Lane Fusilier - Musings of a PastModernist

Origin Sin and Free Will

2012-01-29T08:52:00.001-05:00

Original Sin or Free Will?
REVIEW: What we’ve learned from the heretics.
• Jesus is the unique Son of God—the battle between Athanasius and Arius.
• The Father considers us to be righteous by faith through the death of Jesus the Son—the battle between Martin Luther and Eck.
• Science & Faith: The Bible communicates the authority of God over our lives--

Big Idea: The controversy between Pelagius and Augustine in the Early Church over original sin illustrates what can happen when philosophy wins arguments about truth. Thanks to Augustine, the biblical view of sin survived.

Definition…What is ‘original sin?’
Alan Jacobs: "Original Sin: A cultural History"
‘original sin’ is NOT, Adam & Eve’s first sin.
1. Similar to Greek tragedy—“fatal choice”, a choice that sets in motion vast irresistible forces of retribution, what the Greeks named Nemesis. …”Oedipus’s sin was murdering his father.” Since Oedipus doesn’t know that it’s his father he kills, he can’t imagine the full consequences of the act; there’s no way to undo his deed, to get back to the life he was living before that moment at the crossroads; and the retribution he has called down upon himself is inevitable.
2. …it’s certainly possible to read the story of Adam and eve in this way: the First Couple ate the fruit not knowing how profound the consequences would be, not understanding that the price of their meal would be forced and permanent exile from the garden and then, eventually, death. …HOWEVER, the doctrine of original sin, as it eventually developed, strikes deeper and challenges or even overturns our usual notions of moral responsibility. Original sin is not merely fatality, the God who oversees it is not the faceless Nemesis, and Adam and Eve do not buy death for themselves only.
3. Original sin is more than that: Romans 5:12—Adam’s sin brought death not just to him, but to “all men”—to all of his descendants: all of us.
PWPT“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned —”
When we all forfeit our lives because of what one man did at the beginning of human history, “what goes around, comes around” doesn’t quite cover it. …Earlier in his letter…he says that those who sin are “without excuse”…
a. Augustine takes up this argument in Genesis 17:9-14, “…any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised…shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” …in no way the fault of the infant whose soul is said to be about to perish. It is not he who has broken God’s covenant, but his elders, who have not taken care to circumcise him.” And yet the passage clearly says that the uncircumcised infant is the one who has broken God’s covenant.
b. Augustine: this passage meant that “even infants are born sinners, not by their own act but because of their origin”—their origin being the primal fatherhood of Adam.
c. Augustine: sin that’s already inside us, already dwelling in us at our origin, at our very conception.
4. …sin afflicts like disease and that, like disease, it is easy to acquire and hard to get rid of.
ARGUMENT today
1. The problem of evil and the impact on our lives.
a. Created in the IMAGE of GOD.
b. How the mighty have fallen!
PWPT Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…
2. This problem is not merely philosophical: The root of evil runs through each heart.
a. PWPT Jeremiah 17:9—the heart is desperately wicked, who can know it?

b. Romans 7:15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

c. James: the tongue is an evil; James 3:5-8
PWPT So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

d. Jesus: out of the mouth comes the evil of the heart; Matt 15:17–18 NASB
Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.”
e. We speak to our own condemnation. Hard to accept because we live in a “nice” culture, where we don’t dare say all the things we think!

3. The problem with evil and the road to faith came to a head in the fifth century:
a. Augustine of Hippo (354-430). After a lustful pursuit of peace, he turned to religion (Manicheanism in 373, Neoplatonism in 382), but found frustration. …rhetoric teacher…to Milan where he met Ambrose. After rejecting the gospel initially and struggling with a continued illness, he came to Christ in 387. …In 391…a priest and, in 395, the Bishop of Hippo. He remained in his office, writing voluminously, until 430 as the Vandals stood at the gates of his city [when he died; city burned, Possidius saved his library]
b. Pelagius (ca. 354-424 A.D.) …British origins. …a monk (not a monastic or hermit) with enormous learning (Antiochene). He was fluent in both Latin and Greek and linguistically superior to Augustine, his most formidable opponent.
a. Augustine declared that only God could intervene within us and open our hearts to grace.
i. Early on, Augustine believed that humans learned to sin; later…
ii. Not able NOT to sin.
iii. Augustine argued that God enables us to do what he commands;
b. Pelagius disagreed—we are able to do whatever God asks us to do.
i. Humans have free volition, free will.
ii. Adam’s sin has a bad influence upon others but no impact.
iii. Since all have free will, God’s grace is universal; adults may gain forgiveness through baptism.
iv. Since humans are not born in sin, it is possible to be preserved in the state of birth and to never need salvation.
c. PWPT Over the next centuries, four variations developed.
i. Augustine: Salvation is totally, causatively of God.
ii. Semi-Augustinianism—Salvation originates in God, proceeds in God and man.
iii. Semi-Pelagianism: Salvation originates in man, proceeds by man and God.
Berkof: took an intermediate position, denying the total inability of man to do spiritual good, but admitting his inability to perform really saving works without the assistance of divine grace. The grace of God illuminates the mind and supports the will, but always in such a manner that the free will of man is in no way compromised. …While the grace of God is universal and intended for all, it becomes effective in the lives of those who make a proper use of their free will. Strictly speaking, it is really the will of man that determines the result.
iv. Pelagianism: Salvation is totally, causatively of man.
McGrath [I, 74] The definitive pronouncement of the early western church on the Pelagian and Massilian controversies… to teach that the ‘freedom of the soul’ remained unaffected by the Fall was Pelagian. The Faustian doctrine of the initium fidei —i.e., that man can take the initiative in his own salvation—was explicitly rejected: not only the beginning, but also the increase of faith, are alike gifts of grace. While the Council declared that man’s liberum arbitrium is injured, weakened and diminished, its existence was not questioned.
Today, semi-Pelagianism’s variety is evident in Arminianism (Mennonites, etc.)
1. We receive from Adam a corrupted nature but not Adam’s guilt.
2. Our human nature is corrupted physically and intellectually but not volitionally.
3. Prevenient [preceding] grace enables us to believe.
4. We are not totally depraved, but still maintain the will/volition to seek God.
Today, Augustinian thought remains in Reformed views
1. Either each individual receives the physical nature from parents, God then creates the soul, such that Adam was our representative. [Federal Headship]
2. Or, We inherit our physical nature and soul from our parents, so that were all present in Adam in germinal form, such that we all participate in the sin of Adam, and inherit Adam’s sin. [Augustinian]

What do we learn from the heretics?
4. The solution to our problem with evil and free will.
a. God must initiate our salvation, we will not.
i. This reminds us of how INTENSE is God’s love for us.
b. God must accomplish our salvation, we cannot.
i. This teaches us how PERSONAL is God’s love for us.
c. We must respond to God’s grace with faith in order to experience
i. As He did with Lydia in Acts 16:14 NASB
And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

ii. We need not react as our culture programs us to react.
1. Our culture’s assumption: For it to really be love, it has to be freely chosen; totally unconstrained, and uninfluenced.
2. The Bible’s answer: You’re free to do whatever you want; you’re just not free to want whatever you want.
3. We ARE TORN!!
Carole King wrote both lyrics: It’s Too Late, Baby, Now It’s Too Late [I’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’]
AND, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, ON THE SAME ALBUM!

Humble Orthodoxy & Authority

2012-01-22T13:15:00.001-05:00

Humble Orthodoxy & Authority

Questions & Answers today and/or next week
Big Idea: In the last two centuries, questions of faith and science - as in the age of the earth, the origin of man, and miracles - has tended to polarize the Church. The divisions among Southern Baptists illustrate what can happen when Christians make idols of orthodoxy, reason, and novelty. From these we learn the critical importance of biblical authority, but also our need to approach conflict with humility.

Two things we are seeing:
1. How much has been learned in conflict, rather than avoidance.
2. How we can respond to conflict ourselves.

Being a disciple of Jesus is challenging on several levels.
1. Disciples learn and obey.
a. How can we be certain that God has spoken, that the Bible is a faithful record of His intentions, and that we rightly understand what has been written?
b. How do we live out the truth-claims of Jesus and the Bible?
2. We can learn from those who have gone before us and from those who challenge our faith.

ORTHODOXY…a Sure and Certain Word…
I. The Word of God, it's claims, it’s claims upon us, and compelling trust
a. Hebrews 4:12—active, sharper
PWPTHebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
PWPTHebrews 1:1–2 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”
b. Psalm 19: The heavens declare the glory of God
PWPTPsalms 19:1
“The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”
II. We can have full confidence in the Authority of Scripture.
a. Authority—DECLARED
General & Special Revelation (Ps 19:1-6; Rom 1:18-20; 2:14-16; Acts 17:24-34; John 1:14-18)
b. COMMUNICATED
i. INSPIRED: Theopneustos¬—God-breathed
i. Metaphorical—God has no lungs, therefore no physical breath, BUT
ii. Intent—from God Himself, therefore…
1. To be taken seriously, “life or death”
Deuteronomy 30:11ff.
““For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. “It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ “Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.…
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.””

ii. ILLUMINATED: PWPT To be understood, mediated by the Holy Spirit, 1Cor2:14-16
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For Who Has Known The Mind Of The Lord, That He Should Instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

iii. RELIABLE— PWPT Matthew 5:18
““For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.”

iv. EFFECTIVE—
1. Hebrews 4:12 NASB—
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

2. PWPT 1 Thessalonians 2:13 NASB
“And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”

HUMBLE ORTHODOXY
III. Humility on our part, with an ear to those who disagree, and a mind open to reading the Word with fresh eyes.
A. I am aware of my limitations in correctly perceiving the meaning of God’s Son and God’s Word.
i. That confusion is no slam on God’s Word nor on its
ii. Clarity.
B. Those limitations were apparent in…
a. Galileo vs The Church? Actually, Galileo vs the Aristotelian philosophers who insisted that the heavens were fixed, that the moon was a smooth, perfect sphere, etc.
i. Galileo didn’t attack the Church, he offered verifiable evidence that the philosophers were wrong.
ii. The Church was too tight with the philosophers, not the Word.
iii. Science vs Christian faith only became an issue in the twentieth century—Christian thought has provided the foundation for reasoned investigation.
b. Innerrancy battles of the late twentieth century?
i. Southern Baptists:
1. Liberalizing views of Scripture by those in power moved the SBC into conflict.
2. Conservative push-back put them into power; they used largely the same power techniques. The SBC remains divided into two camps, 30 years later.
ii. Similar tensions and divisions occurred among Canadian Baptists in the past century; division remains.
c. Creation vs. Evolution among evangelicals today.
i. Some Creationists question the faith of any who support theistic evolution.
ii. Some Theistic Evolutionists question the mental capacity of those who deny evolution.
C. Those limitations are common to all humans.
Lessons to be learned:
a. God doesn’t ask us to believe anything that’s not true, contra Richard Dawkins (faith means believing something you know NOT to be true.)
b. Also, he doesn’t call us to reject anything that is true. We’re not to ignore what we see,
c. but we are to believe what we can’ t see as well. (i.e., what we can and can’t see can’t be the main arbiter of truth; that’s why we need His revelation).
In our culture, we’ve made an idol out of not knowing. We assume it’s arrogant to have an answer to any question. This borders on anti-intellectualism, denying the rational minds that God gave us to use.
d. In traditional church cultures though, we’ve made an idol out of uniformity: offering one interpretation and making it the test of orthodoxy—Genesis 1, 2 vs. Evolution

Fundamentalism is an expression of modernity: we can figure all this out; the Fall did not impact our minds, such that we can rightly parse all data, we can come to our faith through reason alone.
Orthodoxy: faith involves all of us--mind, will, emotion; faith comes as a gift through the Spirit of Christ.

CONCLUSION
a humble orthodoxy sees that faith is not blind but informed and humbly hungry to understand more profoundly
Humble Orthodoxy means... holding conclusions, and holding them loosely.

Our New Mission at Philpott

2011-06-05T21:30:00.001-05:00

2011 Annual Ministry Meeting Sermon
Ascension Day: Jesus is with the Father, interceding for us at the Father’s right hand.
Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us, direct us, empower us, and keep us as His own.
Jesus through His Spirit ensures that we will do His work here.
Jesus will return in the same manner as He left.

Matthew 28:18–20 NASB
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

Ephesians 4:11–16
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

1. Purpose:
As a local expression of the Body of Christ, our God-given purpose is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who exalt God, edify one another, and extend God’s love to all people.

The Mission of our congregation is the way we fulfill that Purpose…

2. Our Unique Mission:
Philpott Church is a community of grace, rooted together in the gospel, that exists to glorify God by making more and better disciples of Jesus Christ who are committed to the celebration of God, the cultivation of deeper faith, and the restoration of our community, our city, and the nations.

Philpott Church is
A. a community of grace,
a. Just as God embraces us just as He finds us, so we accept all those whose paths cross ours.
i. Why does God love us so powerfully?
ii. “God is love” John’s letter tells us. It’s what He is.
1 John 4:16
“And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
iii. God loves us because He made us in His likeness, He sees parts of Himself in us, so His delight is in us.
iv. We see this in the Father’s delight in His unique Son, Jesus:
Matthew 3:17
“…a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
b. As God loves us too much to leave us as He finds us, so we love one another too much to leave us as we are found.
c. We are embraced and embrace others as infinitely valuable, made in the image of God.
d. We are loved by God into depth and maturity in Christ, just as we long to love one another so powerfully that the Spirit of God is free to work through us to heal, to deepen, to restore each one.
B. rooted together in the gospel, that exists
a. Rooted:
i. Ephesians 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
ii. Col. 2:7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
b. in the Gospel
i. In love
ii. In Him
iii.
C. to glorify God
a. God’s glory = God’s beauty, aura, etc.
i. Ex. 29:43 “I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory.
ii. Ex. 33:22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
iii. Is. 66:18 “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.
b. God’s glory = Our attribution of majesty, honour, to God
i. Is. 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.
ii. Is. 43:7 Everyone who is called by My name,
And whom I have created for My glory,
Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”
iii. Is. 48:11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And My glory I will not give to another.

D. by making more and better disciples of Jesus Christ
a. make disciples of all the nations
b. Disciples—those who learn from and follow Jesus
c. Disciples—those who obey all that Jesus taught
d. Disciples—those who reproduce themselves by making new disciples

E. who are committed to
a. the celebration of God, as in…
Colossians 3:23–24 NASB
“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
Sara:
“Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together!” (Psalm 34:3)
We have made great efforts to celebrate God this past year corporately and in our own lives, desiring to express our worship of God authentically in spirit and in truth, wanting to resist all pretence in both our corporate and private worship.
We’ve celebrated together through exalting God and fixing our vision and our hearts on Him during our Sunday morning services and special events this past year. Our hope has been to make God’s glory the ultimate purpose of all we’ve done here, whenever we’ve gathered together on either Sunday mornings, during the week in growth groups, special services during the Christmas and Easter seasons, and through prayer retreats focused on just being with God and letting Him speak to us (setting aside time to make Him our true heart’s affection).
Our week of prayer this past year focused on celebrating God for being the Creator, the God who speaks and is actively involved in our lives, the God who sustains through suffering, and the God who passionately pursues us.
Through this year’s sermon series’, our celebration of God took the form of repenting of the idols that compete for our hearts’ attention and exalting Him as the One True God, greater than anything else the world has to offer. Our celebration of God also focused on acknowledging and celebrating the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word and in our lives.
The 40-Days o worship series highlighted how we celebrate by responding to God with our lives, saying “Here I Am”, and authentically through our various ‘sacred pathways’ or ways we worship. Our study on the book of Mark prepared us to celebrate Christ’s journey to the cross, His death for the sins of the world, and the victory of His resurrection.
We have realized that “Celebration” is a major part of our DNA as a church and community of grace, and also personally as believers in the One True God. We continue trying to incorporate various worship elements into our corporate times of celebration together. We have also tried to emphasize making celebration of God more integrated in our lives apart from Sunday mornings through private worship, in prayer, music, art, our work, our interactions and relationships in our families and communities, and in the attitude and motivation of our hearts.

b. the cultivation of deeper faith, and
i. for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
ii. MIKE MILESKI & JOE BOYACHEK

c. the restoration of all things

Jeremiah 29:7 NASB
And seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.

Ephesians 2:17–18 NASB
And He Came And Preached Peace To You Who Were Far Away, And Peace To Those Who Were Near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.

John 14:12 NASB
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.

i. our city, and
1. Urban Ministries
a. Backporch
b. ESL—
A couple of years ago I started to mentor a MBA International Student from China and also invited her to ESL class - she attended our Philpott class but my involvement with her was much more than that. We spent at least a couple days of week together just working on her English - especially from a business perspective because that was ultimately her goal - was to get a good job in Canada. This person had a great job in China but left it to study in Canada.

As a result of our friendship, she got a couple of co-op jobs and also landed a full time job in CIBC - and is in a senior position in Corporate Finance. In fact, she won an award at CIBC for being a top performer. These award winners were invited to the annual Christmas banquet and she was chosen to sit at the CFO's table. She was allowed to invite a guest and she invited me. When I said no - she should invite her husband, she said she wanted to share her success with me because I was a part of it. So I humbly accepted and she was introducing me as her English tutor. That was funny because at this point I never thought of being her "english tutor". At this point I felt we were colleagues and just very good friends.

Yes, her life was impacted but mine more so. God has allowed me to be a part of someone's life in a way that my friend needed it the most. She knows exactly why I believe and the faith that drives me to do what I do and always listens and respects what I say. She has since moved to Oakville to be closer to TO, but always calls to just talk.

c. Cooking Class & Crafts Class
A young woman from Belgium with limited English was introduced to the cooking and craft classes almost two years ago. Her partner was here doing research at Mac. She made it known the first night that she hadn't been in a church since she was 13 and did not believe in God. She must have felt the acceptance though as she continued to come and shared the loneliness she felt and the difficulties with language and trying to find work. Last summer
she had a baby and we were able to hook her up with a few motherly Dutch women at Philpott who could guide her through the anxieties a first time mother have. When our classes resumed in September, the baby was there.
Before the baby came, volunteers from our New2Canada class held a baby shower for her, something that is not done back home. She was overwhelmed that she was supported in this way and when she went home that evening, her partner had to play all the "baby games" from earlier in the evening and got to enjoy some great food while watching all the gifts being opened again. We asked a new mum from the church to attend our classes so she could connect with someone her own age and share baby concerns. She has faithfully attended all the classes, trundling the baby out in all this winters weather to spend a few hours with our group. In a few months they will be returning to Belgium, but this last week, she brought the baby’s memory book with her to class, as she wanted her Canadian family to write their thoughts in it. A most tender moment was watching her sitting on the floor in Missionary Hall while one of the ladies wrote her thoughts in Urdu into the book and explained what she was writing. That evening the pages of the baby’s book were covered in blessings written in Mandarin, French, English and Urdu from the friends God brought into her life in a place she was hesitant to enter almost two years ago. Her heart has definitely been softened, the ground tilled, for someone to harvest.

A— is a young Muslim woman who came from Pakistan with her husband and two children almost four years ago. They live in a small, sparsely furnished apartment and her husband drives a cab. He was a judge and she a midwife back home. She has been faithfully coming to our cooking and craft classes for three years and she was one who received a Christmas Hamper from Philpott this past winter when her husband lost his job. When we delivered the gift, an invitation was given for them to attend Christmas dinner at Sonya's home. Her husband jumped at the invitation. In all the time they had been in Canada, they had never been invited to a Canadian home and had no Canadian friends. Oh, it meant adding a few "halal" items to the Christmas menu, but as people shared Christmas traditions in their own families (from several different backgrounds) around the table, they participated with what it was like in Pakistan at Christmas. God has woven others from Philpott into their lives since this time, helping with medical concerns, giving violin lessons, supporting them with ESL as they prepare for citizenship exams and having "play dates" with the children. They have even reciprocated by inviting their Canadian friends for meals. It was not the mosque but the Christian community that reached out to this family, especially as He put her on our hearts, and He has gently revealed Himself to the hearts of this family who were struggling with discouragement, loneliness and isolation in their new country.

d. TrueCity: nurturing vision; collaborating with sister congregations; planting churches in the city
2. Arts Bridge—
a couple who love the arts attended one of our Arts Events while making it clear that they had little and no interest in our faith. Event after event, year after year, their perspectives changed, the faith interest she had had she began to express; the hostility that he had expressed was transformed: on one of our Arts Outings, he asked me whether we had missionaries at work in a particular part of the world he was concerned about; I said YES! He later made a missions-sponsored trip to that continent, making investments in local health issues there.

3. Children’s ministry in the city—Arts Camp this July

ii. the nations.
1. Prim and Bir, two brothers in Nepal, whom we have supported in prayer and financially for almost twenty years: they continue to be effective evangelists among their own people.
2. Save The Mothers in Yemen, now Africa, led by Jean Chamberlain Froese with her husband and children.
3. Stephen & Peggy Foster, who have built a hospital as their ministry base in Angola, enduring the civil war and other mayhem for the healing of the people and the proclamation of Christ.
4. Rick and Sandy Polson, training Latin American believers to support themselves as they make disciples and plant churches.

CONCLUSION:
We have as our base the very Word of God, which narrates for us the beginnings of the story of redemption and restoration. By that story, we are called into life and into participation in God’s work of salvation and restoration of all things. First we are called to LIFE, a personal experience of the power of the resurrection applied by the Spirit of Christ. Second, we are called to LIVE with Christ, taking up the work of Christ in Restoring the world, one heart, one family, one congregation, one city at a time.

Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Jesus: Mark 8:34–35
“And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it.”

Close: you will hear this more precisely described and a little more personally in the months to come; in an expanded form in the month of August.

Paintings: CELEBRATE, CULTIVATE, RESTORE

DNA of PMC: Restoring All Things

2011-01-24T15:03:00.000-05:00

Our DNA: God, Growth, Gravity
God is calling us to Celebrate Him, Cultivate Faith in one another and restore the world.
As those passions are expressed, you can expect to see…
1. We are here to Celebrate God.
Devote ourselves to knowing and enjoying the triune God as our great Treasure, resisting all idols that compete with Him for our hearts’ affection;
Embrace God and His will for us by grace through faith in Jesus, resisting both religious and irreligious deeds as the means of our acceptance;
Accept the cost of discipleship, believing that Jesus Christ is better than anything else the world has to offer;
Express our worship of God authentically in spirit and truth, resisting all pretence in our corporate and private worship;
Make God’s glory the ultimate purpose of all we do.
2. We exist to Cultivate Faith. Pharisee & Tax collector: Gospel-centred lifestyle, distinction between religion and faith.
Never stop repenting – for evil deeds and for good deeds done for the wrong reasons.
Surrender all our ambitions, hopes, and plans to the One whose will is good, pleasing, and perfect.
Allow God’s Spirit to transform us by His Word, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines, being teachable, humble, and open to His correction.
Know, develop, and use our unique gifts for the health of the Body of Christ.
Trust God, even when pain and difficulty cause us to doubt that He is working all things together for our good.

Today…
3. We are here to Restore the world.
a. Story: Good Samaritan: rescuing, healing, protecting the broken
PWPT Luke 10
“And by chance a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
“But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
“And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’ “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.””

Personal Intervention of the alien traveler, when the physical neighbours avoided the victim.
1. Intervention and hands on care
2. Transport to a safe place
3. Provision for longer-term care
b. THIS IS NOT NEW:
i. Social Gospel—left out Jesus and lost their vitality
ii. Fundamentalists left out the care of neighbours and lost our hearts
c. THIS IS NOW: What about us, here?
i. External Justice: The broken man was left with resources.
ii. Internal Restoration: needs to happen here as well—reconciliation.

d. The Word gets us started in the right direction, Jesus promises to finish it.
i. We can make a difference and will.
ii. We won’t change the course of history; Jesus will.
iii. Jesus will complete the Restoration at the end of History.
iv. Jesus is doing this work now BY His Gospel, the Gospel of Grace.
e. How:
PWPNT [use photos to illustrate, five minutes distance from our site
i. At the nexus of so much that’s going on in the city core, please see the need and the opportunities we have.
ii. WHAT IF:
1. We were to begin right here, seeking to restore all those who have been wounded, alienated by our own behaviours. TAKE OWNERSHIP
2. We were to begin a movement among congregations to prepare people for family life, in order to
a. strengthen their marriages and families, and
b. grow intimate marriages and
c. nurture families and
d. enfold single adults into true fellowship as ‘family’.
3. We were to work in the marketplace with a view to serving those we work with, work for, and sell to, with Christ as the One we keep in focus?
4. We were to restore Justice in our community by standing with the poor; with the poorest of the poor, New Canadians, such that…
a. We helped them settle.
b. We found them adequate housing.
c. We started businesses that employed them.
5. We were to cultivate a public education environment where children were in focus, rather than administrations and unions, such that our city’s children would learn to read, think and work; radically reducing poverty in our city
6. We were to deepen our love of beauty, so that we are sharing God’s joy in creation.
7. We were to savour and celebrate the work of artists ...bringing meaning to our chaotic space, and all who use their gifts, talents and abilities to “make something of the world”
8. We were to engage in managing the physical environment, such that the deterioration of our environment were reversed.

Love the unlovely, share with the needy, comfort the oppressed, and accept the marginalized, since Jesus identified with the least of these…
Commitment Cards: We will Our Restoration Pledge:
Our church family exists for the restoration of our community, the city, and the nations. Therefore, as a Community of Grace, rooted in the Gospel, we will:
• Love the unlovable, share with the needy, comfort the oppressed, and accept the marginalized, since Jesus identified with the least;
• Bless the city and invest ourselves in its well-being;
• Seek to resolve conflict, to be reconciled with those we’ve wronged, and to quickly forgive those who’ve wronged us;
• Pursue and embrace God’s missionary call on our lives, whether as those who send or as those who go, into our community, our city, and the nations.
• Persevere in our call to restoration until the Lord returns and completes it finally, ultimately, and triumphantly.

KIDS SERMON
Kids: the world is a hurting place—bandaids to help people who are hurting on the outside; Jesus also helps us when we hurt on the inside.
Heb. 2:18 “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Hebrews 4:15--For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
Jesus heals and comforts us so that we can heal and comfort others.

DNA of PMC: Cultivating Faith Together

2011-01-24T15:02:00.000-05:00

DNA: A Growing & Reproducing Faith
Central Idea: We grow in faith as it TAKES ROOT in all our person, if we are to Know God, Cultivate True Friendship, and Fulfill our destiny.
1. We exist to worship God by enjoying Him.
2. We live by Cultivating Faith.
a. Within ourselves
b. Within one another

Parable of the Pharisee and the tax-gatherer…
Luke 18:9–14 NASB
“And He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. “The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer.
‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’
“But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’
“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.””

THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF FAITH…

A. Faith begins with the insight that we are broken and no amount of reform can re-form us.
1. Faith builds on our awareness of need, not on our competence.
[Pharisee and tax collector narrative: what ought to happen]
i. Faith in myself vs faith in Jesus.
1. Faith in myself: if I do these things, I’ll be a better person; God will owe me.
2. Faith in Jesus: Jesus has done for me all that God requires of me.
ii. What should have happened.
1. Pharisee didn’t realize his need for mercy;
2. The tax thief DID recognize his need for mercy.
iii. Difference between the religious lifestyle and a Gospel-centred lifestyle.
1. If we are Gospel-centred: hunger for more of Jesus will lead us to employ whatever means we can: SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES.
a. Prayer; Bible-absorption;
b. Fellowship; Rest; Fasting
Indicators that we are practicing religion.
Deep sense of duty & despair.
Growing frustration with the people around me.
Deepening conviction that God has let me down.
Indicators that we are centering our life in the Gospel…
Spiritual disciplines running rampant among us.
Infectious prayer life.
Insatiable hunger for the Word of God.
Transparent fellowship.
Contagious joy and delight in being together; true community.
Deepening awareness of each one’s spiritual gifts, passions, and commitments to serve.
Development of servant-leaders; “it’s about US!”
Joyfull readiness to give “the reason for the hope within”

2. God delights in that awareness, and responds with grace.

THIS IS THE EXPANSION OF FAITH…

B. As faith extends to every portion of a person, God’s transforming power is fully released in that person.
• mind: my intellect is INFORMED by the written Word and fascinated by the Living Word, Jesus.
• emotion: my heart is INFLAMED with passion for an intimate connection with Jesus.
• volition: my will is ENGAGED with the Father’s will, ready to fully obey Him.

APPLICATIONS:
1. Problem: we long for community and talk about community, but we are so afraid of being controlled, so radically individualistic, we actually AVOID the sort of environment that nurtures community.
This is the setting to engage the Gospel of Grace. If you don’t embrace that Gospel of Grace, you will base your identity on your own achievements, the status of your own family, etc. Once you do embrace the Gospel of Grace, your own identity will be gradually transformed as you look to the life and work of Jesus for that identity.
An idol is any good thing that is turned into the Ultimate Thing. Thus, our strong sense of individual identity is good—we are created with the capacity to respond personally to God’s grace.
WHAT would my world become IF faith invaded all of me?
What would OUR world become IF faith took hold in all of us?
What would we SEE, TASTE, HEAR and TOUCH?
• Reliance on grace, not religious duty or obedience for our acceptance with God, ourselves, and each other.
• People engaging God through a variety of spiritual disciplines.
• The gospel as the central reason for all our ministries
• People equipped and active in sharing the gospel – not just ‘being nice’ – as a normal part of life.
• An increasing appetite to know and live by God’s Word
• Ongoing repentance for evil deeds and good deeds done for the wrong reasons.
• Contagious joy and delight in being together; true community.
• Growth in Christian maturity, not just numerical growth, as the measurement of a ministry’s effectiveness.
• A trust that perseveres through trials and pain 
• Deepening awareness of each one’s spiritual gifts, passions, and commitments to serve.
• Disciples who are making disciples
• Training influencers for the congregation and the world.
Years ago, after a celebrated international career on the stage, the world-famous violinist Jascha Heifetz became a professor of music at UCLA. When someone asked him why he had left the glamour of performing to become a teacher, Heifetz answered, "Violin-playing is a perishable art. It must be passed on; otherwise it is lost." Then he went on to say, "I remember my old violin professor in Russia. He said that (if I worked hard enough) someday I would be good enough to teach."
--From a speech by William Graves, editor of National Geographic magazine, Speaker's Idea File

2. Solution: Our church family exists for the cultivation of deeper faith in Jesus. Therefore, as a Community of Grace, rooted in the Gospel, we will:
• Never stop repenting – for evil deeds and for good deeds done for the wrong reasons.
• Surrender all our ambitions, hopes, and plans to the One whose willis good, pleasing, and perfect.
• Allow God’s Spirit to transform us by His Word, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines, being teachable, humble, and open to His correction.
• Know, develop, and use our unique gifts for the health of the Body of Christ.
• Trust God, even when pain and difficulty cause us to doubt that He is working all things together for our good.

