Celebrity Pastors for the Glory of Christ

“With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel.”  2 Corinthians 8:18

When I was at the 2012 Together For The Gospel meeting, there was a panel discussion on celebrity pastors.  Dr. Carl Trueman was on the panel, cautioning against the perils and dangers of the celebrity pastor.  While I certainly agreed with the majority of his concerns and cautions, I wanted to ask him if he taught a “celebrity” church history class. In other words, did he focus on the pastors/theologians that no one had ever heard of, or did he cover Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and the many other “famous” figures in church history? After all, he did mention that Luther was the first celebrity pastor in Protestantism. Surely he teaches about the lives and ministries of celebrities in his church history class.

The Biblical and historical fact of the matter on celebrity pastors is this:  The LORD sovereignly chooses to make people great in the eyes of the world for the purpose of making His own name great and to be a blessing to the world through the Gospel.

He did so with Abraham:  “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.’” (Genesis 12:1-2)

He did so with Joseph:  “The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.  His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands . . . But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison . . . The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.” (Genesis 39:2-3, 21, 23)

He did so with Moses:  “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh . . . .’” (Exodus 7:1)

He did so with Joshua:  “The LORD said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.’” (Joshua 3:7)

He did so with David:  “Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.  And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.’” (2 Samuel 7:8-9)

He did so with His own beloved Son:  “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)

He’s done it with Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Spurgeon, Lloyd-Jones, and many other faithful preachers and theologians in our own day. 

And He does so now with whomever He pleases:  “The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.  The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.  He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.  For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and on them he has set the world.” (1 Samuel 2:6-8)

“For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.” (Psalm 75:6-7)

What should we do in light of these truths?

1.  Let us remember that the LORD doesn’t need us:

“Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.” (Psalm 135:6)

“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear.” (Isaiah 59:1)

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:24-25)

“God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9)

2.  Let us remember that the LORD grants all mercies, ministries, and positions in His Church as He sees fit:

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Romans 9:15)

“For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7)

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” (Romans 12:3)

 “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.” (2 Corinthians 4:1)

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ . . . But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose . . . But God has so composed the body . . . And God has appointed in the church . . . .” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 18, 24, 28)

3.  Let us remember that the LORD delights in and lifts up the humble:

“The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.” (Psalm 147:6)

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’” (Isaiah 57:15)

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5)

“The greatest among you shall be your servant.  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12)

“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)

4.  Let us consider all other preachers (and people!) better than ourselves:

“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)

5.  Let us seek the LORD to build our ministry or all is vanity:

“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.  Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)

6.  Let us forget about ourselves and exult in the glory, beauty, and satisfaction of Jesus Christ alone – Who is the greatest and most famous One, but was made nothing on that cross so that we might have all in all in Him!

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:7-11)

If Christ is all to a pastor of any church, he will not be jealous of the celebrity status of others or the Gospel growth and success of other churches, but he will pray with as much passion and zeal for other pastors, churches, and ministries as he prays for himself and his own. So let us pray prayers like this . . .

Oh Father, please cause all the churches around me that preach the Gospel faithfully to grow to overflowing and become mega-churches like the church in Acts where thousands were added to their number in one day!

Please grant the faithful pastors around me to increase in influence for Jesus! Grant them to write the best-selling books that make much of Jesus, save sinners, edify the church, and glorify God! Please make these other pastors great like you made your servant Abraham great so that, like Abraham, they might be a blessing to the nations.

Please grant me to find as much joy in these other church’s Gospel success as if it were my own Gospel success! May their Gospel success only serve to increase my joy in Jesus and in the triumph of the Gospel in this world!

Oh Father, please do all this because, above all, I want Christ to be all in all in the world! May His name become great in the world, and if that happens through others and not me, then all praise be to You – just make Your name great through any and all lawful means! May Christ increase, and may I decrease! Please simply cause me to be faithful to all that You’ve called me to do!

Thank you, oh Father, for the faithful mega-church pastors and best-selling Christ-exalting authors! Thank you for the Charles Spurgeon’s, John Piper’s, John MacArthur’s, R. C. Sproul’s, David Platt’s, and Matt Chandler’s! Make more of them oh God, and spread the fame of Your great name through them! You are a Mega God! And You deserve for all peoples everywhere to bow down and worship You! Fill all Your churches to overflowing and save sinners by the billions!

