His Backbone, Part 2

Introduction: The Man of God and the Anatomy of Ministry

0:00 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, October 23rd, 1988, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:15 Recognizing afresh that God the Holy Spirit alone can give us insight into his own written word, that he alone can give the grace of utterance to his servants, let us together plead the promise of our Lord Jesus that if we, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Let us pray together.

0:48 Our Father, in the language of the hymn we have sung, we have sought afresh to respond to the very clear entreaty of your word. Preached in this place two Lord's Days ago, even that of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto you, which is indeed our rational worship. And yet we acknowledge that as we present our minds and our affections to you,

1:32 that apart from the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, our minds will be shrouded in darkness and our affections gripped with dullness and lethargy. And so we cry, O Holy Father, send the Spirit upon your people, send your Spirit upon your servant, that together, being under the impress of his own present Almighty, mighty power, we may be given to know your special nearness in the opening up and application of the Scriptures.

2:17 O Holy Spirit, author of the book, come and be our teacher. Come as the Spirit of illumination. Come as the Spirit of utterance. Come as the Spirit of conviction.

2:33 Come as the Spirit. Come as the Spirit. Come as the Spirit. Come as the Spirit.

2:36 Come as the Spirit who testifies to Jesus. O Holy Spirit, in all the plenitude of your grace and power, come into this place, we pray, and minister to us in this hour. We plead through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

2:58 The term, a man of God, is a scriptural term. It is used in such places. It is used in such places as 1 Kings chapter 17 and verse 24 as a synonym for a true servant of the living God. In that particular passage, 1 Kings 17 and verse 24, in the context of Elijah's interaction with the Shunammite woman, the woman said to Elijah,

3:40 Now I know that you are a man of God. And that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth. When she said, Now I know that you are a man of God, she was saying, I know that you are a true servant of God. A God-sent, God-owned man and minister of his word.

4:10 It is used in a similar way with reference to, the successor to Elijah, namely Elisha, in 2 Kings chapter 4 and verse 9. 2 Kings chapter 4 and verse 9.

4:31 And it fell upon a day that Elisha passed to Shunamm, where was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. And it was so that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive this is a holy man of God that passes by us continually. After intimate social exposure to the man who wore the mantle of a prophet, she confesses her conviction that he had more than the mantle, the bearing and the name of a prophet,

5:14 that he was indeed a man. A man of God, a God-owned, God-sent man and a true minister of the word. And I say those things with reference to the term a man of God because we come this morning to the seventh in this brief series of studies on the subject, the anatomy of a man of God. The anatomy of a God-sent, God-owned man who functions as a minister of the word of God.

5:52 And under the ordinary circumstances of any biblical church, it would be wise from time to time to consider the subject of what constitutes a true man of God. But in the peculiar circumstances of this assembly in the providence of God, it is essential that with greater frequency, and perhaps in greater depth, we come to grips with this matter of what constitutes a man of God. Because in God's providence, God has given us the stewardship as a church of training men in a concentrated way for the work of the Christian ministry

6:36 in conjunction with the Trinity Ministerial Academy, which functions as a vital part of our church life. And so that the students within the Academy have etched in their minds a biblical standard of what they ought to become by the grace of God, and so that we as the people of God, in our prayers and interactions with them, may have a common vision, a common goal, and a common standard, it is vital that from time to time we contemplate under the various categories set forth in the word of God what it means to be a man of God.

Characteristic 1: Clean Hands (Outward Blamelessness and Universal Holiness)

7:21 And so I have chosen the imagery of the spiritual anatomy of a man of God. We have contemplated the head of a man of God, his eyes, his ears, his heart, his mouth, and then last day, Lord's Day, we completed two studies concerning his spine or his backbone. Now today we focus our attention upon the hands of a man of God. Now whether his physical hands are large or small or of medium size, whether his fingers are thick or thin, short or long,

8:06 there are four indispensable characteristics of the hands of a man of God when considered from a biblical and spiritual perspective. And the first and most fundamental is this. They will always be clean hands. They will always be clean hands.

8:33 That is, as the hands are a symbol of the outward life and pattern of conduct, he will be a blamelessly, universally, holy man. Now first of all, let me demonstrate that the scriptures set forth clean hands as a figure of speech to indicate an outwardly blameless and universally holy life. By a figure of speech called a synecdoche, in which a part stands for the whole, there are many portions of scripture in which,

9:16 in a unique way, clean hands are the symbol of an outwardly blameless and universally holy life. I want us to look at several passages in the Old Testament and several in the New that clearly teach this. First of all, Psalm 24. In the 24th Psalm, the question is asked by the psalmist, Psalm 24 and verse 3, Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?

