Tag: faith

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Gospels and Acts Scripture

By Whose Authority (Luke 20:1-8)

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20 One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The first thing we need to notice is that Christ was preaching the Gospel.

A delegation from the chief priests and scribes interrupted him and asked him by what authority he did “these things”.

These men represented the Sanhedrin, the head of the “Church” for all intents and purposes.

Christ was preaching the Gospel of salvation and the authorities were only interested in Christ’s credentials to do “these things”.

They could have cared less about the Gospel message.

What they really want to know about was how Jesus thought He had the authority to overturn money tables and tell them how Temple operations should be handled.

The way Temple sacrifices worked at the time of Christ…

This delegation weren’t interested in learning anything from Christ.

They were two-faced in their questioning because they already had their answer.

Think of the political dialogue we’re all familiar with on TV shows today.

Questions are not asked so much to receive answers so much as to trap opponents.

Let me explain a bit about “authority” at the time of Christ.

It was universally accepted among Rabbis at the time that authoritative teaching required previous authorization.

All teaching had to be authoritative because it was approved by authority and handed down from teacher (rabbi) to student (disciple).

The ultimate appeal in any discussion was to some great authority, either an individual Teacher or a Decree by the Sanhedrin.

To teach or to decide contrary to established authority was either a sign of gross ignorance or a sign of rebellion.

In either case, you were to be visited with ‘the ban’ for putting out a shingle and teaching contrary to authority.

This is at least one aspect of the controversy here.

Nobody would have thought of haggling with what they called a Haggadist – a popular expositor, preacher, or teller of legends

But authoritatively to teach, required some sort of warrant.

There was regular ordination, called Semikhah, to the office of Rabbi, Elder, and Judge.

In Christ’s time these were not three offices but were combined into one.

A Rabbi was an Elder was a Judge.

There was no ordination outside of what the Sanhedrin conferred.

The presence of at least three ordained persons from the Sanhedrin was required to ordain a man and then, and only then, could He teach.

The bottom line is this:  at the time of Christ, no one would have thought to teach authoritatively without proper Rabinnic authorization from the Sanhedrin.

Think about it then.

Did the Sanhedrin know whether or not they had conferred Rabinnical authority on Christ?

Of course they knew they had not.

In their mind, Christ was coloring way outside the lines.

It explains, in great part, why they would not listen to a word He said because He had never been granted the right to teach by them.

Everybody knew that Christ had no authority to knock over tables or to teach unless the Sanhedrin granted it.

The question, therefore, was deceptive.

They were merely trying to get Christ to admit that no Commission of the Sanhedrin ordained Him.

Everyone present would then conclude, with them, that Christ was not a Rabbi and had no authority and should be ignored.

Their question was intended to expose Christ as a poser.

But Christ was not just any man.

He knew exactly what they were up to.

How did Christ respond?

He responded with a pointed question back to the delegation.

By what authority did John baptize?

Remember that, during John’s ministry a delegation had been sent by the Sanhedrin asking him about the authority he had to baptize.

J.C. Ryle notes this:

It may reasonably be doubted whether the importance of John the Baptist’s ministry is generally understood by Christians. The brightness of our Lord’s history overshadows the history of His forerunner, and the result is that John’s baptism and preaching do not receive the attention which they deserve. Yet it should never be forgotten, that the ministry of the Baptist was the only New Testament ministry foretold in the Old Testament, excepting that of Christ. It was a ministry which produced an immense effect on the Jewish mind, and aroused the expectation of Israel from one end of Palestine to the other. Above all, it was a ministry which made the Jews without excuse in their rejection of Christ, when Christ appeared. They could not say that they were taken by surprise when our Lord began to preach. Their minds had been thoroughly prepared for His appearing. To see the full sinfulness of the Jews, and the entire justice of the judgments which came on them after crucifying our Lord, we must remember the ministry of John the Baptist.Christ spoke of John and testified of him that he was the greatest prophet that Israel had in its history.

 

The greatest prophet of the Old Covenant had been in their midst.

Instead of coming to John to be baptized and to repent they had haggled with him as to why he was baptizing.

The greatest prophet in the Old Covenant had been in their midst and so Christ asked them plainly:  By what authority did John baptize?

The question was meant to expose a flaw in their thinking about the reality of authority.

They clearly did not believe John had the authority to baptize.

Why?

Because John hadn’t received his authority from them.

Uneducated men might have flocked to John but they knew better.

John was not acting according to the way they perceived reality and so he was ignored by them as an imposter.

They could stop their ears to everything John said without ever hearing him.

They were convinced that John, too, was an imposter.

But they knew the people held John to be a prophet.

And so they chickened out and said they didn’t know by what authority he baptized.

The doctors of the Church didn’t know?

They were the ultimate authority and they were ignorant of authority?

Men like these did not, therefore, deserve an answer from the Incarnate Son of God.

These men had hardened their hearts to the baptism of John.

These men had continually hardened their hearts to the ministry of Christ.

The rays of the sun were in blazing glory all around them but they clamped their eyes shut.

They said:  “We see nothing except what we authorize.  We see nothing except that what has been passed to us by our standards.  We know best.”

They could hear no voice but their own and so Christ refused to give them an answer.

They had forfeited the right to an explanation from the Son of God because they did not desire to be taught.

Some of you know that I grew up Roman Catholic.

A number of years ago, after my conversion to Christ through the writings of R.C. Sproul, I was in a conversation with a man from my former Church.

He was extolling the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church to me.

He noted that the Roman Catholic Church’s view of tradition was much like the Jews.

He thought, therefore, that Rome was in the strand of a grand tradition of how authority operates.

I thought with amazement that he could not see that his was precisely the problem the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin had in Christ’s day.

The similarities between the way in which the Scriptures can become obscured behind men’s traditions are strikingly similar.

Truth began to drift as doctrine was built not on the foundation of God’s Word but upon centuries of commentary on the Word.

Eventually men stopped looking to the Scriptures and the entire structure was built upon commentary.

The Scriptures must then be interpreted according to tradition instead of tradition giving way to Scripture.

Eventually the magisterium convinced itself that people should stay away from the Scriptures because it led them to error where error is defined as a departure from Church law.

Eventually the Church began to believe that its own pronouncements stood on equal footing with God’s own Word.

Indeed, the Word really fell under Church authority because it could only be used in support of what Church law had concluded.

Such a Church can hear no voice but its own.

But let us not pretend that we are immune from such error.

An even cursory reading of the Scriptures teaches us how prone our hearts are to wandering.

Within the life of Paul, he was concerned that the Church at Galatia had left a foundation he had laid for them in the Gospel.

Men quickly become conceited in their pride when they forsake the living Word for idols of their imagination.

Idolatry is not merely things we make with our hands but the ideas about God that we conceive in our minds..

We are foolish if we think it cannot happen to us.

Men who are entrusted to teach others are doubly damned if they teach others this same idolatry.

They are doubly damned when they replace the authority of God’s Word with their own.

We think too highly of ourselves if we imagine that the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees are some other species.

Surely I could never do such a thing.

I’m not a bad guy, I’m a good guy.

I love God.

I seek to obey His commandments.

This could never happen to me or my Church.

*Whenever you read a story in the Bible don’t look to see how you’re like the good guy but search your heart as to how you are just like those who oppose Christ.

In our time, we pray much for provision, for our success, and for an overthrow of the wicked around us.

But hear the prophet Amos as he testified to a prosperous nation:

 

Amos 4:6-12 (ESV)

Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord

6           “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,

and lack of bread in all your places,

yet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.

7           “I also withheld the rain from you

when there were yet three months to the harvest;

I would send rain on one city,

and send no rain on another city;

one field would have rain,

and the field on which it did not rain would wither;

8           so two or three cities would wander to another city

to drink water, and would not be satisfied;

yet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.

9           “I struck you with blight and mildew;

your many gardens and your vineyards,

your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured;

yet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.

10         “I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt;

I killed your young men with the sword,

and carried away your horses,

and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;

yet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.

11         “I overthrew some of you,

as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,

and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning;

yet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.

12         “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;

because I will do this to you,

prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

 

We suppose that the worst thing that can happen to us is the loss of everything good around us.

Loss of home.

Loss of employment.

Loss of an economy.

Loss of a nation.

But God testifies in His Word that He often sends these things to turn us from our idolatry.

These are not even remotely close to the worst thing that can happen to us.

The worst that can happen is prophesied later in Amos.

Amos 8:11 (ESV)

11         “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,

“when I will send a famine on the land—

not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,

but of hearing the words of the Lord.

 

Do you understand what Amos was prophesying?

The final judgment is not a loss of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness.

The final judgment of God is an inability to hear the Lord when He speaks in His Word!

This is like a punch in the gut for me.

That God would speak to us and we would be unable to hear.

That the living Word would be read in our midst and we could not hear what they speak to us.

That light would shine around us and we would be unable to see.

That the aroma of the Gospel would be around us and we would only smell the stench of death.

What good is it, beloved, if we gain the whole world and lose the ability to hear the living God?

Christ, save us all!

I don’t want you to walk out of here thinking that it’s because the Sanhedrin were learned men.

We’re called to study the Scriptures diligently.

We’re called to become mature in these things.

I also don’t want you to be deceived into thinking that one escapes this by rejecting the Church.

Christ Himself calls us into His Church.

Ephesians 4 makes clear that He gives us pastors and teachers that we may attain to the unity of the faith.

But we can so easily start to assume that we see clearly in our own hearts.

Perhaps some of you are bored right now.

Perhaps some of you know exactly what you wanted to hear.

Enough about sin and repentance already.

I’ve heard that before.

I’ve already got that filed away and understand it.

Enough of this stuff about hearing the Word.

I hear it every Sunday.

I’ve got more important things on my mind.

Beloved, we need to shake off this kind of thinking.

The living Word is penetrating us to our core and we need to come to attention before it.

We must fall again at the Savior’s feet and pray that He opens our ears.

We must never, never, never forget that it is Christ Who keeps us.

We begin by faith.

We begin by laying hold of Christ because we see our sin.

We see the sin that we rightly understand leads to our condemnation.

And so we turn way from our sin and look up to Christ and put our sin to death on a Cross.

We cling to Christ and believe that He has been resurrected from the dead.

We worship Christ because He has been testified to as the Son of God.

But this is not a self-generated effort.

This is not a mental exercise where we simply file away facts about Christ.

We must lay hold of Christ daily.

We must turn in faith daily.

We must pursue Christ and pray that He opens the Word to us.

Trust not your heart in your own strength.

Do not assume that your heart cannot lead you astray.

Do not assume that because, yesterday, you were excited about Christ that today is not a day to hear him anew.

Do not be satisfied with your zeal for Church attendance.

Do not be satisfied that you have been brought to Church by your parents.

Christ is placarded before you in His Word.

Do not walk away from here confident in your own strength.

Look up afresh at the Cross because Christ has given us eyes to see.

We are not secure because we belong to the right Church.

We are not secure because we believed once upon a time.

We are secure because all those who turn in faith to Christ are held tightly in His grip.

He knows His sheep and not one of them will be lost by the Good shepherd.

Christ has prayed for you even as He prayed in thanksgiving to His Father for the disciples of His day:

Matthew 11:25-28 (ESV)

25  “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 

Let us pray.

Categories
Gospels and Acts Scripture

Sin, Faith, and Service (Luke 17:1-10)

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Luke 17:1-10

1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”

1.  Grateful that this was assigned as a complete section due to connection between them.

2.  Sin, Faith, and Service are the interconnected themes of this passage.

3.  DISCLAIMER:  This passage is for disciples.

a.  Do not confuse the root with the fruit.

b.  If one is not already a disciple of Christ, one does not become a disciple by practicing these things.

c.  You may listen in but do not confuse that Christ has different commands for different people.

4.  Verses 1-2:  1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin

a.  There is a very specific focus here.

b.  The type of sin in question is the type where one puts a stumbling block in front of another.

c.  A little one is caused to stumble in that he is prevented from coming to Christ.

d.  It doesn’t matter if this is a child, a new disciple, or one who would be a disciple.

e.  Christ is deadly serious about this.

f.  Rom 1:32 testifies to the nature of man in the Fall.

(1)  Men want to rebel in company.

(2)  If others are sinning like me then I feel like its normal.

