The Song of the Drunkards

Is Mormonism Christian?

2012-02-14T02:54:00.000-08:00

Letter to the Editor of the Coeur d'Alene Press
Submitted February 12, 2012

I get the unsettling suspicion when I read letters about the
Mormon question that the entire point is being missed. Many
Mormons respond to the charge that Mormonism is not Christian
by replying, “But we believe in Jesus Christ; therefore we are
Christians.”

The assertion of Christianity, however, has never been that
Mormons don’t believe in a person named Jesus. Quite
obviously they do. But then again so do Muslims, Unitarians, and
Jews.

The critical issue is not whether one believes in a person named
Jesus but what one believes about him. Who is Jesus? Historic
Christianity has always insisted that Jesus is God Himself in
human flesh, the Second Person of the Trinity. He is “God of
God; Light of Light; very God of very God…being of one
substance with the Father.” (Nicene Creed)

This teaching Mormons repudiate. Indeed, Joseph Smith went so
far as to ridicule the Trinity as “a strange god indeed.” He had
no desire to be associated with historic Christianity – according
to him all Christian churches are “wrong” and all their teachings
“corrupt.”

So let us be clear. Muslims are not Christians because they
teach Jesus was simply a great prophet. Unitarians are not
because they teach he was simply a great man. And Mormons
are not because they teach that he is a separate being from the
Father who earned his divinity by virtue of his hard work. If
Mormons want to believe that, that is their prerogative; but
don’t confuse others by calling it Christian.

Suspension from the Supper

2012-01-23T16:52:00.000-08:00

Public Suspension of----- -----

2 Thessalonians 3:13-15 (NKJV)
¹³But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. ¹⁴And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that personand do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. ¹⁵Yet donot count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

Paul closes his letter to the Thessalonians with severalexhortations to the congregation at large. He begins by urging them, “brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.”Note that Paul’s command presumes that it is possible to grow weary indoing good – after all, we don’t warn about things that aren’t possibilities.In endeavoring to do good we face much opposition – both from within and fromwithout – and so Paul commands us to never grow weary. The temptations of theEvil One, combined with the allurements of the world and the lusts of our ownflesh, often make the task of doing good challenging, the temptation to growweary alluring.

Because of the strength of this temptation, thetemptation to give up doing good and simply start doing whatever, Paul exhortsthe church to take seriously those who refuse to obey the Word of God. As Paulremarks elsewhere, a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. If acongregation permits sin to go unchecked, then that congregation cannot besurprised when such sin spreads. So notice that Paul urges the Thessalonians toact – “if anyone does not obey our wordin this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he maybe ashamed.” Paul’s command involves two parts – first, the Thessaloniansare to “note” – mark – point out – publicly identify such a one. Second, theyare to refuse to keep company – refuse to enjoy communion, including normalfellowship at the Lord’s Supper – with such a one. Why? What is the purpose ofthis marking? This suspending of normal fellowship? Note Paul’s words: “that he may be ashamed.” In otherwords, the purpose of this discipline is to awaken the sinner to theseriousness of his sin. As Solomon writes in Proverbs 20:30, “Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As dostripes the inner depths of the heart.”

It is with sober hearts that the elders inform youtoday – in accordance with Paul’s words that such things are to be announced inthe public assembly (1 Cor 5:4) – that ----- ----- is being suspended fromfellowship in the Lord’s Supper.

For some time ----- has been wavering in herservice of Christ. During this time numerous folks have endeavored to encourageher and come alongside her. Within the last two weeks, however, she has madeclear that she is turning away from Jesus and embracing a life of sin. It hasbecome plain that for many months she has beenlying to and deceiving her parents and others, using them to further her ownselfish ends. She has been committing and is continuing to commit sexualimmorality. She has rejected the Bible’s authority, declaring that it is notrelevant for today. She has intentionally absented herself from corporateworship and avoided accountability.

-----’s parents and the elders have spoken to herand urged her to turn back to Jesus, to beware trampling under foot the bloodof the covenant by which she was distinguished from the world. She has rejectedthese overtures. Our Lord commands us in Matthew 18:15-17:

““Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him hisfault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth oftwo or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hearthem, tell it to the church...

In accordance with these words of our Lord, thatwhen a brother or sister will not hear the exhortations of two or threewitnesses the matter is to be brought before the church, the elders arebringing -----’s sin to your attention. Our purpose in so doing is twofold:first, that you would pray for ----- and her family that the Lord would give -----eyes to see and ears to hear, that she would return to the Lord and flee fromthe foolish and destructive path that she is choosing. We know that all of usby nature are frail and prone to sin and deception, that but for the grace ofGod we would turn from him and serve self, and so let us pray that He wouldindeed have mercy upon her, bringing to her mind and heart the many thingswhich she has been taught over the years.

Second, our purpose in bringing this to yourattention is that you would consider writing to -----, expressing your love forher as a member of this body and urging her to repent and return to Jesus. Theelders will provide you with contact information in the week to come should youchoose to do so.

Suspending ----- from the Lord’s Supper is an actof love, “For whom the Lord loves hedisciplines even as a father the son in whom he delights.” ----- is oursister and so as we admonish her we treat her “not as an enemy but as abeloved” sister who has lost her way. And these reminders of the deceitfulnessof sin remind all of us of our need to confess our sins to the Lord. So let uskneel as we confess our sins and pray for our sister.

Our Father,

We are prone to sin, tempted to grow weary doinggood. The temptations of the Evil One distract us, the enticements of the worlddraw us away, the lusts of our own flesh incline us toward evil. But for yoursustaining grace we would each pursue our own way rather than the way of Jesus.We none of us by nature desire to take up our cross and follow Jesus – forfollowing Jesus means dying to sin and self and none of us relish the prospect.We pray your mercy upon us. Remember your lovingkindness and mercy toward oursister -----. Restore her to her knees that she would bow before you and seekyour forgiveness, that she would abandon the path of sin and destruction onwhich she has set herself and that she would return ot the narrow way thatleads to life. We pray also that you would keep all of us from sin anddeception, pour out your grace upon us that we would hunger and long forrighteousness and purity and every good way. Through Jesus Christ our Lord andby the power of Your Spirit,

Amen.

Epiphany and Miscommunication

2012-01-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

Isaiah60:1–3 (NKJV)

1Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen uponyou. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness thepeople; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of yourrising.

Communicationis a good thing. As creatures made in the image of God, spoken into existenceby the Word of God, one of our most god-like capabilities is the ability tocommunicate – to articulate with words our thoughts, feelings, desires,longings, ideas, fears, etc. Words make us human.

Ideallywhen we communicate both parties get the same message. But sometimes – eitherbecause we forget to speak with one another or because the person speakingcommunicates something other than that which the other hears – our messagesjust don’t get across. And this is what happened last week with our service ofworship.

Yousee Epiphany in the church calendar, the day that celebrates the revelation ofChrist to the Magi and, many years later, His baptism and His first miracle atthe wedding in Cana, is celebrated on a fixed day, January 6^th.Churches in the west that don’t celebrate Epiphany itself but who celebrateEpiphany on a Sunday instead have to decide which Sunday on which to celebrate.And while Carrie and I were treating last Sunday as Epiphany, Jim and Cassandraassumed we would celebrate this Sunday. Miscommunication.

Sowhat do we do when we have a miscommunication? First, of course, the oneresponsible for the miscommunication should take responsibility for it. So, mea culpa – I should have communicatedbetter. Second, knowing that our God is sovereign over all and that He intendedthis miscommunication for our good, our next calling is to be thankful. One ofthe glorious things about miscommunications is that they frequently result in multipliedblessings: we got to sing additional Christmas hymns last week and we get tosing Epiphany hymns this week and what’s wrong with that? Praise the Lord!After all, the church calendar is just a tool, a means to enable us to focusour lives on the life of our Great King Jesus. The church calendar declaresthat his life is the pattern for our own – and Jesus was routinelymisunderstood and yet continued to give thanks to God.

Andit is the centrality and magnetism of Christ which we find celebrated in Isaiah’svision today. What happens when the light of the world comes? When the glory ofthe Lord rises and shines upon His people? TheGentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.Men are drawn to that light, to the character of Christ, like moths to a flame.

Todaythroughout the world, millions of people will gather to worship Him and to payHim tribute. Why? Did he march forth into battle with sword and shield,scimitar and daggar, battle axe and hammer? No; he did something far morefearsome. He faced the wrath of the thrice-holy God in order that he might paythe penalty for our sin. He went through the fiery furnace of judgment in orderto bring us to safety and peace. He loved us and gave His life for us –upholding justice by causing justice and mercy to kiss in peace. He hasconquered millions by His love.

Andit is into this image that we are being transformed. So should we strive tocommunicate well? Yes for Jesus is the Word of God and faithfully communicatedall that the Father had given him to say. But when we fail to communicate well,what should be our response? To acknowledge that we are yet fallen creatures inneed of the grace of God and to give thanks that despite our miscommunicationsGod has taught us to love one another and is enabling us, by His Spirit, tobecome more like Jesus.

Sowhat miscommunications have dogged you this week? Have you and your spousefailed to understand one another? Have you and your children been like shipspassing in the fog? Has your boss failed to hear your suggestions or youremployee failed to implement what you thought you communicated so clearly?Whatever the miscommunication, God sends it as a reminder of our frailty, areminder of our need for the sacrifice of Christ, and so let us kneel and seekHis forgiveness for failing to respond to these miscommunications in a godlyfashion.

Why did Jesus come?

2012-01-01T16:32:00.000-08:00

Malachi 4:5–6 (NKJV)

⁵ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before thecoming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.⁶ And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, Andthe hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earthwith a curse.

WhenGod created the world, He created it a realm of righteousness and peace – a placeof blessing. When human beings rebelled against Him, however, the entirecreation became twisted and distorted, it came under judgment. Where once therewas only blessing now curses touched the animate and inanimate creation.

Thiswas no surpise. After all, God Himself had announced that were our firstparents to reject His Word they would surely come under His judgment. Further,since God Himself is the source of righteousness and peace, to turn away fromHim is to sever ourselves from all that is good and right, from that whichgives us blessing; even as a lamp depends for its light upon the electricaloutlet, we depend for blessing and joy upon the living God. To reject God andimagine that we could preserve righteousness, peace, and joy is foolish – yetthis was the sin of our first parents – and it is a sin repeated by countlessmillions of human beings to this day.

Theultimate end of rebellion is always judgment. Satan’s intention in tempting theman and the woman was to destroy all creation, to destroy that which God haddesigned and made, by bringing it like himself under God’s wrath and curse.Human beings became his tools, his instruments, to accomplish this objective.

ButGod had other plans. God intended to rescue the world not abandon it to thefolly of our first parents or to the malevolence of the Evil One. He wouldrescue His creation. And it it this intention that is celebrated every EpiphanySunday when Jesus was revealed to foreign kings, to the magi. It is also thisintention that is announced one final time in the closing verses of the Old Covenant:

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before thecoming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts ofthe children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

Uniformlythe NT interprets the promise of Elijah’s arrival to refer to John theBaptizer. He is Elijah who was to come before the arrival of the Messiah; hewas the one commissioned to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children andthe hearts of the children to the fathers – a worthy theme for discussion inand of itself. But I’d like you to note the reason God gives for sending John.Why send John to restore family relationships and bring people back to theLord? “Lest,” the Lord declares, “I come and strike the earth with a curse.”God sent John as the forerunner of His plan of salvation, His plan to rescuethe entire creation from the bondage in which it was trapped.

Andthis is precisely what Jesus declares to us. “For God so loved the world, the kosmos, the creation which He had solovingly and painstakingly crafted, that He sent His only Son that whosoeverbelieves in Him may not perish but have eternal life…He did not send the Soninto the world to judge the world but that the world might be saved through Him.”God acted in Christ to rescue the creation from its bondage to decay. And howdid He accomplish this?

Rememberthat the ultimate end of rebellion is always judgment. In justice our rebellionmust be judged. And so, wonder of wonders, the eternal Son of God took on humanflesh by being born of the Virgin Mary, he lived among us, suffered underPontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He bore the judgment that wasdue to us because we had rebelled against Him. And what’s more, God raisedJesus from the dead. In this way, He broke the power of death, reversing thecurse that once enslaved all creation. He came lest the earth be struck with acurse; he came to rescue all creation.

Sowhat of you? The ultimate end of rebellion is always judgment. Either we facethat judgment ourselves – the end of which will be our condemnation – or weturn in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore the judgment for all Hispeople, and so receive blessing from the Lord in Him. None of us can face theLord in ourselves; we have all rebelled against Him. And so, as we enter intoHis presence this day, He commands us to seek refuge from judgment throughJesus. Reminded of our need for a Savior, let us kneel and confess our sins tothe Lord.

