06a) Physical and Emotional Growth, Part 1

Introduction: The Minister's Life and the Importance of Physical and Emotional Health

0:04 come to our lecture this morning Father God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Father of mercies God of all comfort we address you this morning in the confidence that as your adopted sons you delight to have us draw near and to ask good things of you and you delight to give good gifts unto your children and we pray that you would grant us the good gift of a sober mind this morning grant us the good gift of the Spirit's illuminating discerning ministry grant the good gift of utterance that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak and accurately grant us O Lord every present grace of the Spirit essential for the accomplishment of your own sovereign purposes for our hours together we look to you as utterly dependent creatures and trust you to hear and to answer the cry of our hearts through our Lord Jesus Christ we are bold to ask these mercies of you and in faith

1:31 to expect the answer to our prayers Amen well we return this morning brethren to the concern addressed in this unit of our pastoral theology course namely the life of the man of God in the pastoral we've established the great foundational principle that the life of the minister is the life of his ministry and that his highest priority is that of he himself Acts 20 28 1st Timothy 4 and verse 16 the amplification of this principle we've addressed the spiritual and the intellectual growth and development of the man of God so crucial to a ministry of ongoing usefulness and of God glorifying service today we move on to consider the third and in some aspects equally vital aspect of the man of God himself namely his physical and emotional health and vigor now in handling the subject we'll follow the same basic outline as we did when addressing

3:00 the spiritual and the intellectual growth of the man of God as you can see from your notes there is first of all large letter C an axiom that I have stated having we will begin addressing the necessity for and the inevitability of the concern embodied in the axiom and then express the principle or the axiom and then seek to give guidelines for the practice of this principle or axiom first of all then the axiom states you must seek to attain maintain an accurate understanding of your present physical and emotional constitution and engage in regular and therapeutic self-health and in this affectation

The Biblical Doctrine of Man: A Psychosomatic Entity

4:18 with the man of God andasty and power and vibration in your systematic theology course under the corpus of human being that man is not simply or even essentially or primarily a soul housed in a body as a knife used in its sheath and in its glove from the scriptures that man as living soul is a psychosomatic entity and that his true identity cannot be understood does not even exist from this entity. When we are introduced to man in terms of the constitution of his being we are told in Genesis chapter and verse 7 that God having formed the man from the dust of the ground

5:44 breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became and it is this psychosomatic corporeal entity that man is constituted we recognize that there is a clear distinction between the material and the non-material facets of man such as Matthew 10, 28 our abuser said do not be afraid of them that kill body they have no more that they can do but fear him who can destroy both body rich man in Lazarus it says rich man up his eyes obviously the heart of man the parts of him having concurrent existence one part was in the grave and the other

7:09 were a place of conscious suffering and likewise with regard to Lazarus he dies and yet his soul is found in the bosom of Abraham while his body likewise and therefore we do not deny that as a result of seeing abnormal radical location this separation of those two nearly two years ago the life of ph мама tissue that therapy a woots lift didn't dead top spring two a you the we humanistic as described in Scripture, the constant and real interplay between the physical, the material, and the spiritual or the non-material.

8:27 It is in the Word of God, Proverbs, that indicate the three.

The Interplay of Physical and Spiritual: Examples from Scripture

9:47 1. Unattend to my words. 2. Hear to my sayings.

9:54 3. Let them not depart from your eyes, 4. the rest of your heart, 5. for they are life unto all that find them, and, according to this text,

11:42 the Bible gives us some vivid examples and illustrations. In conjunction with Uriah and Bathsheba, we see that there were tremendous

12:31 who went down by the brook and apparently single-handedly slew them. Well, it's no wonder then that some painted witch says, by tomorrow this time, I'm going to get you. And the man runs like a coward and runs in such dejection that he says in that night, 19th chapter, I'm no better than my fathers. They lived, they labored, they prayed, and saw nothing. He had a death wish.

13:35 Now, there's no indication he was plotting suicide, but he had a death wish and said, I'm no better than my fathers. That there is a relationship between the physical and emotional drain of the ministry and the man's ability to even keep the eye of faith clear and to be a man of moral and spiritual courage. The physical, the emotional, and opens up one of his most, I mean, pathetic, not in the sense of something to be despised, but one that throbs with pathos.