(3)  The more people that do it, the more likely it is that it is right.

(4)  Men and women celebrate wickedness.

g.  Christ states it is better that a millstone be hung around a man’s neck and he be drowned than that he cause a man to stumble on his way to Christ.

h.  This is not just for the non-religious but the religious.

i.  This warning is for all.

j.  Christ is dead earnest that men and women come to Him for salvation.

(1)  The person who trips another on the way or inhibits that person faces a judgment worse than drowning.

k.  What if a child asks his father:  “Who is Jesus?  Why must people believe in Jesus?  Why is Jesus the only way?”

(1)  If that father says that the child need not worry about such things, he is stumbling his child.

5.  Verses 3-4:  .3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

6.  Paul turns His attention to life within the community of faith.

a.  Note He first states:  “If your brother sins”.

b.  Quiz:  What is your duty when your brother sins?

(1)  Ignore him.

(2)  Tell the Elders.

(3)  Gossip about him.

c.  Christ states that it is our duty to rebuke a brother who sins.

d.  You may say that this is more than I bargained for in the Christian life.

e.  I don’t like him.  He offended me.  This may cause me to have to repent of sins of my own.

f.  It’s easier if I just ignore him and focus on myself. He’s not worth my time.

g.  When we refuse to rebuke a brother, we are refusing to help him.

h.  When we refuse to rebuke a brother we are refusing to love him.

i.  This person names Christ and we say in our hearts:  “This person can go to hell as far as I’m concerned.  I have neither the energy or motivation to rebuke him.”

j.  How many times does Christ forgive you in a day?

(1) You who spat in unbelief in the face of God saw that same God hanging on a Cross for your sins.

(2)  You were an enemy of God.

(3)  By faith, Christ died from your sins and gave you life.

(4)  How can you fail to love who Christ loves?

(5)  How can you fail to rebuke another and display the riches of Christ’s mercy to them?

(6)  Imagine for yourself the joy of a brother who repents for your loving rebuke and is brought by your hand back to His savior’s arms.

6.  You may say:  This is hard.

a.  Simple answer:  Of course it’s hard!

b.  Where did you ever get the silly idea that being a Christian was easy?

c.  Nothing in the Christian life is accomplished according to our strength! Nothing!

7.  The apostles had the same response as evidenced by verses 5 and 6:  5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

a.  The Apostles do not say:  Give us faith.  They believe they possess faith.

b.  They ask for an increase in faith.

(1)  They believe there is something that they have to produce within themselves to have the power to do what Christ has commanded.

c.  There is no evidence from the Scipture or the historical record that mulberry trees around Jerusalem were being cast into the sea.

d.  The mulberry tree was a symbol for something immovable.  It had roots that could live for hundreds of years.

e.  In the Scriptures, the mustard seed is used in the parables as the smallest of seeds.

(1)  Christ is saying that the smallest of faiths can do this.

f.  We could talk for hours about how people misunderstand faith.

g.  The popular notion is that faith or sincerity is what empowers us for greatness.

h.  The apostles thought like many of us:  If I just had more power of faith then I could accomplish more.

i.  But faith is not a power.

j.  It is not the nature of our faith that is important.

k.  It is the Savior in Whom we have faith that makes all the difference in the world.

l.  People may say:  “I wish I had your faith” but the proper response is “Don’t desire my faith, desire my Savior!”

m.  Little faith gets the same Jesus that strong faith gets.

(1)  Christ is the powerful one.

(2)  Christ is our King Who subdues sin and temptation.

(3)  Christ is the fountainhead of all our blessings.

(4)  Faith is an act of trusting and clinging to the strong Savior.

n.  Christ is reminding His disciples that He has the power to grant what He commands.

o.  Looking within for power will always lead to failure but when we trust that Christ is powerful we can do all things through Him because He is powerful to do all things.

8.  Christ closes with this parable:   7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”

a.  Christ knows our hearts.

b.  We may find ourselves, in Christ, forgiving and being forgiven.

c.  We may find ourselves serving others.

d.  Our indwelling sin convinces us that our service merits a reward for our hard work.

(1)  Even in the military, there is an expectation that we’ll get a medal at the end of our service when pay is our due.

e.  In the parable

(1)  The man is not very rich, has one servant.

(2)  The servant works in the field all day and then must change his clothes to make dinner for his employer.

(3)  The employer does not thank the servant for working in the fields.

(4)  The master does not thank the servant for making him a meal.

(5)  That is what he hired the servant for.

f.  We’ve been bought with a price.  The blood of Christ.

g.  Christ stormed the dungeons of sin and death by defeating the enemy who had us in bondage to sin and death.

h.  He have us new clothes to wear, put a ring on our hand, and called us His brother.

i.  We, who were enemies of God, have been adopted as God’s children.  We are precious in God’s sight and Christ conquers every foe that comes our way to destroy us.

j.  We are held tight in the grip of the Savior and He powerfully showers us with gifts for service in His kingdom.

k.  How can we look within and say:  “Christ, look how wonderful I am, you really are lucky to have me as your brother.  I’ve earned more blessings from you hand.”

9.  The story doesn’t end here.

a.  Christ does say to His servants:  “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

b.  Here, however, He is reminding us to not fix our eyes within ourselves but to fix our eyes outward to amazing grace.

c.  By grace you have been saved and are being transformed daily by the renewing of your mind.

d.  Be thankful and grateful always and realize that we are only doing that which God has gifted us with.

10.  Are you on the outside looking in?

a.  Perhaps you don’t know the reality I’ve been speaking about.

b.  If Christ is not your Savior and Lord then these are not the first verses you need to hear from Christ.

c.  Perhaps you feel the burden of your sin.  It oppresses you and you feel yourself alienated from God.

d.  Christ commands that you look up on the Cross.

e.  Christ did not come into the world to condemn for the world has already been judged for its cosmic rebellion against God.

f.  Christ calls you to look up on the cross and believe that He has put the power of sin to death on the Cross.  Believe upon Christ and all your many sins have been put to death with Him.

g.  Christ calls that you look at the empty tomb.

h.  Christ has conquered death by His indestructible life and proved Himself to be the Son of God.  All authority in heaven and earth is His.

i.  Look at Christ and believe that He has risen from the dead by His power.

j.  Cling to His feet.  He is your only hope in this life and the next.  You will be united to His indestructible life that gives you life and safeguards you as His own for eternity.

k.  Christ will conquer sin and temptation in your heart as He makes you into a new creation.

l.  Look up and believe that Christ has ascended on high and sit as the right hand of the Father.

m.  There He ever lives to pray for those who believe upon Him and conquers all His enemies.

11.  Believe upon Christ that you may be freed from sin!

12.  Believe upon Christ that He might free you to love your neighbor and to tell other hungry beggars where the bread of life is to be found!

13.  Believe upon Christ not because you have a mighty faith but because Christ is a mighty Savior!

Categories
Scripture Wisdom and Psalms

Psalm 51

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Psalm 51

To the choirmaster.  A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

I have to admit to you that, as I prepared this exhortation, I became a bit fearful in how I would treat it.  On the one hand it is probably one of the most famous Psalms and we’ve all heard it so many times that we think we know how it applies to our lives.  The challenge I face is to get us to open our eyes to spiritual truths that may have been clouded by our familiarity with this Psalm.

Next, I think it is challenging for us to look beyond the fact that this is David’s sin being confessed before the world and to see ourselves and the nature of sin and sinfulness in this passage.

Lastly, the Truths in this Psalm are likely to be very offensive to our ears.  We don’t like to consider the nature of sin and what it deserves before a holy God.  We must confront this.  We must allow the Word to say things to us that we don’t want to hear.  It is in this Psalm that the stench of the Gospel becomes clear to people who don’t want to be confronted with the nature of their sin and their need for a righteousness that is not their own.

As we begin to unpack this Psalm, the subtitle of the Psalm notes the occasion that caused David to write it.  It is written because Nathan the Prophet came in to David and confronted David’s sin when he went in to Bathsheba.

David was on his roof in the cool of the evening and saw Bathsheba, another man’s wife, bathing.  He sent for her and sinned against Bathsheba and her husband.  She became pregnant and David sent for her husband, Uriah, to trick him into going to his wife so that Uriah might believe the child was really his.  When Uriah proved to be a more righteous man than David, David sent a letter, in the hands of Uriah, to have him conveniently killed in battle.  After this, David took Bathsheba to be his wife and nobody in Israel was aware of this great sin.

But God knew.

What kind of satanic influence could have overcome David to make him completely despise the light of divine judgment and think he could get away with this even if nobody else knew?

It was a tremendous mercy of God that He sent Nathan into David to confront him with this sin and wake him up to this horror.  In 2 Sam 12:13, after he’s been utterly exposed, David’s simple reply was:  “I have sinned against the Lord.”  His heart had been freed from a year-long captivity to his sin and clouded vision and he responded in brokenness to the inviting anger of the Lord.

In verses 1-2 of the Psalm, David does not open up with an appeal to God’s justice in his case.  He knows that justice would only leave him condemned.

He prays for mercy.  He prays earnestly not with one request but with several.  He prays for mercy.  He prays that God would provide mercy according to His steadfast love.  He prays for mercy in abundance.

David understands that his only chance is through the countless multitude of the compassions of God.  He understands that his sin is atrocious and that God, according to His holiness, should punish Him.  He understands that only God can blot out his sin as he can do nothing to take away the offenses he has committed.

He prays for washing.  He knows he is filthy.  He understands the stench of his sin and is not satisfied to ask to be washed once but pleads with God to wash him thoroughly, to cleanse him from his sin.

The stain of his sin is deep.  He can not flee from the terror of his own conscience and has nowhere to take his conscience and implores God to take away the filth that he bears.

There is no therapy here.  There is nothing of David trying to learn to integrate his mistakes and learn to love himself anyway.  He understands that soothing words of encouragement from his friends telling him that he’s OK will not do.  He needs a thorough cleansing from the very God who has every right to judge David for the filth of his sin.

Verse 3 is the refrain of a man who knows his sin:  For I know my transgressions.

David is not merely saying that he remembers everything he did.  What he’s wrestling with in Verses 3 through 6 is how horrible sin is and the gulf that exists between a sinner and a holy God.  I want you to remember one thing as we move along through this Psalm:  We will never seriously beg God for pardon until we have understood sin in such a way that it inspires fear in us.  If sin has never evoked terror to our souls then we cannot understand the sweetness of pardon that is in the Gospel.

Beloved, many of us don’t know what the true issue with sin is and so Verse 4 adds something that is foreign to us.  David says:  “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”

Most of us want to stop David right here.  What are you talking about David?  It wasn’t God who you looked at while bathing.  It wasn’t God who you got pregnant.  You didn’t send God with a letter to be killed in battle.  You didn’t get God involved in any of these sins.  How can you claim that you only sinned against God?  Have you forgotten about Bathsheba, Uriah, Joab, and the entire nation that could have been brought down by your selfish sins?!

The issue here is that David understands something profound about sin.  He understands that the whole world could pardon him of any trouble for his sin but it will provide no relief before the bar of God’s justice.

In James 2:10-11, James notes something very important about sin that David underscores here.  First, James says something strange to our ears in verse 10:  10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

Do you see what James is saying?  We could be so perfect as to keep every part of the Law of God and fail at one point and be guilty before the whole Law.  That doesn’t seem to make any sense until James explains what he means in verse 11:   11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

I don’t know if you can see what has just been said but James testifies with the rest of the Word of God that the real issue with sinning against the Law is that, when we sin, we sin against a holy, eternal God.  If it’s even at the seemingly smallest point, our sin amounts to raising our hand in rebellion against the God of the universe.  We commit treason with every small sin and every sin is just cause for God to condemn us.

David understands the weight of this rebellion and so he reminds God in the second part of verse 4 that God is justified and blameless in His judgment against sin.  He’s not coming to God arrogantly and telling God that He must forgive him but He understands that God would be perfectly just to condemn sin for what it is.

Paul, in fact, quotes this in Romans 3:3-4 when he is building a case against sinful men before a holy God.  He builds an airtight case that all men are guilty before the bar of justice and that God can and should justly condemn all men.

David knows he would be toast if God judges according to what he deserves.

