ResponsiveReiding

Margin notes: What’s with all the names?

October 25th, 2019
Nehemiah 10:1–27 (ESV) — 1 “On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch…26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

Every Friday morning, a number of men from our Church under the leadership of Mike Holbein gather for an hour to do just 1 thing: read the Bible out loud to one another. We’re reading it all the way through in chronological order. It is a precious time.

This morning found us reading the 10th chapter of the book of Ezra, and the first 10 chapters of Nehemiah. And let me tell you, those seemingly endless lists of hard to pronounce names can be pretty challenging. and it is easy to ask ourselves – what is the deal here? What is with all of the nearly unpronounceable names of people thousands of years removed from us? Why are these lists even in the Word of God? And those aren’t wrong questions to ask. But let me make a couple of suggestions for when you get to those passages and are tempted to just skip over them.
1. There are more than 80 names noted in Neh. 10 alone. And God knows each one of them. None who give themselves to serve Him and His Kingdom are ever forgotten. They are not faceless and nameless, our God knows each and every one of His own. He knows you. By name. And He does not forget you. These 80+ in this chapter may mean little or nothing to us this far removed from them – they have been inscribed in the everlasting Word of God. Just as every Believer is inscribed in the wounds of the Savior. None, no matter how obscure, are without eternal remembrance. By name.
2. They were not listed because of great feats of faith or spectacular accomplishments. They are listed, because they are God’s people. Regular people. Just God’s people in that place, at that time, living for Him. They aren’t superstars. They aren’t heroes. God’s people because they are God’s people are all remembered by Him. “He keeps all of His bones, and none of them is broken.”
3. In Ch. 3 there is another list of names. People who were all involved in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. That chapter is a marvel to read. Who all were involved in restoring and rebuilding the city? Everyone. There were governors and commoners; Levites and Priests, laboring beside perfumers, goldsmiths and men whose leadership declined to join in. Women were engaged in it, along with soldiers and servants. No one too high or too low – but each put their labor into seeing the City of God restored. Their qualifications were willingness – not specified skills. And so it is we are reminded that all of us with our various gifts and abilities are engaged in building Christ’s kingdom. Wherever and whatever our context may be. Musicians, programmers, doctors, lawyers, salesmen, project managers, housewives, mechanics, floor sweepers, scientists, etc. These and thousands more are joined together in building His kingdom, not because we are “builders” by trade – but because whatever our trade – we are His – in that place. There were no vocational contractors in this crew – just willing servants of God. Like you, and like me.
4. And, there were lists of the giving that people engaged in – their offerings for the work of the Temple and support the priesthood. God remembers every 1/3 of a shekel. It is all written down, all recorded. All remembered. Every little thing each of us has contributed to the work of Christ is eternally remembered. No matter how small, it is not discounted, but celebrated and memorialized.
Don’t let these seemingly boring lists get by you Christian. For your name is written among them too – in God’s eternal book of remembrance.
Margin notes: Getting my vision back

October 24th, 2019

Psalm 73 (ESV) — A Psalm of Asaph. 1 Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. 5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. 7 Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. 8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. 9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. 10 Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. 11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” 12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. 13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. 15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children. 16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, 17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. 18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. 19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! 20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. 21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, 22 I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. 23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Psalm 73 has long been one of my favorites. Asaph has walked down the same streets I have. Thought the same thoughts. And needed the same correction. Perhaps you’ve been there too. So what I would call your attention to today is to a clearer vision of things, when they seem to get distorted. And let me do it by means of a homey but I pray useful paraphrase of this powerful and much-needed reminder. It runs verse by verse.

1. God IS good to His children.

2. But I almost blew it by a stupid error.

3. I was jealous, because it seems some people can get away with anything.

4. They have no fear of future punishment.

5. They live a life of ease.

6. So they gloat! But all is not well.

7. They LOOK satisfied.

8 & 9. They talk a big game.

