Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord

C.H. Spurgeon – Sermon entitled A mighty Saviour

How is it that Christ is able to make men repent, to make men believe, to make them turn to God? One answers “Why, by the eloquence of preachers.” God forbid we should ever say that! It is “not by might nor by power.” Others reply, “It is by the force of moral suasion.” God forbid we should say “ay” to that; for moral suasion has been tried long enough on man, and yet it has failed of success. How does he do it?”

We answer, by something which some of you despite, but which nevertheless is a fact. He does it by the omnipotent influence of his divine Spirit. While men are hearing the word (in those God will save) the Holy Spirit works repentance; he changes the heart and renews the soul.

True, the preaching is the instrument, but the Holy Spirit is the great agent. It is certain that the truth is the means of saving, but it is the Holy Ghost applying the truth which saves souls. Ah! And with this power of the Holy Ghost we may go to the most debased and degraded of men, and we need not be afraid but that God can save them. If God should please, the Holy Spirit could at this moment make every one of you fall on your knees, confess your sins, and turn to God. He is an Almighty Spirit, able to do wonders.

In the life of Whitefield, we read that sometimes under one of his sermons two thousands persons would at once profess to be saved, and were really so, many of them. We ask, why it was? At other times he preached just as powerfully, and not one soul was saved. Why? Because in the one case the Holy Spirit went with the word, and in the other case it did not.

All the heavenly result of preaching is owing to the divine Spirit sent from above. I am nothing; my brethren in the ministry around are all nothing; it is God that doeth every thing. “Who is Paul, who is Apollos, and who is Cephas, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as God gave to every man.” It must be “not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.”

Go forth poor minister! Thou hast no power to preach with polished diction and elegant refinement; go and preach as thou canst. The Spirit can make thy feeble words more mighty than the most ravishing eloquence. Alas! Alas for oratory!

Alas for eloquence! It hath long enough been tried. We have had polished periods, and finely turned sentence; but in what place have the people been saved by them? We have grand and gaudy language; but where have hearts been renewed? But now, “By the foolishness of preaching,” by the simple utterance of a child of God’s word, he is pleased to save them that believe, and to save sinners from the error of their ways.

May God prove that word again this morning!

Preachers should let the bible do the talking!

Preachers should let the bible do the talking!

 As I write this blog I am sitting in front of the TV watching the European Team Championships in Leiria Portugal.  Some good performances by Brits, particularly the 4 x 400metre relay team, and Wayne Chambers, of course.

 At the end of a busy 6 days in Wycliffe, I do feel a bit like I have come to the end of a marathon.  But isn’t Christian ministry supposed to be exhausting and energy expending?  It requires discipline, self control and a focus on the end game:  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (1 Cor 9:25)

 But there is also the caution that success will only be awarded to those who do God’s work in God’s way: An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. (2 Tim 2:5).

 This blog is not intended to be purely about preaching.  But, as I reflect on the last 6 days, it has renewed my conviction that the hope for the future of the Church lies in its preachers.

 Monday to Friday this week the students received a sermon from Vaughan Roberts of St Ebbe’s Oxford on Daniel 6.  I preached on James 4 and gave them a lecture on the Nooma teacher Rob Bell and considered the power of ancient rhetoric.  Archie Coates of Holy Trinity Brompton preached on the subject of ‘joy’ from Philippians 4 and we had two full days of teaching from Greg Haslam of Westminster Chapel which were under girded by his conviction that faithful expository preaching should be carried out with a sense of expectation that God will act when his word is preached, and we should look for divine activity from the Holy Spirit in bible-preaching churches.

 On Saturday 20^th June we had the inaugural conference of the Wycliffe School of Preaching, with Greg as well as seminars from Wycliffe Tutors, Michael Green, Justin Hardin and Peter Walker.  About 40 delegates from the Oxfordshire area came for a stimulating and challenging day on the subject of Evangelistic Preaching.

 Too much happened over these last 6 days to attempt to summarise them in a blog.

