Was it Really a Star?

In all probability, one of the most spectacular celestial events that ever occurred was the Star of Bethlehem! Every year at the Christmas season there is much speculation and discussion at to just what the Star might have been.

Scholars have offered at least three possibilities:
First, it has been attributed to myth. It is said by those who take this view that the star is merely a literary device used to show the importance of some great historical event.
The second possibility is that it was an astronomical occurrence or a natural event.
And, finally it has been viewed as a miraculous event in the heavens – a star created for a specific occasion. The first of these theories we reject because it is an attack upon the inspiration and veracity of Scripture.

The Astronomical Theories of the Star:
The astronomical view is reasonable in that those who it first attracted were astronomers. They were those who were interested in the heavens, those who charted the heavens, observed the movements of planets, and who would have noticed any such phenomenon as the Star of Bethlehem.
It was natural that this sign in the heavens would attract astronomers from the East. Remember these astronomers were from Persia, a priestly caste who were learned in all of the wisdom of the ancient world. From ancient mosaics and frescos in the catacombs, we see them dressed in Persian dress. These Persian astronomers were the Magi of the Christmas story. They were evidently highly influenced by the Jews taken captive to Assyria and Babylon some 700 years before Christ, people like Daniel, Mordecai, and Esther.
Daniel became a president of the Magi in Babylon, part of the Persian Empire of our Lord’s day (Dan. 6:1 – 3, 28). It was, no doubt, through his influence that the Magi began to look for the Star of the Jewish Messiah. They evidently began to study the prophets of the Old Testament and were looking for Him when He came.

Comets
Some would say the Star was a comet. Comets are spectacular. They had great significance to the ancients. When one was observed in the heavens, some definite meaning was attached to it.
When Julius Caesar was assassinated, it was said that a blood red comet was visible in the skies for seven nights. When Augustus died, a comet was observed also. So in 1910 when Halley’s Comet came around again, it was held by some to be a reappearance of the Star of Bethlehem because it was so dramatic.
It is said to have appeared twice, seen in the East and then in the West, thus corresponding to the Biblical narrative. (The Wise Men saw the Star while they were in the East, and then again after leaving Jerusalem.)
Proponents of this view say that the long tail of the comet might have pointed to where Christ was found by the Magi. Halley’s Comet comes every 75 years, right on schedule in our ordered universe, and is a possible candidate for the Star.
In 1985, when the Comet made another pass by earth, numerous articles appeared in the newspapers across the country proclaiming the return of the Star of Bethlehem. However, when one investigates Halley’s Comet, he finds that it appeared too early – in 12 B. C., some eight years before the birth of Christ.

Novas and Supernovas
A second astronomical candidate for the Star is the nova and supernova. Origin was one of the first writers to speculate on the possibility that the Star was a real physical phenomenon. He described it as a “new star” or “nova.” A nova is not really a new star but the sudden flare-up in brightness of the star to 10,000 or 100,000 times its original brightness. The supernova, or “dying star,” is a star that suddenly explodes in great brilliance. This once occurred in the constellation Coma, the Mother and Son constellation. It is possible that a supernova occurred in one of the constellations – perhaps Virgo, the Virgin, a significant constellation sign of the Jewish Messiah’s birth.

Johannes Kepler and Planetary Conjunctions
A third, and most probable candidate for the Star, if indeed it was an astronomical event, is the theory of a planetary conjunction. This theory says that a number of planets came together, specifically, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars, or possibly only Jupiter and Saturn.
Jupiter and Saturn did come together in conjunction several times corresponding remarkably to the Star of Bethlehem. Their coming together would appear as one brilliant star in the heavens. This intriguing theory was first put forth by a man named Johannes Kepler, a great astronomer from Prague – a Christian.
In December he noticed the coming together of the planets Saturn and Jupiter in the constellation Pisces. This was very significant to him. It stirred his memory of some ancient rabbinical writings. According to a rabbi named Abarbanel, the Jews believed that Messiah would come at a time when there was a conjunction of these planets in Pisces.
All of this was based on the popular notion that Jupiter was the planetary sign of royalty. Saturn was the “protecting power of Israel,” and Pisces was the constellation for Palestine. The Caldeans themselves had said that Pisces was a sign for Palestine.
Then he began to think about what the astronomers in the East might have seen and how they might have been taught by Daniel to look for this particular sign. So Kepler did some mathematical computations to see if this conjunction of planets could have occurred at the approximate time of the Birth of Christ.
When he found that it had occurred in 7 B.C., he concluded that it could not have been the Star of Bethlehem because it was seven years off. So Kepler’s Theory was largely forgotten until it was discovered that our modern calendar was inaccurate by exactly seven years!
A sixth-century Scythian monk by the name of Dionysius Exigusius had made the error. Another reason Kepler’s Theory was not given more consideration was that no one knew whether his mathematical projections as to where the stars would have been in the heavens at a time so long past could be trusted.
But in 1925, Schnabel, a German scientist, deciphered some Neo-Babylonian tablets found in the Royal School of Astronomy in ancient Sippar, Babylon.
One of these clay tablets stated that there had been a rendevous of these planets. Saturn and Jupiter in the very year which Kepler had predicted! Certainly all of this seems to fit the statements of Scripture concerning the Star, but if we take the Bible literally, the theories of the astronomers are still difficult to harmonize with it.

