Anatomy of a Man of God: His Feet, Part 2

Introduction and Review: The Anatomy of a Man of God

0:00 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, November 27th, 1988, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let us unite our hearts in prayer, pleading with God that all of the things we have sung about the gospel will indeed be true in our midst this morning, that some who sit here in chains will, before this hour is over, in the language of Wesley, feel their chains fell off, their hearts made free, rise up to go forth and follow the Son of God. Let us pray that the gospel will prove to be in this place the very power of God unto salvation. Let us pray.

0:54 Our Father, we bow with humble thanksgiving, that in the gospel of your Son you have made known your eternal counsels of goodwill to rebel, hell-deserving sinners. And while many of us have basked in the light of gospel truth all of our days, may we never cease to marvel that you would have ever made known the counsels of your saving will in the gospel. And that you would have ever brought that message to us in all of our guilt and bondage and hell-deservingness. O Lord, may we not ever become accustomed to the gospel. May it always produce in us a sense of wonder and amazement that you would ever be favorable to sinners and send your gospel to us. son to die on their behalf make your gospel effectual in our midst this day as we seek your face and as we now turn to your word we plead through the lord jesus christ amen now in our

2:23 study of the scriptures this morning we come to the 11th and final consideration of the theme that has occupied our minds for the past couple of months of lord's days in the morning the theme of the anatomy of a man of god in this series of expositions i have sought to set before you from the scriptures those graces those gifts those prevailing character traits and spiritual activities which form the leading features of one's who has been equipped and called of god to labor as a preacher and a leader among god's people in our previous studies we have examined the head of a man of god noting that it is a head covered with the helmet of salvation filled with the word of god and furnished with adequate tools for a lifetime of fresh and edifying ministry then we turned our attention to the eyes of a man of god and we saw from the scriptures that the eyes

3:40 of a man of god are eyes that are fixed on the unseen world of spiritual reality ever focused on the lord jesus christ himself and ever perceptive to the true spiritual state of men then we move to a contemplation of his ears and we saw from the scriptures that the eyes of a man of god are continually open to hear the word of god continually responsive to the rebukes and reproofs of the people of god and continually ready and waiting to respond to the specific call of god and then we looked at that most crucial part of the anatomy of a man of god his heart and again from the scriptures we saw that it is a constantly guarded heart and it is a constantly guarded heart heart a continuously tender heart and an increasingly loving responsive and vulnerable heart and that moved us most naturally then to a contemplation of the mouth of a man of god for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and we saw from scripture that the heart of a man

4:58 of god is i'm sorry that the mouth of a man of god is a purified mouth a skilled mouth and an anointed mouth and then we looked at that most necessary part of a servant of god's anatomy his spine or his backbone and after demonstrating from the scriptures why the quality of moral courage that we liken to his backbone is so necessary you can see that the mouth of a man of god is a purified mouth a skilled mouth and an anointed for the ministry we saw that in the word of god the backbone of a man of god is composed of those initial dynamics of regenerating grace and of the continuous supplies of god's sanctifying grace and then we looked at the hands of a man of god and we saw that they are clean hands they are diligent hands they are open hands and they are touching hands and then we went down to a contemplation of his knees and we saw from the scriptures that the knees indicative of the posture of prostration of adoration and submission before god as the

6:14 knees are bent before god our knees bent before god as creator sustainer and sovereign ruler of the universe knees bent before the incarnate god as redeemer of the universe and as the creator of the universe as redeemer and mediatorial king and knees bent before god the father is the one who hears and answers prayer then last week we went down to the farthest extremities of a man of god to a contemplation of his feet and our key text was romans chapter 10 verses 13 to 15 and i would ask you to turn as i briefly review what we study in the book of romans chapter 10 verses 13 to 15 and i would ask you to read what we studied last week and then complete that study this morning in romans chapter ten we read in verse thirteen whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent even as it is written how beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings

Prerequisites for Beautiful Feet: Sent by God, Announcing the Gospel

7:42 of good things and we noted from this passage that the feet of a man of god are in every instance beautiful feet they are described as beautiful by god himself but there are two prerequisites that are clearly set forth in this text if the feet of a man of god are beautiful feet they are feet that carry a man sent by his task or sent to his task by the living god notice the emphasis upon being sent verse fifteen how shall they preach except they be sent they be sent and the onlyuki described as beautiful feet ok i know some other man sent who is passed by the living god self appointed preacher and the heaven administration own ability plate long not too difficult secret office it better be done beforereadot甯 been cleared by the standard of holy scripture not only in the theater of his own conscience before

