Report on Trip to New Zealand and Australia

Introduction and Biblical Precedent for the Report

0:03 The following message was delivered on August 30, 1992, in the adult Sunday school class of the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:17 It is indeed good to be back among you, and I do express my sincere thanks for your prayers on my behalf for both safety in the many thousands of miles traveled and for the Lord's blessing upon the many opportunities for ministry. I bring you special words of greeting from the Sovereign Grace Church in Sylvia Park, which is in the country of New Zealand, a suburb of Auckland, and from your brethren at the Stanmore Church in Sydney. And especially for those of you who remember Janie Eagleworth, she sends her love and assures you of her continued affection and prayers for those of you that she came to know when she was among us before she died. Before going to New Zealand and marrying there, and now the mother of four children. Now, as I give this report this morning, I trust that I need not give a detailed explanation as to the biblical precedent for such a report. Such biblical data has been brought before you many, many times over the years.

1:31 The most frequently used passage being Acts 14, verses 24, 26, and 27, which contains the record of Paul and Barnabas returning to the church from which they were sent and coming at the end of their first missionary journey and declaring the things that God had been pleased to do through them in their gospel endeavors. Rather, as I've prayerfully considered the composition of this report, I do desire to underscore some other, some other biblical principles highlighted in this recent ministry. And I do this for three reasons. Number one, I hope there will be an acquisition of knowledge of the work of God in other places that will expand our vision. Secondly, I give the report as I do for the confirmation of some of our most tenaciously held convictions and principles, which I trust we will hold. All the tighter as a result of the report. And then thirdly, I give the report hoping it will precipitate increased exercises of the graces of gratitude, humility, and fervent prayerfulness.

Decision-Making Process for the Trip

2:53 So I have in mind that this report will result in the acquisition of knowledge, the confirmation of presently held convictions, and the precipitation of information. And I hope that this report will serve as an example of the work of God in order for us to continue to work in the work of God and in the work of God. And I hope that this report will serve as an example of the work of God Now, as most of you know, it was my privilege to minister in New Zealand and in Australia the 12th through the 28th of August, and that includes the travel days. And first of all, I want to address the question, how was the decision made to take this trip?

3:32 There are certain commitments that demand the travel of one or more of you, of your elders, that are simply part of our in-house commitments. When we commit ourselves to oversee a home or foreign missionary endeavor, involved in that commitment is some framework of regular visitation by one or more of the elders to oversee that work. But in this case, I was not going to a church or churches over which we have official oversight, and so I thought it would be helpful to you if you were taken behind the scenes and brought some information with respect to the question, how was the decision made to take this trip? Now, let me say, first of all, it was not made as a result of any direct revelation. I, nor any of the other elders, did not receive a vision, hear an angel's whisper in our ear. No one in New Zealand or in Australia made any, any such claims, nor was the trip made because we, as elders, decided that there was a church in New Zealand or a church in Australia that needed help that we could offer.

4:50 Rather, the decision was made based upon a deferential, prayerful interaction between at least three elderships and several other key men of trusted reputation and spirit. If you will bear with me as I stick closely to my notes, I have so much to say, and I could be discursive on any one of these points, and I'm determined to try to complete what I have to say within the allotted time. Let me repeat that this decision was made based upon the deferential, prayerful interaction of at least three elderships and several other key men of trusted reputation and spirit. proven wisdom. Let me give the facts. Prior to the conference, the pastor's conference last October, Pastor Hogg had been in touch with us and intimating that it was the judgment of the elders at Stanmore that the time had come that I should return for their annual pastor's conference. It had been my privilege to be there for the first year in 1987. Then

6:03 Pastor Hofstetter was there in 88, and then I returned in 89. And then Pastors Hendricks and Fisher were there in the subsequent years. And it was the judgment of their elders that the time had come for another visit from me, particularly to interact with the church there at a pastoral level and to minister at the annual pastor's conference. And that this is not just something we say, because I really wonder at times.