Miraculous Theories of the Star of Bethlehem:

The Shekinah Glory
A theory gaining prominence in our day holds that the Star was nothing less than the Shekinah Glory or Pillar of Fire which God used to guide his people through the wilderness. This alone, they claim, will satisfy all of the Biblical information about the Star (See Duane Spencer and John MacArthur), but there are also a number of problems with the Shekinah Theory.
First, what possible significance could the Shekinah have had to these Persian astronomers? Why would God go 1,000 miles to the east with the Shekinah glory which was known and recognized only by Israelites? It never appeared to any Gentile nations – it was uniquely God’s revelation to the Jews!
Second, if the Shekinah was the Star, why did the Magi call it a “star” (Gk. aster), rather than “cloud” (nephela), which is the word used in I Corinthians 10:1 for Shekinah?
A third objection to the Shekinah Theory is that such a dramatic and noticeable phenomenon would surely have excited much more notoriety than is mentioned in the New Testament which implies that only the Wise Men saw it.
Fourthly, what is there about the Shekinah that would tell the Magi that a Jewish King had been born? If an astronomer sees something happen in the heavens – a star or planet, this tells them that something of significance has occurred. But what of the Shekinah? How would this special sign of God’s presence to Israel be significant to Gentiles?
Fifthly, why wouldn’t the Shekinah have led the Wise Men to Bethlehem instead of Jerusalem where they must then ask where the Messiah was? Why was the star lost from sight on the way to Jerusalem? Finally, “star” (aster) is used in two ways in Scripture: symbolically, as in Job where we are told that the “stars of heaven shall sing,” and, as in Numbers 24:7, where we are told “a star (king) shall arise out of Jessie” (David’s family). Secondly, the word “star” is used of heavenly bodies. The word “star” is never used for the Shekinah Glory in the New Testament.

A Special Creation by God
We believe that the best answer for the Star of Bethlehem is that it was a star especially created and controlled by God in such a way as to make it visible to the Magi. That is, it could guide them specifically, and it was low enough to be seen stopping over one tiny house. No celestial phenomenon meets these criteria.
Richard Niessen, in the December, 1978, Moody Monthly magazine, pointed out several interesting arguments for the specially created star theory.
The most important points he makes are as follows: (1) The Star reappeared suddenly, as indicated by the use of the Greek word idou, translated “lo” or “behold” (2:9). (2) The Star changed directions when it reappeared. Previously it had led the Magi west to Jerusalem. Now, on the second leg of the journey, it moved south to Bethlehem. (3) The Star was a moving object which preceded the Magi. It was not a light some indefinite distance in the sky, but close enough to the Magi to guide them precisely (2:9). The word used here in the original is proago, a word used elsewhere by Matthew to portray one person or group of people preceding another in a procession….The word definitely implies motion on the part of the Star relative to the Magi who followed it as a means of their direction. (4) The Star preceded the Magi until it stood over the house (2:9). “Until” is an adverb of time, indicating a change of activity relative to some fixed point in time. The Star had been moving slowly preceding the Magi. And then it stopped. The Greek word for “stood” expresses the suddenness of the action. (5) The Star was under control of an outside agent. The language used in Matthew 2:9, literally translated, means “was caused to stand.” (6) In Judea, as before, the Star apparently was seen only by the Magi. Had Herod been able to see it, he would not have needed directions from the Magi to locate Jesus; He would merely have told his soldiers to watch the Star. Nor would he have had to slaughter every infant within a twenty – mile radius of Bethlehem to make sure he had murdered the One he was really after (2:16, 17).