10. And sometimes we Christians are intimidated by that.

11. They try to sway us by what they say about God.

12. And they point to other wicked men in ease as examples to us.

13. So I started to think: “I serve God for nothing!”

14. I don’t have the easy life they have.

15. And if I cop their attitude and admit its true, other Christians would be offended.

16. The more I thought about it, the worse it got.

17. UNTIL, until – until I went to God about it. And He showed me the bottom line.

18. These guys are on really thin ice – and ARE going to fall through.

19. In a split second their world will cave in on them.

20. Like being terrifyingly startled awake from a pleasant dream – God will start to judge them.

21. It hurt to see what an idiot I’ve been.

22. How stupid! I’ve got the brain of gopher!

23. And yet Lord, you still hang on to me.

24. In fact, you’ll continue to teach me until Christ comes, or I die.

25. If my future is wrapped up in you, my present must be also.

26. Even when my body and my heart give out, you will preserve me forever.

27. But the wicked ones will be destroyed as surely as if it is already done.

28. So my life will be spent in drawing nearer to you, for I have learned to trust you completely. And in so doing, others will come to know you as I have.
Margin notes: True blessedness

October 23rd, 2019

Psalm 65:4 (ESV) — 4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!

The great object in salvation is, God’s restoring us to Himself. He chooses us to bring us near. To dwell in His courts. To enter into a full and intimate relationship.

To be “saved” and to live life apart from Him as though He is just a distant deity is to fail to enter into salvation at all. He chooses us, that He might bring us near. And not just for a one-time audience, or in certain seasons, but to dwell in His courts. And it is only as we take this up and pursue it that we can find the satisfaction our souls long for. Only in dwelling with Him, can we grow to be happiest with the goodness of His house, and the holiness of His Temple. If we are dissatisfied with God, it is not because we have found something lacking in Him. It is because we have not had enough of Him yet.

Heavenly Father, grant me an appetite that refuses to be satisfied with anything else but the goodness of your house and the holiness of your temple. Grant a holy discontent with everything and anything other than these. With anything less than You in all of your glory. For that alone is true blessedness.
Margin notes: Misreading Providence

October 22nd, 2019

Jeremiah 44:15–19 (ESV) — 15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. 17 But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. 18 But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19 And the women said, “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

Jeremiah prophesied and wrote in troubled times. Judah and Jerusalem had fallen to the military power of the Babylonians. Countless numbers were taken into exile in Babylon, and countless others killed in the battles, staved and left in utter ruin. All because the Jewish nation had persisted in turning to worship idols and false gods, while still claiming to be God’s people. A condition God’s prophets had warned against for many, many years. The warning being that if they did not repent, they would be ruthlessly conquered. And so it happened.

For those left in Judah, it was mayhem. Despite God’s word to them to surrender and endure God’s chastening for their idolatry at the hands of the Babylonians, they continued to rebel and then seek refuge in Egypt – again, contrary to God’s word to the through the prophets. And in the text above, they are arguing yet again with Jeremiah. They look back at how things were in Judah before the Babylonian siege. And it was a prosperous time. The problem is, they attached their prosperity to their idol worship rather than to God’s patience in the face of their idolatry. Hence the very skewed reasoning in the text. Back when we were serving those other gods, things were good! Only since we’ve been prevented from doing that have things gone bad.

The simple but profound lesson is this: Sin so distorts our perceptions, that we cannot discern God’s patience with us in our rebellion – and instead – conclude our rebellion actually brings us gain. This is a classic case of how tenuous it is to try and read providence apart for the word of God. You can make any event mean anything you want. This is so dangerous, and so prevalent in the Church today.

It is a graphic exposition of Romans 2:4 (ESV) — 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

Believer, you may be walking in conscious rebellion against God’s Word today, but because life seems good and fruitful, fun and prosperous, that God is therefore necessarily pleased with you. Or, the converse may be so. You are walking in faithfulness and as obediently with the Lord as you know how, but life is in disarray and hard at every turn. Go back to His Word. The only safe place to analyze your situation is through the lens of Scripture. If life is “good”, do not automatically assume all is well. Judgment may be just around the corner. And hardship may not at all be any sign of His disapproval, but rather desert where He reveals Himself as your sustainer against all odds. Trust in the Gospel, not the circumstances. Trust in His promises, not your experience. Rest in His Word, and no place else. That alone is the safe place. And in time, you will see it fully revealed.
Margin notes: A Conflict of Laws

October 18th, 2019

Romans 8:1–2 (ESV) — 1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

The book of Esther presents a wonderful way of illustrating this short but all-important passage. You will remember that a high ranking official in the Persian Empire by the name of Haman, was an enemy of the Jews. Haman nudged the King into making a decree that on a certain day of the month later in the year, everyone was free to kill and plunder their Jewish neighbors throughout the kingdom. He had led the King to believe the Jews were enemies of his rule and bad for the state. This was really driven by his own animus against a godly Jew named Mordecai.

