This Month:
Music from: Not Machines

Art Display from: The Pushpin Project

We are super excited to announce some new and improved updates for the family ministry of The Resolved Church!

• All the lessons for our children’s classroom will now follow the text and sermon of the worship service! This way families can all be learning the same thing together. As one church we seek to have God’s word do its work in our homes, community groups and now in our family ministry as well!
• We take seriously the care of our children during family ministry time. Thus, we have adjusted some of our set-up to provide increased security so that only family ministry workers with badges or the parents of children are permitted past the entrance check-in gate.
• With some of our new babies and many more to come, we have now set-up a privacy partition at the end of the west hall for nursing mothers. In addition, we will now have a live video and audio feed of the the service set up there.

The Family Ministry of The Resolved Church is a special and important part of who we are. Through serving in it, we not only have the opportunity to minister to new families God brings to us but also learn and grow in our ability to lead and teach our homes about who Jesus is and what he has done.

If you are interested in serving Jesus and His people by working in the Family Ministry please contact Pastor James Martin at: james@theresolved.com

Announcement | Upcoming Class

He set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
Psalm 40:2

A House On The Rock

A Bible Study For Women

Life can seem so uncertain and full of difficulty. How can we live with hope and
confidence?

Jesus said that everyone who hears His words and puts them into practice is like
a wise man who built his house on a rock. Come join with other women as we
study and discuss the very words He was referring to in a 7-part Bible study.

February 6 – Introduction
February 13 – Salt & Light
February 27 – True Righteousness
March 5 – Imitating Christ
March 12 – Spiritual Discipline
March 19 – God Is Good, All The Time
March 26 – A House On The Rock

Monday evenings at 7:00 pm
Kathy Broersma
Contact kathy@theresolved.com for more info and/or directions.

REAL MARRIAGE: The Truth About Sex, Friendship & Life Together.

Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll will be here in San Diego, CA on February 24-25 talking about marriage based on their new book “Real Marriage.” The conference is $35 and will include worship, great teaching and discussion suited for the married and yet to be married alike.

Held at The Rock Church 2277 Rosecrans St. San Diego, CA 92106

February 24, 2012 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
February 25, 2012 9:00 a.m. – Noon

REGISTER HERE

Jesus Instates The Mission | The Book of Acts | 1:6-11 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an expository sermon on Acts 1:6-11. It covers Jesus’s plan and purpose in regards to the coming of His Kingdom, as well as His ascension to the seat of its power. This sermon was originally preached on January 29th, 2012 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com

(619) 393-1990 | contact@theresolved.com
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Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material provided you not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.

The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
January 29th, 2012

Jesus Instates the Mission | Acts 1:6-11
I. Theocracy: The Character of the Kingdom (vs.6-7)
II. Proclamation: Empowered Witnesses To & For All (vs.8)
III. Ascension: Heaven’s Throne & Earth’s Gift (vs.9)
IV. Parousia: The Return of the King (vs.10-11)

Introduction

Well today is our second Sunday in the book of Acts, our new sermon series study. Last week was a sort of smorgasbord of topics covering a whole range of things introducing us to the book of Acts. Today we get to narrow our focus a bit and look at the next section of Scripture in Acts where Jesus gathers the disciples together and outlines the purpose and plan of the mission and then in a dramatic display of his divinity instates the mission by ascending before their very eyes into heaven. So I titled today’s sermon “Jesus Instates the Mission.”

The story here is pretty gripping so it doesn’t really need any kind of introduction, so I’ll simply read our text and pray over it right off the bat today. (read text & pray)

I. Theocracy: The Character of the Kingdom (vs.6-7)

Alright, we’re just going to dive right into our first point today, “Theocracy: The Character of the Kingdom.” If you were here last week when we looked at the first five verses of Acts one of the things we talked about was how in them we see a Jesus in full control and authority giving commands (verse 2) and orders (verse 4). Now here at the beginning of our verses for today we see him in the same mode calling an important meeting together with the disciples.

There seems to be an unspoken sense of excitement here. They had been waiting like Jesus instructed…then they’re supposed to “come together” and everyone wonders what this special meeting is going to be about, what Jesus is going to do, what he’s going to say. So they once everyone finally arrives one of the disciples, it doesn’t say who, one of them speaks up and asks Jesus, so is it finally time?

The way he asks the question gives us some huge clues to what was being asked…and it’s no small question. I want to draw your attention to two words that tell us what this is all about: “restore” and “Israel.” These are big.

When the disciples here ask if Jesus going to restore the kingdom what they bringing up is how Israel, God’s people had not been a free monarchy for hundreds of years and really had fallen apart as a powerful and spiritual nation since the days of David and Solomon…something like 1,000 years. And those we’re remembered and imprinted upon their minds as “the good years.” They read about them in the Bible, their families talked about it…the good years. The time when everything was good and the way it should be.

Since then though, it had all fallen apart. Israel had gone into captivity in Babylon and then years later after they were finally allowed to return and rebuild, it wasn’t long before they were overtaken by the Greeks first and then the Romans, who had been ruling over Israel for the disciples entire lives.

But they had these prophecies in their Bibles promising a messiah king who would come and restore everything. For example, Isaiah 9:6-7 says a son will be born who will God, who will sit on the throne of David and over his kingdom to restore it.

So here’s Jesus. Disciples were convinced he was the prophesied messiah king. But then he died on the cross and those hope and dreams and beliefs, to them seem to die with him. But then he rose again! And after he rises and appears he’s acting like a king, giving out commands and orders. He tells them they’ll be baptized with the Holy Spirit and then he calls this special meeting.

What do you think they thought Jesus was finally going to do? He laid down his life on the cross to defeat sin. Now he’s risen again in full power and might…what do you think they are hoping and expecting to take place? To go to war! They think it will finally be time to take up arms, march right up to the capital and overthrow the government. Jesus will sit on the throne and all the nations will come and bow at his feet. That’s exactly what they expect and are thinking.

See where it says, restore the kingdom to “Israel.” That’s a big clue. It tells us right out that they were expecting a political, military and national kingdom that would liberate them from the colonial yoke of Rome. What they are imagining would literally be like Jesus marching up the capital steps in Washington DC, walking into the oval office, sitting down, ending democracy and instating his rule. Jesus, by rising from the dead just proved death can kill him, so no amount of spears, spikes or swords can stop him. This is what they expect.

But how does Jesus respond? Well, in verse 7 he basically says “not yet…it’s not time yet.” And then in verse 8 he redefines what kind of power they will be given and for what purpose. He doesn’t say his physical rule will not happen…just that it wasn’t the time and season that the Father has fixed for it to occur in the future.

The disciples were correct that Jesus was the prophesied king. In the Gospel of John when Jesus is before Pilate he acknowledges before him that he’s the king (Jn 18:36-37) and tells Pilate he has no power over him except what Jesus was divinely allowing him to do (Jn 19:11). It’s simply that the physical display of his kingship is yet to come. Here’s what 1 Timothy 6:13-15 says, “Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession…(will appear and) …display at the proper time…(that he)…is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”

So. Jesus is the king, but the time of his physical reign in the land awaits the mission. It’s because of this conviction that throughout the book of Acts the disciples will repeatedly run into trouble with the law…because of their claim that Jesus is Lord and King and not Caesar.

The technical term for it is theocracy. Theos is the word for God and ocracy is government, so theocracy is God government, where God rules as king. It’s why for my political views section on Facebook I have theocrat: Jesus is King.

It’s one thing I’ve never been able to really understand about Christians getting all hyped up about politics and it seems to happen every time its election season. Christians above all are supposed to be the ones whose allegiance is to Jesus the King, not Caesar or any other lords of the land. Our hope and loyalty is not in human governments which are destined to fail but in Jesus.

But the biggest political question we could ask is not who to vote for but why Jesus doesn’t just take his seat yet. Why wasn’t and isn’t it the time or season for that yet?

Why not yet? The answer comes in the next verse and our next point for today, “Proclamation: Empowered Witnesses To & For All.”

II. Proclamation: Empowered Witnesses To & For All (vs.8)

The first thing Jesus does here in verse 8 is re-direct the disciples focus and passion for Jesus’ physical rule of the land by bringing up the issue of power and what the kind of power Jesus is going to give them will be for. Make no mistake, kingship is about power. The greatness of your kingship is only as great as your power to extend your rule and reign.

But here, instead of granting power to take up arms to fight, Jesus says he’s going to give a different kind of power…a power to be witnesses! “My witnesses.” Witnesses of who Jesus is and what he had done in his death for sin and resurrection from the dead.

By telling them (and us) that the power of the kingdom of God is going to be extended through the proclamation of the gospel in a single sweep sets apart the nature of Jesus kingdom from any other kingdom rule ever known on earth. Rather than enforcing rule from the top down, Jesus kingdom would win over allegiance by changing hearts, not with force but the with the message of love and forgiveness provided for in the cross. Jesus’ kingdom is an upside-down kingdom…it works from the bottom up…beginning with the hearts and lives of the people.

The now late John Stott says, “The kingdom is spread by witnesses, not by soldiers, through a gospel of peace, not declaration of war, by the work of the Spirit, not by a force of arms, political intrigue or revolutionary violence…(his kingdom begins with a spiritual rule) transforming the lives and values of its citizens.”

I’m not sure anyone could have expected or detected that Jesus here would split the coming of the kingdom into two stages…but if he didn’t I don’t think we would have as big of sense of the heart and nature of Jesus’ kingdom.

What I mean is everyone expected that the coming of the messiah. After Jesus died and rose again, the disciples assumed what would immediately follow would be his physical rule, which we talked about. But instead, Jesus puts that on pause so that the love of his kingdom might break in through the world first before the political might of his kingdom is installed.

By doing this, we see and experience why Jesus’ kingdom is better than any other king’s rule throughout all of history. No king or kingdom ever has displayed such love and grace. In it Jesus shows why he is the only worthy king of all. Jesus could force his reign, but instead he offers time and by his Spirit wins people over by changing them from the inside first.

Now, there’s something here we need to talk about for a minute. We need to rightly understand the concept of “power” here. Sometimes power here has been conceived by some as the ability to do miracles like Jesus did…that he is granting them supernatural power. But that’s not what this power is about. Yes, it’s a supernatural power to be sure…but it’s a power to be witnesses, to be proclaimers of the message. Every single miracle in Jesus’ ministry and every single miracle in the book of Acts is not about the miracle but about the message. The power is a power attached to the message!

What Jesus is really promising is a commitment to the testimony about him, that the Spirit will come upon us in such a way that when we speak the message of the gospel it will powerfully break through sin and the hardness of hearts that reject and resist God. It’s a power far greater and nobler, a heavenly power which makes the preaching of the gospel effective.

I think we have something to learn here about being courageous in talking to others about Jesus. Too often we think we just have to say the right words or explain things perfectly for others to really hear the gospel and come to know Jesus…when we really just need to speak it and let God’s Spirit do his work in taking our words and pressing them into people’s hearts. The power is attached to the witness. We witnesses and through the words the Spirit regenerates hearts.

Do you guys know what I’m talking about? I mean there are times, specific situations with friends of mine I can call to mind and remember where I should’ve just said, “Man, what you really need to hear is that you’re a sinner and that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for your sin and you need Jesus in your life to change you and save you.” I can think of times when I should’ve said that…but I didn’t, because I didn’t really believe there was power in that message.

It’s easy to start to think there’s no way they’ll see how that’s relevant to their life when what their really concerned about is the need for a job or their girlfriend or boyfriend or marriage or what they’re going to do for fun on their time off. It’s easy to think there is we won’t say the right thing or we’ll sound crazy or it won’t make sense.

But Jesus here has promised the empowerment of his Spirit when we witness. He’s promised it. Think, right now…do you have friends who you need to just share the message of the gospel with and trust that the Spirit will do it’s work? Do it. Pray and ask God for opportunity to share the message and then when you do, remember God has promised the empowerment of his Spirit to go with you in the words you share.

So, just as Jesus at the beginning of his earthly ministry was baptized in the Jordan river and the Spirit descended upon him, empowering him for his mission so too, here the disciples at the beginning of their ministry are promised a baptism of the Spirit to empower them for their mission…which has now become ours.

Now let’s look at the second part of this verse and that’s Jesus plan for mission. Here in Acts 1:8 he not only addresses the passion of his kingdom expansion in spiritual not physical power but he also addresses the plan of his kingdom…to go from Jerusalem, to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.

This verse is a key verse, not only it states the theme of the entire book of Acts, namely mission but it also almost gives a perfect outline to the book. What we’ll see as we work through the book is mission in Acts 1-7 happens in and around Jerusalem, then in chapters 8-10 mission expands out to Judea and Samaria, then from chapters 11-28 mission begins to expand beyond to the ends of the earth, ending with the prospect of going to Spain.

Now there’s a few different ways to look at this missional plan of Jesus. We’ll talk about each.

The first element is recognizing that there is a going out, a taking of the message to the places and peoples of the world. That’s new. There was mission in the Old Testament God’s people were called to. But the mission was to be a shining light the nations would be drawn to come to because of how different and holy they were. It’s what’s called centripetal mission. In this verse, Jesus changes the whole missional model of God’s people and tells them to go out. It’s no longer come to Israel to find God, it’s leave Israel and take God to the world! It’s what’s called centrifugal mission…a going out. So that’s the first element, a going out.

The second element is a literal geographical plan. You start close to home and then increasingly spread outward. You can look at that historically in what happened in the first century documented in Acts or you can look at it as principle…that you either start with people you know then reaching out to others you don’t know. Or we could look at as a principle of church planting that we start planting churches closer to us and then farther and farther away.

The third element is a cultural or racial one. Jerusalem was primarily composed of Jews. Judea and especially Samaria is a whole different deal. Samaritans were sort of like Jews but they were different and Jews did not like Samaritans…they thought they were heretics, dogs and didn’t want anything to do with them. Then people of the ends of the earth were seen as just foreign and so different and impossible that they were kind of a waste of time. One of the unique things about the gospel is that it is universal, for all people…people of every tribe and tongue and here Jesus calls us to that.

So there’s a few different ways we can look at this verse. But rather than just thinking about it like it’s just theory and tactic…how does it play out in our individual lives?

What about the first element? The going out. God has not called us just to sit in our comfort zones but to go out…to go out of our way for mission. Are you going out? What neighbors have you never talked to? What people at work have you never spent time with outside of work? What new things are you trying for the sake of mission?

A buddy of mine up on Rancho Penasquitos is throwing a Super Bowl party for his street next week…getting all kinds of food and drinks and setting up a big screen in his garage and inviting the whole neighborhood to come so he might get to know them in hopes of sharing the gospel. Today, one of our church members is throwing a concert in the courtyard of their condo complex with a raffle, cake walk and all kinds of stuff. Or maybe it’s not some event but just having a meal or coffee with someone you don’t normally hang out with.

Or if we think about it geographically…have you started with the people you do know, have you talked to them about Jesus? Maybe you have and not much is happening there…so you need to get some new friends. A couple years ago when I used to work another job besides being a pastor I used to be able to make friends with people at work to share the gospel with. Now I’ve realized that it’s much harder for me…I mostly meet Christians or people who become Christians who come into the church.

I need some new friends. So I recently joined an MMA gym here in town and have been training in boxing. The few couple weeks no one really talked to me. But this last week, I guess I stuck it out long enough or something that a couple of guys talked me afterward, introduced themselves to me and invited me to hang out. I guess I’ve been through enough punishment now to get in the club. And I’m excited about some new friends and opportunities for mission.

Or what about that third element, the cultural or racial one. Jesus called his disciples to go out after the Samaritans…people they didn’t like who were difficult to love, and to the ends of the earth to people they didn’t understand. What kind of people are hard for you to spend time with? Who do you not like? Who is just weird to you that you don’t get? Are you reaching out to them with the gospel? Are you working to get to know them?

I’ve found that any person, no matter who they are…if you spend any amount of time with them and are able to get beneath the surface with them, there is a real person there dealing with real things, sin and its effects, hurt, pain and anger and they simply need to hear and experience the love of Christ.

Alright. Let’s wrap this point up and move onto the next one. Just real simple…get on mission! Just do something. Don’t just sit on the gospel and do nothing. It’s not going to be smooth or perfect or easy but God has promised to empower us to be witnesses…so let’s follow his lead and be a people who are on mission.

After Jesus lays out this missional calling and plan he ascends into heaven before their very eyes, so let’s talk about this “Ascension: Heaven’s Throne & Earth’s Gift.”

III. Ascension: Heaven’s Throne & Earth’s Gift (vs.9)

This is one of my favorite scenes of Jesus in the Bible. It’s probably because I feel like everyone wants to as John Calvin puts it, to pull him down out of heaven to earth. In our day it just seems to me that most want to look at Jesus as just being merely a human man…not the divine son of God. So I love these scenes where you’re like…what! This Jesus dude is something and someone totally different.

I mean just imagine this scene for a moment. You’re there. One of the disciples. Jesus has just risen from the dead, which is crazy enough in and of itself. You’re probably still having a hard time believing it. Jesus calls this special meeting and he’s acting a little different…more like a military commander giving orders and laying out the mission. Then, right after concluding his speech he just starts levitating, some special cloud envelopes him and he just disappears.

This blows my mind. We’ll talk about it in our next point but verse 10 says the disciples are just standing there awestruck in a daze…probably with their mouths wide open…thinking “what just happened?” Can you imagine it?

Well let’s talk about it, what it means and why it’s important. First, let’s get the crazy out of the way. People don’t levitate and disappear. Chris Angel’s stunts are an illusion…you can buy his video now that tells you how he does it all. This is different.

Last week we already went over how Luke, the human author of Acts is concerned for truth and accuracy in his writing an documenting what actually happened…so we have to take him on his terms. We can’t just cut this part out and say this part was just a fanciful add on. That not the author’s intent. We either have to accept the whole book or none of it.

So here’s what else I’ll say. If Jesus is actually and truly God…then one, not would he be able to do something like this but isn’t it what you’d expect? Wouldn’t you expect something fantastic if Jesus really was God risen from the dead as the king over all and was giving a plan and commission to spread his kingdom over the entire world? I mean ascending before their very eyes like that puts a pretty big exclamation point on the mission right?

Here’s the other thing. Notice where it talks about the cloud here. It says Jesus was, “lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.” Now this could have just been a normal cloud. But one thing you learn as you read through the Bible from beginning to end is that things like rocks, trees and clouds are pretty important things. Almost anytime something significant happens there’s a rock, tree or a cloud.

Clouds just so happen to be a big deal. After God floods the earth he puts a rainbow in the sky against a cloud. When God’s people make the Exodus out of Egypt, God leads them with a cloud. When they would have church a cloud would set itself over the tabernacle. When Solomon built the temple and had the first service a cloud came in and filled it with smoke. When Jesus was baptized God the Father spoke out of a cloud. When Jesus led the disciples up on a mountain and pulled back the veil on his divinity with bright shining light, there was a cloud that enveloped them. And now when Jesus ascends into heaven a cloud shows up.

Now maybe it was just a normal cloud but probably not. Some have got all hung up here wondering where he went…especially now since we know what’s actually up…that it goes out of earth’s atmosphere and that there’s a whole universe out there with all kinds of planets.

My oldest daughter has been asking a lot of questions lately about heaven and what’s it like and where it is…so I’ve been thinking about this. Consistently, all throughout the Bible heaven is never conceived of as a physical place in our human realm. It’s not like heaven is on another planet out there in the universe. It’s a whole other place. Angels and Jesus himself after his resurrection…just appear out of thin air. It’s another realm, not limited to the constraints of the physical world.

So likely the cloud is a sign of Jesus, not necessarily going “up” into the atmosphere to get to heaven but going out, out of this world to sit on his throne at the right hand of the Father. Just as in an instant he came into the world in the shadow of the night as a little baby, in an instant he goes out of the world in the bright of the day. Now here’s what’s significant about this.

This was a key event, culminating the initiation of the new age of the Spirit. By leaving in this supernatural way, Jesus lets the disciples and us know that he is really and truly gone and will not be appearing any more. If he had just not shown up anymore, without saying anything or doing something like this then everyone would have wondered what happened to him.

Jesus spoke of this day to the disciples beforehand. In Matthew 19 he told them a day would come when he would return to glory and sit on his throne. Hebrews 8:1 says that Jesus is now, “seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.” And Romans 8:34 says that there Jesus is “interceding for us” on our behalf praying for us to the Father.

Jesus, right now is seated on his throne in heaven and is fully aware of all that is going on in our world and of all that happens to his people and he talks to God the Father about it for us. And that’s not the only benefit we have of Jesus ascension.

Now as we talked about last week it is the age of His Spirit. When Jesus was here on earth, he was just in Israel, moving about from place to place ministering to certain individuals and groups of people one at a time. Now, because he has ascended and sent his Spirit to us, he can be and is at work in thousands of people all across the world all at the same time.

Without Jesus’ ascension we would not have the same sense of closeness, intimacy and strength that is now ours by His Spirit He has given to us. Do you realize that? Jesus is a real person. We do not see him with out eyes but we who know him and believe in him sense his Spirit at work in us. And he is with us every day. Jesus promised never to take away his Spirit. In Hebrews 13:5 he says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

For those of us who believe in Jesus and have received his Spirit, we are never alone. Because Jesus ascended, God is with us in a closer way than ever before. Some of you today may feel lost alone and confused…and that’s either because you have yet to really embrace Jesus as your savior or because you simply need to be reminded that He loves you and is with you by His Spirit.

If you feel that way today, hear and know that Jesus is with us. Matthew 28:20 He says, “Behold I am with always to the end of the age.”

Well, let’s move on to our final point for this morning, “Parousia: The Return of the King.”

IV. Parousia: The Return of the King (vs.10-11)

“Parousia” means appearing and in the Bible refers to the time when Jesus will return, which is what gets unpacked here in our final verses for this morning, verses 10-11. The disciples are standing there looking up into the sky stunned and two persons in white robes appear out of nowhere and put a final weight of force on the mission and plan of God.

“Two men” here is probably a metonym for angels because they appear out of nowhere and are dressed in white robes which is usually one of the Bible’s ways of saying these were angels. So these two angels show up and say, verse 11, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Two things are going on here with their words. One, there’s a gentle rebuke to get on with the mission and two, there’s a prophecy about Jesus’ return. Let’s talk about the first one.

The Bible here does not tell us how long they were standing there staring. It could have been a few minutes, a few hours, all day…who knows? Whatever the case, seeing Jesus ascend had mesmerized them and the angels show up to help explain the importance of what just happened and to call their attention back to what Jesus had just told them.

Their words basically say…don’t go looking for him, because you’re not going to find him. Instead of thinking about where he went and when he’ll return get on with the business of taking the message of salvation to the world. Don’t spend your life just staring up into heaven, get to work. That’s the first thing.

The second one is when they tell him he will return and in the same way. Which isn’t new information to the disciples. Jesus himself said this before. Here’s his words. Matthew 24:29-31 “…the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth…will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven (there’s that cloud again) with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

What a scene! Jesus will come again and appear, parousia, and he’ll be coming on a cloud with all of his power, angels, with an earthquake and the blast of a trumpet. What a return!

This coming, his second coming, will not be like his first coming…quiet and humble in the stillness of the night. This one will be loud and with a full display of all his glory and might and there will be no question who is the king over all! Then, at long last the physical reign of Jesus will descend on the earth and all who have rejected him and all who oppose him will be judged and according to Revelation 20:15, thrown into the lake of fire.

The return of the king will be great and glorious. Sorry, but Tolkien’s “Return of the King” doesn’t even compare. When he returns finally all wrongs will be recompensed and all who have repented will be rewarded. And he will set up his kingdom and wipe away every tear from the eyes of his beloved.

What does this do for us? What good is it for us to know and believe the words of Jesus and the angels here? There’s a few things I think.

One, I think we long for justice. The promise of Jesus return tells us there will be a day.

Two, I think we long for a better world than this…one without pain, suffering, sorrow and corruption, both in our own hearts, those around us and in the governments of our lands.

Three, I don’t know about you but I long to see Jesus face to face. I have never seen Jesus with my eyes but I cannot wait to see him who I know and love and to bow down before him and worship.

Until then, we have work to do our king has commissioned us for. In Matthew 24:14 Jesus said, “(The) gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all peoples, and then the end will come.” We are still in the age of proclamation…there are people who have not yet heard of Jesus, who he is and what he is done and we must share it with them. Once the mission is complete, then he will come and we anxiously await that day.

Well, let’s conclude today and prepare for the Lord’s Supper.

Conclusion

Today we talked about the character of Jesus’ kingdom, how it’s an upside-down kingdom. I think we’ve all seen abuses of power either in our workplace or in the larger spheres of our world. But Jesus kingdom is different. In it Jesus shows us why he is the only good and worthy king…because he first goes after our hearts with the message that he died for our sin as if it were his own and then rose again to forgive, renew and restore us.