Please do it for Jesus’ sake and for His glory! Amen!

God’s Glory Wins

Not everyone will believe the gospel. Why?

“God desires all people to be saved,” 1 Timothy 2:4 tells us. “God does not take pleasure in the death of anyone,” Ezekiel 18:32 says. Then why are there some who refuse to trust in Jesus and therefore die lost in their sins?

There are two different answers to this question.

But we should understand that these two answers go beyond making sense of God’s will of decree and will of command. Those “two wills” in God describe a biblical distinction that’s been expressed various ways in the Scriptures and throughout the centuries. God’s “two ways of willing,” writes John Piper, “implies that God decrees one state of affair while also willing and teaching that another state of affairs should come to pass” (Does God Desire All to Be Saved?, 16). This means that though God desires all people to be saved (his “will of command”), only those chosen in Christ will believe the gospel and be saved (his “will of decree”). But true as it is, this explanation still falls short of getting to the why. Why is this the case? Why does God not decree all that he prescribes?

And here is where we face those two different answers.

One answer is that there is something more powerful than God that is able to frustrate his will. It says that God is nice to desire all people to be saved, but he doesn’t have the strength to make it happen. The second answer says, in Piper’s words, “God wills not to save all, even though he ‘desires’ that all be saved, because there is something else that he wills or desires more, which would be lost if he exerted his sovereign power to save all” (emphasis added, 39).

The second answer is one that both Calvinists and Arminians can affirm. Both say that God doesn’t save everyone because he is committed to something more than saving everyone. The difference between Calvinists and Arminians is seen in what that higher commitment is.

Piper explains,

The answer the Arminians give is that human self-determination and the possible resulting love relationship with God are more valuable than saving all people by sovereign, efficacious grace. The answer the Reformed give is that the greater value is the manifestation of the full range of God’s glory in wrath and mercy (Romans 9:22–23) and the humbling of man so that he enjoys giving all credit to God for his salvation (1 Corinthians 1:29). (39)

So one explanation says that the higher commitment is God leaving the destiny of our eternal souls up to our own decision-making. The higher commitment is God securing our right to let our choices be the decisive factor in where we spend eternity. The other explanation — the Calvinist answer — says that God’s higher commitment is the full display of his glory. God’s glory wins, which means that his just wrath is poured out on all unrighteousness, and his mercy is lavished on all whom he loves.

God’s highest commitment — beyond his moral will that all people everywhere repent —is that the full panorama of his glory shine forth. That glory is his mercy, grace, steadfast love and faithfulness, and his refusal to by no means clear the guilty . . . so that the vessels of his mercy might know the riches of his glory (Exodus 34:6–7; Romans 9:23).

The Powerful Glory of Yielding Power

Perhaps the only thing harder for prideful humans than humbly wielding power is humbly yielding power.

And the most beautiful Old Testament example of this is the way Jonathan yielded Israel’s throne to David. But as we see in 1 Samuel 23:15–18, he did far more than just yield.

Abinadab had watched his fugitive younger brother receive Jonathan like royalty. Such an embrace. Such intimate talk. Such weeping in farewell. What had David divulged to the enemy’s son?

He stepped beside David at the cave’s entrance and they watched Jonathan depart — returning to serve beside his father whose homicidal paranoia was forcing them to run like foxes and live like badgers.

“David, you won’t like my asking, but I need to. Is it wise just letting him go back to Saul?”

“My life is never safer than when it’s in his keeping.”

Abinadab shifted uneasily. “I know you love him. You’re very loyal. Very trusting. It’s one of your great qualities. I just hope your loyalty isn’t naïve here.”

David said nothing, his eyes still fixed on Jonathan.

Abinidab continued, “Brother, these are treacherous days. You barely escaped Doeg’s loose tongue. And those cowards of Keilah would have offered you as a peace offering to Saul despite the fact that you had just saved their necks from the Philistines. We need clear thinking here. Jonathan is next in line to be king. You’ve been friends. But the fact is, you’re now his one rival to the throne. Isn’t it possible that the blood of royal power may be thicker for Jonathan than the water of your friendship?”