9:55 And who shall stand in his holy place? Who will have the privilege of entering into the place of God's special presence and there to enjoy realized fellowship and communion with the living God? Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?

10:24 The answer given in verse 4 is this, He that hath clean hands, the outward life, and a pure heart, the inward life. And here in this context, clean hands is the symbol of an outwardly blameless and universally holy life. And here in this context, clean hands is the symbol of an outwardly blameless and universally holy life. We find a similar emphasis just two psalms later in the 26th Psalm.

11:01 A psalm in which the psalmist is making a protestation in the presence of God, of his spiritual integrity, and asking in the light of this that God would protect him in the presence of unjust opposition and unrighteous enemies. And he says in verse 5, I hate the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked. I will wash my hands in innocency, so will I compass your altar, O Lord, that I may make the voice

11:43 of thanksgiving to be heard. Here the psalmist again indicates that the cleansing of his hands is the symbol of his life being purified from the stain of moral uncleanness and defilement. We find a similar emphasis in the book of Job. For as you remember, Job was under severe affliction and his so-called friends, who had a very limited theology, were seeking to convince him that only a man who was a hypocrite and living in known sin

12:24 would ever be so treated by God as was Job. And again and again Job protests his own spiritual and moral integrity. But notice the language he uses in which to epitomize that consciousness of integrity. Job 17 and verse 9.

12:50 Perhaps we should back up and pick up the thread of thought at verse 6. He has made me a byword of the people, and they spit in my face. Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow. Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless.

13:15 Yet shall the righteous hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger. And here by Hebrew parallelism, the righteous man who clings to the way of universal holiness is described as the one who has clean hands. Similarly in chapter 31 in verse 7, we find Job protesting again. And he says, If my step has turned out of the way,

13:58 and my heart walked after my eyes, and if any spot has cleaved to my hands, then let me sow and let another eat, yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out. He says, If any of the accusations about me being anything other than a man walking in universal blamelessness and universal holiness be true, he likens that to allowing a spot to cleave to his hands. And so I believe with these four texts from the Old Testament, and I have been selective in choosing them, clearly establishes the case

14:43 that clean hands are a figure to indicate an outwardly blameless and a universally holy life. And that emphasis comes through very clearly in the New Testament as well. Turn please to the book of James. In the book of James and chapter 4, where James is calling hypocritical worshipers to true religion, in which heart and life match the external profession of religion and the external activities of a religious life, he calls to them in language

15:26 reminiscent of the prophets, James 4 and verse 8, Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. As the heart is the symbol of the whole of the inner life, which needs to be cleansed in order to draw near to God, so the cleansing of the hands is the symbol of the purification of all of the outward life, which is essential in drawing near to God.

16:09 And then in perhaps the text that has most application to the man of God, 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 8, I desire therefore that the males or the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands without wrath and disputing. When the men take the lead in the prayers in the public assembly, it is not to be just any men who may have the gift of utterance, who may be able to frame very earnest and flowery prayers, but in the common custom

16:53 of the lifting up of the hands, they were to lift up holy hands. That is, the prayers were to come from a man characterized by an outwardly blameless and a universally holy life. So I believe the case is clear. On these six texts I would rest it that the clean hands are a biblically chosen symbol of the pattern of blamelessness, a life marked by real, though not perfect, and universal as opposed to partial holiness.

Why Clean Hands are Essential for a Man of God

17:35 Now if it is true that such hands are required of all the people of God in general, and they are, there is not one text I have quoted in your presence that has a limited reference to a man of God, a servant of God laboring in the work of the ministry. If clean hands are required of all the people of God, if they would draw near and experience realized communion with God, if they would have credibility in their profession to be the people of God,

18:18 then how much more must a man of God be marked by clean hands? And when you ask why specifically, I answer very simply for three reasons. Number one, because the Word of God explicitly requires it. In 1 Timothy 3 and verse 1, the language of Scripture is simple, straightforward, and plain.

18:52 Faithful is the saying, if a man seeks the office of an overseer, the New Testament counterpart of the Old Testament man of God, the prophet of God, is the overseer, the elder, the bishop, the shepherd of God's sheep. He desires a good work, the bishop, therefore, and we have that little particle of necessity, day. He must be blameless. It does not say that he ought to have some inward aspirations to blamelessness.

19:35 He ought to have made some sizable strides toward blamelessness. The text says he must be blameless. He must have clean hands. He must be characterized by a life of blameless and universal holiness, the details of which are then spelled out in the remainder of the verses down through verse 7.

