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Through the Word in 2020 / Feb. 22 – Social Justice

February 22nd, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 20:1-16; Acts 27:1-26; Psalm 44, Leviticus 18-20.

Leviticus 19 is a most extraordinary portion. It begins with God calling His people to be “holy”, because He is holy. What follows hangs in this principle. In other words, God is going to give a series of charges that demonstrate the acts of loving one another in the society of God’s people. But such charges are not random, they issue from God’s own holiness. These are predicated on His nature. They are a means of living with one another in the same attitudes which God holds toward us. It is most instructive.

In our present climate, we hear a lot about the cause of “social justice.” Defining that is a tall order. But here, God gives His people 8 principles of social justice from His point of view. They are to be ours as well.

1 / 9-10: CHARITABLENESS – God has a heart of great charity toward those who are poor. We manifest this aspect of His character when we do the same. We must see them in their distress, and make provision for them – and that, in such a way that preserves their dignity and keeps them from falling into a pattern of receiving without laboring. Thus, the fields are not to reaped entirely, and so those in need, can gather the food themselves, without disgrace, and leave knowing they’ve done the harvesting themselves and remain dignified.

2 / 11-12: HONESTY – God deals with us in truth. He desires it in our own inward parts, and it is essential in our dealings with one another. We do not steal, because our God does not. We do not deal falsely, because He does not. We do not lie to one another because He IS truth. Nor do we take any oaths by His name but what is honest and upright and true. As our God is, so are we to be.

3 / 13: INTEGRITY – Greed and laziness and lack of care for others can allow us to deal with one another in ways that are less than forthcoming and in the other’s best interest. But this is not how our God deals with us. He thinks of our welfare in His dealings with us and so we are to do the same in dealing with others. We are to be sure we do not take advantage of them. We are safe with Him, and thus others are to be sage with us.

4 / 14: COMPASSION – The deaf cannot hear such curses, nor the blind know who would put such things in their way. But because we cannot be discovered, does not mean we are not to have every compassion on those in such condition, and again, not to take even the slightest advantage of them. Man’s cruelty to man sometimes knows no bounds. But our God is not this way. His own heart sees our defects and does not use them against us. Children especially need to know God’s heart toward those who need compassion, that they too may learn to display the goodness of their God to others from an early age.

5 / 15: IMPARTIALITY – God’s people above all the people of the earth are to be vested in seeing justice done around us. And not vigilante justice. We are not to have our favorites, where justice is lessened because we like them or they can offer us some advantage. We are not to have those whom we dislike and thus let them become “examples” or bear heavier penalties without concern. We are to deal with all men the same in such matters, because this is how our God is. Those closest to Him, are no less responsible than those farthest from Him. Those farthest, are no more culpable than those near. We must show the world our God deals impartially – which is why each and everyone, needs the work of Christ at Calvary.

6 / 16: HARMLESSNESS – No one should ever fear harm at our hands. People should feel safe in that they would never suffer harm at our hands for any reason. We are not against them, but for them. They are the ones we are to bless by giving them the Gospel, and rescuing their souls from the fire.

7 / 17: NO INDIFFERENCE – Rather than resolve issues, we sometimes prefer to simply write the other off. But this not how our God deals with us. If there is anything the Cross is, it is the symbol of the very opposite of God’s indifference to we, who have made ourselves His enemies. Nothing is worse than to be meaningless in the eyes of others. Our God treats no man so, and neither can we.

8 / 18: NO VINDICTIVENESS – Justice is never a private matter. How easy it is for us to justify all sorts of actions and attitudes under the umbrella of seeing some sort of secret or “poetic” justice done. But this is not how our God loves us. And this is how we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. To refuse to bear grudges or to exact our pound of flesh. To love, as He loves us – and to make that known to all.
Through the Word in 2020 / Feb. 21

February 21st, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 19:16-30; Acts 26:19-32; Psalm 43, Leviticus 16-17.

There are 2 goats in this Leviticus passage on atonement. And for good reason. They depict for us 2 aspects of Christ’s saving work for the Believer. 2 GLORIOUS aspects. In it, we see just how rich the types and shadows of the Old Testament are.

The one goat is to be sacrificed as “a sin offering.” It’s death is to signify how one day Jesus’ would die in our place. That God accepts the death of a substitute on our behalf. That substitute being Christ alone. Our sin is atoned for in that the debt is paid. “The wages of sin is death”, and in Christ, our wages have been fully paid. FULLY Child of God, completely. Christ has died. And so we who trust in His death on our behalf have eternal life.

The conjectures surrounding the 2nd goat and the meaning of Azazel in this passage are myriad.