Jonathan’s silhouette melded into the dusky shadows of the Horesh hills. David wiped his eyes and turned back into the cave. “You don’t know him, Abinadab. I’ll forgive this offense to his honor. We’re no more in danger than if that was our father walking away. But it’s not Jonathan’s affection for me that I trust. It’s his faith.”

Abinadab followed David. “Well, I hope I’m wrong, I really do. But Jonathan’s coming out here makes no sense to me if it’s not to spy you out. If he wanted to protect you he should never have come at all! What if he was followed?”

“Nobody’s more skillful at traceless trekking than Jonathan.”

“Maybe. But why would he come just for a friendly visit? Think of the risk. If his father finds out that he’s been here and didn’t report it, his life won’t be worth a pigeon’s. The king has nearly murdered him twice already! If he came here for love then he risked his life and all of ours. Why?”

“To strengthen my hand in God, Abinadab. Because he knows me. He knows how discouraged I can get.” David looked down and smiled. “God sent him because he knows how dark it’s been for me. I know what God has promised me. But with barely a step between me and death, it’s like I forget.”

David sat down on the rock near his gear and pulled some parchment from his satchel. “I’ve been working on this psalm. Let me read you the first lines:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
And by night, but I find no rest. (Psalm 22:1–2)

“Today,” David paused, clenching back sobs. “Today Jonathan risked his life to help me rest—to remind me that God is not far at all. What he said to me was, ‘Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel,’” David paused again as tears flowed freely, “‘and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.’

“Jonathan believes God, Abinadab. It’s his faith I trust. Jonathan loves God more than he loves power. And more than he loves me. He loves me because he loves God. That makes him the safest man in the world to me. He has no equal.” David hung his head. “I only hope he survives his father’s insane faithlessness. I so desperately want him next to me.”

David had a very difficult calling: to wield the power of Israel’s kingship with God-dependent humility.

Jonathan’s calling may have been more difficult: to yield the power of Israel’s kingship with God-dependent humility.

But Jonathan didn’t just yield to David. He loved David (1 Samuel 18:1), empowered David (1 Samuel 18:4), protected and advocated for David (1 Samuel 20). And when David’s faith-hand was losing its grip, he sought him out and “strengthened his hand” by reminding him of God’s promises (1 Samuel 23:17). He could have only done this if he trusted in the Lord with all his heart (Proverbs 3:5).

Like Jonathan, God wants us to seek first the kingdom (Matthew 6:33), not our prominence in it. When we trust God enough to yield our prominence (or expected prominence) to someone else for God’s purposes it’s a sign and wonder. And when we go beyond that to doing everything in our power to help them succeed — nothing else quite images the Philippians 2:5–11 glory of Jesus.

Jonathan did not consider the throne a thing to be grasped, but he made himself nothing for God’s sake and became a Christ-like servant. Let us also “have this mind” (Philippians 2:5).

This story is from 1 Samuel 16:8; 1 Samuel 22:9–19; 1 Samuel 23:1–14; 1 Samuel 14:24–46, 20:30–34; and 1 Samuel 20:3.

July 14: Glory In Our Trubulation

“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience.” Romans 5:3

By a patient endurance of suffering for His sake, the Redeemer is greatly glorified in His saints. The apostle—and few drank of the bitter cup more deeply than he—presents suffering for Christ in the soothing light of a Christian privilege. “Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” “But if you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you;” for thereby Christ is glorified in you. Believer, suffering for Christ, rejoice, yes, rejoice that you are counted worthy to suffer shame for His sake. What distinction is awarded you! What honor is put upon you! What a favored opportunity have you now of bringing glory to His name; for illustrating His sustaining grace, and upholding strength, and Almighty power, and infinite wisdom, and comforting love! By the firm yet mild maintenance of your principles, by the dignified yet gentle spirit of forbearance, by the uncompromising yet kind resistance to allurement, let the Redeemer be glorified in you! In all that you suffer for righteousness’ sake, let your eye be immovably fixed on Jesus. In Him you have a bright example. “Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your mind.” Remember how, for your redemption, He “endured the cross, despising the shame,” and, for your continual support, “is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Remember, too, that it is one peculiar exercise and precious privilege of faith, to “wait patiently for the Lord.” The divine exhortation is, “Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.” “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” This patience of the soul is the rest of faith on a faithful God; it is a standing still to see His salvation. And the divine encouragement is, that in this posture will be found the secret of your real power. “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” Be watchful against everything that would mar the simplicity of your faith, and so dim the glory of Jesus; especially guard against the adoption of unlawful or doubtful measures, with a view to disentanglement from present difficulties. Endure the pressure, submit to the wrong, bear the suffering, rather than sin against God, by seeking to forestall His mind, or to antedate His purpose, or by transferring your interests from His hands to your own.