Conclusion
So, we conclude that the Star of Bethlehem was not a natural celestial object, but rather a specially created star, prepared by God to guide the Wise Men to the Jewish Messiah in order that they might worship Him. There are those who believe that the gospel was, at one time, written in the stars of Heaven. In any case, we might say that if the stars do not lead us to Him, that we are using them for the wrong purpose (Psalm 19). When Christ was born, the Bible says that Gentiles worshipped Him because the Star led them to Him.
“He came unto his own (Israel) and his own received him not, but to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12).
The most important question for us to answer at this season of the year, or any season, is, “What will we do with Jesus?” To believe in Him is life eternal; to reject Him is to come under eternal condemnation.
“And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life: and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (I John 5:11, 12).

See also The Shepherds and The Wise Men in this series.
By Tom Jenkins
Sources: Duane Edward Spencer, Word Keys that Unlock Scripture, Grace Bible Press, San Antonio, Texas, 1972; Richard Niessen, Moody Monthly, December 1978; John MacArthur, God With Us, Zondervan Books, 1989; David Hughes, The Star of Bethlehem, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1979; Paul L. Maier, First Christmas, Harper & Row, New York, 1971; Boa and Proctor, The Return of the Star of Bethlehem, Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 1980.

Quotes from The Anguish and Agonies of Charles Spurgeon by Darrel W. Amundsen

What torments did Spurgeon suffer? How did he reconcile his painful experiences with his view of a gracious God?
At the risk of oversimplifying, we can categorize Spurgeon’s sufferings as spiritual, emotional, and physical.
Spiritual Agonies – Throughout his ministry, he referred to the horrors he had felt for five years while under conviction of sin, intellectually aware of the gospel, yet blind to its personal application.
Slander and Scorn – During his early years in London, Spurgeon received intense slander and scorn.
He said, “If to be made the laughing stock of fools and the song of the drunkard once more will make me more serviceable to my Master, and more useful to his cause, I will prefer it to all this multitude, or to all the applause that man could give.”
The Weight of Preaching – Spurgeon attracted vast audiences from the beginning of his ministry. He remarked in 1883, “I have preached the gospel now these thirty years and more, and…often, in coming down to this pulpit, have I felt my knees knock together, not that I am afraid of any one of my hearers, but I am thinking of that account which I must render to God, whether I speak his Word faithfully or not.”
Emotional Trial by “Fire” – On the evening of October 19, 1856, Spurgeon was to commence weekly services at the royal Surrey Gardens Music Hall…capable of holding twelve thousand. During Spurgeon’s prayer [before an overflowing crowd] several malicious miscreants shouted, “Fire! The galleries are giving way!” In the ensuing panic, seven people died and twenty-eight were hospitalized with serious injuries. Yet until Spurgeon’s death, the spectre of the calamity so brooded over him that a close friend and biographer surmised: “I cannot but think, from what I saw, that his comparatively early death might be in some measure due to the furnace of mental suffering he endured on and after that fearful night.”
Depression – If Spurgeon was acquainted with depression before, following the Surrey Hall disaster, it became a more frequent and perverse companion.
Having been absent for three Sundays [due to incapacitating illness], when he returned he preached on 1 Peter 1:6: “Wherein ye greatly rejoice though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.” In the sermon, entitled “The Christian’s Heaviness and Rejoicing,” Spurgeon said that during his illness, when “my spirits were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for…a kind friend was telling me of some poor old soul living near, who was suffering very great pain, and yet she was full of joy and rejoicing. I was so distressed by the hearing of that story, and felt so ashamed of myself…” While he was struggling with the contrast between his depression and joy evinced [evidenced] by this woman who was afflicted with cancer, “This text flashed upon my mind, with its real meaning…that sometimes the Christian should not endure his sufferings with a gallant and joyous heart” but “that sometimes his spirits should sink within him, and that he should become as a little child smitten beneath the hand of God.”
Spurgeon was indeed frequently “in heaviness.” Spurgeon’s depression was the direct result of his various illnesses, perhaps simply psychologically, and in the case of his gout, probably physiologically as well. Despite this, Spurgeon thought of his own depression as his “worst feature” and once commented that “despondency is not a virtue; I believe it is a vice. I am heartily ashamed of myself for falling into it, but I am sure there is no remedy for it like a holy faith in God.”
Spurgeon comforted himself with the realization that such depression equipped him to minister more effectively: “I would go into the deeps a hundred times to cheer a downcast spirit. It is good for me to have been afflicted, that I might know how to speak a word in season to one that is weary.”
Labors of Ministry – An orphanage to look after, four thousand members, marriages, burials, weekly sermons, The Sword and the Trowel to be edited, and a weekly average of five hundred letters to be answered.” In 1872 he asserted that “the ministry is a matter which wears the brain and strains the heart, and drains out the life of a man if he attends to it as he should.”
For his dear sake, I look with pity upon people who say, ‘Do not preach so often; you will kill yourself.’ A minister of God is bound to spurn the suggestions of ignoble ease, it is his calling to labor, and if he destroys his constitution, I, for one, only thank God that he permits us the high privilege of so making ourselves living sacrifices.”
Gout – The disease that most severely afflicted Spurgeon was gout, a condition that sometimes produces exquisite pain. What can be clearly identified as gout had seized Spurgeon …when he was 35 years old. He wrote, “…It is a great mercy to get one hour’s sleep at night…What a mercy have I felt to have only one knee tortured at a time. What a blessing to be able to put the foot on the ground again, if only for a minute!” Spurgeon was seldom free from pain from 1871 on.
The Down-Grade Controversy - Early in the controversy he commented that he had “suffered the loss of friendship and reputation, and the infliction of pecuniary withdrawments and bitter reproach…But the pain it has cost me none can measure.”
Where Is God During Suffering? - Spurgeon maintained that since God is sovereign, there are no such things as accidents. This, however, is not fatalism: “Fate is blind; providence has eyes.”
Unwavering belief in God’s sovereignty was essential for Spurgeon’s well-being: “It would be a very sharp and trying experience to me to think that I have an affliction which God never sent me, that the bitter cup was never measured out by him, not sent to me by his arrangement of their weight and quantity.”
He explained in 1873: “As long as I trace my pain to accidents, my bereavement to mistake, my loss to another’s wrong, my discomfort to an enemy, and so on, I am of the earth, earthy, and shall break my teeth with gravel stones; but when I rise to my God and see his hand at work, I grow calm, I have not a word of repining.”
Here and elsewhere Spurgeon noted the potential benefits of pain. In a sermon published in 1881 he maintained, “In itself pain will sanctify no man: it may even tend to wrap him up within himself, and make him morose, peevish, selfish; but when God blesses it, then it will have a most salutary effect—a suppling, softening influence.”
Here we see a marvelous paradox in Spurgeon’s experiential theology. He candidly admits that he dreaded suffering and would do whatever he legitimately could do to avoid it. Yet when not suffering acutely, he longed for it. “The way to stronger faith usually lies along the rough pathway of sorrow,” he said. “…I am afraid that all the grace that I have got out of my comfortable and easy times and happy hours might almost lie on a penny. But the good that I have received from my sorrows, and pains, and griefs, is altogether incalculable…Affliction is the best bit of furniture in my house. It is the best book in a minister’s library.”
On June 7, 1891, in extreme physical pain from his illnesses, Spurgeon preached what, unknown to him, proved to be his last sermon. His concluding words in the pulpit were, as usual, about his Lord: “He is the most magnanimous of captains. There never was his like among the choicest princes. He is always to be found in the thickest part of the battle. When the wind blows cold he always takes the bleak side of the hill. The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on his shoulders. If he bids us carry a burden, he carries it also. If there is anything that is gracious, generous, kind, and tender, yea lavish and superabundant in love, you always find it in him. These forty years and more have I served him, blessed be his name! And I have had nothing but love from him. I would be glad to continue yet another forty years in the same dear service here below if so it pleased him. His service is life, peace, joy. Oh, that you would enter on it at once! God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus even this day! Amen.”

