ResponsiveReiding

2 Corinthians 11:2 (ESV) — 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

“I make love to Jesus every night!” I was only about 14 or 15, but these words from the pulpit by a young seminarian made me really uncomfortable. Rightly so. When I asked my Dad about it later, he said that the young man in his exuberance used a poor choice of words. But it was more than that. The unseemliness of the statement then has been perpetuated by inference, if not outright duplication by many still today.

At issue, is coming to grips with proper boundaries in the Christian experience.

With so much preaching and teaching today about how satisfied we are to be in Christ, we may have un-Biblically overstated (or perhaps misstated) the case. We may have led people to believe they can find such entire satisfaction in their experience of Christ in this life now, as to virtually remove any sense of the anticipation of Heaven.

True fulfillment and total satisfaction are not be had here and now. And even our intimacy with Christ has it’s divinely imposed limitations. Our union with Christ is at this point in time – betrothal. We are not yet “married.” We cannot borrow against the intimacies of Heaven here and now. As sweet and delightful as our walk with Him may be at present, if we are not left with a proper longing, a recognition that we cannot and should not have the fullness of that now, we actually transgress into an unseemly over-familiarity. We can pursue Christian experience that does not yet belong to us.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst after righteousness – for they WILL be filled. In time. But if we are unwilling to abide the present day of unfulfillment, we will chase experience after experience after experience – trying to get what does not belong to us now. Trying to have unalloyed happiness when we still live in a sin-cursed world. Trying to live as though upsets, difficulties, hardships and longings can all be done away with if we can just get to that experiential mountain top through some teaching or seminar.

But just as a young engaged couple are rightly to bridle themselves before the wedding night, so is the Christian now to expect that his or her intimacy with Christ will not reach its peak until His return. And to try to violate that is to live in unspiritual sensuality.

Now it is quite true that many do not take advantage of what we can properly have at present too. Many do not discourse with Him in prayer nearly enough, nor hear His voice in the Word, draw near to the throne in worship or revel in the fellowship of the saints. I’ll freely grant that. But at the same time, if you are chasing some mythical experience which you imagine will satisfy you fully while still in this fallen world and not yet resurrected – you are trying to live Heaven’s life now. And while the promise of it belongs to you, the possession of it still remains. We cannot be like the prodigal son who wanted his inheritance before the father even died. The Holy Spirit truly is the down-payment of our inheritance, but the fullness is yet to come.

Learn to live with a proper level of being unsatisfied now, that the glory of Heaven and the resurrection may draw you ever closer to the Marriage Day with increasing anticipation. Don’t try to have it all now. Believe His promises and the way He has designed our fullness to await His appearing. Get to know Him better and better through the means of grace He has appointed, but don’t try experience Heaven on earth – yet. You are not spiritually deficient because you long to know Him more. It is the reality of the now He has given us. Already betrothed, but not yet wed. Know that full satisfaction IS ahead. His promise cannot fail. But know too that there is a level of divinely appointed lack of satisfaction now. And that is how it should be. Don’t run after experiences that do not belong to you yet. Or you will be easily led astray by the satisfaction peddlers, and live perpetually frustrated instead of in joyous anticipation.

At this point in Matthew’s narrative, this is now the second time Jesus has confronted the Pharisees on this same question – they do not get what Jesus means, that God has said He desires mercy above sacrifice. See: 9:13.

The point of the sacrifices was never the sacrifices themselves, but the mercy they were intended to point to. God doesn’t delight in the practice – He delights in what the practice is meant to display – that there is a sacrifice, an atonement for sin – a blood atonement – the blood of the Lamb of God.

This is what Jesus means when He says something greater than the Temple had arrived.

The Temple could only function as a temporary edifice to spotlight the types and shadows. It could support the priesthood, the sacrifices, the table of shewbread, the lampstand and the holy of holies with the Ark. But it was not the substance.

Christ is the substance.

And the problem with the Pharisees at that point, is the very same one with all man-made religion: It fails to recognize the authentic that the types and shadows point to. They were not recognizing Jesus as the fulfillment of all these things.

And many is the religionist today who does the very same thing, even in the name of Christianity. Putting emphasis upon rites, rituals and law-keeping – rather than on the substitutionary death of Christ on the Cross as that to which all of these other things can only point. Keeping them in and of themselves, no matter how scrupulously – has no value at all.

He alone, is Heaven’s treasure and the provision for our sin.

Just as on the Mount of Transfiguration, standing with Moses (the “law-giver”) and Elijah (as representative of the prophets) – the Father says: This is my beloved Son – LISTEN TO HM! For if we fail to see Him as the terminal point, we will always misunderstand and misapply the Law and the Prophets as ends in themselves.

Listen to Him.

What a wonderful Savior!

How few, even among professed Believers actually rest in Him instead of trying to establish and live in confidence in our own performance or righteousness. How many of us sincerely trying to serve and walk with Christ do not rest in His finished sacrifice, His imputed righteousness, His promises to finish His work in us, in His knowledge of just how broken and sinful we were when He betrothed Himself to us, and how He has taken us to Himself fully aware of our remaining sin.

Will He now put us off?

Did He commit to us without knowing full well when, where and how we would fail Him? Was He unaware of the extent and ravages of indwelling sin? Did He make a mistake?

No!

We can rest in His unchanging love, in His sanctifying work, in His infinite longsuffering, in His mercy, in His grace, in His goodness, and in His unchangableness. He does not react to us, though He does respond. But His feelings and attitude toward us is not dependent upon us, but upon His freely given love.

Look at how Jesus is inserted here – only a blasphemer or fool or lunatic could at this moment issue a call not to “seek God” – but “come to ME!” Jesus locates all of God’s blessing and presence in Himself.

I alone can reveal the Father to you, so come to ME.

Come to ME with your labor and burden – I (not God as though separate) will give you rest.

Take MY yoke, i.e. serve ME.

If He is not God – all of this is blasphemy.

Now what is the answer to those who are weak, burdened down, and in need of rest? The revelation of the Father (learn of me) which only He can give. The revelation of willing forgiveness, of “the day of the Lord”, to set the captives free. We must come to Jesus and to Him alone for this knowledge of God the Father. And we find His yoke easy, His burden light – for it is but by faith we enter into the riches of the Living God in Christ Jesus.

This in fact is the “easy” yoke and the “light” burden – to come to Him alone, and to trust Him alone, having believed Him alone. Come and be mine. Be yoked to me. That is the whole of it. And I will give you rest. I am meek, and approachable. Lowly, you need not raise yourself up to some level first. Just come.

All that you seek, is ultimately to be found in Him. So if you abandon trying to obtain it here – which is the impossible, exhausting and impossible task – and look to Him instead, the only task is to wait upon Him. This is infinitely lighter and easier than running from place to place, person to person, experience to experience to be filled. Keep fixed upon Him for your desires, and let Him fulfill them in His way, in His time – by Himself.

The observation of Wilberforce regarding depravity, and the verses below from Isaac Watts, serve as a stark reminder to the Christian mind, why even democratic governments like our own representative republic, must one day crumble due to their own internal corruption.

The truth is, one cannot sustain a nation on Christian principles, when the majority of the people are not Christians, nor holding to Biblical principles even when they are shown rationally to be better for human flourishing.

We all claim (in theory) to want a government “of the people, by the people, for the people” as Lincoln famously stated. Until – “the people” doesn’t want what you and I want.

But what are we to expect?

Even as water seeks its own level, so does sin in the human heart. It sinks lower and lower. Excepting the goodness of God in common grace, and those seasons of revival which have turned greater numbers to seek the morality which flows from people apprehending and desiring something of the holiness of God individually – no system can help but degenerate over time. Sin is entropic.

We can say all we want (the “we” here being those who espouse historical Judaic/Christian virtues) that freedom is the highest good. But by itself, it too only gives way eventually to chaos. For any supposed freedom which is not first bound to Christ as Lord in righteousness, is not freedom, but license to let our depravity run unrestrained.

