Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible

Guest: The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals presents the timeless teaching of Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Joy is one of the prime requisites of the Christian life. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. The Lord told his disciples that they were to abide in his love and concluded his remarks by saying, these things have I spoken to you that my joy might remain in you.

And that your joy might be full. Later he told them to pray so that they might receive answers and that their joy might be full. In the introduction to his first Epistle, the Apostle John wrote, these things write I unto you that your joy may be full.

Oh, there is so much misery in the world. And the believer in Christ is called upon to do what he can to lighten the burden of those who are in need. Gode, the Swiss commentator, says of this text that the word cheerfulness denotes the joyful eagerness, the amiable grace, the affability, going the length of gaiety which makes the visitor, whether man or woman, a sunbeam penetrating into the sick chamber and to the heart of the afflicted.

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Guest: Over a half a century ago, the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, then pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, saw the need to spread God's word beyond the hearing of his local congregation. He started the radio outreach which has become known as Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible. The application of God's word as taught by Dr. Barnhouse is as relevant today as when he first taught over the radio airwaves decades ago.

The message we will be featuring on today's edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is entitled Administration and Compassionate Care. Some congregations that might be more charismatic might look down upon other churches and denominations for what they perceive as a lack of interest in spiritual gifts. They may not realize that a church is faithfully exercising its spiritual gifts through acts of mercy and compassion, and wise and effective management and administration of its affairs.

Mercy, compassion, and church administration are not often mentioned in discussions of spiritual gifts, but they are vital to the growth and well-being of the church of Jesus Christ. The scripture text for this edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible, Romans chapter 12, and verse 8. Here once again is Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse with a message entitled Administration and Compassionate Care.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we come unto thee our Father and our God and in the Holy Spirit. How we praise thee for thy gracious favor that brought us thy love in Jesus Christ and made it possible for us to have thine own life through him.

We pray thee in this hour for all who do not know thee, that their hard hearts may be melted and that they may repent and turn to thee. We pray also for all who have named thy name. That our lives may show forth the love which we truly bear to thee in our hearts.

And bless the word that now goes forth to each listening heart. We ask it in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In Romans 12:8, we come to the end of the list of the gifts that are announced for the body of Christ. He that rules, let him rule with diligence. He that shows mercy, let him do it with cheerfulness.

In our previous studies, we have established the principle that God saves men through grace and that he gives each believer the Holy Spirit. In addition to this gift of himself, the Holy Spirit empowers each believer with some gift that is meant for the growth of all believers.

We are like different members in the same body. The eye exists not for itself, but for all the body. The foot exists not for itself, but for all the body. Various gifts are given, not all of them to any one believer, but some of them to each believer.

These gifts may be had in increasing intensity as we accept by faith what God is doing in us and walk before him as those who wish to be under his control. We come now to the last two of these gifts, taking charge of the administration of the churches and showing compassion to those who are in need of such care.

It should be realized that some of these gifts overlap and their bounds are not rigidly drawn. In considering these gifts, we shall see that some of the offices involved are mixed with the exercise of those gifts which we have already studied.

The King James version reads here, he that ruleth with diligence. The Revised Standard version says, he that gives aid with zeal. I believe that here the older translation is infinitely superior. The idea behind the Greek word is certainly not that of rendering help to someone in need or caring for those who are sick, but is definitely the idea of government and administration.

The word is found eight times in the New Testament, and its true meaning can be determined by looking at other verses where it occurs. Our present text is the first in the New Testament where this word is used. We next find it in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, where we read, we beseech you, brethren, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

The Greek word is rendered here by those who are over you in the Lord, your superiors in the Lord. That is to say, those in the church who are administrators, elders, overseers. Clearly the thought is not one of giving aid, but of administration.

In Paul's Epistle to Timothy, the word is found three times in one chapter. In 1 Timothy chapter 3, we read definitely that the man who is to be a bishop, an overseer in the church, is to be one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. The revision says that the man, the bishop, must manage his household.

