Centred on Living for Christ

The fundamental need for anyone taking up a leadership role in a church is that they are clear about who Jesus is and are committed to living for his glory. Christ must be their treasure! They must be thrilled with him.

John Wesley was an ordained Anglican minister who travelled to America in 1736 to help in the young churches there. The voyage there was fraut with very rough weather and danger and at times many of the passengers and crew were scared for their lives – but one group stood out. They were a group of Moravian Christians families from Germany who were going out as missionaries to America. John Wesley wrote in his diary,

“At seven I went to the Germans. I had long before observed the great seriousness of their behaviour. Of their humility they had given a continual proof, by performing those servile offices for the other passengers, which none of the English would undertake; for which they desired, and would receive no pay, saying, “it was good for their proud hearts,” and “their loving Saviour had done more for them.” And every day had given them occasion of showing a meekness which no injury could move. If they were pushed, struck, or thrown down, they rose again and went away; but no complaint was found in their mouth. There was now an opportunity of trying whether they were delivered from the Spirit of fear, as well as from that of pride, anger, and revenge. In the midst of the psalm wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the main-sail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sung on. I asked one of them afterwards, “Was you not afraid?” He answered, “I thank God, no.” I asked, “But were not your women and children afraid?” He replied, mildly, “No; our women and children are not afraid to die.”

From them I went to their crying, trembling neighbours, and pointed out to them the difference in the hour of trial, between him that feareth God, and him that feareth him not. At twelve the wind fell. This was the most glorious day which I have hitherto seen.

John Wesley went on to spend considerable time with these Moravian Christians and it became clear that it was their obvious love for the Lord Jesus that was the secret of their different lives. It was their influence that later led John Wesley to understand that a Christian is someone who is dependent on the Lord Jesus because they have personally recognised that Christ had lived and died for them. This is the same lesson that the apostle Paul taught.

Paul’s focus

When Paul wrote to the Philippian church he emphasised something important.

“It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” Philippians 3:1b

What is it that Paul kept stressing? This how the verse began:

“Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord!” Philippians 3:1a

We can so easily look for joy in the wrong places, in our abilities and skills, in our position of authority or in our successes. Such joys are real but always temporary. Paul keeps repeating that our deep satisfaction must be in our relationship with the Lord Jesus. It is easy to know if this is true of a person. They smile with recognition when the Lord is mentioned, they love to talk about him and include him in plans, they are committed to making his service the priority of their lives. Paul was such a person, he was able to honestly say,

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:7-11

There is no doubt what motivated Paul, ‘For the sake of Christ,’ (3:7) ‘The surpassing worth of knowing Christ,’ (3:8) ‘That I may gain Christ,’ (3:8) ‘I want to know Christ,’ (3:10). This is the central theme of this letter and he comes back to this:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4

Paul then asks all Christians to imitate him,

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9

The apostle has no doubt that to make Christ our life’s priority is well worth while. We will experience the shalom or peace of God. This experience supersedes all others. At times this Christ-centred attitude caused him problems. He was imprisoned in Rome because of his teaching, chained to a Roman soldier, but he could say,

“ . . .what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.” Philippians 1:12

Whatever problems he faces he sees a way to glorify the Lord Jesus in them. In the first chapter of this letter to the Philippians Paul mentions Christ eighteen times – that is highly significant. He said to all Christians,

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ . . .” Philippians 2:5

The priority of living for Jesus should be that of all God’s people, of all Christians,

“ . . . that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10-11

If this is meant to be the clear lifestyle and priority of all Christians, it is essential that the leaders of churches not only have this attitude bu that it should be apparent to all around them.

Jesus teaches about false prophets

In all generations people need leaders and all too often the characteristics they admire are not the best. Tall handsome men with low voices and smiles can go far in this world! Get a team behind you and you can move mountains! Look at the support Hitler and Putin have had in their countries when they have been promoted by a few in power!