With Reverence and Godly Fear

2011-12-18T16:29:00.000-08:00

Hebrews12:25–29 (NKJV)

25See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape whorefused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn awayfrom Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but nowHe has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but alsoheaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those thingsthat are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannotbe shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom whichcannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably withreverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

Todayin this final Sunday of Advent we close our meditations upon Paul’s words to theHebrews. Paul reminds us that as Christians we have received the unshakeablekingdom; that the temporary kingdom of the Jews has given way to the eternalkingdom of the Messiah. Therefore, as members of the Messianic kingdom, we areto approach God in corporate worship in a way that is acceptable, in a way thatis pleasing to him. Note Paul’s words, “Therefore,since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, bywhich we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

Lastweek we insisted that Paul’s use of the word “serve” in this passage isspecifically addressing corporate worship. Latreuwmeans ‘to perform religious rites, to worship, to venerate.’ We also saw that Paul insists that there is a rightand wrong way to worship God. He says that by grace we may worship God acceptably – implying, of course, thatthere is an unacceptable way of worshiping him. So what does it mean to worshipGod acceptably? Paul does not leaveus to answer this question on our own – for he immediately qualifies hisexhortation.

Weare to worship God acceptably withreverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. Paul’s languageleaves us in no doubt of his reference point. Ages ago when God appeared toMoses and called him to rescue Israel from Egypt, he appeared to Moses in theburning bush. And when Moses became curious and would have searched out thesecrets of the burning bush God declared, “’Donot draw near this place. Take your sandals from off your feet, for the placewhere you stand is holy ground…I am the God of your father – the God ofAbraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, forhe was afraid to look upon God” (Ex 3:5-6). Moses’ response to the awe-inspiringpresence of the Lord in the burning bush is the paradigm that Paul uses todescribe acceptable worship.

First,acceptable worship is reverent worship. The word that Paul uses here alludes toMoses hiding his face. It is the word used elsewhere to be ashamed,shame-faced, or embarrassed. By extension it means to bow one’s head with a self-consciousacknowledgment of inferiority or fault. When we come here week in and week outto worship, we come to meet with the high and holy one – the very one with whomMoses met on the mountain, the very one whose presence was transfigured on themount such that Peter, James, and John couldn’t look upon him. So as we come,we are to come remembering that the One we worship is a consuming fire and sowe are to be reverent.

Second,acceptable worship is fearful worship. When Moses was confronted by the livingGod, he was in awe, afraid to look upon him. Knowing that God is not to be trifledwith, not to be treated lightly, we are to worship with this due sense of awe.And awe will manifest itself in obedience – when we hear the voice of the onewe fear we listen attentively. God rebukes the Jews in Isaiah’s day for fearingmen rather than fearing Him: “I, even I,am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who willdie, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass? And you forget theLord your Maker?” (Is 51:12) So when we come to worship we are to have godlyfear.

Sowhy do we do what we do? Why isn’t our worship hip and trendy? Why do we singstodgy old psalms and hymns? Why don’t we dance and skip in the aisles? Why dowe kneel? Why do we raise our hands together? Why do we recite creeds, praysober prayers, greet one another with promises and even warnings? Because weare called to worship the Lord with reverence and godly fear.

Andso, reminded that this is our calling, reminded that we come this morning intothe presence of the same God before whom Moses quaked in fear, let us kneel andconfess that we are unworthy in ourselves to be here and that we stand in greatneed of the sacrifice of Christ to cover our sins.

What is Acceptable Worship?

2011-12-11T16:28:00.000-08:00

Hebrews12:25–29 (NKJV)

Thisadvent we have introduced a number of changes to our Sunday worship, to our liturgy.At such times it is good and right to take note of why we do what we do – andso I have been spending the last couple weeks meditating on this passage fromHebrews.

Paulreminds us that as Christians we have received the unshakeable kingdom. The temporarykingdom of the Jews has given way to the eternal kingdom of the Messiah. Andthe consequence of this change is not lesser accountability – as many wronglybelieve, “we are not under law but under grace” – but greater accountability.Therefore, we stand in constant need of the grace of God to enable us to dothat which is pleasing in His sight, including to worship the Lord faithfullyweek in and week out as His covenant people.

Andit is this precise application which Paul makes in our passage today. Hewrites, “Therefore, since we arereceiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we mayserve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” Since we are membersof the Messianic Age, let us be diligent to possess the grace of God and in that grace to serve God acceptablywith reverence and awe.

First,note that Paul wants us, in the grace of God, to “serve” God. The word that istranslated “serve”doesn’t mean service in the sense of labor on behalf ofanother. Frequently we are called upon to serve the Lord in that sense, butthat is not what is being mentioned here. Instead Paul uses the Greek word latreuw which means “to perform religious rites as a partof worship—‘to perform religious rites, to worship, to venerate.’” In other words, Paul is explicitlyaddressing the nature of corporate worship, the religious rituals that we useto approach our God. Even as the old covenant community, priests and peoplealike, served God by worshiping Him in accordance with His Word, so the newcovenant community is to serve God by worshiping Him in accordance with HisWord. By grace we are to worship God.

Second, note that Paul immediately gives parameters todescribe what this worship should look like. He says that we are to worship Godacceptably; we are to worship God ina way that pleases Him. This implies, of course, that there are ways ofworshiping God that do not please Him, waysof worshiping Him that are unacceptable. You will recall that at the beginningof the old covenant era God struck down Nadab and Abihu for offering strangefire to the Lord – their worship was not pleasing to the Lord.

Why not? First and foremost, Paul is implying here, becausethey did not worship God in the grace ofGod. “…let us have grace, by which wemay serve God acceptably…” It is only bygrace that we can worship in a way that pleases God. We cannot approach Godacceptably on the basis of our own merits; we cannot approach God acceptably onthe basis of our righteousness; we cannot approach God acceptably on the basisof our wisdom. It is only by gracethat we can serve Him acceptably. And this is what Nadab and Abihufundamentally missed. They did not worship God mindful of the One to whom alltheir religious rites pointed – Jesus Christ. Nadab and Abihu thought theycould tweak the religious rites because they were just conventions of men andany way of worship is acceptable as long as it is sincere. But God hadexplicitly designed these rites to point to the One and Only Sacrifice through whomhuman beings can approach God – Jesus.

As we come to worship today, therefore, the message that Goddelivers to us is that we must approach him acceptably by resting upon Hisgrace in Christ. We must come to worship clothed in the white robes that onlyHe can give. And the only way to worship God acceptably in this fashion is tokneel and confess our sins to God, beseeching mercy through Jesus Christ, theLamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So let us kneel and seek the forgiving grace of our God.

Let us Have Grace

2011-12-04T16:27:00.000-08:00

Hebrews12:25–29 (NKJV)

Lastweek we learned that in these verses Paul contrasts the temporary, shakeable kingdomof the Jews, the period of the old covenant, with the eternal, unshakeablekingdom of the Messiah, the period of the new covenant. He insists that it isthis latter kingdom of which we, in the Lord Jesus, are members. With the finaldissolution of the Jewish kingdom, followers of Christ have received a kingdomwhich cannot be shaken.

Therefore,Paul insists, we must be careful how we respond to this kingdom. We must notrefuse Him who speaks. Because God has revealed Himself even more clearly, evenmore certainly in the life of His only begotten Son, the Christian era is atime not of lesser accountability but greater. To reject the unshakeablekingdom is to invite the cornerstone to fall upon you and grind you to powder.If God took seriously our fathers’ transgressions in the old covenant, how muchmore seriously will he take ours.

Butall of this could lead us to respond incorrectly – to imagine that having begunby grace, having been delivered from our sins by the sacrifice of Christ andthe gift of faith, we are now left on our own to live lives of righteousnessand purity. Like the British monk Pelagius we can begin to fancy that holinessis our own doing. Sure God has been gracious – after all, he has given me theBible, he has given me Jesus’ life as a role model, he has given me otherbelievers for accountability – look how gracious God has been. But havingreceived these graces, holiness of life is something we must achieve by our ownwill power.

Itis certainly true that all these things Pelagius mentioned are signs of God’sgrace. But none of them in themselves are sufficient. After all, our problem ashumans beings is not that we fail to will and choose and even, at times, tomake great sacrifices. Our problem is that our nature is inclined toward sinand so even when we choose these great things we do so not for the Living Godbut for some other object of devotion. Even our most righteous acts aretainted, marred by sin.

Forthis reason, Paul begins his practical exhortation in our text this way: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdomwhich cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve Godacceptably with reverance and godly fear.” Paul clearly understood that thefoundation of Godly worship is the grace of God – grace that does not merelygive us good gifts externally but grace which sets our hearts free from theclutches of sin. “Wretched man that I am,who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God throughJesus Christ our Lord.” It is God Himself, the same God who patientlyendured the failings of our fathers in the Old Testament, the same God who sentHis Son to rescue us from our sin on the cross, the same God who sent HisSpirit to open our hearts and eyes so we could embrace the Gospel, who gives usgrace to escape our sinful pollution and to worship Him with reverence andgodly fear.

Soas we come to worship Him together, as we enter into His gates withthanksgiving and praise, let us be diligent to enter there clothed in the bloodof our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And the only way to enter clothed in Hisblood is to kneel and confess our sins to God, seeking His forgiveness. So letus kneel and do so.

Members of the Unshakeable Kingdom

2011-11-27T16:25:00.000-08:00

Hebrews12:25–29 (NKJV)

Afterthe Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Jewish kingdom with its bloody sacrifices,priestly rituals, and frail kings, was replaced by the Kingdom of God – akingdom that Paul describes in our text today as unshakeable.

Thispicture of an unshakeable kingdom harkens back to the prophet Daniel. Hundredsof years before Jesus’ birth, Nebuchadnezzar had seen the kingdoms of men as agreat and impressive statue made of different metals. But as Nebuchadnezzar wasadmiring the statue, a rock made without hands struck the feet of the statueand caused those kingdoms to shake and totter and crumble. The rock itselfbecame a huge mountain that filled the entire earth. It was unshakeable. Andwhat was that rock? The kingdom of God.

InPaul’s day this rock had just struck the feet of the statue: Jesus had come andfulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament: he was the long awaited king whowould reign on earth, the lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world,the rock that struck the feet of the statue. Through his earthly ministry heestablished the kingdom of God but the remnants of the old covenant system werestill around. The Temple still stood; the priests still offered sacrifices; thefeasts of the old covenant were still celebrated. But Paul knew that all thiswas going to change – the old covenant was ready to disappear, to be destroyedand in its place would stand the kingdom of Christ, the unshakeable kingdom. Paul’sprediction came to fruition as God destroyed the temple and the rest of the oldcovenant system; the kingdom of the Jews came to an end and the kingdom of theMessiah was begun.

Itis this kingdom of which we are members; we have received the kingdom whichcannot be shaken – we are members of Christ’s body, subjects of His sovereignrule. And so our responsibility, like our fathers before us, is to respond tothis kingdom in a specific fashion. And the first thing that we are to do islisten and obey. Paul exhorts us,“Seethat you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Himwho spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him whospeaks from heaven…” In otherwords, if God took seriously the transgressions committed under the oldcovenant, the shakeable and temporary kingdom (and he did), then how much moreseriously will he take the transgressions committed under the new covenant, theunshakeable and lasting kingdom.

Todayis the first Sunday in Advent, the time of year that we call to mind thetransition from the old covenant to the new, from the age of immaturity to theage of maturity, from the kingdom of the Jews to the kingdom of Christ, fromthe shakeable kingdom to the unshakeable. As we recall this transition, let usremember that the Lord who spoke to our fathers in the old covenant continuesto speak to us in the new and that this means not less accountability but more.We are called upon to approach the Lord with reverence and awe – for our God isa consuming fire.

Remindedthat the Lord has given us the great privilege of being members of theunshakeable kingdom and that there is forgiveness with him that he may befeared, let us kneel and confess that we have treated this privilge lightly.

Called as Homemakers

2011-11-20T16:24:00.000-08:00

But as foryou, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that… the older women … be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to muchwine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young womento love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers,good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not beblasphemed.(Tit 2:1-5)

Last week we considered once again Paul’s admonitions tothe younger women in the congregation at Crete. We found that Paul expects them– along with all other Christians – to orient their lives around the TriuneGod. They are to be discreet, chaste, and good – all traits which point to theTriune God and urge us to put Him and His Word at the center. Rather thanorienting our lives around what Eugene Peterson calls the modern Unholy Trinityof our Holy Needs, Holy Wants, and Holy Feelings, Paul urges younger women toorient their lives around the Holy Trinity.

