such ways as: (1) fruit in our ministry (people being saved; people growing in Christ etc.), (2) spiritual fruit in our own lives (Gal. 5:22), (3) the affirmation of the leaders of the church in affirming us for ministry, and (4) the centrality of Christ and the glory of God in our preaching.

So, for those pastors and preachers who do not see visible results before, during, or after preaching, take courage. “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are so that no flesh should glory in his presence ...that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord’” (1 Cor. 1:27-29, 31).

May this article be an encouragement to us all as preachers, that we cannot accomplish the great purposes of God in the lives of our hearers, but through living holy lives, supplication in prayer, and dependence on the Spirit of God, we can be used by God for his sovereign purposes. Sometimes we may know what some of those results are, but many times we will not. Our comfort is that the work is God’s work – he alone can save souls; he alone can change people’s lives. Without that assurance our ministry would be discouraging. But with that assurance our ministry is fulfilling.

Part II: Preparing For Preaching

Outlining the Sermon

Up to this point, in our discussion of “preparing for preaching” we have been talking about selecting texts and topics, studying the text, analyzing and understanding the text, and identifying the structure of the text. That process can be both exciting and discouraging – exciting when you discover the flow of thought in the passage (i.e. the structure of the text), but discouraging when you work at it for hours and fail to discover it. Perhaps you can see why sermon preparation is hard work.

But now, finally, you are ready to prepare a sermon outline of the text. Perhaps you are wondering, “What is the difference between the structure of the text and the outline of the sermon? Are they not the same?” For some preachers they are the same. Many preachers preach from the structure of the text - and that’s alright, but it doesn’t really quite go far enough, because our sermon outline needs to reflect the theological principles and application of the text to us today, so that our congregations can see how it applies to them. One of our jobs as preachers is to bridge the gap between the ancient text, people, language, and culture, to our present day.

So, while a sermon outline follows and flows from the textual structure, it differs from the textual structure in that it determines how you are going to preach what the text says. By the time you have determined the structure of the text, you know the subject of the passage and what the writer says about that subject (the complements). In other words, you know what the author has written about and how he has arranged his material. Now you need to decide how you are going to preach the theology contained in the text and make it applicable to your audience today. I think that this is perhaps the most important function of a preacher, because this is something that our audiences do not usually do for themselves. They read the Bible and they understand what it says, but often they do not understand what it means and implies, and how it applies to us today. It is our job to communicate this.

Another question that may come to your mind is, “Why do we need our sermons to have an outline?” Many preachers do not use outlines and as a result fail to explain the theological meaning and implications of the text, as well as its application to today’s audience. Our sermons need to be structured because:

1. The entire Bible is structured. Each biblical writer has a purpose in writing. No writing in the Bible is haphazard (i.e. without structure and purpose).

2. If you do not have an outline that follows and flows from the structure of the text, you will not have a logical sermon that the people can follow.

3. If you do not have a clear, biblical structure, you will fail to preach a clear, biblical message.

A sermon outline is the “skeleton” of a sermon, the skeleton that the flesh of your message hangs onto, the “framework” that your exposition is nailed to. It is the main points that divide up and hold together the body of your sermon.

A good sermon outline accomplishes the following:

1. It divides your message into “main points” (i.e. sermon divisions).

2. It helps you present your flow of thought with clarity, order, unity, progress, completeness.

3. It keeps you on track by preventing you from wandering or forgetting important points.

4. It balances the message between the introduction, the body (explanation, application, illustration), and the summation.

5. It controls the length of the message by preventing the message from being too long or too short.

6. It serves as a road map (or, table of contents) for the congregation to follow.

7. It makes the message more memorable for the listeners.

A sermon outline divides the subject of the text into major divisions, which form the main points of the sermon. Then the main points may be further subdivided into sub-points, which merely clarify the main points by breaking them down into smaller units. However, the degree to which you subdivide your message is a matter of personal preference. I think that it is simpler for the audience to follow if you only use main points in your outline and preach your sub-points as explanatory material for the main point. You can still word your sub-points so that they stand out, but they flow with the explanatory material of the sermon and are not articulated as separate sub-points. Otherwise, your audience can easily lose track of where you are.

I try to make my main points stand out by using common wording and repeating them as I go. For example, Philippians 1:19-20 could be outlined this way:

1. We can have confidence in the prayers of Christ’s people (19a)

2. We can have confidence in the provision of Christ’s Spirit (19b)

3. We can have confidence in the preservation of Christ’s testimony (20)

You never want the sermon outline to overpower your message or to impress your audience. It merely gives structure to your message.

The starting point for a sermon outline is the main thought (subject) of the passage. It is important to write down the main thought and the statements about that thought (the complements) to form the core of the sermon.

Every sermon has to have structure. The main structural components of every sermon are: (1) the beginning (introduction); (2) the middle (exposition, body); and (3) the end (summation, conclusion). In turn, these main structural components need to achieve the following objectives:

1. Your introduction should…

a) Get your audience’s attention

b) Create a need that the sermon will address

c) Connect to the Scripture passage

d) State the subject

e) State your thesis (i.e. the overall point and teaching of the passage)

f) Transition to the body of the sermon

2. The body of the sermon is where you…

a) State and explain your main points

b) Illustrate your points where necessary and appropriate

c) Apply the teaching to your audience

3. In your conclusions you…

a) Summarize the points you have just brought out of the passage.

b) Help the audience to visualize the truth you have explained – i.e. to see what this teaching looks like in daily life.

c) Challenge them to actualize the truth – i.e. to put it into practice, to respond to the truth they have just heard.

Starting with the next edition of this journal, I will cover these sections of a sermon outline in the order in which you prepare them (not the order in which you preach them) as follows:

1. Wording the main points.

2. Stating the thesis - some people call this the proposition, or “the sermon in a sentence”.

3. Drafting the body of the sermon – the explanation (including illustrations) and applications

4. Structuring the close of the sermon.

5. Designing the introduction.

Part III. Devotional

“The Character Of The Gospel” (1 Cor. 1:18-25)

By: Dr. Stephen F. Olford

We come now to one of the most revealing passages on the subject of the gospel and the nature of the Christian ministry that we find anywhere in the New Testament. Paul has been dealing with the curse of divisions in the church, but now he proceeds to consider the causes of divisions in the church; and right through to chapter 4, he addresses two misconceptions that are basic to all division. The first is the misconception concerning the Christian message (1:18-3:4), and the second is the misconception concerning the Christian ministry (3:5-4:5). To begin with, let us consider the misconception concerning the Christian message. First of all, this involves a misconception concerning The Character of the Gospel. This is our message today from 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.

Let us remember as we address ourselves to these verses that Paul is writing to a church that was divided. As we have observed already, there were no less than four parties with their respective watchwords. Part of the problem was that the believers were being drawn to men rather than to the Master, but there was also the tendency to exalt the messenger instead of the message. So Paul is compelled to set forth a clear statement on the character of the gospel. He first of all speaks about:

I. The Gospel As God’s Distinctive Revelation To Man

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but unto us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). Paul’s emphasis here is not so much on the presentation of the gospel, as on the “word” of the gospel, as distinct from the wisdom of words referred to in verse 17. His supreme objective is to point out the uniqueness of the gospel as a revelation of the wisdom and power of God. These were the key words of the ancient world. The Greeks were ever seeking after wisdom, while the Jews were obsessed with signs. Thus Paul delineates the distinctive character of the gospel by observing:

1) The Wisdom of God in Contrast to the Wisdom of Man - “…Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). Paul leaves us in no doubt as to what he means by the wisdom of God. A little further down in the paragraph he says, “But…in Christ Jesus…God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). There is no greater statement on the message of full salvation than that which is contained in this verse. First, Christ is our righteousness. In and through Jesus Christ, we have been made right, or just, before a holy God. This aspect of the gospel answers the ancient question: “How can man be justified with God” (Job 25:4). Because Christ has died for our sins and risen again to justify us, we can know the righteousness of God imputed to us through faith in His Son. Secondly, Christ is our sanctification. We could never attain holiness in our own strength, but through His indwelling, sanctification is accomplished day by day. This work of grace sets us apart entirely for the purpose of God. In terms of behavior it means living out experimentally what we are positionally in Christ. Thirdly, Christ is our redemption. This word means “release” or “deliverance.” In this particular context it refers not only to redemption from the penalty and power of sin, but from the very presence of sin. It is that final act of God by which we are made to conform to the very likeness of Christ at His coming.

What a revelation of the wisdom of God in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But in contrast to this, Paul describes the wisdom of man. With the writer James, he agrees that man’s “…wisdom…is earthly, sensual, devilish” (James 3:15). Human wisdom is earthly. “…For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). Now here is an all-important factor to remember: that God in His wisdom has decreed that the world by its own wisdom should not and cannot know God. This forever annihilates the notion that man by his own reasoning or intellectual attainments can find God, let alone know God. Human education at its very highest and best is wholly inadequate. Human wisdom is sensual. This is why Paul, with a touch of irony, says, “…the Greeks seek after wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:22). There is nothing which appeals to sensual or carnal people like the so-called “intellectual approach” of sophisticated preachers or silver-tongued orators. Human wisdom is devilish. It is described thus because it is associated with the devil who fell by pride. This is why human philosophy is nothing more than intellectual arrogance and conceit. Every movement that has undermined the authority of the Scriptures – call it what you will: modernism, liberalism, or humanism – is all part of this philosophical approach. Because of human pride, men seek to be associated with famous names of the philosophical approach, not realizing that the Bible condemns it as devilish.

So Paul reminds the Corinthians “…it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1 Cor. 1:19-20). The whole point of this quotation is to show that man has to learn that all his schemes and efforts to accomplish his own salvation are utterly futile. God only saves through the word of the cross (Isaiah 29:14). The second quotation from Isaiah 33:18 illustrates how God utterly confused the worldly-wise counsels of the Jewish rulers. And what He did in those days long ago He has continued to do when men will not renounce their philosophical reasoning in favor of the wisdom of God. But in describing this distinctive revelation of God, Paul not only contrasts the wisdom of God as against the wisdom of man, but also:

2) The Power of God in Contrast to the Power of Man - “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but unto us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). How this reminds us of Paul’s great affirmation in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” At the heart of the gospel is the very dynamic of God which has power to save and to deliver. There is nothing else in the whole universe which can transform human life like the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The power of the cross is the only answer to human sin.

In contrast to this, there is the vaunted power of man. “The Jews require a sign…” (1 Cor. 1:22). As Leon Morris says, “The Jews, throughout their history, were very matter of fact. They showed little interest in speculative thought. Their demand was for evidence, and their interest was in the practical. They thought of God as manifesting Himself in history, in signs and mighty wonders.” This is why the Jews were forever seeking signs from the Lord during His earthly ministry (Matthew 12:38; 6:1, 4; Mark 8:11; John 6:30). They thought of the Messiah as One who demonstrated His authority by striking manifestations of power and majesty. To them, a crucified Christ was a contradiction of terms.

Thus Paul sums up his analysis of divine wisdom and power against human wisdom and power in those tremendous words found in verses 22, 23, and 24: “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”

The second characteristic of the gospel that Paul spoke about was: 

II. The Gospel As God’s Redemptive Invitation To Man

“But unto those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). Here is presented the perfect balance of the Christian gospel. Not only does God give us a revelation of Himself, but also an invitation to Himself. This is more than human wisdom and power can do. Consider then:

1) God’s Pleasure in the Gospel Invitation - “…it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). The word “preaching” is not the same as that found in verse 18. The emphasis here is on the proclamation of the glorious message of the gospel. Paul tells us here that the supreme pleasure of God, or more literally, “God’s good pleasure,” is that through the foolishness of preaching men and women should be saved. Could anything be more majestic and wonderful than that God should set His heart upon the sons of men, and that through the foolishness of preaching, communicate the saving message of the cross? But think again of:

2) God’s Purpose in the Gospel Invitation - “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). Here is a combination of words that comprehend the total saving work of God in Christ. Let us remember that every man outside of Christ is lost. Indeed, the verb rendered “perishing” denotes not extinction, but ruin and loss of well-being. A person who is perishing is failing to fulfill the very purpose for which God created him. But this is where the gospel of Jesus Christ meets him and saves him unto eternal life. The idea behind this word “saved” is not only that of reclamation but also of transformation.

But observe once again what we are calling:

3) God’s Process in the Gospel Invitation - “…it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe…But unto them which are called…Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:21, 24). There are two words which sum up the divine process in the gospel invitation. One is the word “call.” The other is the word “believe.” The one describes the offer of God, while the other denotes the response of man. Jesus is always calling men and women to Himself; and thank God, people out of every tribe, tongue, and kindred are responding. This glorious process will continue until the Body of Christ is complete.

So we see that this redemptive invitation of God demands a verdict. Man can never be confronted with the revelation and invitation of the gospel without giving an answer. If he believes, he is saved. If he rejects, he perishes.

Conclusion: The Corinthian believers were divided because they had false notions concerning the message of the gospel. This is why Paul takes pains in this first paragraph to set forth the true character of the evangel. Having treated it as thoroughly as we have seen, he concludes with the words, “…the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger that men” (1 Cor. 1:25). The philosophies and human demonstrations of power may come and go, but the gospel of Jesus Christ is unchanged and unchanging for its character is that of Jesus Christ Himself – “…the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Part IV: Sermon Outlines

To listen to the audio version of these sermons in English, click on these links: Link 1 - Jn. 10:1-2; Link 2 - Jn. 10:3-4; Link 3 - Jn. 10:4-8; Link 4 - Jn. 10:9

Title: Jesus is the Door (Jn. 10:1-9)

Point #1: False religious leaders are intruders (1-2)

1. They do not enter by the door but climb up some other way

2. They are thieves and robbers

Point #2: True religious leader are shepherds (3-5)

1. They lead God’s people by evoking our response (3a-b)

2. They lead God’s people by issuing us a call (3c)

3. They lead God’s people by giving us directions (3d-4b)

4. They lead God’s people by eliciting our trust (4c-5)

5. They lead God’s people by drawing us to Christ (6-9)

a) Christ is the door of the sheep (7-8)

b) Christ is the door of salvation (9a)

c) Christ is the door of liberty (9b)

d) Christ is the door of nourishment (9c)

Related Topics: Pastors

La Revue Internet Des Pasteurs, Fre Ed 20, Edition du l’été 2016

Edition d’été 2016
Auteur: Dr. Roger Pascoe, Président
de l’Institut pour la Prédication Biblique
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
(http://tibp.ca/)

C:\Users\Roger\Documents\My Documents\Institute for Biblical Preaching\Forms, Binder Cover Page, Logo\IBP Logos\IBP Logo.jpg

“Renforcer les capacités de l’Eglise

dans la Prédication Biblique et le Leadership”

Premiere Partie: La Puissance Dans La Predication, Pt. 3 Suite

“La Puissance du Saint Esprit”

Dans les trois dernières éditions de ce journal, nous avons élaboré sur le sujet concernant la puissance du Saint Esprit dans la prédication. Dans l’édition précédente, nous avons émis plusieurs interrogations telles que : (1) Qu’est-ce que la prédication accompagnée par l’onction de l’Esprit ? (2) Pourquoi certains prédicateurs semblent avoir la puissance de l’Esprit tandis que d’autres ne l’ont pas?

Au cours de cette présente édition, nous allons nous attarder sur une autre question que le sujet soulève: Quelle est la différence entre la « plénitude » de l’Esprit et « l’onction » de l’Esprit? Il est important de comprendre la différence qui existe entre les trois choses que sont le baptême, la plénitude et l’onction de l’Esprit (adapté de Dr. Stephen F. Olford).

1. The baptême de l’Esprit (1 Cor. 12:13) représente notre « position spirituelle » en Christ. Cela se produit une seule fois à l’occasion de notre régénération, moment auquel le Saint Esprit vient habiter en nous (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Tim. 1:14; Jacq 4:5). Tous les croyants ont reçu le baptême de l’Esprit/l’Esprit habite en eux.

2. La plénitude de l’Esprit (Eph. 5:18) révèle notre condition spirituelle en Christ. Il y a un seul baptême de l’Esprit, mais diverses plénitudes de l’Esprit. La plénitude signifie la saturation, c’est-à-dire qu’il n’y a point de place pour la chair, pour soi-même ou pour le péché. Ce n’est pas l’habitation de l’Esprit en nous (qui est la conséquence de la nouvelle naissance). C’est plutôt le fait pour nous d’être sous le control de l’Esprit comme nous l’avons dit plus haut. C’est la vie selon le principe de la nouvelle naissance. Cela implique l’obéissance, la soumission, la dépendance et prestation d’allégeance à l’Esprit dans la vie quotidienne. « C’est là la vie Chrétienne normale et à l’image de Christ. » (Olford, Anointed Expository Preaching, 216). Nous devons également être remplis du Saint Esprit (Eph. 5:18). Cela paraît presque grammaticalement impossible – un impératif à la voix passive; un ordre de poser une action à laquelle nous sommes nous-mêmes soumis ! Mais le problème se résout comme suit: nous obéissons au commandement en nous activant à débarrasser nos vies de tout ce qui pourrait affliger ou étouffer l’Esprit (par la vertu de notre manière de vivre, notre piété, etc.) et, en retour, nous sommes passivement (action à laquelle nous sommes soumis) contrôlés par l’Esprit qui œuvre en nous et à travers nous tant dans nos vies que dans nos ministères.

3. L’onction de l’Esprit (Actes 1:8) renforce notre « vocation spirituelle » en Christ. Pour que nos ministères soient efficaces pour Dieu, nous avons besoin d’être oint par l’Esprit (1 Cor. 2:1-5; 1 Thess. 1:5). Nous ne pouvons pas par nous-mêmes produire des résultats spirituels. Nous sommes engagés dans une vocation spirituelle qui requière l’autorisation et l’efficacité de l’Esprit pour aboutir avec succès. C’est pourquoi il est indispensable que nous soyons d’abord remplis de l’Esprit avant de pouvoir recevoir l’onction de prêcher avec efficacité la parole de Dieu. Et je soutiens que si nous sommes réellement remplis de l’Esprit, nous aurons également l’onction de l’Esprit.

Permettez-moi donc de poser la même question que la dernière fois: Pourquoi certains prédicateurs sont oints et d’autres non? La différence n’a rien à voir avec la présence de l’Esprit en eux, car le Saint Esprit habite en tous les croyants. La différence semble plutôt reposer sur le fait de « la plénitude » de l’Esprit. Certains prédicateurs sont « remplis » de l’Esprit, et par conséquent sont en mesure de servir dans la « puissance » de l’Esprit, tandis que d’autres ne le sont pas. Si un prédicateur n’a pas la plénitude de l’Esprit, il va de soi que sa prédication ne soit pas accompagnée par l’onction de l’Esprit. Certains vivent dans l’obéissance à l’Esprit tandis que d’autres non. Certains ont reçu par l’Esprit le don de la prédication, tandis que d’autres ne l’ont pas reçu. Tout cela est question de la manière dont nous vivons (si nous sommes soumis et dépendons de l’Esprit ou si nous vivons selon nos ressources propres) et du don que Dieu a déposé en nous.

