The Resurrection is central to the entire Christian faith. If Jesus was not resurrected, he can’t be God or the Savior of mankind, and Christianity becomes a crumbling house of cards. However, if he was…well, you know what that means.

As you can imagine, every aspect of the Resurrection has been criticized, yet millions still believe. Why? Because the objections do not overcome the powerful evidence that supports the claim that Jesus Christ was indeed raised from the dead.

Here are brief answers to the top three objections to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

1. Jesus never died

Remember, he was scourged before he was crucified. This cruel, bloody beating made him too weak to even carry his own cross (Mark 15:21).

Just after he died, soldiers pierced his side with a spear, releasing blood and water, a clear sign of death (John 19:34).

And, after he was taken off the cross, Pilate, the Roman governor, sent soldiers to confirm his death (Mark 15:44).

This evidence works against the claim that Jesus never died.

2. The disciples stole the body

If so, the body was never found, though his enemies would certainly have searched for it. All they would have had to do to end Christianity forever was to produce the body. Yet they never did.

Moreover, Pilate set a guard to make sure it could not be stolen. At the urging of the Jewish leaders, he ordered:

“You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how” (Matthew 27:62-66).

Again, the evidence does not support the assertion that the body was stolen.

3. The disciples fabricated the resurrection story

If they did, they knowingly taught and died for a lie. You may die for a lie you believe to be true, but you would never die for a lie you know to be a lie.

New Testament scholar J.P. Moreland had this to say about what the disciples endured to maintain their belief that Christ was resurrected:

And they were willing to spend the rest of their lives proclaiming this, without any payoff from a human point of view….

They faced a life of hardship. They often went without food, slept exposed to the elements, were ridiculed, beaten, imprisoned.

And finally, most of them were executed in tortuous ways.”1

One man may do this, though even that is highly unlikely. But twelve?

What do we conclude?

Objections to Jesus’ resurrection abound. But, when closely analyzed, they are not as convincing as critics claim.

The top three—that he never died, that the disciples stole the body, and that the disciples made up the resurrection—are simply not supported by the evidence.

What conclusion do we draw, then?

Jesus was crucified, died, and rose again the third day, just like the Scriptures say.

NOTES:

The Resurrection is central to the entire Christian faith. If Jesus was not resurrected, he can’t be God or the Savior of mankind, and Christianity becomes a crumbling house of cards. However, if he was…well, you know what that means.

As you can imagine, every aspect of the Resurrection has been criticized, yet millions still believe. Why? Because the objections do not overcome the powerful evidence that supports the claim that Jesus Christ was indeed raised from the dead.

Here are brief answers to the top three objections to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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1. Jesus never died

Remember, he was scourged before he was crucified. This cruel, bloody beating made him too weak to even carry his own cross (Mark 15:21).

Just after he died, soldiers pierced his side with a spear, releasing blood and water, a clear sign of death (John 19:34). And, after he was taken off the cross, Pilate, the Roman governor, sent soldiers to confirm his death (Mark 15:44).

This evidence works against the claim that Jesus never died.

2. The disciples stole the body

If so, the body was never found, though his enemies would certainly have searched for it. All they would have had to do to end Christianity forever was to produce the body. Yet they never did.

Moreover, Pilate set a guard to make sure it could not be stolen. At the urging of the Jewish leaders, he ordered:

“You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how” (Matthew 27:62-66).

Again, the evidence does not support the assertion that the body was stolen.

3. The disciples fabricated the resurrection story

If they did, they knowingly taught and died for a lie. You may die for a lie you believe to be true, but you would never die for a lie you know to be a lie.

New Testament scholar J.P. Moreland had this to say about what the disciples endured to maintain their belief that Christ was resurrected:

And they were willing to spend the rest of their lives proclaiming this, without any payoff from a human point of view….

They faced a life of hardship. They often went without food, slept exposed to the elements, were ridiculed, beaten, imprisoned.

And finally, most of them were executed in tortuous ways.”1

One man may do this, though even that is highly unlikely. But twelve?

What do we conclude?

Objections to Jesus’ resurrection abound. But, when closely analyzed, they are not as convincing as critics claim.

The top three—that he never died, that the disciples stole the body, and that the disciples made up the resurrection—simply do not make any sense.

The conclusion? Jesus was crucified, died, and rose again the third day, just like the Scriptures say.

NOTES:

The written devotional can be found here.

The written devotional can be found here.

The written devotional can be found here.

The written devotional can be found here.

It is the audio version of the full written essay available here.

It is the audio version of the full written essay available here.

It is the audio version of the full written essay available here.

It is the audio version of the full written essay available here.

It is the audio version of the full written essay available here.

A church member walks up to you, opens their Bible to a page of the New Testament, and says, “I know this wasn’t originally written in English. So, where did these words come from, anyway?”

You’re well aware that the New Testament was originally written in Greek and that we’ve got manuscript evidence to support that. But that’s about the extent of your knowledge.

And because of that, you’d probably struggle to provide a thorough, detailed answer, wouldn’t you?

Most believers would.

A Critical Shortfall

There is a significant gap in understanding among pastors, Bible teachers, and Christians regarding the manuscript evidence underlying the New Testament.

References to “the Greek manuscripts” are familiar enough, yet few could specify how many manuscripts exist, how much of the New Testament they preserve, or how close in time they stand to the original writings.

This essay, the third in a five-part series on the New Testament text, aims to address this gap.

Early Access Note: At launch, long-form essays are available in full; future essays will be reserved for paid subscribers, who will also receive the full audio edition and printable PDF.

Having identified the primary sources of the New Testament (essay 1) and examined the physical and scribal features of those sources (essay 2), the focus now shifts to the value of the manuscripts as historical evidence.

Here, our goal is three-fold:

1. Outline the quantity of manuscripts, the extent of their coverage, and their age relative to the original writings

2. Compare New Testament manuscript data to that of other ancient documents, specifically, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey

3. Consider how this comparison impacts our confidence in the modern New Testament

In this essay:

• New Testament manuscript data

• Comparison to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey

• Effect on confidence in the New Testament

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New Testament Manuscript Data

Quantity

The organization that identifies, catalogues, and numbers extant manuscripts is the Institute for New Testament Textual Research (INTF), an organization formed in 1958 at the University of Münster in Germany.

Its stated purpose is to “comprehensively document and investigate the history of the transmission of the New Testament in its original Greek.”1

Among other resources, it provides:

• The New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room, where Bible students and scholars can review digitized versions of collected manuscripts

• The Concise List, the official international registry of all known extant Greek New Testament manuscripts2

INTF manuscripts represent the sole source of manuscript data used in modern Bible translation.

So, how many extant Greek manuscripts are there? Total counts increase every year as more manuscripts are found and logged into the INTF database.

As of September 20233, exactly 5,700 had been identified. The table below provides the official breakdown based on type.4

(For an explanation of the types listed—papyri, majuscules, minuscules, and lectionaries—see essay 2.)

Extant Greek Manuscripts as of September 2023

The INTF also publishes data on the total number of pages contained within these manuscripts.

That number as of December 2025 was 2,151,976,5 including “hundreds of witnesses for every book of the New Testament.”6

These break down as shown below.

Manuscript Pages as of December 2025

These manuscripts are in one of four stages of processing, identified by the INTF as follows:

1. Cataloged: The document has been officially registered and given a tracking number.

2. Imaged: Digital photographs of the pages have been taken, uploaded to the Virtual Manuscript Room, and are viewable online.

3. Indexed: The contents have been mapped, including the New Testament books contained within them, chapters and verses on specific pages, and gaps in coverage (known as “lacunae”).

4. Transcribed: Scholars have transcribed each manuscript character by character and entered it into a specialized database, which links the Greek text to the manuscript image with which it is associated. Transcribed manuscripts are used by scholars to further perfect the Greek New Testament used in modern translation.

When this four-fold categorization is considered, the two million plus pages are distributed as indicated in the following table.7

Manuscript Pages by Type and Stage

Size

The size of manuscripts varies widely.

• The smallest, known as P52, is 2.5 inches wide by 3.5 inches long8 and contains parts of a few verses on the front and back (front, John 18:31-33/back, John 18:37-38).9

  

• The largest, Codex Sinaiticus, contains the complete New Testament, along with large portions of the Old Testament and other non-canonical works, on more than 800 pages (400 front and back) measuring 15 by 13.5 inches.10

  

Age

Overall, the copies date from the early second century to the sixteenth century.11

While the majority were produced between the tenth and sixteenth, a significant body of evidence goes back to the second, third, and fourth.

