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NASB | Luke 19:44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 19:44 and they will level you to the ground, you [Jerusalem] and your children within you. They will not leave in you one stone on another, all because you did not [come progressively to] recognize [from observation and personal experience] the time of your visitation [when God was gracious toward you and offered you salvation]." |
Subject: The time of your visitation? |
Bible Note: Dear Brother Steve, Your concern for the proper handling of the Word is one born of the change that God has wrought in your life. It is a Godly fear. It is proper and right that we be concerned to properly present the whole Word accurately, completely, and without embellishment. It is a very serious task that He has given us, and one for which we shall be judged. However, I'd also like to commend you for your desire to minister the Word to others. This, also, is a God given desire. (The old divines called it an unction.) Like the former fear, this desire is evidence of your salvation. So be of good cheer! My only advice, brother, is that you continue to learn and continue to teach. Pray that God will bring Himself glory as He magnifies the truth. Ask Him to show you when you are in error, and that He would also mitigate the consequences of such error. Also beg Him to work the power of the Word in your own life. This is how I approach my own teaching and preaching. I often think of the following two verses, that seem well connected... "But His Word was in my heart as a burning fire... (Jeremiah 20:9) ...Yea, woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel! (1 Corinthians 9:16)" Perhaps you will find comfort and encouragement in the following old, Puritan prayer: "My Master God, I am desired to preach today, but go weak and needy to my task; yet I long that people might be edified with divine truth, that an honest testimony might be borne for Thee; give me assistance in preaching and prayer, with heart uplifted for grace and unction. Present to my view things pertinent to my subject, with fullness of matter and clarity of thought, proper expressions, fluency, fervency, a feeling sense of the things I preach, and grace to apply them to men's consciences. Keep me conscious all the while of my defects, and let me not gloat in pride over my performance. Help me to offer a testimony for Thyself, and to leave sinners inexcusable in neglecting Thy mercy. Give me freedom to open the sorrows of Thy people, and to set before them comforting considerations. Attend with power the truth preached, and awaken the attention of my slothful audience. May Thy people be refreshed, melted, convicted, comforted, and help me to use the strongest arguments drawn from Christ's incarnation and sufferings, that men might be made holy. "I myself need Thy support, comfort, strength, holiness, that I might be a pure channel of Thy grace, and be able to do something for Thee; give me then refreshment among Thy people, and help me not to treat excellent matter in a defective way, or bear broken testimony to so worthy a Redeemer, or be harsh in treating of Christ's death, its design and end, from lack of warmth and fervency. And keep me in tune with Thee as I do this work." One last point: I was reading J. I. Packer the other day. "Wherein comes the skill to apply God's truth appropriately in preaching?" he asked. "From the experience of having God apply His truth powerfully to oneself." John Owen said something similar, but related, "If the Word does not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us." Persevere, dear brother! Persevere! In Him, Doc |