So this is the last session for the 2008 Ministry School, Study 20, Wise Stewards of the Mysteries of God. In Jeremiah 3 verse 15, the Lord promises to give his people shepherds after his own heart who would fill them with knowledge and understanding. And this promise echoes the words of Ezekiel, that God would set over his people one shepherd, a new David, who would lead, feed, and pastor his flock. In effect, by so doing, the Lord himself says that he would show himself to be the true shepherd over his people, caring for them directly in the face of the delinquency of his appointed undershepherds and the antagonism evident amongst the sheep themselves. They're not an innocent flock. Just by the way, I've noticed there's one or two folk who don't have a book to look at. If you don't have a book, if you put your hand up, John will get one to you. You can borrow that across over there, I think. So in Ezekiel 34, the preponderance of first person, personal pronouns in relationship to this is astounding. If you go down through Ezekiel chapter 34, where God is speaking about the shepherds, the judgment that he's bringing against his shepherds and so forth, I will, I will, I will, I will feed them, I will do this. And that means that God never actually relinquishes his care of his flock. And we are very grateful for that because we are all silly sheep, shepherds and sheep alike. It is clear that the fulfillment of the promise stretches beyond its own historical setting to the coming of Messiah himself. There can be no doubt that passages such as these stand behind Jesus' self-identification as the good shepherd in John 10. And for those who had ears to hear in Israel, Jesus' statements would have been a clear reference to the fact that he himself was the Lord incarnate, fulfilling the promises made through his prophetic messengers. Now there's a footnote there. I'm not going to read any of the footnotes in this paper except for one paragraph of one, but this is a paper in which the footnotes are actually saying something, as in other places as well, I must add. It's all right, Ian, you can shoot me later. Not a good way to speak, yeah. Moving right along. It also means that the current and future care of the flock of God, that is the church, has been given into the hands of the Son. While the Father is undoubtedly the shepherd in view in Psalm 23, the psalm may also apply to Christ who has been commissioned by the Father as the chief shepherd of the flock. There can be also no doubt that the great reality under which the New Testament communities lived was the ascended lordship of Jesus, the Messiah. The messianic kingship psalms, especially Psalms 2 and 110, and theologically related themes and passages not least those related to the Abrahamic covenant, formed the interpretive grid through which all events were seen. Pentecost was the declaration of Jesus' ascended lordship, with the newly ascended king giving gifts to his subjects to enable them to declare the reality of his reign. They were to be heralds to the nations of Jesus' accession to the throne of heaven. All events in the subsequent spread of the gospel are shown to unfold under his hand. The last sight that the disciples had of the Lord was with his hands upraised over them in blessing. The reality of Jesus' resurrection body and the nail marks therein meant that when he blessed the disciples in this way, they could be assured that the content of the Old Testament priestly benediction of Numbers 6, the Lord bless you and keep you, make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace, was in fact fulfilled. They had a crucified Lord who proved it. And their whole life and ministry was lived now under the outstretched arms and hands of the crucified high priest. So they lived under his blessing. Even when they suffered, they were under his blessing. In this way, they knew themselves to be living under the eternal benediction of their ascended high priest, in whom they knew the Father's face to be shining on them. Moreover, Jesus' priestly blessing was also his royal commission. So in being blessed in And by him, you can't separate those two things out, the disciples knew that the Abrahamic covenant was now full steam ahead for the nations over which Jesus was and is king. Putting these things together, it is clear that it is the Lord Jesus who grants the ministry gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor teacher to his church as ascension gifts from his throne for the blessing of his people. These persons, apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher, they're not abstract or disembodied gifts. These persons stand as undershepherds with and over the flock, again by direct appointment of the great shepherd of the sheep. So you shepherd the flock of God among you, Peter says. Shepherding means that you're going to be in some sense ruling over the flock, but you're ruling from among. There's hierarchy, but it's not domination as amongst the Gentiles. All of the ministries mentioned in Ephesians 4 and related passages are ultimately commissioned by the ascended king to feed his flock. While elders in particular are nominated as shepherds of the flock of God, we must never lose sight of the fact that the flock is God's own personal possession. The church has been purchased with his own blood and such is his love for his people that he is appointed under shepherds to watch, guard, tend and serve the flock. However, in so doing, God has never relinquished his authority over the flock nor properly understood has he even delegated it. The ministry gifts granted to the