9:06 god with an open bible but by the confirming testimony and witness of the church of jesus christ and so the feet of a man of god are beautiful only if this prerequisite is present that they carry a man sent to his task by the living god and the second prerequisite that they carry a man performing his task as defined by god the beautiful feet are the feet of those not that give out the latest political pronouncement not that spin out from the stuff of their own imagination pious talk but those that actually bring gladness tidings of good things that is they open up and declare the glorious truths concerning god's mercy for sinners in the person and work of the lord jesus christ and with those two prerequisites being underscored we then began to ask the question why are the feet of a man of god sent to his task in the will of god functioning in that task according to the word of god what makes them beautiful

10:30 and we only had time to look at the first strand of the answer and it was this because they bring the lord jesus himself to men in the proclamation of his word and we saw this clearly taught in verse fourteen how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed in the word of god and how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed in the word of god how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard the christ who is the object of saving faith is also the one who speaks to the sinner bringing him to that faith they call upon him whom they have heard and how do they hear him they further reading of the text answers the question how shall they hear that is how shall they hear christ without a priest and it is in the coming of an authorized messenger of the lord jesus that the voice of christ himself is heard in the proclamation of the good things of the gospel so if i may in concluding our review

11:54 simply read again that brief quote that i read last week preaching supplies the living christ with both feet and a month it is the word that provides the feet by which christ walks when he makes his approach to us and reaches us preaching has but one in they've christ make onto those who have assembled to live in this life which is the 내가 by which christ walks when he makes his approach to us and reaches us preaching has but one aim that christ may come to those who have assembled to live in life to listen. Preaching is not just talk about a Christ of the past, but it is a mouth through which the Christ of the present offers us his very life today. And so the feet of a man of God are beautiful feet because they bring the Lord Jesus himself to men in the proclamation of his word. But they are beautiful feet for two other reasons. And as we bring this study to a conclusion, we want to open up those two other reasons this morning. The feet are beautiful, secondly,

Reason 2: Announcing Good Things That Answer Man's Deepest Needs

13:05 because they carry one who announces the good things of the gospel, which alone answer to man's deepest needs. The feet of a man of God are beautiful feet because they carry one who announces the good things of the gospel, which alone answer to man's deepest needs. Look again at our text in Romans 10. How shall they preach except they be sent? Even as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things. And perhaps the translation is a bit weak and misleading. The verb could better be rendered. How beautiful are the feet of them that announce glad tidings of good things. The thing that makes

14:15 their feet beautiful is that they come bringing a man who announces the good tidings or the glad tidings of the good things that are stored up in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. And it is these which alone answer to man's deepest needs. Let me try to illustrate it this way. Imagine with me that we lived in the day when kings were the ordinary rulers of great countries and of whole vast segments.

15:00 of populations in various lands and in a given kingdom there is a whole group of people who have rebelled against their sovereign and in that rebellion they attempted an overthrow of his kingdom they were defeated in their efforts and knowing that they had justly provoked the wrath of the king in order to avoid that wrath from tracking them down they retreated to a very remote place in the kingdom an undeveloped place undeveloped because its natural resources were very limited the soil was poor the climate was not conducive to good crops but in desperation they retreated into that barren place and there they established a colony of rebels and it was not long because of the circumstances of that area that the entire colony of rebels was completely destroyed and the entire colony of rebels was completely destroyed and the entire colony of rebels was completely destroyed and the entire colony of the colony of rebels is gripped by a growing state of continuous hunger. And being malnourished, disease begins to be rife among them. In that condition, knowing that they are outcast from the kingdom, they have incurred the wrath of the king, held in the grip of hunger, perhaps even

16:21 seeing some of their children perish before their very eyes, ravaged by disease. They lie about in misery and squalor, waiting to die. Then suddenly one day they see coming over the hill that leads into that area a band of men. And with them they see what appear to be from a distance horses laden with some kind of commodities.