The same was true in Israel in Jesus’ day. The Pharisees were often very pleasant admired people yet what they taught was the opposite of what God wanted. Jesus warned his disciples,

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Matthew 7:15-19

This is a powerful warning to those who do not have the right priorities when appointing church ministers or elders. Some people can be charming and very personable yet what they really stand for is not the glory of the Lord Jesus. They look like lovely sheep but really will lead many into lethal pastures and these false shepherds will face the fire of God’s rejection. How can such ‘false prophets’ be identified? Jesus says it is by looking at the priorities of what they live for. ‘To bear good fruit’ in the Bible is both to develop the fruit of the Spirit in our personality but also to be effective in winning others for Christ. Both types of fruit are emphasised in the Bible:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. . . Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:22-24

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. John 15:16

A false church leader will not be determined to develop the strong but humble character of their Lord. Neither will they be that bothered about winning people for Christ. They won’t talk about the Lord Jesus, a feature demonstrating that they clearly love him. When listening to a false teacher note how seldom they mention the Lord Jesus and see the absence of warmth at the thought of him.

Jesus now gives a strong warning to such church leaders. He describes what will happen when they meet him at the final judgment. Then all their pride and self satisfaction will melt away when God’s judgment is given,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23

They assumed they were Christians but in god’s eyes all they did, their preaching and even their miracles and exorcisms were done for their glory. They were not living for Christ but for themselves in a religious environment. How terrible it will be for those who have this judgment made about their lives,

“I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” Matthew 7:23

Christians who have responsibility for the appointment of ministers or elders in their local church must be very careful. Do the proposed candidates meet up with the high standards in Scripture. Would you do better to defer an appointment? We must all be wise and ensure that what Jesus teaches is our priority. Without due diligence being made in the search, there may not be any obvious problems with a gifted candidate in the early months the short term but the lack of foundation will be come apparent when difficulties arise. The wise man builds his life on the words of Jesus:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27

Many people have heard of the children’s chorus, ‘The wise man built his house upon the rock’. Many people assume that because they call themselves Christians they are secure, but note how this section begins. The rock on which wise people build their lives are the ‘words of Jesus’. No-one should call themselves a Christian with its assumed privilege of eternal life if they are not committed to doing what Jesus teaches in the Bible.

In every generation there have been church ministers or elders who never had or who have lost such a devotion to Christ. I well remember a friend at university who was vice President of the Christian Union. He was ordained and eventually became a senior bishop but by this stage he had lost his first love, the Lord Jesus, and replaced this with a love of religion. What a comedown! Fortunately others move in the opposite direction.

In March 1778, John Wesley was back in England visiting his brother Charles at Oxford when he was recovering from pleurisy. Helping Charles was Peter Boehler, another Moravian Christian and subsequently a friendship developed between this Peter and John Wesley. It was through Peter Boehler John Wesley came to understand the Christian gospel, it is not what we do for God but what the Lord Jesus has done for us.

“. . . by whom (in the hand of the great God) I was, on Sunday, the 5th, clearly convinced of unbelief, of the want of that faith whereby alone we are saved.”

Not many have heard of Peter Boehler but he was a man that God used to influence many for Christ. He was born in 1712 in Germany but at Jena university he himself had became a committed Christian and had joined the Moravian church that was committed to evangelising the world. John Wesley wrote in his diary for May 3-4th 1778,

“Peter Boehler left London, in order to embark for Carolina. O what a work hath God begun since his coming into England! Such an one as shall never come to an end, till heaven and earth pass away.”

A week later John received a letter from Peter Boehler,

“I love you greatly and think much of you in my journey, wishing and praying that the tender mercies of Jesus Christ the Crucified, whose bowels were moved towards you more than six thousand years ago, may be manifested to your soul: That you may taste and then see, how exceedingly the Son of God has loved you, and loves you still; and that so you may continually trust in Him, and feel his life in yourself. Beware of the sin of unbelief; and if you have not conquered it yet, see that you conquer it this very day, through the blood of Jesus Christ. Delay not, I beseech you, to believe in your Jesus Christ; but so put Him in mind of his promises to poor sinners, that He may not be able to refrain from doing for you, what He hath done for so many others. O how great, how inexpressible, how unexhausted is his love! Surely he is now ready to help; and nothing can offend Him but our unbelief.

“The Lord bless you! Abide in faith, love, teaching, the communion of saints; and briefly, in all which we have in the New Testament. I am,

“Your unworthy Brother, Peter Boehler.”

