Sunday Leftovers (6/15/08)

Galatians says much about the Fatherhood of God, but not everything. One more truth that is found elsewhere is this: God loves and is (and always will be) “well-pleased" with His Son (2 Pt. 1:17); we are in His Son (Eph. 1:17; Col. 2:20) — therefore He loves us with a Son-like love!

The pleasure that He finds in His sons is found in the familiar parable of the waiting father and the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). Of that story, author Philip Keller writes this:

…despite all that the profligate son did to dismay his father, the parent's attitude toward him never deviated. In spite of all the shame, suffering, scandal, and loss, the father's love never minished. Instead there went out from him forgiveness, compassion, love, and concern.…[But the older brother's] pride and self-esteem prevented him from enjoying all the benefits at his disposal. This was simply because he did not believe what his father said. He was trying so hard to earn and merit by diligent service what was already rightfully his as the elder son. His plight is almost the more pathetic of the two. It shows us a man who really never got to know his father. The picture painted for us is that of a person who sees God as his Father, as someone harsh and hard and very demanding. He has never sensed His love, compassion, generosity, and fantastic forgiveness. And because he keeps his father at arm's length there has never been that wondrous sensation of feeling those open arms flung about him. He has never felt accepted. He has never felt wanted.

Sunday Leftovers (6/8/08)

Why is substitutionary atonement so important? Two reasons — one theological and one applicational.

For the first, J. I. Packer offers a summary definition of the atonement in his article, "Sola Fide: the Reformed Doctrine of Justification":

This is the characteristic doctrine of the Reformation concerning the death of Christ. It was an act of obedient substitution on his part, an acceptance in his own person of the penalty due to us, in virtue of which the holy Judge declares guilty sinners immune from punishment and righteous in his sight. The great exchange is no legal fiction, no arbitrary pretense, no mere word-game, on God's part, but a costly achievement. The divinely established solidarity between Christ and his people was such that he was in truth "made sin" for us, and "bore in his soul the dreadful torments of a condemned and lost man," so that in our souls the joy of knowing God's forgiveness and favor might reign forever. This, to the Reformers, was the heart and height of the work of divine grace, not to be wrangled over, but to be trusted and adored.

For the latter, Milton Vincent, in his book A Gospel Primer, offers a summary application of the gospel — preach it to yourself every day:

There is simply no other way to compete with the forebodings of my heart, and the lies of the world and the Devil than to overwhelm such things with daily rehearsings of the gospel.…As long as I am inside the gospel, I experience all the protection I need from the powers of evil that rage against me. It is for this reason that the Bible tells me to "take up" and "put on" the whole armor of God…

That God would tell me to "take up" and "put on" this gospel armor alerts me to the fact that I do not automatically come into each day portected by the gospel. In fact, these commands imply that I am vulnerable to defeat and injury unless I seize upon the gospel and arm myself with it from head to toe. And what better way is there to do this than to preach the gospel to my self and to make it the obsession of my heart throughout each day?

Sunday Leftovers (6/1/08)

Communion is remembrance and celebration not only of what Christ has accomplished already at the cross, but also an anticipation of what will yet be fulfilled completely. Thinking about the themes concerning the cross we have already talked about the last several weeks, that means:

• we recall His work of salvation and anticipate salvation from all the consequences of sin.
• we recall the necessity of His death and anticipate the necessity of our own death — and the necessity of our glorification.
• we recall the willingness of His sacrifice as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world and anticipate the complete removal of the flesh of sin.
• we recall His sparing us from judgment and anticipate His full work of righteous judgment.
• we recall His fulfillment of the Law and await the completion of His imputed righteousness.

A remembrance of Christ's work on the cross is incomplete without also remembering His future work, and trusting it completely.

That is, remembering the past with gratitude will become a stimulant to anticipating the future with trust. One reason believers fail to persevere in trust is that they have failed to cultivate gratitude in the past. They are ungrateful for the past (and don't see God's graciousness at work), so they worry about the future (fail to see the potential for God's sovereign ability to act with grace).

John Piper says it this way:

…the great redemptive works of past grace — for example, the death and resurrection of Jesus — are indispensable foundations for our faith in future grace. But their power resides precisely in that — they purchase and certify future grace in which we hope. The life and death of Jesus were God's Yes to all his promises (2 Corinthians 1:20). Christ came into the world 'to confirm the promises given to the Fathers' (Romans 15:8). Because of Christ's death, God will 'with him freely give us all things' (Romans 8:32). Those whom God has justified, he will most certainly glorify (Romans 8:30). Past grace is the foundation of life-transforming faith in future grace.…True gratitude exults in the riches of God's grace as it looks back on the benefits it has received. By cherishing past grace in this way, it inclines the heart to trust in future grace. [Future Grace]

Communion is valuable not only because it is an act of obedience to Christ, and not only because it stimulates us to remember Christ's past work, but also because it stimulates us to trust Him for His future provision.

Sunday Leftovers (5/25/08)

Sunday afternoon I began reading a book I bought about a month ago — Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to the Passion of the Christ. The author, Stephen Nichols, is attempting to trace the history of American thought towards Jesus Christ and how that thinking was heavily influenced by contemporary cultural values. It has not made for a healthy understanding of Christ at the end of the first decade in the 21st century. It is that unhealthy and unbiblical thinking about Christ that has motivated my current sermon series, seeking to give us a more complete view of the magnitude of Christ's atoning work on the cross.