Charles Spurgeon's Testimony: The Pathos of Physical Weakness in Ministry

14:23 Sermons called the all-round ministries are records of sermons that he preached at the homecoming of the men from the college. And it's here that Spurgeon opened his heart at a level that is rare, even in his lectures to us. Here he had all of his spirit sons and like a patriarchal family in the man of God, that are rare.

14:56 On 98 of the latest edition of lectures of all-round ministry.

15:03 My dear brethren,

15:08 I feel intensely grateful for that Benjamin's share in them that is ever my portion.

15:16 I never consciously needed your intercessions more than I do just now. For I may say with the psalmist, my strength. After my severe illness, I am trembling like a child who is only just commencing to use his power. To use his feet.

15:38 To keep myself up. To expect from one has come of my consideration. My meditations have been a failure. I've gone to the pits and so occupied with sympathy for the poor body that it has not been able to mount aloft with the eagle to plume its wings for the lower flight which I must needs attempt.

16:21 You can read that and not be moved. It's beyond me. I've participated in my gathering with you, my spiritual sons, I've gone to the pit, found them empty, no water, cannot even plume my wings.

16:44 I'm in a special union with my subject and can speak as the good old people used to say, experimentally. I cannot, however, draw much aid from the fact that I place myself upon the power which has so many times been displayed in weakness. It has been mindful of us, will bless us, and then he goes on to say that his text is, when I am weak then am I strong. My own feelings supply me with a commentary upon the text and that is all the exposition I shall aim.

The Preacher's Body as an Instrument: Avoiding Perilous Neglect

17:24 And was acknowledging this interplay of the physical and the spiritual. The sound, biblically based anthropology that was direct and his recognition as the most into the meaning of the scripture. Preaching until translated into vocables articulated by the lips of the no effective use of the lips meaning the vocables, the lungs, diaphragm. Likewise if a man is to convincingly and meaningfully he must speak as one who emotion presently feeling the pressure of the truth conveyed. Who in the act of preaching unconsciously projects the emotional energy of the truth in which he traffics. He doesn't seek to be emotional articulate the truth which has seen

18:52 and in the conveyance with emotional energy. The bodily faculties are in a state of perpetual weakness, ness and dullness cannot but reflect acted in the lack of natural, physical energy in preaching, and the flatness in the emotional energy of the preaching. Just as when a man spends so much labor in the preparation of his sermon, sleep, and brings a tired mind to the pulpit, he will stumble over words and senses that otherwise would have flowed out of him as out of the Nertesian well. And so to you my brethren, taking up this, this concern of the physical and the emotional constitution of man, that the biblical doctrine of man that we are not

20:15 disembodied spirits to the work of and what we may or may not as new men in Christ, especially called and equipped by Christ, we are still human, H-U-M-A-N, by virtue of our own dissonance, our own distinct identity established by God in our creation, and interact subsequent to the fall. He who forgets this fact and acts as though it were not true, does so to his own peril and harm. God has made you with a nervous system, his own peculiar circuitry and fuses. You run too much current over that system for too long, you have a body called, your body called the escripter, and earthen vessel. Beyond its thickness and its less strength will be given under man's in the path of duty.

21:37 According to Matthew 4-7 we must not make trial of the Lord point where Jesus himself says, Mark 6-31 come ye apart and be fully aware that this lazy ministerial hireling may use what I've said, become a ministerial an ecclesiastical sluggard and parrot that's his sin the bible does not indicate that we are called to a life of essentially evil that is a pagan notion colossians 2 20 to 23 is paul's condemnation on an infiltration of pagan thought holiness was attained in taste not handle not he said which

22:46 things indeed have a show and in first timothy 4 i find this passage fascinating that when paul's of doctrines of demons will characterize the latter times this falls in this passage is the doctrine that to marry and commanding to abstain meets it was a doctrine vanity and the way of no we be concerned with our emotional and physical well-being but then secondly

The Law of God Demands It: The Sixth Commandment and Self-Care

23:59 the law of god demands it as you see in your notes the law of commandment sorry that's supposed to be the uh yes the sixth amendment thou shall do no murder the larger catechism question 135 there is a very interesting response 35 of the larger catechism duties are commanded what sins are forbidden the question is what are the duties required in the sixth commandment the answer is