Some of the Jewish commentators link it with a demon – the goat-demon perhaps mentioned in Lev. 17:17. And so it hints at the idea that the Priest symbolically sends our sins (under god’s authority) to the demons who are utterly rejected by God, and dwelling away from His presence, and the sins which attend them. That they, our sins and the demons belong together.

Perhaps similarly Azazel may refer to the devil, his demons, and death and hades because all are consigned to the same lake of fire together.

The picture then is this: Our sins are as removed from us as the devil and his demons are in final judgment. This is another glorious aspect of what Christ’s atonement accomplishes.

Christ pays for our sin in His death, but He also removes our guilt as far away from us as Hell itself, so that we bear it no more – but are declared righteous with the righteousness of Christ.

Our debt paid and our guilt removed, never to return. What a day of atonement is ours in Jesus indeed! GLORY!
Through the Word in 2020 / Feb. 20

February 20th, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 19:1-15; Acts 26:1-18; Psalm 42, Leviticus 14-15.

The narrative in Acts 26 points to a very important and often confused principle: Simply believing that what the prophets said or foretold is true, is NOT the same as believing and trusting in Christ. Merely believing facts is not the same as having saving faith.

King Agrippa believed the prophecies of the OT regarding the coming of the Messiah. But that did not make him a Christian. Many a religious person believes God exists, believes Jesus died for sin, believes the Bible is true, and even believes salvation is to be found in Jesus. But once again, that is not the same as actually trusting in the finished work of Christ for salvation. It is not the same as saving faith.

In James 2:19 he notes that just because you have a right theology about the oneness of God in His triune glory doesn’t mean you are any better off than the demons. They not only believe the truth about God, they believe it and tremble at it!

Merely believing the facts, even the facts about saving faith, is not saving faith. The demons know the truth of the Gospel facts. What they do not do (nor can do since salvation is not offered to them) is trust Christ as their substitute. And no matter how completely we believe all of the orthodox truth of which we are capable – unless we actually cast ourselves upon Him as having died in our stead – we too are still lost.

Saving faith is a faith which makes itself known in a life ordered around all of those truths – acting upon them as real. Above all – obeying the Gospel – looking to Jesus as the one who bore God’s just wrath in their place.

So of the utmost importance for you and me today is: Do we do more than just acknowledge the facts? Am I, are you – personally trusting in the atoning work of Jesus on the cross for our salvation? If we are looking to Him and Him alone – salvation is ours! If we are looking to or trusting in anything or anyone else – even our knowing the most perfect and orthodox theology – we still fall short of saving faith. We must cast ourselves wholly upon Him. In Him and Him alone is our true and full salvation. Anything short of that, is mere religion. And religion does not save – Jesus does.
Through the Word in 2020 / Feb. 19

February 19th, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 18:15-35; Acts 25:13-27; Psalm 41, Leviticus 11-13.

When it comes to the subject of these dietary laws, it is a common tendency to be like little children and ask “why?”. It does not seem to be enough that our Heavenly Father has asked it of us. In fact, it is a tacit questioning of both His love and His wisdom, that we require He meet our demands for a satisfactory answer.

Now there may well be some practical reasons behind His prohibitions, and it may also be that they are simply His preferences, or given for some other unrevealed reasons. But we are most unwilling to yield to anything that is simply His preference. We MUST have a solid WHY that convinces us and satisfies us. And herein is the very essence of all of sin’s rebellion.

Laws like these test the soul. They reveal to us our inner and often undiscovered rebellion against His authority and our even deeper suspicion of His love. Not only that, it reminds us of Eden in that we still want to be gods. We want Him to answer to us for His decisions. We want to try Him. To be over Him. How often we think God owes us explanations about all kinds of things. It betrays our inner disposition in a way nothing else does.

As a side note, watch how many times the text of Lev. 11 uses the term “to you.” 13 in this chapter alone. God did not say these things were clean or unclean in and of themselves or for everyone – but only as He designated them as such simply because they were His unique people.

Heavenly Father, forgive me. It is so easy for me to follow this train. To strain incessantly for some answer that may not be there – beyond the fact that it is your desire. And that OUGHT to be enough for me. But so very often it is not. Let me learn to rest content in your appointments, without letting unbelief in your love and wisdom call you into question on any front. Lead as you see fit. And grant me a submissive heart. Where inquiry is reasonable, help me to inquire with reverence and trust. Where it is simply my sinful resistance, help me to die to sinful self.
Through the Word in 2020 / Feb. 18

February 18th, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 18:1-14; Acts 25:1-12; Psalm 40, Leviticus 8-10.

Psalm 40 has always been a favorite of mine, not least because of David’s humility and his willingness to humble himself before God in his neediness. But no one captures the sweetness of the opening verses like Robert Murray Mc’Cheyne does. Let his observations soak in.