Today we talked about the call of Jesus to spread the message of his victory over sin to all types of people in all places. Through our various jobs, hobbies and neighborhoods we have the opportunity to spread the gospel into all the nooks and crannies of our city. And he has promised to empower us by His Spirit for the message to be effective when we open our mouth and witness of Him.

Today we talked about Jesus’ ascension to the throne, where He prays for us and by which He has given us the ever abiding presence of His Spirit. A presence which tells us we are not alone, that we belong to Him and that His Word is true.

Then lastly today we talked about Jesus’ return and how great and glorious it will be. It breeds hope, excitement and drive to our mission, propelling us toward that great day when we will see him and receive our reward.

How I’d like us to prepare for the Lord’s Supper is to call to mind the significance of what we do each week here in receiving the bread and the wine. Some would say it’s just symbolic, that the wine just represents Jesus blood shed on the cross and the bread just represents his body which was pierced and bruised. Others would say something magical takes place and the bread and the wine change into literal blood and flesh.

What we believe is that Jesus has committed himself to these elements and this ceremony we call a “sacrament.” A sacred and holy thing wherein we really and truly meet with Jesus and receive his grace.

We believe since Jesus ascended to the throne that he has promised to be uniquely present with us by His Spirit whenever we do this.

We believe this is not just a religious act or right but a special time of grace where we respond to the gospel, confess our need and gratitude and meet with our God.

So today as you respond remember that Jesus was the one who first went on mission for us. He went out, out of heaven and came down to earth and then by his Spirt has pursued us and called us to himself. And on top of that we were and often still are the unlovable ones he has grace and mercy for, forgiving us and welcoming us into his fellowship.

Jesus is our king. He a mighty king and yet he’s a kind and gracious king. So let’s respond to his word now by all standing and then I’ll pray over our time before the Lord’s Table.

Let’s pray.

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Blog | Pastor Duane

When looking at the different phases or stages of history from the perspective of God’s creation, governance and rule over them the age of the Holy Spirit highlights an important aspect of the character and being of God…that He is both transcendent and immanent. “Transcendence” and “immanence” are big words, but often big words are some of the most helpful.

Transcendence is the total holy otherness of God…how completely unlike anything or anyone else He is…totally distinct, separate and unique. The idea of transcendence focuses attention on the lofty, supreme, and powerful nature of God over and above all that he has created. Theologians have often called the transcendent nature of God his “incommunicatable attributes” because he doesn’t pass them on to any of his creatures. The angels in Isaiah 6 proclaim God’s transcendence when they cry out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts (Is 6:3)!”

Immanence is the total nearness and closeness of God. The idea of immanence focuses attention on the evident and tangible perception of God by his creatures, chiefly made known to us in the coming of both Jesus His Son and the Holy Spirit. Theologians have often called the immanent nature of God his “communicatable attributes” because he passes his presence and character to those who put faith in him. The angels in Isaiah 6 likewise proclaim God’s immanence when they cry out, “The whole earth is full of His glory (Is 6:3)!”

The twin truths of God’s transcendence and immanence are precious treasures. Yet they must be simultaneously held together or else one ends up in tragic error. Deism, the belief that God made the world like a watch, wound it up and then stepped back having nothing more to do with it…is the transcendence of God taken too far. Pantheism, the belief that a part of God is in everything and all of the total of all those parts is what makes up God…is the immanence of God taken too far.

What holds God’s transcendence and immanence together in perfect harmony is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For in the gospel the wholly other God took on the nature of humanity and became a man in Jesus…coming closer than ever before. Then through belief in the gospel, the news that God sacrificed His Son for sin, God promises to come in and reside in every believer through His Holy Spirit. Romans 8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

If we don’t see God as transcendent it is hard for us to know how truly glorious and mighty He is and if we don’t see God as immanent it is hard for us to know how truly gracious and loving He is. Praise God that through the Gospel he has made Himself known and shown why He is worthy of all our worship!

Jesus Promises The Spirit | The Book of Acts | 1:1-5 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an expository sermon of Acts 1:1-5. It introduces the Book of Acts and its connection to the Gospel of Luke. It follows the brief summary of the life, ministry, and acts of Jesus and sets up for the coming of the era of The Holy Spirit. This sermon was originally preached on January 22nd, 2012 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
January 22nd, 2012

Jesus Promises The Spirit | Acts 1:1-5

I. Jesus in the Gospel of Luke (vs.1-2)
  A. Books of the Bible & Divine Revelation
  B. Word & Deed: The Marks of the Gospel
II. Jesus’ Resurrection Changes Everything (vs.3)
  A. Proofs & Their Power
  B. The Message of the King
III. Jesus Initiates the Age of His Spirit (vs.4-5)
  A. Preparation For Battle
  B. The One From On High

Introduction

Well, after much anticipation we are finally starting our new sermon series where we’ll be working and studying through the book of Acts. What we’ve got planned out are 35 sermons in three different stages. So combined with Easter and other special Sundays, it’ll probably take us not quite a year with us finishing up around November sometime.

That might sound daunting to some of you but it’s not as bad as when we took three years to go through the book of Romans! Actually let me kind of explain our reasoning and thinking through this. You see there are basically three different types of sermons.

One is narrative, where the preacher doesn’t really deal with the Bible at all and his goal is basically to tell an entertaining, engaging and inspiring story. We plain out just don’t do that here.

The other one is topical, where there may be a specific subject to address in the church or it’s advent season, Easter or some other special Sunday. In topical sermons the goal is to address a specific subject matter and work from a passage of the Bible that addresses that. We do that sometimes here.

The third main type of sermon is what we call expository. It comes from the word “exposed.” Expository sermons simply work through books of the Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse and word by word and seek to expose what is there. This is what we do 90% of the time here at The Resolved Church. And there’s a reason for that.

One of our main principles of ministry here is that it is the Word of God which does the work of God. So we believe that it’s not so much how we put together our service in terms of music, art, coffee, or even the friendliness and relationships of our community that is going to bring people to Christ and help us grow in Christ. Not that those things are not good or do not assist, but we believe that it is the Bible is the chief tool that God has given and designed for us to come to know him and be changed by him. So for that reason we are committed to expository teaching.

This is what God’s people have done for thousands of years going back all the way to when Ezra the prophet would open the Bible on a wooden platform at the ancient church services and explain the Scriptures were saying. It seems that for most of Jesus’ ministry this is what he was doing was taking his disciples through the Scriptures and explaining them and showing them how they all pointed to him. Then as we’ll see, all the preaching of the disciples who become apostles becomes saturated with preaching the Bible. When the apostle Paul, who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament spent three years with the church in Ephesus, he says while he was there he proclaimed to them “the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) and then in 2 Timothy 4:2 with the authority and inspiration of the Holy Spirit he commands preachers to “preach the word.”

It’s our conviction here that as Hebrews 4:12 states that the word of God is a living and active book that pierces through our heart. The Bible teaches that our hearts are often hard and they need to be pierced and broken and it’s only God’s word that can do that.

Some of you today know exactly what I’m talking about…if you feel numbness and apathy toward God, frustration or anger toward God, doubt and distrust toward God, shame and guilt toward God…those are all signs of a hard heart that needs to be pierced and broken.

Isaiah 55:11 states that God’s word when it goes out from mouths will always accomplish it’s purpose. So it’s our prayer that through the preaching of the Word you will be softened and drawn in. For others of you, instead of being softened you’ll harden your heart and will be driven away from hearing the Word, which though painful and sad is another one of it’s functions of God’s word to purify and protect the church.

Okay, back to Acts. Basically what I’m saying is the reason we preach through books of the Bible is because we believe that is what the Bible tells us to do primarily. We just sort of call ‘em series to make it go down a little easier. It’s like in Mary Poppins, a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down.

And Acts doesn’t really need a whole lot of sugar because it is simply a super exciting, action packed, heartfelt, drama saturated book. I mean it’s got sci-fi in it with levitation and and people turning to into salt and sick people magically getting better. It’s got blood and guts with dudes getting stoned to death, thrown in jail, city-wide riots and courtroom trials. It’s got shipwrecks, snake attacks and demon possessed getting taken down.

But most of all it’s got these phenomenal stories of characters whose lives radically change after hearing the gospel preached and encountering Jesus. And then we see real love being birthed and played out in real life. Time and time again in the book of Acts we see individuals and groups of people whom God’s Spirit descends on and changes them. People get saved, churches get planted, and the gospel spreads out all across the world like wildfire. So you guys pumped? I am!

Alright, that’s probably enough introduction. Let’s read the first five verses here in the first chapter of Acts, pray over them and work through some stuff together. (Read text and pray)

I. Jesus in the Gospel of Luke (vs.1-2)

Okay, so structurally there’s sort of three main parts to these verses. Verses 1-2 link the Book of Acts to the Gospel of Luke, which I’ll explain in a minute. Verse 3 is all about the resurrection of Jesus. And then verses 4-5 set the stage for the beginning of the story of Acts. These verses cover a ton of ground…the life, death, deeds, preaching, resurrection and ascension of Jesus plus the nature of the kingdom, installation of the apostles, and the coming of the Spirit…which if you put it all together is pretty much everything the Bible ever talks about. Each one of those things could be an entire sermon or sermon series in and of itself.

So I put together this outline to try and simplify some of it. These verses really do serve and function as a great introduction to the book. We’ll work through three main points and say a couple things about each one of them. First, “Jesus in the Gospel of Luke.”

The very first lines start out with, “In the first book.” So this tells us that Acts is the second volume of a two parted work. And what’s the topic? “All Jesus began to do and teach” and then verses two and three outline what he did and taught that was covered in the first book. Acts, then is the second volume of Jesus deeds and teaching, which he now does by His Spirit through his men rather than in person…which is why some have suggested the book should be called Acts of the Spirit rather than Acts of the Apostles. But book titles really were not as big of deal back then as they are today.

So maybe you’re wondering, if Acts is the second book, what’s the first book? Well, I kind of told you in the outline, it’s the Gospel of Luke. Here’s how you can tell. See where it says, “O Theophilus.” That’s a dedication, just like how many people will write books today and at the beginning of the book they dedicate it to someone. It doesn’t mean it’s for their eyes only but that this person especially inspired in the writing of the book.

There’s only one other place in the Bible where the name Theophilus shows up…and guess where it’s at? The beginning of the Gospel of Luke. So let me read you the first few lines of the Gospel of Luke and it would probably be good if you turned there and looked at ‘em with me. The book title, “The Gospel According to Luke” and then this is Luke 1:1-4, “1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.”

Now we won’t get into these verses a whole lot but they tell us that Luke and Acts are two books that go together and Luke is the author of them both. Theophilus is a real person, a name which means “dear to God” so it may have even been his Christian name he changed to like many did and he’s “most excellent” meaning he’s likely a prominent and well known Roman official.

Most of that’s irrelevant to the book of Acts as a whole, but I wanted to bring it up because there’s a couple things in these verses and the beginning verses in Acts which tell us some big things about the nature of the Bible and how its books are written. Many people today and perhaps you are one of them…want to know, how can you know the Bible is true? So let’s talk about “Books of the Bible & Divine Revelation.”

A. Books of the Bible & Divine Revelation

There’s a couple things from the beginning of Luke and what it says about how Luke went about writing both Luke and thereby also Acts. Verse 1 tells us he read and studied other documents written about Jesus. So that would definitely include the Gospel of Matthew, Mark and John. Verse 2 says he interviewed eyewitnesses and in Acts sometimes when he’s writing he’ll say “we” went here or there and did this or that…which means at least in Acts, Luke was at times an eyewitness himself. Then verse 4 tells us he was concerned for accuracy and truth…wanting “certainty.” Likewise in our Acts passage he is concerned about “proof.” Luke was a medical doctor in his day so he understood the importance of evidence and reason.

So that brings up a big question, is Luke writing history or theology? Is he writing about his own personal religious opinions or he more like a journalist attempting to accurately report facts? How can we trust that his books in the Bible are actually true? Because you can tell from even these first few verses he’s obviously persuaded and biased already. Right?

Here’s what I’d say. Besides the fact that it is impossible to not have any preconceived biases and be totally objective…simply because Luke may be convinced and even have a theological agenda, does not mean he is doesn’t have integrity and is tweaking facts to fit his opinions! He actually goes out of his way to say he’s not doing that. And if there actually is any merit, or truth to the whole God and Jesus thing…wouldn’t you expect it to actually be true, factual and fantastic?

It’s for that reason several have said Acts is like theo-history. It’s both a historical account and a theological account. It’s true, but make no mistake, the desire and intent of the story is that you too would come to faith in Christ and plant churches like so many people in the book do.

One more thing here. In Luke 1:3 he says, “it seemed to good to me” to write these books. Luke’s being modest here. The Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul are more pointed and tells us that was actually the Holy Spirit directing and commanding him to write so that what he would write would be the word of God.

Here’s what they say. 1 Peter 1:20-21 says no Scripture “…comes from someone’s own interpretation…(not) produced by the will of man, but men spoke (or wrote) from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture (the holy writings by men of God’s Word and works)…All Scripture is breathed (or Spirited) out by God.”

What this tells us is that books like Luke and Acts really have a second, bigger author instructing the human authors to write the books and then directs their words. It’s what we call “Divine Revelation.” Divine, God…revealing himself to us…making himself known. You see, it seems a lot of people want or even pray for revelation, for God to reveal himself. But we believe he already has, through words in a book. So you don’t want to pray for revelation because that’s asking God to have you write a book of the Bible.

Our task is to get to know our God by reading, studying and applying the revelation he has already given to us. So what you have to decide for yourself in our study of the Acts, today in this sermon and in your life during the week is whether or not this book really is God’s book. Because if it is then everything it says is much more significant and much more meaningful and will be much more life-changing then we ever dreamed.

Okay, let’s say goodbye to the beginning of Luke and get back to Acts. There’s one other thing here in the first verse I’ll make some short comments on…where it says ”all Jesus began to do and teach.” This is “Word & Deed: The Marks of the Gospel.”

B. Word & Deed: The Marks of the Gospel

There’s two ways this phrase is functioning. One is what we already talked about…that it’s providing a simply summary and reference to the entire life and ministry of Jesus covered in the first book, the Gospel of Luke. However, there is a second thing and that is the nature of word and deed in and of itself. Word and deed always go hand in hand.

When you read through any of the Gospel accounts…Matthew, Mark, Luke or John…what you consistently see Jesus doing is teaching and preaching and then healing people or feeding crowds or praying to the Father or some other thing. Word and deed. And that is also what we’ll consistently see throughout the book of Acts, Word going out accompanied by great deeds. The gospel is a message, a good news message and when it is embraced it is meant to have practical play outs in our lives. They go hand in hand. You can’t just do good deeds as a Christian, you’ve got to proclaim…and you can’t just proclaim, you need to live it out in front of others.

The Gospel is unique. You see some people or philosophers have these great ideas (like various forms of skepticism, atheism or relativism) but when it comes down to it they are completely unlivable. For example, you can say everyone has the right to their own opinions and beliefs but if I believe stealing is okay and I steal something from you it turns out that idea actually isn’t livable.

Other people seem to be very spiritual and can have a very committed and structured life but there is not a consistent or coherent belief system to support that way of life. For example, you can say like the eastern philosophies that we just need to become one with the world and nature and live a life of harmony and peace that way but I really can never even sit on a chair or on the ground if the chair and I are truly one or I could never eat anything because I would be eating a part of myself. So you may be able to live the life of an ascetic but you’ll never be able to explain it.

It’s actually a really good test to tell if something is actually true…if it’s both is consistent and livable. What is amazing about Jesus and the gospel is that it like no other religion or religious belief offers both a consistent coherent worldview and offers a life that is actually livable.

Those of us who have heard and embraced the gospel know this…we are regularly being changed and compelled to live out the implications of the gospel in deeper and wider ways. We are to hear the Word and then put it to work in action. As the book of James says, faith without works is dead. The go hand in hand.

If you just hear the Word but it’s not changing you then maybe you haven’t quite heard yet. I was having a conversation with someone in my community group this week who was telling me that they had a friend who said each time they came to church it seemed like it was the same message.

That’s true and it makes me proud because we’ve got nothing else to give but the gospel and every word of every page is all about Jesus. So though we come at it in different ways it always boils down to the same thing. The greatness of who Jesus is and what he has done…word and deed.

It reminded me of this old anonymously written poem about God’s word and the gospel that I sometimes recite. I may have quoted it to you once before but if so it’s been a while. It goes like this.

My pail I’m often dropping, deep down into this well
It never touched the bottom however deep it fell
And though I keep on dipping by study, faith and prayer
I have no power to measure the living water there

May God help us to be hearers and doers of his Word. Okay, so let’s move on and talk about “Jesus’ Resurrection (that) Changes Everything.”

II. Jesus’ Resurrection Changes Everything (vs.3)

Verse 3 assumes we know about Jesus’ crucifixion and death on the cross from the Gospel of Luke and then recounts Jesus resurrection adding in the note that he appeared several times for forty days and that these appearances were “proofs.”

If you read through the New Testament it records 10 distinct appearances. He appears to women at the tomb, to Mary Magdelene, to the two men on the road to Emmaus, to Peter in Jerusalem, to ten of the disciples when they’re in hiding, then later to to them again when Thomas is present…He appears to seven of them when they’re fishing and eats a meal with them, then later to all eleven in Galilee, then to over 500 people at one time there and then to his brother James. These are all separate independent accounts with over 500 witnesses…sometimes I wonder if it were today and we put Jesus’ resurrection on trial how many would have to testify before a jury could be convinced.

One thing that’s interesting in the book of Acts is that the preaching is saturated with talk about Jesus’ resurrection BUT nobody contests or argues about whether it really happened, instead the question what it actually means. Which actually really brings up the issue of “Proofs & Their Power.”

A. Proofs & Their Power

This word “proofs” here in verse three is a someone intriguing word. The Greek word behind it that gets translated as “proof” here is “tekmerion.” It’s in part where we get one the derivative English word “technical.” Tekmerion means something that is surely and plainly known, evidence or proof.

Thus the resurrection has been called the “crowing proof of Christianity.” It’s unique because no other single religion in the world says there is proof or evidence for it’s authenticity or truth. Every other religion places it’s test in one’s personal experience…in what you feel. Christianity is the only religion which says, whether you experience or not it’s true and actually happened. And it goes even further. 1 Corinthians 15:14 says if the resurrection of Jesus didn’t happen then Christianity isn’t true and everyone who believed it were fools.

Now here’s the rub. The proof is there. But the proof alone is not enough. A person just being presented with evidence and reasons for the truth of Christianity does not make them a Christian. Proofs are helpful and give us an external and objective claim and worldview…but that does not convert and change the heart. Proofs can only go so far. They lack something. And this verse points out what it is.

When Jesus was appearing after his resurrection and giving these proofs, what does it say he was doing? Look at it. Verse 3, what was Jesus doing when he showed himself? “Speaking about the kingdom of God.” Proofs without proclamation are incomplete! There must be a message explaining the meaning and implications of the proof. And it’s in through that message, in hearing it and embracing that God has chosen to regenerate hearts by his spirit. Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

And this is what ends up consuming the book of Acts. The announcement that Jesus came into the world, lived and died and rose again and then the message of what that means for our lives here and now.

So I want us to look at what this message is Jesus was speaking about, the kingdom of God. But before we do I want to ask you a question. If Jesus appeared before you, right in your bedroom at home or right here among us before our very eyes do you think we would then believe the message of the Gospel?

The end of Matthew’s gospel said that some didn’t…that even after seeing Jesus some still doubted the meaning and message of it (Mt 29:17). You see sometimes I think we think, oh if I could just see it then I would believe it. And I don’t know if you would? Because ultimately our lack of belief does not come from a lack of proof but from a hardness of heart.

So if you’re here today and you’re sort of on the fence about this whole thing, or if for you the amazement that Jesus rose from the dead has become old news and not good news to you anymore…I want to entreat you and beg you to have God soften and change your heart. I want to appeal to you just to, even if for a moment to consider the message. Hear the gospel out with fresh ears as if for the first time and allow it to pierce your heart.

We all need that. Each week when I prepare my sermons and when I preach my prayer is that God would pierce my heart anew with the gospel. So let’s look at and hear “The Message of the King.”

B. The Message of the King

When Jesus is about thirty years old and he begins his official ministry here on earth, the first thing he does is begin preaching and the very first words we have Jesus recorded saying in the Gospel of Mark are, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Then if you read through any of the gospel accounts what you have Jesus consistently talking about over and over again is the kingdom of God. Then after he dies and rises and appears what is Jesus talking about? The kingdom of God.

From beginning to end, start to finish Jesus’ message is the kingdom of God. So then, what is the kingdom of God? Now that’s a huge question and there are a ton of books written just on that subject. There’s some radical and heretical ideas about it and then there are the more simple biblical answers. Part of the challenge in talking about the kingdom of God is sometimes Jesus says it already had arrived, sometimes he says it is now and then sometimes he says it’s in the future to come.

So without getting bogged down I’ll offer just a couple simple hand holds. One I think we have a hard time with the word kingdom because we don’t live in a kingdom. The idea and experience of living under a ruling king is completely foreign to us here in 21st century america. But when you see and hear the word kingdom, at it’s most basic and fundamental level it’s addressing the rule and reign of a king.

You don’t have a kingdom without a king. In world history what separates the kings is how much land and how many people they ruled over…how far their kingship extended. So when the Bible uses the phrase “kingdom of God” what do you think it’s getting at the most base level?

That God is the king! And how far do you think the rule and reign of God’s kingship extends? All of the heavens and the earth. He’s king over all! Throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible this is universally true. It is the most fundamental truth about the kingdom of God…so whenever you hear and see that phrase you can rightly understand and interpret it as the rule and reign of God.

Now let’s think a little deeper…second hand hold. Where does the rule and reign of God seem to not penetrate…but then through belief in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus begins to? In people’s hearts. People are bound by sin and Satan and Jesus the king comes into the world, inaugurating his rule…but he begins at the root of things by going after hearts. What is yet to come of the kingdom is Jesus physical rule of the land which will occur when he bodily returns with his army from heaven.

The message of the Gospel is rightly called the message of the kingdom. The good news is the announcement that Jesus lived, died and rose and therefore is rightly declared the King of kings and the Lord of lords (Rev 19:16).

The truth about our hearts is because we are born in sin, we want to be king and worship all kinds of other things and people as the king of our hearts. But when we hear the gospel, we are convicted of our false worship, pierced, we confess our sin and Jesus our King is a kind king who forgives us and paid the price for our treason on the cross so we might be welcomed into his fellowship. What king who when someone tries to overthrow him and take his seat on the throne, then says “wait, hold on, let me pay the death penalty price for your treason so you can be welcomed into my kingdom”? Who does that!

The message of the kingdom is that sin and Satan have been defeated on the cross and since then there is the in-breaking power of God’s kingdom spreading across hearts in the lands. And God’s kingdom is one of righteousness, love, mercy and peace. The things we all long for but can never find or create on our own.

Some of you today, may have never heard the gospel quite like this or maybe you have but you’re just really hearing it this time. Who is king in your life? You? Your boss, your job or your career? Your spouse, your kids or your friends? What rules you? Everyone has a king, the question is if Jesus is your king.

The truth is we’ve all worshipped false kings and attempted to ascend to the throne ourselves. But Jesus the true king died for us so we might be forgiven and transferred into a family, into a life where we love him and worship him who is the only worthy king of all.

Then for those who become his subjects he then gives us a mission. To spread the news of his kingship. But he does not send us out unequipped but promises and gives us his Spirit. So let’s look at our final point this morning, “Jesus Initiates the Ages of His Spirit.”

III. Jesus Initiates the Age of His Spirit (vs.4-5)

Let me just re-read these verses so we have them fresh in our head. Acts 1:4-5 “4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Now, first off what we’re reading here is not just the beginning of a story or a little side note of some cool thing Jesus did in the middle of a bunch of other stuff. This is a huge transitional, epoch, age changing scene Jesus is speaking of.

God created the heavens and the earth and history began. Since then there have been different stages or periods of history. Historians have their own names like ancient age, Golden age, Medeival Age, Renaissance age, Baroque age, Enlightenment Age and so on. The Bible has it’s own ages. Theologians debate what they ought to be called, “dispensations” or “covenants.” I’m on the covenant side but it’s probably not as big of deal as just recognizing that in God scheme and plan of history…which the Bible says he planned out before he ever created anything…in his plan there are different ages or stages of history.

I won’t go through them all now but simply say, what Jesus is addressing here in verses 4-5 is the new age of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit temporarily come upon certain specific individuals for a limited time and purpose. But many of the prophets, like Joel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Isaiah spoke of time that God would send his Spirit and he would stay and be in all God’s people.