Per Daniel Wallace, there are as many as twenty-four manuscripts from the second century, sixty-four from the third, and forty-eight from the fourth.12

On this early support, he notes:

That’s a total of 124 manuscripts within 300 years of the composition of the New Testament.

Most of these are fragmentary, but collectively, the whole New Testament text is found in them multiple times.

[This includes] three out of four gospels, nine of Paul’s letters, Acts, Hebrews, and Revelation.

Regarding the significance of these sources, he observes:

Another way to look at this is that over 40 percent of all the verses in the New Testament are already found in manuscripts within a hundred years of the completion of the New Testament.

Comparison to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey

How do these numbers compare to the manuscript support for other ancient literary works?

It is not an exaggeration to say that there is no ancient writing in existence with the quantity of manuscripts or those dated as close to the original writings as that of the New Testament.

For comparison, consider the Iliad and the Odyssey, the famous epic poems by the Greek poet Homer.

The Significance of the Iliad and Odyssey

While interest in classic literature has waned in the last half century, scholars are quick to reiterate the influence of works like the Iliad and the Odyssey on Western culture and education.

A University of Chicago museum exhibit had this to say about the impact of these particular works:13

Generations of students have read the Iliad and the Odyssey to learn Greek, to study Greek history, culture, and mythology, or for the sheer enjoyment of the stories and characters.

Concepts such as heroism, nationalism, friendship, and loyalty have been shaped by Homer’s works.

Countless editions, translations, abridgements, and adaptations have appeared since the invention of printing, making Homer accessible to students, scholars, children, and general readers.

Notice the amount of study done on these documents, the character traits they have influenced, and the “editions, translations, abridgements, and adaptations” that have been produced related to them.

Clearly, the impact of these writings has been widespread and profound. But what kind of manuscript support stands behind them?

Support for the Iliad and Odyssey

Both poems are set during or just after the Trojan War.

The Iliad traces the exploits of Achilles near the end of the war, while the Odyssey focuses on Odysseus’ journey home just after it ended.

Both poems originated as oral compositions in the late eighth to early seventh centuries BC and were not committed to writing until the mid-sixth century BC.14

Like the New Testament, they have early papyri manuscript witnesses, copies from later centuries, and quotations that appear in other works.

Early Papyri Witnesses

The earliest papyri evidence dates to the third century BC, with another 300 medieval manuscripts from the ninth to fifteenth century AD.15

Moreover, the earliest complete text of the Iliad, the most well-documented of the two, is from the tenth century AD.16

This creates the following gaps in the transmission record:

• 300-400 years from the first written forms to the earliest known manuscripts

• 400-500 years from the composition of the poems to the earliest known manuscripts

• 1400-1500 years from the first written forms to the oldest complete text

• 1500-1600 years from composition to the oldest complete text

Homeric scholar M. L. West affirmed the existence of such gaps:

In most cases we rely on manuscripts written in the Middle Ages or Renaissance, many centuries later than the original authors.

In the case of Homer, they are over 1,500 years later.17

Not only is there a gap between the original content and the manuscript evidence, but there is also a gap in the evidence itself.

West notes how the lack of interest in classical poetry during the early part of the Middle Ages brought copying to a halt.

There is a gap in the tradition between the sixth and the ninth century: no more papyri, and no other manuscripts either.

It was a period during which interest in classical poetry evidently lay dormant.18

Total Papyri vs the New Testament

Cumulative papyri counts are worth noting, as well. The earliest witnesses total only 1,550 for the Iliad and 566 for the Odyssey.19

Graeme D. Bird, in his 2010 book Multitextuality in the Homeric Iliad, provides a helpful chart showing the distribution of Iliad papyri over the centuries.

There, he identifies one from the fourth century BC, twenty from the third, eighteen from the second, and forty-eight from the first. The total of all papyri, per his count, is 1,326.20

This 1,326 number seems significant at first blush, especially considering that total New Testament papyri is only 135.

It is important to keep in mind, however, that there are not hundreds of manuscripts to compare for any given portion.

On the contrary, the overlapping coverage of the Iliad makes it possible only to compare as many as ten manuscripts for any given text (and only five for the Odyssey).21

The much smaller count of New Testament papyri, however, means one can review “the whole New Testament text…multiple times” from this source alone.22

Overall Limited Support

When other types of non-papyri manuscript evidence are considered, the total number of documents supporting the Iliad is only 1,900, and those were produced over a 2,000 year span.23

Bird characterizes the scant amount of total evidence like this:

Whatever the factors responsible for this state of affairs, our examination of the Ptolemaic papyri [earliest surviving manuscripts] must bear in mind that our surviving amount of evidence is tiny, and cannot automatically be assumed to be a “representative sample.”24

Comparison to the New Testament

Now, let’s compare Homer’s Iliad with the New Testament in terms of manuscript attestation.

The following charts visualize this comparison in terms of total manuscripts and witnesses, earliest manuscript and complete text, and manuscripts within 300 years of the original writing.

Total Manuscripts and Witnesses

Earliest Manuscript and Complete Text

Manuscripts within 300 Years of the Original

The following table summarizes the points provided in the charts above and adds a comparison related to gaps in the manuscript evidence.

The New Testament: The Clear Winner

By every measurable criterion, the New Testament’s manuscript support exceeds that of the Iliad.

• Its earliest manuscripts date to within a century of composition (compared to four to five centuries for the Iliad)

• Its earliest complete text is more than a thousand years closer to the autographs

• Its transmission shows no comparable gaps

• Its total number of witnesses exceeds that of the Iliad more than tenfold

Effect on Our Confidence in the New Testament

This evidence supports confidence in the textual basis of the New Testament.

When judged by the historical standards applied to other ancient literature—texts that are read, copied, and studied without hesitation—the New Testament stands out for the exceptional strength of its textual support and fully warrants the confidence long placed in it.

Daniel Wallace’s comments on this point serve as a fitting conclusion to our discussion:

In terms of extant manuscripts, the New Testament textual critic is confronted with an embarrassment of riches.

If we have doubts about what the original New Testament said, those doubts would have to be multiplied a hundred-fold for the average classical author.

And when we compare the New Testament manuscripts with the very best that the classical world has to offer, it still stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The New Testament is far and away the best-attested work of Greek or Latin literature from the ancient world.25

Conclusion

The evidence surveyed in this essay demonstrates that the New Testament rests on an exceptionally strong manuscript foundation by ancient historical standards.

In terms of quantity, extent of coverage, and chronological proximity to the original writings, it is supported by a body of evidence unmatched among ancient literary works.

The number of extant manuscripts, their overlapping coverage, and the presence of witnesses reaching back into the second and third centuries provide a solid basis for textual study.

When set alongside other respected works of antiquity, such as the writings of Homer, the New Testament emerges not as marginal or poorly attested, but as a text preserved with remarkable historical continuity.

At the same time, a large and early manuscript tradition does not imply textual uniformity. Variations among manuscripts remain and must be evaluated with care.

The fourth essay in this series will therefore turn to the types of manuscript variation found in the New Testament and their significance for the text.

Understanding the strength of the manuscript evidence alongside the nature of its differences is essential for a balanced assessment of how the New Testament has been transmitted and preserved.

NOTES:

Empty.

That’s the word that popped into my head as I tried to characterize what I had just read.

“Empty what?” you ask.

The rebuilding plans of God’s people.

Why “empty”?

To develop the introduction to this essay, I spent some time looking through the revitalization programs promoted by the largest Protestant denominations in America—Southern Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists.

They’re all very impressive.

They all have catchy names, like “Vital Congregations Revitalization Initiative,” “Revitalization and Replanting,” and “Futuring Church.”

They all have beautiful logos, professional websites, and lots of downloads.

And they all trade in polished revitalization jargon. They “empower leaders,” grow “vibrant churches,” and promote “transferable principles.”

Early Access Note: At launch, long-form essays are available in full; future essays will be reserved for paid subscribers, who will also receive the full audio edition and printable PDF.

Consider this example from the Presbyterian Church USA’s Vital Congregations Initiative:

The purpose of the [program] is to work alongside leaders of existing congregations continually assessing, discerning, and living into faithful actions that increase vitality through intentional spiritual practices that take them deeper into following Jesus Christ.1

Do you see the emptiness here?

• They “assess” and “discern”—based on what exactly?

• They “live in faithful actions”—faithful according to whom?

• They engage in “intentional spiritual practices”—don’t Buddhists and Muslims do the same?