Mordecai had raised his orphaned niece Hadassah (Esther) and she had recently become Queen. But this edict inspired by Haman would mean the slaughter of her people. Esther exposed Haman’s plan to the King. Haman was executed and the Queen then asked that the edict be repealed. But there was a problem. The law of the Medes or the Persians said that no edict of the King could be changed once it was signed and sealed. It was irreversible. It appeared there was no answer. But God gave an answer to Mordecai and Esther. The King let them write another edict, that he also signed. This one said that on the day the Jews were scheduled to be slaughtered, they were allowed to take up arms against their persecutors and plunder their goods! And so the tables were completely turned and the Jews were saved while 75,000 of their enemies were killed.

What does this have to do with Romans 8? The Law of sin and death which God set in place, cannot be abrogated, just like any law of the Medes and Persians. “Sin and you will die” the law reads. It was given in the Garden, and remains true to this day. How then can anyone be saved? By another law. The law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ. This law reads: “Believe, and you will live.”

The old law is still in effect. But where that law abounds, the law of grace much more abounds. And those condemned under it are not only spared, but granted eternal life in Christ, and the promise of ruling and reigning with Him for all eternity.

No, God’s demand of perfect holiness has never gone away. But it was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Fulfilled in His life, death, burial and resurrection. And all those in Him are now free from the law of sin and death. The law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus.

And that dear friend, is the good news of the Gospel.
Margin notes: Remembering our warfare

October 17th, 2019

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Eph 6:10–13.

I don’t know about you, but it is easy for me to forget that the normal Christian life is one of perpetual warfare. I don’t like it. I want to set it aside. I want to live in peace and joy and not need to be constantly vigilant about my soul. That day IS coming – but it isn’t here yet. This is the day of battle. This is the age of conquest. And while we battle on 3 fronts, the Word, the Flesh and the Devil – I find the battle against my own flesh to be the most difficult. I do so because the other 2 are outside of me, but the battle against the flesh is internal, it is very really against myself.

Now in a prolonged battle, weariness is a constant concern. And if we are battling in our own strength, weariness is impossible to avoid. It is why our text calls us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of HIS might. To stand constantly depending upon the work Christ has already finished on our behalf. To find the one place where we can stand firm – in a Gospel of the finished work of Christ on the Cross, having already paid the price for all my sin – even those I’ve yet to commit, and therefore standing in the perpetual light of the Father’s smile. Fully accepted in the Beloved. And clothed with His righteousness, and not my own. And it is the battle to retain such things in my own heart and mind as static truths that I sometimes fail.

But let me encourage you today with a quote I’ve oft cited before from that grand divine of the 19th century, J. C. Ryle. With hopes that you will be reminded once again that Believers alone are blessed to be in this battle at all. Unbelievers are just content in their chains. Oh, they may struggle against some behavior which causes them trouble, but they never fret over sin as sin, as an offense to their God. This is our turf. And if you know something of that battle today – take heart. It is a mighty proof that He is yours and you are His. Be strong in the Lord my friend. You are in a battle of His design. Put on His armor. And go out to fight again today. He has promised eventual victory over every sin.