6:33 When we speak of accountability and inter-church fellowship with the spirit of skepticism abroad in our day, whether or not some of you really believe that this stuff goes on. Well, I hold in my hand a letter with the Stanmore Baptist Church letterhead, which says, Russell Matthews, one of the elders writing, I'm writing on behalf of all the church and with the full support of the membership to ask two further things of you. First, would it be possible for Mrs. Martin to accompany you next year? It would be of great benefit to the church to meet her, and we would count it a privilege to extend hospitality to you both. Second, would you both be able to stay in Australia for at least another week in order to have a holiday break together? We would like to arrange for you with Pastor and Mrs. Hogg to have a week away after the conference meetings. The motive for extending

7:29 the terms of our invitation is simple. We appreciate your interest in the church, and your genuine personal concern for us, and your practical commitment to our growth and development. You've proved to be one of our closest friends and a constant source of encouragement. Now it is our turn to give something to you as an expression of our regard and affection for you both. You have been through many trials, and in this small way we want to say that we love you and support you. We will, of course, cover all the costs associated with this offer, such as Mrs. Martin's airfare, the holiday accommodation and any living expenses. So that letter came confirming the desire of the eldership at Stanmore that I not only come to minister to them, but bring my wife at their expense and then have a week's paid holiday, plus the round-trip airfare taken care of by the church. Well, at almost the same time that

8:29 letter is dated October 7th. A letter dated October 7th, which is the month of October, October 15th with the letterhead Sovereign Grace Church in Sylvia Park in New Zealand came writing from Pastor Martin's recent letter to me and from Pastor James Hogg of Sydney and this is addressed attention Pastor Frank Barker dear elders the request was made of the eldership of this church we gather you are prayerfully considering Pastor Martin's possible visit to Australia next year this letter is a formal invitation on behalf of Sovereign Grace Church to ask that you consider our invitation to Pastor Martin to come to New Zealand during that time of his visit to Australia to minister among us and then he gives a resume of his own five years of ministry there in Auckland and then he says this very significant thing in paragraph three we as a church here in New Zealand determined to see our belief and practice based upon God's word alone through the thorough ongoing work of biblical reformation I've been attending the annual pastor's conference at Stanmore in Australia for the past five years and have established a close fellowship with Pastor Hogg and the church there during my last visit to Sydney in August of 91 I discussed the

9:56 possibility of having our own church conference in New Zealand and I've been very pleased to have the opportunity to speak with Pastor Hogg and with Pastor Robert Fisher they too encouraged me in this matter Pastor Hogg was with us in New Zealand last week and we discussed it again and then he goes on to say it is our prayer that you elders will see your way clear to respond favorably to this request well then a letter came from Pastor Hogg dated the 5th of November after he passed away from the church in New Zealand and he writes to Pastor Bala and this is a copy of the letter when I was in New York I expressed my observations to both Pastor Martin and Pastor Ashiel Blaze during the conference period and underline both the potential and the need for a solidly biblical and reformed conference ministry in New Zealand at this present time I can see the raw material there for an extending ministry in New Zealand and I can see the raw material there for an extending ministry in New Zealand and I can see the raw material there for an extending ministry in New Zealand and I can see the raw material there for an extending ministry in New Zealand and I can see the usefulness to bring a very clear biblical and confessional view of Reformation in New Zealand I believe God is giving you this is speaking to Pastor Bala a peculiar opportunity to open up that whole area for a ministry which is so much needed in these days I would urge you with all my heart

11:20 to pursue these opportunities of extended usefulness from a church base even if it means hiring a larger auditorium to furnish your needs for such events be prepared for the opposition that will inevitably accompany such faithful commitment to the truth from a thoroughly church based perspective and then the letter came dated November 26th when I indicated that the elders did affirm their judgment that I should go to New Zealand along with the visit to Australia now Pastor Bala writes in November of 1990 1991 I talked to Pastors Hogg and Fisher about the possibility of a church based conference they were very keen to give me all the encouragement I shared with this with this with the church and they were delighted at the prospect etc and so you see there was the interaction of the leadership of the church in New Zealand the church in Stanmore the church here and the input in council of the church in New Zealand the church in Stanmore the church here and the input in council of the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the church in New Zealand the of Pastor Fisher and Pastor Blaze as known and trusted friends. And so when we speak of inter-church fellowship,

12:40 when I chose the words that this decision was made based upon deferential, prayerful interaction between three elderships and several key men of known spiritual discernment, that was not just hot air to sound spiritual. There was deference to one another, deference to the judgment and assessment of the various brethren in these various churches coming to this united conviction that in the work of the gospel it would be timely for me to visit both the work there in New Zealand and also the ministry in Stanmore. And as the churches prayed, the elderships discerned, and trusted men, were of one mind, this decision was made, of course, all subject to the will of the Lord be done, God keeping us healthy, God keeping us out of world wars and other things that could throw all of our plans into a different relationship. Now, what's the great principle highlighted as I've sought to answer the question, how was the decision made to take this trip? Well, the great principle highlighted, is this, that inter-church communion, based upon spiritual dynamics,

14:06 does not need man made structures to make the thing work.