16:52 And there is a stir among this whole community of rebels held in the grip of their hunger and their disease and their squalor. And their first reaction is, is it an emissary from the king? Is this a troop of soldiers coming armed and ready to seize upon us and take away our lives? And there is an immediate thrill of fear that goes through the entire group of this colony.

17:20 And then someone says, well, perhaps it's a band of marauders and they've come to plunder what little bit we have left. And so that possibility begins to be discussed among them as the band of men and the horses comes closer and closer. And as they conjecture as to whether or not it is a contingency of the king's guard coming to apprehend or possibly to slay them, whether it's a band of marauders coming to invade and plunder them. Entourage arrives and they announce who they are. And they announced that they are indeed an emissary from the king, that they have come laden not with arms. They have come not on a message or on an errand of judgment righteously deserved, but they have come to announce that the king has graciously laid out terms of pardon. And they have in their hand a document sealed with the king's ring, announcing terms of complete pardon that would reinstate them as noble citizens in the realm of the king. And what is there upon their horses is not arms to slay them, but the horses

18:38 are laid in down with food and with medicine. And in their ranks is a physician. In their ranks is someone else skilled in agriculture who can help them in terms of the supply of their temporal needs. And when they hear from the spokesman of the emissary from the king what it is that they have come to do, one among them steps forward and falls at his feet and says, O blessed feet, O beautiful feet that have come over the mountains, announcing the good things that have come out of the heart and out of the bowels.

19:22 Are they done yet, O DUI? Because the word here, imazoume, necessarily means responsibility of suffered Jesus of the King of Israel, a relative of the prophet James. And, of course, this last ancient doctrine told us of the Blaucos idea of the $ aftermath of a cow being born of a nobody, so as to be a man of God. The purpose of this gospel, however, this time has豇».

19:51 Look at verse 1. They did not come with bangles and jewels and gold. They came with food and medicine and agricultural stuff. Everything perfectly suited to their present need.

20:07 Surely, surely everyone in that colony who had any perception of his own true state and of the purpose and function of that contingency sent from the king's palace, surely they would regard the feet of those men as beautiful feet that came both to announce and to confer the good things that were perfectly suited to their need. Now that's just a little pathetic attempt to illustrate why the feet of a man of God are beautiful feet. Because the feet of a man of God sent, sent by the sovereign, announcing glad tidings of good things, he comes over the mountain to this rebel colony of sinners called planet earth who are justly under the wrath and anger of God for our attempts to overthrow God and to take his place upon his throne. And our sin has ravaged us spiritually. And left us in a state of spiritual misery, and squalor, and bondage, lying.

Good Thing 1: God's Provision of Perfect Righteousness

21:33 And what does a man of God do? He comes upon the mountains. He comes in the path of God's own commission. And he brings and announces the good tidings or the glad tidings of the good things that the king has stored, up for sinners in the person and work of his own beloved son. Now let's look at just a couple of those things that are central to the message of the gospel. Here is the first. They announce the good things of God's provision of a perfect righteousness for guilty sinners, a righteousness composed of the life and death of Jesus Christ himself. You see, when the gospel preacher comes announcing glad tidings of good things, central to that announcement is this glorious proclamation

22:42 that in the person and work of Jesus Christ, God has provided a righteousness for guilty sinner Jesus Christ. that will make them perfectly accepted in the very court of heaven. And now a righteousness which earns for the sinner a title to heaven and everlasting life. And according to Romans chapter 1, the apostle believed that this was central to the gospel.

23:18 He says in Romans 1.15, And death of sin, I'm ready to bring the good tidings of the gospel. Oh, Paul, what is the heart of those good tidings? Verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For this is why it is the power of God unto salvation, for therein is righteousness. Revealed, a righteousness of God.

24:24 The heart of the gospel is a revelation of a righteousness of God. The heart of the gospel is not be happy, here's how. Be full of peace, here's how. Be full of joy, here's how.

24:41 Be successful, here's how. Get your act together, here's how.

24:53 The heart of the gospel, but it never was made so by God. Here is the heart. The heart of the gospel, the righteousness of God.

25:10 The grand and true proclamation of the good tidings of the good things of the gospel is that almighty God has provided a righteousness that answers to his own righteous demands. A right standing with God that is conceived by God, provided by God that absolutely satisfies God. And it is a righteousness revealed in the gospel. A righteousness that is bottomed as the old Puritans would say.