Prior to Jesus it had been years, like 500 years plus since there was any prophet or any activity of the Spirit whatsoever. Then at the beginning of Jesus ministry, he goes to the synagogue, stands up, and reads from Isaiah 61 saying “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” and then sits down and says “this Scripture has now been fulfilled in your hearing (Lk 4:18,21).”

So stay with me. When Jesus starts his ministry, he says…Spirit’s back, and he’s in me. Actually when Jesus is born there is all kinds of Spirit activity, then throughout his ministry the Spirit is active at his baptism, in his preaching, prayers, death and then Romans 1:4 says he was declared with power to be the son of God by the Spirit in his resurrections from the dead. So Jesus has the Spirit of God.

Then Acts. He says things are going to change and that he is going to give his Spirit to all his people. Two quick things I want us to not about this. How Jesus is really “Preparing (them) For Battle” and who this Spirit as “The One From on High.”

A. Preparation For Battle

First, notice Jesus tone in these verses we’ve been looking at today. Back up in verse 2 says he was giving “commands through the Spirit.” Then here in verse 4, he “ordered them.” We’re seeing a Jesus here in full authority and charge over his men.

Next week we’ll look in further detail at the mission Jesus gives. For now we’ll just say he’s about to send them out into the world where Satan has been ruling and wreaking havoc in people hearts and lives. But before he sends them out and before he even equips them for this spiritual warfare, he has something he wants them to do…to wait.

Jesus says, don’t go yet. I want you to wait. I don’t know about you but for me waiting for anything is hard. For example, we got this Blu-ray player for Christmas but I didn’t have the right cables to hook it up. So I got online right away and ordered them and I was so impatient I started checking the mail that day and every few minutes the day after!

Maybe there are some of you who are super good at being patient, but not me. And it seems to me that most people are pretty impetuous. Due to our insecurities and our desires, we either want what we want now or we make fast decisions because we don’t like the uncomfortableness of not knowing what we’re going to actually be doing or where we will be going.

We talked about this a bit last week how we can have a big vision and plans but unless we’re in step with God and his timing then they will all be for not. Psalm 46:10 says to “Be still and know that I am God.” And I think that there is something God would have us to teach about the importance of waiting on him. Sometimes it seems to me like a lost discipline. To really wait, and pray and be quiet in the presence of the Lord.

Now I know that is sort of a side note from our story in Acts but I thought it was important to draw out because I think there are some of you going through some things in life right now, things you’re looking at or considering and you just need to slow down and wait on the Lord a bit. Don’t run ahead of him. Wait.

Well, let’s look at this final thing of what Jesus was wanting the disciples to wait for and what by extension he has promised and given to us, “The One From On High.”

B. The One From On High

So Jesus says after a period of them waitingthe promise of the Father would come and they would be baptized by the Spirit. Now we could get bogged down really easy here with theological questions about whether or not the disciples were regenerate before the Spirit and what is the baptism of the Spirit and what about tongues and gifts of the Spirit and all that stuff. But we’re not going to get into any of that today. We got a lot of weeks coming up where we’ll get to talk about all that stuff.

What I mainly want to do here is focus on “the promise of the Father.” Jesus here in verse 5 cites himself prophesying the the Spirit’s coming and I think what would be most helpful for us is to hear more about that because there are number of places the Bible talks about this age changing empowerment of the Spirit. So just listen to these few passages.

Joel 2:28-29 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…sons and daughters…old…young…male…female.” So Joel says a day would come when all God’s people will get the Spirit.

Isaiah 44:3 “I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” So Isaiah says God’s Spirit will pass through family members who are of the faith.

John 14:16-17&26 “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth…for he dwells with you and will be in you…the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” So Jesus says the Spirit will help us, be in us, glorify Jesus’ name and teach us and remind us of all the things Jesus said.

John 16:8 “When he comes, he (the Holy Spirit) will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” So Jesus says the Spirit will cause guilt and remorse in our hearts when we break and violate the commandments of God.

Ephesians 1:13-14 says the “promised Spirit” is the “guarantee of our inheritance” so he gives us assurance that we will be saved and be in heaven with Jesus.

Romans 5:5 says God’s love gets “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 8:15 says the Spirit enables us to be intimate with God in prayer calling him “abba Father.”

Galatians 5:22 says the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness in us.

And in Luke 24:49 Jesus says, “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you”….and when he came his people would be “clothed with power from on high.”

I know I just threw a ton of Scripture at you but I wanted you to get a feel for how great the Spirit of God is that Jesus has promised to us. There’s two common misconceptions I think we have when it comes to the Holy Spirit. There’s probably more but these are the ones on my mind today.

Since the we are in the age of the Spirit and the Spirit has been at work in God’s people for nearly two-thousand years now, I think His work too easily become too common to us and we forget what a great and awesome benefit this promise of the Father given to us through Jesus is. That all believers get the Spirit! Even our children! That he teaches us and reminds us of Jesus! That he convicts us of sin! That he makes us loving! That enables us to be close with God. That he gives us joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness! And that he empowers us to live for God and spread the gospel! The gift of God’s Spirit is a massive gift!

The other misconception I think sometimes hinders us from delighting in the great gift of God’s Spirit is because some branches of Christianity have seemingly reduced the work of the Spirit to supernatural things like tongues and miracles. And those things tend to either excite people or freak people out…and both responses really are just sensationalism and should not deter us from glorying in all the marvelous benefits that come from having the Spirit of God at work in our lives.

The Holy Spirit is God, given by the Father and the Son from on High! That is incredible! What a promise! What a gift!

1 Corinthians 10:13 says all people who believe in Jesus have the Spirit, so if you’re a Christian you’ve got God’s Spirit. Yet, I think some of us today need a fresh realization of how wonderful that is. The age of the Spirit was initiated by Jesus but I don’t think that entirely eliminates our need to still have some of the same sentiment Jesus commanded the disciples to have when he said to wait for the Spirit.

I think it’s entirely appropriate for us to wait on God and ask God’s Spirit to changes us and fill us and empower us and to bring to fruition all the promises of God given to us through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. We’ll see people doing that time and time again in the book of Acts. So today as we respond, ask God for more of his Spirit to be at work in your life.

Conclusion

We’re going to conclude and receive the Lord’s Supper. As John 14:26 says, one of the Spirit’s chief jobs is to glorify the name of Jesus. When we receive the Lord’s Supper each week that’s what we do. We pronounce the name of Jesus…that there is no name given under heaven whereby men can be saved. That Jesus and Jesus alone died for sin and rose again and is king and Lord.

So as you come today respond to the preaching of the Gospel this morning. We’ve hit a lot of stuff. These verses cover a ton…something for everyone. If there is an area you sense God’s Spirit working on in you, pay attention to that and bring it to the table this morning and talk to God about it.

Blog | Pastor Duane

Most statistical studies report that anywhere from 75-95% of people regularly “pray.” Yet prayer in this sense is pretty broad. Nothing is said of who people are praying to, what they are praying for, why or their methods of prayer. In fact, few have thought deeply about prayer.

In Luke 11 the story is told of Jesus’ disciples who were listening to Jesus pray. After he finished they realized that they really had never understood prayer. Something about the way Jesus communicated to God the Father struck them and they realized what they had assumed counted as “prayer” had very little semblance to the real thing. Thus, when he finished they said to Jesus “Lord, teach us to pray (Lk 11:1).” In response, Jesus gave them the now famous “Lord’s Prayer” not necessarily meant to be a mimic-ed mantra but to teach the heart, attitude and reasons for prayer.

The Why of Prayer

Here are some good quotes on prayer by Godly theologians and pastors of old who have gone before us. They help to answer questions like why we pray if God already knows and ordains everything and how God intends to use prayer as a means to accomplish his purposes.

“God has decreed that certain events shall come to pass, but He has also decreed that these events shall come to pass through the means He has appointed for their accomplishment. Prayer is not intended to change God’s purpose, nor is it to move Him to form fresh purposes…the design of prayer is that God’s will be accomplished in a good time and way.”
~ A.W. Pink

“Prayer is not designed to inform God, but to give man a sight of his misery; to humble his heart, to excite his desire, to inflame his faith, to animate his hope, to raise his soul from earth to heaven.”
~ Adam Clarke

“Prayer is not merely expressing our present desires. Its purpose is to exercise and train our desires, so that we want what he is getting ready to give us. His gift is very great, and we are small vessels for receiving it. So prayer involves widening our hearts to God.”
~ St. Augustine

“There is no way that Christians, in a private capacity, can do so much to promote the work of God and advance the Kingdom of Christ as by prayer…When God has something very great to accomplish for his church it is his will that prayer should precede it, the extraordinary prayers of his people. When God is about to accomplish great things for his church, he begins with a remarkable outpouring of his spirit of grace and a desire to pray.”
~ Jonathan Edwards

The What of Prayer

Perhaps the best way to learn what God expects of prayer is to study the prayers in the Bible. Many are recorded. In my own personal prayer life and when I pray for others, often my words are stolen right out of the pages of Scripture.

Moses | Ex 15:1-2 & Ex 33:12-13
Hannah | 1 Sam 2:1-2,5,10
Hezekiah | 2 Kings 19:15-19
Nehemiah | Neh 1:5-11
Job | Job 1:21
David | 2 Sam 22:1-3 & Ps 27 & Ps 42:1-4 & Ps 63 & Ps 139
Solomon | 1 Kings 8:27-30
Jeremiah | Jer 3:23-25
Daniel | Dan 9:4-19
Habbakkuk | Hab 1:2-4; 3:2
Mary | Luke 1:46-55
Jesus | Matt 6:9-13 & Lk 22:42 & Jn 17:1-26
The Early Church | Acts 4:23-30
Stephen | Acts 7:39-60
Paul | Romans 11:33-36; 15:13; & 2 Cor 1:3-4 & Eph 1:3-4; 17-21 & 1 Thess 5:23
Jude | Jd 1:24-25
John | Rev 1:5b-7

The How of Prayer

When it comes to the how of prayer, there are many means through which God has made the exercise of prayer possible. There are several different kinds of prayers and ways of praying.

Us to God
(1) Simple prayers – Short, sweet and to the point. Sometimes repeated and called “breath prayers.”
(2) Suffering prayers – Verbalizing physical or emotional pain to God.
(3) Searching prayers – Seeking wisdom or counsel regarding something or someone.
(4) Releasing prayer – Confessing sin and/or offering up one’s self in surrender to God.
(5) Building prayers – Asking God for spiritual growth and fruit.
(6) Covenanting prayers – Committing to God and promising obedience.
(7) Declarative prayers – Reciting and recounting the attributes and promises of God.
(8) Thanking prayers – Expressing gratitude to God for his great works.

God to Us
(1) Resting – Waiting on God and being still before him.
(2) Unceasing – Jesus is ever interceding at the throne on our behalf.
(3) Meditating – God filling our minds with his word (not emptying like eastern forms of meditation).

Us for Others
(1) Family – For immeditate family members and then extended relatives.
(2) Friends – Those in our inner circle of relationship.
(3) Church – The brothers and sisters in Christ we are living life with.
(4) Needy – The financially, physically, spiritually, or emotionally downtrodden.
(5) Lost – Those who are not yet Christians.
(6) Authorities – Pastors and political leaders of the land.

The Five Senses of Prayer
(1) Mouth – Out loud with words, closed mouth with silent prayers from your mind, or tongues.
(2) Ears – Tuning out sounds of the world to focus on the Word of God.
(3) Eyes – Open to see the realities of God’s creation, closed to be freed from distractions, or tears.
(4) Feel – Various postures: kneeling, prostrate, open/closed/joined hands, head bowed or looking up.
(5) Nose – Calmed breathing or focus on the design of God’s world.

Blog | John Bale

When T.S. Eliot (finally) converted in 1929, it was a cultural scandal of monumental proportions. This was the equivalent of Steve Jobs coming to Christ and declaring that the iPhone is “really not that big of a deal…” This was David Foster Wallace getting baptized and finishing The Pale King instead of hanging himself. Nobody wanted to, and few were even capable of believing that Eliot had become a Christian. He was the Judas Iscariot of the Lost Generation.

To this day there are doubters who resist the authenticity of his faith because it was often “inglorious” in its earnest betrayal. They argue that, because Eliot’s late work didn’t rehash the pageantry Christmas carols or the somber religion of Easter hymns- because his conversion didn’t turn a 40-year-old man into a saint overnight, it didn’t count.

They fail to recognize that T.S. Eliot wrote about Jesus in January. He concedes December and April to The Lord and His Apostles, because “it [was already] finished.” His work addresses a life of crisis in between the holidays- where Christians are still human and Christ is still honest; we struggle, we suffer, and we sin, but yet we are saved.

The need for Jesus in January has been made clear to me in a particular Eliot poem that I have been rereading this past Advent season. In it we see how he struggles with the mystery of Christmas in times when the Cross is hard to see through all the snow storms (or fog, in San Diego) that come when winter hits mid-stride. The poem is called “The Journey of the Magi,” and if interested you can read the full text [here].

The poem recounts the story of the Magi/Three Wise Men/Three Kings of Orient as reported in Matthew 2:1-12, but from the perspective of a reminiscing magi. It is now somewhere around 30 years after the Nativity (Hint! Hint!), and the curmudgeony old man tells the story more like a rambling drunk at last call than a wizened Eastern astrologer. He goes on for several lines about the misery of their task, all the folly, and pretty much skips the Nativity itself. Been there- Done that. “Finding the place,” he says, “it was (you may say) satisfactory.”

Then, these hauntingly insightful lines make the text worth reading:

Were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

This is the confession of a man who had spent his entire life figuring out the Universe. He traveled to the opposite end of the known world in search of something New, and found it. But, as we see, he spends the rest of his days unable to figure out exactly what he’d seen.
The paradoxical problem is this: How can something so “simple” as an infant’s birth unravel the connecting relationship between Life and Death (life and death)?

Throughout the whole journey, this man who was a master of asking questions and finding answers, had been asking himself, “What will we see?” When he gets there, he sees something, and it is “satisfactory” as an answer to the simple question, but confounding in the sense that it was an Answer to questions he hadn’t asked. We have to remember that the magi were not looking for Jesus. Historians think that they were Zoroastrian astrologers. They were following a star. It’s what they did. They came upon Birth by accident, following a light through the darkness like a baby out of a womb. Christ, appearing as a lamb, ambushed them like a tiger.

Faced with the prospect of having an Answer to a Question that they didn’t know to ask was stifling, and in Eliot’s interpretation, made wise men feel like fools.

But this is a core tenant of The Gospel: Christ was born into the Earth because all of our work to justify ourselves and glorify God, to have the right answers to the right questions, is all folly. We define ourselves by the things we have done, and seen, and said- but all of this is covered up by the Nativity. An infant can’t do a whole lot more than sit there and “live,” but something about this infant’s Living casts a shadow upon the sum total of human efforts. Our journey through life no matter how arduous, counts for nothing in light of the fact that Christ was born, died, and lived.

Nobody wants to be told that their life’s work counts for nothing. But eventually every person must come to terms with the fact that it might actually be true. This is murder to our Pride. For us, the magi, and T.S. Eliot, the Birth of a Christ who comes without asking for our permission, consent, or agreement awakens us to our inadequacy. And our frailty feels like death.

But it’s even worse than that. The conviction that awakening brings on existential crisis. If a simple birth, no matter how momentous a Birth, discounts all human effort, what toil have we left while living? What are we supposed to do with ourselves? The last line of the poem suggests an impotent kind of nihilism; having been properly confused by the fact that a Birth has made him feel the bitter agony of his own mortality, the magi is unsure what it means to Live, or if he has ever done such a thing.

So he longs for death. But that answer doesn’t stand up to next to the Answer. He can’t find peace because he has started to understand that living and dying (Living and Dying?)- his very existence is outside of his control.

So then the Question is “How do we Live?” and this brings us/Eliot/the magi back to Christ once more: The irresistible glory of the Gospel narrative, from Nativity to Resurrection, is that Christ submitted himself to the two things that a man cannot resist: birth and death. We cannot choose to be born and we cannot chose not to die. Christ, by the power of His Father took salvation out of the hands of man using the same means by which Existence imposes itself upon our souls.

For Eliot, spiritual and existential crises become one and the same- an encounter with Christ’s Birth makes him realize that he had never lived. Yet, there is a hope that lies below the surface when a geriatric magi contemplates the “glad[ness] of another death.” That “other death,” the Death of Christ on the Cross, is subtly foreshadowed in the poem:

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.

Life- literal living creatures surround an image of the Crucifixion. This is how T.S. Eliot (begrudgingly) defers to the sovereignty of God’s saving Grace. He admits to himself that in Christ’s Birth, his own death is sealed. Yet he looks forward to the other half of the most perfect couplet- a knowledge that in Christ’s Death, his own Birth is assured.

Eliot’s conversion, the realization of his Birth, was a long and gradual Journey. But it had integrity. He was a Prophet among prophets in “those Kingdoms… in the old dispensation, with an alien people clutching their gods.” He had a lot to lose in gaining Christ, but once he did, he couldn’t go back. He had resisted Grace before his Baptism, and he struggled with it well afterwards, obsessively and anxiously “working out his salvation with fear and trembling” (and a deadly amount of nicotine.)

Two truths ring true in “Journey’s” Life and Death struggle: Not only does Eliot recognize that, because Christ was born, all his life’s work is meaningless, but also that, because Christ died, all His work in our lives’ has meaning, whether we accept it, or not. A constant refrain in his later work is a prayer for stillness, which is a good prayer because it concedes to the passive nature of man’s role in his own salvation.

In the stillness that comes when we are too tired to resist, those of us who are assured of our salvation can see that all of our sins, doubts, and failures are already conquered- accounted for within the scope of Invincible Grace. We can resist it only so far as the Sunset Cliffs resist the Pacific Ocean; every granular mite of rebellion, over time, and with all measure of certainty, is sculpted into a lasting monument to the sovereignty of the sea. T.S. Eliot’s life and work are baptized in the wake of this Grace.

Eliot binds his moment of crisis to a time that is two thousand years removed, though slightly before the scandalous climax of The Gospel, in order to remind himself that all of his sinful wanderings are nothing more than ancient history. While living in a constant fear of a meaningless moment, he mortifies his doubt by fixing upon one glorious moment that, for him, can never be in doubt. Jesus happened. End of story.

It’s not the kind of miraculous conversion story we all love, but this tale is also worth telling. It still demonstrates the transcendent Hope and Peace, and perhaps even more so, the Glory in The Gospel. Furthermore, it is earnest in its confession, humble in its spirit, and thankGodfully true. Even in January.

This is a New Year’s message given by Pastor Duane Smets that looks back at 2011 and forward towards 2012, with a brief exegetical reading of God’s Word as the central and foundation link between the now, not now, and the not yet. The sermon was originally preached on January 8th, 2012 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
January 1st, 2012

The Resolved in 2012  |  1 Corinthians 15:58  |  Pastor Duane Smets

I.       A Review of Two-Thousand-Eleven
II.     Abounding in the Work of Jesus
III.    Vision For Two-Thousand-Twelve

Introduction

Well, today is my annual New Years address.  One of the things we’ve learned as a church over the years is that since there are so few native San Diegans who own houses or have families here that when it comes to Christmas and New Years the majority of people tend to be out of town.  So we’ve found that it’s better to give a New Years sermon looking at the upcoming year in the life of the church the second week of January rather than the first.

Last Sunday we spent some time considering what God did in each of our lives personally in the last year and then processed how we need to grow in this up and coming year.  Basically that’s what I want to do today for as a whole, as the church.  So last week was personal individual lives, this week is group church life.

It’s been a phenomenal year for us as a church.  We accomplished so much and God did so much among us.  One of the chief philosophies of ministry we have as a church is that Jesus is the head pastor and our job is to try and sense what he is doing and then get on board with that.  And it seems, by God’s grace, that he enabled us to do just that abundantly, as we’ve seen more happen than we could ever manufacture or do in our own wisdom and power.

When we look at this next year coming up, the these are not things we want to fix or change but to continue in and to do with increased passion, growth and success.  So I thought a fitting foundational verse for our time for today and for this year would be 1 Corinthians 15:58.  Let me go ahead and read it and pray to ask for God’s grace in this sermon.

My plan is to spend some time reviewing 2011 and what God did, then look at 1 Corinthians 15:58 as the sort of grounding place for our 2012 vision.

A Review of Two-Thousand-Eleven

So two-thousand-eleven.  It’s been a huge year for us as a church.  Last year this time we kicked off the new year by doing what we called a “Practical Ecclesiology” sermon series where looked at seven different areas that are key to the life and development of a church.  We looked at community, worship, ministry, marriage, family, finances and mission in the Bible and then did an interview each week with a different person in the church living out a godly example of what that week’s topic.  As we set out to accomplish the vision of that series the cool thing is we have seen health and growth in every one of those areas this last year.

Community…not only has our sense and experience of being a church who lives in community grown deeper but we also added three new community groups, which means we now have 8.  In addition we had two different rounds of women’s discipleship, one with Kathy Broersma and another inspired by the girls of the Normal Heights Community Group.  The guys, not to be outdone started up a men’s discipleship breakfast led by Pastor James Martin and did a men’s retreat as well.  Through these mid-week groups we not only have really had the opportunity to get to know one another but they really have proved to be the place where we get to help and support each other in applying the gospel to our daily lives as we walk through the ups and downs of the year together.

Worship…we’ve had several new musicians join, we now have 10 different people serving in the music worship ministry and 5 dudes serving alongside managing the audio and visual support and we were also able to update and expand our sound gear.  By these gifted people working together they’ve enabled us to have some sweet times of singing praise to our God.  Through worship in song we are built up in the Lord and God uses it to fill, sanctify and empower us toward living lives of worship.

Ministry…we talked about how if you’re a Christian God has called you to be a minister and to use your gifts to serve him and his people and this year we have seen so many people get out of the stand and jump into the game and it’s been awesome to see it.

Dan Calvert, one of our deacons, tells me there are now nearly 20 people serving in building transformation ministry, where a different group of people show up early each Sunday and transform this building into a place suited for a worship service.

This last year God put it on the heart of members Jenna Baffoni and Rachel Standart to start a hospitality ministry where each Sunday every person who comes here gets lovingly welcomed in with coffee, a smile and a bulletin.  13 people currently rotate and serve in the hospitality ministry.  There are several people part of the church now who in talking to them about how they ended up here having Resolved become their church home one of the first things they’ve said is, “everyone was so friendly and welcoming.”

On Monday nights we have continued to feed the homeless in the Sports Arena area.  Each week between 15-25 guys show up and this last year John Bale, one of our other deacons started up a Bible study after the feeding where several of the men there have been hearing and learning about Jesus going through the Gospel of John in a community group setting literally in the alley.

This last year we’ve Sean Hutchinson, our music worship leader has continued to lead the charge with LampPost Cafe, our music and coffee house venue meant to be a missional bridge between the city and the church.  We had bands come through, movie nights and all kinds of people come that are not quite ready to come to a church service.

This Christmas Jennifer Agajanian and Eve Tolentino put together the “Resolved To Love” project where we gave 160 wrapped presents away to families who couldn’t afford them, 53 kids in all.  When we delivered the gifts we gave the families cupcakes, Bibles and actually ended up praying with several of them.  Everyone did such an incredible job contributing and carrying it out so that these families would get to experience a tangible expression of the gospel.

In family ministry this last year we went from having just a nursery to adding a 3-5 year old class and a 6-9 year old class.  But more important than just adding classes and more important than just childcare, family ministry has been a prime place to interact with children, teaching them about Jesus and through coming more and more to understand the mind and heart of God who said, “Let the little children come to me (Mt 19:14).”  Currently we now have 28 people serving in family ministry.

It’s simply been a massive year of ministry as we have learned together what it is like to truly be a royal priesthood…priest and priestesses working and serving Jesus and his people.  There’s not words to describe how great that is.

In last year’s “Practical Ecclesiology” series which served as our vision for the year we also took a week to look at marriage in the Bible and discuss the importance and design of God for marriages.  I guess you guys listened because I ended up officiating 9 weddings last year and Pastor James did one as well.  I think I can do wedding in my sleep now!

We also took a week on family last year and similar to all of you who listened about getting married it seems you listened about making a family because this church has turned into a baby factory.  We had 4 babies born among us this last year, including on of my own and I think there are like 8 of you pregnant right now.  I love it.  That’s something the Mormon’s have got right.  God is into families.

The other two things we took a week on in casting vision last year were finances and mission.  We give financially because God is the one who really owns all the money, he has given so much to us and it’s how he’s designed his church to function.  We’ve called you to faithfully and generously give.  Some of you excelled in this.  For others it’s been a learning experience.  And through it all God has blessed us as a church.

We started out the year with a $9,000 a month budget.  As the year went on our expenses increased with things like rent and bulletins and equipment but so has your giving so that could pay our staff better and also beginning this month we’ve been enabled to bring on Deacon Dan Calvert part-time as we’ve discussed at our church member meeting.  Our prayer is this will help the church both progress and be well cared for.  So our new monthly budget this year is just about $12,000 a month.  That’s some good financial growth which we recognize as God’s blessing upon us.