C’est pourquoi, s’il existe dans votre vie des actions, des pensées, des désirs, etc., tout ce qui pourrait « attrister le Saint Esprit » (Eph. 4:10), alors, celui-ci ne sera pas actif dans votre vie ou dans votre ministère. C’est impossible. Je ne doute point de la souveraineté de l’Esprit qui peut utiliser même des ânes muets ou même des personnes qui n’ont point le salut pour accomplir ses desseins, mais le principe qui s’applique à la vie du croyant, c’est que l’Esprit n’agit pas pour notre bien dès lors que nos vies ne lui sont pas agréables. De même, s’il existe des choses qui étouffent l’Esprit dans votre vie, (1 Thess. 5:19), alors il ne saura s’activer à vous bénir ou à soutenir votre ministère par son onction.

Il est juste et légitime alors d’aspirer à l’onction de l’Esprit dans nos vies et dans nos différents ministères. En effet nous ne pouvons pas exercer un ministère utile et efficace sans l’onction de l’Esprit et sans la pleine liberté de l’Esprit de faire son œuvre en nous et au sein de notre public.

Pour prêcher avec puissance, il nous est indispensable de laisser l’Esprit de Dieu faire son œuvre en nous en nous sanctifiant (afin de nous rendre utilisables par Dieu), en nous illuminant (pour que nous comprenions d’une manière correcte la parole) et en nous revêtant de sa capacité (afin que nous sachions utiliser la parole convenablement). Aussi, l’Esprit de Dieu doit faire son œuvre au sein de nos publics, en les conduisant à la repentance, à la justice et en ouvrant leurs yeux sur le jugement à venir (Jean. 16:11), et en les transformant en des hommes et femmes de Dieu, disciples de Christ. Cela montre qu’il y a vraiment l’onction et, par conséquent la bénédiction de l’Esprit –Des vases qui sont propres à l’usage du Maître et des publics dont les vies sont radicalement transformées.

Permettez-moi à présent de donner à la fois un mot d’avertissement et un mot d’encouragement. Commençons par le mot d’avertissement : Gardez-vous « d’avoir une forme de piété qui pourtant fait fin de la puissance » (2 Tim. 3:5). Gardez-vous de penser qu’en raison du fait que vous arrivez à créer une certaine atmosphère au sein de votre congrégation ou parvenez à obtenir une certaine réaction de leur part, vous prêchez pour autant avec puissance. Prenez garde et ne vous concentrez pas sur les expériences, les phénomènes et les sensations subjectives en manquant l’œuvre véritable que l’Esprit accomplie. Ne confondez pas prêcher dans la chair et prêcher dans l’Esprit. « Lorsque vous prêchez dans l’élan de la chair, vous vous sentez exaltés, élevés. Mais lorsque vous prêchez avec la puissance de l’Esprit, vous êtes remplis d’humilité et d’étonnement devant l’œuvre de Dieu » (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, cité dans Arturio G. Azurdia III, Spirit Empowered Preaching, Christian Focus Publications, 2003, préface).

Nous devons à chaque fois que nous prêchons avoir la conviction que « le message que je prêche ne peut faire de bien à personne que lorsqu’il est pas accompagné par l’Esprit de Dieu » (Stuart Olyott, Preaching Pure and Simple, Wales, Bryntirion Press, 2005, 154). C’est uniquement l’onction de l’Esprit de Dieu peut produire des résultats spirituels. Nous ne pouvons rien accomplir par nous-mêmes.

Comment savoir donc si vous prêchez avec l’onction et la bénédiction de l’Esprit de Dieu? C’est lorsque la Parole de Dieu mise en action par l’Esprit de Dieu produit un effet manifeste au sein du public. Et vous savez qu’un changement est en train de s’opérer dans la vie des gens lorsque certains reçoivent le salut, lorsque des foyers sont restaurés, des relations sont rétablies, les gens deviennent des disciples dévoués de Christ, lorsque les gens sont absorbés dans la Parole, etc.

Maintenant, voici un mot d’encouragement: Cette analyse de “l’onction” de l’Esprit devrait être un grand encouragement pour les prédicateurs qui, jour et nuit, d’année en année servent silencieusement Dieu dans leurs ministères, décortiquent et mettent en application la Parole de Dieu en toute fidélité et droiture, ont la foi que l’Esprit de Dieu se saisit de Sa parole et l’utilise pour la conversion des âmes et la transformation des vies au point que bon nombre deviennent des disciples dévoués de Christ « jusqu’à ce que nous parvenions tous à l’unité de la foi et de la connaissance du fils de Dieu, à l’état d’homme fait, à la mesure de la stature parfaite de Christ » (Eph. 4:13).

C’est cela le ministère exercé sous l’onction de l’Esprit. C’est la prédication d’une personne qui a le désir de glorifier Dieu, de magnifier Christ et dont le but est de « présenter tout homme parfait en Jésus Christ » (Col. 1:29). Je soutiendrai que ce que nous devrions rechercher dans notre prédication c’est la bénédiction de Dieu, qui se manifestera par: (1) les fruits dans notre ministère (le salut des gens, la croissance des gens en Christ, etc.), (2) des fruits de l’Esprit dans nos propres vies (Gal. 5:22), (3) la déclaration des autorités de l’église qui nous consacrent pour le ministère et (4) le fait que Christ et la gloire de Dieu sont au centre de notre prédication.

Pour les pasteurs et les prédicateurs donc qui ne voient pas de résultats visibles avant, pendant ou après leur prédication, prenez courage. « Dieu a choisi les choses folles du monde pour confondre les sages, et Dieu a choisi les choses viles du monde, celles qu’on méprise, celles qui ne sont point, pour réduire à néant celles qui sont, afin que nulle chair ne se glorifie devant Dieu… afin comme il est écrit, que celui qui se glorifie se glorifie dans le Seigneur » (1 Cor. 1:27-29, 31).

Puisse cet article être pour nous tous en tant que prédicateurs, un encouragement en ce sens que nous ne pouvons pas (par nous-mêmes) accomplir les grands desseins de Dieu dans la vie de nos auditeurs, mais en ayant une vie de sainteté, de prières avec des supplications dans une entière soumission à l’Esprit de Dieu, nous pouvons être utilisés par Dieu pour atteindre son but souverain. Parfois il peut nous être donné de connaître certains de ces résultats (effets de notre prédication dans la vie de nos auditeurs), mais bien de fois nous n’en aurons pas la possibilité. Mais ce qui nous réconforte, c’est le fait que l’œuvre est celle de Dieu – lui seul peut sauver les âmes ; lui seul peut transformer la vie des gens. Sans cette assurance, notre ministère serait décourageant. Mais avec cette assurance, nous savons que notre ministère est en plein épanouissement.

Deuxième Partie: Preparer La Predication

Faire le plan du message

Jusqu’ici, dans notre discussion sur comment « préparer la prédication », nous avons parlé du choix des textes et des sujets, de l’étude du texte, de l’analyse et la compréhension du texte et de l’identification de la structure du texte. Ce processus peut être à la fois intéressant et décourageant – intéressant lorsque vous découvrez le flot de pensées que renferme le passage (c.-à-d. la structure du texte), mais décourageant lorsque vous y passez plusieurs heures sans parvenir à le déchiffrer. Peut-être cela vous permet de comprendre pourquoi la préparation du message est une tâche difficile.

Mais maintenant, enfin, vous êtes prêts pour préparer un plan de message à partir du texte. Peut-être vous vous demandez “quelle différence fait-on entre la structure du texte et le plan du message? N’est-ce pas la même chose?” Pour certains prédicateurs, il n’y a aucune différence. Beaucoup de prédicateurs construisent leur prédication selon la structure du texte – et ce n’est pas mal, mais ça ne va pas vraiment assez loin, parce que notre plan de message doit refléter les principes théologiques et le sens dans lequel le texte s’applique à nous aujourd’hui, de manière à ce que nos congrégations puissent voir comment il s’applique à elles. Une de nos responsabilités en tant que prédicateurs, c’est de créer un pont qui lie le texte, le peuple, la langue et la culture d’autre fois à notre temps présent.

Ainsi, quoique le plan du message suit et découle de la structure du texte, il est différent de la structure du texte dans ce sens qu’il détermine comment vous allez prêcher ce que le texte dit. Dès lors que vous déterminez la structure du texte, vous connaissez le sujet du passage et ce que l’auteur de l’écriture dit à propos de ce sujet (les compléments). En d’autres termes, vous savez de quoi l’auteur parle dans son écrit, et comment il a organisé ses idées. A partir de là, vous devez décider de la manière dont vous allez prêcher la théologie contenue dans le texte et l’adapter au contexte actuel de votre public. Je crois que c’est peut-être là, le rôle le plus important d’un prédicateur, parce que c’est quelque chose que nos publics n’ont pas l’habitude de faire pour eux-mêmes. Ils lisent la Bible et comprennent ce qu’elle dit, mais souvent ils ne comprennent pas le sens et ce qu’il implique, et dans quel sens il s’applique à nous aujourd’hui. C’est notre rôle de communiquer cela.

Une autre question qui peut nous venir à l’idée est la suivante: « Pourquoi nos messages ont-ils besoin d’avoir un plan? » Beaucoup de prédicateurs n’utilisent de plans et par conséquent ne parviennent pas à expliquer le sens théologique et les implications du texte, ainsi que son application au public d’aujourd’hui. Nos sermons ont besoin de structure parce que :

1. La Bible est entièrement structurée. Chaque auteur de la Bible a un but précis dans ses écrits. Aucune partie de la Bible n’est écrite au hasard (c.-à-d. sans structure et sans but).

2. Si vous n’avez pas un plan qui suit et découle de la structure du texte, votre message manquera de logique et le public ne pourra pas vous suivre.

3. Si vous n’avez pas une structure claire et biblique, vous ne pourrez pas pêcher un message clair et biblique.

Le plan d’un message est le « squelette » de celui-ci, le squelette sur lequel s’attache la chair de votre message ; le « cadre » sur lequel votre exposé est fixé. C’est les éléments principaux qui de parts et d’autres forment l’ensemble du corps de votre message.

Un bon plan de message rempli ce qui suit:

1. Scinde votre message en plusieurs « grands points » (c.-à-d. différentes parties du message).

2. Il vous permet d’exposer le flux de votre pensée avec clarté, de manière ordonnée, unie, progressive, complète.

3. Il vous permet de rester focalisé sur le sujet en vous évitant de divaguer ou d’oublier des points importants.

4. Il équilibre le message entre l’introduction, le corps (explication, application, illustration) et le résumé.

6. Il sert de feuille de route (table de matières) que la congrégation est appelée à suivre.

7. Il rend le message plus facile à mémoriser par les auditeurs.

Un plan de message divise le sujet du texte en plusieurs grands points qui forment les principales parties du message. Ainsi, les grands points peuvent à leur tour être subdivisés en sous-points, qui les étayent simplement en les éclatant en de plus petites unités de sens. Cependant, le niveau auquel vous subdivisez votre message est question de préférence individuelle. Je pense qu’il est plus simple pour le public de pouvoir suivre, si vous utilisez uniquement des grands points dans votre plan en prêchant les sous-points sous forme d’éléments explicatifs du grand point. Vous pouvez tout de même formuler vos sous-points de manière à ce qu’on puisse les distinguer, mais ils vont être utilisés comme éléments servant à expliquer le message sans être articulés comme des sous-points à part. Autrement, votre public peut facilement perdre le fil de votre message.

J’essaie de rendre mes grands points distinctifs en utilisant une formulation commune et en ne cessant de les répéter à mesure que j’avance. Par exemple, le passage de Philippiens 1 : 19-20 peut être découpé de la façon suivante:

1. Nous pouvons faire confiance aux prières disciples de Christ, (19a)

2. Nous pouvons espérer en l’assistance de l’Esprit de Christ (19b)

3. Nous pouvons espérer en la préservation du témoignage de Christ (20)

Votre plan de message ne doit pas dominer votre message ou servir à impressionner votre public. Il a le simple objectif de donner une structure à votre message. The point de départ du plan d’un message, c’est l’idée principale (le sujet) du passage. C’est important d’écrire l’idée principale et l’assertion faite à propos de cette idée (les compléments) formant le cœur du message.

Tout message doit avoir une structure. Les principaux éléments structurels que comporte tout message sont : (1) le début (introduction); (2) le milieu (exposition, corps); et (3) la fin (résumé, conclusion). A leur tour, ces éléments structurels doivent atteindre les objectifs suivants:

1. Votre introduction devrait…

a) Retenir l’attention de votre public

b) Créer un besoin que le message permettra de combler

c) Relier au passage de l’Ecriture

d) Enoncer le sujet

e) Enoncer votre thèse (c.-à-d. l’idée générale et l’enseignement que porte le passage)

f) Servir de transition vers le corps du message

2. Le corps du message c’est là où vous…

a) Exposez et expliquez vos grands points

b) Illustrez vos points là où c’est nécessaire et approprié.

c) Appliquez l’enseignement à votre public

3. Dans vos conclusions vous…

a) Faites le résumés des points que vous avez faits ressortir du passage.

b) Aidez votre public à se faire une image de la vérité que vous avez expliquée – c.-à-d. à voir à quoi cet enseignement s’applique dans la vie quotidienne.

c) Leur lancez le défi d’actualiser la vérité – c.-à-d. à mettre en pratique, répondre à la vérité qu’ils viennent d’entendre.

En commençant par l’édition suivante de ce journal, j’aborderai ces sections du plan de message dans l’ordre auquel vous les préparez (pas dans l’ordre auquel vous les prêchez) de la manière suivante :

1. Formuler les grands points.

2. Exposer la thèse – certains l’appellent la proposition, ou “la substance du message en une phrase”.

3. Rédiger le corps du message – l’explication (avec les illustrations) et les applications

4. Construire la structure de fin du message.

5. Concevoir l’introduction.

Troisième partie. Caractère de piété

“Le caractère de l’Evangile” (1 Cor. 1:18-25)

By: Dr. Stephen F. Olford

Nous venons maintenant à l’un des passages les plus révélateurs sur le sujet de l’évangile et la nature du ministère chrétien que nous trouvons partout dans le Nouveau Testament. Paul a beaucoup évoqué la malédiction liée aux divisions dans l’église, mais maintenant il entreprend de considérer les causes des divisions dans l’église ; et rien qu’à travers le chapitre 4, il dénonce deux fausses conceptions qui sont à la base de toute division. La première concerne la fausse conception autour du message Chrétien (1:18-3:4), et la seconde c’est la fausse conception sur le ministère chrétien (3:5-4:5). Tout d’abord, considérons la conception erronée du message de Christ. Dans un premier temps, cela implique la vision erronée sur le caractère de l’Evangile. C’est ici le point de notre message aujourd’hui, tiré de 1 Corinthiens 1:18-25.

Pendant que nous abordons ces versets que Paul a écrits à une église divisée, rappelons-nous, comme nous l’avons déjà observé, qu’il n’y avait pas moins de quatre bords, chacun avec son propre slogan. Une partie du problème était le fait que les croyants s’attachaient aux hommes plutôt qu’au Maître, mais il y avait également la tendance à exalter le messager au lieu du message. Pour cette raison, Paul s’est vu obligé de présenter un message clair sur le caractère de l’évangile. D’abord, il parle de :

I. L’EVANGILE COMME REVELATION PARFAITE DE DIEU A L’HOMME

“Car la prédication de la croix est une folie pour ceux qui périssent; mais pour nous qui sommes sauvés, elle est une puissance de Dieu” (1 Cor. 1:18). Ici, Paul ne met pas tant d’accent sur la présentation de l’évangile que sur le “message” de de l’évangile, qui se distingue de la sagesse des mots auxquels il est fait référence au verset 17. Son objectif suprême, est de faire ressortir l’unicité de l’évangile comme une révélation de la sagesse et la puissance de Dieu. C’était là les mots clés de l’antiquité. Les grecs recherchaient la sagesse sans répit, tandis que les juifs étaient obsédés par les signes. Par conséquent, Paul décrit le caractère particulier de l’évangile en observant:

1) La sagesse de Dieu comparativement à la sagesse humaine – « Christ la puissance de Dieu et la sagesse de Dieu » (1 Cor. 1:24). Paul ne nous laisse dans aucun doute sur ce qu’il entend par la sagesse de Dieu. Un peu plus loin dans le paragraphe, il dit ceci : «Or c’est… en Christ Jésus...lequel de par Dieu, a été fait pour nous sagesse, justice et sanctification et rédemption » (1 Cor. 1:30). Il n’y a pas de plus grande déclaration sur le message du plein salut que celle contenue dans ce verset. Premièrement, Christ est notre justice. En lui, et à travers lui Jésus Christ, nous avons été rendus justes ou irréprochables devant Dieu le Saint. Cet aspect de l’évangile répond à la question qui date de l’antiquité : « Comment l’homme peut-il être juste devant Dieu ? » (Job 25:4). Parce que Christ est mort pour nos péchés et ressuscité pour nous justifier, nous avons la grâce de connaitre la justice de Dieu qui nous est donnée par le moyen de la foi en son fils. Deuxièmement, Christ est notre sanctification. De par notre propre force, nous ne pouvions par parvenir à la sainteté, mais grâce à sa présence en nous, la sanctification est accomplie de jour en jour. Cette œuvre de la grâce nous met entièrement à part pour Dieu. En termes de comportement, cela implique que nous devons vivre à titre d’expérience ce que nous sommes en Christ. Troisièmement, Christ est notre rédemption. Ce mot signifie “libération” ou “délivrance”. Dans ce contexte précis, il fait allusion non seulement à la rédemption vis-à-vis des conséquences et du pouvoir du péché, mais aussi de la présence même du péché. Il s’agit de cet acte final de Dieu par lequel nous sommes amenés à être conforme à l’image véritable de Christ quand il viendra.

Quelle révélation de la sagesse de Dieu dans l’évangile de notre Seigneur Jésus Christ! Cependant, en comparaison à cette sagesse divine, Paul décrit la sagesse de l’homme. Avec l’apôtre Jacques, il convient que “la sagesse de l’homme… est terrestre, sensuelle, diabolique” (Jacques 3: 15). La sagesse humaine est terrestre. « Car puisque le monde dans sa sagesse n’a point connu Dieu dans la sagesse de Dieu, il a plu à Dieu de sauver les croyants par la folie de la prédication » (1 Cor. 1:21). A présent, voici un facteur très important qu’il faut retenir: c’est que Dieu dans sa sagesse a décrété que le monde, de par sa propre sagesse ne devrait, ni ne pourra connaître Dieu. Cela réduit à jamais au néant l’absurde idée selon laquelle l’homme de par son propre raisonnement ou de par ses percées intellectuelles peut trouver, voire connaitre Dieu. L’éducation humaine à son plus haut niveau et la meilleure qui soit est entièrement insuffisante. La sagesse humaine est sensuelle. C’est pourquoi Paul, avec une petite touche d’ironie affirme : « …Les grecques cherchent la sagesse » (1 Cor. 1:22). Il n’y a rien de plus attrayant pour les personnes sensuelles ou charnelles que la soi-disant « approche intellectuelle » des prédicateurs sophistiqués ou les orateurs à la parole facile. La sagesse humaine est diabolique. Elle est décrite comme tel, parce qu’elle est associée au diable qui est déchu à cause de l’orgueil. C’est pourquoi la philosophie humaine n’est rien de plus que de l’arrogance intellectuelle et de la suffisance. Tous mouvements qui ont remis en cause l’autorité des Ecritures – appelez-les comme voulez : le modernisme, le libéralisme ou l’humanisme – font tous partie de cette approche philosophique. A cause de l’orgueil humain, les hommes cherchent à être associés à des noms célèbres de personnalités incarnant l’approche philosophique, ignorant que la Bible condamne ce fait et le considère comme diabolique.