20:09 And the same thing is set forward at the front end of the requirements for an elder in the parallel passage in Titus chapter 1 and verse 5. For this cause I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that were lacking and appoint elders in every city as I gave you charge, if any man is blameless, verse 7, for the overseer must be blameless as God's steward. It does not say sinless.

20:51 It does not say without fault. But it does say he must be blameless. There must be such maturation of character and present integrity of walk before God and men that he can be justly described as a blameless man, a man of clean hands. But the second reason why a man of God must have clean hands is this, because he is to be a pattern to the believers whom he seeks to lead.

21:31 First Timothy chapter 4 and verse 12, he is to be a pattern to the believers whom he seeks to lead. After Paul has given specific directions to Timothy concerning what he is to preach to others, the duties he is to lay upon others, verse 6 of chapter 4, if you put the brethren in mind of these things, you will be a good minister. But now he says in verse 12, let no man despise your youth, but be an example to them that believe in word, in manner of life, in love,

22:15 in faith, in purity. Timothy, be a man of clean hands. Let there be no known moral stain upon your character. You must so walk as to be a pattern, an example of consistent, universal holiness.

22:41 Titus chapter 2 and verse 8, the similar emphasis comes through to the other apostolic representative who is given the task of implementing the apostolic directives in the isle of Crete. And likewise, many things have been given to Titus that he in turn is to lay upon the consciences of others with respect to patterns of behavior. But now Paul says to him, verse 7 of chapter 2, in all things, in all of the things you would direct others to be, in all things without exception, in every area of moral directive given to the various classes of God's people,

23:26 in all things, showing yourself an example of good works. We have heard it said so often and it's been said so often because it's true. Things that are trite and often labeled as cliches have become trite and cliches because they are so patently true. What you are, what you do speaks so loud.

23:59 I cannot hear a word that you say. And the apostle understood that principle and therefore he laid out as a non-negotiable requirement that the elder must be blameless. Secondly, that he must be a pattern to other believers. But thirdly, because clean hands will have a direct bearing upon the power and the credibility of any man's ministry.

24:33 It will have a direct bearing upon the power and the credibility of any man's ministry. We had occasion to look briefly on Monday night at 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and I would direct your attention back to that passage this morning when Paul speaks of his ministry and that of his companions. He says in verse 4, Knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election, how that our gospel came not unto you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance

25:16 even as you know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you for your sake. And here is this close conjunction between the gospel coming not in word only but also in power and the manner of life of those who conveyed it. And then he can go on to say in chapter 2 that which is not carnal bragging but which is a reflection of this sense of the integrity with which he walked. Chapter 2 and he states in verse 10

25:59 you are witnesses. This was something that could be seen and discerned. You are witnesses and God also. It was not an external holiness that did not answer to the inward dispositions of the heart.

26:17 You are witnesses and God also. How holily and righteously and unblameably we behaved ourselves toward you that believe. Righteously and unblameably. We behaved ourselves toward you that believe.

26:48 Now why does the holiness of the life of the man of God have this direct bearing upon the power and credibility of his ministry? Well that in itself could take a whole message but let me focus at least upon a couple of strands of the answer. You see the man of God traffics in what commodity? He traffics in the revealed truth of God.

27:15 The man of God Elijah did not come in his own name but said as the Lord God liveth and he pronounced the word of the Lord. And New Testament men of God traffic in the word of God. They fulfill the mandate preach the word. Well you see if we traffic in truth and this truth is described in Titus 1.1

27:40 as the truth which is according to godliness what a contradiction to be trafficking in a commodity which is intended to make men holy to use our imagery to make men of clean hands when he who most traffics in it has defiled hands. What quicker way to create skepticism and unbelief concerning the word of God. It's like a man trying to pedal from door to door a magical cream to remove all moles and dark spots upon one's face. And he appears

28:24 on your doorstep to sell his magic cream with his own face filled with brown spots. And all the while he's giving out his sales pitch. You can't hear his sales pitch for the moles and brown spots upon his face. If the truth is according to godliness if it is trumpeted from any other context but that of a man marked by clean hands men cannot with credibility listen to the product peddled because of the spots upon the face to use our imagery

29:09 upon the hand. This truth is intended to make men and women of clean hands for the father seeks a people to worship him in spirit and in truth and it is only through the gospel that we are enabled so to worship him. And so when we traffic in that truth which is according to godliness which is intended to make a new covenant community a kingdom of priest who can enter into the hill of God and stand in his holy place. If those of us who traffic in that truth intended to make a company of such worshippers how can we do it with credibility?