The last paragraph of his introduction sounded the warning for today's American church particularly well:

The history of the American evangelical Jesus reveals that such complexities as the two natures of Christ have often been brushed aside, either on purpose or out of expediency. Too often his deity has been eclipsed by his humanity, and occasionally the reverse is true. Too often American evangelicals have settled for a Christology that can be reduced to a bumper sticker. Too often devotion to Jesus has eclipsed theologizing about Jesus. Today's American evangelicals may be quick to speak of their love for Jesus, even wearing their devotion on their sleeve, literally in the case of WWJD bracelets. But they may not be so quick to articulate an orthodox view of the object of their devotion. Their devotion is commendable, but the lack of a rigorous theology behind it means that a generation of contemporary evangelicals is living off of borrowed capital. This quest for the historical Jesus of American evangelicalism is not just a story of the past; it perhaps will help us understand the present, and it might even be a parable for the future. This parable teaches us that Jesus is not actually made in America. He is made and remade and remade again. What will next year's model look like?

Sunday Leftovers (5/18/08)

What does it mean that God is a righteous judge? John Piper offers this explanation:

God’s righteousness is essentially his unswerving allegiance to his own name and his own glory. God is righteous to the degree that he upholds and displays the honor of his name. He is righteous when he values most what is most valuable, and what is most valuable is his own glory. Therefore God’s justice, his righteousness, consists most fundamentally in doing what is consistent with the esteem and demonstration of his name, his glory. God would be unrighteous if he did not uphold and display his glory as infinitely valuable.

That righteousness to uphold and defend and honor His name and person as the most glorious treasure also necessitates the judgment of God — that is, His judgment of sin and unrighteousness (or "undelight" in Him — treasuring other possessions or people above Him) is right for Him.

So He pours out His wrath on unbelieving people.

And He pours out His wrath on Christ so that all who believe in Christ are spared His wrath and given His righteousness.

Do not miss this: there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). No condemnation. No disparaging looks. No regrets for His saving work. No further judgment. The lexicon for the Greek New Testament says that the word condemnation "does not denote merely a pronouncement of guilt, but the adjudication of punishment." This is Paul's very point in Rom. 8 — there is no longer any punishment to be passed down by the Judge. Judgment is done. We are free.

This is why we can say in response to the Biblical truth of the gospel — be joyful!


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In one of my illustrations Sunday morning, I made passing reference to the number of believers now in China. Later in the day, I picked up my latest copy of Christian History & Biography and found that the entire issue was devoted to China and the influence of Christianity in that country, particularly over the past 100 years. I am a long way from finishing it, but it looks to be very interesting (at the moment, none of the articles are yet posted online, but over the next few weeks, they will post them).

Sunday Leftovers (5/11/08)

A few thoughts about various items in Sunday's sermon —

Ransom is release from sin. And I need release from sin (though you and I are both want to admit it). In a recent blog post on Desiring God, Abraham Piper helped me think clearly about this issue. We usually think ourselves to be more righteous than others who have more obvious demonstrations of inherent unrighteousness. But, reflecting on the story of the woman caught in adultery, Piper notes,

[Jesus] seems to have two categories in this story: perfect and not perfect. So what Jesus really suggests is, if you are in the latter category, what in the world do you think you’re doing judging other people who are also imperfect just like you?

The fact that I’m imperfect in a different way—that I don’t sin the same as the guy who gave me the old highway salute—is totally irrelevant to Jesus. As long as I’m any kind of sinner, no matter how benign my faults might seem, I am still just that—a sinner, the same as an adulteress or a gesticulatively angry driver.

There is only one place I belong, and it’s not standing with stones in my fists, threatening someone else in the “not perfect” category. No, the only place I belong is crouching in hope at the feet of Jesus with the adulteress, and hopefully, with that other guy on the interstate, too.

Jesus is right: worldly leadership is proud, authoritative and "tyrannical," and not servant-hearted. I thought much about verse 42 in this passage, and thought about numerous secular books on leadership that often tout something akin to what we would recognize as servant leadership. Is Jesus' statement accurate?, I wondered. Then I thought of the implications of the words are recognized and lord it over them and great men and exercise authority. What Jesus is pointing to is the issue of pride and self-exaltation (and not Christ-exaltation) and self-dependence (and not Christ-dependence).

And then I thought of a book written 20 years ago by historian Paul Johnson, in which he sought to examine the personal lives of those who have significantly influenced intellectual thought in Western culture. He examined the lives of men like Rousseau, Shelley, Marx, Tolstoy, Hemingway and Sartre, asking the question, "How did they run their own lives? With what degree of rectitude did they behave to family, friends, and associates? Were they just in their sexual and financial dealings? Did they tell, and write, the truth? And how have their systems stood up to the test of time and praxis?"

This is how he concludes The Intellectuals:

What conclusions should be drawn? Readers will judge for themselves. But I think I detect today a certain public scepticism when intellectuals stand up to preach to us…The belief seems to be spreading that intellectuals are no wiser as mentors, or worthier as exemplars, than the witch doctors or priests of old. I share that scepticism. A dozen people picked at random on the street are at least as likely to offer sensible views on moral and political matters as a cross-section of the intelligentsia. But I would go further. One of the principal lessons of our tragic century, which has seen so many millions of innocent lives sacrificed in schemes to improve the lot of humanity, is — beware intellectuals. Not merely should they be kept well away from the levers of power, they should also be objects of particular suspicion when they seek to offer collective advice. Beware committees conferences and leagues of intellectuals. Distrust public statements issued from their serried ranks. Discount their verdicts on political leaders and important events. For intellectuals, far from being highly individualistic and non-conformist people, follow certain regular patterns of behaviour. Taken as a group, they are often ultra-conformist within the circles formed by those whose approval they seek and value. That is what makes them, en masse, so dangerous, for it enables them to create climates of opinion and prevailing orthodoxies, which themselves often generate irrational and destructive courses of action. Above all, we must at all times remember what intellectuals habitually forget: that people matter more than concepts and must come first. The worst of all despotisms is the heartless tyranny of ideas. [my emphasis]

Those who serve as worldly leaders — those who are esteemed as "great men" — are, in fact, unworthy as leaders because they are unworthy servants. Just as Jesus said.