Oh, the glory that is brought to Jesus by a life of faith! Who can fully estimate it? Taking to Him the corruption, as it is discovered—the guilt, as it rises, the grief, as it is felt—the cross, as it is experienced—the wound, as it is received; yes, simply following the example of John’s disciples, who, when their master was slain, took up his headless body, and buried it, and then went and poured their mournful intelligence in Jesus’ ear, and laid their deep sorrow on His heart; this is to glorify Christ! Truly is this “precious faith,” and truly is the “trial of our faith precious,” for it renders more precious to the heart “His precious blood,” who, in His person, is unutterably “precious to those who believe.”

June 26: Anticipating The Coming Glory

“Why, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” 2 Peter 3:14

IS not the anticipation of the coming glory most sanctifying? Ought it not to have so powerful an influence upon our minds, as to lessen the value of the things that are seen and temporal, and enhance the value of those which are unseen and eternal? We are at present in a state of nonage—children under tutors and governors. But before long we shall attain our full age, and shall be put in possession of our inheritance. And because we are children, we are apt to think as children, and speak as children, and act as children—magnifying things that are really small, while diminishing those that are really great. Oh, how little, mean, and despicable will by and by appear the things that now awaken so much thought, and create so much interest! Present sorrows and joys, hopes and disappointments, gains and losses—will all have passed away, leaving not a ripple upon the ocean they once agitated, nor a footprint upon the sands they once traversed.

Why, then, allow our white garments to trail upon the earth? If glory is before us, and so near, why so slow in our advance to meet it? Why so little of its present possession in our souls? Why do we allow the “Bright and Morning Star” to sink so often below the horizon of our faith? Why, my soul, so slow to arrive at heaven, with heaven so full in view? Oh, to press our pillow at night, composed to slumber with this sweet reflection—”Lord, if I open my eyes no more upon the rising sun, I shall open them upon that risen Sun that never sets—awaking in Your likeness.” Oh, to be looking for, and hastening unto, the coming of the Lord; that blessed hope, that glorious epiphany of the Church, which shall complete, perfect, and consummate the glorification of the saints!

How should the prospect of certain glory stimulate us to individual exertion for Christ! What a motive to labor! With a whole eternity of rest in prospect, how little should we think of present toil and fatigue for the Savior! Shall we, then, be indolent in our Master’s cause? Shall we in selfishness wrap our graces as a mantle around us, and indolently bury our talents in the earth? Shall we withhold our property from the Lord, complaining that the calls of Christian benevolence are so many, the demands so pressing, and the objects so numerous? Oh, no! It cannot, it must not be. Let us live for Christ—labor for Christ—suffer for Christ—and, if needs be, die for Christ—since we shall, before long and forever, be glorified with Christ. And who can paint that glory?

Glory of God: Glorifying our Glorious God

Romans 1:18-23

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God (v. 21a)

God wants to be worshiped. He is worthy to be worshiped. He made us to worship him, and in worshiping him we will find joy for our souls.

But God doesn’t want to be worshiped any old way. We do not worship God rightly unless we worship him as all-glorious. If some generations have conceived of God as an austere kill-joy, other Christians have little sense of the holiness of God. We’ll say “awesome” while playing video games or watching football, but we don’t know what it means to worship One who is awe-full and awe-inspiring. Too often we have a “hang-out” God who is a buddy-therapist-chum and not the Holy One of Israel. When we worship God as a feel-good, safe, squishy God who laughs all the time and hugs us a lot we are not honoring God as God.

We need to know Christ as a tender lover of our souls. And we also need to know Christ as the Son of Man with eyes like a flame of fire, feet like burnished bronze, a voice like many waters, and a face like the shining sun at whose sight we fall down as though dead (Rev. 1:12-17). King David was right: You who fear the LORD, praise him! (Psalm 22:23)