TMA Recognition Service (1983)

Introduction: Christ's Gifts to the Church and the Solemn Joy of Ministry Recognition

0:00 Now, would you please turn with me in the Bible to the book of Ephesians and chapter 4.

0:10 The book of Ephesians, chapter 4.

0:30 And I shall begin to read in verse 7 of Ephesians chapter 4.

0:39 But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now this he ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things.

1:13 And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministry unto the building up of the body of Christ till we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a full-grown man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that we may be no longer children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men

2:02 in craftiness after the wiles of error but speaking truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head, even Christ from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in due measure of each several part, makes the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.

2:39 Now one thing that is stated in the passage, it is clear, it is on the very surface of the passage, and that is if a man is a true pastor, that man has not been made a true pastor by men and he has not thrust himself into that office, but he has been given to the church by Jesus Christ himself. And what we are saying tonight is that we believe that we have grounds to say that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the process of giving these four men

3:28 to be gifts to his church. We do not say that lightly. That to us is a very serious, it is a very solemn thing and yet it is also a very joyous thing. It is solemn because no man dare take that office upon himself except Christ be giving him as a gift to his church.

3:59 It is a solemn thing because we do not dare to lay hands upon men whom Christ has not given to his church because the stakes are too high. Notice what's at stake. The text makes it very clear that the reason for pastors and teachers is for the building up of the saints that they may minister to one another, to the building up of the body of Christ. Verse 14, that we may be no longer children tossed to and fro and carried around with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men in craftiness after the wiles of error.

4:40 There are false teachings. There are errors which are around on every hand. And one of the primary means which God has ordained to protect his people from error and the awful fruits of error is the raising up of pastors and teachers whom he gives as gifts to his church. The stakes are high.

5:06 and the Lord Jesus Christ's honor is at stake. The welfare of the church is at stake. And yet it is also, though it is a very solemn thing to do, yet it is also a joyous thing. Because in the giving of gifts to his church, we recognize the kindness, the compassion, the graciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ that he cares for his people and he knows their needs and he supplies to them in accordance with their needs.

The Nature of Ministerial Preparation and Recognition

5:48 Now tonight we are not laying hands upon these four men to ordain them to the gospel ministry. We ought to make that clear because there are various degrees of preparation for the ministry. when the Lord makes a minister and when the Lord Jesus Christ gives a gift unto his church, first the Lord deals with the man. The Lord molds the man.

6:19 And then the Lord also furnishes that man with the academic tools that he needs to do the work to which Christ has called him. And the academy is only part, only part of preparation for the ministry. No one can put a letter in someone's hand or a diploma or whatever you want to say and by virtue of having a diploma or a letter thereby make someone a minister or prepare him for the ministry. There's a lot more to it than that.

6:54 The academy is only part. It's the formalized part of the training of men for the ministry. The emphasis is upon the academics and the attainment of those tools. That's why we call it the academy.

7:08 And yet it's not only with the academics. We're also seeking to see the man molded into being that kind of man which Christ would give as a pastor teacher to his church. and so these men in our estimation are at various degrees and stages of that preparation for the ministry it doesn't mean that every one of them is going to be recommended to go out tomorrow and seek to become the pastor of a church it doesn't mean that but what it means as it means is that these men have completed a very vital a very important part of that training and preparation for the gospel ministry.

7:55 And in the light of that, we would like to recognize their attainments. We would like to give each one of them at this time a letter on behalf of the entire eldership which expresses the desire of our hearts toward them and for them that they would be enabled as they continue toward that time when Christ will set them apart as a gift to a particular congregation of God's people, that they would continue to walk in the way of holiness and godliness and blamelessness, knowing that this night is not the end of the road and the end of the struggle and the end of the trial and the end of the temptations. This is not the end, brethren.

Testimony of Paul Gordon: Three Years at TMA

8:43 It is, in a very real sense, just the beginning. so now we would like to one at a time ask them to come in alphabetical order and as they receive their letters then we also are going to give them an opportunity to speak to you the people of God and to express what's on their hearts as they reflect upon their time in the academy so first we get these here first Mr. Paul Gordon I've been told that I have five minutes tonight to convey something of what three years of my life has meant to me as I've been studying at the academy. It's not an easy task to distill in five minutes

9:31 the sum of three years, but as part of our training in pastoral theology, we are told that it's important to stay within the time frame. It's allotted to us, so I'm going to try to stick to five minutes to embody that teaching as well as I'm the first to speak to set an example to my brethren.

9:52 In the light of my need to be brief tonight, I'd like to say three things. First of all, I'd like to give you something of a brief overview of my three years at TMA, Trinity Ministerial Academy. I'd like to give a brief expression of my indebtedness to others in the light of my three years of study. And I'd like to give a brief statement of my future plans.

10:12 So you see that I'm very conscious tonight of the need to be brief. First of all, a brief statement of the past three years. In thinking about what the past three years have meant to me, the statement of Dickens in commenting upon the French Revolution when he called it the best of times and the worst of times pretty much sums up much of how I view my three years of the Academy because indeed it has been, in my Christian life, the best of times. It's been the best of times in the light of the wonderful privilege I've had to fellowship with these brethren, to study together with them, to be under the tutelage of able and godly men who have served as an example to me, an example of academic excellence and scholarship,

10:59 an example of grace and love and kindness to the people who have been under their tutelage. There have been times of great fellowship in our prayers together as a people and experiencing the Lord coming near to us in the lecture halls. So it's been a joyous experience, a wonderful privilege to study these three years at the Academy. But in many ways, it's also been something of the worst of times in that it's made many demands, caused many sacrifices that my family has had to experience.

11:32 My wife has had to leave the home where our heart is to go into New York and work there to help support us. And so these years have been brought much pressure upon us. Pressures in the domestic realm. Pressures of seeking to handle all the responsibilities of being a student, a worker of a part-time job, as well as a husband and a father, a housekeeper, and a dozen other responsibilities that have been laid upon me.