29:53 If we stand before our people with spotted hands with unclean hands. Jesus said sanctify them in the truth thy word is truth. The scriptures tell us that Christ is a savior has come to make a holy people. You see all of the great notes of the gospel point in the direction of making a people holy bringing the people of God to a pattern of unreserved commitment to universal holiness.

30:29 That is a determination that in every facet of life they will welcome the light of God's truth and the influence of God's spirit and the grace of his son that they may be more and more made into the image of the Lord Jesus. Well if the man of God who's trafficking in the very truth of God which is intended to accomplish that specific end delineated by God if he's not a man of clean hands no wonder the power and the credibility of his ministry and of the truth of God itself is undermined. You see

31:13 that's why there's no shortcut to the malaise in the present of the evangelical church. No amount of seminars on how to and conferences on how to will answer the day until our pulpits are full of men who by the grace of God stand before their people with clean hands marked by universal holiness and blameless godliness. There will be no real influence of the truth upon the rank and file of God's people. And I say to you men in the academy

31:58 if you would fit the anatomy of a man of God then you must you must determine at any cost to maintain clean hands and a pure heart. That means you must constantly with Paul seek to maintain a conscience void of offense to God and man. You must have constant dealings with the Lord Jesus about your own sins. You must have constant dealings with the Lord Jesus that you may know His grace to overcome those patterns that would render you less than blameless.

32:40 You must be willing as we saw when we considered the year of the man of God to hear the reproof of God and the rebukes and the instructions of others who can see your sin more clearly than you can. There must be something more important to you than the preservation of your own image of yourself. It is the image of permanence to have. Even if it means God must use all of your brethren's chisels in order to whack away at those elements in you that are unlike that image of the Son of God.

Characteristic 2: Diligent Hands (Labor and Hard Work)

33:18 But not only will the hands of the man of God be clean hands, secondly, they will also be diligent hands. They will also be diligent hands, that is, as the hands are the symbol of the instruments of labor and hard work. Now let me again establish from the Scripture that the hands are set forth in the Scriptures as the symbol or the instrument of labor. Ephesians chapter 4 Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 28

34:02 Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing that is good. Now is God saying that the only kind of labor that he recognizes as legitimate is manual labor? No. He certainly has forever sanctified it and we need to get converted from this stupid notion that a man who works with his hands is a little less dignified than the man who works with his head alone.

34:41 You see, the man who works with his hands also works with his head. His whole man is dedicated in his labor to God. So if anything is more noble, it is manual labor. God had two sons, one by creation and one by artisans.

34:56 He made one a gardener and the other one a carpenter. So let's get rid of this stupid notion that unless our men go off to college and become part of a think tank on Wall Street, there's something less than dignity in what they do. It's not biblical. That's just a little aside.

35:15 It just exploded out. But you see, as surely as manual labor is dignified by the text, God is not saying that only manual labor has dignity. It is a means of fulfilling the stewardship of labor. But you see, it again is the part for the whole.

35:39 You see, the working with the hands becomes the symbol of diligence in the pursuit of one's calling. And we find a similar emphasis in the book of Proverbs, chapter 10 and verse 4. Proverbs, chapter 10 and verse 4. He becomes poor that works with a slack hand.

36:05 Laziness in work is described as a slack hand. There's the hand hanging loose. It isn't taking hold of a tool. It isn't driving the tool to its work.

36:17 It isn't holding the plow with firmness. It's a slack hand. It's a limp hand. It's an uncommitted hand.

36:23 It's the hand of a sluggard. He says he becomes poor that works with a slack hand. But the hand of the diligent makes rich. Well, we could look at many other passages, Proverbs 22, 29, 1 Thessalonians 4, 9 and 12, but I think this is more evident and I'll not take more text to establish it.

The Arduous Nature of Ministerial Labor

36:44 Now, having demonstrated that the hands are set forth as the symbol or instrument of labor, why do I say that the mark of this part of the anatomy of a man of God, his hands will not only be clean hands but diligent hands? Well, there's a simple reason that the hands of a true man of God can never be soft, smooth and tender through preservation from arduous labor. Rather, the hands of his mind and his spirit will be calloused, gnarled and made strong through constant, incessant labor. Notice how God

37:28 describes the work of a man of God. Set apart to labor in the word and in teaching. What we would say an elder, set apart from an ordinary means of employment to give himself to prayer and preaching and shepherding and teaching the people of God. Notice how God describes it in 1st Thessalonians, 1st Timothy 5 and verse 17.