De ce fait, Paul rappelle aux Corinthiens “Il est écrit: je détruirai la sagesse des sages, et j’anéantirai l’intelligence des intelligents. Où est le sage? Où est le scribe? Où est le disputeur de ce siècle? Dieu n’a-t-il pas convaincu de folie la sagesse du monde? (1 Cor. 1:19-20). L’idée essentielle de ce passage, c’est de montrer que l’homme doit savoir que tous ses plans et ses efforts pour parvenir à son propre salut sont complètement vains. C’est Dieu seul qui sauve à travers le message de la croix (Esaïe 29:14). Le second passage tiré d’Esaïe 33:18 illustre la façon dont l’Eternel a complètement confondu tous les sages-conseillers des nations des dirigeants juifs. Et ce qu’il a fait en ces temps-là, il continuera de le faire tant que les hommes ne renonceront pas à leur raisonnement philosophique au profit de de la sagesse de Dieu. Mais en décrivant cette révélation claire de Dieu, Paul oppose non seulement la sagesse de Dieu à celle de l’homme, mais aussi:

2) La puissance de Dieu par opposition à celle de l’homme - “Car la prédication de la croix est une folie pour ceux qui périssent; mais pour nous qui sommes sauvés, elle est la puissance de Dieu” (1 Cor. 1:18). Cela nous rappelle bien cette puissante déclaration de Paul dans Romains 1:16: « Car je n’ai point honte de l’évangile de Christ: c’est une puissance de Dieu pour le salut de quiconque croit, du Juif premièrement, puis du Grec. » Au cœur de l’évangile se trouve la dynamique même de Dieu qui a le pouvoir de sauver et de délivrer. Dans tout l’univers, il n’existe rien d’autre qui puisse transformer la vie de l’homme en dehors de l’évangile de notre Seigneur Jésus Christ. La puissance de la croix est l’unique réponse au péché de l’homme.

A l’opposé, il y a cette puissance dont l’homme se vante. « Les Juifs demandent des miracles… » (1 Cor. 1:22). Comme le dit Léon Morris, “les Juifs ont été très pragmatiques tout au long de leur histoire. Ils ont éprouvé très peu d’intérêt pour les pensées spéculatives. Ils réclamaient l’évidence, et ne s’intéressaient qu’à ce qui est concret. Ils concevaient Dieu comme se manifestant au cours de l’histoire à travers des miracles et des prodiges. C’est pourquoi les Juifs demandaient toujours des miracles au Seigneur pendant son ministère sur la terre (Matthieu 12:38; 6:1, 4; Marc 8:11; Jean 6:30). Ils concevaient le Messie comme Celui qui manifeste son autorité par des démonstrations de puissances et de majesté. Pour eux, un Christ crucifié était une pure contradiction des termes.

Ainsi, Paul résume son analyse de la sagesse et la puissance divines par opposition à la sagesse et à la puissance de l’homme en ces merveilleux termes que l’on trouve dans les versets 22, 23, et 24: « Car les Juifs demandent des miracles, et les grecs cherchent la sagesse: nous, nous prêchons Christ crucifié ; scandale pour les Juifs et folie pour les païens, mais puissance de Dieu et sagesse de Dieu pour ce qui sont appelés tant Juifs que Grecs. »

La deuxième caractéristique de l’évangile dont Paul a fait cas était: 

II. L’EVANGILE COMME APPEL A LA REDEMPTION DE L’HOMME PAR DIEU

« Mais puissance de Dieu et sagesse de Dieu pour ceux qui sont appelés tant Juifs que Grecs » (1 Cor. 1:24). Ici l’équilibre parfait de l’évangile de Christ est mis en valeur. Non seulement Dieu se révèle à nous, mais aussi il nous appelle à Lui. C’est au-delà de ce que peuvent accomplir la sagesse et la puissance humaines. Voyez donc

1) Le plaisir que Dieu se fait dans l’invitation de l’évangile – « …Il a plu à Dieu de sauver les croyants par la folie de la prédication » (1 Cor. 1:21). Le mot « prédication » ne revêt pas le même sens que celui évoqué au verset 18. L’accent est mis ici sur la proclamation du message glorieux de l’évangile. Paul nous apprend ici que le plaisir suprême de Dieu, ou plus littéralement “le bon plaisir de Dieu” c’est que les hommes et les femmes soient sauvés à travers la folie de la prédication. Y aurait-il quelque chose de plus majestueux et merveilleux que le fait que Dieu porte son cœur sur les fils des hommes et que par la folie de la prédication il leur communique le message rédempteur de la croix ? Mais considérez encore ce qui suit:

2) Le but de Dieu dans l’appel de l’évangile - “la prédication de la croix est une folie pour ceux qui périssent, mais pour nous qui sommes sauvés, elle est la puissance de Dieu” (1 Cor. 1:18) Voici un ensemble de mots qui englobe toute l’œuvre rédemptrice de Dieu en Christ. Rappelons-nous que tout homme en dehors de Christ est voué à la perdition. En effet, le verbe « périr » utilisé pour porter ce sens n’évoque pas la disparition, mais la ruine et la perte du bien-être. Une personne qui périt manque d’accomplir le but précis pour lequel Dieu l’a créée. Mais c’est dans ce sens que l’évangile de Jésus Christ lui est présenté pour la sauver et lui accorder la vie éternelle. L’idée derrière ce mot « sauvés » n’est pas seulement celle de la récupération mais aussi celle de la transformation. Mais remarquez une fois de plus ce que nous appelons:

3) Le processus divin dans l’appel de l’évangile - “Il a plu à Dieu de sauver les croyants par la folie de la prédication…Mais puissance de Dieu et sagesse de Dieu pour ceux qui sont appelés (1 Cor. 1:21, 24). Il y a deux mots qui résument le processus divin dans l’appel de l’évangile. L’un, c’est le mot « appel ». L’autre c’est le mot “croire”. L’un décrit l’offre de Dieu et l’autre évoque la réponse de l’homme. Jésus appelle toujours les hommes et les femmes à Lui ; et Dieu merci, les hommes et femmes de toute tribute, de toute langue et de toute lignée répondent à cet appel. Ce processus glorieux continuera jusqu’à ce que le corps de Christ soit complet.

Nous voyons donc que cet appel rédempteur de Dieu requiert un verdict. L’homme ne peut être confronté à la révélation et à l’appel de l’évangile sans donner une réponse. S’il croit, alors il est sauvé. S’il rejette l’appel, il périt.

Conclusion: Les croyants de Corinthe étaient divisés parce qu’ils avaient des notions erronées sur le message de l’évangile. C’est pourquoi Paul a pris la peine de définir clairement le caractère véritable de l’évangile dans le premier paragraphe. Après avoir suffisamment élaboré sur la question comme nous l’avons vu, il conclue en ces termes : «… la folie de Dieu est plus sage que les hommes, et la faiblesse de Dieu est plus forte que les hommes » (1 Cor. 1:25). Les philosophies et les démonstrations de puissance des hommes paraissent et disparaissent, mais l’évangile de Jésus Christ est et reste le même car il est le caractère de Christ Lui-même – “… le même hier, aujourd’hui et éternellement”.

Cinquième Partie: Plans de messages

Pour écouter la version audio de ces messages en Anglais, cliquez sur les liens suivants: Link 1 - Jn. 10:1-2; Link 2 - Jn. 10:3-4; Link 3 - Jn. 10:4-8; Link 4 - Jn. 10:9

Titre: Jésus est la porte (Jean. 10:1-9)

Point #1: Les faux leaders religieux sont des intrus (1-2)

1. Ils n’entrent pas par la porte mais par un quelconque autre moyen

2. Ils sont des voleurs et des brigands

Point #2: Les vrais leaders religieux sont des bergers (3-5)

1. Ils conduisent le peuple de Dieu en évoquant notre réponse (3a-b)

2. Ils conduisent le peuple de Dieu en nous lançant un appel (3c)

3. Ils conduisent le peuple de Dieu en nous donnant des directives (3d-4b)

4. Ils conduisent le peuple de Dieu en affermissant notre foi (4c-5)

5. Ils conduisent le peuple de Dieu nous conduisant à Christ (6-9)

a) Christ est la porte de la bergerie (7-8)

b) Christ est la porte du salut (9a)

c) Christ est la porte de la liberté (9b)

d) Christ est la porte du pâturage (9c)

Related Topics: Pastors

The Net Pastors Journal, Rus Ed 20, Летнее издание 2016

Летнее издание 2016
Автор:
Др. Роджер Паскоу, президент
Институт Библейского проповедования
Кембридж, Онтарио, Канада
(http://tibp.ca/)

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Укреплять Церковь через Библейскую Проповедь и Руководство”

ЧАСТЬ I: СИЛА ПРОПОВЕДИ, Ч. 3 продолжение

“Сила Святого Духа”

В последних трех изданиях этого журнала мы обсуждали тему о силе Святого Духа для проповедования. В последнем издании, мы задали несколько вопросов, таких как: (1) Какая Проповедь является вдохновленной Богом? (2) Почему некоторые проповедники имеют силу Духа Святого, а другие - нет?

В этом выпуске мы будем рассматривать другой вопрос: В чем разница между «наполнением» Духом и «усилением» Духом? Здесь важно понимать три различия между крещением, наполнением и усилением Духа (адаптировано профессором Стивеном Ф. Олфордом).

1. Крещение Духом (1 Кор. 12:13) представляет нашу "духовную позицию" во Христе. Это происходит только один раз в момент нашего рождения заново, в это время мы как бы "живем внутри" Святого Духа (1 Кор. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Тим. 1:14; Иакова 4: 5). Все верующие крестятся / внутри них живет Святой Дух.

2. Наполнение Духом (Еф. 5:18) показывает наше «духовное состояние» во Христе. Существует одно крещение Духом, но много наполнений Духом. Наполнение означает насыщение, нет места ни для плоти, ни для себя, ни для греха. Это не просто присутствие Духа внутри (то есть факт нового рождения). Оно - под контролем Духа, как мы уже говорили. Это - функция жизни в соответствии с новым рождением. Это предполагает послушание кому-либо и подчинение, зависимость от кого-то и верность Святому Духу в повседневной жизни. "Это - обычная христианская жизнь и уподобление Христу" (Олфорд, Помазанная экспозиционная проповедь, с. 216). Мы должны "быть наполнены" Духом (Еф. 5:18). Это почти похоже на невозможность в грамматике - императив в пассивном залоге; команда сделать что-то, что уже сделано для нас! Но конфликт решается следующим образом: мы подчиняемся команде, активно избавляя свою жизнь от чего-либо, что может огорчить Святого Духа или затушит Его огонь (силой нашей жизни, святостью и т. д.) и, в ответ, мы пассивно (то есть это было сделано для нас) находимся под контролем Духа, по мере того, как Он действует в нас и через нас в нашей жизни и служении.

3. Усиление Духа (Деяния 1: 8) делает эффективным наше "духовное призвание" во Христе. Для того, чтобы наше служение было эффективным для Бога, мы должны быть наделены силой Духа (1 Кор. 2:1-5; 1 Фессалоникийцам 1:5). Мы не можем достигнуть духовных результатов своими силами. Мы вовлечены в духовное призвание, которое требует эффективности Духа в нас для того, чтобы мы были продуктивными. Таким образом, мы сначала должны быть исполнены Духом, прежде чем мы сможем быть наделены силой Духа для эффективной проповеди Слова Божьего. И я бы сказал, что если мы действительно наполнены Духом, то мы будем иметь и силу Духа в нашей проповеди.

Итак, позвольте мне задать тот же вопрос, как в прошлый раз: Почему некоторые проповедники наделены силой Духа, а другие - нет? Разница не имеет ничего общего с пребывающим Духом во всех верующих, в ком пребывает Дух. Скорее всего разница лежит в «наполненности» Духом. Одни проповедники "наполнены" Духом и, таким образом, могут служить в «силе» Духа, а другие - нет. Если проповедник не "наполняется" Духом, то само собой разумеется, его проповедь не будет сопровождаться силой Духа. Одни проповедники живут в послушании Духу, а другие - нет. Одни проповедники одарены Духом, чтобы проповедовать, а другие - нет. Это все вопрос в том, как мы живем (находимся ли мы в подчинении и зависимости от Духа, или мы живем своими собственными ресурсами) и какими дарами наделил нас Бог.

Поэтому, если есть в вашей жизни мысли, желания и т.д. - все, что может "оскорбить Святого Духа" (Еф. 4:10), тогда Святой Дух не будет активен в вашей жизни и в служении. Это невозможно. Я не отрицаю суверенитет Духа, в том чтобы использовать даже тупых ослиц или не спасенных людей для достижения своих целей, но принцип в жизни верующего тот, что Дух не действует для благословения, когда наша жизнь не соответствует, когда Он не может пребывать в нас. Точно так же, если есть вещи в вашей жизни, что могут "угасить Дух" (1 Фес. 5:19), то Дух не будет активен в том, чтобы благословить ваше служение Его силой.

Это справедливо и правильно, то, что мы должны хотеть силу Духа Святого в нашей жизни и в служении. Действительно, мы не можем вести значимое и плодотворное служение без силы Духа Святого и свободы Духа, чтобы делать свою работу в нас и с нашей аудитории.

Для того, чтобы проповедовать с силой, мы должны позволить Духу Божьему сделать Его работу в нас, освятить нас (так чтобы мы были угодны Ему), просвещая нас (так, что мы понимаем Слово правильно), и помогая нам (так что мы можем выразить Слово, как надо). И Дух Божий должен служить нашей аудитории, обличая их во грехе, праведности и о суде, что будет (Ин. 16:11), и преобразовывая их в народ Божий, последователей Христа. Это является свидетельством силы и, следовательно, благословения Духа Святого - сосуды, которые могут быть использованы для служения Учителем и людей, чья жизнь радикально изменилась.

А теперь позвольте мне сказать слово предупреждения и слова ободрения. Во-первых, предупреждение. Остерегайтесь "имеющих вид благочестия, силы же его отрекшихся" (2 Тим. 3: 5). Остерегайтесь того, чтобы думать, что вы можете создать определенную атмосферу в собрании или вытягивать определенный ответ из них, когда вы проповедуете с властью. Остерегайтесь опыта, явлений и личностных ощущений, в то время как можете упустить истинную работу Духа Святого. Помните, что вы не должны путать проповеди по плоти с проповедью в Духе. "Когда вы проповедуете по плоти, вы чувствуете себя возвышенно и приподнято. Когда вы проповедуете в силе Духа, вы наполнены в смирении трепетом от того, что делает Бог "(Мартин Ллойд-Джонс, цитирует в Arturio Г. Azurdia III, Проповедь в силе Духа, Издание Христианский Фокус 2003, предисловие).

Мы должны быть уверены каждый раз, когда мы проповедуем, что "послание, что я несу, не может сделать ничего хорошего, если оно не в силе Духа Божьего" (Стюарт Олиотт, Проповедуя чисто и просто, Уэльс, Bryntirion Press, 2005, 154). Только сила Духа Божьего может произвести изменения в духовной жизни. Своими силами, мы не сможем добиться ничего.

Как вы знаете что вы проповедуете с силой и благословением Духа Божия? Вы знаете это, когда Слово Божие применено в силе Духа Бога и производит реакцию на Слово в аудитории. И вы знаете, что жизнь людей изменяется, когда люди спасаются, браки восстанавливаются, отношения исцеляются, люди становятся более посвященными учениками Христа, люди становятся более поглощенными Словом и т.д.

Теперь, слово ободрения. Этот анализ «силы» (помазания) Духа должен быть большим стимулом для проповедников, которые изо дня в день, из года в год, тихо служат Богу, которые добросовестно и точно объясняют и применяют Слово Божье, которые доверяют Духу Божьему, принимают Его Слово и используют его для того, чтобы души спасались и жизни преобразовывались, таким образом, чтобы все становились преданными последователями Христа "доколе все не придем в единство веры и познания Сына Божия, в совершенного человека, в меру полного возраста Христова "(Еф. 4:13).

Это наполненное силой служение Духа. Это проповедь того, чье единственное желание - прославить Бога, возвеличить Христа, с целью "представить каждого человека совершенным во Христе Иисусе" (Кол 1:29). Я бы сказал, что мы должны искать в нашей проповеди Божьего благословения, которое будет проявляться следующим образом: 1. плодами нашего служения ( спасенными людьми, теми, кто возрастает во Христе и т.д.), 2. духовными плодами в нашей собственной жизни (Гал. 5:22), 3. подтверждением лидеров церкви нас для служения, и 4. Христос как центр нашей проповеди для Божьей славы.

Итак, для тех пасторов и проповедников, которые не видят видимых результатов до, во время или после проповеди, мужайтесь. "Бог избрал немудрое мира, чтобы посрамить мудрых, и Бог избрал немощное мира, чтобы посрамить сильное и незнатное мира и уничиженное и ничего не значащее, чтобы упразднить значащее, для того, чтобы никакая плоть не хвалилась пред Богом ... что, как написано: «Хвалящийся хвались Господом" "(1 Кор 1:. 27-29, 31).

Пусть эта статья быть стимулом для всех нас как проповедников, что мы не можем достичь великих целей Бога в жизни наших слушателей, но через живую святую угодную Богу жизнь, через молитву, и зависимость от Духа Божия, мы можем быть использованы Богом для Его суверенных целей. Иногда мы можем знать некоторые из этих результатов, но зачастую - не можем. Наш покой в том, что эта работа - Божья - только Он может спасти души; только Он может изменить жизнь людей. Без этой уверенности наше служение будет вялым. Но с этой уверенностью наше служение будет эффективным.

ЧАСТЬ II: ПОДГОТОВКА К ПРОПОВЕДИ

ПЛАН ПРОПОВЕДИ

До этого момента, в нашем обсуждении "ПОДГОТОВКИ к проповеди" мы говорили о выборе текста и темы, изучении текста, анализа и понимания текста, и определении структуры текста. Этот процесс может быть одновременно интересным и грустным - захватывающим, когда вы обнаруживаете поток мысли в Писании (то есть структуру текста), но разочарование наступает, когда вы работаете с ним в течение нескольких часов и не обнаруживаете его. Может быть, теперь вы понимаете, почему подготовка к проповеди - тяжелая работа.

