FOUNDATION BAPTIST

From the Pastor's Heart

Each week in the FBC bulletin Pastor Talbert includes a brief devotional challenge taken from his own daily time in the Word of God. This part of the Bulletin is called “The Pastor’s Heart.” The following are the excerpts attached to the church bulletins for April and May of 2007.

April 1

Does your part of a casual conversation frequently exceed one minute? Do you think of yourself as a talker rather than a listener? Do people tend to look away from you as you approach? When you are talking to people, do their eyes wander from you more than one third of the time? These are probably indications that you … yes … you talk too much. Proverbs 17:27 tells us that He who has knowledge spares his words. If the opposite of that is true - that the ignorant prattle on endlessly - then all we have to do to appear knowledgeable is be quiet!

How did Twain say it? It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than open it and remove all doubt. But the very next verse in Proverbs 17 says Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive. Ecclesiastes 5:3 says that a fool's voice is known by his many words and 10:14 says that a fool also multiplies words. Solomon, ironically, had a great deal to say about talking too much. In Proverbs 10:19 we have the familiar text: In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.

What this means for all of us is that we need to make a Spirit-filled effort to talk less. We all sin in many things. James says that a person who does not sin in his speech is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body (3:2). So David promises: "I will guard my ways, Lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, While the wicked are before me" (Psalm 39:1). Examine your own life and heart. Do you talk when you don't know what else to do? This is a dangerous precedent. Even the Apostle Peter spoke when he knew not what to answer (Mark 9:6). May God give us the grace, and the contentment, to be silent. Swift to hear and slow to speak is still an excellent standard to aspire to (James 1:19).

April 8

It can be bothersome to us to read that God hates it when the Israelites offered sacrifices. After all, He is the one who told them to do it in the first place. For instance, in Isaiah 1 God asks: What is the purpose of all the sacrifices you offer to Me? We might answer: Lord, because you commanded them to offer those offerings in Leviticus 1-7. Ah, yes, but then these folks were not offering their sacrifices in order to obey God. They were offering them in the mistaken belief that the mere offering was taking away their sins. So God says I have had enough of sacrifice. I do not take delight the blood you offer. Why do you even come to My Temple?

Clearly, God is not happy with their worship. Worse, God is very UNhappy with it. Approaching God - even doing the things He commanded in the Bible - and yet not approaching Him with the right heart attitude is worse than useless. It is contemptible. God tells Israel: Bring no more vain oblations (i.e. offerings). Stop bringing them! They are futile. He continues: Your offering of incense is an abomination to Me. I cannot endure your sacred meetings. I hate them! The heartless, willful, self-righteous worshipper is daring God to respond. When they pray, He says, God will hide His eyes from them. God promises: I will not hear.

What do such folks need to do? Verses 16-17 have the answer: "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow." But isn't that what they are doing with their offerings and prayers and sacred meetings? The answer is plain: NO! If they had thought that before, God is telling them here that they were wrong. It is not by religious rituals that they are clean from sin. It is by their faith in God and His Word that they are counted righteous. Have you surrendered yourself to Him for salvation?

April 15

There are several Scriptures which identify the pastor's job among the people of the congregation. For instance, in Ephesians 4: 12 we read that the pastor's job is to equip the saints so that they can then do the work of the ministry. Again, in Acts 20 when Paul is speaking to the Ephesian elders he tells them to be careful to feed the church.

Oddly enough, I found another verse pointing to the job of the pastor, even though I am sure that this is not what Solomon had in mind as he penned it under the Spirit's direction. In the NKJV of Proverbs 22:19 (the version I am currently reading through this year) we read, "So that your trust may be in the LORD; I have instructed you today, even you." Whereas the verse in Ephesians has the purpose of the pastor's work in view, and the verse in Acts 20 the substance, this verse has the heart of the pastor's work in view. That is, what we hope our ministry will produce in the lives of the people is an ever-increasing faith in God.

Solomon begins this thought two verses earlier with an appeal for his readers to listen and take to heart his words: "Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to my knowledge." Notice the verbs: incline … hear … apply. This is listening to do. Here is the heart attitude of the congregation during preaching. Then Solomon offers a reason why such attention should be given: "For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you." They must be memorized and applied as daily rules of living. Solomon says that they should be fixed upon our lips so that our trust may be in the Lord.