Because Christ paid such a great price to redeem us from sin, our hearts should abhor that sin. Yet so often we are inclined to and even love the very thing Christ has redeemed us from. Spurgeon said it well —

Do you roll sin under your tongue as a sweet morsel and then come to God's house on Sunday morning and think to worship Him? Worship Him! Worship Him, with sin indulged in your life! If I had a dear brother who had been murdered, what would you think of me if I valued the knife that had been crimsoned with his blood?...Sin murdered Christ; will you be a friend to it? Sin pierced the heart of the incarnate God; can you love it? Oh, that there was an abyss as deep as Christ's misery, that I might at once hurl this dagger of sin into its depths, whence it might never be brought to light again! Begone, 0 sin! You are banished from the heart where Jesus reigns!

Sunday Leftovers (5/4/08)

Since I didn't quite finish my sermon, here are a couple of thoughts that remain in my mind from this great passage:

What is interesting to note is that not only does the NT picture Christ as the lamb sacrificed, but also as the priest who offers Himself as that sacrifice (Heb. 9:10ff). It is a reminder that Scripture uses as many different pictures as possible for us to understand the depth of Christ’s work. There is no one image that is adequate for portraying the infinite wonder of Christ's atoning work (in fact, Eph. 2:7 suggests that it will be our eternal preoccupation and that the Lord will eternally unfold the riches of His grace extended through the cross).

Not only is Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, but He is the eternal Lamb. Revelation 13:8 tells us that there are names that have been written in the Lamb's book of life from the foundation of the earth. That is, already in the eternal past, God had ordained the coming of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ and the salvation of those who would trust in Christ — the Lamb of God. The sacrifice of Christ was not an afterthought on God's part, nor was it a secondary plan after the intrusion of sin "messed up" His plan. That Christ would be the sacrificed Lamb has always been God's eternal plan and purpose. John Piper said it this way:

…before the world was created there was a book called the “book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” The Lamb is Jesus Christ crucified. The book is the book of Jesus Christ crucified. Therefore, before God made the world he had in view Jesus Christ slain, and he had in view a people purchased by his blood written in the book. Therefore, the suffering of Jesus was not an afterthought, as though the work of creation did not go the way God planned. Before the foundation of the world God had a book called “the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” The slaying of the Lamb was in view before the work of creation began.

And one final implication of Christ's sacrifice: If I am in conflict with another believer, or if I do not "like" (or love!) another believer, or if I am harboring unkind thoughts and judgmental attitudes toward another believer, I must recognize that the person I dislike is the person that was loved by the Triune Godhead in eternity past to the point that Christ joyfully and willingly endured the sacrifice on the cross to redeem and save that person for His glory! So on what basis might I say that it is acceptable to be purposefully out of fellowship with such a person. Yes, that person may think and act very differently than me, may have different priorities and desires than me, and may even be difficult to engage in conversation, but that is the very person that is the object of God's eternal and divine affections. How can I remain out of fellowship with Him and in fellowship with Christ?

Sunday Leftovers (4/27/08)

As I mentioned in my message, I have long been struck by the repeated emphasis on the necessity of Christ's death.

He had to go to the cross. It was not optional.

Why is it important to stress the necessity of the cross? Because there is a connection between what we believe about the cross and the way we live. And if we preach the necessity of the cross as, well — necessary, then we will be dependent on Christ for everything.

But if we do not recognize His necessary death, then we will be prone to two different kinds of temptations: 1) the assumption that we are satisfactory in our spiritual state and not dependent on God. He is good and helpful, but we do not need Him or His work. And, 2) in opposition to that idea, we might be subject to legalism as a means of spiritual life, with the resultant joylessness of a life that is completely dependent on our own work and merit, knowing that in no way do we measure up to the divine standard of holiness.

Interestingly, as I was preparing for this sermon on Sunday evening, I did a little surfing on the internet and found a series of five sermons on the necessity of Christ's death, preached by S. Lewis Johnson. His concluding statement to the series reflects what I have just noted: "Come to Christ, trust him, and rest on what he’s done. And know, by virtue of the fact, that he’s paid that penalty in full. Your debts paid. You’re free. Enjoy your forgiveness of sins."

Christ had to go to the cross. And now we live in liberty!

Sunday Leftovers (4/20/08)

Since Sunday morning, I've been thinking more about my message and the implications of sin and salvation on our spiritual life. I've even listened to the sermon again myself. Did I say what I wanted to say, the way I wanted to say it?

I was intentional in attempting to front-load the sermon with a number of Scriptures to demonstrate the weight of our sin. It is no small thing to say we are sinners. It is to acknowledge we are dead. In every way we are helpless before God (which is the point of Jesus in the initial Beatitudes).

I have always appreciated the distinction which I mentioned Sunday morning that no one is as bad as he could be (even the worst sinner can always sin in even more heinous ways); however, every person is affected in every part of his being by sin. That is, there is nothing in him that is perfectly righteous. Everything is tainted by his sin nature. He can do nothing good (read Romans 3). The unsaved man cannot please God in anyway because He cannot do anything for God's glory (1 Cor. 10:31), because He does not love God.