Но вот, наконец, вы готовы к тому, чтобы подготовить план проповеди. Возможно, вы задаетесь вопросом: "В чем разница между структурой текста и набросками проповеди? Они - не то же самое? "Для некоторых проповедников обе вещи - одинаковы. Многие проповедники проповедуют структуру текста - и это нормально, но на самом деле, не очень глубоко, потому что план нашей проповеди должен отражать принципы богословия и применение текста Писания на сегодня, чтобы наши церкви могли видеть, как это относится к ним. Одна из наших задач, как проповедников заключается в том, чтобы преодолеть разрыв между древним текстом, людьми, языком и культурой на сегодня.

Таким образом, в то время как план проповеди следует и вытекает из структуры текстовой, она отличается от структуры текстовой в том, что она определяет, как вы собираетесь проповедовать то, что говорится в тексте. К тому времени, как вы определили структуру текста, вы знаете тему Писания и то, что автор говорит по этому вопросу (дополнения). Другими словами, вы знаете, что автор написал о том, как он и организовал свой материал. Теперь вам надо решить, как вы будете проповедовать богословие, содержащееся в тексте и как примените его к вашей аудитории. Я думаю, что это, пожалуй, самая важная функция проповедника, потому что люди обычно не делают этого для себя. Они читают Библию, и они понимают, что Он говорит, но часто они не понимают, что это значит и как это относится к нам сегодня. Это - наша задача в том, чтобы сообщить об этом.

Другой вопрос, который может прийти на ум, это "Зачем нам нужен план нашей проповеди?" Многие проповедники не используют план и в результате не в состоянии объяснить богословское значение и последовательность текста, а также как его применить сегодняшним читателям. Наши проповеди должны быть структурированы потому что

1. Вся Библия структурирована. Каждый библейский автор имел цель при написании своей книги. Все записи в Библии не случайны ( без структуры и цели).

2. Если вы не имеете плана проповеди, который следует и вытекает из структуры текста, то вы не будете иметь логическую проповедь, за которой смогут следовать люди.

3. Если у вас нет четкой, библейской структуры, вы не сможете проповедовать ясное, библейское послание.

План проповеди - это «скелет» проповеди - скелет, за который плоть вашего сообщения цепляется, "рамка", к которой крепится ваша проповедь. Это основные моменты, которые разделяют и держат вместе “тело” вашей проповеди.

Хороший план проповеди включает в себя следующие элементы:

1. Он делит послание на "основные моменты" (т. е. пункты проповеди).

2. Он помогает вам представить свой поток мыслей ясно, организованно, в единстве, в прогрессе, в полноте.

3. Он удерживает вас, предотвращая вас от отклонения от темы, или чтобы вы не забыли основных моментов.

4. Он уравновешивает послание между введением, основной частью (описанием, применением, иллюстрациями) и заключением.

5. Он регулирует длину послания, не позволяя ему быть слишком длинным или слишком коротким.

6. Он как дорожной карта (или оглавление) для направления по ней людей.

7. Он делает послание более запоминающимся для слушателей.

План проповеди разделяет тему на основные структурные разделы, которые формируют основные моменты проповеди. Затем основные моменты могут быть подразделены на подпункты, которые просто разъясняют те основные моменты и разделяют их на еще более мелкие подпункты. Однако, как вы структурируете ваше послание - это вопрос личный. Я думаю, что так проще для аудитории, если вы используете только ключевые моменты в вашей схеме и разъясняете свои подпункты в качестве пояснительного материала для основной темы. Вы можете по-прежнему озвучить свои пункты так, чтобы они акцентировались, но они будут звучать также наряду с пояснительным материалом проповеди и не будут сформулированы отдельно. В противном случае, ваша аудитория сможет легко потерять вас.

Я стараюсь, чтобы мои основные моменты выделялись с использованием общих формулировок и повторений. Например, Филиппийцам 1: 19-20 могли быть изложены так:

1. Мы можем быть уверены в молитвах христиан (19а)

2. Мы можем быть уверены в присутствии Духа Христа (19b)

3. Мы можем быть уверены в сохранении свидетельства Христа (20)

Вы никогда не захотите, чтобы план проповеди пересилил ваше послание или впечатлил вашу аудиторию. Он просто структурирует ваше послание.

Отправной точкой для проповеди является главная мысль (предмет) отрывка Писания. Важно записать главную мысль и высказывания об этой мысли (дополнительные пункты), чтобы сформировать ядро проповеди.

Каждая проповедь должна иметь структуру. Основными структурными компонентами каждой проповеди являются: (1) начало (суммирование, вывод). В свою очередь, эти основные структурные компоненты должны решить следующие задачи:

1. Ваше введение должно ...

а) Захватить внимание аудитории

б) Создать потребность в проповеди

в) Иметь соответствие с Писанием

г) Определить тему

д) Определить тезисы (В общем тему и изучение данного отрывка)

е) Перейти в основную часть проповеди

2. Основная часть проповеди, где вы ...

а) Объясняете основные моменты послания

б) Иллюстрируете ваши пунктики, где это необходимо и целесообразно

в) Применяете изучение материала к вашей аудитории

3. В заключении вы…

a) Суммируете пункты, что вы вынесли из вашего отрывка.

б) Помогаете аудитории визуально представить истину, что вы им объяснили - то есть, чтобы они увидели, как это учение можно применить в повседневной жизни.

в) Призываете их реализовывать правду - т.е. применить, ответить на истину, которую они только что услышали.

Начиная со следующего издания этого журнала, я покрою эти моменты плана проповеди так, как вы готовите их (не в порядке, в котором вы проповедуете их) следующим образом:

1. Формулировка основных моментов.

2. Выделив тезис - некоторые люди называют это проповедью в одном предложении".

3. Черновой вариант основной части проповеди - Объяснение (включая иллюстрации) и приложения

4. Структура заключительной части проповеди.

5. Набросок введения.

ЧАСТЬ III. ИЗУЧЕНИЕ СЛОВА

“Характер Евангелия” (1 Кор. 1:18-25)

Проф. Стивен Ф. Олфорд

Теперь мы подошли к одному из наиболее показательных отрывков на тему Евангелия и природы христианского служения, которое мы находим в любом месте Писания в Новом Завете. Павел говорит о проклятии разделения в церквях, но теперь он приступает к рассмотрению причин разделения в церкви; и вплоть до главы 4, он обращается к двум неправильным представлениям, которые являются основными для всех подразделений. Первым из них является неправильное представление относительно христианского послания (1: 18-3: 4), а во-вторых, ошибочное мнение относительно христианского служения (3: 5-4: 5). Для начала, рассмотрим неправильное представление относительно христианского послания. Прежде всего, это связано с неправильным представлением о характере Евангелия. Это наше сегодняшнее послание 1-е Коринфянам 1: 18-25.

Давайте вспомним, как мы обращаемся к этим стихам, что Павел пишет церкви, которая была разделена. Как мы наблюдали ранее, уже было не менее четырех партий с их соответствующими лозунгами. Часть проблемы заключалась в том, что верующие привязывались к людям больше, чем к Мастеру, но есть также тенденция возвеличивать посланника больше, чем послание. Таким образом, Павел вынужден изложить четкое заявление о характере Евангелия.

Он прежде всего говорит о том:

I. ЕВАНГЕЛИЕ, КАК ОТЛИЧНЫЙ ПЛАН ОТКРОВЕНИЯ БОГА

"Ибо слово о кресте для погибающих, юродство есть; а для нас, спасаемых, сила Божия "(1 Кор. 1:18). Павел делает акцент здесь не столько на презентации Евангелия, как на "слове" Евангелия, в отличие от мудрости слов, упомянутых в стихе 17. Его высшая цель состоит в том, чтобы указать на уникальность Евангелия, как откровение мудрости и силы Божьей. Это были ключевые слова древнего мира. Греки всегда ищут мудрости, в то время как евреи одержимы знамениями. Таким образом, Павел очерчивает отличительный характер Евангелия, наблюдая:

1) Мудрость Божья - не человеческая мудрость - Христос сила Божия и премудрость Божия "(1 Кор. 1:24). Павел не оставляет нам никаких сомнений относительно того, какую мудрость подразумевал Бог. Чуть дальше он говорит: "Но ... во Христе Иисусе ... Бог сделался для нас премудростью, праведностью и освящением и искуплением" (1 Кор. 1:30). Там нет большего заявления о послании об истинном спасении, чем того, что содержится в этом стихе. Во-первых, Христос - это наша праведность. Но через Иисуса Христа, мы стали оправданными, или правыми перед святым Богом. Этот аспект Евангелия отвечает на древний вопрос: "Как человек может быть оправдан Богом?» (Иов 25: 4). Потому что Христос умер за грехи наши и воскрес для оправдания нас, мы можем знать, что Божья праведность вменяется нам через веру в Его Сына. Во-вторых, Христос - наше освящение.

Мы никогда не могли достичь святости нашими собственными силами, но только через Его присутствие в нас и освящение каждый день. Это - работа Божьей благодати, она отделяет нас друг от друга исключительно для целей Бога. С точки зрения поведения, это значит жить экспериментально, то есть позиционно во Христе. В-третьих, Христос - это наше искупление. Это слово означает "освобождение" или "избавление". В данном конкретном контексте, это относится не только к искуплению от наказания и власти греха, но и от самого присутствия греха. Это - последнее действие Бога, посредством которого мы способны соответствовать самому подобию Христа, когда Он вернется.

Какое откровение мудрости Бога в Евангелии нашего Господа Иисуса Христа. Но в отличие от этого, Павел описывает также мудрость человека. В послании Иакова, он соглашается с тем, что человеческая мудрость ... "... земная, душевная, бесовская" (Иакова 3:15). Человеческая мудрость земная. "... Ибо когда в премудрости Божией, мир своею мудростью не познал Бога, то благоугодно было Богу юродством проповеди спасти верующих" (1 Кор. 1:21). Теперь важен тот момент, чтобы помнить, что Бог в Своей мудрости постановил, что мир в своей мудрости не должен и не может познать Бога. Это навсегда уничтожает понятие, что человек из своих собственных рассуждений или интеллектуальных достижений может найти Бога и также познать Бога. Человеческое образование по своему качеству совершенно недостаточно. Человеческая мудрость - чувственна. Вот почему Павел, с оттенком иронии, говорит: «... греки ищут мудрости" (1 Кор. 1:22). Там нет ничего, чтобы могло взывать к чувственным или плотским людям, как так называемый "интеллектуальный подход" умудренных проповедников или сладкоречивых ораторов. Человеческая мудрость - бесовская. Она описана так будто она связан с дьяволом, который пал от гордости. Вот почему человеческая философия - не что иное, как интеллектуальное высокомерие и тщеславие. Каждое движение, которое подрывает авторитет Писания - назовем это модернизмом, либерализмом, или гуманизмом - это все часть этого философского подхода. Из-за человеческой гордости, мужчины стремятся быть похожими на известных философов, не понимая, что Библия осуждает это как дьявольское.

Так Павел напоминает коринфянам "... написано, я погублю мудрость мудрецов, и разум разумных отвергну. Где мудрец? Где книжник? Где совопросник века сего? Не обратил ли Бог мудрость мира сего в безумие?"(1 Кор 1: 19-20.) Весь смысл этой цитаты в том, чтобы показать, что человек должен узнать, что все его приемы и усилия, идущие на достижение его спасения - совершенно бесполезны. Бог спасает только через слово креста (Исаия 29:14). Вторая цитата из Исаии 33:18 показывает, как Бог совершенно спутал советы умудренных еврейских правителей. И то, что он делал тогда еще, он продолжал делать, когда люди не отказывались от их философского рассуждения в пользу мудрости Бога. Но в описании этого своеобразного откровения Бога, Павел не только противопоставляет мудрость Бога против человеческой мудрости, но и:

2) Силу Божью против силы человеческой - "Ибо слово о кресте для погибающих юродство есть; а для нас, спасаемых, - сила Божия "(1 Кор. 1:18). Как это напоминает нам о великом утверждении Павла в Послании к Римлянам 1:16: "Ибо я не стыжусь благовествования Христова, потому что оно есть сила Божия ко спасению всякому верующему, во-первых, Иудею, а потом и Еллину ". В самом сердце Евангелия - динамика Бога, которая имеет власть, чтобы сохранить и донести. Нет ничего другого во всей вселенной, что могло бы преобразить жизнь человека, как Евангелие Господа нашего Иисуса Христа. Сила креста - единственный ответ для человеческого греха.

В отличие от этого, есть хваленная сила человека. "Евреи требуют знамения ..." (1 Кор. 1:22). Как говорит Леон Моррис, "Евреи, на протяжении всей своей истории, были прямыми по сути. Они не хотели спекулятивных мыслей. Они хотели доказательств, и их интерес был практическим. Они думали о Боге, как Он проявляет себя в истории, в знамениях и великих чудесах "Вот почему евреи вечно ищут знамения от Господа во время Его земного служения (Матфея 12:38;

6: 1, 4; Марка 8:11; Иоанна 6:30). Они думали о Мессии как о том, Кто демонстрировал свою власть путем проявления силы и величия. Для них, распятый Христос был противоречием терминов.

Таким образом, Павел подводит итог своему анализу божественной мудрости и силы против человеческой мудрости и силы в этих огромных словах, найденных в стихах 22, 23 и 24: "Ибо и Иудеи требуют чудес, и Еллины ищут мудрости; а мы проповедуем Христа распятого, для Иудеев - соблазн, а для Еллинов - безумие; для самих же призванных, Иудеев и Еллинов, Христа, Божию славу и Божью премудрость."

Вторая особенность Евангелия в том, что Павел говорил:

II. ЕВАНГЕЛИЕ, КАК БОЖЬЕ ПРИГЛАШЕНИЕ ИСКУПИТЬ ЧЕЛОВЕКА

"Для самих же призванных, Иудеев и Еллинов, Христа, Божию славу и Божью премудрость Божия" (1 Кор. 1:24). Здесь представлен идеальный баланс христианского Евангелия. Мало того, что Бог дал нам откровение о Себе, но и приглашение к Себе. Это больше, чем человеческая мудрость и сила может сделать. Рассмотрим затем:

1) Божье наслаждение в приглашении к Благой Вести - "... это благоугодно было Богу юродством проповеди спасти верующих" (1 Кор 1:21).. Слово "проповедь" не то же самое, что в стихе 18-м. Акцент здесь делается на провозглашение славного послания Благой Вести. Павел говорит нам здесь, что высшее удовольствие Бога, или более буквально, "Божье наслаждение," является тем, что посредством юродивой проповеди происходит спасение мужчин и женщин. Что может быть более величественно и прекрасно, чем то, что Бог возлюбил людей, и что юродством проповеди несет спасительное послание о кресте? Но подумайте еще раз о:

2) Божьем замысле в приглашении к Евангелию - "проповедь о кресте для погибающих юродство есть, а для нас, спасаемых, есть сила Божия" (1 Кор 1:18).. Вот это сочетание слов открывает нам общую работу по спасению людей Богом посредством Иисуса Христа. Давайте помнить, что каждый человек без Христа потерян. Действительно, глагол, переведенный как «погибающих» означает не исчезновение, но разрушение и потерю всей жизни, благосостояния. Человек, который погибает не выполняет саму цель, ради которой Бог сотворил его. Но это не происходит тогда, когда Евангелие Иисуса Христа встречает его и спасает его для вечной жизни. Идея этого слова "спасаемых" не только в восстановлении, но и в преображении людей.

Но давайте еще раз посмотрим на то, что мы называем:

3) Божий процесс в Приглашении к Евангелюя - "... то благоугодно было Богу юродством проповеди спасти верующих ... Но к ним, которые призваны... Христос есть сила Божия, и премудрость Божия" (1 Кор 1:. 21, 24). Есть два слова, которые подводят итог божественному процессу в приглашении к Евангелию. Одним из них является слово "призвать". Другое слово - "верить." Одно описывает предложение Бога, а другое - ответ человека. Иисус всегда призывает мужчин и женщин к Себе; и слава Богу, люди из всякого колена и языка, и наречия отвечают на призыв. Этот славный процесс будет продолжаться до тех пор, пока Тело Христово не станет полным.

Итак, мы видим, что это искупительное приглашение Бога требует решения. Человек никогда не может столкнуться с откровением и приглашением к Евангелию, не дав ответа. Если он верит, то он спасен. Если он не верит, он погибает.

Вывод: Верующие в Коринфе были разделены, потому что у них были ложные представления о послании Евангелия. Вот почему Павел трудится усердно, описывая в первом абзаце истинный характер благовествования. Рассмотрев его тщательно, мы уже увидели, что он приходит к выводу: "... немудрое Божие премудрее человеков, и немощное Божие сильнее человеков "(1 Кор. 1:25). Философии и человеческое проявление власти могут приходить и уходить, но Евангелие Иисуса Христа остается неизменным, и неизменно оно из-за его характера в Иисусе Христе - "... оно то же вчера, сегодня и навсегда."

ЧАСТЬ IV: ПЛАН ПРОПОВЕДИ

Для прослушивания аудио версии этих проповедей на английском языке, нажмите на эти ссылки: Link 1 - Jn. 10:1-2; Link 2 - Jn. 10:3-4; Link 3 - Jn. 10:4-8; Link 4 - Jn. 10:9

Заголовок: Иисус - Дверь (Ин. 10:1-9)

1: Ложные религиозные лидеры и злоумышленники (1-2)

1. В дверь не входят, перелазят инде

2. Они - воры и разбойники

2: Истинные религиозные лидеры - пасторы (3-5)

1. Они ведут народ Божий, призывая к ответу (3а-б)

2. Они ведут народ Божий, бросая вызов (3в)

3. Они ведут народ Божий, давая указания (3г-4б)

4. Они ведут народ Божий, выявляя доверие (4в-5)

5. Они ведут народ Божий, привлекая ко Христу (6-9)

а) Христос - дверь овцам (7-8)

б) Христос - дверь спасения (9а)

в) Христос - дверь свободы (9б)

г) Христос - дверь насыщения (9в)

Related Topics: Pastors

网上牧师杂志–中文版(简体), SCh Ed, Issue 20 2016年 夏季

2016 夏季
作者:罗杰‧帕斯科博士(Dr. Roger Pascoe)
圣言宣讲学院院长
(President, The Institute for Biblical Preaching)
加拿大安大略省剑桥市
(http://tibp.ca/)

C:\Users\Roger\Documents\My Documents\Institute for Biblical Preaching\Forms, Binder Cover Page, Logo\IBP Logos\IBP Logo.jpg

增强在教会里的讲道 领导能力

第一部份:讲道的大能,第三点(续)

「圣灵的大能」

这网上杂志在过去三期,我们的主题是宣讲中圣灵的大能。上期,我们问了好些问题,例如:(1)甚么是得到圣灵加力,受膏的宣讲?(2)为甚么有些传道者拥有这能力,但有些却没有呢?