14:15 That's the great principle. All of this came to pass without any international fellowship. Any national population. Any national association.

14:28 other than that which has grown out of a sensitivity to biblical principles and the providence of God putting us in touch with various congregations and brethren who become loved, known, and trusted. And those spiritual commodities, when worked into the hearts of men, are sufficient because they are biblical. And when we go beyond the Bible and make our own structures, though they may appear to work, they will eventually become a curse. And so, in answer to the question, how was this decision made, I say there is a wonderful example and illustration of Bible-based, Spirit-wrought and Spirit-sustained inter-church communion that lives. It lay at the base of this decision to make this trip. Now then, question number two. What were the major elements of the ministry on this trip?

Ministry in New Zealand: Bible Convention and Evangelistic Meetings

15:36 Well, there were two. One was a very brief two-day ministry in New Zealand, and the other a more lengthy ministry of some 11 days in Sydney, Australia. Now, concerning the two-day ministry in New Zealand, they were...

15:55 They packed in everything they could. I arrived on Friday morning, around 8 o'clock in the morning, and was taken to Pastor Bala's...

16:07 picked up by Pastor Bala and taken to the home of one of his families that have a lovely accommodation for guest preachers. They, at one point, raised their house and built a separate apartment underneath for a relative who was to live with them. And it has its own little kitchenette, its own bathroom, its own living room, and makes a lovely place to be quiet and to work and to pray and to rest. And I got some six hours of sleep that day, spent the evening with Pastor Bala, then on four hours of sleep was up at quarter to two Sunday morning to prepare for...

16:44 I mean, Saturday morning to prepare for the four ministries of that Saturday. And on that particular Saturday, in a hired hall, there was a ministry that started at nine in the morning called their annual Bible convention, at which I was to speak three times between nine and one o'clock on the subject of crucial issues facing the church today. And there, in a local community center, which they had advertised well, it was called the Pacaronga, a community center in Pacaronga, a little place next to the little town where they have their church building. God was pleased to fill that building. It seats about 300, plus an overflow room that had some closed circuit TV facilities. And there, at nine o'clock in the morning, was a filled building with people eager to hear and to receive the word of God.

17:53 And I... I preached twice on the subject of this crucial issue of the word of God, and then the third time on the crucial issue with respect to the church of God.

18:07 The preparations had been carefully made. They had made up this lovely conference hymn sheet with some 28 different hymns printed up nicely so that the singing could be uniform without having to borrow hymn books. They also had obviously advertised well for the two evening evangelistic meetings. So after preaching through till one o'clock, we went back home, had a slight time for rest, and then came back and preached again to a full congregation that evening evangelistically, taking the familiar text from Luke chapter 5 on the conversion of Levi, culminating in the words of the Lord Jesus, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And it was a great delight to preach in a situation where people had obviously prayerfully prepared and labored to bring others out under the sound of the word of God. And then on the Lord's day, it had been announced that I would speak in the morning on the biblical church at prayer. And this meant constructing a new sermon, and I was very blessed in doing that, as I spoke to them on six major principles relative to the subject of the church at prayer.