Verse 5 continues:  “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

David isn’t trying to make excuses here.  David isn’t saying that his conception was sinful.  He’s testifying that he was a sinner from the moment he was conceived.  He’s testifying that he has been a sinner all his life.  He’s testifying that this latest sin is just another aspect of his sinfulness that he has borne before a holy God all the days of his life.

In other words, David is building up the prosecutor’s case against his sin and sinfulness by admitting to God that he not only sinned in this case but has been a sinner since his conception.  David admits that his sole contribution to righteousness has been sin upon sin upon sin.

Have you ever stopped to consider that you’ve been a sinner from birth?  Have you ever repented simply for being a sinner before a holy God?  Have you ever thought about the gulf that exists between you and a holy God even before you do anything more that adds to your guilt?

I know these are hard words, Beloved.  It’s hard to hear as we’re accustomed to self-affirming words.  I’m not talking about you as if I don’t bear the same problem.  We have a problem of sin and sinfulness before a holy God and self-affirmation may help us feel better about ourselves but that only hides the real problem.  David is confronting sin and sinfulness and taking it to the Judge and pleading for the Judge to do something about it because he knows he doesn’t have the power to take away the mountain of guilt.

As verse 6 testifies, God has desired truth in the inward being, and we have even had wisdom taught to us by the Word, and yet we know we have not achieved the level of truth or love or obedience in our inward being that the Law demands.

It ought to overwhelm.  It ought to cause us to despair if we were left alone with this thought.

Are you beginning to feel the anguish of soul?

Are you beginning to feel the weight that this would bring if there was no remedy?

Where would we be if this was the end of the Psalm?  We would only have Paul’s tortured cry at the end of Romans 7:  Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?!

God Himself will deliver.

David calls upon the mercy of God.

Verse 7:  Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean!  Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Nothing in my hand I bring.  Judge of all the earth please be my Savior!

We tend to forget that God had made provisions in His Law that were pictures of Christ to come.  These outward signs were meant to cause the worshipper in the Old Testament to be reminded of the Seed of Abraham who would fulfill the demands of the Covenant for Covenant breakers.

Hyssop was a branch used to sprinkle water to cleanse the worshipper of God as he came to the Temple.  The outward cleansing act was to be joined with a heart clinging to the feet of God in repentance begging for mercy and trusting that God provides what He promises.

Hyssop had no magical qualities.  You couldn’t just get sprinkled and make a sign out of mere ceremony but it was to point to something outside of itself.

David wants his conscience washed whiter than snow.  He wants the reality that the sign points to.  He wants the Judge to be the Covenant keeper on His behalf and knows that, only by this grace, will his conscience be cleansed.

You may recall that David was told by Nathan in 2 Sam 12 that God had forgiven him of his many sins.  Why is David asking for more here?  Some might accuse David of adding to his sin by not trusting in the declaration of forgiveness that Nathan had already brought him on his first confession.

I think we can understand though.  Can’t we?  Have you ever asked God for forgiveness for sins so great that you wonder how He can ever forgive them?  Does the guilt of those sins that you brought before the throne of grace ever come back to your mind and assail you?

If you’re anything like me then this happens regularly.  I have many sins.  I have many heinous sins.  I stop to consider them at times and wonder how a filthy person like me can enter into the presence of a Holy God and I take great comfort that God is patient with me.  He understands my weakness.  He understands that I need to come to Him again in my weakness and say:  “Yes Lord, I know you have promised forgiveness and cleansing but right now I’m weak.  Right now I’m lacking trust that you could possibly have forgiven these things in Christ.  Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief!”

God condescends.  The Holy Spirit comes alongside me as my advocate and reminds me that I am His child.

And so the Psalm begins to move to deliverance from guilt.

Verse 8:  Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Remind us of your mercy Lord.  These sins have caused our entire being to feel fractured.  The pain of our guilt is as if our bones are broken within us.  Straighten them.  Heal them.  Restore us from mourning to the joy of our cleansing.

Verse 9:  Hide your face from my sins, and blot out my iniquities.

Lord, even as you promised David through Old Covenant signs, you have promised to take away our sin by what these signs testify to.  You have blotted out iniquity by placing that sin and guilt away from us and onto another.  Remind us of this as we place our trust in you.

Verse 10:  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Lord, this depends completely on you.  I cannot create.  I only have the heart that I was born with.  I need the power that spoke light out of nothing.  I need the creative power that only You have.  Give me a clean heart.  I rely completely upon you for a transformed spirit.

Verse 11:  Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Father, you have every right to cut me off.  I plead your mercy that you would keep me in your presence and that your indwelling Spirit would testify peace and not wrath unto my weary soul.

Verses 13-15 testify to what our hope in deliverance from sin and the testimony of a cleansed spirit might provide.  David desires, as we all should desire, that we might teach others of God’s goodness to sinners who come broken unto Him.

When we’re in the mire of our sin, our mouths are closed and we don’t know how to open them up except to cry out and wonder how God can cleanse us but when He delivers us, when He frees us from the bondage of sin and guilt, our mouths are looses.  Our lips open up in praise to a merciful Savior!  We proclaim boldly and gladly to a lost and dying world because we are as needy as they.

Open my lips Lord.  Open my mouth to sing all of your praise!

Verses 16-19 close with the nature of sacrifice and God’s good intentions toward us.  David reminds us that we can never come to God and go through the motions.  We cannot come with hearts that are cold to the offense of our sin.  We cannot come to God expecting magic simply by going to Church or going through the externals of religion.  David knows that the sacrifices of God always pointed beyond themselves.  He knew that he couldn’t just bring a bull to the altar and walk away unchanged in heart and mind.

David saw something from afar that has been revealed up close to us.  These sacrifices merely caused God’s wrath for sin to pass over for a season until what they signified came in the fullness of time.

A people were called to be holy and they proved over and over to be unholy.  Weary from sin they came time after time, year after year, and brought sacrifices.  Blood flowed as a river and the stench of human sin filled the nostrils and the souls of men who looked forward to a sacrifice that would deal with this once for all.

And, in the fullness of time, it came.  We could not bridge the gulf and so God put a veil of flesh around Himself and came and dwelt among us.  He came near to us with our heavy burden of sins and invited us to trust in Christ and place the heavy yoke of sin and guilt on His strong shoulders.

Christ carried our heavy burden of sin to Calvary, was nailed on a cross and bore the full weight of wrath from a Holy God so that we, in Him, would die to sin.

Christ conquered death and sin.  Once for all!  He rose again, and we who cling to His feet in trust, rose with Him.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.  The judgment has occurred.  Our lips are opened to praise God.

I’ve been meditating on how profound Romans 1:16-17 is as it introduces the Gospel to be unpacked in the rest of the book:

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Doesn’t it seem odd that God calls the Gospel:  “The righteousness of God revealed…”?

In other words, we wonder how that can be because we all understand that God’s righteousness only condemns if we’re trying to attain that righteousness ourselves.

Martin Luther struggled with this for years.  He admitted he often hated God thinking of this righteousness as he saw no way to achieve that righteousness no matter how much he devoted himself to the monastic life.

And then, one day, he happened upon a commentary by Augustine on Romans 1:17.  Augustine wrote:  “This is called the righteousness of God, not with which he is righteous, but because with it he makes us righteous.”

And at this glorious truth, Martin Luther said that it was as if his chains had fallen off and a doorway to heaven opened and he walked through.

Beloved, the power of the Gospel is that God provides the righteousness we lack.  He placed our unrighteousness upon the Son, punished the Son in our place, and granted us His righteousness freely.  We believe and receive with empty hand.  That’s the glory of the Good News.  That’s the confidence that David expressed from looking from afar.

Furthermore, when we fall into heinous sin, as David did, God does not abandon us but comes near us afresh to take away the pain of our guilt and remind us of His favor toward those who cling to Christ by His sustaining power.

I want to close with a story that is found in Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.

Kids, please listen to this story as this is meant for you too.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Graceless who lived in the City of Destruction.  He felt himself to be carrying a heavy burden that nobody could see until one day a man named Evangelist told him where he could have his burden taken from him.

Graceless set out on a difficult journey until he came to the foot of the Cross.  There his heavy burden fell from him and he felt himself to be a new man.  He also had a new name:  he was no longer Graceless.  His name was Christian.

From that point, Christian went through many trials and came upon the House Beautiful where he was refreshed for many days and given armor:  a breastplate of righteousness, a helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.

As he continued on his journey, he came into the Valley of Humiliation and this is where our story gets interesting:

Then I saw in my dream that Christian was entered into the Valley of Humiliation; and here he had no easy time of it.  For he had gone but a little way when he saw a dreadful fiend coming across the plain to meet him.  The name of this fiend was Apollyon, and he was too hideous to behold.

His body was covered with scales, like a fish; he had wings like a dragon, and feet like a bear; his mouth was like the mouth of a lion, and fire and smoke came out of his nostrils.

Christian was much afraid.  As the monster came flying toward him he knew not what to do.  He had half a mind to run back; but he knew that Apollyon would soon overtake him.

“I will stand my ground and do what I can,” he said to himself; and he went boldly forward to meet the dreadful fiend.

Apollyon came swiftly on, and gruffly saluted Christian:  ” Ho, there, you fellow! Who are you, and whence have you come?”

“I have come from the City of Destruction, and my name is Christian,” answered the pilgrim. ”  I am on my way to the Celestial Land.”

“Huh!” growled the fiend. “Don’t you know that I am the king of the City of Destruction?  You are my subject, and you are trying to run away from me.”

“True, I was born in your country,” said Christian, “but I am not your subject.  I have promised myself to the King of the Celestial Land.”

Then was Apollyon very angry, and he would have struck down the pilgrim at once, had he not hoped to gain him over.  He roared terribly, and cried, “You are a rebel and a traitor, and deserve nothing but death at my hands.  Yet I will forgive you if you will turn now and go back to my city and my service.”

But Christian stood his ground bravely and defied the fiend.

“Beware, Apollyon!” he cried.  “I am in the King’s highway. Therefore, take heed to thyself.”

“Ha!” answered Apollyon.  “What care I for the King’s highway?” And with one foot on one side of the road and one on the other, he stood directly in front of the pilgrim.

“Now I have you!” he said; and he drew flaming darts from his breast and threw them so that they fell like hail all around Christian’s head.

But Christian held up his shield to protect himself, and drawing his sword, rushed boldly upon his foe.

Then there was a fight such as neither you nor I have ever seen.  The giant fiend and the valiant man wrestled and strove, they struck and parried, they pressed this way and that; and neither seemed to get the better of the other.

Christian was wounded in two or three places; and yet for a whole hour he stood up against his foe.  At length, however, his foot slipped and he fell; and his sword flew out of his hand.

“Now I have thee!” shouted Apollyon.

But as the fiend raised his arm to fetch the last blow, Christian quickly stretched out his hand and recovered his sword.  He leaped to his feet, crying, “Rejoice not against me, mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise!”

With that, he gave the fiend a deadly thrust which made him pause and start back.  Then Christian gave him another stroke and another.

Apollyon saw that he had met his match.  He spread his dragon wings and flew away, over the plain; and Christian saw him no more.

The pilgrim looked up and smiled.  “Thanks be to Him that delivered me out of the mouth of the lion, and to Him that did help me against Apollyon,” he said.

Then there came to him a hand with some of the leaves of the tree of life; and he took these and laid them upon his wounds, and he was healed immediately.

And he sat down to eat bread and to drink from the bottle that was given him by the maidens of the House Beautiful.

Categories
Theology Worship

Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience

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From a teaching series on Worship, this lesson explored the notions of Sphere Sovereignty and the limits of authority that God has placed upon certain institutions. It then explored the notion of Liberty of Conscience and how it affects our understanding of corporate Worship.

