5 Devote yourself to Exhortation

Today, I am meditating on what my commission is.  It's all about feeding weak and vulnerable lambs; precious lambs, because they have been bought by the precious blood of the Lamb of God.

I've pointed out that lambs need to be fed on God's word; through Scripture-rich singing, through public reading of Scripture and now to these next two words:

13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. (1 Tim 4:13 ESV)

The NIV that I was discipled with translated it as 'preaching and teaching'.  Perhaps because of that translation, I didn't give very much thought to this verse, since it was easy to see that preachers did both 'sermons' and 'adult Sunday-school classes'.  The former was presumably 'preaching'; the latter perhaps what Paul called teaching.

Both CSB and ESV translate the first word as 'exhortation'. It means encouragement, an act of appealing to people.  The Greek word is paraklesis.  The Holy Spirit is the ultimate paraklete (his title in the Greek of John 14:15-27): the divine Encourager, Exhorter, Appealer, Comforter.  And Christians, by the Spirit, carry out his ministry to one another.  Pastors are not the only ones who should encourage, but we should take the lead in exhorting one another.  Indeed, we get at least one weekly slot in which we are expected to exhort the people. 

I need to read more on this and maybe come back and revise this blog after some more reading.  But for now I want to concentrate on what it means to 'exhort' in our teaching.

I'm grateful that Paul uses two words, and not just exhorting on its own.  Preaching that merely appeals to people to give to the poor, to pray, to be better parents, is full of appeals but lacking in nutrients.  We need to be taught who we are in Christ - blood-bought, adopted children of God with a staggeringly beautiful inheritance to get excited about - before we can work through how such children should behave in their new adoptive family.

But we do need preachers who appeal to us.  There is the danger that good preaching is summed up as being 'expository' or 'expositional'.  No doubt that is an important point. We don't decide on the content of what we preach. We preach what God has spoken- we expound his words.  But that can lead to a sort of preaching in which we hide behind the passage, rather than let the passage appeal through us.

Lloyd-Jones in his famous Preaching and Preachers - I've listened to the recordings that gave rise to the book - criticises preaching that is merely a running commentary on a passage. I used to wonder if that was a bit harsh.  I have pasted his comments in the footnote: (1)  But I think Lloyd-Jones was right to criticise what can be a travesty (that word means a mere dressing-up) of expository preaching.

I said earlier we can 'hide behind the passage'.  The act of preaching demands from us courage not just intellect.

The reason I chose to write this post came from my own devotional reading of Romans.  I noticed how Paul interspersed his very theological letter with appeals, very often with an address: 'brothers and sisters'.  Have you noticed that when someone in the middle of a conversation with you uses your name, it adds an earnestness to their appeal.  Picture the scene: you're talking with one person over a cup of tea after church. "I've seen many pastors leave their ministries." he says. "Jerry, I encourage you to guard your personal devotional times fiercely".  Wow- using someone's name packs more of a punch.  Paul gives us that tone because of the way he addresses his readers: he 'eyeballs' them in so afar as you can in a letter.  I will close with a machine-gun burst of Paul's appeals in Romans: skim them and be encouraged (I mean that in the original sense of en-courage: be filled with courage by Paul's example!). Paul hasn't even visited Rome, but he doesn't just write a theological treatise.

Now I am speaking to you Gentiles... (11:13)

19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but beware, 21 because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. (11:19-21)

I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: (11:25)

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. (12:1)
So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. (14:19)

7 Therefore accept one another, just as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God. (15:7)

My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15 Nevertheless, I have written to remind you more boldly on some points because of the grace given me by God (15:14-15)

30 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in fervent prayers to God on my behalf. (15:30)

17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them (16:17)

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As a Brit - we're a reserved and understated people - I used to find preachers who addressed their audience as 'dear friends', or 'brothers and sisters', rather intense and awkward. I've got more used to it now. Interestingly, Paul was not unfamiliar with timidity. In Corinthians 2:3 he says "I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling."

May God strengthen those who feed the flock and fight off wolves that come near the flock, to keep urging their brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God.  May we preach like Paul who "night and day for three years...never stopped warning each one of you with tears". Acts 20

(1) To be fair, MLJ here is not arguing specifically for 'exhortation'; his beef is with those who preach sermons with no form to them.  But I would argue that the form a sermon should have is that it is an appeal to changed thinking and behaviour, with clear reasons given.
" A sermon should always be expository. But, immediately, that leads me to say something which I regard as very important indeed in this whole matter. A sermon is not a running commentary on, or a mere exposition of, the meaning of a verse or a passage or a paragraph.

I emphasise this because there are many today who have become interested in what they regard as expository preaching but who show very clearly that they do not know what is meant by expository preaching. They think that it just means making a series of comments, or a running commentary on a paragraph or a passage or a statement. They take a passage verse by verse; and they make their comments on the first, then they go on to the next verse, and do the same with that, then the next, and so on. When they have gone through the passage in this way they imagine they have preached a sermon. But they have not; all they have done is to make a series of comments on a passage." Quoted at https://nickcady.org/2018/10/04/what-is-expository-preaching-some-thoughts-from-martyn-lloyd-jones/