Jump Start # 3733

Nehemiah 8:7-8  ^“Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, explained the law to the people while the people remained in their place. ⁸ They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.”

His name was Henry Ficklin. He preached. He spent most of his time preaching in small communities in Kentucky. Henry was born in 1883 and died in 1974. Most have never heard of Henry. I have a couple of books that belonged to him and a ledger from 1912 of the places he preached and one of his original sermons.

One of the remarkable things about Henry is that he was one of the last surviving students of the legendary teacher and preacher J.W. McGarvey. McGarvey was one of the best scholars among the Restoration churches. Taught by Alexander Campbell, McGarvey later became president of The College of the Bible, which in the early days was part of Kentucky University. Near the end of McGarvey’s life, a massive progressive spirit filled the hearts of many disciples. Modernism led many to question the inspiration of the Bible. The introduction of the organ in many congregations was causing a civil war among brethren. McGarvey opposed the instrument, but didn’t think it was necessary to draw lines of fellowship over this. He often preached in congregations that used the instrument.

In 1929, commemorating the one hundredth year of McGarvey’s birth, many on the progressive side were using the occasion to celebrate the contributions of this masterful scholar. The progressives made it seem like McGarvey was one of them. Henry Ficklin wrote an article in the Gospel Advocate reminding readers that  McGarvey did not think instrumental music was Biblical.

Years later, in 1959, Ficklin wrote a series of articles about McGarvey in the Gospel Guardian. He reminisced about the four years he was a student under McGarvey at the College of the Bible in Lexington, KY.

A couple of quotes from McGarvey via Ficklin:

• Preachers who do not have strong convictions do not really have anything to say.

• It is a bad sign if a man is frequently misunderstood. When preachers are often misunderstood, it is an indication that they have been practicing double-talk, and are guilty of equivocation. They say things that are to be understood one way in one crowd, and another way in another crowd. But when a man, or a preacher, stands absolutely for the right, knows what he believes, and is not afraid to speak boldly, he is rarely misunderstood.

Our passage today reflects what McGarvey was saying. They read from the law, translating it to give sense so that they understood. We are to preach our convictions, not our doubts. We are to place exclamation marks, not question marks in the hearts of those that hear us.

When the Ethiopian asked the preacher Philip who Isaiah was talking about, he was told. The passage was pointing to Jesus. Philip did not say, “I’m not sure.” He not only was sure, but he was absolute in telling the Ethiopian.

Here are some thoughts for us:

First, in a time of confusion, questions and doubts, God’s people need to stand with conviction and absolutes. Gender dysphoria. Origins. Authority. Purpose. Function of the church. Salvation. Worship. Everyone has an opinion. What does the Lord say? To do this, we must first understand what the Bible says. It’s not what the church says, but what God says. Then, one must believe that. One can be bold and kind. One can be absolute without being obnoxious. But standing with God comes with consequences. Some walked away from the Lord. Some persecuted the apostles. McGarvey was ridiculed and seen as out of touch by younger progressives. Family and co-workers may not like what God says. They might take it out on you.

Second, Jesus tells us that we can know the truth and that truth will make us free (John 8). The idea fills the air today that no two people can see the Bible eye to eye. Everyone has their own take on what God says. If that be true, then that indicts God as a terrible author. We can understand micro biology. We can understand Shakespeare. We can understand the laws of the land. But somehow we cannot understand God’s word? Second, this makes Jesus a liar. The Lord said we can know the truth. If we all walk away from the Bible with different ideas, then Jesus didn’t know what He was talking about. And, if the Lord is wrong about truth, is He right about salvation? How about worship? Can anything in the Bible be trusted?

Third, it is those who fear the crowd more than they fear the Lord that present question marks and doubts in their preaching. When preachers are more concerned about paychecks from the church than approval from the Lord, they will tickle ears, bend the truth, and look the other way. Such men do not belong in the pulpit. A man of conviction is what the church needs. A man that knows the word of God and will die defending it, is what the church needs today. Using the pulpit because it appears to be an easy job hurts the church and does more harm than good.

Henry Ficklin understood this. Of all the students that J.W. McGarvey taught in the College of the Bible, few, very few, did not ride the popular wave of the progressives. Henry was one of the few that remained true to the N.T. pattern.

Lessons for all of us…

Roger