By Ken Blue

 Matthew 11:13 “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”

 At this point in John’s ministry he finds himself in Jail, and is beginning to question his mission, and if Jesus was the Christ. This in no way diminishes the character or ministry of John. Like all great men, John was operating in the limited light he had. The rejection and death of Christ was not part of that light.

Jesus sends his disciples with a message of reassurance, and then turns to the crowd exonerating John, and explaining his ministry. In the context of the light John had, and the nature of his ministry, he was greater than all men were. However, as great as John was, the least in the Kingdom of Heaven, when it is established, will be greater. That means that John was not in the Kingdom, and that it was not his to offer.

John’s ministry was a pre-kingdom ministry. His task was to get Israel to repent, and to prepare the way for the King. Israel would show their repentance as illustrated in his baptism. However, their sins were never taken away at baptism. That will happen when Christ returns to Israel to establish His Kingdom with them. “Acts 3:19 “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;”

 John was not the last of the prophets, nor did the Law end with his ministry. Even a casual reading of the four gospels shows that the Law of Moses was still in practice, and that prophets were present. Prophecy ended with the book of Revelation, and the Law of Moses ended when it was nailed to the cross in Christ. Colossians 2:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”

The idea here is that the Old Testament prophets merely foretold Christ’s coming. John’s ministry was greater than that of all the prophets. He was privileged to have the ministry of baptizing converts in preparation of their King. His ministry was also to introduced Him to Israel.  John 3:29 “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.”

John is never called “a Baptist,” He was “the Baptist,” because his ministry was one of baptizing “unto repentance.” He was never a member of the Kingdom of Heaven, nor the body of Christ. He was martyred before the church, which was a mystery started, or the Kingdom offer was withdrawn from Israel. Every Baptist knows that there is no such thing as the Baptist Church.

Finally, John’s ministry is unique in that his was a transition ministry. The former prophets foretold of Christ’s coming; whereas, John proclaims that He was there, and he was preparing the way for Him. The failure to rightly divide the Word of God, even concerning Johns ministry, has led to all kinds of divisions, bitterness, and false teachings. The statement that John was the greatest man born of women was not all inclusive without exception. (Matt. 11:11). The emphasis should be on the word “prophets,” not on, “…until John.”

 

 

 

 

By Ken Blue

Eventually the pastor is going to be forced to search for staff members. This will be someone to work with him, or to replace him when he leaves. Regardless, it could be one of the most important decisions you could make. Therefore, there should be much prayer and counsel when searching for new staff.

I believe the ideal place to look for staff is right within your church. If a church is doing what it should, it will be constantly developing and training men and women for ministry. Although I have hired some good staff from without, the most success has been with those who have been longtime members of our church.

The pastor should constantly be observing the flock for prospective staff and leaders. There are some specific things one should watch for.

The most important is the character of the individual. Are they committed to Christ and His church? Are they faithful to the services, and are they prompt and on time? Do you trust them?

Does the person under consideration work well with others? Can he adjust his personality to you and others? He or she must be likeable and acceptable to others. There can be no room for outburst of anger, or pouting. These are signs of selfishness and immaturity. Don’t underestimate the importance of this quality. He must be able to work under authority, with his peers and subordinates.

Is the person qualified or capable of filling the position? I have seen several staff members who fit the character and personality qualifications, but could not do the job. This is awkward and a frustrating situation for the pastor and the staff member. This is why people need to be observed and trained before they are installed in a position.

The advantages, when hiring from within, is they know the people and the people know them. When hiring from without, you usually get someone who already has his or her own standards, doctrines, and ideas of ministry. If this is the case, they will be critical of you.

I remember on two different occasions when I hired assistant pastors from without, they could not wait to resign because some ladies in our church wore pants. We have power point and large screens in our church. Some students, when coming from college, would not sit through the song service. They had been conditioned to believe these were wrong. Those from outside may have issues with the type of music, and instruments you use. One young man grew up in our church, was saved there and left for Bible College. After the college had him four years, he returned to the Seattle area, but would not attend our church. So, hire from within and avoid the heartache. Let those whose standards differ, go start their own church.