12:00 And so though I come to the end of my time in the academy with great sadness, that I'm no longer going to be in that wonderful framework of study and of fellowship and where God has so blessed me, yet also I'm very glad that I'm going to have my wife return home, going to have something of domestic normalcy, Lord willing, and we're going to strive for it anyway, have something of the pressures of the academic load to be taken off of my shoulders. So I'm grateful to God for the blessings. I'm grateful to God, even for the difficulties, because in the midst of the pressure, in the midst of the crucible of difficulties, God has shown himself more than adequate to meet our needs. And then secondly, I'd like to say something about a brief expression of my indebtedness to others.

12:43 This is a recognition service tonight to recognize the men who have finished their course of study at the academy. But I'm deeply aware that I would not stand here were it not for others. and so I would like to say a word of recognition to others. First of all, a word of recognition to the instructors in the academy, as I mentioned for their example, for their labors, for their love, for their wisdom, for their guidance.

13:08 I know I would have bailed out long ago and many a time if it were not for the help and the support given to me by the elders and by the instructors in the academy. I'm grateful to God for them. And secondly, the members of Trinity Baptist Church, for your loving support of this ministry and your giving, in your prayers, and the expressions of encouragement that so many have given to the students as we have felt the load of labors upon us to have you tell us that we're in your minds and in your hearts and that you're praying for us. It's been a great deal of help and support to us.

13:43 Then thirdly, I'd like to say something of my indebtedness to the members of Englewood Baptist Temple, my home church, for it was not for their proddings and their encouragements of me. I would never have come to the academy. It was their feeling that God was equipping me to preach his word that gave me the motivation to come, and if it wasn't for their proddings and if it wasn't for their continued support, I would not be standing here tonight. But most importantly, I'd like to recognize my wife and my family.

14:15 For this letter really should bear their names as well as my own, because I bless God that he's given me a wife who has been not only through 10 years, nearly 10 years, a support to me and encouragement to me, my best friend in the world, but also that in this time of my study, she's been the breadwinner. She's been my typist. She's been a dozen other things to me, and I just bless God for her. And I'm fully convinced that if God ever gives me any usefulness in the labors of the ministry, in no small measure, it's going to be the input of a godly wife upon my life that will bring it to pass.

14:52 So God has used you all, my teachers, my fellow church members, my family. Without you, I would have given up long ago, and I wouldn't be standing before you tonight. But then in the third place, I'd like to give a brief statement of my future plans. First of all, my immediate plans.

15:09 In light of my situation, the immediate plans is a return to domestic normalcy, to have my wife back in the home, to become a normal family again. And I look forward to that with great joy. I'll be looking for gainful employment. I would ask your prayers for me in that, especially in the light of the fact that we're expecting an addition to our family come November.

15:31 And then secondly, my immediate plans is to pursue usefulness among God's people. I've had the privilege of leading the Friday night singles Bible study. I'll have the privilege this summer of leading the high school students in the study of church history. I would ask your prayers for these immediate plans and goals.

15:48 but then the long range plans and that's simply to serve the Lord in the work of the pastorate. I've been a Christian for 12 years and I never could say those words with confidence that I believe God has called me to preach His word and to minister to His people. But after my three years in the academy it's been confirmed to my own heart that God has given me gifts to understand His word. He's given me gifts to communicate His word and I long for the privilege of serving a people of God and using my gifts for the advancement of this kingdom for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

16:21 Thank you.

Testimony of Jim Renehan: What I Have Received

16:26 And now Mr. Jim Renehan.

16:33 I suppose that in many ways the things that we all will say will be echoes of what our brother Paul has already said. as I thought about what I'd like to remark on this evening the statement of Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 stuck out in my mind Paul asked the Corinthians what do you have that you have not received it's a rhetorical question aimed at making them consider the source of all that they have and I thought about that what have I received what are the things that have been given to me and I asked myself this question tonight with reference to the Academy. What have I received? There are several things.

17:15 In the first place, I've received a first-rate theological education, an education that would not be any better any other place in the world. I'm firmly convinced of that. I've been given all the tools that anyone would receive at the best of seminaries. In the second place, I've been given first-hand exposure to godly examples in oversight and in preaching.

17:39 we have seen with our eyes and we have heard with our ears men who embody the principles that they teach us and they live out before us day after day the things that they tell us and we're able to see and learn from their examples. I've also received first-hand exposure to a church committed to obeying God's word. You people of Trinity Baptist Church have a large part in the practical education of the men in the academy. The time that we spend amongst you in your homes, with you before and after the services, on the telephone, is no small part in the things that we learn as we see your commitment to biblical principles and your commitment to submission to the elders and to follow out the things that they would want to carry out.

18:26 You have been a great example to us. And I thank God for you. This is a real example of a functioning biblical church and something of the goal that we will want to aim at when the Lord puts us into the ministry. And I've also received many dear friends who have been a great encouragement to me and to my family.

18:47 Three years ago, I didn't know, well, I probably knew one family out of all of you. And now I know many of you and I love you very dearly. You're my dear friends. I thank you for the encouragement, for the gifts that you've given to us, for being in your homes, for sharing meals with us, for sharing Christian fellowship together.

19:09 You have been a special means of grace from the Lord to us. But of course, who is the source of all these gifts? Well, it's our blessed, glorified Lord Jesus Christ who pours forth his love upon the church. And in the first place, I give thanks to him for what he's done.

19:27 I want to say some thank yous because thank yous are in order here. First off, of course, we acknowledge our great debt to God for his infinite grace in calling us to salvation. But I want to give him thanks for his sustaining grace in helping me through three years in the academy. My wife would testify that until this year there wasn't a semester where I thought I would have to drop out for one reason or another.