37:55 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and teaching. And the word here, kopiao is the word that Luke uses to describe what those fishermen did all through the long lonely hours of the night when they were casting out their nets and pulling them in and casting them out and pulling them in. We have labored all night and have taken nothing. Luke 5

38:40 and verse 5. The work of one set apart to give himself to study and prayer and preparation and ministry to the people of God publicly and privately. It's described as a labor, a kopiao, a labor unto toil and unto pain. And it's described exactly the same way in a parallel passage in 1 Thessalonians 5, 12.

39:10 Know them that are over you in the Lord and labor among you. How were they to identify their spiritual leaders? Not because they had a turned collar or they had a title reverend or pastor or something else, but because they had in their hands the marks of arduous labor. They labored among them.

39:37 Paul, in describing his own apostolic ministry in Colossians 1, describes it in these vigorous terms as well. We have our word, kopiao, again in Colossians chapter 1, speaking of the marvelous privilege of preaching Christ. He says in verse 28, whom we proclaim, admonishing every man, teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ, whereunto I labor. There's our word, kopiao, and then

40:22 he uses another intensified word. We get our English word from it, agony, agonizing. You say, that works in me mightily. But now, follow.

40:39 No amount of the fullness of the Holy Spirit in a man, no amount of the Spirit's energy working through a man, negates the conscious engagement of all of his faculties in that which can be called kopiao and agonizomai, labor and agony. The Holy Spirit is the work of the servant of Christ in 2 Timothy 2.15. Our old King James Version study, very weak

41:23 translation, spoudazo, do thine utmost, 2 Timothy 2.15, to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, that is, of shame when he stands before his people to open the Word, shame that he's handling the Word of God carelessly because of laziness, handling the Word of God selectively because of the fear of men's faces, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, cutting a straight course

42:07 in the mind with the word travail in 1 Thessalonians 2.9. It's often translated in the New Testament, give diligence. And so the cumulative evidence is clear that the hands of a man of God will not only be clean hands as they symbolize blameless universal holiness, they will be the symbol of labor and of hard work.

The Necessity of Manual Labor for Ministers

42:43 And now follow me closely. If necessary, they will literally engage in hard manual work if such is necessary to validate the motives for which one is preaching or not to burden those to whom one preaches. So the great apostle of the gospel and says in so doing he set an example for the Ephesian elders in the 20th chapter of the book of the Acts. Listen to his words.

43:22 He stands in this last meeting with the leaders of the church and this is what he says to them. Acts 20 and verse 33. I coveted no man silver or apparel. You yourselves know and I love to picture that scene.

43:45 You think Paul could have had his hands stuffed in his pockets or in the folds of his robe when he said these hands? It's unthinkable. No doubt when he said you yourselves know that these hands he stretched out hands that had calluses from pulling together the parts of the tents as he plied his tent makers trade. You yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities and look and to them that were with me in all things I gave you an

44:30 example that so laboring you ought to help the weak and to be more blessed to give than to receive. I say to you men facing church planting ministries I believe almost invariably God makes it necessary for a period of time that you should labor with your hands to validate you're not in it for what you get out of it. And when you've paid your dues and demonstrated public utterances week after week though you've had to punch

45:14 your time clock and you're prepared to spend your evening hours shepherding the flock in faithful one-to-one dealings and yet the people know that it must be leisure time and spare time that's being spent to shepherd them but by an end you've got to put it on the table and by the table you've got to put the

45:59 table down like you would when you're on the table and you got to Don't you get the notion? I've spent four years. I busted my hump to get Greek and Hebrew and sit through those theology classes the church owes me a living. The church doesn't owe you nothing.

46:33 You go out into the ministry with that notion. May God have mercy and cut you off at the legs so that you never, never assume that sacred office. Paul said we seek not yours, not what we get from you. But we seek you.

46:51 And if to get you, I must work with my hands. I'm prepared to work with my hands and even support my fellow workers that I might get you. Get you with the gospel. Get you with the truth.

Warning Against Ministerial Laziness

47:05 And get to your conscience with the conviction that I'm no traveling religious charlatan flying into town to go out with my bag of money. These hands, these hands have labored. The hands of a man of God are diligent hands. If refusal to work at a legitimate calling is disorderly conduct worthy of formal discipline, and it is, 2 Thessalonians 3, 6 to 15.

47:39 Follow me now. If refusal to work at a legitimate calling is disorderly conduct, not inability, but refusal. If any man will not work, let him not eat. Paul says, mark such a man.