What is the best form of human government? I cannot say. If it were a representative republic, one would have thought that’s how God would have established Israel. But He didn’t. And I cannot venture to guess why not. I know what form I personally prefer. And I celebrate the genius of the one under which I presently live – as failing as it is at present. But that is a far cry from arguing that such is necessarily the best or the one most endorsed by God.

What is the best from of government period? The Lordship of Jesus Christ. And this comes, only through the Gospel. Not politically, socially or worst of all, militarily.

If we say we want our society to be free, and in freedom that society chooses (by the sentiment of the majority as it elects those who reflect its views) to cater to fallen perceptions and desires – then we reap the result of freedom when unmoored from God. Perhaps it isn’t really freedom we desire – but our particular brand of freedom – one that supports our perceptions and desires from a Christian worldview. And in that case, we really don’t want freedom for everyone equally the same. We want freedom to be OUR freedom, and not someone else’s. This is true no matter where we fall on the political continuum.

And it is why, the Church must keep her focus on its mission as Christ gave it: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt. 28:19-20

When we veer from this, by whatever else may seem expedient and good in and of itself, we neglect the only thing which can preserve society at its best. And even then, as Christians, we must live in constant suspicion of our own hearts.

Backward with humble shame we look
  On our original;
How is our nature dashed and broke
  In our first father’s fall!

To all that’s good averse and blind,
  But prone to all that’s ill
What dreadful darkness veils our mind!
  How obstinate our will!

[Conceived in sin, O wretched state!
  Before we draw our breath
The first young pulse begins to beat
  Iniquity and death.

How strong in our degen’rate blood
  The old corruption reigns,
And, mingling with the crooked flood,
  Wanders through all our veins.]

[Wild and unwholesome as the root
  Will all the branches be;
How can we hope for living fruit
  From such a deadly tree?

What mortal power from things unclean
  Can pure productions bring?
Who can command a vital stream
  From an infected spring?]

Yet, mighty God! thy wondrous love
  Can make our nature clean,
While Christ and grace prevail above
  The tempter, death, and sin.

The second Adam shall restore
  The ruins of the first;
Hosannah to that sovereign power
  That new-creates our dust!

Isaac Watts, The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1998).

(Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.)… And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. (Genesis 26:15 & 18)

Church history is important.

That ground which our forefathers broke, and from which they received sustenance, are places which have been left to us. But the enemy of our souls delights to make us forget. To make our history among the saints as dry and dusty as possible. To cut us off from our heritage. To obscure those dug out wells of refreshing. And if we do not make the effort to recover them, they are lost to us forever.

And so it is we see Isaac needing to dig such wells all over again.

Fortunately, he did not start at random. He went back to where his father had already found water, and sought to open those places up again.

Did the Church do everything right through the ages? Of course not. We have very many things in our past to grieve over. But there are also mighty blessings to be rediscovered and re-appropriated for ourselves, and those who follow us.

Don’t fall for the lie that we need all things new. Even the Kingdom is built upon the apostles and the prophets – those who have gone before us toward the Celestial city. The Cross itself makes no sense without Genesis 1-3.

We do not need to reinvent the wheel in each generation. Yes, we need to find that which is authentic for ourselves – while at the same time drawing from that great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us.

Building without a foundation is a recipe for disaster. Read the lives and the writings of those who walked with Christ before us.

Matt. 13:52: And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Masculinity is taking it on the chin from all sides these days.

Some in our culture would tell us that masculinity in any way, shape or form is itself “toxic.” But knowing how it is that God made men and women each with their peculiar traits, trying to erase those distinctions, either by feminizing men or masculinizing women is – sin. It defaces the image we were created in.

But then we have those who, in an attempt to rescue or preserve masculinity, conjure a masculine image which is drawn from other cultural stereotypes. Thus men, in order to be men, must be hunting, fishing, weightlifting, macho, in-your-face grunters who take no guff, skin their kills with their teeth and would rather eat raw meat than get anywhere near an alfalfa sprout or a crepe. Somehow, to be soft-spoken, non-confrontational, artistic or sympathetic (heaven forbid anything close to empathetic) is to be a sissified, feminized milquetoast.

Fortunately, Biblical notions of masculinity are much broader and more complex. They can run the gamut from Samsonic he-men and Davidic warrior-poets, to iron-spined statesmen in the mold of Daniel and Joseph. One of the most interesting examples of the 2 ends of the masculinity continuum being the twins – Jacob and Esau. Esau being the “skillful hunter” and Jacob, “a quiet man, dwelling in tents.” (Gen. 25:26)

And who does God covenant with in this case? Not the grunter. The sissy.

Now is this a call for all men to deny their hunter-gatherer instincts in order to please God? Not at all. Nor is it an apologetic for all men to be uniformly quiet and indoorsy. It is to say God puts no premium on either considered in and of themselves. And that it behooves us to go back to Scripture to gain a sense of God’s idea of masculinity.

What does that look like? Let me suggest the following from Genesis. And in the end, we see that such masculinity is not located either in he-men or quiet men. It is found in men who follow Christ. There is no time or space to expatiate on each here – so let me just list them.

MASCULINE TRAIT #1 – Gen. 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man & put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it & keep it.

Here we have our first description of what manliness rests in: Responsibility for what God has COMMITTED into his HANDS. To live the life God has given to me as a literal gift from His hand &  to use WHAT He has placed at my disposal accordingly.

MASCULINE TRAIT #2 – Gen. 2:16 & 17

Responsibility to OBEY what God has COMMANDED. REGARDLESS OF OTHERS!

A MAN can & will take personal responsibility to order his own life in accordance with the revealed will of God.

His mother, father and others  can stop telling him what he ought & ought NOT to do, because he is doing that out of personal responsibility to God.

MASCULINE TRAIT #3 – Gen. 2:18-24

Responsibility toward the PROTECTION of & PROVISION for – Women & children.

Responsibility for the Spiritual Welfare of others – the inherent concept behind being an Elder.

MASCULINE TRAIT #4 – Gen. 2:25

Responsibility toward protecting the SANCTITY of the marriage union.

Nothing is LESS manly than the objectifying of women.

MASCULINE TRAIT #5 – Gen. 3:1-6

Responsibility for their own SPIRITUAL HEALTH & WELFARE & how that spills over to others (especially women & children)

Deep personal responsibility for the pursuit of Godlikeness. Pursing the fruit of the Spirit.

MASCULINE TRAIT #6 – Gen. 3:7-12

Responsibility for one’s OWN sin & its RESULTS.

The spirit of the wimp is the jelly-spined, blame-shifting that goes on when we get exposed. Real men are willing to face their deep personal responsibility for sin

MASCULINE TRAIT #7 – Gen. 3:20

Responsibility to COURAGEOUSLY go on in the face of discouragement, difficulty & failure.

Adam FINALLY shows his masculinity, when in the face of all that had happened, he doesn’t run out on Eve. He stops blaming her or anyone else. He starts cultivating the ground. Getting back to what he was commissioned to do at the first.

Men can be real men as we’ve seen outlined above, & grow up to be artists, poets, musicians, designers, dancers, lawyers, doctors, writers etc. And yep, construction workers, hunters, competition weightlifters, steam-fitters, longshoremen, tri-athletes and Marine door-gunners. None of these in either list makes one masculine. For masculinity isn’t in what we do, but who we are before God.

Be a man. 1 Cor. 16:13-14 (ESV)

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Let all that you do be done in love.

Follow Christ.

A Paper delivered to the Reformation Society of Western NY on April 8, 2021

Reformation Society of Western New York

Thursday, April 8th, 2021

Lessons Lifted, Learned and Listed

Pastoring, Proverbs and the Christian Mind.

Reid A. Ferguson

Sr. Pastor (Ret. Evangelical Church of Fairport)

6256 Brownsville Rd.

Farmington, NY 14425

585-303-0128

reid.ferguson@gmail.com

http://www.ResponsiveReiding.com

Video of this paper can be found HERE

It is my conviction that the book of Proverbs is one of the most misused, misunderstood and neglected portions of Scripture. It is the aim of this paper to spur renewed interest in it in each of you, and, to provide what I hope is a demonstration of but one vital aspect of how the book is designed to impact the Christian mind. And in the process, to show you how it is Proverbs has impacted my own thinking, and how that comes out in reflections on ministry.