Our problem is that we tend (even as believers in Christ) to minimize both the extent and the effect of sin. Because of our propensity to compare ourselves favorably with others — and believing that God grades on a scale and that there are acceptable scores that fall short of perfection — we do not believe that our sin merits the wrath of God. We do not think that the short flash of anger in our eyes at another driver, a derogatory word mumbled under our breath at our co-worker, a bitter complaint about a late newspaper or slow internet connection, a fleeting lustful glance at a woman in the store, or a covetous glance through the Sunday sale papers is enough to merit hell. They are enough. They fall short of the glory of God. Each one of them is enough to condemn us eternally. We must feel that weight.

[Aside: since Sunday I have listened to several of the sermons from the Together for the Gospel conference held last week. Each of the messages have been outstanding, but the ones by John MacArthur ("The Sinner Neither Able Nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability") and R. C. Sproul ("The Curse Motif of the Atonement") both related well to this very topic; together they painted a picture of our complete inability to save ourselves and God's righteous wrath to judge those who cannot save themselves.]

But we must likewise feel the weight of Matthew 1:21 — Jesus ("God Saves") came to rescue us from that very condemnation and hell. That is the wonder of the advent of Christ and the cross. God saves means that though we deserve every power that God can exert through His wrath, we get none of it if we trust Christ. God saves means He saves entirely and fully. Previously there was nothing within us that was righteous and for His glory. Now, having trusted Christ, we have His full righteousness and nothing that can condemn us. The transformation is remarkable.

And that transformation means that while we do well to examine our hearts, the foundation of our life and the focus of our life is to live each day grateful and trusting that what He has done is sufficient and He no longer harbors any animosity towards us and that He offers His grace and love with joy, not begrudgingly.

How glorious and significant that brief sentence, "He shall save His people from their sins is!"

Sunday Leftovers (1/27/08)

The gospel of John was written to introduce the readers to Christ in such a way that they would be stimulated to believe Him. John accomplishes this through the seven-fold declaration of Christ's "I am's," through the seven miracles of Christ, and even through the very names that John uses to refer to Christ. Each distinct name and usage reveals something about John's theology, but even more about the glory and character of Christ and God.

What names does he use?

Word. This title is used only 4 times (1:1, 14), but it is significant, nonetheless. The emphasis is obviously on His deity: He is eternally pre-existent, lives in "co-ordination" with God, and yet possessing His own identity, and in fact being God Himself.

Christ is used 16 times in the first 12 chapters of the book, and only twice after that. The word is designed to point to the truth that Jesus is the promised Messiah of God. After His ministry becomes private (beginning in chapter 13), that is not nearly as important. That this name refers to His Messianic work is clear from 1:41; 10:24; 11:27; 17:3. Moreover, those who rejected Jesus as the Messiah understood the implication that He claimed to be Messiah (e.g., 3:28; 7:26-27).

Jesus. This is the most common name, being used more than 200 times. It is a reference to His genuine manhood.

Jesus Christ. Used only 2 times in the book (1:17; 17:3), both times it emphasizes the divine nature of Jesus, emphasizing in 17:3 that he came from "the only true God." One of the favorite titles of the epistles "Christ Jesus" appears in none of the Gospels.

Son of God. The title is used 9 times in John, several times in conjunction with "Christ" (1:49; 11:27; 20:31), and once with "only begotten" (3:18). These alone suggest that the title is designed to emphasize the divine nature of Jesus. He is not merely a man, but God Himself.

Son of Man (1:51; 3:13-14; 5:27; 6:27, 53, 62; 8:28; 9:35; 12:23, 34) and "the Son" (3:17, 35-36; 5:19-23, 25-26; 6:40; 8:36; 14:13; 17:1). These two terms are used interchangeably, and likely are a reference to Daniel 11. Interestingly, they are used almost exclusively of Jesus during His public ministry (chs. 1-12), and only twice during His private ministry (chs. 13-21). They refer to His purpose and mission as the Redeemer.

Lord is used of Jesus 53 times in this gospel, with nearly an even split between the public and private ministries of Jesus (25 times in chs. 1-12; 28 times in chs. 13-21). However, 12 of the references in chs. 1-12 are in chs. 11-12! This title was often used generically to demonstrate respect for another human, being translated more simply as "sir" or "master" (e.g., 4:11, 15, 19). However, Christ used this title to refer to Himself (e.g., 13:14), and it is used also with a sense of the recognition of Christ's deity or power (e.g., 6:68; 9:38; 13:37; 14:5, 8; 20:28; 21:17). It is after the resurrection that this name gets to be used more commonly of Christ.

Only Begotten. John is the only NT writer to use this word of Jesus (1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 Jn. 4:9). However, Hebrews 11:17 uses the same word to refer to Isaac as the "only begotten" of Abraham, and from that use we gain understanding about its meaning. Hebrews 11 cannot be a reference to Isaac's status as the "only" child of Abraham, as Abraham had other children, both through Hagar and his concubines. "But Isaac was unique: he was the son given to Abraham and Sarah as the result of the promise of God. The people of God were to be descended from him and not any of the other sons of Abraham. That Jesus Christ is God's [only begotten] then means that he is 'Son of God' in a unique way. Others may be called 'sons of God', but the are not 'sons' in the same sense.…[John] is saying that no one else stands in the same relationship to God the Father as does Jesus Christ. Christ is the Son of God not only in the sense that he is the object of God's love, but also in the sense that his being is bound up with the being of the Father." [Morris, pp. 92-3.]