这期,我们会讨论这主题所引起的别的问题:被圣灵「充满」和从圣灵「得力」有甚么分别?认清从圣灵受洗、圣灵充满和从圣灵得力十分重要。(下文改编自司提反欧福德Dr. Stephen F. Olford著作)

1. 从圣灵受洗(哥林多前书 12:13 )表示我们在基督里的「属灵地位」 。这在我们重生时发生,只会发生一次,从那时起,圣灵「住在」我们里面(哥林多前书3:16; 6:19;提摩太后书1:14;雅各书4:5)。所有信徒都从圣灵受洗∕圣灵住在信徒里。

2. 被圣灵充满(以弗所书 5:18 )显示我们在基督里的「属灵状况」 。从圣灵受洗只有一次,但被圣灵充满却可以多次出现。被圣灵充满表示达到饱和状态,没有空间给属肉体的情欲、自己的利益和罪。这并非圣灵内住(那是重生的实情),我们以前已作探讨,这是由圣灵主管生命,是得到重生后生活的一种功能,这是在每天的生活里,服从圣灵、交托、倚靠和拥戴圣灵。「这是正常的基督徒生活和学效基督」(Olford, Anointed Expository Preaching, 216)。我们要被圣灵充满(以弗所书5:18),从文法角度来看,这是看似不可能的事 : 一个被动式的命令;命令我们去做一件别人在我们身上完成的事! 但这矛盾可从以下的解说得到解决:我们服从这命令的方法是透过主动控制我们的生命,不让任何使圣灵忧伤或消灭圣灵感动的事情发生(透过生命的美德和圣洁等);而在回应方面,我们被动地(即别人在我们身上完成的事)由圣灵按祂在我们里面和透过我们的生命和事工来管理我们。

3. 从圣灵得着能力(使徒行传 1:8 ),加强我们在基督里的「属灵使命」 。为使我们服事神的事工有效力,我们需要从圣灵得力(哥林多前书2:1-5;帖撒逻尼迦前书1:5)。我们不能靠自己得到属灵的果效。我们参与的属灵使命要求圣灵的批准和得到圣灵的效力才有功效。因此,我们首要被圣灵充满,才能从圣灵得力,才可以有效地宣讲神的道。我相信当我们被圣灵充满时,便从圣灵得到能力。

那么,让我发问一个和上期相同的问题:为甚么有些传道者拥有这能力,但有些却没有呢?这分别和圣灵内住无关,因为所有信徒都有圣灵内住。看来,分别在于是否被圣灵「充满」。有些传道者被圣灵「充满」,因此,他们能够带有圣灵的能力来服事,而有些却不是。假如传道者没有被圣灵「充满」,这便是他的宣讲没有得到圣灵授予能力的因由。有些传道者顺服圣灵而活,而有些却不是。有些传道者得到圣灵的恩赐作宣讲,但有些却没有。因此,这问题完全在于我们怎样生活(我们交托、倚靠圣灵而活,还是我们倚靠自己的资源),与及神给我们甚么恩赐。

所以,若你生命中的活动、思想、欲望等,有任何使「圣灵忧伤」的事情(以弗所书 4: 3 0 ),圣灵便不会活跃于你的生命和事工当中。但我却不否定拥有主权的圣灵,能使用不管是哑的驴子、还是未得救的人来达成祂的目的;我们不能忽视以下的原则:若信徒的生命不适合作圣灵的居所,圣灵不会给我们祝福。同样地,假若在我们的生命里有些东西「消灭圣灵的感动」(帖撒逻尼迦前书5:19),圣灵便不会活跃地给我们祝福或使我们的事工得力。

我们希望在生命和事工上得到圣灵授予能力,是正确和合适的。诚然,若没有圣灵授予能力,不让圣灵自由地在我们和我们的听众里工作,我们难以进行有意义、有果效的事工。

要作有能力的宣讲,我们必须要容让神的灵在我们里面工作,使我们成圣(因而合神所用),照亮我们(使我们正确地明白祂的话语),和使我们得着能力(使我们能正确地表达祂的话语)。与此同时,神的灵在我们的听众里作工,让他们对罪、对义和将来的审判信念坚定(约翰福音16:11),和转化他们成为神的子民、基督的追随者。这是从圣灵得力的证明,也是圣灵祝福的明证,传道者是合主用的器皿,而听众得到重大的改变。

让我在这里加一些警告的话和勉励的话。首先是警告的话:留意「有敬虔的外貌,却背了敬虔的实意」(提摩太后书3:5)。要避免下面的想法:因你能够在会众中营造气氛和从他们当中得到一些回应,你作的便是带有大能的宣讲。要避免将焦点放在经验、现象和主观的感觉上,而遗忘了是圣灵在真正工作。留意你不会混淆了在肉体作宣讲和在圣灵里作宣讲。「当你靠着肉体的能力来宣讲,你会感到受赞扬和被提升;当你在圣灵的大能中作宣讲,你会因神的工作而谦卑」(Martyn Lloyd-Jones, cited in Arturio G. Azurdia III, Spirit Empowered Preaching, Christian Focus Publications, 2003, preface)。

我们每次宣讲的时侯,我们必须确信「我们的信息若不是得到神的灵伴随,它对任何人都没有好处。」(Stuart Olyott, Preaching Pure and Simple, Wales, Bryntirion Press, 2005, 154) 只有从神的灵得着能力时,信息才可以得出属灵的果效。单靠我们自己并不能作甚么。

那么,你怎能知道你的宣讲从神的灵得着能力和祝福?当神的道被神的灵应用而从人中得到回应时,你便知道。你也会知道人的生命有所改变,有些人得救、婚姻复和、关系修补、基督徒更敬虔、人更全神贯注于神的道等。

现在是劝勉的话:这有关从圣灵得力(恩膏)的分析,应能给予传道者莫大的鼓励。这些传道者日以继夜、年复年、安静地在他们的事工中服事神;他们忠心地、准确地解释和应用神的道;他们相信神的灵、接受神的道和使用神的道来改变灵魂,转化生命,使人成为完全敬虔的基督跟随者,「直等到我们众人在真道上同归于一,认识神的儿子,得以长大成人,满有基督长成的身量。」(以弗所书4:13)

那是从圣灵得力的事工 。传讲这信息的传道者,他首要的期望是荣耀神,彰显基督。他们的观点是「要把各人在基督里完完全全引到神面前」(歌罗西书1:28)。我认为,我们的宣讲应寻求神的祝福,它透过以下的途径显示出来:(1)事工结出果子(有人得救;在基督里成长等);(2)我们自己的生命结出属灵的果子(加拉太书5:22);(3 )教会的领袖对我们事工的肯定;(4)在我们的宣讲,以基督和神的荣耀为中心。

因此,那些在讲道前、讲道期间或讲道后看不见果效的牧师和传道者,要鼓起勇气。「神却拣选了世上愚拙的,叫有智慧的羞愧;又拣选了世上软弱的,叫那强壮的羞愧。神也拣选了世上卑贱的,被人厌恶的,以及那无有的,为要废掉那有的。使一切有血气的,在神面前一个也不能自夸。… 如经上所记:夸口的,当指着主夸口。」(哥林多前书1:27-29, 31)

希望送篇文章成为我们作为传道者的鼓励,就算我们不能在我们的听众达成神在他们生命中的旨意,但透过我们过圣洁的生活、恳切的祷告祈求、倚靠神的灵,我们能被神使用为祂至高无上的旨意工作。有时,我们知道部份结果,但很多时我们却不会知道。我们的安慰来自是那工作是神的 – 唯有祂能拯救灵魂;唯有祂能改变生命。若没有这保证,我们的事工会使人气馁;但有了这保证,我们的事工却能使人满足。

第二部份:讲 道 的 准 备

讲 章 大 纲

到目前为止,有关「讲道的准备」,我们已经讨论选择经文和课题、研读经文、分析和理解经文,找出经文结构。这个过程,既有趣,却又会使人气馁。有趣的地方是你发现所选择的经文的思路(即经文结构);气馁的地方则是你可能花上好几个小时,仍找不到。也许,你能明白为甚么讲道的准备是困难的工作。

现在,你已经准备好为经文编写讲章大纲。你或会感到疑惑「经文结构和讲章大纲有甚么分别?它们不是相同的吗?」对于部份传道者来说,它们是相同的。有很多牧者按经文结构宣讲 – 那是可以的,但实际上这并不足够,因为我们的讲章大纲需要反映神学原则和经文在今天应怎样应用在我们身上,以致我们的会众能看见他们可以怎样应用经文。作为牧者的其中一项工作,是缩短古代的经文文本、人物、语言及文化和今天的距离。

所以,那按经文结构写成的讲章大纲和经文结构的分别是它已决定你怎样宣讲经文的内容。当你确定经文结构的时候,你已经知道那篇章的主题和作者在这主题要说的。换句话说,你知道作者所要表达的和他怎样编排他的材料。现在,你要决定怎样宣讲经文里的神学和在今天如何应用在你的听众身上。我认为这也许是传道者最重要的功能,因为我们的听众通常不会自己这样做。他们读经,他们知道经文说甚么,但他们通常不明白它的意义和含意,与及今天怎样应用在我们身上。我们的工作是将它传递给我们的听众。

你可能会发问另一个问题:「我们为甚么需要一个讲道大纲?」有很多牧者因为没有使用讲道大纲,结果没有成功阐释经文的神学意义和含意,同时亦没有表达今天的听众该如何应用经文。我们的讲章应有条理,因为:

1. 整本圣经都是有组织、有条理的,每位圣经作者都有他们的写作目的。圣经没有任何部份是杂乱无章(即没有结构和目的)。

2. 假如你没有一个按经文结构、思路的大纲,你的讲道不会合乎逻辑,人们难以跟随。

3. 假如你没有一个清晰、合乎圣经的结构,你难以宣讲一个清晰、合乎圣经的信息。

讲道大纲是讲章的「骨架」,在这个骨架,你将你的信息的「肉」挂上去。你将你的释经钉在这个「结构」上。这是你的讲章怎样分重点和怎样把材料结合。

一个好的讲道大纲能达到以下目的:

1. 它将你的讲章分成「重点」。(即讲章的不同部份)

2. 它协助你清楚、有条理、统一、有进展、完整地表达你的思路。

3. 它防止你离题或遗漏重点。

4. 它令引言、主体(解释、应用、例子)和总结得到平衡。

5. 它控制讲章的长度,避免过长或过短。

6. 它可作为会众跟随的地图(或目录)。

7. 它帮助听众更容易记得信息的内容。

讲道大纲将经文的主题分成主要部份,它们组成讲道内容的重点。这些重点可细分成子点,那是将重点分成较细的部份,使重点更清晰明确,不过把信息细分的情度则可按个人喜好而定。我认为若你的大纲只放重点,而子点只作为解释的材料,因为一个较简单的大纲,对听众来说会较容易跟随。你仍可以将子点文字化来突显它们,但它们要随从讲章的材料一起流动,不以子点的形式记下,否则,你的听众很容易迷失,不知你说到那里。

我尝试以简单、重复的字来突显我的重点。以下是腓立比书1:19-20的大纲例子:

1. 我们可以对基督徒的祷告有信心。(19a)

2. 我们可以对基督的灵的供应的有信心。(19b)

3. 我们可以为维持为基督作见证有信心。(20)

你从不希望你的讲道大纲盖过你的信息或打动你的听众。它只是你的信息的框架。

讲道大纲的起始点是经文文本的主要思想(主题),把主要思想和有关该思想的陈述(补语)组成讲章的核心。

每篇讲章都有结构。结构的主要元素包括:(1)引言;(2)主要部份(释经、应用等);和(3)结语。这主要结构元素要达到以下目标:

1. 你的引言 ......

a. 吸引听众的注意

b. 营造你的讲章要处理的问题是有需要的

c. 与经文连接起来

d. 点出主题

e. 道出你的神学观点(即经文的整体教导)

f. 过渡到讲章的主体

2. 你的讲章主体是你 ......

a. 陈述和解释你的重点

b. 如有需要,恰当地举例说明你的重点

c. 给你的听众提出怎样应用你的教导

3. 在你的总结,你 ......

a. 为你刚才在信息带出的重点作概述

b. 协助你的听众将你解释的真理形象化(即看到这教导在日常生活中是怎样的)

c. 激励他们实行真理 – 即实践真理,回应他们刚才听到的真理。

从下期开始,我将会讨论讲章大纲的以下部份,这是按你预备讲章大纲的次序(而非宣讲时的次序):

1. 把重点化成文字

2. 陈述论点,有些人称它为命题或「用一句话说出你的讲章」

3. 起草讲章的主体 – 解释(包括举例)和应用

4. 组织讲章的结束

5. 设计引言

第三部份:灵修

「福音的性质」(哥林多前书 1:18-25 )

B y: Dr. Stephen F. Olford

现在我们来到最具启发性的经文的其中一篇,它的主题是福音与及在新约圣经俯拾即是的基督教事工的性质。在这段经文之前,保罗刚处理了教会分党的咒诅。保罗接着处理教会分党的诱因,从这里直到第四章,保罗提出了分党根源的两个错误观念:首先是对基督教信息的错误观念(1:18-3:4);第二个是关于基督教事工的错误观念(3:5-4:5)。让我们先细想关于基督教信息的错误观念,它包含对福音的性质存有错误观念,这正是我们今天的经文哥林多前书1:18-25的信息。

当我们处理这几节经文时,我们要记着保罗是写信给一间出现分党的教会。我们已观察到有不少于四个党派,他们各有自己的口号。这个问题的部份原因是信徒被带到人面前,而非带到主那里去;但也出现了传信息者比信息有更崇高地位的倾向。因此,保罗被迫清楚地宣告有关福音的特性。他先说:

I. 福音是神给人特殊的启示

因为十字架的道理,在那灭亡的人为愚拙;在我们得救的人,却为神的大能 」(哥林多前书 1:18 ) 。保罗在这里强调它和表达福音的方式没有太大的关连,因为福音的「言语」有别于第17节智慧的言语。他最重要的目的是指出福音作为启示神的智慧和大能的独特性。这是古代世界的钥字,希利尼人求智慧,而犹太人对神迹萦绕于心。因此,保罗使用以下两方面对比来描绘福音的独特性:

1. 神的智慧对比人的智慧:「基督总为神的能力,神的智慧」(哥林多前书1:24 )。保罗不让我们对于甚么是神的智慧留下任何疑惑。稍后,他说:「但... 在基督里... 神又使他成为我们的智慧、公义、圣洁、救赎」(哥林多前书1:30)。这节经文包含完整的福音信息,没有比这更重要的陈述。首先,基督是我们的公义。在基督里和透过基督,在圣洁的神面前我们被称为义。福音在这方面回答了一个古老问题:「这样在神面前,人怎能称义?」(约伯记25:4)因基督为我们的罪死和复活,使我们称义;我们知道透过相信神的儿子,神的义就加给我们。第二、基督是我们的圣洁。我们永不能靠我们自己的能力达至圣洁;但透过祂在我们里面,我们便一天一天步向圣洁。为了达到神的目的,这恩典把我们完完全全的分别出来。从行为而言,它的意思是我们试验性地活出了我们在基督里的地位。第三、基督是我们的救赎。它的意思是我们被「释放」,按上下文,它不单指我们从处罚和罪的权势下得救赎,而且从所有罪出现的地方得救赎。神在基督再来时,终极地使我们和基督相似。

我们的主耶稣基督的福音,是神何等的智慧。与此成对比的是保罗所描述的人的智慧。雅各同意人的「... 智慧不是从上头来的,乃是属地的,属情欲的,属鬼魔的 」(雅各书 3:15 ) 。人的智慧是属地的,「世人凭自己的智慧,既不认识神,神就乐意用人所当作愚拙的道理,拯救那些信的人」(哥林多前书1:21)。这里有一个值得牢记的重点,神在祂的智慧里颁布:世界凭自己的智慧不应、也不可能认识神。这永远歼灭人可以透过理解力或智力可以寻见神的观念,更不用说认识神了。人类的教育就是达到最高、最好的水平,仍不足够。人的智慧是属情欲的,这是为何保罗讽刺地说:「希利尼人是求智慧」(哥林多前书1:22)。没有甚么比那老练的传道者或有口才的辩士使用「知性进路」(intellectual approach)对那些凭感观或属肉体的人更具吸引力。人类的智慧是属鬼魔的。这样描述是因它与因为骄傲而堕落的魔鬼联系。这也是为何人类的哲学除了理性上的高傲自负,便甚么都不是了。任何一个从根基破坏圣经权威的行动,你可称它为现代主义、自由主义、人文主义...都在哲学的范畴。因为人类自高自大,寻求和哲学有名的打交道,却没有留意到圣经谴责它为属鬼魔的。

因此,保罗提醒哥林多的信徒「... 就如经上所记:『我要灭绝智慧人的智慧,废弃聪明人的聪明智慧人在那里文士在那里这世上的辩士在那里神岂不是叫这世上的智慧变成愚拙么」(哥林多前书1:19-20)。这段经文的重点是叫人认识人若以自己的计划和努力去完成他自己的救恩是完全没有用的。(以赛亚书29:14) 神只透过十字架作拯救。以赛亚书33:18描述神怎样混淆犹太统治者那以世俗的智慧提出的忠告。假若人类不愿意放弃他们哲理性的推论,而喜爱神的智慧,神会继续做祂在古时所做的。当描述这独特的启示时,保罗不单止以神的智慧对比人的智慧,他还以:

2. 神的大能对比人的能力 :「因为十字架的道理,在那灭亡的人为愚拙;在我们得救的人,却为神的大能 」(哥林多前书1:18)。这提醒我们保罗在罗马书1:16,肯定地说:「我不以福音为耻;这福音本是神的大能,要救一切相信的,先是犹太人、后是希利尼人。」在福音的心脏地带是神的动力,神用以拯救和释放的大能。在这宇宙并没有别的,像我们的主耶稣基督的福音一般,能转化人的生命。十字架的大能是人类的罪的唯一答案。

与此成为对比的,是人类对自己能力的夸耀。「犹太人要神迹...」(哥林多前书1:22)。如莫里斯(Leon Morris)所说:「在历史中,犹太人极其重视事实,他们对推断出来的思想没有多大兴趣;他们要求证据,他们对实在有用的事情感兴趣。他们认为神在历史中透过神迹奇事彰显自己。」这说明了主在地上的事工时期,犹太人为甚么经常要求神迹(马太福音12:38; 6:1, 4;马可福音 8:11;约翰福音6:30)。他们认为弥赛亚会使用使人惊讶的能力和威严来彰显祂的权柄;对于他们来说,一位被钉死的基督和他们的祈望完全相反。

保罗在第 22, 23, 24 节以极不平常的话来总结他对神的智慧和能力对比人的智慧和能力的分析:「 犹太人是要神迹,希利尼人是求智慧 我们却是传钉十字架的基督,在犹太人为绊脚石,在外邦人为愚拙; 但在那蒙召的,无论是犹太人、希利尼人,基督总为神的能力,神的智慧。

有关福音的第二个特点,保罗这样说:

II. 福音是神给人救赎的邀请

但在那蒙召的,无论是犹太人、希利尼人,基督总为神的能力,神的智慧 」(哥林多前书 1:24 )。这里表达了基督的福音是一个完美的平衡,它不单止是神对人彰显祂自己,也是邀请人到祂自己那里去。这高于人的智慧和人的能力所能做到的。让我们考虑:

1. 在福音发出的邀请中,神的喜悦 :「神就乐意用人所当作愚拙的道理,拯救那些信的人...」(哥林多前书 1:21 )。在这节经文中「喜悦」一词的意思和在第18节的并不相同。这里强调宣告福音荣耀的信息。保罗在这里生诉我们神至高的喜悦,或按字义「神的美意」,那是透过传道者的愚拙,男人和女人被拯救。有甚么比神对人的众子所定下的心意 – 就是透过愚拙的传道者带出十字架的拯救信息 – 更崇高和美妙?让我们再思想:

2. 在福音发出的邀请中,神的目的 :「因为十字架的道理,在那灭亡的人为愚拙;在我们得救的人却是神的大能」(哥林多前书 1:18 )。这里把神在基督里的拯救工作扼要地用文字表达出来。我们要记着所有在基督以外的,都是失丧的人。「灭亡」这个动词的意思并非「灭绝」,而是毁坏和失去幸福的感觉。一个灭亡的人是指那人没有达成神创造他时的旨意,但这也是基督的福音与他相遇和拯救他到永恒生命的地方。「拯救」这词背后的概念不单是恢复,并且带来转化。

让我们再次观察我们被召:

3. 在福音发出的邀请中,神的处理 :「... 神就乐意用人所当作愚拙的道理,拯救那些信的人... 基督总为神的能力,神的智慧 」(哥林多前书 1: 21, 24 )。在福音发出的邀请中,有两个字总结出神的处理。其中一个是「召」,另外一个是「信」。一个描述神的邀请,另一个则含有人所作的回应。耶稣经常呼召男人和女人到祂那里去。感谢神,不同的种族、说不同语言的人、不同宗族的人都作出回应。这个荣耀的过程继续至基督的身体完满。

由此,我们看到神的这个救赎的邀请,需要人作出决定,没有人在福音的启示和邀请下不作回应。相信的人就会得救,若他拒绝就会「灭亡」。

总结 :哥林多信徒分党,因为他们对福音的信息出现错误的观念。这也正是保罗为甚么不怕痛苦,也要在第一段厘清福音的真正性质。就我们所见,他作出透彻的处理,并在总结时说:「因神的愚拙总比人智慧;神的软弱总比人强壮」(哥林多前书1:25)。哲学和人类展示出来的能力此起彼落,但耶稣基督的福音却不改变,并且耶稣基督自己也不改变 –「... 昨日、今日、一直到永远、是一样的」...