So Ryle: “We may take comfort about our souls if we know anything of an inward fight and conflict. It is the invariable companion of genuine Christian holiness. It is not everything, I am well aware, but it is something. Do we find in our heart of hearts a spiritual struggle? Do we feel anything of the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, so that we cannot do the things we would? (Gal. 5:17.) Are we conscious of two principles within us, contending for the mastery? Do we feel anything of war in our inward man? Well, let us thank God for it! It is a good sign. It is strongly probable evidence of the great work of sanctification. All true saints are soldiers. Anything is better than apathy, stagnation, deadness, and indifference. We are in a better state than many. The most part of so-called Christians have no feeling at all. We are evidently no friends of Satan. Like the kings of this world, he wars not against his own subjects. The very fact that he assaults us, should fill our minds with hope. I say again, let us take comfort The child of God has two great marks about him, and of these two we have one. HE MAY BE KNOWN BY HIS INWARD WARFARE, AS WELL AS BY HIS INWARD PEACE.”

J. C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots (London: William Hunt and Company, 1889), 82.
1 Cor. Pt. 8 – Rights, Wrongs, and Higher Things. Living IN the World, as no longer OF the World.

October 14th, 2019
1 Corinthians Part 8

Reid A Ferguson

1 Corinthians / 1 Corinthians 6:1–12; Luke 12:13–15

The more we study this letter of Paul to the Church at Corinth, the more I am struck by its timeliness for Christians today.

As Ken took us through Ch. 5 last week, we couldn’t help but see how the Corinthian Church’s inability to address sexual sin straightforwardly mirrors our own situation today.

Christianity’s tendency even now is to capitulate more and more to the prevailing views of society, rather than standing on Biblical principle.

And if it were only in one area like the current hot button of gender fluidity that we see seepage of the World’s views into the Church, we could set our sights on that issue quite easily and move on.

But in fact, there are more subtle ways which the World’s thinking shapes our theology rather than our theology shaping how we see the Word.

2 of those ways show up in the passage before us today. And all of the issues we’ve seen Paul address thus far – and will see throughout the rest of this epistle – all share this same underlying problem:

Spiritual immaturity.

When it come to maturity – be it psychological, emotional or spiritual – all 3 share this in common: Maturity requires shifting from thinking in terms of mere Precepts: Do this, don’t do that, to Principles: I do this because… or do not do that because…

Precept: Do this, don’t do that.

Principle: I do this because, and I don’t do that because.

One of the greatest challenges Paul faces in writing to his Corinthian brothers and sisters in this letter, is helping them begin to make that very shift.

And it remains one of the greatest challenges in our own Christian lives.

We like rules. Laws. Clear expressions of simply “do this, don’t do that.”

And when one is young and cannot reason things out well – this is necessary. But if we stay there, then something is seriously wrong. It works well for children and puppies, but not for adults.

Just following a set of rules takes all of the responsibility for how we live off of our shoulders. We don’t have to think very deeply about our actions. We don’t have to face our motivations. Just tell me what I should be doing, let me do it and then leave me alone. I don’t want to think that hard about life. And if there is no direct command or prohibition, I’m free to make up whatever I want.

But our salvation isn’t about bringing us into a new set of rules for believing Jews and Gentiles versus the old rules for Jews alone – it is about conforming us to the image of Christ. It is about transforming us from the inside out. As Paul will write in Romans 12:2 ESV / Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The secret to not being conformed to this present culture and the entire fallen World system, isn’t a matter of mere or rote obedience to some set of regulations – it is being “transformed by the renewal of your mind.” It is to think in a radically new ways. About the World, about ourselves, about each other, about our behaviors, about our motives and reasonings – about everything. It is to move us to becoming more like God Himself.

We must always bear in mind that God does not do anything because it is right – as though there is some standard outside of Himself which He conforms to. We know holiness by what God does – because God IS holy. And He is in the process of bringing Believers to that same state. To think about things as He does, and thus to act as He does out of the very same motivations.

And so as this letter progresses, Paul will dig deeper and deeper into this issue of spiritual maturity and governing principles. And nowhere does he begin challenging the spiritual immaturity of the Corinthian’s thinking more he does than here.

As I already mentioned, there are 2 vital areas which the text begins to address here, that give laser bright insight into how the World’s thought process has invaded, or might I say infected the thinking of many in the Church today:
1. Looking to human courts to determine right and wrong.
2. Insisting on individual rights as the highest good.
Paul will take these up in the portion before us today – but the 2nd one especially, will play a major role throughout the rest of the letter as we’ll see in the weeks to come.