However these three convictions were reinforced for me:

 Preachers must let the bible speak

 Healthy congregations do not gather primarily to see the preacher display his oratory or rhetoric.  For sure, Paul warned that a time would come men and women would gather around them preachers who would titillate their itching ears, giving soothing and comforting words.  But this will do congregations no good.

 In this passage in 2 Tim 4 there is a warning to congregations.  But there is also a warning to preachers:  have we heard from God in his word before we dare to stand before the congregation?  This requires patient, careful listening to the Bible in all its fullness.

Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?  Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.  (Job 38:2-3)

 Job was castigated because he seemed to assume that he knew more than God and could presume to tell God how he should act.  Preachers must not be guilty of this sin.

 Preachers must let the bible loose

 Apologetics is a key part of Pauline preaching and an important part of our preaching training.  We should be able to give compelling reasons for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15).  However, the preacher’s job is not to defend the bible but to preach the bible

 Spurgeon’s comment on this matter is well known.  “Scripture is like a lion. Whoever heard of defending a lion? Just turn it loose; it will defend itself.”

 I have learnt so much from Dick Lucas’ preaching over the years.  Most significant for me was the way in which Dick would preach a passage in such a way that whenever I came to read that passage again I understood what it meant and means.

 Yes, it is good to learn how to speak articulately, to formulate messages memorably and illustrate and apply the message engagingly (see blog “Make a House a Home” below).  All this is needed.  But the central task in all this is to “let the bible loose” so that people are confronted by the living God through his living word.  It takes time and self-deflecting effort to ensure that the preacher does not stand as a mediator between the living God and God’s people.  His job is to let God do his work through his word.

 Preachers must let the bible convert

 By this I don’t just mean the first challenge of coming to faith.  I also mean that the bible should ongoingly be converting attitudes, emotions and outlooks.  The bible should be confronting and dealing with sin in the life of the preacher and in the life of the congregation.

 At the end of 1 Thessalonians Paul prays:

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (1 Thess 5:23)

 The context of this prayer is significant:

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.  (1 Thess 5:19-22)

 I take it that to be “sanctified through and through” (NIV) is a work of Word and Spirit.  I also think that J. I. Packer was right when he said, “The only proof of past conversion is present convertedness.  If my preaching is faithfully biblical then over and over again I should be being persuaded by my preaching:  “Yes Lord, if I was hearing this for the first time, I would hungrily grasp it for myself!”

 There is so much more to preaching that these three things, but I am convinced that preaching is not less than letting the bible speak; letting the bible loose; and letting the bible convert and this is a great place to start!

Make a house a home

Make a house a home

 Some thoughts on preaching which hits home

We are preparing to move house again soon (2 miles across the other side of Oxford).  As we prepare for the process of transporting all our possessions from one house to another my thoughts turned to what makes a house a home?  The bare structure and location of a property only becomes home when it feels lived in and starts to reflect the personality of its inhabitants.

The same could be said to be true of preaching.  Many sermons which I listen to show evidence of structure, design and effort.  But they often don’t feel lived in.  They lack the warmth and personality which only comes when the preacher has inhabited the text for themselves and taken it home.

What are some of the errors which sermons make?  You can probably think of more, but these few thoughts came to mind.

Pegs

When you first move into your new house boxes get emptied and mounds of clothing, books etc. await proper ‘filing away’.  Should someone come to visit the chances are their coat will need to be draped over a chair or put on the bed.  Hopefully, in time, pegs will appear upon which you may hang your coat.

In a similar way, many sermons which I hear offer nowhere to ‘hang your hat’ so to speak.  There is content, but it lacks pegs.  Without this attention to structure, the hearer can struggle to navigate their way through the sermon.  Without pegs it is unlikely that hearers will be able remember salient points of the sermon for the week ahead.

Rhetoric gets a bad name today. But the later Greek sophists (Isocrates. Cicero etc.) believed Rhetoric to be the ability to speak with such clarity that the audience would be persuaded.  Philosophers think clearly.  Rhetoricians think clearly out loud.  Preachers should be doing the same.  This will in part be reflected by careful attention to the structure and form of the sermon.