Today we consider the orientation that Paul expects fromyounger women. He commands that younger women be instructed “to love their husbands, to love theirchildren, to be…homemakers, obedient to their own husbands.” Notice thateach of Paul’s admonitions orients the life of younger women around the home.Paul admonition assumes, of course, that these younger women are married andthat they likely have children. So let us make a few observations from thistext for those of you women who are married and/or have children at home.

In the beginning, when God created them male and female,he created the woman to be a help to the man in his calling. God had given theman and the woman together an immense task – to be fruitful and multiply andfill the earth and subdue it. In short we were to exercise dominion over theearth. Both the man and the woman were designed to fulfill this task but weredesigned to fulfill the task differently. By design, the man was oriented tovarious tasks and the woman was oriented to helping her man fulfill thosetasks.

This is the understanding that Paul reflects in hisadmonition that the older women teach the younger women to be “homemakers.”Literally the word is home-energizers, women who are busy working at home doingall that they can do to bless their household and assist their husbands tofulfill the divine commission that has been given to both of them.

This design difference between men and women leads Paulto deliver specific admonitions to the married women and the women withchildren in the congregation. Notice Paul’s commands: first, to married women.If you are married, then Paul’s admonition to you is that you love your husband– be devoted to him, committed to his well-being, and manifesting the same typeof love for your husband that the church is called upon to manifest for Christ.You are to be your husband’s suitable helper and – though feminists rage andfoam – be obedient to your own husbands. By fulfilling these mandates you willbe blessed and, what’s more important, the Word of God will be adorned withglory rather than blasphemed.

Second, Paul gives commands to women with children. Ifyou have children at home, then Paul’s admonition to you is that you love yourchildren – care for them instruct them, cherish them, serve them. Your callingis not to care for them alongsidevarious other tasks that you view as more important. Your calling is to carefor them preeminently.

Notice, therefore, that Paul insists that your husbandand your children are to get your best thoughts, your most intense care, yourmost ardent devotion – for this is how God has designed you.

And husbands, your responsibility is to make sure thatyour wives can fulfill these tasks. Guard them, protect them, provide for themso that they in turn can love and cherish laboring at home.

Reminded that God has designed men and women differentlyand that our calling as human beings is to go with the grain, let us kneel andconfess that we often rebel again his design.

The Unholy Trinity

2011-11-13T16:22:00.000-08:00

Today we approach the last of two exhortations on thelessons that women are to teach us as the people of God. As we consider Paul’sadmonitions to the younger women we see two primary concerns expressed. First,Paul is concerned that younger women be oriented in a specific direction.Second, Paul is concerned that younger women possess a certain character.

So let us take the second concern first. Paul wantsyounger women to possess a certain type of character. Whether you are single ormarried, young or old, the character qualifications that Paul places before ushelp us to see what it means to be a real woman. Our modern culture has made afull frontal assault on femininity and so women are terribly confused. And thisfrontal assault has been aided and abetted by abdicating men who would likenothing better than to shun responsibility for the women in their lives.

Paul commands younger women to be discreet, chaste, andgood. He wants them to live lives grounded in and oriented around the TriuneGod. So God is the Creator of all; therefore, Christian women are to be discreet – to order their lives in a waythat reflects how God designed the world. God is Holy and therefore Christianwomen are to be chaste – distinctfrom the scandalous behavior of the women around them. Cretan women were theancient equivalent of skanky Hollywood actresses and Paul wants the Christianwomen to be separate. Finally, God is goodness itself and so Christian womenare to be good – embodying the character of Jesus in their own lives by thepower of God’s grace.

Each of Paul’s admonitions puts the Triune God at thecenter of our life and consciousness. In order to be discreet, chaste, andgood, Christian women must know who God is and what He is like. Your minds andhearts must be engaged and attune to God Himself. And this necessitates thatChristian women know and understand the Word of God for this is where theTriune God has revealed Himself.

Contrast this mindset with what Eugene Peterson calls theReplacement Trinity of modern culture, a Replacement Trinity that women inparticular are greatly tempted to worship and obey:

…the three personal Father, Son,and Holy Spirit is replaced by a very individualized personal Trinity of myHoly Wants, my Holy Needs, and my Holy Feelings… The time and intelligence thatour ancestors spent on understanding the sovereignty revealed in Father, Son,and Holy Spirit are directed by our contemporaries in affirming and validatingthe sovereignty of our needs, wants, and feelings….

It is clear that we live in an age in whichthe authority of Scripture in our lives has been replaced by the authority ofthe self: we are encouraged on all sides to take charge of our lives and useour own experience [our own needs, wants, and feelings] as the authoritativetext by which to live.

Thealarming thing is how extensively this spirit has invaded the church. I more orless expect the unbaptized world to attempt to live autonomously. But not thoseof us who confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. I am not the only one to noticethat we are in the odd and embarrassing position of being a church in whichmany among us believe ardently in the authority of the Bible but, instead ofsubmitting to it, use it, apply it, take charge of it endlessly, using our ownexperience as the authority for how and where and when we will [submit to] it.

Oneof the most urgent tasks facing the Christian community today is to counterthis self-sovereignty by reasserting what it means to live these HolyScriptures from the inside out, instead of using them for our sincere anddevout but still self-sovereign purposes [serving our Holy Wants, Holy Needs,and Holy Feelings].(Eat This Book, 31,32,59)

So how are you orienting your life? Are you orienting itaround the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Or are you orienting itaround the Unholy Trinity of your Holy Wants, Needs, and Feelings? Paulchallenges you to put the Triune God at the Center – to be discreet, chaste,and good.

Reminded that this is our calling, let us kneel andconfess that we have often fallen short.

Teachers of Good Things

2011-11-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

After taking a hiatus for several weeks, this morning Iwould like to return to our text in Titus and Paul’s description of the lessonsthat we as the people of God are to learn from the women in our midst. Afterall, the reason that Paul gives these specific admonitions to older women andyounger women is that he desires them both to be models of Christian characterfor the entire congregation. So what do we learn today?

Paul urges older women to be “teachers of good things”and to use their age and maturity to instruct the younger women. Paul then goeson to specify what these “good things” are – loving husbands, loving children,etc. For the moment let us reflect on the fact that Paul calls all these thingsgood.

Historically, Christians have been concerned to upholdthe three great virtues of truth, goodness, and beauty. Truth points us to thatwhich corresponds with the way the world actually is. Jesus came, we learn in theGospel of John, to testify to the truth, to point us to what is really real,ultimately pointing us God’s revelation of Himself in His Word and in His Son.Goodness points us to that which is right and virtuous, reflecting thecharacter of God Himself, which is, again, revealed both in the pages ofScripture and in the life of our Lord Jesus. God is goodness itself – and thelaw and Jesus’ life point us toward this goal. Beauty expresses those thingsthat have a sense of proportion, order, and glory. The garments of the priestsin Israel were made “for glory and for beauty” indicating that beauty is notjust in the eye of the beholder but a reflection of the character of God. Godis Beauty itself and has woven it into creation to point us to Him.

In labeling these things “good”, therefore, Paul is directingolder women to the Word of God written in the law and incarnate in Christ. Heis urging these Cretan women to be models of biblical living, models thatreveal the wonder of God’s work in redeeming the most mundane duties of life. Increasinglywe are surrounded and seduced by alternative definitions of the “good”,definitions that have little to do with the character of God and much to dowith our own selfish drives and impulses. Increasingly, therefore, we meet menand women and children suffering the ravages of evil choices.

And so Paul wants the Christian community, and Christianwomen in particular, to be a haven of peace and righteousness and stability inthe face of such suffering. Therefore, the challenge that Paul issues to us,issues to you, is this: are you so attached to what is good, so fond of it andexperienced in its application in daily life, that you are able to model it toothers. You older women, in particular, have you embraced the good andfulfilled your God-given calling to pass that good down as a heritage to thenext generation?

Our God is the fount and source of all goodness and Hehas revaled that goodness in His law and in His Son – so how passionate have webeen in pursuing both? How eager are we to read and understand and feast uponthe Word of God? How zealously do we present ourselves before the Son of Godand seek from Him an abundant supply of goodness?

Reminded that this is our calling – a calling that olderwomen are to embody and that the rest of the congregation is to learn – let uskneel and confess that we have often fallen short.

The Blessing of Church Officers

2011-10-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 4:11–12 (NKJV)

¹¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, someevangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping ofthe saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

The final thing that I would like to share with youpublicly about my trip to presbytery in Minneapolis is the privilege that I hadto serve on the examination committee for Kenton Spratt. Kenton is the pastorof our sister congregation in Colville, Washington. It was an incredibleprivilege to get to hear him preach, to read some of his writing, and then toexamine him at presbytery.

But not only was it an incredible privilege to examineKenton, it was also an incredible privilege to work in concert with otherelders in the CREC during this process. The examination committee is typically composedof five CREC elders – some pastors, some teaching elders, some ruling elders.Our task is to examine the candidate’s fitness to serve as a minister of theGospel.

The privilege ofjoining in this work reminded me that one of our callings as the people of God– both officers and congregants – is to thank God for the gift he has given usin apostles, prophets, evangelists, and even pastors and teachers. God in Hisgrace and mercy has gifted us with men to teach and articulate the Word of God– and it was my privilege to recognize Kenton as one of those men.

So how are you doing? First, have you been thanking Godfor the leaders, past and present, in the church? Thanking God that He hasgiven us those equipped to read and understand and teach His Word? And not onlythanking God for them, but continuing to pray for those living that they wouldfulfill their tasks with joy and integrity?

Second, have you reckoned with your calling to supportministers of the Gospel with your tithes and offerings? Paul writes to theCorinthians, “Do you not know that thosewho minister the holy things [in the OT] eat of the things of the temple, andthose who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so theLord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from thegospel” (1 Cor 9:13-14). And so we are called upon as the people of God toexpress our gratitude for those who labor in Word and Sacraments by providing fortheir physical needs by giving to the work of the church.

Third, have you shown your appreciation for these men bylistening to what they are telling you? The way we show respect and honor isnot by nodding our heads and saying how much we appreciate them, but by doingwhat they urge us to do when it is consistent with the Word of God. God hasgiven them that we all might be equipped for ministry, Paul says – and so ourcalling is to make use of their teaching by ministering, by implementing theprinciples they give.

Reminded of the many ways in which we take leaders forgranted, let us kneel and confess our sin to God.

The Tragedy of Division in the Church

2011-10-23T16:18:00.000-07:00

Acts 15:36-40
Then aftersome days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us now go back and visit our brethren inevery city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they aredoing.” Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. ButPaul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed fromthem in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Thenthe contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And soBarnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and departed,being commended by the brethren to the grace of God.

At Presbytery learned not only of great deliverances butalso of troubles in some churches. That which has sat most on my heart is oneof the original congregations in the CREC whose elders – all godly men – havefound it impossible to labor side by side any longer. Their difference ofvision has become so entrenched that they have decided, for the sake of longterm peace, to part ways and plant a new church in the same community whileendeavoring to preserve fraternal relationships with one another through jointmeetings, psalm sings, etc.

Their story reminded me of the event in the life ofBarnabas and Paul that we read in Acts. They simply could not agree on what todo with John Mark. Barnabas was willing to give John Mark another chance; Paulfelt that to bring him along would compromise their very important mission.Luke comments on their disagreement that “thecontention become so sharp that they parted from one another.” They couldnot agree on the course forward.

Here’s the question: was the division between Barnabasand Paul a result of sin? No doubt. Not only had John Mark’s sin provided the originalcause for the dispute but our general condition as fallen human beings meansthat both Paul and Barnabas were sinners as well and no doubt their particularweaknesses contributed to the conflict. But here’s another question: does Lukemake an attempt to sort this situation out and ascribe blame? Not at all. Thesewere godly men, they had a difference of vision, and so they parted waysbecause they simply could not agree on a course forward.

Isn’t that humbling? We imagine in our idealism that weChristians should be able to work all these problems out. We’ve got to preservethe unity of the Spirit – didn’t Paul himself write that?! But the story is puthere to remind us of the stark reality of our current human condition – we arefinite and sinful and stand in desperate need of the grace of God? Here are twogodly men who couldn’t agree and had to separate from one another for a time.Here in the CREC are godly men who cannot agree and are separating from oneanother while endeavoring to maintain fellowship. How this ought to humble us,to cause us to cry out to God for mercy, to beseech him to keep us united andgive us a common vision.