But do note here: Both of these serve as chief indicators of critical spiritual immaturity, as does vying for status in this Church, being divided up into spiritual camps and trying to look a certain way in the eyes of other Believers, and even un-Believers.

But let’s dig into the text to see what is going on here and how the Holy Spirit addressed it though Paul in this letter.

1 Corinthians 6:1 ESV / When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?

Now we need both to understand the situation, and to be clear on a couple of things there.

Just like our justice system today, the Roman courts were divided up into Criminal and Civil branches.

Criminal offences are not just against an individual, but also against the state. That is not what Scripture is dealing with here.

What is going on here are civil cases: A neighbor builds a fence that crosses your property line. Defaulting on a loan. A business deal gone bad. Siblings in a fight over an inheritance. A sidewalk wasn’t shoveled in the winter and someone slips and falls and breaks an arm.

What was happening is that these matters were coming up between Believers. And instead of coming to other Believers to settle them – they just sued each other in the public courts. But one more thing about the civil courts of that day is helpful to understand.

Remember how we’ve seen that their whole society (and the Church) was huge on status and wealth and success? This carried over into the civil court system. Those with money and standing got preferential treatment. And in the course of a trial, the ordinary means of argument was basically character assassination. Just make your opponent looks as bad as you can in order to win the case.

Those things said – we need to see:
1. What Paul ISN’T saying.
2. What he IS saying.
3. Why this is a problem.
The basic issue is that some Believers – in disputes with other Believers – are taking them to court, rather than resolving their disputes through mediation with other Believers.

Now be careful here, because the REAL or bigger problem isn’t really conflict resolution. That isn’t the point of the passage. We see what the real problem is further down –

In 5-7 he says: 1 Corinthians 6:5–7a ESV / I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?

Here’s the problem: Such a condition is a “defeat.” But in what way?

It runs counter to the Church’s testimony of being Christ’s People on Christ’s Mission. Something else is taking center stage. And that, on the same stage the World parades on. It makes Christ followers out to be only interested in the very same things the World is, and going about getting them the very same way. And we have to see how much emphasis Paul is going to lay on this.

In Chap. 4 where Paul dealt with how factions in the Church were rallying around personalities like him or Apollos, he says that he did not write to them to make them ashamed, but just to admonish them – to help them grow into a better place.

But here his language is much stronger – “I say this to your shame” – you should be ashamed of yourselves that such a thing is happening.

Now he ISN’T saying Believers might not have some legitimate disputes with one another which require mediation. It happens. And it was Jesus Himself who gave us a mechanism for dealing with disputes among Believers in Matt. 18. – outlining how those things should be dealt with internally.

BUT! – how dare we as Believers, as ambassadors of Christ, how dare we air this kind of dirty laundry in an arena where others in Christ will be dragged through the mud publicly! Paul is absolutely incredulous that Christian to Christian, we can’t sit down with others in the Body of Christ and bring these things to some sort of resolution.

Think about it he says: 1 Corinthians 6:2 ESV / Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?

Drawing from passages like Daniel 7 and Matt. 19 where we are told that those who rule and reign with Christ will one day judge the World in matters of cosmic and eternal importance – will we then take our grievances to those who know nothing of the spiritual implications of settling such disputes for relief? Really?

1 Corinthians 6:3 ESV / Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

Don’t you know that in the age to come, the Believers, joining in the administration of Christ’s kingdom will render judgment on the demonic forces that plagued the world during this age? How much more then ought we be able now to settle these petty matters among ourselves!

1 Corinthians 6:4 ESV / So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church?

So you take this stuff, these (comparatively) petty squabbles, and fight them out in front of those who have no business dealing with the spiritual side of how they ought to be resolved?

1 Corinthians 6:5–6 ESV / I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?

Shame on you! You don’t have one level-headed person in the congregation you can go to? Really? And this, after all your divisions about who has supposed spiritual superiority over others?

1 Corinthians 6:7 ESV / To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?

And here he brings this down to a stark bit of Biblical and spiritual reality and reasoning: If you can’t settle a matter like this to your satisfaction in the Church, then it is better to let the matter go and suffer the loss – for the sake of the Gospel – and not bringing each other into disrepute before the World.