R.M. McCheyne: The difficulty of conversion.—So difficult and superhuman is the work of turning a soul from sin and Satan unto God, that God only can do it; and, accordingly, in our text, every part of the process is attributed solely to him. “1He brought me up out of an horrible pit, he took me from the miry clay, he set my feet upon a rock, he established my goings, and he put a new song in my mouth.” God, and God alone, then, is the author of conversion. He who created man at first, alone can create him anew in Christ Jesus unto good works. And the reason of this we shall see clearly by going over the parts of the work here described. The first deliverance is imaged forth to us in the words: “He brought me up out of an horrible pit;” and the counterpart or corresponding blessing to that is, “He set my feet upon a rock.”

Now how can we help but add our “AMEN!” to that?
1 Corinthians Pt. 23 – Spiritual Immaturity and Disunity in Christ’s Church

February 17th, 2020

1 Corinthians Pt. 23

Reid A Ferguson

1 Corinthians 14:20–25

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

Coming to a letter like this one to the Church at Corinth should always cause us both as individuals and as an assembly to ask ourselves where we might fit in the on the spectrum of the issues the Holy Spirit raises here through Paul.

We cannot just set the letter aside and think: We don’t have the exact problems cited here, so we can pass over it quickly.

Certainly, as we’ve seen throughout, at least some of what they wrestled with we share at least in part.

While I think I can say with confidence that we are not at present a church in division – especially over personalities, we’ve certainly had seasons of that in the past. I am grateful to say I don’t at present see the jealousy and strife among us as plagued them at that particular time.

It doesn’t appear that we have those seeking power and reputation among us – though we do not know each one’s heart.

We may be more inclined in the current cultural climate of American Christianity to seek for legitimization and standing in the eyes of the World – too concerned with their opinion of us. There’s a danger we certainly need to be on guard about.

We do not appear to have a case of the open and scandalous sexual immorality that was so prominent in Corinth. But this is certainly the age for it and again we really need to be on our guard that we do not fall into the Cultural normalizing of sexual sin in any of its forms.

We don’t appear to have factions vying for prominence or a trend of Christians suing other Christians among us – though sadly that appears to be growing in the larger Church.

But there is no question we face an ever-growing number of really complex issues regarding marriage, co-habitation, divorce and remarriage. And problems within marriage relationships remain a perennial challenge.

While we don’t have literal pagan temples to worry about, the deeper concern of what compromises we may be willing to make to remain in the workplace or be accepted by the society around us is still there.

There still may be vestiges of the places you used to go or things you used to do which you know now are just not commensurate with who you are in Christ. Things you looked to for recreation, or a sense of well-being that are at odds with Christ having that place in your heart now.

I remember getting the position of National Sales Manager for Johnson-Rose in 1992, and going up for my first visit with the corporate bigwigs in Toronto. And when it came time for lunch, the President and Vice President of the Canadian operation wanted to welcome me in by taking me to their favorite strip club for lunch.

The ensuing conversation nixed that decision – but not without the risk of offending them and losing a position which had just been created for me.

And Paul’s penetrating admonition about facing temptation of all kinds in Ch. 10 has every bit the same application for ourselves as it did for them.

The issue of physical head-coverings isn’t ours here – though it still is in some congregations – but the underlying principle of order among equals, especially in the Church remains just as fresh and relevant.

As does the need to rightly regard the Body and Blood of Christ at communion – and our common love for our brothers and sisters in Christ irrespective of socio-economic standing.

Loving one another is never an issue affecting only one congregation.

And now in this prolonged discussion regarding spiritual gifts – while we do not have the types of public meetings they did where it appears quite a bit of pandemonium broke out – once again the underlying principles which emerge are needed for every Church in every generation.

And in the section before us this morning, Paul drills down to a bedrock principle that informs the rest of his comments, and how that principle is crucial to the entire Christian life and understanding of God’s economy for us as individuals and the greater assembly.

I’ll establish that in the text in a moment but drawing a bit from Jim’s last sermon in this Chapter let me remind us all that understanding God’s goal of bringing believers to maturity in Christ simply cannot be overstated.

It is hard to know which route to take when travelling, unless I have a clear idea of the destination. And this is absolutely true when it comes to the Christian life.

As we’ve pointed out many, many times – Ephesians 4:11–15 ESV / And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

The destination of God in salvation and in all the gifts He bestows upon the Church – both in terms of gift-offices like Apostle, Prophets, Pastor-teachers, etc., and individual gifts like we have in this chapter – they are all aimed at bringing us to “the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” That we may “grow up in every way in Him – into Christ!”