The lesson notes can be downloaded here: Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XX
Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience

I. The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under the gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law;[1] and, in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin;[2] from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation;[3] as also, in their free access to God,[4] and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love and willing mind.[5] All which were common also to believers under the law.[6] But, under the new testament, the liberty of Christians is further enlarged, in their freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law, to which the Jewish church was subjected;[7] and in greater boldness of access to the throne of grace,[8] and in fuller communications of the free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of.[9]

1. Titus 2:14; I Thess. 1:10; Gal. 3:13
2. Gal. 1:4; Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18; Rom. 6:14
3. Rom. 8:28; Psa. 119:71; II Cor. 4:15-18; I Cor. 15:54-57; Rom. 5:9; 8:1; I Thess. 1:10
4. Rom. 5:1-2
5. Rom. 8:14-15; Gal. 4:6; I John 4:18
6. Gal. 3:8-9, 14; Rom. 4:6-8; I Cor. 10:3-4; Heb. 11:1-40
7. Gal. 4:1-7; 5:1; Acts 15:10-11
8. Heb. 4:14-16; 10:19-22
9. John 7:38-39; Acts 2:17-18; II Cor. 3:8, 13, 17-18; Jer. 31:31-34

II. God alone is Lord of the conscience,[10] and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in anything, contrary to his Word; or beside it, if matters of faith, or worship.[11] So that, to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands, out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience:[12] and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also.[13]

10. James 4:12; Rom. 14:4, 10; I Cor. 10:29
11. Acts 4:19, 5:29; I Cor. 7:22-23; Matt. 15:1-6, 9; 23:8-10; II Cor. 1:24
12. Col. 2:20-23; Gal. 1:10; 2:4-5; 4:9-10; 5:1
13. Rom. 10:17; Isa. 8:20; Acts 17:11; John 4:22; Rev. 13:12, 16-17; Jer. 8:9; I Peter 3:15

III. They who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, do practice any sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty, which is, that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.[14]

14. Gal. 5:13; I Peter 2:16; II Peter 2:19; Rom. 6:15; John 8:34; Luke 1:74-75

IV. And because the powers which God hath ordained, and the liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another, they who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God.[15] And, for their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or to the known principles of Christianity (whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation), or to the power of godliness; or, such erroneous opinions or practices, as either in their own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external peace and order which Christ hath established in the church, they may lawfully be called to account, and proceeded against, by the censures of the church.[16]

15. I Peter 2:13-14, 16; Rom. 13:1-8; Heb. 13:17; I Thess. 5:12-13
16. Rom. 1:32; 16:17; I Cor. 5:1, 5, 11-13; II John 1:10-11; II Thess. 3:6, 14; I Tim. 1:19-20; 6:3-4; Titus 1:10-11, 13-14; 3:10; Matt. 18:15-17; Rev. 2:2, 14-15, 20

Things to consider:

What is the difference between a scruple and something in the Law of God?

How do we handle those whose scruples are more strict than our own?

How do we handle those whose scruples are less strict than our own?

Do the Elders of the Church have the right to decide what is right for worship and everyone just needs to go along?

What if everybody in a Church is fine with something in worship but an element of worship troubles the conscience of a single individual?

Categories
Gospels and Acts Scripture

Luke 8:40-56

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Luke 8:40-56 (ESV) — 40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” 49 While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” 50 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” 51 And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. 52 And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” 53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. 56 And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

C.S. Lewis once wrote a letter to a budding author on the art of storytelling. He reminded the young writer that the author should not have to continually ask the reader: “Gentle reader, do you feel amazed? Gentle reader, do you feel astonished?” A story, if it is written well, will have that effect naturally if its news is astonishing.
I wonder if we have all heard the accounts from Luke’s Gospel so often that we fail to be amazed by what we encounter. Luke, you remember, is writing to Theophilus and he writes his Gospel accounts so compellingly that he doesn’t need to ask the reader to react in certain ways because the sheer wonder of Christ’s work in the lives of people speaks for itself.
Last week, Bob Rumbaugh taught on the healing of the Gerasene demoniac possessed by legions of demons. It is very telling that after the display of Christ’s authority and power, the entire city begged Christ to leave them.
As we pick up at verse 40, Christ just returned to Galilee and He was welcomed by a throng of people. Pressing through the crowd came a desperate man. His name was Jairus and he was a ruler of the Synagogue at Capernaum. Every synagogue was ruled by a board of elders and this was a man of high position. In Capernaum, Christ had healed a paralytic as recorded for us in Luke 5. Also in Capernaum, a Roman Centurion had sent request that Christ heal his servant and Christ had marveled at the faith of this God-fearing gentile who was a benefactor of the Capernaum synagogue. Surely, then, Jairus knew of Jesus’ power and authority and came to Christ and in an act of self-humiliation before Christ threw Himself at the Master’s feet.
Where the people of Gerasene had pleaded with Christ to leave them, Jairus pleaded with Christ to come to his home to heal his twelve year old daughter who was sick and near death. A father’s affection and desperation poured out of him. This was his only daughter. He called her “my little daughter” in Mark 5. She was his girlie and she was dying. He pleaded that Christ would come quickly.
Now we know that Luke wrote his Gospel not as one who had seen the events but as one who had carefully interviewed hundreds of eyewitnesses and put them into an orderly account. This account is written as if we’re reading the whole thing through the eyes of Jairus and I want you to put yourself in the shoes of a man who desperately loves his daughter and wants to get the Savior to her as quickly as possible.
As they went to the house, the going was slow. Crowds were pressing in on Jesus and suddenly Jesus stopped. I can only imagine that Jairus was several feet ahead of Christ and looked back and thought “…why is He stopping, doesn’t He realize my little girl is dying?”
But Christ was looking around and asking “Who touched me?”
Who touched you? Are you kidding me? There are people pressing in on you and you ask “Who touched me?”
Leave it to Peter. He’s like you and me. Peter tells Him what is obvious to the naked eye: “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!”
It’s so easy for us to criticize Peter because we don’t realize that he was a better man than we are. If you’ve never been baffled by the way of the Lord then I would suggest you don’t know the Lord very well. We are so blind to spiritual things and assume all the time that what we see is how the Lord sees things.
But Christ knew better. As He was pressing through the crowd, a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years snuck through the crowd. She thought to herself that if she could just touch the tassels of his garment that she would be healed. The crowd was so large that she thought she could just brush him unnoticed.
You and I read this and we think to ourselves: “OK, a flow of blood for twelve years” but, beloved, those were twelve long years for this woman. She had exhausted every penny she had on physicians to heal this affliction. It’s not as if she simply had to deal with the physical discomfort of this sickness but this flow of blood made her ceremonially unclean according to Lev 15. This meant that not only was she not permitted to worship with the people of God but it also meant she couldn’t even come near them or they too would be ceremonially unclean. This meant that this woman had lived twelve long and painful years in the solitude of ceremonial uncleanness.
Bavinck writes a beautiful account of the creation of the first woman and how much the first man needed companionship. What is true of man is true also of woman and I want you to hear what he says about Adam after he named the animals and couldn’t find a helper suitable for him: “Though formed out of the dust of the earth, Adam was nevertheless a bearer of the image of God. He was placed in a garden which was a place of loveliness and was richly supplied with everything good to behold and to eat. He received the pleasant task of dressing the garden and subduing the earth, and in this he had to walk in accordance with the commandment of God….  But no matter how richly favored and how grateful, that first man was not satisfied, not fulfilled. The cause is indicated to him by God Himself. It lies in his solitude. It is not good for the man that he should be alone. He is not so constituted, he was not created that way. His nature inclines to the social — he wants company. He must be able to express himself, reveal himself, and give himself. He must be able to pour out his heart, to give form to his feelings. He must share his awarenesses with a being who can understand him and can feel and live along with him. Solitude is poverty, forsakenness, gradual pining and wasting away. How lonesome it is to be alone!
Twelve years this woman had wasted away in solitude. Perhaps she had gone to the Priest: “Is there any way for me to approach the people of God that I might worship and fellowship with them? Is there nothing you can do for me?”
But the Priest could only administer the Law. The Law had no remedy for her. The Law could only command that she stay away.
Numbers 15 commanded the men of Israel to wear tassels on their garments to remind them to keep the Law of God. Christ was the only man to ever remember to keep that Law perfectly and this poor woman reached out and touched that reminder.
And she was instantly healed!
Jairus was probably getting impatient at this point. Christ was standing there asking who had touched Him.
Finally, when she realized she could not conceal what she had done, she stepped forward. Women didn’t call attention to themselves in that culture and the tale of her sickness would have been embarrassing as she recounted it but, glory be to God, she had been healed!
Christ had outed her for two reasons. First, He is such a compassionate Savior that He wanted it to be a public testimony that this woman was now healed. She was now clean. She could be restored to full fellowship. Christ was not so busy or so important that He couldn’t stop and take the time to restore her to her people. It was the end of her physical affliction and also the end of an unbearable loneliness.
Secondly, Christ called her out so she would understand that it wasn’t the tassel of His garment that had healed her but it was His power and His authority that had healed her. Her faith had been somewhat superstitious. Her faith had been somewhat weak in looking to a physical object to heal her. But Christ rewarded even a feeble faith and reminded her that it was He who rewards. It was Christ she had received.
In verse 48 He said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace. Can you imagine receiving a benediction to “Go in peace” from the God-Man who grants peace with God?
Now we don’t know how long they had lingered, but, while Christ was still speaking, someone came from Jairus’ house saying: “Your daughter is dead; don’t bother the Teacher anymore.”
How many of you have seen your child close to death as I have? Can you imagine, even if only a little, how Jairus felt at that moment.
But Christ ignored the messenger. He turned straight to Jairus and told him: “Fear no longer; only believe, and she will be made well.”
Hold on to me Jairus. Do not fear.
How often do we need to hear that from God and how often does He tell us that in the Scriptures because we do fear.
 When they arrived at the house, Christ allowed no one to come in except Peter and John and James, and the child’s father and mother. It doesn’t say that there was no available space to fit more people but, rather, that Christ would not permit anyone else to come in.
Meanwhile, a crowd of mourners had already gathered and they were weeping and wailing over her. Christ commanded them to stop weeping for, He said, “she is not dead but asleep.”
But, the text says, that the crowd laughed in Jesus’ face because they knew she was dead.
But Jesus didn’t invite these scorners into the room to see what happened next. That’s not me.  I’d want others there. I’d want the world of mockers to see what Christ did. I’d want them to see for themselves how foolish they are.
But Christ kept the scorners outside the room.
And this is so beautiful in verses 54 and 55. Christ spoke to this girl in the way a Jewish mother might wake her child in the morning.
My child, get up!
This was not a request. This was not a suggestion.
The Son of God, by whom all things were created, speaks with power and authority. Death itself had no authority in the presence of such a command. The God who speaks things into existence commanded the child to get up.
And verse 55 states that her spirit returned and she got up at once.
Death surrendered its prey at the word of Jesus.
And, once again, we witness the compassion of the Savior as he directed them to give her something to eat. I know if my daughter had just been brought back to life that I would be so ecstatic that feeding her after a long illness might be forgotten.
Verse 56 records something remarkable. I think the common view of Christ is that, if He could, He would do anything to convince people to believe in Him. Instead of a Christ who is desperate to convince all scoffers, verse 56 gives us a frightening warning. Hear this again:
Her parents were astonished, but he instructed them to tell no one what had happened.
Of course they’re astonished. Their daughter was dead and is now alive and was made alive simply by the word of Christ.
But Christ forbade them from telling anyone what had happened.
Nobody who had laughed at Christ would receive testimony about this sign. Christ’s sign was not for scoffers to be amazed at power but to confirm the faith for those that desired to receive Him for Who He was.
The rest of the story of that town isn’t told but, knowing human nature as I do from the Word, I’m convinced that later on that day those very people that laughed at Christ to His face were telling one another: “Oh, she wasn’t really dead, she was just sleeping.”
This passage has been searching me out over the last couple of weeks as I’ve been meditating on it. I want to share a few observations.
First, it is plain to me that Christ doesn’t need our help with the skeptics. As the Apostle Peter commands, we ought to always be ready to give a defense for the hope that lies within us and that hope is the person and work of Christ. We ought to unashamedly present and testify to the work of that Savior. But there comes a point when people want to insist that God be their show pony and prove something to them that they can see with their eyes and touch with their hands.
God gave them life and breath and testifies to Himself all around them in the things created. Our testimony of Christ’s death and resurrection is further historically verifiable testimony of Christ’s authority. Beloved, those who hear that news and still use the gifts of their intellect, given them by God, to turn around and slap Him in the face do not deserve anything from God. We can be sorrowful for them. We can continue to pray for them. But, if you’re one of those who is blessed enough to hear God’s Son and His power confirmed to you every week and you still laugh at Christ, do not presume that He who sits on high owes you a single thing.
Secondly, I’m repeatedly amazed at how often Christ made Himself ceremonially unclean in order to get near people and heal them. Not only did He ceremonially defile Himself in touching an unclean woman to heal her but He touched the dead hand of a little girl that He might command her to come to life.
Sinclair Ferguson recounts a friend of his who was once addicted to drugs. He was a hard-corps addict whose life was on the brink of destruction.
But Christ found him and healed him and he is now a preacher of the Word.
He says this: “For something unclean to become clean, something clean has to become unclean.” Hear it again: “For something unclean to become clean, something clean has to become unclean.”
Christ was willing to become ceremonially unclean for these two sufferers because He came into the world out of sheer force of the Love of God to do something much harder. He became Sin, who knew no Sin, that we might become His righteousness.
While we were dead in our sins and trespasses, while our righteousness was like, as Isaiah put it, a used menstrual rag, Christ hung between heaven and earth and bore the wrath of His Father in our stead. He suffered the full weight of our uncleanness so that we might be clean and can stand boldly in the presence of our Father.
Finally, I have been meditating on the Lord’s timing in giving us exactly what we most need.
Did you feel the angst of Jairus as he waited on Christ to come and heal his little girlie? Yet, Christ made Jairus walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Christ made Jairus suffer the news of the death of His daughter so that He could allow Jairus to trust Him during the walk to his home and see that Christ answers those that plead with Him. It was not what Jairus wanted but what he needed. It was Christ’s timing and not Jairus’.
God allowed a woman to suffer twelve years in the agony of isolation and sickness that He might display His mercy for all to see and that she might have a personal assurance from Christ that she now had peace with God. How long do you suppose she had prayed for healing? Do you suppose, in glory, she regrets one day of her suffering on this earth as centuries later the story of her healing has converted countless souls to the Gospel? God didn’t give her what she wanted earlier because He had appointed a day when He would gloriously fulfill her need in a way she could never imagine.
Isaiah 40:31 (ESV) — 31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Yesterday, I was privileged to listen to Ravi Zacharias talk about Christ and our culture. He concluded with a story that is fitting on the timing of the Lord.
Ravi was ministering in Vietnam in 1971, and one of his interpreters was Hien Pham, an energetic young Christian. He had worked as a translator with the American forces, and was of immense help both to them and to missionaries.
Shortly after Vietnam fell, Hien was imprisoned on accusations of helping the Americans. His jailers tried to indoctrinate him against democratic ideals and the Christian faith. He was forced to read only communist propaganda in French or Vietnamese, and the daily deluge of Marx and Engels began to take its toll. “Maybe,” he thought, “I have been lied to. Maybe God does not exist. Maybe the West has deceived me.” So Hien determined that when he awakened the next day, he would not pray anymore or think of his faith.
The next morning, he was assigned the dreaded chore of cleaning the prison latrines. As he cleaned out a tin can overflowing with toilet paper, his eye caught what seemed to be English printed on one piece of paper. He hurriedly grabbed it, washed it, and after his roommates had retired that night, he retrieved the paper and read the words, “Romans, Chapter 8.” Trembling, he began to read, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. … For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:28,38,39).
This was to have been the first day that he would not pray; evidently God had other plans.
Beloved, isn’t our Savior amazing!       
Let us pray.
Categories
Pastoral Concerns