Pastor Jason Murphy grew up in Open Door, and worked on staff for six years. He is now the senior pastor. Both of his pastoral staff were saved, married, trained, and ordained at Open Door. Also, the church secretary, and the custodian were hired from within the church. Pastor Murphy understands the importance of what we have been saying.

THE HATE DOCTRINE

By Ken Blue

Hopefully this article will rescue some, and enlighten others so they will escape the hate doctrine preached by some pastors and evangelist. The hate doctrine teaches that God hates sinners, and the only place He loved them was at the cross. It is argued that, since the word love is used in the past tense, God has not loved any since the cross. This is an unscriptural teaching, and a perversion of the word, hate.

Words have different meaning and implication according to language and culture. The usage of the word “hate” can be determined by its context. Other teachings demand it be understood as a figure of speech, or comparison. Dake’s Reference Bible says the word is an “idiom of preference.”  

Dictionary definition of idiom: 1. A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in keep tabs on. 2. The specific grammatical, syntactic, and structural character of a given language. 3. Regional speech or dialect. 4. a. A specialized vocabulary used by a group of people; jargon: . A style or manner of expression peculiar to a given people: 5. A style of artistic expression characteristic of a particular individual, school, period, or medium:

n 1. (Linguistics) a group of words whose meaning cannot be predicted from the meanings of the constituent words, as for example (It was raining) cats and dogs 2. (Linguistics) linguistic usage that is grammatical and natural to native speakers of a language 3. (Linguistics) the characteristic vocabulary or usage of a specific human group or subject.

E. W. Bullinger’s Figures of Speech, Page 426 says, “…i.e., does not esteem them less than me. So the verb to hate is used in Gen. 29:31, Rom. 9:31.”

Williams Commentary, Page 762 says, “ i.e., to love less.”

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The usage of the word “hate” can be determined by its context.[/pullquote]

Barns says, “We are not at liberty literally to hate our parents. This would be expressly contrary to the fifth commandment. See also Eph 6:1-3; Col 3:20. But we are to love them less than we love Christ; we are to obey Christ rather than them; we are to be willing to forsake them if he calls us to go and preach his gospel;”

Adam Clark‘s Commentary say, “And hate not – Matthew, Mt 10:37, expresses the true meaning of this word, when he says, He who loveth his father and mother More than me. In Mt 6:24, he uses the word hate in the same sense. When we read, Ro 9:13, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated, the meaning is simply, I have loved Jacob – the Israelites, more than Esau – the Edomites; and that this is no arbitrary interpretation of the word hate, but one agreeable to the Hebrew idiom, appears from what is said on Ge 29:30, Ge 29:31, where Leah’s being hated is explained by Rachel’s being loved more than Leah.”

John Wesley says, Verse 26. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father – Comparatively to Christ: yea, so as actually to renounce his field, oxen, wife, all things, and act as if he hated them, when they stand in competition with him. Mt 10:37.”

John Gill’s Exposition of the Whole Bible says, “… not that proper hatred of any, or all of these, is enjoined by Christ; for this would be contrary to the laws of God, to the first principles of nature, to all humanity, to the light of nature, to reason and divine revelation: but that these are not to be preferred to Christ, or loved more than he, as it is explained in Mt 10:37 yea, these are to be neglected and forsaken, and turned from with indignation and resentment, when they stand in the way of the honour and interest of Christ, and dissuade from his service: such who would be accounted the disciples of Christ, should be ready to part with their dearest relations and friends, with the greatest enjoyment of life, and with life itself, when Christ calls for it; or otherwise they are not worthy to be called his disciples.”

 There is little need to continue calling on other theologians to prove our point. Although, we could find a hundred more who agree with us on this subject. The issue is clear to those who want to see it; and those who do not, no amount of proof will change their minds. Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”