25:52 It rests down upon the perfection of the work of Jesus Christ as the representative of sinners. It is a righteousness to use the imagery of Isaiah, that is a robe that is woven totally upon the loom of the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ. Every strand of it is woven by an act of his own voluntary and perfect obedience to the law of his Father. And its woof is woven with the threads made up of his voluntary substitutionary death on the behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ.

26:36 centimeters and a half of sinners in which he discharged all of the obligations of the sinner to the penal sanctions of the law all that it means when it says the wages of sinister death the soul that sinner that shall die all of the wrath and the forsaken nests bound up in the fury of God vented against sin Jesus Christ bore that in his death upon the cross and the righteousness of God which is contained and revealed in the gospel is a righteousness made up as the old writers used to say of the doing and the dying of another it is a righteousness totally objective to us external to us it is a righteousness made up of the perfection of the obedience and death of the Lord Jesus Christ and so the man of God bringing the message authorized by God surely he has beautiful feet when he comes to hell deserving sinners who have no righteousness of their own who if they lived a thousand lives and lived every one of them perfectly could never atone

28:02 for the one life they lived in sin

28:07 and it announces this glorious wonderful good news there is a righteousness of God God has conceived it God has provided it God has secured it in the life and death of his son and God now freely offers it to every sinner in the gospel on these terms repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that's why the feet of a man of God are beautiful feet because they bring one who announces the good things of the gospel which alone answer to man's deepest need and central to those good things is the announcement of a perfect righteousness the declaration of a way in which God can still be just and yet justify the finalists of sinners it is the good news that the king has said here are the terms of my wrath having been utterly satisfied

29:25 and your entering into my favor and good pleasure my son is set before you in him is a perfect righteousness his his come and be part of andμη为 weevening thy name on his firm地 Throw the weight of your soul upon him. In the imagery we used last week, last yourself to the mast of Christ and his perfect righteousness as you face the eye of the storm of a God who is angry with sin and with sinners. But they have good things to announce. Notice our text.

Good Thing 2: Deliverance from Sin's Dominion

30:04 They are blessed feet because they bring announcing glad tidings, not of one good thing, but of good things, plural. There's not just one horse with one benefit upon it. There are good things that come to us in the gospel. And the second good thing is this.

30:30 They announce the good things of God's provision in Jesus Christ. For deliverance from the dominion and the binding power of sin.

30:43 You see, it would bring little comfort to that colony of rebels to know that there was a way to be restored to the king's favor if they were still bound by their disease and hunger and squalor. They could never enjoy the great blessing of being accepted legally before the king. And God in the gospel has not only made provision that we would have a perfect righteousness in Christ that would answer to the whole question of the guilt of sin, but in Jesus Christ he has provided a powerful deliverance from the dominion and the bondage to sin which is native to us all. Jesus said, And whosoever commits sin is the bond slave of sin. In this very epistle Paul describes all of the Romans prior to their conversion in these terms, Romans 6. Notice the language, verse 16, Know you not that to whom you present yourselves servants unto obedience his servants you are whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness?

32:07 But thanks be to God that whereas you were the slaves of sin, verse 20, when you were slaves of sin, he says that every single Roman Christian was at one time the veritable slave of his sin. Sin exercised sovereign lordship over him. He uses the imagery when sin spoke as your master. You came and presented.

32:40 You gave your members to it. When sin said, use your hands to do my bidding, you gave your hands. Use ears to do my bidding, you gave your ears. When sin said, use tongue and mouth and other bodily members to do my bidding, Paul says you did his bidding.

32:59 You were the slaves of sin. But the angel announced that Jesus Christ as Savior, Matthew 1.21, would save his people. From their sins, not in them, but from them.

33:16 And it was said of Messiah, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me. He hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor, to declare peace to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. And so the feet of a man of God are beautiful feet because he brings not only the good thing of a perfect righteousness, which is provided and revealed in the gospel, but also power to be delivered from our bondage to sin. Sins of the heart, pride and greed, envy and bitterness, sins of the flesh, sexual lust, booze, drudge, gluttony, sins of the tongue, lying, gossip, exaggeration, back biting, sins of the mind, evil, doubts, evil surmisings, wicked questioning of God's truth, these sins that bind men like terrible, unbreakable chains. The glory of the gospel is that it announces God's jubilee day, God's day in which the prison doors open,

34:38 and open in which God himself breaks the fetters and sets us free. For Jesus said, whom the Son sets free, he is free indeed. No wonder the text says, how beautiful are the feet of those who publish gladdings of good things. The good thing of a perfect righteousness, the good thing of a perfect life, the good thing of a powerful deliverance from sin's bondage.