Excerpted from Free Grace Broadcaster, Issue 140, April 1992.

Should a Church Have Elders? By Mark Dever

There are many pragmatic reasons why a church might have elders. A plurality of elders can help to carry the burden of pastoral ministry; they can bring a rich variety of experience to bear on the issues and problems every pastor faces; they can hold the pastor accountable in a context of shared ministry; they can save the pastor from a multitude of errors in judgment before it ever becomes apparent in a congregational meeting. The list could go on.
But the best reason a church should have elders is because the New Testament says that it should. Throughout his epistles, and especially the pastoral epistles, Paul makes it plain that every New Testament church should have elders, that is men who "direct the affairs of the church" (1 Timothy 5:17-18 ). He commissioned Titus to make sure that all the churches in Crete had elders (Titus 1:5 ). And he took the time to outline for both Timothy and Titus what sort of men should be called to that office (1 Timothy 3:1-7 ; Titus 1:6-9 ), as well as the procedure that should be followed should a man need to be removed from the office (1 Timothy 5:19-20 ). So central were elders in Paul's thinking that, though eager to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost, he took the time to call the Ephesian elders together and give them one last exhortation (Acts 20:16-38 ), the heart of which was that they be faithful as "shepherds of the church of God".
Of course, elders were not just Paul's idea. Peter too assumed their presence in the churches to which he wrote, and gave them a message identical to Paul's: Be shepherds of God's flock. (1 Peter 5:1-4 ). So did the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 13:17 ).
So the Bible clearly teaches that New Testament churches are to be led by elders. At the end of the day, this question is just another way of asking whether or not we are going to allow the Scriptures to be the sole authority in the life of the church. For though there are lots of pragmatic reasons to have elders, from the perspective of a pastor, there are more pragmatic reasons not to have them. Elders can slow a senior pastor down, they can disagree with him, they can even tell him on occasion that he's wrong. Pragmatically speaking, who would want that?
But Peter and Paul remind us that the churches we pastor are not our own. We are pastors of God's church, God's flock. And so it is God's Word that must have the final say. Jesus created the church, he died for the church. He is its only King and law-giver. If we are committed to shepherding Christ's church, and not our own, then we must be willing to do it his way. According to the Bible, his way includes elders.
Further reading:
Edmund Clowney, _The Church_ (IVP, 1995) ch. 14; T.E. Peck, _Notes on Ecclesiology_ (repr. GPTS Press, 1994), ch. 16. The problem with both of these recommendations is that they are written by Presbyterians, who claim far more for the authority of elders than Scripture warrants. Nevertheless, they both lay out clearly the argument from Scripture for the presence of elders in the local church.