church by her ascended head are all with the purpose that His voice may be heard. In so doing, His Father is glorified and the body is built up through the Spirit's fullness, which cannot be separated from hearing the gospel, to participate in faith, hope and love of divine life. This is the one thing I want to know from you. Did you receive the Holy Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Answer, by hearing with faith. Therefore, how do you go on receiving the Spirit? Hearing with faith. So how do you go on filled with the Spirit? You hear with faith. So you can't have a fullness of the Spirit that is not a gospel hearing fullness. You can't have a fullness of the Spirit that is some esoteric experience which lifts you to a higher plane that divorces you from hearing the Gospel. So much for our division between, oh, we've got the Spirit in our church, even though you guys up there, you've got a word-centered church, we know that. If you're hearing the Gospel in faith, that's where the fullness of the Spirit is known. If you're not hearing it in faith and if you're not hearing the Gospel, whatever else is happening, it won't be fully the fullness of the Spirit. Stewards of the Mysteries, to serve the people of God. The question naturally arises, by what power and in what way is this demanding ministry to be conducted? As shepherds of the flock of God, I mean. In view of all that we have seen in this school, the answer must be that such ministry is only possible in and by the wisdom of God. However, it is not simply that we are called to conduct the ministries to which we have been called in practical wisdom. but that we are called to equip the people of God with heavenly wisdom, that is, the word of Christ and Him crucified. In this wisdom they are enabled to be the Father's wise people in the midst of the nations, always recognizing that the world's wisdom will regard the wisdom of the Father and His children as foolishness. The description of Israel in Deuteronomy 4 verse 6, what nation is has a God so near, what nation has a law so great, what nation is wise like this nation, is surely no less true of God's New Testament laos peruseos, that is His chosen people, His precious possession. As was the case with God's Old Testament people, Israel, this wisdom would be known morally, ethically and relationally and all under the umbrella of covenant. So you're not just talking about knowing facts. This covenantal relationship was only established through the Word of God, and so the New Testament people of God likewise stand in relation to Him by the Word, who Himself is the guarantee of the New Covenant, sealed in His blood. So what is the content of this mystery? The stewardship of the mysteries of God is not for the sake of preserving esoteric wisdom, but for the salvation of the nations and for the equipping of the people of God. Such equipping does not consist of giving hints and tips to achieve success in business, to make progress in the world, or to overcome one's enemies, or any of the many related themes that form the substance of mere human wisdom. Rather, it relates to being enabled by God to proclaim the full mystery of Christ, in whom is hidden all the treasures and wisdom and knowledge of God, someone greater than Solomon is here, and to live in the reality of our new grace-faith union with him. In 1 Corinthians 4.1 Paul speaks of himself and his apostolic colleagues as servants of Christ and stewards of the mystery of God. He indicates that this ministry consists of making known the secret and hidden wisdom of God, such wisdom now being openly revealed through the proclamation of the cross. This is clear from 1 Corinthians 2 verse 7 where Paul says, we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God which God decreed before the ages for our glory. Given the wider context in which this statement takes its place, this can only refer to the preaching of Christ and him crucified. It is this preaching of Christ that therefore constitutes the now revealed secret mystery of the wisdom of God, not the Da Vinci Code. It is this preaching that is the power of God, not fairy dust falling from heaven, and it is this preaching which also destroys all human wisdom. In Ephesians 3 verses 3 to 9, this mystery is evidenced in the fact that the Gentiles are now fellow heirs of the promises. This is only possible because of the prior reality that Jews and Gentiles alike had been formed into one new man through the action of the man Jesus on the cross. This new man stands in a new place of triune communion. Access to the one Father whom they worship as his new temple is granted to both Jew and Gentile through the Son in whom they've been bound together via the work of the cross and the adoption that this makes possible, and in one spirit in whom the reality of that union is communicated to each through the spirit leading the whole family to cry Abba Father. So there's a triune communion in which we stand. The people of God are thus held in Trinitarian bonds forever. And all of this is only found in and through Christ, which is why he is the seminal content of the apostolic preaching. You don't preach principles. You preach Christ. There can be no doubt that the apostles taught much about the results of Christ's gracious action for the community, and they proclaimed these clearly. For example, justification, adoption, sanctification, and so on. We too must proclaim these great evangelical doctrines, but never as freestanding dogma. They should not be presented as though they were somehow detached from our grace-faith union with Christ. And in