Each program mentions the Bible, to be sure. But when you look closely, you realize it’s only window-dressing.

The real foundation is strategic management theory and corporate philosophy. They speak of “leadership pathways,” “deeper collaboration,” and “vision, purpose, and values.”2

What never seems to make it into their discussions, however, is sin, rebellion, and repentance.

They declare that renewal must be based on “God’s Word,” but few of their principles, methods, or recommendations come from it.

Like I said, empty.

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A Helpful Contrast: Nehemiah’s Approach

This second essay in our four-part series examines how men in the Bible rebuilt God’s kingdom, focusing specifically on the great reformer Nehemiah.

Essay 1 laid the groundwork by explaining the reason for Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem, namely, to rebuild the city wall that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed 140 years earlier.

It then shed light on the deteriorated state of American churches by drawing parallels between their condition and that of Jerusalem upon Nehemiah’s arrival.

We now shift from historical context and spiritual parallels to revitalization strategy: What can we learn from Nehemiah’s approach as we seek to rebuild churches today?

Is there a process revealed in his actions that we can follow to replicate his success?

Indeed, there is.

A careful study of his book highlights the steps necessary for taking on a spiritual rebuilding effort, what I call the Nehemiah Strategy. These steps are as follows:

• Step 1: Assess the disobedience

• Step 2: Teach to correct the disobedience

• Step 3: Lead change in keeping with righteousness

• Step 4: Correct the rebellious

Let’s begin with Step 1: Assess the disobedience.

In this essay:

• Step 1: Assess the disobedience

• Step 2: Teach to correct the disobedience

• Step 3: Lead change in keeping with righteousness

• Step 4: Correct the rebellious

Step 1: Assess the disobedience

The first thing Nehemiah did upon arriving in Jerusalem was survey the condition of the wall itself. His inspection is recorded in 2:12-13:

Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem….

And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire.

Nehemiah was wise enough to know he could not repair a wall he had never seen. So, a few days after he arrived, he went out and took stock of it himself.

This survey supplied the critical information he needed to lead the rebuilding effort. It identified priority areas, clarified the necessary repairs, and enabled efficient resource allocation.

Without this initial step, the effort would have been characterized by disorder, squandered resources, and limited results.

Surveying the Walls of Our Churches

Our task must begin here as well. We must conduct a thorough inspection of the spiritual condition of our churches, evaluating their structure, processes, and conduct through the lens of Scripture.

Our central concern must not be what corporate strategists or management consultants see when they look at us. It must be what God sees.

And what does he see?

J. I. Packer, in his volume A Passion for Faithfulness: Wisdom from the Book of Nehemiah, characterized the Lord’s perspective like this:

Most of us are more like the lukewarm Laodiceans, drifting along very cheerfully in becalmed churches, feeling confident that everything is all right, and thereby disgusting our Lord Jesus, who sees that, spiritually speaking, nothing is right.3 [emphasis added]

I could not agree more. When the full teachings of the New Testament are taken into account, the doctrine, structure, and practice of the typical American church are found deficient in every respect.

So what precisely is wrong?

Every church has its own particular issues, and pastors must seek to identify them carefully. But in my experience, the most common problems preventing renewal in American churches fall into four categories.

Problem 1: Doctrinal faithfulness to the Bible

God’s people have compromised or abandoned doctrines foundational to the faith and essential to the moral and social well-being of society. This lack of fidelity takes two primary forms.

A rejection of the authority of Scripture itself

Many Christians simply do not believe the Bible is accurate, relevant, and authoritative.

A rejection of specific truths related to time and culture

Denying the Bible’s authority means dismissing its unpopular teachings, including:

• Salvation through Christ alone

• The superiority of the Christian religion

• Marriage, gender, and sexuality

• Moral issues, such as abortion, gambling, drug legalization, and assisted suicide

Problem 2: Authority and decision-making structure

Churches have set aside the organizational and leadership structure prescribed by the New Testament. Common errors include:

• A single pastor over a church

• Pastors who do not meet the biblical qualifications

• Women and homosexuals as pastors

• Congregational voting

Problem 3: Spiritual immaturity and wickedness among the membership

American believers have drifted far from the moral standards of Christ for his people. Among others, their common sins include:

• Complaining, backbiting, and sowing discord

• Sexual sins including pornography, fornication, and homosexuality

• Lust for power and control

Problem 4: Evangelism and mercy work for the poor and oppressed

Most Christians refuse to do any type of evangelism, churches engage in little to no outreach, and pastors ignore the command to regularly engage the lost (2 Tim. 4:5).

Moreover, churches all but ignore the needs of the poor, doing little more each year than donating a few canned goods to a local food drive.

And ministries to the oppressed, like prostitutes, trafficked children, and drug addicts, are practically non-existent.

Step 2: Teach to correct the disobedience

Nehemiah’s work did not end with a survey of the damage. Once the scope of the problem was known, he immediately set out to fix it.

Just after returning from his inspection, he called the people together, explained the situation, and shared his plan to rebuild.

His words, and the people’s response, are recorded in 2:17-18:

“You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire.

“Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.”

And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me….

So they said, “Let us rise up and build.”

By the next chapter, the people had taken their places all along the wall, and the rebuilding was fully underway.

Spiritual Issues Manifested

Nehemiah soon realized that it was not just the walls that needed to be repaired but the spiritual condition of the people as well.

Numerous sins came to light as the work unfolded, including:

• Laziness and apathy (3:5)

• The oppression of the poor by the wealthy (5:1-13)

• Failing to keep feasts prescribed by the Law (8:13-18)

Later in the book, after the wall had been completed and order restored, Nehemiah left for a season and returned. Upon his return, even more sin came to light, like:

• Mingling with Ammonites and Moabites (13:1-3)

• Selling on the Sabbath (13:15-22)

• Marrying Gentile women (13:23-27)

Spiritual Issues Addressed

Nehemiah dealt with these sins in various ways, but his methods always included reminding the people what the Law of God said.

When responding to the oppression of the poor (5), he demanded that the charging of usury and selling of Jews as slaves stop immediately in keeping with the Law (Exo. 22:25-27 and Lev. 25:39-42, for example).

Later, after the wall was complete, he gathered the people together so Ezra the priest could “read from [the Law] in the open square…from morning until midday” (8:3).

He even had the Levites “help the people to understand the Law, [give] the sense, and help them to understand the reading” (8:7-8).

Nehemiah’s efforts were not confined to rebuilding the wall; they also aimed at renewing the people through the ministry of the Word.

A Pattern for Us

This precedent reveals the next step in reviving our churches today: apply the Word to the sins of the people.

The issues revealed in our inspection must now be addressed with Scripture. But how do we address them? Through preaching and teaching.

We must be reminded of the power of God present in the preaching and teaching of his Word. Consider a few verses that substantiate this:

• Isaiah 55:11, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please.

• Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.

• John 17:17, Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

The obstacles to renewal in our churches may seem overwhelming, but they are not beyond the power of the Word of God. Therefore, our central strategy to overcome them must be the faithful preaching and teaching of biblical truth.

What to Address First

Before we leave this section, let me say a word about which issue or issues to address first.

We must prioritize the issues that inflict the greatest damage or most impede change.

That means dealing with doctrinal faithfulness and the church’s authority and governance structure before anything else (Problems 1 and 2 from our prior list).

Doctrinal Faithfulness

Doctrinal error lies at the root of every other problem. When confidence in the accuracy and authority of Scripture erodes, we invite error of every kind.

Before progress can be made elsewhere, we must rebuild this foundational conviction.

Authority Structure

Moreover, our ability to maintain peace in our churches, implement necessary change, and minister effectively to our communities depends directly on the authority and decision-making structure we adopt.

I have written extensively on the impact of structure on my main website. Let me simply say now that the unbiblical structures most churches use allow Satan to easily infiltrate, control, and destroy them.

After doctrinal fidelity is addressed, structure must be next on our list.

Step 3: Lead change in keeping with righteousness

Teaching, however, was not the final step in Nehemiah’s process. He followed instruction with decisive action, implementing changes that corrected the problems he had identified. Consider a few examples:

• Oppressing of the poor (5:1-18): He required the wealthy to return the interest and property they had taken and to enter into a covenant not to do it again.

• Failing to keep feasts (8:13-18): He led an effort to reinstate the Feast of Tabernacles, which had not been observed since the time of Joshua.

• Selling on the Sabbath (13:15-22): He ordered the gates to be closed on the Sabbath and posted guards to prevent the transport of products into the city.

Teaching Must Lead to Action

As we identify areas where our churches are not in line with the Bible, our response cannot end at preaching and teaching about them.