Regarding mission one of the great things to see is that the majority of people who end up here at our church, do so because they knew someone or were invited by a friend.  That’s a result of you living your life on mission.  We had a total of six first time conversions this last year, we baptized four people last Easter, and we had a bunch of people, like 14-15 who’ve said this year that they really came to understand the gospel for the first time…and in my book those count as conversions too.

You don’t realize it when you’re in the middle of it but I could not believe it when I sat down to prepare this sermon and was thinking about all that has happened this year.  We set out from the beginning of the year casting a vision for community, worship, ministry, marriage, family, finances and mission…and we have excelled above and beyond!

And that’s not all we’re able to do.  On Easter we had our Sunday largest gathering ever at the time, with almost every chair we had filled.  Then after Easter we kept growing even more to the point there was standing room only in here so we made the decision to move to two service in September.  In August we put on our first conference, “Leaders: The Conference” in August and had a great turn out.  We added our third Pastor, James Martin and two more deacons, Errin Samuelz and John Bale.  We had nearly 60 people go through our Theo 101, eight week membership class and had 32 of them become actual official committed members.  We’ve gone from four dudes in leadership development to nearly thirteen and counting.

In our study of God’s Word together on Sunday mornings we worked through all of the book of Jonah, the book of Titus and Hebrews chapter 11.  Learning from what God has given us in the Bible has been the backbone and strength of our church.  Another one of our main ministry philosophies here at The Resolved is that it’s God’s Word which does God’s work. We stand on his Word and this might sound kind of funny but it has just been “fun” as we have learned more about our God and seen how all that he has revealed about himself culminates and climaxes in Jesus.  We love the Bible and it really is one of the deepest joys and pleasures of my life to serve you weekly by proclaiming it’s message.

And that’s 2011 and The Resolved.  A ton of stuff huh?  It’s seriously crazy to think about all the stuff we’ve done and accomplished this last year.  I think it’s clear evidence that Jesus, our head pastor and been plunging forward and empowering us because there is no way we could have done even half that stuff without him.

So then, when we start thinking about 2012 after this year where does it put us?  My immediate reaction is, “Let’s do it again and go even bigger!”  More community life together, more community groups, more worship, more ministries, more people serving, more marriages, more babies, more family ministry, more generous giving, more people coming to know Jesus, more baptisms, more leaders, more members and more of God’s Word!

One of the things about me if you haven’t seen it or figured it out yet is that I’m as my wife says, “an extremist.”  To me if you’re not going to do something with all your heart and all your might it’s not worth doing.  So when I do something I wanna go all out!

As far as leading our church in a 2012 vision I think that’s good…because I think it would be easy to look at all we accomplished last year and pat ourselves on the back and say, “Wow!  Aren’t we great!  That’s so cool, what we did.”  And then just coast.  I mean our church has solid leadership, solid community groups, solid finances…we could easily just move into maintenance mode and stay the same church for the next ten years.

But not only would that be just sad and complacent but honestly, I think it would be unbiblical.  So let’s take a few minutes and get into the Bible and look at 1 Corinthians 15:58 and what it means to always be “Abounding in the Work of Jesus.”

Abounding in the Work of Jesus

Our verse for this morning is 1 Corinthians 15:58, so open up your Bibles and lets look at it together.  The book of 1 Corinthians was the first of two letters written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth, who though having a number of problems which he addresses in the letter, also had some very good things going on.  At the beginning of the letter he says he gives thanks to God because “in every way (they) were enriched in (Christ Jesus) in all speech and all knowledge” and that there was great testimony of Christ among them (1 Cor 1:5-6.).

The verse we’re taking a brief look at today comes toward the end of the book after one of the most magnificent passages in all the Bible in how it declares the truth and benefits of Jesus rising from the dead.  So the tenor or the mood in which this verse comes is very exuberant, proclaiming the great work and victory of God.  Verse 57 ends, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Then comes verse 58 with the word, “therefore.”  Therefore, because God has defeated sin, death and hell through the victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ…therefore, “my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

Just a few things about this verse.  First notice where he addresses them both in the plural and as the “beloved.”  What this hints at is the unity and love of the church all together.  And by the way, brothers here actually includes the women as well…some of your Bibles might even have a footnote pointing that out.

The “beloved” here are the group of people who call themselves brothers and sisters not because of blood lines but because they have been adopted into the family of God through Jesus and now exist as one loving family…the church.  So you, the beloved, the church, all together…and then he gives a charge and a reason for that charge.

Be steadfast…don’t give up, don’t stop, don’t slow down.  Immovable…unflinching, undeterred, undistracted.  Steadfast and immovable in what?  The work of the Lord.  And not just maintaing the work but increasing in it.  Abounding!

Abounding!  Never giving up but always serving Jesus with increasing passion, growth, commitment and courage.  And what is the work of the Lord?  Very simple.  It is the gospel.  1 Corinthians 15:1 at the beginning of the chapter says I remind you “of the gospel I preached to you, which you received in which you stand and by which you are being saved…that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day.”

The work of the Lord is the proclamation and application of the gospel in our own lives, in each other’s lives and in the lives of those who are not yet Christians.  This really is the whole theme and heart of this book, 1 Corinthians.  The beginning of the book starts out the same way…saying that everything is about the testimony of Jesus, 1Corinthians 1:6…and resolving to know and understand nothing else except Jesus Christ and him crucified, 1 Corinthians 2:2.

This is one of the reasons we call ourselves a “gospel-centered church.”  Because it is our resolve to alway and ever abound in the proclamation and application of the gospel.  Everything we are and everything we do flows out of the gospel.  It’s all about Jesus…who he is and what he has done for us in his death and resurrection!

Now here’s the thing.  You can abound in a lot of things.  You can abound in your job or your business, your status…you can abound financially, you can abound in your possessions, you can abound in expanding of your family, you can abound in all kinds of things but if abounding in those things are your goal…you will find that your labor was all in vain.

There is only one thing we can truly work for and seek to abound in which will satisfy and actually last…and that’s the work of the Lord.  I love the phrase, “doing something that counts for eternity.”  I think John Piper was the one who said…but he probably stole it from someone else.

Doing something that counts for eternity…how do you do that?  Look at this verse.  If it’s done “in the Lord.”  That means if you’re doing it for him and because of him…then your labor will not be in vain.  Because guess what?  Most people’s labor…will end up being in vain.  All they work for, all they give their lives to, all they pursue…if ultimately it’s not Jesus it will all end up being for nothing!

The only that matters is living life for Jesus!  Coming to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering.  And this is what we are to abound in and work together for as his beloved…his beloved church, his bride whom loved and gave himself up for.

So I wanted to spend some time with this verse because I couldn’t think of a more fitting way to respond to what God has done in and among us this last year.  The gospel was proclaimed and we saw it lived out and applied among us in so many stunning ways.  So what’s the answer for us this next year?

Slow down?  Relax a little?  Take it easy?  Maintain the ministry?  NO!  Fie on that hell!  Let’s abound!  Let’s double everything.  Let’s do more.  Reach more people.  Bring our God more glory!  Let’s abound in the work of the Lord because it’s a work worth doing.

This is the incredible thing about the church…that what we are doing here together is not foolish or in vain but actually matters and contributes to the great working of God in our world unto the day when he returns.  And then we will see…oh we’ll see the full grandeur and glory of what we have been giving our lives to…guess not preaching for a month got me really bottled up. 

So with that…let’s talk about two-thousand and twelve and how we want to abound as a church.

Vision for Two-Thousand-Twelve

At the top of my wish list for two-thousand-twelve is more people coming to Jesus.  More conversions & more baptisms.  Probably two of the most exciting things in life are births and new births.  When a baby is born and when someone is born again in Christ.

To accomplish that means we need to abound in our mission…mission in our neighborhoods, mission with our friends, mission through our community groups, mission here on Sunday.  We constantly have to work at being outward focus because it’s so easy to start turning inward and when that happens you end up with an ingrown church that eventually dies.  My prayer is that this year God would give the people of The Resolved an increased boldness in our witness.  My prayer is that this would be the year that a lot of fruit might come through the relationships many of you have been investing in missionally.  My prayer is that our confidence would grow in believing that the gospel really is the power of God unto salvation.

Second is growing in our love for one another.  I think the first four years of our church the title of my New Year’s sermon was always, “Resolved to Grow and Build in Love.”  In Ephesians chapter four the method for church growth is laid out super clear.  As we bond and work together as a body to grow up into Jesus the church is built in love.  As we grow upward in our love for Jesus we will grow outward in those who come and experience God’s love among us.  As we grow upward we grow outward.

The chief way that is experienced is through relationships.  You can, very easily, make church just a Sunday morning attendance thing and never actually develop any deep relationships with anyone.  Don’t do that.  Get in community.  The whole reason we have community groups is to try and facilitate living the life of Christ’s love together.  So for the goal of community we want to add a bunch more community groups this year.  I know of at least two more in the works already…in a year’s time I’d like to see us double the number of community groups we have.  We’ve got 8.  If every one of those community groups planted another group this year…that’d be 16.  Let’s abound!

In addition to help foster community and our relationships with one another, we’ve already been talking about doing some retreats this year…a men’s retreat, a women’s retreat and maybe even a family retreat.  The next book we’ll be studying as a church is the book of Acts and it’s my prayer that as we preach through it we will be strengthened as a church community and compelled toward mission like never before.

Third for this year our is in regards to our Sunday morning worship service as a whole.  We moved to two service this last year and it’s my prayer that in these next couple months we’d completely pack out both services consistently.  We came close to it a few weeks this last fall.  In lieu of that happening, expecting it will…one of the things I’m seriously praying for this year is a new building.  Not only so more people can come and worship and hear the Word being taught but in case some of you haven’t thought about it…we’ve created a real problem for ourselves in making all these babies and seeing the family ministry grow…there’s no more space.  We’ve pretty much taken over the building here and there are some weeks back in the kids classroom that it is pretty nuts.  So please, pray that God would provide us a building.  We want to stay right here in Bay Park near the I-8 and I-5 interchange.  Pray for a new building here.

Fourth, we want a plant a church.  We’re super excited about Pastor Chris Swan and his family being here with us.  Many of you met Chris when he preached here during advent.  Chris pastored was one of the first few Acts 29 church up in Washington, has been with Mars Hill the last year and just moved his whole family down here to San Diego to start up a brand new plant in God’s timing.  As you get to know and trust him, we’d love to be able to send him out as a Resolved church plant.

A couple other things include ramping up our leadership development.  As we’re growing our need for more leaders is growing…so we’re going to try and rope as many of you into that as possible and provide a couple different tracks to do that and do another leadership conference.  I met with Sean, this week and this year he’s looking to raise up and develop multiple different leaders and bands as well as putting out our first Resolved Church worship CD.  We actually want to ramp up a bunch of things production-wise.

Errin Samuelz, our AV deacon is working on a smart phone app for the church.  One of our other deacons John Bale is working on putting together all the stuff from our Jonah series to be published in  book form along that would come with an audio CD of all the sermons.  We want to start doing video and having various interviews and testimonies we can use and spread around.   All of these things we pray will help propel the mission of the church.

And those are just the things we’re planning and hoping to do!  That doesn’t even include the things we don’t know about yet that God may put on your heart to do this year…ministries that haven’t even be thought of or started.  There are things God may give you a vision to do in and through this church…just like the hospitality ministry this last year or the Resolved To Love project and we simply want to come alongside and help see you complete the work that the Lord has given to you.

When it comes to vision there’s usually three big questions that come with a healthy vision: (1) Where are we going?  (2) Do I belong?  (3) And if so, what’s in it for me.

Hopefully I’ve answered the first question already for you.  Where are we going?  Heaven!  Amen?  We are headed for abundance in the work of the Lord in all kinds of areas.  Do you belong?  YES! YES! YES!  There is not a person here who cannot be used to accomplish something great for God this year.  Each one of you are unique and each one of you have something to contribute.

There are some of you here that didn’t get really get involved last year and today when you heard me recount all the stuff you started you started thinking about some stuff you’d like to do and how you’d like to get involved.  That’s God’s Spirit prompting you to use your gifts.  And I’ll tell you what, it’s much funner actually getting into the game than just sitting in the stands watching.  So yes, you belong.

As for the third thing, “what’s in it for me?”  Honestly, probably the biggest thing is joy.  I mean yes, there’s the sense of belonging and actually accomplishing something meaningful.  But above and beyond all that is joy.  Joy, because you basically have two options to either labor for yourself or labor for the Lord.  And working for Jesus is a whole lot more satisfying.  There is immense joy that comes from serving Jesus and his people.

In fact, often times when I’m counseling someone who is having a hard time, fighting depression, or just feeling lackluster…one of the things I encourage them to do is to go start serving.  Get your mind off of yourself and start expending its energies on others for the sake of Jesus’ kingdom.  There is no better life than serving Jesus.  I promise you that.  What’s in it for you is all the joys of heaven…which come through Jesus and his church.

Alright, let’s conclude this sermon and prepare to receive the Lord’s Supper.

Conclusion

I want to start things off first of all by pitching conversion.  You may be here, hearing all this today and everything I’ve been talking about just seems completely foreign to you.  But at the same time, what you haven’t been able to stop thinking about is how what you really need is Jesus.  You know he is missing in your life…you know you’re a sinner and that you haven’t been living your life for God and you need him.

Hear the gospel today, Jesus died on the cross and rose again for your sin.  So embrace him and become a Christian today.  The way we express that here is simply responding to the gospel by receiving the Lord’s Supper.  When you come and break a piece of bread off and dip it in the wine, that act is a confession of faith where in and through you are saying Jesus died for you in your place and rose again.  The bread as his body, the wine as his blood and these elements because he isn’t dead anymore but risen and sits on his throne in heaven.

So if you’re becoming a Christian today, when we all come forward for the Lord’s Supper, you come to and then go to one of the men standing at the back and tell them and have them pray for you.

The bulk of today’s sermon has really been a testimony recounting the things God has done among us and calling upon him to do even more this next year.  So as we respond I think it would be fitting for us when we come to the Lord’s table this morning to say thank you.  As receive the elements today say thank you Lord for your victory on the cross and that we got to proclaim it and apply it as a church in so many ways this last year.

Today we’ve also talked a bunch about abounding in the work of the Lord and the ways we’d like to see the power of the gospel unleashed among us in this next year.  The gospel is what fuels that work.  We work for the Lord because of the work he did for us.  His work is finished and complete and all our work is meant to trumpet the great work he did.  We don’t work to pay him back but rather to praise him and proclaim the work he has done.

So the other thing I’d like us to pray when we come forward today is to ask Jesus to help us serve him well this year.  When you receive the elements just ask, say “God would you do great things in and through me and this church this year.”  Cool?

Alright, let’s go to Jesus in prayer.

Blog | Pastor Duane Smets

Every year when New Years comes around thousands and millions of people make “New Year’s Resolutions.” A New Year’s Resolution is defined as “a commitment a person makes at the New Year toward one or more lasting personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit.”

It is estimated that around half of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions. Nationwide top resolutions include: drinking less, eating better, exercising more, getting rid of debt and getting a better job. Various studies show that anywhere from 78% to 88% of New Year’s Resolutions fail.

The New Year seems to consistently birth the desire for change. What’s interesting to me about this cultural phenomenon is the subtle acknowledgement that things are not right and need to change. At the same time there is an equally subtle belief that change is possible and people become quite hopeful toward it.

I think these subtle confessions are tells of the heart which betray our moralistic fronts and admit the truth we all know…we are sinners who need salvation, we’ve failed and need forgiveness. They subtly admit we need more than a new year and a new start…that we need newness of life.

New Year’s Resolutions are misdirected. The problem with New Years resolutions isn’t making “resolves.” Having resolve is a good thing. The issue is where it is directed. New Years resolutions typically have two misdirections: focusing on external solutions instead of internal ones and looking toward our own power and ability rather than to God.

In Matthew 15:17-20 Jesus says it is not a person’s diet which corrupts and ruins a person but rather the heart. The implicit assumptions with all popular New Years resolutions is that mere external behavior needs to change and then the person will be happy or happier. But happiness is a heart issue and the solution is not a resolution but heart change.

Then there is the reason why most New Years resolutions fail…because they rely on a faulty source of energy, one’s own self. Built within the motivation of these resolutions is an assumption that if a person just tries hard enough or wants change bad enough, then they will have the power to change. The truth is we simply lack the power to change and save ourselves. We need something, namely someone greater.

Only the Gospel can bring the change we need. The Gospel says that God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. In the Gospel, God becomes a man in Jesus and thus has the power to succeed and never even fall into sin and corruption. Then, God puts to death our defilement by giving up his life on the cross. After burying sin in the grave, God rises to new life three days later and offers new life to all who put faith in him.

Thus through Jesus, real change, change at the deepest level…change in the heart where happiness flows from…there change can and truly does take place. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Wanting and needing newness is not bad, it just doesn’t come from the new year, it comes from Christ.

So this year, don’t make any silly New Year’s Resolutions, just look to Jesus and have him change you from the inside out, from the heart on up. Only that kind of resolution can stick and only that kind of resolution can truly satisfy. Praise God for the goodness of the Gospel for in it he is far better than the New Year and far more able to bring us the change we need.

This is a refLectionary message given by Pastor Duane Smets after returning from his month long sabbatical. The sermon was originally preached on January 1st, 2012 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church

Pastor Duane Smets

January 1st, 2012

Sabbatical Reflections & The New Year  |  Selected Texts

Introduction

Well, good morning everyone and Happy New Year!  It is SOO good to be back.  If you’re new and visiting with us today, we’re super glad you’re here.  My name is Duane and I’m one of the pastors here at The Resolved under our Head Pastor Jesus.  I’m the one who usually preaches on Sundays but I’ve been on Sabbatical vacation for the last month.

And it really is good to be back.  Already several of you have been asking us, “So how was it?”  And the first thing that comes to my mind is “weird.”  You all are our life.  Nearly all of our relationships are centered around this church or are people we’re trying to bring into the church.  So it was just weird.  It’s felt like we just lost all our friends and became total losers.  But it was good and I’m glad we did it…it’s just really good to be back.  I love my job as a pastor and we love our life with you Resolved Church.

So what I’m going to do today is just sort of share some personal reflections with you of some things I’ve been learning through this experience and to sort of use that as a spring board to encourage all of you to do some personal reflection this morning over the past year of your life and what’s ahead in this coming year.  I’ll get back to really preaching and yelling at all of you next week…gotta warm my voice up a bit.  I haven’t had this much time off preaching in nearly seven years, so I might have to figure out how to do it again.

What is Sabbatical?

To start with, the word “Sabbatical” is kind of an odd word.  It comes from the Hebrew word Sabbath, which means rest. In the Bible God sabbaths on the 7th day after creation and calls us to sabbath on the seventh day of our week (Ex 20:10-12) which is the fourth of the ten commandments.  In addition, after every seven years God’s ancient people of old were to give the land sabbath from cultivation and yearly there were feasts and festivals which functioned as vacations for God’s people.

In our culture the word “Sabbatical” has come to mean any extended absence in the career of an individual. Many universities, employers, scientists, physicians, and other professions offer the opportunity to qualify for paid sabbatical as an employee benefit, called “sabbatical leave.”  What these secular institutions have come to recognize is that these Sabbatical vacations not only provide overall job satisfaction for the employee but help invest in long-term stability and productivity.

There actually seems to be built in design in all kinds of things throughout creation, where it needs rest and functions better with rest.  You experience this nightly when you have to sleep.  When you get sick, the doctor’s chief medication is always rest.

I don’t know if you’ve heard this before and maybe it’s just a marketing gimmick…but supposedly everyone ought to have at least two pairs of shoes.  The reason they say is because if you only have one pair and where them every day, they will wear out much faster then if you have two pairs of shoes you rotate, so that each can get some rest.  I dunno?  Try it out.

Has anyone ever been bowling lately?  Apparently every couple weeks bowling establishments switch out all their bowling pins to give the bowling pins a chance to rest.  If they don’t rest, they lose their vitality and don’t bounce around as much and their “life” diminishes.

Likewise with farming…if you know anything about farming you know that farmers either rotate or rest their crops after a harvest in order to give the soil rest, so it can recover the nutrients needed to produce a healthy crop.  It seems that everywhere you look the need for rest, for sabbatical is built into the fabric of the universe.

In fact, rest happens to be a huge theme all throughout Scripture.  Not only did God rest on the seventh day, call his people to rest, and to give the crops rest, but Jesus as God himself in Matthew 12:8 calls himself “the Lord of Rest.”  His point being that rest ultimately comes and only comes from God himself.  In Psalm 23, it’s God who “makes (us) lie down in green pastures.”  In Isaiah 40:30-31 God says, “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.”  God is a God of rest.

So really, the whole notion of Sabbatical in its truest form is built on and based on God being a God of rest.  That rest comes in God and in him alone.  A sabbatical vacation really is an extended period of time away from work to rest in the goodness and grace of God.

How My Sabbatical Came About

For me, this Sabbatical came about because last summer I was approached by several of the other Acts 29 men of our southwest region who asked me to seriously consider taking a sabbatical leave.  For those of you who may not be aware, we are a church who belongs to the Acts 29 Network…which is a church planting organization who unites together under a strong doctrinal statement, missional goal and relational accountability.  It’s sort of the denomination our church belongs to.

Acts 29 began in the year 2000 with just a handful of churches banding together and now it has expanded to over 500 churches all across the world.  Simply phenomenal.  So many churches being planted in such a short time.  One of the reasons is that guys who tend to be called to church planting tend to be very driven guys.  Hardworking, passionate, dedicated dudes.  Sometimes too much so.

There’s been some sad stories in the last few years as the network has become older.  There have been a handful of dudes who have burnt out in one way or another, either causing them to leave the ministry entirely, commit suicide, fall into adultery or just have to take a forced sabbatical due to failing health or exhaustion.

This April will be the seventh year since we planted The Resolved Church.  So some of the Acts 29 pastors looking at how long we have been going now suggested I take sabbatical while I was healthy, before I wore myself out like many have done and they offered to help pay for it.  I brought the idea before our church elders, James Martin and Ron Broersma and their immediate response was, “Duane when was your last vacation?”

To my shame I realized the last extended vacation I’ve had was in 2004 after completing eight straight years of full-time schooling.  I’ve taken a weekend off here and there or time off when my wife was giving birth.  But no real extended vacation.  So looking at our church calendar we together decided that the month of December made the most sense.

To be honest I didn’t really want to do it.  My initial response was “I don’t need a sabbatical.  I’m not tired.”  Funny, in these last few weeks my wife says she’s never seen me sleep so much in the entire ten years of our marriage!  I guess maybe I was a little more tired than I thought.

I want to say that I’m really grateful to all of you for allowing us to be gone this last month.  I never want to be a burden to anyone and I’m always trying to help others.  So it’s been a growing experience for me to realize that it’s okay to be the recipient sometimes.  I mean, for example…I can’t believe I’m even preaching this sermon today, if you can even call it that.

I can remember going to church services when I was in seminary and the pastor would get off track and start talking a bunch about himself and telling stories and I would get so annoyed.  “Just preach the Word man…don’t talk about yourself.”  For the record, I still believe that and this is just a weird Sunday.  If you’re visiting I promise you…normally we just work through books of the Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, word by word.  That’s why today shouldn’t really count as a sermon…we’ll just call it “sharing.” 

But I’m doing this today for a reason.  Many of you were so encouraging in sending us off before we left, I couldn’t believe it.  I was sort of surprised.  I guess I figured people would be worried about whether something was wrong with me and start thinking the worst or something.  When I told Amy…”people seem really supportive.”  She said something that stuck with me.  She said, “Duane, the people really care about you…they love you.”

So the reason I’m sharing all of this with you today is because I want you to know some of the things about this sabbatical and how, though some aspects were hard, like being away from all of you…it was really good and refreshing to my soul.  It’s good for a church to know and hear about how their pastor is spiritually healthy.  There’s a few things I feel like God has been teaching me through these four weeks off.

I Love My Wife and Kids

There isn’t really any particular order to these but the first thing I’ll mention is realizing that I really love my wife and kids.  You’re probably like, “I hope so!”  But what I mean is this.  Amy and I have been married for like 10.5 years now, we’ve currently got two kids, a 4 year old and an almost 1 year old.  And our lives, like many of yours are very very busy.  Sometimes we just get so used to the busy that you don’t realize how busy.  Normally, we’ve got stuff going on all the time.

When life is like that…marriage can easily kind of slip into this pact, a sort of division of labor where I do these things and she does these other things and we work really well together and keep everything going.