like manner, they should not be presented in any way which allows them to be detached from the Christ of the cross, who is the only Christ we have. Many, many people in the church want to have another Christ, It is this actual proclamation of Christ in his person and work on the cross which God has appointed as the means by which they are so, that is all of those benefits of adoption and sanctification and so forth, by which they are so in a person's experience. There is no other means by which men and women are saved but through the cross. There is no other means by which men and women may have their guilt removed, their shame reversed, their worship truly realigned. The proclamation of the mysterious wisdom of God, that is the proclamation of Christ and Him crucified, is the only means by which men and women will be brought into faith union with Christ and by which the power of Satan will be broken in their lives. The apostolic gospel is the only saving gospel there is. There can be no doubt that this preaching of the crucified Christ is foolishness to the world, but to those who are being saved it is the power and wisdom of God. Through it we have knowledge of all things that are necessary to life and godliness, since in Christ we receive all the inestimable gifts of God the Father, such as justification, sanctification, redemption, propitiation, forgiveness, adoption, glorification and the renewal of the cosmos. Quite a list, isn't it? The communication of the mystery. It is permissible to think of the cross in two ways, as an event in history and as a preached event, so to speak, in the existential reality of the church's life. Both the historical event of the cross and the preached event of the cross are alike a chrisis. The New Testament word chrisis means a judgment, Christus carries with it the idea of sifting and sorting, separating, dividing, wheat, chaff, that sort of idea. And both are Christ's rather than ours. In his action on the cross Christ objectively accomplished all the work he'd set out to do in that great event. In it he redeemed and cleansed his bride, brought all sin and evil to their effective end, and guaranteed the eschatological new creation. In his preaching of the cross, it's not our preaching about his cross, it's his preaching of his own cross through his appointed heralds, empowered, sealed and sanctified by the spirit he has sent, Christ draws his flock together, condemns the wisdom of his enemies and subdues the nations to worship the Father. You're not just trying to preach so that you maintain a congregation. We as preachers of the apostolic gospel are wise stewards of the mysteries of the cross. This is not only in terms of content of the proclamation, Christ and him crucified, but also in the mystery of its hearing. Recognising its character as chrisis, that is judgment, we do not seek to measure the effectiveness of the message by trying to calculate the response. There will always be four sorts of soils, but then there will also always be a harvest, even if it is unseen. The seed grows while the farmer sleeps. Similarly, we do not use the persuasive wisdom of the world's logic to present a case for the wisdom of God. Corinthian letters reflect Paul's very long and patient dealings with a congregation where the power weakness and wisdom foolish foolishness axes were not only out of scale but also wrongly aligned. The result was a very inaccurate and misleading graph where power and wisdom used in the worldly senses of these terms were understood to function in a directly proportional relationship to one another in the church. The only way to preserve this relationship and plots one's own place on the line is to forego the preaching of the cross because of its inherent foolishness and to minimize or remove its character as crisis by removing the scandal that the cross is and always will be. If you want to have a really good and effective and large congregation, don't preach Christ crucified. Preach everything else. So preaching that is apostolic will be both cross-centered and cross-shaped. It is cross-centered in that here and only here in the apostolic interpretation of the cross do we find Christ actually becoming wisdom of God to us. This means that any preaching about Christ that does not take its stand in and through the cross of Christ will not be the wisdom of God. We cannot take the wise sayings of the Sermon on the Mount, for example, and give them an independent life other than that which they've found from the cross-orientated Messiah who spoke them. But the apostolic ministry of preaching this mysterious wisdom of God in Christ is also cross-shaped. This means that it can only be done in love of God, that is, in the power of His Spirit. It can only be conducted in the weakness which makes the power of God perfect and which shows that the grace of God is sufficient for preacher and hearer alike. In Luther's terms, the matter is not just preaching a theology of the cross, but being a theologian of the cross. There's an extended footnote about that on the bottom of that page, but the bottom paragraph of this footnote, number eight, what must be borne in mind is that for Luther, one must not simply hold a theology about the cross. but one must be a theologian of the cross. The true theologian is one who views even his own interior life through the lens of the theology of the cross and who shares in the sufferings of the cross in his own life. As the preacher proclaims the word of the cross in the power of the spirit The wisdom of the world reacts against him just as it reacted against the Christ himself. The