We must lead our people to put away error and walk in obedience.

This is precisely what Scripture requires of leaders.

In Titus 1:5, Paul instructs Titus to “set in order the things that are lacking.” The Greek term translated “set in order” is epidiorthoo, a compound word meaning “to position straight.”

Titus’s task, as a man of God, was to “set things straight,” to lead the people to align their beliefs and practices with God’s will. That is our task as well.

A Common Mistake

While this may seem obvious, many preachers fail to make the connection. They preach on important issues but expect the people to figure out what must change and act on it themselves.

But sheep do not reform the flock. God has given that responsibility to shepherds.

Some Ideas for Driving Change

Here are some examples of how you might lead change in the four problem areas we discussed previously.

• Doctrinal faithfulness. Draft a doctrinal statement addressing areas of concern and lead the church to adopt it.

• Authority and decision-making structure. Speak to the deacons and influential members about changing the church’s structure. [Wes resources.]

• Spiritual immaturity and wickedness. Hold the people accountable to righteous conduct by calling out immature, wicked behavior.

• Evangelism and mercy work. Conduct an outreach or apologetics event, or invite someone from a homeless or addiction ministry to speak at your church.

Step 4: Correct the rebellious

While many followed Nehemiah’s lead willingly, there were some who resisted his efforts no matter what.

• Some would not work (3:5b)

• Some mocked and attacked workers (4:1-7)

• Many complained (4:10)

• The rich took advantage of the poor (5:1-5)

• Merchants dishonored the Sabbath (13:15)

• Jews married Gentiles (13:23)

Still More Required

Organizing, teaching, and leading was not enough to finish the great task he had been given. At some point, he had to take on those who rebelled against his authority and demand their compliance.

He did not shy away from this aspect of leadership. In chapter 13 alone, he took the following actions:

• Threw Tobiah’s property out of the Temple (8)

• Contended with rulers and nobles (11, 17)

• Warned merchants (15c)

• Threatened physical confrontation (21)

• Cursed, hit, and pulled out the hair of several men (25)

A Responsibility of Contemporary Shepherds

Our efforts to change our churches will result in rebellion among some of our people.

There will be those who, no matter how much we teach, how long we wait, or how much we pray, will simply not submit to our authority and work with us to move the church forward.

In these cases, we must correct them decisively and directly.

The New Testament gives us this right and, in fact, commands that we do it. Consider these verses:

• 2 Timothy 4:2 – Paul said to “convince, rebuke, [and] exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” The word “convict” is elgcho, meaning “to reprehend severely,” and “rebuke” is epitimao, “to censure severely.”

• Titus 1:13 – Speaking of troublemakers, Paul instructed Titus to “rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.” “Rebuke them sharply” combines elgcho (see previous) and apotomos, “severely.” Essentially, “Severely reprehend them severely.”

• Titus 2:15 – Paul told Titus to “rebuke [elgcho] with all authority.” Here, Paul grants permission to rebuke in a broader sense, whenever the need arises.

Practical Application

What does this mean for us in a practical, day-to-day sense?

It means that after gently instructing a troublemaker and warning him a second time when his rebellion persists, we must then act firmly and forcefully, exercising the full authority of our office to confront his sin and command him to repent.

Think of this as a stern father laying down the law with a rebellious child. Our attitude and demeanor must change from a gentle shepherd to an unyielding judge.

And then, if his rebellion continues, we must promptly carry out the discipline Jesus prescribed in Matthew 18:15-18.

Conclusion

At the beginning of this essay, I noted that today’s revitalization strategies are often grounded in management theory rather than Scriptural wisdom.

Nehemiah models the opposite approach, placing God’s Word, not human ideas, at the center of his rebuilding efforts.

His actions reveal a four-step process we can follow in rebuilding our churches: assess disobedience, teach the Word, lead change, and correct the rebellious.

Yet even when this process is faithfully applied, resistance will arise from within.

In the next essay, we will examine the opposition Nehemiah faced and consider how pastors confronting similar resistance today can overcome it.

NOTES:

Ever bored at church, felt like you’ve heard the message a thousand times before, or longed to hear something new from God?

Yeah, I have too.

It’s shocking to see what modern preaching has become.

And we have no chance of reviving our churches or saving our culture if it doesn’t make significant improvements soon.

This article will facilitate that improvement by addressing three of the most glaring weaknesses of American preaching.

Weakness 1: Sermon topics are boring, irrelevant, and unprofitable.

This weakness has to do with sermon content, the things about which the preacher chooses to preach.

The Bible addresses thousands of topics, and the preacher only has so much time. He must therefore choose to talk about some things and not talk about others.

The problem is that preachers are not choosing well.

Many go over the same subjects week after week, year after year, while others act as if the issues the people and culture are facing at the time don’t even exist.

The result is countless boring, irrelevant, unprofitable pulpits.

Eliminating This Weakness

The way to overcome this is to include sermons on “the issues of the day.”

America is full of sins, deceptions, and errors that are leading God’s people and the nation at large to destruction.

Climate change, socialism, polygamy, homosexuality, transgenderism, atheism, New Age cultism—the list is endless.

The great thing is, these topics will lead to all kinds of important Bible doctrines.

Climate change, for example, leads to a discussion of God as Creator, the Dominion Mandate, the fall of man, sin, judgment, and redemption.

(See the graphic below for an illustration of how this can work).

Addressing issues of the day provides an opportunity to present important biblical doctrines in an interesting and unique way, demonstrating that the Bible is both relevant and powerful.

Expository Preaching as the Cure?

“But I am an expository preacher,” someone objects. “I don’t choose my subjects—the Holy Spirit does!”

This is only partially true. Consider all the things the preacher chooses even when he’s going book-by-book, verse-by-verse:

• Who chooses the book through which you will preach? The preacher does.

• Who chooses which verses/phrases/words to emphasize in a particular passage? The preacher does.

• Who chooses which applications to make? The preacher does.

As you can see, expository preachers make many decisions that filter the content of what they preach.

The Main Weakness of Expository Preaching

The primary weakness of expository preaching is that it may never lead to a discussion of the issues of the day.1 Two factors cause this:

1) The preacher himself may avoid them

He does this through the choices he makes regarding the text, as mentioned earlier.

He also does this when he, in order to avoid controversy, intentionally directs his comments away from hot button issues.

In effect, he uses expository preaching to hide from the conflict and persecution that arise because of the Word.

2) The text may never touch directly on the subject itself

For example, where is a verse that will lead directly to a discussion of the tyrannical power of government that socialism creates?2 There isn’t one.

So, using this method alone means you will never address it.3

Expository preaching is fine (as is topical), but preachers must realize they have a greater duty than simply blindly teaching book-by-book, verse-by-verse.

Weakness 2: Sermons are not offensive.

Nobody wants to offend anybody anymore.

The typical preacher’s goal (whether he realizes it or not) is to increase attendance, fill the collection plate, and be liked by everyone he meets.

This means most of the Bible is off limits for preaching, or, at least, the more controversial portions must be watered down so nobody gets mad.

Men of God today have become men-pleasers instead of Christ-pleasers.

But the whole Bible fights against this approach.

God offends men from the very outset of Scripture. Cain, Noah’s flood, the Tower of Babel, Pharaoh, Israel, Judah, Philistia, the Pharisees, Herod—the list has no end.

Our Cross No Longer Offends

Today, we have fallen into the trap Paul was trying to avoid regarding the circumcision issue: causing the offense of the cross to cease.

In Galatians 5:11, he said:

If I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.

Paul taught that Gentile believers did not need to be circumcised to be saved.

Many of the Jews hated this; to them, the idea Christians were setting it aside was extremely offensive. Because of this, they fought Paul fiercely and persecuted him whenever they could.

Paul could have stopped this abuse if he had just given in. But he refused.

He simply would not allow this true, yet offensive, teaching of the cross to stop.

The truths of the cross must be offensive, and Paul was willing to endure persecution to preach those truths.

The “Scandals” of God’s Word

Interestingly, the word offense in this text literally means “scandal.” What Paul was saying was scandalous, but he did not cease from saying it.

Today, one man/one woman marriage is scandalous, two genders is scandalous, fetuses being human beings is scandalous, women staying home with their children is scandalous, one way to God is scandalous.

And on and on.

If your preaching isn’t scandalous, you are sinning. You have become a men-pleaser, which, according to Paul, means you are no longer a servant of Christ (Gal. 1:10).

Weakness 3: It is not informed by interaction with the lost.