The Gospel is more important than any wrong done to you by any other Christian.

And so you see here how the spiritual principle needs to take precedence over the mere letter of the Law. And how what is “right” might be a much higher consideration than just what is right on paper – for the Gospel has to be considered in it all.

Now once again, I want to be clear here he is NOT talking about criminal activity which you and I have no power to dismiss because of the larger concern for the safety and well-being of our neighbors. God Himself institutes government in part to punish just such criminal, evil doers (see: Rom. 13).

Now The Spirit’s directive here is extremely sobering for those on both sides of any such dispute. We don’t want to miss this.

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 ESV / Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

If you are the one who, professing to be a Christian, defrauded or swindled another Christian – or reviled them in the courts – do not imagine you can do so with impunity.

Thieves, the greedy, swindlers and revilers will suffer the same fate as those who are sexually immoral, idolaters and drunkards. In other words, you will prove yourself to be no true Believer in the end, and perish as an unconverted sinner. Beware! Tremble to be anything but honest and upright in your dealings, especially with other Believers. There is no “Christian” immunity from prosecution.

And you, the one defrauded – if you cannot find a just solution now, do not imagine there will not be justice in the long run. Leave it to the Lord. When God declared that vengeance is His, He was not using some sort of religious rhetoric or hyperbole. He WILL bring justice.

But even here – there is a very important spiritual opportunity at hand. For to let the matter go for the sake of the Kingdom, will keep you on the lookout for, and challenge what greed might reside in your own heart!

Do you want to take your defrauder to court? Beware!

Jesus dealt with this scenario in a very startling way in Luke 12:13–15 ESV / Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

This man comes to Jesus and on the surface of it anyway has a legitimate beef. My brother is failing to divide our inheritance properly, and I’m looking for you settle it for us.

The assumption here is that the brother regards Jesus enough that if Jesus says “Hey, do the right thing” – that the guy will respond.

But Jesus moves the conversation someplace else – and I’m not sure you or I would be very satisfied with His approach.

What’s the issue to Jesus? “Watch out for the covetousness of your own heart.”

If I’d have been that guy, I would have said: “but what about the covetousness of my brother’s heart?” To which He probably would have replied: “What is that to you, follow me.”

So Paul goes on in vs. 11 – As Believers you USED to be guilty of all of those things listed in vss. 9-10 – but that is no longer to be who you are!

1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV / And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

If you are in Christ, you’ve been cleansed from those former things which defiled you. Why would you go back to wallow in that mud?

You’ve been set apart for Christ and His mission – sanctified. Don’t go back and behave like you are still a part of the World system in the same way.

You’ve been justified: Declared righteous with the righteousness of Christ! Don’t dirty-up yourself or any other brother or sister before the World to try and make them guilty.

Walk away.

You see: 1 Cor. 6:12 – and here he gets to the bottom line: 1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV / “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

Yes, it is LEGAL to take my brother or sister to court. I have a right to do it. But how in the world is this helpful to them, to my own soul, or most importantly – to the cause of Christ?

Yes, it is LEGAL for me to sue them, I have a right to do it. But I would rather be freed from greed, and vengeance and from needing to act on the World’s principles, than stand on my rights.

For my aim, my goal, is to live as Christ’s, and on His mission, above anything else. I want to live in this world, but not as one who is OF this world, but as one who has been born from above.

Well now, how do we put all of this together so as to truly mature in Christ, and not just fall into even using this passage like it is a mere law to live by?

Let’s look at 3 principles we can extract from the passage, and then at a summary of sorts of Paul’s Spirit informed line of thinking.

For the Believer:

Lawfulness does not define what is right or what is wrong.

This is not the role of the law courts either in Corinth, or in Rochester NY.

For this, we must come back to God’s Word. And it’s not hard to see this is it? Simply because our legal system says abortion is lawful, does not make it right. Because it legal to get drunk does not make it right. Because it’s legal to divorce your spouse for non-Biblical reasons doesn’t make it right. Because it’s legal to shack up with whomever you please doesn’t make it right. Because same sex marriage is legal, does not make it right. We could go on and on and on. The examples are endless.