Personality

It takes time for a house to become a home.  Over time the inhabitants will begin to stamp their own personality on their property – hanging curtains, arranging flowers, decorating to taste etc. 

Many sermons I hear lack personality.  Phillip Brooks’ now famous comment that preaching is “communication of truth through personality” is exactly right.  Obviously we don’t want the sermon to be littered with personal anecdotes and stories.  It is not supposed to be a talk about them.  However, congregations listen when they can see that for the preacher the message has hit home personally.

They have been moved by the message they are preaching.  They have made the connections as to how it applies to their own life.

Punch

Sermons which hit home are those which apply pertinently and pointedly to today’s world.  They are illustrated in real life.

Too many sermons I hear leave me only in the world of the text.  Now, of course, this is not the worst problem, there are equally many messages that never take me to the world of the text and only start in the world of today.  I guess the former may be the weakness of evangelical expository preaching; the latter is the weakness of liberal preaching.

John Stott has regularly repeated the need to engage in “double listening” – Hearing the voice of the text; hearing the voice of the world. 

When you move into a new house you are inclined to think: however did they live with that wallpaper?  How come they didn’t modernise the bathroom suite etc.  But of course, it is very difficult to see your environment and culture from the fresh perspective of an outsider. 

As preachers we need to retain the fresh “eyes” of an outsider, someone who has not spent the whole week labouring over the text, and who can see the difficult punchy questions which might need addressing.

At home in the sermon

By this expression I don’t at all mean that preaching should be psychologically therapeutic, only comforting and devotional.  What I think I mean is that I expect preaching to give me pegs (to help me recall and apply the bible to my life in the week ahead); personality (so I feel that the preacher has met with God in his preparation); punch (I see the issue with a freshness and pertinence for the week ahead).

The healthy Counter-balance written into church membership

The healthy Counter-balance written into church membership

I am finishing off the final editing on my book on John’s Gospel entitled: Lives Jesus Changed.

As I arrived at chapter 20 I was struck by Jesus’ pastoral concern for his mother even as he was enduring the agony of a sacrificial death. He placed her in the care of the Apostle John and instituting the future of the caring Christian community we know as the Church.

A consistent theme in John is that the disciples can expect hostility from the world, but safety in Christ:

If you belonged to the world , it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world , but I have chosen you out of the world . That is why the world hates you. (John 15:19)

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. (John 17:15)

The thought that struck me powerfully this week was this: the thing that puts us at odds with the world (being in Christ and our resultant membership of the Church) is also the very thing that fortifies and strengthens us to live for him. Let me put it like this.

The Church is call to be both:

Counter-cultural – we side with Christ. If the world hated Christ then we can expect it to hate us too. More positively, Christians are not supposed to just “go with the flow” but rather, under God, they are to seek the reform of society by His Spirit, for his glory. You are not of the world, but Jesus has sent us into the world for the world’s better good (e.g. John 17:16-18).

Cross-cultural – the great glory of the Church is that by being united to Christ we are also now in unity with the great diversity of believers across lands, nations, kingdoms and time zones. The community to which we now belong is made up of a vast array of diverse people (see John 12:32 – all peoples (all nations) make up this church).

The thing that has struck me afresh is that these two marvellous truths about the Church (as being counter-cultural and cross-cultural) are a marvellous counter balance to each other. Without the world-wide weight of our membership of a universal church we would be picked off by the enemy, discouraged by loneliness and defeated by our weakness. Similarly, if the Church is not distinctive and separate from the world there is no way in which it will become a movement of people which will begin to change this world for good.

Jesus’ vision for his body, the church, is that the people who have been saved by him out of the world but for the good of the world, should vastly increase the scope and breadth of his ministry and do so much more than he could have done if he had remained a solitary man on this earth.

What a vision for the Church! Will you repent with me of feeling anything less than enamoured by it or anything less than grateful for being a part of God’s weighty purposes on earth?!