Part of the reason for errors 1 and 2 is that preachers no longer interact with the lost. Most of them have insulated themselves inside the church and rarely ever come out.

They don’t personally hear the questions the lost are asking or see the sin in which those around them are engaging, so these questions and sins never make it into their sermons.

A Command for Preachers to Evangelize

In 2 Timothy 4:5, Paul issued a very important command relative to this issue. There, he told Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

There is really no way around the implication of this verse for the life of pastors. Paul was directly commanding Timothy, and by extension all preachers, to engage the lost in an ongoing fashion.

It is not an option.

An Evangelist, Defined

But what is an evangelist? The word is only used three times in the New Testament, and the only time it refers to an individual is in Acts 21:8 when it discusses Philip.4

And what did he do? He went town to town engaging the lost with the gospel of Christ (Acts 8:5). Philip’s practice, then, becomes our model.

This does not mean we must go about evangelizing just as he did (town to town), but it does require that we engage the lost on a regular basis outside the church.

It also clear from Philip’s example that preaching in a local church on Sunday morning does not fulfill this requirement.

We must go out to the lost, as he did.5

Weaknesses Can Be Made Strengths

The weaknesses outlined in this essay can be easily overcome. But we must be willing to hear the word of God afresh and see things in a way we have not before.

We must break out of the mold of the past and allow God to lead us somewhere new. May Christ give all of his men the grace to do just that.

NOTES:

You are depressed because you are sick, very sick.

“I could always help you die,” your doctor says.

You’ve lost your sight. Overwhelmed by the trauma, you lose all hope.

Your doctor pats you on the hand and says, in a gentle voice, “Why don’t we talk about assisted dying?”

Something sound wrong about this? It should. They call it “dying with dignity,” but its anything but that. And it’s coming to a healthcare provider near you.

To better educate you on this practice, this article will provide a basic introduction to assisted suicide by covering the following topics:

1. Introduction to assisted suicide: What is it?

2. The growing popularity of assisted suicide

3. The monstrous evil of assisted suicide

1. What is assisted suicide?

Assisted suicide is when one person helps another person end his life through suicide.1

Most frequently, the suicidal person suffers from a serious sickness or medical condition which serves as the driving force behind the suicidal desire (more about this later).

The person assisting can be a doctor (called “physician assisted suicide”), some other medical professional (like a nurse), or even a family member, loved one, or friend.

Generally, the means of death is through an overdose of medication. While a doctor prescribes the medication, he may or may not actually administer it to the patient.

Other Terms

“Euthanasia” is sometimes used as a synonym for assisted suicide and can cover its various forms. The word comes from Greek and means “good death.”

The idea is that it is better to die by suicide than by a terminal illness, such as cancer.

Proponents also refer to assisted suicide as “mercy killing,” “assisted dying,” or “dying with dignity.”

These terms tend to disguise what is actually going on—the killing of one human being by another—and therefore should be avoided.2

2. The Growing Popularity of Assisted Suicide

Assisted suicide’s popularity is growing in North America. Canada passed a law in 2015 legalizing the procedure.

Later, it removed mandatory waiting periods and allowed assisted suicide in the case of mental illness, including depression.

As a result, people were being put to death for things like vision or hearing loss and diabetes.3

From 2016 to 2022, 44,958 people were put to death through assisted suicide, and in 2022, it was the fifth leading cause of death in Canada.4 See the table below for a yearly breakdown.

This form of death is gaining steam in the U.S., as well. Per Americans United for Life, as of 2024, assisted suicide is legal in following eleven jurisdictions5:

California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

3. The Monstrous Evil of Assisted Suicide

Despite the arguments of proponents, there is no way to get around the fact that assisted suicide requires one human being to kill or help kill another.

In the end, therefore, it is simply another form of murder.

The Bible and Assisted Suicide

It seems almost unnecessary to state God’s unequivocal rejection of murder, but for thoroughness’ sake, consider Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17, 1 Timothy 1:19, and Revelation 21:8.

The details of the biblical position on assisted suicide will be covered in a separate essay. For now, the focus will be on U.S. law.

U.S. Law and Assisted Suicide

Historically, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld that assisted suicide was murder.

In a 1997 Case (Washington v. Glucksberg; a pdf copy is provided at the end of this article6), the Court affirmed a state’s right to outlaw this act.

In that ruling, Chief Justice William Rehnquist cited Commonwealth v. Mink (1877) to show that U.S. law has always viewed assisted suicide in this manner:

Now if the murder of oneself is a felony, the accessory is equally guilty as if he had aided and abetted in the murder.7

Regarding the legality of assisted suicide, the Court stated:

That suicide remained a grievous wrong is confirmed by the fact that colonial and early state legislatures and courts did not retreat from prohibiting assisted suicide.

Swift...in his treatise on the laws of Connecticut, stated that “if one counts as another to commit suicide and the other person by reason of the advice kills himself the adviser is guilty of murder as principle.”

The Court also addressed assisting a suicide among the terminally ill:

And the prohibitions against assisting suicide never contained exceptions for those who were near death.

Rather, “the life of those to whom life had become a burden—of those who were hopelessly diseased or fatally wounded—may even the lives of criminals condemned to death, were under the protection of the law equally as...those who were in the full tide of life’s enjoyment...”

The Greater Evil

And herein lies the even greater evil of this practice. The laws of a nation are supposed to protect those who by virtue of mental health, sickness, or life situation cannot protect themselves.

But assisted suicide, by definition, does the very opposite.

Depressions—Not Pain—Causes the Desire to Die

It is important to note that the driver to engage in assisted suicide is not the pain of the disease from which one is suffering. It is in the depression that the disease brings about.

Rehnquist addresses this in his 1997 opinion when he writes:

Those who attempt suicide, terminally ill or not, often suffer from depression or other mental disorders.

More than 95% of those who commit suicide had a major psychiatric illness at the time of death; among the terminally ill, uncontrolled pain is a risk factor because it contributes to depression.

Intolerable physical symptoms are not the reason most patients request physician assisted suicide or euthanasia.

Research indicates that many people who request physician assisted suicide withdraw that request if their depression and pain are treated. [emphasis added]

And, as anyone who has experienced depression can attest, people in this state are patently unable to make clear, rational decisions, especially those of this magnitude.

This is why we try to talk people off the ledge when they want to jump. We know their desire to die in that moment is irrational.

Assisted Suicide Murders the Vulnerable

Therefore, when a doctor, or anyone else, helps a depressed person end his life, he is murdering someone at their most vulnerable time.

In effect, he is saying to the man getting ready to jump off the bridge, “If you ask me, I will throw you off the bridge myself.”

This makes assisted suicide an even greater evil than it might first appear.

The person with the clear mind, the one in the responsible position (the doctor, friend, or loved one), submits to the one who is mentally compromised and kills them.

Bringing It All Together

Assisted suicide is not the act of mercy it is purported to be. When all the cleverly worded platitudes are wiped away, it is one person killing another.

Moreover, the person making the request, due to their deep depression, is in an extremely vulnerable state and is not capable of making a life and death decision.

This makes participating in the practice in any form a great evil against God and our fellow man.

For this reason (among others), it is critical that Christians become educated and actively fight all forms of assisted suicide that manifest themselves in society.

NOTES:

6

The full text of Washington v Glucksberg is provided below. Key points are highlighted in yellow, and heading notes are added in places in the margin.

Us Supreme Ct Washington V Glucksberg 1996 Assisted Suicide Decision

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People today try to discount the epistles because they do not contain the direct words of Jesus. You can’t rely on them, they argue, because they are not the actual words of the Lord.

For this reason, the only source of reliable doctrine is gospels.

But is this a valid line of thinking? Is there nothing Jesus said that justifies the existence of the epistles and elevates them to the level of the gospels?

Actually, there is.

In the book of John, Jesus told his disciples he had not taught them all he had to teach them, that they would learn more from him in the future, and that people would believe in him because of their words.

Let’s look at this in more detail now.

Jesus Foretells the Epistles

Jesus addresses this issue in John 14, 16, and 17. Here are the relevant passages:

1) John 14:24-26

• 24, He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

• 25, These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.

• 26, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit…He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

2) John 16:12-13

• 12, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

• 13, However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; …whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

3) John 17:14 and 20

• 14, I have given them Your word.

• 20, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.

Lessons from Jesus’ words in John

Let’s draw five lessons about the epistles from these verses.

1) Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would teach the disciples the meaning of his words.

In 14:26b, Jesus said the Holy Spirit would “teach [the disciples] all things.” What are the “all things”? The words he spoke to them (see verse 24).