What a wonderful Christ centred example this Peter Boehler was. Wesley summarizes his life changing conversion experience in his diary on Wednesday, May 24, 1738:

“In my return to England, January, 1738, being in imminent danger of death, and very uneasy on that account, I was strongly convinced that the cause of that uneasiness was unbelief; and that the gaining a true, living faith was the “one thing needful” for me. But still I fixed not this faith on its right object: I meant only faith in God, not faith in or through Christ. Again, I knew not that I was wholly void of this faith; but only thought, I had not enough of it. So that when Peter Boehler, whom God prepared for me as soon as I came to London, affirmed of true faith in Christ, (which is but one,) that it had those two fruits inseparably attending it, “Dominion over sin, and constant Peace from a sense of forgiveness,” I was quite amazed, and looked upon it as a new Gospel. If this was so, it was clear I had not faith. But I was not willing to be convinced of this. Therefore, I disputed with all my might, and laboured to prove that faith might be where these were not; especially where the sense of forgiveness was not: For all the Scriptures relating to this I had been long since taught to construe away; and to call all Presbyterians who spoke otherwise. Besides, I well saw, no one could, in the nature of things, have such a sense of forgiveness, and not feel it. But I felt it not. If then there was no faith without this, all my pretensions to faith dropped at once.

When I met Peter Boehler again, he consented to put the dispute upon the issue which I desired, namely, Scripture and experience. I first consulted the Scripture. But when I set aside the glosses of men, and simply considered the words of God, comparing them together, endeavouring to illustrate the obscure by the plainer passages; I found they all made against me, and was forced to retreat to my last hold, “that experience would never agree with the literal interpretation of those scriptures. Nor could I therefore allow it to be true, till I found some living witnesses of it.” He replied, he could show me such at any time; if I desired it, the next day. And accordingly, the next day he came again with three others, all of whom testified, of their own personal experience, that a true living faith in Christ is inseparable from a sense of pardon for all past, and freedom from all present, sins. They added with one mouth, that this faith was the gift, the free gift of God; and that he would surely bestow it upon every soul who earnestly and perseveringly sought it. I was now thoroughly convinced; and, by the grace of God, I resolved to seek it unto the end,

1. By absolutely renouncing all dependence, in whole or in part, upon my own works or righteousness; on which I had really grounded my hope of salvation, though I knew it not, from my youth up.

2. By adding to the constant use of all the other means of grace, continual prayer for this very thing, justifying, saving faith, a full reliance on the blood of Christ shed for me; a trust in Him, as my Christ, as my sole justification, sanctification, and redemption.

I continued thus to seek it, (though with strange indifference, dullness, and coldness, and unusually frequent relapses into sin,) till Wednesday, May 24. I think it was about five this morning, that I opened my Testament on those words: “There are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, even that ye should be partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4.) Just as I went out, I opened it again on those words, “Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God.” In the afternoon I was asked to go to St. Paul’s. The anthem was, “Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. O let shine ears consider well the voice of my complaint. If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it? For there is mercy with thee; therefore shalt thou be feared. O Israel, trust in the Lord: For with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his sins.”

In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate-Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: And an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”i

It was John Wesley, his brother Charles and his friend George Whitefield who were to lead the eighteenth century Christian revival in Britain and in the Eastern States of America that itself had world changing consequences.

How such men are desperately needed in todays churches. A short while ago Roger Carswell, an evangelist took me to look at the tombstone of the Rev John Berridge in the grounds of Everton church. He had been a Fellow in Clare College Cambridge before embarking on parish ministry. In 1755 he was appointed to be the vicar of Everton in Bedfordshire where he remained until his death in 1793. Soon after arriving in this post he realised that his faith had been intellectual but not real and he subsequently turned to Christ as his personal saviour and he experienced the new birth. A revival in the area began in 1759. John Wesley said that two thousand turned to Christ for salvation in the following year through John Berridge’s preaching about Christ.ii This is a picture of John Berridge’s tombstone.

ihttps://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/moravians-and-wesley

iihttps://ukwells.org/wells/church-of-st-marys-everton-john-berridge