I have had an abiding interest in the book of Proverbs for many years. That interest did not begin with the book itself. Rather, it grew out of my many different approaches to the systematic reading of God’s Word. I don’t know about you, but I have adopted and abandoned any number of Bible reading schemes and schedules over time. At one point committing to reading 10 chapters in the New Testament each day – taking me through the entire New Testament once a month; then switching to something like 5 chapters in the Old then 5 chapters in the new; then to adding a Psalm per day – etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum ad nauseum. Each worked for a while and then I grew disenchanted.

As a side note I found that the two greatest hindrances to systematic Bible reading being truly profitable for me were: a. A legalistic quota – virtually making it a sin if I did not keep on schedule, and b., not reading large enough portions in one sitting to successfully follow extended arcs and arguments in the texts.

In regard to the first, its artificiality is its downfall. If this is the Word of God and we are to hear Him speaking in it, imagine any other conversation or relationship where we hold the conversation partner to a specific number of words each day to communicate to us. Some days they need to say less, and we need to fully drink in a lesser but more pointed amount. And other days, we need to let them go on as much as is necessary to communicate all they need to. Quotas are not a template for a living and dynamic relationship. And it soon becomes a task and not the joyful refreshing it is meant to be. Never let the schedule dictate.

I believe it was John Newton who when asked how much of the Bible one should read each day responded that it was his habit to read until his heart was warmed and made happy. That’s a much better rule of thumb in my estimation. 

As to the second, I should hope the point is obvious. Think again at what is missed in reading the Gospel of John, but ending the day’s reading at the end of Ch. 13 and Jesus’ announcement that Peter will deny Him shortly. If you stop there without going right on into 14, without stopping, the amazing reality of how Jesus comforts Peter virtually in the same breath, is completely lost. If we do not read – Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 13:38b-14:1) as a whole – the whole is lost!

So, as I continued to find what method seemed to work best for me, I set upon trying – in addition to any other reading – to include one chapter of Proverbs to coincide with the day of the month. And it became an unexpected adventure and treasure trove that I cannot give enough thanks for.

What has become increasingly impressed upon me in the study of Proverbs is the unique role it plays in the formation of the Christian mind. The Bible has a lot to say about how we think, as well as what we think. Passages like – Ephesians 4:23 “that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,” and Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” are typical examples.

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

THIS, the Bible says – is WISDOM!

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 serves in this role.

Proverbs is a handbook on critical Christian thinking. William G.T. Shedd wrote: “The book of Proverbs is the best of all manuals for the formation of a well-balanced mind. The object of Solomon in composing it seems to have been to furnish to the church a summary of rules and maxims by which the Christian character, having been originated by regeneration, should then be educated and made symmetrical. We do not, therefore, go to this portion of Scripture so much for full and definite statements of the distinguishing doctrines of revealed religion, as for those wise and prudential canons whereby we may reform extravagance, prune down luxuriance, and combine the whole variety of traits and qualities into a harmonious and beautiful unity.” William G. T. Shedd, Sermons to the Spiritual Man (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1884), 19.

I have found that the more I read Proverbs, the more the way of thinking that Solomon both penned and compiled for us there, begins to inform and reform the entire thought process. It sort of rewires the brain in powerful ways. Even if you do not consciously pick up on it. The way of thinking begins to color all your thinking. And it is for me, what gave rise both to writing my first book on ministry, and to compiling some of what we’ll be looking at today. A series of statements or thought strands that I have titled for my own use – “The Principles.” A loosely knit framework of abiding truths which (I hope) express Biblical principles which may not be laid down in the Proverbs format of what one writer called “short, weighty apothegms” elsewhere in Scripture.

So these are an amalgam of lessons lifted from the Word in form and principle; learned in the blessed harness of ministry; and listed here – at least in part, both to edify you in what they communicate, and urge you to think about doing something similar yourselves.

Before we look at a few of these, let me make one more comment regarding Proverbs itself. Whether it was hubris, misguided reasoning or a flash of near insanity – I undertook several years ago to actually preach through the book on its own.

I do not recommend it.

At the same time, I learned just how deceptively simple the book appears. The more time you spend in it, the more you realize the hidden complexities and structures which do not yield themselves up to cursory examination. Let me cite one example from a very familiar portion – Chapter 31 and the section often referred to as: “The Excellent Wife.”

Marriage & the sexes were meant from the beginning to exemplify Christ & His Church. Ephesians says this explicitly. If we use that lens to draw some parallels (parallels only I am not arguing this is actual typology), from Proverbs 31 some pretty interesting things pop up. If you approach Proverbs 31:10-31 Using the Church/Bride of Christ paradigm – we than can ask ourselves, does this describe us as His Church?

Proverbs 31:10–11  An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. / 1. 11 Can Christ trust us that He will gain from our efforts? That we are committed to His interests?

Proverbs 31:12  She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. / Do we do Him and His cause good? Or does His work or reputation suffer at our hands?

Proverbs 31:13  She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. / Are we industrious for the Kingdom? Or just making do?

Proverbs 31:14  She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. / Do we go to great lengths to get His choice Word for our souls?

Proverbs 31:15  She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. / Do we labor secretly to see to it His Word is prepared for ourselves, His household, and for those who are close at hand?

Proverbs 31:16  She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. / Do we seek the growth of the Kingdom and set in motion plans to make it happen, that the Fruit of His vine might increase?

Proverbs 31:17  She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. / Have we strengthened ourselves in the Lord? And clothed ourselves in His righteousness?

Proverbs 31:18  She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. / Do we perceive how eternally valuable what we have in Him is – this ministry of the Word? Does His Word light us at all times?

Proverbs 31:19  She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. / Are we busy producing the bare thread of what becomes the garments of righteousness?

Proverbs 31:20  She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. / Are we generous to the lost and those in need?

Proverbs 31:21  She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. / Do we not fear evil and “cold” seasons because we have prepared well in Him? Prepared our hearts to trust Him at all times and in all things?

Proverbs 31:22  She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. / Do we make room for times of deep intimacy with Him? And adorn ourselves with the good works that make us attractive to Him?

Proverbs 31:23  Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. / Have we protected His reputation in the marketplace?

Proverbs 31:24  She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant. / Are we about the business of getting the garments of salvation out among the people?

Proverbs 31:25  Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. / Are we strong in our relationship with Him and not fearful of the coming judgment because of it?

Proverbs 31:26  She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. / Are we making the Gospel known, and communicating it in kindness and compassion for the souls of men?

Proverbs 31:27  She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. / Are we mindful of the orderliness of His Household, and not disengaged or lazy in our labors within it?

Proverbs 31:28  Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: / Will those who come to Christ rise to bless our efforts on their behalf? Will the other saints? Will he?

Proverbs 31:29  “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” / Are we admired for how we have attended Him in faithfulness?

Proverbs 31:30  Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. / Have we been more occupied with making ourselves beautiful outwardly to the world, than about what pleases Him?

Proverbs 31:31  Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates. / If our reward is the fruit of what we’ve done in His name – will it prove sweet, satisfying, and abundant?

If you think I’ve overreached here, while I may be wrong, I’m in some good company. (Venerable Bede / John Gill / Wordsworth / Ambrosius / Augustine / Harry Ironside / Robert Hawker / Peter Lillback (Pres. of WTS) / Others.)

I wish I could unpack each of these in detail now, but for obvious reasons (like that you all have lives to get on with), let me shift to the main thing I want to get at today. And to do that by way of citing some examples, only in passing, of what I am suggesting may be profitable for all of us to consider: To lay up Scriptural maxims for ourselves. To get at key, concepts and reduce them for ourselves and others in short form. Some of these are in still in process of being reduced. You’ll see what I mean. And some, we’ll stop to extend the implications of in more detail.

Here, in short form, would be the headings for the chapters in my next book on ministry – should God allow the time, energy and opportunity. Everything here is both lifted, and learned. And how I wish I had learned some of them much earlier both in life and ministry.