Why Does A Church Have A Youth Ministry?

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself why a church has (or should have) a youth ministry? Youth ministry is never talked about in any of Paul’s epistles and there really isn’t much of a precedent for separating youth in the isolated way most churches do. This questions is one that every person involved with youth ministry should be able to answer. From the senior pastor, to the elders, to parents, to volunteers, to the paid youth worker.

As I began to think about this question one thing that popped into my mind is that fact that most parents in the church don’t live up to their responsibilities. Most parents don’t catechize their children, teach them the scriptures, or do any sort of ‘home church’ activities. Scripture is pretty clear about who’s responsibility children are (Deuteronomy 6). Parents should do these things. However, for the most part parents have abdicated their responsibilities and taken a laissez-faire approach to their children’s spirituality. Many parents then look to the church, to the youth pastor, or even look to their children to find their own way. This isn’t an article about parenting, but because of a lack of spiritual guidance youth ministry becomes necessary.

One one hand a youth worker is simply a member of the congregation that has taken vows to the covenant children of the church to do all possible to the end that the children profess faith in Christ and are faithful to him. In this way, a youth worker is no different than any other member of the church. At the very least most churches in the reformed tradition value and actually have their members take vows when a child is baptized saying that they will pray for, and be a part of spiritual life of this child.

I think the big misconception in youth ministry (it’s a misconception by parents, elders, students, and youth minsters themselves) is that a youth pastor is or should be the primary spiritual cause in a student’s life. As mentioned earlier, scripture clearly states that parents are responsible for their own children. The bible teaches of three spiritual causes in a child’s life. The first is not surprisingly God Himself. 1 Corinthians 12:3 tells us that, “no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” God is the primary cause in a child’s life. In the wisdom of God he ordained that children are brought up by Parents. (Deuteronomy 6, Ephesians 6:1-4) And finally way down the list the church and the fellowship of believers is the third cause in a child’s life. Although this responsibility falls to the congregation as a whole, in the wisdom of the church, it has been appropriate to appoint and set apart certain individuals for youth and children’s ministry.

I don’t want to be a parent to every child in my youth group, I can’t be a child to every parent in my youth group. This is not the youth pastor’s job. The youth pastor is a tertiary cause in a child’s life. But there are two main roles that I see a youth pastor filling.

First, there are numerous students that don’t have parents. Either through divorce, or death, or the unbelief of one or both parents, often times students come to my ministry as spiritual or actual orphans. This is the historic reason for having a youth pastor in a church. After WWII there were many children without a dad. The church filled the need by hiring or getting volunteers to disciple and care for these children. I take this part of my job very seriously. I seek out the students who don’t have a dad, or whose dad left their mom. These students more than anything need a man to step into their life and speak the truth of scripture. An elder could do this, a member of the church could do this, however, as a full time youth pastor, I have the time, the resources, and the gifting to do this as well.

The second main role as I see it is to supplement parents. As I said before a youth pastor can’t and shouldn’t want to take over the parents role. If they do, you have a problem. But as any parent knows, sometimes a little help is great. I equip parents by giving them good books, praying for them, and encouraging them. Often times I will teach something to a student and they will finally understand it, even though the student’s parent has been saying the exact same thing for years. It’s not that I am better at teaching, or anything like that. But sometimes an outside voice can be helpful. As a full time youth minister (and one educated at Seminary) I can spend more time preparing a Sunday School lesson and probably go into more depth than a parent normally could. In this way I can assist the parent in growing and educating their child to maturity as a tertiary spiritual cause.

If the church was perfect and all its members were mature Christians who lived obedient lives to Christ, I wouldn’t have a job. But it’s not. So my job is to shepherd the orphans and to be a tertiary cause in the lives of our covenant youth.

Ben Shear is the Youth Pastor at Knox Presbyterian Church in Michigan. He also runs the website Reformed Youth Pastor.com More articles like this at Reformed Youth Pastor.com

Categories
Epistles Scripture

The Living and Active Word (Hebrews 4:12-13)

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Hebrews 4:6-13

6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

“Today, if you hear his voice,do not harden your hearts.”

8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

11Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

We’re going to be focusing on verses 12-13 of Hebrews Chapter 4 this morning, but I wanted to provide context for the passage of Hebrews that this section falls within because context is extremely important when you handle the Word of God. I believe its importance will become more apparent to you as I continue but I simply want to continue to be faithful in how I teach the Word of God to you because many men are not faithful in its presentation any more.

God inspired specific thoughts and attitudes that rest within a “story” inside each Book of the Bible. We are not at liberty to pull words out of their place and create a message that we think might help people and baptize our advice by pulling God’s Words out of their intended meaning. I could very easily quote the Psalms in part that say: “…there is no God…” but that’s hardly the message of the Scriptures is it? In fact, the portion of Psalm 14 that I left out is that “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.”

That passage about the fool and his disbelief in God is actually very appropriate for today’s passage. You see this kind of foolishness is not merely demonstrated in people that proclaim themselves to be atheists but, in many cases, it is reflected in the unbelief that is often displayed by people who claim to be religious; worse, yet, by people that claim to be Christian.

In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the author warns Hebrew believers to not neglect the salvation that is found only in Jesus Christ. They are losing family, friends, and jobs because they have turned from Judaism to Christianity. There is a strong temptation to escape this persecution by simply returning to the religion of their youth – to return to being practicing Jews and turning their back on Christ.

The author labors to show that there is nothing to go back to because Christ was the aim of the Jewish religion all along. Even as we learned when studying Galatians, Abraham received a promise of inheritance by faith and even the Law was added to be a preparation for the people of God to receive their long awaited Messiah.

In very stern warnings in Hebrews Chapters 3 and Chapters 4, the author reminds everyone of the Israelites in the desert. He tells them that they heard the Gospel for 40 years and for 40 years they rebelled. At the beginning they rebelled, in the middle they rebelled, and at the very end they rebelled. So God swore by Himself that they would not enter the rest: the promised land of Canaan. This was a picture of what Christ would be – a rest for His people. The author, in the most frightening of terms, points out to the Hebrews that they are actually worse than the Israelites in the desert if they rebel now and forsake the Rock – God the Son who has been revealed in Christ Jesus. He is greater than the angels, than Moses, than Aaron for He is the purpose and the end of all of their work. They all pointed to Him. The Israelites in the desert then become a stark picture of unbelief to the Hebrew believers thinking about forsaking Christ for they would be worse than the Israelites in the desert and if they rebelled against the Son then they would be utterly lost for eternity – never to enter into the rest only found in the Son.

Verse 11: Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

Notice the author uses the term us: Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

It’s not enough for you to be concerned about your salvation in the Church of Christ. Christianity is not about you and your personal relationship with Jesus. Of course you must believe upon and lay hold of Christ’s feet by faith but when you believe on Jesus it’s supposed to transform your heart and renew your mind. You’re engrafted into the family of God, the household of faith and you have brothers and sisters who are joint heirs in Christ. We strive together to enter into that rest. This is not some sort of thing where we are casually on a journey just asleep in the back seat as a few people drive the train for us to Happyville.

There are struggles, there are temptations, there is suffering, and there is need. We have brothers and sisters around us who are struggling with sin and we dare not say: “Well, we’re heading on, make sure you keep up.” If they fall behind, God help you if you don’t care in the least that they’re falling behind and you just leave the weak to be devoured by the wolves because you’re keeping up with the pack. Absolutely not! Christ calls Himself the good Shepherd because He won’t lose a single sheep. He’ll leave the 99 because He notices one has wandered off and He’ll leave the 99 to bring that last one back into the fold.

The fool says in his heart: “There is no God.”

Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe He is the Good Shepherd? Do you believe that He loves all of His sheep? Then why do we not care when there are weak sheep among us? Why don’t we have a concern for others among the sheepfold other than ourselves? Why doesn’t our concern reflect the concern of our great Shepherd?

Let us therefore strive. Let none of us be found to be unbelieving and may we all weep when we beg and plead and pray with someone who is falling behind. We do everything in our power to keep him in the fold and even get mauled by the wolves if we have to get in the way of the world who is trying to take one of our own.

But there’s sort of a question here about what we’re believing. What is it that we’re trusting? None of us have seen God so how do we know that this stuff is true. The simple answer is the Word of God. At least that’s the Biblical answer. These days, however, people have very un-Biblical notions about how they know God. In fact our ideas about God are very much affected not by Biblical ideas but Pagan ideas about God.

You see Romans 1 reveals that we are prone to idols. Throughout human history to the present day, the thing that is true of all idols is that they are dumb. They cannot speak. They don’t have mouths.

For this reason, all pagan religions have mystics, they have people in the know. They somehow tap into the sources of knowledge in the universe and information is beamed into their head. They enter into altered states, sometimes with drugs, and they give mystical prophecies of things that nobody else knows about.

But our God is not like the idols. Our God speaks. Our God knows. Our God creates. He creates by the Word of His power and light comes forward simply because He says: “Let there be light.”

How has He spoken though? Hebrews 1: “1Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things….” Christ is even referred to in John Chapter 1 as the Word made flesh. God speaks to us through His Word.