This means the disciples would later be able to understand Jesus’ teachings in a way they did not understand them during his ministry.

Jesus hinted at this earlier in John. When he was washing the disciples’ feet, he told them, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this” (John 13:7).

This helps explain how the disciples became so much wiser after the ascension.

Sometimes the disciples seemed like utter spiritual fools when Jesus was on the earth. But once the Day of Pentecost came, they changed forever.

Why? Because the Spirit had “taught them all things.”

2) Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would cause the disciples to remember everything Jesus said.

John 14:26c says, “The Holy Spirit…will bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

This means the disciples did not have to rely on frail human memory to document Jesus’ life and teachings in the gospels.

The Spirit assisted their memory so their recollections would be accurate.

3) Jesus did not teach the disciples everything they needed to learn during his earthly ministry.

In John 16:12, Jesus specifically says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” So, he could have taught them more during his ministry, but they were not capable of learning it at the time.

This means the gospels alone are not enough to understand the full teaching of Jesus.

This is not due to some weakness in Jesus, or even the gospels themselves; it is because he chose not teach all he had to teach them during his life on earth.

He purposed all along to continue his teaching after his earthly ministry had ended.

Consequently, this makes the epistles absolutely necessary for a complete understanding of the will of God in Christ.

You cannot be a disciple of Jesus without studying and obeying the epistles.

4) Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would teach the disciples the remainder of his truth.

In 16:13a, Jesus says, “The Spirit of truth…will guide you into all truth.” Whatever was left for Jesus to teach would be proctored by the Spirit.

This included prophecies related to the future. The Lord goes on to say the Spirit will “tell you things to come” (13b).

This legitimizes the prophetic sections of the epistles, as well as the book of Revelation.

5) Many people would believe because of the spoken and written words of the disciples.

In John 17, Jesus prays for those who will believe in him in the future through the words of the disciples (14), the words Christ gave them (20).

This shows that Jesus intended for his disciples to repeat what he and the Spirit had taught them, not only through preaching but also through writing.

Writing as a Clear Implication

Why writing? Because we know the Spirit of God also inspired men to write the words of God.

Speaking of prophecy, Peter said, “Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

The Old Testament prophets, who both spoke and wrote the words of God, were given those words and directed in the process of writing by the Holy Spirit.

Paul said something similar in 2 Timothy 3:16. There, he wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”

Per Paul, all Scripture—not just the writings of the prophets—are “inspired” by God, a phrase meaning they are “breathed out by God.”

And, as Peter has already taught us, that breath comes from the Spirit.

The gospels and epistles, then, are the living words of the disciples to us today. They represent the ongoing instruments of communication and conversion Christ designed them to be from the beginning.

What can we learn from this?

While many doubt the epistles, the words of Christ establish their legitimacy and demonstrate their authority.

Furthermore, Jesus’ teachings on this subject give confidence that the gospels are accurate accounts of his life and ministry.

A person can put complete trust in not only the gospels, but also the epistles, as they both contain the inspired teachings of Jesus Christ.

The word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
Jeremiah 1:2

“Attendance is up! Why preach against sin?”

When things are going well at church, it can be tempting to grow quiet about sin.

The church is at peace. The people are happy. The pews are filling.

Why stir things up with “fire and brimstone” from the pulpit?

This notion is reasonable, but it is not of God.

The Lord requires his servants to expose and denounce sin at all times, even when things, from our perspective, are going well.

Jeremiah’s calling into ministry affirms this. But not in the way you might expect.

The Charge

Jeremiah’s preaching bore down relentlessly on the people.

In chapter 1, the Lord said he was to “pull down, destroy, and throw down” nations and kingdoms (10) by uttering “judgments against…all their wickedness” (16).

And this he did.

He preached against kings, princes, priests, and false prophets; he attacked Jerusalem, Judah, Egypt, and Babylon; he called out idolatry, theft, murder, adultery, covetousness, and oppression.

He set ablaze everyone and everything in his path, tirelessly fulfilling his charge to be a “fortified city, iron pillar, and bronze wall against the whole land” (1:18).

But you already know all that.

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The Reform

What you may not realize, however, is when the Lord called Jeremiah to do all this.

The text says the word of the Lord came to him “in the days of Josiah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.”

We don’t talk much about Josiah, but he was actually one of the most remarkable kings in Israel’s history.

His central accomplishment was destroying the abominations instituted by Jeroboam.

After Solomon’s death, Jeroboam split the kingdom, led the northern ten tribes away, and established an idolatrous worship system.

During his reign, a prophet appeared to him and predicted that a man named Josiah would eventually obliterate all he had created.

That prophecy came to pass when Josiah, in the twelfth year of his rule, sent men through all Israel, executing Jeroboam’s priests and burning down his altars.

His purification of the land was so great, and his devotion to Yahweh so complete, the Bible declared him the greatest king the nation had ever seen (2 Kings 23:25).

The Timing

What’s intriguing here is the timing. Jeremiah’s call to preach came one year after Josiah started the most thorough purification the nation had ever seen.

(Remember, Josiah began his reforms in the twelfth year of his reign, and Jeremiah was called in the thirteenth year of his reign.)

So, at this point in time, the people are beginning to obey, their idols are being destroyed, and, spiritually speaking, things are improving.

Why, then, send Jeremiah?

Because there was still so much sin in the land, so much idolatry, so much apostasy. And someone needed to call it out.

The same is true in our time.

We are thankful for the improvements we see in our churches, and we pray Christ will send us even more.

But we cannot be fooled into thinking sin is no longer in our midst. It is always there, it is always destructive, and it is always offensive to the Lord.

How about you, man of God? Have you seen improvement in your people? Has this caused you to pull back from calling out the sins you see all around you?

Let Jeremiah’s example remind you that this is one thing you can never do.

Recent setbacks to the woke agenda make it appear that Christianity is making a comeback in America.

People are talking more openly about their faith, godless laws and policies are being rolled back, and Christian values are being espoused by men of power in both business and government.

Though these developments are positive, they do nothing to reverse the decades-long death spiral of American churches.

Today, we face the same dark future we did before our social and political winds began to change.

Early Access Note: At launch, long-form essays are available in full; future essays will be reserved for paid subscribers, who will also receive the full audio edition and printable PDF.

Without true, biblical restoration, the church will continue to shrink, lose its spiritual power, and fade into cultural irrelevance, as it has already across much of the Western world.

The question is how to bring about this restoration: How do we transform dysfunctional, disobedient churches into vibrant, fruit-bearing bodies of Christ?

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Elusive Answers

For more than half a century, pastoral leaders have wrestled with this question and, despite sincere effort, have found little success in answering it.

Having been involved in the church revitalization movement for nearly two decades, I believe I understand the source of these frustrations.

Reform measures do not work because they are not ultimately based on the Bible.

American pastors overlook the spiritual root causes of congregational decline and instead pursue managerial and programmatic fixes.

Rather than using the Word of God to diagnose problems and prescribe solutions, they look to “programs” or “movements” to supply the life-giving spark churches lack.

This approach was doomed from the start, as our ever-growing list of failed revitalization models, initiatives, and workshops attests.

The answer is to see this entire situation through a biblical lens.

From analyzing problems to developing remedies to implementing changes to evaluating success—the whole process of revitalization must be viewed through and governed by biblical truth.

Only then will we have a real chance of reviving our churches.

A Biblical Case Study: Nehemiah

The principles necessary for restoring churches are woven throughout Scripture. Yet some books present those principles with unusual clarity and are therefore worthy of focused attention. Nehemiah stands among them.

I encountered Nehemiah during my first full-time pastorate. Fresh out of seminary, I began implementing the recommendations of the revitalization experts I had studied in my coursework.

I quickly learned how insufficient their strategies truly were.

Instead of encountering a willing people and immediate success, as they suggested I would, I met only resistance, apathy, and failure.

During that season, the Lord led me to Nehemiah, and I have been a student of his work ever since.

In this series of essays, I will draw from those years of study to share the revitalization lessons Nehemiah offers.

What can rebuilding a wall around an ancient city teach us about rebuilding modern churches? Quite a bit, as it turns out.

To that end, this four-part series addresses the following:

• Essay 1 reveals how the condition of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s time illustrates the condition of the American church

• Essay 2 sets forth the central biblical strategy for long-term rebuilding success: restored obedience

• Essay 3 examines internal resistance to revitalization and how to overcome it

• Essay 4 exposes two impostors that distort the work of restoration: success and failure

In this essay:

• The Nehemiah situation

• Parallel 1: Walls broken down and gates burned with fire

• Parallel 2: Tobiahs in the temple

• Parallel 3: The oppression of fellow believers

Let us begin by considering how the condition of Jerusalem during Nehemiah’s time illustrates the condition of the kingdom of God in America today.

