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1 Peter Part 4 Sermon Notes – 4 Foundations

August 23rd, 2015
1 Peter Part 4

1 Peter 1:1-25

Leviticus 11 (entire)

4 Foundations of Living the Gospel Here and Now

THE AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON IS AVAILABLE HERE

1^st. Tool: Dual identity – Elect/Exiles (vss. 1-2)

2^nd. Tool: A Praising heart for a stupendous salvation. (vss. 3-12)

3^rd. Tool: 4 parts of a whole.

Given what we’ve seen already, we know that Peter does not see Christians as passive victims, even though they may have no power to change their outward circumstances in the slightest way.

He is speaking to his readers – to US – in such a way that they & we might learn how to live and act.

To take advantage of what CAN be done, and for the RIGHT REASONS, rather than being left to endlessly stew over what can’t realistically be changed.

Peter sees his readers as spiritual men and women.

Born again in Christ Jesus to live in a whole new way.

They have rights and privileges that extend far beyond their geographical location, cultural setting, linguistic isolation, and government imposed exile.

They are God’s people.

Made for God’s purposes.

Indwelt by God’s Spirit.

Informed by God’s Word.

Thrust into the middle of God’s sovereign work in the world.

In the process of being conformed to the image of God’s Son.

And destined for an eternal inheritance of unspeakable glory in, with and through Christ Jesus – the Lord of all.

[[SLIDE]] SO – “THEREFORE” (13) Preparing (or HAVING prepared) your minds – to think soberly.

SOBER: “a broader range of soberness or sobriety, namely, restraint and moderation which avoids excess in passion, rashness, or confusion” (GELNT domain 88.86), hence self-control.^{^[1]}
1. Grasping your dual identity as Elect/Exiles…
2. Living overawed at your great salvation which is yet to be fulfilled…
And live out that sober-mindedness out virtue of 4 things:

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[[SLIDE]] 1. (13) Set your hope FULLY on the resurrection.

NOTE: This is NOT some spiritualized or religious technique to finally get things changed. It is the way to proceed forward regardless of whether or not things change.

Sometimes, even Christians can take on a somewhat superstitious approach to adversity.

One that says inwardly – “if I just do X or Y, God will magically be happy and change everything.”

So, I’ll Pray more.

Read the Word more.

Make sure I don’t skip Church.

Give more.

Etc., etc., etc..

In reality your circumstances may, or may never change in this life.

If they change, they may change for the better, OR for the worse.

If they do not change – how do you live here and now?

Informed and encouraged first and foremost by God’s promises for the future.

How utterly foreign this is to all worldly mindedness.

Our hope doesn’t rest in earthly change. But in what is to come because of Christ.

“Peter’s point is that one sets one’s hope on future grace, not by idle wishfulness or unfounded optimism, but by a mental resolve to live in such a way as to manifest the “living hope” of the Christian believer. The Christian hope is a reality to be recognized and acted upon now.”^{^[2]}

To set our hope fully on the grace that is to be brought to us when Jesus appears – is to be constantly mindful that when He does appear – the wonder of the fullness of God’s undiluted favor poured out upon us in that moment is so transcendently high and wondrous, that in comparison, nothing we’re suffering now is worthy to impact our thoughts and actions. GLORY IS COMING!

If instead we live like the world for its values: We lose “sobriety”.

[[SLIDE]] 2. (14-16) Pursue holiness now. (Guido Reni – 1631)

1 Peter 1:14–16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Reject former patterns of sin.

HOW?

By living in accord with your destiny – pursuing holiness above everything else, since you are destined to be conformed to the image of The Holy One.

Peter makes a couple of important points about this.
1. Sin is connected to the “passions of our former ignorance.”
To continue in the things Jesus died to save us from the penalty of and the ravages of – is to live like Jesus hasn’t come, hasn’t paid for our sin, hasn’t sent His Spirit to indwell us, and hasn’t guaranteed us an eternal future in Him in the resurrection.

It is to live as though blind and unaware of the way things really are.

Which is as ignorant as it gets.
1. God is holy. And the privilege that attaches to those in Christ is that we get to be holy too!
NOTE: – We WILL be holy.

He is in the process of conforming us to the image of Christ. So doesn’t it make sense to live in accord with where we are going?

Does it make sense to Head to Toronto if your destination is Miami?

So does it make sense to keep walking in sin when your destiny is to be like Christ?
1. God is “other” than anything else in this world.
So as His People – He wants us to make that otherness known by who and what we are as His.

It is in this context Peter takes us back to Leviticus 11.

One of the interesting things which often occurs when reading a passage like Leviticus 11 – is that we have this almost uncontrollable urge to figure out practical reasons for all the details.

Why not eat camels, pigs hares or rock badgers? Is there something inherently bad or unhealthy in consuming them?

Why can’t we even touch their carcasses? (v 8)

Why only seafood with fins and scales?

What’s God got against lobster, crabs, oysters and clams?

Some birds are OK, some not.

Some insects are OK, and some not.

[[SLIDE]] I know every time I see the GEICO Gecko, I imagine he might taste like a plump chicken wing.

A little honey Bar-B-Q sauce and some bleu cheese and he’s gone!

[[SLIDE]] But God tells His people – NO.

And what about all the special cleaning rituals?

No doubt, we might be able to attach some scientific or health reason to all of this – but God tells the people that above all else – He has THIS reason: (v 45). “I am holy, and therefore YOU are to be holy.”

What has THAT got to do with it?

The word “holy” means in the first place, set apart, consecrated. Unique.

And God, in demonstrating that He is utterly unique, not like the idols that men create and fashion out of their own minds –

And not one and the same with the creation – like sun or moon or earth gods

And last of all not like US.

In making His “otherness” known, He sets apart things that mark out His people as unique among all the peoples of the earth.

And some of these markers are put in place for no other reason that to mark them out as uniquely belonging to the unique and only true God.

And that’s enough.

You are my Children. Let it be known that you are not like everyone else – because you belong to me.

And if they cannot see the reasons behind my statutes – so what?

They set you apart in a fallen world as living unto an authority that transcends all else.

Don’t be afraid to be MINE.

Reject the culture’s views on morality and sexuality and so many other areas. And show yourself to live as unto me.

I am other – so as mine, you be “other” too.

NOTE: We don’t have invent any oddness of our own in this enterprise.

Not bending to the Culture in terms of morality, religion, ethics, materialism, self-love, etc. – will grow more and more into aberrant features to the World.

As 1 Peter 4:4 says, they will be surprised enough when they see that you don’t buy into and follow the World’s forms of excess.

God knows that is sufficient.

[[SLIDE]] 3. (17-21) Judgment AND deliverance – Remembering God WILL judge (your persecutors will not be unaddressed) and how blessed you are in comparison.

(Rubens – Lot fleeing Sodom)

1 Peter 1:17–21 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Again – Peter has a couple of thoughts to consider about this.
1. It is good to fear being partakers in the things God will judge.
2. It is good to jealously guard the gifts and the position that has been granted to us in Christ.
3. It is good to fear losing anything of what was so dearly purchased at the cost of the Blood of The Lamb.
4. It is good to fear going back into your former bondage to sin.
Remembering God’s timing in sending Christ when He did for you.

How privileged you are to see first-hand the things the OT prophets only saw in dim shadows.

How privileged you are that you partake of things the holy angels who dwell in the very presence of God WISH they could fully comprehend.

How privileged to know that your salvation is not an accident, but that Christ’s predestined sacrifice for human sin included His thoughts of saving you from all eternity.

If you know these things – live like they are true and let them govern every decision you make!

[[SLIDE]] 4. (22-24) Love one another. (Dirck Van Baburen 1616)

1 Peter 1:22–24 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴ for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,

The purifying of your soul in salvation, your obedience to the truth of the Gospel, has now enabled you to love in a way the world knows absolutely nothing about.

And it is one of the things you have been born again for – to “love one another from” this newly purified heart.

A heart no longer set on the world’s values and selfish desires – but on higher, spiritual, eternal things.

For Peter, loving one another is wrapped up in living for Christ in every aspect of life.

This is such an un-Worldly way of thinking about love.

The World puts the weight of love on the shoulders of our emotions and personal passions being fulfilled by someone else.

It is why people talk about falling in an out of love.

What they mean is: Sometimes I have an emotional affection for someone, that at other times I do not.

And while Christian love also impacts our emotions – it doesn’t find its root or its residence there.

It is not just how we feel about each other, it is how we think about ourselves as being bound to each other in Christ – as members of the same Body.

Far above the pragmatic – this is Biblical thinking in terms of loving one another.

I cannot love someone in Christ by exposing them to sin – mine or others.

I cannot love someone in Christ by venting my spleen at them.

I cannot love someone in Christ by living in a state of constant frustration and anger.

I cannot love someone in Christ by adopting the World’s morality.

I cannot love someone in Christ by living in fear and faithlessness.

I cannot love someone in Christ by indulging in sin secretly.

CONCLUSION: (25) This is how the Gospel is lived out.

1 Peter 1:25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Everything the World lives for – will perish.

Only the Word of God – the working out of the Gospel in lives lived in joyful submission to Christ Jesus will endure.

Since that very Word of the Gospel that saves us alone will endure.

[[SLIDES]] Prepare your minds for action in the midst of this exile where you live Christian.

Do it with all godly sobriety.

Set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to you at the appearing of Jesus Christ – not on any earthly goal or circumstance.

Pursue the holiness you are destined for – now.

Remain overawed at the wonder of what it cost to ransom you from your sin and the way the whole world lives.

And in these realities – live a life loving the brethren, by making these things the foundation of how you live.

^{^[1]} Jobes, Karen H. 2005. 1 Peter. (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

^{^[2]} Jobes, Karen H. 2005. 1 Peter. (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
1 Peter Part 3 – Sermon Notes: Our Stupendous Salvation

August 16th, 2015

1 Peter Part 3

1 Peter 1:1-12

Psalm 103

Our Stupendous Salvation

THE AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

So far we’ve seen that Peter’s 1^st means of ministering to his readers in their difficult circumstances, is to get them to remember their dual self-identity.

[SLIDE] They are both God’s ELECT, and EXILES.

These 2 states are not contradictory.

So you and I, as Believers today need to keep this duality in mind as we face the crumbling culture in which we live.

Biblical Christians in America today are more and more “strangers in a strange land”.

AND –

This in no wise renders the reality of the Christian’s being fully owned by God and uniquely His.

We must not let the darkness of our age, cause us to forget the light of who and what we are in Christ.

We are exiles NOW, for certain. But ELECT of God and chosen by Him for the glory of salvation in Christ.

Dual self-identity: Elect Exiles.

Now Peter calls upon his readers – both then and now – to remember that present circumstances do not define the future.

Life won’t always be the way it is right now.

Our situations are not eternal – but temporary.

And to take some of the crushing pressure of the present off of their shoulders, Peter reminds them that they must not forget what is yet before them because they are in Christ.

So the second tool he is going to place in their hands is a revisiting of the stupendous wonder of their salvation in Christ.

The incomparable and incomprehensible wonder of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Before we jump directly into the text, let me make an observation about it.

Vss. 3-12 are only one sentence in the original Greek.

And the words and ideas Peter uses here under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, are so densely packed and full of meaning at every turn – it is very easy to let them slip by almost unnoticed.

So we will really set our attention today on each concept the text brings up in such rapid fire succession.

To do unpack it carefully, we are going to look at the passage in 4 segments.