Quotes from The Expository Genius of John Calvin by Steven J. Lawson

Preface – “…sad to say, we live in a generation that has compromised this sacred calling to preach. Exposition is being replaced with entertainment, preaching with performance, doctrine with drama, and theology with theatrics.” (p. XI)

“The greatest season of church history---those eras of widespread reformation and great awakening---have been those epochs in which God-fearing men took the inspired Word and unashamedly preached it in the power of the Holy Spirit.” (p. XII)

“By overwhelming consent, he [John Calvin] remains the greatest biblical commentator of all time.” (p. 4)

“…when John was 14, he entered the University of Paris to study theology in formal preparation to become a priest. Calvin’s time at the university resulted in a master of arts degree at age 17.” (p. 6)

“Frail in stature, Calvin suffered many ailments.” (p. 15)

Calvin permitted only the Word of God, the Psalms to be sung in his church. (p. 23)

“Calvin’s deeply embedded convictions about the supreme authority of the Bible demanded an elevated view of the pulpit.” (p. 24)

“This commitment to the undisputed authority of the Bible compelled him to preach verse by verse through entire books of the Bible.” (p. 24)

“It is the expositor’s task, he believed, to bring the supreme authority of the divine Word to bear directly on his listeners.” (p. 26)

Calvin wrote, “God will have His church trained up by the pure preaching of His own Word, not by the contrivances of men [which are wood, hay and stubble].” (p. 30)

“As a faithful shepherd, he fed his congregation a steady diet of sequential expository messages.” (p. 32)
“This verse-by-verse style---lectio continua, the ‘continuous expositions’---guaranteed that Calvin would preach the full counsel of God. Difficult and controversial subjects were unavoidable. Hard sayings could not be skipped. Difficult doctrines could not be overlooked. The full counsel of God could be heard.” (p. 32)

“Whether the biblical book was long and extensive…or brief and short…Calvin was determined to preach every verse.” (p. 34)

“In Calvin’s words, preaching is ‘the living voice’ of God ‘in His church.’”(p. 35)


”In all of life, one supreme passion consumed John Calvin: the glory of God.” (p. 39)

“…this commitment to God’s glory heavily influenced Calvin’ biblical exegesis. When he studied, it was to behold the majesty of God.” (p. 40)

“The pastor, he wrote, “ought to be prepared by long study for giving to the people, as out of a storehouse, a variety of instruction concerning the Word of God.” (p. 41)

Calvin’s personal motto was, “My heart I give to thee, O Lord, promptly and sincerely.”
(p. 44)

“Two things are united,” he confessed, “teaching and prayer; God would have him whom He has set as a teacher in His church to be assiduous in prayer.” (p. 44)

Calvin “… preached no less than ten times a fortnight to the same congregation.” (p. 46)

“Calvin was not a silver tongued orator, but a Bible-teaching expositor.” (p. 55).