And the problem which persisted in Corinth, and which can so easily infect us is this: That we mistake any spiritual gift, either in ourselves or in others – for spiritual maturity. That because I may have some ability with which to serve the Body of Christ – therefore, I am automatically mature, and “spiritual.”

In fact, here are these intertwined realities: The problem of disunity the letter majors on, has its root in the problem of spiritual immaturity.

Possessing a spiritual gift says nothing more about your spirituality than a natural talent says something about your emotional or psychological maturity.

And if you want to see where this mistake impacts the Church the most – it is in choosing leadership in the Church. Deciding on pastors, preachers or elders because they have a gift to speak or teach: more than based upon their character and growth in Christ-likeness.

If we could only have a dollar for every Church that mistake has ruined. For the birth of countless “ministries” that have ended up in scandal, disaster and even apostacy.

But let’s go back to the text and begin to see how Paul develops this point in his example of exercising the gifts of prophecy and tongues in the Church at Corinth.

His foundation statement or controlling thought comes in 1 Corinthians 14:20 ESV / Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

It is the call to mature Christian thinking – painted on the backdrop of spiritual gifts in the local assembly.

And what Paul does so carefully is tease out the features of this mature way of thinking while discussing the specific issues at Corinth. This makes the whole discussion useful for us, even though our particular assembly doesn’t suffer from the chaos that evidently prevailed there.

1. The immature do not reason from an historical frame of reference.

Babies only have one frame of reference – the immediate.

How I feel – right now. Am I tired? Am I hungry? Am I uncomfortable?

And I don’t care if you met those needs last hour, yesterday, last week or last month. NOW is all I know.

So this is very first thing Paul addresses: 1 Corinthians 14:21 ESV / In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”

He takes them back to Isa. 28 and in effect says: You are all wrapped up in tongues and prophecy the way you are experiencing them right now – without any regard for how this might fit into God’s overall historical redemptive plan. Like babies.

In fact, tongues in particular, has a purpose you may never have considered, because you’re just all wrapped up in what is going on around you.

And in this context – he shows that tongues, this gift of speaking in a language the speaker does not know – be it an earthly language or a heavenly one – has a function which is decidedly NOT for the edification of Believers – but as a sign of God’s judgment against Jewish people who have disregarded God’s plain word to them in the past. For that is the context of the Isa. passage.

We don’t have the time to unpack that fully here except to say that this shows their immaturity and their being rather unspiritual because they never even took the time so search out God’s Word to see if this phenomenon was addressed before. They just ran with it.

They are like spiritual babies. He goes on 1 Corinthians 14:22 ESV / Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

Tongues are not to be thought of as signifying something about the spirituality of the speaker – but as a sign to unbelieving Jews that they are under the judgment of God.

They will think you are all mad if all of you just blurt it out (vs. 23). And it won’t expose them to the Gospel, only reveal their lostness. Something which they still need explained to them.

The Spiritually immature often scorn or at least neglect the Old Testament, Church history and examining the ways God has dealt with His people historically, and how OT prophecies might impact present phenomenon.

So, also, in contrast to speaking in tongues happening in an unregulated way – we need to consider how being moved upon by the Spirit to speak in a way others can easily understand takes precedence. Unless as he says back in vs. 5 “someone interprets.”

The immature do not reason from an historical frame of reference.

2. The Immature do not think about their gifts in a context of how they may contribute to others putting off sin and growing in Christ’s character.

1 Corinthians 14:26 ESV / What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

If the “building up” Paul mentions here is taken as the same that we saw in the Ephesians passage, then this becomes a key to understanding every spiritual gift.

How does it contribute to my brother or sister knowing and growing in Christ?

We get some further insight into that idea in 1 Corinthians 14:24–25 ESV / But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

It reminds us of the Day of Pentecost doesn’t it?

They heard people proclaiming the mighty works of God (Acts 2:11), and then Peter preached and they were – what? Convicted of their sin! They were called into account. The secrets of their hearts were disclosed.

Teasing that out ever so slightly – does it mean someone supernaturally blurted out their secret sins?

No.

It was the result of the Word of God being pressed – as in Hebrews 4:12 ESV / For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

This again helps us understand that this prophesying – whatever else it may include – and this is a complex topic too – it first and foremost brings Biblical truth to bear in a highlighted fashion at a particular place and time. And that can happen through any Believer.

It amplifies what Paul said back in vs. 3 that prophecy is to “upbuild” others. To encourage them in the faith. To console them in staying the course – to exhort and help them in their Christian walk.

3. The immature tend to oversimplify complex teachings of Scripture.

Paul develops this especially regarding the gift of tongues.

We can’t go into it here, but this is often the case with major doctrines in Scripture as well isn’t it?