19:51 But the Lord sustained us through every trial and every tribulation and brought us through to this day that many times I never thought I'd see. But here it is. To thank God, I'd like to express my thank yous to the elders and the deacons of Trinity Baptist Church for having the vision to establish a school like Trinity Ministerial Academy. And not only to have the vision, but the commitment to biblical principle to carry that vision out and to bring it to reality and to allow men to come here and study.

20:21 Thank you. Thank you for what you have done. And then again, a thank you to the people of Trinity Baptist Church for your commitment to following the elders by actively supporting the academy, by taking us into your hearts and into your homes by giving us all kinds of things that have helped us by praying for us by showing us hospitality by making us your friends. Then I also would like to say a word of thanks also to my family to my friends and to my home church for they have been with us every step of the way.

20:55 They've given us support and encouragement during every trying period and we could always turn to them for help and it was always there.

21:05 Now with regards to the future, our immediate plans are to return to Worcester. The Lord has providentially worked out circumstances such that we were just about forced to immediately return back to Worcester. In fact, there's a big yellow truck sitting in my driveway waiting to be packed tomorrow morning and probably by this time tomorrow night we'll be in Worcester. and we will be going back to our home church and reuniting with them and seeking the Lord's will in ministry there.

21:37 So, not only do I say something about the future there, but I want to say some goodbyes too. Thank you and goodbye. You will be in our hearts. You will be in our prayers We love you You are very dear to us My deepest thanks go out to you to the elders the deacons and the people of Trinity Baptist Church for all that you done for us So thank you Goodbye

Testimony of John Roberts: Thanks to God and Men

22:07 Now, Mr. John Roberts. I'm in a bit of a unique position tonight as being the only one of the four students who was able to cram three years into four.

22:30 I'd like to go back a bit beyond those four years. the apostle Paul when writing to the Romans in chapter 1 and verse 21 in the context of describing the unbelief foolishness and ungodliness of men said of the many accusations that he had against them that neither gave they thanks and so I believe it is very fitting tonight for us to give thanks first to God and then to men I want to thank God in the first place for saving a drug-abusing, rebellious, wayward young man who was arrested by the grace of God at age 19 arrested in a path which might very well have led

23:18 to my own physical as well as spiritual destruction I want to thank God for leading me in his providence to Trinity Baptist Church the church where I was soon to find my first real friends. A church where I observed true worship, sound preaching, and brethren who cared more than just to give a quick hello or a quick handshake on Sunday mornings. Friends and brethren who prayed for us while we were in the academy, others who would babysit and refuse to take money, still others who would type papers for me and be insulted at the offer of reimbursement. Some on other occasions who would offer and take our children for three-day weekends and say,

24:05 take your wife and get out of here. You need a break.

24:09 Many of these supportive blessings we have sensed during our time here. I can't really begin to list the many areas of support and encouragement shown to us while we've been here, both in the church and in the academy. And for all of these things, I thank God and you as my brethren. I want to thank God also for my elders and the academy faculty who were far more than elders or professors to me.

24:39 They were on occasion an older brother, at other times a concerned friend, and occasionally they were as a father to me who came with appropriate measures of rebuke or encouragement according to my need. For this I thank God. I want to thank God also for the people of Trinity Baptist Church many a lecture has been reinforced because of the things that we heard we could reflect upon what we have seen in this very room and the lives that are represented by those who sit in this very room many things could not have been said were not this true and so we thank you people the people of Trinity Baptist Church for in a real part giving our faculty members

25:26 the real power and unction that lie behind what they would say. Because we knew it was true. We saw it with our own eyes.

25:38 But the fifth commandment says, Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon this land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. And I want to thank Carol's parents tonight especially for raising a daughter who has proven to be a good companion and support to me all of my days in the academy as well as throughout my marriage. She has been truly a help answering to my needs. So thank you.

26:05 I want to thank my own mother and father who are with me tonight, who, in spite of my rebellion as a young boy, left me with many fine and noble examples in life, which examples prove later in life to find me well prepared for many responsibilities as a husband, as a father, and as a citizen.

26:26 But last of all, I would like to thank my wife. There she is.

26:32 Who has endured probably the most unglamorous aspect of this entire enterprise.

26:41 Cleaner, cook, mother, father in my absence, disciplinarian, organizer, doctor, nurse, PTA secretary, typist taxi service, part-time breadwinner and many other things too long to list on top of all these pressures she was married to a weekend husband who spent half of that weekend studying my wife is the one who really should be standing up here tonight but because I believe she is a godly woman she is fulfilled in seeing me stand here tonight. Thank you, Carol. Now, many have asked about our future plans. We have no immediate desire to go right into the ministry.

27:27 As my brother Paul expressed, our greatest desire is to get back to normal family life. We have been married for eight years, and I have been a student for most of those eight years, six of them formally and two less formally. I'm seeking gainful employment at this time out of which I believe God will call me in his time to that place that he's chosen for me to minister for the summer I hope to share the ministry at the Chinese church in preaching every other week thank you now I have just one of these left and it's for Mr. Scott Van Steenberg we have to take responsibility for this

Testimony of Scott Van Steenberg: Immense Gratitude and Future Plans

28:19 I mean that seriously because one of the emphases in our training of these men is for the pastors to have a heart and if a man has a heart there are times when he'll have tears and God incarnate was not ashamed that his disciples should see his tears the apostle Paul could say I was with you day and night with tears I have told you often and tell you even now weeping we are not ashamed of tears and I believe God will help our brother to share what is on his heart

29:05 and I hope you are not uncomfortable or embarrassed in the presence of tears. Thank God that the God whom we worship, the God revealed in Christ, is the God with a heart, who has given us a heart, who made our tear ducts, and who sanctifies our tears of joy, our tears of grief, and many times we become like young brides that young husbands can't understand. they're so happy they cry and I'm sure that's no little part of what we're all experiencing got hold of yourself now my brother I'll try good well as you can tell

29:56 my heart is full as I've been reflecting this week over the past four years that we've been here.

