A dear young sister who had attended a Bible conference some months ago asked a very searching question concerning some ministry given in the Bible readings on that occasion. The subject was Romans 12 and there was good, doctrinally sound ministry beginning with the first verse, concerning our “reasonable service” the presenting of our bodies as an acceptable “living sacrifice.”
We feel her question reflects the heartfelt longing of many. Many have a real thirst to have doctrine applied practically to their lives today. Knowing correct doctrine truth that only stays in our heads is not really ours at all. To have truth, we must practically walk in its precepts. The Israelites only possessed as much of the land of promise as they actually walked in (Josh. 1:33Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. (Joshua 1:3)).
Truth—Divine Food and Earthly Appetites
Sometimes concern is expressed that our beloved young people do not seem hungry for or interested in the precious truth of God’s Word.
Brethren, let us allow the possibility that this may in part be due to the truth not being presented in a simple, understandable way. “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isa. 28:1010For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: (Isaiah 28:10)). We feel there are many young and old alike who really do have an appetite for the precious truth of God. But it needs to be edible (practical and understandable) and this takes communion, wisdom and discernment on the part of those who take the lead in feeding the flock.
Truth—“Food Convenient”
Truth (doctrine), as well as its practical application, needs to be presented in proper balance. If practical ministry is not founded on doctrinal truth, it becomes meaningless and worse. And if doctrinal truth is presented without practical applications, it may seem pointless merely cold and clinical.
Oh! how we need truth presented in the character of “food convenient” (Prov. 30:88Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: (Proverbs 30:8)) for the flock of God (“the bread of my daily need,” JND). The daily needs of every saint require the strength and sustenance found in God’s Word.
Truth—The Same Food, Freshly Prepared
We dare say that in the 1800s when the Spirit graciously recovered so much precious, divine truth that for so many centuries had been lost, it was ministered in such a way as related to the present condition of those believers. Certainly none would dispute that that day had a far different moral and spiritual character from what confronts believers living at the threshold of the twenty-first century. While the truth of God never changes, the application of that truth because it is quick (living) and powerful must be fresh and led by the Spirit, if it is to answer to the needs of the present day.
Truth Presented Palatably Let us seek to minister divine truth in the character of those who ministered it in Nehemiah’s day. “And they read in the law of God distinctly out of the book, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah... and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that explained to the people” (Neh. 8:89 JND).
There are four things which characterized the ministry and reading of God’s Word in that time:
(1) It was read “distinctly out of the book.” The unchanging truth was faithfully and unerringly presented, just as it had been given from God through His servants.
(2) They gave the sense. God’s Word was applied to the peculiar circumstances of the people who had gathered there desiring to hear it read.
(3) They were made to understand the truth that was read. Of what value for them was knowing the truth, if they could not understand what it meant?
(4) Faithful men of God took time to explain God’s Word. This required those men to understand the present condition of the people they taught.
When the people had first heard it read, they began to weep (vss. 9-10). Their consciences were tender—they were interested in the truth but they misapplied what they heard. God’s servants instructed them properly, explaining that the effect of what they heard should be to cause them joy and gladness, not sorrow.
Truth Presented Perfectly
Let us remember that our blessed Lord Jesus “the way, the truth, and the life” provides the perfect example of teaching divine truth. In Matthew and Luke, before the Lord went out into His public ministry of teaching and preaching, He was privately tested in the wilderness. There the blessed Lord first used the truth He would teach to others to fully defeat Satan.
So perfectly was the truth expressed in His life that we may say, He was in His life what He taught. May this be so in its measure with us!
Truth—Presented Powerfully
The horribly confusing and corrupt day in which we live calls for ministry of divine truth in words which are presented in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 14:99So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. (1 Corinthians 14:9)—words easy to be understood (“distinct speech,” JND). Let us be careful, however, that we do not attach an undue importance to the way (the literal manner of speaking) in which that precious truth was ministered in the past centuries.
If we become taken up with the style of presentation—with certain phrases or favorite words the expression of the truth may become more important (perhaps even a matter of pride with us) than the blessed divine truth itself! Let us remember what the beloved Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:11And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1): “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.” It is the Spirit of God, not man’s eloquence, that gives power to divine truth when presented to souls.
Truth—Presented Plainly
We need to be like those who preached the truth in Acts 14:11And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. (Acts 14:1): “And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.” The words spoken by Paul and Barnabas, under the control of the Spirit of God, were exactly suited to the hearers of that day Jew and Gentile. The truth they preached was the same divine, unchanging truth. But the apostles presented it in such a way that both Jews and Gentiles understood.
May our blessed God grant that we never give up one word of divine truth that we have received. But let us speak and teach it in the spirit of those of David’s day as “men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.”
Ed.