Those who try to over-simplify topics like election; God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility; the problem of an all holy and all-powerful God allowing evil to exist; varying experiences of regeneration; views on church government; Bible translations and others display a very harmful immaturity.

Here he notes that tongues specifically can operate at least 4 different ways: privately, publicly, – contrary to some today – in prayer and in singing or praise. And so he calls us to think more robustly and always in terms of the greater good.

Some of the implications of thinking more maturely would be:

1 Corinthians 14:13 ESV / Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.

Ones who have this gift (or think they do) should also pray that they might interpret what is said.

Why?

Ostensibly so that it can help others.

But keep in mind, help others what?

Put off sin and grow in the knowledge and character of Christ.

I might add, if no interpretation is forthcoming, one would do well to question whether or not this is in fact a genuine gift from God.

1 Corinthians 14:14–15 ESV / For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.

Apparently this gift can function in prayer and even singing or worship. But once again, interpretation is needed for it to be beneficial. Even to the speaker! I will use this gift says Paul – but also WITH MY MIND! With comprehension. Otherwise it is useless.

1 Corinthians 14:27–28 ESV / If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.

There needs to be regulation for order and the benefit of the larger group.

And even with prophecy there needs to be regulation.

Even though I believe I am stirred by the Spirit to speak what I hope is useful to the congregation – others are to weigh those utterances to be sure they do in fact comport with Scripture and accomplish the goal of helping others grow in Christ. (29)

I might add it is in this context Paul says the women (in this specific case) are to keep silent – in other words when it comes to judging the prophecies publicly.

As we saw back in Ch. 11 – women may pray or prophesy in the congregation – so he can’t be contradicting that here. But judging these prophecies falls back on the leadership of the congregation. The elders, pastor-teachers and overseers.

1 Corinthians 14:39 ESV / So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.

Speaking in tongues is NOT to be forbidden.

A simplistic sweeping away of the gift because it may be too complex to deal with is not a mature approach either.

4. The immature assume their gift(s) give them some spiritual authority and chafe against that of others.

1 Corinthians 14:37–38 ESV / If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

Those with a gift, especially a verbal one can begin to imagine that their gift trumps everything else, and therefore they ought to have everyone’s ear.

I’ve certainly witnessed this over the years. And Paul is careful to set this one right.

Spiritual people, truly spiritual people will acknowledge both the apostolic authority of Paul and that what he is writing here is actually a command of the Lord and not just good advice to taken or left at will.

Go on the internet or on TV and just see how many will lightly put forth their revelations or opinions – no matter how they contradict Scripture – as something with new authority. When the Holy Spirit through Paul says: THIS is the command of the Lord. NOT something else.

It is current in some circles today to claim that some of what Paul wrote in this letter earlier regarding the roles of men and women or sexuality for instance are outdated, merely cultural and that society has evolved.

But here, we are given no such license.

Even those who might claim the gift of prophecy – however we define it are bound by the authority of the apostles as passed on to us in the Scriptures.

This is so important and abiding that Paul says in vs. 38 – if anyone does not recognize our authority and that what I’ve written here is God’s command – you are not to give them the time of day. They are not to be recognized!

God’s people, spiritual people are always a people yielding full authority to God’s Word in their lives.

What then are we to do with all of this when we consider ECF and where we are today?

Let me give you 4 concluding thoughts:

1. That we all may know how to conduct ourselves in Christ’s Church for His glory.

When Paul was writing to Timothy he said this: 1 Timothy 3:14–15 ESV / I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

Whether you remain here at ECF, or in time end up in another where things are far different in how the Spirit and His gifts may be manifested – We want you to have this kind of foundation in evaluating what’s going on and how you might contribute.

That Christ might be best represented by us wherever we find ourselves – we need to know what that looks like in our gathered worship.

It is Him we come to glorify. His people we come to bless.

2. Every gift the Spirit gives falls under the umbrella of being given so as to help one another grow in the knowledge of and character of Christ.

For some of you that may be giving – you give financially and have the resources to sustain and even expand the ministry of the Word in this place.

Your gift may be hospitality. You provide venues in and outside of the immediate assembly for this work of ministry to continue more individually and personally.

Perhaps you are gifted at administration – helping the local assembly organize and function so that the Gospel ministry goes on smoothly and efficiently.

Prayer is a vastly needed and critical gift. Where you do not just pray for people’s circumstances but how they might redeem those trials in growing more like Jesus.

Helps are a perpetually needed gift – whether individuals or the congregational efforts as a whole. Coming along side to help the ministry of the Church function well, and stepping into people’s lives where you can and encouraging them in the faith.

Those who exhort the lazy or distracted to get back on track.