47:52 I command you in the name of the Lord. Jesus, withdraw yourself from him. This is a disorderly person. If refusal to work at a legitimate calling is disorderly conduct worthy of formal discipline, what, what of the professional cleric who has time to pursue all his hobbies, all his sports, spends his days on the golf links, and then subscribes to 52 sermon outlines a year for $24.95,

48:22 and in an hour Sunday morning brushes over... Whoever someone else's outline and preaches that in the name of laboring in the word and in doctrine, what do you think God would prescribe for a character like that?

48:37 Churches are full of them.

48:41 Full of them. Men with a measure of the gift of gab, smooth talkers, backstrokers, who know how to keep everyone happy, but they know nothing of a life of copy all. Nothing of a life of agonizumai. Know nothing of what it is when a hungry sheep bleats.

49:02 And the only place to get to that bleating sheep is in the hours allocated for preparation. And you know if you respond to that bleating sheep, the only hours left are the hours that were going to be given to sleep. Paul said, I prove my ministerial credentials by watchings often.

49:22 Now, I'm not talking about an irresponsible self-immolation that sends a man to his grave before he's 30. But I am saying, if you don't have hands that are diligent hands, ready to spend and be spent into the ministry,

49:42 because you do not have the spirit of your Lord who said, I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give my life.

49:52 They will be diligent hands. In the language of Horatius, bone or gold, labor on, spend and be spent.

50:02 Thy joy to do thy master's will. It is a way the master went, should not the servant. Treaded still.

Characteristic 3: Open Hands (Benevolence and Care for the Needy)

50:14 But then I hasten to touch on one other aspect. I'll pass over the matter of his open hands. And there I was going to address the open hand as the symbol of benevolence and care of the needy.

50:29 I only give you the text in Deuteronomy 15, 11. In Proverbs 30, 20 and Psalm 112, 9. There you have the concept of the stretching out of the hand as the symbol. Of the response of the heart to the needy and material matters.

50:47 And you find the same emphasis in the Acts 20, 33 to 35 passage that I mentioned. But I do want to come to this fourth. I feel it's crucial. The other is so evident that I trust just stating it will underscore it.

Characteristic 4: Touching Hands (Attachment, Empathy, Accessibility)

51:04 But the hands of a man of God will not only be clean hands. They will not only be diligent hands and open hands. But here. Listen to me closely now.

51:14 They will always be touching hands. That is as the touching hand is the symbol of real attachment to. Empathy with. And accessibility by.

51:31 Those to whom you minister.

51:34 I say the hands of a man of God will be touching hands. As the touching hand is the symbol of real attachment. Empathy with. And accessibility unto those to whom we minister.

Biblical Validation of Touching Hands: Elisha and Jesus

51:55 Now let's look in the word of God to validate that imagery of the touching hand. One Old Testament illustration quickly. Second Kings chapter 4. Second Kings chapter 4.

52:08 Remember the incident.

52:12 The heartbroken woman who experienced the pangs of childlessness. For years has been given a child.

52:20 And then that child dies. And the woman comes distressed and falls down at the feet of the man of God. He was accessible to her. And now we read in Second Kings 4.32.

52:34 And when Elisha was coming to the house. Behold the child was dead and he laid upon his bed. He went in therefore and shut the door upon the two of them and prayed unto the Lord. And he went.

52:48 And he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth. And his eyes upon his eyes. And his hands upon his hands. And he stretched himself upon him.

53:02 And the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned and walked in the house once to and fro. And went up and stretched himself upon him. And the child sneezed.

53:18 Seven times. And the child opened his eyes. Now there is much that is mysterious in this instance. But one thing is clear.

53:28 The man of God who had cried to the only God who could raise the dead. And that he did first. Now as it were sacramentally spreads his own redeemed humanity. Over the death of that little boy.

53:45 And he puts eye to death. To dead eyes. Living eyes to dead eyes. Living mouth to dead mouth.

53:54 Living hands to dead hands. And in the spreading of his whole person over the death of that child. God is pleased to answer prayer and do what only God can do. But he does it in a way in which it is evident that the man of God.

54:14 Empathized. Identified with. Entered into his life. Into the closest personal interaction with that dead child that was possible.

54:27 And I believe that is but a foreshadowing of what we read throughout the ministry of our Lord. I focus only upon one passage in the New Testament. Mark chapter 1. Mark chapter 1.

54:42 And in this first chapter of Mark we have the record of our Lord healing Peter's mother-in-law. Verse 30. And Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever. And straightway they tell him of her.

54:58 And he came and took her by the hand. The parallel passage in Matthew 8 says he touched her. Took her by the hand. And raised her up.

