Reduction of Elders: What Might God be Saying? Part 1

The point: Labor to work into your hearts a deep and a fixed sense of the infinite wisdom of God and your own folly and ignorance. This will make resignation easy to you.

Martin quotes John Flavel's 'The Mystery of Providence,' emphasizing the need to cultivate a deep sense of God's infinite wisdom and our own ignorance, which makes resignation to His will easier.

In an excellent treatise, which if you don't have, I trust you will obtain and work your way through it, called The Mystery of Providence by Flavel. The newest edition from the banner has a different and more attractive cover and I'm quoting from the works of John Flavel, volume 4, where this treatise is found. I would urge you if you have the choice and haven't purchased either, get the paperback because they've updated the outline and some of the language and they've gone from the old room, Roman numerals in the verse references to our standard numbering system, but Flavel underscores this i...

9:35 - 10:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Labor to work into your hearts a deep and a fixed sense of the infinite wisdom of God and your own folly and ignorance. This will make resignation easy to you.

The story of Jacob lamenting 'all these things are against me' when told to go to Egypt with Benjamin illustrates human nearsightedness in interpreting providence, contrasting it with God's 'better eyes' that were planning his preservation and reunion with Joseph.

We had precipitated ourselves into a thousand mischiefs, which by its wisdom and care we have escaped. Isn't that beautiful? Think of old Jacob. When he's told, look, you've got to go down into Egypt and take that darling little Benjamin with you.

11:28 - 11:47 Read in full sermon

The point: It is a call to reaffirm our commitment to biblical standards for leadership.

The historical example of Israel demanding a king (1 Samuel 8) is used to illustrate the negative consequences of going ahead of God's timing or will in matters of leadership.

Now can you think of any examples where people got antsy with reference to leadership or something that was needed in the purpose and plan of God and went ahead of God and then suffered for it. Can you think of any examples? I think of two immediately.

24:15 - 25:02 Read in full sermon

The point: It is a call to reaffirm our commitment to biblical standards for leadership.

The story of Abraham and Sarah's impatience leading to the birth of Ishmael is used as an example of not waiting for God's 'Isaac' (son of promise), highlighting the principle of waiting for God's chosen leaders.

His name means wild man came the head of a nation that was a thorn in the side of Israel for generations and the father of the faithful grew weak in faith and had something to do with this character.

25:24 - 25:41 Read in full sermon

The point: It's a call to intensified prayer for wisdom with respect to the course of action that would be most pleasing to God.

The prayer of Jehoshaphat, 'Lord, we know not what to do, but our eyes are upon thee,' is used to illustrate the proper posture of humility and dependence on God for wisdom when facing overwhelming circumstances.

Yes. Yes, and you see example of that, remember? When the general and king of Israel stood before this massive army of the Syrians and said, Lord, we know not what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. That's a wonderful posture to be in.

35:14 - 35:30 Read in full sermon

The point: This is a call from God at least to some, a call from God to mortify a sinful complacency and to plead more fervently with God that he would both continue to maintain stability in the leadership as well as add to it.

The analogy of God rattling a cage and pulling out a bar or two is used to explain how God gets our attention and makes us feel our vulnerability when we have become complacent and taken His protection for granted.

So it's a renewed call for dependence upon God for something we may have begun to take for granted. Could that be? I mean, sometimes God rattles our cage to get our attention that we take the cage for granted. So they may pull out a bar or two and there's a lion on the outside.

38:13 - 38:32 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Whatever else you do take heed to the flock of god in the which the holy spirit has made you overseer.

Martin recounts confronting a man who claimed God called him to be away from his teenage sons for 45 days at a stretch, using Ephesians 6:4 to challenge his priorities and emphasize the biblical mandate for fathers to nurture their children.

So though we may deduce that we have various responsibilities growing out of this local assembly that take some of us far afield and may have biblical grounds to believe that such ministries are justifiable in the light of this present providence which has cut down the ability of accessibility to all of the flock and the caring of all of the flock we must let what is explicit and clear take precedence over what is merely deduced and inferred. You see the difference between the two? We may deduce and infer that I ought to have a ministry to the men of the southern churches in Florida the end of...

43:41 - 45:11 Read in full sermon