OUTLINE

I. v 3 – THE GOODNESS OF GOD HIMSELF in Giving us salvation.

II. vss 4-5 – THE GRANDEUR OF OUR SALVATION

III. vss 6-9 – THE GIFTS BIBLICAL FAITH GRANTS

IV. vss 10-12 – THE INSCRUTIBLE GLORY OF IT ALL

I. (v 3) THE GOODNESS OF GOD HIMSELF (In Giving us salvation) 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1. Salvation is an act of MERCY
2. Salvation is a “caused” act. DELIBERATE
3. Salvation is not given in a vacuum, but unto an end. COMPREHENSIVE – not 1 dimensional only for here and now.
4. Salvation is living in prospect of a LIVING HOPE. FORWARD LOOKING
5. Salvation is completely tied to Jesus’ RESURRECTION. GUARANTEED

In a sovereign and deliberate act of mercy, God has given us an entirely new life of divine blessedness.

One that does not terminate here – but reaches into eternity, and is certain for us since it was accomplished in the death, burial, and especially the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Our eternal hope – is rooted in the absolute certainty of Jesus’ resurrection.

If you are Christian here today – it is not an accident – you don’t just HAPPEN to be one.

God, the Judge of all the universe has personally extended MERCY to you, made you an OBJECT of His mercy – a trophy of it.

And He did this DELIBERATELY – He caused it to come about.

You have been born again into a COMPREHENSIVE salvation – that encompasses not only your present, but your eternal future.

A future filed with the hope of being in a state of eternal bliss and glory and honor and blessing without end!

And this, purchased and guaranteed by the most astounding proof – the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Does this mean your present sufferings aren’t real? Of course not.

But it is a call for us to weigh our trials and sufferings against the wonder of what it means to be God’s child in Christ.

To see our present distress in comparison to our eternal blessedness.

II. (vss 4-5) THE GRANDEUR OF OUR SALVATION & INHERITANCE 1 Peter 1:4–5 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1. That “hope” is called our INHERITANCE.
2. That hope is IMPERISHABLE, UNDEFILED, UNFADING.

Our being born again is not the end, but the beginning. We are born TO – a living hope. Hope beyond this life, and stretching into the full eternity of the next. He has made us into new creatures that we might be inheritors of what He has stored up for us. Things which:

Are IMPERISHABLE – Can NEVER die or end.

Are UNDEFILED – Are possessed of absolutely no corruption whatever – nothing which makes them less than absolutely perfect in every way.

UNFADING – Are perennially fresh and new. Never losing their luster and shine.

These 3 descriptions are noted as diametric opposites of any inheritance we might imagine in this present life.

In Heaven, our inheritance is imperishable. Here, everything is perishable.

In Heaven, our inheritance is pure and unmixed. Here, everything is stained by sin.

In Heaven, our inheritance remains perennially fresh and vibrant. Here, everything is in a state of decay.

What’s more, is this not the perfect picture of Christ Himself WHOM we inherit? Isn’t this why this “hope” is termed “LIVING”? It is Christ who is alive – tho He died. And HE is our great hope Himself!

He died once, but was raised imperishable (as we will be) – and is alive forever more.

He is undefiled. He was sinless in life, sinless in death, and remains sinless forever.

His glory was dimmed or veiled here – but there, His glory is unfading and perennially fresh and lovely and glorious.

And He is preserved, reserved for us in Heaven, until the day when He will be the final and complete fulfillment of all for us in His return.

3. It is kept in HEAVEN for us – we do not receive it now

4. The Believer is being preserved for that inheritance as much as it is being preserved for us.

5. That preservation is not some mechanical provision, but God’s own power exerted on our behalf.
This hope is both SECURED for us, and we are ORDAINED for it – in the established wonder of Christ’s death and resurrection!

As sure as He is resurrected – that’s how sure this hope is, and how sure our salvation is so that we might obtain this hope.

[SLIDE] III. (vss 6-9) THE GIFTS BIBLICAL FAITH GIVES 1 Peter 1:6–9 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1. THIS is why we rejoice now, even in the most troubling, confusing and adverse circumstances.
2. Not only that, but enduring or experiencing the trials themselves is a means to purify our faith so that it is rooted only in Christ, and not in anything else. We must be careful never to view these tests and trials from God as some sort of divine entrance exam. They serve a completely different purpose.
Where we most often talk about how MUCH faith someone has, Peter’s emphasis is rather upon its GENUINENESS.
3. This kind of faith is more precious than any kind of earthly wealth.

Now trials themselves are indeed grievous – even though in Christ, they yield much, rich fruit.

Christians do not live as though trials are not painful. We live authentically.

They DO grieve us.

But not like they grieve those who have no sense of the goodness of God in them and behind them.
Note that there is something that is more valuable than the purest gold imaginable. What is it? Praise and glory and honor bestowed upon us by God Himself, when Jesus returns. We can live now not mourning the loss of earthly riches when we look forward to having God Himself, praise us, honor us, and give us glory – whatever that can possibly mean. What a wonder to contemplate.

And Peter’s point here isn’t how MUCH faith you have, but rather the purity or genuineness of it. That it is faith in the right object: Jesus Christ.

So here a very great question – how do I know if my faith is genuine?

How do I know if it is saving faith?

a. Because it is faith in HIM, not in some vague hope.

Trusting His CHARACTER, and therefore trusting His PROMISES.

Not personal, subjective impressions – faith in Jesus Christ, in His person and work.

b. By virtue of its endurance through trials.

Genuine faith survives in spite of every opposition. Because genuine faith is rooted in a revelation of Jesus to the soul that is as real as anything or anybody else in all of life.
4. That faith will find an unbelievable reward in time: PRAISE, GLORY and HONOR from God!
“That at Christ’s appearing, faithful servants shall not only be commended, but gloriously rewarded.

There is not only verbal commendation, but real remuneration; glory and honour put upon them, as well as praise ascribed to them. (1.) Praise, because he shall then commend their faith before men and angels: Rev. 3:5, ‘I will confess his name before my Father and his angels.’ (2.) There will be a solemn owning and honouring of them, when all the holy angels shall be present. Oh! what a favour is it to be commended of God! 2 Cor. 10:18, ‘For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.’ When they had finished the tabernacle, all was viewed and approved by Moses: Moses blessed them. Oh! what is it to be blessed and commended by the Son of God in that great assembly of the whole world!

Here is preferment and advancement to a higher place in the family. Christ will prefer them as men do their servants: Mat. 24:47, ‘Make him ruler over all his goods.’ These expressions are taken from the greatest honours a man can do his faithful servants in the world, 1 Kings 12:20. As Jeroboam was made ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph; so will Christ advance his servants to high dignity, sometimes expressed by ‘setting them upon thrones,’ Rev. 3:21; ‘giving them crowns,’ 1 Peter 4:13; 2 Tim. 4:8. That antithesis is to be regarded; few things, and many things. All things are few in comparison of heaven, our works, our gifts, our sufferings; the reward is far above all these: Rom. 8:18, ‘For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us;’ 2 Cor. 4:17, ‘For our light afflictions, that are but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.’ It is all little that we do or suffer; it is little that God hath done for us in this world, in comparison of what he will do for us there. Here is the earnest; that is but a small part of the whole sum.^{^[1]}

5. That faith is rewarded AT the appearing of Christ Jesus, not before.
6. That faith puts us in a state of salvation even now.

It is not a mere future possibility, but also a present reality!

IV. (vss 10-12) THE INSCRUTIBLE GLORY OF IT ALL 1 Peter 1:10–12 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, ¹¹ inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

1. These things are so astounding, the prophets of old wished they could understand it more like we can now.
2. These things are so astounding, even the angels wonder at it.

CONCLUSION:

If all this is true – Then:

Endure without fear,
Rejoice continually
And trust Him to be faithful.

^{^[1]} Manton, Thomas. 1872. The Complete Works of Thomas Manton. . Vol. 9. London: James Nisbet & Co.
A Welcome Addition to the Discussion on Atonement

August 12th, 2015

I am most grateful for The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals for posting this interview in the latest edition of Reformation 21. It it is a truly welcome addition to the discussion.

When I took up a “both/and” view – that there is both particularism AND universalism in the atonement – many of my good brothers and sisters thought I had strayed from the Reformed fold.

I knew better both from my Bible study and from my historical study – but it scared enough of them to bring about much division.

I thank the Lord for further discussion and clarity on the topic.

This excellent interview can be found HERE.
1 Peter Part 2 – A Brief Look at the Doctrine of Election

August 9th, 2015
A Brief Look at the Doctrine of Election

1 Peter 1:1-12

I Peter 2:9-10

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING HERE

I mentioned last time – one of the features of Peter’s address to his readers in this letter, is the dual concept of “ELECT EXILES” in vs. 2.

This is his description of them.

This is meant to form part of their DUAL-SELFIDENTITY as Believers or Christians.

The reality that they ARE indeed exiles – exiled most likely by the Emperor Claudius.

AND,

The reality that in relation to God – they are to think of themselves as “ELECT”.

[3 SLIDES: LBD; NBD; EBD]

Election (בָּחַר, bachar; בָּחִיר, bachir; ἐκλέγομαι, eklegomai; ἐκλεκτός, eklektos; ἐκλογή, eklogē). God’s choice of a person or people group for a specific purpose, mission, or salvation. The theme of election is prominent in both the Old and New Testaments. The doctrine of election traditionally is related to the concepts of predestination, foreknowledge, and free will.^{^[1]}

ELECTION. The act of choice whereby God picks an individual or group out of a larger company for a purpose or destiny of his own appointment. The main OT word for this is the verb bāḥar, which expresses the idea of deliberately selecting someone or something after carefully considering the alternatives (e.g. sling-stones, 1 Sa. 17:40; a place of refuge, Dt. 23:16; a wife, Gn. 6:2; good rather than evil, Is. 7:15f.; life rather than death, Dt. 30:19f.; the service of God rather than of idols, Jos. 24:22). The word implies a decided preference for, sometimes positive pleasure in, the object chosen (cf., e.g., Is. 1:29).^{^[2]}

Election of Grace—The Scripture speaks (1) of the election of individuals to office or to honour and privilege, e.g., Abraham, Jacob, Saul, David, Solomon, were all chosen by God for the positions they held; so also were the apostles. (2) There is also an election of nations to special privileges, e.g., the Hebrews (Deut. 7:6; Rom. 9:4). (3) But in addition there is an election of individuals to eternal life (2 Thess. 2:13; Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:2; John 13:18).^{^[3]}

The term ELECT as applying to Believers may be new to some of you, or possibly even disturbing to others – depending on how you’ve understood the Bible uses that term.

Sadly, many a person who has come to understand the nature of what it means to be one of God’s ELECT – has sinfully appropriated the idea and used it without care and discretion and has done great harm by it.

With that in mind, I heartily encourage you to take a copy of today’s notes to look over in a more thoughtful context later – and – if needed, I will gladly set up some discussion times for those who feel the need to dig a bit further.

In truth, while we’ll cover some key points this morning, the topic itself may raise some questions that the Bible answers in other places – or that it DOES NOT answer, casting us back on simply trusting the character of God and His revelation as He has given it.

At the bottom however – it should not be strange for us, especially as creatures made in the image of God and possessing at least some power over making choices – that the God who made us like Himself, has the power to make choices too!

We like reserving the right to make choices for ourselves,

But balk at God having personal preferences or at having the absolute power of HIS choices.

That SHOULD tell us that something is wrong in our thinking at the start.

When we consider God’s choice-making ability in the abstract, we don’t have TOO many problems.

It does not bother us that He made grass green, bananas yellow, bumblebees strangely capable of flight or the oceans to be full of salt water.

But when we come to a subject like salvation – that’s where the wheels come off.

That’s where many think God has gone too far.

To think that God might choose some to salvation while passing over others unnerves us.

It is frightening to let Him have quite that much power.

But I will argue today that that is precisely what the Scriptures teach on the subject.

It is revealed to us at least in part – to truly humble us and show us the vast difference between God and ourselves as His creatures.