Good Thing 3: Restored Fellowship with God

35:13 But thirdly, they announce the good things of God's provision in the person and work of Christ for restored fellowship with God himself. And this is the emphasis of 2 Corinthians chapter 5. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. You see the personal element, not imputing unto himself, to them their trespasses.

35:42 Then he goes on to say, we are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Him who knew no sin, he made to be sin in our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And here is a bringing together of those two elements.

36:07 There is revealed in the gospel, a perfect righteousness based upon Jesus' substitutionary death in our room instead. But you see a concomitant, an accompaniment, an inseparable partner of that righteousness is reconciliation to God himself. God himself is the life of the soul of man. Jesus said, this is eternal life that they may know thee the only true God.

36:39 And Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. And in the gospel, there is this wonderful announcement that God has made provision in the person and work of his son, that we sinners might not only have the terms of pardon sealed with the king's ring opened in red to us, that we might not only be delivered from our squalor and our disease and our bondage to our misery, May I say it reverently? But that we should end up living in the King's palace as the King's sons and daughters, looking upon his face. Having free access to his heart, to his presence, that we might be adopted into his very family The disinherited sons of Adam become the adopted sons in Christ. For when the fool, of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that we might receive the adoption as. And this is the good news of the gospel. These are the good things that a man of God comes heralding, proclaiming, not holding forth as possibilities,

38:07 as noble ideals, nor as things that you must earn if you get enough brownie points. They are things announced as the free, undeserved favor of God to sinners. And God says they are all stored up in My Son. If you will have My Son in Him, you will have a righteousness that answers to all of My demands. 1 Corinthians 1.30, You in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us righteousness. In Christ there is deliverance from the bondage of sin. It is in union with Christ that we are delivered out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His own dear Son. And it is in Christ that we have liberty and freedom of access to God as our Father. And from Christ we receive the kingdom of

39:10 the Lord. And from Christ we receive the kingdom of the Lord. And from Christ we receive the spirit of adoption in our hearts, enabling us actually to experience and to enjoy the privileges so dearly purchased, so we can actually call Him, not in the mere framing of the words, but as an expression of the experience of our hearts, Abba, Father. Those sent by the Sovereign, doing what the Sovereign commands, this is what they are doing.

Reason 3: A Living Embodiment of Gospel Grace and Power

39:42 they are announcing in Christ's room the gladdings of the good things of the gospel and therefore their feet are beautiful feet they are beautiful feet we have seen first of all because they bring the Lord Jesus himself to us in the proclamation of his word secondly they are beautiful because they bring one who announces the good things of the gospel which answer to man's deepest needs but thirdly they are beautiful feet because they bring one who is a living embodiment of the grace and power of the very gospel he preaches the feet of a man of God are beautiful feet because they bring one who is a living embodiment of the grace and power of the gospel now please listen carefully to what I say as carefully as I guarded my remarks last week I know of at least one who expressed to me concern and they missed this vital point of qualification please gird up the loins of your mind listen carefully to what I'm about to say the message of the gospel itself

41:08 is of paramount importance not its messenger Romans 1.16 says it is the gospel itself that is the power of God unto salvation and may I say it in a stark shocking way to get the point across God can make the gospel the power of God unto salvation if the devil himself stood in this pulpit this morning and preached it if the devil himself were to materialize and proclaim that in the person and work of Jesus Christ there is a righteousness there is a righteousness

41:52 against you and that righteousness is in Christ if the devil himself were to proclaim there is liberty from your bondage to sin in the Lord Jesus and there is restored fellowship to God in Jesus Christ for the vilest of sinners God could make the gospel the power of God unto salvation to some of you even if it were preached by the devil that's why Paul in Philippians 1 could say some preach Christ out of envy some preach him out of strife some preach him out of goodwill matters not to me Christ I rejoice why? he knows that God can take the gospel and make it the power of God unto salvation no matter who the instrument is that proclaims it no matter what his motives are no matter what his life is I don't know how to state that more bluntly more plainly now when people tamper with its contents then the apostle gets upset Galatians 1, 8 and 9 though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than that which we preach let him be damned let him be anathema let him be accursed of God you see the content of the gospel is so vital that even if a so-called sinless angel were to come down from heaven