In every passage in John, Jesus Christ is presented in numerous ways — through His own words, through the record of His activity, through the responses of both those who believe and those who do not believe, and through a variety of descriptions of Him. And all these things declare: "believe Me!"

The belief called for is not just an initial saving faith, but the ongoing faith of sanctification that continues in and with Christ. There is no one else like Christ. We can not think too much or too often of Him. This is the message of John's gospel.

Sunday Leftovers (1/20/08)

Christ and the Father are unified in all their purposes — including their purpose in hardening unbelievers. Yet there is a mystery remaining — the sovereign will of God negates neither God's compassion for the unbelief of unbelievers, nor their responsibility as they will one day stand under His judgment.

So, here are one more verse and two additional quotations that help clarify God's sovereignty over unbelief and unbelievers.

After entering the city of Jerusalem triumphantly, Jesus said this about His city:

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling" (Mt. 23:37)

He hardened them, and yet He had extensive compassion in which He longed to gather them to Him, and the only thing that prevented that fellowship was their own unwillingness. So, at the end of time, all men will be judged with righteousness: those who enter into eternal intimacy with God will do so not because of their work or merits, but Christs; and those who are banished eternally from God into everlasting condemnation will do so on the basis of their own rejection of and hatred for God.

The statements that I found helpful are as follows:

The present passage [John 12:39-40] ascribes everything to the will of God. Unless His hand is in it nothing is possible. But when John quotes 'he hath blinded the eyes…' he does not mean that the blinding takes place without the will or against the will of these people. So with the hardening of their heart. These men chose evil. It was their own deliberate choice, their own fault. Make no mistake about that. [Leon Morris]


[Speaking of 1 Pt. 2:7-8:] We must note that while Scripture is willing to affirm God's ultimate 'destining' of wrongful actions…the blame for these actions is always given to the moral creatures (men and angels) who willingly choose to do wrong; the blame is never given to God (Cf. Jb. 1:22). If we ask how God can 'destine' that something happen through the wilful choice of his creatures, yet himself remain free from blame (and not be the 'author' of sin in the sense of actually doing wrong himself), then we approach Paul's questions in Romans 9: 19, 'Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?' Yet here Scripture gives us no answer except to say, 'But who are you, a man, to answer back to God?' (Rom. 9:20).

…[Furthermore,] 'reprobation' (the passing over of those who are not chosen, and justly leaving them in their rebellion) is viewed as something which brings God sorrow, not delight (note Ezk. 33:11, and cf. Paul's sorrow in Rom. 9:1-2), and in which the blame is always put on the men or angels who rebel, not on God (Jn. 3:18-19; 5:40).

[Finally,] Peter intended this text as a comfort for Christians in the midst of persecution by hostile unbelievers.…It can best be applied that way today also (even as Rom. 8:28 and 1 Pet. 1:7) by any Christian facing any kind of abuse from non-Christians (note David's response to Shimei's cursing in 2 Sa. 16:10-12). [Wayne Grudem]

Sunday Leftovers (1/13/08)

When the request "We'd like to see Jesus" came, His response was that the hour had finally come for the Son of Man to be glorified. He would be revealed and seen like no time previously. For 33 years, Mary had contemplated and treasured the activities concerning Christ and done by Christ. For three years, Jesus had ministered in public — He had taught, healed, confronted, corrected, prayed, and fed.

But for all those revelations of Christ (and in all those activities and words, He was revealed), nothing would reveal (glorify) Him like the event that was about to come — the cross. No where is Christ seen like He is seen at the cross.

Nothing is more fundamental for the joy of undeserving people than the cross of Christ. The fight for joy is a fight to grasp and marvel at what happened in the death of Christ — and what it reveals about our suffering Savior. If it were not for the death of Jesus in our place, the only possible joy would be the joy of delusion — like the joy on the Titanic just before it hit the iceberg. Without the cross, joy could be sustained only by denying (consciously or subconsciously) the inevitability of divine judgment. In fact, that's the kind of joy that drives most of the world — a joy that preserves the power of its pleasures by being oblivious to the peril just ahead. If the passengers were suddenly made aware that in a matter of hours most of them would drown in the icy ocean, all their merrymaking would cease. Their joy depends on their ignorance. [John Piper]

Nothing is more important about Christ than the gospel. It is the most important truth we can proclaim to those who do not believe, and it is the most important truth that we live day by day. It is, as Paul says, "of first importance."

Sunday Leftovers (1/6/08)

The triumphal entry of Christ prior to His crucifixion testifies to His Messiahship and Kingship, and prefigures His victory at the cross. What is not understood by the massive crowds and even the disciples that day was the significance of the triumphant Christ.