We are never under any obligation to assist evil. From the examples of Rahab in Jericho, the Hebrew midwives in Egypt, Obadiah’s hiding of 100 prophets from Jezebel, the Magi’s secret retreat from Herod and many others: While we are to obey the authorities God has placed in power, that power is not absolute. And we are never under any obligation to assist them or any others in the carrying out of evil.

While Justification is judicial, Forgiveness of sins is personal – even with God. Luke 5:24 / We are justified only once. We seek and obtain forgiveness continually. And we must treat the confession of sin regularly in our true encounters with God. Those who fail in this regard, in fact have very little intimacy with Him.

The Christian life cannot be lived any other way than conscious, constant, deliberate dependence upon the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The Lord’s prayer is essential for tuning the heart in all things. It is God’s paradigm. Nothing so tunes the heart and mind to God’s priorities than bringing our own prayer life into the framework of what Christ Himself gave us. It teaches us how to think in God’s categories, and thus to find prayer richer and answered far more frequently than we dare imagine. Pray with His priorities in view, and it will change your entire way not only of praying, but of thinking and living.

Providence limits our options. How often I have found myself kicking against the pricks because Providence seems to have hindered my plans. But one of the sweetest ways God uses to lead us is by His providential assignments. And invariably, they limit the options before us, helping us to make choices which are both clearer and safer. We may strain against those arrangements, but they are gifts from infinite love and unerring wisdom. Can you spell C-O-V-I-D?

All sin is ultimately a defect in love. Either toward God, or my neighbor. And one always includes the other. I cannot sin against God without it being bad for my neighbor, and I cannot sin against my neighbor without it also being a sin against God. Gal. 5:14-26. But it all begins with a defect in my perception of God’s love! So came the Fall. And so follows all of my own sin. 

Our perception of the wonder of God’s grace and mercy is always in direct proportion to our sense of how desperate and wicked we are by nature.  If you seek to hide yourself from the depths of your own sinfulness, you will be forever limited in the knowledge of His mercy and grace. You must choose which is more valuable to you. His grace, or your self-image. Only the Christian, secure in Christ can stare into the black abyss of his or her own soul in safety.

Predestination & God’s absolute sovereignty are NOT coercion. (From Shedd’s Dogmatic Theology) Such is His sovereignty that it rules even in our free choices. This is a mystery, but one which must be accepted to live with Him aright and keep us both from fatalism and distorted human autonomy.

The more we know Him, the more we will love Him, the more we will be like Him. Psalm 135. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (CSB) — We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.

All of Christianity is wrapped up in the advancement of Christ’s kingdom.

This in: a. Evangelism, b. Sanctification, c. Edification. Bringing, Being, Building.

Faith has no power of its own. Its “power” is in fixing all trust upon the character of Christ and His work. By faith we come to Him and trust Him. Merely “believing” makes nothing happen.

Prayer has no power in itself. The power is all in the God we pray to, not in the exercise or practice of prayer itself. Merely praying makes nothing happen. To err in either of these is to venture into a superstitious use of them.

There is no true growth in Christ beyond whatever discomfort we are unwilling to endure. This is especially true in self-denial.

The Christian is required to obey all the Bible teaches. But not merely to obey – to be about the business of being changed by the Spirit so that we desire righteousness and abhor sin as naturally as God does. This is true sanctification.

The beginnings of every great fall, are to be found in the neglect of little spiritual habits. Such habits do not gain God’s favor, but they do bridle and buffet the flesh.

a. Personal Bible Study.           b. Personal prayer.      c. Personal Worship.                   d. Secret Alms. e. Secret Self-denial.      f. Personal Service.     g. Personal Evangelism.           h. Seeking Fellowship.

Do not comfort yourself too quickly after sin. That is the Holy Spirit’s job as The Comforter. Let remorse do its full work. This is not to pay for sin – it is to rely on the Cross while letting the depths of our sin be exposed. Comforting ourselves usurps His role. It is one more attempt to be our own god. See John Owen in Vol. 6

The image of Christ is the character of Christ. This is fully exposed in LOVE: Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Uprightness, Faithfulness, Gentleness & Self-Control. One cannot love without all of these elements. This is what Jesus “looks like.”

Life is not about getting God to help me achieve my Goals – especially in ministry – but fully immersing myself in helping God achieve His goals. In me, and through me. Do I know what those goals are?

Treat the sins of your brothers and sisters in Christ, like wounds they’ve sustained on the battlefield. Even sins against you. Get them back to the Medic, nursed to health, and readied to go out and fight another day. Christians MUST stop shooting our wounded.

The Christian life is war. We fight the Devil by resisting him (James 4:7). We fight the World by not loving it (and loving something else instead) (1 John 2:15-17). We fight the flesh by dying to it – refusing its claim to rule us (Gal. 5:20-24).

The Christian’s greatest danger is doublemindedness. Trying to serve God and Self. Living by this Present Age’s worldview, vs. the Biblical worldview. James.

All have sinned, in that we have fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus is God’s glory revealed. And when we fail to bear His image, that is the glory we fall short of. This is our sinfulness. Where His image is obscured by us, deformed in us, or distorted through us – this is our sinfulness. This is what we all fall short of. This is what makes us sinners.

Individual sins, are only the symptoms of our sinfulness. To address our sins apart from our sinfulness, is mere behavior modification, not sanctification. Deal with sinfulness, and the sins will disappear over time.

The Christian life must be lived on purpose, not by accident. If one is planning to drive from NY to CA – they need a direction, route, conveyance, etc. We are to live as though our destination is Heaven – as though we are traveling there, not just hoping to find ourselves there. Our goal is Christ’s image – we are on our way toward Heaven to obtain it. Are we about it? We are going Home to be with our Father.

When I fall into sin, I must look to find which part of Christ’s armor I’ve neglected.

Belt / All of reality and identity defined in relationship TO Christ.

Breastplate / Wearing the imputed righteousness OF Christ.

Gospel of Peace / Standing solidly on peace with God THROUGH Christ.

Faith / In the full revelation of God IN Christ.

Helmet / The hope of salvation in its consummation WITH Christ.

Sword / Constantly having my sin exposed by the light OF Christ.

Prayer / Access to the Father won BY Christ.

Am I really standing in these as my daily, conscious reality?

The germ of all evil is the suspicion of some darkness in God. Satan deceived us by suggesting it. We fell when we believed it and tried to protect ourselves from Him.

Beware of:   Mishandling God’s Word – Manhandling God’s People – Not handling Sin

Not everything can be reduced to ONE central thing. Jonathan Edwards was wrong. God is triune as well as One. When we attempt to reduce His purposes to just one thing, we will neglect the inherent trinality in all He is and does. And when we look only to His triunity, we will neglect His oneness and pit Him against Himself in some way. Both must always be retained in tension. God’s wisdom is “manifold” (Eph. 3:10) not singular.

The perpetual temptation in preaching, is to preach the letter of the Word never arriving at how it shows us the glories of Christ.

When preaching – if you can’t be brilliant, at least be useful. (Stolen from someone else but I cannot remember who).

Prayerlessness is the single greatest indicator of arrogance and self-reliance. When prayer ceases to be our primary means of seeking true change – Manipulation and programmatic approaches to getting people to do what we want will be the inevitable result.

Sin does not die, we die to it. (Rom. 6) As God told Cain, sin is ever crouching at the door – looking for its opportunity to pounce and master us. But we must always be vigilant against its advances – striving always to master it. To try and kill sin so as to end its life in us, is an exercise in futility which will lead either to despair, or Pharisaical self-deception.

The goal of Bible study & exegetical preaching Is not to simply get to the meaning of the text, but to tap into the broader stream of God’s thinking on all things revealed.

The principle of DISPLACEMENT. Putting on holiness, displaces sin. You cannot remove sin in a vacuum first. You “put on” and it forces “off”. Thomas Chalmers – The Expulsive power of a new Affection.