deep spiritual battles, personal struggles, temptations, and utter weakness of the sinner in the face of such things is part of being a theologian of the cross. Just as Paul had to establish his reverse ethos, this was the people who preached in Corinth had an ethos. So, we're wealthy, we're wise, we're honourable, we're esteemed, therefore you can trust our word, look at us, it works. Paul says, well, I'm not honourable, I'm not esteemed, I'm not wealthy, I'm persecuted, I'm suffering in prison, but that's actually true. Don't be deceived, bow out your eyes, see. Just as he had to establish his reverse ethos in the face of the sophists, the wise preachers of his day, so does the true theologian of the cross experience misunderstanding, misrepresentation and rejection in each age. In addition, the theologian of the cross lives from the cross, that is, living out his daily life, living out in his daily life death to sin that took place there once and for all. It is in this very place of suffering that the theology of cross is established and known to be true, though it would never be recognized as such by the world. Serving the church by hearing the word. The emphasis on true and false hearing is notable in many places in the Old Testament and is seminal to Israel's understanding of covenant. It appears again and again as a recurring theme in the servant songs of Isaiah. And is taken up by the writer to the Hebrews to expound Christ's life and ministry in the words of Psalm 40 verse 7, years you have dug for me. It says literally, a body you've prepared for me, behold I've come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do your will. In Christ we see the true nature of human life exposed to few, and in him we therefore see the true nature of human ministry revealed in its untainted glory. What is implicit in the creation of the first man becomes explicit in the incarnation of the last man. Jesus' entire life is governed by hearing the voice of his father. This is seen not only in the temptation narratives and his response to Satan there recorded, but also in the day-to-day operations of his public ministry, both in word and deed, While this is made abundantly clear in John, it is also inescapable from the theological description of Christ as being the express image of God. He wouldn't be that unless he heard every word that the Father spoke. In addition to this, we have clear descriptions of Jesus' purpose for coming into the world to do the will of the one who sent him. The sentness and the purposiveness are inseparable both imply a continually obedient hearing on the part of the Son. In this sense He is truly the Apostle of our confession. It's a very curious phase in Hebrews 3 verse 1. There is no other Apostle really, just like in the Gospels there's no other disciple. All the disciples failed, you've only got one true disciple. And in Hebrews you've only got one Apostle, the Apostle. and all of the apostles are sort of bundled up in his apostleship. He is the sent one and all others who are sent are sent through hearing his word. Given all this, it cannot be but be true that the first and primary action of all true apostolic ministry is to hear. Hear, O Israel. Speaking that is not from hearing is no true proclamation. Christ speaks that which he hears. His servants can only speak that which they hear from him. But as in all biblical hearing, this is no mere repetition of facts. True hearing means joyful submission, willing obedience and humble faith. It is the opposite of having a hard heart or an unwilling spirit. That faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of Christ is a like is true for us all, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers alike. Indeed we can only speak out of that faith which comes to us in this way and this in the face of death itself. Stealing God's words. Geoffrey Bingham warns us against a ministry of stolen words. We can peddle God's word that we can practice disgraceful and understanded ways in the proclamation of the gospel, and that we can accuse cunning and we can tamper with God's word, we can also use eloquent and plausible words of a wisdom which is not God's wisdom, and we can even make men to stand in such false wisdom rather than in the power of God. All this should cause us much heart searching. Are we professional sermon preparers and adept point makers instead of true and obedient hearers? Do our people hear the voice of Him who has spoken to us? Do we really trust His Word alone as the power of God for salvation? Do we speak truly as those who have the oracles of God? Do we believe that in and through God's amazing grace we really do speak his word to his people? Or do we give our opinions on the text and seek to enliven them with a few good stories along the way? Do we come from the sanctuary of the Father's holy hill and speak as those who have seen the face of God? None of us can judge another in these things, but they are questions that take us to the heart of truly apostolic ministry. The temporarily buoyant bubble that is the Australian economy has been kept afloat by precious metals, gems and so forth. The question is, are we really just entrepreneurs and diggers up of resources Jupiter P.T. Forsyth warns us against a view of ministry which approaches the Bible as a sermon quarry. Rather, we must speak from within the silent sanctuary of scripture, from the place of being immersed in the word. The press is there for information or for suggestions at most. It is not there for authority. But the pulpit is there with authority, and the news it brings is brought for