24:43 six commandment are careful endeavors and then it goes on to specifics by resisting all faults and is subduing all passions avoiding all occasions temptations and practices tend to the unjust taking away of the life of any and then other things are mentioned and then listen to these things a sober use of meat medication sleep in hundreds dating for all god's creed a concern for their physical as part and parcel of the demands and mint and

26:00 the fact that a man is set apart for the labors of the ministry no more gives him a right and with impunity then it gives him a right to treat the seventh with him he must likewise find a way to keep of the fourth commandment on that though some would question the validity of doing so as an essential element of a

The Doctrine of Salvation Demands It: Redemption of the Body

26:34 absolutely necessary to address it doctor the man secondly the law of god demands it but biblical demands turn of salvation demands it sim has radically altered for the worst the thirty of our humanity body and soul grace has designed and provided and will ultimately secure a remedial and restorative power that will do justice for all those who suffer

27:22 and teach that god is a concurrence that the image of christ means nothing less than the transformation of the totality of our humanity body and soul into the likeness of our glorified lord twenty three tells us that in our pressure to get the and not only so that our selves also who had sells galore long within ourselves way too long before this year the that we have a very simple and waiting for our adoption, that is the redemption of our bodies. So crucial. Redemption of our bodies that here it is called our adoption. The idea, you see, that what is really a glorified body tags along.

28:34 Wash in the light of the biblical emphasis. It will not wash. That's why the hope of the believer is never the intermediate state. The sense of the intermediate state.

28:48 The end of a life of worship and service with a body that aches from all beatings and bruising say I long to depart and be with Christ.

28:58 The hope of the believer is never the intermediate state. But it is the consummate blessing of glorification when body and soul will bear perfectly the image of God Himself.

29:17 20 and 21. Similar emphasis in the scripture.

29:25 Our commonwealth is in heaven. Whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

29:33 Passionately, renew the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of His glory according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto.

29:49 And then you remember the great comfort Paul gives to believers at Thessalonica. I would not have you ignorant, brethren, for Thessalonians 4. And he gives them the doctrine of the resurrection and the glorification of the body at the return of the Lord Jesus. And says, Wherefore comfort one another with the knowledge that the physical deliverance awaits the return of Christ.

30:20 Because we are marked out for such a destiny and because we are said to have the first fruits of His creations, we must manifest at the practical level our conviction about the big God now to come. One epistle,

Paul's Instructions to Timothy: A Balanced Concern for Physical Health

30:58 Timothy 4.8 and Timothy 5.23 says, Now Timothy, you are to refuse, this seven, that's the wrong, it should be four, seven and eight. Refuse profane and old wise souls and exercise yourself unto exercise is profitable for little little time or expect to and the exercising of yourself unto godliness little by comparison or for a little time. But it is a positive statement. Bodily exercise exercise is profitable for a little. But godliness is profitable for all things having promise of the life which now is and of that which is to come.

32:11 But now, if the apostle's purpose was to get Timothy to denigrate his physical well-being, why would the same apostle then say in chapter 5 in verse 23, no longer a drinker of water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your oft infirmities. In the middle of the somber responsibilities of how to deal with the accusations that might come concerning elders, don't receive them unless there are two or three witnesses. If they are validated, they have no diplomatic or ecclesiastical immunity. Rebuke them in the sight of all that others may fear.

32:54 Solemnly charged to discharge awesome tasks without prejudice, without partiality, to keep himself aloof from the sins of others. Verses 24 and 5 take forward again to the day of judgment. Some men's sins are evident, going before unto judgment. Some men follow after.

33:22 In like manner there are good works that are evident and such as are otherwise cannot be hid. And tucked in the middle of all that, it's as though Paul says, and by the way, Timothy, remember, remember you have a body in which to carry out all these solemn...

33:39 And this side of the day when it's a glorified, glorified body, do not through the disease of diet weaken yourself physically more than is necessary. Now for some reason, Timothy, you have chosen to drink only water. I'm telling you, as a home remedy, use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your oft infirmities. Do what is within your power to bring your physical condition to optimum strength and vigor and usefulness in order to carry out.