55:10 Now get the picture. He heals this one individual. In this intimate contact with her. Takes her by the hand.

55:18 He could have spoken the word. But he identifies himself in his person with Peter's mother-in-law in her need. And then in verses 32 to 34. Word gets around that the mighty prophet and healer is in town.

55:36 And they bring him the sick and the demon possessed. And it says verse 33 that the whole city was gathered at the door. And he heals until long after the sun sets. And with a very short night of sleep that he might be alone with his father.

55:54 Verse 35 says in the morning a great while before day he rose up. Departed into a desert place and there prayed. Is he drawing away from people? Is the press of people drawing him into himself?

56:07 Is he getting weary with the cost of virtue going out of him? It would appear that way especially when they find him. That is his disciples. And they say verse 37.

56:18 All are seeking you. And Jesus said no. Let us go elsewhere to the next towns that I may preach there also. For to this end came I forth.

56:27 And he went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee. Preaching and casting out demons. His ministry is at its pinnacle of popularity in Galilee. Does this insulate him from people?

56:40 And make him only preach to the crowds? No. From the touch of Peter's mother-in-law. Notice verse 40.

56:47 And there comes to him a leper. He was still accessible to a poor outcast leper. And kneeling down to him and saying if you will you can make me clean. And being moved with compassion.

57:02 He did something no decent Jew would do. He stretched forth his hand. And he touched. He touched.

57:11 What is the great principle? And you can trace it all the way through our Lord's ministry. Whether it is mothers coming to him with their little ones. He doesn't just lift up his hands in blessing.

57:22 It says he takes them up in his arms. And he blesses them. What is the great principle? The principle is this.

57:32 The son of God with all the demands upon him. Always made it evident. He empathized with men in their need. And he was utterly accessible unto men.

57:46 Unto men in their need. The leper came to him. And the leper got to him. And he touched the leper.

57:59 And that's why the scripture says that multitudes pressed upon him. In Matthew 14, 34 and 5. If they might but touch the hem of his garment. They knew that virtue was found in conjunction with his person.

58:14 And in his universal accessibility. If they could but touch him. They would find the virtue of that person coming to them. The last record I know of the Lord touching anyone is moving.

58:28 It's Revelation 1, 17. When John has been shattered by that revelation of the exalted Christ. The same Christ on whose bosom he leaned in the days of his humiliation. Now when he sees him in his exaltation.

58:42 He says I fell at his feet as one dead. And the scripture says. He took his right hand. And laid it upon me and said.

58:53 Fear not. He laid his hand upon me. You see the mark of a man of God is that to some little extent. Albeit at times minuscule.

59:05 He has absorbed the spirit of the prophet Elijah. And the spirit of the greater than Elijah who is come. Even the Lord Jesus Christ. And they will be touching hands.

The Cost and Necessity of Touching Hands in Ministry

59:20 Hands that signify by their touch. That I not merely like to preach to people. But I love the people to whom I preach. There's lots of men who love to preach to people.

59:36 But because they are distant and detached. The people do not know if they love the people to whom they preach. What's more personal. Than another person's touch.

59:52 We use the language all the time don't we? I wouldn't touch him or that. With a ten foot pole. What are we saying?

59:59 I wouldn't get close enough to even have an extension of my hand touch it. Why? Because to touch it is to identify with it. When we want to show abhorrence.

60:06 I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. What are we saying? I'm detached from it. Woe me unto the preacher.

60:13 Who never gets closer than ten feet to his people. Who don't feel. His hand upon the shore. His hand upon the shoulder.

60:21 His cheek to theirs. His arms embracing. His hands touching. Legitimately holding.

60:30 Caressing the little ones. God have mercy. On a man who thinks. That to be a man of God is to stand and preach marvelous expository sermons.

60:44 And then run off. Into his place of retreat. Where nobody can get to him. But it's costly.

60:53 Yes it is costly. There are times I've thought of it this way. And I hope you don't think me crude in the imagery. What must it be like for a woman who has quintuplets.

61:03 And she's only got two breasts. And they're all hungry at the same time. Now I've never been around that situation. But I tell you it must be frustrating.

61:13 And a man who touches. Whose ministry whatever the measure of his public gifts may be. Is a ministry born out of love to people. A people with whom he's determined to empathize.

61:28 And before whom he's determined to remain vulnerable and accessible. There are times when he'll feel like he's got quintuplets. And only two breasts to feed them. Pastor can I have a moment.

61:41 Pastor can I have a moment. Pastor just a little problem. Pastor just a little problem. Until inwardly you say Lord.