One of the first things we did, the first week of the Sabbatical was go on a 7 day cruise to Mexico and we left our girls behind with Grandma and Grandpa.  And Amy and I had so much fun together.  Whether it was just laying out in the sun reading together, sitting and talking to one another, eating together, then working out together…doing whatever we wanted without any responsibility…really, just being together  I tell you what we love each other.  I love her so much.  I love my wife.  It was kind of like we were on our honeymoon again.

Then coming home to our girls.  We missed them so much.  It’s kind of the same thing being a parent day in and day out when you’re having to constantly help them do…everything…from diapers to discipline to meals and going to bed and getting ready in the morning…it’s a lot.  But being away from them for 7 days…we couldn’t wait to get back and change a diaper or put our oldest down to be five times in one night.

Two days after we got home we took the girls to Disneyland and had a blast together as a family.  Since then I’ve spent a ton of time with the girls just playing whatever…dolls, light brite, legos, blocks, tea…you name it.  For like the first five days Adina kept saying, “Are you going to be here again in the morning?”  And I’d say, “Yeah, Daddy doesn’t have any meetings for the whole month.”  And she’d say, “Cool!  See you in the morning then!”  I got the time to hold my youngest a lot, which I don’t always get to do.  You know I normally work 6-6, six days a week…and she goes down at 7.  That normally doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for playing with Daddy.

So all that to say, it’s been really special just to be able to play with the girls a bunch.  I love my girls.  I love being a dad.  As I wrote in the church blog before I left it is my prayer that during this Sabbatical my wife and kids would really get to see and know that they are the first church I pastor and will always be more important than The Resolved.  I want my children to know how much their father loves them so that they will know how much God the true and better Father loves them.  I want my wife to know how much her husband loves her so she’ll know how much Jesus the true and better groom loves her.  I love my girls.  Seriously, thank you for giving me some extra time to love on them.

The Resolved Belongs To Jesus

The second thing I really experienced was in regards to what has often been a major battle against sin in my heart in making an idol out of this church, The Resolved.  I was trying to think of a better way to say it cause you could take this the wrong way, so please understand me…when it comes down to it, I realized, “The Resolved Church is not everything.”

Now, of course I care about this church, The Resolved.  But what I mean is, what I got to experience for this last month was totally disconnection.  I cut myself off from the phone, texts, email, Twitter, Facebook…everything.  And I was fine without it.  It took me awhile…because my mind starts naturally thinking about church stuff and people all the time.

You see what happens with me is what happens with any good thing and that is we tend to make it a God thing.  The church is good but when I start to think everything hangs on what’s going on in the church and that if it’s doing well I’m happy and if it’s not I’m not happy…when I have to be involved in everything…what’s going on is, in my heart I start to make an idol out of The Resolved and The Resolved becomes the god I worship and serve.

So what I experienced through this sabbatical was really a crushing of that idol in my heart because I had to let go of it all.  And when I did I realized it really wasn’t that important to me.  I don’t have to have to be a pastor at this church to be happy.  This church is not my god.  Because when it comes down to it for me. ..the only things I really care about in this life are Jesus and my family.

Don’t hear me wrong.  I love all of you and it’s my joy to be one of your pastors.  But you don’t belong to me.  You’re not mine.  You belong to Jesus.  And  He’s a far better pastor than I am.  And Jesus is the God that I worship and serve.

There’s No Joy Outside of Jesus

That leads into the third thing I’ll share with you and that’s a fresh realization that there’s no joy outside of Jesus.  I won’t go into any detail on it but one of the places our cruise ship stopped was Cabo San Lucas and I saw some things there I could not believe.  Lewd drunkeness, public sexual acts…just all out debauchery.  And I couldn’t help but think…these people think this is it, that this is the life…and they have no clue that all the things they’re looking for…joy, worth, and satisfaction…is found in Jesus.

We also met a lot of older people on our cruise.  Apparently, they told us we were on the old people cruise…which was fine with us.  I always feel like an old man trapped in a mid-thirties year old body and my wife is in love with the 50’s housewife era, so we fit right in.  But what was surprising to us was that all these older retired folk now simply live to go on cruises.  Most of them had been on 20-30 cruises and after when after 7 days we got off many of them were continuing for another 21 days.

Listen, if all there is to life at the end of the line is simply going on cruises…that’s pretty pathetic.  Without a vision for heaven and what God has prepared in advance for those who love him far exceeds a measly buffet line and a small stateroom cabin!  I don’t want to work to play.  I want to work for Jesus and rest in him instead of looking for the joys of heaven in all kinds of other places.  It’s in and through him alone.

Let me read some Scripture here for us because nothing can say it like the Bible can.

Philippians 3:8  “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Ephesians 3:17-19 “(May) Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Joy, real joy and happiness is found in Jesus alone.  Well, just two more things.

Life is good

Along the lines of joy in Jesus a big thing I’ve been reflecting on is that life is good.  As Christians we spend so much time battling sin in our own hearts or trying to convince others of he reality of sin and the need for Jesus that it can sometimes start to seem like we live under this dark cloud all the time.  But, while it’s true that we are in a spiritual battle and that sin has crept in and contaminated everything one of the beautiful and good things about the gospel is that it renews life to the way it should be…one of peace and joy, in fellowship with God and one another.

What I mean is…the world God has made is beautiful…the ocean, the sunsets, the birds, the trees…human beings.  Living life is good.  A good meal…good drink…sitting down and enjoying a cup of coffee while watching the sun rise…life is good.  Sometimes we’re just go go go so much that we literally just don’t take the time to “stop and smell the roses.”

This has actually been a huge part of this time off for me…just resting in the gospel.  Knowing that God is good and the new life he has given me through Christ actually enables me to enjoy God’s world and life in it the way he intends it to be.  That only comes through the gospel because through the gospel I don’t have to work to earn it, Jesus did it all and then through the gospel everything gets purified and redeemed.

Sometimes I think we stop short at salvation.  Yes, Jesus saves us.  And yes, that’s the core of the gospel.  But what does he save us to?  New life with God in his world.  It’s a return to the garden.  And the new life we experience now through Jesus on this side of heaven is a taste of the good things to come when all sin, suffering and sorrow will be done away with forevermore.

There were times for me, like sitting at the dinner table with my family or eating tacos with my wife on the beach and I I would just sort of stop, look at them, smile and think…”God is so good…life is so good…God has so richly blessed me.”  For me, especially as a pastor I spend a lot of time embroiled in battle and leading the charge, it was so good for me to spend time just enjoying life and realizing how good and great our God is that has given it to us.  Life really is very good.

Clarity On My Role As A Pastor

Well, the last thing I’ll share that I’ve been meditating on is my role  as a pastor here.  As our church has grown over the last couple years there is a lot more going on and one of the things I’ve realized while being away is I think I work too much.  I told you earlier I normally work 6-6 six days a week.  That’s like 72 hours a week.

Here’s the thing…I have no plans or desire to do anything else or pastor anywhere else as long as I live.  I love San Diego and I want to be a pastor here at The Resolved twenty years when I’m in my fifties.  Some of you men out there know what I’m talking about because you work too much too.  My next big birthday is 40 and I know working like I do isn’t really sustainable.

Mostly that’s my fault because I work hard and like to work hard.  I don’t know how people who are rich and don’t have to work live with themselves.  About two weeks into this vacation I started going nuts feeling lazy and useless just sitting around.  We’re made to work.  Work is not a result of sin and the fall.  Adam was to work the garden before sin entered in.  But at the same time we can overwork.

So mostly I think overworking is my fault.  Some of you depend on me too much but that’s mostly my fault.  I like to be on top of everything and when we were a smaller church I kind of had to do everything.  But now there’s so many of you who are extremely gifted and able…you don’t need me as much.  You all were fine for a month without me.  That’s awesome.  Ephesians 4:12 says one of my main jobs is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.  So it’s great to see you all doing the ministry.

Next week I’ll give a sort of year vision sermon and then in two weeks we’ll start our next book of the Bible and we’re going to preach through the book of Acts.  Which I’m super pumped about.  We’ve got some big plans this year and one of the things I intend to really focus on this year is narrowing down my job description to mainly function in my giftings of teaching and preaching…rather than doing those that and a hundred other things all the time.  In the long run it will be better for you and for me as work at being the church together.  But we’ll talk more about 2012 and The Resolved next week.

Consider What God Has Done

As I kind of wrap up this sermon time this morning I’d like us to look at 1 Samuel 12:24 for a minute.  You can turn there in your Bibles if you want.  I’ve had time to really pause and pray and reflect and think about my life and God, his goodness and the gospel during this last month.  This sermon today has just been sharing some of those things.

For many of you, you’ve likely had some time off work too for the holidays and every new year is a great opportunity for some personal reflection.  So what I’d like to do is encourage you all to do that.  Here’s what 1 Samuel 12:24 says…it’s part of Samuel the prophet’s farewell address, “Fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart.  For consider what great things he has done for you.”  Fear the LORD.  Serve him faithfully.  Consider what he’s done for you.

We’re going to receive the Lord’s Supper in a minute…this special time when we come forward and receive the elements of God’s grace provided for us in Jesus death on the cross and his resurrection.  Before you come to the table today I’d like you all to sort of sit and wait for a minute and reflect on your life in this last year.

What are the things God has done in your heart and life?

What has changed in this last year for you?

What are some of the big things you learned?

Just spend some time considering what God has done for you.  Most of all how he has given us Jesus, who died on the cross and rose again for our sin.  How has that, the good news of the gospel become more meaningful and special to you this year?

Spend some time considering and then when you’re ready come forward and when you come…come with this resolve, come to the table and say to God, “LORD, I fear you and will serve you faithfully this year with all my heart.”  Maybe even bring some specific things before the Lord concerning what he wants and needs to do in you this next year…tell him how you want to grow and change this year.

Next week we’ll talk about our church as a whole and the new year.  Today, just consider your own personal life and the new year and bring it before the Lord.  God is good, he is gracious and he has given us his son from whom all thing flow.  So let’s go to him in prayer and in response to his word this morning, “Fear the Lord…serve him faithfully with all your heart…consider what great things he has done for you.”

Let’s pray.

Blog | Sean Hutchinson

This past Sunday we celebrated our fourth and final week of Advent: PEACE. Remembering the peace we have in Christ because he entered the world to take away our sin and we eagerly await His return and the City to come, where there will be no more tears, sorrow, nor pain, and endless joy will be ours as we worship and abide with our great and glorious God forever and ever.

To recap Advent at The Resolved, we first had Pastor Chris Swan remind us of the Hope we have in Christ. This hope is not just for our present trials nor for the future promise of Jesus’ return and the City of Heaven, but a hope that gives us strength for today and hope for tomorrow. A hope that gives perseverance to the saints.

Second, Brad Hutchison (the other Hutch) spoke to us of the gravity of the incarnation of Jesus, reminding us of the humility that God exercised in stepping into humanity clothed as a helpless babe. That God, in all his God-ness, in all his splendor, power, and majesty, made himself small in order to save his rebellious and sin-stained people.

Next, Josh Feil spoke of the Joy of Jesus in enduring the cross, redeeming his people, and therefore fulfilling all that was prophesied about the Messiah’s entry into the world.

On Christmas day Pastor James Martin walked us through the peace of Christ that has come through his life, ministry on earth, death and resurrection, and the City of peace that will come when he returns.

Peace is a major theme and thread throughout Scripture, especially in the New Testament epistles. The Apostle Paul uses grace and peace as a common greeting in his epistles; “Grace to you and peace from God our Father…” (Rom 1:7, 1 Cor 1:3, 2 Cor 1:2, Gal 1:3, Eph 1:2, Phil 1:2, Col 1:2, 1 Thess 1:1, 2 Thess 1:2, 1 Tim 1:2, 2 Tim 1:2, Titus 1:4, Philemon 3). Peter prays “May grace and peace be multiplied to you” in his letters (1 Pet 1:2b, 2 Pet 1:2). The author of Hebrews ends his letter with a greeting of peace (v25). Peter ends his first letter with the benediction of “Peace to all of you who are in Christ” (v14b). The Apostle John in his second letter greets “with grace, mercy and peace” (v3). Jude opens his letter with the greeting, “May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. And in the book of Revelation the seven churches are greeted with grace and peace (1:4) and the last words of Revelation and the Bible are the benediction “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (22:21).

Now, hear the words of Jesus as he preaches peace to his disciples:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Two things I see here: First, in this life and in this world we will have many things that will trouble our hearts. Second, we are in need of peace, the kind of peace found and offered only in Jesus.

But life is crazy! A simple statement, but very true. Many of us are faced with big life decisions like where to live, where to work, who to marry, how to tackle the enormous task of raising children, how to pay bills, how to get out of debt, how to deal with broken relationships, how to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and how to deal with the struggle and effects of sin in our world. Daily we have many tribulations and experiences to trouble our desperate hearts.

Yet, Jesus comforts us with the words, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” To quote Pastor James, “Peace is not about a less busy life…it’s about a less busy heart.” My need is to have a less busy heart in the midst of the trials and tribulations of this life. The Apostle Paul charges us not to be anxious about the cares and responsibilities of daily life, but to turn to prayer, to surrender the cares of our hearts to the Lord.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).

The God of the Bible is a God of peace who has actively pursued a people who have rebelled and lived in hostility toward his rule and reign in a world he created in perfect righteousness and love. Jesus has brought peace to our souls because he has won the victory over sin and death, the two things that separated us from our God and marred his image in which we’ve been made.

May the peace of Christ rule in our hearts Colossians 3:15). May we increasingly understand and grasp the glory of the gospel, what Jesus has done for us, in us, and now through us. I wholeheartedly pray that the grace and peace that is in Christ would be multiplied to us this Advent season and as we usher in the New Year.

Advent | Hope | Pastor James Martin

This is a short children’s sermon on Peace with brief additional commentary. It focuses on how the Advent of Christ is the source and cause of all Peace in Heaven and on Earth. This sermon was originally preached by Pastor James Martin on December 25th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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Reminder | December 25th Christmas Service

This is a REMINDER that there will only be one service held this coming Sunday at The Resolved. The Christmas Morning service will be at 9AM.

Blog | Pastor Duane Smets

In the past I’ve written a number of posts on Santa, Jesus and the Bible. Below are links to them you may enjoy and be encouraged by during the Christmas season this year.

Santa Was A Pastor – A blog on the history of Saint Nicholas.
Jesus & Santa – A short, good, fun video comparing the character and activities of Jesus & Santa.
The Bible & Santa – A blog on how the Bible is not make believe like modern Santa fairytales.
What We Tell Our Kids About Santa – An article from Mark Driscoll in the Washington Post.

Blog | Josh Feil

Have you ever talked about Jesus without talking about Jesus?

This past Sunday, we looked at Isaiah 9:2-7, which is a prophecy about who Jesus is and what he came to do. One of the exciting things about these verses is that they are in the Old Testament, yet they are talking about Jesus. At The Resolved we believe the whole Bible is telling one story with Jesus at the center. So it’s fun as a church to look at an Old Testament text, even one that is so clearly about Jesus, and see where it fits into the bigger story.

But there is a danger there as well. It is possible, even common, to read a verse like Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” and say it’s about Jesus without actually saying anything.

Two quick points on that:

Don’t Lose the Cross. Getting the big idea that the whole Bible is about Jesus does us no good if we miss the part that changes everything. Isaiah knew this (in part), that’s why he spent the better portion of Isaiah 53 describing what the cross would be like for Jesus. David knew this (in part), that’s why he wrote Psalm 22, which Jesus quotes when he’s on the cross. Do you know this? Do you see the cross as the great climax of redemptive history?

We run the risk of getting so excited about the history and the connections and the story to come that we fail to talk about Jesus in any kind of meaningful way. We forget that Isaiah says in verse 6 that the child was given “unto us.”
We must talk about the cross when we talk about Jesus.

Don’t Lose the Gospel. We have a great advantage over biblical authors like Isaiah and David: Jesus has already come. They could only see in part and shadow what we see in vivid daylight: that Jesus already lived perfectly, died for my sin and rose for my justification. That “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation” (2Co 5:19).

There is a way to look Isaiah 9, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 or any Old Testament story and completely miss the connections to the gospel: that God was preparing his people for their savior. We can say something about sin and Jesus without actually talking about how God forgives sin in Jesus.

We must talk about the gospel when we talk about Jesus.

Connecting the Dots

John Piper was asked earlier this year if he thought that people do a good job of finding Christ in the Old Testament. His response was convicting: “I don’t think they do a good job of finding him in the New Testament.”
We should get joy from connecting the dots and seeing the bigger picture. But our deepest joy should come from trusting in Jesus and resting in his finished work. Our joy comes from worshiping him. That’s what we were made for. That’s why the first question of the Westminster shorter catechism asks:

Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

May that be our answer in this season and all others forevermore.

Isaiah 9: 2-7 | Advent | Joy | Josh Feil

This is a topical sermon on Joy, building from an exegetical reading of Isaiah 9:2-7. It focuses on how Christ’s birth, life, and death show what it looks like to have a true and better Joy that takes pleasure in God’s eternal plan no matter what. This sermon was originally preached by Resolved leader in development Josh Feil on December 18th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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Joy in Jesus

-       2    THE GOD WHO REVEALS

-       3-5 THE GOD WHO SAVES

-       6-7 THE GOD WHO REIGNS

Well good morning Resolved church family.  I am honored to be up here, to preach the word this morning.  This is the 3^rd week of Advent.  Our theme this year for Advent is looking at the first and second comings of Christ through the lenses of hope, humility, joy and peace.  My candle this morning is the joy candle, so joy is going to be a part of the sermon this morning as we compare the two comings of Jesus.

And I ask you all to think about the idea of joy in terms of a question: What gives you joy?  Is it a certain place, a person, a thing?  A hobby?  When was the last time you were joyful?  What were you doing?  What was it like?    In our never-ending search for joy and pleasure, these are important questions to ask.  Not just “what makes you happy?”  But, what is it that reverberates in your bones?  That hits the core of who you are, that pleases you?

To give us a framework for answering these questions, we’re going to be in Isaiah 9 this morning, verses 2-7.  You can turn there in your Bibles.

This passage, Isaiah 9:2-7 is instantly recognizable to many people.  The great composer George Friedric Handel wrote a piece based on Isaiah called The Messiah.  The Hallelujah chorus, one of the movements, is iconic to say the least.  It has been in countless movies, and the other movements are always on the radio around Christmas time.  In fact one of them is titled “For Unto Us a Child is Born”, which is verse 6 of our text this morning.  I’ve been listening to it all week, and fortunately for you, I will be keeping those songs to myself this morning.

I’ll be giving you just a little bit of background information on this text as we go, but before we do that, I want to set the stage here just a little bit.

This passage in Isaiah is very provocative.  Why?  Because it’s talking about Jesus.  And it’s not provocative to us because it talks about Jesus as a baby.  Everyone is cool with baby Jesus, even though if they thought about it they would really that Jesus doesn’t want them to just “be cool” with baby Jesus.  But, culturally, that’s the Jesus that concerns us the least.  However, Isaiah won’t let us off the hook with the child who “is born.”  He immediately describes him in eternal, divine language and announces the type of rule he will have.  Justice and righteousness forevermore.  You cannot sit here this morning, read this text, and not respond in some way.  You can’t get off the hook that easy.  It’s plain as day to Isaiah:  the son is God himself, he is King and will rule forever.  We have to deal with the implications of that statement.

Let Isaiah provoke you this morning.  Let his words move you to respond.

Here’s the summary of this text: Isaiah is prophesying the fulfillment of God’s messianic promises.   In other words he is looking forward in time to the day when God’s promises of a deliverer and savior would be fulfilled.

Here’s my contention: we tend to have a very incomplete and limited understanding of God’s promises.  God’s promises.  They are really the backbone of the Bible: God promising to turn his enemies into his children through a savior, and then living with them forever.  And we rob ourselves of deep joy by not seeing God’s plan of redemption as fully as the Bible does.

So we need to see this text as provocative, but also as expansive.  We need it to expand our view of history and to give us an expectation of what God has yet to do for his people.  What is yet to come for the church, for Christians, for you and me.

This month we are looking at the 2 advents of Christ.  And that is what Isaiah does here.  He has two thrusts, two advents in view.  The advent of Christ as helpless, humble baby, suffering servant, savior and resurrected Lord and the 2^nd advent, where Jesus is the mighty warrior, come once and for all to rescue his people and rule and reign over all creation FOREVER.

That’s where Isaiah is going.

So read it with me, Isaiah 9:2-7.

This is the word of the Lord.

And may God open our minds and soften our hearts so that we might be changed by his word.

1)    9:2 – The God Who Reveals

In order to understand what Isaiah is saying, what it meant to his audience, we have to see an overarching principle in this section.  Sometimes when God spoke through the prophets, like he did with Isaiah, he puts them in the future, and then from that spot they look back in time and forward in time.  That’s what Isaiah does here.  And that makes his statements a lot more clear.  The center of his perspective in this section is verse 6.  That’s the only use of the present tense.  Unto us a child IS given, unto us a son IS born.  He’s standing there, looking back and looking forward, and then summarizing that for the people.

So from that perspective, Isaiah looks back in time and reminds the people of what God is.  He is a light.  He is a light.    The bible has a lot to say about the contrast between light and darkness.

In Genesis 1:3 God says, “Let there be light.”  And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. (Gen 1:4 ESV)

After God rescues Israel from their slavery in Egypt [darkness], he leads them through the desert by the light of a pillar of fire (Ex. 13:21).

The word “light” occurs 39x in the book of Job, used almost exclusively in a spiritual sense, referring to God’s righteousness.  12:22 is very similar to our passage:  “He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light.”  “He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.’ (Job 33:28 ESV)”

In Isaiah 45:7 God says “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.” (Isa 45:7 ESV)

John the apostle says that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1Jo 1:5 ESV)

Furthermore about Jesus John says that, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4 ESV)

Jesus says about himself that “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Joh 8:12 ESV)

And in John’s prophecy about heaven he says this: “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Rev 21:23 ESV)

By the end of the story, there is no mention of darkness.  Only the light of God’s glory.

God is in the business of shining light into the dark and rescuing those who cannot see their way out.

And we are a people familiar with darkness, but it wasn’t always that way.

Think back to the garden of Eden.  It was full of light.  Adam and Eve lived with God in perfect harmony.  But because of sin, because they violated God’s law, because they worshipped a part of God’s creation rather than the creator himself, they were cast out of the garden into darkness.

That’s the fracture, that’s where things went wrong for all of us.  And now, instead of being in the light, in Jesus, we are in the darkness in Adam.

Because of Adam’s sin and our own, we are painfully familiar with the presence of disappointment, shame, regret and failure.  All of us know the pain of sin and its broken promises.  And I think if we are honest with ourselves, we are in the same spot as Isaiah’s audience: we are the people who walk in darkness.  And we have no hope apart from someone opening our eyes, removing our blindness and leading us to the light.

Where do you need rescuing today?  Where is there pervasive darkness and shadow in your life?  How do you need your eyes to be opened, where is there longing and hunger for something better?  We need the good news of the gospel; that Jesus took on our death and darkness so that he might give us life and light.

This is God’s nature: in him there is no sin and he is the light of the nations.  And when Jesus comes on the scene, the message doesn’t change.  He is the sunrise breaking over the hills that drives out the darkness of sin and rebellion.  His person and work shines bright.  His is not a kingdom of darkness but a kingdom of radiance.  He is the Lamb who is the lamp of God’s glory.  Revelation calls him the morning star.  In Jesus we find our joy and deepest pleasure.

And here’s why he is our joy: because he descends.

Without Jesus stepping out of heaven where there is no darkness and stepping into our world where there is no light, we have no hope.

But it’s exactly because he does descend to rescue us from our sin and shadow that we love him.  That we find pleasure in him.  If Jesus doesn’t enter into our human experience and live perfectly and then die in our place for our sins and then rise again from the dead, then all we’re still stuck in our sins and subject to judgment.

But this is the gospel, the good news, the proclamation of grace: that God requires a perfect righteousness and obedience that we are incapable of offering.  We cannot meet that requirement.  But Jesus can and did and does for us.  He died as a perfect substitute so that broken sinners might be rescued and raised with him.

The gospel is that God does for us what he requires of us.  God does for us what he requires of us.

So my friends be comforted this morning.  Lift up your eyes!  Your sin has been paid for!  It is finished!  The penalty of sin was paid once and for all by Jesus.  While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  His obedience and righteousness are yours and to the Father you are just as radiant as his very son because you are God’s child.  Nothing you have done and nothing you will do can ever take you from his grasp, and he will not let you get away.  You cannot thwart his loving grace.

Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus is able to save to the “uttermost.”  To the ends of the earth, you cannot escape his saving, redeeming and comforting light.  So do not be troubled by the sin that drags you into darkness because you are united to Christ and he has conquered the darkness.  Look to him and find the fulfillment of God’s promise to Eve, that a son would crush the head of the serpent.  He is that son.