Next week:
3. We long to Restore the world. Good Samaritan: healing the broken

DNA of PMC: Worship God by Enjoying Him

2011-01-24T15:01:00.001-05:00

Our DNA: God, Growth, Gravity
Why are we here?
Celebrate God, AS A COMMUNITY OF GRACE, ROOTED TOGETHER IN THE GOSPEL
Who are we? A Lot of heritage…
Preaching Music Missions “Times Square” of Hamilton

Foundation:
Matthew 28:18–20
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

There are other local assemblies who do this that and the other.
What God is calling us to Celebrate Him, Cultivate Faith in one another and restore the world.

1. We are here to Celebrate God.
Everyone worships something; at PMC, we are committed to the celebration of God.
Romans 1:16–25 NASB
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
PWPT worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

a. We celebrate God in that…
i. We tell Him how great He is…
PWPT Psalm 95:3 “For the Lord is a great God, And a great King above all gods…

ii. We exhort one another to celebrate Him: Hallelujah!

PWPT Psalm 106:1
“Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

iii. We enjoy Him.
1. Together
PWPT Psalm 34:8
O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

2. Alone
PWPT Matthew 14:23
And after He had sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.

iv. We worship by expressing all our gifts and talents in His honor.
PWPT
Col. 3:16-18
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father…

b. “Celebration” requires authenticity, meaning we worship even when our hearts are heavy!
c. THIS IS NOT NEW, this is Ancient:
i. Israel practiced corporate worship.
ii. The church has made worship a priority.
iii. PMC has long been committed to worship the One True God.
PWPT
d. If we were celebrating God…
i. We’d see obedience to his commands.
ii. We’d see true fellowship, unity would grow among us.
iii. We’d see passion for His Word, not merely Bible knowledge.
iv. We’d see the transforming Gospel as the central element of all our ministries.
v. We’d see more and more curious neighbours, drawn by our mesmerizing passion for Him.
vi. We’d hear reports of expanding and deepening times alone with God.
vii. In hard times, we’d see deep trust in God.
viii. We’d hunger to practice the spiritual disciplines (next week).
PWPT Take home:
• We provide diverse settings so that we can worship authentically:
o We want to enable people to speak to God in their own dialect (English, musically, etc.)
o We do NOT want to divide the church based on PREFERENCE (what is an indicator that you are driven by preference—you skip the combined services! Not even one time can you tolerate someone else’s dialect, then you are motivated by personal taste.)
• We prepare ourselves for corporate worship—beginning Monday, continuing through Saturday evening.
• We seek the face of God daily.
• We honour God by our approach to life and work.

PWPT Commitment Card
Our church family exists for the celebration of God. Therefore, as a Community of Grace, rooted in the Gospel, we will:
• Devote ourselves to knowing and enjoying the triune God as our great Treasure, resisting all idols that compete with Him for our hearts’ affection;
• Embrace God and His will for us by grace through faith in Jesus, resisting both religious and irreligious deeds as the means of our acceptance;
• Accept the cost of discipleship, believing that Jesus Christ is better than anything else the world has to offer;
• Express our worship of God authentically in spirit and truth, resisting all pretence in our corporate and private worship;
• Make God’s glory the ultimate purpose of all we do.

Next:
2. We exist to Cultivate Faith. Pharisee & Tax collector: Gospel-centred lifestyle, distinction between religion and faith.

Magi, the Happy Heretics!

2010-12-19T13:40:00.000-05:00

God Was There/God Is Here:
To Introduce Jesus to the World

The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation J.I. Packer

TODAY MATTHEW 2:1-12

Central Idea: PWPNT
As the Magi were able to see Jesus for Who He is,
while the wise men of Judea did not,
so we long to see Jesus as He is.
I. The Magi were shown the importance Jesus.
They responded to the light by leaving home, making a great journey over a significant period of time, to a distant place.
The Magi saw a star, or a star-like object in the sky (“in the East” means they saw it seemed to be over Israel, to their west, while they were at home).
Magi:
• a priestly caste of Medes with dream-interpreting wisdom
• perhaps one of Babylon’s magi, a group Daniel joined;
• Babylon or Persia or Arabia, though the time involved suggests the distance of Babylon
• If from Babylon, they may have learned about these prophecies from Jews in exile.

• No names given; though by the 6th Century, they were given names;
• unspecified number, though three different gifts were mentioned.

• 17th century: Johannes Kepler noted there would have been a planetary alignment in that era, though not that year; he then suggested this was more likely a supernova, a faint star that suddenly explodes into brilliance, then fades.
• DA Carson, EBC: Matthew presents the “star” as strictly supernatural. This too is possible and obviously impossible to falsify, but 2:9 is not as determinative as is often suggested (cf. on 2:9). The evidence is inconclusive.
• PWPNT Carson: Matthew uses language almost certainly alluding to Numbers 24:17: “A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” This oracle, spoken by Balaam, who came “from the eastern mountains” (Num 23:7),
• Granting Matthew’s informed devotion to the OT, he surely knew that the OT mocks astrologers (Isa 47:13-15; Dan 1:20; 2:27; 4:7; 5:7) and forbids astrology (Jer 10:1-2). Nevertheless it was widely practiced in the first century, even among Jews (cf. Albright and Mann). Matthew neither condemns nor sanctions it;

• instead, he contrasts the eagerness of the Magi to worship Jesus, despite their limited knowledge, with the apathy of the Jewish leaders and the hostility of Herod’s court—all of whom had the Scriptures to inform them.
• Formal knowledge of the Scriptures, Matthew implies, does not in itself lead to knowing who Jesus is; just as God sovereignly worked through Caesar’s decree that a census be taken (Luke 2:1) to ensure Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy, so God sovereignly used the Magi’s calculations to bring about the situation this pericope describes.
• 2:11 This verse plainly alludes to Psalm 72:10-11 and Isaiah 60:6, passages that reinforce the emphasis on the Gentiles (cf. on v.6).
PWRPT Psalm 72:10–11
“Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents;
The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
And let all kings bow down before him,
All nations serve him.”
PWRPT Isaiah 60:6
““A multitude of camels will cover you,
The young camels of Midian and Ephah;
All those from Sheba will come;
They will bring gold and frankincense,
And will bear good news of the praises of the Lord.”

They responded to the light by leaving home, making a great journey over a significant period of time, to a distant place.

II. The reason we see how great God is, is because God has shown us light, and drawn us to worship.
A. The God who said “Let there be light” has caused light to shine in our hearts.
i. As He drew Gentiles to Jesus at the first Advent…
B. That light leads us to His greater promises…
a. PWPNT ““Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezk 36:26

C. The God who draws us to Jesus CONTINUOUSLY draws us to Jesus.
D. How do we SEE Jesus ONCE AGAIN at Advent?

=Lane talked about seeing Jesus with new eyes - the Holy Spirit has been active throughout history revealing Jesus to the world.......and he is active today, continuing to reveal Jesus in us and through us.....

The Spirit's work in us gives us a New Sort of Life

2010-12-12T08:46:00.000-05:00

God Was There/God Is Here

The central miracle asserted by Christians is the incarnation. They say that God became man. C.S. Lewis

REVIEW:
• Who is the Holy Spirit? Why is HS important to us? What did HS do in the OT?
• As the HS Incarnated Jesus/the HS Births Jesus in us.
• Just as the HS worked in John the Baptist to point to Jesus, so He does in us.

PWPT: CENTRAL IDEA: Jesus was fully God; God is here, remaking His people.

1. The HS conceived Jesus in Mary’s womb; at the Incarnation.
Luke 1:35 NASB And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.
a. The Holy Spirit hovered over Mary and in some mysterious way, she conceived Jesus, the divine/human person.
b. Jesus remains fully human and fully divine.

2. The HS is also intimately involved in our new birth; Jesus said this must happen in us. John 3
a. DEFINE BORN AGAIN. PWPT:
i. Quite ridiculed:
1. “I'm a born-again atheist” Gore Vidal.
2. Herb Caen: The trouble with born again Christians is that they are an even bigger pain the second time around.
3. P.J. O’Rourke: Making fun of born-again Christians is like hunting dairy cows with a high-powered rifle and scope.
4. Mariah Carey: I’ve been born again.
ii. John 3: A new birth: PWPT:

John 3:6–8 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

3. The HS is said to indwell Jesus’ followers.
a. A new sort of promise: the first fruits of salvation.
i. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
ii. God has long said that He is going to “dwell” with His people.
iii. His first gift to us highlights His intention to complete what He has begun in us.

EF Harrison, EBC,
PWPT: Romans 8:23 NASB
“And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”

The concept of firstfruits (v.23) is prominent in the OT, where, according to the law, Israelites were expected to bring the first-ripe elements of grain, fruit, etc., to the Lord as an offering (Exod 23:19; Neh 10:35).

PWPT: (Exodus 23:19 NASB)
““You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.

Nehemiah 10:35
…that they might bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the Lord annually…

By this observance of worship the offerer acknowledged that all produce was the provision of God and was really his. Implicit also in the ritual was the assurance from the divine side that the general harvest to be enjoyed by the offerer would providentially follow. As applied to our passage, the concept may appear to be somewhat out of place, for if the Spirit is truly a person, how can any more of him be given in the future than has been given at conversion?
…the gift of the Spirit to the believer at the inception of Christian life is God’s pledge of the completion of the process of salvation, which is here stated as
“adoption as sons,
the redemption of our bodies.”
Recall that previously Paul has described the finished product as the spiritual body (1Cor 15:44). The future bodily resurrection of believers will be the full harvest of redemption. Our bodies will be like that of the glorified Lord (Philippians 3:20, 21).

PWPT: Philippians 3:20–21
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

b. A new kind of assurance: the seal of the Spirit.
PWPT: Eph 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

The “seal” (sphragis ) had various uses (MM, pp. 617, 618), all of which are instructive as applied to the Holy Spirit.
It was affixed to a document to guarantee its genuineness.
It was attached to goods in transit to indicate ownership and ensure protection.
It also represented a designation of office in the state service.

When you believed you were sealed—at the moment; not something to be sought, it comes with the package.

c. A new life sort of life in the Spirit: regeneration.
i. A new person
PWPT: 2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB
“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

ii. A remaking, a renewing
PWPT: Titus 3:5-7 NASB
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Ed Blum, EBC
“Washing” speaks of our cleansing from the defilement of sin in regeneration. The noun (loutron ) may mean the receptacle for washing, the “laver,” or the act of washing itself.
We accept the washing as a divine inner act, although the experience is symbolically pictured in Christian baptism.

This cleansing is ongoing…
iii. A transforming PROCESS
PWPT: Romans 12:2
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

d. A new sort of experience.
PWPT: Galatians 5:22–23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The Spirits work in John the Baptist pointed to Jesus

2010-12-12T08:45:00.002-05:00

John the Baptist: The Spirit Points to Jesus
Matt 3:1-11
Lighting the Candles—explain this!

He became what we are that He might make us what He is.
Athanasius

Central Idea: THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS IN US TO FOCUS ATTENTION ON JESUS.
Event: John’s kicking in Elizabeth’s womb—that was just the first indication that the HS was active in a new way in JB; then, HS stimulated, guided, empowered, etc.
“the greatest prophet?”
How would Elizabeth know that the baby in her womb was responding to Jesus in Mary’s womb?
Timing? Repetition? Violence of the kicking?
Did the two mothers-to-be do a little dance to test this kicking in the womb—the closer they came, the more John kicked??

1. The Holy Spirit engaged with John the Baptist while in the womb of Elizabeth.
a. Others before John were anticipated, prayed for, dedicated.
i. Abraham: Isaac
ii. Manoah & wife: Samson
iii. Hannah: Samuel
b. Others before John were dedicated to God.
i. Samson—no wine, no razor
ii. Samuel—dropped off to serve at Tabernacle after weaning
c. No greater person than John, says Jesus!
d. Luke 1:41—
i. Mary greeted Elizabeth
ii. John jumped in Elizabeth’s womb
iii. Elizabeth was filled with the Spirit
iv. Elizabeth prophesied.
2. The HS evidently led JohnB in his ministry.
a. A baptism of repentance.
b. A message of the arrival of Messiah.
c. Behold the Lamb of God!
3. Jesus called John B the greatest person.
Grace: John questioned Jesus’ identity when He did nothing while JB was in prison.
Matthew 11:11 ““Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

I. THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKED IN JOHN THE BAPTIST,
a. Through the announcement of his birth
i. Luke 1:5-25

b. Through his conception
i. It was late in life.
ii. After conception…
Luke 1:39–45 NASB)
“Now at this time Mary arose and went with haste to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it came about that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice, and said, “Blessed among women are you, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! “And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.””

Luke 1:41, 46 NASB
“And it came about that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
iii. The Holy Spirit invaded John in utero, and then Elizabeth was also filled with the HS.

c. Through his life choices (food, clothes, wilderness-dwelling)

Matthew 3:1–11
Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather belt about his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

d. Through his ministry (preaching repentance, baptizing Jews)
Matt 3:
…But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
“Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
“And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
John 1:29…Behold the Lamb of God!

e. Through his doubt
i. Luke 7:19–20
And summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?”

f. Through his death at the hands of a hamstrung tetrarch.

II. THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKs IN and THROUGH us,
a. Through the intent of our birth
i. We may be confused about how life is working out for us, but God has intended the best for us, as He named us as His own, before time.
b. Through placement in just the right family as to His plans
i. We may have been greatly wounded by our biological family, and it’s easy now to think that we would have had a better life if we had been born to younger parents, as John the Baptist may have thought…
1. But the truth is that our Father has carefully placed us in the birth family that He thought best for us.
ii. We may have been greatly discouraged by a marriage that began with great fanfare and moved backward from that point.
1. But the truth is that our Father has set aside our unwise choices and continues on the course He has set for us, insisting that this painful relationship draws us to Him now, before all human connections.
c. Through our life choices (food, clothes, wilderness-dwelling)
i. Our manner of life does matter: Paul describes a content, low-expectation life in 1 Timothy 6.
ii. We need not be ascetics; we need not live in a wilderness as monastics, but any competition to have the latest and best available in the marketplace does nothing to commend our faith to our neighbours.
d. Through our work (preaching repentance, baptizing Jews)
i. There is a sense in which our work is NOT OUR WORK, in that the “good works” we do are designed, implemented, and accomplished by God Himself…

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

ii. Thus, we can Magnify our Redeemer/Creator when we do those tasks that He has designed, implemented and accomplished THROUGH US.

Matthew 5:16 ““Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

e. Through our doubt (questioning whether Jesus was truly the One, as John had previously known and proclaimed)
i. We entertain both faith and doubt simultaneously.
ii. We are double-minded, as James warns.
James 1:5–7
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
iii. The doubt expressed by John the Baptist provided Jesus an opportunity to clarify faith and the promises of God.
1. When John sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “

Luke 7:19–20
“And summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?” And when the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’””

Luke 7:21–23
“At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He granted sight to many who were blind. And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the Blind Receive Sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the Poor Have The Gospel Preached To Them. “And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.””
2. Similarly, our doubt, our double-mindedness, is an opportunity for Jesus to intervene, to show His power.

f. Through our suffering and even death at the hands of the powerful.
i. As John suffered and died in the grip of Herod Antipas, so we can expect to suffer at the hands of the powerful.
ii. As John’s faith was vindicated in Jesus’ resurrection, so our faith in Jesus will be vindicated.
1. With faith that leads to life,
2. With faith that leads to obedience

APPLICATION
1. HS WORKS IN US
2. HS works in us to point others to Jesus
a. To Him for faith that leads to life.
b. Doubt finds its place.
b. Everyone has doubt; that doesn’t end faith

The Spirit Points to the Son: May It Be To Me…

2010-11-28T10:58:00.000-05:00

God Was There/God Is Here

Everywhere in the OT, the HS was pointing to Christ; not everything was as it seems.
God was there—Is here/Telling the Story of Jesus
Review:
God was there—Telling the Story of Jesus, throughout the history in the Old Testament

Central Idea: Just as…God was there, giving form to the Second Person in the Trinity, so God is here, reforming us into the likeness of Jesus.

Outline:
I. The Holy Spirit participates in all creative acts.
a. Genesis 1:2—hovering, fluttering over the primordial waters
Genesis 1:2 NASB
“And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”

Gen. 1:2—“flutter”, piel is “hover”
NIDOTTE The Syr. rᵉḥep means to brood, protect.
‏רָחַף‎ appears only 3x in the OT (pi., Gen 1:2; Deut 32:11; q., Jer 23:9).
In Gen 1:2 it describes the activity/location of the Spirit of God in relationship to the primeval waters at the outset of the creative ordering of this world.
The Song of Moses in Deut 32:11 employs this same vb. to depict the hovering movement of an eagle. This eagle metaphor describes the theophanic presence of Yahweh, the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, as he led Israel through the barren wilderness.
In both instances ‏רָחַף‎ characterizes the activity of the Spirit of God, the first with regard to the creation of the cosmos and the second with regard to the creation of a people.

The Holy Spirit was somehow involved in the incarnation of Jesus.
b. Luke 1:35—overshadowing Mary
“And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.”
You shall conceive…
a. He will overshadow…
b. He will be named…
The HS enabled the incarnation, empowered Jesus, raised Jesus.

c. Matt. 3:16-17--Jesus’s baptism—hovering over the Second Person, as the Father speaks audibly from heaven.

Matthew 3:16-17 NASB
“And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him
and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

John 1:32–34 NASB
“And John bore witness saying, “I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. “And I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ “And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.””

d. Acts 2—hovering “as tongues of fire,” over the early disciples, signifying their anointing, similarly
Acts 2:1–3 NASB
“And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.”

2. The Holy Spirit does a similar creative work within us.
a. We are baptized with the Spirit, at our spiritual birth.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NASB
“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.”
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”

b. He gives us life.
Ephesians 2:4–5 NASB)
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…”

c. He produces fruit within us and beyond us.
John 15:1–5 NASB)
““I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Galatians 5:22–23 NASB
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

d. He reproduces Christ within us.
2 Peter 1:2–4 NASB
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

e. He does NOT force all to respond in faith.
Acts—Stephen—you always reject the prophets
(Acts 7:52–53 NASB)
““Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.””

APPLICATION: God is currently at work in similar ways within all who believe in Jesus, the son of God.
1. He has a curious and unique approach to that task in each one of us, such that it looks slightly different shining through each person. He uses a potent brew of extreme circumstance, remarkable insights, and spiritually-gifted people around us, to carry out His good intentions for us.
2. He uses his own distinct ways of working out that plan through us, as the gifts he has given us are designed to aid His work in the people around us.
a. Some of us experience His work as spiritually-single persons. He knows that He can work best in us when we must turn to Him alone for the deepest sort of intimacy and support.
b. Some of us experience His work primarily through conflict and peacemaking.
c. Some of us experience His work primarily through speaking and listening.

Today—he is brooding over us.
1. He broods over us with intimacy and love.
He hovers over us in compassion and care.
He flutters about us leading and guiding through the storms of life.
2. We may be fearful about what life might become if the HS had full freedom to implant Jesus within us, with no resistance.
Mary—“may it be to me as you have said” faith conquered fear

(Luke 1:38 NASB)
“And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”

TRINITY

Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.
We joyfully proclaim our faith in the mystery of your Godhead. You have revealed your glory as the glory also of your Son and of the Holy Spirit: three Persons equal in majesty, undivided in splendour, yet one Lord, one God, ever to be adored in your everlasting glory. And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven, we proclaim your glory and join in their unending hymn of praise: Holy, Holy, Holy.

5 Dec Advent: John’s kicking in Elizabeth’s womb—HS stimulated JB
God was there, God is here: pointing to Jesus—not to Himself!

Persecution & the Idol of Approval

2010-11-15T15:59:00.001-05:00

Owning Our Idols: Approval

What suffering is NOT persecution & how do we avoid that?
What IS persecution?
Why do we experience persecution?
How do we RESPOND TO PERSECUTION?
What IDOL prevents us from responding well to persecution?
We are not normally happy to be excluded, to be persecuted.
Big Idea: In Jesus’ culture and in ours, the risk of persecution forces Jesus’ followers to choose who is their real god.

What suffering is NOT persecution & how do we avoid that?
NOT all suffering qualifies as persecution…
I. Suffering for our own sin is not persecution.
Haddon Robinson He didn’t say, ‘blessed are you if you are persecuted.’

A. We can suffer because we are ODD.
Robinson:They may think that they bear the offense of the Cross, but they are just plain offensive.

B. We can suffer because we are self-righteous, quick to point out the foibles of others.
C. We can suffer because of our HYPOCRISY.
Jesus spoke about people being persecuted because of righteousness, not self-righteousness. If hypocritical, we may be getting what they deserve. Punishment ≠ persecution

PWPT 1 Peter 2:20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

What IS persecution?
Dictionary definition: subject (someone) to hostility and ill-treatment, esp. because of their race or political or religious beliefs
PWPT Sinclair Ferguson
Christians are persecuted for the sake of righteousness because of their loyalty to Christ. Real loyalty to Him creates friction in the hearts of those who pay Him only lip service. Loyalty arouses their consciences, and leaves them with only two alternatives: follow Christ, or silence Him. Often their only way of silencing Christ is by silencing His servants. Persecution, in subtle or less subtle forms, is the result.

II. True Persecution means Suffering for Christ’s sake.
Matt. 5:11 "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

Acts 5:41 The apostles rejoiced ‘because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
I Peter 1:6 Peter saw trials as a means of grace to prove the genuineness of faith and to increase its purity.
1. Persecution was common in the past…
PIPER For almost three hundred years Christianity grew in soil that was wet with the blood of the martyrs. Until the Emperor Trajan (about AD 98), persecution was permitted but not legal. From Trajan to Decius (about AD 250) persecution was legal but mainly local. From Decius, who hated the Christians and feared their impact on his reforms, until the first edict of toleration in 311, the persecution was not only legal but widespread and general.
So, for 300 years, to be a Christian was an act of immense risk to your life and possessions and family. It was a test of what you loved more. And at the extremity of that test was martyrdom.
2. Persecution is occurring in the present
David Barrett In 1980…there were 270,000 christians who were killed, more or less directly, because of their faith.

3. Persecution is common to ALL who walk with Christ.
PWPT 2Tim 3:12 “And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Why do we experience persecution?
III. We experience persecution because…
A. We represent Christ,
1. God’s purposes are instinctively resisted.
2. Christ promised we’d be persecuted BECAUSE of Him.
““A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. “It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!”
Matthew 10:24–25
B. We experience Persecution purposefully.
1. Jesus knew this was coming upon us.
PWPT Matt. 24:9 "Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. NRSV
2. Jesus intends that some endure persecution to the point of death.
PWPT Rev. 6:11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.

John PIPER In other words, there is a number of martyrs appointed by the Lord. That number must be fulfilled before the consummation comes. “Rest, says the Lord, until the number is completed who are to die as you have died.”
Martyrdom is not something accidental. It is not taking God off guard. It is not unexpected. And it is emphatically not a strategic defeat for the cause of Christ. It may look like defeat. But it is part of a plan in heaven that no human strategist would ever conceive or could ever design. And it will triumph for all those who endure to the end by faith….
…you can be sure that , somewhere in the world, …Christians are suffering for their faith. We do well to prepare to join them.
…being a Christian may cost more in the years to come. And finishing the Great Commission will probably cost some of us our lives—as it already has, and which it always will.

3. We are assured that we can suffer persecution WITH FAITH.
1 Peter 4:19 Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right

How do we RESPOND TO PERSECUTION?
IV. We choose to respond to persecution…
A. We may suffer redemptively.
1. Our suffering deepens our dependence on Christ.
2. Our suffering deepens our character.
3. Our suffering opens the gates for faith in others.
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Tertullian C. 197 A.D.

B. We may suffer begrudgingly.
1. We may resent persecution: in which case, our character does NOT deepen. If God had his way fully in my life, I might lose my friends, I might not fit in with them.

2. We may AVOID persecution altogether by hiding our faith.
Issue—if I’m not being rejected, I’m not identifying clearly enough with Christ.

C. We may suffer persecution, looking to our reward.
C.S. Lewis
A man who marries a woman for her money is ‘rewarded’ by her money, but he is rightly judged mercenary because the reward is not naturally linked with love. On the other hand, marriage is the proper reward of an honest and true lover; and he is not mercenary for desiring it because love and marriage are naturally linked. ‘The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation ‘.
Matt 5:12 "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Big Idea: the risk of persecution forces Jesus’ followers to choose who is their real god.
CONCLUSION
1. God knows that we will face persecution: no persecution means we either
a. Have NOT identified clearly with Christ in life and word.
b. Have NOT participated publicly in His kingdom program.
c. Have no unbelieving colleagues or friends.

2. Our FEAR of persecution obscures the Idol of Approval.
We long to have the agreement and approval of our valued friends, rather than their disdain and certainly their persecution.
When God’s approval becomes more precious to us than the approval of others– by the gospel – the idol is dethroned.

We gain the approval of God via the Cross.
We live in the approval of God…
By enjoying Christ’s approval in the moment.
By celebrating Christ’s approval in the moment.

Luke 6:22–28 NASB
““Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and cast insults at you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. “Be glad in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.
“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets.
“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

APPLICATION: take out the slip of paper in your program.
A. Rejoice!
Matt. 5:12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for ain the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

B. Be salt & light Matt 5:13-14
PWPT “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

If you can’t remember ANYONE who has ridiculed you for your faith, REPENT…
1. For not identifying more clearly with Christ.
2. For not having closer contact with unbelievers!

C. Identify the ONE KEY person whose rejection you most fear; someone who has already persecuted you because of Christ.

Who is it? who am I so afraid of?
Skeptical Spouse? Someone in the room now? Supervisor? Co-worker?

D. Pray for that person; continuously.

Why Does God Allow Evil?

2010-08-16T13:41:00.001-05:00

Hard Questions: “Why do you allow evil and suffering if you don’t have to?”

Review: “Isn’t it intolerant to say you’re the only true God?”
"All views have equal merit and none should be considered better than another."
Keller: Christianity is the most exclusive-sounding but the most inclusive-acting of all religions.
Antioch: called them Christians because the faith crossed all ethnic lines.
The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion.
--G.K. Chesterton

1. Does the presence of evil mean that there is no God?
2. Who is evil?
3. What is God doing about evil?

1. Does the presence of evil mean that there is no God?
a. Some argue that a GOOD God, if He existed, would necessarily eradicate all evil. If evil continues to exist, therefore, then either the God who exists is NOT GOOD, or there is no god at all.
This is not necessarily true.
b. Assertion is not proof: Alvin Plantinga: God, Freedom and Evil
A good thing/person always eliminates evil as far as it can.
“There are no limits to what an omnipotent being can do.”
BUT, an omnipotent person cannot create a square circle, etc.
There are no non-logical limits to what an omnipotent god can do.
God cannot make false claims true.

Therefore, there ARE LIMITS to what an omnipotent god is able to do.
There are circumstances where an omnipotent God cannot eliminate an evil without also eliminating a more important good.
Social workers struggle with this: should we remove an endangered child from a family that has the potential to provide more good for the child than any foster or adoptive family?

Bottom line: it is NOT logically necessary that a good God eliminate all immediately.
What if…
God is omniscient, omnipotent, and wholly good… and
God creates a world containing evil and has a good reason for doing so?
Augustine:
As a runaway horse is better than a stone which does not run away because it lacks self-movement and sense perception, so the creature is more excellent which sins by free will than that which does not sin only because it has no free will.
BUT, we need NOT KNOW WHY God might choose to create a world in which evil exists in order to believe that an ALL-POWERFUL GOD could do such a thing without being self-contradictory.

c. The more intriguing question is not why is there evil? But why is there good? Why do I recognize beauty? Why is truth attractive? Why is purpose satisfying? In a random, godless universe why should any of us care whether truth, beauty, order or purpose exist?

2. Who is evil?
a. Romans 3:10–18 [Isa. 53]
“as it is written,
“There Is None Righteous, Not Even One; There Is None Who Understands,
There Is None Who Seeks For God; All Have Turned Aside, Together They Have Become Useless;
There Is None Who Does Good, There Is Not Even One.”
“Their Throat Is An Open Grave, With Their Tongues They Keep Deceiving,”
“The Poison Of Asps Is Under Their Lips”; “Whose Mouth Is Full Of Cursing And Bitterness”;
“Their Feet Are Swift To Shed Blood, Destruction And Misery Are In Their Paths, And The Path Of Peace Have They Not Known.” “There Is No Fear Of God Before Their Eyes.””

b. GK Chesterton:
…after seeing a series of articles on "What's Wrong with the World?" Chesterton sent a letter to the editor. "Dear Sir: Regarding your article 'What's Wrong with the World?'
I am. Yours truly, G. K. Chesterton."

c. Lee Strobel—I won’t ask God what He’s going to do about evil, for fear that He might ask me the same question.

3. What is God doing about evil?
1. The Psalmists ask God how long evil will reign.
Psa 13:1—“How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou forget me forever?
How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?”

2. The narratives tell the story of what God has done and is doing to address the problem and the presence of evil.
3. At least three expressions of evil and divine response:
a. Idolatry
b. What wicked people do.
c. What the Satan does.
Evil and the Justice of God, NT Wright
The OT isn’t written in order simply to “tell us about God” in the abstract. It isn’t designed primarily to provide information, to satisfy the inquiring mind. It’s written to tell the story of what God has done, is doing and will do about evil.
4. The Occurrence and Visibility of Sin and Evil.
a. Fall in the Garden, the Tower of Babel, etc.
5. God’s reaction:
i. The Call of Abraham: a promise of restoration.
a. Abraham is flawed.
b. Israel is clearly part of the Problem of Evil.
c. Individuals within Israel and all nations are personally sinful, idolatrous, etc.

ii. David and his dynasty are to be seen as God’s answer to the problem of evil. They will bring judgment and justice to the world. And yet the writers are all too aware of the puzzle and ambiguity of saying such a thing. The greatest royal psalm, Psalm 89, juxtaposes 37 verses of celebration of the wonderful things God will do through the Davidic king with 14 verses asking plaintively why it’s all gone wrong. The psalm then ends with a single verse blessing YHWH forever. That is the classic OT picture. Here are the promises; here is the problem; God remains sovereign over the paradox.

iii. A SERVANT will stand for justice and salvation…Isaiah 40-55.
YHWH’s Servant, the one through whom YHWH’s purpose of justice and salvation will be carried out.

iv. A Son of Man, corresponding to the Servant, comes to bring saving justice. Dan. 7:13

v. Book of Job… whereas Israel was…emphatically guilty, the whole point of the book of Job is that Job was innocent. The normal analysis of the exile was that Israel thoroughly deserved it; the whole point of Job is that Job didn’t.
…it is a contest between Satan and Job. Satan is trying to get Job in his power, to demonstrate that humans are not worth God’s trouble, while Job for his part continues to insist both that God ought ot be just and that he himself is in the right.
vi. God’s justice:
Isaiah 10:5-19---he used pagan Assyria to punish Israel
He punished pagan Assyria.
Psalms 76:10 “For the wrath of man shall praise Thee;

NTW: And yet ever since the garden, ever since God’s grief over Noah, ever since Babel and Abraham, the story has been about the messy way in which God has had to work to bring the world out of the mess.