He came as Messiah. He came as the One appointed by God in eternity past to rectify man's problem. Not man's problems, but man's problem. He did not come to solve economic depression, social ills, moral failures, physical infirmities, or social injustices (though in His grace He did on occasion minister to people in those ways). He did come to demonstrate His victorious sovereignty over sin. He came as the triumphant victor over sin. William Hendriksen delineated a number of ways in which Christ demonstrated His authority and victory:

• He was victorious over Satan in the wilderness of temptation
• He was victorious in binding the power of Satan
• He was victorious in repeatedly casting demons from people
• He was victorious in preventing Satan from carrying out his plan until it became God's time
• He was victorious by taking away Satan's right to accuse believers
• He was victorious by sealing Satan's fate of death and stripping his power

The effect of this work by Christ is that the believer can hear the words "fear not" and be confident that God has provided everything he needs not to fear. In fact, more than 100 times in Scripture God commands His followers to "fear not." And the reasons why this is possible are rooted in the triumph of Christ — and a host of other reasons:

• We will not die apart from God’s gracious decree for his children.
• Curses and divination do not hold sway against God's people.
• The plans of terrorists and hostile nations do not succeed apart from our gracious God.
• Man cannot harm us beyond God’s gracious will for us.
• God promises to protect His own from all that is not finally good for them.
• God promises to give us all we need to obey, enjoy, and honor him forever.
• God is never taken off guard.
• God will be with us, help us, and uphold us in trouble.
• Terrors will come, some of us will die, but not a hair of our heads will perish.
• Nothing befalls God's own but in its appointed hour.
• When God Almighty is your helper, none can harm you beyond what he decrees.
• God’s faithfulness is based on the firm value of his name, not the fickle measure of our obedience.
• The Lord, our protector, is great and awesome.

Christ is victor. Do not fear.

Sunday Leftovers (12/23/07)

It is well-known and well-recited that the theme of the gospel of John is belief. The word occurs 98 times in the gospel, always as a verb, and more than 50% of the time as a present tense verb, indicating that genuine, saving faith is not a one-time act only, but an ongoing, continual act of belief and faith in Christ as Savior.

What has surprised me in preaching these first 12 chapters of John is the emphasis not only on belief, but on unbelief.

In John 1-12 (there is a significant shift in emphasis beginning in chapter 13, as the ministry of Christ is private with the disciples in the upper room and garden in chs. 13-17, followed by the culmination of Christ's ministry with the crucifixion and resurrection) unbelief in Christ is alluded to in 121 verses! The case can actually be made that the theme of the book is also unbelief — "what does unbelief in Christ look and act like?"

The theme begins in 1:11 ("He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him"), and runs throughout each of the next 12 chapters (1:11; 2:18, 24-25; 3:4, 9, 12, 19-20; 4:1, 43-44, 48; 5:9-10, 15-16, 18, 42-47; 6:26-27, 36, 41-43, 52, 60-61, 64, 66, 70-71; 7:1, 5, 7, 11-12, 15, 19-20, 23, 26, 30, 32, 34, 36, 43-44, 45-48; 8:13, 19-20, 21-25, 33, 37, 40-41, 44-49, 52-53, 55, 59; 9:16, 18-22, 24, 27-34, 40-41; 10:6, 19-20, 24-26. 31-33, 37-39; 11:46, 47-50, 53, 57; 12:4-6, 10-11, 19, 37-40, 42-43, 48).

So when the opposition to Christ is particularly strong and evident just prior to the crucifixion, the reader should not be surprised. He was opposed at the beginning of His ministry, He was opposed all throughout His ministry, He was opposed at the end of His ministry, and He is opposed today.

He said it would be that way — "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you" (15:18).

The problem is not that there are self-proclaimed atheists. The problem is that there are people who are a-Christological. It is not that they are fundamentally opposed to God, but that they are fundamentally opposed to Christ (note that atheism consistently opposes all forms of the Judeo-Christian faith, but rarely attacks the ideas of God rooted in other faiths such as Hinduism or Islam). The dividing point for all men is Jesus Christ — they do not want to acknowledge faith in the one who demands allegiance and conformity to His desires (cf. Mt. 6:24).

And that means that if you believe in the power of the gospel message, we must pray for people to become aware of their lostness and hostility to Christ — and act and teach and proclaim accordingly. For a man cannot believe in Christ ("saved") until he acknowledges His willful unbelief ("lostness").

Sunday Leftovers (12/16/07)

Unwittingly, Caiaphas prophesied about the great work of Christ on the cross — the substitutionary atonement, not only for Israel, but for all who would trust in Christ. R. C. Sproul notes well the import of Christ's substitutionary work —

Christ's supreme achievement on the cross is that He placed the wrath of God, which would burn against us were we not covered by the sacrifice of Christ. So if somebody argues against placation or the idea of Christ satisfying the wrath of God, be alert, because the gospel is at stake. This is about the essence of salvation — that as people who are covered by the atonement, we are redeemed from the supreme danger to which any person is exposed. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of a holy God Who's wrathful. But there is no wrath for those whose sins have been paid. That is what salvation is all about. [The Truth of the Cross.]

This is the great truth not only of Easter, but of Christmas and the Advent — which is why so many of the great Christmas hymns culminate in exulting in the cross. Consider, for example,

• "O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel…"
• "Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free…born Thy people to deliver…"
• "…with mocking scorn and with crown of scorn, they bore Thee to Calvary…"
• "Born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth…"
• "[He] hath made heaven and earth of naught, and with His blood, mankind hath bought…"

The message of Christmas is not simply the Advent, but that the Advent has culminated in the cross and resurrection. "O come, let us adore Him."

Sunday Leftovers (12/9/07)

It is the shortest verse in the English Bible (in the Greek text, it has three words, while both 1 Thess. 5:16 and 17 have only two words), yet there is much profoundness in the simple words, "Jesus wept." They reveal His empathetic compassion towards His friends. And they illustrate His grief and righteous anger over sin.