2)    9:3-5 The God Who Saves

This theme of darkness and light gets played out in the three verses.  This point is very short as I really want to focus on verses 6 and 7, but a couple things definitely stand out in this section.

Remember, Isaiah is looking back over history and saying “You were in darkness, but be comforted, look at what God has done, he has not abandoned his people, he has not broken his promises to save and redeem.”  And to illustrate this he gives a couple examples.

We could go into the stories behind these illustrations, but the stories aren’t necessarily the point.  Look at the passage for a second.  Maybe you noticed it earlier as we read through it.  There is not a single event that takes place in this passage apart from God’s action.  He causes all things.

-       He shines the light.

-       He multiples the nation.

-       He breaks the burden that had fallen on Israel in Egypt.

-       He burns the boots and bloody garments of his enemies.

-       And he sends his son and sets up his kingdom.

Nothing in all of history happens apart from his guiding, sovereign hand.  That is the point Isaiah is driving in these illustrations.

The reason I called this point “The God Who Saves” is these stories serve to illustrate the way God works with his people.  The first part of verse 4 references Israel’s slavery in Egypt, where God delivered his people when it seemed totally impossible.  And the “Day of Midian” references Gideon, who, in the name of God, led 300 men against 30,000 and came out victorious.

Remember what we said in the beginning: Isaiah is telling the people that God keeps his promises, especially his promise to provide a messiah, a savior.  And he is basically saying: “Egypt happened, that was incredible.  Gideon happened, no one saw that coming.  God is going to destroy his enemies, it’s to be expected.  But now the son is born.”  And that leads us to our next point,

3)    The God Who Reigns

The son in verse 6 is the center, the core of this whole section.  Not only in the sense that Isaiah is looking back and forward from this point, but also in the sense that the whole passage is fixated on this fact: that the son who was prophesied, who the people were longing for has been born.  He is here.

But Isaiah doesn’t stop there does he?  What comes next?  Look at verses 6 and 7.  Isaiah tells us about this son, this child who is given to us, and then immediately launches into these divine, royal titles, and then talks about how the government of the son will never stop increasing in peace, he will sit on the throne of David, he will rule with justice and righteousness “from this time forth and forevermore.”

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.  Think about that.  The zeal of the Lord will do this.  His very passion and pleasure in himself will accomplish his purpose.

Isaiah is sometimes referred to as the “prophet of holiness” because of his abiding concern for God’s utter power, majesty and righteousness.  That God dwells in unapproachable light.  That he is a God of great zeal.

In Isaiah 42, it says “The LORD goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.” (Isa 42:13 ESV)

In Isaiah 59, “He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.” (Isa 59:17 ESV)

And in the gospels, when Jesus drives out all the merchants and tax collectors from the temple, the disciples are just standing there a little bit freaked out because Jesus just made his own whip, and used it for crowd control.  At that point they remember the Psalm that says “zeal for your house has consumed me…”

The God we worship gets great pleasure and joy from accomplishing his purpose.

The zeal of the Lord.  It is his joy to redeem his people, to crush his enemies and to bring about the restoration of all things, where he will wipe away every tear, give us new bodies, new heaven and a new earth, and will reign and rule in grace as great and majestic king forevermore.  Where all we experience is pure pleasure and joy as the subjects and citizens of his heavenly city in his heavenly country.

The pleasure of God in his plan.

And this is where I want to return to my point from the beginning, that we tend to have a trivial understanding of God’s promises.  I’m guessing, I could be wrong, but I’m guessing that for many of you, the gospel, Jesus living, dying and rising again for sin has a lot of implications for the here and now, but not a whole lot for after you’re gone.  You might be thinking, “No, I believe in heaven, I believe I’m going to be with Jesus there.”  That’s not really what I’m talking about.

My question is this: when you think about Jesus and the increase of his kingdom “having no end” and that he will rule from “this time and forevermore”, what is your reaction?  What do you picture?  Remember, this text serves to provoke you and expand your vision: what does it provoke in you, what do you think about when you hear those statements?  Do you think it’s crazy?  Are you comforted?  Are you scared?  Excited?

Until pretty recently, this is where I was at.  I’d heard about heaven for a long time.  I’ve spent a lot of time in church in my life, you can’t really do that without hearing something about heaven every once in a while.  Heaven to me was a bunch of church pews filled with white robed choir member singing amazing grace for. Ever.  That’s it.  Jesus was there and we were singing to him, kind of, but really the main part of my understanding was singing.  I like to sing, but it isn’t my favorite thing in the world, so spending all of eternity singing wasn’t exactly getting me excited to be with Jesus.

But then Duane preached this sermon at the end of our series on Hebrews on the city of God.  And I kid you not, that sermon marked a dramatic shift for me.  He made the point that heaven isn’t boring, it’s actually a city, but God rules the city and it’s his city and there is no sin in the city and the city is filled with the saints, God’s people.  The kingdom of heaven.  No darkness, no sadness, only joy and light and worship in all of life.  That is a much better vision of eternity than what I had before.

My point is this: Isaiah’s vision covers a ton of ground.  It starts with the people in darkness, moves through these historic events where God made his power evident, then hits Jesus birth, but immediately shifts to giving him these titles: wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.  And then, goes even further in talking about how he is king and his kingdom, his city will never end and not only will it never end, but it will always in increasing in peace.

We tend to think of eternity as this period on the end of a sentence.  The PS on an email.  Ladies it’s like the lipstick you put on as you run out the door.  It’s kind of there at the end, an afterthought.  I would argue that for many of you, Jesus is boring, the gospel is boring and church is boring because you don’t see yourself as a citizen of heaven.  You don’t see yourself as part of God’s kingdom.

I would argue that the more we see ourselves in light of what we will be, life as what we are will make more sense.  Why?  Because we realize that right now isn’t the goal.  This isn’t the end.  Jesus is called the morning star at the end of Revelation because that’s only the beginning.

That’s where all of this is heading, that’s where Isaiah’s prophecy is focused.  He only points to history to show how it anticipates what is to come.

Do you guys see that?  Do you see that on the page?  Do you see how Israel struggled and suffered under Egypt, bearing the staff on their shoulders?  And how Jesus will carry the government on his shoulders?  Do you see how Gideon destroyed an army of 30,000 with 300 and how Jesus alone was victorious over the powers of Satan, sin and death?  How David was the beloved king of Israel, the warrior who conquered nations, but how Jesus is the true king of all people, the one who conquers Satan, our greatest adversary?  Do you see how he is the expectation of all the stories?

He is the true David, the true son, the one who will reign and rule with his people now and forevermore.  This is our comfort.  This is our joy.  That because of the gospel we will be with him in his kingdom forever, not just singing, but living.

4)    Conclusion

The two advents of Jesus, his first and second coming, serve to show how God is faithful in keeping his promises, and has abundantly provided for our salvation.  He is truly the God who saves.

Now, we talked a lot about joy today.  And this is my concern.  That you would walk away knowing the sermon was about joy, and think that the whole point was that you need to try really hard this week to be more joyful about Jesus.  Have more passion, more zeal, more feelings.  And somehow, you need to muster up those feelings from inside of yourself.

I don’t think that’s the point of this text at all.

Listen to me: the gospel is not about how you respond to Jesus or what you do for him.  It’s really not about your joy.  The gospel is about Jesus and what he has done.  That he died for my sins and rose for my justification.

That in his life he demonstrated perfect joy in the father, took great pleasure in God’s plan, even to the point of death.  And if we look to him in faith, rest in his finished work, his righteousness and obedience belong to us.

So what does that mean for us?

Because Jesus had perfect joy, you are allowed to be angry.

Because Jesus took perfect pleasure in God’s plan, because he had the zeal of the almighty, we are allowed to be pathetic.

Because Jesus was perfectly obedient for us, we aren’t judged according to our sinful pleasures, but according to his righteous perseverance.

See, grace changes everything.  He opens our eyes by grace, gives us new hearts by grace, and saves us by grace.

And that’s why we come to the table.  Because of his grace in Jesus.

Not only does he save, but he also feeds us, he nourishes us.  And that is what we experience here at the table every week.  Not only do we remember what Jesus did, but he meets us and as we eat of the bread his body and drink of the wine his blood, we are sustained by his grace and reminded of his plan for us.

So as you come to take communion, bring your lack of joy, your brokenness, your longing, your hunger and eat and drink deeply.  May the Holy Spirit work in your heart in these moments, fixing your eyes on Jesus who is your king and who is your savior.  May he remind you of the gospel, that all your work and effort to please God is already finished in Jesus and we need only to rest in him, trusting God’s promises to provide and sustain.

Blog | The Bethlehem Candle of Humility

This Christmas season, as we contemplate the advent of Christ’s ministry on Earth, we are constantly reminded that on our best day we can’t even hold a candle to His Glory.

We light the Bethlehem Candle of Humility in acknowledgement of the fact that Christ gracefully humiliated Himself with mortal birth because we could not humble ourselves. Our humility is a response to, and not a condition of His Grace.

Here are a couple responses from humbled and humiliated members of The Resolved, Dan Calvert and Carolyn Sandys.

Deacon Dan Calvert

Humility –

Def: humble: having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.

Is feeling small a good thing? Yes! Even though culture would call me crazy, I am truly blessed to have things and people in my life that make me feel tiny and insignificant. Without them, I would not be capable of humbling myself to the point of servant-hood under Jesus Christ.

Since we live in San Diego, it’s only appropriate to talk about the beach in December, right? Good because to me nature is the # 3 thing in my life that helps to keep me in my place. The power of the ocean, the beauty of the water meeting the sky, animals, sunsets, cliffs…I can go on and on. Don’t get me started on mountains. Being in creation reminds me of just how big God is. Nature is God’s art work. Looking out to sea or to the stars and I see proof of God. I receive a reality check that something more powerful than me made this.

The people in my life are the # 2 pride (opposite of humble) breaker. I am truly blessed to have some amazing family and friends who continue to love me even when I do not deserve it. They push me, encourage me, and teach me every day. They show me a piece of what God’s love for us looks like. My wife is, thankfully, the one who shows me God’s love most. I am often overwhelmed by the way she refuses NOT to love me. I am humbled by her and others around me because if they can accept me for the jacked up things they know about, how much more God loves me even though he knows the depth of my jacked upness.

The #1 reason I can have a humble heart is Jesus himself. As Mr. Brad Hutchison taught us last Sunday, we cannot even fathom the distance between God and us. It is incalculable in light years or even how much he downgraded himself to come to earth as a human. When he was here, he led the life I could not. Though tempted, he remained sinless. Though the Son of God, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, loved outcasts, and ultimately died on a cross for our wretched hearts. His example is powerful beyond measure and I need more of him in my life to lovingly knock me down to size.

To be honest, I am proud to be humbled. That statement is something of an oxymoron, but it expresses the real challenge of being the humble servant that God calls us to be and that Jesus modeled with the foot washing. The world calls us to be proud, Christ asks for humility. Combining the two inevitably involves a deep understanding of God’s providence and of Christ’s willingness to lower Himself to the level of humans. Thankfully God has placed things in each of our lives that remind us of our place and why we should be thankful to be there.

Carolyn Sandys

Philippians 2:5-7
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being found in the likeness of men.

In preparing for my upcoming role as a parent, I cannot help but impose my newfound knowledge of infants onto the helpless baby Jesus this advent season. When babies are born they can do nothing for themselves. They are completely and utterly dependent on parents to feed them, keep them warm and sheltered, and even wipe their little butts. They cannot walk, sit, or hold up their heads, see further than a few inches in black and white, and their only form of communication is a good loud cry. And this is the form that the Creator of Galaxies, who can fathom the distance of a light year, chose to take.

My neighbor has a one-year-old girl named Ruby who is quite the climber. And even though Ruby now walks, says a few words and phrases, and can make a wide array of facial expressions, it isn’t as though she has figured out the secrets to the universe. Lately Ruby has taken to throwing small tantrums when we remove her from a precarious climbing situation in which she is sure to fall and hurt herself, or take an object from her grasp that is dangerous. She thinks that at the ripe old age of one she can do it all by herself and doesn’t need mom’s help. And while tantrums are not cute, I cannot help but chuckle at how silly it all is.

How, just like Ruby, we as humans think we’ve really got it figured out and don’t need any help. But to God we must look like a one-year-old running around with scissors. Sometimes He just takes them away and lets us scream and complain about how unfair it all is. Sometimes He warns us that running with scissors is bound to get us injured, but often we just keep running anyway.

Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this not on your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The good news of The Gospel is that when we do fall, when we are humbled, we realize just how great and wise our Father is.

2011 has been a humbling year for me personally. As someone who has never struggled to find at least SOME job in the past, this year my own efforts and accolades have never quite proved enough. Despite numerous applications for everything from temporary summer jobs, to a teaching position with my new credential, to positions I have years of experience in such as a nannying and being a barista, I have only landed two job interviews all year—neither of which have resulted in a job.

Even through this season where I have constantly had to swallow my pride God has been consistently teaching me that when I am decreased, there is room for Him to increase. Perhaps I am not as smart, talented or capable of taking care of myself as I had once thought. Maybe I do not know the secrets to the universe or have our incredibly complex and awesome quite God all figured out. In my humility I am learning it is only by God’s grace we are able to keep warm and sheltered, live, breathe, and hold our heads up.

Philippians 2: 8
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross

Our realization that we really are just as silly as a prideful one-year-old means we have to rely on the wisdom, providence, and power of God in our daily lives. We have to listen to commands. But these are not the commands of an authoritative control-freak parent. This Father knows what humility is: He humbled Himself from the heavenly realms to become a tiny helpless babe.

We have a High Priest who is not unfamiliar with our sin and suffering: during His greatest display of humility He lowered himself to dying the death on a cross that we deserve, and saved us from our sinful pride. How grateful am I for such a humble and mighty God and the best gift of His Son for our Salvation this advent season.

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

Humility | Luke 1:26-38,46-56 | Pastor Duane Smets

This is an exegetical sermon looking at Luke 1:26-38,46-56 focusing on the character of Mary. This sermon was originally preached by Pastor Duane Smets on December 6th, 2009 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
December 6th, 2009

ADVENT | The Christmas Story Descends
Week 2 – The Bethlehem Candle of Humility: Mary

“Confessions of the First Christian”
Luke 1:26-38,46-56

I. The Faith & Trust of Mary (v.26-34)
II. The Servanthood & Submission of Mary (v.35-38)
III. The Worship & Joy of Mary (v.46-48)
IV. The God & Savior of Mary (v.49-56)

Introduction

Well it’s the second week of Advent. Advent means “coming” or “arrival” and throughout the years Christians have celebrated the coming and arrival of the God-man Jesus, who came into the world as a humble little baby and who will come again as a powerful and glorious warrior. This year for our Advent sermons I’m doing character studies of individuals from the Christmas story. Last week we looked at Zechariah, this week we’re looking at Mary.

I’ve titled today’s message, “Confessions of the First Christian” and we’re going to be working through Luke 1:26-38,46-56 so you can open up your Bibles there and follow along with me. The first thing we’re going to look at today is the faith and trust of Mary.

I. The Faith & Trust of Mary (v.26-34)

We get introduced to Mary in verse 27. And before we even find out her name we find out details about her life at the time, who she is. Check it out. Verse 26-27, “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.”

So before we even find out Mary’s name we find out what time it is, the sixth month, Elul in the Hebrew calendar, sometime in August or September. We find out where she lives, the city of Nazareth. We find out her sexual history, she’s a virgin. And we find out her marital status, she’s betrothed to a dude named Joseph. That’s a lot of information.

A couple of things. First a nerd point. The historical time reference. You don’t get that kind of thing with made up myths. There are a ton of ancient myths about various deities and what not, even in other “gospels” not included in the Bible. There’s even one that goes into great detail about the early life of Mary, the Gospel of James. But it wasn’t written until 2-3 hundred years after Jesus and the start of the church and was readily recognized and dismissed as dubious. None of the other ancient records have historical time references. You don’t do that because then it can be proven wrong and spurious.

So anyway, it’s a nerd point. I get excited about little phrases in the Bible like “in the sixth month.” I know the existence of angels is a big pill to swallow but you got that butted up against historical validation. All this goes down in the sixth month of one of the early years of Herod the Great’s reign. It’s kinda like a police report that could be called up in court. The written report has the date, time and location of the incident.

Okay, second thing here is that we’re told Mary is a virgin. Some people, who have trouble with the Bible have seen this and come out and tried to say oh, well this word virgin here, “parthenos” can simply mean young girl. Yes, it is true, sometimes, in some uses “virgin” can mean “young girl.” But apparently these cronies and bandits who like this idea, guys like Rob Bell and friends, apparently they don’t know how to read.

They don’t know how to read because “parthenos” can mean a young girl or more specifically, a girl who has not had sex. And Luke here goes out of his way to show that a girl who has not yet had sex is the kind of virgin he is referring to.

Look at verse 34 with me. The angel tells Mary, the virgin she is going to get pregnant and conceive. Mary has a problem with that. What’s her problem? Verse 34, “How will this be, since I am a virgin.” She’s not married yet and Mary knows there is only one way humans get pregnant. Sexual intercourse. They didn’t have in vitro fertilization yet back then.

Now Mary is a young girl. Our culture is so different then Jewish culture in the first century it makes it hard for us to fully wrap our minds around what is going on here. Mary is a young girl who is betrothed to Joseph.

Betrothal does not simply mean engaged. Here’s what’s going on. Every young girl would get betrothed to a man to be married, sometime between the age of 10 and 13. 10 was the earliest and it would be rare and a cultural shame if you did not marry your daughter off by the time she was 14.

When a betrothal took place it was a deal made by the parents. Yes, sometimes the kids would likely give their input and desires. But a betrothal was a legal deal. A legal deed was drawn up. The parents of the young man would pay a bride price to the girls parents.

So document and money exchange. A betrothal would last about one year, which would usually be celebrated by a week long marriage and festival, concluded by the consummation of the marriage, sex. And the girl then leaving her parents house and going to moved in with the young man and creating a new house together. That’s the Bible’s order.

During the betrothal, it was a legal commitment that could only be broken by death or divorce for infidelity. So this is a big deal. We’ve got it so backwards in our culture. For most of us when we hear this, we’re like what!? This whole thing is crazy right?

It really isn’t though. This is still practiced in many parts of the world. I think our feelings of thinking this is crazy is because we have become inoculated to an idolatrous approach to marriage, where our own personal feelings, desires, and decisions are chief. They are god to us and no one better dare not take that away from me. This is the attitude that says, “No one better tell me who to marry!”

This model here, with Mary and her parents, presents a view of life and marriage that is very communal and very family oriented. The model is that daddy loves her most and knows best…that a young girl’s fleeting emotions are not a good guide to finding a spouse. The model is that kids are capable of marriage when they are capable of being able to have children. The model is that parents prepare their kids for that instead of teaching their kids that they don’t need to grow up and think about that until after college.

Let me give you some history on the current form of dating in our culture. The word “dating” itself was not introduced into American culture as a form of pursuing marriage until the 1930′s. Prior to that it was a slang term used to refer to prostitution. “Dating” was a euphemism for paying for sex.

Until then, the way you got married was through a “calling.” A calling was where a boy would be called into the house of girl’s family to present himself and have dinner. If the boy proved himself of being worthy of his daughter, then a daddy would perhaps consent to a marriage. This ensured the involvement of the entire family, enabled daddy to keep away the wrong kind of men, minimized the opportunity for pre-marital sexual interaction, and kept marriage as the goal rather than co-habitation.

Now I could easily just preach a whole sermon on marriage and dating because it’s something I’m passionate about. I would be delighted to marry my daughter off to a godly and capable man by the time she is 18 or 19 and any “dates” will occur under my supervision in my home. We talk about this every night with her. We pray out loud for her every night that she would love Jesus and that God would give her a good godly husband that loves Jesus and daddy likes. I know that sounds crazy to a lot of you and you might think I’m nuts. But history and the Bible is on my side!

I know most of you are well beyond the stage of life where your parents can hook up a marriage for you. I get that. So I guess mostly I’m talking to the parents and future parents. But for those of you who are single and of marrying age and you are already out of your parent’s house, I would submit that your church family ought to be a good guide and help in finding a mate. The principle of having the godly people in your life that love and care about you most, your family, help you in this area…that principle can be provided through a church family that has good people to trust and turn to.

Well we better get back to Mary or I’ll just keep on raging about this. I remember when Amy and I first started dating back in 1997 and neither one of us believed that the other was a virgin. All the people we had ever dating prior to each other were not…so it as hard for us to believe. It ought not to be that way. And I’m on a mission to do something about it. I love my daughter too much.

Okay, so Luke is a great narrarator. He’s doing some things here literarily that are quite amazing. If you were here last week, you’ll remember the story with Zechariah. An angel comes to him, tells him that he and his old wife are going to have a baby who will prepare the way for Jesus the Messiah. But Zechariah does not believe. He essentially says, no, I’m too old. So the angel strikes his mouth and makes him mute.

Now comes Mary. An angel comes to her, tells her she is going to have a baby who will be Jesus the Messiah. And Mary believes. Right away. Her only question is how. You see when Mary says, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” She is not saying, “No way, that’s impossible.” She is saying, “Okay God, how are you going to do this, what should I expect?”

I believe Luke here is intentionally contrasting the response of Zechariah and the response of Mary. By this time, Mary knew and had heard what had happened to Zechariah because his wife Elizabeth was her cousin and she goes to visit her when she hears she is pregnant.

Look at verse 29 with me. “She was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.” Mary’s one of those people who wants to figure everything out. I think most moms must be like that. I’ve never seen my wife read more than when she was pregnant. She got this huge ole’ book bigger than the Bible called “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” and read it from front to cover. “Trying to discern what sort of greeting this might be.”

What I love about Mary’s response versus Zechariah is her immediate trust and faith in God. We’re going to see more of this in Mary’s character in a minute but right away we see an initial readiness and excitement in her for what God is about to do.

There so much we can learn from her, from the faith and trust of a young girl. When God promises us something in his word, is there a trust and an excitement or do we start heaping up the reasons and the difficulties for how it really can’t be true or isn’t going to work?

When God’s word promises things to us like Jeremiah 29:11 ” I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Do we believe it and trust it or start worrying and doubting…yeah but things are bleak right now and I just don’t see how it’s going to get better. We need to be like Mary and say, okay Lord I believe, I trust you…how are you going to fulfill this in my life…where should I put my focus, energy and effort?

II. The Servanthood & Submission of Mary (v.35-38)

Mary’s humility begins to shine in verses 35-38 in her second response to the angel. Let’s look at the “Servanthood & Submission of Mary.” Mary asks, okay…how’s this all going to go down? And the angel responds, verse 35, “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

This is probably my favorite thing ever recorded about Mary in the Bible. This response. I mean the angel doesn’t really answer her question at all. He answers but nothing he says really makes sense. He essentially gives her a bunch of spiritual mumbo jumbo. “Oh yeah Mary, you see, the Holy Spirit’s going to com upon you, the power of the Most High’s going to overshadow you, so your child will be holy, the son of God.” Make sense?

No. Crazy angels. It’s funny. Whenever we pray and ask God “how” he rarely answers the details question does he? Usually the answer is simply, “trust me.” What we learn here from Mary is that submitting to God is not conditional upon everything making sense to us.

Look at what she says. “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” So often we want to understanding and comprehend and know everything before we will bow our knee and submit to God. Mary here shows us that the only condition is his word. If he said it, that’s enough. He is God we are not and he knows best we don’t.

I mean this was a huge deal for Mary. To trust God’s word and the potential consequences it could bring. She was risking a legal right for Joseph to divorce her and leave her alone, if he didn’t believe her. The gospel of Matthew even tells us that he thought about doing that. If he did leave her, it everyone would think she was sexually unfaithful when they saw that she was knocked up, which not only meant embarrassment and shame but in Jewish law it meant she could legally be stoned to death for adultery. This was a huge deal for Mary.

For her to say, okay God, I’m your servant, let it be to me according to your word…takes huge guts. But God’s word was enough. God’s word was sufficient for her submission.

Notice that she calls her self a servant. I think viewing oneself in this way stabs at the heart of our issue with God as fallen humans. We don’t want to be servants. We want to be kings. We want to be the ones who call the shots and have everybody and everything bow down to us. We want everything to go our way and according to our plans and desires. But Mary realizes that God is king and sees herself in a right biblical perspective, a servant…who simply does whatever she is told. “According to your word.”

I remember when I was first thinking about becoming a minister. I was an art major initially my freshman year of college…but then I became a Christian and I was sitting in my art classes and I started having the overwhelming feeling that I was wasting time. All I was interested in was Jesus and the Bible but I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t want to be a preacher. Worked out well for me huh?

I remember asking God over and over what he wanted me to do and how this sense of “calling” I was feeling would be fulfilled. What do you want me to do? What do you want me to be? The answer was simply “trust me.” There’s still a lot of stuff I don’t understand…I find myself a junctures frequently, on this side of being a minister…how to handle sticky situations, how money will work out, what about buying a house, what about this, what about that…and the answer from God is, “Trust me and my word…you are my servant. Be obedient.”