We must always be brought back to God’s Word, and the revelation of His character in the Word to make such determinations. And neither the World nor the Church has any right to usurp this authority from God alone.

Lawfulness does not determine what is best for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom.

The World’s legal system can’t possibly be of any help in this regard.

Once again we must come back to God’s Word. To consider God’s goals, and God’s own methods and means to achieve those goals.

The World will never have as its goal to go into all the World and preach the Gospel to every living creature, and to make disciples of all men. In fact, it may even enact laws to the contrary of those goals. Laws which we would be duty bound to disobey.

The Courts can have nothing to do with us growing in the image of Christ.

And very often – as in this passage – utilizing those courts and the legal system may actually work contrary to putting to death the sinful inclinations that still lurk within us.

Rights are not the highest guide for Believers – love for Christ, and His mission and His people is.

I’ll not develop this point here because it is going to be teased out in great detail in chapters to come. We have rights which the World can never conceive of – such as the right to reject our earthly rights for the cause of Christ.

It will suffice to say here that love for Christ and His people will find us often willingly setting aside our rights so that the cause of Christ may be best served.

We need only to look at the life of Jesus to see that if we share His Spirit, sacrifice of our supposed rights will often be the very means to serve others in the Gospel best.

The very heart of the Gospel is in these 2 things.

In John 5:22, Jesus tells the Disciples that God the Father has committed all judgment of sin to Jesus the Son. It would be perfectly legal for Him to drag us before the judgment bar of God, to prosecute the case against us for our sins to the nth degree – but in love He went beyond what is legal, that He might purchase our salvation.

It was His right not to die. Not to absorb the loss to Himself for our sins.

The night He was betrayed in the Garden, after rebuking Peter for cutting off the ear of one of ones sent to capture Jesus – He said: Matthew 26:53 / Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

But if He had not willingly set aside His rights, and refused to take advantage of all that was legally in His power to do – He would never have suffered, bled and died for our sins.

Don’t miss the power He is calling us to here in being effective in the kingdom that men and women might be brought to Christ.

And don’t miss that it will lead us at times to forsake what we COULD do legally, and what our rights are before God and man, for the sake of the witness of His kingdom in this World.

I subtitled this sermon: Rights, Wrongs, and Higher Things. Living IN the World, as no longer OF the World.

In closing, let me try to summarize this text and how our thinking is so radically different from the World. To better grasp some of the principles which will lead us to far different places than mere precepts or laws ever could.

As Christ’s people on Christ’s mission:

We live by:

A higher principle than what’s legal

We look to please our Heavenly Father in all things. To comport ourselves according to His holiness.

As Christ’s people on Christ’s mission:

We have a:

Higher pursuit than the pursuit of our rights

We’re looking to be conformed to the image of Christ in our whole being. Even if that means surrendering every natural human right.

As Christ’s people on Christ’s mission:

We aim at:

A higher prize than any earthly settlement

We seek an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading and kept in Heaven for us.

As Christ’s people on Christ’s mission:

We sit in:

A higher position than being the victors in earthly disputes

We are seated in Heavenly places with Christ Jesus.

As Christ’s people on Christ’s mission:

We trust in Christ for:

Higher promises than earthly justice

That we will be with Jesus, to see Him in all of His resplendent glory, and to behold that glory for evermore.

As Christ’s people on Christ’s mission:

We live by: A higher principle than what’s legal

We have a: Higher pursuit than the pursuit of our rights

We aim at: A higher prize than any earthly settlement

We sit in: A higher position than being the victors in earthly disputes

We trust in Christ for: Higher promises than earthly justice

Beloved, we must live IN this world, but we live here as strangers and aliens, as citizens of a Heavenly country.

And to grow spiritually, we must have our minds transformed to live in the light of those realities.
Margin notes: A different kind of blessedness.