30:18 The only way I can describe the way I feel tonight is that I am immensely grateful to God for what He has done in my life to bring me to this point tonight. And the more I reflect upon myself, I am continually and increasingly grateful to God that He has kept me in the way all these years.

30:55 I would like to express my thanks in several areas tonight. Like my brethren, and I would thank God in your presence for the Academy. I just spent a week at the Banner of Truth Conference, much time to interact with men who were not as blessed, I feel, as I was, attending the Academy, men who were placed in seminaries where man's mind became his God,

31:27 and where the Word of God was handled like a piece of literature, to be interpreted any way in which they felt like they would like to interpret it. It made me increasingly grateful for the Academy and the emphasis of the Academy, the adherence to the Word of God, the Word of God alone. I too would like to thank you as members of Trinity Baptist Church for your support. There are many of you that I do not know personally.

32:02 There are many of you I know pray for us, who have prayed for us over these three years. I would like to thank you. Though I could not name you by name, I know there are many who have prayed for me, who have prayed for us. Thanks also to my elders and teachers in the academy, who have met more than all, as examples, as men who have uncompromisingly and unashamedly held forth the word of truth and have taught me that regardless of cost to myself,

32:40 I too must stand upon the word of God.

32:48 And then, of course, as the other men, I have much thanks to give to God for two special ladies in my life.

33:04 For a dear mother.

33:13 A dear mother who I feel from the human side speaking anyway that it's because much because of her prayers. again, that I am able to stand here tonight and give thanks to God. And also for my godly wife,

33:35 who is born with me for the last three years, who also has sacrificed herself, who has sacrificed things that legitimately were hers in order to see us through this. and thanks also to my children.

34:07 Gave up much of their time with their daddy so that this end could be achieved. Thank you all.

34:19 And now just a word about what we intend to do.

34:24 Lord willing, Our family intends to move to Albany, New York this summer to take up residence there and to place ourselves under the oversight of the Albany Baptist Church. The pastor is Dean Allen. The church there is committed to the Reformed truth. They have 51 members presently.

34:47 And what I will be doing there initially is teaching the adult Sunday school class regularly. and then I will be preaching occasionally on a regular basis. And it's the desire of both Pastor Allen and myself that God would place me before those people and that God would make me an elder in that church.

35:13 It is to this end that we pray and to this end that we move.

35:20 Please pray for us that God would indeed as we have heard tonight, it's only God that can make a man an elder. Please pray with us that that indeed will come to pass. That is our heartfelt desire. That is the desire of Pastor Allen.

35:38 Please pray with us that this would come about.

Pastoral Commendation and Encouragement

35:45 Again, just let me close by saying thank you all. Please forgive me it's been a very emotional thing for me as you can tell please forgive me preachers are supposed to control control their emotions but thank you very much thank you I believe it's only appropriate brethren in the light of the fact that And the evident note that's come through again and again as you've reflected upon your time with us has been one of thankfulness and appreciation. It's only right, I think, for us and for me to say on behalf of the elders, on behalf of the entire congregation, that we also are thankful for you.

36:42 and we are thankful for the privilege of having the part, be it a small part, but the part that God's been pleased to give us in your training. We desire with all of our hearts, in God's timing, we don't want to push God ahead of his schedule, but we desire with all of our hearts, in God's timing, to see every one of you use mightily of God to preach the gospel of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

37:12 You know that there were more of you who stood three years ago to bring a word of greeting to the congregation than there are now to say a word of farewell. You know that. You know that some fallen by the wayside have not continued, have not gone on. Some who have entered the academy have given us cause of grief after they've been in it.

37:37 but thankfully by the grace of God I can stand and say tonight I don't know the day may come when God takes away the ability for us to say even this but up until now we can say that no one who's left the academy has ever become a cause of grief to us dear brethren I entreat you don't any of you be the first I entreat you by the mercies of Christ be faithful be diligent be careful you're leaving here and you're going into a life of battling you are a target of the evil one you stand in the front of the ranks of God's people you're a target of the evil one

38:23 and he would gladly destroy your lives and your ministries if he can be careful be watchful be sober be prayerful a life lived in the fear of God and independence upon God is the only safe course in which to seek to preach the gospel of his grace and now it is our desire that we commend these men to the Lord in prayer that God would indeed protect them and give them grace that they may go on in the way of pursuing the gospel ministry. So, brethren, please, all of you now come up to the front

39:09 and we'll find some room here for you somewhere.

39:14 Now we've asked also Pastor Donald Dixon, one of the elders of our church, to come and to lead us in this commendatory prayer. Mr. Dixon.

Commendatory Prayer for the Men and Their Families

39:27 Shall we look to the Lord together?

39:32 Father we would give a hearty amen to all that has been said and transpired this night already we've been very forcefully reminded that thou art the God who does all things well and Father surely if any is to receive the praise and the honor of glory then it's your most holy name for surely of you and through you and unto you are all things and so tonight we commend to you these four men and ask again that thou shalt continue that which you've begun until the day of Christ and I finally pray again that in mercy you shall deal with them and in graciousness and indeed our Father thou shalt be their portion

40:19 and that they with Daniel of old shall be determined in their own hearts that they shall not defile themselves but they shall in all that they do, endeavor to hold forth the word of life to your glory.

40:36 And so, Father, it is a great delight for us as the people of God here at Trinity to commend these men to you and to your ministry and pray again, Father, that thou shalt receive them. We realize that it's the beginning of things for them. And we ask again that thou shalt direct their feet in a plain path and that they shall hear that still small voice saying, this is the way, walking in it, that the scriptures shall be indeed their stay. They shall be students of the book.

