General Introduction

In this part of the sermon: Pastor Martin introduces the pastoral theology course, explaining that for some students, this 'general introduction' comes after other units due to the three-year cycle. He…

For some students, this introduction comes after other units, like serving an appetizer after the main course or dessert, due to the three-year cycle of the course.

Now, as we come to this, our first pastoral theology class for this fall semester of 1986, we shall limit our thinking this morning to what I would call a general introduction to the course in pastoral theology. Now, since the existing six units or semesters are taught in a three-year cycle, for some of you, this introduction will be like having a meal in a restaurant in which the appetizer is served after the main course or after the dessert. You've already come through, some of you, units three and four, five and six, and now

0:01 - 0:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Become familiar with certain authors and look out for their names in used book lists and bookstores, even if you don't have time to read them now.

Martin quotes Thomas Murphy's 1887 work to illustrate the value of drawing upon the accumulated experience of other workers in the ministry, emphasizing that this forms a system of pastoral theology.

Another purpose in lacing the lectures with quotations and illustrations where possible is is to make you familiar with certain authors, hoping that you will be drawn to esteem them now, even though you may not have time to read them now, and have your eyes on the lookout for these names and authors in the used book lists and used bookstores. One such work that I came across that, to my knowledge, went through only one edition, and I regard it as a classic. In fact, it kind of destroyed for a while my one literary ambition to put these lectures eventually into print when this book came into my...

18:14 - 18:58 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He describes the lectures as topical in structure, permeated with quotations and illustrations from other authors and his own experience, and purposefully selective based on…

Great principles are often undigestible until they are seen in the concreteness of specific application, like an artist or mechanic needing rules developed over centuries.

He can no more neglect it than the artist or the mechanic can neglect those rules which the skill of centuries has wrought out for his assistance. And so for this reason not for want, I trust, of thought, of my own, these lectures will be permeating my life. permeated with quotations but also with illustrations. Great principles are often undigestible until they are seen in the concreteness of specific application. A principle

21:55 - 22:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He describes the lectures as topical in structure, permeated with quotations and illustrations from other authors and his own experience, and purposefully selective based on…

Martin shares his personal experience of being called to preach at an early age and shepherding for many years, hoping his learned lessons will illustrate principles vividly.

can be articulated but it just floats by us until we see it hooked into a specific outworking of that principle. And for some reason God was pleased to put me by grace into Christ at a relatively early age and call me to preach at a relatively early age and spare me to my mid-years so that when I speak to you on these subjects it's out of the matrix of attempting to preach for now in my 35th year and attempting to shepherd God's people for around 27 years. So I hope I've learned one or two things.

22:37 - 23:16 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He describes the lectures as topical in structure, permeated with quotations and illustrations from other authors and his own experience, and purposefully selective based on…

Martin describes his unplanned ministry as a 'pastor to pastors' through conferences, correspondence, and phone calls, which has informed his selection of course materials based on common needs.

exhortation. As most of you know, in God's providence for the past 20 plus years, no little part of the ministry God has entrusted to me outside of this assembly has been that of being a pastor. I've been a pastor for 20 plus years. I've been a pastor for 20 plus years.

26:07 - 26:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Make the maintenance of your power in the pulpit your great concern, as the fight for the church will be lost or won there.

Spurgeon's quote about the pulpit being 'the Thermopylae' where the fight is lost or won is used to underscore the vital importance and primacy of preaching.

The voice of Christ is heard when those are sent speak in his name and by his authority. It is the agreed testimony of scripture and of church history that the pulpit is, in the words of Spurgeon, the thermopoly. Now, thermopoly was that mountain pass in which the Persians destroyed the Spartans. That's the place where the battle was lost.

32:29 - 33:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of the current shoddiness in preaching, the paralysis of godly ambition to excel in pulpit usefulness, and the pitiful inadequacies of formal ministerial training in this vital area.

Reverend Donald McLeod's statement that 'the curse of the ministry in our day is that it's full of nice guys who can't preach' is quoted to highlight the inadequacy of modern ministerial training in preaching.

Now, brethren, it's been the erosion of this conviction. On this point, I would like to say, On this point, I would like to say, On this point, I would like to say, On this point, which in great measure has led to the shoddiness that is current in preaching, the paralysis of godly ambition to excel in pulpit usefulness, and the pitiful inadequacies of formal ministerial training precisely in this vital area. As my dear friend, the Reverend Donald McLeod said in my hearing at a pastor's conference in a well-known seminary, as my dear friend, the Reverend Donald McLeod said in a well-known semin...

33:16 - 34:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that the longer you are with people, the more your life becomes intertwined with them, and your words will either gain or lose weight based on your life's validation of truth.

James Stalker's quote from 'The Preacher and His Models' explains how a minister's hearers form an image of him that determines the weight and effect of his words, illustrating the importance of vital godliness.