The Nehemiah Situation

Before allowing Nehemiah to shed light on the condition of American churches, we must first understand the historical context of his ministry.

In 586 BC, the Southern Kingdom—Judah and its capital, Jerusalem—was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

This conquest culminated in a final siege of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple, the royal palace, and municipal buildings, and the systematic dismantling of the city’s walls (2 Kings 25:8–10; Jeremiah 52:12–14).

Several years earlier, following an initial Babylonian siege in 597, Nebuchadnezzar deported as many as thirty thousand of Judah’s elite, including royalty, military leaders, craftsmen, and artisans, to Babylon (2 Kings 24:14-16).1

After the final siege of 586, he completed the work of exile by carrying away “the rest of the people who remained in the city,” leaving only the poorest citizens behind (25:11-12).

Following Babylon’s defeat by the Persians in 539, successive groups of Jews began returning to Jerusalem to resettle and rebuild.

Three returns are described in Scripture:

1) Under Zerubbabel

The first and largest return occurred in 538 under Cyrus the Great (Ezra 2). Led by Zerubbabel, roughly 150,000 Jews made the long journey from Babylonian territory back to Jerusalem.2

This group succeeded in rebuilding the altar and, eventually, the temple, but the city wall remained in ruins (Ezra 3–6).

2) Under Ezra the Priest

A second return took place in 458, when Ezra the priest led approximately 1,700 men, along with their households, from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 7–8:14).

Unlike the earlier return under Zerubbabel, Ezra’s mission was marked not by physical reconstruction but by spiritual renewal.

His efforts centered on teaching the Law and reestablishing covenant faithfulness among the people (Ezra 8:15–10).

3) By Nehemiah

The final return occurred in 445, when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem and led the people in rebuilding the city wall.

After learning of Jerusalem’s condition and the distress of its inhabitants, Nehemiah, a high-ranking court official, sought permission from Artaxerxes I to leave the Persian court, travel to Jerusalem, and complete the rebuilding effort (Nehemiah 1:1–3; 2:1–5).

The king granted his request, provided materials for the work, and sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem with a military escort (2:7–9).

The remainder of the book records Nehemiah’s experiences there, including the resistance he faced, the obstacles he overcame, and the successes and failures that attended his efforts.

The Brokenness of the Kingdom

Having established the historical context of Nehemiah’s work, we can now consider how his situation illuminates our own.

The condition of Jerusalem and its people at the time of Nehemiah’s return provides a sobering lens through which to assess the state of our churches today.

Discussions of kingdom deterioration typically rely on statistics, like falling attendance, shrinking membership, and rising rates of church closure. Such data is useful for quantifying our decline and underscoring its seriousness.

I rely on these measures many times myself. But here I want to take a different approach.

Rather than rehearsing familiar metrics, I will use Nehemiah’s own descriptions of the city and its people to draw parallels to the present condition of the church.

This more descriptive analysis will put flesh on the statistical bones with which we are so familiar and provide insight into the human consequences of kingdom decline.

Many parallels could be drawn, but this essay will focus on three in particular:

1. Walls broken down and gates burned with fire (Nehemiah 1:3)

2. Tobiah in the Temple (Nehemiah 13:4-9)

3. The oppression of fellow Israelites (Nehemiah 5:1-5)

Parallel 1: Walls Broken Down and Gates Burned with Fire

The book opens with Nehemiah asking a group of Jews recently returned from Jerusalem about the condition of the people and the city. Their response was both graphic and disturbing:

The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire (Nehemiah 1:3).

The impregnable wall David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and other great kings built3 had crumbled into a jagged sprawl of rubble, and the gates through which these same kings entered in triumph were reduced to warped iron and charred cinder.

This revelation devastated Nehemiah, causing him to weep and mourn “for many days” (4).

The Function of Walls and Gates

Although walls and gates served multiple functions in the ancient world, their primary role was protection. They regulated entry into the city and kept out those who sought to do harm, most notably invading armies.

As Edwin Yamauchi observes, “The lack of a city wall meant that the people were defenseless against their enemies.”4

Nehemiah understood this reality and knew that such vulnerability would ensure the people’s continued oppression and prevent the restoration of the worship of Yahweh.

The Walls and Gates of the Churches

The church is not a physical city that can be secured by walls and gates. Yet she faces enemies no less real or dangerous than those that plagued ancient Jerusalem.

For this reason, Christ has provided spiritual walls and gates for her protection and preservation. One of the most important of these is the church’s power structure, commonly referred to as its polity.

Polity has to do with authority. It answers the question, “Who gets the final say?”

According to the New Testament, the final say resides not with the congregation but with a body of qualified elders.

(For more on this subject, see my essay “Church Polity 101: The Biblical Way to Organize a Church” on my main site.)

The primary benefit of biblical polity is that it prevents wicked agents from taking control of the church and destroying it.

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Fleshly members, or those influenced by Satan, cannot easily gain positions of power or use church decision making processes to resist pastoral leadership, drive conflict, or derail needed changes.

Walls and Gates: Burned from the Inside

American believers have dismantled Christ’s design and replaced it with unbiblical and ruinous structures.

The New Testament knows nothing of single-pastor churches, parliamentary procedures, congregational voting, or corporate-style church boards. Yet we have embraced all of these and more.

You do not need to read a list of dire statistics to recognize the harm this alteration has produced.

Think about your own experience in the church. How many fights have you seen? How many nasty business meetings have you attended? How many friends have been driven away by conflict?

What I want you to see is that polity is at the bottom of all of this. It is the means by which Satan brings about the destruction you and countless others have endured.

And it is all possible because we have torn down our own walls and burned down our own gates.

Parallel 2: Tobiahs in the Temple

Nehemiah’s initial return was an overwhelming success. In short order, he rebuilt the wall, reaffirmed the covenant of the Law, and restored temple worship.

After twelve years of labor, undoubtedly confident that true spiritual order had been reestablished, he returned to Babylon to continue his royal duties (13:6).

While he was away, the unthinkable occurred.

A Temple Office for an Idolater

During his earlier work, one of Nehemiah’s most aggressive adversaries was Tobiah the Ammonite.

Ammonites had long been the enemies and oppressors of the Jews. Because of their refusal to aid Israel after the Exodus and their hiring of Balaam to curse them during the wilderness journey, they were forbidden from entering the assembly of the Lord forever (Deuteronomy 23:3-4; see also Numbers 22).

In spite of this, Eliashib the high priest not only allowed Tobiah into the city but gave him an office in the temple itself. Nehemiah 13:4-5 reveals this stunning turn of events:

[Eliashib] had prepared for [Tobiah] a large room, where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil.

The implication was clear: Tobiah, the pagan idol worshiper and sworn enemy of God’s people, now had a prominent place in the religious life of the Israelites.

The proverbial fox was square in the middle of the henhouse.

Foxes in the Christian Henhouse

The kingdom of God today is full of Tobiahs, men and women who take central roles in the church but, in reality, serve Satan and are instruments of destruction.

Jesus called them “ravenous wolves” in Matthew 7:15, and Paul called them “savage wolves” in Acts 20:29. And like wolves, they often travel in packs.

A Wolf in Action

At my last church, the ringleader of the wolfpack was a man named Doug. He was 81 years old, a skinny little fellow who came across as a wise, gentle man. He was anything but.

He was the head of the search committee that interviewed me and spent hours convincing the people to vote to call me as pastor. A few months after I got there, he turned against me, quietly working behind the scenes to get me fired.

Eventually, he went before the whole church, claimed I had a “world domination plan,” and that I was in the ministry for the money.

Within a year, I was gone, the church was without a pastor once again, and the people were left under the leadership of a ravenous wolf and his pack.

Wolves Everywhere

Many readers have encountered men like Doug during their time in the church and can recount, often through tears, the pain and devastation they inflicted on everyone around them.

Tragically, such men are not confined to isolated places or moments; they have inflicted the same devastation countless times over the past fifty years.

Parallel 3: The Oppression of Fellow Believers

Consider one last parallel between Nehemiah’s situation and ours. After the rebuilding effort was well underway, a problem arose among the people.

A famine had taken hold of the land, and the poor were starving. To buy food, they were forced to borrow from the wealthier Jews, mortgaging their lands, vineyards, and homes in the process.