AND – To heighten our sense of grace – that salvation is indeed a FREE GIFT.

And that God’s love cannot be bought or coerced.

For if it can be bought or coerced, then it can be bought off – or coerced elsewhere.

[SLIDE] Let me begin by laying out 4 controlling thoughts to help our study.

[SLIDE] Then we’ll look at a number of different ways the Bible treats the topic.

[SLIDE] 3^rd, we’ll consider the “fairness” of it all. Especially in Romans 9.

[SLIDE] 4^th, 3 Critical Lessons to learn.
1. 4 Controlling thoughts: It is the testimony of Scripture that:
[SLIDE] 1. No one is lost BECAUSE they are not elect – people are lost because we are fallen in sin.

LOST/SIN

[SLIDE] 2. No one who desires to believe and obey the Gospel and be saved – is denied.

NONE/DENIED

[SLIDE] 3. Because God is just, no one can either be under-punished nor over-punished for sin.

GOD/JUST

[SLIDE] 4. God owes salvation to no one.

GRACE/DEBT

[DOLLAR BILLS SLIDE] REMEMBER: ELECTION IS NOT SALVATION ITSELF – IT IS MERELY GOD’S DESIGNATING SOME FOR SALVATION. It is not based in any qualitative difference in the individuals – but in God’s personal pleasure.

Election – first and foremost = DESIGNATION. Nothing more.
1. THE DIFFERENT WAYS THE BIBLE TREATS THE TOPIC.
[SLIDE] A. The Bible teaches Election – the freedom and right of God to make choices in all sorts of contexts.

[SLIDE] DANIEL 4:34-35

We must allow before anything else, that God has the right to make choices – period.

And we must understand that therefore the CONTEXT must define the purpose of the election –whatever it might be.

The question will be – does He make choices of any kind which have to do with people – and if so, what does that look like?

[SLIDE] B. There are different types of election.

[SLIDE]   1. Jesus is spoken of as God’s ELECT – but it is clear this has nothing to do with salvation out of sin: Isa. 42:1

[SLIDE]   2. Israel is spoken of as God’s ELECT – a chosen “people” – but not all are saved – this is not regarding salvation out of sin: Isa. 45:4. ; Romans 11:28

[SLIDE]   3. Some angels are spoken of as ELECT without relation to being saved out of sin, but preserved from falling into sin: 1 Tim. 5:21.
1. God makes choices regarding individuals in terms of abilities and disabilities –
[SLIDE] Exodus 4:10–11 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

[SLIDE] Exodus 31:1–6 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. 6 And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you:
1. God makes determinations regarding when and where we each exist –
[SLIDE] Acts 17:26–27 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
1. In prophecy – God determines how all kinds of events occur and play out –
[SLIDE] Joshua 23:14 “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.

[SLIDE] Isaiah 46:5–11 “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? 6 Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! 7 They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. 8 “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, 9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ 11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
1. God’s electing right is displayed in His choosing people and nations both for all kinds of purposes, AND unto salvation.
[SLIDE]   Deuteronomy 7:1–7 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, 2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire. 6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,

[SLIDE] C. Election does not occur ONLY within the context of salvation from sin.

[SLIDE] 1. Sonship / In this context, we have the freedom of a Father to choose between sons (all other things being equal) as to who will be the “firstborn” – the head of the family.

[SLIDE] Ephesians 1:3–6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

[SLIDE] 2. Bride of Christ / In this context, we see God does no wrong to any when He chooses a Bride for His Son out of those available.

[SLIDE] 2 Corinthians 11:2

NOTE: ALL human beings reserve the right to choose whom THEY will marry – and yet we want to restrict God from having the same freedom.

[SLIDE] 3. People of God / In this context, we see God choosing a particular nation or group of people He desires to call His people – His own, out of all the nations of the earth. There is no wrong done to any in such choosing.

[SLIDE] 1 Peter 2:9–10 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

[SLIDE] 4. Displaying mercy & grace / In this context, fallnness is part of the equation. We must be in a pitiful state to receive pity.

We have the large number of passages which tell us about God’s right to choose, and that He does choose some in GRACE unto salvation – while leaving or passing over others who will experience justice.

[SLIDE] Mark 13:20 — And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.

[SLIDE] Luke 6:13 — And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:

John 15:16 — You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

[SLIDE] 1 Corinthians 1:26–30 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

[SLIDE] 2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

We must recall that He owes salvation to no one – tho in the Gospel He offers it to all.

Therefore, the extension of GRACE to some is neither unfair nor unjust.

We must bear in mind as well, that due to the nature of our fallen condition, if it weren’t for election, none would be saved at all – for left to ourselves, we would never choose Him. Just like Adam, we would always choose ourselves first – which is confirmed as fact every time we sin now, choosing our own will above God’s.

For me, the first 3 are the controlling concepts, because they would function irrespective of the Fall.

[SLIDE] D. If election does not humble us, but rather becomes a source of pride – we have misunderstood it completely.

It is our UNIVERSAL unworthiness which must be accounted for.

[SLIDES] Election presupposes:

1 – A universally guilty mankind.

2 – A God who is holy and cannot simply overlook sin or dismiss the charges.

3 – A God who has sovereign discretion over His creation and all its creatures –             including man.

4 – A God who nonetheless desires to reveal His capacity for and exercise His mercy             and grace upon – undeserving creatures.

5 – A substitutionary sacrifice which He accepts in the place of those He pardons, so             that justice is not in any wise compromised.

We find all of these elements present in the biblical record.

III. What it would take for God to be unfair or unjust in election?
1. If God promised salvation to all, and then refused.
He has NOT promised that all will simply receive mercy.

He HAS promised that all who repent and believe can have mercy.
1. If God condemned all for no reason.
He has not condemned mankind for NO reason

He has condemned mankind both for ADAM’S sin (and our part in it) and for our OWN sins.

NOTE: It is reductionistic to think God damned mankind for “merely” eating a piece of fruit. The condemnation is because eating the fruit was the way to become “like God”. To usurp His place.
1. If God changed the agreement or terms.
The terms ALWAYS were – Sin and you will die.
1. If God OWED salvation to any and then denied them.
God OWES all men justice, in that He is holy, and cannot pervert justice.

God owes NO ONE mercy. Mercy and Grace by definition are gifts, not rewards.

There is no prohibition in being generous, there IS a prohibition against stealing.
1. If God had no absolute RIGHTS over His creatures.
1. If God did what He did, not having the right to exercise mercy as he sees fit.
Election & salvation fits none of these

God has never promised salvation to all men, but HAS announced the Gospel and will receive all who come in faith.

God did not condemn mankind for no reason, but for its cosmic rebellion as a race.

God has never changed the terms by which He dealt with mankind – “In the day you eat of it, you will die”.

God owes mercy and forgiveness to none.

God HAS absolute rights over His creatures.

God has the right to exercise mercy as he sees fit.

[SLIDE] SO…Romans 9

[SLIDE]   1. (14) Is God being unjust in Election?

[SLIDE]   2. No.

[SLIDE]   3. Why not?

[SLIDE]   4. (15) Because God has said “mercy and compassion” are matters left up to His discretion.

Mercy is VOLITIONAL, not COMPULSORY.

Someone owed a debt has the power or right to forgive the debt. But he or she is never REQUIRED to forgive it, or it ceases to be an act of GRACE.

Grace to be grace must not be something OWED – Grace by definition is UNDESERVED.

[SLIDE]   5. (16) Mercy isn’t the product of either the will or the exertion of the one desiring it – but a product of the One SHOWING IT!

The intensity with which one desires mercy doesn’t make it happen

All condemned men want mercy.

In fact: Attempts to earn mercy try to make it a duty on the other person, not a free gift.

[SLIDE]   6. (17) Judgment on the other hand IS earned – e.g. Pharaoh. (Judicial hardening)

It is us getting exactly what is due us.

We must keep this in mind. God is doing no one wrong by carrying out their just judgment, even as He is doing no one wrong when He shows mercy – which is His to show.

– Even God’s mercy must somehow be “just” –
- Substitutionary atonement
Sin is never “overlooked” in one case and prosecuted in another. It is ALWAYS dealt with.

[SLIDE]   7. (18) Conclusion – Mercy is a matter of God’s own discretion, and hardening is a matter of His justice.

Mercy for some

Justice for some

Fairness to all.

Neither is being treated unfairly.

[SLIDE]   8. (19) Some will still ask – Then why does God find fault? If this is His plan (His electing grace) and none one can violate it – Why does He still find fault?

Some will be dissatisfied because they do not trust God with that kind of power.

They DO however trust themselves with it.

[SLIDE]   9-a. (20) Who are you (fallen creature), to try and judge God’s plan or righteousness?

A betrayal of the suspicion that God is somehow unjust or unrighteous in His arrangement – because we cannot work through the details to our personal satisfaction.

[SLIDE]   10-b. (21) God has a RIGHT to deal with His creation as He sees fit – period.

The forming of one for honor and another for dishonor – presupposes a fallen LUMP.

Water pail? I can use the same water for drinking or for cleaning my floor – without in some way being “unfair” to the portion used for cleaning.

[SLIDE]   11-c. (22-24) Why is it a problem for you that He has refrained from judging all peoples in one fell swoop and withholding His final fury, while He opens an opportunity for multitudes to come and be saved – both Jews and Gentiles?

Especially when He owes salvation to none?

[SLIDE IV. 3 CRITICAL LESSONS:

[SLIDE] 1. Our sense of fair play must be rooted in God’s justice as revealed in His Word, not radical egalitarianism.

[SLIDE]   2. Our sinful hearts are never more revealed than in the uncomfortability we feel when contemplating God’s absolute power and authority over His creatures without having to answer to anybody.

We are back in the Garden – making Him suspect.

[SLIDE]   3. Mercy is not ours to earn or obtain by effort, BUT – God DOES call us to seek it!

He willingly receives all who come and DO ask. He refuses none.

Why would this be so important to Peter’s readers at this point in their lives?

Because they could know that their being in exile is no less an “ACCIDENT” than their salvation – and vice versa – that their salvation is no accident either!

So for us today in our culture as it plummets down.

No Believer here today need fear that these events around us are merely random!

Our God reigns and is sovereignly at work around us.

As much at work in our external circumstances, as He was in our salvation.

And our salvation is secure regardless of our external circumstances, precisely because it is no accident either – but the outworking of God’s own eternal plan.

And YOUR individual part in it.

If you are Christ’s today – you are His because He chose you before He ever formed the worlds to be IN Christ and to be redeemed from your sin and to be part of His Son’s Bride!

If you are NOT His today – in His sovereign plan, He has seen to it you are here once again to hear the good news.

Christ has died for human sin! There is salvation from all of your sin in Him.

Come and trust Him as your substitute today! He calls you to Himself. Don’t fear – run to Him. He will not refuse any who come and cast themselves upon His mercy – trusting in Christ.

[SLIDE]   Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

[SLIDE]   John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

^{^[1]} Thornhill, A. Chadwick. 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. Election. (Ed.) John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema & Wendy Widder. The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

^{^[2]} Packer, J. I. 1996. Election. (Ed.) D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard & D. J. Wiseman. New Bible dictionary. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

^{^[3]} Easton, M. G. 1893. Easton’s Bible dictionary. New York: Harper & Brothers.
1 Peter Part 1 – Elect Exiles: Sermon Notes

July 26th, 2015
1 Peter

Part 1 / 1:1-2

Read 1:1-25

AUDIO NOW AVAILABLE HERE.

I don’t know if you’ve ever received a letter at just the right time to bring much needed comfort and clarity, but I know I have, and I know others who have.

Ben and Jana Askins come immediately to mind.