But what I am saying is assuming that the head of the church is furnishing you with gifts to lead and shepherd his people, the conviction you must have, the conviction which lies at the root of the entire structure of this course is that a life of vital godliness is a life of vital godliness. is a life of vital godliness. It is the indispensable prerequisite of all ministerial efficiency. James Stalker in his excellent work that was reprinted by Baker on the Yale Lectures on Preaching made this statement and some of you have heard it before it won't hurt to hear it again.

42:03 - 42:45 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that the longer you are with people, the more your life becomes intertwined with them, and your words will either gain or lose weight based on your life's validation of truth.

The erosion of a pastor's credibility over time, leading to short pastorates, is used as an analogy to explain how a minister's life either validates or undermines his preaching.

Now you see why most people can't hack lengthy pastorates? Because the years erode the weight of their words until they almost float. They're so light when they enter the pulpit. Now there may be other reasons for short pastorates, I'm convinced this is one of the primary reasons because the longer you are with people then the more intertwined your life becomes with people.

43:40 - 44:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that the longer you are with people, the more your life becomes intertwined with them, and your words will either gain or lose weight based on your life's validation of truth.

A pastor's ability to handle his teenage children, even if unconverted, is given as a concrete example of how his credibility and the weight of his words can increase in the eyes of his congregation.

It's one thing for them to say hmm the guy's got some credibility he knows how to make his little kids sit down when they're supposed to sit keep their mouth shut when they're supposed to be say hello and please and thank you but then they're going to see you as to whether or not you can handle them when they begin to be teenagers. Any man loses his credibility when he shows he can't handle his teenage kids. But if they see you under God giving direction as your kids come through the teen years even if those children are unconverted and even if those children are unconverted they put the bit i...

44:31 - 45:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that the longer you are with people, the more your life becomes intertwined with them, and your words will either gain or lose weight based on your life's validation of truth.

An old divine's quote, 'He fed you with his doctrine and edified you by his example; he wooed for Christ in his preaching and allured you to Christ by his walking,' beautifully illustrates the third presupposition of vital godliness.

That with the passing of the years there is this constant construction or reconstruction of the image of what people know you to be and when you stand to speak on the Lord's day it is that image that gives weight or takes away from the weight of every word that you speak. Another old divine put it this way he fed you with his doctrine and edified you by his example he wooed for Christ in his preaching and allured you to Christ by his walking. Isn't that beautiful? Well they're flipping that cassette over let me give it to you again.

45:24 - 46:08 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The fourth and vital presupposition is the constant and delicate confluence and interaction between divine and human elements in every aspect of ministry. He uses 1 Timothy…

John Newton's famous quote, 'Only the God that made the world can make a minister of the gospel,' is referenced to acknowledge the divine element in ministry, setting up the discussion of its confluence with human effort.

of the divine and human elements in every aspect of the work of the ministry. Now I'm sure many of you have read or heard Newton quoted his famous quotes only the God that made the world can make a minister of the gospel. And that's true. Paul says who is sufficient for these things?

47:33 - 47:59 Read in full sermon

The point: If you have a faulty speech pattern, no amount of prayer and waiting upon God will automatically overcome it; you must recognize it and actively work on it.

The meeting point of two rivers, where they mingle and cannot be separated, is used as an analogy to explain the 'confluence' of divine and human elements in ministry.

to be overly mystical or overly practical in our approach to the work of the ministry. None of us comes down dead center on this issue of understanding the confluence. Now, confluence is what you have when two rivers come together at a given point. And at the point where the two rivers meet, there is a confluescence, so you can't separate them.

50:55 - 51:19 Read in full sermon

The point: If you tend to be overly practical and industrious, be careful not to rely solely on your own efforts, but learn to plead with God earnestly for His grace.

The analogy of Egypt's irrigation system (relying on human effort) versus the land of hills and valleys (relying on God's rain) is used to illustrate the danger of relying solely on human industry in ministry, contrasting it with dependence on God.

and press after those goals and your tendency will be to say well look if you got a problem here you just work on it you just work on it and there is not a real oh there may be a token asking of god's help that's all it is it's tokenism you know it's a now i lay me down to sleep kind of attitude with regard to the thing and you know what god will do god will mock you he'll let you go on with all your foot pedal religion like he said you know the land into which you're coming is not like egypt when you had a drought down in egypt all you did was pump a little harder because everything came out ...

53:56 - 54:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, engaging all your faculties under the eye of God, knowing that God is at work in you to will and to work.

A quote from Johnson's 'The Ideal Ministry' emphasizes the Spirit's cooperation throughout the entire process of sermon preparation and delivery, from theme selection to actual delivery, balancing against both naturalism and mysticism.

pleasure so in this course there will be a constant assumption of this delicate confluence and interaction of the divine and the human elements in every aspect of the work of the ministry well i think we ought to break there now we completed the first three points of our introductory lecture and the final one dealing with the presuppositions and i want to add just a little ps to that on this matter of the constant confluence and interaction of the divine and the human i came across a choice statement the other day in an old work again i've never seen and one

58:19 - 59:03 Read in full sermon