How’s your servanthood and submission before God? Do you see yourself as a servant to God or do you see God as your servant to make things go the way you want? When God clearly states something in his word or when he tells you to do something do you submit? Or do you fight and resist and come up with excuses or justifications? When something that looks like it will be bad for you happens are you able to accept it as being from God?

May God help us to be like Mary and bow our knees and say, “Let it be to me according to your word.”

III. The Worship & Joy of Mary (v.46-48)

Our last two points for this morning look at Mary’s song, what’s called the “Magnificat.” It’s a song or a poem composed of 6 parallelisms. The Bible doesn’t tell us when she composed it. It seems like it would have taken her some time it is so rich. There are 12 distinct Old Testament references and it is rich with messianic fulfillment.

Look back up to verse 31-33. The angel says four distinct things about Mary’s son that she is going to get pregnant with. The first thing, verse 31, his name will be called Jesus. In ancient times, the meaning of your name was symbolic to your character and life. The name “Jesus” means “God saves.”

The second thing, verse 32, he will be called great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Most High is a reference to God, so he will be the great Son of God. This is clearly a reference to Jesus’ deity.

Third thing, end of verse 32, he will be given the throne of David. So this means he will be the king. The royal kingship had long been desecrated and dismantled. Herod, who served as a political vassal to Rome wasn’t even a Jew. The Jewish hope was for a king like and in the line of David to rule and really rule once again. Mary and Joseph were both part of that bloodline…who was secretly waiting and hoping.

Fourth thing, verse 33, he will reign forever. So this son of hers is going to save, he’s going to be God, he’s going to be king, and he will reign forever, with no end, eternally.

No wonder Mary said…”how?” The angel responds by saying that “nothing is impossible with God” and then cites how God enabled Elizabeth to get pregnant in her old age as an example of God being able to do the impossible.

It’s a good clue for us. Often times when we read these fantastic stories with these miracles in them our modern scientific minds have trouble accepting that they really are true and really happened. But listen to the angel’s logic. If there is a God…if there is a being who actually had the power to create everything that exists, is it not possible for him to interrupt things and do as a pleases…isn’t that possible for him? That’s sound logic.

Mary accepts it and bows in servanthood and submission and then she is contemplating all of this. It appears that Mary was a deep thinker. In the next chapter after Jesus is born Luke says Mary, “ponder(ed) all these things in her heart (Lk 2:19).”

This song or poem she writes is the fruit of her pondering. It begins with a declaration of worship and joy. Check out “The Worship and Joy of Mary.” Verse 46-47, “And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

She begins in worship. She sees herself as blessed and from the uttermost part of her soul pours herself out to God in joyful worship. Pure unadulterated love of God in worship is one of the most beautiful things a human being can ever do.

Jonathan Edwards is more well known for his sermons on hell, which are phenomenal…but he actually spoke and preached much more about heaven. And no one can quite speak of it like Edwards. Mary’s expression, “my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices” reminded me of in a sermon Edwards preached titled, “Heaven is a World of Love” where he speaks about the worship and joy of saints in heaven. Here’s an excerpt:

“All shall stand about the God of glory, the fountain of love, as (if) it were (the) opening their bosoms to be filled with those effusions of love which are poured forth from (him) (just) as the flowers on the earth in a pleasant spring day open their bosoms to the sun to be filled with his warmth and light and flourish in beauty and fragrancy by his rays. Every saint is as a flower in the garden of God, and holy love is the fragrancy and sweet odor which they all send forth, and with which they fill that paradise. (In) every saint there is as a note in a concert of music which sweetly harmonizes with every other note, and (it) all together (is) employed wholly in praising God and the Lamb. And so, all helping one another to their utmost to express their love of the whole society to the glorious Father and Head of it, (they) [pour back] love into the fountain of love, (from which) they are supplied and filled with love and with glory.”

Good stuff. Do you know what it is like to utter love God from your gut where you can say, “my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices within me”? It is the greatest joy we can know and experience…to know the greatness of God and his blessing unto us.

Mary was full. Filled to overflowing of the greatness and love of God because of what he had promised her according to is word. We like Mary stand in the same place. The promise of a savior who died for our sins, the savior who is the Son of the Most High God, who reigns as king over sin and Satan and who will return and physically reign over the earth one day.

Mary’s promise is our promise and it is cause for great soul magnifying and great joy.

IV. The God & Savior of Mary (v.49-56)

Our last point for today looks at who this God is Mary worships and trusts in for her salvation, “The God & Savior of Mary.” Mary refers to God by name or pronoun 16 times in this song of hers and she mentions key attributes of God.

In verse 49, she says he is mighty. A core attribute of the God of Bible is that he is all-powerful. If you think of all the power of all the automobiles and all the planes and all the nuclear plants and all the power of the sun and all the power at work in all the stars…God is more powerful than all of it. In Jeremiah 32:17, the prophet Jeremiah was contemplating this and said, “Ah Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.”

In the second part of verse 49, she says God is holy. This is another core attribute of the God of the Bible, that he is holy. In the ocean of his existence, in all that he is and does there is not one single ounce or sliver of imperfection or immorality. He is completely pure and righteous and true. It is his very being. All that is good and right flows out of who he is. This is pretty much the major theme of the whole Old Testament, the whole sacrificial system, the architecture of the temple, the journey of the people…everything is to show that God is holy.

Then in verse 49, 50, and 54 Mary repeats that God is a God of mercy. Mercy implies the opposite of holiness. It’s recognition that we as a people and as individuals are not holy. We fall far short of God’s holiness and because of that we deserve judgment. Mercy is not getting the judgment we deserve. God’s withholding of it. In Exodus 34:6 Moses contemplated this and said, ” “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

In verses 51-53, Mary counts the justice and the goodness of God. She says he brings down the proud and lifts up the humble and fills the hungry poor with good things and sends the hording rich away empty. Mary knew what it was like to be poor. It could have been the reason there was no room for them in the inn…that all they could afford was a place with the animals to have her baby. She was the one of “humble estate.” That’s how she refers to herself twice.

After Jesus is born they go to the temple to present Jesus and it says the sacrifice they bring two birds, which is a sign that they were really poor. You were only allowed to bring a pair of birds if you couldn’t afford a lamb. And on top of it…Mary was of the royal line that had been smited and removed and left with nothing.

In Mary’s song she reminds us that God keeps the books. She was of humble estate but she knew that God knows our needs and will make all things right in the end.

Lastly, she recognizes and praises God for the fulfillment of the Messiah who is for all generations. Her whole poem is written in past tense…because in the promise of God to her of Jesus she sees all these Old Testament prophesies fulfilled. Nearly every line is from a prophecy of the Old Testament. Mary knew her Bible, well.

In Jesus she saw the promises of God completed. It’s quite interesting reading this and then thinking about the outcome of Mary’s life as an adult. She pops up throughout all the gospel accounts and even once in Acts.

Jesus first miracle, where he turns water to wine at a wedding is prompted by Mary’s confidence in Jesus as the messiah (Jn 2). Then one time in the middle of Jesus ministry, he’s teaching and preaching and apparently Mary and his brothers come and they want to see Jesus. The disciples tell Jesus and his response is for his mother and brothers to follow him as his disciples and hear his word (Lk 8:19-21).

And that’s what we see Mary do. When Jesus gets crucified on the cross and all the disciples are in hiding for fear that they will be next…Mary is there at the foot of the cross watching the whole thing (Jn 19:25). Then Mary is one of the first ones who discovers the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and she goes to tell the disciples (Lk 24:10). Jesus makes appearances for 40 days and then Jesus ascends to heaven and the church gets started and where do we find Mary? Acts 1:14, devoting herself to prayer with the church on the day of Pentecost.

Mary truly was the first Christian. The first true follower and believer in Jesus. That’s what makes her great. You can go overboard with Mary. Many of our friends among the Catholic Church have done that. There is even a push to deem her co-redemptrix or co-salvificator along with Jesus. But that’s beyond the bounds. Jesus is the savior, not Mary.

But in reaction we can go under board with Mary as well and not recognize her character and the grace of God in her life and learn from it. Mary is a great example of a woman who loved God, who loved the Bible and who believed in Jesus who turned to him for her salvation.

Is your God like Mary’s God? Mighty. Holy. Mercificul. Full of justice and goodness. Are you a follower of Jesus like Mary? One who seeks to learn from Jesus, worship Jesus, and seek the kingdom of Jesus with his church? Mary is such a great example for us in these things.

Conclusion

To conclude today’s sermon I simply want to call your thoughts and your hearts to the gospel. The good news of who Jesus is and what God has done in history for us through him. When Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple to be presented there when he is still a baby a man named Simeon, came up to Mary and Joseph.

Luke says that Simeon was a righteous and devout man, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and that God had told him he would not see death before seeing God’s prophesied messiah. When Simeon sees baby Jesus he takes him up in his arms and says to God, “according to your word my eyes have seen your salvation (Lk 2:29-30).”

Then he turns to Mary and says these words, Luke 2:34-35 “And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel…and a sword will pierce through your own soul also…so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Simeon tells Mary that Jesus will save yes, hearts will be turned, but that in order for that to happen Jesus will be pierced through with a sword and that when he is, a sword will also pierce Mary’s heart.

I couldn’t help but think of that in concluding the story of Mary today. One of the coolest things about a fresh, newly born baby is seeing and feeling their little hands and toes. Mary held the baby Jesus in her arms, played with his hands and toes…but one day she would kneel in front of a cross and see those hands and toes with nails in them and watch her son be pierced through with a sword. It’s an emotionally gripping scene.

But in that act Jesus reveals, gives, and births new hearts. In that act Jesus saves for all who trust in him and his work to deal with our sin. As we close I invite all of us to join Mary at the foot of the cross this morning. To come to Jesus and worship him and thank him for coming into the world and for dying on a cross for our sin.

We like all, like Mary need Jesus. We need our hearts to be pierced through to see how much God loves us and to what lengths he has gone through to demonstrate and extend his love to us. May Jesus work in us this morning as we go to the table to confess sin and to rejoice in our salvation.

Let’s pray.

Philippians 2:1-11 | Advent | Humility | Brad Hutchison

This is a topical sermon on Humility. It focuses on how the Advent of Christ and the scene of his Nativity is an example of his Humility. This sermon was originally preached by Brad Hutchison on December 11th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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Blog | Deacon Errin Samuelsz

Many times throughout our lives we are forced to stop and reflect upon our current status. Looking back at the past year and attempting to quantify our productivity we inspect our current relationships, the balances in our bank accounts, and the possessions we have, hoping that the past all adds up to something meaningful.  Inevitably there are goals and expectations from year to year and season to season that we fail to live up to, and we hope to do better next time.  We try visualizing the future and what it holds for us personally, professionally, and socially, leading us to hope for those key items which would make everything better.

This kind of hope is sporadic, momentarily supplying a boost of motivation, but then quickly leaving us on our own. Its foundation is composed of more variables than an algebra expression, and there’s no graphing calculator to plot the path of least resistance. So why is this hope so common?

I look at the world and how hope is little more than an ad campaign strategically placed and methodically rationed.  A quick browse of some of today’s most popular entertainment reveals that hope is a dream, often showcased as the antagonistic counterpart to a failed protagonist.  Political conflict, economic volatility, and social inequality are everywhere we look.  To cope we search for hope in people who claim to have answers, or jobs that promise security, and even relationships that promise comfort.

What we really need is a hope that isn’t full of empty promises;  A hope that is solid, and provides consistency throughout every circumstance.  There is only one hope that can withstand anything life throws at us.  Hope in Christ is the only hope that remains true yesterday, today and tomorrow.

This season of Advent and the Hope of Christ seems to have more significance than ever for me personally, as I’m currently anticipating the birth of my first child.  While his arrival is still a few months away, my wife and I are excited to meet him for the first time (yeah, it’s a boy!), but as we prepare for his arrival we are also preparing to nurture and lead both physically and spiritually.

I look forward to the responsibilities of being a father, but I know that he can’t find his hope in me.

My prayer, as I know many fathers have prayed before me, is that I can point my children to the Hope of Christ. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”(Hebrews 11:1)  This faith is where I can find hope for the future, both for myself and for my family.

This Christmas season, as gifts are being exchanged, and joyful memories are being created, through carols, and travels, and even in the midst of the chaos of the world, I’ll be remembering the gift of Hope that God has supplied for his people in the life, death and resurrection of his son, Jesus.  There is no greater truth than that of the word of God, and no greater Hope than that of the Son of God.

Psalm 40:1-3 | Advent | Hope | Pastor Chris Swan

This is a topical sermon on Hope. It focuses on how the Advent of Christ gives us Hope by teaching us a new song in praise to our God that we can sing even in times of trial. This sermon was originally preached by guest preacher Chris Swan on December 4th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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Blog | by Various Resolved Members

I’m sure you’ve seen the title of this blog on a bumper sticker, but it actually comes from The Lord of the Rings. Though there are probably not a lot of people more appropriate for expounding upon Duane’s comments concerning fantasy and imagination this past week, just for today, I am not going to be “That Guy.”

Instead I want to use this opportunity to present some stuff that a couple people at The Resolved have been gracious enough to share with us, tying closely into what Duane preached on in the other 70% of his sermon: What it means to be a sojourner instead of just a plain old wanderer.

There aren’t a lot of people I have run into at the church that are more itchy to travel (“prone to wander”) than Ryan Calihan and Rachael Gwendolyn Standaert. Both recently spent a bit of time outside the civilized world and neither of them are particularly certain that San Diego is the place they are meant to be for the long[ish] hall. In any case, both of them learned a lot, and had a lot to say about the nature of home, community, and direction that speak to the reality of The Gospel.

Ryan

Last year Ryan Calihan spent 3 months in France teaching English, what could be seen as a perfect opportunity for Mission. He describes it differently:

“Earlier this year I was living life as usual, unsure about what I was going to do or how I was going to do it. I was dwelling on the current state of my life… I was unsure about my place in life and what I was going to do with it, and I was feeling a bit bitter at God because of it. I was feeling discontent and lonely. I left for France not expecting it to change anything, but to just delay the inevitable.”

Ryan goes on to describe his experiences being in community with the people he lived with and taught for those few months. He got along fine, but it was immediately clear that he didn’t belong.

“For the 3 months I worked there I didn’t work with or meet one other follower of Christ. This was a new experience for me… When I was working at American Village, I was alone for the first time. I made so many great relationships with the people there and made friends whom I love dearly, but there was no one who could really understand the deepest part of my identity.

There was something different about me that people would notice quickly and ask me about… In one particular conversation I had with someone, he said that if I were the first Christian he had come into contact with, he would have had a very different view of Christ. This broke my heart, but I was grateful that I was used to show the message of The Gospel through my broken life. I was able to share with people that the only thing that made me any different from them was Christ.”

I’m actually pretty sure that your average French citizen is familiar with what it means to be “American.” With Ryan they encountered something truly foreign, while at the same time close to home. He was no more or less broken than any of these people, but the restlessness that moved him toward France in the first place was testament to the fact that, for him, “broken was not good enough.”

Though he may have wandered from The States without the most perfect heart for Mission, he unwittingly (perhaps if only at first) provided a perfect example of what it means to have an assurance of hope for something better. Gracefully, God’s making use of Ryan in even the most unglodly of places (had to do it, sorry guys. Had to…) warmed him to a specific longing for “home.”

“But I was also convicted in my time separated from community. Like I mentioned earlier, I was very discontent in the time before I left with where I was and with my church community. Being separated from everything really showed me where my heart was sinful towards it. I would say that the number one thing I missed the most was going to church. Sure there are a lot of churches in Europe, big and beautiful churches. But they are as empty and desolate as dead bones. On my days off I would hike to 1000 year old churches, sit outside, read the bible, and listen to Duane’s sermons. As much as I liked doing that, it was not the same as being among other believers. God’s love and care for me was extremely evident when I was gone, but he really showed me I held a very low view of community.”

Home was a not San Diego, but a place where Christ was present in community. If we believe in the sovereignty of God, and we believe that He uses wanderers to tell His story, then we can be assured that Ryan’s destination will be the final, lasting testament of his Mission. When some of the people he was in contact with in France start seeking after what it was that made him “foreign,” they will know that it’s not as simple as buying a plane ticket to California; that Ryan’s citizenship is not defined by a place, or even a people, but one Person.

Rachael

Rachael Gwendolyn Standaert tells a story that is the same but different. She fled San Diego going in the opposite direction, pursuing Mission specifically, in the middle of China. In a world more foreign even than France, she found a sense of belonging.

“It hit me as I sipped my Americano at a local coffee shop on my break from teaching Chinese children whom I love to hear laugh: I love my life. I love living here and experiencing what I’m experiencing and engaging with the people I’m engaging with and because life is a journey and an amazing gift from God.

I’m confident that I’m going to love it next month when I haven’t showered for 5 days but am hanging out Bangladeshian girls; and in two months when I’m making coffee for over- paying customers and watching movies with my mom. For the first time in my life I can honestly say that Jesus has taught me to be more than just satisfied but happy with where I am.

The longing that I’m left with at the end of the day is no longer for Texas or California or the future but Heaven…and it’s a good longing cos it reminds me where my affection and devotion should be.”

Some time later she adds,

“This season of my life is beginning to wrap up and I can’t help but look to the future with an expectant grin on my face like that of a child who is being handed presents on his birthday. Feelings of nervousness and apprehension are certainly starting to overwhelm me, though. The Lord has been so good to me here. Too good to me. The relationships, the personal accomplishments, the experiences, the memories… I know that I was brought to China for such a time as this. And when I really think about it all it just makes me plain happy.”

Sounds like an amazing place to be, right? But, there is this strange thing that happens, where it becomes easy to think of “going home” as being a direction opposite of The Gospel. Traveling in search of foreign Mission is not a bad thing, but if we go at it with the wrong heart, we’re just wandering. Because God is good, he more often than not turns our wandering into His own story, ultimately leading us back “Home,” to Him. Rachael goes on to demonstrate this kind of a process.

“I’m nervous because I don’t know what’s next. I’m nervous because I am getting comfortable with the idea of moving back to the states for awhile… maybe too comfortable… I’m wondering what the Lord is trying to tell me and I’m having a hard time listening.

But as I pray about the future- one thing is certain. This world is not my home. Every time I move to a new place I can’t wait to go ‘home’. And every time I go ‘home’ I can’t wait to move again. I’m like a slave and my master is nostalgia. That is why Amy Carmichael’s quote ["If I covet any place on earth but the dust at the foot of the cross than I know nothing of Calvary’s love“] rings so true in my own life…On earth my home should be the foot of The Cross… a place where a longing for my forever home is sure to overcome me.
I’m reminded often of the fact that this world has nothing for me.”

Conclusion

The fact is, we sometimes have to wander explicitly away from “home” in search of The Gospel in order to understand that we are sojourners, bound and conscripted to a citizenship that has come to find us, not one that is yet to be found (Matthew 22:1-14).

In the end we have no real and lasting ability to find a “home” away from Christ than “Strider” (the “wanderer” mentioned in the line quoted atop this blog) had the ability to deny his kingship and make a life drinking beer with hobbits in the Inn of the Prancing Pony (again, had to do it. HAD to…) The story that “The Author” means to tell necessitates it. In due time, it will happen. As long as your life and all its wanderings remain oriented toward “That Time” and “That Place,” you are never lost, just sojourning for a season.

Ryan and Rachael wandered thousands of miles in opposite direction only to be reminded and reassured that Home is no nearer or farer away in France or China than it is in California.

Blog | Pastor Duane

“The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word Adventus, which is a translation of the Biblical Greek word parousia, meaning “coming” “arrival” or “appearing.” Out of the 24 times it occurs in the New Testament, only one of those actually refers to the incarnation or birth of the God-man: Jesus, on earth (2 Pet 1:16). The majority of all the other occurrences refer to the time when Jesus promised he will come once again to earth, a second advent or coming when he will not come as a baby, poor and lowly but as a powerful king full of glory.

Some churches celebrate Advent, others do not.  Traditionally there are 4-5 week of Advent depending on the calendar year and what day Christmas falls on.  As a church, part of our vision and mission is to express the good ole’ gospel in new and fresh ways to reach people today.  We see being a part of the historical Christian faith as important, thus we like to incorporate some of the more formal liturgical traditions of the past.  Advent falls within that camp, so rather than just having one Sunday celebrating Christmas we take four and follow a yearly theme for Advent.  The four main weeks and candles of Advent are Hope, Humility, Joy and Peace.

This year for Advent during the time of worship in the study of God’s word (sermon time) we will be taking each week and comparing the first coming of Jesus with the second.  By looking at the first coming of Jesus we see how Jesus initiates the great coming of God into the world to redeem and rescue his people.  By looking at Jesus second coming we see how Jesus fulfills the great coming of God into the world to finalize all the benefits of his redemption and rescue.  Seeing these two Advents side by side puts the power of the gospel in a perspective for us which not only minister to our hearts and needs now but also breeds great excitement and anticipation for what God has ahead.

May God bless us and work among us greatly by His Spirit this Advent season,
- Pastor Duane

* SPECIAL NOTE *
On Christmas Day, we will only be having ONE SERVICE – 9:00AM (no 11 o’clock).

A Sermon Series From Hebrews 11 – This sermon series works through the eleventh chapter of Hebrews which defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for (and) the conviction of thing not seen.” The series covers the thirteen major “by faith” examples and looks at the significance of the chapter in the book of Hebrews as a whole and the city to come it announces. Themes include the role of Christian history and heritage, examples of faith in the gospel instead of examples of morality and how Jesus is the fulfillment of all that faith looks to.

Listen   Read    11:1-3   Faith & the Example of Creation
Listen   Read    11:4-6   Faith & the Example of Abel and Enoch
Listen   Read    11:7   Faith & the Example of Noah
Listen   Read    11:8-10,17-19   Faith & the Example of Abraham
Listen   Read    11:11-12   Faith & the Example of Sarah
Listen   Read    11:20-21   Faith & the Example of Isaac and Jacob
Listen   Read    11:22   Faith & the Example of Joseph
Listen   Read    11:23-30   Faith & the Example of Moses & Israel
Listen   Read    11:31   Faith & the Example of Rahab
Listen   Read    11:32-40   Faith & the Example of Valor
Listen   Read    11:13-16; 12:22 & 13:14   Faith & The City To Come

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:13-16; 12:22 & 13:14 | Pastor Duane Smets

This is an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:13-16; 12:22 & 13:14. It covers the promise from God of the city to come and what it will be like, as well as the origin, intention and design of God for cities and how we as a church ought to be on mission for them. This sermon was originally preached on November 27th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
November 27th, 2011

Faith & The City To Come
Pastor Duane Smets | Hebrews 11:13-16; 12:22; 13:14

I. The Promise: God’s City
A. Hebrews 11 & The Book of Hebrews
B. Zion & What is to Come
II. The Curse: Men’s Cities
A. Origins & The Biblical Story
B. Citizenship & Lackluster Provisions

Introduction

Today is our final sermon in our “Vintage Faith” sermon series this fall. So far we’ve looked at thirteen main examples of faith. Every sermon has been titled, “Faith and the Example of _______________.” But with this last and final week of the series we change things up and look at “Faith and The City To Come.” Back in the middle of our series I skipped a couple verses but promised we’d come back to ‘em, so today we do that and those verses along with a couple other key verses in Hebrews are supplying our main text for this morning. So let’s go ahead and read ‘em, pray over ‘em and then I’ll break down the plan for us all. (read texts and pray)

Alright. We’re really just looking at three points today, I merely provided some sub points for us to help us understand a couple key things involved in each of our main points. So we’re looking at “The Promise: God’s City, The Curse: Men’s Cities and The Mission: Seeking The City.”

I. The Promise: God’s City

To start off in talking about the promise of God’s City I want to remind us of a key thing we have been saying throughout our study of chapter 11 and that is what I’ve repeatedly pointed out in recognizing that all the figures who get brought up in this chapter do not get brought up because of their superior moral quality of life or example. None of the people in Hebrews 11 are really heroes at all. If anything, they are merely one example after another of jacked up people like you and I, sinners, whom God has grace on in granting them faith.

But, I don’t even think that’s really the main reason they get brought up here in Hebrews 11…that they are brought up to be examples of sinners saved by grace. Instead, I think it has more to do with what we touched on it a little bit in the week we looked at Rahab, but nearly every single figure identified in this chapter has some major connection or relationship to the land.

Abel gets killed by his brother Cain who soils the land with his blood. Enoch is taken out of the land. Through Noah the land is cleansed. In Abraham the promise of new land and a people to live in it is given. Through his son and grandon Isaac and Jacob the family grows populating the land. With Joseph, the family of God moves away from the land to Egypt. Under Moses, they leave Egypt on a journey toward the promised land. Through Rahab they actually enter the land. And then after they are there as we looked at last week, things aren’t so great in the land.