Ben was falsely charged with murder after serving as the medical overseer for a wilderness camp ministry aimed at helping substance abusing and at risk youth – in Colorado.

One of the boys in the program died while Ben was in leadership.

I can only imagine – what a harrowing place that was to be in.

Then, after several agonizing months, he and Jana received the news that the charges – which should never have been filed – had been dropped.

Again, one can only imagine the kind of relief they experienced in that moment.

Peter’s 1^st audience for this letter no doubt felt extreme relief at its contents too. And that forms part of how we have to read and interpret 1^st Peter if we are to get what WE need out of it.

To do that, I want us to spend our time this morning considering 2 major ideas that arise in the letter – which will help our study all the way through…

2 Major ideas, and then 4 key concepts for Believers contained in these 1^st 2 verses.

It is evident from the first 2 verses of our text – Peter is writing to people in some sort of distress.

He addresses them in vs. 1 as “elect exiles.”

[SLIDE] i.e. God’s People – ELECT – but a People not home – EXILES.

I won’t spend time this morning on the fullness of what Peter means when he refers to Christians here as “ELECT”.

God willing, I’ll focus on that specific concept, the DOCTRINE OF ELECTION next time.

Suffice it to say, that when he refers to his readers as ELECT, he is using it as a synonym for BELIEVER, or a true CHRISTIAN – in the Biblical sense of having been born again by the Spirit of God.

i.e. Those trusting in the death of Jesus on the Cross as Him substituting for them in the death they deserved, so that they might have the blessings He deserved.

This after all is what saving faith is.

It is not the mere knowledge that Jesus is God…

That there is a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit…

That the Gospel is the good news of Jesus dying in the place of sinners…

Even that one must have faith in Christ and His atoning work

That much, James tells us – the Demons know. And they tremble at it.

[SLIDE]   James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

True saving faith goes beyond the mere knowledge of true and correct doctrine, and actually TRUSTS in the death of Jesus on one’s behalf.

We must rest all of our hope of salvation on His person and work – especially His atoning work at Calvary.

True Christians have abandoned all other hope of being acceptable to God through religion, self-effort or anything else – and have cast themselves upon His mercy.

[SLIDE]   Romans 4:5 “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness”

[SLIDE]    1^st FRAMING THOUGHT. ELECT/EXILE

The question that immediately arises is – whether or not Peter’s use of that word EXILE is meant to be figurative, or literal.

It wouldn’t be an unreasonable conclusion that he is speaking figuratively.

Think of a passage like Hebrews 11.

There, the Writer cites Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah and notes: [SLIDE]    HEBREWS 11:13–16 “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

Indeed, ever since the Fall in Genesis 3, the Biblical picture of all humanity is that as a race we have been exiled from the Garden – banished from the manifest Presence of God due to our rebellion.

And in salvation, while our relationship to God the Father in mended through the substitutionary death of Jesus on the Cross – for all who believe –

And even tho His Spirit has been sent to indwell all Believers –

We STILL await a day when there will be a face-to-face reunion.

A day when we will be one with Him permanently in the every way possible.

This is the hope of everyone who has been born again by the Spirit of Christ through the Gospel.

[SLIDE]    AS VSS. 3-5 tell us: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

We’ll explore those verses more thoroughly in time.

So a figurative use of exile is certainly legitimate for Christians in every age – especially useful for understanding that ache for “home” we all share.

It is meant to be part of our self-identity.

We can read and study both letters of Peter with abundant profit if we only see them through that lens.

But I want to suggest to you that Peter is being far more literal here than is sometimes understood.

And it is why His letter is so very useful for us in North America today.

Thanks to modern scholarship, discoveries about the part of the World Peter says He is writing to, opens up some very interesting facts.
1. We know for instance the Peter was martyred in Rome sometime in the mid-60’s in the reign of Emperor Nero – so these letters had to be written before then.
2. Peter writes to people scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
[SLIDE] An area of Northern Turkey spanning 129,000 sq. miles.

For comparison’s sake, California is about 159,000 sq. miles.

This portion of Asia was far less Hellenized than the southern portion where Paul had such missionary success.

These were tribal territories, with religions and cultures totally foreign to those who might have been raised in Roman occupied Israel, or other parts of the Roman Empire.

[SLIDE] Karen Jobes in her exceptional commentary writes: “The picture that emerges of the regions to which Peter wrote is one of a vast geographical area with small cities few and far between, of a diversified population of indigenous peoples, Greek settlers, and Roman colonists. The residents practiced many religions, spoke several languages, and were never fully assimilated into the Greco-Roman culture (Frank 1932: 374; S. Johnson 1975: 143; Yakar 2000: 61–65)^{^[1]}”

It was the habit of Roman Emperors to bring their culture to areas by means of colonization.

Transplanting Romanized people into these new regions.

Typically about 300 colonists were sent.

Often they were the poor, disenfranchised, freed slaves or undesirables due to ethnicity, etc.

This has particular bearing on the probable audience for Peter’s letter.

We know from historical sources that the Emperor Claudius (AD 41-54) did 2 pertinent things:
1. [SLIDE] He established cities AND colonies in all 5 of the regions Peter mentions in vs. 1
2. Claudius tolerated the Jews as long as they avoided 3 things:
[SLIDE]    – They were not to disturb the peace by things like public preaching

[SLIDE]    – They were not to oppose the accepted morals of the culture

[SLIDE]    – They were not to try and convert anyone

Christians – who at that time were considered a Jewish sect by the Emperor – violated all 3.

And in the early 40’s we know that Claudius attempted to expel the Jews from Rome as troublemakers who did not assimilate well.

[SLIDE]    This is probably mentioned in ACTS 18:1–2 “After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,”

The most likely scenario, is that Peter was writing to these displaced, mainly Jewish Christians – who were banished to these wild and sparsely populated areas, specifically because they violated the social construct of the day, which required them to:

Keep their religion private,

Accept the morals of the moment

Leave other religious views alone.

Essentially their great crime was – they were politically incorrect.

The Jews in not assimilating and the Christians even worse.

And as Christians, they could not help being so.

How amazingly on point this is for Believers in the United States at this moment in history.

Their situation was much like we are in right now with the current moral revolution.

[SLIDE]    British Theologian Theo Hobson says that a moral revolution requires 3 conditions to be considered a true “revolution”
1. That which was once condemned is now celebrated.
2. That which was once celebrated is now condemned.
3. Those who will not join the celebration are condemned.
It is why this letter is vastly important to US right NOW.

[SLIDE]    2nd FRAMING THOUGHT. TRUE GRACE

[SLIDE]    1 Peter 5:12 “By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.”

i.e. This is what genuine Christianity is supposed to look like when lived out in hostile social environment.

This is a manual for our day and time and cultural context.

What to do and what not to do given a wide set of circumstances and for Believers in all sorts of rolls.

[SLIDE]    4 KEY CONCEPTS IN THE TEXT:

Being God’s own, favored People, is not contrary to facing hardship, confusion, complexity, persecution, marginalization or other griefs because our circumstances are:

[SLIDE]    A. “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father”

Christians are this combination of both elect, and exiles.

This dual identity is essential to retaining faith and hope when life around us falls apart.

Being exiles does not mean we are not elect, and being elect does exempt us from being exiles.

Neither cancels out the other.

These are not only compatible, but complimentary while we wait for the fullness of the kingdom to arrive.

Both of these are comprehended in the foreknowledge God – and not surprises He needs react to as though accidents outside of His control.

Our “exile” is as much the stuff of His divine administration as is our election and sanctification.

They cannot be unwound from one another.

[SLIDE]    B. “In the sanctification of the Spirit”

Taking all these things together then – we are to view our trials and tribulations as designed to be part of the Spirit’s work in sanctifying us.

In bringing us increasingly to bear the image of Christ’s character in all of life.

Trials are not contrary to that work – but God intends and uses those very trials to that end.

Does Satan play into this in any way?

Certainly.

But what the Devil means for evil, God means for our good.

God overrides the evil and redeems it for our good.

[SLIDE]    C. “For obedience to Jesus Christ”

Our election and sanctification are not things done in a vacuum, or unattached to anything else.

There is a purpose behind them.

Here, the stated purpose is for “obedience to Jesus Christ.” Obedience – not to the Law, not to an external code, but to Christ Himself.

A personal obedience.

An obedience born of love rather than mere duty.

He does not call us to a bare obedience, but an obedience which is within the context of salvation.

We obey Christ BECAUSE we are already saved, NOT to GET saved.

One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

There it is the obedience of the bit and bridle, and here it is the obedience which issues from a heart transformed by grace and pursuing holiness out of a new nature, which desires it as naturally as God Himself does.

And it is THIS which He is after in us.

[SLIDE]    D. “And for sprinkling with His blood”

While that phrase may seem odd to us, to Jewish Believers in the 1^st century, it conjured up lots of images from the OT.

The sprinkling with blood is clearly an OT reference.

Blood was sprinkled in several contexts.

4 Examples:
1. Lev. 14:7 – When lepers were cleansed.
2. Ex. 24:8 – When the Mosaic covenant was inaugurated. People, Altar, Tabernacle were all sprinkled.
3. Lev. 4:5-6 – When something was to be purified from sin.
4. Ex. 29:21 – When someone or something was to be consecrated or separated for service unto God.
[SLIDE]    Therefore Peter concludes: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

The idea is this: As you explore the grace of God in your salvation in deeper and deeper ways, so, may the peace you experience from that exploration increase accordingly.

In fact, it is the natural consequence of such exploration.

[SLIDE]    Need more peace?

Understand the grace of God toward you and what it means more and more.

[SLIDE]    SUMMARY: God, within His sovereign rights choses for Himself those upon whom He will bestow eternal life in Jesus.

Those on whom the Spirit of God will move to separate from the world unto Himself, and begin the work of conforming them to the image of Christ.

Those who would be given over to Christ Jesus as their Lord, in direct contradiction to the rebellion which began in humankind in the Garden.

Those, who sprinkled with the Blood of Christ – are by that blood cleansed from their sin,

made partakers of His New Covenant,

and set apart from all creation in consecration to Him and for Him.

Being those people – face your trials knowing that they are ordained by God, and so are to be capitalized on by you – to those ends.

This, Peter writes to comfort his brothers and sisters in Christ – who have been involuntarily submerged into a hostile culture – completely removed from anything they have ever known before.

This, The Holy Spirit wrote and preserved for us – who are now in the midst of a culture which functions on values completely hostile to Biblical ones – and which will marginalize Biblical Christians more and more in the coming days.

[SLIDE]    In the very midst of this – we can have GRACE and PEACE not only not DIMINISHED – but MULTIPLIED to us! Because of Christ.

^{^[1]} Karen H. Jobes, 1 Peter (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 22.
Jesus in every book of the Bible – Sermon Notes

July 19th, 2015
Well, it ran a little long, but I trust it was an encouragement to others to read ALL of their Bibles – especially the Old Testament with Jesus in mind. The 4 passages I cite at the beginning are the justification for a Christ-centered hermeneutic in our study of the Word.

Disclaimer: No congregants were hearmed in the preaching of this sermon.

THE AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

Christ in All The Bible

John 5:39–40 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

Luke 24:25–27 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Colossians 2:16–19 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. ¹⁷ These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Hebrews 10:1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.

GENESIS: BEGINNINGS.

Where we came from.

Why we’re here.

Gen. 3:15 He is the Seed of the Woman who will crush the Serpent’s head.

We are reminded in Colossians 1:15–18 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Jesus then is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. There is no other.

EXODUS: DELIVERANCE.

Sin brings bondage.

We are slaves to it – until the deliverance which only God can give.

He brings us out of the world – but not merely to wander – but to bring us in to the Land of His fulfilled promises.