43:21 and preach a different gospel as to content Paul says let him be judged let him be damned let him be cursed of God now I don't know how to state it more plainly as I stated last week every believer has the right the obligation the privilege of speaking the gospel to others but we were looking at a passage that focused upon the fact that there is a biblical concept of call and of being sent so today I am saying that the gospel no matter what instrument proclaims it can be used of God to the salvation of sinners but though God is absolutely sovereign with respect to how where and through whom he will call men by the gospel the fact is that it's equally clear in scripture that in the ordinary working of God and according to the revealed will of God those the gospel are to of the grace and the power of the gospel that we preach may preach though God may use of death his gospel as he used a donkey to turn the madness of the prophet Balaam so God may use

44:50 unclean vessels but ordinarily and according to the rule of scripture no one is warranted to regard himself a man of God of God manatee is not a embodiment of the grace and power of the gospel he preaches and that's what makes the feet of a man of God beautiful feet because they not only bring the Lord Jesus himself in the proclamation of the gospel they not only bring the good things of the gospel but they bring one who is himself a living embodiment of the grace and the power of the gospel how do we know this I give you very quickly three lines of biblical evidence number one the biblical requirements for an elder a pastor an overseer a recognized sent messenger and governor and ruler in Christ's church and what is the dominant emphasis of the biblical requirements first Timothy 3 and Titus 1 if a man desire the office of an overseer he desires a good work the overseer

46:19 therefore must be and that little impersonal verbal form of the Greek word deo their day that little particle of necessity must be that's the same particle of necessity used in Mark 8 31 the son of man must suffer it's used in John 10 16 other sheep I have them also I must breathe and it's used in 2nd Corinthians 5 10 we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ how strong is the necessity for Christ to die if he's to be obedient to the father and secure the salvation of his people a non-negotiable necessity how necessary is it that all of his sheep for whom he died be gathered in that he see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied a non-negotiable necessity they must hear my voice I must bring them they shall hear my voice I must bring them how certain is it that you and I will stand before God in the day of judgment it's appointed unto men once to die and after this cometh judgment now that's the pressure on that little particle of necessity a man desires the office of an overseer he must be

47:47 and the emphasis falls upon consistent balance godliness so that the man who would lead God's people and speak officially in the name of his Savior will himself be not the perfect embodiment of the gospel but a real and undeniable embodiment of its grace and power so that he can say if the gospel's not true explain me if the gospel's explain me explain me second line of proof it's the question of truth it's the pattern of apostolic testimony everywhere the apostle Paul particularly emphasizes that the validation of his identity was seen in that in his person he was an embodiment of the grace and power of the gospel that he preached 1 Thessalonians 1 4 and 5 knowing brethren beloved your election of God how that our gospel came unto you not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much conviction even as you know what manner of men we showed ourselves among you he says there was this close conjunction between the gospel coming in power

49:16 and the manner of men who brought that gospel and what was their manner of living look at chapter 2 verse 10 you are witnesses in God also how holily and righteously and unblameably we behaved ourselves stirred you that belief can this be the same man who wrote Romans 7 oh wretched man that I am I find then a law that to me who would do good evil is present with me for the good that I will do I would I do not the man who is conscious of the imperfection of remaining two Thessalonians know as God that we were living embodiments of the grace and the power of the gospel we preached how holily righteously and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you he emphasizes the grace of the gospel even more in verse 8 when he says even so being affectionately desirous of you we were well-informed well-pleased it was our good pleasure our delight to impart unto you

50:42 not the gospel of God only you became dear to us here's a man who says if the gospel's not real explain my selfless love to you when I was willing to pour out my very soul for your salvation seeking nothing in return if grace not worked in me he says explain that your own conscience testifies that I was not no professional cleric coming to Thessalonica to do my thing to send my report back to headquarters that I'd preached so many sermons and evangelized so many people in the Roman Empire he said you people know that you were the objects of my selfless what the old writers called disinterested love they didn't mean by that it was love that was not interested in its object but it was love that was interested in its object for its object's sake not for what it could get out of its object it's a word we need to restore it to its object restore disinterested love not like the charlatans on the tube who play upon human suffering and human sickness and tragedy and promise to send you their prayer cloth for so many bucks not like John Wimber and his healing clinics pay your 150, 200 dollar registration and he'll teach you how to have the power to heal what a contrast with Peter