Job tells us, “Manis prone to trouble, as sparks fly upward.” Knowing how prone we are tosuch trouble, our calling is to be gracious to one another, to endeavor to keepthe unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and to cry out to God to unite usin love. Unfortunately we often fail to do so. We bicker and complain; we seekour own good rather than the good of others.

And so reminded of our need to be humble, to seek theface of God, to treat one another with kindness and mercy, let us kneel andconfess our sins to the Lord.

A Passion for the Lost

2011-10-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord isnot slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsufferingtoward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come torepentance.

During my time at presbytery I had the opportunity tohear reports from the various churches in our region – hearing of God’s faithfulness,of challenging trials, and of remarkable deliverances. I promised that I wouldshare some of these things with you and so permit me this morning to share oneof the stories I heard – a story that both encouraged and challenged me.

We learn from our passage today that the reason Goddelays the coming of the Day of the Lord is to secure the salvation of all Hispeople. He is not slack concerning His promise but is patient toward us, notwill that any should perish. The Lord is determined to rescue his people.Through the preaching of the Word, the witness of believers to Christ, and thework of the Spirit, He is in the process of bringing men, women, and childreninto His kingdom – and He will not fail to save any of His people.

This was brought home to me through one of the storiesshared at presbytery. A member of this congregation, a brother by the name ofDale, has worked for about 20 years as a postal carrier. He has endeavored todo his job faithfully and well, self-consciously endeavoring to bear witness toJesus through his labor. For many of those years, Dale first worked alongsideand later worked under his current supervisor. They have not always seen eye toeye.

About a month ago Dale’s supervisor had a dream. He wasat work and it was a rotten day. Everything seemed to be going wrong. Theemployees were complaining, he was frustrated, the air was tense – except forDale. Dale was sorting his mail, singing and whistling, doing his work withjoy. The mail carriers went out to deliver and the day continued going poorly.Some mail didn’t get delivered; as carriers returned they were asked to carrythis new mail out. And you can imagine the response: anger, frustration,railing on the supervisor – from everyone except Dale. He went and did his workwith a smile.

Then, in his dream, the supervisor finally got to go homebringing to an end a long, miserable day at work. But wouldn’t you know it, histroubles weren’t over. When he got home soon he and his wife were arguing andfighting – over what, the dream didn’t make clear. But in the midst of theirarguing, they heard a knock on the door. Dale’s supervisor went to the door,opened it, and was surprised to see Dale on his doorstep. “Can I help you?” heasked. And the dream ended.

The next day Dale’s supervisor related his dream to theoffice before Dale arrived and, when Dale arrived, called him into his office.“We need to talk,” he said. And so began a number of conversations between Daleand his supervisor over the Gospel – the next Sunday Dale’s supervisor showedup at church with his wife – though neither of them had darkened the doorway ofa church since their childhood; within the next week Dale’s supervisorprofessed faith in Christ; and in the last several weeks he has continued to growin the Lord.

As I said I found myself both encouraged and challengedby the story: encouraged because the story reveals that we serve the LivingGod, a God who moves and acts in the lives of men and women and children todraw them to Himself and give them life. He is not willing that any of Hispeople perish.

But I also found myself challenged: is my life, myconversation, my demeanor – so let me ask you: is your life, your conversation,your demeanor – something that God can put to use in a dream to draw others toHim? Or have you been a poor witness, more the stuff of nightmares? God’sdesign is to reveal Himself to all the nations of the earth, to cause everyknee to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus. And the way he intends to do this isthrough our witness – so how are we doing? Are we bearing faithful witness toour Lord Jesus?

Reminded of this call and no doubt convicted that we havefallen short of our calling, let us kneel and confess our sins to the Lord.

Women and Wine

2011-10-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

In our text today, Paul continues his admonitions toolder women and his admonition is that older women “not be given to much wine.”What does Paul’s admonition reveal to us?

It is a perennial tendency of sinful men to identify thecause of our problem as human beings as something outside ourselves, somethingexternal to our nature. Rather than correctly understand that our fundamentalproblem is a problem of the heart – that we are indeed corrupt and twisted,inclined to evil rather than to good – we begin to imagine that we arebasically good people and that the problem is all these corrupting influencesthat surround us.

The fruit of this thinking is the moralistic crusade – inorder to secure salvation we must abolish whatever it is that is corrupting us.And so some have insisted that that which corrupts us is sexual pleasure – thesolution? Develop man made rules restricting sexual enjoyment. Others haveinsisted that that which corrupts us is certain foods – the solution? Develop alist of those foods which are acceptable and those which are forbidden. Stillothers have insisted that it is ignorance which corrupts us – the solution?Develop schools, pay teachers larger salaries, save our kids.

But among the items which have been said to be the sourceof our corruption, none has been more fiercely condemned in the last 100 years thanthe demon liquor. The prohibitionist movement in America and the continuingantipathy toward alcohol of any sort in many conservative Christian quarters isevidence of the hold this notion has had and continues to have upon theChristian conscience.

But here’s what I’d like you to notice in our text today– Paul does not say that older women are not to drink wine, he says that olderwomen are not to be drunkards, not to be given to much wine. Despite muchconservative Christian thought to the contrary, alcohol is not in itselfsinful. What is sinful is the abuse of alcohol – drunkenness is a sin. And whatthis means is that the fundamental problem is not with the alcohol, thefundamental problem is with us. As sinners we continually abuse the good giftsthat God has given us, using them not for the glory of God but in sinful ways.

You see the same Bible which condemns drunkenness in themost emphatic terms, also tells us that God gave wine to gladden the heart ofmen. The problem is not the wine – the problem is us. We take a gift from Godand corrupt it. And so Paul insists that older women are not to be drunkards,not to be given to much wine. And if women aren’t to be drunkards then neitherare the rest of us.

Reminded that the primary problem in the world is oursinfulness and not the objects in the world, let us kneel and confess our misuseand abuse of His gifts.

Women and Slander

2011-10-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

Some weeks ago we began a series of exhortations for thewomen in the congregation. What would God teach us through them and what arethe particular sins which women need beware of? Last time we considered Paul’sadmonition that the older women are to be reverent in behavior; this week weconsider his admonition that the older women are not to be slanderers.

Characteristically sins of the tongue seem to tempt womenfar more than they do men. Fittingly, therefore, the Word of God does not shyaway from exhorting women in this specific area. One of the key signs ofgodliness is the way we use our tongue. Out of the overflow of the heart themouth speaks – and therefore that which comes out of the mouth reveals thatwhich is in the heart, reveals that which we treasure and love and esteem.

So what do you love? What do you treasure and esteem?Well answer me this – what is coming out of your mouth? For what is coming outreveals what is inside. We have this strange notion that the way someone actsand speaks doesn’t really reveal what they treasure. But Jesus insists thatthat’s just not true. So let me ask you – what is coming out of your mouth? Isit thanksgivings to God, the wisdom of God’s Word, words and remarks thatrefresh the soul and build up those with whom you are speaking, gracious wordsthat always put the best interpretation on others’ actions? Or is it frettingand whining, complaints and grumblings, gossip and slander?

It is this last sin that Paul particularly focuses uponin our text – the sin of slander. Slander is closely related to gossip. Gossipbecomes slander when the rumors we circulate are clearly false and intended todestroy. Slander has a much clearer sinister element to it – intending as itdoes to harm the one about whom the tale is told. While those who gossipsometimes delude themselves into thinking that they are really helping theother person or at least not harming anyone, the slanderer intentionally sets outto harm another by spreading falsehoods. She is using her tongue to destroy.

So whom have you slandered? Whom have you maligned andmistreated with your speech? Your husband? Your father? Other women? Yourelders? Beware the sin of slander.

Warnings against this sin are replete in the Scriptures. David complained, “ForI hear the slander of many; Fear is on every side; While they take counseltogether against me, They scheme to take away my life.” His son Solomon notesin Proverbs 10:18, “Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, And whoever spreadsslander is a fool.” And Paul, in the other testament, notes that in the latterdays men will be “unloving, unforgiving, slanderers.”

Because of the insidious nature of slander, severe curses are called down upon theone who practices the same. The psalmist prays in Psalm 140:11, “Let not aslanderer be established in the earth; Let evil hunt the violent man tooverthrow him.” And God Himself announces in Psalm 101:5, “Whoever secretlyslanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy.” God takes slander seriously.

And so reminded that the words we speak reveal what wetreasure and love, let us turn to God and confess that we have loved wickednessand deceit. Let us kneel as we confess together.

A Letter on Infant Baptism

2011-09-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

I've received numerous questions about infant baptism of late - here is one (inadequate!) response I wrote.

Dear ________,

Great question! Below I’ve appended an account of infant baptism that I sent to another fellow who asked about it. It summarizes why I changed my position from believer baptism to infant baptism.

A brief biographical background: I grew up United Methodist – but was merely a nominal believer. God grabbed hold of me in college and I joined a non-denominational church. I became convinced that infant baptism was unbiblical and led to presumption – assuming one was saved when one actually wasn’t. I maintained this position throughout college and seminary despite attending a school that officially taught infant baptism. It was less than 10 years ago that I finally “took the plunge” as it were and became convinced that infant baptism was not only acceptable but biblical.

Infant baptism is no “guarantee” of personal salvation any more than adult baptism is. Baptism is a covenant rite that identifies us as the people of God. The question is – are only adults counted among the people of God or are the children of believers likewise included in that number? I gradually became convinced that the children of believers are included in that number. So why the change? A couple books were helpful. Doug Wilson’s book To a Thousand Generations was helpful to me as I worked through these issues. Also helpful was John Murray’s Christian Baptism. Most helpful was my own reading and study of the Word of God. It took an immense amount of time for me to work through this issue – some find it easier. But for me it was very challenging. I was a convinced Baptist.

There are a number of links in the chain that led me to conclude that infant baptism is biblical:

1. Notice the way in which God introduces Himself to Moses. “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation.” (Ex 34:6-7). The meaning of mercy for thousands is clarified later in Moses’ words to our fathers, “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repay those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them.” (Dt 7:9-10) God introduces Himself here as a God who deals with generations of men – not simply with fathers but with their children and children’s children. And note that since this is the character of God, we have to ask, “Does God change?” And the Scriptural answer is no – God is the same today that He was then. He is still a God who delights to bless generation upon generation of those who love Him.

2. Given that this is the character of God, it is no surprise, therefore, that every covenant God makes with His people involves not only them but their children with them. In the covenant with Noah both Noah and his family are rescued from destruction. In the covenant with Abraham, God commands Abraham to bring up his children in the fear of the Lord so that they will serve Him and love Him. God establishes His covenant with Abraham for the express purpose of blessing “all the families of the earth” in him – so he must be one who blesses his own family (see Gen 18:17-19). In God’s covenant with Israel under Moses, on the night of Passover, God does not simply pass over the adults but the children of His people. He rescues entire households – and indeed gives a very clear definition of a household in His words to Moses about the Passover. A household includes the parents, children, and slaves – hired servants are excluded as are visitors to the house (cf. Ex 12:24, 43ff). If foreigners wanted to partake of the Passover then they had to be converted, joined to the people of God by circumcision. Finally, in God’s covenant with David, He makes promises not only to David but also to his children (2 Sam 7:12-16).

3. Consequently, God lays claim to the children of believers. They are His children (cf. Ez 16:20,21; 23:37).

4. Is this true in the New Covenant, the Covenant with Christ? A number of things indicate that the New Covenant includes not only believers but their children:

a. The prophecies of the OT speaking of the New Covenant anticipate God’s blessings flowing not only to believers but to their children (e.g., Is 59:21; Ez 37:24-28).

b. When Jesus ministers, He gives explicit attention to the children of His disciples. His ministry is not simply to the adults in Israel but to the children; according to Luke, to the infants (cf. Lk 18:15-17). Jesus insists that infants are integral members of His kingdom, there to teach the rest of God’s people important lessons.

c. When Peter preaches the first sermon at Pentecost he insists that the promise is “for you, and for your children, and for those who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself” (Acts 2:39).

d. When the disciples baptize folks in the book of Acts, the baptisms frequently describe entire households being baptized. While no infants are explicitly mentioned, the definition of household offered in Exodus 12 continued to be operative in Jewish society and was identical in the broader Roman society. Infants and children, had they been in the household, would have been included (cf. Acts 10:2; 16:31-34; 1 Cor 1:16).

e. The fact that this is the definition of household which the apostles themselves held is revealed in Paul’s letters to the Ephesians and Colossians. To whom does he address his exhortations? To husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves – in other words, to households.

f. Further, God continues to hold out promises to the children of believers. In Eph 6:1ff Paul takes an OT promise and applies it to the children of believers. Further, in 1 Cor 7:14 Paul distinguishes the children of believers from the children of unbelievers as “holy” – that is, set apart, members of the covenant community. God lays claim on our children – they are His children and every Christian parent will answer for the manner in which he shepherded them.