CONCLUSION
Imagine there’s no evil……NTW: it’s not so “easy if you try”; precisely because of our muddled thinking about evil itself, we find it hard to imagine a world from which evil had been removed.
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us 4Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

TAKEWAYS Forgiveness and Reconciliation
pp. 132-33: Miroslav Volf,Exclusion and Embrace
…faced with the question of how he, as a Croatian Baptist, could love his Serbian Orthodox neighbor after all the terrible things the Serbs had done to his country.
Volf’s basic argument is this: Whether we are dealing with international relations or one-on-one
personal relations, evil must be named and confronted.
…Only when that has been done, when both evil and the evildoer have been identified as what and who they are—this is what Volf means by “exclusion”—can there be the second move toward “embrace”: the embrace of the one who has deeply hurt and wounded us or me.

Isn’t it intolerant to say you’re the only true God?

2010-08-09T13:03:00.000-05:00

Hard Questions: “Isn’t it intolerant to say you’re the only true God?”
Deut 6:1-16

Joanna Sears and Brian Lima are engaged to be married! The date for the wedding is Dec 11.

1. Establish “exclusive” claims of the Bible and of Jesus.
a. Exodus 20:2-3—“no other gods before me…”
““I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”

b. The nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the one, true God…
i. Psa. 22:27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD [YHWH], And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
ii. Is. 2:2 Now it will come about that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
iii. Rev. 15:4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy;
For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU,
FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”

c. Jesus, John 14:6“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”

2. Explain the tension between divine sovereignty and human autonomy.
a. God is sovereign.
b. Humanity wants to be sovereign.
c. This can only be resolved by a human choice—acknowledge that YOU ARE GOD AND I AM NOT.
3. God is tolerant, God is intolerant.
a. God is tolerant:
i. patient, so that we have full opportunity to seek Him, repent, and choose Him.
b. God is intolerant:
i. patience does not cover the worship of other gods.
ii. He claims to have created what we might call “other gods,” fallen angels the Scripture calls “demons,” and intends to put an end to them after time.
c. Foundation of our tolerance: Matt. 22:37-39

“‘You Shall Love The Lord Your God With All Your Heart, And With All Your Soul, And With All Your Mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You Shall Love Your Neighbor As Yourself.’”

4. Our tolerant/intolerant rocker can reflect God’s.
a. We are tolerant of people with whom we disagree.
i. We must not hate people.
b. We are intolerant of ideas that contradict the truths that God has given us about Himself and His good intentions.
2 Corinthians 10:5–6 NASB
“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…

i. We aggressively demolish “speculations” and “every arrogant obstacle” as we take “every thought captive.”
ii. Paul is arguing that all philosophies that degrade Christ’s death on the Cross reflect pridefulness: humanity declaring that we are fully autonomous, fully competent; we have no need for God.
iii. We do this NOT with physical violence (2Cor 5:3—we do not war according to the flesh), but by contesting ideas!

THIS HAS PROFOUND PRACTICALITY

"All views have equal merit and none should be considered better than another."
“Jesus is the Messiah and Judaism is wrong for rejecting that.”
…why should it bother me that someone thinks I’m wrong?”

Google: or the name Gregory Koukl

When Tolerance Is Intolerant Gregory Koukl

“Is this a view, the idea that all views have equal merit and none should be considered better than another?” They agreed.
Then I pointed to the second statement—the “intolerant” one—and asked the same question: “Is this a view?” They studied the sentence for a moment. Slowly my point began to dawn on them.
If all views have equal merit, then the view that Christians have a better view on Jesus than Jews is just as true as the idea that Jews have a better view on Jesus than Christians. But this is hopelessly contradictory. If the first statement is what tolerance amounts to, then no one can be tolerant because “tolerance” turns out to be gibberish.
“Be egalitarian regarding persons.” = “civility”, “respect”
“Be elitist regarding ideas”
Tolerance applies to how we treat people we disagree with, not how we treat ideas we think false.
The irony is that according to the classical notion of tolerance, you can’t tolerate someone unless you disagree with him. We don’t “tolerate” people who share our views. They’re on our side. There’s nothing to “put up” with. Tolerance is reserved for those who we think are wrong, yet we still choose to treat them decently and with respect.
Nowadays if you think someone is wrong, you’re called intolerant no matter how you treat them.

Most of what passes for tolerance today is intellectual cowardice, a fear of intelligent engagement. Those who brandish the word “intolerant” are unwilling to be challenged by other views, to grapple with contrary opinions, or even to consider them. It’s easier to hurl an insult—“you intolerant bigot”—than to confront the idea and either refute it or be changed by it. In the modern era, “tolerance” has become intolerance.

TAKEAWAYS
1. It’s okay to disagree!
2. Our faith is based on the exclusive claims of Jesus Himself.
3. Our love for those who disagree is foundational to their faith.
4. Our tolerance is a tolerance of PEOPLE;
PEOPLE ARE WORTH LOVING; IDEAS ARE WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
5. If there is no reason to fear other views, then I can be single-minded in my devotion to Christ.

How Can We Trust The Bible?

2010-08-01T19:06:00.001-05:00

Hard Questions: “How can we trust the Bible – Don’t you know what’s in there?!”
Psa. 19:7-14

Three needs to be addressed:
1. For the believer who has been deeply shaken by someone else’s questions.
2. For the believer who wants to answer questions genuinely blocking faith in a friend.
3. For the skeptic who hears that there are such problems in the Bible and wants answers before proceeding.

Importance of Scripture:
1. Our means of knowing the Story.
2. The medium of knowing about Jesus and his life, suffering, death, and resurrection.
3. The source of all our hope.

Authority & Reliability of Scripture
2 Timothy 3:16–17 NASB
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Hebrews 4:12 NASB
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Credibility of Scripture
1. Questions about the history narrated in the Bible.
2. Questions about the miracles described in the Bible.
3. Questions about the apparent contradictions in the Bible.
4. Questions about the ethics of…
a. Hoping for the deaths of babies among the Babylonians
b. God’s desire both for the repentance and for the destruction of the wicked.

Objections to the reliability and therefore the potential authority of the Bible fall into three categories:

1. Premodern objections:
a. Muslims and Hindus will object to the Bible based on their commitment to their own sacred writings.
b. A typical objection by Muslims…Jews and Christians changed the story.
Solution: In 1948, scrolls and scroll fragments were discovered near the Dead Sea in Palestine; those scrolls confirmed the content of the Old Testament Hebrew texts and are dated some 1,000 years before the earliest documents previously known. They preceded the time of Jesus, so there were no Christians around to change the stories in the Old Testament. The earliest New Testament documents were close enough in date to the first century original documents that “changing the story” would have been impossible: there were too many eye-witnesses still living to get away with invention.

2. Modern objections:
a. Historical contradictions: Luke’s record of Jesus’ birth declares that Quirinius was the Governor: prote = “prior”, or an early role of Quirinius there, now lost to us.
b. Scientific impossibilities:
Joshua stopped the sun in the sky to extend the time required to win a battle? 10:12-14
3. Postmodern objections:
a. Who can know what the Bible says, since everything is a matter of interpretation?
i. Either—everyone seems to have a different take on the same statements.
ii. Or—words have no meaning in themselves, only the reader gives meaning.
1. Rooted in Nietzsche and Wittgenstein—since there is no God who can declare reality and therefore give meaning to words, there can be no meaning intrinsically a part of words.
2. BUT—if there is no meaning other than the meaning that I give a text, how could you object to any meaning that I give to the text????
b. Who can teach me, since teaching implies knowing and implies authority and all authority is an EXPRESSION of POWER and is therefore wrong.
i. All the problems of the world stem from this desire to exert power over other human beings.
ii. BUT—how can YOU, then, TEACH me that NO ONE teach anyone else; do YOU have a special authority over us, to TEACH US that WE CAN’T TEACH or exert influence over others?
iii. If there were a BENEVOLENT GOD, wouldn’t it be right and moral if He were to teach us, to influence us to care for the earth, to care for one another, to love Him back?
c. Can’t we all just get along? What about unethical commands in Scripture/what about vengeance verbalized?
i. The perceived difficulties are many…
Psa. 137:8 O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.
Psa. 137:9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.
ii. BUT—careful attention, reading the NT for insight, considering the wisdom of others who have given their lives to similarly careful study of Scripture…
1. Hard Sayings of the Bible, by Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce and Manfred T. Brauch.
2. Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Gleason Archer
3. Big Book of Bible Difficulties, The: Clear and Concise Answers from Genesis to Revelation, Thomas Howe & Norman L. Geisler
4. Is The Bible Intolerant? Amy Orr-Ewing

4. Practical objections:
a. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
b. Love your neighbour as yourself: encourage, nurture, care for, weep with, rejoice with…
c. Take up your cross and follow me.
d. Give ten percent of your income (22.3), give generously.
GK. Chesterton: not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, but that it has been found hard and not tried.
Consequently, many reject the Bible’s authority because of its moral demands, only using supposed historical, scientific issues as smokescreen.
1. Make sure you understand the question
2. Make sure you understand the questions behind the question.
3. Make sure you are reading the Bible…in order to love the Bible…
Jeremiah 15:16 NASB
“Thy words were found and I ate them,
And Thy words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;
For I have been called by Thy name,
O Lord God of hosts.”

Deacons: How does this work?

2010-07-31T09:41:00.001-05:00

Deconstructing Church: Form for the Function

* Membership
1. In faith, a part of the Body of Christ
2. In place, a part of a local assembly of believers.
3. In practice…
a. Confirm our faith “in front” of other faithful ones
b. Affirm our accountability to others of the same faith
c. No membership: missing both confirmation and accountability
d. Fill out the form today!

* Leadership
1. No leader is indispensable; leadership is.
2. Leaders are made, not born.
a. We are renewing our commitment to apprenticeship; each serving role must have an apprentice learning and sharing the work.
b. We must make sure to limit the number of slots taken up by long-termers, so that everyone gets a chance to serve; HIGH percentage of volunteers here.
c. We are developing leaders quietly: 14 in the first group, 15 in the second group;
i. Servant Leadership & what it means to be and do church
ii. Biblical studies
iii. Biblical theology—putting Scripture together
d. Mike will be deepening the commitment to training SG leaders;
e. Joe is developing leaders among teens and young adults.
f. Sara is training and mentoring worship leaders and musicians.

* Deacons
1. Qualifications: 1 Tim. 3:8ff.
2. Identification: Qualified men and women are recognized by the congregation, affirmed by the Elders (Acts 6:6), then released to do their work (no mention either in Acts 6 or 1 Timothy 3 of design or form, only the function and qualifications).
3. We formerly recognized deacons; they formed a board and joined with the Elders to form a General Board. That ended in 1994, with adoption of a new constitution. We have no wish to restore a Deacon Board and a General Board. It’s good to have a simple, rather than a hierarchical organization.
4. We do need to more personally connect to those who cannot be a part of a small group.
a. What if? We identified men and women to look after those not in small groups?
b. What if? We identified those who serve us already in diaconate roles?
c. What if? We did all this following the pattern of Acts 6?
i. The need is identified by the congregation.
ii. The elders/apostles respond with a clear set of qualifications.
iii. The congregation identifies those people who are qualified.
iv. The new serving leaders do their work.
1. No mention of any structure; no committees.
2. We can rightly conclude that those who are serving may choose to establish forms, but are not required to do so.
d. What roles are needed?
i. Ceiling—need a Facility Team.
ii. Tech Team—rotation for worship services and special events.
e. How are the deacons to work together?
i. IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT Work under leadership of Elders
ii. Work with Staff
iii. Focus on functions, describe a form that is effective.

Elders
1. Qualifications in Titus 1:5-9; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Acts 6:4 (apostles)
a.

Acts 6:4 “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

2. Identification: Qualified candidates are appointed by the current Elders.
a. Qualifications, recognition by serving leaders.
b. Nominating committee consists of two elected members, three board members and the senior pastor; names are considered, interviewed, and presented to the congregation.
c. Congregation affirms the list at our Annual General Meeting.
i. Accountability: who can challenge the decisions or behaviour of elders?
ii. Decisions: Acts 15:22
σὺν ὅλῃ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ = “with the whole church”

iii. Character and Behaviour:
1Tim. 5:19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.
(addressed to Timothy, as a leader among the elders; this may mean that the team of elders should consider charges against a fellow elder to be false unless they are confirmed by two or three witnesses—nevertheless, the principle is established that a charge against an elder can be leveled and, if confirmed by several witnesses, would be considered by the group of elders).

3. Structure
a. Shepherd the flock/Oversee the function and form of the congregation.
i. Prayer for the saints
ii. Teaching of the Word
b. Fiduciary responsibilities as required by the government.

(1 Corinthians 12:14–27 NASB)

Questions??

Deconstructing Elders

2010-07-11T19:24:00.000-05:00

Deconstructing Elders
1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9
Markers: for them; how to recognize them, respond to them, serve with them;
for us; how am I doing on this quest to incarnate Jesus/become like Jesus/serve like Jesus?

1. We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.
Hebrews 13:17 NASB “Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
EBC, Leon Morris
“They keep watch over you” is more literally “they keep watch for your souls,”
They are concerned, because they must render account. Leaders are responsible, and God will call them to account one day. The writer pleads that the readers will so act that keeping watch will be a thing of joy for the leaders
The alternative is for them to do it with “groaning” (stenazontes ; NIV, “a burden”), which, he says, would be “of no advantage” for the readers.

NIBC, DONALD A. HAGNER
But obedience to the leaders is not merely for the sake of making their work easier. The failure to submit to them cannot benefit the readers. Indeed, the implication of this understatement is that disobedience and insubordination will put the readers in peril.

APPLICATION:
• Pray for the Elders—have them come to the front and lay hands on them.
• Confession and affirmation-- Confess any spirit of rebellion, etc.
a. Past difficulty with oppressive leaders,
b. or soft leaders

We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.

2. We are to carefully recognize those who should lead us.
Titus 1:5-9 “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man be above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

1 Timothy 3:1–7 “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?); and not a new convert, lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he may not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
a. They are placed in leadership because of their character.
b. They lead or influence us by their modeling.
Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments, David Lim
Though the main task of the elders …was to build up the Christian community so that all members discovered and used their spiritual gifts; they also served as exemplars in doing evangelism (2 Tim 4:5; cf. 1 Pet 5:3), just as Paul set this evangelistic concern as a model for the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:18–28). One of their qualifications for church “office” was a good reputation before unbelievers (1 Tim 3:1–7).

We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.
We are to carefully recognize those who should lead us.

3. We are to aspire to the same spiritual marks of maturity.
a. “It’s a fine work” you aspire to…
b. It’s an impossible standard…grace functions to rework every niche.
i. Above reproach
ii. Husband of one wife
iii. Temperate--
iv. Prudent
v. Respectable
vi. Hospitable
vii. Able to teach—only gifting on the list?
1. Apt to teach
2. Titus 1: holding fast the faithful word…
a. able both to exhort in sound doctrine and
b. to refute those who contradict
viii. not addicted to wine
ix. not pugnacious
x. gentle
xi. uncontentious,
xii. free from the love of money
xiii. Household managed well
xiv. Keeping children under control with all dignity
xv. Not a new convert (not listed in the requirements on Crete, where all were new converts)
xvi. Good reputation with those outside the church, avoiding reproach & the snare of the devil.
We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.
We are to carefully recognize those who should lead us.
We are to aspire to the same spiritual marks of maturity.

4. Dealing with me: my own spiritual state.
Recognize their servant’s hearts and service to our own good.
HOPE: CR Story—

APPLICATIONS
a. Look to Jesus, who said he came to serve.
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His 1life a ransom for many.”
i. The One whom we will serve for all eternity said that he came here to serve first.
ii. He served until the end.
iii. As we look to Christ, the Spirit of Christ promises to reconstruct us into the character of Jesus.
1. The Spirit will make us Servants.
2. When the Spirit makes a servant, that servant serves to the end.
b. Look to Jesus, whom the Holy Spirit will reproduce in each life.
c. Identify your own gifts for serving.
i. Look to the Word for definitions: Eph. 4; Romans 12
ii. Practice those gifts till the end.
d. Engage yourself and your gifts with being and doing church.

Deconstructing Deacons: Deacons R Us!

2010-07-04T09:07:00.001-05:00

Deconstructing Deacons:
Deacons R Us? Acts 6:1-6; 1 Tim. 3:8-13

It’s time for us to DECONSTRUCT CHURCH, to reexamine the point of church in Jesus’ own words, from Paul’s direct statements as to the meaning of church.
What is the church?
A field to be cultivated; a Building to be Inhabited; a Household to be protected; a family to be nurtured; a people who proclaim; a flock to be fed; a Body to express the will of Christ; members & parts of a whole; WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST!

What makes us a part of the church? A common faith, a common life; a common confession

What does “membership” mean? Or, Should we “join” a church?
The NT assumes that all believers are “members” of the congregation where they worship.
We are NOT customers or consumers, but members…
How do we experience “life together”? a common transparency; common commitments
o Use the spiritual gifts God has given to build up the body (1 Cor. 12:7).
o Live out the Mission of God
o Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb 13:17).
o Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
o Financially support the church’s work (Gal. 6:6).

“Engaging membership” means at least these five things:
• Be in transparent relationships with other church members in which they care for, encourage, rebuke, teach, and learn from each other (Eph. 4:15-16).
• Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb. 13:17).
• Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
“being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
• Financially support the common service efforts (Gal. 6:6).
• Use the spiritual gifts God has given them to build up the body however they can (1 Cor. 12:7).
“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Last week, Mike: your church leaders in the past might have been autocratic, or bunglers, or too-sweet to be effectively protect the church, or ministry divas who are self-absorbed. Lots of examples of poor leadership.
We must avoid the extremes of severe criticism or disengagement.
The problem is NOT leadership, but BAD church leadership.
No Leader is indispensable, but leadership is.

Every pastor is a shepherd; but NOT every shepherd is a pastor.
Shepherds exist so that the church will be full of mature disciples of Jesus.

Today, we are DECONSTRUCTING CHURCH with a word about MINISTRY; another word for ministry is SERVice…Both of these words translate the Greek word-root, diakonos; we transliterate DEACON, one who serves. I want to answer three questions:
WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT DEACONS?
WHAT IS A DEACON?
WHAT DO I DO, THEN?

1. Why should I care about deacons?
a. These ministry qualifications for deacons are also maturity distinctives.
b. God is concerned about function; we are concerned about form.
c. We are all called to serve!
i. I Peter 4:10-11
“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

ii. Two sorts of gifts: speaking and serving.
iii. Luke quotes the apostles, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” or, the SERVICE OF THE WORD.
2. What is a deacon?
Acts 6--“Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. “But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
And the statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.”

a. Acts 6:1-6—
i. the term “deacon” does not occur here.

EBC, Ralph Earle--Although the term deacon is not used in this connection, it would seem that these men were the forerunners of the deacons in the church.

ii. The word “the serving” does in verse 1: διακονίᾳ

EBC, Ralph Earle--The simple meaning of this word is “servant,” and it is used that way many times in the Gospels. Specifically, it was used by Josephus and other writers of that period for those who wait on tables.

Robert Banks, IVP Dictionary of Paul and His Letters
Emphasis upon Function rather than Position. Alongside the verb serve (diakoneō), or its nominal form servant (diakonos), verbs rather than nouns tend to be used more frequently of those making a fundamental contribution to the church. This means that it is the functions people perform rather than the positions they occupy which is crucial.

iii. In verse 2: infinitive or verbal form does: διακονεῖν
Walter G. Hansen, IVP Dictionary of the Later New Testament
3.5. Emphasis upon Function rather than Position. Alongside the verb serve (diakoneō), or its nominal form servant (diakonos), verbs rather than nouns tend to be used more frequently of those making a fundamental contribution to the church. This means that it is the functions people perform rather than the positions they occupy which is crucial.
iv. So that we (elders & apostles) may devote ourselves to the ministry (διακονίᾳ) of the Word

1 Tim 3:8ff: “Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.”

b. 1 Timothy 3:8-13
i. A man or a woman
ii. A position or a function
NIBC, GORDON D. FEE The word diakonos, in fact, is a favorite of Paul’s to describe his own and his fellow workers’ ministries (e.g., 1 Cor. 3:5; 2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 16:1; Col. 1:23; 4:7) and is so used of Timothy in 4:6. However, as with “prophet” and “teacher,” the word seems to fluctuate between an emphasis on a function and a description of a position; by the time of Philippians it describes an “office” (Phil. 1:1), whereas in the relatively contemporary Ephesians and Colossians diakonos still describes a function. Here, as in Philippians 1:1, it refers to a position of some kind.

iii. To be tested, then recognized
Renn, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words
δοκιμάζω dokimazō is a verb found nearly thirty times, with the principal meanings “prove,” “approve,” “discern.” In several places, however, the meaning “examine” is evident. (APPROVE)
The action of “examining” one’s newly-acquired oxen is noted in Luke 14:19. The exhortation to let a person “examine” himself or herself prior to taking the Lord’s Supper is recorded in 1 Cor. 11:28. Another exhortation to “test” or “examine” oneself to see if one is holding to the faith is noted in 2 Cor. 13:5. See also Gal. 6:4; 1 Thess. 5:21. The “testing” or “examining” of potential deacons to determine their suitability for office is indicated in 1 Tim. 3:10. The charge to “test” or “examine” the spirits to see whether they are of God is found in 1 John 4:1.

Psa. 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Psa. 19:8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

iv. A person of character, “above reproach”
Above Reproach: Renn, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words
ἀνέγκλητος anenklētos is an adjective found in five places meaning “blameless,” or unable to be accused. Such is the moral destiny of the people of God, made possible by the work and person of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 1:8; Col. 1:22). It is also the quality required of spiritual leaders in the local congregation of believers (cf. 1 Tim. 3:10; Titus 1:6, 7).

1. Dignity
2. Not double-tongued—not “two-worded” says the same thing in every circumstance—integrity is our word
3. Not addicted to much wine—lots to avoid, no means to escape
4. Not fond of sordid gain—money hungry; cf. 1 Tim 6; greedy; contrast with 3:3 for elders—not envious
5. Holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience
EBC, Ralph Earle ‘mystery’ In the NT it signifies the secret of salvation through Jesus Christ, which is revealed by the Holy Spirit to all who will believe. Today the word mystery implies knowledge withheld; in the Bible it indicates truth revealed.

Gordon Fee-- as 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 makes plain, it refers to the essential truth of the gospel, especially the saving character of Christ’s death, which was once hidden (in God) but now revealed by the Spirit…

6. Husband of only one wife
7. Good managers of their children and households—APPROPRIATE HOME LIFE; not without conflict, but skilled at conflict management.
8. Women: add not malicious gossips, temperate, faithful

Why should I care?
What is a deacon? ONE WHO SERVES The Body of Christ
3. What should I then do?
a. Look to Jesus, who said he came to serve.
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His 1life a ransom for many.”
i. The One whom we will serve for all eternity said that he came here to serve first.
ii. He served until the end.
iii. As we look to Christ, the Spirit of Christ promises to reconstruct us into the character of Jesus.
1. The Spirit will make us Servants.
2. When the Spirit makes a servant, that servant serves to the end.
b. Identify your own gifts for serving.
i. Look to the Word for definitions: Eph. 4; Romans 12
ii. Practice those gifts till the end.
c. Engage!
i. If you find yourself walking away from a worship service with a list of all the things that didn’t work that day, then you can be fairly certain that you are NOT PRACTICING YOUR GIFTS, you have disengaged from ministry, YOU HAVE BECOME A CONSUMER of church, a customer only.
ii. If you ask yourself the question: WHY DON’T THEY…? You are probably DISENGAGED.
iii. If you ask yourself a different question: HOW MIGHT I…? you are on the road to ENGAGMENT, and the Spirit of Christ is guiding you, energizing you, and will empower you to…
iv. Identify your part, as Jesus took up his role…
v. Step up to do your part, as Jesus laid aside his former role…
vi. Serve until you can’t, as Jesus served until his ascension.

Psa. 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Psa. 17:15 As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness;

Deconstructing Church: What IS Church?

2010-06-20T19:47:00.001-05:00

Deconstructing Church:
Membership: What’s The Point?

Introduction: why should we bother with church?
Church SUBTITLES: A Church for those Not Comfortable With Church
A Church for those Not Into Church
A Church for those Tired of Their Church
IF some THE LARGEST CHURCHES ON THE CONTINENT CHOOSE THESE STATEMENTS FOR SUBTITLES, then perhaps it’s time for us to DECONSTRUCT CHURCH, reexamine the point of church Jesus’ own words, from Paul’s direct statements as to the meaning of church.
CHURCH: Why should we bother?
What makes us a church?
How do I become part of a church?
Here, we have another reason to ask and answer these questions, because we just completed 40 DAYS OF COMMUNITY.
Community only happens in a context, with other people; CHURCH IS GOD’S IDEA, DESIGNED TO MEET MANY NEEDS AND FULFILL MANY OF HIS INTENTIONS.
We know that because so many different METAPHORS ARE USED TO DESCRIBE THE CHURCH…
What is the church?
What makes us a part of the church?
What does “membership” mean? Or, Should we “join” a church?
How do we experience “life together”?

1. What is the church?
• Multiple metaphors:
o Field
1Cor. 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field… TO BE CULTIVATED

o Building TO BE INHABITED

1Cor. 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Eph. 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

o Household TO BE PROTECTED
Matt. 10:25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

o Family TO BE NURTURED
• Matthew 12:48-49
Matt. 12:48-49 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!
o Nation/People TO PROCLAIM
1Pet. 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

o Flock/Sheep TO BE FED

John 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
Acts 20:28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
1Pet. 5:2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;

o Body TO EXPRESS HIS WILL

Ephesians 4:11–12 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;”

o Members PARTS OF A WHOLE
Matt. 10:25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

1Cor. 12:12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
1Cor. 12:22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
1Cor. 12:23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,
Eph. 5:30 because we are members of His body.

Col. 3:5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

• Body of Jesus: WE ARE CHRIST’S BODY!

1Cor. 12:27 ¶ Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

2. What makes us a part of the church?
• Common faith (Eph 4), which connects us to the…
o Universal church
Eph. 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
1Cor. 12:12-13 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

• Common life (Acts 2:42ff.), which connects us to a…
o Local assembly = most common NT usage
Acts 2:44-45 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.

* Common confession (Rom. 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; Rom. 10:10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

3. What does “membership” mean? Should we “join” a church?
• At the gym? At Costco?
• Is secular membership the same as biblical membership?
• Why do contemporary congregations ask for membership, when the NT says nothing about such a thing?
1. The NT assumes that all believers are “members” of the congregation where they worship.
a. Membership means “of faith in Christ.”
b. Today: if you have placed faith in Christ…
i. You are a member of the congregation where you worship and serve
ii. You are subject to the elders of the congregation: Hebrews 13:17
Hebrews 13:17 NASB)
“Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
iii. In a small house group, we speak of Christ either as people with faith or without faith.
iv. In a larger congregation, the elders must know you are of faith if they are to…
1. Pray for your growth (Acts 6:2,4)
2. Teach you the word (Acts 6:2,4)
3. Encourage you to follow Christ/Keep watch over your soul (Hebrews 13:17)
2. Assumes, maybe; but does it TEACH that we are to be members?
i. Acts 5:12-13: “Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.” There seems to have been a qualifying choice made in Jerusalem: some chose to be a part of the church, some not.
ii. 1 Corinthians 5:12-13: “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside.” …This passage makes no sense if the Corinthian church didn’t have some public, formal means by which people identified themselves with the church.
iii. I Corinthians 5:1-2: the fellow who was sleeping with his father’s wife was to be expelled from the congregation, not from the Body of Christ (no human can do that).
1Cor. 5:1 ¶ It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.
1Cor. 5:2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

iv. The fellow apparently repented and was restored to the congregation (not to the Body of Christ). 2 Corinthians 2:6: Paul writes again about the fellow, “For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.” This man’s exclusion from the church was a punishment by the majority. You can’t have a majority unless you have a definite set of people from which a majority is constituted.

If one can be removed from the congregation and restored to the congregation, without gaining or losing position “in Christ”, then we have the essence of “membership” in a local assembly.
v. Matthew 18:15-17: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault…if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you…If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” The ability to exclude someone from “the church” presupposes that it’s known who belongs to “the church” as a member in the first place.

vi. Scripture repeatedly commands Christians to submit to their leaders (Heb. 13:17; 1 Thess. 5:12-13). The only way to do that is by publicly committing to be members of their flock, and saying in effect, “I commit to listening to your teaching, following your direction, and to submitting to your leadership.” There’s no way to obey the scriptural commands to submit to your leaders if you never actually submit to them by joining a local church.

Therefore, I am a member of this congregation, for the health of my soul.
1. I am subject to the elders.
2. I am subject to you.

4. How do we live well in/with the Body? How do we experience “life together”?
• Common transparency: care for, encourage, rebuke, teach, and learn from each other (Eph. 4:15-16).
Hebrews 13:17 NASB
“Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”

• Common commitments: I am no longer making all my life decisions alone
o Use the spiritual gifts God has given to build up the body (1 Cor. 12:7).
o Walk in sync with the Mission of God
o Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb 13:17).
o Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
o Financially support the church’s work (Gal. 6:6).

“Engaging membership” means at least these five things:
• Be in transparent relationships with other church members in which they care for, encourage, rebuke, teach, and learn from each other (Eph. 4:15-16).
o Eph 4:15-16
we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

• Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb. 13:17).
• Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
“being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

• Financially support the common service efforts (Gal. 6:6).
“And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches.”

• Use the spiritual gifts God has given them to build up the body however they can (1 Cor. 12:7).
“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Romans 12:1–13 NASB
For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Let love be without hypocrisy.
Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;
give preference to one another in honor;
not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
rejoicing in hope,
persevering in tribulation,
devoted to prayer,
contributing to the needs of the saints,
practicing hospitality.”

The Older Brother

2010-05-02T07:15:00.000-05:00

Keller's outline, my sermon.

The Elder Brother
Luke 15:25-32

Introduction: THE STORY DOESN’T END WITH THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL! Almost half of the story is about the older son. The story is about two sons, who are both alienated from the father, who are both assaulting the unity of the family. Jesus wants us to compare and contrast them.
The younger son is “lost”—that is easy to see. We see him
shaming his father,
ruining his family,
sleeping with prostitutes, and we say, “yep, there’s someone who is spiritually lost.”
But Jesus’ point is that the older son is lost too. Let’s learn from the text:
1) a stunning new understanding of lostness,
2) what the signs of it are (so we can recognize it in ourselves), and
3) what we can do about this condition.

The younger son has assaulted the integrity of the family.
The older son is assaulting the integrity of the family.
By despising the younger son.
By refusing to rejoice with the father in his delight over the brother’s return.
By preferring the father’s wealth to the father’s joy.

Central Issue: the nature of the Father’s heart
1. Younger brother—the father is not even-handed, I will never inherit leadership in this family.
2. Older brother—the father is not fair or just.