第四部份:讲道大纲

可点击以下链接收听这几篇英语讲章 : Link 1 - 约翰福音 10:1-2; Link 2 - 约翰福音 10:3-4 ; Link 3 - 约翰福音 10:4-8 ; Link 4 - 约翰福音 10:9

标题:耶稣是门 (约翰福音 10:1-9)

第一点:假的宗教领袖是闯进者 (第1-2节)

1. 他们不从门进入,他们从别处爬进来

2. 他们是贼和强盗

第二点:真的宗教领袖是牧者 (第3-5节)

1. 他们引领神子民的方式是引起我们的回应 (3a-b)

2. 他们引领神子民的方式是按名呼唤我们 (3c)

3. 他们引领神子民的方式是给我们指引方向 (3d-4b)

4. 他们引领神子民的方式是得到我们的信任 (4c-5)

5. 他们引领神子民的方式是引我们到基督那里去 (6-9)

a) 基督是羊的门 (7-8)

b) 基督是通往救恩的门 (9a)

c) 基督是通往自由的门 (9b)

d) 基督是给我们滋养的门 (9c)

Related Topics: Pastors

網上牧師雜誌 – 中文版(繁體), TCh Ed, Issue 20 2016年 夏季

2016 夏季
作者:羅傑‧帕斯科博士(Dr. Roger Pascoe)
聖言宣講學院院長
(President, The Institute for Biblical Preaching)
加拿大安大略省劍橋市
(http://tibp.ca/)

C:\Users\Roger\Documents\My Documents\Institute for Biblical Preaching\Forms, Binder Cover Page, Logo\IBP Logos\IBP Logo.jpg

「增強在教會裡的講道 領導能力」

第一部份:講道的大能,第三點(續)

「聖 靈 的 大 能」

這網上雜誌在過去三期,我們的主題是宣講中聖靈的大能。上期,我們問了好些問題,例如:(1)甚麼是得到聖靈加力,受膏的宣講?(2)為甚麼有些傳道者擁有這能力,但有些卻沒有呢?

這期,我們會討論這主題所引起的別的問題:被聖靈「充滿」和從聖靈「得力」有甚麼分別?認清從聖靈受洗、聖靈充滿和從聖靈得力十分重要。(下文改編自司提反歐福德Dr. Stephen F. Olford著作)

1. 從聖靈受洗(哥林多前書12:13)表示我們在基督裡的「屬靈地位」。這在我們重生時發生,只會發生一次,從那時起,聖靈「住在」我們裡面(哥林多前書3:16; 6:19;提摩太後書1:14;雅各書4:5)。所有信徒都從聖靈受洗∕聖靈住在信徒裡。

2. 被聖靈充滿(以弗所書5:18)顯示我們在基督裡的「屬靈狀況」。從聖靈受洗只有一次,但被聖靈充滿卻可以多次出現。被聖靈充滿表示達到飽和狀態,沒有空間給屬肉體的情慾、自己的利益和罪。這並非聖靈內住(那是重生的實情),我們以前已作探討,這是由聖靈主管生命,是得到重生後生活的一種功能,這是在每天的生活裡,服從聖靈、交託、倚靠和擁戴聖靈。「這是正常的基督徒生活和學效基督」(Olford, Anointed Expository Preaching, 216)。我們要被聖靈充滿(以弗所書5:18),從文法角度來看,這是看似不可能的事 : 一個被動式的命令;命令我們去做一件別人在我們身上完成的事!但這矛盾可從以下的解說得到解決:我們服從這命令的方法是透過主動控制我們的生命,不讓任何使聖靈憂傷或消滅聖靈感動的事情發生(透過生命的美德和聖潔等);而在回應方面,我們被動地(即別人在我們身上完成的事)由聖靈按祂在我們裡面和透過我們的生命和事工來管理我們。

3. 從聖靈得著能力(使徒行傳1:8),加強我們在基督裡的「屬靈使命」。為使我們服事神的事工有效力,我們需要從聖靈得力(哥林多前書2:1-5;帖撒邏尼迦前書1:5)。我們不能靠自己得到屬靈的果效。我們參與的屬靈使命要求聖靈的批准和得到聖靈的效力才有功效。因此,我們首要被聖靈充滿,才能從聖靈得力,才可以有效地宣講神的道。我相信當我們被聖靈充滿時,便從聖靈得到能力。

那麼,讓我發問一個和上期相同的問題:為甚麼有些傳道者擁有這能力,但有些卻沒有呢?這分別和聖靈內住無關,因為所有信徒都有聖靈內住。看來,分別在於是否被聖靈「充滿」。有些傳道者被聖靈「充滿」,因此,他們能夠帶有聖靈的能力來服事,而有些卻不是。假如傳道者沒有被聖靈「充滿」,這便是他的宣講沒有得到聖靈授予能力的因由。有些傳道者順服聖靈而活,而有些卻不是。有些傳道者得到聖靈的恩賜作宣講,但有些卻沒有。因此,這問題完全在於我們怎樣生活(我們交託、倚靠聖靈而活,還是我們倚靠自己的資源),與及神給我們甚麼恩賜。

所以,若你生命中的活動、思想、慾望等,有任何使「聖靈憂傷」的事情(以弗所書4:30),聖靈便不會活躍於你的生命和事工當中。但我卻不否定擁有主權的聖靈,能使用不管是啞的驢子、還是未得救的人來達成祂的目的;我們不能忽視以下的原則:若信徒的生命不適合作聖靈的居所,聖靈不會給我們祝福。同樣地,假若在我們的生命裡有些東西「消滅聖靈的感動」(帖撒邏尼迦前書5:19),聖靈便不會活躍地給我們祝福或使我們的事工得力。

我們希望在生命和事工上得到聖靈授予能力,是正確和合適的。誠然,若沒有聖靈授予能力,不讓聖靈自由地在我們和我們的聽眾裡工作,我們難以進行有意義、有果效的事工。

要作有能力的宣講,我們必須要容讓神的靈在我們裡面工作,使我們成聖(因而合神所用),照亮我們(使我們正確地明白祂的話語),和使我們得著能力(使我們能正確地表達祂的話語)。與此同時,神的靈在我們的聽眾裡作工,讓他們對罪、對義和將來的審判信念堅定(約翰福音16:11),和轉化他們成為神的子民、基督的追隨者。這是從聖靈得力的證明,也是聖靈祝福的明證,傳道者是合主用的器皿,而聽眾得到重大的改變。

讓我在這裡加一些警告的話和勉勵的話。首先是警告的話:留意「有敬虔的外貌,卻背了敬虔的實意」(提摩太後書3:5)。要避免下面的想法:因你能夠在會眾中營造氣氛和從他們當中得到一些回應,你作的便是帶有大能的宣講。要避免將焦點放在經驗、現象和主觀的感覺上,而遺忘了是聖靈在真正工作。留意你不會混淆了在肉體作宣講和在聖靈裡作宣講。「當你靠著肉體的能力來宣講,你會感到受讚揚和被提升;當你在聖靈的大能中作宣講,你會因神的工作而謙卑」(Martyn Lloyd-Jones, cited in Arturio G. Azurdia III, Spirit Empowered Preaching, Christian Focus Publications, 2003, preface)。

我們每次宣講的時侯,我們必須確信「我們的信息若不是得到神的靈伴隨,它對任何人都沒有好處。」(Stuart Olyott, Preaching Pure and Simple, Wales, Bryntirion Press, 2005, 154) 只有從神的靈得著能力時,信息才可以得出屬靈的果效。單靠我們自己並不能作甚麼。

那麼,你怎能知道你的宣講從神的靈得著能力和祝福?當神的道被神的靈應用而從人中得到回應時,你便知道。你也會知道人的生命有所改變,有些人得救、婚姻復和、關係修補、基督徒更敬虔、人更全神貫注於神的道等。

現在是勸勉的話:這有關從聖靈得力(恩膏)的分析,應能給予傳道者莫大的鼓勵。這些傳道者日以繼夜、年復年、安靜地在他們的事工中服事神;他們忠心地、準確地解釋和應用神的道;他們相信神的靈、接受神的道和使用神的道來改變靈魂,轉化生命,使人成為完全敬虔的基督跟隨者,「直等到我們眾人在真道上同歸於一,認識神的兒子,得以長大成人,滿有基督長成的身量。」(以弗所書4:13)

那是從聖靈得力的事工。傳講這信息的傳道者,他首要的期望是榮耀神,彰顯基督。他們的觀點是「要把各人在基督裡完完全全引到神面前」(歌羅西書1:28)。我認為,我們的宣講應尋求神的祝福,它透過以下的途徑顯示出來:(1)事工結出果子(有人得救;在基督裡成長等);(2)我們自己的生命結出屬靈的果子(加拉太書5:22);(3)教會的領袖對我們事工的肯定;(4)在我們的宣講,以基督和神的榮耀為中心。

因此,那些在講道前、講道期間或講道後看不見果效的牧師和傳道者,要鼓起勇氣。「神卻揀選了世上愚拙的,叫有智慧的羞愧;又揀選了世上軟弱的,叫那強壯的羞愧。神也揀選了世上卑賤的,被人厭惡的,以及那無有的,為要廢掉那有的。使一切有血氣的,在神面前一個也不能自誇。… 如經上所記:誇口的,當指著主誇口。」(哥林多前書1:27-29, 31)

希望送篇文章成為我們作為傳道者的鼓勵,就算我們不能在我們的聽眾達成神在他們生命中的旨意,但透過我們過聖潔的生活、懇切的禱告祈求、倚靠神的靈,我們能被神使用為祂至高無上的旨意工作。有時,我們知道部份結果,但很多時我們卻不會知道。我們的安慰來自是那工作是神的 – 唯有祂能拯救靈魂;唯有祂能改變生命。若沒有這保證,我們的事工會使人氣餒;但有了這保證,我們的事工卻能使人滿足。

第二部份:講 道 的 準 備

講 章 大 綱

到目前為止,有關「講道的準備」,我們已經討論選擇經文和課題、研讀經文、分析和理解經文,找出經文結構。這個過程,既有趣,卻又會使人氣餒。有趣的地方是你發現所選擇的經文的思路(即經文結構);氣餒的地方則是你可能花上好幾個小時,仍找不到。也許,你能明白為甚麼講道的準備是困難的工作。

現在,你已經準備好為經文編寫講章大綱。你或會感到疑惑「經文結構和講章大綱有甚麼分別?它們不是相同的嗎?」對於部份傳道者來說,它們是相同的。有很多牧者按經文結構宣講 – 那是可以的,但實際上這並不足夠,因為我們的講章大綱需要反映神學原則和經文在今天應怎樣應用在我們身上,以致我們的會眾能看見他們可以怎樣應用經文。作為牧者的其中一項工作,是縮短古代的經文文本、人物、語言及文化和今天的距離。

所以,那按經文結構寫成的講章大綱和經文結構的分別是它已決定你怎樣宣講經文的內容。當你確定經文結構的時候,你已經知道那篇章的主題和作者在這主題要說的。換句話說,你知道作者所要表達的和他怎樣編排他的材料。現在,你要決定怎樣宣講經文裡的神學和在今天如何應用在你的聽眾身上。我認為這也許是傳道者最重要的功能,因為我們的聽眾通常不會自己這樣做。他們讀經,他們知道經文說甚麼,但他們通常不明白它的意義和含意,與及今天怎樣應用在我們身上。我們的工作是將它傳遞給我們的聽眾。

你可能會發問另一個問題:「我們為甚麼需要一個講道大綱?」有很多牧者因為沒有使用講道大綱,結果沒有成功闡釋經文的神學意義和含意,同時亦沒有表達今天的聽眾該如何應用經文。我們的講章應有條理,因為:

1. 整本聖經都是有組織、有條理的,每位聖經作者都有他們的寫作目的。聖經沒有任何部份是雜亂無章(即沒有結構和目的)。

2. 假如你沒有一個按經文結構、思路的大綱,你的講道不會合乎邏輯,人們難以跟隨。

3. 假如你沒有一個清晰、合乎聖經的結構,你難以宣講一個清晰、合乎聖經的信息。

講道大綱是講章的「骨架」,在這個骨架,你將你的信息的「肉」掛上去。你將你的釋經釘在這個「結構」上。這是你的講章怎樣分重點和怎樣把材料結合。

一個好的講道大綱能達到以下目的:

1. 它將你的講章分成「重點」。(即講章的不同部份)

2. 它協助你清楚、有條理、統一、有進展、完整地表達你的思路。

3. 它防止你離題或遺漏重點。

4. 它令引言、主體(解釋、應用、例子)和總結得到平衡。

5. 它控制講章的長度,避免過長或過短。

6. 它可作為會眾跟隨的地圖(或目錄)。

7. 它幫助聽眾更容易記得信息的內容。

講道大綱將經文的主題分成主要部份,它們組成講道內容的重點。這些重點可細分成子點,那是將重點分成較細的部份,使重點更清晰明確,不過把信息細分的情度則可按個人喜好而定。我認為若你的大綱只放重點,而子點只作為解釋的材料,因為一個較簡單的大綱,對聽眾來說會較容易跟隨。你仍可以將子點文字化來突顯它們,但它們要隨從講章的材料一起流動,不以子點的形式記下,否則,你的聽眾很容易迷失,不知你說到那裡。

我嘗試以簡單、重複的字來突顯我的重點。以下是腓立比書1:19-20的大綱例子:

1. 我們可以對基督徒的禱告有信心。(19a)

3. 我們可以對基督的靈的供應的有信心。(19b)

3. 我們可以為維持為基督作見證有信心。(20)

你從不希望你的講道大綱蓋過你的信息或打動你的聽眾。它只是你的信息的框架。

講道大綱的起始點是經文文本的主要思想(主題),把主要思想和有關該思想的陳述(補語)組成講章的核心。

每篇講章都有結構。結構的主要元素包括:(1)引言;(2)主要部份(釋經、應用等);和(3)結語。這主要結構元素要達到以下目標:

1. 你的引言……

a. 吸引聽眾的注意

b. 營造你的講章要處理的問題是有需要的

c. 與經文連接起來

d. 點出主題

e. 道出你的神學觀點(即經文的整體教導)

f. 過渡到講章的主體

2. 你的講章主體是你……

a. 陳述和解釋你的重點

b. 如有需要,恰當地舉例說明你的重點

c. 給你的聽眾提出怎樣應用你的教導

3. 在你的總結,你……

a. 為你剛才在信息帶出的重點作概述

b. 協助你的聽眾將你解釋的真理形象化(即看到這教導在日常生活中是怎樣的)

c. 激勵他們實行真理 – 即實踐真理,回應他們剛才聽到的真理。

從下期開始,我將會討論講章大綱的以下部份,這是按你預備講章大綱的次序(而非宣講時的次序):

  1. 1. 把重點化成文字
  2. 2. 陳述論點,有些人稱它為命題或「用一句話說出你的講章」
  3. 3. 起草講章的主體 – 解釋(包括舉例)和應用
  4. 4. 組織講章的結束
  5. 5. 設計引言

第三部份:靈修

「福音的性質」(哥林多前書1:18-25)

By: Dr. Stephen F. Olford

現在我們來到最具啟發性的經文的其中一篇,它的主題是福音與及在新約聖經俯拾即是的基督教事工的性質。在這段經文之前,保羅剛處理了教會分黨的咒詛。保羅接著處理教會分黨的誘因,從這裡直到第四章,保羅提出了分黨根源的兩個錯誤觀念:首先是對於基督教信息的錯誤觀念(1:18-3:4);第二個是關於基督教事工的錯誤觀念(3:5-4:5)。讓我們先細想關於基督教信息的錯誤觀念,它包含對福音的性質存有錯誤觀念,這正是我們今天的經文哥林多前書1:18-25的信息。

當我們處理這幾節經文時,我們要記著保羅是寫信給一間出現分黨的教會。我們已觀察到有不少於四個黨派,他們各有自己的口號。這個問題的部份原因是信徒被帶到人面前,而非帶到主那裡去;但也出現了傳信息者比信息有更崇高地位的傾向。因此,保羅被迫清楚地宣告有關福音的特性。他先說:

I. 福音是神給人特殊的啟示

因為十字架的道理,在那滅亡的人為愚拙;在我們得救的人,卻為神的大能」(哥林多前書1:18。保羅在這裡強調它和表達福音的方式沒有太大的關連,因為福音的「言語」有別於第17節智慧的言語。他最重要的目的是指出福音作為啟示神的智慧和大能的獨特性。這是古代世界的鑰字,希利尼人求智慧,而猶太人對神蹟縈繞於心。因此,保羅使用以下兩方面對比來描繪福音的獨特性:

1. 神的智慧對比人的智慧:「基督總為神的能力,神的智慧」(哥林多前書1:24)。保羅不讓我們對於甚麼是神的智慧留下任何疑惑。稍後,他說:「但…在基督裡…神又使他成為我們的智慧、公義、聖潔、救贖」(哥林多前書1:30。這節經文包含完整的福音信息,沒有比這更重要的陳述。首先,基督是我們的公義。在基督裡和透過基督,在聖潔的神面前我們被稱為義。福音在這方面回答了一個古老問題:「這樣在神面前,人怎能稱義?」(約伯記25:4)因基督為我們的罪死和復活,使我們稱義;我們知道透過相信神的兒子,神的義就加給我們。第二、基督是我們的聖潔。我們永不能靠我們自己的能力達至聖潔;但透過祂在我們裡面,我們便一天一天步向聖潔。為了達到神的目的,這恩典把我們完完全全的分別出來。從行為而言,它的意思是我們試驗性地活出了我們在基督裡的地位。第三、基督是我們的救贖。它的意思是我們被「釋放」,按上下文,它不單指我們從處罰和罪的權勢下得救贖,而且從所有罪出現的地方得救贖。神在基督再來時,終極地使我們和基督相似。

我們的主耶穌基督的福音,是神何等的智慧。與此成對比的是保羅所描述的人的智慧。雅各同意人的「…智慧不是從上頭來的,乃是屬地的,屬情慾的,屬鬼魔的」(雅各書3:15。人的智慧是屬地的,「世人憑自己的智慧,既不認識神,神就樂意用人所當作愚拙的道理,拯救那些信的人」(哥林多前書1:21)。這裡有一個值得牢記的重點,神在祂的智慧裡頒布:世界憑自己的智慧不應、也不可能認識神。這永遠殲滅人可以透過理解力或智力可以尋見神的觀念,更不用說認識神了。人類的教育就是達到最高、最好的水平,仍不足夠。人的智慧是屬情慾的,這是為何保羅諷刺地說:「希利尼人是求智慧」(哥林多前書1:22)。沒有甚麼比那老練的傳道者或有口才的辯士使用「知性進路」(intellectual approach)對那些憑感觀或屬肉體的人更具吸引力。人類的智慧是屬鬼魔的。這樣描述是因它與因為驕傲而墮落的魔鬼聯繫。這也是為何人類的哲學除了理性上的高傲自負,便甚麼都不是了。任何一個從根基破壞聖經權威的行動,你可稱它為現代主義自由主義人文主義…,都在哲學的範疇。因為人類自高自大,尋求和哲學有名的打交道,卻沒有留意到聖經譴責它為屬鬼魔的。

因此,保羅提醒哥林多的信徒「…就如經上所記:『我要滅絕智慧人的智慧,廢棄聰明人的聰明智慧人在那裡?文士在那裡?這世上的辯士在那裡?神豈不是叫這世上的智慧變成愚拙麼?」(哥林多前書1:19-20)。這段經文的重點是叫人認識人若以自己的計劃和努力去完成他自己的救恩是完全沒有用的。(以賽亞書29:14) 神只透過十字架作拯救。以賽亞書33:18描述神怎樣混淆猶太統治者那以世俗的智慧提出的忠告。假若人類不願意放棄他們哲理性的推論,而喜愛神的智慧,神會繼續做祂在古時所做的。當描述這獨特的啟示時,保羅不單止以神的智慧對比人的智慧,他還以:

2. 神的大能對比人的能力 :「因為十字架的道理,在那滅亡的人為愚拙;在我們得救的人,卻為神的大能」(哥林多前書1:18)。這提醒我們保羅在羅馬書1:16,肯定地說:「我不以福音為恥;這福音本是神的大能,要救一切相信的,先是猶太人、後是希利尼人。」在福音的心臟地帶是神的動力,神用以拯救和釋放的大能。在這宇宙並沒有別的,像我們的主耶穌基督的福音一般,能轉化人的生命。十字架的大能是人類的罪的唯一答案。

與此成為對比的,是人類對自己能力的誇耀。「猶太人要神蹟…」(哥林多前書1:22)。如 莫里斯(Leon Morris)所說:「在歷史中,猶太人極其重視事實,他們對推斷出來的思想沒有多大興趣;他們要求證據,他們對實在有用的事情感興趣。他們認為神在歷史中透過神蹟奇事彰顯自己。」這說明了主在地上的事工時期,猶太人為甚麼經常要求神蹟(馬太福音12:38; 6:1, 4;馬可福音 8:11;約翰福音6:30)。他們認為彌賽亞會使用使人驚訝的能力和威嚴來彰顯祂的權柄;對於他們來說,一位被釘死的基督和他們的祈望完全相反。

保羅在第22, 23, 24節以極不平常的話來總結他對神的智慧和能力對比人的智慧和能力的分析:「猶太人是要神蹟,希利尼人是求智慧, 我們卻是傳釘十字架的基督,在猶太人為絆腳石,在外邦人為愚拙; 但在那蒙召的,無論是猶太人、希利尼人,基督總為神的能力,神的智慧。

有關福音的第二個特點,保羅這樣說:

II. 福音是神給人救贖的邀請

但在那蒙召的,無論是猶太人、希利尼人,基督總為神的能力,神的智慧」(哥林多前書1:24)。這裡表達了基督的福音是一個完美的平衡,它不單止是神對人彰顯祂自己,也是邀請人到祂自己那裡去。這高於人的智慧和人的能力所能做到的。讓我們考慮:

1. 在福音發出的邀請中,神的喜悅:「神就樂意用人所當作愚拙的道理,拯救那些信的人…」(哥林多前書1:21)。在這節經文中「喜悅」一詞的意思和在第18節的並不相同。這裡強調宣告福音榮耀的信息。保羅在這裡生訴我們神至高的喜悅,或按字義「神的美意」,那是透過傳道者的愚拙,男人和女人被拯救。有甚麼比神對人的眾子所定下的心意 – 就是透過愚拙的傳道者帶出十字架的拯救信息 – 更崇高和美妙?讓我們再思想:

2. 在福音發出的邀請中,神的目的:「因為十字架的道理,在那滅亡的人為愚拙;在我們得救的人卻是神的大能」(哥林多前書1:18)。這裡把神在基督裡的拯救工作扼要地用文字表達出來。我們要記著所有在基督以外的,都是失喪的人。「滅亡」這個動詞的意思並非「滅絕」,而是毀壞和失去幸福的感覺。一個滅亡的人是指那人沒有達成神創造他時的旨意,但這也是基督的福音與他相遇和拯救他到永恆生命的地方。「拯救」這詞背後的概念不單是恢復,並且帶來轉化。

讓我們再次觀察我們被召:

3. 在福音發出的邀請中,神的處理:「…神就樂意用人所當作愚拙的道理,拯救那些信的人基督總為神的能力,神的智慧」(哥林多前書1:21,24)。在福音發出的邀請中,有兩個字總結出神的處理。其中一個是「召」,另外一個是「信」。一個描述神的邀請,另一個則含有人所作的回應。耶穌經常呼召男人和女人到祂那裡去。感謝神,不同的種族、說不同語言的人、不同宗族的人都作出回應。這個榮耀的過程繼續至基督的身體完滿。

由此,我們看到神的這個救贖的邀請,需要人作出決定,沒有人在福音的啟示和邀請下不作回應。相信的人就會得救,若他拒絕就會「滅亡」。

總結:哥林多信徒分黨,因為他們對福音的信息出現錯誤的觀念。這也正是保羅為甚麼不怕痛苦,也要在第一段厘清福音的真正性質。就我們所見,他作出透徹的處理,並在總結時說:「因神的愚拙總比人智慧;神的軟弱總比人強壯」(哥林多前書1:25)。哲學和人類展示出來的能力此起彼落,但耶穌基督的福音卻不改變,並且耶穌基督自己也不改變 –「…昨日、今日、一直到永遠、是一樣的」…

第四部份:講道大綱

可點擊以下連結收聽這幾篇英語講章: Link 1 - 約翰福音 10:1-2; Link 2 - 約翰福音10:3-4; Link 3 - 約翰福音10:4-8; Link 4 - 約翰福音10:9

標題:耶穌是門 (約翰福音 10:1-9)

第一點:假的宗教領袖是闖進者 (第1-2節)

1. 他們不從門進入,他們從別處爬進來

2. 他們是賊和強盜

第二點:真的宗教領袖是牧者 (第3-5節)

1. 他們引領神子民的方式是引起我們的回應 (3a-b)

2. 他們引領神子民的方式是按名呼喚我們 (3c)

3. 他們引領神子民的方式是給我們指引方向 (3d-4b)

4. 他們引領神子民的方式是得到我們的信任 (4c-5)

5. 他們引領神子民的方式是引我們到基督那裡去 (6-9)

a) 基督是羊的門 (7-8)

b) 基督是通往救恩的門 (9a)

c) 基督是通往自由的門 (9b)

d) 基督是給我們滋養的門 (9c)

Related Topics: Pastors

19. Marcas de Maturidade (Gênesis 18:1-33)

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Introdução

Cresci numa região onde havia muitos cervos e, quando jovem, eu gostava de caçar. Nós, pessoas do campo, sempre ficávamos incomodados com a gente da cidade que vinha para atirar em nossos cervos, aqueles que tinham se alimentado em nossos pomares e mordiscado as nossas hortas durante o ano. Certa vez ouvi falar de um malandro que não sabia quase nada de caça e parou em um armazém local para perguntar como um veado se parecia. Se você não acredita, eu ouvi isso de um fazendeiro que estava tão preocupado que seu gado pudesse ser atingido durante a temporada de caça, que pintou a palavra VACA em letras garrafais em suas reses.

Uma vaca ser morta por um cara da cidade pode ser meio patético, mas não é o fim do mundo. Muitos cristãos, no entanto, estão em busca de maturidade, mas não sabem quais são suas marcas. Alguns acreditam que a maturidade esteja no conhecimento, enquanto outros a equiparam com experiência pessoal ou com obedecer algum tipo de regra ou usar algum método. Embora conhecimento e experiência sejam importantes, essas coisas por si só não são características pelas quais devemos lutar.

Em nosso estudo da vida de Abraão, no capítulo 16 nós o encontramos numa maré bem baixa. Ali, Abrão, pressionado por sua esposa, teve um vacilo na fé e tentou obter por meio de esforço humano o que Deus havia prometido. Uma criança nasceu de Agar, mas não o filho da promessa. O pecado de Abrão só resultou em dor de cabeça para ele, Sarai e Agar. Até onde a Bíblia nos diz, passaram-se treze anos até Deus falar com ele novamente. E então, no capítulo 17, Deus quebra o silêncio e reitera Sua aliança com Abraão, bem como a promessa do nascimento de um filho por meio de Sara dentro de um ano.

Em contraste com o capítulo 16, o capítulo 18 é o ponto alto da vida de Abraão. Embora sua fé não fosse infalível, ela se tornou mais forte. Suas atitudes e ações servem como exemplo de fé madura. A descrição da sua fé no capítulo 18 estabelece o cenário para o fracasso de Ló no capítulo 19, cujas sementes foram plantadas no capítulo 13. Essa história vamos guardar para a próxima lição, mas o contraste entre os dois homens nestes dois capítulos é evidente.

Portanto, no capítulo 18 vamos dar uma olhada mais de perto em Abraão e nas características da sua maturidade.

O Trio Celestial e a Hospitalidade de Abraão (18:1-8)

Embora esta não fosse a primeira aparição de nosso Senhor a Abraão, com certeza foi única. Antes, Deus tinha falado com ele diretamente (12:1-3; 13:14-17), por meio de um porta-voz (14:19-20), por uma visão (15:1 e ss) e em uma aparição, a qual talvez tenha sido acompanhada de glória e esplendor (17:1 e ss). Aqui, Deus veio a Abraão na forma de um homem comum, acompanhado por dois outros homens, os quais depois são identificados como seres angélicos (compare 18:2, 22; 19:1). Não se sabe o que poderia distinguir esses três “viajantes” de quaisquer outros:

Apareceu o SENHOR a Abraão nos carvalhais de Manre, quando ele estava assentado à entrada da tenda, no maior calor do dia. Levantou ele os olhos, olhou, e eis três homens de pé em frente dele. (Gênesis 18:1-2a)

Abraão, à típica maneira oriental, estava assentado à porta da sua tenda no maior calor do dia. Quem, como eu, vive em Dallas (Texas, EUA), após quarenta dias de temperatura na casa dos 37º C, ou mais, conhece a moleza resultante do sol do meio-dia. Esse horário tornava a necessidade de ser hospitaleiro ainda maior, pois os visitantes deviam estar sedentos e exaustos por causa do calor. A hospitalidade de Abraão ia ser colocada à prova, pois sua “siesta” precisava ser interrompida para ele poder atender suas visitas.

Mesmo que tal hospitalidade seja parte da cultura oriental, o cuidado de Abraão no desempenho da sua tarefa foi evidente:

Vendo-os, correu da porta da tenda ao seu encontro, prostrou-se em terra e disse: Senhor meu, se acho mercê em tua presença, rogo-te que não passes do teu servo; traga-se um pouco de água, lavai os pés e repousai debaixo desta árvore; trarei um bocado de pão; refazei as vossas forças, visto que chegastes até vosso servo; depois, seguireis avante. Responderam: Faze como disseste. Apressou-se, pois, Abraão para a tenda de Sara e lhe disse: Amassa depressa três medidas de flor de farinha e faze pão assado ao borralho.  Abraão, por sua vez, correu ao gado, tomou um novilho, tenro e bom, e deu-o ao criado, que se apressou em prepará-lo. Tomou também coalhada e leite e o novilho que mandara preparar e pôs tudo diante deles; e permaneceu de pé junto a eles debaixo da árvore; e eles comeram. (Gênesis 18:2b-8)

Ele não foi descuidado nem negligente no cumprimento do seu dever. Ele reduziu ao máximo as provisões necessárias e as dificuldades para prepará-las — um pouco de água, um bocado de pão, um pequeno descanso e um momento para lavar os pés. No entanto, a refeição servida foi simplesmente suntuosa. Grande quantidade de pão foi feita na hora1, um novilho escolhido a dedo foi abatido e preparado, além de coalhada e leite. Esta não era, de forma alguma, uma refeição simples! E Abraão recusou-se a se sentar com seus convidados, ficando em pé para servi-los2.

Qualquer um ficaria feliz em preparar um banquete como aquele se soubesse a identidade de seus convidados; mas, ao que tudo indica, Abraão, naquele momento, não sabia. Sem dúvida, era sobre isso que o escritor aos Hebreus falava quando escreveu:

Não negligencieis a hospitalidade, pois alguns, praticando-a, sem o saber acolheram anjos. (Hebreus 13:2)

Mas que cena deve ter sido! Abraão, em pé, servindo seus convidados celestiais sem sequer saber sua identidade. Ao mesmo tempo, um pouco além e mais abaixo, as cidades de Sodoma e Gomorra, com suas festas e orgias, gozava o último dia da temporada de pecado, e Ló, em algum lugar por lá, ainda não sabia o que lhe reservava aquele dia.

A Promessa de Deus Confirmada, Embora Questionada (18:9-15)

Em lugar algum é dito em que momento ocorreu a Abraão que seus visitantes não fossem deste mundo; no entanto, pelo versículo 27 sabemos que este era um fato conhecido.

Creio que a promessa reiterada nos versículos 9 a 15 determinou a identidade daqueles homens quando os ligou à revelação do capítulo 17.

Então, lhe perguntaram: Sara, tua mulher, onde está? Ele respondeu: Está aí na tenda. Disse um deles: Certamente voltarei a ti, daqui a um ano; e Sara, tua mulher, dará à luz um filho. Sara o estava escutando, à porta da tenda, atrás dele. Abraão e Sara eram já velhos, avançados em idade; e a Sara já lhe havia cessado o costume das mulheres. Riu-se, pois, Sara no seu íntimo, dizendo consigo mesma: Depois de velha, e velho também o meu senhor, terei ainda prazer? Disse o SENHOR a Abraão: Por que se riu Sara, dizendo: Será verdade que darei ainda à luz, sendo velha? Acaso, para o SENHOR há coisa demasiadamente difícil? Daqui a um ano, neste mesmo tempo, voltarei a ti, e Sara terá um filho. Então, Sara, receosa, o negou, dizendo: Não me ri. Ele, porém, disse: Não é assim, é certo que riste. (Gênesis 18:9-15)

Era costume da época, e ainda é em algumas culturas, as mulheres não serem vistas nem ouvidas enquanto convidados do sexo masculino eram recebidos. Por isso, Sara preparou o pão longe da vista dos homens (cf. versículo 6); depois permaneceu dentro da tenda enquanto eles comiam. Embora ela se mantivesse cuidadosamente fora de vista, sua curiosidade falou mais alto. Talvez ela tenha espiado por entre as dobras da tenda, embora isso não seja afirmado em parte alguma. No entanto, ela realmente estava com o ouvido à porta, ansiosa para escutar a conversa lá fora. Duvido que qualquer um de nós também consiga resistir a essa tentação.

Quando perguntaram a Abraão onde Sara estava, ele respondeu que ela estava dentro da tenda. O Senhor, então, assegurou-lhe que dali a um ano ela teria um filho. A essência desta promessa pouco difere da promessa anterior, conforme registrado no capítulo 17 (versículos 19, 21). Para Abraão, isso deve ter resolvido a questão da identidade de seus visitantes.

Ao que parece, ou ele deixou de contar a promessa anterior a Sara ou não conseguiu convencê-la da sua exatidão. Creio que as palavras de nosso Senhor foram ditas mais para o benefício de Sara do que para o de Abraão. Era vital que ela, também, tivesse fé na promessa de Deus.

A reação de Sara foi quase a mesma do marido:

Então, se prostrou Abraão, rosto em terra, e se riu, e disse consigo: A um homem de cem anos há de nascer um filho? Dará à luz Sara com seus noventa anos? (Gênesis 17:17)

Riu-se, pois, Sara no seu íntimo, dizendo consigo mesma: Depois de velha, e velho também o meu senhor, terei ainda prazer? (Gênesis 18:12)

Humanamente falando, um filho estava fora de questão, tanto para Abraão quanto para Sara. A risada de ambos, creio, foi uma combinação de surpresa, choque, exultação e incredulidade. Como isso poderia suceder? Todavia, mesmo num momento tão estranho, Sara pensou em seu marido com respeito3. Ficamos nos perguntando se a risada de Sara não foi ouvida fora da tenda. O Onisciente teria percebido, mas isso não seria necessário.

Observe que a suave repreensão foi dirigida, inicialmente, a Abraão não a Sara: “Disse o SENHOR a Abraão: Por que se riu Sara…” (Gênesis 18:13).

Será que Abraão, deliberadamente, tinha escondido dela a promessa de Deus? Será que sua fé era tão fraca que ele não podia nem convencer a esposa? De alguma forma ele teve de prestar contas pela reação de Sara. O mais interessante é que a reação dela espelhava a reação dele. Ele deu a ela o exemplo.

As palavras ditas pelo Senhor soam tão fortes para os cristãos da nossa época quanto soaram para Abraão: “Acaso, para o SENHOR há coisa demasiadamente difícil?” (Gênesis 18:14a).

Eis uma questão fundamental. A única razão para tal desconfiança é não conseguir entender a extensão da capacidade de Deus de operar em nós e por meio de nós.