5. It would appear, therefore, that the children of believers are members of the New Covenant – received by God into the Church and numbered among His people. They are given precious promises and held accountable to the terms of the covenant they have entered. The terms of the covenant are the obligations to believe in the Lord, to love Him, to cherish His commandments, etc. Hence, as I raise my children I speak to them as believers, call them to believe in the Lord, to serve Him, to delight in Him, to love His law, to cherish His ways. But I never treat them as though they are “out there” – I don’t give them the option to “not believe” any more than I would give them the option to take drugs. I consistently call them to faith, I bring them up in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph 6:4), the very thing that my father Abraham was commanded to do with his children thousands of years ago.

6. This means that merely being baptized is no substitute for faith; rather, baptism is a call to faith, a summons to belief and obedience. All those who are baptized into Christ Jesus are called to love Him and serve Him. In the same way that there were circumcised Israelites who were nevertheless “uncircumcised’ (Rom 2:28-29), so there are baptized Christians who are nevertheless “unbaptized” (e.g., Acts 8:13, 20-23). Unless baptism is joined with faith, it is a curse upon the one baptized rather than a blessing for it brings greater responsibility (Mk 16:16; Lk 12:47-48).

7. Baptism is a covenant rite – it brings us into a binding relationship with God, it makes us members of the New Covenant. However, from the Reformed view – which we think is biblical – being a member of the covenant is not synonymous with being “saved.” One can be a member of the covenant community and fail to lay hold of the promises that God holds out to His people (Heb 6:1ff). Hence, we must constantly call not only our children but one another to faith – “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb 3:12-14). Notice that Hebrews calls these folks “brethren” – they are members of the covenant community – and yet warns them lest they depart from Christ. Why is this? Because we can never know the heart condition of others; so we constantly remind one another to trust in the Lord and to cling to Him.

This is probably a bit more than you asked for – but thought it might be helpful. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

Blessings,

Calamity is from the Lord

2011-09-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Amos 3:6 (NKJV)
6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?

Today is the 10th anniversary of the bombing of the World Trade Towers. Numerous remembrances and analyses of the tragedy are being held today and so it is fitting to reflect on this event in the light of Scripture so that we are training ourselves to think rightly about it.

As we see in our text today, the wicked action perpetrated by Islamic terrorists on September 11, 2001 was planned and orchestrated by God Himself. “If there is calamity in a city,” Amos asks rhetorically, “will not the Lord have done it?” Amos expects us to answer yes. The Lord will have done it.

For many, even many Christians, such an answer is hard to swallow. How can we believe that the Lord has done this? But if we are to allow the Word of God to be our guide then we must certainly insist that He did it. God declares through Isaiah, “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity, I the Lord do all these things.”

But knowing that the Lord has done it, that the Lord orchestrated the event, does not answer the question, “Why?” We know from the story of Job that not all calamity comes as a judgment, comes as a result of our sin. Sometimes God visits calamity upon us for His own mysterious reasons. However, we also know from Scripture that there are times when God does send calamity as a judgment, sends calamity because we have rebelled against Him and embraced darkness and death. God is not mocked – what a man sows that he also reaps. And when we reap judgment God sends it to call us back from our sin and urge us to worship Him anew.

So what are we to think of the World Trade Center disaster? Why did this happen? I don’t presume to know all the reasons. However, I do know that we Americans are a guilty people fully deserving of such a calamity. While we imagine ourselves upright, we are corrupt. We are fornicators. We congratulate others when they make a “score.” And when the orgasm is over and a child is conceived through our folly, we slaughter the child and have the gall to declare, “God bless America.” Not only are we fornicators, we are covenant breakers. We scorn faithfulness to the marriage bed and then express shock when our spouse commits adultery. Divorce is rampant; lawsuits have multiplied more than frogs in ancient Egypt. We swear to our own hurt and then hire an attorney to make sure that we never have to fulfill our vows. But not only are we fornicators and covenant breakers, we embrace death. Men have turned from the God-given desire for women and burned in their lust for one another, taking that which should give life and putting it in the canal of death; women have forsaken sexual satisfaction with a man and pursued fruitlessness with one another. And the hands of both men and women are dripping with the blood of our children and sometimes our infirm. Brothers and sisters, we are guilty, deserving of judgment.

Is there hope? Yes there is hope. God strikes – but when he strikes in judgment, He does so to remind us to turn from our sin and rebellion and to find shelter in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Through Jesus there is forgiveness – forgiveness for fornicators, covenant breakers, homosexuals, and murderers. Through Jesus there is forgiveness – forgiveness for nations that rebel against His law. And so we are reminded to confess our sin and to ask Him to show mercy to us and to not treat us as our sins so richly deserve. Let us kneel together as we do so.

Confessing Christ

2011-09-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7

As a congregation, we at Trinity Church have been making our way through Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Here in Colossians 2 Paul begins to transition away from his opening greetings to the exhortations which he felt compelled to deliver to the Colossians. It seems that the Colossians were being tempted to move away from the message that their pastor Epaphras was preaching in favor of some new teaching that was tickling their ears.

Consequently, Paul urges them to continue in Christ even as they began in Him. Don’t be moved away from the Gospel that you originally heard: the good news that though we were dead in transgressions and sins, estranged from God because of our rebellion, God Himself took on human flesh and dwelt among us; He sent His only Son to rescue us from our sin and slavery and to restore us to fellowship with Himself; Jesus lived for us, suffered for us, died for us, was buried for us, rose again from the dead on the third day for us, ascended into heaven for us, and has sent His Spirit to give us faith, make us more holy, and assure us of our resurrection. This is the message you heard – now, Paul says, cling to it tenaciously.

Notice that Paul calls us to be faithful to the faith as it was handed down in the churches, to (in his words to Titus) hold firmly to the traditions which we have been taught. Like Jude, Paul wants us to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

This injunction which Paul gives the Colossians is one of the reasons that our churches, every Lord’s Day, recite one of the ecumenical creeds together – in a moment we will be singing a setting of the Apostles’ Creed. As these summaries of Scriptural teaching rest in our bones and become part of us through corporate confession, we are being rooted and built up in Him. For each Lord’s Day we grow in our knowledge of Him – where did He come from? He was eternally begotten of the Father before all worlds. Who is He? He is God of God, light of light, very God of very God. Is he a creature? No for he is begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father. What has he done? Through Him all things were made, who for us men and our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried, the third day He rose again from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

This, brothers and sisters, is the Christ we worship. The very one who is worthy of all glory, laud, and honor. The very one who created all things and to whom it is right and fitting to give glory and dominion. And it is in this One that Paul tells us to be rooted and grounded and in whom we are to grow.

And note that Paul insists that it is not enough to recite this faith, not enough to know who Jesus is and what he has done; he commands us to be abounding in the faith with thanksgiving. To abound is to overflow, to know no limits. The words we recite or sing each Lord’s Day should come from hearts that are in the full flood of thanksgiving – thanks for rocks and trees and good friends and green grass and fresh honey and butter and flashlights and honorable men and lovely women and cheese and forgiveness and resurrection.

And so, coming into His presence, let us kneel and confess that we have failed to appreciate fully His glory and to honor His name accordingly by rejoicing in the faith as we have been taught.

That the Women be Reverent

2011-09-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that … the older women … be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.(Tit 2:1-5)

The women of Crete did not have a sterling reputation in the ancient world. Part of this was no doubt a consequence of the topless attire that they wore. But part of it was also a consequence of the conduct of some of Crete’s leading women.

One of the ancient legends associated with Crete that most people know is that of the Minotaur. What fewer now know is that the Minotaur was the offspring of the Minoan Queen Pasiphae who had mated with a bull. Pasiphae’s sexual perversions weren’t lost on her daughters – one of whom, seduced by the Greek hero Theseus, paved the way for the destruction of the Minotaur and the decline of Cretan power and the other of whom later married Theseus and then tried to seduce Theseus’ son, precipitating the son's death when he refused her advances. Not to be outdone, another of the royal Cretan women was banished from Crete for her illicit behavior, rose through skillful use of her beauty in the court of the King of Mycenae, married the king’s son, and then assisted the king in murdering his own son so that she could become the king’s wife. These perversions led to the disgrace of Cretan women generally – their conduct became the example by which all were judged; even the upright were viewed with suspicion.

Paul is very concerned that Christian women cause no such shame for the Gospel of Christ. He states the motivation of all his exhortations quite plainly in v. 5 – “that the word of God may not be blasphemed.” In so doing, Paul indicates that the operative concern for our lives as professing Christians is not our happiness, not our ease or comfort, but preserving the Word of God and hence God Himself from being blasphemed.

And so Paul’s first command to the older women is that they be “reverent in behavior.” Literally his exhortation means that they conduct themselves in such a way as would be fitting in the temple of God; that they act as they would if they were in the presence of God Himself all the time – for this is, in fact, how we live. We all live coram Deo – before the face of God. And so we are to live reverently.

So women – how are you doing? What are you using as the measure of your actions? What determines the sacrifices you make? The way you spend your time? The way you speak to your children? The way you respond to your husband? The way you speak about your husband to your friends? Paul urges you to measure your life by the Word of God – don’t do anything that would bring shame on Jesus’ Name, that would give the enemies of God cause to blaspheme God’s Name. Suffer anything rather than shame your Savior.

And this is the same message that Paul gives to you men as well. We are all to live such that we adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. So how are you doing? Has your attitude at work adorned the Gospel? Has your thankfulness at home adorned the Gospel? Has your care for your children adorned the Gospel? Or have you brought shame on Jesus’ Name?

Reminded that our conduct as Christians inevitably reflects on the Name of our Savior Christ, let us kneel and confess that we have given occasion for the enemies of God to blaspheme.

The Battle of the Sexes

2011-07-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

Genesis 3:16 (NKJV)
16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”

For the last several weeks we have emphasized that God is the One who designed man as male and female. He created Adam, He announced that it was not good for man to be alone, He paraded the animals before Adam so that Adam would sense his incompleteness, He put the man to sleep and fashioned the woman from his rib, He presented the woman to the man as his helper. All this was God’s doing, God’s design.

So what went wrong? Why is it that we have strife and competition between men and women? Our text today answers the question clearly: strife between men and women is a judgment from God visited upon our rebellion. “Your desire,” God announces to Eve, “shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Though God had created Adam and Eve to live in harmony, now there would be strife. No longer would she willingly and joyfully submit to her husband but would desire to subdue him, to subvert his God-ordained position of authority. No longer would he lovingly guard and protect and nourish his wife but would oppress her. This relational strife was a direct result of our rebellion and explains a large swath of human behavior.

Why is it that a man oftentimes uses his strength to batter and abuse a woman rather than to protect her? Why is it that a man is willing to exploit a woman sexually? Why is it that he is willing to terrorize a woman? To treat her with benign neglect? Deem her his inferior intellectually, morally, spiritually, emotionally? Because of our rebellion against God.

Why is it that a woman oftentimes uses her beauty to seduce a man rather than to glorify him? That rather than submit to her husband’s authority she will seize that authority for herself, either by intimidation and threats or by whining and manipulating her way into power? Why is it that a woman will mock and scorn a man who is willing to lead and protect his family or will give a nasty look to a man who opens the door for her? Because of our rebellion against God.

The strife between male and female is a consequence of our sin, a judgment visited upon us by God Himself. But here is the good news. Because God visited this judgment upon us, He can also take it away. And when we seek His forgiveness through Christ, when we acknowledge that we have rebelled against Him and brought all this disaster upon ourselves and that our only solution lies in the Lamb of God who died for our sins, He will forgive us. And what’s more, He promises to enable us by His Spirit to recover the harmony that was lost in our rebellion. We can, through the renewal of the inner man, live in harmony one with another – as husband and wife, as brother and sister, as father and daughter, as mother and son, as brother in Christ to sister in Christ. We can, by the grace of God, learn to live in harmony as male and female once more. We can be a new humanity.

And so in order to achieve this, we must begin by acknowledging that it is our own sin that has gotten us into this mess. It is our own folly that has introduced tension where there ought to have been peace and concord. So reminded of our sin, let us kneel and let us confess our sins to the Lord. There will be a time of silent confession followed by a public prayer of confession.

Mature Femininity

2011-07-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

Genesis 2:18 (NKJV)
18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

In the last couple weeks we have learned that male and female together bear the image of God and that therefore God made males to be male and females to be female. This was his design, his intention, his plan. He saw that the man was alone and declared it wasn’t good. He decided to make a helper comparable to the man.