19:31 And just one of my headings was this, that a biblical church will engage in prayer that will reflect God's divine order for male leadership in the church. And I touched only briefly on 1 Timothy 2.8, I will that the men pray in every place, and when I saw Bala the following week at the pastor's conference in Australia, he told me that when they gathered to pray Wednesday night, he could not believe his ears. He said, men who had never prayed, not only led the congregation in prayer, but he said they led with words that only could have been given by God. Men naturally reticent, men never known for great fluency of expression, he said they prayed with an unction from the Holy One, and just the men led in prayer, and no fewer than four of the women in that small work came up to Pastor Bala and said, we feel tremendously relieved that the men are taking their responsibility that we might take our proper place in this assembly. And so it was a great delight to hear that immediate fruit coming from the ministry of the Word of God, I've passed over the substance of the ministry

20:56 of that previous day in the interest of time, but I do want to say by way of just commenting on the worship, it was evident even though many visitors were present and we were not meeting in their own smaller building, which is a converted home that they've just about outgrown, that the worship was serious, God-centered, Bible-based, full of Scripture, full of singing of the praise of God with sound hymns, and I felt very much at home in that climate there in New Zealand. And then it was my privilege to preach evangelistically again that evening, and I took the parable of the publican and the Pharisee and sought to set out the contrasting portrait of our Lord between a man who sought acceptance with God on the wrong ground, and a man who sought acceptance with God on proper grounds. And then after preaching twice, a meeting was planned for four key men who are potential elders and deacons in that assembly, and it was my delight to meet with them for two or three hours Sunday evening and to interact with them on crucial matters relative to the future of that assembly. And by way of observation, I would say that Pastor Bala is indeed

22:22 a true man. I was in his home, and it was very evident that he has a well-ordered home, and this was Pastor Hogg's assessment after spending several days in his home, a godly and gracious wife and two lovely children. He has paid a dear price to stand for the truths that he holds dear. He has good men who are potential elders and deacons, as I've already indicated, and everything, in conjunction, with the conference, right down to making sure that the glass of water was in place, nicely printed up announcements, a little brochure introducing their congregation that was tucked into the song sheet, was handed. They had children standing at the door, very politely giving these to everyone who came in. It was making a statement that the children were well-ordered and that this was a place where children would be welcomed as well, and then they used these flyers to advertise the evangelistic ministries. And then the last thing I would say about the situation there in New Zealand is that I believe God has confirmed to them the commitment they have made to a church-based ministry.

23:50 In the past, they've tried to conduct conferences, like this, and cooperate with others who were not as thoroughly committed to their doctrinal and practical and experimental perspectives, seeking to have a Catholic spirit. And even at that, with several churches cooperating, their attendance only ran about 150. And now, with a single church, church-based, clear commitment, God doubled the attendance. And as I said to the men at a subsequent passage, at the pastors' conference, numbers in themselves do not mean anything, but if you ask the question, what draws people, what do you need to do to keep them, and what happens after they're kept, then numbers do mean something. And if it's the Word and the Spirit that draws them, and if it's the Word and the Spirit that keeps them, and the Word and the Spirit that transforms them, either by converting grace or increased sanctifying grace, then you have reason to believe it is a work of God. And the other great lesson to be learned from this is to see the benefit of the church-based pastors' conference in Sydney. It was Pastor Bala's regular attendance at that conference that sharpened his convictions about the church being the pillar and ground of the truth, and brought him and his fellow leaders to the place

25:16 where they were ready to sponsor a church-based, one-day conference, and if God's blessing was upon it, prayerfully then to consider in the future a church-based pastors' conference as well. Well, so much then for that brief, intense ministry in New Zealand. Early Monday morning I was on the plane and on my way across for a three-hour and twenty-minute flight to Sydney. Now, just a little geography, because I know for some of you it's been a long time since you've had geography, and some of you may not have had too much of it in school.

Transition to Sydney and Initial Ministry

25:57 We have Australia here, down below it the little island of Tasmania, and off to the right, many people think maybe three, four hundred miles, but it's fifteen hundred miles from Auckland to Sydney. It's the distance between New York and Newark, and Oklahoma City or Fort Worth, Texas. So it gives you a little idea of the distance that exists between New Zealand and Australia, and why having their own indigenous pastors' conference would not be overkill in days to come. Well, God gave a safe trip over to Sydney, and I'm thankful that the schedule is arranged in such a way that on Monday and Tuesday, I was able to spend a number of hours just soaking up the word of God for my own soul, and having a lengthy period of time to feed upon the word of God, and to pray, and to rest in order to be prepared for the forthcoming ministries. And then, on Wednesday, it was my delight to, sorry, on Tuesday, to have a private meeting with just the members of the Stanmore Church. And since they pray so faithfully and consistently for us, I sought to give an overview of the life of Trinity Church. I gave head number one