1. A stunning new understanding of lostness—verse 28.
““Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things might be. “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ “But he became angry, and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began entreating him.”

a. The elder brother would have known that the day of the prodigal’s return was the greatest day in his father’s life.
i. The father has “killed the fattened calf”, an enormously expensive extravagance in a culture where even having meat at meals was considered a delicacy.
ii. The older son realized his father was ecstatic with joy.
b. Yet he refused to go into the biggest feast his father has ever put on.
i. This was a remarkable, deliberate act of disrespect.
ii. …his way of saying, “I won’t be part of this family nor respect your headship of it.”
c. And the father had to “go out” to plead with him.
i. Just as he went out to bring his alienated younger son into the family, now
ii. he had to do the same for the older brother.
d. Do you realize what Jesus is saying? The older son is lost.
i. The father represents God himself, and
ii. the meal is the feast of salvation. In the end, then,
iii. the younger son, the immoral man, comes in and is saved, but
iv. the older son, the good son, refuses to go in and is lost.
e. The Pharisees who were listening to this parable knew what that meant.
i. It was a complete reversal of everything they believed. You can almost hear them gasp as the story ends.
ii. And what is it that is keeping the elder brother out? It’s because: “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed...” (v.29).
iii. The good son is not lost in spite of his good behavior, but because of his good behavior. So it is not his sin keeping him out, but his righteousness.
iv. The gospel is neither religion nor is it irreligion; it is not morality nor is it immorality. This was completely astonishing and confusing to Jesus’ hearers at the time—and it may even be astonishing and confusing to you.
v. Why is the older son lost?
1. The younger brother wanted the father’s wealth, but not the father. So how did he get what he wanted? He left home. He broke the moral rules.
2. But it becomes evident by the end that the elder brother also wanted selfish control of the father’s wealth. He was very unhappy with the father’s use of the possessions—the robe, the ring, the calf.
3. But while the younger brother got control by taking his stuff and running away, we see that the elder brother got control by staying home and being very good. He felt that now he has the right to tell the father what to do with his possessions because he had obeyed him perfectly.
4. So there are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord.
a. One is by breaking all the laws and being bad.
b. One is by keeping all the laws and being good.
If I can be so good that God has to answer my prayer, give me a good life, and take me to heaven, then in all I do I may be looking to Jesus to be my helper and my rewarder—but he isn’t my Savior. I am then my own Savior.
The difference between a religious person and a true Christian is that the religious person obeys God to get control over God, and things from God, but the Christian obeys just to get God, just to love and please and draw closer to him.

2. The Marks of this sort of Lostness—verses 29-30.
a. Some people are complete elder brothers. They go to church and obey the Bible—but out of expectation that then God owes them.
i. They have never understood the Biblical gospel at all.
ii. Grace is a stranger to them.
iii. They have developed a GOSPEL OF SIN-MANAGEMENT.

b. Keller: But many Christians, who know the gospel, are nonetheless elder-brotherish. Despite the fact that they know the gospel of salvation by grace with their heads, their hearts go back to an elder-brotherish “default mode” of self-salvation. Here’s what the elder-brotherish attitude looks like. It is:

i. A deep & abiding anger (v.28—“became angry”). Elder brothers believe that God owes them a comfortable and good life if they try hard and live up to standards—and they have! So they say: “my life ought to be going really well!” and when it doesn’t they get angry. But they are forgetting Jesus. He lived a better life than any of us—but suffered terribly.
Sources of Anger with God.
1. God didn’t answer my cry for help—innumerable stories of desperate prayers in childhood to heal a brother from leukemia or to save a sister from an abusive uncle. GOD DIDN’T ANSWER, SO I DON’T BELIEVE.

2. Younger brother conflict produces even more anger (good things happen to bad people rather than to good people like me!)

3. Jesus offers grace: will you be transformed or grace destroy you.
a. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo.
b. Jean Valjean vs. Inspector Javert
c. Valjean, the thief, finds grace and forgiveness from God. His life is gradually transformed into the pursuit of justice and grace.
d. Javert, who has arrested, tracked, and sought his punishment for years, discovers that Valjean has truly become a just man, a good man.
e. the Inspector traps Valjean, but then cannot rightly arrest him, because he is mesmerized by the thought that an irredeemably evil criminal can become a good man, one deserving of mercy.
f. Javert the police inspector can arrest Valjean, more, he must arrest him because the Law requires him to do so - Valjean was on the barricade and is therefore a traitor deserving death; but Javert the moral judge witnesses the absolute goodness in the redeemed convict at the sparing of Javert's own life and that of another, and therefore must not arrest him, or else he must question his own moral judgements.
"Javert is faced with the situation where to act lawfully would mean to him acting immorally."
g. Valjean, embodying the perfect moral dilemma for a man like Javert, shatters the rigid codes by which Javert has governed his own life - and at the breaking of those behavioral dictates, Javert finds no other course but to kill himself. His worldview cannot tolerate even the notion of redemption, and as such, it has no room for mercy, nor grace.
h. the Inspector steps backward into the Seine and drowns; he chooses to die rather than arrest the man he has obsessively pursued for decades. JAVERT CANNOT HOLD BOTH IDEAS IN HIS MIND AT THE SAME TIME: THIS MAN DESERVES JUSTICE & THIS MAN HAS BECOME JUST.
i. God’s grace has destroyed Javert.

ii. A joyless and mechanical obedience (v.29—“I’ve been slaving for you”). Elder brothers obey God as a means to an end—as a way to get the things they really love. Of course, obedience to God is sometimes extremely hard. But elder brothers find obedience virtually always a joyless, mechanical, slavish thing as a result.
1. Elder brother—I’m still angry, I’ve done what you’ve asked, get off my back.
2. Superficial obedience to get God off my back.
3. Similar to the younger brother, the elder brother just wants the father to leave him alone, to be away from him.
4. I filled out the small group signup, leave me alone, etc.
a. I will be there at the starting time, don’t ask more.
5. Elder brothers can morph into self-loathing life.
a. You don’t love yourself, but at least you know it.
b. Jesus offers you something more.

iii. A coldness to younger brother-types (v.30—“this son of yours”). The older son will not even “own” his brother. Elder brothers are too disdainful of others unlike themselves to be effective in evangelism. Elder brothers, who pride themselves on their doctrinal and moral purity, unavoidably feel superior to those who do not have these things.
From my blog…
Yes, those of us who are broken younger brothers are not mystified by the behaviour of our older brothers …but it does hurt to be around their resentment. I'm VERY grateful for the father's forgiveness but the older brother is so distant and cold.

iv. A lack of assurance of the father’s love (v.29—you never threw me a party). As long as you are trying to earn your salvation by controlling God through your goodness, you will never be sure you have been good enough. What are the signs of this?
1. Every time something goes wrong in your life you wonder if it’s a punishment.
2. Another sign is irresolvable guilt. You can’t be sure you’ve repented deeply enough, so you beat yourself up over what you did.
3. Lastly, there is a lack of any sense of intimacy with God in your prayer life. You may pray a lot of prayers asking for things, but not sense his love.
v. An unforgiving, judgmental spirit. The elder brother does not want the father to forgive the younger brother. It is impossible to forgive someone if you feel “I would never do anything that bad!” You have to be something of an elder brother to refuse to forgive.

3. What we can do about this spiritual condition.
a. Notice that the parable doesn’t end, it merely STOPS.
b. Second, we have to see the shocking nature of the gospel.
i. Jesus ends the parable with the lostness of the older brother in order to get across the point that it is a more dangerous spiritual condition.
1. The younger brother knew he was alienated from the father, but
2. The elder brother did not.
a. If you tell moral, religious people who are trying to be good, trying to obey the Bible so God will bless them—that they are alienated from God, they will just be offended.
b. If you know you are sick you may go to a doctor;
c. if you don’t know you’re sick you won’t—you’ll just die.
ii. Moralistic religion works on the principle, “I obey, therefore God accepts me.”
iii. The gospel works on the principle, “I am accepted by God through Jesus Christ, therefore I obey.” These are two radically different, even opposite, dynamics.
iv. Yet both sets of people sit in church together, both pray, both obey the Ten Commandments, but for radically different reasons. And because they do these things for radically different reasons, they produce radically different results—different kinds of character.
1. One produces anger, joyless compliance, superiority, insecurity, and a condemning spirit.
2. The other slowly but inevitably produces contentment, joy, humility, poise, and a forgiving spirit.
v. Unless a person and a congregation knows the difference between general religiosity and the true gospel, people will constantly fall into moralism and elder-brotherishness.
1. And if you call younger brothers to receive Christ and live for him without making this distinction clear, they will automatically think you are inviting them to become elder brothers.
c. Third, we have to see the naked vulnerability of Jesus.
i. Jesus is addressing his mortal enemies, the men who will soon kill him. …He’s talking to those who want to kill him and telling them that they are lost, that they fundamentally misunderstand God’s salvation and purpose in the world, and that they are trampling on the heart of God.
ii. But at the same time, he is also being so loving and tender. When the father comes out to the older brother,
1. that is Jesus pleading with his enemies. He is urging them to see their fatal error. Jesus does not scream at his enemies, or smite them, but lovingly urges them to repent and come into his love.
2. And so we have a foreshadowing of that great moment on the cross when he says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). This love toward his enemies made him vulnerable and cost him his life.
3. On the cross, instead of blasting his enemies, he lovingly took the penalty of their sins on himself. While we were his enemies, Christ died for us (Rom 5:10).
iii. Knowing what he did for us must drain us of our self-righteousness and our insecurity.
1. We were so sinful he had to die for us.
2. But we were so loved that he was glad to die for us.
3. That takes away both the pride and the fear that makes us elder brothers.
iv. Solution:
1. “I am lost because I am so good.”
2. I have the favour of God because of who God is.
3. God finds me useful, even restoring me to himself.
4. God finds me fascinating, He loves me with an EXCESSIVE, a PRODIGIOUS LOVE!!!!
v. The END of the Story…
John MacArthur—ends the parable…the elder brother hates the father so much for being unloving, that he seizes the father and kills him.

Transition to prayer and communion…
Marriage Supper of the Lamb:
The Son is our host and our meal.

The Younger Brother

2010-05-02T07:14:00.000-05:00

Keller's outline, my sermon.

Give Me Mine!
Luke 15:11-24
The third parable in Jesus’ response to the Pharisees is a story about a family—a father, an older son, and a younger son. The story begins when the younger son comes to the father and says, “Give me my share of the estate.” In ancient times, when the father died, the oldest son always got “a double portion” compared to the other children. Here, there are two sons, so the older would get two-thirds of the estate and the younger one-third. The story begins with the younger son asking for his share NOW.
1. A stunning request sets the story into motion. 15:11-12.
a. The younger son’s request was stunning, because the inheritance, of course, was not divided up and distributed to the children until the father died. As Kenneth Bailey writes: “In Middle Eastern culture, to ask for the inheritance while the Father is alive, is to wish him dead.”
i. The request would therefore have been a disgrace to the family name, because of the younger son’s extraordinary disrespect for his father. The father would have been expected to slap the impertinent son and send him packing.
ii. It would have also been a blow to the economic standing of the family, since the father would have to sell part of his estate in order to give him his share. In short, this request ripped the family apart. It was a relational and economic act of violence against the family’s integrity.
iii. It would have damaged the soul of the father: “assets” translates “bios” livelihood, or life. The LIFE of the father had to be divided!
b. Why would the younger son make such a request?
i. In his Confessions, Augustine gives us a theory of why we do what we do, and especially why we sin. He makes this startling observation: “A man has murdered another man—what was his motive? Either he desired his wife or his property or else he would steal to support himself; or else he was afraid of losing something to him; or else, having been injured, he was burning to be revenged.”2 Augustine goes on to say that even a murderer murders because he loves something. He loves romance or wealth or his reputation or something else too much, inordinately, more than God, and that is why he murders. Our hearts are distorted by “disordered loves.” We love, rest our hearts in, and look to things to give us the joy and meaning that only the Lord can give.
ii. The younger son LOVED HIS FATHER’s Things, rather than his father. Keller…His heart was set on the wealth and on the comfort, freedom and status that wealth brings. His father was just a means to an end. Now, however, his patience was over. He knew that the request would be like a knife in his father’s heart, but he obviously didn’t care.
iii. The two sons look very different, Yet at the end,
1. the older son is furious with the father and humiliates him by refusing to go into the great feast.
2. This is the older son’s way of saying that he will not live in the same family with the younger son.
3. So again the family’s integrity and the father’s heart are under assault—this time by the elder brother.
4. Why?
a. The elder brother objects to the expense of what the father is doing, as we will see.
b. He shows that he has been obeying the father to get his things, and not because he loves him, since he is willing to put him to shame. Both the older and younger sons love the father’s things, but not the father.
2. The father’s response to the request is shocking vv.12b, 20-24.
a. The younger’s son request to the father would have shocked Jesus’ listeners, but the father’s response is even more remarkable. This was a patriarchal society, in which you were required to show deference and reverence toward those older or above you. This kind of contempt and insolence would have ordinarily met with outrage.
i. The listeners would expect the father to explode in wrath, to drive the son out with blows.
ii. Instead, we read the simple words, “so he divided his property between them.” We need to put ourselves into the historical context. In those days, most of a family’s wealth was in their land and property. Indeed, their family land was part of their very identity. It is likely that the father had to sell some of his land in order to become “liquid” and give his younger son his share.
1. This is reflected in the unusual Greek word used in verse 12 translated as “property.” It is the word “bios” which means “life.” It says, literally, he divided his “life” between them. Why use that word? Probably it was a way to convey what it felt like for the father to lose his land, his family’s good name and status, and the presence of one of his two sons. The father is being asked to tear his very life apart—and he does.
2. The older son and anyone else in the community would have thought that the father was being foolish to give in to the younger son’s request. But looking back, we know better. If the father had become embittered, and had perhaps beaten the young man or done something else severe to him, no restoration would have ever happened. The father’s heart would have been too hardened to ever receive him back, and the son may never have expected or wanted the father to do so.
3. By bearing the agony and pain of the son’s sin himself, instead of taking revenge, instead of paying the son back by inflicting pain on him, the father kept the door open in the relationship. The father was willing to suffer for the sin of the child, so that some day reconciliation would be possible.
3. The painful generosity of the father turned into a disaster.
a. The younger son took all he was given and left.
i. He left the family.
ii. He left the region.
iii. He left the faith.
b. The younger son left his family broken in order to buy a new family.
i. Lots of cash flowing, lots of friends.
ii. When the money’s gone, his friends were gone as well.
Billie Holiday…
Money, you've got lots of friends
Crowding round the door
When you're gone, spending ends
They don't come no more
Rich relations give
Crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don't take too much
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own

iii. Loss of money and friends reduces him to poverty…
1. Spent all he had.
2. A severe famine developed in the region.
3. He “attached himself” to a citizen in the far country…
a. Fed his livestock: swine, a humiliation for a son of Israel.
b. Hungry enough to long for the hog’s food.

Luke 15:14–16 ““Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. “And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. “And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.”

iv. He showed signs of repentance.
1. “When he came to his senses…”
2. He concocted a plan to return to his father.
3. His plan included a
a. CONFESSION of SIN AGAINST HEAVEN AND
b. IN HIS FATHER’S SIGHT.
c. A Confession that he was no longer worthy of family membership.
d. An intension to repay what he had wasted by his work.

Luke 15:17–19 ““But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; “I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’”

4. He did NOT understand forgiveness and grace.
a. I will pay you back.
b. I will not expect to be treated as a son.
c. Humility, confession, restitution, but
d. grace neither assumed nor expected.

4. The disaster is transformed into delight.
a. The father is discovered awaiting the return of the son.
b. The father sees the returning son, recognizes him, and runs to him. Nouwen: “Parable of the Running Father.”
i. Children ran, women ran,
ii. Everyone ran to the father.
iii. but the head of the clan WOULD NOT RUN.

5. So what?
a. We recognize ourselves in these self-concerned obsessions.
i. We, too, find ourselves impulsively self-expressive; our culture is built around…
1. self-actualization, becoming all we can be for our own sake.
2. Possessing the latest and the best.
3. Full of Augustine’s “inordinate love” for things other than God.
ii. Recognize these things for what they are. Do you see them in your own heart and life? Once we see these things for what they are, what can be done about them?
b. We recognize Jesus in the story in that our Lord has done for us what the father in the parable did for his son.
i. When God came into this world, we would have expected him to come in wrath, to appear and drive us out with blows. But he did not. He didn’t come with a sword in his hand, but with nails in his hands. He didn’t come to bring judgment, but to bear our judgment.
ii. Jesus went to the cross in weakness, and there, voluntarily, his life was literally torn apart. And for his only property left, his garment, they cast lots. But he did it so that, when we repent, like the younger son, forgiveness and reconciliation is now available.
iii. And how does this help us with our “disordered loves”?
1. Objectively, it means there is real, true forgiveness for them. Our guilt is dealt with by Jesus’ blood.
2. Subjectively, when we see the absolute beauty of what Jesus has done for us, it captures our hearts.
a. Money can’t die for us, popularity can’t die for us.
b. There is nothing more beautiful in all of reality than the picture of a perfectly happy Being, leaving all the bliss of heaven, and sacrificing everything for the sake of rebellious, undeserving, ungrateful people.
c. The more you look at Jesus doing that, the more you will love him above anyone or anything else. He will capture your heart so that nothing matters more than he does. When you see what he’s done for you, it makes the worst times bearable and the best times leave-able.
3. This story is about the dissolution of a family. Two assaults put the family under attack. The first comes from the younger brother, the second from the older brother.
a. The first assault is on the dignity of the father.
b. The second assault is on the financial stability of the family.
c. The third assault is on the family’s status in the area.
d. The next set of assaults comes from the elder brother, which we will carefully study next week.
4. Jesus, though, was not on a quest to raise the flag for families in the first century. Underlying the story of a broken family, Jesus is answering the question “who belongs to our community?”
a. Idolatry, preferring the father’s things to the Father, destroys community.
b. We might think, “I’m not a younger brother, I’m here!”
c. When “love”, power, money, status comes available, you check out. That tells me I am a younger brother.

Lost, but He Welcomes Sinners

2010-04-23T18:54:00.000-05:00

He Welcomes Sinners
Session 2 Luke 15:1-10
Issue: How do we find and enjoy True Community? What foundation?
We are made for community. However, life together is challenging on every level; we must be refitted for it. The parable of the Prodigal Son describes a new way of perceiving, a new kind of living, a transformation that only God can bring about, which readies us to live in community.
If we are to experience this sort of transformation, the one that prepares us for true community, we must comprehend three things from the first two parables of Luke 15…
1. The nature of God.
2. The nature of sin.
3. The nature of salvation.

The religious leaders around Jesus were confused and angry over His view of God.
I. We must have an accurate view of God if we are to understand sin, salvation, and community.
a. There are three sets of people around Jesus. vv. 1-3
Luke 15:1–3 NASB
“Now all the tax-gatherers and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
And He told them this parable, saying,”
i. His early disciples, who have set aside their incomes and followed him.
ii. A group of fascinated outsiders, those excluded by their choices and their lifestyles from among the religious of the land.
iii. A group of insiders, who were critics of Jesus…

The problem: Jesus seems to connect with the wrong sort of people! The Pharisees were shocked by Jesus’ naïve association with the wrong sort of people, the sinners of the region.
They were grumbling.
• They did not hear Jesus correcting their life choices rigorously enough.
• The Pharisees were persuaded that if all Israel were to fully obey the Law of Moses, then God would bring in the Messianic age, the time of peace; Jerusalem would be the centre of the earth.
• The whole purpose of Israel was to obey God so that He would fulfill all his promises to vindicate them and restore their standing in the world.

Jesus was wrong in not excluding sinners from table fellowship, one way in which friendship and acceptance was parceled out.

NOW THOSE ARE CENTRAL ELEMENTS OF COMMUNITY: FRIENDSHIP & ACCEPTANCE.

b. There was a common confusion about God.
i. The Pharisees & scribes were attacking the very thing about God that they needed most—graciousness to all people.

That someone could be called “rabbi” and NOT preach against sin of every kind was unthinkable, just the beginning of a long list of disappointments they had with Jesus.

ii. The disciples had proven that they had no answer to the Pharisees & scribes questions and charges.
iii. The tax collectors and sinners were merely confused!

Jesus does NOT directly answer their questions. Instead, he makes up three stories, parables. His answer was a direct challenge to the Pharisees…
First, Jesus challenges the attitude of the Pharisees.
Second, Jesus challenges the categories of the Pharisees.

They were confused about the nature of sin.
We must have an accurate view of God if we are to understand sin, salvation, and community.

II. We must understand the nature of sin, if we are to deal with our sin and other sinners. Vv. 4-5, 8
a. Jesus confronts their categories of sin.
i. All three lost things stand for people who are spiritually lost, far from God.

ii. Each one was lost for different reasons, but the first two are completely UNABLE to find their way home.
1. The sheep is lost through foolishness,
Isa. 53:6—all of us like sheep have gone astray
2. the coin through thoughtlessness, and
3. the son through willfulness.
iii. The sheep taught the hearers that we are confused and hopeless, that we always do the most random, self-defeating things.
1. We show our lostness by our confusion over what matters most.
a. We believe that a relationship with a “special person” will give us hope, will grant us meaning, only to discover that that person is expecting the same thing from us and he/she is not willing to live only for us, but expect us to live only for them.
b. We believe that a particular job or vocation will grant us ultimate satisfaction.
c. We believe that the respect of our friends will make our lives significant.
d. All religions consider humans to be merely animals, who can be trained to do the right thing.
2. To be brought all the way home, we need someone who will do everything for us!
iv. The SEARCH for the lost things taught the hearers that the community in heaven celebrates sinners saved by grace.
1. What’s a community?
a. Bonded by shared values & an intense common experience.
b. Phi Delta Theta: atheist, agnostic, Catholic, Protestant, Jew.
c. Values in common brought us together, common suffering bonded us together.
2. Jesus left his community with the Father in order to bring us into a new community by his work.
3. People brought into this new community by grace have unlimited joy, because they did not earn this, they aren’t better or worse than anyone else in that community, they belong with one another and to one another.

Keller: Taken together, this is a nuanced, multi-dimensional view of sin.

b. Sin is deeply complex.
i. People in our culture joke about those who even mention sin.
ii. Yet, the track of history highlights the fact that something is desperately wrong with humanity.
1. Even in ideal settings, we do harm to our selves, to one another, and to our environment.
2. We make enemies of those we do not understand.
iii. Sin’s complexity…
1. Sin is inborn.
2. Sin is magnified by those who mistreat us.
3. Sin is deepened and personalized by our own choices.
iv. Those who ridicule any mention of sin have missed the comprehensive nature of it and the nuanced view of the Bible as sin is discussed.
c. Sin’s complexity means we must recognize it ourselves.
i. Sin is NOT merely bad deeds.
ii. Sin includes doing good things for wrong reasons.
iii. Sin is in US! Looking to any other source for life, for good, for worship, for insight, reflects sin in our souls…
powerpoint
Jeremiah 2:13 NASB
““For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns,
That can hold no water.”

They were confused about the nature of salvation.
We must have an accurate view of God if we are to understand sin, salvation, and community.
We must understand the nature of sin, if we are to deal with our sin and other sinners.
III. We must comprehend the nature of salvation. Vv. 6-7, 9-10

Luke 15:6–10 NASB
““And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? “And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’

“In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.””

a. People in every culture seek some sort of religion
i. as humanity’s search to believe in a god.
ii. Most religions emphasize gaining divine approval by obeying some set of religious laws.

b. Anyone who thinks they have found or contacted god through their obedience have little patience with those who have not searched and not found. In that sense, we disdain “sinners.”

c. Jesus through this parable teaches us that we are wrong in this view of “sin and salvation.”
i. The sheep cannot find its way back.
ii. The coin did not even realize it was lost.
iii. The categories of all religions are wrong.
1. We cannot find god by trying hard.
2. We only know God because He has come seeking us.
3. We are “saved” by his grace not as an achievement of our own.
We must have an accurate view of God if we are to understand sin, salvation, and community.
We must understand the nature of sin, if we are to deal with our sin and other sinners.
We must comprehend the nature of salvation.

Understanding the aggressive love of God, the true nature of sin, the deeper mystery of salvation…
IV. We will then have a new attitude towards one another & the lost.
If salvation comes at God’s initiative, then we will recognize the reason for joy at the end of each parable.
a. God does not look at lost people as the Pharisees do, but rejoices over them. If we see ourselves as sinners,
i. We will NOT disdain the lost.
ii. We WILL rejoice when “sinners” are reached and found.
iii. We find joy because we come into the community, the family because of HIS joyous work for us.
1. Not because we have done better than others.
2. Not because we are superior to the outsiders.
iv. That bond is more intense than any other, connecting those who have been purchased by God himself.

b. Jesus was said to be more joyful even than the shepherd of the first parable:
i. Knowing his pursuit of the lost would cost him the presence of the Father,
ii. Enormous suffering,
iii. His own death,
iv. He found overcoming joy as he contemplated finding us!

Powerpoint Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” NASB

This is the foundation of True Community.
Grace builds relationships that are unique, where…
…sinners are free to admit they are sinners.
James 5—confess your faults to one another…
…give yourself to one another, because the Great Shepherd has given himself for you
All who enter by grace will find themselves growing in UNDERSTANDING, NONEXCLUSIVE, EMBRACING, and PATIENT with those who do not yet comprehend the way to the Father.
We will not be mystified by the sinful behaviour of our neighbour, because we will recognize our own brokenness.
This is the Gospel that leads to Community.

40DaysOfCommunity Intro

2010-04-12T13:08:00.002-05:00

Lost at Philpott: Is This Community?

We are made for community. However, life together is challenging on every level; we must be prepared for it. The parable of the Prodigal Son describes a new way of perceiving, a new kind of living, a transformation that only God can bring about, which prepares us to live in community.

Who is lost?
How do you know whether you are lost?
How can we know we have been truly found?

Who is lost?
I. In the parables, the Sheep, the coin, and the son were lost.
a. The sheep was lost, helpless, and hopeless.
b. The coin was senseless; lost but didn’t know that.
c. The son was lost by design; found by intent; restored graciously.

How do you know whether you are lost?
II. You know that you are lost if…
a. You are NOT home!
i. You do NOT being home.
ii. You look for any reason to leave home.
iii. You prefer non-family to family.
b. You long to be belong and know you do not.

How can we know we have been truly found?
II. We know that we have been truly found because a celebration occurs when we arrive.
a. Joy
b. Feasting together
c. No one wants to leave again!

APPLICATIONS:
There is a sense that one can be LOST @ Philpott…
We can be “lost” even while we are at home.

Who is lost? The Bad people?
1. The “Bad” son, the Prodigal Son was lost.
2. But the “Good” son proved to just as lost.
1. Lost can mean GOOD:
Rich young ruler:
Mark 10:17–22 NASB
“And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. “You know the commandments, ‘Do Not Murder, Do Not Commit Adultery, Do Not Steal, Do Not Bear False Witness, Do not defraud, Honor Your Father And Mother.’” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words his face fell, and he went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property.”

Obedience always has its limits!

Pharisee & the “sinner”
Luke 18:9–14 NASB
“And He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. “The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.””

Those who think highly of themselves because of their obedience are in grave danger.
One of my worst nightmares: I stand here commending you at a memorial service, thinking that you had been “found,” while you are NOT enjoying the presence of God in heaven.

How do you know whether you are lost here?
i. Lost:
1. Most attend worship then leave for home.
2. About half the adults are in a small group, more this week perhaps.
3. We live our lives in isolation, we have other friends, this is not our family; that would be Lost At Phillpott. Some have only acquaintances; that would be lost….
ii. Belong:
1. I have learned to entrust my very life with a few believers.
2. I have learned to be a faithful friend to a few people who trust me.
3. My life is enriched by my participation here…
a. My spiritual life.
b. My intellectual life.

How can we know we have been truly found?
1. God seeks us, as the shepherd of the lost sheep persevered until the lost sheep was returned to the fold.
a. God is a seeking God.
b. God is the Seeker of all who are lost, regardless of the nature of their lostness.
c. Where does it say that He seeks the Lost?
iii. Lost Sheep. Luke 15:3-7
iv. Lost Coin. 15:8-10
v. Lost Sons. 15:11-32

a. Why doesn’t God seek me?
vi. But He is!
vii. If there is a God, he would be cruel NOT to show himself to his conscious creatures.

The Grace of God creates true Community among the LOST.

There are pockets in the congregation that are tasting life together. It’s meant for all. That’s our quest in the 40 DAYS OF COMMUNITY Venture …
We are made for community, but…
If we are to experience true community, a tangible LIFE TOGETHER, then we must experience the sort of DEEP CHANGE that God intends for us. That change is described in the parable of the two sons.

Shall We Dance?

2010-02-08T19:31:00.001-05:00

Fifth Sermon…
So, You Think You Can Dance?
Shall We Dance?: The Call to Discipleship
We are called into the other-glorifying Godhead. Each person of the Godhead defers to the other.
1. You can’t dance in the desert: John is alone in the wilderness. Jan 10th
2. Jesus invited disciples into the dance: Mark 1:14-15 Jan 17th
3. Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men 1:16-20 Jan 24th
4. The plot to prevent all dancing. Jan 31st

How can I join the dance around God BEFORE I am enough like Jesus that I would fit right in?
Why would God invite me to join the dance before I have made things right?

Today: Jesus cleanses those whom he calls. Mark 1:35-45 Feb 7th
How do we join the dance? At His invitation!
How do we know that we are Jesus’ disciples?
I. The Story 1:35-45
a. Jesus left town alone and prayed. 35
“And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there.

b. The disciples hunted him down, wanting him to return. 36-37
And Simon and his companions hunted for Him; and they found Him, and *said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.”

c. Jesus announced he would be visiting the surrounding towns. 38-39
And He *said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, in order that I may preach there also; for that is what I came out for.”

So, He preached in their synagogues and exorcised demons.
And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.

d. A leper found Jesus, asking to be cleansed. 40
And a leper *came to Him, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Witherington: The term lepros (from lepeiv, meaning to scale or peel off) in antiquity covered a whole gamut of skin diseases, and it is difficult to say what this man had. …In any event, the disease made the man perpetually unclean (see Lev. 13:45-47) and must have caused deep anguish, for it prevented normal relationships and fellowship with one’s neighbors and friends. This was doubly so because such a disease was often seen as a divine punishment for serious sins (see 2 Kings 5:7). Thus cleansing is uppermost in the man’s mind, for he would like to lead a normal life. Leviticus 13:45–46 NASB

i. Jesus was compassionate and touched him. 41-42
And moved with compassion, He stretched out His hand, and touched him, and *said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
And immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

ii. Jesus sent him to show himself to the priest. 43-44
And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He *said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”
iii. Jesus asked him to keep quiet otherwise.
iv. The leper launched his own tour. 45a
But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news about,
v. Jesus could no longer move about freely; people found him anyway. 45b
…to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.”

II. The Meaning of the story:
a. Jesus showed us the centrality of prayer. 1:35
“And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there.”

a. Prayer alone, early—not “this is what you should do if you are to be a disciple”
b. but “this is what disciples do—
i. like Jesus,
ii. they long for conversation with their Father, and
iii. will go to any length to obtain and enjoy that interaction.”