Because God designed you women as women what this means is that your fundamental calling in life is to honor and glorify Him. He is the Creator of all; further, He has sent Christ to redeem and rescue you, to restore you to the glory of your creational design. So what does this mean?

First, it means that because God is the Creator His Word governs and rules your life. Eve got you into trouble by questioning God’s Word and deciding for herself whether the Word of God or the word of the serpent were to be believed. She set herself up as judge. But none of us were designed to live this way – and it is the choice to live this way that has wrought calamity and destruction in the world – and which continues to do so. The so-called Battle of the Sexes has arisen precisely because men and women have refused to live in accordance with God’s Word and have instead lived according to our own.

Second, God’s word declares here that men and women were created to complement one another. God’s judgment that it is not good that man be alone reveals not only the complementariness that God designed for marriage but also for broader society. Whether the number of men and women would have been perfectly balanced in an unfallen world we are not told – but we are told that God designed man as male and female to glorify His Name and be for the benefit of all. Men as male and women as female were designed by God to complement one another, not compete with one another.

Third, God’s design for women, revealed here in the creation story, is that women were created, you were created, to help the men in your midst. God declares, “I will make him a helper suitable to him.” God created you to come alongside men and to serve, to assist. The exact way this will look will appear different in different situations but this is the basic calling – to be a pillar of strength and support and to enable the men in your life to be all that they can be. As John Piper has written, “At the heart of mature femininity is a freeing disposition to affirm, receive and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men in ways appropriate to a woman’s differing relationships.” So, ladies, how are you doing? Are you affirming, receiving and nurturing the strength and leadership of your husbands? Your fathers? Your elders? This is your calling.

And you men, are you being worthy men? “At the heart of mature femininity is a freeing disposition to affirm, receive and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men in ways appropriate to a woman’s differing relationships.” Are you stepping up to the plate and giving godly strength and leadership to the women in your life? This is our calling.

Reminded that rather than submit to God’s design for us as men and women, we frequently develop our own visions for what is good and right, let us confess our sins to the Lord. We will have a time of silent confession followed by a public confession. Let us kneel as we confess our sins together.

Thank God for Women

2011-07-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

Genesis 2:18-24 (NKJV)
18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

It was God’s design that man as male and female image Him, be a representation of His own glory and splendor. But this design of God wasn’t something offensive, something that the man and the woman themselves recoiled against. Rather it was something that the man himself discovered in the course of creation and that the woman was divinely crafted to fulfill.

For the story tells us that God first made judgment that the creation of the solitary male was not good. Following God’s repeated pronouncement that each part of the creation was “good”, the declaration that the solitary male was “not good” should awaken us from our literary slumber. There was something in the creation that was not good – and this was a world filled with males only.

But note God’s wisdom. God wants the man to sense this, wants him to realize existentially his own lack of a helper suitable to him. And so God parades the animals before him pair by pair and Adam realizes, comes to sense himself, something is just not right here. Where is my helper? Only then, only when the man realizes that it is not good for him to be alone, does God put the man to sleep and craft for him the perfect compliment – a woman, Eve.

The creation account here in Genesis reminds us that God created men and women to live together in harmony. Men are not supposed to be women nor are women supposed to be men. Men and women are not interchangeable – no matter how hard our culture may try to make them so. God has created us different – and this difference both in marriage and in broader society is a gift from Him, a gift to teach us more about himself.

And so, women, have you given thanks that God created the men in this world to be men; have you given thanks that God created your fathers to be men, your husbands to be men, your brothers to be men, your sons to be men. Have you not simply taken mental note of the fact but actually thanked God for it; thanked God that He had the wisdom to put male and female into the world that we might learn to love and respect and honor Him more fully?

Men, have you given thanks that God created the women in this world to be women; have you given thanks that God created your mothers to be women, your wives to be women, your sisters to be women, your daughters to be women. Have you not simply taken mental notes of the fact but actually thanked God for it; thanked God that He had the wisdom to put male and female into the world that we might learn to love and respect and honor Him more fully?

These are the challenges that God’s creation of Adam and Eve place before us. Reminded that we often grumble about our differences as male and female rather than thanking God for them, let us confess our sins together.

Male and Female in God's Image

2011-06-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

Genesis 1:27 (NKJV)
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Some of you may recall studying Plato’s doctrine of the forms when you were a student. For Plato the world we see about us, the world that we can see, touch, taste, hear, and smell is only a dim reflection of the truly significant world, the world of the forms. Corresponding to the actual pews in which you are now sitting is, in the abstract world of the forms, the ideal pew – the pew of which all our earthly pews are only dim reflections. The closer tangible objects get to their form, the nearer perfection they also get.

The ways in which Plato’s idea of the forms impacted Greek civilization are myriad, some good and some bad. In the latter category, by far one of the worst impact of Plato’s notion was on the way in which it impacted the Greek perception of humanity. For you see, there is only one perfect form for the myriad objects that have certain traits in common. There is one perfect circle to which all our circles approximate. There is one perfect chair, one perfect triangle, one perfect human. And it is this latter observation that got things going the wrong way. For the Greeks almost uniformly insisted that the human form was male – and the closer one gets to the form, the closer one gets to perfection.

The implications of this for Greek practice were many. First, the Greek acceptance of the perversion of sodomy and homosexuality was born out of this mistaken notion. After all, if the perfect form is male then why shouldn’t one male be attracted to the perfect form of another?

Second, women were degraded and viewed as a lesser form of human since they were further from the form. And the more like men women became the more human they became. So the legends of the Amazonians were spread by men who wanted women to be male. The ancient version of Angelina Jolie.

Notice the contrast between this ancient Greek fable, with its exaltation of perversion and denigration of women, and the revelation of God in Genesis. Here in Genesis we are told that God made man in His image, according to His likeness. But lest we start traveling down the Platonic sewer pipe, Moses informs us that by man he means male and female together. God created man, male and female, in His image after His likeness. It is not the male who is the image of God; nor is it the female who is the image of God; rather it is male and female together – unity and diversity in harmony – who bear the image of God.

So what does this mean? First, men, it means that the women whom God has placed in our lives – wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, etc. – have been put there to teach us about Him. They, in company with us, bear the image of God and so are to be not simply tolerated, not simply endured, but treasured, respected, honored, and listened to as women. God created them to be women and He intends to teach us about Himself through the women in our lives. So are you listening to the lessons God is intending to teach?

Second, women, it means that God has placed you here to teach men something about God. You have lessons to share, truths to embody, principles to articulate. You bear the image of God in a way that no man ever can or will. So have you considered if you’re teaching what you’re supposed to be teaching?

Reminded that as men we often fail to learn the lessons that we are supposed to learn from the women in our midst and that as women we forget that God has put us here on earth to teach some very specific things, let us kneel and confess our sins to the Lord. We will have a time of private confession after which I will lead us in a public confession.

Trinity Sunday Meditation

2011-06-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

John 4:21-24 (NKJV)
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth.”

On Trinity Sunday for the last couple years we have considered the words that Jesus speaks in this text and the way that they help us understand the Trinity. Unfortunately, this text is frequently misinterpreted. It is imagined that Jesus is contrasting the external, formal worship of the OT period with the heartfelt, internal worship of the New. At one time people worshiped externally, now all worship is “in spirit and truth” – that is, heartfelt and genuine.

The difficulty faced by this approach is not the insistence that worship must be heartfelt and genuine. That is most certainly true. The difficulty is that this was no less true in the OT than in the New. David declares in the psalter, “Sacrifice and burnt offering you did not desire, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Heartfelt, genuine worship was to characterize the OT no less than the New.

What then is the change Jesus is anticipating in His words to the Samaritan woman? There are actually two changes. First, Jesus insists that the corporate worship of the people of God would be decentralized. Remember that in the OT God’s people had a central sanctuary located at Jerusalem. Three times a year every male had to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to Mount Zion, and worship at the central sanctuary, offering sacrifices, feasting with God’s people, honoring the Lord. The Samaritans, for their part, refused to acknowledge the centrality of Jerusalem but likewise had a central sanctuary at Mount Gerizim. Here the Samaritans had their collective feasts. The woman asks Jesus – You’re a prophet; so which is it? Mount Zion or Mount Gerizim? Jesus responds, “Neither! In the Christian era, during My reign, God’s people are not required to gather for corporate worship at a central sanctuary – whether in Gerizim or Jerusalem or Rome. Rather, wherever the people of God gather together in My Name and lift My Name on high, there is Mount Zion, there is the City of God, there is the central sanctuary.” In other words, Jerusalem in Israel is no longer the center of God’s dealings with man; the heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion, the Church is the center.

Second, Jesus informs us that not only would corporate worship be decentralized, it would be explicitly Trinitarian. When Jesus rose from the dead and sent forth His Spirit, the worship of God’s people was forever transformed. It became explicitly Trinitarian – worshiping the Father in Spirit – the very Spirit whom Jesus promised would come and lead His people into all righteousness – and in Truth – the very Truth who took on human flesh and declared to His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Today is Trinity Sunday, the Sunday the Church has historically emphasized the Triune nature of God. It is this that Jesus does in our text. Worshiping the Father in Spirit and Truth is not an exhortation to heartfelt, genuine worship – that exhortation had been given throughout the OT. Worshiping the Father in Spirit and Truth is to worship the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And it was this transformation that Jesus anticipated and announced to the Samaritan woman. “The time is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth.”

So what does this mean for us? It means that this morning as we gather together to worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth, as we gather to worship the Triune God, we are approaching the central sanctuary of God, the place where God dwells. Mount Zion is His dwelling place and it is this place to which we draw near every time we gather to worship the Lord together. Hebrews tells us, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first born who are registered in heaven…” (Heb 12:22-23) And, like Isaiah, who entered into the presence of God in the Temple, the first thing that should strike us is our own unworthiness – in ourselves, we are not worthy to be here. And so let us kneel and seek His forgiveness through Christ.

Pentecost and Responding to God's Law

2011-06-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

One of the ancient associations of Pentecost is with the giving of God’s Law on Mt. Sinai. While the feast of Passover was associated with the deliverance from Egypt, Pentecost 50 days later came to be associated with the giving of the Law. It is important as we approach Pentecost and celebrate the giving of the Spirit, that we not drive a wedge between God’s Law and His Spirit – for it was the very Spirit who was poured out upon our fathers on Pentecost that had given Moses the Law on Mt. Sinai. So this morning we open our celebration of Pentecost with a responsive reading of God’s law – I will be reading each of the Ten Commandments and you will respond with passages from the New Testament which parallel these commandments.

Responsive Reading of the Law of God (Exodus 20:1-17)

Minister: Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”

People: For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. (1 Corinthians 8:6)

M: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

P: Little children, guard yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21)

M: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”

P: “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.’” (Matthew 6:9)

M: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

P: And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

M: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”

P: Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. (Colossians 3:20)

M: “You shall not murder.”

P: Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Romans 13:8, 9)

M: “You shall not commit adultery.”

P: Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. (Hebrews 13:4)

M: “You shall not steal.”

P: Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. (Ephesians 4:28)

M: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

P: Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. (Ephesians 4:25)

M: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

P: Do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints. (Ephesians 5:3)

All: Amen!

Reminded of God’s law, let us kneel together and confess that we often fail to implement it in our lives.

Ascension Sunday

2011-06-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Daniel 7:13-14 (NKJV)
13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.

Today is Ascension Sunday. On this day we celebrate the moment when our Lord Jesus Christ, having taught the disciples for 40 days following his resurrection, ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. Ascension Day was actually last Thursday – 40 days since Easter. However, we haven’t yet reached the point of celebrating Ascension Day during the week and so celebrate it on the Sunday following.

But why celebrate this event? What’s so important about the Ascension? Daniel answers these questions for us. In chapter 7 Daniel has a vision of various animals who would rule the kingdoms of the earth in the years and centuries to come. He sees Babylon as a lion with eagle’s wings; then comes Medo-Persia, a bear with three ribs in its mouth; next comes Alexander the Great and Macedonia symbolized by the speed and agility of a leopard with four wings; finally comes Rome, a great beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong, having iron teeth with which it devoured all other kingdoms.

As Daniel was meditating on these visions and wondering what they might mean – for from his vantage point in history he didn’t know what we know of the rise of these kingdoms – as he was wondering what this might mean, something even more startling happened. Suddenly a Son of Man, a Son of Adam, appeared – not a beast but a man. And this Son of Man came up to the Ancient of Days, the Ruler and Judge of all, the one who raises up one kingdom and puts down another. Note that the Son of Man is not here coming down to earth but up to the Ancient of Days – this is not a reference to the Second Coming, in other words, but to the Ascension. The Son of Man came up to the Ancient of Days and what happened? The Ancient of Days gave the Son of Man dominion, glory, and a kingdom – in other words, He made the Son of Man King, Ruler.