61:48 If I hear the word pastor one more time. I'm going to cry out. I reject. I throw off my office.

61:55 Sure it becomes wearisome. But what's the only alternative. What's the only alternative. It made the incarnate God.

62:09 He fell into such a deep sleep. That when the ship is capsizing. He's snoring in the stern. And they have to shake him to wake him up.

62:21 And say carest thou not that we perish. Now if the incarnate God knew what it was. To be a touching man of God. To the point that his empathy with people.

62:32 And accessibility to people. Brought him to bone weariness. Who are we to think we are exempt from the same. My friends.

62:43 My Bible says it's only over there. That we rest from our copy on. From our labors. Our copy on.

62:54 Not here. It's there. Pastor you look tired. Well I am.

62:59 But it's a blessed time. But it's a blessed tired. It's a blessed weary. Not tired because I've been bending my elbow at bars.

63:10 And stumbling and drunk at three in the morning. What a blessed weariness. In the midst of which an invigoration comes. That makes us an amazement to ourselves.

63:22 So we say with our Lord. We have meat to eat that you know not of. You ready for that men. For the vulnerability of people's needs.

63:33 And the vulnerability of accessibility. Empathizing. Then you're going to be a touching man. Now I know there are different personalities.

63:43 Not everyone wants you to be too touchy. I know that. I've got almost every one of you programmed in. The levels at which you feel comfortable with the touches.

63:53 That's why some of you get a full bear hug. Others of you just get a squeeze on the elbow. You're all programmed in. We know exactly where you feel comfortable.

64:02 But you know what happens when some of you try to sneak behind me. Don't you? You say. Why isn't the back of his head.

64:09 He's all engrossed in a conversation. Next thing I know he's reached out and grabbed me and says. Where are you going and why. Because you're in my heart dear people.

64:17 You're my life. You're what I've lived and labored for for 26 years. This is not my job. Now some of you don't believe that yet.

64:30 But that's the truth. Paul says you are in our hearts. Stay together. Say pastor you go on preaching this way.

64:40 You're getting four or five more years. You're going to be 60. You might have a heart attack. Blessed way to go.

64:46 I've got a secret wish that I'll die preaching. But I wouldn't want to die preaching. If all that was said at my funeral was. Other man sure could preach.

65:02 It's a shame he didn't have a heart for people. God have mercy. God have mercy. The hands of a man of God.

Conclusion: The Man of God's Hands Mirror God's Evangelistic Hands

65:17 Will be clean hands. Gnarled diligent calloused hands. They'll be opened. Benevolent.

65:27 Sharing hands. They'll be touching. Loving. Empathetic.

65:34 Hands attached. To an accessible man. And in closing I want to say. To you who are strangers to grace.

65:46 There's another characteristic. It's in my notes. This is not an afterthought. You know what the hands of a man of God are to you.

65:53 They are like God's hands. God says in Isaiah repeated in Romans 10. And all the day long. Have I stretched out my hands.

66:03 To a disobedient and gainsame people. The hands of a man of God. Will mirror the hands of God himself. They will be stretched out.

66:14 Imploring. Pleading. Entreating. Warning.

66:18 Admonishing. Flee to Christ. Flee to Christ. Don't remain in your sin.

66:25 Christ is accessible. To the neediest of sinners. In all the plenitude of his grace. And saving power.

66:33 In all the virtue of his perfect life. His death for sinners. His resurrection from the grave. His ascension to the right hand of God.

66:42 A savior. Pursuited to every sinner. In every detail. And we stretch out our hands.

66:51 And we say run to Christ. Go to Christ. Get to Christ. Flee to Christ.

66:57 The hands of a man of God. Will not be pointed this way. Saying look at me. They won't be reaching in your pocket.

67:05 Saying give to me. They'll be stretched out. Saying run to Christ. And run to him now.

67:14 Let us pray. Oh God our heavenly father. You who made the worlds out of nothing. By the word of your mouth.

67:32 Will you not come by mighty power. And create men of God in our generation. Men with hands that are clean. Diligent open.

67:46 And touching. Lord you alone can work those graces in our hearts. That will fashion our hands. Into the hands of a man of God.

67:58 And even this day we pray. That your hands stretched out in the gospel. Will be effective. Will be effectual in bringing some.

68:10 To flee to your dear son. Seal your word to our hearts. And receive our thanks for your gracious presence with us. May we be enabled by that same grace.

68:23 To sanctify and hallow the remainder of this day. To our prophet. And to your praise. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

68:34 Amen.