Comforters for those wounded in their battle against sin and the trials of life.

Email, phone, letter and face-to-face encouragers to fight off worldliness and pursue Christlikeness.

Teachers to help us understand God’s Word so that we can battle the World, the flesh and the Devil more effectively.

Whether or not gifts of healings are through certain individuals or the one getting the healing is the one receiving the gift I cannot tell, but that health restored is for continued service to the Body seems without question.

Faith – those who can encourage others to steadfastly trust God’s Word and character in times of distress and confusion because they know it so well themselves are absolutely essential.

A word given in an unknown tongue which when translated spotlights a critical Biblical truth to be recalled and acted upon when seeking to grow in holiness.

A mind opened by the Spirit to understand a particular situation in the life of an individual or the whole assembly and with wisdom as to how to respond – all with the growth and ministry of the Church and God’s people at the fore.

These and all the other gifts are desperately needed. And each can contribute to our common goal of being conformed to the image of Christ – when rightly utilized with that goal in mind. And not a focus on “But I need to exercise MY gift!”

When we are intent on helping one another seek, know and live Christ – the various gifts will be manifest among us as the Spirit deems best to meet that goal.

It takes us back to Ch. 13 – This is the more excellent way Paul spoke of. More excellent than seeking any gift, is seeking the spiritual enrichment and maturity of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Such love, will find us rich in the gifts that accomplish that end.

3. All of this then begs the question: Am I seeking the Lord so as to contribute to the spiritual growth and maturity of others in Christ?

If your answer is yes – then how?

And if no – why not?

Which begs a related question: Am I seeking to grow in Christ – so that I might have somewhat to offer others in their progress?

Am I relevant to what God is doing in and through His Church?

4. This perhaps opens the question as to how we might better facilitate these opportunities – especially as this text lays so much stress on prophecy?

Maybe our Wednesday night gatherings can provide such a venue.

Should you be stirred by the Spirit from a Sunday morning sermon or Sunday School class, or something you’ve read or that has stirred your heart that may be of help to others in this Body – write it down, mark it, and maybe we can open some additional time to speak to one another there – with, the comments being weighed by the leadership even as this text invites.

But whatever gift you may believe or actually possess, begin to think about your own growth in the likeness of Christ’s character, and how you may contribute to your fellow Believers to that same end.

Knowing Him more.

Knowing His truth more.

Trusting Him more.

Loving Him more.

Christ did all that He might reveal the Father to us as our highest good.

We then do all that we might reveal Christ to all for their highest good.

And I know well how many, if not all of you Moms and Dads are doing this already at home all the time.

But seek the Lord to be used in each other’s lives for their best good before the Lord. And see if He does not open opportunities you never dreamt of to that end.

Ephesians 4:10–16 ESV / He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Beloved, let’s be Christ’s people on Christ’s mission.

1 Corinthians 14:20 ESV / Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

When it comes to sinning, let’s be naive, but when it comes to living and serving in God’s house together – let’s be mature.
Through the Word in 2020 / Feb. 17

February 17th, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 17:14-27; Acts 24; Psalm 39. Leviticus 5-7.

Leviticus 7:1 uses a curious phrase about the guilt offering: “It is most holy.” Not just holy, but most holy. What we learn here is that “holiness” may admit of some sort of gradation. We’ve seen this before. In the Tabernacle itself, there is the courtyard, then the holy place and the MOST holy place. All are holy, and yet not all are the same.

Now there is something here of sweet importance to us as Believers. While we are called “holy” now, saints or the sanctified – it is not as though we are yet “most” holy as we will be. But holy nonetheless.

Trying to be holier than we can be in this present life leads to impossible tensions. And it can lead to a crisis of anxiety for many who dearly want to walk as uprightly as they can, and yet find themselves still sinning. Thus many in the perfectionist movements either ending up lying to themselves or others, or bear the mind weakening effects of a mental dissonance that can lead to even greater emotional or mental breaks.

We are not what we were before we came to Christ, wholly sold under sin. And God forbid any of us become comfortable with our sin. But we do need to be comfortable with the reality of sin until the day when in the Resurrection we shall at last be most holy. Yes, sin is to be hated. Yes sin is to be fought. But no, we cannot chase the fool’s gold of imagining a holiness that is not yet ours, and will not be until Jesus returns. We are not what we were before – hallelujah! But neither are we yet what we shall be. And that deserves a hallelujah! as well.

Father, make me as holy as I can be in this life, but remind me that I am not yet glorified, so as to trust completely in Christ as all my righteousness now.
Through the Word in 2020 / Feb. 16

February 16th, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 17:1-13; Acts 23:12-35; Psalm 38, Leviticus 1-4.