52:10 when a man said I'll give you money if you'll give me money this power he says your money go to hell with you your money this man comes along and says give me your money and I'll give you the power give me 4,000 in the large cities of Australia 4,000 people plunking out 150 175 dollars for a three or four day seminar on how to heal do a little arithmetic and you'll see the windfall he raked in give you this power how could a man like that say I'm a man of power I'm a living embodiment of the gospel which is gracious undeserved mercy God's seeking you and your well-being the biblical pattern of apostolic testimony is that the men who preach are themselves the embodiment of their message you remember in Acts 20 don't have time to look at it Paul could say to the Ephesian elders you yourselves know from the first day I said to you I said to you set foot in Asia after what manner I was among you he puts the first emphasis upon the kind of man he was it's not till verse 21 that he talks about the message he preached

53:36 why are the feet of a man of God beautiful feet they are beautiful feet because wherever they bring a man of God they bring one who is himself imperfect an embodiment of the message that he preaches so when he's proclaimed his message he can say if the gospel ain't true explain me explain me explain me who have all the same appetites and passions as any man passions be as greedy and lecherous and self-seeking and ruthless as any man on the face of the earth explain me that I'm not that kind of man if the gospel's not true explain me because I don't understand myself there's no explanation that my own mind can satisfy itself with but that in the gospel the good things of a perfect righteousness was announced to me the good things of liberating from God's sin the good thing of restored fellowship to almighty God

55:03 listen to these very perceptible comments of Philip Hughes a contemporary who has commented on the entire book of 2nd Corinthians and on this text giving no occasion of stumbling in anything that our ministry be not blamed but in everything commending ourselves as ministers of God this is what Philip Hughes says it is a matter of seriousness to Christians in general that their profession of Christ should not be in conflict with their daily conduct it is even more so to ministers of the gospel who are the leaders of Christ's flock and are set an example of consistent and godly living it is an artifice of Satan writes Calvin to seek some misconduct on the part of ministers which may tend to the dishonor of the gospel for when he has been successful in bringing the ministry into contempt all hope of progress is destroyed therefore the man who wishes to serve Christ with usefulness must apply himself with all possible diligence to preserve the honor of his ministry end quote this was the reason why the apostle Paul was so scrupulously careful to avoid giving even the slightest occasion of stumbling in any respect

56:31 in all his labors for Christ the preaching of the cross it is true is inevitable to give offense to the unregenerate mind which is governed by pride and self-esteem but for the messenger of reconciliation to place a stumbling block in the way of unbelievers by behavior which is improper and inconsistent with his message is quite another thing and altogether inexcusable nothing is more likely to cause the name of God to be blasphemed and mocked by unbelievers than the example of a ministering whose conduct of himself is evidently a contradiction of the transforming power of God in Christ which he advocates in his preaching Paul was constantly concerned lest for unworthy reasons the ministry should become a laughing stock to the world lest the message of the cross which is the power of God unto salvation to all that believe should be emptied of meaning and effectiveness to all that believe to all that believe to all that believe to all that believe to all that believe to all that believe to all that believe to all that believe to all that believe because of the misbehavior of the one who preached it and oh how desperately we need men of God with beautiful feet feet that are beautiful not because they carry a man with the gift of gab not because they carry a man who has an intellectual

57:59 understanding of the gospel and some verbal facility to utter it and some personal charisma to draw a crowd but oh men of God men of God but oh men of God the most beside is forced to say in my if the gospel's not true there's no explanation for that man though they may hate that man because he deals faithfully with their souls though they may despise his message because it exposes their sin and humbles their pride they go home as it were with an amen thundering in the deepest recesses of their hearts and they go home and they go home that that gospel is true not only because it is a self-authenticating message from the throne of God but because they've witnessed its power in the messenger who brought it to them well that's what makes the feet of a man of God beautiful feet and as we bring this whole series to a close in my final word of application I want to speak to you men in the ministry