As S. Lewis Johnson noted, this is not the only occasion when Christ wept:

Three times we read that Jesus in the course of life and ministry wept. He wept as Lazarus' loving friend at his graveside. Later He wept as He looked out over His beloved city just before His triumphal entry. We might refer to that instance as the weeping of the promised Prophet, as He reflected upon the coming judgment upon the city and the generation that turned its back upon Him. And, finally, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, drawing upon some true tradition regarding Him, mentions His weeping in the Garden of Gethsemane. This was the weeping of the ultimate Priest of God, the true Substitute, who offers the atoning sacrifice for the people of God. On this last occasion it was appropriately the weeping of "strong crying and tears" to the One who was able to save Him out of death (cf. Heb. 5:7). Three times He wept, and on each occasion it was a solemn, touching, and deeply significant outpouring of tears.

And, finally, He wept, although Lazarus was safe in the bosom of God and eventually to be raised by God in newness of resurrection life. And He wept, although He knew that Lazarus was soon to be brought to this life again! It is truly a remarkable illustration of the deep sympathy that Jesus felt for His friends and their experiences. It is no wonder, then, that we read in the very next verse, "Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!" (cf. v. 36). Two misinterpretations must be avoided. This was not the love of human pity alone, nor was it frustration over the power of death, for He would deal with that soon. Also included was the love that is eternal, that special love that He has for his redeemed. He loves as the unseen Sovereign of the universe, although for a time dwelling in unglorified bodily form. Charles Wesley wrote of this instance,

"There for me the Savior stands,
Shows His wounds, and spreads His hands;
God is love! I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps, but loves me still." ["Lazarus Loved and Raised"]

Jesus' tears and Lazarus' resurrection both point to the merciful and extensive love of Christ for His people. It is tempting to look for grandiose demonstrations of love. But as Paul notes, it is often the simple expression of joy or grief that demonstrates brotherhood and love for another believer. So it is with the tears of God. They communicate His grace and hint at His willingness to do that which will remove the pain of sorrow.

Sunday Leftovers (12/2/07)

I had been pastoring for just a couple months when the funeral home called and asked me if I was available to do a funeral for a woman who had died and didn't have a church home. I agreed to do it, met with the family, planned the service with them, and at the appropriate time went to the funeral home and got in the car to drive to the cemetery with the funeral director.

In planning the funeral, I had been struck by how much the family wanted to minimize the service — no church or chapel service, no music, "does it have to be 20 minutes long?" Curious, I asked the director for his perspective — why such a short remembrance for someone this family loved? "What they're doing is not unusual. People are uncomfortable with death and if they can minimize the time at the funeral, it's less time they have to think about the reality of it."

While many people may attempt to minimize the time they are forced to think about death, apart from the return of Christ, death is something that will have to be considered and endured by all men. So how shall we think about it in Biblical ways?

In preparing for this sermon, I came across a number of statements about death, particularly the death of believers, that I found helpful. Among them:

• Noting that the death and difficulty in the life life of the believer does not mean the absence of the love of God for that believer, Jerry Bridges writes,
  

"When we begin to question the love of God, we need to remember who we are. We have absolutely no claim on His love. We don't deserve one bit of God's goodness to us. I once heard a speaker say, 'Anything this side of hell is pure grace.' I know of nothing that will so quickly cut the nerve of the petulant, 'why did this happen to me?' attitude as a realization of who we are before God, considered in ourselves apart from Christ."

Though God is under no requirement to love anyone, He does in fact love His own with an amazing, infinite love: "We usually find within ourselves reasons to think God should not love us. Such searching is…unbiblical. The Bible is quite clear that God does not look within us for a reason to love us. He loves us because we are in Christ Jesus. When He looks at us, He does not look at us as 'stand alone' Christians, resplendent in our own good works, even good works as Christians. Rather, as He looks at us, He sees us unified to His beloved Son, clothed in His righteousness. He loves us, not because we are lovely in ourselves, but because we are in Christ."

[ASIDE: I put this book by Bridges in my top 10 of "must read" books for all believers.]

• While the salvation of a believer is eternally safe (1 Pt. 1:3-9), that does not mean that the believer's earthly life is always safe:
  

"We have no promise that mortal danger shall never plunge us into death merely because we are Christ's own. In the counsel of God it may be his will that we die; we should then die with the mighty assurance that God's will sends us what is best." [R. C. H. Lenski]

• That life on earth is merely a foreshadow of life to come in heaven is evidenced by the words of John Owen as he lay on his deathbed. His secretary was writing to a friend of Owen [in his name], saying, "I am still in the land of the living." Owen interjected, "Stop. Change that and say, I am yet in the land of the dying, but I hope soon to be in the land of the living."

• Reminding us that death also is from the hand of God, R. C. Sproul writes,
  

"When the summons [of death] comes we can respond in many ways. We can be angry, bitter, or terrified. But if we see it as a call from God and not a threat from Satan, we are far more able to cope with its difficulties."

• And commenting on the relationship between death and fear, John Piper says,

"Death is a threat to the degree that it frustrates your main goals. Death is fearful to the degree that it threatens to rob you of what you treasure most. But Paul [in Phil. 1:20] treasured Christ most, and his goal was to magnify Christ. And he saw death not as a frustration of that goal but as an occasion for its fulfillment."

Sunday Leftovers (11/11/07)

It is enough that no one can snatch a believer from the hand of Jesus Christ.

It is enough that no one can snatch a believer from the hand of God the Father.

It is enough that the Holy Spirit is given as a pledge (guarantee) of our salvation and inheritance.

Any one of those is enough to secure our salvation eternally. Yet all of these statements are true. The entire Godhead is working in unity and harmony to keep believers secure.

The Holy Spirit regenerates believers, lives in the believer, places and seals the believer into Christ's body.