October 9th, 2019
Jeremiah 17:7–8 (ESV) — 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

How amazing is this? Note 4 things:
1. Those who trust in the Lord – vs. anything or anyone else are those who have the following privileges. Bare trust, the idea that “everything will just work out” without Christ as our anchor is fool’s gold. It glitters, but is a baseless promise. All things WILL NOT “work out” for those who reject Christ. Especially not on the Day of Judgment.
2. The one whose trust is the Lord finds nourishment, refreshment and sustaining “water” in deep hidden places. Places the World cannot see, nor can go to. Places hidden for those who know and love Christ. Places in deep recesses where no one would ordinarily think to go. He does not supply us with surface remedies, but those drawn from the eternal depths of His own love and inscrutable person.
3. Believers do not deny that there are seasons of unbearable heat. The Bible does not deny it. It instead testifies that those in Christ are sustained in and through it. And that it is our privilege to not fear those hours, days, weeks or years. That His promise to keep us supplied by His grace so that we will still retain the green leaves which testify to His life in us – no matter what.
4. Believers experience times of great spiritual drought. Painful, lonely times when God seems desperately distant. When our spiritual growth seems not only imperceptible, but even receding. When the Bible seems to stop speaking and times in prayer are like crying out to a deaf Heaven. Doubt, weariness and loss of resolve attack the heart and mind. And yet, yet, for the one whose trust is the Lord, we need not be anxious even in such seasons. Because it is The Lord whom we trust, not the perception of our own state. Because even in such times, He is determined to bring the precious fruit of His Spirit out of our dryness. Because He is faithful in all of His promises, we can be dry, and yet not anxious – because He is who He is.
What blessings attend those whose trust is in the Lord.
Margin notes: Heading somewhere?

October 4th, 2019

Proverbs 4:25–27 (ESV) — 25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

When contemplating any course of action, it only makes sense to ask: “Where will this take me? What is the end of what I am contemplating?” In either word or deed.

But of course, this also begs the question of whether or not I am on my way to anywhere at all?

If one were to pursue a career as a lawyer – they would plot out a course that would take them there. The right undergraduate courses in college, and then Law School. Then setting their sights on passing the Bar, and then – then the practice of Law itself. It is the same with anything in life. To be a teacher, a race car driver, an electrician – name it. But as the old saying goes, if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it – too.

Setting a course in the natural is one thing – but how many actually contemplate setting a course toward Heaven? Do we imagine we will just stumble in there someday? That “being” a Christian is the end game, the goal itself? Do we forget Jesus words: Matthew 7:13–14 (ESV) — 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Why do so few find it? Why do so few enter in? Because so few are actually looking for it and seeking to enter in.

If you are aiming at entering heaven, keep your eyes on that destination, and make the decisions which coincide with going there. Keep looking for the door of that Great City. Keep your eyes fixed on what you intend to do and be there – and who you are longing to spend eternity with.

Is the path you are walking today commensurate with the destination you claim to be trying to reach?

No one will get there by accident. Only those who inquire as to The Way – Jesus – and who order their lives to go there to be with Him and the Father.

Where are you headed?
Margin notes: Christians Tribulate

October 3rd, 2019

Acts 16:40 (ESV) — 40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

I am grateful for Paul’s sensitivity in this moment. He is well aware that these new Believers might have been pretty shaken by how Paul and Silas had been treated. And it was vitally important for their growth and trust in Christ to see how Paul responded to these events.

Now while it was true that Paul called upon the local government to see the unlawful way they had been treated – he also refrained from prosecuting the case. This, legally, he might have done. But he does not stand upon his rights fully. He makes the offenders take notice of those rights, but then leaves the matter.

Note secondly how he apparently does not use this as an occasion to stir up the Believers against the government. He wants to encourage them, not enrage them. He has no higher motive than to see their souls affirmed in the faith, and no agenda to instead see them rallied against the lost.

Note 3rd how this coincides with his preaching and teaching as a whole in the Church. In Acts 14:21–22 we read: “When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

It is a sad reality of our day that this vital message is not communicated to the saints along with the Gospel. And it is often obscured when we hide our tribulations from one another. The truth is, it IS through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And lest any of you today dear Christian grow discouraged because many tribulations of all sorts have in fact come your way. Let me encourage you. I face them too. All of God’s saints face them. This is not because something is particularly out of whack with you, but rather with the World itself. Don’t be thrown.

Trust in your Lord Jesus Christ. This is par for the course – even as we also know – the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Be encouraged. Our Lord reigns.