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.....
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
The Spirit's work in us gives us a New Sort of Life
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 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
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
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
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Spirit Points to the Son: May It Be To Me…
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!
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!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Persecution & the Idol of Approval
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.
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.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Why Does God Allow Evil?
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.
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.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Isn’t it intolerant to say you’re the only true God?
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.
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:
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