But to many people today, the Word of God seems so old, so ancient. It was inspired thousands of years ago and the people who last wrote down the Books of the Bible are long since dead. Men and women everywhere, and sadly many Christians, think that the Word isn’t useful for today. It’s not practical. The letters are dead on a page. In fact, many Pentecostals today seek constant new revelations because, like the pagans, they fall back into the idea that God is mute that He doesn’t speak so they go to their mystics – to people who enter into altered states and tap into the power of the universe. Flee from such people.

But this is what the Scriptures say of the Word: “12For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Far from being dead, far from lying dormant and being of no use for today, the Word of God is living, it is active. It pulses with life and power.

God’s Word cannot be taken lightly because if anyone doesn’t want to listen to it then that person faces no one less than God Himself. It’s not just a collection of ancient writings but it speaks to people, actively, powerfully today and always. The Bible demands a response because God does not tolerate those who ignore what He says. People who ignore this living and powerful Word do so at their own peril.

Stephen, in Acts 7:38 stated that Moses at Mount Sinai received “living oracles” and Peter in 1 Peter 1:23 states that we are born again through the Word of God that lives and abides forever. What we think of as dead letters on a page has the power to make men alive from their sins because they are the Words of the Everlasting God by whose Powerful Word the heavens and the earth were created.

But the fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

Just as God’s Word brought forth His creation, His Word recreates men who are dead in sins and transgressions (Eph 2:1-5). The Word is power but even as it brings life to us it is foolishness to the world. 1 Cor 1:18 states: “The message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

And because it is powerful and active, it has the effect that it is sharp and cutting and sees right through us: it is sharper than any two-edged sword – like the blade of a surgeon it uncovers the most delicate nerves not merely of the body but of the soul as well. In Rev 1:16, Christ is pictured as having a “sharp double-edged sword” coming out of his mouth.

The division between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, is all conveying the same idea that it uncovers the very thoughts and intentions of our heart. Human judges cannot see into the heart when they are rendering a judgment on criminals. They can only see the actions. God’s Word, however, judges and sees through the intentions of the heart. Everything is laid out by its cutting and discerning power.

Nothing remains untouched by the Word of God for it addresses every aspect of man’s life. All the recesses of body and soul face the sharp edge of God’s dividing sword. We might smile at our neighbor while we inwardly despise him but God’s Word uncovers them. God addresses man in the completeness of his existence and man is unable to escape the penetrating impact of God’s Word.

But the fool says in his heart: “There is no God.”

Hebrews 4:13: And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

God’s Word uncovers everything so, in the end, everything is laid bare before the almighty God who we owe perfect obedience to. It is impossible for man to hide sin in the dark corners of his heart. God knows. He sees everything; even darkness is as light to him (Psalm 139:12).

The past, the present, and the future are all before God because He is not bound by time or place but He dwells in eternity and is above His Creation. Do you suppose that if His eye is on the sparrow, and He knows the number of hairs on your head, that there is any hidden motive or thought that He does not know about?

The unbeliever seeks to hide from God but has nowhere to go (Jer 23:24). The secret sins of men are literally naked and open before God. Before the Fall, man lived with no shame but, immediately after His sin, he tried to run from God and cover himself with leaves. Man, in his fallen condition, is so foolish to think that leaves can protect him from the wrath of God for sin but leaves are not much protection from a strong wind much less the power of Almighty God.

And because all of our thoughts and deeds and sins are naked and open before God, all men will one day have to give account to their Creator. The books will be audited and all the bills, payments, and receipts will be checked. The consciences of men will literally be put on trial.

On that final day, unbelievers will call to the mountains and rocks in Rev 6:16: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!” Everyone will have to give account of himself.

Yes, the fool has said in his heart: “There is no God” because such a thought can bring no comfort to men apart from God’s grace. This Word simply lays bare the failings of men as God said to him: Obey. Man has failed to obey and so the Word is a frightening thing. It is much easier for the unbeliever to be the fool and say to Himself: “There is no God, this is not His Word, and I will not have to give account to it.”

But, you see, that same Word that lays bare and condemns became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word that condemns for sin, became flesh to bear the sins of all who would believe upon Him. The fool says in his heart that there is no God but the redeemed say in their heart that Christ has died for the sins of men on the Cross and risen from the dead for their eternal life.

Therefore, I urge you that a day has been appointed: Today. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. The Word has searched you out and knows you. It knows all your darkest secrets, hidden sins, and faults. It searches out all those things by which you might be condemned but the Word has also revealed Christ and Him crucified. Do not be the fool that denies the authority of the Word, that acts as if God is dumb, that acts as if God cannot see. Submit to the Word and its authority and hear the Good News announced by it for the salvation of your eternal soul.

Let us pray.

Categories
Epistles Scripture

Bear Each Other’s Burdens (Galatians 6)

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Galatians 6

1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5For each will have to bear his own load.

6 One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

17From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

As Paul concludes his Epistle to the Galatians, I want to remind you of the reason for the Epistle one last time and summarize him that we might understand these closing passages. As I noted last time, many want to always jump to the law and the commands. By nature, we love to be told what to do. We want to be told what to do, that is, unless God is the Person telling us what to do. By nature, we like to ignore the perfect holiness of the Law and the need for Christ that is displayed in it and go to men to ask for their lists of do’s and don’ts. That is, of course, until we’re born from above.

In Galatia this had happened. Jewish converts to Christianity, who had begun by trusting in Christ, fell back into the death and curse of the Law by convincing themselves that we start by God saving us through faith and then finish the race by keeping God’s Holy commands so He will bless us. In this case, they told the Galatian believers, who were Gentiles, that they needed to become circumcised and begin performing the deeds of the Law and then God would accept them. Then not only will God accept them but they’ll be in full fellowship with the really holy in the Church: the Jews.

As I promised when we began this series, Paul jumps into the fray ready for battle. The eternal life of his sheep is on the line and these wolves will not have them. He comes in with the sword of the word and devastates the appeal of the Judaizers. He puts to death any notion that a person can find any acceptance before a perfectly Holy God by the keeping of the Law. He demonstrates over and over again that the Law can only bring a curse to men if we are to be judged by our keeping of it. We are surely condemned to hell if we are measured against the Law.

But God, who is rich in mercy, sent His son to live under the demands of the Law. He kept it perfectly and righteously and then, He who knew no sin, became Sin for us. He who did not deserve the curse of God became a Curse for us by hanging on a tree. God turned the hand of His wrath that was ready to strike us and judge us for our sin and He struck and judged the Son on the Cross for our sins.

We are now freed from the condemnation of the Law if we are in Christ. If you trust in the righteousness of Christ then your sin is paid for and the curse is taken away. In its place is the blessing of obedience that Christ accomplished for you. Even more amazing, more unbelievable is the news that we are God’s adopted children. What manner of love is this that we should be called sons of God?

And so, Christian, Paul has reminded you over and over and over again what Christ accomplished on the Cross for you. Stand firm in the freedom that you were set free for. Do not return again to a yoke of slavery. Do not be deceived by those that tell you that God will not accept you or bless you until you prove to him that you are worthy to be blessed. God sent His Son to die for you because you’ll never be worthy on your own. When you start to understand that God set you on your feet to believe in Him when you had nothing to offer Him then you’ll stop looking within and worrying about whether or not you are measuring up. The answer is that you’ll never measure up to what God has done for you in saving you and making you His child. Stop looking within and always look to Christ.

And then, as Paul notes, something glorious occurs. Something changes about the Law. Hebrews 12 expresses this thought beautifully beginning at verse 18: 18For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

You see in Exodus, as the people came to Mount Sinai, the presence of the Lord descended upon the top of the mountain. What the people saw was terrifying: smoke, fire, judgment, and certain death if one so much as touched the mountain. They saw Moses walk up into it and thought he had surely died when he didn’t return after 40 days.

They were terrified of the Law – more specifically, they were terrified of God’s Holy character and that is what the Law represents. It judges, it divides, it sees right through sinful men and convicts of sin. It is meant to drive us to Christ.

But sinful men want nothing of this fear and so they protect themselves by ignoring the Law and changing it into something they can do. Gone is the fear of the Law and gone is the character of a Holy God in it. Now it is “taste not, touch not”. Now is it as simple as “…those who drink alcohol are going to hell….” Now it is as achievable as “…don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t chew, or date women who do.” This is why Paul believed he was blameless before the Law before he had his eyes opened to who God really is. That’s because Paul was a Pharisee and the Pharisees had cheapened the Law: it was no longer the perfect righteousness of God but a list of 600+ regulations achievable by men and they arrogantly convinced themselves they were keeping the Law just like every other religion that thinks they can approach God apart from Christ.

The man of the flesh reduces God’s perfection to a list of do’s and don’ts because he can’t stand the idea that really what all those do’s and don’ts are for in the Law is to point a man to the perfect holiness of God. This is why Jesus in Matthew, in the Sermon on the Mount, spends so much time criticizing these low views of the Law and makes the Law holy and perfect and impossible again. A person’s view of the Sermon on the Mount says a lot about what they think the Gospel is. If you think that Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, was giving you a list of do’s and don’ts that you can be saved by then you missed the Gospel because what He does in that Sermon is destroy any notion of keeping the Law which is summed up in love God and love neighbor perfectly or you are going to be separated as a goat and cast aside by Him in the final judgment.

But, you see, again it does not end there with our condemnation by the Sermon on the Mount. As we are confronted by the news of our sin it causes us to look to the Cross of Christ for salvation. Something beautiful happens. We are transported from the fear and trembling of Sinai to the heavenly Jerusalem where acceptance is found because Christ has become our righteousness.

The really mind boggling thing here is that the change that really occurs with the Gospel is us. You see, both at Sinai and at the heavenly Jerusalem is the presence of the same perfect and Holy God who never changes. But the reason why we fear the Holy God at Mount Sinai but rejoice at the heavenly Jerusalem is because we are changed by God in order to no longer be afraid. Where God once stood as a Judge at Sinai because we could not keep the Law in the sinful passions of our flesh, He now stands as our Savior and great Reward in the heavenly Jerusalem.

This is why it’s called the new birth. This is why we’re said to be given eyes to see and ears to hear. This is why we’re said to be given new hearts where we had hearts of stone. We have a completely different view of reality now.

And because we have a new heart and new mind, the Law is no longer a minimum set of standards that we think that we can perform to be saved. Instead, we remember that Christ has saved us because He performed it and, out of joy, we turn back to the Law, where we see God’s Holy character, and we begin to delight in it. We meditate on it, we get inside of it, and it is used by us to reveal the remaining sin within us that we might die to sin and live to Christ.

But that Law then is no longer a list of do’s and don’ts for us. Holy living is not expressed in asking any more “What is the list of things I can’t do and what are the things I must do…” any more. Our motivation toward pleasing God isn’t trying to figure out what our minimum is or folding our arms at our Father and saying: “I’m not going to do anything for you until you prove to me that your Word tells me I have to do that.” If that is your attitude then you have not been born again.

Instead, the new birth is expressed in our attitude toward God to say: “I wish to pursue the things that please you all the days of my life because I have been adopted into your family to be made holy alongside my brothers and sisters in the Church.”

And so Paul states in Galatians 6, beginning in verse 1: “ 1Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5For each will have to bear his own load.”

This really reveals whether or not we understand what God has redeemed us for. You see, it starts out by reminding you and me that we were not redeemed to sit around gazing at our belly button all day long. Many of us approach Church as if it is somewhat useful but that real spirituality is found in personal time and us working on building ourselves up. Yeah, we’ll be at Church if there isn’t something more pressing. “If I’m having a bad Sunday,” some reckon, “I’ll just spend quiet time with God because I need to be strengthened and I’ll get more out of quiet time alone than I will with the Church in corporate worship.”

But the Church isn’t all about me. We have been united to Christ to be in the Church to build each other up. Real growth is found especially in the hearing of the Word as we worship together corporately and enter the presence of God. We are supposed to care not merely about how we’re growing individually but about those around us and especially those who are struggling. When we see someone losing sight of the Gospel or forsaking the assembly of Saints and the Word then we should be gently admonishing them to stay near where God’s people meet and where He feeds His flock.