And here’s the question: Ruler over what? Over just the land of Israel? Over just the people of God? No. Ruler over all the nations of the earth – listen to Daniel: “Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.” The dominion that the animal kingdoms had for a time exercised over the earth is replaced with the rule of the Son of Adam. In the Ascension Jesus enters upon His duties as the King of kings and Lord of Lords. He begins to reign from the right hand of God and the first thing He does, on the day of Pentecost, is pour out His Spirit upon His people to enable them to carry the message of His reign throughout the earth.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus reigns, let the earth be glad! Jesus reigns, let the nations rejoice! The rule of the beasts of the earth, the governmental principle that might makes right, has come to an end to be replaced by the rule of the Son of Adam and the exaltation of justice. “His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.”

Reminded that Jesus is Lord of all, Ruler of all, and that it is Him that all men, nations, and languages are to serve, that it is Him we are to proclaim as King of kings and Lord of lords, let us confess that our nation refuses to honor Him and that we Christians frequently fail to bear witness to Him. Let us kneel as we confess.

Harold Camping and the End of the World

2011-05-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

“I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”
Ps 2:7-9

No doubt you all, like me, have witnessed with a mixture of mirth and mortification the failure of Harold Camping’s prediction that the end of the world was to have arrived a week ago Saturday. And now, apparently, rather than repent of his original folly, he has announced that really he was right. Last Saturday was the spiritual judgment of the world and come October it will all be wrapped up.

I say that I have witnessed this with a mixture of mirth and mortification. Mirth because it is hard to believe that any teacher of the Bible would be so ignorant of Jesus’ refusal to pinpoint the day or the hour of His return – either to judge Jerusalem within the generation of those living or to bring human history to a close at His second coming. How could he get something that Jesus makes so clear so wrong? And so I sometimes laugh.

But not only has sardonic laughter echoed in my head, I have been deeply mortified. Why? Because Harold Camping professes to be not simply a follower of Jesus but a teacher of God’s people. And his false prophecy, in company with the false prophecies of many others throughout history, has only served to undermine legitimate faith in the second coming of Jesus. “Can you believe these folks actually believe that Jesus is going to return again? What a fairy tale! After all, look how many times their teachers have gotten it wrong!”

And so I’ve viewed all this with a mixture of mirth and mortification. But our passage today reminds us why Harold Camping is all wrong, why it is certain that Jesus is not yet going to return in glory, and why we need not fear for the long term success of the Gospel despite the follies of false prophets like Camping. Why? Because the Father promised to His Son, promised to our Lord Jesus Christ, that He would give Him all the nations of the earth as His inheritance, and all the ends of the world as His possession. He promised His Son that all kings would bow down to Him, all would worship Him and pay Him homage as He subdues them through His power.

And given the promise that the Father has made to Jesus to give Him all the nations of the earth as his inheritance, how can we imagine that the state in which we observe the world at this time is the time of the fulfillment? The nations of Europe are in apostasy. America is under the sway of political polytheism. China is in bondage to communism. The middle east is trapped in the darkness of Islam and Judaism. Large portions of Africa are still in the grips of paganism. The nations have yet to acknowledge the supremacy of Jesus. But one day, our psalm assures us, they shall.

And it is to this end that we are called to pray and to labor and to strive. Jesus commissioned His Church, not to hunker down and await some cosmic rescue plan, but to march forth to victory, proclaiming the cosmic reign of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ whom the Father raised from the dead and seated at His right hand. We are to call upon all the nations of the earth, including our friends, families, politicians, business owners, and entertainers, to kiss the Son and acknowledge His rule, lest He become angry and they perish in the way. You see, at any time Jesus may come for us personally. Death may strike us at any moment and we may be called upon to meet our Maker. But Jesus will not return finally in judgment until all the nations of the earth have bowed before Him and acknowledged His rule – and so our job as the people of God is not to speculate about the date of his return but to get to work.

Reminded of our collective failure to bear witness to the Lordship of Jesus and our tendency to make the exalted Lord look foolish by our teaching, let us confess our sins together. We will confess privately and then corporately using the printed confession in your bulletin. Let us kneel together as we confess.

Rejoicing over the Death of Osama Bin Laden

2011-05-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

Exodus 15:21 (NKJV)
21 And Miriam answered them: “Sing to the Lord, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”

For the last couple weeks one of the pervasive news items has been the killing of the notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 2011 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. After nearly ten years eluding capture, bin Ladin was finally slain by an elite Navy Seals team on May 1, 2011. Perhaps as interesting as the killing itself is the controversy that has erupted in its wake – is it right to rejoice in the death of such a man?

As Miriam indicates in our text today and as the Psalms pervasively reveal, it is good and right to rejoice when God executes justice on the wicked. “Sing to the Lord, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!” The Lord is the ruler of all. There are at times men and sometimes even women who are notoriously depraved. When such folks are brought to justice it is good and fitting to thank God for the same.

As Steve Wilkins has written, "While we are forbidden, as Christians, from rejoicing over our personal enemies – as though they deserved to die and we didn’t – we surely may rejoice when evil men who have oppressed and killed others perish." To rejoice in the demise of a Pharaoh, of an Ahab and Jezebel, of a Herod, or a Hitler, or a Stalin, or a Pol Pot, or an Osama bin Ladin is good and right.

Nevertheless, the fact that justice has been executed on bin Ladin reminds us that justice does not play favorites – justice too will visit us. We have been used by God to execute justice on a man who deserved the same – but unless we Americans repent, seek the forgiveness of God for our own sins, and return to the worship of the Triune God, we stand guilty under the same standard of justice.

Shall we execute judgment on a terrorist who has killed his thousands when by our laws we have slain millions of innocent children still in their mothers’ wombs? Shall we condemn this man for his numerous wives and mistresses when by our laws we scorn the marriage covenant and even sanction the abomination of sodomy? Shall we condemn this man for exploiting the poor and needy when by our laws we spend money to get out of debt and enslave future generations so that we can steal the fruit of their labor? We too stand guilty.

“Woe to America,” God Almighty says, “the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hand is My indignation…
Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it?
Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?
As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up,
Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
Will send disease on his sturdy frame, from head to toe,
And within his flesh a fever like fire shall burn."
(cf. Is 10:5-11)

Reminded of our guilt as a people, let us kneel and confess our sins to God, seeking His mercy upon us as a people.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

Psalm 113:4-6,9 (NKJV)
The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, Who dwells on high, Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in the heavens and in the earth? … He grants the barren woman a home, Like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!

Sarai was barren. For nearly eighty years she had longed for a child, longed to cuddle and nurse and play. But now her hope was gone; she no longer dreamed. But God heard her. He sent his angel to announce that she would give birth to a son. And though Sarai first laughed in scorn, reasoning that this man in her tent didn’t know the first thing about barren wombs, Sarah later laughed in joy, understanding that the wisdom of God is foolishness to men.

Leah was unloved. Passed off as her more attractive younger sister she saw in her husband’s eye the torch of pity and resentment that broke her heart and made her weep. And when her sister was likewise married to her husband, her personal grief only increased. But God heard her. He opened her womb and gave her many children – and though her hope that her husband would love her was never fully realized, God loved her and raised up her son Judah to be the father of our Savior.

Tamar was shamed and scorned. Married to two men who had both been scoundrels, she was now being deceived by the father of those scoundrels, Judah. Though he had promised to give her his third son as husband, Judah’s promise was empty. He had decided, as most scoundrels do, that Tamar was the problem not his sons. So Tamar cried out to God and God heard her. He granted her success as she laid plans to entrap the worthless man Judah; and when she had conceived and Judah was prepared to destroy her, God delivered her from his hands, changing the scoundrel Judah into the man Judah. And Tamar’s son Perez became the ancestor of our Lord Jesus.

Manoah’s wife was barren. Her lifeless womb had given them no children and her grief was great. But God heard her. He sent his angel to announce that she would give birth to a son who would deliver Israel from her enemies – and she, unlike Sarai, believed and told her husband. And so Manaoh went in to his wife and she conceived and she bore a son whom they called Samson.

Elizabeth was old and barren yet full of faith and good works. She and her husband Zacharias served the Lord, loving him, cherishing his laws, delighting in his ways – all the while longing for a child. God heard her. He gave her a son in her old age and made him the last and greatest of all the prophets of the Judaic Age.

Mary was a righteous young woman, pregnant by God’s own power and facing the prospect of a betrothed who was determined to divorce her. She cried out to God and God heard her. He visited Joseph in a dream and Joseph remained with her becoming the human father of our Lord.

The Syro-Phoenician woman was desperate. Her daughter was deathly ill and no physicians could help. Then she received news that the Jewish prophet Jesus was in her town. She frantically searched for him and, humiliation of humiliation, begged him to heal her daughter. But he rejected her plea. And so she cried out to him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the scraps from under the master’s table.” And God heard her. He healed her daughter and sent his new daughter home.

Clotilde was anxious. Her first child had died shortly after his baptism and now her second child, also baptized and only a few weeks old, was ill. Her unbelieving husband mocked and scorned – this is what comes of following this new religion of yours! Clotilde cried out to God and God heard her. He rescued the child from death and used Clotilde’s faith to turn her husband Clovis, King of the Franks, to Christ.

Brothers and sisters, the love of mothers has prompted God to move and to act from the earliest days of biblical history to today. So mothers – love your children and pray for them. God will hear you. Others – love your mothers and give thanks to God for them. Reminded that we have taken our mothers for granted, let us kneel and seek God’s forgiveness.

Reciting the Creeds in Faith

2011-05-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” James 2:19

In confessional churches there is an ever present danger – the danger of mindless repetition. The prophets in Israel were stern in their rebukes of the people of God for failing to draw near to God in their hearts and substituting external ritual for an inward love for Him. “Woe to those who draw near to me with their lips but whose hearts are far from me.”

Every Lord’s Day we have opportunity to confess our common faith with one of the ancient creeds. It is Eastertide and we have once again shifted the version of the Creed we are confessing – singing now the Apostles’ Creed – and so it is always good to remember why we do what we do.

1. Common confession is a fitting response of faith to God’s Word, a declaration of trust in the Sovereign Lord. As God’s Word continues to be spurned in our culture and in our churches more and more we need to confess--we trust in His Word. He is God; we are not. We shall do what He says and follow Him. The creeds are an excellent way to express this faith--we trust Him.

2. In light of the massive syncretism in our culture, the recitation of creeds is a forceful way to declare whom we worship. We will not bow to America’s idol, some general theistic deity. Neither shall we worship Vishnu, nor Zeus, nor Allah, nor the green revolution. We will invoke the blessing of the Triune God and no other. We worship Him.

3. It enables us to verbalize our thankfulness to God for those who have gone before us. We worship the God of Abraham and Isaac, Peter and Paul, Ambrose and Augustine, Luther and Calvin, Edwards and Whitefield. When we confess the creeds, we acknowledge our indebtedness to our forefathers. They lived, breathed, suffered, and died to preserve this faith for us and we lay hold of it with everything we have. So we thank Him.

While remembering why we do this, it is also important to emphasize how we are to do it. And this brings us back to our opening danger – the danger of mindless repetition. As we recite the creed each Lord’s Day we declare, “We believe…” It is important to ask, believe it or not, what we mean by the word “believe”? For “believe” can be used in a variety of ways – as we see in our passage from James today: “You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe and shudder!” There is a certain type of belief that will not deliver in the day of judgment. So when we confess the creed, the belief that we should be confessing is not a mere admission of intellectual assent, “Oh, yeah, this is what I think,” but rather an expression of heartfelt commitment, “This is the One I love, I trust, I cherish, I adore.”

And so, how are we doing? Children, how are you doing? Are you embracing and cherishing the One who calls you His own in the waters of baptism? This morning we’ll have the privilege of witnessing a baptism and reaffirming our faith in God. But the same basic reaffirmation is made each week. Are you approaching worship in faith, hungering to hear the voice of Christ, to be changed and transformed by His Spirit? Adults, how are you doing? Is worship growing ever more sweet and lovely? Are you reciting the creed intelligently and faithfully or by rote? These are the questions that the different meanings of the word “believe” force us to ask. Our confession should be robust, lively, and full of faith. Beware lipping the words and losing their meaning.

Reminded of our propensity to draw near to God with our lips and fail to draw near Him with our hearts, let us seek His face and ask Him to forgive us and make the fruit of our lips a pleasing sacrifice in His sight.