27:24 with salient factors in the life and ministry of Trinity Baptist Church, congregational life, oversight endeavors, missionary endeavors, and then an overview of God's working in the States in churches of like faith in order, the new churches coming to birth, God establishing new centers of increasing influence, Grand Rapids, Mebbin, Boca Raton, the family conferences and the influence they have been having, and then our own pastor's conference. And then I closed by laying out special concerns that we have, the problem of the second generation, the problem of complacency and respectability, the problem of capitulating to the pressures of compromise, and the problem of inadequate laborers. And I believe the people received as well the report and indicated their appreciation of being brought up to date on some of the more critical concerns in our life as a congregation. Then on Wednesday, I attended their prayer meeting. And what a delight it was to attend a prayer meeting where several things were very evident.

28:38 Number one, every family of every member was represented, and if not represented, a personal word of apology and explanation was publicly given from the pulpit. May I repeat that? Every family was represented. Like our own assembly, they have young couples where mother and father alternate, and one attends one week, one the next, and there were two or three members whose families were not represented, and Pastor Hogg was able to say, we have apologies from the Smith family that they are not represented tonight, their sickness has come, some other reason was given.

29:21 But when they say that committing themselves to membership, they are committed to the stated meetings, they take that commitment so seriously that every single family was represented or a public apology for not being present was made. I only state it as a fact. I'm not saying we ought to do it. I'm only reporting what I heard from my own ears.

29:49 And then the prayers. It was a blessing to hear letters read from various parts of the world, much like our own prayer meeting, but instead of simply saying, now will the brethren lead us in prayer, prior to the reading of the letter, Pastor Hogg will say, now will so and so and so and so take special note of these concerns and be our mouthpiece at the throne of grace when we pray concerning this letter. And so in that way he calls on brethren by name to lead in prayer and as different ones show more and more of an indication of a spirit of prayer and ability to lead in prayer, pastoral judgment is exercised. I only report.

30:34 I'm not saying we ought to do this. I'm simply reporting what their prayer meeting was like. And though there were circumstances in some of these details that are different from our own, the baseline was that there were broad Catholic concerns of the kingdom of God that dominated the prayer meeting. The prayers were earnest and spontaneous and intelligent and it was a sheer delight to be a part of that prayer meeting.

31:02 And then on Thursday night, I thought being 12,000 or however many miles it is away, I would be exempted from an elders meeting, but alas, I was not. And from 7 o'clock in the evening, until 11.20, I was involved in an elders meeting. I was the guest of the eldership at Stanmore and they had a very long agenda of elders meeting with Pastor Martin and a number of concerns to lay before me for any counsel that I might give them, but particularly it had to do with seeking to get a better handle on how the elders there can help Pastor Hogg from becoming a slave to the many demands being made upon him.

31:47 And I'm happy to report that even since I left, a telephone answering machine has been installed in his study and a phone call at 3 o'clock this morning, I was up and in my study and just called him to let him know that I was safely home. I had not called and he said, you'll be happy to know that already, he said, my schedule in preparation for the Lord's day was appreciably increased because I went right out after you left, purchased an answering machine and now I feel that I have some control over my time rather than the telephone controlling me. And so we are thankful to God for the openness and the teachableness of these brethren. There are a number of other concerns that were addressed that it would not be judicious for me to mention. Only one will I mention and that is that God willing during the pastor's conference, Pastor Russell Matthews, a businessman who is on the eldership and is emerging as a man of tremendous stature will be among us and I would urge you if at all possible to introduce yourself and seek to get to know him as much as time will allow because I believe it's evident that he is emerging as a true helper and fellow laborer with Pastor Hogg in the work of the gospel there

One-Day Conference: The Reformer, The Man, and The Message

33:16 at Stanmore. Well then, on the Thursday I did have a day in which to do some preparation for the ministry of the coming weekend and the same on Friday and then on Saturday we had our one day conference and the theme was exactly as that of the pastor's conference the reformer, the man, and the message. Now some may ask why the term reformer which is not a biblical term was used. Well we gave it a definition.