The Father chose believers in the eternal past, and keeps us in eternal life.

Christ's death makes life possible, removed the wrath of God from believers, justified every believer, provided forgiveness, sanctifies the believer, is constantly interceding on behalf of the believer, and will present every believer without fault before Him.

And all that combines to make the believer in Jesus Christ secure — eternally secure.

Sunday Leftovers (10/28/07)

In today's passage, Jesus refers to two familiar figures of speech to explain who He is —

• I am the door of the sheep (vv, 7, 9)
• I am the good shepherd (vv. 11, 14)

Jesus and the rest of Scripture frequently use such images to help us understand the character of God and His relationship with His people. John MacArthur has accumulated a long list of these images:

He is called the Amen (Rev. 3:14; cf. 2 Cor. 1:20), the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22:13), the Advocate (1 John 2:1), the Apostle (Heb. 3:1), the Author and Perfecter of faith (Heb. 12:2), the Author of salvation (Heb. 2:10), the Beginning (source, origin) of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14), the Branch (Jer. 23:5), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20), the Consolation of Israel (Luke 2:25), the Counselor (Isa. 9:6), the Deliverer (Rom. 11:26), the Door of the sheep (John 10:7), Eternal Father (Isa. 9:6), the Faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5), the First and the Last (Rev. 1:17), the Firstborn (Preeminent One) of the dead (Rev. 1:5) and over all creation (Col. 1:15), the Forerunner (Heb. 6:20), the Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14), God blessed forever (Rom. 9:5), the Guardian of souls (1 Peter 2:25), the Head of the church (Col. 1:18), the Holy One of god (John 6:69), I AM (John 8:58), Immanuel (Isa. 7:14), the King of Israel (John 1:49; cf. Zech. 9:9), King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim. 6:15), the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the Light of the World (John 8:12), the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5), Lord (John 13:13), the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8), the Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5), the Messenger of the covenant (Mal. 3:1), the Messiah (John 1:41; 4:25-26), the Mighty God (Isa. 9:6), the Morning Star (Rev. 22:16), the Only Begotten (Unique One) from the Father (John 1:14), our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), the Prince of life (Acts 3:15), the Prince of peace (Isa. 9:6), the Resurrection and the life (John 11:25), the Righteous One (Acts 7:25), the Rock (1 Cor. 10:4), the Root and Descendant of David (Rev. 22:16), the Root of Jesse (Isa. 11:10), the Ruler in Israel (Micah 5:2; Matt. 2:6), the Ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5), Savior (Luke 2:11; Titus 1:4), the Servant (Isa. 42:1), Shiloh (Gen. 49:10), the Son of the Blessed One (Mark 14:61), the Son of David (Matt. 12:23; 21:9), the Son of God (Luke 1:35), the Son of Man (John 5:27), the son of the Most High (Luke 1:32), the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2), the Sunrise from on high (Luke 1:78), the True God (1 John 5:20), the True Vine (John 15:1), the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), the Word (John 1:1, 14), the Word of God (Rev. 19:13), and the Word of Life (1 John 1:1).

Sunday Leftovers (10/21/07)

Some leftover quotations after thinking about God's purposeful (read: sovereign) intention to use all circumstances to make worshippers out of unbelievers:

"Our trials reveal the measure of our affection for this earth — both its good things and bad things. Our troubles expose our latent idolatry." [John Piper, Life as a Vapor.]


"In order to trust God, we must always view our adverse circumstances through the eyes of faith, not sense. And just as the faith of salvation comes through hearing the message of the gospel (Rom. 10:17), so the faith to trust God in adversity comes through the Word of God alone. It is only in the Scriptures that we find an adequate view of God's relationship to and involvement in our painful circumstances. It is only from the Scriptures, applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, that we receive the grace to trust God in adversity.

"In the arena of adversity, the Scriptures teach us three essential truths about God — truths we must believe if we are to trust Him in adversity. They are:

• God is completely sovereign.
• God is infinite in wisdom.
• God is perfect in love.

"Someone has expressed these three truths as they relate to us in this way: 'God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.'" [Jerry Bridges, Trusting God.]


"We are all idealists. We picture to ourselves a life on earth completely free from every hindrance, a kind of spiritual Utopia where we can always control events, where we can move about as favorites of heaven, adjusting circumstances to suit ourselves. This we feel would be quite compatible with the life of faith and in keeping with the privileged place we hold as children of God.

"In thinking thus we simply misplace ourselves; we mistake earth for heaven and expect conditions here below which can never be realized till we reach the better world above. While we live we may expect troubles, and plenty of them. We are never promised a life without problems as long as we remain among fallen men...." [A. W. Tozer, 12/18.]


"I would not have you think that any strange thing has happened to you in this affliction: 'Tis according to the course of things in this world, that after the world's smiles, some great affliction soon comes. God has not give you early and seasonable warning not at all to depend on worldly prosperity. Therefore, I would advise…if it pleases God to restore you, to lot [count] upon no happiness here. Labour while you live, to serve God and do what good you can, and endeavour to improve every dispensation to God's glory and your own spiritual good, and be content to do and bear all that God calls you to do in this wilderness, and never expect to find this world anything better than a wilderness." [Jonathan Edwards, writing to his daughter Esther after she had been seriously ill.]


"Behind a frowning providence he [God] hides a smiling face. We may see it in our lifetime, or we may not. But the whole Bible is written, and all the swans [great men of God who have gone before us] are singing, to convince us it is there, and we can and should 'exult in our tribulations' (Rom. 5:3)." [John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God.]