41:10 They shall know again what thou hast said and be able to affirm as they stand before people, thus saith the Lord, and shall be able to show it not only with their lip, but with their life, that their life shall be holy and they shall be blameless. And they shall be men of God indeed. And our Father, we are also conscious and aware that these men are married. And ask our Father that their wives shall be such that shall commend the gospel.

41:38 That their family life shall be such that shall be an example of the believers. Lord, we ask for their children, that they too might come to know Christ at an early age. That they may also walk in the fear of the Lord. father it's a great joy also to commit to you the things of which they dream which we hope someday shall be a reality that they might be the shepherds of your people and as shepherds we pray they might feed the flock of God which he's placed under them that they might be faithful to those people leading them in the plain path of the scriptures and we pray again father thou shalt help them in all their dealings with your people to be kind and gentle, that they might indeed be shepherds of love and concern.

42:29 But yes, Father, we pray also they shall be shepherds that when needed might be able to discipline and to bring the rod of God down upon the sheep and break legs if necessary, if it means that your glory is involved. Father, we pray there shall be men of the book and men of God and men of prayer. Father, we pray you would indeed direct them in all these matters. Now again, we thank you for the many who have been part of their life.

42:58 We know that you are a God of means. We thank you again for the families that have been recognized tonight and pray for them, that they indeed might take heart even this night and be able to praise you and thank you for what you've accomplished in the lives of their sons and in their husbands. We pray, Father, that they might go forth rejoicing, saying the sacrifice they've paid through the years has been well worth it. I'd probably ask also that you would help these men realizing that they too are part of the means which brought them to this hour for their many hours of study and labor through the years.

43:36 I'd probably pray that these things, though many times seem so academic, might in days to come flesh out and be very much part of them as they take their place in your vineyard And Father we pray they might be lovers of souls they might be fishers of men that they might go out as an evangelist and seek the lost, that they may take the seed and scatter it far and wide, that the seed indeed might bring forth fruit to your glory. And so we pray they might be laborers and soldiers and workmen that need not to be ashamed. Father we pray they might be all these things and that you would indeed as you've now begun to equip them that they might see that fulfilled in the day they take their first pastor

44:22 Lord bless direct, guide and direct and be their portion watch over them and may in all that they do they acknowledge again that all things are of you and through you and unto you we pray it in Christ's name Amen Now we have great reason to thank God. Let's turn together to hymn number 86. Hymn number 86. Now thank we all our God, based upon that text in the Old Testament.

What is a Man of God? (Part 1: Zeal, Scripture, Godliness)

44:54 Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious name. And we'll sing this hymn together before Pastor Martin comes and ministers to us from the Word of God. Hymn number 86.

45:12 Needless to say, if these brethren have found it difficult to try to state in five or six minutes both their sense of gratitude for the blessings received over a period of three years, something of the perspective and burden and vision for the future, you can only imagine something of the torment of my own mind and spirit as I sit here tonight hearing and seeing what in a very real sense is the realization of a vision that has burned in my own heart for many, many years. And as I reflected upon how I could best capture the unique climate of this hour

46:01 for these dear men, for their parents, many of whom are present, for their wives and loved ones, and you, the members of Trinity Church, and others who are visiting with us.

46:15 I thought I would attempt to do something that perhaps only a sentimental old man would attempt to do on such an occasion as this, and that is to capture in the space of half an hour what we've been attempting to do for three years and for some longer in this place. And that is to speak very simply and very pointedly on the subject of what is a man of God. The burden of our heart has been that God would make of these men what the Bible means when it speaks of a man of God. When Paul spoke to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, he said,

47:05 But thou, O man of God, flee these things. And that term, man of God, is a peculiar term for a true servant of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, laboring in the work of the gospel. And that has been our goal, that by the combined influence of the church, the peculiar disciplines of the academy, and by the hidden agenda of God by which he has taught and tested and tried these, his young servants, the great end has been that God would make them into men of God.

47:52 And to be a man of God involves a number of things, and these are the things that we have sought again and again to set before these men by precept, by example, by explicit teaching from the Word of God. and for you four men this will be a very brief review of all that we have sought to pack into your minds and hearts and to impress upon your lives for you who are visitors amongst us I hope it will be a brief and distilled description of what the academy is all about and for you who are the members of this church

48:37 I hope it will be a brief refresher course and what we're doing in our mutual commitment to this enterprise. And a man of God, if we understand him scripturally, is first of all a man consumed with a principled zeal for the glory of God. A man of God is a man who is consumed with a principled zeal for the glory of God. Now what do I mean by those strange words? The word zeal, you know what that means. Zeal is that quality of enthusiasm, of excitement, of whole-souled engagement in something.

49:27 to be consumed with zeal is to have that whole-souled engagement create, as it were, a fire that consumes the inner life of a man. And I'm stating that a man of God, when defined by the Word of God, is a man who is consumed not just with any kind of zeal, but with a principled zeal. That is a zeal that derives all of its fire and then its direction from the Word of God. Not a false zeal, not a wild, undisciplined zeal, but a principled zeal for the glory of God.

50:14 The scripture tells us in Romans 11 and verse 36 that of him, that is of God, and through him and unto him are all things to whom be glory forever and forever. Everything that God does in his world has as its ultimate end that he shall be glorified. And particularly in the exercise of any gift, we read in 1 Peter 4 and verse 11, If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God, that God may be glorified in all things. And of course we have that beautiful, that striking, that awesome picture of God incarnate consumed with a principled zeal for His Father's glory.

51:11 For you remember the incident in the Gospels in which our Lord Jesus, seeing the temple that was to be a house of prayer, turned into a theater of merchandise, wove together a whip, a scourge of cords, and went through the temple, throwing over the money changers' tables and driving out the beasts. the disciples said they remembered this word zeal for thy house hath eaten me up our Lord was so consumed with a zeal for the glory of his father and in particular his father's glory in his father's house that that zeal consumed him

52:00 and of course ultimately it was that very consuming zeal that caused Him willingly to go to the cross to suffer at the hands of His enemies, but more than this, to receive in Himself the wrath and fury of His own Father against the sins of His people, that God might have a glorious temple of His redeemed people in whom He would dwell now and on into the unending ages of eternity. And what is a man of God? A man of God, if he is anything, is a man consumed with this principled zeal for the glory of God.