33:51 We said that by reformer we mean an elder who is seeking both to articulate from the pulpit and in private the full range of biblical teaching concerning the life and ministry of the church and is committed to implementing that standard by biblical means. That's a reformer. That's the definition we gave. Not someone who simply preaches selectively what God expects of his church but seeks to preach the full spectrum of what God expects but not only preaches it but seeks to implement it with the means that God has ordained. Prayer, discipline, hands-on, intimate, pastoral interaction, etc. And so 1 Timothy 4.16 was the text that formed the basis and the framework of the three sermons on that Saturday and we're thankful that again God manifested His desire to honor the simple preaching of His words.

35:02 Some people got up at two or three in the morning to drive eight and nine hours to be present the hall where they meet the worship center was filled the overflow hall with a large closed circuit television was almost filled between 450 and 500 people were gathered for that ministry again that began at nine in the morning and went through until one o'clock. In the first hour I simply expounded the text in the second hour Pastor Hogg applied take heed to thyself and in the third hour I applied take heed to the teaching both with regard to the content what is taught who is taught and the manner in which it was taught and one of the most moving things was to have some dear people from the island of Tasmania where they are shut off from any kind of an adequate ministry and they came and spoke to me three elderly people the man and his wife and then a single woman the man is retired and he said for twenty years every Lord's day as they gathered in their home that the Trinity pulpit tapes have been their ministry and those dear people traveled over from Tasmania and just sucked up everything that was available in the way of fellowship and the ministry of the word of God. Now what was the great lesson

36:31 again coming out of that one day conference well to us the lesson was this that God continues to create in the hearts of men a hunger for no frills religion and that preaching will still have a hearing as long as God is pleased to create that hunger in the hearts of men. Well then on the Lord's day it was one of my most precious experiences with the Stanmore Church where they asked me to take what they call their school of discipleship and that's be very parallel to our adult Sunday school class such as what is meeting here and they asked me to speak with regard to some pastoral concerns and I found it very difficult at first to really understand what was on Pastor Hogg's heart and the heart of his fellow elders they are presently studying through the Baptist Confession of Faith they prepare these study sheets all printed out using Sam Watson's Waldron's materials and other materials questions to be answered and everyone in the class does his or her homework or they don't stay in the class it's serious business but on this occasion as Pastor Hogg Saturday night tried to articulate some of his concerns I was up early Sunday morning and while I sat at my desk

Lord's Day Ministry and Evangelistic Meetings in Sydney

38:00 and was beginning to put down some thoughts Pastor Hogg appeared at the door of my room with this sheet of paper and he too had been up early and he said these are the things that God had laid upon his heart and as I went over my initial notes I ticked off all of the things I was prepared to say and all seven items that he had listed God had laid upon my heart and it was an unusual sense of the direction of the Spirit of God and so I brought a word of pastoral commendation commending the church in four areas and then a word of exhortation and that likewise in four areas and there were people visibly weeping under the ministry of the word during that Sunday school hour and many came and said they felt that they were recommissioned and had the vision of what they are committed to brought back into focus and for that they were most grateful well then in the evening I preached on the church at Antioch and sought to underscore the biblical principles for a thriving church and then on Monday and Tuesday the days were free but in the evening I preached I'm sorry they weren't free the pastor's conference started on Monday morning but those two evenings I preached evangelistically once from Luke 5 and then Isaiah 53 and a number of unconverted people were out people really worked to bring out unconverted relatives and friends

39:29 in fact Monday night when I was speaking about God's assessment of our sin and that God does stick his nose into our private life and I got on the seventh commandment a woman sat on the back row and started shaking her head just like this in defiance and I said oh so you don't think God sticks his nose into your bedroom and cares what you do and her head went like this and I said well I have news for you and I just looked right at her and preached to her and before we were done she was subdued she wouldn't shake my hand going out the door but wonder of wonders she was out the next night and even came by the door and shook my hand and so who knows what God may be doing in putting a hook in the jaw of that woman there was a row of teenage boys sitting in front of me who began with a look of great indifference but halfway through the sermon showed a spirit of real interest and it was most encouraging to see God again own the simple proclamation of the gospel well then on Monday morning Tuesday Wednesday and concluding Thursday lunch was the heart of the ministry the fifth annual pastors conference and I think it would help you if I were to read the introduction from the brochure that was prepared and sent out as we send out a brochure in our invitation this is what the purpose of the conference was stated as