Bible by the Beach

I have just returned from the first “Bible by the Beach” held at Eastbourne over the May Bank Holiday weekend in 2009. This was a very encouraging occassion with good input from Paul Williams from Christ Church Fulwood, Bishop Wallace Benn who had the vision for this great event, and Archbishop Ben Kwashi, the Bishop of Jos, Plateau State in Northern Nigeria who spoke movingly (and cheerfully!) about the horrendous persecution which he and his family have suffered from militant Muslim’s (more on this on the Anglican Mainstream website http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/?p=1924).  Our sung worship was led by Fatfish and Stuart Townsend.

My own modest contributions were three seminars on Building Healthy Leaders (see www.simonvibert.com for the powerpoint slides) and preaching at St Mary’s Hailsham.

This event is due to run again next year so keep an eye on the website www.biblebythebeach.org.

Teaching Zambia Pastors

I have just come back from teaching a Langham Seminar in Zambia.  It is a great privilege to be involved in this great ministry set up to honour John Stott’s worldwide preaching ministry.

I tend to keep a daily diary of my travels which you may read by clicking here www.simonvibert.com.  After a week in Ndola (in the north) I spent the weekend at the beautiful Victoria Falls in Livingstone, flying out of Lusaka (28th April).

Simon

Did Bob Quick need to resign?

When assistant police commissioner Bob Quick arrived at 10 Downing street for a briefing about counter-terrorism last week he was photographed clutching papers which had details of imminent raids of suspected terrorists in North West England ahead of an Easter terror threat.

Because photographers have such amazing telephoto lenses on their cameras they were able to blow up the offending document and publish it, thus compromising the intergrity of the police operation and accelerating the need for the police raids which resulted in the arrest of 12 terror suspects.  Expressing deep regret over this lapse in judgement Bob Quick was quick and resigned the following day.

But did he do the right thing?  For sure, he was not clever.  Such documents should be concealed from public view.  But should he resign?  Surely we should not sacrifice a competent police officer and looe his services at such a critical time?  Moreover, am I alone in noting tabloid hypocrisy here?  If newspapers had chosen NOT to blow up sensitive material and make it public then such information would not be in the public domain?  Plus, the tabloid papers are also the ones who have exploited not only the initial incident but the subsequent resignation in order to sell papers.

We expect high standards of our politicians, and rightly so.  But I don’t expect them to be perfect.  When they make a mistake, if they are duly contrite, should they not continue in office (obviously, dependent on the offence)?  And who made the media judge and jury over these things? Are they above reproach themselves?

Yes we could say “be sure your sins will find you out”  (Leviticus 4:3) and leaders will be judged more severely (Romans 13;  James 3:1).  But perhaps we should also retort with Jesus’ word: “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone…” (John 8:7).

For sure, judgement and justice are important in this day and age.  But the self-superiority which we feel when one of our politicians disgraces themself is surely not good and an unhealthy sign of our own pride.

Big Issue London to Paris Ride July 23-26th

Why am I taking part in the London to Paris Sponsored Ride?

Like many people I have made a habit of buying the Big Issue Magazine.  The idea of getting Vendors to sell the magazine in order to gain some financial independence and eventually get off the streets is a great one.

But, this is small change.  I would like to do more.

From the beginning of April to the end of July I am on study leave from my ‘day job’ of being Vice Principal at Wycliffe Hall.  I have a number of academic goals: to update lectures in Homiletics and Hermeneutics; to finish off my book on John’s Gospel entitled Lives Jesus Changed and to start writing a new book The Power of Persuasive Speech.

I also have two short trips: teaching Pastors in Zambia, and teaching and networking in Sydney.

But, I am delighted to combine a physical goal (to undertake a serious physical challenge and get in shape) alongside a Charity event which resonates with my genuine desire to do something for those who, for all sorts of reasons, have been made homeless.

As a Christian, I believe that this is something which God feels strongly about and would Christian’s to be involved in:

For example in the Old Testament we read:

“If any of your Israelite relatives fall into poverty and cannot support themselves, support them as you would a resident foreigner and allow them to live with you. Do not demand an advance or charge interest on the money you lend them. Instead, show your fear of God by letting them live with you as your relatives” (Leviticus 25:35-36 ).

Jesus said: “Then the King will say to those on the right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ Then these righteous ones will reply, `Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ And the King will tell them, `I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’” (Matthew 25:34-40).