But be careful here, Paul warns. Some of us are very pretentious and assume we are more spiritual than we really are. We believe ourselves immune to the temptation that our brother or sister is in and so we rush in foolishly and can even be entangled in the same sin. We are supposed to enlist other’s aid and make sure we’re all looking out for each other.

I wish I could say that this Church is a model of this but I know it is not. I’ve often found out about many sad stories and broken hearts not because brethren brought a concern to the Church as a family would but because it was being passed around by sinful gossip. Many unfortunately think: “That’s none of their business how I’m doing. I can handle it myself.”

I’m not angry at this. It makes me sad. It breaks my heart. It makes me weep that we have so far to grow in the Gospel before we can begin to expose ourselves to one another because that’s the kind of risk we’re supposed to be willing to take for one another.

And because this is risky stuff to expose our lives, Paul essentially tells us all: “Don’t you dare for one second become proud!” Don’t think for a moment that just because a brother and sister has stopped coming to Church or is discouraged that you are better than they. Don’t think you stand in any place before God where He looks at you and says: “What a good person you are”. Remember that Pharisee whose only prayer was: “Thank you I’m not like that guy over there….” Don’t you dare ever think you stand and are accepted by God because you are well behaved. As long as we keep in front of our eyes that we are no better or no worse than our other brothers and sisters under the Law and that we’re all saved by Christ and will have to give account to one Judge and not to each other, then we’re set free from the burden of putting on masks. We’re free from having to lie to each other with smiles when our week has been horrible and people ask “…are you OK…” and we tell them we’re fine because we think Church is where only smiles belong. Bear each other’s burdens because our hearts should be transformed by Christ to do so. Rejoice with those who rejoice for sure but take the time to weep with those who weep as well.

So we must pursue righteousness and good for one another because that’s the nature of children that are in the one family of God. Paul continues in verse 9: “ 9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Don’t grow weary of your brothers and sisters. Don’t grow weary of pursuing the Cross of Christ and His righteousness. Yes, often sowing back into our flesh is easier. It’s the way of the world and those around us. But we have to be diligent to live lives as if the Gospel has had some sort of effect upon us. We have to live lives that reflect our acceptance and salvation by our Savior. Do not grow weary of serving those in the household of faith for God will supply all the strength you need for the task.

Paul concludes this glorious Epistle with these thoughts: “ 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

17From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. ”

I just want to urge you personally, one last time, not to think for a minute that you are immune from the temptation to go back into dead works. The Christian Church is surrounded on every side by people who call themselves Christian teachers who would put you into the same slavery that the Judaizers were. Get the message of the true Gospel into your bloodstream. Learn to know what it is. Never be allured by the temptation to think that your works add the least bit to your acceptance before God. The only thing that counts is that God sent His Son to become a Curse for everyone who believes. It begins and ends with faith in His work and that begins in you by the new creation that God has wrought in your lives by the preaching of the Word.

You’ll hear it in altar calls that tell you to consider whether or not you’re really dedicating your life as you ought, you’ll hear it from Pentecostals that will tell you that you’re not really blessed until you’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit, you’ll hear it in people that tell you that you must add a purpose-driven life to it, and you’re going to hear some new twist a year or two from now – yet another version of the Law dressed up to seem like innocent advice on how to live better lives so God will accept you.

But the story is as old as Scripture: you can’t add to the Gospel. It’s all Christ. It’s all His work and we contribute nothing to His work to save us. Even our being made holy by Him is sealed and assured by His finished work. Stand in it and don’t be enslaved to other principles.

And so, with Paul, it is my heart’s desire that you all know and never forget the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you have never experienced peace with God because you’ve never really heard the Gospel then believe upon Christ and stop trusting in yourselves. But, if you have heard it and believed it, then may His grace continue to overflow into your hearts so that you trust in Him, find your joy in Him, and find your strength in Him both now and forevermore. Amen.

Let us pray.

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Epistles Scripture

Abraham Believed the Gospel (Galatians 3)

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Galatians 3

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

21Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

As we continue in our series through the Book of Galatians we come to Chapter 3. Paul is defending the Gospel of God’s Grace against Jews who have infiltrated the Church and are teaching the Gentiles in Galatia that one must not only believe in Jesus Christ to be saved but must also become circumcised and obey the Law of Moses.

I wonder, these days, if many have become so unconcerned about the Gospel that they don’t really understand why Paul is so upset about this. He’s beside himself wondering why someone would ever be attracted to the teaching of these false brothers when they started out being taught the true Gospel. He asks, in verse 1, “…who bewitched you…?” He doesn’t literally think that there is magic that is compelling the Galatians to believe this but it’s meant to shock them to realize that their turning away from the true Gospel is completely out of character for a Christian.

It struck me yesterday at men’s Bible Study that many of us take for granted that sin and hard-heartedness is always happening to the other guy. We let our guard down to false teaching because we never really think that we’re in danger. It’s really important that we hear what Paul tells the Galatians here: “ 2Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

It seems so obvious, doesn’t it? How could they possibly do this? What would attract them into thinking that their salvation would depend upon and be perfected by works of the Law? Paul points out, clearly, that their salvation (and our salvation) began with the Spirit of God announcing the Good News to our hearts. We heard in the Gospel a message that said to us that we deserve nothing out of the hand of God but condemnation but that the benefits of Christ are held out to us if we simply believe upon what Christ has done for sinners. So, very simply, with nothing to offer God, we fell at the feet of Christ and called out for Him to save us.

But we began this way. The Galatians did too. But then they started hearing these Jewish Christians who were really serious about their Christian walk (or so it seemed to them). These Jewish Christians had it together. They were blessed. They had a purpose. They not only believed in Jesus but they were committed to the Law of Moses to show God that they were really serious about honoring Christ.

It’s not as if the Galatians woke up one day and forgot where they began but, over time they lost sight of where they began. We’re just like them. Our hearts are prone to forget the Gospel. We are prone to forget that God offered salvation freely on the basis of our clinging to Christ and His righteousness. How often, after you’ve sinned, do you return to the Cross of Christ and remind yourself that, in the beginning, God justified you because you trusted in the Cross of Christ? Or, instead, do you tell yourself that God is angry with you right now and that you’ll do better next time and show God that you are really serious about obeying Him? Stop it! God didn’t save you because you’re serious about obeying Him. You are not capable of being serious enough. Only Christ is. Remember where you started. Stay there. Don’t leave the hope you had in Christ then. Yes, Christ matures you. Yes, He is conforming you to His image. But this is all because, just like at the beginning, you are clinging to the Cross. You will never be perfected by any deeds and, when we forget that, we are forgetting the Gospel we heard in the first place. We are forgetting our first love.

We might be tempted to tell ourselves this though: “Well, I guess that must be true for me because I’m so weak. But there were people like Abraham who were strong enough to obey God. I’ll have to just be happy that God saved poor old sinful me but I wish I could have been more like Abraham.” In fact, the Galatians not only wanted to be just like Abraham but they were envious of the Judaizers because they were physical descendants and heirs of Abraham. “Poor old me, I’m just a Gentile Christian. Boo hoo!”

Are you ready for a shock. I’m going to read something that some of you might notice for the first time in your Christian lives. Make sure you have your Bibles ready so you don’t think that I’m making this stuff up. Verse 6 completes a thought that began before about the fact that we are perfected by the Spirit just as at the first. Guess what verse 6 says? Abraham was saved the exact same way as we are! “— 6just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

Why was Abraham accounted as righteous? Because of his faith and not his works. Who are the real sons of Abraham? Those who have faith just like Abraham did. Hold on to your seats for this next bit. What did Abraham believe in? The Gospel! That’s right the Scripture foresaw that God would justify us by faith and preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham. Abraham believed the Gospel! Christ stated that Abraham saw His day and rejoiced and the Pharisees wanted to stone Him. I wonder, though, if some of you are still doubting that Abraham was saved by Christ. How can that be? Christ hadn’t even been born yet. True, but God had promised Christ and God’s promises are yes and amen. Abraham believed the Gospel because God had promised the work of Christ to Him. Abraham believed afar off but we have the blessing of living on the other side of the Cross and the revelation of the Christ. And, to make it even sweeter, Paul proclaims to the Galatians: “YOU are Abraham’s heir because you believe just like he did. Take THAT you Judaizers! You’re not even an heir. Real heirs believe in Jesus and it doesn’t matter whose father is on their birth certificate!”

Furthermore, Paul adds: “ 10For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Do you remember this? Why do the Galatians and why do we keep going to the Law and telling God that we’re going to perform for Him so that He’ll accept us? The Law tells us that a person is cursed if a man does not keep it completely and perfectly. There is no hope there. There is no good news. This is the good news found in Christ: “ 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” He who knew know sin actually became Sin for us. He took the curse for all of our lawbreaking and sacrificed Himself to take away the curse that separated us from God. The curse was taken away in verse 14: “ 14so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”

This idea of promise is very important here. It keeps being said over and over that we receive the promise or that we inherit the promise or to believe the promise. This is so important because the promise that was made to Abraham was made by God to Him and it was not made by God with any conditions of obedience on Abraham’s part. In other words, God told Abraham He would bless Him and Abraham believed it but no additional conditions were added to that promise. It was a gracious promise of blessing. Paul points out an important truth. Please try to listen very carefully because Paul is going to basically say that God cannot break His word to Abraham: “ 15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.”

What Paul is saying is that if you and I make an agreement together and sign a piece of paper, we’re bound to that agreement. I can’t take that paper later on and add something to it and hold you to that promise. You didn’t sign for that promise. I also can’t take away something I don’t like. You didn’t sign that promise. Paul is saying that God promised to bless Abraham and his seed and the seed was Christ. He was giving Abraham a promise of salvation by Christ and His righteousness. The Law came hundreds of years after this promise was made to Abraham’s descendants. The Law could not be added to the promise or God would be breaking His word. In other words, the Law could not possibly be for salvation the way the Judaizers are teaching the Galatians because that would mean that God broke His word and, beloved, you might break your word and I might break my word but God never, ever, ever breaks His word. He sword to Abraham that He would be torn asunder before He ever broke the promise to bless Abraham and the world with salvation by faith in Christ.

It’s sort of an obvious question then: why would God add all these rules and regulations if they are not meant to save us? It seems to me like God is saying to keep them in order to be saved. If He never intended to save men and women by them then why did He punish them for not obeying them? It almost seems like the Law is against the Gospel itself. Paul anticipates this: “ 21Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”

The Law was actually added for a gracious purpose. It was given to hold forth and demonstrate the perfect righteousness of God. By doing this it was meant to show how Holy God is and how sinful we are. We were supposed to come to the Law and see in it our very real need for Christ. It was a guardian to conduct us to Christ, a sign to point us to Christ, a schoolmaster to teach us of our need for Christ. We were meant to feel imprisoned by it, caught up by it, bogged down by it so that we would cry out: “Who will deliver me from this body of death?!” Paul even notes that if a law could be given that would lead to righteousness then righteousness would be by the Law but the Law itself proves that righteousness by the Law is impossible – except through Christ.

Right before you believed the Gospel, did you not feel the prison of the Law? Did you not sense its judgment? Did you not feel the need to escape the wrath that you knew you needed to escape? Praise God! Do you remember as the Gospel burst forth and said to you that Christ took that curse away, that Christ had fulfilled its righteous demand? Were not our hearts burning within us as we said: “Thank you Jesus! I believe. What Good News! I believe because I have no other hope. You alone have words of eternal life.”

Verse 25: “ 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The time of immaturity is over. The time for our guardian is past. The time of the judgment of the Law is over for those of us in Christ. Why would anyone ever want to go back into the prison of the Law? Why would anyone go back into the curse of the Law? Do you understand why Paul is asking if they’ve been bewitched? What utter foolishness to turn away from Christ and back into the deeds of the Law.

What could ever possess someone to think this is a good idea? So he can be a Jew? So he can be a better Christian because he’s a Jew? There’s no distinction. Jews are saved by Christ just like Gentiles. So are all men. So are all women. So are all slaves and so are all free men. All are saved by the same Lord. All are saved by the same perfect work. All are united to Christ in the same way: by faith, by laying hold of His feet and trusting in His righteousness and not our own.