We are made to be vessels, receptacles, not generators. We receive His glory in brittle, earthen pots. But He pours into us, we do not pour out to Him. He fills us. Then He can use us. If we are trying to fill ourselves, and to pour out from ourselves, we will soon find how dry and empty we really are. We are created to be recipients, objects of the infinite outpouring of His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Because this is so, while hurt, grieved by us beyond our comprehension, the Father is still not resentful of our fall, and our subsequent sins – but seizes upon them as opportunities to show us even more kindness yet. Yes, He is holy. Yes, he MUST deal with sin justly. But that does not negate His joy and desire in pouring out His kindness. It does not alter His original aim – to make us full recipients of His kindness. Indeed, given the Fall, He will use that to give us new bodies equipped for even higher experiences of His goodness in the age to come.

We cannot know Him, unless we seek Him. We must make time to be with Him, and to let His Word speak to us. Prayer’s primary goal is to bring us face to face with Him. The thing that Jesus purchased for us in our salvation above all others, is the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry “Abba! Father!” It is the reconciliation which stands behind prayer. Stripped of access to the Bible; stripped of access to gathered worship; stripped of access to the Word preached – we have prayer. And we can grow in grace and Christ’s image if we are devoted to seeking the Father’s face in it, in and for all things. Col. 4:2.

We have crossed over into idolatry and false religion when we find ourselves trying to GIVE God something by our prayers, rather than praying to receive. Nothing will more quickly kill the Believer’s prayer life than when this reality is turned upside down. Prayer will become burdensome instead of refreshing, sour instead of sweet, heavy instead of freeing. The thing He wants from us most – is trust in Him. Absolute trust in His infinite, undeserved, lavish love.

The most difficult discipline of the Christian life is to learn how to WAIT. Nothing will defeat temptation as will the ability to wait. Waiting for God, to meet us in His time, His way.

God “seems” harsh or strict with us only because of our misperception of 3 things:

a. We have no true sense of the sinfulness of our sin. We fail to be horrified and staggered by the depravity of it.

b. We have no true sense of how merciful The Father is being toward us in already alleviating our just suffering and how much He delights in being merciful.

c. We have no true sense of how much grace has been poured out upon us and promised us.

Not distinguishing guilt from remorse paralyzes and confuses us. In Christ, our guilt has been met. But may we never grow past remorse for those sins He has saved us from. Freud tried to eliminate guilt. Only the Cross can do that. But the Holy Spirit brings remorse. And we learn to be grateful that He never allows us to be comfortable with our sins – past or present. Conviction of sin and condemnation are two very different things. Confusing them brings false guilt and a defeated life.

Any human being, saved or unsaved, is potentially capable of any atrocity. Never stop suspecting your own sinfulness.

RAPID FIRE: No one’s sins against me cancel out any of my sins whatever.

Not every action is a trajectory. Think of turn signals.

Not every description is a definition. Ex – God is love.

Not every statement indicates a coherent system of thought. We are quite fragmented in our own thoughts at times.

Not everything that can be done, should be done.

Not every commonality indicates uniformity.

Not every agreement indicates tacit endorsement.

Not every objection indicates opposition.

Not every opportunity is a directive. Ex – David’s opportunities to kill Saul.

Not every good desire is a commission or mandate. Ex – David building a temple.

Not every coincidence is divine direction.

Not every commendation indicates blanket approval.

Not every criticism is condemnation.

Not every insight is to be indiscriminately shared.

Not every thought is to be expressed.

Not all information is appropriate for everyone on every occasion.

Not every feeling is an indication of truth.

Not every feeling is to be non-judgmentally accepted.

Not every disagreement is due to others being wrong.

Not every tool is suited for every task. The law is good if it used lawfully. The Law was never meant to justify.

Not everything old is automatically good.

Not everything new is automatically bad.

Not everything old is automatically bad.

Not everything new is automatically good.

No one part of anything should be taken as the whole.

No whole is without its parts. Ex – Trinity.

There are many, many more, but I think you see what I am trying to get at. So let me close with a few of what I believe are timely applications.

A. If you haven’t noticed it yet – you will; We shepherd more and more young (and not so young) men who’ve had virtually no father figure in their lives. The results of this phenomenon are astounding.

63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.
 
90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.
 
85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average.  (Center for Disease Control)
 
80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes –14 times the average. (Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26)
 
71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (National Principals Association Report)
 
75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average.
 
Columbia University found that children living in two-parent households with a poor relationship with their father are 68% more likely to smoke, drink, or use drugs compared to all teens in two-parent households.
 
70% of youths in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Sept. 1988)
 
85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average.  (Fulton Co. Georgia, Texas Dept. of Correction)

Myriad are the Christian books right now trying to address that gap. But none of them can hold a candle to what God has already prepared in the Book of Proverbs.

Books like John Eldredge’s dreadful “Wild at Heart” and others try to instigate a vision of masculinity drawn more from the culture and Tim The Tool-man than Scripture teaching and examples. In fact, within the “Young, Restless and Reformed” community, books like “The Bronze Age Mindset” pseudonymously authored by “The Bronze Age Pervert” – are having a large and wretched impact. If you are not familiar with this book, you will run into its influences. Basically, in my never-to-be-humble opinion, it is the vulgar, profane rantings of a supremely egotistical wannabe philosopher – calling men to the adolescent fantasy of being imaginary, chest-beating super-heroes.

Proverbs is God’s answer to fatherlessness. 

Proverbs is written, so as to let The Heavenly Father, father these many in our midst. If we will but direct them there. The Father’s voice will be with them always to lead, guide and direct. Convince them that He has not left them orphans. But has supplied the need Himself. And that – preparing for them thousands of years in advance.    

B. Unless I miss my guess, those who have had the greatest impact in your own lives are those who have instilled some key maxim into your own thinking. Study to replicate that. Especially with Scriptural concepts. It will do YOU good, and those who come after you.

I am caught by 2 New Testament exemplars of the concept: Peter & Paul.

2 Peter 1:12–15 (CSB) — “Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.”

Look how intentional Peter is in laboring to make key truths memorable to those under his care.

In Paul, there are both subtle and overt examples.

Romans 12:3 (CSB) — For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

Romans 12:19 (CSB) — Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.

Romans 14:11 (CSB) — For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.

1 Timothy 1:15 (CSB) — This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them.

1 Timothy 4:8–9 (CSB) — For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.  This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.

1 Timothy 3:1 (CSB) — This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.”

2 Timothy 2:10–13 (CSB) — This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. This saying is trustworthy: For if we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

Titus 3:4–8 (CSB) — But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life. This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone.

Romans 11:36 (CSB) For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

It is a powerful form of catechesis.

I’m sure you’ll have your own examples if you think back to those who have influenced you in key moments. For me John Newton is the master at it. It is behind his poetry and hymns. If you read his letters, these maxims show up everywhere and make his counsel memorable and useful. But note what a loving biographer of Newton’s wrote:

“With respect to his ministry, he appeared, perhaps, to least advantage in the pulpit; as he did not generally aim at accuracy in the composition of his sermons, nor at any address in the delivery of them. His utterance was far from clear, and his attitudes ungraceful. He possessed, however, so much affection for his people, and so much zeal for their best interests, that the defect of his manner was of little consideration with his constant hearers; at the same time, his capacity and habit of entering into their trials and experience gave the highest interest to his ministry among them. Besides which, he frequently interspersed the most brilliant allusions; and brought forward such happy illustrations of his subject, and those with so much unction on his own heart, as melted and enlarged theirs. The parent-like tenderness and affection which accompanied his instruction made them prefer him to preachers who, on other accounts, were much more generally popular.” John Newton, Richard Cecil, The Works of the John Newton, vol. 1 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 92–93.

And as The Church at large has benefitted most from him not in the pulpit, but in his poetry, letters and hymns, the power of this medium of reducing great Gospel truths into memorable maxims cannot be over-estimated. Just think of the lines of Amazing Grace, which most of us here can no doubt recite in full from memory.

I’ll leave you with one more from him which has impacted me personally over many years.

The worst of all diseases, Is light, compared with sin

On every part it seizes, But rages most, within

‘Tis fever, pain and palsy, And madness all combined

And none but a Believer, The least relief can find

Growth in faith is not a matter of quantity, but of confidence. And it has 2 aspects. One for the Believer, and one for the Unbeliever.