“When Calvin stepped into the pulpit, he did not bring a manuscript of his sermon with him.” (p. 57)

“Calvin believed spontaneous preaching helped yield a ‘lively’ delivery, one marked by energy and passion.” (p. 58)

“In Bible exposition, substance is to be desired above style, and doctrine before delivery.” (p. 65)

“Calvin is the founder of the modern grammatico-historical exegesis.” (p. 69)

“…Calvin insisted on sensus literalis, the literal sense of the biblical text. He rejected the medieval quadriga, the ancient interpretation scheme that allowed for literal, moral, allegorical, and analogical meaning of a text.” “The true meaning of Scripture is the natural and obvious meaning.” (p. 71)

“When Calvin protested against allegorizing, he was protesting not against finding a spiritual meaning in a passage, but against finding one that was not there.” (p 72)

Calvin declared, “I have felt nothing more important than a literal interpretation of the biblical text. (p. 72)

“Calvin’s purpose in preaching was to render transparent the text of Scripture itself.” (p. 73)


“Calvin used cross-references sparingly. It appears that he desired not to wander unnecessarily from the primary passage that lay open before him.” (p. 73)

In Calvin’s preaching, two kind of cross-referencing are evident. In the first, Calvin cited a passage without attempting to quote it verbatim. (p. 73) “On other occasions, Calvin directly quoted verses or passages, either by reading them, reciting them from memory or paraphrasing them.” (p. 74)

“Throughout his ministry, Calvin kept his preaching singularly focused on explaining the God-intended meaning of the biblical text.” (p. 79)

“While there is only one correct meaning to a passage, there are multiple ways of conveying that meaning in a sermon. This difference accounts for the art of preaching.” (p. 84)

“The Reformer [Calvin] wrote his first book in Latin and preached in his native French from either a Hebrew or Greek Bible.” (p. 85)

“Calvin also spoke in simple sentences that were easily accessible to his listeners.” “As he preached, Calvin’s towering intellect nearly always lay ‘concealed, behind [his] deceptively simple explanations of his author’s meaning.’” (p. 87)

“Calvin will never speak the original Greek word and will rarely refer to ‘the Greek.’” (p.88)

“Another means Calvin employed to explain a biblical text was to restate a verse in alternative words. He would adopt a different sentenced structure and use synonyms.” (p. 88)

“Calvin’s signature formula to introduce a restatement was ‘It is as if he were saying…’” or “in other words…” (p. 93)

“He showed little concern to supplement his exposition with quotations from other authors. For Calvin, nothing must overshadow the Word.” (p. 96).

“Philip Schaff…notes, “[Calvin] lacked the genial element of humor and pleasantry; he was a Christian stoic: stern, severe, unbending, yet with fires of passion and affection glowing beneath the marble surface;.” (p. 99)

“He was by nature and taste a retiring scholar, but Providence made him an organizer and ruler of churches.” (p. 99)

“Calvin rightly believed that he did not need to make the Bible relevant---it was relevant.” (p. 104)


Calvin wrote, “We have not come to the preaching merely to hear what we do not know, but to be incited to do our duty.” (p. 104)

“He preached primarily to edify and encourage the congregation God had entrusted to him. In short, he preached for changed lives.” (p. 104 -105)

“Calvin was never needlessly harsh or domineering with his own congregation.” (p. 105)

“Calvin often utilized first person plural pronouns-- ‘us’ and ‘we’--as he exhorted his congregation.” (p. 106)

“…Calvin was a master of the art of pastoral exhortation with inclusive language.” (p. 106)

“Without a doubt, loving admonishment and reproof were a part of Calvin’s preaching.”
“All true exposition of Scripture must include such correction.” (p. 112)

”For Calvin, preaching also required an apologetic defense of the faith.” “In Calvin’s view, the full weight of Scripture must be brought to bear against theological error, whether inside the organized church or outside it.” ( p. 112)

“At the heart of this practice was a holy compulsion to guard the glory of God, defend Christ’s matchless character, and protect the purity of the gospel.” (p. 112)

“Calvin took every opportunity to uphold sound doctrine and to refute any and all contradictions to it. He was a staunch guardian of the truth.” (p. 115)

“Calvin’s expositions were approximately one hour in length, some six thousand words each.” (p. 120)

“In the conclusion of each sermon, Calvin first gave a short summation of the truth he had exposited. He then passionately called for his hearers’ unqualified submission to the Lord.” (p. 120)

“Finally, he concluded with public prayer, committing his flock into the sovereign hands of the Lord.” (p. 120)

“These concluding prayers were vertical in their thrust, pointing his listeners upward to God.” (p. 126)

“This was the passion of Calvin’s preaching. Start to finish, it was soli Deo Gloria—for the honor and majesty of God alone.” (p. 129)

Premarital Counseling - Seize the Day!