This is quite a big undertaking for me.  I have Asthma and some ongoing lung related issues.  However, I believe I can do it!

Please click on this link and pledge your donation!

If I can give you any more information please drop me a line

Thanks!

Simon

Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans launched

UK LAUNCH OF FELLOWSHIP OF CONFESSING ANGLICANS JULY 6, 2009, WESTMINSTER CENTRAL HALL, LONDON

THE launch in the UK and Ireland of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), an orthodox Anglican movement for mission at global and local level, is to take place on July 6 in London.

The Fellowship is the outworking of last year’s GAFCON conference in Jerusalem, at which 1200 delegates signed up to the Jerusalem Statement. Those attending Gafcon 2008 represented some 40 million Anglicans world-wide, 70% of the total active membership of 55 million.

The launch event, entitled ‘Be Faithful! – Confessing Anglicans in Global and Local Mission’ will be held at Westminster Central Hall from 10.30am-5.30pm. The aim is to encourage and envision Anglicans who are committed to the orthodox teachings of the Anglican Church and who are passionate about global and local mission.

It will be the first of regular ‘fellowship’ events both in the UK and across the world. Speakers at the July 6 gathering, where around 2,300 bishops, clergy and laity are expected, will include contributors from across the Anglican Communion, including Bishops Keith Ackerman (President of Forward in Faith North America), Wallace Benn (Bishop of Lewes), John Broadhurst (Chairman of Forward in Faith UK) and Michael Nazir-Ali, Dr Chik Kaw Tan plus Archbishop Peter Jensen (secretary of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans www.fca.net).

They, and others yet to be announced, will also lead gatherings in London churches on Sunday July 5th. the day before the launch.

Regional meetings, in the run up to the London event will also be held on:- * May 14, St Batholomew’s,Bath

* May 15, Christ Church, Virginia Water

* May 18, Holy Trinity, Platt, Manchester

* May 19, St Andrew’s, Newcastle-under-Lyme

* May 20, Christ Church, Fulwood, Sheffield

The Revd Paul Perkin, vicar of St Mark’s, Battersea Rise, London, and Chairman of the event planning team, said: “The fellowship is just that, a spiritual movement of brothers and sisters across the nation and the world. It is not a separatist party, nor is it an organisation, but a spiritual fellowship issuing from a concern for truth and unity. It is a renewal of our confessing Anglican roots and convictions, and will be forward-looking in gospel mission locally, and in solidarity globally with Anglicans throughout the world, especially those suffering through poverty or discrimination”.

For further information about the event, email befaithfulanglicans@gmail.com, or book on-line here For further information: Revd Paul Perkin, Be Faithful, Event Chairman: 020 7326 9412 Canon Dr Chris Sugden (Anglican Mainstream): 01865 883388

Triumph on the Thames

As the slightly heavier Oxford rowing team pulled away from Cambridge and (again) won the 155th annual boat race in 17 minutes we were walking a little further up the river on the marvellous river Thames.

The stretch of the Thames which passes thorugh Oxford is named the “Isis” – which probably comes from the name given to an Eygptian Fertility goddess.  But whether it be the fast flowing very tidal area around Putney where the boat race takes place (and where we would take out our Zodiac dingy at the weekends when living in London) or the more gentile meanderings where we walked today south of Christchurch meadow in Oxford, the Thames always reminds me of the Creator God’s awsome majesty.

The power of water cutting its path through some of England’s most glorious countryside reminds me, not of a fertility god, but of the God of the Bible.  Rivers are often mentioned in the bible, particularly Jordan’s superiority even to the great Euphrates or Nile because it feeds God’s chosen city Jerusalem.

But the Bible also speaks of rivers as symbolic of God’s refreshment and never ending supply:
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. (Psalm 46:4), and  ¹Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ²down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. (Revelation 22).

In the meantime: ³⁷On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” ³⁹By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Rivers are refreshing places, and on a lovely sunny Spring day they renew the mind and body.  But there are rivers of living water designed to refresh the soul through the indwelling Holy Spirit and transport us to the living God.