When they were unable to repay, the wealthy Jews forced them to sell their children as slaves (Nehemiah 5:1-5).

Of course, this practice enraged Nehemiah, and he brought it to a swift end, forcing the wealthy to return the children, property, and money they had taken from their poor brethren (5:6-12).

The Oppression of Kinsmen Not Uncommon

Apparently, this practice was not a one-off sort of thing. The Lord addressed it in Ezekiel 34:20-22, as well. There he refers to the oppressors as the “fat sheep” and the oppressed as the “lean sheep”:

Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep.

Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad,

Therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

The strong sheep had pushed the weaker ones around, injured them, and forced them out of the herd. They used their power to harm their own.

This is precisely what we see in churches today.

Believers Abusing Believers

Because of the lack of biblical leadership and authority structure, powerful people can use church resources, systems, and processes to take advantage of weaker members, persecute them, and push them out of the church.

This is accomplished in many ways. Let me go back to my experience with Doug to give you one example.

Helping Some, Ignoring Others

Doug’s older brother Jack was the man everyone went to in the church, a founding member who had been there for decades.

It did not take long to realize that Jack had his favorites. There were a couple of women in the church who never lacked support; he funneled church funds to them readily.

At the same time, other genuinely needy members were excluded. I could see their struggles, and it was clear Jack knew their situations, yet church resources never reached them.

These needy sheep of Christ were ignored by the powerful because they lacked the right connections.

This is only one example of how the strong take advantage of the weak in the modern church, and it happens with alarming frequency across the country.

Out Next Lesson from Nehemiah

Shifts in the political and social climate surrounding Christianity have not altered the underlying reality that most American churches are dying.

Reversing this will require more than the changing winds of cultural favor; it will demand a holistic, biblical approach to diagnosing problems and developing solutions.

Scripture provides the principles church leaders need to begin the work of restoration, and few books address the challenges of renewal as directly as Nehemiah.

By studying his efforts to rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, we gain insight into what it takes to rebuild modern churches.

This essay, the first in a four-part series, has outlined the historical context of Nehemiah’s work and identified three parallels between the condition of Jerusalem in his time and the condition of churches in ours.

We have seen how biblical neglect leaves churches vulnerable through disordered polity, opens the door to spiritual predators, and enables the strong to oppress the weak.

In the next essay, we turn to the strategy that made rebuilding possible, not managerial or programmatic innovation, but restored obedience to the Word of God.

Without this, no rebuilding effort, however sincere, can endure.

NOTES:

If God made everything in six, 24-hour days at the beginning of time, when did he make the angels?

Were they already there, or did he make them when he made everything else?

Moreover, when did Satan fall? We know he was in the Garden with Adam and Eve not long after creation was complete, and he clearly was up to no good.

So, he had to fall before then. But when?

Answers, but we’ve got some work to do

The bad news is, the Bible doesn’t give us these answers directly. There is no verse that says, “Angels were created at such-and-such a time and fell at such-and-such a time later.”

To figure out these things, we need to look at several verses and piece together the answer. But don’t be discouraged. The Bible gives us all we need to do this.

Let’s take a look now!

When were angels created?

Whenever they were, it had to be before Satan appeared in the Garden of Eden. Why?

Because for him (an angel) to show up in the Garden, angels must have already been created (I can’t show up at the grocery store if I have not yet been born).

Once we understand this, there are really only two options for when angels were created. They were either created:

1. Before time began

2. Sometime between the first day of creation week and Satan’s appearance in the Garden

Before time or on a specific day?

Ezekiel 28:13 says Satan was created on a “day” in time. There the Lord says, “The workmanship of [Satan’s] timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.”

The Hebrew word used here for “day” is yom, the same word used for “day” in the Genesis creation account.

This likely means that Satan was created sometime during creation week and not before time began.

Which day were they created?

Job 38:4-7 helps us understand which day or days this could have been. In this passage, the Lord asks Job:

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. …

When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

In these verses, the Lord is referring to the day in creation week when he “laid the foundations of the earth.”

On whatever day this was, the sons of God (another name for angels) “shouted for joy.”

In other words, the angels were watching when God made the earth’s foundation, therefore, they had to have been created before this. So, when did God lay the earth’s foundation?

Depending on exactly what the Lord meant in this passage in Job, it was either

• On Day 1 (when he “created the heavens and the earth”) or

• On Day 3 (when he caused the dry land to come up out of the water, Genesis 1:9-10)

The angels were created, then, either on Day 1 or by Day 3 of creation week.

When did Satan fall?

Again, there are two options. He could have fallen

1. Sometime between when he was created and when he appeared in the Garden

2. After the end of creation week and his appearance to Adam and Eve

It is unlikely that he fell before the end of creation week.

When God finished creating on Day 6, he said that everything he made was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). He would not have said this if a third of the angels had already rebelled.

They probably didn’t fall on Day 7 either, because God “blessed it and sanctified it” (Genesis 2:3). Again, it’s hard to see God doing this if a massive angelic rebellion had just taken place.

For these reasons, it is most likely that Satan fell sometime between Day 8 (just after creation week ended) and his appearance in the Garden of Eden.

We are not sure exactly what day this was, but some say it could have been up to two weeks later (Day 21).

To Summarize...

The angels were created either on Day 1 or by Day 3 of creation week, and Satan most likely fell sometime between Day 8 and his appearance in the Garden of Eden.

To whom the word of the Lord came.
Jeremiah 1:2a

I remember when ministry made me happy.

I remember when it energized me, compelled me, satisfied me.

But that seems so long ago.

Is this how you feel?

Have the years of ministry burdens drained the life you once found in your calling?

Has it devolved into a job, a task, something you do because you have to, because people expect you to, because you have no other choice.

If this describes you, you’re not alone. Many faithful men have felt this way across the centuries, and many still do.

But it need not continue. There is a way to find that life again.

And it may begin with this simple phrase from Jeremiah 1:2: “To whom the word of the Lord came.”

Let me show you how.

The Honor of God’s Words

Have you ever thought about what it means when the Bible says “the word of the Lord came” to so-and-so?

Is it only referring to the message itself, like getting a text or email from someone? You see it, acknowledge it, and then repeat it.

Message received. Job done.

While it certainly indicates a message has been communicated, the nature of God’s relationship with his prophets implies something much more profound.

When the Bible says, “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah,” it means his mind had received the eternal thoughts of his Creator.

Jeremiah, a creature limited in time and space, full of sin and immorality, was given, in his innermost self, the perfect and pure contemplations of the Divine Being.

Consider that carefully. Eternal instructions, feelings, and convictions shared with a man formed of dust.

An honor beyond measure, to be sure.

And yet this honor is not his alone. Every believer receives it when God opens his eyes to the truthfulness of what has been said in the Bible.

Like the prophets of old, the Spirit, through the Word, makes God’s thoughts come alive inside of us.

The high honor of God’s contemplations is available to us all.

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The Weight Honor Brings

But this honor comes with a burden, a responsibility to meditate on those thoughts, internalize them, obey them.

We should never encounter God’s truth and walk away as if nothing had happened.

To do so is an affront to all that is holy and all that is sacred.

The honor of receiving God’s words is one thing, but the honor of preaching them is quite another.

To declare his thoughts openly, before men, angels, and demons, is an honor of even greater magnitude and one that brings an even greater obligation.

Men called to preach must take their interactions with God’s truth to the highest level possible.

Their meditations must be more intense, their understandings more profound, their faith more steadfast, their obedience more complete.

Why? Because they have passed from learners to teachers, from followers to examples, and their ministries will affect the glory of God and the eternal futures of men.

With this in mind, let me speak to those called to preach.

To Those Called to Preach

My brothers, is it possible that your diminished drive for ministry comes from a diminished view of the honor you have received?

The awe you once felt at receiving God’s words and being called into his service has slowly faded.

Now the work feels ordinary. The privilege, routine.

If this describes you, let me offer a possible solution.

Take the words spoken of Jeremiah, replace his name with yours, and repeat it to yourself over and over.

“The words of [your name], to whom the word of the Lord came.”

And as those words echo through your mind, let them remind you that you have received the eternal thoughts of your Creator, and that you have been granted the highest honor imaginable—the call to declare his thoughts before the world.

No matter how it may seem, there is nothing ordinary or routine about what you do.

It is the most meaningful, challenging, and exciting thing a man could ever attempt.

Let this profound truth breathe life into your disenchanted heart, energize you for the work you have left, and reinvigorate every aspect of your ministry.