Every faithful shepherd wants a congregation filled with people who trust the Lord, and daily place their entire well-being completely into His hands. We believe that expounding the Scripture will do that. In fact, we believe that Bible exposition is the only thing that will do that. Are you listening? Are you applying yourself?

April 22

Psalm 15 asks "LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?" In other words, whose life is so approved of by God that God will fellowship with him? What kind of a person does God desire to spend time with? The psalm answers that question in 11 phrases which, grouped together appropriately, address three areas of life.

First, what is this fellow's standard of daily living? Verse 2 answers that question: "He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart." First, his daily manner of life (his "walk") is upright. That is, he orders his life by the Word. Then, he works righteousness. When he speaks, it is the truth, spoken from his heart. In his daily life he seeks to conform to God's standard.

Second, how does this person treat others? Verses 3-4 answer that question. He does not backbite, a picturesque way of saying that he does not slander others. Nor does he mistreat them, or blame them for things they haven't done. Verse 4 says this person despises the vile, but honors God-fearers. This person keeps his promises to others.

Third, how does this person handle money? Verse 5 answers this last question. He does not lend out money in such a way as to take unfair advantage of others. Neither does he accept a bribe to testify against someone who is innocent. This person cannot be bought. His principles mean more to him than any amount of money.

Does this describe you? Do you have daily, person integrity? Do you treat others as you should? How about your money? Does it own you, or do you own it? Verse 5 says that a person who meets these criteria can fellowship with God. Verse 5 says: "He who does these things shall never be moved." In other words, you will have a life of stability, both now and into eternity.

April 29

Psalm 15 says that the person who pleases the Lord "honors those who fear the LORD." This is actually the other end of a two-part expression in verse 4: "In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the LORD." Do you honor God-fearing folks? If you would answer "Yes" then let me ask another question: How do you do that? I would like to suggest several ways you can honor believers, those who love and fear the Lord.

First, and perhaps most obvious, is to tell them. There are people at your church who fear the Lord and who have shown that by the way they live. Tell them how much you appreciate them for it. Perhaps you know a Christian who gives sacrificially, or who is doing a good job raising his/her children to fear God, or is always faithful in the services at church. They are not doing these things to please men, but to please God. Tell them how much you appreciate them, what an encouragement they are to you. Honor them who do these things out of love to God.

Second, read their biographies. Down through the centuries of church history there have been men and women who feared God and served him. Become familiar with their lives, and how God worked in them and through them. Hold them up as models for yourself and your family. These are the real heroes of life. Honor them by remembering them, and by using their lives as a pattern for your own.

Third, honor those who fear the Lord by serving them with Christian hospitality. This means more than just having them over for a meal, though that is a good place to start. It means praying for them and encouraging them too. Christian missionaries show their fear of God by leaving home and loved-ones to carry the gospel to the lost far away. Honor them with your regular monetary and emotional support. If your pastor is a good example of fearing the Lord, honor him with your obedience and loyalty.

God says in Psalm 16:3 "As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight." Is your thinking like God's?

May 6

John Bunyan, famous author of The Pilgrim's Progress, wrote another allegory called The Holy War. It pictures the fight over the town of Mansoul between King Shaddai (who represents, of course, God - the term means Almighty) and Diabolus, a mighty giant who assaulted the town to take it for himself. This assault takes place primarily at one or more of the five gates - the Eargate, Eyegate, Mouthgate, Nosegate and Feelgate. As you may imagine, the first two are the primary means Diabolus uses to make a breach into the town.

It reminds us of the importance of being careful what our eyes see and our ears hear. David promises in Psalm 16:8: "I have set the LORD always before me." What does that mean? It is similar to what David says in Psalm 119:30 "Your judgments I have laid before me." The verb translated set in Psalm 16 is the same word translated laid in Psalm 119. Setting the Lord always before us means to focus on Him, to conduct ourselves from moment to moment as though He is there with us. He promised that He would never leave us, didn't He? Did He mean that, or not? Of course He did. Then He is there with us, isn't He?

It means that I read His Word reverently and quietly, thoughtfully and thoroughly. I read it according to my schedule so that I can get that regular "bird's eye" view. But then I read it more slowly, meditating on those verses and phrases that the Spirit of God especially lays on my heart. I lay His judgments before me, considering how just and right they are.

It means that I speak with Him as I would a co-worker or family member who is also there with me - easily, familiarly, intimately, comfortably. Only He is God, so I speak with reverence, with wonder, and yet with complete faith. Have you set the Lord always before you?