Faith is the “assurance”: This is for the Believer.

When I am believing God, trusting in His person and promises, I have true assurance. In other words, faith grasps the word and promises of God as realities, and not theories or mere wishes.

This faith is then evidenced by how we live. Do we live in the light of these realities? If so, that is faith. If not, we are faithless and cannot please Him.

Faith is the “evidence”: This is for the Unbeliever. That Believers DO have faith, is the evidence of the unseen work of God in their hearts, and of the reality of the things they testify to, and to the reality of God’s being.

There are two parts to this very familiar verse.

It would seem that in this chapter, faith in what is unseen is particularly the promise of becoming heirs of the world, and ruling and reigning with Christ. How many of us have our daily thoughts informed by this being the end for which He has saved us – and thus live our lives with this end in view – as Participating in moving toward it consciously? Few indeed.

And the absence of this faith, is why we seek earthly, political and social power, now.

Components of genuine saving faith:

a. That God IS

b. That God has CREATED

c. That God has SPOKEN

d. That God is GOOD

e. That God is to be BELIEVED

f. That God is ABLE

g. That God is to be OBEYED

h. That God REWARDS as promised

3 Things faith is NOT: Presumption. Mere or baseless hope. Blind.

3 Things faith DOESN’T DO: Deny reality. Deny evil. Deny discomfort.

3 Things faith DOES: Steadies us. Frees us. Pleases God.

Video for this sermon can be found here: https://youtu.be/NxrrbwuLdFA

Something Jim mentioned in his sermon last week reminded me of a conversation I was involved in a number of years ago. It was at one of our Pastor’s fellowships. We were discussing the Sermon on the Mount. One of the men, a dear brother, a solid brother whom I love, made this statement: “If I am on my deathbed, and you are called to minister to me, one passage I do not want you to read to me is the Sermon on the Mount. It is nothing but unobtainable law. I would feel utterly condemned.”

We spent quite a bit of time that day discussing his view. And I spent a lot of time trying to convince him he had a very wrong understanding of this passage. 

As has already been mentioned, the Sermon on the Mount – as it is most often called, covers all of chapters 5,6 & 7.

It is the longest unbroken and sustained account of Jesus’ public teaching we have. While it was first and foremost to the Disciples, we see that there was a large crowd gathered who listened in.

In the process, it covers the essentials of the Biblical Christian life and outlook. I think it is defensible to say that virtually all of what Jesus taught can be tied in some way to what is given here. It is startlingly complete.

And while some like my friend see it more as an ethical manifesto, as though if one were to obey it perfectly, that would make them acceptable in God’s eyes; that of course is no more true than obeying the 10 Commandments will serve to justify you before God. In fact, in its ethical implications, parts of it are so much more exacting than the 10 Commandments, it would be much harder to fulfill this, than them! That was in fact my friend’s point. He knew he couldn’t measure up. It held no “Gospel” for him.

We must never forget that Justification – right standing with God – comes only one way, through the Cross of Christ. Every genuine Christian has come to know this. Knowing our lost condition and coming to God for mercy on the basis of Jesus having suffered in our place on Calvary.

But once having come to Christ, we are not now just set adrift and left to our own imaginations in terms of what the Christian and the Christian life ought to look like. This sermon sets all of that in quite comprehensive order. And far from condemning, it is an eye opening look into the wonders of what it means to be a citizen in the Kingdom of Christ.

It is familiar – especially the beatitudes even to many outside Christianity. And herein is a danger: Things which are too familiar to us seldom get a second or deeper look. And I think that is especially true too of this second portion assigned to me today.

Let’s take a step back and frame the larger picture before we tackle the 4 verses right here.

Over the years I have studied this portion, I have come to see it in 10 parts. I thought Jim’s shorter breakdown last week was exceedingly helpful.

He said that in this sermon: “we see the new heart of his people refracted through many angles – relating to the world, to the law, to the Father, to one another, to false teachers, and to coming judgement.”

I couldn’t agree more.

But let me toss this out there too. I’ll be referring back to the first part which has already been ably preached on by Jim last week, and set today’s focus on part 2. But as I said, to give you a broad overview – I want to suggest one way of understanding it that I hope is helpful. Viewed this way, contained in it are the incredible rights and privileges which belong only to those who are found in Christ by faith.

Keep in mind, this sermon is first and foremost, all about Christ’s Kingdom.

1 – 5:1-12 / Give us a portrait of the CITIZENS of the Kingdom / That all in Christ are conceived of as a “Blessed” people. Irrespective of any external circumstances.

And this would have been in direct conflict with the Pharisee’s teaching of Jesus’ day, even as it is for many today. Blessedness, being in God’s favor is often assumed to be located in joy and comfort in our circumstances. If things are good – I’m blessed. If things aren’t so good, something’s wrong and I need to get back to being blessed.

Jesus tips that notion on its head.

He does that here in His teaching, but He demonstrated it elsewhere too.

Do you remember the account in John 9 where coming upon a man who was born blind, the Disciples asked Jesus who sinned so bad that this was the situation? Was this guy just a wretched sinner even in the womb? Especially evil? Or was it because his parents were so bad – that is why he was born that way?

The implication being, if such was his lot, some sort of special sinfulness must be attached to it. After all, righteous people get blessed, and sinners get cursed – right? That is what the Pharisees taught.

And Jesus takes them up short and says no – that isn’t what is going on here. This man is here, in this condition, at this place and time, so that in healing him, I can display my power and the glory of God!

They didn’t know what to do with that. Many of us don’t either.

2 – 5:13-16 / The ROLE of the Citizens of the Kingdom in this World / Salt & Light.

3 – 5:17-48 / The CHARACTER of the Kingdom and its Citizens / Clothed in and manifesting the Righteousness of God in Christ.

Christ fulfilled the Requirements, Prophecies and Penalties of the Law for us, and counts that righteousness as belonging to all who believe in Him.

4 – 6:1-24 / The LIFE of the Citizens of the Kingdom – SERVICE / Living all of life as unto the Father.

5 – 6:25-34 / The SUFFICIENCY of the Kingdom / The privilege of living above paralyzing ANXIETY.

6 – 7:1-5 / The HUMILITY of the Kingdom / Living UNCRITICALLY, brother with brother. Comrades in the battle against sin.

7 – 7:6 / The OTHERNESS of the Kingdom / Freedom from this present world’s system of values due to the Kingdom’s PRECIOUSNESS and CONTRARINESS.

8 – 7:7-12 / The SUPREME right and privilege of the Kingdom / Direct access to the Father in prayer.

9 – 7:13 & 14 / The single ENTRANCE to the Kingdom / Entering in  -The Narrow Way and Gate. Though Christ alone.

10 – 7:15-27 / The INTEGRITY of the Kingdom / Those in it are both hearers and doers of Jesus’ will as Lord.

But my assignment today is to cover Matt. 5:13-16:

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Two similes Jesus uses to describe the Role of The Citizens of the Kingdom in this present World: Salt and Light.

Now a common error in looking at this portion is in divorcing it from the first part – the beatitudes. We must see the relationship between the 2 to grasp what is really going on here.

So the question is: In what way are Believers Salt & Light in the World? What does being salt & light mean? To which a multitude of good answers have been given, but not necessarily in relation to the preceding portion – which is the proper lead-in to this.

One way to go about answering what Jesus means here by Salt & Light is to look at how the Scripture itself refers to salt and light – which it does a lot – in different contexts.

Let’s stick with salt for a minute.

Salt is used in the Bible as a symbol of permanence – so God commanded it be included with every sacrifice to show the permanent and lasting nature of His covenant with His people. (Lev. 2:13; Numb. 18:19; 2 Chron. 13:5 etc.)

It was often included in contracts of all sorts for the same reason.

After conquering in battle, the lands conquered were to be sprinkled with salt to show the conquest was irreversible. (Judges 9:45)

We have instances of how it is used to purify things. (2 Kings 2:20; Ezek. 16:4)

And the meaning most commonly associated with this passage is that salt acts as a preservative. So the application typically is that Christians in the world, act a preservative against the advance of sin in culture.