52:47 That principled zeal that will make him utterly intransigent, utterly bull-like and granite-like when it comes to allowing anything in God's house that detracts from God's glory. It is that consuming zeal that will cause him as the Apostle Paul to look out into a godless society and to be stirred in the depths of one's being as we see people worshipping everything but the living God. For it is said Paul's spirit was stirred within him when he beheld the entire city of Athens given over to the worship of false gods.

53:37 And a man of God is one consumed with a principled zeal, not only for the purity of worship in God's house, for a pure people to bring honor and glory to God, but when he looks out into a society in which the law of God and the name of God and the day of God and the standards of God are trampled underfoot. He cannot have the attitude, well, every man is free to do his own thing. Every man is not free to do his own thing. Every man was made to bring glory to God.

54:15 And the man of God is one who feels an inner consumption when he looks upon men who will not live to the purpose for which God made them. May you be men of God all the days of your life, consumed with a principled zeal for the glory of God. Then in the second place, a man of God is a man with an unwavering commitment to the infallibility and binding authority of the scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments. A man of God is a man committed to an unwaveringly committed to the infallibility and binding authority of the Word of God.

55:11 A man of God is a man who believes God has spoken and that God has spoken in a book. And because God has spoken in a book, the sum of His Word is truth. And because God has spoken, His Word takes precedence over all human opinions, over all human theories, over all so-called human insights about any dimension of life and reality. when God has spoken.

55:50 It is the place of the creature to be silent and to learn in the presence of his God. And you see, a man of God is one who when he opens up the Scriptures, whether consistent with his own God-given personality, he speaks in relatively soft and plodding and decided tones. whether he speaks as a man of thunder or one as of gentle rain. You will know when you hear him speak, he is not spinning out the stuff of his own opinions.

56:31 He is not parroting the latest fads out of the psychological or sociological world. He comes before men with a thus saith the Lord. Jehovah God has spoken let the earth keep silence before him in the language of 2nd Corinthians every thought must be brought captive to the obedience of Christ you are and remain men of God only so long as you are little children before this book You are men of God only so long as you maintain not as a theological tenet

57:20 But as the spirit of your entire life and ministry That unwavering conviction of the infallibility and the absolute authority of this blessed book And every problem that will come before you personally, domestically in the midst of your labors Every situation you will face somewhere in this book, God has given you precept, precedent, principle, a combination of principles and precepts that are the word of the living God addressed to that situation. For all scripture is given by inspiration of God that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work.

58:09 But then in the third place, a man of God is a man of real, growing, balanced, and vigorous godliness. A man of God is a man of real, growing, balanced, and vigorous godliness. And I've chosen my words carefully. A man of God is a man of real godliness.

58:38 You see, godliness does not destroy what is noble and beautiful in our humanness. That's why we have unashamedly wept tonight. The devil didn't make our tear ducts. God did.

58:57 Now sin has so perverted man that he will weep over things that ought to make him laugh. And he will laugh over things that ought to make him weep. But when grace has touched the deepest springs of our humanity, it creates a real godliness. Not a sham in a studio tone and bedding.

59:22 Not some kind of reverend half-humanity. I'm sick of the caricatures of the reverends in any kind of a television program. And they always type past the reverend as the soft-handed, half-effeminate, innocent, innocuous fellow who'd never hurt anybody or anything, who wouldn't offend the devil if he walked into his presence. That's not a man of God!

59:54 That's a saccharine, soft-handed reverend! A man of God has as his model the Lord Jesus. Who is at home among little children and they feel free to come and sit on his knee when he calls them. It says he called the little children.

60:12 They didn't run away afraid of his awesome imposing appearance.

60:18 But he is also the Jesus who looked Pharisees straight in the eye and said you Pharisees. You Pharisees are like the man and the woman Who scrubs the outside of a platter But inwardly are full of uncleanness You compass land and sea to make proselytes And when you're done you make them twofold more The children of hell How shall you escape the judgment of hell? His manliness could flash fire and thunder It could speak in gentle loving tones That made little children come and sit upon his knee. His sanctified holy humanity was such that he could weep when his friend dies.

61:04 And so much so that the friends beholding Jesus weeping by the graveside of Lazarus say, Behold how he loved them. Behold how he loved them. A man of God is a man of real godliness that takes all that is noble and God-like in our humanity and purging it increasingly of sinful perversions and excesses makes a man a whole man in Jesus Christ who can laugh heartily from the bottom of his toes, who can weep profusely from the deepest recesses of his heart. It is a real, but it is a growing godliness.

61:54 It is not static. There is progress in grace, as Paul said to Timothy, Give thyself wholly to these things, that your progress may be manifested unto all. Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believer in word and conversation, in love, in faith, in purity. and then it is a balanced godliness.

62:21 It is not a godliness in which certain graces are so developed in others left undeveloped that you have a caricature of godliness. We've heard the term, have we not? He's so heavenly minded, he's no earthly good. With most of us, the reverse is true.

62:41 We're so earthly minded, we're no heavenly good. But oh, what a beautiful thing. Balanced, vigorous godliness is. And a man of God is one in whom this kind of godliness is seen.

What is a Man of God? (Part 2: Tender Heart, Integrity, Prayer, Courage)

62:59 That's what we've tried to teach you. However poorly, my brethren, that's what we've sought to live before you. But then further, a man of God is a man. And oh, hear me, a man of God is a man who has a tender heart for his fellow sinners, saved and unsaved.