Easter Sunday

2011-05-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

Romans 1:1-4 (NKJV)
1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2 which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

Today is Easter – the most significant of the various holy days in the Church calendar. More pivotal than Christmas, more central than Pentecost, more crucial than Epiphany – Easter celebrates the single most world transforming event in all human history. Because of the resurrection, we have the Gospel. Because of the resurrection, we have cathedrals. Because of the resurrection, we have computers. All because of the resurrection.

It is this world transformation that Paul points out to us in the introduction to his letter to the Romans. After assuring us that Christ’s advent was proclaimed beforehand by the prophets and that he came as was foretold a son of David, Paul goes on to declare that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection of the dead. What does he mean by this turn of phrase?

While many have supposed that Paul is here outlining the two natures of Christ – according to his human nature he was of the seed of David but he was also the Son of God – the text does not support this notion. For how could Jesus’ status as the eternal Son of God undergo a transformation as a result of the resurrection? He has and ever will be the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. This is not what Paul is addressing.

What is Paul saying then? He is telling us about the transformation that has occurred in the ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as a result of the resurrection. He was born of the seed of David – had indeed the natural right to rule as King. But simply having the natural right to rule does not establish that one does in fact rule. Bonnie Prince Charlie may have had a rightful claim to the throne of England; but a mere claim means little if one does not actually have the throne. And it is this that Paul addresses with the next phrase. Not only was Jesus born to be King – not only did he have a legitimate claim to the throne – by the resurrection from the dead He was declared to be the Son of God, the King of Israel, with power – that is, the resurrection was Jesus’ coronation as King. God, as Peter says elsewhere, made Him to be both Lord and Christ by the resurrection from the dead.

What is the significance of Easter then? On this day we celebrate the coronation of our King. Nearly two thousand years ago he was crowned King of the Universe, the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him and this includes, because He conquered death, authority over death itself. He has the keys of death and hell. He opens and no one shuts. So death is conquered; death is destroyed. Christ is risen and those in Him shall arise as well. Death is no more the final word.

So give heed to the exhortation of the psalmist in Psalm 2, the coronoation psalm of our King:

Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

Let us kneel therefore and acknowledge our rightful King, asking His forgiveness for our sins against Him.

Palm Sunday

2011-04-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

When Jesus had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’”

So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.

Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:

“‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
Luke 19:28-40

Today is Palm Sunday, the day the Church has historically celebrated the event described by Luke in our passage today. After an extensive ministry that had spanned three years, our Lord Jesus Christ set His face to go up to Jerusalem. And as He entered the disciples were overwhelmed with joy and enthusiasm. They understood the signs and symbols; they knew this was the promised Messiah; they knew their king had come.

It is important that we not be deceived by the trappings of this passage into imagining that our Lord was rejecting the title of king. Some imagine that because Jesus was coming on a donkey that he was personally rejecting the title of king. Even though, they say, He did come into Jerusalem – he did not come as a king but as a Savior. For, it is argued, a king would have come with much pomp and show, not mounted upon a donkey.

Scripturally speaking, however, this is a false dichotomy. Jesus came both as Savior and as King. Indeed, he came not just as any king but as the King of kings, the Lord of Pilate, the Master of Caiphas, the Lord of Herod, the Sovereign of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes. Why, then, did he come mounted upon a donkey?

To teach the world the true character of kingship, the true character of God Himself. For one of the calls of the Messiah, the King of Israel, was to serve as the human representative of the living God, called by Him to manifest the character of God to His people. And what is the character of God? Joyful and voluntary giving from one person of the Trinity to the other – the Father giving Himself for the Son and the Spirit; the Son giving Himself for the Father and the Spirit; the Spirit giving Himself for the Father and the Son. What then is to be the character of the King, the Messiah? Joyful and voluntary giving of himself to the people he is called to lead and shepherd. Jesus came into Jerusalem on this day almost 2,000 years ago to serve His people by taking on Himself the punishment due to us for our rebellion. Jesus came into Jerusalem on this day almost 2,000 years ago so that He might overcome His people’s enemies, sin and death, and set them free. Jesus came into Jerusalem on this day almost 2,000 years ago because He loved us.

This is the true meaning of kingship; this is the true meaning of leadership. Leadership is a call to serve. It is not a call to greatness; not a call to the elite tennis club; not a call to rounds of golf; it is a call to service. And this, my friends, is the lesson Jesus teaches us in the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday. As the prophet Zechariah had anticipated:

Behold Your king comes to you;
Humble and riding on a donkey;
On a colt, the foal of a donkey.

All the kings of the earth have been but dim shadows of this great King – who gave Himself that the future kings of the earth might learn to what they are called and imitate Him who will one day call them all to account. And He gave Himself not only as an example to the kings of the earth but also so that all entrusted with the responsibility to lead – husbands, fathers, mothers, employers, elders, deacons, mayors, senators, presidents, congressmen - may remember that the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and that they might live the life of the Son of Man in their sphere of authority.

However, we are ever tempted to avoid the call of our Lord Jesus Christ to serve and instead define leadership as the opportunity to lord it over one another. But Jesus declared that it is not to be so among us; but he who wishes to be the greatest of all must be the servant of all, he must become as the least of all. And so let us seek the forgiving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for failing to imitate His pattern of kingship in our homes, churches, communities, and nations. We will have a time of private confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin. Let us kneel together as we confess.

The Discipline of Fathers

2011-04-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 12:7-11 (NKJV)
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

A couple weeks ago we observed that one of the duties fathers have before the eyes of God is to exhort and comfort and bear witness to each of our children. We are to bring them to a knowledge of the truth, striving to show them the beauty of a life lived in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today we learn that an essential part of that training is discipline. Fathers are to discipline their children.

We learn from our text today a number of things about this discpline. First, discipline originates from a specific type of relationship. It is our sons and daughters that we are called upon as fathers to discipline. As much as we might deplore the conduct of the neighbors’ kids, as much as we might grieve for their long term health and prosperity, those children have not been entrusted to us and so it is not our responsibility to shepherd them. But it is our responsibility to discipline our own children – precisely because they are our own children given to us by God Himself in trust.

Second, discipline aims to imitate the discpline of our Father in Heaven. Hence, discipline is designed primarily for the profit of our children and not for our own profit. Indeed, when we use discipline primarily as a tool for our own comfort then we are misusing the tool. God discplines us for our profit, that we might share his holiness. So we are called to discipline our children for their profit, that they might be blessed. Discipline is a gift that we are to give to our children not a set of shackles to wrap around their legs.

Third, discipline is supposed to be unpleasant. Not all gifts are pleasant in the short term. A father who makes his son weed the garden is not given a short term gift but a long term gift – training the rewards of hard work and diligence. A father who spanks his disobedient child is not giving his child something that is pleasant in the short term – but in the long term he is delivering his son from hell. And what greater gift could be given? Discipline is supposed to hurt.

So, fathers, discipline your children. Do not grow weary in doing good. And discipline them because they are your children and you love them – so the discipline should be for their good, their profit. And remember that this means it will hurt.

Children, for your part, respect your fathers and mothers. Hebrews calls upon you to honor and respect your parents in the midst of discipline. God has entrusted your parents with this authority and insists that you must heed and obey – even as you would obey God Himself.

These admonitions remind us of the many ways in which we have fallen short. We have sinned and are in need of the forgiving grace of God in Christ. And so let us confess the many ways in which we have fallen short. We will confess our sins privately and then corporately using the printed confession found in your bulletin. Let us kneel together as we confess.

The Rationale of Fathers

2011-04-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 (NKJV)
10 You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; 11 as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, 12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

For the last couple weeks we have considered the lessons that Paul teaches us about fatherhood here in 1 Thessalonians 2. We have seen that Paul describes the character that fathers are to manifest: fathers are called to live devoutly, justly, and blamelessly in the eyes of their children – they are to be above reproach. We have also seen that Paul describes the basic duties of fathers: fathers are called to exhort, comfort, and bear witness to those committed to their care. Today we wrap up our consideration of this text by learning from Paul the end or goal of this conduct. Why ought fathers to be men of character? Why ought fathers to exhort, comfort, and bear witness to their children? So that our children may walk worthy of God.

Paul declares that he had conducted himself in this way before the Thessalonians “that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.” Paul’s burning passion was to see these men, women, and children in Thessalonica loving and serving the Lord of Glory. As the Apostle John wrote in 3 Jn 4, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” Paul shared this sentiment – and praise God that he did for it led him to write the books which now form part of our New Testament canon. Paul’s passion for his children paved the way for generations of believers to grow and profit.

So fathers (& mothers), two thoughts follow from this: first, how passionately are you praying for your children that they would walk worthy of God? Are you reminding them of what is most important in life? Calling them to believe the Lord, to trust Him, to honor Him, to cherish Him and His law. This is our calling as parents and our greatest privilege. To bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Second, fathers and mothers, beware putting a stumbling block before your children. Jesus warned the disciples after setting a little child in front of them, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offences! For offences must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” Don’t be the means that God uses to blind your children to the truth. Instead, so live, so speak, so labor that you are the means to bring them to a knowledge of the truth.

Alongside the exhortations for fathers and mothers, let me remind you children of your calling. Your calling is, as Paul admonishes the Thessalonians, to walk worthy of the God who calls you into His kingdom. God has given you children the inestimable privilege of growing up in a Christian home – treasure the privilege and thank God for it.

These admonitions remind us of the many ways in which we have fallen short. We have sinned and are in need of the forgiving grace of God in Christ. And so let us confess the many ways in which we have fallen short. We will confess our sins privately and then corporately using the printed confession found in your bulletin. Let us kneel together as we confess.

The Responsibilities of Fathers

2011-04-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 (NKJV)
10 You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; 11 as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, 12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

Last week we began looking at this text in Thessalonians and the lessons that Paul teaches us about fatherhood. We learned that our goal as fathers is to live devoutly, justly, and blamelessly in the face of our children, our church, and our community. We are to be men “above reproach” as Paul says elsewhere. The observations that Paul makes in this first section of the passage relate to our character – this is the type of men fathers are to be.

But Paul not only tells us about the character of fathers in Israel, he also indicates what things fatherhood entails. Paul tells us that he “exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of the Thessalonians” as a father does his own children. So notice the triad of responsibilities that Paul ascribes to fathers.

First, fathers are to exhort their children. The word is parakaleo – to call alongside. Hence, fathers are not only to model what it means to live devoutly, justly, and blamelessly but are to call their children to join them in this type of life. The life lived in the fear of God, lived in obedience to Him, is the truly blessed life, and fathers are responsible to point this out to their children and encourage their children to recognize it and love it. Even as Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to learn the ways of Christ and honor Christ with their lives, so fathers are to exhort their children to follow Him.

Second, fathers are to comfort their children. The word is paramutheomai – to cause them to be consoled. Fathers are not to be distant, not to be hard to reach, not to be unkind or uncharitable to their children. Rather we are to comfort them, to come alongside them, to stoop down and lift them up. Our comforting kindness to our children serves, after all, as a picture of the kindness of our Heavenly Father. Psalm 103 declares that even as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. Thus even as Paul comforted the Thessalonians in the midst of hardship, fathers are to comfort their children throughout life.

Finally, fathers are “to charge” their children. And many a father out there says, “Yes, I wish I could charge my children but they don’t have any money!” Well it’s not that kind of charge. The word is martureo – to bear witness. It is the word from which we get our word “martyr.” Our calling is to bear witness to our children, to point them to Christ. We are to bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, pointing to Christ as the only hope for individuals, families, and societies. In a Christian home, the daily witness of a father (and mother) who loves and serves Jesus is the ordinary means that God uses to bring our children to faith. Even as Paul bore witness to Christ before the eyes of the Thessalonians, calling them to trust in Him and believe in Him, fathers are to do for their children.

So, fathers, how are you doing? Are you daily, with each of your children, encouraging them, comforting them, bearing witness to them so that Christ might be formed in them? Or have you been lazy, assuming that your children will just “get it”? Have you abdicated, relying on your wife to accomplish the task? Have you been distant, failing to engage your kids? Then the Word of the Lord comes to you today – repent and start being a real father.

The calling of fathers to encourage, comfort, and bear witness to their children, reminds all of us that we have failed in many ways to live up to our calling in the eyes of God. We have sinned, and are in need of the forgiving grace of God in Christ. And so let us confess the many ways in which we have fallen short. We will confess our sins privately and then corporately using the printed confession found in your bulletin. Let us kneel together as we confess.

The Goal of Fathers

2011-04-22T12:20:00.000-07:00