This is just a note to encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to give premarital counseling to couples for whom you perform wedding ceremonies. Premarital counseling is your chance to educate a couple for marriage before it is forever too late. It may be the only time you will have to teach them the basics of the Faith as well.
Things that I have found to be helpful in counseling a couple for marriage: First, I have them write out their personal testimony – how they came to Christ. This may give you the opportunity to lead one or both to Christ as Savior. Remember, we are not to join a believer to an unbeliever in marriage (2 Cor. 6:14).
Next, I have them sign a commitment to stay the course to the end of the counseling period. My performing the wedding ceremony depends on this (A commitment is important for any kind of counseling you might do.) In fact, one clear danger signal is what Alistair Begg calls the “Hurry-up offense.” He suggests that a couple allow seven months of lead time to adequately complete the premarital process.
Then, I ask them if they are sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that marriage to one another is God’s will for them. If they answer in the affirmative, I challenge them to make a commit to purity until the wedding night if they have not already done so. If they are living together, they must separate until the wedding night. The months leading up to the wedding are often the most difficult to maintain moral purity.
I usually have a six-to-eight-week premarital counseling course that I require of each couple I marry. I have included a sample schedule of our sessions.
You might want to go over key passages of Scripture and perhaps sermons you have preached on various areas of importance for marriage. Examples: Gen. 2; Eph. 5; I Pet. 3; I Cor. 7 and 11:3. I have typed up my messages on these passages and then put blanks in them for the couple to fill in as I go through it with them. Subjects like “The Origin and Purpose of Marriage” (Gen. 2:18 – 25), “The Responsibility of the Christian Wife” (Ephesians 5:22 – 24; I Pet. 3:1 – 6), “The Responsibility of the Christian Husband” (Eph. 5:25 – 33; I Pet. 3:7), “Sexual Harmony in Marriage” (I Cor. 7:1 – 11), “Children & Parenting” (Eph. 6:1 – 4; Proverbs), “Financial Wisdom” (Proverbs), and “Divorce and Remarriage” (Mat. 5:32; 19:3 - 6; Mk.10:11,12; Rom. 7:3; I Cor. 7:10, 11, 39) are usually covered. Other topics might include: Birth Control, Abortion, Communication, and Moms working outside the home.
I also have them read books (specific chapters) on Christian marriage, listen to C.D.’s, and do some exercises in workbooks. My wife is almost always present to give a wife’s perspective on the topic covered.
What a wonderful opportunity premarital counseling affords us for teaching! Seize the day!

Quotes from Jottings and Hints for Lay Preachers by F. B. Meyer

Ch. 9 – Expository Preaching

“There are two methods of preaching which are far as the poles asunder, the topical and the expository. In the former [topical preaching] the preacher selects as his theme some subject in theology or philosophy, or some topic suggested by the current life and table talk of the day, makes his address, and then looks into his Bible or concordance for an appropriate motto-text, more or less suitable, but there is perhaps the smallest possible connection between the discourse and the text. In the latter [expository preaching] the preacher prayerfully selects some extended tract of Scripture on which he proposes to concentrate himself for a considerable term of services; carefully breaks it up into paragraphs, each of which will probably yield him at least one sermon; studies the whole to get the general tenor, and then concentrates himself on each separate part, with the result that his soul is dyed with the message that burdened the prophet or evangelist who spoke, centuries ago, in the power of the Holy Spirit. The former method needs a much cleverer man; the latter will enable a man of very moderate abilities to fulfill a long and useful pastorate which will make his people Bible students, acquainted with the whole range of Scripture truth, and less liable than most to be swept away by every wind of doctrine and sleight of cunning craftiness.” P. 62

Three advantages of expository preaching:

“First. Your people will be kept in constant contact with the Word of the living God.

Second. They will be interested to come again and again to pursue the line of teaching…as people will buy the magazine in which the serial story ends with the words, To be continued in our next.

Third. You will be led to consider passages of the Word of God which your own temperament or habit of thought might lead you to avoid, and which might seem so pertinent to the case of people in your audience that you might be accused of being too personal.” P. 65

Giving sources of your study:

“Let me give one caution. Though you shall carefully study every authority in your reach, and especially the original Hebrew or Greek, it is not wise to needlessly obstrude the names of your authorities. Give your people the results, and do not worry them with the process. It is enough for the bees to give us honey; you know in a moment if the amalgam is right. It is not necessary for our tiny purveryors to tell us how far they flew….” P. 66

[We might add that it is always good to give credit for direct quotes from other authors.]
Ch. 10 - A Great Sermon

“Few things are more helpful to a young preacher than to take up the masterpieces of pulpit eloquence…to analyse them, and try and discover their salient characteristics.” P. 67

“I would specially urge young preachers to fill their sermons with the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit.” P. 69

“You may be sure that, since all Scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction, the more there is of it in your sermons the better.” P. 69

“And you may be sure that he will be the successful preacher, whether to children or adults, who can enchain their interest, and lead from the familiar to the less familiar, and from the seen to the unseen.” P. 70