And while all of those have their place, and are reasonable, the fact is the quality of salt that is appealed to in the text is not its preserving ability, but its – “taste”.

English Standard Version Chapter 5

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste

Jesus is concerned that the salt, that we, as God’s people in the world, as citizens of His kingdom, not lose our savoriness – our taste.

Which of course begs the question – who is it that is bothered if we become “tasteless” so to speak? And the answer can only be – God Himself.

Calvin takes a similar approach noting that people still lost in their sins are “tasteless” to God, and that through the Gospel we make them so that God can “relish” in them. The Gospel makes them savory to God. Even as it does us. (See: Calvin’s commentary on this portion)

The imagery is somewhat similar to Jesus’ words to the Church in Laodicea in Rev. 3. There, the Church was neither cold and refreshing, nor hot and soothing, but lukewarm. And it made Him nauseous.

Salt losing its saltiness is parallel. You put the salt on food to make it savory – but if it has lost that quality – then it is good for nothing. You might as well toss it out and use it just to help harden mushy ground. But eating it is out of the question.

The Christian’s role in the World is to live in such a way as to be pleasingly palatable to Him. And it is in remaining pleasingly palatable to Him that we have our greatest impact on The World, The Culture, and Society as well. This is how and where we shine as lights. Our aim is to please Him. And the by-product is an effect on the World. But in the first place, our aim is not to impact the World – but to please Him.

And this pleasing Him, is to be done obviously – which is what He means by stating that our role is also – to be light.

To be out in the open so that He is revealed to the World as He is – as our King.

Christians living large (as they say).

It is reminiscent of 1 Peter 2:9 

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

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.

To make Him known, in His person and work; in His goodness, grace and glory.

So then, what are these good works He speaks of which light up the world and bring others to glorify our Father who is in Heaven?

And this is what takes us back to what Jim preached last week. This is where we need to read this section in context, and not single it out.

In short: It is to consciously live as the blessed people we are in Christ.

To live as “blessed” in Him. 

Not fearful people.

Not joyless people.

Not grim people.

Not perpetually agitated people.

Not full of anxiety.

Not angry.

Not hopeless.

Not combative.

Not obnoxious.

Not striving after power, pleasure and position.

BLESSED!

It goes back to the world-tilting picture Jesus painted for us in the beatitudes – in His snapshot of the Citizens of the Kingdom. For it defies all worldly and even religious logic.

We can ask: Can one truly be blessed, privileged and joyful when –

Unsuccessful and obscure? Poor in spirit.

Suffering from grief?

Blessed when humble and non-self-promoting – Non-aggressive?

Blessed when constantly battling and wounded by our sin?

Unwilling to crush our enemies? But suing for peace instead.

Wide-eyed and not worldly wise?

Conciliatory instead of confrontational?

When suffering for doing what is right and good?

YES! If we are Christ’s – and are in His Kingdom! When you know your purpose and reward is in Heaven and His kingdom and not here.

Can a person have a sense of being “PRIVILEGED” and still…

Not have wonderful feelings about self?

When suffering heartache and grief?

When not being self-assertive and self-promoting

Yes! Yes! a Thousand times yes!

In fact nothing is more unpalatable to God than a people who claim to be His, but who do not live in the reality that we are supremely and eternally blessed in Christ.

When we do not live this way, when this mindset does not dominate us, all we have left is to complain about the world. To put a fine point on it – contrary to the ways of some – there is no spiritual gift of complaint.

Complaining, miserable, agitated, fearful, pugnacious “Blessed” people is a contradiction in terms. It mixes our supposed Gospel blessedness with the bitterness of the world and we lose our saltiness. We lose our savor to our Father.  

Salt as you know, never actually loses its saltiness. But, when it is mixed with something else – when it is adulterated – then, it loses its effectiveness.

Christians can easily become like 10 of the 12 spies Moses sent over into the Promised land in Numb. 13. You’ll recall that God had promised them the land, but 10 came back with all kinds of negatives. It will be too hard! The people there are giants! It’s too dangerous, – undoable.

Only 2 – Joshua and Caleb said – hey! Let’s go! They believed God had given them the land and so if God promised it, they must be able.

But the opinion and attitude of the 10 prevailed, with the result of 40 years wandering in the desert and not partaking of the good of the land God had promised them.

They had lost their saltiness through unbelief.

Why is does this make us so tasteless to Him?

Because it is the opposite of living “by faith.”

Hebrews 11:6

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

It is to live as though all He is, all He has done for us, all that He has promised us, is of no joy or comfort to our souls. As though we didn’t really believe it. As though it makes no real difference.

How then can we in any way be light to this fallen, broken, lost world, if we live as though we are as miserable and hopeless as they are without Christ?

That is tastelessness.

We claim to believe the good news of the Gospel, but adulterate it – mix it with the doubts, fears and values of the world’s mindset, and so the good news loses its power in our own lives, and gives no light to the world.

It robs the world of the light of the truth about the God who has redeemed us from our sins by His mercy and grace – of a true testimony about Him. How He has granted us His indwelling Spirit; promised us the resurrection from the dead; given access to His throne in prayer; prepared and preserved His Word for us; granted us the fellowship of the saints as part of His very own household; made us adopted sons and daughters of His very own; and stored up for us an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven” for us.

The Puritan Richard Baxter remarked that for many, serving Christ had become an exercise in “joyless submission.” He went on to remind us:

All Christ’s ways of mercy tend to and end in the saints’ joys. He wept, sorrowed, suffered, that they might rejoice; he send[s] the Spirit to be their comforter; he multiplie[s] promises, he discovers their future happiness; that their “joy may be full:” he abound[s] to them in the mercies of all sorts; he make[s] them lie down in green pastures, and lead[s] them by the still waters; yea, open[s] to them the fountain of living waters; that their joy may be full: that they may thirst no more; and that it may spring up in them to everlasting life. Richard Baxter and William Orme, The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter, vol. 22 (London: James Duncan, 1830), 66.

Ultimately, this is an issue of faith. And without faith it is impossible to please God. Such faith requires that we embrace His gifts and promises to us as having such value and reality, that they outweigh the very real pains, struggles, confusions, sorrows and difficulties and disappointments of this life: 

2 Cor. 4:16-18

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 ESV

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Now don’t get me wrong – this is not an automatic thing. Our sin natures still draw us to suspect God and gravitate toward not keeping our hearts and minds anchored in His goodness and grace. In our fallenness, this proves to be a perpetual battle.

Martin Lloyd-Jones in his powerful book: Spiritual Depression It’s Causes and Cures – takes a page from how the Psalmist deals with himself in a time of darkness.

We have already seen that the essence of the treatment according to the Psalmist is that we must really face ourselves. In other words we must talk to ourselves instead of allowing ourselves to talk to us. We must take ourselves in hand, we must address ourselves as the Psalmist addressed himself and his soul, and ask the question: ‘Why art thou cast down? why art thou disquieted within me?’—You have no right to be like this. Why are you depressed and cast down? He faces himself and talks to himself, he argues With himself and brings himself back to the position of faith. He exhorts himself to have faith in God, and then he is in a condition to pray to God. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016).

When we read the newspapers, watch the news, read and talk to people online – look at the world and its condition, and then fail to go back to God’s Word, remember our blessedness in Christ and remind ourselves over and over of His sovereign care, inviolable promises, gifts of grace, indwelling presence, providential provisions and eternal, wise and perfect love toward us – and talk to ourselves and one another about our blessedness – we lose our saltiness. And we shine no light into the world.

In fact, we tell the world that all that God is, has said and has done – means nothing. We’re just as bad off, just a miserable as if we had never heard or believed the Gospel at all.

We bear false witness against Him.

Let me quote Baxter once again:

“It is only a life of faith, that will be a life of holy, heavenly delight: exercise yourselves, therefore, in believing contemplations of the things unseen.’—It must not be now and then a glance of the eye of the soul towards God, or a seldom salutation, which you would give a stranger; but a walking with him, and frequent addresses of the soul unto him, which must help you to the delights which believers find in their communion with him.” Richard Baxter and William Orme, The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter, vol. 2 (London: James Duncan, 1830), 417–418.