And the following verse again uses the word, for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? It should be noted that bishops are to be married men and that they must know how to govern their children, how to manage their household. This is God's command.

The same word is used a few verses farther on with reference to deacons, who also are to manage their children and their households well. In another chapter in the same epistle, we are told that the elders who rule well are to be counted worthy of double honor. The revision has made no change here.

In the Epistle to Titus, the word is found twice in the sense of maintaining good works. And this completes the usages of the word in the entire New Testament. When we go to the lexicons, we discover that scholars have even questioned the translations that are found in Titus. And the English revision of the last century urges that Christians profess honest occupations.

I therefore adopt the King James translation without question and believe that the text indicates the gift of administration, the gift of management of the affairs of the church. Such work, God tells us, is to be performed with zeal and diligence. This gift has had a strange history.

Because there have been men who abused it and became domineering, haughty, overbearing tyrants, there has been a swing of the pendulum against church discipline. The Bible teaches us definitely that God has set some men in the church to be spiritual leaders. And that those who come to Christ must take them as examples and follow them.

In fact, there are strong appeals to believers to be submitted to their spiritual leaders. We read in Hebrews 13:7, remember them that have the rule over you. The Greek word is quite different from that in our text, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow.

The revision is just as strong. Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their life and imitate their faith. Further in the same chapter, the thought is taken up again. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as men who will have to give account.

Now, taking advantage of office, the rulers of the church perpetrated unutterable horrors in enslaving the souls of men. Men fought for domination in the church far more greedily than dictators have fought for tyrannical power in government. For the political dictators were content to rule over men's bodies and fortunes, but there were church leaders who wished to rule over men's souls as well.

It is impossible to understand the history of the past 2,000 years without knowing the main outline of this struggle for domination over men's souls. Religious leaders began to act as though they were emperors. If we turn to the Bible and read the epistles, for example, those written by Peter.

We have an outline of how the church should be administered. In Peter's first epistle, in chapter 2, Peter himself claims that the rock on which the church was built was not himself, but the Lord Jesus Christ. We read, come to him, says Peter. Come to him to that living stone, rejected by men, but in God's sight chosen and precious.

For it stands in scripture, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame. Live as free men, says Peter. He identifies himself as a fellow elder, on an equality with them in Christ, telling them that they're to tend the flock of God that is in your charge. Not by constraint, but willingly. Not for shameful gain, but eagerly. Not as domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

But over the centuries, the church has become so far removed from what Peter taught that it bears little resemblance to the church of his day. Such is the tendency of the human heart that men in all areas of Christianity take to themselves the domination of power over the souls of others.

But we are fortunate today to have the open Bible and can return to the simple principles which God has given to us. Our text says, let him that rules do it with diligence.

If God has given to any of us a position of leadership in the church of Jesus Christ, such leadership must be held in trust. We are accountable to God and must answer at the judgment seat of Christ for every act of our administration.

I can assure you that many times I have asked the Lord to review my life and to keep it constantly under review, to show me wherein I have hurt some soul, to forgive me for that hurt and not to allow it to block the development of that soul. How glad I am that we are not to rule over the souls of men, but are to furnish examples of faith that they may imitate us, only as we imitate Jesus Christ.

Our leadership must be with diligence, we are told. This word diligence originally contained the idea of haste. Hence, the idea of earnestness came into the meaning, earnestness in accomplishing, promoting, or striving. In our context, it means that if a man has the gift of leadership, he's to throw himself into it and give of his utmost to the work that's to be done, or to the people who are to be led.

One of the first laws of military command is that an officer must protect his men, as a mother cares for her children. This principle is to be applied to Christian leadership. The leader is to be alive at every moment to the needs of those who follow him. He must see to it that he does not lead them astray, but take care always to live so close to Christ that he can counsel them to walk in his own footsteps.