National Israel typifies: A. our salvation,
1. God’s patient provision in our wanderings,
2. His presence and provision even as we suffer the results of our rebellion and
3. His intention to give us an inheritance.
And the figure of Moses becomes a picture of Christ – who alone can deliver us from bondage to sin.

Colossians 1:13–14 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

LEVITICUS: FOUNDATIONS.

Here we see what the foundations of a human society built around the worship OF, and service TO God looks like.

It begins as a pure Theocracy – God alone as ruler, with each man taking complete responsibility to serve God as he ought. Thus, no human king is needed.

However, as each man neglects to take full responsibility to serve God as He proscribes in His Word, human government inevitably follows.

In the establishment of the Priesthood and sacrifices, we have Jesus foreshadowed as both the Great High Priest to end the priesthood in Himself,

And as the Sacrifice for sin which ends all sacrifices.

NUMBERS: WEEDING.

Our English Bibles use the title of “Numbers” because there are two, very important censuses taken during the period of Israel’s history it covers.

The traditional Hebrew title is “In The Wilderness”.

Thematically, we see how God culls out those who fail to believe His promises.

How unbelief and disobedience are so linked as to be virtual synonyms.

Indeed, the first transgression in Eden – the root of all disobedience – is failure to believe God above Satan, the World, and even (perhaps especially) ourselves.

Numbers depicts this issue over and over again.

And as we saw already in John 5: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”

DEUTERONOMY: REMINDING.

The word “deuteronomy” means 2nd law. This Deuteronomy reminds us that due to sin, God’s truth needs to be reiterated over and over to us – and also that in Exodus, the Law was given twice.

The first time, it was carved in stone, and shattered almost as soon as given.

But the second time – written with God’s finger once again – but now accompanied with a revelation of God. Ex 34:6-7 “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast flove and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

This second giving of the Law attended with this revelation of God’s glory is the vision God wants us left with.

And as Acts 10:43 reminds us – this ability to forgive iniquity is totally dependent upon Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice on Calvary: “To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

JOSHUA: CONQUEST. The book is a history of God’s work in bringing Israel fully into its Promised Land, and in type, portrays the Believer’s conquest of the remnants of indwelling sin.

We fight, but God gives the victory.

Mastering sin’s influence is not an overnight lark – it will take decades of violent battle.

But it is worth the fight.

And in Joshua again we get yet another picture of Christ – as Jesus was typified in Moses delivering us from the bondage of sin,

Jesus is typified in Joshua as the one who brings us into our inheritance.

JUDGES: REVEALING. In this series of accounts of the Judges God raised up to deliver Israel time after time – is the revealing of their unstable and unconverted hearts.

Left to themselves, without a man to lead them in right ways, they stubbornly refused to follow God individually.

This sets the stage for God to give them an earthly King,

And shows us that we come more and more under the bonds of human government, the more we fail to serve God individually.

Out of the 12 Judges listed – none is without a fatal flaw.

None could so deliver God’s people as to keep them from falling into the same condition again.

Only Christ when He appears can deliver His people in such a way that we never fall to ruin again.

Only Christ, can preserve us NOW from falling back into total ruin.

Jude 24–25 “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

RUTH: INGRAFTING.

Ruth, is not a Hebrew, but a Moabite. A Gentile.

She represents God’s in-grafting of the Gentiles into the promises of Abraham by faith.

This theme will become central to the theology and letters of Paul in the centuries to come.

Ephesians 2:13–16 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

1 SAMUEL: TRANSITION.

In this first book of Samuel, Israel transitions from the days of the Judges, to Saul its first King.

The face of the nation begins to change drastically.

They have rejected God’s direct rule over each individual in true, personal responsibility – in favor of having an earthly king like all of the surrounding nations.

And Saul becomes the first of all the Kings who can only foreshadow the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Jesus Christ.

This rounds out the fullness of Christ’s offices – who is to His people PROPHET, PRIEST and KING.

He is God’s Word to us.

He is our Great High Priest.

He is our Lord and King.

2 SAMUEL: DAVID.

2nd Samuel is primarily occupied with the reign of David over God’s people.

As such, David becomes the first real type and shadow of the Messiah/King – Jesus.

He is a prophet, a divine worship leader, and a king.

While he typifies Christ this way – he also typifies the saint.

For while David is God’s man, he is still so very flawed.

Even as we are appointed to one day rule and reign with Christ in the age to come – yet even now, we remain so marred by our sin.

No less than 16 of David’s Psalms can be directly related to the life of Jesus, and some as even quoted by Christ as applying to Himself: Not the least of them Ps. 22 as Jesus cries out on the Cross, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

1 KINGS: SOLOMON.

1st Kings continues the chronological account of Israel under the reign of David’s son – Solomon, the main subject of this book.

Solomon is another picture of the Christ to come – as his name means “peace” or “peaceable.”

Under his rule, Israel enjoyed unprecedented peace and prosperity.

But this is a type still – for the Prince of Peace has not yet come to assume His rightful throne.

And we recall that as Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, yet that is only a shadow of Jesus Christ:

Colossians 2:3 “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

2 KINGS: DIVISION.

After Solomon’s death, his own son takes the throne and in wickedness ends up bringing civil war and division in Israel that is never fully cured.

Where once there was one, now there are two.

Israel is the kingdom to the north, and Judah (with the tribe of Benjamin) in the south.

Sin always divides in the most wicked and painful ways – that which God made originally as one.

The Savior’s work will be to bring together again the Heaven and Earth, the Creator and the Creature, divided by sin.

Ephesians 1:10 “as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

1 CHRONICLES: TRANSITION / DAVID.

Recapitulating the history of 1st and 2nd Samuel in survey form, we have many gaps filled in – and a broader view and reminder of how God’s rule can never be replaced by fallen man, no matter how good, noble and upright the man may be.

Man’s rebellion against God’s rule is always at the root of the violence which plagues mankind.

And yet, in every place, the types and shadows of the coming King Jesus, promise the fulfillment of God’s perfect plan in Christ.

Philippians 2:9–11 “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

2 CHRONICLES: SOLOMON / SOUTH.

Taking the same recapitulatory form as 1 Chron., 2 Chron. focuses on the events occurring in the southern kingdom of Judah and what precipitates its eventual fall.

It begins with more detail than we had previously on Solomon’s reign.

Then, unlike the previous books bouncing back and forth between Israel and Judah and their respective kings, the focus remains primarily on Judah, where Jerusalem and the Temple are, and a more faithful attachment to the one true God.

Over and over Judah sins, and then repents.

God is astoundingly patient and forgiving.

Only when they will not repent of idolatry do they end up broken and bound in the Babylonian captivity.

Still, He loves them.

Still, he loves us.

And Christ is teased out for us once again:

2 Timothy 2:11–13 “The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.”

EZRA: RETURNS.

After 70 years of captivity in Babylon, God’s promise of a restoration begins to come to pass.

Ezra records the two major waves of returning refugees.

Humbled by their captivity, Israel will never fall into idolatry again throughout history.

And God demonstrates how He will preserve and deliver again, even after the most devastating and severe chastisement.

No matter what – He MUST be true to His promises.

He doesn’t act faithfully, He IS faithful – faithfulness itself.

There is still much sin to be dealt with – and the progress is hard and slow.

But if God is our God – He will work no matter what.

What sweeter picture of Christ’s restorative glory can be seen then when Peter denies Jesus 3 times publicly, and yet is restored?

NEHEMIAH: REBUILDING.

Under Nehemiah’s leadership, the City of Jerusalem begins its climb toward true restoration.

It is often taught as a metaphor for the labor of rebuilding a life destroyed by sin.

While we dare not remove its historical reality and significance, such a parallel is a worthy one.

The events recorded here are some 12 or 13 years after those in Ezra.

Whenever we rebuild after sin, there is as much rubble to clear out as there is new building to do.

But if God is with us – the work will be done.

Philip. 1:6 – “He who began a good work in us WILL complete it until the day of Christ.”

ESTHER: PROVIDENCE.

It is often noted the name of God is completely absent from this book.

True.

But His fingerprints are all over it.

It bears this unusual characteristic so that we might know that whether God is overtly recognized or named, or not – He is still God.

He is still ruling and reigning over all.

He is still upon His throne.

We can trust Him even when we do not see Him.

The events occur about 50-60 years after the first exiles returned to Judah from Babylon.

So what goes on in this book happens during the same time that Ezra and Nehemiah are engaged in rebuilding Jerusalem.

It reminds us as Peter’s 1^st letter will remind his readers:

1 Peter 1:8–9 “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

JOB: WHO.

Job asks throughout this chronicle – WHY?

Why am I suffering so?

This question, the perennial one we all ask in trial, is in fact never answered.

What Job does come to accept as enough of an answer is – WHO.

He finds WHO is behind it all – His God.

And in a final vision of His God in all of His glory, Job finds this God is worthy to be trusted.

Knowing who this Who is…all is well – even though Satan and his machinations are at work too.

Now the purpose of giving us the background regarding Job, that he was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” – seems precisely given to prevent our assuming his trials are related to personal sin.

This is the base assumption of His comforters.

It is a vile assumption which must be crushed.

When we live in a tit-for-tat universe, soon, every man is beyond mercy, and our prayers for them are nothing but foolishness.

So Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount can say that those who are “poor in spirit”, who “mourn” who are persecuted for the cause of Christ – can still be “blessed” in God – because of Christ.

PSALMS: WORSHIP.

The Divine hymnal.

Soaring in glory, agonizing in conflict, heartache and failure.

Truthful, honest, uplifting, penetrating and Christ centered.

The human soul was made for worship – to drink in God’s goodness and in thrilled response – to sing the pleasure of it to the world.

The faint find strength.

The weary – rest.

The joyful – right expressions of thankfulness and praise.

The lonely – identification with another in their shoes.

The grieving – solace.

The wounded, medicine.

As much as sin can and has done to us – Christ’s salvation far more than reverses it.

And we prayerfully sing.

Psalm 2:1–12 “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

PROVERBS: WISDOM.

The Bible has a lot to say about how we think, as well as what we think.

But we are often too preoccupied with the mere academics, and not enough with HOW TO THINK – How to think according to God’s understanding of the universe.

We need to develop a “Gospel gut” – A faculty or mechanism for taking things in, and then breaking them down properly – some to be digested and used, some to be cast off into the draught.

Proverbs is a handbook on critical Christian thinking.

Colossians 2:1–3 “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, ² that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

ECCLESIATES: PURPOSE.

Here is the question: Is life just this endless cycle of – stuff?

Is there any real meaning to it?

Or do we come and go, and that’s it?

Considered in and of itself – yes.

Such thinking leads ultimately and inevitably to despair.

But when a person knows God – when they come to understand His purposes and that He HAS a purpose in all things – life is redeemed from existential despair and turned into eternal hope and glory.

Purpose can only be found in Christ Jesus, for…

Romans 11:36 “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

SONG OF SOLOMON: PASSION.

This rich and unusual love song was penned by King Solomon.

It’s refrains contain the un-blushing heights of sweetness, desire, devotion and intimacy that God’s gift of marriage is meant to bring.

Since marriage itself is but a Divinely appointed analog of the true nature of Christ’s desired intimacy with His bride the Church – so we marvel at His love for us, and respond in kind.

As a woman in love longs to be “drawn after” the one she loves – to be led, but led out of love, so the Church.

When her heart is truly after Christ, delights to be drawn away and led by Him.

It is always a sign that the Church (or individual Christians) are no longer love oriented, when we rebel and seek not to be led, but to lead.

Ephesians 5:31–32 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

ISAIAH: HOLY.

Isaiah saw disaster coming to Judah.

But it was the holiness of God that impacted him above everything else.

His vision in chapter 6 of the thrice-holy God undoes him.

