DUTY OF PREACHERS

“Then the LORD said to me, proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: hear the words of this covenant and do them!” (Jer. 11:6 NKJV).

In principle, God has given all preachers the same orders as those given to Jeremiah. They involve the source of the message, the site of the message, and the specifics of the message.

Source of the message – “Proclaim all these words.” God’s Word is the source of the message and Jeremiah is to proclaim the message that was given him by God. Similarly, preachers today are to proclaim God’s Word. They are not to preach psychology and other worldly philosophies. They are to preach the Divine Word of God. It is therefore incumbent on preachers preparing for the ministry, to get acquainted with God’s Word.

Site of the message – “The cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem.” At the time of this commission to Jeremiah, Judah and Jerusalem were in a state of apostasy. They had rejected the Word of God and were hostile to those who proclaimed it. Yet, Jeremiah was sent to proclaim God’s Word in places where it was not popular. The lesson here for preachers is that they are to proclaim God’s Word wherever God sends them. Many folks today do not like having the Word preached to them. They want entertainment and other things instead. But preach the Word anyway. It is God’s orders.

Specifics of the message – “Hear the words of this covenant and do them.” Jeremiah was to tell the people to “hear” (listen) the Word then to “do” (live) the Word. It is not enough just to hear a sermon, the listener must also obey the sermon. The preacher is not only to declare the message but is to urge folk to obey the message. All messages must be applicable to the lives of the listeners. That is the part of the message that will often rub folks the wrong way.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“If God has called you, do not spend time looking over your shoulder to see who is following!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Distort

In Gal. 1:7 we read, “Which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ!” (NASB).

Distort is the Greek word metastrephō (μεταστρέφω = met-as-tref'-o). It is made up of two words: “meta” which means change, and “strephō” which means to twist. Thus, the word means to turn about or turn around. It is to corrupt, pervert, and reverse. The idea is to turn something to it opposite state, so altering it and causing it to be different. In context, it is perverting the true Gospel so that it is no longer the gospel of Christ and of His grace. Further, the word is in the aorist tense which indicates this was a complete and thorough change, a complete perversion of the Gospel of Grace.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – God’s will that Messiah be oppressed and afflicted (Isa. 53:7)

New Testament Fulfillment – Matt. 27:27-31

Did You Know…

In the Bible it states that Jesus is the Savior (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14).

Bible Quiz

According to Deuteronomy 15, if an Israelite did not give to the needy among them what would happen?

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz: According to the Book of Proverb, what is better than a secret love? An open rebuke (Prov. 27:5).

Names of the Lord Jesus Found in the Bible

“High Priest, Apostle”

"Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house!” (Heb. 3:1-2 NKJV).

1. Meaning – The Lord Jesus is our prophet and priest.

2. Insights – An apostle is someone who has directly communicated with God and is authorized to speak for Him. A high priest is God’s appointed person to represent the people to Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ is both God’s spokesman and our representative to God.

3. Related Titles – 1. Shepherd/Overseer of Souls (1 Peter 2:25); Minister of the Sanctuary (Heb. 8:1-2); The Prophet (Deut. 18:15, 18; John 6:14).

Did You Know – Christian History

Robert A. Jaffray was born December 16, 1873 in Toronto, Canada. He was a missionary to China, Indonesia and several other countries, with The Christian & Missionary Alliance.

The Jaffray family was wealthy. Robert’s father owned Canada’s Toronto Globe (today’s the Globe and Mail). While Jaffray’s father had great ambitions for his son to one day become the CEO and owner of Toronto Globe, Jaffray had other plans. After becoming a Christian at age 16, Jaffray began to feel God’s call to foreign missions. Denied financial support by his father, and in spite of his heart problems and diabetes, Jaffray enrolled in A. B. Simpson’s New York mission school.

After working his way through school, the Christian & Missionary Alliance sent Jaffray to Wuzhou, Guangxi, China, in 1897. One year after arriving in Wuzhou, Jaffray began making trips to what is now Vietnam (previously French Indochina). He served as leader of all C&MA work in south China. While he was there, his responsibilities included mission administration, preaching, evangelism, assistance in founding the Wuzhou Bible School (now the Alliance Seminary in Hong Kong), editor of the Chinese Bible Magazine, and writer for his publications. The Chinese-language Bible Magazine, which he edited and for which he wrote many of the articles, was read in Chinese communities all over the world. Jaffray was known for his leadership qualities and was called a ‘missionary strategist and statesman.’ He wrote for and edited, Bible Messenger, published by South China Alliance Press. He used this publication to send training materials to Cantonese missionaries to others, reprinted in their language.

Wherever Robert and his co-workers won souls, he insisted that a church be formed to hold the new converts together. He also insisted that those churches be given self-responsibility and organized to run themselves. As soon as possible, Jaffray planted Bible schools to train the new Christians, and printed material to support their Christian endeavor. To meet the urgent need of serving overseas Chinese in South East Asia, Jaffray founded the CFMU to send out missionaries to Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Later, Robert and his associates were used by God to open a major work in Indochina, where they witnessed thousands of conversions and powerful miracles. Jaffray served in Wuzhou for 35 years, in spite of a heart condition and diabetes. Robert’s work was hard and dangerous. In 1942, Japan invaded an island in Indonesia where he was stationed with his wife and daughter. Soon after the invasion, Jaffray and other missionaries were arrested by the Japanese, and sent to internment camps. Jaffray remained captive until his death in 1945 from illness and malnutrition.

A Little Humor

After examining the paltry tips left by a church group, the waitress was not pleased. Moving toward the next table, she grumbled, “These people come in with the Ten Commandments and a ten-dollar bill, and they don’t break any of them!”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Be ready for the last moment by being ready at every moment!”