And now we come in our study to the last gift in this series. The man who has the gift of performing acts of mercy is to work with cheerfulness. A story which I heard as a child and which made a great impression on me concerned a layman who wished to perform some kind of Christian service.

And his pastor suggested that he go to a rescue mission and help. So the man duly presented himself to the superintendent of the mission, shortly before the scheduled hour of a service for the down-and-outers who walked along Skid Row where the mission was located. The superintendent told the man to stand out on the sidewalk and invite passing men to come into the meeting.

The man accosted the passerby, and in a very mournful tone, asked them to enter the mission, "Won't you come to our meeting?" Each man to whom he spoke glanced at him and went on. He learned his lesson, however, when one man responded to his doleful invitation, "Brother, wouldn't you like to come into the meeting?" Cynically the man looked at his solemn face and said, "No thanks, I've troubles enough of my own."

Now, we are certainly not going to be good recommendations for the Lord Jesus Christ, if we have not learned the great truth that joy is one of the prime requisites of the Christian life. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. The Lord told his disciples that they were to abide in his love, and concluded his remarks by saying, these things have I spoken to you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full.

Later he told them to pray so that they might receive answers and that their joy might be full. In the introduction to his first Epistle, the Apostle John wrote, these things write I unto you that your joy may be full. Oh, there is so much misery in the world. And the believer in Christ is called upon to do what he can to lighten the burden of those who are in need.

Gode, the Swiss commentator, says of this text that the word cheerfulness denotes the joyful eagerness, the amiable grace, the affability, going the length of gaiety which makes the visitor, whether man or woman, a sunbeam penetrating into the sick chamber and to the heart of the afflicted. Dr. Griffith Thomas tells of an advertisement in a religious paper for a clergyman who was pious but cheerful.

And of a little girl who said of a certain minister, he must be an excellent man, he looks so sad. Oh, it's impossible to find any biblical basis for characters of gloom like those alleged to be among the Puritans. From the distance of a century, Victorian smugness appears little more than Pharisaism when viewed against the background of the word of God.

Oh, we know, of course, that in the midst of all their hypocrisy, there was sometimes almost flagrant sin and hypocrisy. And we might even say that there's evidence that they had very good times. But it is their primness and prissiness that has come down to us in the name Puritan and Victorian. Now we do not deny that there were many godly people living in those early centuries, but we do not believe that the most godly were the glum and the gloomy, the prim and the prissy.

It is said of the Lord Jesus Christ that he was a friend of publicans and sinners. He lived among those who were the outcasts of their day and would be outcasts today. Anyone who knows anything about such people knows that they're often raucous and ribald. The Lord Jesus Christ was not sinful, but he moved among people who were loud and boisterous.

And he would not have been tolerated by them if he had exhibited an air of smug piety. He was holy, and yet, how winsome. He was the Lord of glory, yet he was the Lord of joy. I cannot believe that the Lord Jesus Christ went about with a solemn face. The children loved him.

He called them to himself and folded them in his arms. They did not shrink from him as children shrink from the flint-faced religionists whose religion consists of following some legalistic code of their own devising. There is evidence that the children loved the Lord Jesus Christ.

And Mark tells us that the common people heard him gladly. He was known as a man who was moved with compassion. That compassion was not dark, but bright with all the brightness of the joy of the Lord. That same joy is our strength.

I have a close friend who is a splendid example of how this gift should be exercised. When he enters a sick room, it is brightened by his presence. As an instance of this, I tell a story of a man related to a member of our church. And the man was nearing the end of his life, and he was not saved.

My friend visited him in the hospital time and again, and soon the man became a firm believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. After listening to my radio program, he expressed the wish to my friend that I visit him. So, my friend and I went to his hospital room to see him.

The man was afflicted with a very advanced stage of cancer, which horribly affected one side of his face. As I followed my friend into the room, I was taken aback by the smell of death, which was already there. I'm afraid that in those days, I was a little loath to do this kind of work by myself.