He writes to his contemporaries, then to those who will outlive him in the Babylonian captivity – then at last prophetically to the generation yet to be born who will return after the 70 years is completed.

The decline of God’s people can always be traced to this beginning – a loss of closeness and intimacy with God.

A loss of familiarity which leads to a general lack of understanding, and invites all kinds of sin.

When we lose the sound of His voice,

the vision of His glory,

it will not be long before we too are bowing down and praying to every impostor.

Yet, He will save us.

Though unalterably holy – grace will be found in the One wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities.

Unimaginably, it will be the will of the Father to crush Him, and put Him to grief – for us.

It is in Isaiah’s 53^rd chapter that we have the fullest OT picture of Christ’s substitutionary atonement on the Cross graphically put before us.

JEREMIAH: GRIEF.

Jeremiah is called “the weeping prophet.”

So it may seem odd then that he would serve much of his office during Josiah’s reign.

Under Josiah the nation enjoyed a season of restoration and revival unequaled in Judah’s history before or after.

Yet, it is in the midst of this glorious restoration that Jeremiah tells of the coming destruction.

This is such a necessary lesson: We would tend to think because God was gracious in His outpouring during this time, that the prophesied destruction would not come.

Not so.

We are not to read into events more than Scripture allows.

The revival was no sign all is well.

It was of untold blessing to those who enjoyed it but it was not meant as a portent somehow unconnected from God’s expressed coming judgment.

Do not “read the signs”.

Listen to His Word!

So we are reminded how on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus was found with Moses and Elijah – the two representatives of the Law and the Prophets – but when all is done, we hear the Father say: Matthew 17:5 “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

LAMENTATIONS: FAITHFULNESS.

These 6 chapters written in acrostic form truly are – LAMENTS.

Penned again by Jeremiah, in the lowest depths of Judah’s destruction and captivity come the words of chap. 3 and verse 23 –

Though God’s hand may be very very heavy on His sons and daughters at times because of their sin – nevertheless – His mercies are new every morning.

Great indeed is His faithfulness.

He does not abandon His own.

And we cannot help but think of the testimony of the writer to the Hebrews when he says: Hebrews 3:1–6 “Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”

EZEKIEL: REVIVAL.

Revival not in the sense which it has come to mean in popular American Christianity.

We think of revival as a series of special meetings, or simply a time of unique blessing from God.

Those are not totally wrong in and of themselves, but the word itself connotes much more.

Re-vival, re-vivification – restoring from the dead, bringing back to life that which either was, or seemed to be, beyond hope.

That which had lost the essence of its life, being brought back to vibrant vitality.

The picture of Judah now in the grave of its exile, being breathed on again like Adam was when he was made “a living soul” instead of just a clay form.

God coming back to indwell and raise up His people.

The idea will culminate in the valley of dead bones in Chap. 37.

And how the Church has needed such times of revival, when she seems to have been given over to lifelessness.

We can need such revival personally, in our local assembly, regionally, nationally or globally.

America needs it desperately right now.

The soul of the Church needs to be so revitalized, so revived, that once again her zeal for God, His House and His glory – the fame of His name – that the earth would tremble under the revelation of His glorious mercy and grace through His Bride.

It always begins with a fresh vision of God.

It is the call of Jesus in Revelation 3:20–22 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”

DANIEL: SOVEREIGNTY.

The startling events and revelations of Daniel paint a picture of a God who truly rules over the affairs of men.

He is the God of historical, Geo-political upheaval and movement.

He deals not only with His “people” the Jews, but with the rulers and peoples of all nations.

No one assumes power,

no one nation conquers,

enslaves or interacts with another as though in a vacuum untouched by His hand or apart from His ultimate purposes – even though they act according to their own volition.

He is God even over the free acts of man.

It is a mystery.

It is divinely deep beyond our grasp.

He does not explain how it is so either – He simply reveals that it is.

And when He directly intervenes in these massive affairs, the greatest among mankind are finally humbled (as Nebuchadnezzar, the brutal king of the Babylonians is in Ch. 4) to acknowledge God’s rightful authority.

And so we see once again in Philippians 2:9–11 “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

HOSEA: ADULTERY.

Everything we have, everything we have ever gained or enjoyed – has always been by the gracious hand of God.

We’ve gained one thing by virtue of sin, disobedience, or our rebellion against Him.

Sin can only offer us cancerous replicas of God’s true gifts of love.

And every time we seek our pleasure, satisfaction, meaning, identity or joy in anyone or anything but He who made us for Himself – we are committing spiritual adultery.

We have, every one us, embraced the bosom of sin instead of His to whom we belong.

We have sold our souls into the spiritual version of sex-slavery – forsaking our intimacy with Him – for filth.

And how He loves us still.

Enough to publicly buy us back – no matter how it looks to anyone.

Christ, our betrayed husband – will have us back at any cost.

The cost of redemption is not cheap – it is Heaven’s highest Treasure.

This is the Gospel portrayed for us in the life and ministry of Hosea.

This is how God keeps steadfast love for His people.

1 Peter 1:18–19 “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

JOEL: LOCUSTS.

Joel is probably the earliest of the minor prophets.

His ministry was to the southern kingdom of Judah, and it seems during relatively good times spiritually in the nation’s history.

He makes no mention of idolatry in Judah for instance.

What he does do is see a connection regarding a dreadful locust invasion he was witness to.

This plague, was a tremendous natural disaster, and Joel is motivated by the idea that such disasters serve to point out God’s coming judgment.

Judgment not only on the heathen nations he mentions, but on Israel too.

Hence, it is a call to repentance.

Hidden sin will not be overlooked in the day of the Lord, either among the nations, nor His own people.

The seeds of the idolatry which will erupt openly soon, are already sprouting below the surface.

He is calling us to examine our hearts – and not rely on a mere external appearance of fidelity toward our God.

Acts 17:30–31 “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

AMOS: FAMINE.

Amos is from the southern kingdom of Judah, but prophesies mainly against the northern kingdom of Israel.

He is an unwanted trespasser in their eyes.

His ministry thus is unusually hard and destined to be dismissed by many he was sent to – out of hand.

Prophesying in days of great stability and prosperity, he warns God’s people of the seduction of their prosperity, and how that will be followed by days of great famine.

It is not a famine of food, but of God’s Word.

And not a lack of the availability of God’s Word, nor of its being preached – but of its being HEARD.

This is a self-imposed famine brought on by the neglect of holy things, compromise and spiritual apathy.

When we neglect God’s provision for our souls, we will seek to make up the deficit with other things – career, family, wealth, ease, pleasure, fame, intoxicants, diversions, involvements, etc.

It is like trying to sustain life by a diet of nothing but refined sugar.

It may taste sweet, and fill us with certain feelings – but in the end, it will bring about our death.

So Jesus tells the Pharisees in John 7:34, that the day will come when they will seek Him – the bread of life, but they will not find Him.

Why? Because “Where I am you cannot come.”

Why can’t they? Because: John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

OBADIAH: EDOM.

The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother.

When Babylon came to conquer Jerusalem, the Edomites helped the Babylonians, betrayed their brothers, and took advantage by moving into the devastated areas after the Jews were carried into exile.

They were opportunists capitalizing on God’s discipline against the Jews.

They had no loyalty toward their brothers.

These are very great sins.

So when Paul was persecuting the Church in Acts 9 – When Jesus confronts him in vs 4 He says” …“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

One cannot persecute Christ’s own, without touching Him.

And none who do so will go unaddressed.

JONAH: OUTREACH.

United Israel never fulfilled its call to make God’s Temple a house of prayer for all nations.

Though God had chosen them out of all the nations of the earth to be peculiarly His – nevertheless, God desires to show His compassion on the lost outside of Israel.

Jonah, part of the now separate northern kingdom of Israel is an unwilling servant in reaching one such pagan city.

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire, who was eventually to destroy the northern kingdom of Israel for its sin.

Jonah would have nothing but hatred and disdain for these people.

His dilemma however, was rooted in just how merciful God could be.

He didn’t want them to have God’s mercy.

But Christ Jesus makes His desire for mercy on the worst of men when He commands the Disciples: Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

MICAH: WICKEDNESS.

At a time of high prosperity in Judah, Micah exposes both their wickedness and that of Israel to the north.

The underlying sins of self-idolatry (living in greed, lust, self-advancement, oppression of those less fortunate etc.) will eventually manifest themselves as full-blown idolatry in both nations.

A contemporary of Isaiah, he saw the siege and destruction of Israel during his lifetime.

His sense of how sin ends is personal, and sharp.

However severe his warnings, as in his fellow prophets, there are amazing words of hope in the God who is full of mercy and grace – the One who will send His Redeemer.

Micah 5:2–5 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days…And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.”

NAHUM: NINEVEH.

Around 100 years after Jonah, Nahum confronts Nineveh’s sin again.

This time they do not repent.

God ultimately destroys them.

The book seems out of place in the midst of all these prophecies focused upon God’s people.

But it serves a good reminder that God is at work in the world around us.

He is not unmindful of others.

His Church is His bride-to-be, the object of His special love, but this does not mean He has no regard for others at all.

Israel seems to have often forgotten this.

The Church can too.

We can cultivate such a dismissive attitude toward the lost as to virtually relegate them to the realm of the incidental.

But none made in the image of God are to be regarded as such.

Hence the Apostle’s words in 2 Cor. 5:16 “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.”

We dare not see any as mere “flesh”, but as living souls.

Souls which must stand before the judgment bar of God.

Souls who need to hear the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.

HABAKKUK: DIALOGS.

These two short dialogues and a prayer find Habakkuk talking with God over his difficulty WITH God.

First, he wonders how God can let the sin of His people go on without addressing it.

God replies He will address it, and will do so by sending Babylon to take Judah captive.

Habakkuk’s second question is about how God can send a pagan nation against His own nation?

Aren’t the Jews more righteous than the Babylonians?

God says He will use Babylon, and that they will be punished for their own sins too – in due time.

Then Habakkuk prays to see arm of God move once again, like when they were taken out of Egypt.

He believes God will hear.

And it is in the latter part that we read what Paul will make so very important in His understanding and preaching of the Gospel: Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold, his soul (That of the Babylonian) is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

The Gospel! The Just shall live by faith!

ZEPHANIAH: TOO LATE.

Though he prophesies during the reign of Josiah when there is pervasive, national revival, yet he reminds Judah that God has still pronounced a judgment which is yet to come to pass.

A judgment which is typological of the final “Day of the Lord” – when He will judge all the earth.

Yet God’s people will still be blessed.

God’s judgment will still come upon all the earth, no matter how many alternating seasons of revival and failure occur in the intervening years.

He is patient and ever seeking those who will forsake their sins and seek His face.

Nevertheless, since the Fall of Adam, the Day of The Lord has been fast approaching.

Paul will remind his listeners on Mars Hill it is nearer now since the One to judge has been slain, and risen from the dead.

The day of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

Now is not a time for complacency or compromise – now is the time to cast off every weight, and the sin that so easily knocks us off course – and run so as to obtain the prize.

How little urgency in light of the coming Day of The Lord characterizes God’s people in our own day.

And so Jesus warns us: Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.”

Zephaniah’s warning finds its fulfillment in the coming of Christ.

HAGGAI: PRIORITIES.

Prophesying after Judah’s return from the Babylonian captivity, Haggai confronts the people over the fact they have returned by God’s mercy and grace, and have taken time to build their own nice houses, while the Temple remains un-restored.

It makes us all ask – what are our priorities?

Are we more concerned with our own physical houses, with our own self-interests than the condition of God’s people – His Temple now?

Given our place in human and redemptive history, what are we focused upon?

What claims our best gifts and energy?

Are we a people, blessed by God with a Church to be a part of?