63:25 A man of God is a man who drinks of the spirit of the Apostle Paul, who could say of his unsaved Jewish countrymen in the ninth chapter of Romans, I have continual sorrow and heaviness of heart for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. A man of God is one who knows something of what Jesus knew when looking over the brow of Jerusalem, a city marked out for destruction because of its sin. The Gospel writer says, beholding the city, Jesus wept literally. He wailed over that city.

64:09 Here is God incarnate wailing with the wail of a broken heart. Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks? And ye would not. A man of God is a man with a heart that is tender for fellow sinners.

64:32 a heart that can say at least in some degree with Paul we were willing 1 Thessalonians 2a to present unto you we were willing to impart unto you not the gospel of God only but our very souls because you were become dear to us you see Paul was not a professional word machine who stood up with his hands in his pockets real laid back and leaned over the pulpit and said, well, folks, I'd like to have a little gospel chat with you tonight. Would you give me your ears for a few minutes? I'd like to just chat with you a little bit. He says, we were willing to impart our very souls.

65:18 Any preaching that is not the ringing out of the soul of the preacher falls short of the standard of the Word of God. The manner in which the preacher rings out his soul will differ in terms of his God-given personality in terms of his lung capacity in terms of the thickness of his vocal cords I have sat and been melted to tears when a very soft man has wrung out his soul in bringing the word of God to me If you are men of God, you will be men willing to impart not the gospel of God only, but your very soul.

66:06 for sinners, yes, but for the saints. Saints who at times will despise the very efforts you put forth to help them. Paul had to say to the Corinthians, Am I loved the less because I love you the more? O Corinthians, our heart is open to you.

66:32 Our hearts are not constricted towards you, though yours are to us. And one of the greatest disciplines in the ministry will come to you when you've prayed yourself into weariness, studied yourself into exhaustion, and preached yourself to the place where you feel there's nothing left to give. and you see people falling asleep, that's all the fruit you'll have for your labor. And you'll find others who've been awake enough to hear what you've said, resenting that you've tried to go after the sins that are damning them or destroying them.

67:18 And if you do not have a source for ongoing love, you'll never make it, brethren. The man of God is the man described in 2 Timothy 2. The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be patient in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. I remind you of 1 Corinthians 13.

67:45 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, it profits me nothing. And if I have all knowledge and all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, it profits me nothing. And then further, a man of God is a man committed, committed to absolute integrity in handling the Scriptures. A man of God is a man committed to absolute integrity in handling the Scriptures.

68:28 Hear the Apostle who said, Having therefore received this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not. We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty or the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully. You see, it is not enough that people handle the Word of God. It's possible to handle it deceitfully.

69:03 Paul says he did not do that, but he says there was a full display of the truth. and much of what we have sought to impart to you dear men is to the end that you may read 2 Timothy 2.15 and not be embarrassed do thine utmost to show thyself approved unto God a workman who needs not to be ashamed handling aright the word of truth a man of God is one who will not knowingly Bend one syllable of the word of God to cut a channel for his own prejudices, to satisfy the prejudices of his hearers,

69:49 but will seek with the shadow of the day of judgment cast across his pulpit to the best of his ability and knowledge to do nothing but declare the word of the living God. my dear friends who are with us tonight you can find a thousand preachers who tickle your ear and tell you what you'd like to hear remember this and never forget it your best friend on earth is the man who tells you the most truth about yourself and the most truth you'll learn about yourself is by an honest proclamation of this book.

70:36 Don't you ever forget it. Churches are legion. They are dotted across the countryside of our nation where you can go and be told you're a lovely person. Be sweet to your neighbor.

70:55 Give to the United Way. Stay out of your neighbor's wife's bed. Pay your taxes and all will be well in the end.

71:07 My friend, the Bible doesn't tell you that. The Bible says you and I are part of a fallen race under the condemnation of Almighty God. The Bible says that you and I are in a state of guilt and condemnation and bondage to sin And there is no answer to our dilemma But the answer found in God's one remedy And that remedy is in the person of Jesus Christ who is God and man And in the work he did when he died and rose again for sinners The answer lies in the Holy Spirit who alone can break the bondage of our sin in the blood of Christ which alone can cleanse us from our sin.

72:01 And a man of God is a man who will handle the Scriptures with absolute fidelity and dare to proclaim that message to all. but then further a man of God is a man who seeks to be mighty in prayer the day will come we trust in the providence of God Scott when you'll hang up your cabinet making tools or sell them in a garage sale the day we hope will come when the other forms of employment in which you men are engaged will be put behind you why? Not because it is something unspiritual to make cabinets, to clean operating rooms, to be a night watchman, whatever the job may be.

72:53 But the time will come in the language of Acts 6-4 when you will be able to give yourself to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. The Scripture says our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers. And therefore Paul says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, fleshly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. What lies behind the prejudice in that person's mind who sits when you preach and says, look at that poor young fool.

73:30 Dabbling in those antiquated notions about sin and the blood of Christ and heaven and hell. And he will actually sit there pitying you. Many a time I've preached into the face of one who obviously pitied me. And I could almost read his or her mind saying, He seems to be a reasonably intelligent chap, but he actually believes those things.

73:58 What lies behind that prejudice? The power of the devil himself. The God of this world, Paul says, has blinded the minds of them that believe not. Lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine into them.

74:16 There is an adversary mightier than you. And you engage him in a peculiar way when you go into your closet. And there you wrestle with Almighty God in prayer. And you are men of God only so far as you are men mighty in prayer.

74:39 We've tried to teach you that. We've not been all we should be as men mighty in prayer. We've confessed our failures. Be more in the closet than any one of us has ever been.

74:56 Excel us in holy wrestlings with the living God. God can do mighty things with ordinary gifts when they reside in a man of extraordinary prayer. And then furthermore, a man of God is a man who will fearlessly confront the evils of his own generation. A man of God is a man who will fearlessly confront the evils of his own generation.