Fifth Annual Pastors' Conference: The Reformer's Message and Manner

40:58 the theme for the pastors conference this year has been chosen prayerfully and carefully by our eldership in determining these topics annually there's been a consistent desire and intent to address subjects of contemporary relevance which can never be construed as non-threatening to the status quo in Ezra's day God's people tackled the building of God's house enthusiastically opposed their enemies valiantly but then wilted with fear abysmally became obsessed and preoccupied materially and under Haggai and Zechariah's ministry had to be reformed radically nothing has changed Haggai's cry consider your ways is particularly relevant to our money hungry and security conscious generation someone has said I looked for the church in the world and I found the world in the church it was so in the prophet's day and it is so in ours the need then was not addressed by holding church growth seminars prayer meetings for revival or by the creation of a proliferation of para-church movements to meet the then current crisis no deeper life conferences were convened where God's people were allowed to bask blissfully in rivers of hypothetical holiness

42:27 as long as the church is instructed in regard to what it might be in antithesis to what it must be and is patronized by an insipid brand of professional pulpiteering in lieu of prophetic proclamation little will be accomplished in the way of genuine reformation what are the characteristics of those who set about the work of reformation in the scriptures and in the history of the church what was the hallmark of their ministry and what was the fruit that they fervently labored for and expected both in their pastoral and preaching ministries these are some of the questions we'd like to consider in some measure at this fifth annual pastors conference and then the conference was structured so that the first message from 10 to 1115 each morning was taken by Pastor Hogg who took the book of Nehemiah and extracted principles of the kind of man God uses in the work of reformation his theme was the reformer the man and he set out from the scriptures that as a man Nehemiah was marked by perseverance by prayerfulness he sought then to address the kind of labor to which he gave himself and much of a very practical and helpful nature was extracted from the book of Nehemiah

43:56 and then I was asked to speak on the reformer his message and in the first hour I addressed the subject of the basis of our message which must be an unshakable conviction concerning the absolute authority or inerrancy of scripture the authority of scripture the perspicuity of scripture and the sufficiency of scripture and I tried to demonstrate that the four questions which those issues address are the burning issues that must undergird any effective ministry the infallibility of scripture addresses the question can every word of God be trusted the authority of scripture addresses the question ought every word of God to be obeyed the perspicuity of scripture addresses the question is what is important in scripture clear to all and on the matter of the final point the authority of scripture then the sufficiency of scripture is scripture enough or do we need scripture plus the latest pronouncement of the various gurus and then from the basis of our message being that view of the word of God I then focus the second day on the critical issue of the biblical doctrine of salvation and if reformation is to go on in our church as I asserted we must be clear

45:25 on the biblical doctrine of salvation address some of the issues that are being addressed presently in the manifesto concerning the nature and the fruits of conversion and then the next day on the matter of the doctrine of the church and how critical it is that we understand the origin of the church we understand something of its origin and the purpose of God and in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ and then I sought to go on and demonstrate that there is but one authority by which the church should be ruled and that is the word of God written and then the last day I sought to speak on the message the manner of its presentation and I had had a very fruitful study and going through first and second Timothy speed reading it many times in preparation for the previous ministry on the Saturday taking out everything that Paul said to Timothy not about what he should preach and teach to whom he should preach and teach it but how he should preach and teach it and there were at least seven things dealing with the manner of Timothy's preaching which Paul laid upon him as a natively timid physically weak man and yet it had nothing to do with natural constitution and I believe God owned that session the prayers that some of the men prayed

46:55 indicated that there was a determination by the grace of God that their ministries would reflect a closer adherence to the manner of preaching which God in his own word articulates now in looking back upon that pastor's conference both Pastor Hogg and his fellow elders and I were of one mind that of the two three conferences that I've been part of that none has been so marked by unity clean through during the question and answer times no one was trying to debate no one was trying to be clever or nasty trying to make a speech which can so often happen we did have some touches of humor one question was asked I read it recently I heard of a type of preaching which regards the spies carrying of the grapes from Canaan as a type of assurance of faith the man in the front was viewed as lacking assurance you see he had the grapes resting on his shoulder but he couldn't see them but the man behind who could see the grapes was seen as possessing assurance can you give any advice or guidelines about wisely preaching allegorically from the Old Testament well you can imagine me trying to answer that question with a straight face and the next day at lunch it dawned on us how ludicrous