Or are we God’s people, set for His glory and the fame of His name and the advancement of His kingdom, in which, we find our dwelling place?

So Jesus in Matthew 6:33 calls us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Who’s righteousness? Not our own – God’s righteousness, in Christ.

ZECHARIAH: ENCOURAGEMENT.

Like Haggai his contemporary, Zechariah’s ministry too was to Judah after the exile.

He encourages them to keep to the work of rebuilding.

And not to stop at just rebuilding the Temple and the city, but to engage in all forms of social reform too.

To beware that they don’t fall into the same sins as their forefathers.

If they return to Him, He will certainly return to them.

The work of rebuilding was begun amidst much opposition, massive obstacles of clearing out the rubble, with little wealth, many half-hearted workers and even corruption still in the leadership.

There was disarray all around.

But it was God’s work, it would enjoy His blessing and came with His promise of completion.

So the Church.

Since the Fall, the work of rebuilding has been beset with every problem imaginable.

But His promise remains true – and the glory of what is yet to come in the Church made fully into the image of Christ, will be even more glorious than the Eden from which we fell.

Zechariah 14:9 “And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.”

To be fulfilled in Christ: Revelation 11:15 “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

MALACHI: QUESTIONS.

How often we want to question God.

In Malachi, God makes a series of statements to which Israel responds with incredulity.

God then responds to Israel – and exposes their sinful hearts by means of their questions and His answers.

Then, He asks a few questions of His own.

We are reminded that God is not the one who needs to give an answer for the way things are – we are!

We started it.

We brought the destruction by our sin.

But the glorious reality is – He finishes it.

He brings the salvation we brought on the need for ourselves.

Malachi, and with it, the whole OT ends with this word: Malachi 4:5–6 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

This (Matt. 11:14) – Jesus applies directly to John the Baptizer as His own forerunner – fulfilling this prophecy.

Ending the OT with a marker so that they will anticipate the Christ – who is to fulfill all.

Beloved – read your entire Bible with an eye to see Christ foreshadowed, prophesied about, typified, hinted at and as the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to humankind – both in salvation and judgement.
Teachable Moments

July 13th, 2015

In my sermon yesterday – finishing up our Proverbs series, I made mention of two “current” events as pointing to our need to be fearless in the rapidly changing culture here in America.

Now if there is anything our Body @ ECF ought to be grateful for, and that blesses my heart as a pastor, it is that a wide variety of those in our Body, are awake, watching, and seeking out not just facts, but the WHOLE truth in facts that help us in dealing well with the cultural issues the Church in America is facing in light of our cultural decline.

Two notable examples come from Daniel Tomlinson and Sarah Shoots in reference to the two examples I used in yesterday’s sermon. And they are key to seeing how in 1 Peter, our upcoming series – we as Christians need to measure our responses in sober-mindedness.

Let me cite Daniel’s First. Wanting to be sure he had ALL the facts, and not just the surface facts which can bring us to knee jerk reactions – Daniel did some quick research on the $70 million dollar lawsuit against a Bible publisher. The lawsuit, brought by Lashawn Fowler against Zondervan and Thomas Nelson is not NEW news. His suit was not immediate fallout from the recent SCOTUS decision as has been reported by some, but is in fact an 8 year old case. The original article with proper dating can be found at the link below.

http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/07/lawsuit_against_zondervan_comp.html

The good news is, that suit was subsequently dismissed. For this we are grateful. The bad news is, we might reasonably expect other such actions in the future.

In either case, we do not want to report as current, and respond to improperly, information that is not verified and accurate. This is an excellent example of how some – even among Christians – can use misinformation in a damaging way to the whole Body. We want to be awake and aware, but never alarmists.

Thanks again to Daniel for his excellent follow up.

The 2nd is regarding a Florida who were offended by a Church ostensibly seeking a cake to be baked which had an anti-gay message printed on it – and which service was refused.

In this case, we have a prime example of the very OPPOSITE of how 1 Peter will instruct us to respond to the culture when it is hostile to us.

“Evangelist” Joshua Feuerstein asked them to bake a cake with the slogan “We Do Not Support Gay Marriage.” He claims his point was to there is a double standard at work.

You can read the entire account at the link below:

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/04/13/christian-who-asked-gay-rights-bakery-to-bake-anti-gay-marriage-cake-may-face-legal-action/

Is there a double standard in our culture? Of course! We ought not to expect the World to operate on Christian or BIblical values.

But our response to such things is not to bait others, but as Peter will show us – it is to respond in love, kindness, and expecting to be discriminated against for Christ’s sake. No to cry about it to others, and aggravate others without cause.

1 Peter 4 addresses this directly: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.”

No, Christian business owners ought not to be forced, fined or penalized for refusing to violate their consciences before God, just as these folks should not be forced by Christians to act contrary to their consciences.

But let us think about how to respond to such inequities with the glory of Christ’s name, and the salvation of lost souls squarely in our sights.

Thank you Sarah!
The Proverbs 31 Woman – She’s not who you think She is.

July 12th, 2015
The “Virtuous” (Strong or Valiant) Woman

Proverbs 31:10-31

THE AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

NOTE: As one who really loves words, I was caught in a wonderful mistake in this sermon. I used the word “WIZENED” as one who in time has become wise. But as one astute congregant noted – the word WIZENED means shriveled or weather beaten – NOT made wise. It is always great fun (not to mention ALSO embarrassing) to get caught. But at lest I know for sure one person was listening and listening well. The faulty audio is corrected here in print.

IN THE FIRST PLACE, this passage is very plain.

With no debate of any kind, Solomon is rehearsing the “oracle” or inspired message Lemuel’s mother gave him.

We met both of them in vs. 1 of this chapter.

In this 2^nd part (vss. 10-31) she helps her son realize what kind of woman he needs to look for in a wife.

She notes 1^st:

SHE IS “EXCELLENT” – STRONG

– VALIANT

A word in the Hebrew most often translated as valiant. It is used by the angel who approaches Gideon in Judges when he addresses Gideon as a “mighty man of valor” – Valor = Excellence.

This woman self-possessed, not wishy washy, obsequious or servile –

No – “whatever you say master”.

This is no brainless, un-opinionated ornament.

She is a match for him.

SHE IS “RARE” – which is what makes her so valuable.

Lemuel’s mother says: Don’t look for average, or just pretty – look for someone who can bring something to the table,

Because she has a brain and can interact with you and challenge you on your level.

You can hire a house keeper.

You can hire a cook.

You can hire a governess.

You can’t hire a true partner an “excellent wife” – you have to marry her.

In the verses following, Lemuel’s Mother sums up this EXCELLENT wife in 6 Traits:
1. 11-12, 23 / GOODWILL.
2. 13-16, 24 / INDUSTRY.
3. 17-19, 27 / THOUGHTFULNESS.
4. 20 / CHARITABLE.
5. 21, 25 / FEARLESS.
6. 26 / WISE KINDNESS.
So far, so good.

These things are clearly evident.

This is wise counsel to all you marriageable young men out there.

And young marriageable women – take note,

There aren’t a lot of guys looking for this much quality in a woman.

It is a rare man that does.

Neither of you ought to just settle.

But as we’ve seen throughout this study, if we stop there, we come away with good advice, but not much food for our souls, and not much by way of what this might mean to us in terms of Christ, His Kingdom and such.

For those, we need to dig a bit deeper.

But before we get there, let me make one observation about the practical application of this portion in its first setting.

A WORD OF WARNING: One of the most problematic ways Christians can approach the Scriptures – is to be wrapped up in seeing how a specific portion applies to someone else.

Nowhere is this more true than in a passage like this one, or in Eph. 5; Col. 3; Titus 2 & 1 Peter 3 – where husbands and wives are addressed.

When going to such portions – it is NEVER the province of the husband to wave those passages under the nose of their wives – NOR of the wives to wave them under the noses of their husbands.

Husbands are to read THEIR portions and submit to them – WHETHER OR NOT their wives properly deal with their portions – and vice versa.

Each must answer to GOD for THEIR OWN responsibilities.

Untold damage has been done to many a good woman who has had a boorish, selfish, self-righteous, controlling jerk of a husband turn to a passage like this & ask why their wife doesn’t measure up.

That is to ABUSE the Word of God, NOT to use it.

Sadly, due to our sinful tendencies, such a warning has to be issued.

That said, let me point out a few other key things we need to understand about the passage as a whole.

NOTE: THIS IS AN IDEAL.

Some commentators say it functions like a HEROIC POEM – giving an outsized or exaggerated portrait to stir the emotions – something like the proportions on Michelangelo’s David.

In the sculpture, David is uncharacteristically over-sized – a giant. (16’ – 11.5”)

And at that both his head and his hands are disproportionately large.

It is meant to accent his heroism, mind and ability.

So with the picture painted here of the “EXCELLENT” wife.

This is not meant to be a daunting yoke around the neck, it is meant to be INSPIRING. To say “WOW! I want to be like that!”

High ideals are always good to aspire to – if we remember perfection, while aimed at, will not be achieved in this life.

That said, I don’t believe we’ve gotten to the best application for us in our circumstances and as the Church in the New Covenant era.

For this we need to reach beyond – and I would argue that above everything else…this passage is MEANT to be…
1. A STUNNING PORTRAIT of Christ’s Bride, as the Church is supposed to be to Jesus Christ in this world.
I am not alone is thinking this portion refers to church more than simply to “wives” as a whole.

Venerable Bede / John Gill / Wordsworth / Ambrosius / Augustine / Harry Ironside / Robert Hawker / Peter Lillback (Pres. of WTS) / Others.

Ephesians 5:31–32 NOTES: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

The Bride of Christ is one of the various euphemisms for the Church – and by no means the least.

Rev. 21-22 especially focus on this image of the Church as Christ’s Bride as summing up the wonder of our relationship to Him.

And these are the qualities He spells out as those He is looking for in His Bride – the Church.

These 22 verses are more highly stylized than any chapter in the Bible.

It is BOTH an acrostic AND a chiasmus

ACROSTIC: Each successive verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Once again, it presents an ideal – something to which no individual woman can attain.

It seems evident then that something truly extraordinary is going on here.

As we know that all marriage is intended to mirror Christ and His Church,

And all men are to live and love as a living illustration of Christ and all women are to live and love as a living illustration of the Church –

So this highly idealized picture of the woman Lemuel ought to pursue finds its highest ideal in the Church Christ Himself pursues.

CHIASMUS: You can see the parallel thoughts if you map it out.

A: High value of a good wife (v. 10)

B: Husband benefited by wife (vv. 11–12)

C: Wife works hard (vv. 13–19)

D: Wife gives to poor (v. 20)

E: No fear of snow (v. 21a)

F: Children clothed in scarlet (v. 21b)

G:        Coverings for bed, wife wears linen (v. 22)

H: Public respect for husband (v. 23)

G´:       Sells garments and sashes (v. 24)

F´:    Wife clothed in dignity (v. 25a)

E´:        No fear of future (v. 25b)

D´:   Wife speaks wisdom (v. 26)

C´:       Wife works hard (v. 27)

B´:    Husband and children praise wife (vv. 28–29)

A:´       High value of a good wife (vv. 30–31)^{^[1]}

As I already mentioned – these are summed up in 6 qualities:

Let’s think through them as they apply to the Church – the Bride of Christ.
1. 11-12, 23 / TRUSTWORTHY IN GOOD WILL.
Can we as the Church say that we have Christ’s good name as a priority? Remember Jesus’ priority in the Lord’s Prayer? The “hallowing” of His Father’s name.

So we read in 1 Peter 2 how it is central to the Church’s call and mission in the world to “proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light!”

Does Christ, having called us to co-labor with Him in His church, have confidence in us to do His cause and name good?

