His Teaching, Not Mine

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This past week as I was reading through the gospel of John, I came across this verse in John 7:16, “So Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.’” As I sat and considered this statement, there were a few things that struck me: 1) Jesus’ humility continues to amaze me, 2) Jesus’ understanding that He was here to do His Father’s business, and 3) this is our calling as Christians and every pastor’s calling.

Let me explain that last point a tad further. In my post last week, I wrote about the temptation to get cute on special days (Easter and Christmas) in the pulpit. This verse dispels that myth and temptation. First, let me say that no pastor (or Christian) was sent in the same way as Jesus. That should put us in our place. But we are all sent out into this world by our King. So, this means our teaching is not ours; it is God’s. Our authority is not ours; it belongs to the One who sent us. As a pastor, this should drive me to speak what God has already spoken. It should compel me to speak to the church what the Chief Shepherd has determined should be spoken. There is no new truth or revelation given outside what He has already declared. Therefore, there’s no room for being cute or demanding. We teach what is God’s and trust God to do his work.

This has been an incredible comfort for me through the years. Early in ministry, I made the mistake of trying to make stuff up and come up with great, impactful sermons. I worried that I wasn’t relevant or creative enough. Throughout the years, after internal turmoil and a lack of peace, the Lord has been gracious to remind me that the Bible is His book, His teaching, and will accomplish everything He sent it out to do (Isaiah 55:11). Therefore, my job (calling) is to declare what He has said.

Let this also encourage you as you share the gospel with your friends or family. The gospel of Jesus is God’s final, authoritative revelation (Hebrews 1:1-4), and it is the power of God for salvation. All we are as Christians is “newscasters,” where we simply state what has already been said and done. God is the One who empowers that message and changes lives.

This Past Weekend at CLF

I’m not sure we anticipated the weekend we experienced at CLF. We had over 550 people at church between our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services. This means that many people heard the message of Christ. Pray for gospel fruit.

Thank you, CLF, for bringing your family and friends to church this weekend. Thank you for trusting us to preach the gospel and represent Jesus well. Thank you for the joy of serving you.

Looking Ahead

Beginning January 1, we will start working our way through Genesis. This Sunday, we will study Genesis 1:1. Lots of reading for those who like to read ahead.

With that in mind, the beginning of the year is a great place to start new things. Here are some links or ideas for starting new bible reading plans or for new devotionals that I’ve found helpful through the years:

Bible Reading plans:
- Crossway has done a great job of accumulating bible reading plans at this link: https://www.crossway.org/articles/download-a-free-bible-reading-plan-for-2017/. Even though it’s 2017, it’s still beneficial.
- I started reading the M’Cheyne plan years ago, which was encouraging. That got me started on reading my bible in different sections. For example, I would read 1 chapter from each of these sections: Genesis-Deuteronomy, Joshua-Esther, Psalms-Song of Solomon, Isaiah-Malachi, Matthew-John, Romans-Philemon, Hebrews-3 John, and Revelation. I read 8 chapters daily, with 1 chapter from each section. This isn’t a yearly plan, but it’s something that helped me see how the bible worked together and helped me see the overarching story of the bible. As I got busier, I would do 4 chapters daily, with another 4 the next day, using the same sections. But you can see how adjustable this could be to your lifestyle and schedule.
- The other plan on the Crossway page I liked was the chronological one. This takes you through the Bible in the order that the books were written or the time they were written about. This one is fun because you read prophets that go along with certain history sections.
Devotionals (with links in the titles):
- New Morning Mercies by Paul Tripp. Not many people put the gospel in “shoe leather,” like Paul Tripp.
- Truth for Life by Alistair Begg. Perhaps you can hear his Scottish accent when you read this.
- Morning and Evening by C.H. Spurgeon is a classic by the Prince of Preachers.
- My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers has been a staple devotional for many Christians.