48:24 it must have been hearing someone preach a sermon on assurance using this passage as the man who was in front who had the staff with the grapes hanging on it as one who had salvation but because he couldn't see the fruit of his evidences he lacked assurance but the man behind he could see the grapes as well as carry them therefore he had assurance so the next day we were coming to the church and I was in front of Pastor Hogg as we were about to go up the stairs and I stopped and broke into fits of laughter and I said no after you brother I want to enter the meeting with lots of assurance so but apart from some of that kind of a little bit of the ludicrous the questions were very very much like we have here men seeking guidance in practical pastoral concerns the conversation over the meal times was spiritual in nature and as I mentioned earlier there was a spirit of brokenness among the men one season of prayer in which some of the men wept before God as they pleaded that their ministries would be more honest and conformed to the word of God a number of books were sold their book ministry which was somewhat in the red did a great deal to come out of the red and into the black during that week

Conference Outcomes, Future Ministry, and Concluding Remarks

49:53 I think close to five thousand dollars worth of books for one day conference and the pastor's conference and many many sets of the tapes were ordered and the observation I would make at the conclusion of the pastor's conference and looking back upon it and the time of interaction with Pastor Hogg and his elders is that there is no question in my mind nor in theirs and Pastor Hogg reiterated that on the phone this morning that the timing of this visit was peculiarly odd that Pastor Hogg was getting to the place where he really was frustrated with losing a grasp on the ability to control his schedule because of the demands made upon him and as he sought counsel in many of these areas it was a most moving thing to find a man who's just three months my junior willing to take counsel and advice from the word of God not looking to me in this thing longer and then down the road a bit further and willing to receive any help that could be given secondly the church seemed to be greatly encouraged by the exhortation not to grow weary and well doing and even this morning Pastor Hogg told me that since the conclusion of the conference an Asian group an evangelical group

51:23 has looked at their property and is excited that a viable buyer of their property may now be on the horizon and then they are launching into a new ministry this year and that is a family conference this will be a first and the joy of our hearts will be to pray that God will bless the two men who will be preaching there whom we know well reform Baptist family conference Pastor Ashiel Blaze and Pastor James Hogg and we will want to remember our brethren that God will bless them as they launch into this new endeavor well I have gotten through all that I had hoped to get through I haven't quite showed you all of the various items I have just two minutes or one minute left on the clock to give you an idea of what they are doing in their book ministry this is one of their own bookshop all done with their own desktop printing material and their own in-house personnel these are the booklets that they use in their adult Bible class the studies in the confession of faith as I have already shown you some of these and then I should have mentioned and I have the list here there were 20 approximately 25 pastors present some from

52:53 New Zealand three of them not able to be present but he spoke with me on the phone and conveys his greetings to you and several of you have written to him and he asked me to please express thanks for your prayers and then my final little display is that children are no different anywhere when you take them into consideration when you preach to them when you interact to them in a way that makes them feel that you love them they write their lovely little notes the preaching helped me a lot we'll be praying for your flight when you preach overseas may God bless you all the days of your life love from Shoshani and that is Bala's daughter who is 11 years old and then likewise lots of little notes from some of Janie Worth's children this one has a picture of an airplane on it that was going to take me across to Australia and other children writing little notes of love and assurance of their prayers and so the children are the same anywhere when you recognize them show love and concern to them it's amazing how they respond well I'm sorry we don't have time for questions and answers but this was an awful lot to cram in I hope it's given you some new appreciation of interchurch fellowship and how it works and that it does work of the specific

54:22 needs of our brethren there in New Zealand and also there at Stanmore thank you for your careful attention to my rather intense uninterrupted speed through this material let's pray and ask God's blessing our Father we do thank you for your great grace and mercy to us in these recent days we thank you for your blessing upon these labors in New Zealand and Australia for everything we were privileged to see of true and vital religion in these places and we ask that your grace and blessing will continue to rest upon the seed of the word sown and that you by your mighty power will cause your work to flourish in both of those countries bless especially Pastor Bala and Pastor Hogg and those men that labor with them will become centers of light from which will radiate truth to the entire nation oh God in mercy visit both of those countries in their great spiritual need thank you for the part we have been privileged to have by our prayers and our labors receive our thanks as together we seek your face in Jesus name Amen