But as my friend entered, I heard him laugh gaily as he called out, "Hello, John, it's Carl come to see you." At first I thought that the sick man was unconscious. Then I saw a smile break at the corner of his mouth. My friend went down on his knees beside the bed, put his arm under the pillow, and cradled the dying man within his embrace.

Smiling he said, "John, I've been praying for you. I've had assurance from the Lord that you're being blessed and that you're going to go to be with him full of joy." After a moment he introduced me, and I, I tried to talk to the man. But in those few minutes, I received much more than I could ever have given.

I had witnessed in my friend, the Lord Jesus Christ at work in the heart of one of his own. I had seen the infectious joy of a man who had the gift of the Holy Spirit, which enabled him to do such an act of mercy with cheerfulness. I saw that the dying man was exhilarated by the visit. The bringer of joy had communicated to him the joy of the Lord, which he needed more than pious platitudes.

Then, as my friend talked, there came the flow of praise to God. He spoke of the wonder of the Lord, how marvelous he is, how he never makes a mistake, how he does all things well, how he would be taking John home to be with himself. Wasn't it wonderful? John, you're going to see him, and you'll be like him. Oh, it's hard not to envy you. How wonderful that you will see the Lord Jesus Christ.

Long afterward, and I thought of it hundreds of times. Long afterward, I was able to identify the gift that I had seen at work that day. Our text in Romans 12 enabled me to recognize it. I had seen the Holy Spirit perform an act of mercy with cheerfulness. I had watched Christ working through my friend.

And our God and Father, we pray thee that others may see Jesus Christ in us. As we perform the daily acts of kindness, with cheerfulness, as thou dost give us to witness among men. Speak to every heart that listens in this hour to build and strengthen thy people. We ask it in the name and for the sake of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Amen.

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Guest: When believers faithfully and joyfully exercise our unique spiritual gifts in concert with one another, we glorify the Lord and testify to the world of the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. We hope you have benefited from today's message entitled Administration and Compassionate Care. Listen to additional Bible teaching by Dr. Barnhouse via the internet. Visit us at Alliancenet.org. An audio copy of today's teaching is available by calling us toll-free, 1-800-488-1888. Today's message again is entitled Administration and Compassionate Care, or simply request message number R12-18. We would also like to make available to you a free copy of our booklet entitled The Bible Under Attack. Believers embrace the Holy Scriptures as the very word of God. But for years, the reliability and trustworthiness of the Bible has been challenged by the enemies of the gospel. This free five-chapter booklet powerfully reaffirms the inerrancy, infallibility, and authority of God's living word. Ask for your free copy of The Bible Under Attack when you call or write. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is a radio ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We exist to promote a biblical understanding and worldview. Drawing upon the insight and wisdom of Reformation theologians from decades and even centuries gone by, we seek to provide contemporary Christian teaching which will equip believers to understand and meet the challenges and opportunities of our time and place. The Alliance also produces the radio broadcast The Bible Study Hour featuring the teachings of the late Dr. James Montgomery Boice and Every Last Word, featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Philip Graham Ryken. For a full list of radio stations carrying our programs, visit us online at Alliancenet.org. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible comes to you through the generous gifts of listeners like you. If you have benefited from the broadcast and would like it to continue, please consider a donation to help us stay on the air. For more information or to make a contribution to further our work, contact us by calling toll-free 1-800-488-1888. Again, that's 1-800-488-1888. Write to us at Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Box 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Visit us online at Alliancenet.org. Be sure to ask for a free resource catalog featuring books, audio teachings, commentaries, booklets, videos, and a wealth of other materials from outstanding reformed teachers and theologians, including Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, Dr. James Montgomery Boice, Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones, and Dr. Philip Graham Ryken. Thanks for being with us today. Join us again next time for more classic teaching on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.

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