Can He trust is to use the gifts He has given us to be used to seek the glory of His name in making His person and work known to a fallen world?

2 TIMOTHY 1:14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

JUDE 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

2 TIMOTHY 2:2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

This last Wednesday, Al Sabel was teaching on the parable of the “talents” in Matthew – where Jesus graphically describes His Kingdom as one where He commits His gifts and graces into our hands, and then returns to see if we’ve made good on them – honored Him in investing them and seeing them used in His best interest.

So in these verses:
1. The heart of her husband trusts in her
2. He will have no lack of gain
3. She does Him good, and not harm
4. Her husband has a good reputation because of her
This is part and parcel of what it means for us to be The Church in respect to Christ as our husband.
1. 13-16, 24 / INDUSTRIOUS.
Is the Church busy in building up the household of faith?

– Preaching the Gospel / Missions (Mark 16:15)

– Training the next generation.
1. 17-19, 27 / THOUGHTFUL ABOUT LIFE.
19 – Double strength yarns.

Engaging cultural issues

Thinking deeply about current issues from a Biblical worldview

1 PETER 1:13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 PETER 4:7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

1 PETER 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1. 20 / CHARITABLE.
Do we have compassionate hearts toward the suffering that sin has brought into this world?

MATTHEW 10:8e You received without paying; give without pay.

Do we act in both the concrete and the spiritual?
1. 21, 25 / FEARLESS.
Is the Church fearless in our generation?

Do we really trust Him in our dark hours, or do we cave to the Culture?

ROMANS 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

How timely in light of the recent SCOTUS ruling.

Will we preach, teach and practice God’s morality, or the World’s.

Will they scare us into capitulation or silence?

Or have we prepared ourselves by looking to Christ and strengthening ourselves in His promises?
1. 26 / WISE AND KIND.
Truth without compassion soon becomes MEAN

Compassion without truth soon becomes EMPTY SEMTIMENTALITY

PSALM 85:10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Is the Church – are we @ ECF filled with the wisdom of how God sees the world?

And are we representatives and dispensers of His great kindness in the Gospel?

Do we only stand for sound doctrine, while harboring cold or harsh hearts?

Do we have care and concern for people’s sufferings, but do so at the expense of failing to bring the truth of God’s word and the Gospel to hearts and minds for their eternal good?

We can never err on one said or the other – we are called to both in this world.

CONCLUSIONS:
1. Grateful children & husband.
When the Church is carrying out its charge, those saved and blessed under its ministry, and the Christ who is its Lord BLESS.

Worship & Commendation.
1. This is an image of TRUE excellence.
It is a preventative against lop-sidedness.
1. Heart beauty supersedes physical beauty.
It produces beauty in holiness of character over and above worrying about how attractive to the outside world it might “appear” though externally pleasing the World’s eye.
1. She will be rewarded.
She would rather hear “well done” from Christ, than approval from society, culture or even other religious bodies. She wants to please her “Husband” above all.

Take away: It has been the tendency of every generation of serious Christians to reinvent the Church in their age and context.

What should the Church look like?

What is its mission?

How should we think about styles of worship?

But in the end, those are not the thoughts of Christ regarding how His Church ought to look and appear in society – This is.

She is to be:
1. 11-12, 23 / Trustworthy in Goodwill.
The trustworthy guardian of His reputation and truths: Of His household
1. 13-16, 24 / Industrious.
She is to be about the business that is dearest to His heart and the maintenance of His household.
1. 17-19, 27 / Thoughtful about life.
She is to be engaged with the deep things of life, and not one with her hear buried in the sand and unaware of the world in which she lives.
1. 20 / Charitable.
She is to be as generous with the mercy and grace of Christ in proportion to how she has been the beneficiary of His mercy and grace.
1. 21, 25 / Fearless.
She is to be fearless in facing the days ahead, knowing the gifts and resources Christ has given her are more than sufficient to see her through, until the day when He returns and sets all right.
1. 26 / Wise and Kind.
She is to be both wise in the ways of righteousness and winsome in proclaiming and living that righteousness in the world.

One last thought – we become this kind of Bride to Him, as we contemplate how He is this kind of Husband to us.

Who is more: Full of Good will toward His Own?

Unceasing in the more extreme labor for us

Full of truth about all of life that affects us

Full of grace to overflowing

Fearless to face the Cross for our salvation

The sum of all wisdom, and the infinite kindness of God incarnate

Husbands – want a wife like the Proverbs 31 Woman?

Be a Proverbs 31 Husband.

^{^[1]} Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (vol. 14; The New American Commentary; Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 248.
A Declaration of TOTAL Dependence

July 6th, 2015

Last night as we gathered around the Lord’s Table, and given it was the 4th of July weekend, we thought some of how Jesus established the New Covenant in His blood at the table. And looking at that covenant as encompassing the “constitution” of the People of God, we compared the Declaration of INdependence, with how in Christ, at the Table, we ratify each time our Declaration of TOTAL Dependence. For we can contribute nothing to our salvation as it all rests in Christ alone. Following are the 4 slides we used. The 1st two drawing from what our earthly Founders penned, but then what a Declaration of Total Dependence might look like from the Lord’s People point of view. What a vast, infinite difference.
No Place for Repentance

June 29th, 2015
Repentance is a common theme in the Bible. No one disputes that.

However, in our day of words taking on new meaning, what repentance actually is, is somewhat debated and, I think greatly misunderstood.

It is not uncommon for me to hear someone say they’ve “repented” of some particular sin. What they mean by that is they have felt sorry for it. Either for acting sinfully, or in the aftermath of having suffered the consequences of it – felt bad about it.

But this not how the Bible defines repentance.

Yes, repentance includes a realization that what one was doing is wrong in the sight of God, and feeling the pangs of distress that God has been offended, but there is more. It is also to change one’s understanding, belief and attitude toward sinful things, so as to alter one’s behavior.

If there is not a pursuit of renewed behavior, one has not repented. They’ve only gone ½ of the way.

Perhaps the most full bodied description of what true repentance looks like is found in 2 Corinthians 7:10–11

“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. ¹¹ For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.” (ESV)

Irrespective of the particular sin cited in this passage, the pattern is remarkably clear.
1. Godly grief. Grief at having offend God, not mere regret at having been caught or suffering the consequences of the sin.
2. Earnestness in taking a new course.
3. Eagerness to be clear of it in the future – to distance oneself from having countenanced the sin in the first place.
4. Indignation that you allowed yourself to go that route at all.
5. Fear of what continuing along that course would bring as opposed to the former brazenness.
6. What longing after change in inward desires. To bless and serve God rather than to walk in contrariness.
7. Zeal to put away the old and pursue the new.
8. Willingness to accept right punishment. No attempt to confess and accept guilt as a tactic to escape what might be a just result. For example, the thief wants to let his or her responsibility go at saying “I’m sorry” while expecting to be exempted from having to make restitution. True repentance seeks to make things right among men if it in any way can, while knowing that making all things right with God is the exclusive province of the atonement of Christ. But it does not confuse the categories. It does not imagine that the free grace we can enjoy in Christ in no way destroys our responsibility toward those humanly whom we may have offended.
While each of these could be teased out and examined in deeper detail, for our purposes today, I think you get the point: Biblical repentance is far more than feeling bad about sin. It had a requisite aspect of changing course.

And that brings us to the real point of this short article. This displays what repentance looks like after sin. But we want to examine what repentance looks like – before the sin which has come to us in the germ of temptation brings forth its deadly fruit.

Here is the issue: As our model of sin becomes more and more “medical”, repentance loses its place altogether.

In other words, when we treat our sins as conditions or problems or defects to be treated, failing to accept the full weight of moral responsibility for them – we no longer repent. We say “I’m sorry”, to God and men (if other humans are included in the sin), but it ends there.

What takes the place of repentance? Helpless complaining. A fruitless and endless whining about how bad one feels about the sin, but a disinterest or half-hearted attempt at actually changing one’s thoughts, attitudes or actions.

The end result is a sullen Christian on an endless up and down sin-cycle, tainted with hopelessness.

What then is the answer? True repentance.

What does that look like?
1. It takes a brutal, unwavering commitment to expose their sin to God every time it lures, coupled with a conscious reliance upon the indwelling Spirit of Christ to walk away.
The moment one senses their temptation stirring inwardly (and if you’ve been caught in a besetting sin for very long, you can see temptation on the horizon well before it becomes fully formed) praying. But the prayer must be as open and honest and graphic as possible. Something like “Father, you see what my heart wants right now. I want to __________. I know it is wrong, I know it is sin, I know it is an offense against you in the worst way, but I confess that I want it, and I will pursue it apart from the empowering of your Spirit. I am helpless against sin myself but bring to you right now. I really WANT this sin in myself, but am asking you for your gift of repentance through your Spirit’s work in me. Grant me grace to overcome.”

It is in the honesty of confessing our sin, owning our responsibility for it, and asking for the Spirit’s work to produce in us the likeness of Christ and the power to deny ourselves that we find Him supplying. Not bemoaning our failure in the aftermath but in fleeing to Him in them in full honesty before they become actions. Conscious, constant, deliberate dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Nothing else will do.

Sometimes, one will be praying like that 10, 20, 100, 1000 times a day. But this I know from God’s Word, that when we run to Christ in our helplessness, ripping off the mask of any self-righteousness and self-reliance – He answers. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6, 1 Pet. 5:5)
1. It takes a willingness to identify the seemingly harmless precursors to actual sin, the things, places, people, attitudes, thoughts, etc. that through our repeated having fallen into sin are now familiar to us – and pleading for repentance then.
So there may be very legitimate things, things not sinful in and of themselves, but for you personally, you know to be gateways to certain sins, that you will need to avoid.

And I know the way sin argues. “But this is OK, there’s nothing wrong with it. Lots of other Christians do it all the time and with no problem.”

Yup. So what? You know that for you, this inevitably leads to something else that is sin.

Maybe it is entertaining criticism of others, which they may be deserving of, but for you ends up opening the floodgates of judgmentalism. Maybe it is a magazine or TV program that for you, soon blazes into lust. Maybe it is window shopping, which soon leaves you awash in a torrent of covetousness. Or the office pool that incites a deeper involvement in the thrill of habitual gambling with its lure of “just one more and I know I’ll strike it big!” Perhaps while ill, a little pampering by others feels so good, that the seeds of self-pity grow into a full crop that leads to the bottomless pit of depression. Or the joy of dabbling in politics that soon mushrooms into the sin of gripping anxiety over the state of affairs and plunges you deeper into despondency and other sinful heart states.

What we need is repentance. A heart that turns from those things, to find our needs met in Christ. To know ourselves well enough, honestly enough to recognize what easily leads into sinful paths, and to run to Christ at the first glimpse of them. To plead in our weakness, and to be willing to makes the changes we can make, so as prevent our presuming upon by grace, by plunging ourselves into temptation, and then complaining that we got soiled in the process.
1. An increased delight in, and pursuit of those things which militate against sin arising in the heart.
One cannot cease from sin in a vacuum. If the heart does not take time to investigate, drink in, revel in, fill the heart and mind with the wonders, goodness, truth and blessings of God, one makes themselves an easy target for sin.

The more one is familiar with the highest and purest of things, the less they are satisfied with the lesser and more faulty. One who cultivates an eye and taste for fine art, loses their appreciation for velvet Elvises. The better things spoil you for the poorer. And the more you grow in the wonders of God’s truth and beauty, the less you will be tantalized by those things which are infinitely much less.

Repentance. Turning. Looking to Christ. Refusing the legitimate things that sometimes lead us there. And growing in the good things that truly nourish the soul.

Beloved, don’t treat your sins and sinful habits like disorders that just need the right medication or accommodation. Fight them – by seeking for true repentance from the Giver of repentance. He delights to bless His own.