Not—pray to prove you are a disciple,
Not--compile the list of disciplines and check them off
But—long for Jesus, seek the Father above all else.
One sign that you have become a disciple is that you will begin to long for God the Father, to speak to Him, to hear from Him.

b. Jesus can be elusive for the very ones whom He calls to follow him!.
i. Jesus cannot be directed.
1. But he can be found if searched for.
Marcus: …Jesus has called the disciples to become fishers (a kind of hunter) of human beings, but instead they immediately hunt him down.

JESUS CALLS THE DISCIPLES, TEACHES, HEALS AND DELIVERS, THEN DISAPPEARS! MANY relate to this elusiveness of Jesus; we would follow him but we often cannot “find” him, he’s off doing the will of his father, etc.
i. We want to follow Jesus, but how can you follow someone you cannot see?!?
ii. We get upset when His leadership is unclear, just like the earliest disciples.
iii. We are confounded when he leads us to people whom we would not choose as friends.

ii. Jesus can be found by the single-minded.
Marcus: For Mark, then, Jesus is by nature elusive; yet, as the continuation of our story shows, he can be found by people who pursue him single-mindedly.
1. Who are the single-minded?
2. Those in whom he has aroused deep longings.
Marcus: When the disciples finally catch up to Jesus, they report to him that it is not only they but everyone who is looking for him (1:37)—another sign of the deep and pervasive longings that he has aroused in the populace of Capernaum (cf. 1:32-33).

c. Jesus’ compassion disturbs us, since it has no bounds, it’s not ‘containable’ or predictable, He seems to follow no rules in distributing mercy.
i. Outliers—all of Galilee!!
d. Jesus’ cleansing dismays us, since he cleanses us before we can cleanse ourselves.
a. The leper came to Jesus, acknowledging his fate.
i. He could not heal himself.
ii. His greater need was to belong again.
iii. He could not restore himself to his community.
iv. He asked for help.
1. Not “you can make me well.”
2. But “you can make me clean.”
This answers our question:
How can I join the dance around God BEFORE I am enough like Jesus that I would fit right in?
Why would God invite me to join the dance before I have made things right?

The leper sought out Jesus and asked to be CLEANSED, so that he could live with neighbours again, in a village again, with his family again.

Jesus does a similar work in us…
BEFORE we become Like Jesus, he touches us.
BEFORE we love our neighbour as ourselves, he transforms us
BEFORE we become a people of prayer, he comes near.

Next week…
This work of transformation is done in the darkness of the human soul
Forgiven and Healed! Mark 2:1-12 Feb 14th
Or, Dance Before You Walk

The Mystery of God With Us

2009-12-21T22:25:00.001-05:00

The Mystery of God With Us

Christmas Sunday. We celebrate the First Advent of Jesus, son of man, son of God.
Jesus was the Son of God, fully divine, sharing all the attributes of the Father in heaven.
The most direct way to avoid distractions during Advent is to focus on the godhead:
The Father sent His unique son to earth.
Jesus came fully divine and took on a human body. He was all God and all human.
The Spirit anointed, animated, guarded, and guided the Son in His 30 years here.

We usually have difficulty imagining all this.
Silent Night has made us think that the baby Jesus just sort of lay quietly in the manger; Away In A Manger tells us “no crying He made.”
If you’ve ever attended a birth, you will remember that there’s nothing quiet about it. The mother is not silent; once the baby appears, the baby is not silent. That night is LOUD with pain, with groaning, then with crying, with hunger, with exhaustion.
This birth was a natural birth like all typical births we experience with our babies.
It truly was a HOLY NIGHT, but it wasn’t a SILENT ONE.

WHEN SUCH THINGS ARE ADDED TO THE STORY, WE PROBABLY INTEND TO HIGHLIGHT THE DEITY OF JESUS, TO OVEREMPHASIZE THE DIVINE NATURE OF JESUS.
You will NOT hear me UNDEREMPHASIZE THE DEITY OF JESUS, apart from a mental lapse, one that should be publicly challenged!! If Jesus were not FULLY DIVINE, then I’ve wasted my life.

Our Christmas intentions are noble, but misguided. The story is vital and does not need enhancement.
Luke 2:6–7 NASB
“And it came about that while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

The story relates a PHYSICAL, natural and normal process. Jesus was born with all the elements of humanity, in its purest state.
There are many benefits to understanding the fully-human nature of Jesus.
1. His birth was the same sort of birth we experienced; He became like us.
Hebrews 2:17–18 NASB
“Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

This is not a new tension. In the FOURTH CENTURY, people from the Emperor on down were debating the Nature of Jesus.
…Gregory of Nazianius (329-89 AD.) wrote: ‘If anyone has put his trust in Him as a man without a human mind, he is really bereft of mind, and quite unworthy of salvation. For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved. If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole.

2. His life was lived with the same challenges we face.
Hebrews 2:9 NASB
“But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”

3. His death secured for us all that was promised.

Gregory the Great (540-604), ‘first pope’, bishop of Rome:
“…Guilt can be extinguished only by a penal offering to justice. But it would contradict the idea of justice, if for the sin of a rational being like man, the death of an irrational animal should be accepted as a sufficient atonement. Hence, a man must be offered as the sacrifice for man; so that a rational victim may be slain for a rational criminal. But how could a man, himself stained with sin, be an offering for sin? Hence a sinless man must be offered. But what man descending in the ordinary course would be free from sin? Hence, the Son of God must be born of a virgin, and become man for us. He assumed our nature without our corruption.
…a victim without sin, and able both to die by virtue of his humanity, and to cleanse the guilty, upon grounds of justice.”

Texts:
Philippians 2:1-12
“If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus Every Knee Should Bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;”

NIBC, FF Bruce
Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. 140-202 AD.) ‘…There is therefore…one God the Father, and one Christ Jesus our Lord, who came by means of the whole dispensational arrangements and gathered together all things in himself. But in every respect, too, he is man, the formation of God: and thus he took up man into himself, the invisible becoming visible, the incomprehensible being made comprehensible, the impassable becoming capable of suffering, and the word being made man, thus summing up all things in himself: so that as in super-celestial, spiritual and invisible things, the Word of God is supreme, so also in things visible and corporeal he might possess the supremacy and, taking to himself the preeminence, as well as constituting himself head of the church, he might draw all things to himself at the proper time.’

O, Come, O, Come, Emmanuel

2009-12-14T19:50:00.001-05:00

Here are my notes from 13 January…
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Introduction:
Today, we will celebrate Advent, the arrival of Jesus, by unpacking the meaning of a favourite Christmas Carol. During the Christmas season, we often sing these familiar songs without thought about the meaning.
Many of the lyrics are rich with Scripture, dense with meaning. Today’s carol is one such lyric.
What is a CAROL??
Mark Roberts “…the word “carol” comes from the Old French word “carole,” that refers to a circle dance.
In centuries past there were carols not only for Christmas, but for other holidays as well.

Lyric:
- O come, O come, Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

- O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

- O come, desire of nations, bind all peoples in one heart and mind
Bid envy, strife and quarrels cease, fill all the world with heaven’s peace
- Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.

Key Words
1. Come—a call for help, for an intervening visit
2. Emmanuel—a name, the centrepiece of the lyric
3. Ransom Captive Israel—buy out the prisoner, the slave, Israel
4. Exile—Israel is captive, far away from it’s home in Palestine, away from it’s God, YHWH.
5. DaySpring—poetic for DAWN
Luke 1:67 ¶ And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
Luke 1:68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
Luke 1:77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
Luke 1:78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
Luke 1:79 TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Isaiah 9:1–2; 42:7; 49:9–10 NASB
“But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon,
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
Saying to those who are bound, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
Along the roads they will feed,
And their pasture will be on all bare heights.
“They will not hunger or thirst,
Neither will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
For He who has compassion on them will lead them,
And will guide them to springs of water.”

6. Advent
7. Desire of Nations
KJV: Hag. 2:7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

“That which is desired/treasured by all nations” they will bring their wealth.

NASB: “‘And I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations; and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

Now, back to our central word:

Emmanuel—a name, from Isaiah 7 & 8
Renn –Bible words
This word is only found in Isa. 7:14; 8:8, where it constitutes the name assigned to the son born of the virgin, and means “God with us.” ‏עִמָּנוּאֵל‎ ʾimmānûʾēl (i.e., Emmanuel) specifically refers to the son born to the “prophetess,” the unnamed wife of the prophet Isaiah (see Ἐμμανουήλ Emmanouēl, below).

[Ἐμμανουήλ--This term only occurs in Matt. 1:23, where it refers to the infant Jesus as the direct fulfillment of the sign given to the prophet Isaiah
Texts:
Is. 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

Isaiah 8:6–7 NASB
““Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah,
And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah;
“Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates,
Even the king of Assyria and all his glory;
And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.”
Isaiah 8:8 NASB
““Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through,
It will reach even to the neck;
And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

NET notes
15 sn The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment.

Matt. 1:23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”

Immanuel (with us is God); name of child, symbolizing presence of ’‏י‎ to deliver his people; declaration of trust and confidence, with us is God.

8. Rejoice!

"Joy To The World!"

Questions about Gen 50:20 evil & God

2009-11-22T21:50:00.002-05:00

19. In Gen. 50:20 does it mean that God meant Joseph's brothers to sin against him? Can God ordain that people sin?

This requires a complex answer. God does not cause sin. He does create people who sin, so He can be said to be a secondary cause of sin, but we cannot accuse God of breaking His own character, which is holy, complete, perfect, etc. He is incapable of sinning.

Several times in Scripture, however, the hints are floating around that God USES sin, catastrophe, etc. for His own good purposes (Romans 8:28 most famously), and does NOT prevent all catastrophes from occurring.

Google "Alvin Plantinga" for a series of essays on good and evil. He's done some wonderful work on this topic.

Questions about Forgiveness: Subjective forgiveness

2009-11-22T21:45:00.002-05:00

18. Does the objective/subjective principle apply to human relationships?

Yes.

We forgive those who harm us in our minds (objectively), without experiencing the emotional (subjective) joy of reconciliation with them.

We forgive because it's the right thing to do (mimicking God's behaviour), though we often do NOT see an appropriate response from the person we forgive.

Questions about God's help in conflict

2009-11-22T21:43:00.002-05:00

17. When we have been hurt and are longing for love and connection that we aren't getting in a damaged relationship, what can we ask for and expect from God?

The Book of Psalms is alive with the promises of God for those who have been hurt or wounded by enemies. Read through it a little every day, looking for "what we can expect from God" when others fail us. This keeps me alive!

Questions about Forgiveness: revenge

2009-11-22T21:35:00.002-05:00

16. How are we to respond to one who says, "I forgive,' yet acts out revenge?

Reconcilation is complex.

It includes smaller steps that I did not discuss in the sermon on Genesis 50 because it wasn't in the story.

After confession, restitution follows. If you confess having stolen from someone, the next step is paying back what was stolen. If you don't, then confession seems hollow and the forgiving party will want to know when the return is scheduled! If you think you should be forgiven WITHOUT RESTITUTION, then the wounded party may appear to be acting in vengeance toward you!!!!

If confession is followed by restitution, and still vengeful behaviour comes, then that requires a second confrontation, this time on the 'confessors' part. The roles are reverse.

Questions about Forgiveness: too freely given?

2009-11-22T21:31:00.002-05:00

15. How does one forgive an offender when to do so will only swell their existing self-righteousness?

There must be more to this question under the surface.

We forgive freely. There is no warning in Scripture against forgiving-to-freely. One of the reasons people remain immature in their faith-walk is based on their lack of experiencing true forgiveness and reconciliation.

We forgive freely, but we don't forgive at a distance. True forgiveness is followed by true reconciliation. Think of the way that God forgives us in Christ, then sends His Spirit to live in us to complete our reconciliation. The only cure for alienation is "life together."

Questions about Forgiveness: annoying people

2009-11-22T21:24:00.002-05:00

14. How do you forgive someone who has not offended you, but whose very character is a vexation to your spirit due to clashing personalities?

Not sure what you meant by this. Certainly, we do grow tired of offensive character.

However, if you meant only the clash of personality, then it will help to understand those who are most difficult for you to enjoy. The book that has helped me most is titled "Understanding How Others Misunderstand You" by Ken Voges (Moody Press).

Let me be careful to also say that sometimes we are annoyed by people whom we don't like. We can't like everyone, though we must love everyone. My desire to make everyone resemble me is not a godly impulse!

Let's not classify "annoyed" with "offended" though!

Forgiving hurtful Churches

2009-11-22T21:19:00.002-05:00

13. Can you speak to the many situations where people have been hurt by churches/Christians? What can help them to reconnect with God and the church?

First, it will help them if we Christians will acknowledge that we have done harm both individually and corporately.

Second, it will help them if we show the sort of love that we speak about, including corporate love for one another. Many have said that they have found the community at PMC to be refreshing and encouraging. Models matter.

Third, there is a time to say that "not all lawyers are shysters" and there is a time when we need the services of an honest lawyer; "not all doctors are quacks" and there is a time when we need the services of an effective doctor. Not all Christians are offensive, not all churches are abusive. We all need believing friends to enjoy God's good intentions for us!

Questions about Forgiveness: Anger continues

2009-11-22T21:15:00.002-05:00

12. What happens if you have forgiven someone but they don't forgive you?

This is the way things often go.

Love persists, as mentioned in several of the previous answers.

Reconciliation requires both persons to WANT to forgive one another. Sometimes, we have to wait until they are as ready as we are.

Questions about Forgiveness: Joseph's death

2009-11-22T21:13:00.002-05:00

11. Why was Joseph embalmed when the Jewish people don't believe in this?

This was done before the Law was given to Moses, before the rabbis developed their applications, etc.

Joseph was an Egyptian leader and was treated as such. There was no law banning such.

Questions about Forgiveness: Great White Throne forgiveness

2009-11-22T21:06:00.002-05:00

10. Does God forgive those who come before the Great White Throne Judgment? If not, why not?

This is described in Revelation 20. The text says that this is a judgment of the dead. The dead are judged based on their deeds. Those whose names are not written in the book of life are NOT forgiven.

The implication is that those whose names ARE written in the book of life will have their forgiveness restated, the promise of eternal life granted in their lifetime will be affirmed there.

Questions about Forgiveness: role of prayer

2009-11-22T21:04:00.002-05:00

9. What is the role of prayer in forgiveness?

Forgiveness requires supernatural power, spiritual enabling.

We enjoy God's power only when we ask Him for it.

Therefore, prayer is essential to forgiveness. No prayer, no power.

Questions about Forgiveness: how long?

2009-11-22T20:59:00.002-05:00

8. Blame is usually considered "two sided at some point and time."
With this if forgiveness is asked for on one side, and not accepted by the other party involved, how long or often should forgiveness be asked for?

Reconciliation is either underway or not.

We delight in reconciliation, unity, etc. We only live without pursuing it when we convince ourselves it cannot be achieved or it's too painful to achieve. Then we grow numb; we forget that life is meant to be joyful (John 10:10).

We should not stop seeking reconciliation.

Questions about Forgiveness: for all families?

2009-11-22T20:54:00.002-05:00

7. Is the story of Joseph--the reconciliation of his family--God's will for all fractured families?

Yes.

Understand that there are "two wills" in God. Theologians call them His "preceptive" will and His "decretive" will. His preceptive will addresses His intentions for us and toward us. That is clear but not enforced. His decretive will involves those things which God insists will happen, the ends which He guarantees.

In regard to family reconciliation, God desires that all families be reconciled. He does not force such reconciliations. He apparently gains more glory when He persuades us to obey Him because we want to (much more glory because we ALL begin NOT wanting to obey Him to the point of reconciliation!).

Questions about Forgiveness: anger and pain

2009-11-22T20:49:00.003-05:00

6. What is the proper way to deal with our anger and pain from longstanding offenses that may be continuing?

This seems similar to a previous question, already addressed. The difference is how we deal with our own anger and pain.

First, realize that that anger and pain cannot be fully resolved without reconciliation. We cannot wait until we are all "healed up" to confront or confess!

Second, we do find healing from God as we submit ourselves to Him and ask for His intervention:

1Pet. 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
1Pet. 5:7 casting all your aanxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Third, if their offenses are continuing, then you may need to mobilize help to continue your confrontations. Jesus is quite specific about that in Matthew 18:15-20.

Questions about Forgiveness: reconciliation

2009-11-22T20:38:00.002-05:00

5. What is the relationship between forgiveness and reconciliation? What should you do if the person you're trying to forgive is continuing their offending, abusive behaviour?

Reconciliation can only begin AFTER forgiveness takes place. Both persons then have to want to reconcile, and then begin to walk toward one another.

Each offending behaviour must be confronted. If we wait until MANY offensives force us to confront, then behaviours become embedded habits. If we love someone, we will be willing to intervene before those habits become a lifestyle. Silence on our part is NOT love.

The term "abusive" is alarming. If this means sexual abuse, or physical abuse, then confrontation should be immediate and in the presence of a referee. If this is criminal behaviour, law enforcement should be notified.

Questions about forgiveness: without remorse

2009-11-22T20:34:00.002-05:00

4. If a person is living with a sin that they continue to commit and are not remorseful and have not asked God to forgive…has God already forgiven that person?

If that person is a Christian, yes. All our sin is forgiven in Christ on the Cross. We don't experience the joy of fellowship with God when we persist in sin and refuse to confess those sins. However, our STATUS before the Father is the same.

If that person is NOT a Christian, then all their sins were on Christ objectively, but they have not subjectively experienced that forgiveness, since they have not repented and confessed Christ. Conversion launches reconciliation.

Questions about Forgiveness: of an unbeliever

2009-11-22T20:30:00.002-05:00

3. How does this all work if the other person is a non-believer?

Largely the same.

At least, procedurally, we make the same approach.

Of course, if the Holy Spirit is not resident in the other person, they have fewer resources to deal with our confrontation or confession.

With unbelievers, I would have more limited expectations of reconciliation, but I would be just as persistent.

Questions: indirect approach to forgiveness?

2009-11-22T20:26:00.002-05:00

2. Was it correct for the brothers to ask for forgiveness "indirectly" (they said their father requested Joseph to forgive). Should we not, when asking forgiveness, take personal responsibility for the wrong doing?

Yes!

No doubt, the brothers felt both guilty and vulnerable. As far as they knew, their betrayed brother now held the power of life and death over them.
Most of the time, we do not fear death at the hands of those we have offended!

Questions about Forgiveness: when unacknowledged

2009-11-22T20:16:00.002-05:00

There were a significant number of questions today about forgiveness. Here are my thoughts…

1. What if the person you approach to forgive doesn't feel they did anything to hurt you in the first place?

First, remember that when you "approach to forgive" you are actually confronting someone who has sinned against you (or so you believe). They may not recognize their behaviour as offensive, so you will need to be prepared to explain how you have been hurt.

Second, most of the damage we endure from one another is emotional damage. Repeated often enough, of course, it may also damage our will, inhibiting our best behaviour. That means we should use emotional language to describe the damage or pain inflicted.
"When you did this/said this…I felt…" One can't argue with feelings; only the person with the feelings can know whether they exist.

Third, many will never admit wrong. The healthier someone is, the more likely to admit wrong.

Fourth, when we make an approach to confront and express forgiveness, we are prepared to enjoy the approval of God, even if the other person refuses to acknowledge our wounds.

God's presence, God's approval sustains us. He sustains us with the intention of "putting things to rights" in the kingdom.

Joseph's Forgiveness and Ours

2009-11-22T20:15:00.000-05:00

Forgiveness: A Chance To Live Again
I. The Story
a. The story of Jacob: Genesis 37:2 NASB “These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.”
b. The story of Judah: Matthew 1:3 “and to Judah were born Perez and Zerah by Tamar; and to Perez was born Hezron; and to Hezron, Ram;” Ancestor of David and Jesus.
c. The story of Joseph: Gen. 50:26 “So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.”
i. Joseph survived being sold as a slave, life as a slave, betrayal by his brothers and slave-owners.
ii. God intervened in the looming regional famine by warning Pharoah in a dream and revealing the meaning to Joseph.
iii. Joseph’s humble wisdom was rewarded with his management of the agricultural system and then the entire kingdom.
iv. Joseph recognized his brothers as they came to buy food early in the famine.
1. He did not reveal himself to them, though his emotional outburts show that he longed to be reconciled to them.
2. Rather than pursuing vengeance, Joseph set up his brothers to reveal their current state-of-heart.
3. The brothers show their new attitudes toward one another.
4. Joseph reveals himself and welcomes them as their benefactor.

II. The Meaning of the Story
a. The story of Jesus:
i. as Joseph wept (Gen. 42:24; 43:30; 45:2; 45:14-15; 46:29; 50:1; 50:17), so Jesus wept (John 11:35—over Lazarus’ death; Luke 19:41—over Jerusalem)
ii. as Joseph went to Egypt, so Jesus went to Egypt (Matt 2:14)
iii. As Joseph forgave his brothers, so Jesus asked the Father to forgive his executioners, (for they don’t know what they do: Luke 23:24).
iv. The message of Jesus:
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery: Forgiveness
Jesus’ command that people forgive their fellow humans “seventy times seven” times (Mt 18:22; Lk 17:4), buttressed by a parable involving the canceling of debts (Mt 18:23–35).
The imagery of an equation appears in Jesus’ statements about God’s forgiving people as they forgive others (Mt 6:12, 14–15). The parable of the prodigal son and the forgiving father is a picture of human forgiveness but also a metaphor of God’s forgiveness (Lk 15:11–32).

b. The story of our lives, there is enough blame to go around:
i. Jacob created the circumstance whereby his other sons hated Joseph: broken families always have a cause; there is REASON to be fractured.
ii. Joseph added to the family tension by his lying about his brothers’ behaviours, by actually wearing the coat-of-favoritism in front of his brothers, and by arrogantly relating the dreams God had given him.
iii. Reuben, the eldest brother, could have taken Joseph aside and explained to him how family dynamics work, how life together functions.
iv. Judah betrayed his brother, selling him to the slave-traders.
III. We take away…
a. Motivation for Forgiveness.
i. We forgive because we have been forgiven.

Col. 2:13-14 ‘He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross’

C. S. Lewis--If God forgives us, we must forgive others. Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than him.

ii. We forgive so that we might EXPERIENCE FORGIVENESS.
IVP—Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels
God’s forgiveness cannot be effectively received except by those who are ready to forgive others. This is given special emphasis in Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer by being made the subject of a unique comment: “If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done” (6:15). The same thought is expressed positively in the previous verse, and in different words in Luke 6:37. There is even a scale of gratitude: the greater the forgiveness, the greater the love (Lk 7:47).

iii. We long for trusting community.
iv. We are wounded and grow numb when we do not forgive over time.
v. We experience less of God and less of one another when we cut ourselves off from the wounding person.

Illus: We may think, “I’m still angry with Fred or Mary, so I’ll just enjoy the smaller circle of my friends more richly.
Then you learn what CS Lewis learned: you need an entire circle of friends in order to truly know one another, to bring out the best of each person. True Friendship requires many in the circle, not just one other person. We cannot spare the loss of a friend to an offense, ours or theirs.

b. Means of Forgiveness.
i. We take the initiative.
Matthew 5:23–24 NASB
““If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”

Matthew 18:15 NASB
““And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.”

ii. We forgive because we were forgiven before we confessed!

Ephesians 2:1–6 NASB
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,”

Ephesians 2 teaches that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Once we are born again, we are alive. Dead men can't confess sins. Only God can initiate this process. Augustine, Luther, Calvin, etc. were all clear on this point.

iii. We can forgive because we have experienced forgiveness.
Refusal to forgive others until they have repented and asked to be forgiven would mean that we would grow angrier and angrier throughout our days, because many of the people whom we know will hurt us and will not repent or ask to be forgiven in thoroughly genuine ways. Waiting for their confession, we would be left with a deepening, burning rage.

The mechanism of forgiving…
c. Mechanism of Forgiveness.
i. Forgive with the mind: We know TO DO that.
1. Remember my own BROKENESS.
2. Remember my REDEMPTION: what Christ has done for me.
3. Even though I can’t FORGET, I FORGIVE.

Colossians 3:13 “bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”

ii. Forgive with the will: We CHOOSE to do that;
1. We ACT AS IF WE HAVE FORGIVEN the other person.
2. Repay evil with good.

1 Thessalonians 5:15 NASB
“See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all men.”

3. What we think, say, or do, we ACT as if we have forgiven.
a. We may REMEMBER THE SIN AGAINST US.
b. God says that He “remembers our sins no more.”
i. He means that He does not take our past into account when He thinks of us, speaks to us, acts toward us.
ii. We DO NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WHAT THE OTHER HAS DONE AGAINST US WHEN WE THINK OF THEM, SPEAK TO THEM, OR ACT TOWARD THEM.

C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, chap. 3, para.10, pp.24-5
"There is no use in talking as if forgiveness were easy. We all know the old joke, 'You've given up smoking once; I've given it up a dozen times.' In the same way I could say of a certain man, 'Have I forgiven him for what he did that day? I've forgiven him more times than I can count.' For we find that the work of forgiveness has to be done over and over again."

iii. Forgive with the emotions.
Forgiveness on an emotional level requires rebuilding trust. Full forgiveness means that a relationship has been reconstructed, following the proof of trustworthiness.
THAT REQUIRES BOTH PARTIES TO BE ACTIVE, and it REQUIRES TIME TO RE-EARN, TO RE-BUILD TRUST.
That is what the Kingdom of God entails. We will trust one another. It begins here, today.

The Joseph Story Summarized-Joseph, Recognize & Remember!

2009-11-16T13:17:00.003-05:00

We began the study with a "reader's theatre" presentation of the story, from Gen. 37 through 45, abridged. The 20-minute reading highlighted the occurrences of "remember" and "recognize this" in the text.
The sermon was impromptu, but these notes prompted the presentation…

Joseph: Recognize & Remember

The Joseph narrative is threaded with two themes: knowledge and recognition.

We may learn much if we see that Joseph had knowledge that no one else had:
* He was given two dreams, which highlighted his role in God’s purposes. The dreams were fulfilled in his experience: his brothers DID bow to him, even though they did not recognize him.
* He was given the interpretation of the baker’s dream and the cupbearer’s dream. They were both fulfilled within three days: one restored to the palace, the other executed.
* He was given the interpretation of the Pharaoh’s dreams: seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine.
* He knew his brothers in Egypt, even though they did not know him.
* He knew God’s good purposes for him, though his brothers lived in fear because they did not.

I. We can hardly miss the importance of KNOWLEDGE in this story!
1. What you know matters.
2. What you don’t know, God knows; if you trust God, then that gives you rest.

II. The second theme is RECOGNIZE!!
A. Recognize your behavior, Judah!

B. Recognize divine activity, brothers!

C. Recognize God’s purposes in your life, Joseph!

D. Recognize God’s purposes in Jesus’ life, disciples!

Luke 24: On the road to Emmaus…
Luke 24:25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Luke 24:26 “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”
Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

Jesus talked the two disciples through the stories of Genesis, Exodus and Numbers, explaining how He was the
NEW AND GREATER ADAM, who brought grace, eradicating sin from the world
NEW AND GREATER NOAH, who saves all who within him from deserved destruction.
NEW AND GREATER JACOB, whose spiritual offspring fill the earth
NEW AND GREATER JUDAH, who loves the abandoned
NEW AND GREATER JOSEPH, who will end hunger and suffering
NEW AND GREATER MOSES, whose Word will stand forever1
NEW AND GREATER DAVID, who will rule the earth with love and justice

Luke 24:30 When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.
Luke 24:31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.
Luke 24:32 They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”
Luke 24:33 And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them,
Luke 24:34 saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.”
Luke 24:35 They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

E. Recognize God’s activity in MY life!

If recognition of God’s good intentions will free us to live life without fear,
then how do we recognize that?

Even at the times of life when we DON’T KNOW all that we’d like to know or need to know, God FLAGS our CIRCUMSTANCES to ALERT US to His good intentions for us.

If knowledge of Jesus’ present activity for us will free us to live life full of hope,
then how do we KNOW that?

PRAYER:
O, LORD, LET ME SEE ENOUGH OF YOUR WORK IN MY LIFE TO RECOGNIZE THAT YOU ARE COMPETENT, YOU ARE IN CHARGE, YOU HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN ME.

LET ME REMEMBER TODAY THAT YOU HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL THROUGH ALL GENERATIONS AND WILL BE TOMORROW.

LET ME TRUST YOU TO BRING JUSTICE TO THE WORLD, RECONCILIATION TO MY CONFLICTS.

We can know that we have trusted God to work for good in our lives
when we are able to forgive those who have done us harm.

Next week: HOW CAN WE FORGIVE AS JOSEPH FORGAVE HIS BROTHERS?
The two are linked: seeing God as ultimately in control of our lives & forgiving those who have done us harm.

If forgiveness releases us to enjoy all the goodness of God and His world,
then how do I forgive??

Discipline: Sun & Frost Q&A

2009-11-01T15:32:00.002-05:00

Question: Isn't it possible that we are seeing Joseph go through the normal process of forgiveness, including anger, crying, harshness, toying with, scaring them, putting them in prison, and then eventually reconciling with them?

Answer: Yes! These are classic behaviors, the turmoil of forgiveness and reconciliation. The remarkable aspect of this is Joseph's reluctance to exercise his absolute power over his brothers; he manipulates them but does not take vengeance. Many would have failed the test that Joseph faced here; he passed the test, restrained his power, because of his own insights into justice and mercy.

Question: God is sovereign, just and loving. There are many horrific things that happen here on earth, how come we are quick to blame God and not take ownership ourselves?

Answer: Since the Garden, when Adam blamed Eve and Cain blamed Abel, we humans have shown a strong preference for blame-shifting. It's what we do! That's not what we were made for. Look at Jesus, who not only didn't blame-shift, but took the blame for all our brokenness and violence!

Question: A lot of times we have very subtle idols just like in Egypt where people worshiped Pharaoh; what are some things besides prayer we can do to keep God the centre of our lives?

Answer: As social animals, we need one another's help for that. That might come in an accountability partnership, a small group, etc.
I am greatly helped also by appropriate reading.
Tim Keller's latest book, Counterfeit Gods, is on this topic; I have not read it yet, but have heard his messages on the topic. I'll recommend it on this topic, based on what I've heard from Tim already.

Discipline Has A Face

2009-11-01T15:28:00.002-05:00

DISCIPLINE HAS A FACE
6th Sermon: 1 NOVEMBER
Resources: Genesis, Derek Kidner
Genesis, Bruce Waltke
Genesis, Walter Brueggemann
Genesis, in Expositor's Bible Commentary, John Sailhamer
Discipline, a sermon by Tim Keller

Reading: Genesis 41:46--42:28
The story thus far…
Joseph pushed his ten brothers once too often, so they conspired to detain him and sell him to slave traders passing by.
Joseph is sold again to Potiphar, a high-ranking Egyptian, who recognized his unusual abilities and placed him in charge of his entire household.
Potiphar’s wife attempted to seduce Joseph, then when he refused, falsely accused him as the aggressor. Potiphar had Joseph arrested and placed in prison.
After two years in prison, Joseph was given charge of the prison by the chief jailer. While there, two of the King’s arrested court officers had dreams, told Joseph, who then interpreted their dreams accurately. No credit was given.
Two years later, Pharaoh had a dream, called for interpreters, who could do nothing. Joseph’s name was recalled; he interpreted the dream to the Pharaoh’s satisfaction.
Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of preparing for the dream’s fulfillment.
Now that he is out of prison, married to an Egyptian, and the father of two sons, the story grows more complex: his brothers show up looking to buy food for the famine.

