The Handcuffed Pastor — E.A. Johnston

I believe there are some God-honoring pastors in the land that want to glorify God with their ministry, and they truly desire to see souls saved. If you fall into this category, Brother Pastor, then this message is for you.

Like I said, I believe there are some God-honoring pastors out there, but they struggle to see souls saved. Their struggle is self-imposed because they are pastors in handcuffs. Allow me to explain, friends.

The Handcuffed Pastor and the Holy Spirit

The handcuffed pastor is a man who is not utilizing the biblical tools God has given him to win souls. A seminary did not prepare him in understanding the work of the Holy Spirit and His divine operation on the Horde of the sinner.

He has been doing the best job he can in the pulpit, but he is handcuffed from seeing souls come to Christ in his church because he is blocking the Holy Spirit from working upon his congregation, of whom consist many who are yet unconverted individuals.

The Corruption of Human Nature and Whitefield's Illustration

The handcuffed pastor must be aware of the following principles as they relate to preaching and the doctrines of the gospel for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. George Whitefield used to say that the sinner was so corrupt in his nature that man was half devil and half beast.

While Whitefield was preaching on this subject in Moorfields in the open air, a spectator in his crowd climbed a tree and, in front of several thousand people, he pulled down his britches and exposed himself to the shock of the crowd.

Whitefield quickly pointed to the man and said, See, here is my subject illustrated that man is half devil and half beast. While Whitefield was half right in his remarks, man is wicked, like a devil, but man is not a beast.

Conscience and the Law Written on the Heart

Man is not a beast because he has a conscience in him that tells him there is a God who made heaven and earth. Paul declares in Romans 2 .15, The work of the law was written in their hearts. Every pastor should use this principle of man's conscience to awaken him to his lost condition.

To ignore this principle is handcuff number one. Handcuff number two is to ignore the principle that is in every man of self-love. That men have a principle of self-love in them. They desire happiness.

They dread misery. This is where the wise pastor preaches up the doctrine of eternal punishment before his congregation and sets before them the threatenings and thunderings of the law. He opens up in a lively manner the wrath of God upon sinners and the damnation of those in hell.

Self-Love, Fear, and Conviction of Sin

Because man is full of self-love, his fear of destruction will rise up before him like a menacing specter of terror. His conscience is stirred under the preaching of the law and God's punishment for sin.

When these two principles in man are exploited beneath the shining spotlight of the Holy Spirit, then the conscience will come under conviction for sin. Allow me to use this illustration, friends. Picture in your mind a country gristmill where two large millstones operate one upon the other to produce grain.

For illustration, the bottom millstone is the conscience of man. The top millstone is the law of God. When these two principles are brought to operate together by powerful doctrinal preaching, then as the two millstones begin to turn and make contact one upon the other, the Holy Spirit can then operate and grind away on the conscience in conviction.

The Necessity of Holy Spirit Conviction

Without Holy Spirit conviction, there is no salvation. That's why many pastors are not seeing more conversions in their people. The Holy Spirit must be given room to operate upon the sinner's heart. If the preacher uses these two principles of man's conscience and man's self-love, then the threatening of the law and the wrath of God coming in destruction will awaken sinners to their great danger of dying in their natural condition, which is to die in their sins outside of Christ.

The Two-Edged Sword of Gospel Preaching

The pastor who ignores such knowledge and fails to wield the doctrines of the gospel like a two-edged sword is the minister who stands handcuffed in his pulpit. He may teach in forming messages that are beneficial to the saved among his people, but he will not reach the unconverted in his congregation by such pleasing messages.

He will fall like a leaf on a boulder and make no dent and do no eternal good. The handcuffed pastor is a man who does not believe his Bible in the sense that he does not really believe in a God who must punish sin.

Courageous Warnings About Hell and Judgment

If he did, he would warn men. If he really believed in the doctrine of an eternal hell, he would warn men and women and boys and girls not to go there. The handcuffed pastor is a man bound by his own convictions and perceptions, and he is bound to man's acceptance and man's approval of his messages.

The handcuffed pastor fears his deacons more than God, so he is reluctant to preach disturbing and searching sermons to pull men from the fire. He would rather let them sleep than awaken them to their great danger of dying in their natural condition and being forever damned in a literal burning region of darkness and misery of hellfire.

The handcuffed pastor has a choice to unlock his fetters and preach in the freedom and power of the Holy Spirit for the salvation of souls, or he can remain popular and shackled and stand one day at the judgment and watch his people be cast into hell's torments.