75:33 It's relatively easy to speak about the sins of past generations. How hard it is to hurl into the conscience of one's own generation the word of the living God pointing to the sins that will drag your own generation down to hell. and yet you are a man of God only if you are prepared to do that for the term man of God as you have been taught in your prophets class has its origin in the prophetic office thou O man of God and what was the great task of the prophet not primarily to stand in his generation

76:19 and point to what God would do in a subsequent day and generation, though He did that. But the office of the prophet was to stand in His own generation and to be, as it were, the conscience of that generation. To say to His generation, Here is the law of Jehovah. Here is the pattern of your conduct.

76:43 Remember Amos. For these three things, yea, for four. And he points out the peculiar national sins of the surrounding heathen nations. And then he turns to Israel and to Judah.

76:57 And he points out their specific sins specifically.

77:03 There's a man named John the Baptist who lost his head for that. He had the temerity to go to a heathen king. Whose marital life was an affront to the law of God. and say to him, it is not lawful for you to have her.

77:22 And the result was he lost his head.

77:27 And to say to this generation, it is not lawful to kill innocent unborn babies. It is not lawful to create euphemisms and call it destruction of fetal tissue. It is the murder of unborn life. And every doctor who injects the saline solution and who takes his scalpel and his little suction machine is a murderer.

78:07 homosexuality is perversion under judicial abandonment when it becomes a way of life according to Romans 1 it is not coming to age sexually it is going downward to bestiality greed avarice dishonesty double talk oh my brethren it is no light burden to be a man of God and to cry out

78:54 against the sins of your own generation but the man of God is prepared to do so because he is consumed with a zeal for God's glory But then I conclude with this last point A man of God is a man with undaunted faith In the power of God and of the gospel A man of God is a man with undaunted faith In the power of God and the gospel He can look into any situation, no matter how dark, how bleak, how barren. He can look into the face of any man, woman, boy or girl, no matter how besotten, no matter how chained, no matter how apparently hopeless, and say, but God.

79:53 in the language of Ephesians 2.4. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Oh, dear young men, be men of God.

80:12 Don't lose that undaunted confidence in the power of this great sovereign God whose attributes and ways have been taught to you in your courses of systematics. You have been given tools to discover from this book all of the glories of that message which is the power of God unto salvation. But if you come through a period of relative barrenness, when it seems to be more a savor of death unto death than life unto life, that one who originally came to our first parents and said, Yea, hath God said, will come and whisper, Is the gospel the power of God?

80:59 Is preaching still a viable option? The churches all around you may be filled to bursting as the crowds are enticed with so-called gospel drama and all kinds of musical packages and so-called Christian art and Christian films. And here you labor day after day in the Word and in doctrine and you pray. And it seems that there's such a trickle, if any at all.

81:32 Oh, my dear brethren, labor on, pray on, preach on with undaunted courage. For in due season we shall reap if we faint not. And if you're not committed enough on principle to preach to ten, as though you were preaching to a hundred, you're not worthy to preach to a hundred.

81:59 Prepare and pray and preach to those ten, believing that gospel seed can multiply them, and that as it is said in the book of Acts, the Word of God can grow and be multiplied.

Conclusion: The Value of Men of God

82:16 A man of God is a man of undaunted faith in the power of God and of the Gospel. Well, dear people, that's what we've been trying to teach them for three years.

82:30 That's what a man of God is. That's what we've prayed God would make these men. I hope for some of you loved ones that will help you to understand why they've been doing what they've been doing. Maybe you've had some questions.

82:45 You said, I can't figure this out. Honey, my son's got the smarts. He could be making good bucks by now. And what's he doing?

82:53 Go to some little rinky-dink school where when he's done, he doesn't even get a degree.

83:04 Victorians from the various high schools who got into the big prestigious Ivy League schools walk across the platform and receive the accolades of men. The real action's not at Harvard and MIT, and it's not in the prestigious schools of this world. It's where God is molding and shaping men of God. And we believe that's the work He's done here.

83:31 Now, we don't despise what God does for the betterment of society. through those who go into some other field of endeavor don't misunderstand me. But, oh, understand when all is said and done, it will be seen that the greatest gift God ever gave to any community was not a brilliant physicist, not a brilliant doctor, not a brilliant lawyer, but a humble, prayerful, holy man of God. And we count it a privilege to have had a little part in seeing God begin to make these men

84:19 into men of God. Let us pray that the Lord of the harvest will continue to mold them, thrust them forth, and use them mightily for His glory. Let us pray.

84:39 Our Father, we thank You for Your holy word. We thank You that You still bless this rebel world with the thing it most desperately needs but most vehemently rejects it left to itself. even men of God who live and preach the Word of God. We again commend these dear men to you and pray that throughout all of their days how many soever those days may be that they may be men of God consumed with zeal for your glory

85:25 committed to the authority of your Holy Word, growing in conformity to your beloved Son, by your grace giving themselves to prayer, men of tender, compassionate heart to saints and sinners, men bold to declaim against the sins of this generation, men who by your grace will be honest in the handling of your word men who will never lose faith in your mighty power oh make them men of God and then Lord add to their ranks a hundred times over

86:12 that we may yet see in our generation a mighty visitation of your grace and power and now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all who know and love the Lord Jesus in sincerity Amen Amen Now I'm going to ask these four brethren if they will please go to the rear of the auditorium so that those of you who have come to share in this significant occasion in their lives will have opportunity to greet them

86:59 and to express your good wishes and the assurance of your prayers to them and I am sure that some of them will want to be joined by their families you are certainly free to go and stand with your son your husband, your close friend And we don't do things very formally in this context because we want it to be a time in which our interaction is real and not stilted and formal. So if you, brethren, will go to the rear and then the rest of you feel free then to greet them as you leave.

87:45 Thank you.