NOTICE:
1. Joseph’s sons—the birth account marks the pivot point of the story.
Manasseh—nasa, ‘forget’
Ephraim—hiprani, “made me fruitful”
2. Doublets:
Literary device: doublets to “prove” that God set this up…

Sailhamer, EBC The central theme of chapter 41 is expressed clearly and forthrightly within the narrative itself by Joseph in
v.32: “the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.”
…the ASSURANCE that God will surely bring future events to pass comes from the fact that the dreams relating those events are repeated twice.
• In the previous chapter the “two” (shene 40:2) officials of the king each had a dream.
• “Two” dreams with the same meaning show that God will certainly bring about that which was foreseen in the dreams. One dream was good, the other bad. The dreams and their interpretations are repeated twice, once by the writer in the narrative of chapter 40 and then again by the cup-bearer before the Pharaoh in vv.9-13.
• After “two years” (shenath ayim v.1), the king himself had “two” (shenith v.5) dreams, one part of each dream was good (“years of great abundance,” v.29) and the other bad (“years of famine,” vv.27, 30).
• Within the narrative, each of the two dreams is repeated twice, once by the writer (vv.1-7) and again by Pharaoh (vv.17-24).
The point of the narrative is that such symmetry in human events is evidence of a divine work.

I. The Story
Waltke--The original prophecy to Joseph is about to be fulfilled quickly in the three journeys to Egypt:
first by Joseph’s ten hateful brothers (42:1-38),
second by them and his younger full brother Benjamin (43:1-45:28), and
third by all the brothers and his father, Jacob (46:1-27).

The family cannot find salvation in Egypt until the brothers are first reconciled with Joseph.

a. Scene I 42:1-38
Waltke: In Scene 1 (42:1-38), the first journey to Egypt, Joseph imprisons Simeon, promising his release upon their second journey with Benjamin in hand. However, by clandestinely placing money in their sacks, Joseph gives them the choice of either returning the money, guaranteeing Simeon’s release, or of keeping it and jeopardizing his freedom.

b. Scene 2 43:23
Waltke: In Scene 2, Joseph’s steward returns Simeon to them as soon as, but only after, they return the money to him (43:23). At the end of that scene, Joseph tests the brothers by giving Benjamin preferential treatment, but without envy the joyous brothers drink freely together.

c. Scene 3
Waltke: In Scene 3, Joseph puts the brothers to their final test of loyalty to a needy brother. This time he makes Benjamin alone appear guilty by clandestinely placing his silver cup in his sack and counseling the other brothers to return home in peace. Judah, however, offers himself as a slave in his brother’s place. Joseph is now free to discard his Egyptian mask; they prove they are brothers he can trust through thick and thin. He assures them of his good will.
…he brilliantly regroups the brothers in the same way as in the first scene of this book. However, instead of the brothers ganging up against Rachel’s son (Joseph), they rally round Rachel’s son (Benjamin). Instead of being cold and indifferent to their father, as in Scene 1, they are now filled with compassion for him.
In retrospect, it is clear that Joseph’s harsh, accusing treatment of his brothers serves both to discipline them and to test them, not to vent his spleen. Through his severe mercy they confess their sin and renounce their hateful ways (42:21, 28; 44:16). At the end of the day, he does them only good, not harm.

d. Scene 4
Waltke: In Scene 4, the act’s denouement, the whole family migrates toward Egypt to find salvation with Joseph.

II. The Meaning of the Story
a. The patterns in the story are repetitive but purposeful.
i. Joseph’s ups and downs are repeated for his brothers.
ii. The family’s ups and downs are repeated for Israel.

Waltke: Joseph prefigures Moses at the founding of Israel and Daniel at the end of Israel’s monarchy. All three, oppressed captives in a hostile land, come to power by pitting God’s wisdom against the wise of this world and displaying the superiority of God’s wisdom and his rule over the nations. They prefigure Christ, God’s wisdom, who astonishingly is raised from the cross to rule the world (1 Cor. 1:18-2:16; Rev. 12:1-5). As all were commanded to bow before Joseph (Gen. 41:43), so “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Phil. 2:10),.

iii. …and for Moses
iv. …and for David

Waltke: In the case of Jacob, this pattern was necessary to discipline Jacob and prepare him to become a true covenant partner in God’s blessing. This is less obvious in the case of Joseph. His afflictions are unjust. But each person learns dependence on God. Roop states, “The pilgrimage of Joseph from slave to vice-regent parallels the journey of Israel as escapees from Egypt to the nation under Solomon, the life of David from shepherd’s helper to king, and the story of Jesus from manger to the right hand of God…The presence of God brings life in the place of death, honor instead of humiliation, and fertility over sterility…The story depends not on the prowess of the people, but the presence of God, Immanuel (Matt. 1:20-23).” This pattern of humility and exaltation is the pattern for all saints: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (I Peter 5:6).

Brueggemann—“This narrative affirms that power is a good thing. It celebrates the capacity to make tough decisions, to face crisis boldly, and to practice prudence so that the empire can be fed…This is public power for the public good.”
Cf Christ on the teaching that the first shall be last, Matt. 19:30; 20:16; Mark 9:35; 10:31.

b. The purpose of God is to reconcile and restore, as a true Father.
i. The family was fractured and only God could bring reconciliation.
ii. The reconciled family could then be restored with blessing.

Joseph uses his knowledge of his brothers both to fulfill his calling and to test their love and loyalty to a brother in need.

i. What about the negative side of God’s sovereignty?
ii. Von Rad—What is theologicially noteworthy is the way in which the strong predestination content of the speech is combined with a strong summons to action. The fact that God has determined the matter, that God hastens to bring it to pass, is precisely the reason for responsible leaders to take measure!”

c. God used a roller-coaster to DISCIPLINE Joseph.
i. Privileged son & brother to
ii. Detained captive to
iii. Slave to
iv. Prisoner to
v. Prime Minister of Egypt.
d. Joseph used roller-coaster DISCIPLINE to change his brothers.
i. Joseph moves his brothers back and forth from Egypt to Canaan and back again.
1. Scene 1
2. Scene 2
3. Scene 3
4. Scene 4
ii. Joseph’s harsh tone is not surprising. 42:7
1. His brothers had been harsh to him, threatening death and imprisonment.
2. He was not responding in kind: how do we know?
a. They were not killed!
b. They were not imprisoned!
c. He wept at every contact.

43:24 “The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.
43:30 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
45:1-2 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping.
45:14-15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them.
50:17 Afterward his brothers talked with him. ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.”

i. Kidner Behind the harsh pose there was warm affection (42:24, etc.), and after the ordeal overwhelming kindness. Even the threats were tempered with mercy (cf. 42:16-19; 44:9,10), and the shocks that were administered took the form of embarrassments rather than blows. A vindictive Joseph could have dismayed his brohers with worthless sackloads, or tantalized them at his feast as they had tantalized him (37:24, 25); his enigmatic gifts were a kinder and more searching test.
iii. Joseph is doing for his brothers what God had done for him.
1. Dreamer to slave to servant to prisoner to prime minister.
2. Shepherds to hungry to falsely accused to restored.
Kidner—
Just how well-judged was his policy can be seen in the growth of quite new attitudes in the brothers, as the alternating sun and frost broke them open to God.

III. Where do we go from here?
a. God is SOVEREIGN and good.
i. We have all been disciplined, but by imperfect parents; thus, we fear and avoid more.
ii. God superintends such that His people are certain to experience the benefit of His promises.
1. Hebrews 12:
Heb. 12:3 ¶ For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary 1band lose heart.
Heb. 12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
Heb. 12:5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;
Heb. 12:6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”
Heb. 12:7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Heb. 12:8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Heb. 12:9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb. 12:10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.
Heb. 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

2. Philippians 1:6“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

What about us?
b. We can be RECONCILED as we acknowledge the sovereign goodness of God, who DISCIPLINES us through the choices that OTHERS make.
i. Discipline requires firm love.
ii. Discipline involves genuine mercy.

c. The Gospel
Another, greater, Joseph was DISCIPLINED, not for His own sins, but for ours.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.

Another Question about Joseph & Sexual Temptation

2009-10-22T19:34:00.001-05:00

Lane,

If Joseph "got too close" emotionally to Potiphar's wife, was he then lying when he said to the chief cupbearer, "Now I'm here in jail, but I did nothing to deserve it"? (40:15)

The Temptation of Joseph

2009-10-18T10:07:00.001-05:00

The Temptation of Joseph
Genesis 39

Reading: Gen 39:1-20 Temptations of Power, Sex, and Bitterness

I. The Story
Waltke--The events of the biblical narrative often echo previous events. These echoes declare that God is sovereign over history. God instructed Noah to build an ark. Then he brought all creatures to Noah to redeem the covenant people and accomplish the salvation of creation in the midst of natural disaster. Now God leads Joseph to build storehouses, and all people are brought to Egypt. In the midst of the natural disaster of famine, God will redeem the covenant people and rescue the world.

a. Potiphar has purchased Joseph.
i. He was the head of the army of Egypt—a high position.
ii. He was named after one of the deities of Egypt.
William A. Ward, “Egyptian Titles In Genesis 39-50”
…attached to the royal palace guard seems indicated by the description of him as “an officer of Pharaoh” and the fact that he himself could throw Joseph into the prison where the prisoners of the state were kept (Gen. 39:1, 20). Only an officer close to the palace would have this kind of authority.
IRONY…If Joseph was actually made Vizier, he thus had direct personal control over Potiphar.
Joseph as “overseer of the house” of Potiphar (Gen. 39:4).

b. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt responding to his circumstance in a remarkably different manner.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
c. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
d. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
e. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
f. From head of the prison to prime minister of the land.
Along the way…
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Temptation of Power—What temptation? Why refused? How declined?
Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of high position.
i. Difficult to wield power without being overwhelmed by that power.
ii. Potiphar’s wife is all about power, using that power over Joseph. Her power has corrupted her heart.
In contrast…
iii. Joseph used power he was granted to bless those under his influence.
1. Potiphar
2. Later, The head jailer, The cupbearer and the baker in prison, The nation, His family

iv. He was mistreated at the hands of power: [Swindoll]
1. Underserved treatment from family.
2. Unexpected restrictions from circumstances, …either physically or emotionally.
3. Untrue accusations from people.
James descries the tongue as a fire (James 3:5-6). In one day its careless, untrue statements can completely incinerate a reputation that has taken years to build.

b. The Temptation of Sex
i. We know why Potiphar’s wife was seductive.
1. She was power-mad.
Sarna: Sikba ‘immi--Come to bed with me! Her clipped proposition portrays brutish lust.

2. She was flexible.
Further, the attack had flexibility: if Joseph could not be stormed he might be coaxed, for a refusal to be so much with her could look quite unreasonable.
3. She was persistent.
Kidner: v.10—the constant pressure, day after day, was profoundly searching: it was this that would find out Samson twice in his career (Jdg. 14:17; 16:16).

4. She was effective:

Hamilton The word used for the article of clothing by which Potiphar’s wife grabbed Joseph (begged) is the same as that used in the previous chapter to describe the clothing that Tamar …removed (v.14), then put back on (v.19), the widow’s garb.
…it could refer both to an outer garment (2 K. 7:15) and an inner garment (Ezek. 26:16).
By using begged at this point, the narrator may be implying something about Joseph’s own emotional involvement in this story. He is on the verge of acting faithlessly to his master.

This makes Joseph more believable and his story more encouraging to us.
1. His resistance to temptation was being worn down by her persistence.
2. Just before he collapsed, he RAN away.

Knowing Potiphar’s wife was so seductive…

ii. Why did Joseph say “no”?
Kidner Joseph’s reasons for refusal (8,9) were those that another man might have given for yielding, so neutral is the force of circumstances.
1. His freedom from supervision and
2. His rapid promotion, which have corrupted other stewards (Is 22:15-25; Luke 16:1ff.), and
3. His realization that one realm only (9) was barred to him (which others, from Eve onwards, have construed as a frustration) were all arguments to him for loyalty.

Gen. 39:8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.
Gen. 39:9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Gen. 39:10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.

iii. How Did Joseph say NO?
Gen. 39:9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Kidner:
a. By giving the proposition its right name of WICKEDNESS (9)
a. he made truth his ally, and
b. “GREAT EVIL”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife = adultery & fornication
c. contrast Judah, who’s story of consorting with prostitutes we’ve just read

Kidner --saved his honour at the cost of his prospects; the NT recommends it (
19-20—Death was the only penalty Joseph could reasonably expect. His reprieve presumably owed much to the respect he had won; and Potiphar’s mingled wrath and restraint may reflect a faint misgiving about the full accuracy of the charge. But the unfolding story makes it obvious that God who had brought him here was preserving him for his task.
Prison—the Hebrew root suggests a round structure and therefore perhaps a fortress, which is the term used by LXX.

b. by relating all to God (9c) he rooted his loyalty to his master deep enough to hold---“sin against God”

c. by adding a technique that Joseph did NOT have available:

Heb. 3:13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

The temptation of Power
The temptation of Sex
c. The Temptation of Despondency, Despair, and Bitterness.
i. Joseph irritated his brothers; then had a change of heart in the desert.
1. Could he see why he was suffering?
ii. Joseph irritated Mrs. Potiphar, was unjustly jailed.
1. Could NOT see why he was suffering!
2. I’M DOOMED REGARDLESS!!
Imprisoned in a round, plastered, like the cistern in Dothan??

3. When I do bad things, I deserve punishment.
4. When I do well, I don’t deserve punishment.
iii. Dilemma:
1. How well must I do to avoid justice?
2. How poorly must I do to deserve justice?
3. MORALISM HAS ONLY ONE SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM:
a. make perfect choices.
iv. This is the pathway of all human religion.
v. GOSPEL: ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH WAS CAST INTO JAIL UNJUSTLY, SUFFERING CONDEMNATION WITH GUILTY CRIMINALS .
vi. INSIGHT THAT MORALISM CANNOT GIVE…
1. If Joseph had not been sold into slavery,
2. if Potiphar’s wife had not unjustly accused him,
3. if Potiphar had not had mercy on him and sent him to prison,
THEN, Jacob and his clan would not have survived the famine to come.
God was with him!
God was with him!
Westermann
The unifying motif in chapter 39 is that God was with Joseph. The presence of God is an essential part of blessing.
…Yahweh is on Joseph’s side, showering him with success, and this comes to have a wider effect on the house of the Egyptian as soon as Joseph ahs been appointed overseer. For blessing has a growing and pervasive power, just as it does in the story of Jacob in Laban’s houe.

Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.

Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and ıto him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.

Psa. 1:1 ¶ How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Psa. 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psa. 1:3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

III. Takeaways
Hamilton--Wisdom literature does not outlaw adultery because God disallows it …The sanctions in Prov. 6 include: self-destruction (v.32); wounds, loss of respect, and public disgrace (v.33); a husband bent on revenge (v.34); no way to buy oneself out of trouble )v.35). Prov. 7;23 comes the closest-perhaps—to connecting adultery and the death penalty: “he does not know that it will cost him his life.” In short, the sanctions are not historical but rational.

1. Practical advice: Run!
I Cor. 6:18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
2Tim. 2:22 But keep away from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace, in company with others who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
2Pet. 1:4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.
2. God hates adultery not because He wants to stamp out fun!
…violates His covenant model: no broken covenants
…violates His triune nature: the Godhead interrelate as Father, Son, and Spirit; the angels are not welcomed into that circle; humans participate only indirectly; thus, swirling partners misses the model

This is not about Doing Better! This is about reordered LOVES.
Where does God reorder our loves?
i. Transform a heart, through the desert.
ii. God gave sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.

What about intermarriage in Egypt?

2009-10-16T19:03:00.002-05:00

A couple of questions came in response to my statement that one of the reasons God moved Israel to Egypt was to prevent further intermarriage there, as Judah had done in Canaan.
Certainly, that does not mean that Gentiles were unwelcome in the nation of faith. In fact, the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospels contains the names of women who were not Jewish: Rahab & Tamar.
The point of remaining distinct was that of spiritual separation from pagans, not to the detriment of the pagans but preserving the purity of faith in the nation.
The point of preserving that pure faith was to have a faith to offer to the pagans!

As to the "mixed company" leaving Egypt in the Exodus, Walter Kaiser comments:

38 The “many other people” (‘ereb rab; KJV, “mixed multitude”; cf. the “swarms” of flies in 8:21 [17 MT], ‘arob ) were composed of Egyptians (some “feared the word of the LORD” in 9:20), perhaps some of the old Semitic population left from the Hyksos era and slaves native to other countries. Some of this group must be part of the “rabble” (ha’sapsup lit., “a collection”) mentioned later in Numbers 11:4. Thus the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, of a blessing to “all peoples on the earth,” received another fulfillment in this swarm of foreigners who were impressed enough by the power of God to leave Egypt with Israel after all the plagues had been performed. Another aspect of God’s display of his power was so that the Egyptians could, if they only would, be evangelized (7:5; 8:10, 19; 9:14, 16, 29-30; 14:4, 18).

Hopes that helps!!

Questions Asked via Messaging

2009-10-14T09:04:00.005-05:00

Here are the questions that I have received over the past weeks; most of these were answered "live" but I thought those who missed the interaction in the room might enjoy the quality of questions being asked!

Beauty sermons from August 2009:

Q: How do you separate the desire for acquiring beauty from materialism?
A: Tough to do so; the two easily merge. It's helpful for me to think of beauty as something to be savoured rather than possessed. Accumulating "beautiful" objects can quickly degenerate into materialism. We often prove to be simple creatures! The experience of beauty is what I am after, not the grasping of things that remind me of beauty.

Q: Is the glory of God reflected in the beauty of the new Jaguar or just in the 'creation' of nature?
A: I understand that human creative acts can reflect beauty; nature's beauty would be God's direct expression of beauty; our creative acts can mimic that. So, yes, the Jaguar IS beautiful! Not dependable, perhaps, but beautiful...

Q: Can you comment on aesthestics such as those that have adorned the Catholic Church as good or bad?
A: Wow, that debate has been alive since Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer, emptied all the statuary in his Canon's parishes. I am sympathetic to his arguments, which remind us that "no graven image" is to distract us from the beauty and glory of God. Certainly, that goes all the way back to Augustine in the fifth century, so Zwingli's argument was not new.
I do believe that Zwingli over-reacted to the issue. From childhood, I was made to feel uncomfortable with any depiction of Jesus, so that is a struggle that remains. However, the concept of beauty as expressed in painting, sculpture, etc. does NOT contradict the Commandment.

Q: How do we reconcile that the subjectivity of beauty causes some people to look at God's works without seeing beauty because of personality or spiritual disorder?
A: Paul addresses that directly in Romans 1--we are all accountable to recognize the eternal and divine nature of God in his work of creation. Psalm 19:1-6 is a root of this thought from Paul; it's not original with the apostle. We are broken at every level, thus we cannot savour beauty for all it's worth; often, we cannot even perceive beauty. The English proverb imploring the hearer to "stop and smell the roses" echoes the tendency to move too quickly through the day without even noticing beauty around, though the assumption is that the beauty CAN be perceived.

Q: The language you are using is very close to that of Screwtape. Are you saying that we should desire to possess God in the same sense?
A: Yes, I think I am saying that. We perceive the glory of God and by that perception experience Him; this is what Paul was driving home in Romans 1, not just that we are accountable but that He is available to us. Eccl 3's "eternity in their hearts" is a similar idea--we have the capacity to perceive Him, "through a glass darkly."

Q: How does NT Wright deal with the Scripture that states that the old heaven and earth will pass away and there will be a new heaven and earth?
A: Gingerly. Wright expresses the connection between the two as follows: We work hard in the present, fallen earth, believing that God will somehow take the hard work which He inspires and enables us to accomplish now as the "building blocks or stones" which will be used by Him to construct the new heaven and the new earth. He professes not to fully understand such a process, but that without such a connection, he is left with a sense of futility over work done now.
I find his guesses intriguing but not fully satisfying!
Read NTWright's "Surprised By Hope" for more detail.

Joseph's Life Cyle (which is really about Judah!)
Q: What creates favoritism then?
A: We do. This is a sign of our brokenness, our fallenness, but it is a perversion of God's ability to savour each one of us with a special kind of love and joy. He also is fully justified in preferring Jacob to Esau, based in God's own character and intention.
We are made in His image, so we have similar capacities to savour those whom we love, but we distort and twist it into a raw favouritism. Our choosing one over another looks ugly, because it reflects our brokenness rather than God's wisdom and love.

Judah's sons: Er, Onan, Shelah
Q: You imply that Er's death at God's hand was a deserving death because Er was evil. Is premature death a mark of evil and judgment?
A: Yes. Not always the evil of the dying person, though!!! All death is a a result of evil, since the Fall of Adam and Eve. "Premature" death most often happens because of someone else's evil (murder), rather than that of the dead. There are certainly occasions, like Er and Onan, where God directly intervenes and ends a life based on the devastation that is ABOUT to spread if that life were extended. This is God's role as a Just One. Without belief in a just being who makes such decisions, we are left hopeless in a world full of evil.

Q: Is God's will shaped by our culture? Eg, God's reason for killing Onan?
A: I think this question must have been stimulated by the way that I stated the point, and I don't remember precisely how I made the point.
I will say this: God DOES respond to our actions. Several places in the OT, this is plainly stated (God spoke to David: if you do this, I'll do that, etc.).
God's reasons for killing Onan had to do with the SEED. The SEED promised to Abraham was to go through Judah; Onan's refusal to provide offspring brought quick action from God, who at all times works to fulfill his promises to Abraham, without lapse.
On the other hand, our cultural decisions and tendencies do NOT shape God's intentions nor his will.

Q: How do we know that Judah had been with prostitutes before?
A: Several ways. First, Judah never expressed hesitation at bargaining with the veiled Tamar; his negotiations reflect his comfort and experience. Second, Tamar is said to have known his patterns, an apparent reference to his common behaviour with prostitutes. Third, the narrator is brutal about this, contrasting his behaviour with Tamar's, not defending him as innocent but for this one occurrence. Fourth, ALWAYS TRUST THE NARRATOR, one of the cardinal rules of reading narrative literature. Fifth, Judah's entire response of repentance (She is more just than I) is predicated on a new understanding of his moral condition, implying that this sort of thing was not new with him, but is now seen in a new light.

Joseph & the Multi-Coloured Roller Coaster

2009-10-14T09:03:00.001-05:00

Joseph & The Many-Coloured Roller Coaster
Genesis 39-40

Joseph was preferred by God as His own conduit for blessing. 39-40

Preview: Sara’s throat injury
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?

a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.

I. The Story
A story for the short-sighted; a parable for the defeated.
Joseph on the roller-coaster ride in Egypt:
1. Sold as a slave by his brothers.
2. Rising to the heights in Potiphar’s household.
3. Falsely accused and imprisoned again in the dungeon.
4. Promises from God by the gift of interpretation of OTHER’s dreams!
a. The cupbearer
b. The baker
c. The Pharaoh
5. Rising to the heights in Pharaoh’s court.

a. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt quite different.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
b. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
c. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
d. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
Along the way…
e. Power temptation—Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of the highest position.
f. Sexual temptation
i. “a wicked thing”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife.
ii. “sin”

Gen. 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
Gen. 39:3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen. 39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.
Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Gen. 39:6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.
¶ Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.

Gen. 40:4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.
Gen. 40:5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.

Gen. 40:8 Then they said to him, “We have 1had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

Gen. 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but aforgot him.

II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
New Orleans was sinking year by year, decade by decade, century by century. Some realized that, others did not.
When debi and I honeymooned there, I was stunned to see with my own eyes that the Mississippi river, held back by a levee, was ABOVE the level of the protected streets. Parts of the city were 18 feet (5.4m) below sea level.
New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen, but few knew and no one listened.

i. God sees Joseph’s character, among his brothers.
ii. God oversees the sale of Joseph by his brothers, preventing his murder through the intervention of the fourth son, Judah.
iii. Joseph’s faith response to God.
1. Gen. 40:8-- Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
2. Gen. 40:15 “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
WE CAN’T SEE OURSELVES AS WE ARE!!
DiSC—we see ourselves as other’s see us…

b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
Divine oversight of Joseph’s life and therefore of Abraham’s offspring.
i. Gen. 39--vv. 2,3, 21, 23--’the Lord was with Joseph’
1. This comment from the narrator explains the movements from the pit to the palace.
2. Joseph makes enemies for…
a. good reasons: lording it over his brothers
b. bad reasons: he refused to betray his lord
ii. He accompanies Joseph through the dessert to Egypt.
iii. He transforms Joseph’s heart on the journey.
1. Transformed from self-absorbed brat who might have delighted in the wife’s invitation.
2. Now, character enough to say, “no, this is sin, and this is wrong.”
3. The INNER TRANSFORMATION HAS EXTERNAL IMPACT.
DEEP INSIDE OUR LIVES, GOD’S PURPOSES ARE UNPACKING AND UNFOLDING.
Joseph was not aware of Judah’s move into the Canaanite camp, marrying a Canaanite woman; the drift towards Canaanites threatened God’s good purposes for Israel; the Egyptians mixed with NO-ONE! They wouldn’t even EAT in the presence of outsiders. In God’s good purposes, Israel was being moved into Egypt, to be preserved and to multiply unmixed for several hundred years.
God is at work in our lives: we just can’t yet see it all.

c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
i. Does this “bad thing” prove God is against me?
1. Things often “go wrong”!
2. Debi’s story:
Her dad was a career Air Force officer; they moved regularly from posting to posting. Twice, the assignment was Guam. During the first assignment, the family moved into officer’s housing, only to be moved again shortly.
You might imagine the frustration of a young mum, having just moved to the island with two very young daughters, only to be told they would have to move again immediately.
So, they did.
A week later, an Air Force plane crashed on approach, INTO THE HOUSE THEY HAD JUST VACATED.
I’m sure my mother-in-law was happy to have moved; and I am happy to be married to the toddler who was NOT in harm’s way.
THINGS OFTEN DO NOT GO THE WAY WE INTEND;
GOD ALWAYS WORKS OUT HIS GOOD INTENTIONS,
EVEN WHEN THEY MIGHT SEEM TO BE GOING AGAINST US.

III. Takeaways
If God is in charge of things, He must be either cruel or incompetent.
i. I’m alone.
ii. I’m deeply wounded by someone close to me, someone I trusted; who’s protecting me??
iii. I’m greatly disappointed by the circumstances of my life; this is NOT the way things were supposed to go.
This story tells us something completely different: God’s wises purposes are a fit with”bad” things that happen in our lives.

* God’s commitment to His own is unbending and without compromise, even though UNSEEN.

* God’s purposes can be recognized if we have eyes to see, but God continues his work even when we remain blind to them.
1. He doesn’t ask us NOT to believe what we see;
2. He asks us to more thoroughly believe what we hear from Him.

* God is delighted with what only God can do.
3. This is not about Doing Better!
a. If good intentions could save the day, they would have!
b. The stories of the Bible have no human heroes;
c. God’s active grace in the stories makes HIM the HERO.
4. Transform a heart, through the desert.
5. Give sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.

What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
We can be thankful that God is active in our lives, though out of sight.

ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH CAME TO WALK THE ROADS OF THE CANAANITES; HE SPOKE OF THE DEPTHS OF OUR BROKENNESS, THE GREATER PURPOSES OF GOD THE FATHER, UNFOLDING IN GRACE.
THAT NEW and GREATER JOSEPH WAS ARRESTED, STRIPPED, AND PUT TO DEATH.
All who will hear him, and trust him will become part of his family, and enjoy His friendship, FIND REST FROM WORRY AND ANXIETY, BECAUSE His purposes as good.

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.

To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth thee.

Judah & Tamar

2009-10-14T08:54:00.000-05:00

A story for the ages…
Judah & Tamar
Or, Brothers & Friends
CENTRAL IDEA OF THE SERIES: God transformed a broken family into a nation that was useful in extending the blessing of God to all.
Resources: Tim Keller’s sermon, Tamar
Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Genesis
Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, Genesis, et al
Bruce Waltke, Genesis

I. The Story
a. Joseph was Jacob’s favoured son, by Rachel.
1. This inappropriate favoritism DAMAGED the other sons.
Notice how often the word “HATED” occurs in the story: vv. 4, 5, 8.
2. Note that this hatred led them to plot murder, against their own brother! This was no mere family spat.
a. Judah arranged a Quick sale—Joseph was sold for a slave, rather than executed as the brothers wanted.
b. The deed was covered by the blood of a GOAT.
i. Goat skin was used by Jacob to deceive his father Isaac, when he stole the blessing.
b. Judah was the fourth son of Leah.
i. Judah identified in the family.
1. Leah was in despair as the unfavoured wife of Jacob. At the birth of her first four sons, she named each one by her state of heart at the time. At Reubens’ birth,
1. Reuben: sounds like—“see, a son” Jacob will notice
2. Simeon: sounds like: “has heard”, God has heard me
3. Levi: sounds like—“will join” me to Jacob
Gen. 29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” That is why she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.
4. Judah: sounds like—“sing praise” TO THE LORD only
Alter: no longer expresses hope of winning her husbands’ affection but simply gives thanks to God for granting her male offspring.
ii. Judah interceded for his brother Joseph, to prevent his death by their own brothers.
1. Either murder or removal
2. No particular pain or sacrifice involved for Judah.
iii. Judah had three sons.
1. Er, married Tamar. He was evil; God took his life; Tamar was widowed.
2. Levirate Marriage: Latin word levir, meaning "husband's brother,” practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage, i.e. that outside the clan, was forbidden.
a. Brother, brother, brother.
b. When the brothers were all dead, then the father-in-law was to take her and produce offspring for his first-born.
c. This was the rule of the day.
d. The Law of Moses had not yet been given.
3. Onan married Tamar, 38:8, who refused to impregnate her, jealous that her offspring would be called his brother’s. His own biological son would then gain the double portion of Judah’s estate, to the loss of Onan’s own other children! God took his life.
Gen. 38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”;
for he thought, “I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.”

Alter: Judah, whose lie about Joseph’s death triggered extravagant grief in his father, Jacob, now has double cause for grief himself; no grief is mentioned.

4. Shelah, the third son, Judah withheld from Tamar, blaming her for the untimely deaths of the first two sons and fearful that marriage to her might end his life as well.
a. JUDAH THEREBY REVEALS A TROUBLING ISSUE OF HIS OWN CHARACTER: His sons are HIS sons, not Tamar’s. Their bad character is a reflection on HIM, not her.
b. Blame-shifting!!
c. Lying—we know from the narrator that JUDAH HAS NO INTENTION OF PROVIDING A THIRD HUSBAND FOR TAMAR.
So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
5. Tamar is thus left destitute.
a. Living in her father’s house would be a short-term fix.
i. Life-expectancy was in the mid-30s.
ii. Once her father was dead, why would any brothers be willing to look after her?
1. A slave worked for room and board.
2. A widowed sister may attempt to claim a portion of the legacy!
b. Tamar needed a longer-term plan.

iv. Tamar will not leave Judah’s “well-enough” alone.
1. We may struggle with her demand for a husband; for her, it was a matter of life and death; no husband, no children, no income, no life.