34:17 This shopping list of solemn tasks that I've laid in turn of salvation does not denigrate the... But rather tells us that that which is marked for glorification is now to be the object for a balanced concern.

Presenting Our Bodies as Living Sacrifices and Glorifying God in Our Bodies

34:39 The end of that marvelous exposition of the grace of God. The Romans appeal in chapter 12 in verse 1. I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God. It doesn't say present your heart undivided in loyalty.

35:07 And what he says, so much. When you say, well, what he's saying is present the totality of your...

35:24 That's right. But he doesn't say your heart or your...

35:27 Your bodies. Which cannot be done, of course, without engaging the inner. But the end...

35:33 On presenting your bodies of living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God which is your rational, your spiritual, your reasonable service. And then that marvelous text 1 Corinthians...

35:50 1 Corinthians 6 in verse 13. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 13.

36:10 God shall bring to naught both it and them. But the body is not for fornication. There is a congruity between meats and the stomach and the digestive system that's evident to all. Meats for the belly.

36:27 God shall bring them to naught. However, you Corinthians have thought that there's a congruity between the body, fornication. But he says, no. But the body is not for fornication but for the Lord.

36:44 Now notice. The body is for the service of the Lord. And the Lord did to the well-being and care of the body as the instrument of His service here and now and eventually to God's purpose of redemption that He will raise the Lord and will raise us up.

37:22 We are members of Christ. I don't understand but I believe my fingers, eyes, this physical corporeal body that constitutes Albert N. Martin's body is united to the living Christ. United to Him because it was first of all purchased by Him.

37:45 Verse 19. Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you which you have from God and you are not your own Christ. Glorify God here. I am to glorify God in this body.

38:09 Consciousness that this body is for the Lord and His service and His salvation throughout this earthly pilgrimage and then into the age when He will raise it up. A glorified body. Expresses it in Philippians 1, 19 and 20. Earnest expectation.

38:39 Passion and what was it? 1, 19 and 20. I know this shall turn out to my salvation through your supplication in the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing shall I be put to shame but that with all boldness as always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether by life or by death. He says I want my bodily exist to be a magnifying glass through which Christ becomes bigger in the eyes of others.

39:27 Many doctrines of this mentality magnified the more I denigrate and deny and treat with disdain my bodily appetites and passions that is pagan. It is not biblical brethren. Some of us by background and temperament are far more susceptible to a pagan concept even to the present pagan hedonism making the body and its appetites ultimate and making a god of our bellies. The doctrine of salvation demands this concern. Therefore how can I responsibly teach pastoral theology and not talk about what we must do with respect to maintaining optimum physical and emotional health. But now in the fourth place as your notes will show I am asserting that the biblical doctrine of preaching demands it.

The Biblical Doctrine of Preaching Demands It: The Whole Man Preaching

40:42 The biblical doctrine of preaching is one which sets forth preaching of the whole man. Now I have already alluded to this under the first heading under the biblical doctrine of man as it comes to expression in preaching so I will not need to spend much time reiterating that but of men and from the general teaching of the word of God as to what it is to be a herald of the message of God we come to the conviction that preaching is not simply an intellectual and a vocal exercise

41:36 but to exercise a discipline a divinely appointed means that engages the whole man a man who is both a soul who has both a mind and a mouth emotional and physical energy and strength all of the same. And if we have a doctrine of that views preaching essentially as the servant of God standing in the special place. in the special presence of God amidst either the gathered people of God or in an evangelistic setting non-Christians then what humanity can be carried and the body has been neglected God is going to perform some kind of a miracle of a partial resurrection of burnt out emotions and an abused body

43:00 we have a right to expect that of God now what God may do is one thing for even the great apostle

43:12 that consciously weakened him he did not immediately rejoice in it he gave himself to extend it see an impediment to his usefulness when God said no my servant there is another factor that you are not aware of that I am consciously weak and counteract his weakness by my supernatural intervention I resist the proud I only give grace to the humble and when God then said no I am going to allow the messenger of Satan that will keep you consciously weak Athenia whatever it was consciously weak but God gave a special pledge but my strength will be perfected in the midst of your weakness then he says therefore will I I am weak

44:23 strength