Application: To Ministers and the Unconverted

59:27 and you men preparing for the ministry is this portrait at least an outline of what God is making you you say I'm not sure about my call that's perfectly legitimate at this stage if you are preparing for the ministry but my dear younger brother you need have no question as to what the standard of a man of God is here's the portrait his head his eyes his ears his heart his mouth his spine his hands his knees his feet may God grant that as you long to be useful in Christ's kingdom you may long and cry and plead with God and then be prepared to have God use a thousand intricate disciplines to answer your prayer pray oh God make me a man of God and to you the Lord's people in this place surely if you've listened with even half of one ear you know that men such as we've described in this series of messages are not made by other men John Newton eloquently stated it when he said only the God who made a universe can make a gospel minister and what he meant

60:55 by that was only God can make a man of God with the features and with the character traits that we've described from the scriptures and we need to cry to God that he will mold such men we need lovingly to encourage these men whom God has set among us we need faithfully to reprove and exhort and admonish where necessary for it's in the discipline and fellowship of the life of the church that they are to be made such men and then I say in my final word to you who are unconverted have my feet been sent to you today in vain I don't stand here as one who had a notion that I ought to be here I stand here as much as I can know anything from the scriptures as one sent of God I've heard no voices no angel ever visited me but in the ordinary way of clearing a man's call to preach I stand as a called man in the name of my Savior and I've come over the mountains and I've unpacked the glad tides of good things there is for you you who right now are under the wrath of God there is a perfect righteousness in Christ you to your pride

62:23 ambition and your bitterness and your touchy spirit and your suspicion and a host of other sins known only to you and God you don't need to be the slave of those sins in Christ there is liberty in Christ there is deliverance in Christ in Christ in Christ and you've never known a moment's delightful communion with God that's why church for the most part is boring reading the scriptures you don't have time for it prayer there's none of it in your life why? you don't know what it is to commune with the God who made you and made you for himself and that's what lies at the root of all that restlessness and all of that unfulfilled yearning as one has said there is a cod-shaped hole in all of us that only God can fill and you try to fill it with finery and with things and people and fun and frolic and a thousand other things the hole's too deep and too broad for any but God to fill and God won't fill it except as you have dealings with him in Jesus Christ my feet have come this morning announcing the glad tidings of good things in Jesus Christ have they come in vain again? will you go out again? saying well

63:52 sometime my friend the king has said my spirit shall not always strive with men there is a line and I don't know where it is but God does and the Bible reveals he draws it don't toy with God don't tempt God but this day say oh God once again you've sent your son in his representative to speak to me to announce to me the good things of his own grace Lord they shall never again be announced in vain I run to your son I run to Christ in all my guilt in hell deservingness but I've heard announced today there's a perfect righteousness even for a sinner like me in Christ there's liberty from the bondage to my sins in Christ there is access into the very heart and fellowship of the living God in Christ oh God I go to him as a sinner I go to him in faith I go to him willing to be divorced from my sin to leave my hog pens and to be found in the embrace of my Father oh go to Christ as you are where you are and find in him all that he promises

65:20 to believing sinners may God grant that this day some of you will go let us pray our Father we thank you that the scriptures set before us an adequate picture of a man of God but we know that our salvation is not to be found in any man of God no matter how holy no matter how loving and earnest and compassionate he be no matter how accurate his announcement of the gospel may be we know that every man of God is but a redeemed sinner who stands with all his fellow sinners and can only plead for mercy we pray this day that some will go to Christ himself and find him to be what he promised to be to every coming sinner and then we ask you oh Lord that in this place you would fashion and mold and raise up and thrust out men of God oh Lord our hearts groan with shame that we must be identified with the charlatans

66:48 and with the fakes and the hypocrites and oh Lord we ask you remove the stain that has come to your gospel and to your name and do it by raising up a host of men for who are you? for who are you? for who are you? for who are you?

67:02 for who are you? for who are you? for who are you? for who are you?

67:03 for who are you? for who are you? for whom there is no explanation but that they are the living embodiments of the power of the gospel oh hear our cry and do your own mighty work in answer to that plea hear us and be with us as we leave this place may it be in the sense of your fear as we seek further this day to honor you in this day and to bring glory to your name we ask through the Lord Jesus Christ Amen