O outro lado da moeda é: se a questão de ter um filho não fosse impossível, a glória de tal milagre não seria dada a Deus. A demora no nascimento de Isaque foi intencionada tanto para tornar necessária a fé de Abraão e Sara, quanto para nutri-la.

Além de tranquilizar Abraão e (talvez) informar Sara sobre o nascimento do filho prometido, as palavras do Senhor nos versículos 10 e 14 serviram para confirmar a identidade do terceiro visitante como o próprio Senhor. No capítulo 17, Deus tinha prometido um filho a Abraão, por meio de Sara, falando na primeira pessoa (17:15-16, 19, 21). No capítulo 18, a promessa também é confirmada na primeira pessoa (versículos 10 e 14). Além disso, aquele “visitante” foi capaz de saber os pensamentos íntimos de Sara quando ela se riu dentro da tenda (versículo 13). Naquele momento, não restaram mais dúvidas acerca da identidade daquela Pessoa e de Seus companheiros de viagem.

Sara parece ter saído da tenda quando Abraão foi questionado a respeito da sua desconfiança. Temendo, ela negou ter rido consigo mesma. Curiosamente, ela não negou os pensamentos denunciados pelo Senhor. Sua negação foi logo tachada como falsa.

O Propósito de Deus Confiado a Abraão (18:16-21)

A hospitalidade de Abraão foi um ato magnífico de generosidade cristã, mas não foi (em minha opinião) a mais elevada expressão de serviço cristão neste capítulo. O ponto alto da sua vida espiritual se encontra na intercessão junto ao Senhor pela vida dos justos de Sodoma.

Algumas pessoas podem concluir que a preservação dos justos foi resultado da oração fervorosa de Abraão. Não penso assim, por mais nobre que tenham sido seus esforços. Creio que Deus propositadamente revelou Sua intenção de julgar aquelas cidades a fim de Abraão poder interceder por elas. Creio que a narrativa irá sustentar minha posição.

O Senhor e os dois anjos seguiram para Sodoma, escoltados em parte do caminho por Abraão. Parece que o Senhor havia se voltado para os dois anjos quando perguntou, quase de forma retórica:

Ocultarei a Abraão o que estou para fazer, visto que Abraão certamente virá a ser uma grande e poderosa nação, e nele serão benditas todas as nações da terra? Porque eu o escolhi para que ordene a seus filhos e a sua casa depois dele, a fim de que guardem o caminho do SENHOR e pratiquem a justiça e o juízo; para que o SENHOR faça vir sobre Abraão o que tem falado a seu respeito. (Gênesis 17:17b-19)

A intimidade da relação entre Deus e Abraão serviu como motivação para a revelação de Deus sobre os propósitos relacionados à Sodoma. Além disso, a base desse relacionamento encontrava-se na aliança abraâmica. No versículo 19 é acentuada a necessidade da fé professada por Abraão ser mantida e transmitida por seus descendentes4. Embora os propósitos de Deus sejam realizados, Seu povo é responsável por guardar Seus mandamentos.

Em contraposição à fidelidade dos descendentes de Abraão está a perversidade de Sodoma e Gomorra.

Disse mais o SENHOR: Com efeito, o clamor de Sodoma e Gomorra tem-se multiplicado, e o seu pecado se tem agravado muito. Descerei e verei se, de fato, o que têm praticado corresponde a esse clamor que é vindo até mim; e, se assim não é, sabê-lo-ei. (Gênesis 18:20-21)

Os versículos 20 e 21 retratam de forma dramática o pecado de Sodoma e a justa reação de um Deus santo. O pecado da cidade é tão grande que praticamente clama aos céus por retribuição (versículo 20). O interesse pessoal e a atenção de Deus são descritos como “descer”5 para tratar do assunto. Isso não significa que o texto esteja diminuindo a onisciência de Deus, pois Ele sabe de todas as coisas. Deus não está “descendo” para saber dos fatos, mas para cuidar pessoalmente deles e corrigir o problema. Foi assim que Abraão compreendeu que Deus ia destruir a cidade, embora isso não seja afirmado de modo específico.

Abraão Intercede junto a Deus por Sodoma (18:22-33)

Os dois anjos foram para Sodoma e deixaram nosso Senhor e Abraão a sós observando a cidade do alto (cf. 19:27,28). Mesmo falando com reverência, Abraão manifestou diante de Deus uma ousadia sem precedentes.

E, aproximando-se a ele, disse: Destruirás o justo com o ímpio? Se houver, porventura, cinquenta justos na cidade, destruirás ainda assim e não pouparás o lugar por amor dos cinquenta justos que nela se encontram? Longe de ti o fazeres tal coisa, matares o justo com o ímpio, como se o justo fosse igual ao ímpio; longe de ti. Não fará justiça o Juiz de toda a terra? (Gênesis 18:23-25)

Sem dúvida, a principal preocupação de Abraão era com Ló e sua família. Embora isso não esteja expresso, está implícito (19:27-29). Seu apelo tinha como base a justiça de Deus. A justiça não iria permitir que o justo sofresse o castigo devido ao ímpio (versículo 25). Abraão apelou para Deus poupar Sodoma a fim de poupar Ló6, não tanto para salvar a cidade ou os ímpios. Todavia, é possível que ele tivesse a esperança de que Ló fosse poupado junto com os ímpios a fim de que estes pudessem chegar à fé em Deus no devido tempo.

É preciso reconhecer que Abraão forçou um pouco a barra, mas não creio que tenha sido por isso que Deus garantiu a ele a concessão do seu pedido.

O fundamento da abordagem de Abraão era que Deus certamente, em justiça, não poderia tratar o justo e o ímpio de igual forma. O justo não merecia perecer junto com o ímpio. Por isso, o pedido feito foi para poupar o ímpio e o justo, caso fosse encontrado um número suficiente de justos. Aceito o pedido, teve início a barganha sobre quantos justos seriam necessários para salvar a cidade.

Deus concordou em poupar a cidade caso 50 justos fossem encontrados (versículo 26). Abraão deve ter desconfiado que tal número não pudesse ser alcançado, por isso, começou a pleitear uma quantidade menor.

Disse mais Abraão: Eis que me atrevo a falar ao Senhor, eu que sou pó e cinza. Na hipótese de faltarem cinco para cinquenta justos, destruirás por isso toda a cidade? Ele respondeu: Não a destruirei se eu achar ali quarenta e cinco. (Gênesis 18:27-28)

Abraão foi muito eloquente nestes versículos. Ele tinha recebido uma promessa acerca de 50 justos. A questão agora era se esse número era fixo ou não. Ele fez o teste diminuindo cinco dos cinquenta. Repare que ele apresentou o caso de tal forma que a destruição da cidade com 45 justos condenaria todos eles pela ausência de cinco cidadãos justos. Pela falta de cinco, quarenta e cinco seriam destruídos. Deus atendeu seu pedido, mas não devido à habilidade oratória de Abraão.

A partir dali, Abraão sentiu-se encorajado a tentar reduzir ainda mais o número mínimo de justos necessários para poupar Sodoma. Primeiro foram 40, depois 30, depois 20 e, finalmente, 10. Nesse ponto, quase soltamos um suspiro de alívio, temendo que Deus perca a paciência com ele. Pessoalmente, creio que o coração de Deus ficou enternecido com a compaixão e o cuidado demonstrados por Abraão. Aquela não era uma petição egoísta, mas uma intercessão por outras pessoas.

Por que, então, Abraão parou em dez? Por que não continuou até cinco, ou até mesmo um? Alguns pensam que ele não ousou pressionar Deus ainda mais. Pode ser, mas não creio que ele teria parado se não tivesse certeza de que Ló e sua família estavam a salvo da ira de Deus.

O número dez devia proteger Ló com alguma margem de segurança. Afinal de contas, pelo visto, só a família dele já era grande o suficiente para atingir esse número. Ló e sua esposa, duas filhas solteiras, suas filhas casadas e seus maridos e, quem sabe, algum filho (cf. Gênesis 19:12); dez justos certamente podiam ser encontrados. Abraão parecia satisfeito, e talvez outras pessoas também tivessem chegado à fé pelo testemunho de Ló.

No entanto, como somos informados no capítulo 19, as esperanças de Abraão eram maiores que a realidade. Isso seria uma tragédia, não fosse uma grande verdade divina: a graça de Deus sempre excede as nossas expectativas. Numa análise final, só havia três justos em Sodoma: Ló e suas duas filhas. Alguns podem questionar a retidão das filhas de Ló, devido ao seu comportamento no capítulo seguinte. Ainda assim, Deus lembrou-se do pedido de Abraão. Embora não tenha poupado a cidade de Sodoma, Deus poupou os justos. Ele é capaz e Se dispõe a fazer muito mais do que pedimos ou pensamos, como ensinam as Escrituras (cf. Efésios 3:20).

Conclusão

Esta passagem nos dá uma visão melhor da questão da maturidade cristã. Examinando mais uma vez estes versículos, muitos sinais de maturidade parecem emergir do texto.

(1) O cristão maduro se torna menos dependente das manifestações espetaculares de Deus e mais envolvido em íntima comunhão diária com Ele. Anteriormente, Deus tinha Se revelado a Abraão com mais esplendor e glória. Desta vez Deus não teria sido reconhecido não fosse o prévio conhecimento sobre Ele e os olhos da fé. Deus foi reconhecido pelas Suas promessas, pela Sua palavra, não por uma presença espetacular ou cheia de esplendor.

Será que pode haver comunhão mais íntima do que partilhar uma refeição com Deus?

Chegada a hora, pôs-se Jesus à mesa, e com ele os apóstolos. E disse-lhes: Tenho desejado ansiosamente comer convosco esta Páscoa, antes do meu sofrimento.  (Lucas 22:14-15).

E aconteceu que, quando estavam à mesa, tomando ele o pão, abençoou-o e, tendo-o partido, lhes deu; então, se lhes abriram os olhos, e o reconheceram; mas ele desapareceu da presença deles. (Lucas 24:30-31)

Eis que estou à porta e bato; se alguém ouvir a minha voz e abrir a porta, entrarei em sua casa e cearei com ele, e ele, comigo. (Apocalipse 3:20)

Não é admirável que um dos pontos altos da semana do cristão seja a comunhão com o Senhor à Sua mesa? (1 Coríntios 11:23-26). Nem sempre devemos buscar a Deus de forma espetacular, mas sim nas coisas mais rotineiras da vida (1 Reis 19:11-14). Isso é sinal de maturidade.

Creio que um casamento ilustra bem este ponto. Quando encontramos “a mulher dos nossos sonhos”, queremos levá-la ao melhor restaurante ou fazer alguma coisa empolgante. Mais cedo ou mais tarde descobrimos que sentimos o mesmo prazer andando de mãos dadas no parque ou sentados na varanda. A emoção não está no lugar ou na atividade, mas na intimidade compartilhada por duas pessoas que se amam em tudo o que fazem. Com a maturidade cristã é a mesma coisa.

(2) A maturidade cristã desloca a nossa atenção de nós mesmos para os outros. Ló era alguém que estava sempre pensando em si mesmo. Os melhores momentos de Abraão neste capítulo são empregados em servir aos outros: primeiro na hospitalidade oferecida àqueles “estranhos”, depois na intercessão por Sodoma. O amor de Deus deve ser refletido na preocupação com os outros (cf. Mateus 23:37-39).

(3) A maturidade cristã equilibra atividade e passividade. Anteriormente neste estudo de Gênesis, havíamos falado sobre o problema de quando agir e quando esperar. Há tempo para ser ativo e há tempo para ser passivo. Abraão não deveria ter ido ao Egito quando a fome chegou a Canaã. Abraão não deveria ter armado um plano para proteger sua vida com uma mentira. Abraão foi passivo quando concordou com o plano de Sara para ter um filho.

Nos versículos 1 a 8, Abraão foi ativo, oferecendo hospitalidade a três estranhos, e agiu certo. Aquela era uma coisa que ele podia e devia fazer. Quanto a Sodoma, algumas pessoas teriam a tendência de serem passivas. Deus já tinha falado; a cidade ia ser destruída; o que Abraão podia fazer? Ele podia fazer o que eu e você podemos fazer quando não há mais nada a fazer — orar. Nada está além da capacidade de realização de Deus (18:14). Se Abraão fez sua súplica de acordo com a vontade e o caráter de Deus, nada poderia ser impossível. Quando alguma situação está fora do nosso controle, não está fora do controle de Deus. Cristãos maduros são aqueles que não deixam de suplicar a Deus mesmo quando as coisas parecem sombrias.

Isso, naturalmente, não quer dizer que devemos orar apenas em situações impossíveis. Devemos orar sempre. No entanto, cristãos maduros oram na confiança de que Deus irá agir de acordo com Seu caráter, e com poder infinito, e em resposta às nossas petições. Quando somos impotentes, não ficamos desesperados, pois muito pode, por sua eficácia, a súplica do justo (cf. Tiago 5:16).

(4) Cristãos maduros veem as profecias como incentivo para orar e servir com diligência, não como questão de mera curiosidade intelectual. Hoje em dia é muito comum cristãos ficarem fascinados por profecias como se isso fosse uma questão mais para agradar o intelecto do que para tocar o coração. Os propósitos proféticos de Deus são dados para fazer os homens agir. Esta é a resposta do cristão maduro (cf. Daniel 9; 2 Pedro 3:11-12).

(5) Cristãos maduros têm clara compreensão destas duas verdades eternas: a grandeza de Deus e a bondade de Deus. Estas verdades são o embasamento do capítulo 18 de Gênesis. A primeira se encontra na pergunta de nosso Senhor no versículo 14: “Acaso, para o SENHOR há coisa demasiadamente difícil”? A segunda é base da intercessão de Abraão no versículo 25: “Não fará justiça o Juiz de toda a terra”?

A primeira verdade reprova toda preocupação e falta de oração, pois “para Deus não haverá impossíveis” (Lucas 1:37). Toda vez que nos preocupamos com o futuro, deixamos de lado a verdade de que Deus é todo-poderoso.

A segunda verdade provê uma resposta para os problemas mais angustiantes e desconcertantes da vida. O Deus que é todo-poderoso também é amoroso, bondoso, justo, misericordioso, e assim por diante. Poder infinito age em conjunto com pureza infinita.

Nosso primeiro filho, e único menino, morreu com apenas três meses e meio de idade. Muitos anos depois, quando eu estava no seminário, durante uma aula surgiu a pergunta sobre o que acontece com quem morre ainda na infância. Diversas passagens da Bíblia foram sugeridas, mas alguns acharam que elas não eram suficientes. Finalmente, compartilhei a segurança que encontramos quando perdemos nosso garotinho. Embora fosse reconfortante termos as Escrituras para nos consolar, não precisávamos de textos específicos para responder às nossas perguntas. Deus é infinitamente maior do que é revelado sobre Ele nas Escrituras. O Juiz de toda a terra fará justiça. Essa era a nossa confiança. Você já perdeu alguém querido sobre cuja salvação não tinha certeza? Existem problemas e situações que você não consegue entender? Então, descanse nisto: nosso Deus é todo-poderoso; nada é impossível para Ele. Além disso, esse poder é sempre empregado com justiça, verdade, misericórdia e amor. Que consolo! Que incentivo para orar!

(6) Finalmente, a maturidade cristã é demonstrada quando nossos pensamentos são parecidos com os pensamentos de Deus. Abraão não mudou a opinião de Deus; ele a demonstrou. Deus não alterou repentinamente Seus propósitos; Ele os informou a Abraão para Abraão poder evidenciar a Sua misericórdia e justiça e compaixão. A revelação do que Deus ia fazer com Sodoma e Gomorra foi dada para que a fé de Abraão pudesse ser manifestada em um magnífico ato de intercessão. Devido ao grande conhecimento de Abraão sobre Deus, ele sabia que Deus não poderia destruir o ímpio com o justo. Maturidade é aquele ponto onde nossos pensamentos e ações se tornam mais parecidos com os de Deus.

… até que todos cheguemos à unidade da fé e do pleno conhecimento do Filho de Deus, à perfeita varonilidade, à medida da estatura da plenitude de Cristo (Efésios 4:13)

A fim de não começarmos a nos sentir culpados diante da percepção de que não estamos no mesmo patamar de Abraão, e muito menos de nosso Senhor, devemos nos lembrar de que o processo de maturidade leva muitos anos. É preciso ter em mente que Abraão em breve cometeria outro erro muito grave (capítulo 20). No entanto, sigamos em frente, na força de Deus, rumo à maturidade.

Tradução: Mariza Regina de Souza


1 “O pão do oriente é sempre preparado imediatamente antes de ser comido. Por isso, Sara teve de ir prepará-lo para aqueles convidados. Embora os visitantes fossem apenas três, a comida simples oferecida seria servida em grande abundância. “Três medidas” foram calculadas para fazer nove galões (Skinner). O que sobrou podia ser facilmente consumido pelos servos de um estabelecimento tão grande quanto o de Abraão”. H. C. Leupold, Exposição de Gênesis (Gran Rapids: Baker Book house, 1942), I, p. 538.

2 “A expressão idiomática ‘stand by’ (‘madh’al) implica em ficar à disposição para servir e pode até ser traduzida como ‘e eles os serviu’. Cf. 1 Samuel 16:22; 1 Reis 1:2; 1 Reis 17:1, na expressão ‘estar perante’”. Ibid, p. 539.

3 Cf. 1 Pedro 3:6

4 Cf. Salmo 132:11, 12

5 A primeira coisa que devemos entender é que a tenda de Abraão estava armada num lugar alto com vista para o vale onde Sodoma e Gomorra estavam localizadas (cf. 19:27, 28). Foi nesse sentido que os dois anjos “desceram” para Sodoma e Gomorra. No entanto, não creio que aqui seja este o significado principal das palavras do Senhor: “Descerei e verei se, de fato, o que têm praticado corresponde a esse clamor que é vindo até mim; e, se assim não é, sabê-lo-ei” (Gênesis 18:21). Em primeiro lugar, só os dois anjos realmente entraram em Sodoma, não nosso Senhor (cf. 19:1 e ss). Além disso, não havia necessidade de Deus fazer uma inspeção pessoal na cidade a fim de conhecer os fatos. A onisciência de Deus não é limitada pela distância. A solução para esse problema se encontra (para minha satisfação) nos outros usos da expressão “descer”. Em Gênesis 11:5, 7 ela é usada no envolvimento de Deus com Babel e a confusão de linguas. Em Êxodo 3:8 fala da intervenção de Deus no Egito para libertar Seu povo. Em todos esses exemplos, “descer” transmite a ideia de “envolver-se pessoalmente” ou de “intervenção pessoal”. Foi isso o que Deus fez, sem entrar fisicamente em Sodoma, Babel ou no Egito.

6 Inicialmente, todas as cidades do vale iam ser destruídas (cf. 19:17, 20-21, 25). Deus falou a Abraão sobre o julgamento de Sodoma e Gomorra (18:20). No entanto, Abraão suplicou apenas por Sodoma, “a cidade” (18:24, 26, 28).

Related Topics: Spiritual Life

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