the sake of the authority. The press may offer an opinion as to how the public should act, but the pulpit is there with a message as to whom the acting public must obey and trust. The press is an advisor, but the pulpit is a prophet. The press may have a thought, the pulpit must have a gospel, nay a command. The press, I could add, is a communicator. Preaching Christ to the glory of God. We have no other mandate as preachers of the gospel than to preach Christ who is God's word and gift to the world. Preaching Christ brings glory to the Father, Jesus is the embodiment of his glory. The latter part of Paul's closing doxology in Romans 16 27 links the wisdom and glory of God but both of these are with the preaching of the gospel to the nations and their resultant obedience of faith. In 1 Corinthians 2 verse 6 to 12 Paul speaks of a wisdom that the rulers of this age do not understand. but which is revealed in the preaching of the apostolic gospel. In this wisdom, the nature of Jesus as the Lord of glory is made plain, and we find that God has purposed his saving acts to be for the glory of us, his people. Though eye has not seen nor has ear heard what God has prepared for those who love him, believers are taught these things inwardly by the Spirit. That's why you long and ache and groan in your spirits and hearts. In 2 Corinthians 1 verse 20 Jesus is clearly shown to be God's yes to the world in whom all the promises are secured. The apostolic preaching of the gospel brings the knowledge of this divine yes to the world and a believing response, Amen. So God says yes in Christ And the believing response is, Amen, it is so. And through Christ, that's to the glory of God. In 2 Corinthians 4.4, the gospel reveals the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, while in 4 verse 6, God has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. In Philippians 2.11, Jesus is declared Lord of all, and to the glory of the Father and Paul's simple benediction in that letter is to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. References such as this could be multiplied but the point is clear that the stewardship of the mystery of the gospel is for the glory of the God whose gospel it is. Beloved, it's not all about us. It's not all about whether you've got a good ministry. And it's not all about whether you advance up the career structure within your denomination. And if I could put it one way, it's not even all about your hearers. And it's not about how many hearers we have. And it's not about whether they seem to be good soil or bad soil. It is all about the glory of God. This means that the preacher's glory is of no consequence. Indeed, as is made plain to us in the Corinthian letters, the theologian of the cross, to use Luther's term, has no glory in the world's eyes. You want a conversation killer? Next time you're in the gym working out and you see this pagan fellow next to you and he says, what do you do? Just tell him you're a preacher. It's almost as bad as saying you're a policeman. The difference between Paul and the super apostles hinged on this very point. The hope that we have in Christ by definition is eschatological. So too is the glory to which that hope attaches. It is neither right nor safe to secure either of them, hope or glory, in this life. You want to describe Australia? It's a nation which is trying to secure hope and glory in this life. If we were to attempt this, we would need to use the evaluative principles of the world. And how could we calibrate their scale to measure the radiance of the glory or the dimensions of our hope in Christ? The last section there is on wisdom and apostolic calling. First section I've called syncretism versus single-mindedness. All I'm saying in that is there is a tendency always for the message of the gospel to be captured by the culture and synchrotized to it. And in the Colossian letter, that had started to happen. Their understandings of wisdom and mystery and related spiritual categories, the gospel had actually been reinterpreted entirely along those lines. And Paul has to say, no, when you use that word, that's not what we mean. Now if you were to go in one of the footnotes, I've put it there, if you were to go into any bookshop, any Christian bookshop even, let alone any secular bookshop and certainly any New Age bookshop, you will find any number of resources on things like wisdom and mystery and secret stuff. But even in a Christian bookshop, you'll hardly find any that will speak about wisdom and mystery in relationship to the cross. which tells you that the whole understanding of wisdom and mystery and the secret and hidden and esoteric and powerful workings that you have in your spiritual experience, it's been entirely syncretised. There has to be a single-mindedness in us not to have the Gospel of Christ, Him crucified, syncretised in any way and that's what Paul's about in Colossians. as we come to the last page, 186. He says in Colossians 1.28, it is Him, that is Christ, we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. And beloved, that's all we have to do and all we can ever be about. You want to have people who are brought to maturity and operating in wisdom, you preach Christ. And it breaks down all of the other wisdom that we operate with and re-establishes in a new wisdom altogether. But it's not a wisdom that the world will like or recognize and in your own heart it's not going to be a wisdom that you're going to want to preach either. But we preach Him. We preach Him. Warning everyone, teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone complete in Christ.