One of the most certain evidences of the genuine life of God in the Believer, is the distress they experience over their sins. This is not something which lessens as you mature in Christ, but that increases.

For the most part, if we know our Bibles well and the truth of the Gospel, we do not fear the loss of salvation. We know God saves us full well knowing our brokenness and the seeds of sinful rebellion that still lay buried in our souls – all too often bringing forth their poisonous fruit. But there is nonetheless genuine distress over our sins. And what that distress looks like is described all too well in this Psalm.

But also in this Psalm is the wonderful pattern of prayer David establishes in the aftermath of his own sin. He pleads that God discipline him as a son, rather than as a stranger. And that is the core of the rest of his prayer. He banks on the privilege of sonship. Something every Believer can and should do. Especially in the aftermath of failure.

Sin has put distance between him and his God. Sin has obscured the delight in God he was used to. And he is sick over it. He feels the weight of his sin and does not try to escape it, but merely calls upon his God in regard to it. And he fears that he will never be the same again, especially in terms of the closeness with his God he had previously enjoyed.

And there Beloved, is the heart of one who truly belongs to God. The thing that torments them most about their sin, is how they fear it damages their fellowship and closeness to The Father.

And so the closing 2 verses summarize what David senses is his deepest need: “Do not forsake me, O Lord! O my God, be not far from me!” And this he says is what it means to him to have God “Make haste to help me, O Lord of my salvation.

The state of a true Believer is not revealed by whether or not they – we – sin, but how it affects our intimacy with the Father. And if our sin does not seem to bother us all that much in that regard – we may need to find out if we are really His or not. Conversely, such a pain is one of the surest proofs that one is His.

Perhaps your own heart smites you today because of some failure, and the gap that seems now present between you and your God. Good. This is a sign of genuine life. And good too, that your God hears your cry at the pain of it – and will not forsake you or remain so “far away.” Oh how He loves to forgive and reconcile.
Through the Word in 2020 / Feb. 15

February 15th, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 16:13-28; Acts 23:1-11; Psalm 37:23-40, Exodus 38-40.

Upon first gloss, the seeming tedious detail regarding the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus doesn’t seem to hold much for the New Covenant Believer. But contained throughout is the portrayal of a God who is involved in the building of His “Temple” Down to the smallest details.

A. There is nothing in your life or mine that escapes His notice or attention.

B. There is no accident in how we were wrought, and in what settings He has placed us as pleases Him best and optimizes us for His glory. Note that some materials needed to be cut, some polished, etched, shaped, spun, twilled, hammered, sewn, and otherwise formed. He does this all through the events of our lives.

Not only is there workmanship, but each material is also specially chosen with its unique characteristics.

Does the thread bemoan it is not the overlaying gold? Does the lampstand fret it is not the altar of incense? Do the curtains wish they were the laver? Father forgive us.

C. There are the many who all make their contributions, and there are the several gifted who are utilized to bring it all to pass.

Christ is building His Church today with no less care or attention to detail. If you are born again, it is no accident. Your self, your individual characteristics are part and parcel of how He has deigned to construct this perfect edifice for His glory. No one too small, too insignificant, too tall, too fat, too ugly, too talented, too smart, too uneducated, too broken, too old or too young. In His hand and with His skill, each chosen for their part, their role – and without a single one, the whole would not be complete. All assembled according to His perfect wisdom.

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Pe 2:4–5.
Through the Word in 2020 / Feb. 14

February 14th, 2020

We are reading the Bible through together this year, using the Discipleship Journal Reading Plan published by the Navigators. You can download it free of charge from: https://www.navigators.org/resource/bible-reading-plans/

Today’s 4 readings are: Matthew 16:1-12; Acts 22; Psalm 37:1-22, Exodus 35-37.

There is so much to be gleaned from these 12 verses in Matt. 16. Some background might help.

First, the Pharisees. They were Evangelical Fundamentalists of their day and had great sway among the masses. They were Legalists – but also held strongly to the oral tradition.

Second, the Sadducees. They were religious Liberals and the ruling Elite. They gave authority only to the Torah – the 1st 5 Books of Moses and recognized no other prophets, etc. They Rejected oral tradition but we’re steeped in ceremonial exactness. Josephus says they were boorish and vulgar. (A parallel to Hollywood – elite but vulgar) In league with the Romans. Acts 23:8 tells us they believed in no resurrection, no angels, no spirit. That body & soul dissolve @ death. God is not concerned with right or wrong doing.

Pharisees & Sadducees: Both opposed Christ AND each other. And here, both came to “test” Jesus by asking for a sign from heaven.