As Paul stated, so he reminds them again: “ 29And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

Christian, you have everything you could possibly ever ask for from God’s hand and it has been given to you freely. You’ve been given an inheritance you didn’t deserve. You lay hold of it simply by trusting in Christ and what He has done. You begin that way and you will finish to the end that way. You don’t begin by trusting in Christ and then change to a new stage where you begin to trust in the works and actions that you’re doing to please God so that He’ll bless you.

Stop believing the illusion that your dedication to God is what saves you. You are not saved by the purity of your works or even the perfection of your faith but your salvation rests on your trust in Christ’s work alone. Whoever bewitched you into looking within and convincing yourself that God is saving you on the basis of your behavior lied to you. The Gospel tells you to stop looking within for your salvation and to look to the Cross. That’s where your righteousness is, that’s where the curse of the Law was nailed. That is what will transform your thoughts and renew your minds. That is what will provide the fruit of love toward your neighbor. That, beloved, is the only hope you must have now and forevermore.

Let us pray.

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Epistles Scripture

Justified by Faith (Galatians 2)

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Galatians 2

2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

We’re continuing in our study through the Book of Galatians and come to Chapter 2. As a reminder, Paul is defending the Gospel of Grace against what he calls false brothers or troublemakers who have come to the Churches of Galatia to convince them that, in order to be saved, the Gentiles must not only believe in Jesus Christ but also must become circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. We learned last week that Paul not only calls this another Gospel but he condemns it as no Gospel at all and that he eternally condemned any man or angel that taught a Gospel contrary to the Gospel taught by Paul and the Apostles.

As we learned, this was not merely Paul’s Gospel but it was the Gospel that was taught by all of the Apostles. The Judaizers had been spreading rumors that Paul’s apostleship was not only inferior to the “pillars of the Church” – Peter, James, and John – but that he was teaching a Gospel contrary to theirs. The false teachers were dropping the names of these “pillars” to lend authority to their false doctrines.

As Paul continues in Galatians 2, he picks up where he left off in telling the “real story” of his Apostleship. He had taught as an Apostle for many years and then after seeing Peter only once before, he journeys to Jerusalem again after fourteen years and even brings a Gentile named Titus with him. When Paul and the other Apostles spoke to one another, they shared the exact same Gospel in common – salvation in Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone. It became immediately apparent to all the Apostles that Paul had received a commission directly from Jesus Christ to be the Apostle to the Gentiles even as Peter was the Apostle to the Jews. By this it means that Paul was the prime worker or the one whose teaching would establish the Gospel among the Gentiles even though other Apostles would also work among the Gentiles (and Peter had been the first to preach among them in Cornelius’ house). Paul brought Titus into the presence and fellowship of the Apostles and didn’t suggest, for a moment, that Titus be circumcised. It was only the Judaizers in the Jerusalem Church that ever suggested this thing.

You need to note Paul’s firm resolve in this: “ 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. ” What fellowship does light have with darkness? None. You see, Paul could not permit, even for a moment, the idea that Titus was even just a little less united to Christ in His death and resurrection because of his uncircumcision. He had the same Spirit, the same Baptism, the same Lord and Savior. To add works to the Gospel is to destroy the grace of the Gospel. It is to destroy the necessity of the Cross and the necessity of Christ.

But notice, also, how Paul also criticizes the attitude that the Judaizers had about his apostleship and that he is less important than the others. Christ is the one who had given Paul his apostleship. It was good that Peter and James and John recognized Christ’s commission of Paul but they added no authority to his work by agreeing with it. Paul’s authority had come from God and God is no respecter of persons. Paul’s words have authority for us because He is the spokesperson for Christ through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

In order to shock the Galatians out of their respect for the Judaizers he has to take a drastic step here and show that even someone as respectable as Peter was not perfect and that Paul himself had to rebuke him for a huge sin in front of the whole Church. I’m not sure many of you realize how ugly this episode really was and why Paul had to embarrass Peter in front of the whole Church. The fact of the matter was, though, that it was a very public sin and public sin has to be rebuked publicly or it can cause massive destruction.

Peter visited the Church at Antioch where Paul and Barnabas ministered and led the Church. Peter was eating with and having fellowship with the Gentile believers there until, one day, Judaizers from the Church at Jerusalem arrived. These love feasts were fellowship times in the early Church and it seems that the Lord’s Supper might even have been celebrated during these times. To participate in a love feast together was like saying: “We’re all part of one another – you and I have the same savior in Christ and are all adopted by the same Father.” Members would greet each other with a holy kiss of the affection that we’re supposed to share in Christ Jesus.

But then the Judaizers came along and Peter was afraid of their disapproval and so he withdrew from the Gentile believers. His hypocrisy was so great that he even tempted the great encourager, Barnabas, to withdraw from the Gentiles that he had labored among and loved.

Now, imagine for a moment that some men have come along that were saying that you have to believe in Jesus and be circumcised in order to be saved. You’re a Gentile that has been hanging out with the mighty Peter – he walked with Jesus and was a pillar in the Church. You see him withdraw from you and you see the great encourager, Barnabas, recoil from you as well. Don’t you think you’d begin to say to yourself: “Maybe if I was circumcised too then I could be like them. Maybe I’m not really serious enough about Jesus. I believe in him but, if I become circumcised like them, then I’ll really have fellowship with all of God’s saints. I have fellowship with the Gentile believers now but I want fellowship with Peter and Barnabas too….”

No! No! No! A thousand time No! This breaks my heart to think of what Peter did and I know, for a fact, that he appreciated Paul for rebuking him here. He had promised Christ three times that he would feed His lambs and care for His sheep and here he was, by his very actions, tearing down their faith!

Paul did the only thing that a man who loves Christ and loves the brethren would do. He openly rebuked Peter for his sin. Had he not done so then he might have caused some of the Gentiles to forsake Christ for they would have been forsaking the surety of their salvation that is built on nothing more than faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul uses this episode to remind Peter, all the brethren there, and us of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: “, I said to Cephas before them all, 14’If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?’ 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

Peter knew this all too well. He knew that Christ had not come to round out the Law or to simply show us how to obey so that we could obey the Law like Him. This truth is expanded upon and repeated in Romans 3. Paul demonstrates, conclusively, that the keeping of the Law for salvation is impossible. Nobody, no one, not a person, not a soul has ever, is now, or will be justified by the Law. What does this mean? This means that, before God, we can never earn a reward from His hand by doing good, by obeying His word. If we stand on our own strength, before the Law, the only thing we can earn from Him is condemnation because the Law brings a curse to transgressors of the Law. You don’t get graded on a curve before God. You’re either perfect in keeping the Law or you are condemned as a lawbreaker. Peter, like James, like John, and like Paul were all saved by somebody else’s righteousness. They were saved by Christ’s righteousness. They were saved by His blood on the Cross and they were saved by His obedience to the Law. They were saved by faith in His work.

Hear me again though. They were not saved by faith but they were saved by faith in Christ’s work. Their faith was directed at something that had been accomplished by Christ. You see the truth is that we are saved by works but they are not our works but Christ’s perfect work accomplished for us by His life, death, and resurrection. Our faith is as a beggar coming with nothing in our hand and saying to Christ that we know we deserve nothing but are simply relying on the promise that Christ will save all who put their trust in His finished work.

Inevitably, when somebody starts preaching the Gospel clearly, without the addition of human works, a charge always arises from people that want to object and say that God does His part but we have to add our part to be saved: “17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin?” Do you understand what the objector to Paul is saying in verse 17 that he’s about to answer? People always want to say that God cannot call a person righteous unless they are really righteous. Some call this a “legal fiction” when we preach the true Gospel that Christ justifies the un-Godly.

You see the Gospel is not that God is saving you because you are righteous and good. No. Christ justifies the un-Godly. He justifies not because all sin has left you but because that sin has been paid for in Christ. Some say the difference between Christians and non-Christians is that Christians are transformed so that sin no longer abides in them but the Gospel says that we are both justified by God and still sinners. We cling to the Cross in faith and are saved by the Cross but we are saved while sin still remains in us. We are not saved, in the end, by God looking at how much good we’ve filled up in our heart or how much we’ve done for God’s Kingdom but are saved by falling at the feet of Christ to save us.

How can God do this? Because Christ has taken away the reproach of our sin. Because we are covered by Christ. Yes, we are being transformed by Christ. Yes He is putting to death the body of sin that remains but God is pleased to save you even though He knows what a wretched sinner you are. He is pleased to save you even though He knows you don’t deserve it. That’s right – you don’t deserve to be saved. That’s the Gospel – that God saves those who don’t deserve it! Stop trying to earn your salvation because in trying to earn it you’re not trusting in Christ’s righteousness that is alone the ground for your salvation.

Paul makes it very clear, though, that we aren’t just saved so that we can be covered by Christ and then sin all we want because we’ve got a “Get out of Hell Free” card. Absolutely not! As Paul says: “19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”

This is the profound truth that those who do not pursue the Gospel of Christ by faith will never understand. The truth of the matter is that if you don’t cling to Christ by faith because you cannot keep the Law then you are not pursuing righteousness at all.

What are you saying Paul? Don’t you see the Jews trying really hard to be good people? Don’t you see them with the phylacteries on their foreheads with the list of all the commands of God? Don’t you see them attempting to obey every jot and tittle of God’s Law line by line?

Of course he knew that! He used to be one of them. But he concludes they aren’t pursuing righteousness at all because they’re trying to obey a sham. They’re obeying a fake. They’re obeying what they think the Law says. They’re obeying a list that is doable by man. But the Law of God is perfect and it condemns a man, it curses a man the very moment he breaks even the smallest part of it. Man isn’t content to believe this though so he lowers the bar to something he can do and then tells himself that God is pleased with this lower standard. After all, he’s a better person than his neighbor who doesn’t tithe his mint and cumin.

But the man who has been awakened by the Gospel sees the Law for what it is. He sees in it the perfect righteousness of God and it brings about the terror of judgment: “I can’t possibly be perfect. I can’t possibly obey with all my heart, soul, and mind.” The Law condemns us and makes us cry out: “Jesus, save me! Jesus, I know I’m condemned. Jesus, I know only you fulfilled the perfect righteousness of the Law!”

By laying hold of Christ’s feet in faith, the Christian is the only one on this earth that pursues righteousness because He is laying hold of the only One that could ever obey perfectly. The legalists of this world with all their “taste not and touch not” have all the appearance of righteousness but they are stone cold dead and are rotting flesh on the inside.

But the man who lays hold of Christ dies to the Law in Christ and is raised up in newness of life with Him. It is only after we have been freed from the burden and condemnation of the Law that we turn to our Savior and have new eyes to see Him no longer as the Judge but as our Righteousness and our very great Reward. We are now freed to obey out of love and out of gratitude for inheriting all righteousness. It is only with renewed hearts and minds that we begin to actually pursue the end of the Law which is love for each other that is an answer to the love that Christ has lavished upon us.

Indeed, as Paul notes very clearly, if we could have pursued righteousness at all apart from Christ then Christ died in vain. If all it took was for you and me to try harder at obeying the rules then Christ didn’t need to come. In fact, if God saves those who obey the best, if God justifies those who have earned it by their works, then Christ didn’t need to come for that. We didn’t need Christ to show us that God was serious about obedience. We needed Christ because we couldn’t be obedient. We needed Christ because by the deeds of the Law no flesh would ever be justified.

Are you convinced of this? Do you trust in the righteousness of Christ to save you? Do you seriously believe that God saves you not for anything He sees in you but only because you have fallen at the feet of Christ as a beggar?

Or are you holding on to the illusion that really the reason God saved you is because you’re better than the person across the street? Are you holding on to the illusion that God is weighing your good deeds against your bad deeds and sees that you’re doing your best? Are you holding on to the illusion that you dedicated yourself to God and that He’s only going to bless you as long as you continue to show Him how serious you are?

Rest Christian, rest. Take off the yoke of the Law and run to the Cross. Christ has accomplished all righteousness. Stop listening to the Judaizers of this world telling you that you aren’t going to be blessed until you sweat for God. Stop listening to their lies about grades of Christians. Look only to the Cross of Christ and what He accomplished perfectly in His life, death, and resurrection. Christ is present before you. Cry out to Him and say: “I am a lawbreaker and I deserve nothing from your Hand but I believe that You have accomplished all righteousness.”

Pursue Christ. Don’t let go of His feet until He blesses you. Believe the Gospel. Believe it and be saved!

Let us pray.