But Christian – we ARE blessed! We are!

We are the salt of the earth, savory to our God, and light to the world – when we know and live in our blessedness in Him.

We are blessed because of what we KNOW

In my lifetime I cannot remember when truth was so hard to come by.

News outlets off all sorts seem to pander to spoken or unspoken ideologies – and report as truth whatever accords with what they want it to be.

In the midst of the Covid-19 event, conflicting experts and conspiracy theorists abound.

Truth it seems is completely left up to individual feelings, opinions and whatever narrative one chooses to adopt.

But for the Believer, we still have the Bible in our hands. A means to weigh and measure the eternal truths which one day will prove to be those that really matter.

So we know the truth about who and what we are, where we came from, why we are here, where all of human history is headed, how to understand pain and suffering and where all things will end.

We know this universe and everything in it was created by our almighty triune God;

That He made humankind in His own image, to be suited above all other creatures to know, reflect and enjoy Him;

That the problem with the world is sin – humankind’s rebellion against God – and our attempt to become our own gods by determining for ourselves what is right and wrong and living to please ourselves;

And that plunged into that darkness, nevertheless God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him through faith in the substitutionary death of His own Son, Jesus the Christ on the cross of Calvary – and that John 1:10-13 

John 1:10–13 ESV

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

We know all this. And live in the truth. And we are blessed!

We are blessed because of what we KNOW

We are blessed because of what HAS BEEN DONE for us

That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

That He fulfilled all of the righteousness of God perfectly – so that those who believe might have that righteousness applied to their account – as though we had lived perfectly before God.

And that this Jesus then died for us on the Cross, having our guilt and sin applied to Him – so that those who believe would have all of our sin paid for, and might be reconciled to the Father and stand before Him absolutely guiltless.

We are blessed because of what we KNOW

We are blessed because of what HAS BEEN DONE for us

We are blessed because of what IS BEING DONE for us

We are blessed because of what has been PROMISED to us

Hear this all together in the words of dear John Flavel –

The Whole Works of the Reverend John Flavel, Volumes 1-6 Sermon VII: Of the Solemn Consecration of the Mediator (John 17:19)

And he would never have been the son of man, but to make you the sons and daughters of God. God would not have come down in the likeness of sinful flesh, in the habit of a man, but to raise up sinful man unto the likeness of God. All the miracles he wrought were for you, to confirm your faith. When he raised up Lazarus, John 11:42. “Because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they might believe that thou hadst sent me.” While he lived on earth, he lived as one wholly set apart for us: and when he died, he died for us, Gal. 3:13. “he was made a curse for us.” When he hanged on that cursed tree, he hanged there in our room, and did but fill our place. When he was buried, he was buried for us: for the end of it was, to perfume our graves, against we come to lie down in them. And when he rose again, it was, as the apostle saith, “for our justification,” Rom. 4:25. When he ascended into glory, he protested it was about our business, that he went to prepare places for us: and if it had not been so, he would have told us, John 14:25. And now he is there, it is for us that he there lives; for he “ever lives to “make intercession for us,” Heb. 7:25. And when he shall return again to judge the world, he will come for us too. “He comes (whenever it be) to be glorified in his saints, and admired in them that believe,” 2 Thess. 1:10. He comes to gather his saints home to himself, that where he is, there they all may be in soul and body with him for ever. Thus you see how, as his consecration for us doth speak him set apart for our use; so he did wholly bestow himself, time, life, death, and all upon us; living and dying for no other end, but to accomplish this great work of salvation for us.

If you are not a Christian here today – this blessedness in the midst of this sin-sick world belongs to all who come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. To all who acknowledge their sinfulness and rebellion against His right to rule you as His own. And who embrace Jesus’ death on the Cross as Him bearing the just wrath of God against you. Who trust His death in your place as the means whereby you can be reconciled to the Father – and made a new creature in all this blessedness.

Won’t you come to Him today? Won’t you confess your sin to Him right where you are? Plead with Him to have mercy on you, forgive you and make you new? Won’t you trust Jesus? He promises to refuse none who come to Him that way.

And Christian – won’t you take a fresh look at your blessedness in Christ today? For it is only as we live in the light of all that we know, all that has been done for us, is being done for us this very moment and of the promises which are about to be fulfilled – that we are truly savory to our King – and beam the light of His glory in the world.

O happy soul that lives on high

While men lie grov’lling here

His hopes are fixed above the sky,

And faith forbids his fear.

His conscience knows no secret stings,

While peace and joy combine

To form a life whose holy springs

Are hidden and divine.

He waits in secret on his God,

His God in secret sees;

Let earth be all in arms abroad,

He dwells in heav’nly peace.

His pleasures rise from things unseen,

Beyond this world and time;

Where neither eyes nor ears have been,

Nor thoughts of sinners climb.

He wants no pomp nor royal throne

To raise his figure here;

Content and pleased to live unknown,

Till Christ, his life, appear.

He looks to heav’n’s eternal hill

To meet that glorious day;

But patient waits his Savior’s will

To fetch his soul away.

Isaac Watts.

Just in case you forgot your high school Greek mythology, Sisyphus was the ancient king of Ephyra – known better as Corinth. A devious sort of fellow, he eventually ticked off Zeus to the point that he was consigned to Tartarus. Guilty of even there of more chicanery, for his hubris and sense of great cleverness, he was eventually sentenced to an eternity of futility. Each day his task was to roll a massive boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down. Over and over and over. And that has become the very picture of futile efforts.

King Solomon mused often on futility. Most notably in Ecclesiastes. But in Proverbs 19:19 he cites a specific kind of futility.Proverbs 19:19 ​Proverbs 19:19 ESV “A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.”

This is the futility of moral reform, apart from the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in the individual. Something we might label the “Law of Sin’s Gravity.” No matter how often or how high you lift the unregenerate person up by external means we will always roll back toward our fallen nature. It’s not that the individual, or even society doesn’t find some temporary benefit from such effort. Indeed, we do. And in times of great revivals of true religion, the external effect on a great many may bring wonderful changes in a society for generations. But like Sisyphus and his boulder, the progress is temporary at best. Sin’s influence in the soul is such that it naturally rolls back down hill.

Jesus addressed the same principle in His parable of Luke 11. (NIV84) — 24 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”

It perfectly encapsulates a stunning reality regarding His own influence in His generation. In John 2, early in His ministry He went to the Temple and chased out the money-changers. But in within 3 years of the very Son of God teaching, preaching and declaring the Kingdom among His own people – by the end of His ministry in Matt. 21 – He has to do it all over again. The “house” had been swept clean and put in order” – but no new spirit had come in to displace the first. And so it was Israel was not only not better for the wear, it was actually in worse shape. The first time, they merely objected to Him. Now, they would conspire and murder the King of Glory.

Even in the hands of the very Son of God, no external influence to change will produce any lasting good effect.

Step in and make good for the wicked deeds of a person constitutionally given over to anger, and you will have to do it again and again and again. You will simply be a moral Sisyphus. Even if you do it in the name of the Church or the Gospel.

Now does that mean we shouldn’t even try to do good in society? Of course not. Christians above all should be those given to doing good to those around us, and seeking to convince others of what is best for human flourishing. We want to bless those we come in contact with. But we must be realistic too. “Christianizing” society with moral reforms and political movements which are not informed and sustained by transformed natures are not an answer. We must put our greatest efforts toward that which alone can bring about true and lasting change in people, even as we know that this world as we know it must eventually fall under God’s judgment. That trajectory cannot be stopped.

It is why the “great commission” is: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19–20 (NIV84)

Discipleship, not demonstrations. Preaching, not politics. Teaching, not societal terra-forming. Christ, not “Christianization.” Transformation, not mere moral reformation. Soul-engagement, not social engagement. Power over sin and self, not power over people.

This, is the crying need of the hour. And what must be the single focus of Christ’s Church.