NOTE:

1. There will always be those who demand that God prove Himself to their satisfaction or they will not believe. This was central to the temptations of Jesus in the Wilderness, and it will be central to the temptations the Enemy still lays on the shoulder of the Church in our day. This betrays a fundamental upside down reasoning on their part. God as Creator has every right to demand what He will from the Creature. We have no right to demand anything of Him The one “sign” which transcends all the rest, is His rising from the dead. The sign of Jonah. But they will refuse to believe that.

2. There is no external proof that will suffice for those who do not want to believe who Christ is, and His Gospel. How many signs had they already seen and yet would not believe? Up to this point in the narrative: Visit of the Wise Men (Matt. 2); Response of Herod – butchering the children (Matt. 2); Preaching and ministry of John the Baptizer (Matt. 3); The voice from Heaven (Matt. 3:16-17); Preaching, healing, delivering (Matt. 4:23-25); Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7); Cleansing the Leper (Matt. 8:1-4); Healing the Centurion’s servant (Matt. 8:5-13); Mass healings @ Peter’s house (Matt. 8:14-17); Calming the storm (Matt. 8:23-27); Curing the Gadarene demoniacs (Matt. 8:28-34); Healing and forgiving the sins of the paralytic at Jesus’ house (Matt. 9:1-8); Raising the little girl from the dead (Matt. 9:18-26); Healing 2 blind men (Matt. 9:27-31); Healing the demon oppressed mute (Matt. 9:32-34); John the Baptizer’s men (Matt. 11:5-6); Calling Himself Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:1-8); Restoring the withered hand (Matt. 12:9-14); Blind and mute demoniac healed (Matt. 12:22-23); Institution of the parables as judgment (Matt. 13); Feeding the 5K (Matt. 14:13-21); Walking on the Water (Matt. 14:22-33); Healing many sick @ Gennesaret (Matt. 14:34-36); Healing the Syro-Phoenecian woman’s daughter (Matt. 15:21-28); Jesus heals”many” (Matt. 15:29-31); Feeding the 4K (Matt. 15:32-39). No less than 26 public instances of miraculous power and preaching. Now Jesus says – WHAT MORE PROOF DO YOU NEED? If you will deny the obvious, what WILL work? Nothing. Luke 16:19-31 – If they will not believe Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe if one comes back from the dead.

3. Such is the nature of spiritual blindness. That people possessed of great intellect, knowledge and even common sense will deny the plain truth about Jesus. Unless the Holy Spirit opens their eyes, they remain in their blindness. If someone can be intellectually convinced INTO the Kingdom, then they can be convinced OUT of it too. No argument can make them Christians.

4. WE must beware that we can have such ironclad ideas of how God MUST work, that in the interest of protecting our systems, we can ignore the obvious. I worry about those who have so precisely determined how last days prophecy must play out. That just like the Pharisees, Sadducees AND the Essenes rejected Jesus because He did not fit their pattern – some of these too will reject what is right before their eyes. “IF we don’t repent, America will be judged” they say. They ignore the fact America IS being judged. Look at The rapid moral revolution. The rise of secular religion and spirituality that has nothing to do with Biblical Christianity. The lack of common sense in government and Godless leadership. These are judgments. And what of us who have such minutely defined end-times schema? Will we refuse Him when He comes because He does not fit the paradigm we’ve invented? Such was the case with both the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Woe to us who cling to our constructs and schemes over clinging to Christ above all.

5. Unbelief is not something to be overcome by others, but repented of by the unbeliever. Note how Jesus holds them morally responsible. He calls them an evil and “adulterous” generation. Why adulterous? Because they claimed to be God’s people, but served themselves instead. They said they were God’s, but they really served their own opinions. Self was their god – not the God of the Bible.

6. Those who will not accept God’s testimony and proofs as given, will in the find themselves abandoned by God. He left them the text says – they did not leave Him. And He departed. The repetition in the text strengthens it. What a terrifying thought – that one can resist the truth to the extent that Christ Himself will withdraw, or as Gundry puts it – abandon them.

1 Corinthians Pt. 23

1. The immature do not reason from an historical frame of reference.

2. The Immature do not think about their gifts in a context of how they may contribute to others putting off sin and growing in Christ’s character.

3. The immature tend to oversimplify complex teachings of Scripture.

4. The immature assume their gift(s) give them some spiritual authority and chafe against that of others.

1. That we all may know how to conduct ourselves in Christ’s Church for His glory.

2. Every gift the Spirit gives falls under the umbrella of being given so as to help one another grow in the knowledge of and character of Christ.

3. All of this then begs the question: Am I seeking the Lord so as to contribute to the spiritual growth and maturity of others in Christ?

4. This perhaps opens the question as to how we might better facilitate these opportunities – especially as this text lays so much stress on prophecy?