Tamar single-mindedly pursues justice at any cost.
2. She knows Judah well enough to predict his behaviour and sets a trap for him: GOAL IS TO OBTAIN A CHILD.
a. Hearing that Judah is coming to her region as a recent widower, she dresses as a prostitute and sits in the gate of Enaim, a village on the road to Timnah, his destination.
b. “Twin Wells” an allusion to another betrothal type-scene?!?!?
c. Recently bereft, she knew that Judah would be motivated.
d. She had no doubts that Judah would consort with prostitutes.
e. “She saw that Shelah” had grown up; if the young man were with Judah, then this DOUBLES DOWN on his blatant double standard regarding sexual activity.
v. Judah sees the “prostitute” and stops to interact.
1. Assumes she is a prostitute by her dress: she had covered her face.
2. Begins to bargain: “go to you.” V.16.
3. Tamar replies in kind: what is your payment?
4. Judah offers a YOUNG GOAT FROM THE FLOCK.
5. Tamar wants a guarantee of payment.
6. Judah asks what she wants in pledge.
7. Tamar asks for his SEAL, CORD, AND STAFF.
a. Alter: equivalent to driver’s license & credit cards.
vi. The pledge exchanged, the two have intercourse.
1. She conceives.
2. She leaves.
3. She changes into her widow’s garb.
vii. Judah keeps his pledge, sending a goat by his companion.
1. The Adullamite asked for the temple prostitute and hears that no such woman has been seen here.
2. He reports back to Judah.
3. Judah drops the issue to avoid embarrassment.
4. After all, I kept my JUSTLY KEPT MY WORD.
viii. Judah is told that his daughter-in-law has conceived a child as a harlot; three months later.
1. Bring her out.
2. Burn her!
3. Alter—this speed is highlighted …by the unusual use of a passive present participle…literally, “she is-being-taken-out.”
ix. Tamar, on her way to execution, sends the SEAL, CORD, AND STAFF to Judah, saying that her consort owned these and asking, “RECOGNIZE THIS?”
x. Judah did indeed RECOGNIZE THIS.
1. His response changes the course of his life.
a. I did not give her my son Shelah, as I must have.
b. She is more righteous than I.
c. Gen. 42:21 Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.”
d. Gen. 44:33 “Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.

II. The Meaning of the Story God’s grace in our lives is unrelenting.

a. BREAK DOWN: Judah lived a life of self-indulgence, using those around, and denying responsibility for his family.
i. Judah blamed Tamar for the deaths of his first two sons; the truth is that both were evil men, denied long lives by divine judgment. Who would be more culpable for their character: Tamar or Judah?!?
ii. Judah had failed as a son of the covenant: left the land and married a Canannite, even behaved like the Canaanites; failed as a father (wicked sons); failed as a father-in-law (deceived Tamar about Shelah).
iii. GRACE intervenes
iv. When Judah saw the seal, the cord, and the staff…
1. He could have said
a. ‘so what? I’m the man.’
b. ‘The barrenness and wickedness of my sons has nothing to do with me!’
2. Instead, Judah said: SHE IS MORE RIGHTEOUS THAN I.
3. This marks a transition in his life.
a. Rather than blaming this on Tamar, he recognizes that Tamar was pursuing JUSTICE and admits his selfish, oppressive behaviour.
b. Later, at the Climax of this story, not knowing he was standing before Joseph, the brother he had sold into slavery, he pleads to take the place of his younger brother Benjamin, rather than allow the Egyptians to keep Benjamin hostage, to the collapse of his father. Judah would never have made that bargain before being caught by Tamar.
v. Judah’s change of heart Jesus described as…
1. Taking a drink of living water in John 4 at the well in Samaria.
2. Being reborn in John 3, in conversation with Nicodemus.
3. Living or abiding IN Him, in John 15.
vi. The transition into this new life occurs when Judah realizes that he is not better than Tamar.
That sort of brokenness is the doorway into a new relationship with God.

b. BREAK IN: Tamar was twice-widowed, denied a third opportunity to have children, security, and a future.
i. Tamar thought she was owed a child, either by Shelah, or by Judah directly, so she acted in pursuit of JUSTICE.
ii. Judah recognized his own double standard, and withdrew his judgment.
iii. Prostitution is just as wrong as before; social injustice is worse!
1. If we insist on a ranking, this is the divine ranking.
2. Though we should be and might be sexually pure, there are greater sins than sexual sins.
a. Passivity in the face of social justice is a worse sin than sexual impurity.
b. Food, clothing, and shelter are essential to life here.
c. We invite immigration for 235,000 people a year to Canada; we also deny recognition of their training to virtually all outsiders. UNJUST.
d. We know that literacy is essential to survival in our job market, yet we are silent in the face of illiteracy.
3. Jesus spoke to this same principle:
a. Matt. 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and 1cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Luke 11:42
b. Keeping the tithe does not excuse them from caring for their aging parents!
Until justice is done, we cannot rest.

c. BREAK THROUGH: Perez is born, the promise of blessing fulfilled.
His twin brother stuck out his hand, the midwife tied a scarlet thread, the hand disappeared, then Perez, unmarked, was delivered!
38:29 Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez.
Zerah, the RED, or shining one.
i. Perez triumphed over his red-tagged twin brother, just as Jacob triumphed over his twin brother, Esau, The Red.
a. Esau became the father of the Edomites, troubling to Israel.
b. Zerah, the RED, or shining one, became the progenitor of Achan, whose betrayal led to disaster at Jericho.
ii. God was faithful; He took this immoral act, this deception, and used it to produce a son, the father of David.
Questions for Discussion
1. What surprises you most about this story? What disturbs you most?
2. Do you recognize your own rank of injustices? Which is at the top of your list? Which things are lower in your ranking? What is missing from that list? What things should you add to the list of injustices?
3. Name one injustice that you sense the most unease about. How can we help you address that injustice?
4. Judah’s blindness to his own immoral lifestyle endangered others. How does our similar blindness impact those around us? Those not close to us?
5. The grace of God is unrelenting, according to this narrative. God provides Perez through this immoral act, fulfilling His promise to provide a seed that would bless the entire world. How has God’s grace shown itself in your life recently?

The Story of Joseph & Judah: The Coat

2009-09-28T11:39:00.001-05:00

Joseph’s Coat: The Story of Joseph & Judah
Or, Brothers & Friends

CENTRAL IDEA OF THE SERIES: God transformed a broken family into a nation that was useful in extending the blessing of God to all.
Resources: Tim Keller’s sermon, The Hiddeness of God
John Piper’s sermon, The Sale of Joseph and the Son of God
Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ in Genesis
Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative
et al

I. The Story
a. Joseph was Jacob’s favoured son, by Rachel.
i. Jacob had been disfavoured by his father, Isaac.
1. So he tried to fill the gap in his soul with Rachel. No doubt, he had seen her and thought, “Life will be good if I could have her as a wife.” And he did.
2. It wasn’t enough.
ii. Jacob did not learn from his pain; he favoured Joseph, the only son of Rachel, among all the sons of Leah.
1. This inappropriate favouritism wounded Joseph and
a. Joseph became something of a gossip.
i. V.2--“bad report”-- whispering, defamation, evil report
ii. The utterance of ‏דִּבָּה‎ marks the fool (Prov 10:18).
iii. Not merely “telling it like it is.”
b. Joseph actually WORE the special gift from his father, which set him above his brothers.
c. Joseph’s dreams, which were clearly prophetic, he used against his brothers.
i. God gave them.
ii. God intended them to be constructive!!
d. Things got so bad that even Jacob noticed and rebuked his favoured son!
Ga’ar--to rebuke, speak insultingly to
2. This inappropriate favoritism DAMAGED the other sons.
Notice how often the word “HATED” occurs in the story: vv. 4, 5, 8.
Gen. 37:4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.
Gen. 37:5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
Gen. 37:8 Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
3. Note that this hatred led them to plot murder, against their own brother! This was no mere family spat.
a. Joseph was seized, stripped, and imprisoned.
i. Strip—violently.
ii. Used for stripping armour off a foe.
iii. Used for skinning, or flaying.
b. Murder was threatened and deferred.
c. Quick sale was arranged—sold for a slave.
d. The deed was covered by the blood of a GOAT.
i. Goat skin was used by Jacob to deceive his father Isaac, when he stole the blessing.
II. The Meaning of the Story God’s grace in our lives is unrelenting.

a. Favouritism: Anything that we look to for love and happiness is the object of our worship.
i. God wants to be the object of our worship, the source of our Love, Happiness and Ultimate satisfaction.
ii. No husband, no wife, no child, no friend, no roommate can ever give us all the Love we need, nor the happiness that we are made for.

b. Brokenness: we are not only what we choose to be.
i. We are made by the choices of others.
1. Either because we follow their pattern of life, or
2. Because we invest lots of energy in becoming the OPPOSITE OF WHAT THEY WERE.
a. My dad was so coercive, I’m not going to make that mistake with my son.
b. So, you fail to discipline my own son, and he becomes a social problem; no one can deal with him.
ii. We are not as good as we think we are.
iii. We cannot repair ourselves, or even identify our greatest weaknesses!

c. Grace: God intervenes on our behalf, even if…
i. If any of these circumstances had not occurred in this way, the family might have starved in Palestine.
1. The brothers are in Dothan, not Shechem.
2. The stranger appears to redirect Joseph. Vv. 15-17
3. Reuben is there to prevent a quick and bloody end to Joseph.
4. Reuben is not there when the slavers came by, to prevent the sale.
ii. God superintended such that Joseph is sent off to Egypt as a slave.
iii. The brothers who hated their young, favoured brother will later see him as their saviour from a severe famine.

Gospel—another man came to his own people, but was rejected, betrayed for a slavers fee, stripped, and left for dead.

Series Overview:
God transformed a self-absorbed man into a family man.
a. God, knowing the heart condition of Jacob’s offspring, keeps his promise to Abraham by reconditioning the family for blessing.
b. God restores broken families.
i. Isaac preferred Esau/Rebekkah preferred Jacob.
ii. Jacob preferred Joseph.
c. God uses restored families to his good ends.

A New Kind of Love

2009-09-06T08:38:00.000-05:00

A New Kind of Love
Finding joy in Loving God

By CHRIS BURY and MARY MARSH
Sept. 1, 2009— ABC http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Story?id=8462247&page=1

John McAfee knows about risk. A mathematician by training, in the late 1980s he developed the antivirus computer software program that has become a household name. In the 1990s he pioneered instant-messaging. In both cases, he grew bored and cashed out. At his peak, he was reportedly worth about $100 million.
Like many wealthy Americans, McAfee was hit hard with the simultaneous collapse of real estate, stocks and Wall Street investment banks. But he got whacked more than most, since much of his fortune was tied up in luxury properties.
Last Saturday, auctioneers worked up bids for his 80-acre retreat in the high desert of Rodeo, N.M. With a private airstrip and hangar, it's a slice of paradise, and it's all up for grabs.

McAfee has sold his private twin-engine plane, beachfront property in Hawaii and a Colorado mansion in the shadow of Pike's Peak. His posh New Mexico getaway is the last property to hit the auction block.
"At one point, I had five houses in five different locations and it's impractical, it's almost insane to have that much real estate," he conceded. "You can only be in one place at a time."

McAfee admits that he got caught up in the culture of consumption.
"We are the ultimate consumer society," he said. "If you succeed within that culture, then you're simply more bonded to it. You feel like, 'Yes, I've got all this money, the ability to get things' ... and so you just do it. People buy yachts, they buy jets, they buy multiple homes."
McAfee himself indulged his whims and passions, spending millions to promote the sport of aero-trekking: tiny motorized kites that enthusiasts fly to explore the remotest corners of the country.

McAfee says he expects no sympathy. "Oh, God, I hope they don't have sympathy. I don't have sympathy for my position," he said. "I'm perfectly happy."

In fact, he believes that to a certain extent, the recession has served a useful purpose: "It's brought home a dose of reality," he said. "And sometimes a little pain is necessary to see and understand the true circumstances of your life."

McAfee's net worth dropped from within the ballpark of $100 million to less than $10 million, he told ABC News. But instead of feeling a sense of loss, he says he feels free.
"I feel a sense of freedom," he said. "People think that it's a joy to own things. But it really isn't."
"I'm happy to get rid of them [possessions]. I have a few pennies in my pocket. I don't have stuff to worry about," he said.
"I feel freer. I have less responsibility and obligations. And I have enough money left to feed myself," he said.
After 65 years, his attitude about money, he says, is forever changed.
"I think most people don't sit down and ask, 'What do I need?" not "What do I want?" Because we all want everything," he explained. "But what do we need? We don't need very much. We really don't ... The things we want and the things we need are two different things."

This year, you may be anticipating success by…
New friends to enjoy; new job for fulfillment;

We have many loves, but when our loves are disordered, it’s inevitable that our values get distorted under the crush of economics, fast company, etc.
We experience the most intense joy when we find ourselves loving God for all He is worth.

Premise:
I. We love many things, but our loves are “disordered” as Augustine said.
II. We can learn to love God.
III. We have designed our congregation to equip us love God and one another.
IV. If you throw in your lot with us, you will learn, with us, how
i. to love God above all else, and
ii. to love your neighbour as yourself.

Outline:
A. We know the divine expectation is that we love God above all things.
a. Our love for God consumes all that we are.
i. Deut. 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
b. Our love for God comes from God himself.
i. POSITIVELY: 1John 4:16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
ii. NEGATIVELY: 1John 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
iii. 1Cor. 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.

Problem!!!
c. Our loves are distorted:
i. We love things.
ii. We use people.
DOUBLE PROBLEM:
d. 1 Cor. 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.
We are NOT the first to see the dilemma:

David Naugle…[Augustine’s] concept of disordered love in which the soul seeks satisfaction in things that are metaphysically incapable of providing it is strikingly applicable to our day.

The quest for happiness consists in attaching ourselves in love to objects of desire that we think will make us happy. But for this to occur, a knowledge of the metaphysical order and value of objects of love is necessary such that love might be properly ordered.
Love is disordered when it seeks final happiness in temporal and finite objects, an action which engenders all kinds of pathologies in human behavior.
The human condition as envisaged by Augustine calls for nothing less than the radical reconstruction of the human personality through Christian conversion and reunion with the only proper object of happiness which is the Godhead. Augustine's own conversion experience as set forth in the Confessions is the paradigm.

B. We know that love for Christ casts all other loves into shadow.
a. Love for God is love for Christ. John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me…”
b. Love for Christ supersedes all other loves: Matt. 10:37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me;
and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

C. We understand that a surpassing love for Christ leads us into great joy.
a. 1Pet. 1:8 …and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
b. John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Obeying the command to love is not the first step to loving God
D. We must understand the place of obedience; obedience follows love.
a. John 14:15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
b. Piper: [This is] …the effect of love, not the essence of love…
E. We learn to love God when we experience God’s love for us.
a. We first experience God’s love.
b. Then we can learn to love God.
c. So then, How do we experience God’s love?
1John 4:10-12 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
i. God loved first: evidenced by the sending of the Son.
ii. Being loved of God, we love one another.
iii. AS we love one another, God perfects his love within us.
iv. We love God BY loving one another.

Appplication: HOW CAN YOU EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE?
DIRECTLY, as you pray, read the Word, meditate on His character
INDIRECTLY, mediated through friendships

Reorder your loves! We need one another to gain personal insight, to obtain the will to persevere, to enjoy the successes we may find.

Don't be forced to liquidate the objects of your love, cultivate the sort of love that lasts forever.

Reprise: If you throw in your lot with us, you may learn, with us, how
to love God above all else, and
to love your neighbour as yourself.

Gaining Joy Like Abraham

2009-04-26T18:56:00.000-05:00

Abraham’s Life Summarized: A Call To Joy

We conclude our study of Abraham’s life today…
Heb. 13:7 ¶ Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.
Psa. 102:18 ¶ This will be written for the generation to come,
That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

Piper: God ordains that we gaze on his glory, dimly mirrored in the ministry of his flawed servants. He intends for us to consider their lives and peer through the imperfections of their faith and behold the beauty of God. [p. 17; Legacy of Sovereign Joy, 2000]
If we grasp the faith of Abraham, we may taste the joy he knew.

Joy: how do we get there?

I. Abraham’s story of joy…warts and all:
1. His first crisis: he left the land of promise, to which God had directed him.
2. His first words, revealing his character:
Gen. 12:13 “Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”
3. His first error, he repeated later, as if he had learned nothing.
Gen 20—deceived Abimelech, king of Gerar, in the same sort of way,
4. He passed on this pattern to his son, Isaac, who repeated his failure in Gerar.
Gen. 26
5. His evaluation in Romans and Hebrews, however, is surprisingly affirming.
a. Gen. 15:6 Remember the startling statement
Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

b. Romans 4
i. Rom. 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham Believed God, And It Was Credited To Him As Righteousness.”
ii. Rom. 4:12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.
iii. Rom. 4:13 ¶ For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
iv. Rom. 4:16 ¶ For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham,
v. Rom. 4:17 (as it is written, “A Father Of Many Nations Have I Made You”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
vi. Rom. 4:23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, Rom. 4:24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, Rom. 4:25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

c. Hebrews 11
i. Key verse: Heb. 11:13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
ii. Heb. 11:39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, Heb. 11:40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

6. Ultimately, he received the son of promise, though he did not live in the city with foundations, the same city we seek.
a. Isaac brought true laughter to the couple and grandchildren to the family.

What sort of means might we find to OBTAIN JOY OUT OF SORROW?
II. We obtain joy just as those who have gone before us.
Follow the lessons Augustine learned:
i. Love first then obey: John 14:15
1. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
2. If you love me, THEN you will obey, “keeping Christ’s commandments results from loving Christ (Piper).
ii. Love to the point of ease in obedience. 1 John 5:3
1. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
2. Piper: loving God means keeping his commandments in such a way that his commandments are not burdensome.
iii. Love God for His own sake.
1. “I call ‘charity’ [i.e., love for God] the motion of the soul toward the enjoyment of God for his own sake, and the enjoyment of one’s self and of one’s neighbour for the sake of God.” [On Christian Doctrine, III, x, 16].
2. “If those things delight us which serve our advancement towards God, that is due not to our own whim or industry or meritorious works, but to the inspiration of God and to the grace which he bestows.”
3. Piper: So saving grace, converting grace, in Augustine’s view, is God’s giving us a sovereign joy in God that triumphs over all other joys and therefore sways the will.
4. Piper: The will is free to move toward whatever it delights in most fully, but it is not within the power of our will to determine what that sovereign joy will be.
5. LOVE GOD BY THE LOVE GOD GIVES US: Rom. 5:5 …and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6. If we do not respond to that implanted love, we have replaced it.

APPLICATIONS
1. Prayer in the pursuit of Joy.
a. Every sentence in Augustine’s Confessions, all 350 pages, is addressed to God. …Augustine is utterly dependent on God for the awakening of love to God.
Psa. 27:4 One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.

John 16:24 “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

[It’s not merely to answer that brings us joy, IT’S THE DIRECT CONNECT WITH JESUS—as we know from writing letters, texting messages, then having someone RESPOND IN KIND.

b. On Confessions: “You made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace till they rest in you.”

2. Study of Scripture in the pursuit of Joy
“…loving, or delighting in, what we know of God in Scripture will be the key that opens Scripture further. So study and preaching were, for Augustine, anything but detached and impartial, as scholarship is so often conceived today.” Piper, Legacy of Sovereign Joy, 69.

3. Enjoying the beauty of the world as a means of pursuing joy:
BETROTHED = PROMISED IN MARRIAGE, ENGAGED

“Suppose…a man should make a ring for his betrothed, and she should love the ring more wholeheartedly than the betroth who made it for her…Certainly, let her love his gift: but, if she should say, “The ring is enough. I do not want to see his face again: what would we say of her? …The pledge is given her by the betrothed just that, in his pledge, he himself may be loved. God, then, has given you all these things. Love Him who made them.”

Psa. 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Sarah's Contagious Laughter

2009-04-26T07:23:00.000-05:00

Sarah’s Contagious Laughter

Intro—Laughter—not something we associate with Church, or …with God!
I hope today that God laughs out of joy and that we are made to laugh as well.

SUMMARY:
IN our present story, God hears a different sort to laughter from Abraham and Sarah, a laughter that VEILS TEARS.
Sara and Abraham laugh not because they are full of joy and delight, but because they are childless; the promises of God to make Abraham the father of many people have exaggerated their despair. Perhaps it might have been easier to accept their barrenness had God not spoken so certainly about their prospects for parenting.

However, God does not leave Abraham and Sarai in despair…

God transforms sorrow into joy, working His good intentions through the lives of real people, even those without faith(!).

I. God honoured his promises to Abraham.

II. Cynical laughter was changed into joy.
a. God is a God of joy.
i. God laughs.
1. Sarcastically—Psalm 2—“the nations plot against ME?”
2. Joyfully—Behold my Son, in whom I am well-pleased

ii. God stimulates joy and laughter in us.
Psa. 30:5 For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
b. God worked in Abraham and Sarah to transform their sorrow into joy.
i. Abraham laughed at God’s promise.
1. Abraham believed God early on.
p. 10 Gen. 15:6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

2. Abraham lost heart after 24 years of waiting.
p. 11 Gen. 17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

3. Abraham did have faith.
a. He believed God’s promise.
b. He followed God to a new land and lived there as an alien.
c. He lost faith over time.
d. He regained his faith after Isaac’s birth, such that he was able to trust God to raise Isaac up.

p. 924 Heb. 11:8 ¶ By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Heb. 11:9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;
Heb. 11:10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Heb. 11:17 ¶ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; Heb. 11:18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac Your Descendants Shall Be Called.”
Heb. 11:19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.
4. Abraham’s faith waned over time, much time.

ii. Sarah had no faith; her pain had drained it away.
1. Evidenced by her cynical laughter:

p. 12 Gen. 18:12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

Cynical laughter is a veil for tears.
Cynical laughter happens when the tears are exhausted, when hope is dashed, after despair has set in.

Wikipedia: Bono's lyrics evoke helplessness and frustration:
“Running To Stand Still” Bono: “cry without weeping,
talk without speaking,
scream without raising your voice”

Sarah did not believe that God would fulfill His promise to be good to them.

LESSON--we must believe that GOD HAS GOOD PURPOSES FOR US, ESPECIALLY IN THE STORMS OF LIFE.
Sarah had no faith; her pain had drained it away.
Evidenced by her cynical laughter:

2. Evidenced by her lack of laughter:
a. No laughter left in their marriage.
b. No physical intimacy?
Gen. 18:12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

THEN…
3. God heard Sarah and Challenged her cynical laughter:
a. God challenged the cynicism.
b. God challenged the false laughter because He is a God of genuine pleasure and laughter.
Gen. 18:13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’
Gen. 18:14 “Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

iii. Sarah responded with some faith.
1. Hearing with faith was needed to experience conception…

Gen. 18:15 Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

2. Sarah believed God’s promise…
a. We know that because Hebrews says so.
Hebrews 11:11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.
b. We know that because she conceived the promised child

3. Sarah laughed again, transparently.
4. Sarah had a contagious kind of laughter.
Sarah wanted to share her joy with others.
p. 14 Gen. 21:6 Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
Sara understood little of the purposes of God swirling around her.
Sara’s anguish then Joy transforms US as we hear of it.

5. They name their son…Isaac = He laughs!
a. The Laughing Son
b. The Essence of Joy

Lessons:
1. We experience sorrow because…
a. We live in a broken world that brings us sorrow.
b. We are broken, which causes pain for those around us.
c. We break people and things, causing sorrow.
Therefore, We should not be surprised at sorrow, even long-term.

2. We worship a Laughing God.
a. God is pleased with His Son:
Matt. 3:17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said,
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

Matt. 12:18 “Behold, My Servant Whom I Have Chosen;
My Beloved In Whom My Soul is Well-pleased;
I Will Put My Spirit Upon Him,
And He Shall Proclaim Justice To The Gentiles.

b. We can please God, we can bring God to laughter:
Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Heb. 13:16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

3. We can expect God to transform our sorrow into joy, if we are His.
a. God turns sorrow into joy in people whom He loves.
b. Does God love us?
c. Do we believe that He does?

4. Joy and tears happen simultaneously.

5. We can expect God’s joy if we are awaiting & fulfilling His good purposes.
a. God transforms circumstances in people whose purposes are His purposes.
b. God will create a world without tears, but we do not yet live in that world, that world where heaven and earth are intimately connected.
c. God only uses barren people, husbands and wives such as Abraham and Sarah, so that He receives glory for the offspring.
d. God worked in and through Sarah.
Another BARREN ONE lived a difficult life, died an ignominious death, left this life Bereft of offspring, Yet, for the JOY SET BEFORE HIM, ENDURE THE CROSS; His catastrophic end became the reason for our HOPE; His joy in US became our reason for joy.

6. We don’t laugh enough. We might laugh more if we knew the lengths to which God works daily in our lives to provide his good gifts, just in time.

a. He did provide Seed, giving us reason to hope.
b. God works in and through us…
i. To nurture Christ-like character.
ii. To reproduce according to His kind.
iii. To bring JOY to others as they see our anguish and relief.
iv. Romans 4—reason to laugh: We are no longer under the wrath of God.

CONCLUSION
Intro—quads laughing
Those babies laughed in response to their father and their dad enjoyed their laughter as much or more than they did.

REVIEW:
1. Sarai’s problem: no children and no prospects; she was without hope.
a. BARRENNESS AS CENTRAL to the story.
Waltke: Sarai is barren; she has no children (11:30)

Gen. 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age;
Sarah was past childbearing.

b. Brueggemann: barrenness in any ancient text is the metaphor for HOPELESSNESS.

2. God’s exceptional blessings benefit ONLY the barren woman.
a. Abraham and Sarah
b. Rebekah and Isaac
Gen. 25:21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.
c. Rachel and Jacob
Gen. 29:31 ¶ Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
d. Hannah, mother of Samuel
e. Samson’s parents, Manoah and Zorah
Judg. 13:2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children.
f. Elizabeth and Zechariah
Luke 1:7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.

Abraham's Faith Extended in Prayer

2009-02-22T15:13:00.001-05:00

Abraham’s Prayer For The City

Series Theme: We participate in God’s covenant with Abraham by faith, as we respond to the divine call, are tested by God, enjoy His guidance, and enjoy the rewards of faith fulfilled in a transformed world.

2/8 Abram’s call and My Call
God called Abram to leave his family for the promise of a new and greater family, to leave his land for the promise of a new and greater land, to leave his lifeless gods to walk with the one, true God.

2/15 Abram’s faith stretched: a new family, a new land READ: Genesis 12:1-13:1
a. Abram & Jesus—called, tested, guided, rewarded
b. I am called by God: to a new family, a new home, a new vocation

Today…2/22 Abram’s Faith extended: a Prayer for the City, Gen. 12, 18:16-33
We pray most effectively when we approach God with his own words, appealing to his own attributes, seeking the extension of his righteousness to the unrighteous.

A. Abraham encountered challenges living in the Land of Promise that only God could resolve.
1. Abraham was charged to exhibit his faith, to enjoy the blessings of God’s promises to him, by living in righteousness and pursuing justice.
a. The unconditional promises of God to Abraham were also conditional in experience—God asked righteousness and justice from Abraham!
b. Abraham heard the outcry of Sodom and Gommorah, and knew that God heard as well.
c. God said within Abraham’s hearing: “shall I hide what I am about to do to Sodom & Gomorrah from Abraham, when I have covenanted with him to extend righteousness and justice to the earth? (this would require that)

Gen. 18:19 “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”
Gen. 18:20 And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.

2. Abraham expressed faith in God by praying to God in response to God’s own statements.
Gen. 18:17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,
GOD’S WORDS STIMULATED ABRAHAM’S PRAYER.
Would God have asked if he should tell Abraham if he didn’t intend to tell Abraham?

3. Abraham’s faith led him to boldly approach God for the preservation of the city.
a. Abraham challenged God to act righteously, appealing to His attributes, his character: 18:25
Gen. 18:25 “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
b. Abraham approached God humbly:

Gen. 18:27 And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes.

c. Abraham prayed in line with God’s mission—
we pray to enhance our strength, have our needs met, etc.
Abraham is using his connection to God to pray for those in Sodom, victims of violent injustice. Poor people are being trampled in Sodom; urban society oppressing the marginal and the poor. God hears and responds. Abraham knows how wicked they are: he asks to spare/forgive them! His relatives are there, yes. But if he only wanted that, he would have asked to spare the kinsmen only. He prays that the wicked city would be spared, blessed, forgiven, pardoned.

Abraham encountered challenges living in the Land of Promise that only God could resolve.
We face people and circumstances that only God can transform.

B. Abraham prayed in this way because he understood God’s character.
1. Abraham focused on the attributes of God.
Gen. 18:25 “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
Justice!
Grace! Gen. 18:19 “For I have chosen him,
God loves the undeserving.
2. Abraham took the next step of grace and understood that God would NOT only NOT condemn the righteous along with the unrighteous…

3. …but He might agree to spare the unrighteous because of the righteous.

a. In effect, condemning the righteous because they are in the city with the unrighteous would mean that unrighteousness is IMPUTED to the righteous.
The guilt of the many can be imputed to the few.

b. NOW, Abraham is asking for the reverse.
IMPUTE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE FEW TO THE MANY.

In one of the most shocking accounts in history…
c. God agrees.

Gen. 18:24 “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?

Abraham encountered challenges living in the Land of Promise that only God could resolve.
We face people and circumstances that only God can transform.

Abraham prayed in this way because he understood God’s character.
We pray most effectively when we approach God with his own words, appealing to his own attributes, seeking the extension of his righteousness to the unrighteous.

C. We can pray as Abraham prayed.
1. Prayer is our response to what God does, what God says.
2. God is so much greater than we are, yet he forgives us.
3. Being good is not the key to answered prayer, or to divine intervention.
i. NOT: the good are God’s; the bad people are sent to hell.
ii. RATHER: all who will ADMIT they are evil are ready for Grace; the proud are without hope.
4. The Gospel helps us recognize evil, and simultaneously desire good for our entire city.

Keller: Many centuries later, someone came along who could walk this pathway …, who was righteous enough to transfer righteousness and spare the city.
Jesus took the divine wrath upon himself!
Jesus gave his life, praying for people who WERE killing him! “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Jesus took the divine wrath of cosmic justice into his own self.
God said that HE would accept the righteousness of one person for the many, if it were THAT man (Jesus).

APPLICATION:
a. Would you forgive the unrighteousness of the many for the righteousness of a few?
b. Fewer?
c. Very few?

