By God’s grace, many widely known and unknown pastors have lived lives and ministries with one unchanging pursuit - “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2.1-2). Martyn Lloyd-Jones was one of those men. He had the opportunity to preach on the 50th anniversary that commemorated the commencement of his ministry at Bethlehem Forward Movement Mission Hall. His introduction included the following:

I call attention to it (1 Cor. 2.2)…because it is still my determination. It is still what I am endeavouring, as God helps me, to do. I preached on this text then - I have no idea what I said in detail, I have not got the notes-but I did so because it was an expression of my whole attitude towards life. It was what I felt was the commission that had been given to me. And I call attention to it again because it is still the same, and because I am profoundly convinced that this is what should control our every endeavour as Christian people and as members of the Christian Church at this present time. (emphasis added, Jesus Christ and Him Crucified)

Unfortunately, many long-term pastors miss both the prophetic and timeless nature of the “Doctor’s” words. They wrongly assume that they can move beyond the cross to more important things in the Christian life, as though Christian maturity is something more than knowing and obeying “Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

Church leader, will you be able to look back on your ministry and say that your congregation knows the crucified Savior better because of your ministry? Christian, at the end of you life, will you have known your hope in this life and in the one to come to be rooted in “him crucified’? As we draw closer to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, we should be reminded of this truth.

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