Ch. 14 – The Use of Illustrations

“Other things being equal, the preacher who uses illustrations will be surest of an audience and of the intelligent appreciation of his hearers; for the effort to employ them indicates a desire on his part to accommodate himself to the capacity of the people, and to translate divine truth into human experience and life.” P. 89

“No man ever spake as our Lord did, because none has been so prolific as He in the use of illustrations.” P. 89

“And a careful study of His method would greatly enrich and enhance our power of presenting truth to the minds of men.” P. 89

“The object in using illustrations is to bring the unseen and eternal within the range of ordinary minds, and to express the things of the spiritual world in the language of the senses and the soul.” P. 93

“Illustrations should follow, and not precede, the thoughtful presentation of truth. If we always hasten to present a striking illustration to our hearers, we shall do them the permanent injury of weakening their powers of reasoning and apprehension. Our people should be trained to think, to base their beliefs on scriptural authority, to apprehend statements of truth in their unadorned beauty and simplicity. But when this has been done, it is highly beneficial to employ illustrations to confirm and clinch the impression, to elucidate it for those to whom it may not be quite clear, and to call in the aid of the imagination to assist the memory in her office.” P. 95

Quotes from "This Little Church went to Market" by Gary Gilley

Chapter 9: A Church that Misunderstands Worship: How Shall We Then Sing?

“Music by itself, apart from the truth contained in the lyrics, is not even a legitimate springboard for real worship.”

“Aroused passions are not necessarily evidence that true worship is taking place. Genuine worship is a response to Divine truth.”

How shall we then sing?

“Preaching has fallen out of favor in our entertainment age as a means of communicating God’s truth.”

“Pulpits are taboo, notes are hidden, expository preaching is abandoned for ‘relevant’ topical dissertations, references to church history are rare, and doctrine is considered too heavy.”

“But when it comes to the modern church attempting to connect with this generation, a generation born and raised in the era of entertainment, nothing is more prominent than music. So, we are not surprised to find that one of the great attractions for many toward this new way of ‘doing church’ is its music.”

“Far too often in modern worship music’s place seems to be that of setting a mood. With the right music and talented musicians it is possible to create almost any mood.”

“But is the setting of a mood or atmosphere the biblical purpose of Christian music?”

“…the central role of music in the New Testament church is to be a partner with the teaching of the Word of God.” (Col. 3:16; Eph. 5:19)

“Just as the authority and truth of Scripture should dominate our preaching and teaching, so should it dominate our singing.”

Music as teaching

“…the Apostle Paul informs us that music serves the role of teaching and admonishing. Christian music is at its best when it instructs in sound doctrine.

“Conversely, music has often been used within the church to teach and promote a wide range of heresies and aberrant doctrines.”

Arius used music to spread his belief that Jesus was a created being and not fully God. While the church councils, such as that of Nicaea, condemned Arianism, it continued to be popular among the masses for decades because Arius’ teachings were placed to music and sung by undiscerning congregations.”

“Contemporary Christian music, in particular, is long on inspiration and short on instruction.”

“…do the modern praise choruses have a place in our worship service? I personally believe that they do, but….”

“Martin Luther said, ‘Music is the handmaiden of theology.’”

“Charles Wesley’s hymns included verses from every book in the Bible except Nahum and Philemon. He viewed his hymns as a primer in theology….”

“Isaac Watts, the father of English hymnology, wrote hymns to complement his sermons.”

“By contrast, much contemporary Christian music bypasses the mind and aims directly at the emotions.”

“Many modern choruses teach questionable doctrine….”

David Wells analyzed 406 praise songs along with 662 hymns of a traditional hymnal. He found “…that 58.9 per cent of the praise songs he analyzed offer no doctrinal grounding or explanation for the praise. By contrast, among classical hymns it was hard to find hymns that were not predicated upon and did not develop some aspect of doctrine.”

What should we do?

“If we are concerned about our Christian music being more than entertainment there are numerous things we could do…”

“First, we should evaluate all the music we sing in our churches. Does it teach solid theology? Does it admonish us to correct living? Does it worship God in truth?...?”

“Second, churches must receive training regarding this whole area of entertainment.”

“Third, we could study with great profit the Psalms to discover how music is to be used to accomplish its biblical mandated goal.”

“Fourth, we need to teach our children good Christian music within the context of the church.”

A final consideration

“The reaction of the concerned Christian is to be ever mindful that the Word, and not our experience, is our authority.

“…we should take a good look at the Psalms to study the kind of music that pleases God and accomplishes his purposes.”