Gospel: 10’
1. Abraham approaches God to deal for the imputation of righteousness to the many.
a. Approached as if in a court of law.
Nagash—a commoner approaching an exalted person with respect
AN enemy approaching for battle;
A defense attorney approaching the judge with a case.

b. Forgive the many for the righteousness of the few.
TWOT-- Yet clear examples of approaching God the judge are evidenced, i.e. coming into a courtroom prepared to argue a case (Gen 18:23).
This image of a courtroom is used forcibly by the prophet Isaiah to call Israel and the nations into account (Isa 41:1, 21; 45:20–21). The servant of the Lord boldly proclaims God as his advocate before his enemies. He has no fear of being proven wrong (50:8).
Note courtroom context!!

c. God accepted the concept of transference of righteousness.
d. God held out for the ONE Righteous human whose purity could be imputed.
2. Advocacy is key:
a. Abraham advocated for Sodom and Gomorrah
b. Jesus advocates for us daily, asking that the ONE death be accepted as sufficient for each person.
1John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
Heb. 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

c. We advocate for our unrighteous neighbours.
i. We acknowledge that evil is real.
ii. We approach God over the evil around us.
iii. We humbly acknowledge our part in the evil. 18:27: “dust and ashes”
iv. We advocate for the imputation of righteousness to our evil neighbours.

APPLICATION:
Are my prayers like this?
Am I controlled by love for the people I don’t like?
How do I respond to the evil folk around me? In the next neighbourhood?
Can I pray for their forgiveness? Approaching Easter, this seems essential.
Jesus, the antidote to divine justice and wrath.

3/1 Sarai’s barrenness, Gen. 11
Series Theme: We participate in God’s covenant with Abraham by faith, as we respond to the divine call, are tested by God, enjoy His guidance, and enjoy the rewards of faith fulfilled in a transformed world.
Sarai’s barrenness was central to the story of Genesis:

Abraham's Faith Stretched

2009-02-22T15:10:00.001-05:00

Abraham's Faith Stretched!

2/8 Abram’s call and My Call
Why????? WHAT IS MY CALL? HOW CAN I ACKNOWLEDGE DIVINE PURPOSE IN MY LIFE??? HOW CAN I BE SURE THAT I AM FOLLOWING CHRIST AND NOT MERELY MY OWN IMPULSES?
God calls me in similar ways: I am called to love Christ more than I love all my relatives and friends, to live in anticipation of a new creation, and to worship God by enjoying Him forever.
God calls us in these ways: as a faith community, as the global body of Christ…
We leave behind what is comfortable for the sake of a new and greater family, a new and greater land, a new way of relating to the One Who made us.

2/15 Abram’s faith stretched: a new family, a new land READ: Genesis 12:1-13:1
Series Theme: We participate in God’s covenant with Abraham by faith, as we respond to the divine call, are tested by God, enjoy His guidance, and enjoy the rewards of faith fulfilled in a transformed world.
God’s call contains seven (i.e., the symbolic number of completeness) elements:
1. I will make you into a great nation’
2. I will bless you
3. I will make your name great
4. you will be a blessing
5. I will bless those who bless you
6. whoever curses you I will curse
7. all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (in the favored seventh position)

I. Abram was called to a new land, given a new family
a. Abram & Jesus—called, tested, guided, rewarded
i. Abram was called, as summarized.
God called Abram to leave his family for the promise of a new and greater family, to leave his land for the promise of a new and greater land, to leave his lifeless gods to walk with the one, true God.

ii. Jesus was called, anointed for his work by the Spirit.
Psa. 2:7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
b. I am called by God: to a new family, a new home, a new vocation

Abraham was called and we are called. RECOGNIZE? RESPOND!

II. Abram was tested by the call
a. Testing by the call to leave home, by the failure of crops in the new land, by the wait for the promise, etc. He failed the test of truthfulness when his first words were to coach Sarai to lie to the Egyptians (we often find ourselves challenged to bend the rules when we find ourselves in places we shouldn’t be).
b. Jesus was tested by Satan in the wilderness, by the many acts of obedience, by the cup of death on the Cross.
c. I am tested by the call to love Christ above all others, to treasure His companionship above my longings for all other friendships,
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

d. I am tested by the call to love my neighbour as myself.
e. I am tested by the call to “make something of the world,” to its restoration to the Garden.
f. I am tested by the nature of my call:
i. I am called to walk with God—I will have a growing hunger for conversation with Him, by His Word, by prayer, by His Spirit.
ii. I am called to be a part of a larger family, in some ways alien to my nuclear family.
iii. I am called to make something of the world:
1. To preserve it, restore it, improve it.
g. I am tested and sifted for motives. WHO NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED? Doesn’t God know?
Abraham was called and we are called.
Abraham was tested and we are tested. Recognize the TEST? Embrace the TEST!
Savour the goodness of God toward you…Rom. 8:28—good life, health, work, friends,
Rom. 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Recognize none of these? [“Relative deprivation”] Take a trip with me!

III. Abram was guided…
a. Abram experienced the guidance of a good God.
i. He was guided to a new land.
ii. He was guided through that land, boundary to boundary.
iii. When he left the land out of fear and sought refuge in Egypt, Sarai was guarded from Pharoah and Abram was guided back home.
iv. To the rescue of Lot
v. To the resolution of the Ishmael conundrum.
b. I can experience the guidance of God.
i. I am guided by the Spirit as I look to the HS for strength and control (Eph. 5:18).
Eph. 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
ii. By my life choices, understanding my spiritual gifting and potential impact on the Body of Christ.
iii. Of a mate—more when we get to Isaac!
iv. Of a vocation.
v. Of A family of disciples.

Abraham was called and we are called.
Abraham was tested and we are tested.
Abraham was guided and we are guided. Recognize? Respond!!
Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you
IV. Abram was rewarded…
a. Abram experienced the goodness of God in his lifetime.
i. With a son(s).
ii. With many offspring
iii. With the Seed (Jesus—Gal. 3:16)
Gal. 3:16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.

b. I enjoy the reward of God.
i. I enjoy Him and his goodness directly.
Psa. 34:8 O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

ii. I find nourishment and delight in His Word.
Psa. 119:103 How sweet are Your words to my taste!
Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

iii. I find rest in Him and from Him.
Matt. 11:28-29 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and You Will Find Rest For Your Souls.

iv. I am rewarded by the call with enjoyment of
1. fresh fruit (Gal. 5:23),
2. new fruit (John 15), and
3. new hope (trust that God will be faithful to me at the end of days as he has been yesterday and today).

v. In the future, I will be welcomed into His presence without fear, to walk with Him and work for Him in a new earth, merged with heaven.
Abraham was called and we are called.
Abraham was tested and we are tested.
Abraham was guided and we are guided.
So, WAS Abraham rewarded?

Keller—“Abraham left but never arrived. Never sees it. Lives his entire life in the gap between vision and reality.”

Abram & me—called, tested, guided, rewarded

Recognize YOUR Reward???

GOSPEL Jesus had a call:
HE Left security in his father’s house, without knowing what it was like in the depths.
He lost his father ‘My God, my God, why hast thy forsaken Me?’ so we could gain His Father.

2/22 Abram’s Faith extended: a Prayer for the City, Gen. 12, 18:16-33

Abraham's Family of Faith 8 Feb 09

2009-02-22T15:09:00.001-05:00

Abraham’s Family/Abram’s Call

Why this story matters to us:
1. Abraham is referenced some 70 times in the NT!
2. Abraham is labeled the means of blessing to the whole world; that would include us AND our neighbours and relatives.
3. “Like Noah before him, is a second Adam figure.
a. Adam was given the garden of Eden: Abraham is promised the land of Canaan.
b. God told Adam to be fruitful and multiply: Abraham is promised descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven.
c. God walked with Adam in Eden: Abram was told to walk before God.
d. In this way the advent of Abraham is seen as the answer to the problems set out in Genesis 1-11: through him all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Gordon Wenham
4. We are said to be ‘grafted-into’ the lineage of Abraham, made to be his family.

Rom. 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

5. Abraham was called by God to be the father of blessing to the whole world. We, too, are called.

Rom. 8:28 ¶ And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Rom. 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
Rom. 8:30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

This is individual.
a. We are called individually by God into faith.
i. No call; no faith!
ii. No faith; no life, no belonging, no mandate.
b. We are grafted into Abraham’s lineage, a part of the whole.
c. We have our joy enhanced when we share life together…

John Piper: “our joy in all that God is for us increases when it expands into the lives of others”

WE ARE BOTH DISTINCTIVE INDIVIDUALS AND PARTS OF THE WHOLE.
I am Abraham’s son.
I am God’s means of delivery for blessing to the world.
Start school tomorrow morning with that in mind and see what happens!

This raises more questions than it answers…
The Call—leave the land of Ur/Babel; WHENCE?
The Land—never owned land to live on; WHEN?
The Son—but they were too old to conceive; HOW?
The Sacrifice—the son of promise was to be offered?! WHY?

I believe that his life is a magnificent story of God’s personal intervention, divine rescue, and infusion of character and faith.
Abraham is no hero. His faults and failures are all too real, too transparent. But, when Abraham heard God’s promises and believed Him, God launched a work in Abraham that has the globe still vibrating.

The story begins…as a story of family, “the generations”…
Gen. 5:1 ¶ This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
Gen. 6:9 ¶ These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.
Gen. 10:1 ¶ Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood.
Gen. 11:10 ¶ These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood;

Gen. 11:27 ¶ Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot.
Gen. 11:28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
Gen. 11:29 Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.
Gen. 11:30 Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Gen. 11:31 ¶ Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there.
Gen. 12:1 ¶ Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
Gen. 12:2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
Gen. 12:3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Gen. 12:4 ¶ So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Gen. 12:5 Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.
Gen. 12:6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.
Gen. 12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
Gen. 12:8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.
Gen. 12:9 Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.

“go”—12:1,4
“bless”—five times: vv 2-3
“land”—seven times: 11:31; 12:1, 5b, 5c, 6a, 6b, 7
“built an altar”—12:7b, 8b and again in 13:18

CONTEXT EXPLAINS THE NARRATIVE:
1. Adam & Eve thrived then crashed in the perfect Garden.
2. Their offspring became so brutally violent that God FLOODED THE WORLD to end the madness, saving only Noah and his family.
3. The Eden mandate was repeated, but Noah’s offspring refused, settling in Babel rather than multiplying in order to cover the earth as managers.

Now, generations later, Abram lives in Ur: 140 miles south of Babylon, between Baghdad and the head of the Persian Gulf; Sumerian, third millennium.
Worse, he is married and childless.
Gen. 11:30 Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Waltke: Sarai’s barrenness is the centerpiece of the story in Chapter 11…

A Introduction: Terah and his offspring (11:27)
B The family lives in Ur of the Childeans; Haran dies (11:28)
C Abraham takes Sarai as his wife; Nahor marries Milcah, whose father is Haran (11:29)
X Sarai is barren; she has no children (11:30)
C’ Terah takes (laqah) Abraham, along with Abraham’s wife Sarai and Lot, whose father is Haran (11:31a)
B’ The family leaves Ur of the Chaldeans and settles in Haran (11:31b)
A’ Conclusion: summary of Terah’s life; his death (11:32)

Keller Genesis 11—the race is spiraling down
One ray of hope in 9-11, a single family tree, the family of Seth
Seth called on the name of the Lord—true worship
Terah = moon; Ur was the center of lunar worship
The last family who knew anything about God disappeared.
Joshua 24—your forefathers lived beyond the river and worshiped other gods

Not only has the last family who knew about God lost its knowledge, but it is also about to physically disappear as well.
Garrett
The theme of God’s purposes overcoming symbolic barrenness (see 54:1) recurs with Rebekkah (Gen. 25:21), Rachel (29:31) and Hannah (I Sam. 1:2) and it foreshadows the virgin birth (Luke 1:26-38). All these women actively commit themselves to God’s grace.

This is a DOUBLE DISASTER: out of place, out of potency.
God waited until the crushing weight was felt fully.
God intervened with a call that required faith.
Abraham “amened” God.
God rewarded Abraham’s faith with blessing.
God promised Abraham.

APPLICATIONS:
a. Adam was given the garden of Eden: Abraham is promised the land of Canaan.
i. WE ARE GIVEN THE EARTH TO CARE FOR.
b. God told Adam to be fruitful and multiply: Abraham is promised descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven.
i. WE ARE TOLD TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF JESUS AND FILL THE EARTH WITH GODLY OFFSPRING.
c. God walked with Adam in Eden: Abram was told to walk before God.
i. WE ARE PROMISED THAT GOD WILL GUIDE OUR STEPS.
d. In this way the advent of Abraham is seen as the answer to the problems set out in Genesis 1-11: through him all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Gordon Wenham
i. WE ARE THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD

Keller: The call reshapes so that you ask, ‘where can I most be a blessing.’
Live for the blessing of others and I will bless you.
Don’t wait until you have completed your coursework; found the ideal job; achieved promotion to a safe position…

Garrett: The Gospel of Abraham
The hope of Abraham and of the nations for salvation depends on God fulfilling his promises to give a son (Gen. 15:1-6; Luke 2:28-32). To that end, the births of both Isaac and Jesus are miraculous (Gen. 17:15-18; 18:12-14; Matt. 1:18-25). Paradoxically, however, both sons have to die and be raised from the dead before they can fulfill their missions: Isaac typically, Jesus Christ literally (Heb. 11:19).

Miroslav Vulf: “the courage to break his cultural ties was the original Abrahamic revolution. Christians depart from their original culture. Christians can never first of all be Asians or Americans or Russians or Tutsis and then Christians. Christians are Christians first. Christians take a distance from the gods of their own cultures and because they give their first allegiance to the God of all cultures and his promised future.…But, Now in Christ, departure is no longer a spatial category. It takes place within the cultural space one inhabits. It involves neither a modern attempt to build a new heaven out of the world. Nor a postmodern restlessness that fears to arrive anywhere. When Christians respond to the call of the Gospel, they put one foot outside their culture while the other remains firmly planted in it. Christian’s distance is not flight from one’s original culture but a new way of living in it because of a new vision of peace and joy they have in Christ.”

Abraham had to live out of faith in the arrival of a son.
Isaac points us to the real Son.

Keller: Jesus got a call:
Leave your father’s house.
Left ultimate security
Left not knowing where he was going: into the abyss
He lost his father so we could gain his father.
‘My God, my God, why hast thy forsaken Me?’

Praying The Purposes of God

2009-01-13T22:20:00.001-05:00

This is the concluding sermon to our Week of Prayer…

Praying the Purposes of God

What have we experienced and learned this past week?
• A definition of prayer
• We come to God in Awe & Wonder
• We give God Glory because He shows us His glory.
• We come to God many ways; for instance, in stillness—silencio
• We come to God desiring His holiness:
o He is complete; we are not.
• He intends to complete us, to fill in the missing parts.
o He is righteous; we are not.
• He makes us righteous by his indwelling Holy Spirit.
• We pray in order to MEET WITH GOD, not merely to obtain the things we want.

Today, we complete our WEEK OF PRAYER.
What motivates prayer?
I. We pray according to our needs.
a. We were created to enjoy Him.
Gen. 3:8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day,
i. He is personal enough to want to meet our needs.
ii. He is powerful enough to meet our needs.
iii. He is wonderful enough to satisfy our deepest longings to enjoy Him, to know HIM.
b. We were created needy.
Our needs include the basics of life.
i. We have a short list of basic needs.
1Tim. 6:8 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

Our need may turn us to God for help.
ii. We instinctively trust ourselves; Jesus teaches that we must learn to look to God to meet all our needs.
Matt. 6:11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.

Our deepest needs require far more than food and clothing.
iii. We have greater needs than the physical ones.
Deut. 8:3 “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

c. We were created by a need-meeting God.
i. His delight is to hear our request for help and mercy, to hear us say that only God can meet this need of ours.
ii. IT’s the way He is.

Is there no limit to what we might ask God to do or to give?
II. We pray according to the will of God.
a. We pray according to God’s will.
i. 1John 5:14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
ii. John 14:13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
iii. John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

b. We pray according to God’s purpose.
i. He is God.
ii. His purpose is to highlight His own glory.
1. Is. 42:8 “I am the Lord, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.
2. Is. 66:18 ¶ “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.

c. We pray according to God’s plan.
Sidney Greidanus:
Redemptive-Historical Progression:
God placed the first human pair in a beautiful garden, Paradise, “the garden of God,” where they could live in the presence of God. But the human Fall into sin led to disastrous consequences: God drove them out of the garden; the close communion with God was broken. Human sin resulted in such violence that proper development of human life and culture became impossible. God sent a great flood to cleanse the earth and make a new start with Noah, who built “an altar to the Lord” (8:20) to rededicate the cleansed earth to God. But humankind again defied God at Babel, resulting in God confusing their language and scattering them across the earth. Then God called Abram to leave his father’s house and its gods. God would make a new start with him in the land of Canaan, which was watered “like the garden of the Lord” (13:10). Canaan was to become another Paradise—a beachhead on earth for the kingdom of God.

Antidote to Extravagance?

2008-12-22T11:56:00.001-05:00

Helpful essay by a thoughtful writer:

The Bare Necessities
Marketing Luxury Goods in a Bad Economy, by Christine Rosen

Welcome To Our World!

2008-12-21T21:29:00.006-05:00

Fourth Sunday of Advent @ Community of Grace, Hamilton, Ontario

Christmas Flesh: Welcome To Our World
Introduction
Today, our fourth look at a Christmas carol. First, Hark, The Herald Angels Sing. Second, God Keep You Happy, Gentlemen! Last week, Joy To The World.
This fourth lyric was penned in the past decade, by Chris Rice. The musical setting is more lullaby than hymn, so it’s not commonly thought to be a carol.
More than most all the carols, though, this song expresses the dramatic essence of the birth of Jesus in human form, simultaneously describing the purpose of his body.

First, Jesus came as an answer from God.
I. We cry out for a word from God.
Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God 
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
a. Tears are falling/Hearts are breaking.
b. We need to hear from God.
c. You’ve been promised.
d. We’ve been waiting.
e. WELCOME!

Scripture:
Psa. 130:5 ¶ I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope.

Is. 65:24 “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

EBC,The greatest of all the blessings they will know, however, will be a relationship with God in which there is complete harmony between their prayer and his will, between his desire to provide and their dependence on him to give (v.24). Verse 25, taken almost entirely from 11:6-9, is a reminder that these blessings come only through the Messiah while the words “dust will be the serpent’s food” (alluding to Gen 3:14) remind us that the overthrow of Satan, the great serpent (Rev 20:2), is the result of the work of the woman’s offspring (Gen 3:15).

Rom. 1:1-4 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

Implication: The longings of our heart drew God’s response in Jesus; before we asked.

Second, Jesus arrived unexpectedly.
II. We welcome a Stranger we were not prepared to receive.

Hope that you don't mind our manger How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger Make Yourself at home  Please make Yourself at home

Rom. 8:26 ¶ In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
Rom. 8:27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

First, Jesus came as an answer from God.
Second, Jesus arrived unexpectedly.
Third, Jesus came as the answer to our deepest need.
III. The Stranger finds us full of violence, hungry for meaning, and awaiting word from heaven.
Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
a. Your peace/our violence.
b. Your food/our hungry souls.
c. WORD now breaking heaven’s silence.
i. The prophets had not spoken for 400 years!
ii. Prepare Ye The Way Of The Lord—Isaiah
Is. 40:3 ¶ A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
iii. Jesus was called THE WORD by John.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

First, Jesus came as an answer from God.
Second, Jesus arrived unexpectedly.
Third, Jesus came as the answer to our deepenst need.
Fourth, Jesus came in a vulnerable body.
IV. The Holy Stranger is a fragile child.
a. Fragile finger—
i. tiny, as every baby’s.
ii. Healing, rather than needing another’s strength.
b. Tender skin—
i. Tender—in need of protection.
ii. Prepared to tear—The skin of this baby would be pierced & torn.
iii. Tiny heart whose blood would save us.
1. Scale—a baby’s little heart seems barely strong enough to pump blood to its body.
2. Jesus’ heart is pumping blood enough for us all.

First, Jesus came as an answer from God.
Second, Jesus arrived unexpectedly.
Third, Jesus came as the answer to our deepenst need.
Fourth, Jesus came in a vulnerable body.
Fifth, THE CLIMAX; Jesus came to die.
V. The body of this baby is designed to…
So wrap our injured flesh around You
 Breathe our air and walk our sod
 Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
 Perfect Son of God Welcome to our world!!!!
a. Wrap our injured flesh around you: COVER YOURSELF WITH US/COVER US WITH YOURSELF!!
i. Our injured flesh—symbolic of our suffering & our brokenness.
ii. Around You—vivid description of the Messiah’s burden, our own sin.

…Gregory of Nazianius (329-89 AD.) wrote: ‘If anyone has put his trust in Him as a man without a human mind, he is really bereft of mind, and quite unworthy of salvation. For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved.

Gregory the Great (540-604), ‘first pope’, bishop of Rome: “…how could a man, himself stained with sin, be an offering for sin? Hence a sinless man must be offered.
But what man descending in the ordinary course would be free from sin? Hence, the Son of God must be born of a virgin, and become man for us. He assumed our nature without our corruption. …a victim without sin, and able both to die by virtue of his humanity, and to cleanse the guilty, upon grounds of justice.”

Is. 53:4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
Is. 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
Is. 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

b. Breathe and walk as we do.
Jesus also breathed our air and walked the land as we do.
c. Take away our sin.
d. Make us holy. Phil. 1:6—Having begun a good work in you, he will carry it on to completion.

Welcome to our world!!!!

2008-12-21T21:29:00.003-05:00

Welcome

2008-12-21T21:29:00.001-05:00

Joy To The World!

2008-12-14T12:15:00.000-05:00

Advent, 3rd Sunday

Joy To The World!
INTRODUCTION
I. Background to the Christmas Carol
a. Isaac Watts, Reformed kid
b. Hymn-writer as a challenge by his father.
i. Bored with the Psalter-based singing
Mark Roberts: …many of the Psalms were not easily sung in their existing form. The meter just wasn’t right.

ii. Challenged by his father to write his own hymns.

Mark Roberts: Watts’s early efforts, however, were more in keeping with his Reformed background. In 1719 he published The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament. In this collection of hymns, Watts used the biblical Psalms for his foundation. Then he rewrote the words, both so that the final result could be easily sung in English, and so that it reflected the reality of Christ.

iii. Isaac did: some 750 hymns!
1. Penned poems that restated, summarized Scripture, rewriting the Psalms as if David had known all that we know of Christ.
2. * Come ye that love the Lord
3. * Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
4. * O God, Our Help in Ages Past
5. * When I survey the wondrous cross
6. * Alas! and did my Saviour bleed

c. Wrote JOY TO THE WORLD as a translation of Psalm 98.
Mark Roberts: One of these reframed psalms provides the text for our carol “Joy to the World.” This was not meant to be a Christmas carol at all. In fact, apart from the fact that “the Lord is come” and the overall sense of joy, there isn’t anything “Christmassy” about “Joy to the World.”

d. NOT a Christmas hymn! Based on a melody by Handel.

Psa. 98:1 O sing to the Lord a new song,
For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
Psa. 98:2 The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
Psa. 98:3 He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Psa. 98:4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
Psa. 98:5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
With the lyre and the sound of melody.
Psa. 98:6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.
Psa. 98:7 Let the sea roar and all it contains,
The world and those who dwell in it.
Psa. 98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy
Psa. 98:9 Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with equity.

II. Psalm 98 is a Psalm of God’s rule over the earth.
a. Each of the psalms 93-100 expresses wonder and celebration of God’s present reign and impending rule over the earth.
b. God created the earth, and rules the earth.
III. Joy To The World rewrites Psalm 98.
a. Compare the two in Mark Robert’s table.

Joy to the world! The Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room;
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and nature sing.
And heav’n and heav’n and nature sing. 4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD. 7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it.
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ.
While fields and floods,
Rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy 2 The LORD hath made known his salvation (KJV)
8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy 9 at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming to judge the earth.
No more let sin and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found. Here Watts strays farthest from the words of Psalm 98.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness.
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders of His love. 3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. (KJV)
9 . . .for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

b. See the structure of the psalm.
i. 98:1-3 God’s deliverance in the past.
ii. 98:4-6 Worship of the Great King.
iii. 98:7-9 Anticipation of God’s Coming
EBC, Willem A. VanGemeren
Nature echoes and reverberates the joy of God’s people as they anticipate the coming of the Great King (cf. Isa 55:12). The rejoicing of animal and plant life in the sea and on earth (v.7) constitutes the totality of all of created life (cf. 24:1; 96:11), as does the contrastive pair “rivers” and “mountains” (v.8). The “groaning” of nature (Rom 8:19-21) will give way to rejoicing at his coming.

c. The Lord has come: the first time in Jesus to Bethlehem.
WBC, Marvin Tate
He has ‘remembered’ his commitments and obligations to Israel (v 3); that is, he has been actively involved in the implementation of his commitments …

d. The Lord has come: looking back from the visible rule of God upon the earth.
i. Let earth receive her king…
1. Acknowledge him as king.
2. Receive/Embrace him as king.
3. Prepare room for his rule in each heart.
a. Just as NO ROOM WAS FOUND THEN.
b. Room in each heart now,
c. Room in every heart then.
ii. Even heaven and earth will sing his praise.
1. Much is made in Scripture of nature celebrating God.
Psa. 47:1 ¶ O clap your hands, all peoples;
Shout to God with the voice of joy.
Psa. 98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy
Is. 55:12 “For you will go out with joy
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

2. Robert Alter:
There is a concordance between the human orchestra—in all likelihood, an actual orchestra accompanying the singing of this psalm—with its lutes and rams’ horns, and the orchestra of nature, both groups providing a grand fanfare for God the king.
The thundering of the sea is a percussion section, joined by the clapping hands of the rivers, then the chorus of the mountains.
…the Israelites chanting the poem’s words of exaltation, to the accompaniment of musical instruments, are invited to imagine their musical rite as part of a cosmic performance.

e. Prepare yourself now for the glorious return of our Lord.
i. Enjoy the first arrival, which we celebrate this season.
ii. Anticipate the second arrival,
EBC, Willem A. VanGemeren
They who welcome their Great King need not fear, because they are the recipients of his victories. He has gone to great length to save them.

Psa. 98:9 Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with equity.

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen!

2008-12-13T21:48:00.000-05:00

Advent, Week Two

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen!
INTRODUCTION
God rest you merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Saviour
Was born upon this day,
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
For Jesus Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas day.

• Centuries old, anonymous authorship
• At least eight musical settings.
• Many English villages had their own versions of the lyric.
• Many parodies, notably by G.K. Chesterton
• Used by Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol, so it became even more important
• Long the most popular Christmas carol in the UK.

God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen too tipsy from partying?
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

Mark Roberts: “To rest someone merry” meant “to keep someone happy.”
In other words, this wasn’t a wish for happy people to rest, but for people to be and to keep on being happy because Christ is born.

DISMAY: The language is quite old and obscure.
What does it mean?
Dismay: consternation and distress, …caused by something unexpected

We live in a world that dismays us…
• …the challenge of Christmas shopping in a mad rush, seeking gifts that no one needs.
• …the frightening images we see on-screen each week, highlighting the awful status of life under an oppressive government, without its necessities.
• …frustrating scenes provided daily by those who would govern us, warring parties each punishing one another, while all insist that it’s being done for our good.

Yes, this Christmas season, there is much to be dismayed about.

CENTRAL IDEA: The birth of Jesus is the antidote to dismay.
This familiar Carol of Christmas reminds us that our consternation and frustration can be resolved.

How does the birth of Jesus provide relief from our dismay?
1. The birth of Jesus provided TRUE RELIEF
a. for the shepherds.
i. These may have been very special shepherds, just outside Jerusalem; many have speculated that these were the sheep and lambs prepared for the Temple sacrifices in the city.
ii. These shepherds, as Israel, found comfort in the promise that their lambs offered as Temple sacrifices would give them opportunity to worship God with a clear conscience.
b. for us… to “save us all from Satan’s power.”

I’m especially concerned about the evil I see demonstrated against the weak and the broken. That is truly dismaying, shocking.

i. Satan’s power is manifest in the wanton destruction of life, the expression of cruel might against the helpless of the earth.

The lyric reminds me that my concern about evil should include my OWN tendencies.

ii. Satan’s power is manifest in our own lives, “when we were gone astray.”
iii. We share in the problem, evil has infected our souls as well as the world’s major perpetrators.
1. Hannah Arendt: The Human Condition, “the banality of evil”
…the great evils in history generally, and the Holocaust in particular, were not executed by fanatics or sociopaths but rather by ordinary people who accepted the premises of their state and therefore participated with the view that their actions were normal.

2. Isaiah 53:6

Is. 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

Then Paul adds another Isaiah passage to several Psalms…
iv. Romans
Rom. 3:15 “Their Feet Are Swift To Shed Blood,
Rom. 3:16 Destruction And Misery Are In Their Paths,
Rom. 3:17 And The Path Of Peace They Have Not Known.”

Which leads ME to an essential insight…
v. My life is in need of radical transformation, as well as the lives of those whom I fear and am dismayed by.

So what’s the solution to spiritual DISMAY?
2. My dismay is aptly treated with “TIDINGS OF…
a. Comfort—treatment for dismay.
Hebrew-- delight, comfort, delight, enjoyment,
to find consolation, regret;

My dismay is aptly treated with “TIDINGS OF…
b. Joy—antidote to dismay.

Comfort & Joy: a baby cries out of boredom, then quiets when a jangling toy is dangled within reach; comfort then transforms into joy.
A mother receives a false report of the death of a son, then is transformed when the boy walks in the front door.
A secretary types out a memo ordering layoffs for all employees, then discovers that she will be retained for the duration. COMFORT & JOY

So, where do I find both comfort and joy in the Story?
Comfort—for Israel, as in Handel’s Messiah, “Comfort ye, my people, for your warfare is past, accomplished, your iniquity is pardoned. Isaiah 40

Comfort—for these particular shepherds in Israel…
Their need for sacrifice was about to be forever fulfilled.

Comfort—at the foot of the Cross, Jesus said to his mother, one of three Mary’s there.

John 19:25 …But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
John 19:26 When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
John 19:27 Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

Jesus gave COMFORT at the most unexpected moment.

Comfort for all—Matt. 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
IF JESUS USED SUCH AN AWFUL MOMENT IN HIS LIFE TO GIVE COMFORT TO HIS MOTHER AND HIS DISCIPLE, THEN HE WILL NEVER MISS AN OPPORTUNITY TO COMFORT TO YOU.

But the lyric highlights JOY as well…
Joy—at the gravesite, after discovering the tomb was empty, and the ‘gardener’ nearby.

John 20:16 Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
John 20:17 Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
Jesus gave JOY at the most unexpected event, his appearance after death.

CONCLUSION:
1. Jesus gives comfort today. He gives comfort to all who come to him:
Matt. 11:29-30 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and You Will Find Rest For Your Souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

Our rest, our merriment, our happiness is deeply rooted in the work that Jesus did for us, beginning with his humble birth, involving his life of teaching, healing, and concluding with his death for us all.
The resurrection of Jesus means that our happiness, is guaranteed for all time and eternity.

2. Jesus gives joy today.
John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

How might Jesus give you comfort today?
Dismayed about the pressures of this season?
About a disappointment in someone? In yourself?

Jesus gives comfort and joy; He is able to keep someone happy.
Come to the Cross!