And then the chapter ends saying that was because all these people were looking for something better and we learned last week that the better was both more people (all believers throughout more time) and that the better is fulfilled by Jesus. What we didn’t talk about was how Jesus fulfills it for all his people and today I’m gonna argue that what he actually does is procure the better land where he will rule and reign in its great city!

A. Hebrews 11 & The Book of Hebrews

First let’s look at verses 13-16 which give us a great insight into how the chapter is geared this way, “Hebrews 11 & The Book of Hebrews.” These verses are kind of a weird side note in the middle of the chapter. If you’re reading straight through it and you come to these verses they sort of stop the story for a minute and give this great explanation of what he is doing in telling story after story.

So it says, “These all died in faith (all the people of this chapter), not having received the things promised (the better land), but having seen them and greeted them from afar (we’ll come back to that) and having acknowledge that they were strangers and exiles on earth (so they realized the land was not going to be found on earth). For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland (we’re made to have a permanent home and not be journeying forever)….” On down to verse 16, “they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one (the true land comes from heaven and in it)…God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city (there is a great city in this land).”

Okay, starting to feel this? Let’s keep following the story in Hebrews. The book of Hebrews starts out in its very first chapter describing the incarnation, when God came to earth…he came to the land, what we’re about to celebrate this Advent. Then it spends ten chapters talking about what Jesus did in the land to redeem his people there. Then we’ve got chapter 11 which transitions from looking backward at what Jesus did to looking forward to what he has ahead and it’s focus is this better land.

Chapter 12 basically addresses the struggles involved in waiting for this land that’s ahead and to encourage those suffering it gives us this glimpse into what is ahead. Check it out with me, Hebrews 12:22-24 “You have come to Mount Zion (Zion means joy, so mountain of joy) and to the city of the living God (he’s not only it’s designer and builder and founder but he’s at it’s center…it’s) the heavenly Jerusalem (so not earthly Jerusalem but the one built in heaven) and to innumerable angels in festal gathering and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven (that’s Christians) and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect (that’s all the Old Testament believers) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.

So we’ve got this great mountain of land, with a city of joy on it called “Jerusalem” where there is a great gathering of angels, Old Testament believers and Christians who get to be there because of Jesus. This is to what is to come and then in the final chapter of Hebrews, Hebrews 13, we’re told what to do in the meantime. Hebrews 13:14-15 “We seek the city (this city) that is to come. (and we do that) Through him (Jesus) ….(by) continually offer(ing) up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Okay. So I know I just gave you this big, wide stroke of a paint brush in doing going through Hebrews and out passages that way. Normally, if we had time I’d stop and go slowly through each of these passages making sure we’re interpreting each one of them rightly. However, one of the main principles of interpreting the Bible rightly is whatever is plain and most easy reading is usually correct…that most stuff is pretty self-explanatory. And I think especially with these passages it’s pretty clear. You don’t really need me or need the Greek to be able to see and understand that Hebrews is pretty clear…real faith looks to a land and a city, that’s built by God in heaven and it’s a city of joy and worship and Jesus is the one who gets us there. Is that fair? Okay.

Alright. What I want to do in talking about “Zion & What is to Come” is talk about why this stuff is in the Bible and the role and importance of biblical, faith produced imagination.

B. Zion & What is to Come

In verse 13 of chapter 11 it says of the Old Testament examples that they saw this land and city “from afar” and “greeted” it. That’s a very interesting phrase and concept. Now whether it was through dreams, visions, stories from their family members, or direct communications from God himself…to be able to “see” it since it hadn’t and still hasn’t taken place yet required imagination.

Now, there are a ton of ideas out there about the power of imagination and it’s function in human persons and society. Some say it’s imagination which enables one to be a successful entrepreneur or business man because they can imagine what could be. That’s definitely true of the now late Steve Jobs, he had an imagination for a products that most never dreamed could be reality. J.K. Rowling who wrote the whole Harry Potter series recently said in a speech at Harvard’s graduation ceremony that “Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation…(but is) arguably (the) most transformative…(because it has) power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared.”

That may be true. What I think is different about biblical imagination is that it goes one step beyond potentiality or idea in the mind and says it is actually true and exists! I think that’s how the word “greeted” is function in Hebrews 11:13, that the people of faith heard (by whatever means) of the promise of God and they believed it was true and would come to pass and thereby they “greeted” it.

Now, I’ll let you in on a little secret. I love fantasy. Don’t tell anyone but I’ve always been a sucker for it, whether it’s the good ole’ classic stuff like Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia or the new school stuff like Harry Potter, Dresden Files, the Walking Dead, and yes I’m ashamed to admit it, I’ve read them all…”The Twilight Series.” It doesn’t matter to me whether we’re talking wizards, hobbits, zombies or vampires…I love it all. I love fantasy. There is something about reading material which recognizes that there is this whole other world and reality out there that just gets me going. Don’t tell anyone seriously or we’re not friends anymore, especially about Twilight. I think I lose some of my man card by admitting that.

What’s interesting is that from a very early age kids naturally imagine. You don’t have to teach it as a parent. Almost every day my daughter wants me to play with her with her toys in her room. So I’ll sit down with her on the carpet and ask her, “So what are we playing sweetheart?” And she’s ready. She’s got it all planned out. She’s got her dolls out and is telling me their names and how we’re going to play school and then there’s going to be a wedding. She’s got the whole thing imagined out in her head. We told her we’re going on a cruise for during my Sabbatical and lately she’s been telling me how her and Winnie the Pooh went on a cruise together already and she’s been telling us all about what it was like and how fun it is and stuff we should make sure and do while we’re on the boat. So if you need any cruise advice talk to my 4 year old daughter.

Imagination. It’s a powerful thing. And I think God gave us imaginations and put things in the Bible we would have to formulate and picture in our heads because what it does for us is tap into something deep in our psyche and being that he has implanted and all the realities of eternity come to life for us and our hope, excitement, anticipation and conviction is fueled!

So what I want to do for us this morning is to invite you to imagine with me the great city of God. The Bible actually has a ton to say about it describing it. In John 14:2 Jesus told his disciples that after his resurrection he would go be with the Father to prepare a place for his people. In Revelation 21 and 22 God displays the place he has been preparing with vivid detail. Here’s some nuggets straight out of those chapters.

It’s called the “holy city Jerusalem” and once it’s complete it descends down out of heaven and the glory of God shines all about it in a great and radiant light. It has a high protective wall all around it with twelve gates and mighty angels at each gate. It’s huge and every wall is adorned with jewels and the streets are paved with pure gold that is as transparent as glass.

There is no sun or moon anymore because light shines out of the throne of God where Jesus sits in the middle of the city. A river of water flows from under his throne through the middle of the main street in the city and on both sides of the river are multiple trees of life with fruit, like the one that were in the garden of Eden.

In Revelation 18 we see that the city is meant to be a place of music, the arts, trade, manufacturing, advancing technology and family building and in Revelation 19 we see that in the city of God all those things are purified from corruption and there is great joy. There are great feasts everyone gets dressed up to go to called “the marriage supper of the lamb.” And sadness, tears, pain and death are no more.

It’s a phenomenal picture isn’t it? Can you imagine it? Isn’t there something in your heart which leaps at the sound of it? We know this is true, it’s what we long for isn’t it? It’s why every fairytale ever told is loved by all…happily ever after! The victorious hero who makes all things new and rules the land with perfect justice peace and joy!

The beauty and wonder and scandal of the Bible is it claims it’s not a fairytale but is actually true! For all those who know the favor of its king, we shall live in his land and there he will not be shamed but anyone any longer but be honored and praised among us for all of his goodness and greatness. It’s a robust and full life, not only singing songs of praise before our God, but one of creativity, work, play and feasts! Heaven is life like it is now without any sin or darkness but only as it should be with joy and holiness.

Well, let’s shift gears a bit and talk about the cities we have now. How they got the way they are and why they are the way they are, “The Curse: Men’s Cities.”

II. The Curse: Men’s Cities

If the city to come is the promise of God for all who believe, then the cities and land with their faults now are a result of the curse. One of the amazing things about the Bible and something that isn’t so easy to see, unless you just sat down with the Bible and read it from cover to cover is that there is a unifying story and link between every book in its pages…that it all goes together.

A. Origins & The Biblical Story

If we look at the “Origins & Biblical Story” of cities in the Bible it really began in a garden, the garden of Eden in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. In the garden of Eden, God tells Adam and Eve to “fill the earth”, “have dominion”, “work it” and “keep it.” Tons of dudes have done extensive study on this and its pretty well recognized that this is really a call to build a God-honoring, God-centered city. Adam and Eve were called by God to populate, cultivate, organize and rule.

Meredith Kline in his phenomenal book “Kingdom Prologue” writes, “Fulfillment of man’s cultural stewardship (was to) begin with man functioning as (a) princely gardener in Eden. But the goal of his kingdom commission was not some minimal, local life support system. It was rather a maximal, global mastery. The cultural mandate put all the capacity of human brain and brawn to work in a challenging and rewarding world to develop his original paradise home into a universal city.”

In his article “A Biblical Theology of the City” Tim Keller writes that Adam and Eve were “to bring forth the riches that God put into creation by developing science, art, architecture, and human society…City building is an ordinance of God just like work and marriage…God made the city to be a developmental tool, a form of cultural ‘gardening’ designed to draw out the riches he put into the earth, nature and the human soul at creation. Even after the fall, cities are places of ‘common grace’ though each factor also now can be used, and is, for evil purposes.

You probably have never thought of that huh? What the purpose and goal of Adam and Eve procreating and working in the garden was…a call to build a rich city. Well, if you know and have read the story in Genesis, you know what happened. Instead of exercising wise dominion and cultivating the garden Adam and Eve fall into sin and are banished from it and die. Thus one of Adam and Eve’s sons, Cain, is the one who actually ends up building the first city (Gen 4:17).

Cain’s city ends up getting wiped out by the flood and right after that the first city we see being built is Babel. Babel was a prototypical ancient city. They would build what’s called a “ziggurat”, a sort of ancient skyscraper meant to be a staircase for gods to come down to earth. It’s sort of a twisted version of God’s design for a city with him at the center. In Genesis 11 God destroys Babel because the goal of their city was not to have him as the center but instead to “make a name for themselves.” Stealing the worship that is meant for God alone, which is the overarching purpose and goal of cities.

After Babel it’s not until the time of Joshua, Moses’ successor that God’s people start building cities. When they do they are constructed under God’s direction to be what he called “cities of refuge” meant to be protective against animals, criminals and foreign tribes. Once David, the man after God’s own heart becomes king of Israel he decides to make Jerusalem his hometown. After him, in like 41 other kings there’s never quite a God-centered king as David and the longing and prophecies for a David-like messiah king are born.

From David on Jerusalem becomes known as Zion, the city of God. But because of corruption in the people and the city God eventually sends the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem. After about 130 Nehemiah finally returns and goes to work rebuilding the city of God. And things are good for awhile until by the time of Jesus the city has become corrupt once again merely functioning in subservience to the Romans. In 70 AD Jerusalem is destroyed and in large due to both the words of Jesus in John 4 that he is now the geographical center of worship and of due to the message of the book of Hebrews…physical Jerusalem and Israel in the middle east no longer become a focal point for God’s people since we are awaiting the city to come, the heavenly Jerusalem!

The dispensational branches of Christianity who get all hyped on end times and what’s happening in the middle east with Israel and Jerusalem seem to have missed that or something. If we just stick with the text Hebrews 12:22 says it’s a “heavenly Jerusalem” and Revelation 21:2 says it’s “the holy city, (the) new Jerusalem com(es) down out of heaven from God” when Jesus makes the new heavens and new earth. It’s not a re-make or a re-build of middle east Jerusalem. It’s brand new. There’s some subtle amillenialism for you eschatology nerds.

Okay back to city theology. So basically the story of the Bible is a story which starts out in a garden in the first book of Genesis. Then we see story after story of a broken people in broken cities. Then the Bible ends with Revelation, the last book of the Bible will a redeemed and healed people all gathered together in an all new garden city with Jesus, our God king at the center caring for the people, the city and receiving all worship and praise. The Bible is just cool you guys, isn’t it?!!!

B. Citizenship & Lackluster Provisions

So that’s the story…but before we move on to our final main point this morning I want to point out a few things about the broken cities in-between Genesis and Revelation…so “Citizenship & Lackluster Provisions.”

Because of sin entering into the world we see repeatedly that cities lack the ability to fully function according to their God-given intention. I’ll just point out a few things.

One, cities are meant to be places of refuge of safety for the innocent, hurting, oppressed where minorities, the poor and immigrants can find a home. Instead, because of sin, cities tend to become places of refuge for those seeking deviant lifestyles and those in rebellion who foster crime, classism and racism. Rather than being a refuge under the protection of God they become places of refuge away from God and his laws.

Two, cities are meant to be places density and diversity which put me together with others who think differently and have varied creative talents and skills. The result is that in working together, both image of God in humans and the fingerprint of God in the earth might be mined and used to create an ever progressing society which glorifies the God who gives it life and sustains it. Instead because of sin, competition, pride-full arrogance, materialism, overwork and exhaustion tends to take over our efforts as we seek to become gods ourselves.

Three, cities are meant to be places of worship where we meet God, his truth and his goodness. Instead cities have proven to frequently religiously restless as either havens for cults and false worship or centers for irreligious atheism, thinking they don’t need God and can be great on their own.

We see it time and time and time again here at The Resolved here in our city, San Diego. New ones will move here for one of these reasons: (1) either they needed a new start and are escaping something from some other place; (2) their job moved them here and our city provided a promise of financial benefit and career opportunity; (3) people are spiritually seeking and looking for answers and our city seems spiritually open or there are those who are tying to get away from what they perceive as religious persecution from any one of the major religious groups.

The point that is made in Hebrews with a resounding gong is that the promises our cities offer, they can never actually provide. Let’s go back to our text and I want to point out a couple things to you. Look at verse 14 & 15 of Hebrews chapter 11. Verse 14 says they’re seeking a home. Everyone wants to be loved and wants to be in a place where they feel useful. But verse 15, if there were such a place on earth that could provide that, they would have gone there. There isn’t such a place, verse 16 says it only exists from heaven.

If you’ve ever thought simply changing where you live would fix your problems you’ll find or you’ve already found out…it doesn’t, it’s our hearts that need to change. Hebrews 13:14 is super clear, we’re not supposed to seek an earthly city. “We have no lasting city, but we seek the city to come.”

What it does is put us in a natural tension here and now where we are seeking and awaiting rest in our true homeland and between now and then that tension often creates physical hardship, social ostracism, emotional anguish, and economic deprivation…just as it did for these ancient figures of faith we’ve been studying.

Bible commentator, F.F. Bruce says, “Every earthly institution belongs to “the things which are shaken (Hebrews 12:27)…in none of them can the human heart find permanent rest.” We live in this time between the time where we have promise but await fulfillment.

The proper biblical view of ourselves is as sojourners, travelers here in this world. Look at Hebrews 11:13 and what it says about those with biblical faith…they saw themselves as “strangers and exiles on the earth.” This is the universal view of the Bible, strangers and exiles. Listen to 1 Chronicles 29:15 “We are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding.” 1 Peter 2:11-12 “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

We are sojourners. The things of this earth, the things it offers and promises…it cannot provide them apart from the great return of our Lord who will make all things new. We cannot afford to think that this is it. What God has ahead is better and the moment we start thinking this is our home, that this is the life, that this is the long awaited land…we are in trouble. Because then we have come to love weak, frail fractions of the gifts of God as he intends them to be.

It can’t be any clearer than Paul says it in Philippians 3:20, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Our citizenship is in heaven. That’s where we belong. If you are a Christian. If you consider yourself one of God’s people…then this world is not your home! You don’t belong. You will always be a foreigner. It should never feel right. There should always be a holy dissatisfaction. A lingering feeling that this all falls far short. We just happen to be here for a short while. But we belong to another kingdom. The kingdom of the one true King who is to come.

I think I told you once before about the old kids song I remember singing in church when I was young. It’s lyrics are so fitting.

“This world is not my home I’m just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”

This world is not our home. It’s like it and it’s similar in some ways, but the world to come and the city with it is far better. In C.S. Lewis’s final Narnia book, The Last Battle, Aslan who is the Christ figure in the book, at the end he brings the characters of the series to his eternal homeland and here’s how the book ends…

“Lucy stood with her dear friend, her oldest Narnian friend, the Faun Tumnus, looking down over the wall of that garden and seeing all Narnia spread out below. But when you looked down you found that this hill was much higher than you had thought: it sank down with shining cliffs, thousands of feet below them and trees in that lower world looked no bigger than grains of green salt…’I see’ she said. ‘This is still Narnia, and more real and more beautiful than the Narnia down below…Lucy looked this way and that and soon found that a new and beautiful thing had happened to her.

Whatever way she looked at, however far away it might be, once she had fixed her eyes steadily on it, became quite clear and close as if she were looking through a telescope…then she forgot everything else because Aslan himself was coming, leaping down from cliff to cliff like a living cataract of power and beauty…

Then Aslan turned to them and said, ‘You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be.’ Lucy said, ‘We’re so afraid of being sent away.’ ‘…No fear of that,’ said Aslan. ‘Have you not guessed? …Your father and mother and all of you are – as you used to call it in the Shadowlands – dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.’

As he spoke he no longer looked to them like a lion but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning chapter one of the great story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” The End.

This world is not our home, our citizenship is in heaven and for it we wait with a great anticipation.

The question for us then becomes, what do we do in the meantime, while we’re waiting? To answer that let’s wrap up and talk about a few things from our last main point, “The Mission: Seeking the City.”

III. The Mission: Seeking the City

Hebrews 13:13 says we’re to “seek the city that is to come.” That word “seek” is an interesting word in the Greek it’s being translated from. It’s the same word that gets translated as “lust” in other places in the Bible. It means to enquire for, search out, diligently long for, wish for, crave and desire. We’re to crave after the city of God.

So how do we do that? Well, there’s some general things about how the gospel transforms our hearts and lives which enables us to transform the cities of the world we find ourselves among and then there’s also some unique things I think for us here in San Diego. I’ll just do them both together here.

A. Gospel Transformation Inside & Out
B. Reaching Beautiful & Broken San Diego

First, the gospel is a new message entrusted to us by Christ himself, that he has won and procured the new city for his people. He did this by being unlike Adam who failed in the mandate given to him by God. Jesus succeed and resists the temptation to garner glory for himself and instead chooses to be humiliated among his brethren even though in reality he is the true Son of heaven.

His whole life and ministry he pretty much stays away from Jerusalem but at the right time he enters into the city riding on a donkey and is hailed the king. The result is he is arrested and tried and dragged outside the city and crucified. Three days later he rises again, shows himself to hundreds of people for forty days and then before their very eyes he ascends into the heavens promising to return one day and bringing the new heavenly city of Jerusalem with him.

I mentioned Tim Keller’s article on the city earlier. He says that for us, the church, between now and that time there are basically four different options or approaches for us. One is to hate and despise the cities we live in, essentially entering into a culture war and calling the church our fortress. Two, is to say that the church is the city and attempt to mirror it and become independent of it…basically creating our own city. Three, is to use the city…like scavengers we live outside the city but make supply runs into it to get what we need. Or four, to actually love the city, be in it, and seek to spread the gospel among it as one does leaven in a lumb of dough.

I like that. I think it’s helpful because that’s really how the gospel functions inside our hearts.

Earlier we said that cities are meant to be places of refuge. We can create an anticipation for the true city to come by being a people of refuge where the innocent, hurting, oppressed minorities and immigrants can find a home through the love and support of the community of God’s people, not running away from God’s laws but running to them. We’re able to do this because of the gospel, because Jesus who had no home, offered up himself so that in him and at the foot of cross any one might be welcomed into his kingdom.

Earlier we said cities are meant to be places density and diversity with people using their varied creative talents and skills. We can create anticipation of the city to come by being a people who are not driven by the desire for our own personal successes but rather to please and glorify our God. We’re able to do this because the gospel, because it teaches us that our achievements do not define or satisfy us. Through Jesus we’ve been accepted and called his own and that frees us to merely delight in making our heavenly Father happy with what he has given because we don’t have to work for his approval with our performance.

Earlier we said cities are meant to be places of worship where we meet God, his truth and his goodness. We can create an anticipation for the city to come by being a people who truly and deply love our God and enjoy praising his name. The human heart cannot not worship…it always worships something but only when it is worshipping the one true God does it fulfill it’s design and is it satisfied. As others see how much we love to worship and live for our God they will be drawn into that because nothing else anyone can ever find is both worthy of worship nor can really receive it.

When it comes to us here in San Diego. I’ve said so many times…we need some people to come with us, stick it out here and love our city. The gospel needs to be kneaded like leaven into our city. I have a vision of our city completely transformed and changed because of the gospel. I believe that on this side of the heavenly Jerusalem people and places can be changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Historian Rodney Starks documents in his book covering the spread of early Christianity that the gospel triumphed in cities…”31 cities of the (Roman) empire having a population of 30,000 (or more) by the year one hundred” had become saturated by the gospel as it spread through community and social networks of family, friends and colleagues.

We need you to be here in San Diego, to live here and spread the goodness and the truth of the gospel amongst your family, friends and workplaces while we work and worship together in community as the people of God. It’s what the third point of our mission statement is all about, being a “city within the city.”

Saint Augustine, one of the early church fathers wrote a monumental book titled “City of God.” In it he gives advice for how we are to live in our cities as we await the city to come. Here’s what he says,

“The city is often divided against itself by litigations, wars, quarrels, and such victories as are either life-destroying or short-lived…it seeks bondage and vice and is inflated with pride…it desires earthly peace for the sake of enjoying earthly goods…(instead) the families which live by faith look for those eternal blessing which are promised and use as pilgrims such advantages of time and of earth as to not fascinate and divert them from God…(until) we are translated into the kingdom of Christ…(where we shall) enjoy that holy and most delightful city of God.”

Essentially what Augustine argues is between now and then, while we are sojourners, we ought to live now in our cities according to the principles of the city of God and as we do the people of our cities will experience the transforming power of the gospel.

San Diego is a beautiful city, America’s Finest City” is our city’s official tagline. But it’s broken because it does not worship God, he is not he center. And we are on mission to have the worship of our great God for who he is and what he has done for us in Jesus transform our city.

Conclusion

Well, let’s conclude. I’ll be really brief here in preparing us for the Lord’s Supper.

Jesus died on the cross for sin outside the city so that he might bring all his people to the true and better city to come. He rose again and ascended to build and prepare the new Jerusalem city. It’s coming. And we his people, anxiously await it. 1 Corinthians 11:26 says every time we receive communion in this holy ceremony we’re about to partake in, that every time we do it we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

So there’s an aspect of this whole thing in which we are saying each week, Jesus is not dead, he is alive and he is coming again and when he does he’s bringing with him the city of heaven. Communion is a declaration of the reality of that city and longing plea for it to arrive. In light of that, here’s how I’d encourage us to respond today.

Where you’ve been loving this city of world, the world and its pleasure more than you’ve been loving Jesus and longing for the city of God…confess those areas as sin and have Jesus cleanse, change you, forgive you and once again declare over you that Jesus paid the price for your sin and has granted you citizenship in his city no matter what.

The other way I’d encourage us to respond is with some of the very last words of the Bible, how it ends in Revelation 22. It concludes with this triumphant declaration and petition, “Come Lord Jesus!“ So as you come to the table today pray that with me, “Come, Lord Jesus!” Express your longing for our Lord to come again that we might see his face and enter into that great city which will come with him on his coat tails.

Let’s pray.

James 1:17-18 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

Blog | Pastor Duane

The word “Sabbatical” comes from the word Sabbath which means rest. In the Bible God sabbaths on the 7th day after creation and calls us to sabbath on the seventh day of our week (Ex 20:10-12) and after every seven years God’s ancient people of old were to give the land sabbath from cultivation.

In his book “The Origin and Early History of Sabbatical Leave” Walter Eels notes that in our times “sabbatical” has come to mean any extended absence in the career of an individual. Many universities, employers, scientists, physicians, or churches now offer the opportunity to qualify for paid sabbatical as an employee benefit, called “sabbatical leave.”

This last summer I was approached by several of the other Acts 29 men of our southwest region who asked me to seriously consider taking a sabbatical leave. This April will be the seventh year since we planted The Resolved Church. The last extended vacation I’ve had was in 2004 after completing eight straight years of full-time schooling. When I proposed the idea to The Resolved Church elders, they were more than supportive and added their request that I take a month’s worth of vacation every year.

In looking at the church calendar and the season of life our church is in, December this year seemed to be the best month to take this break. In the church calendar year, at least up until this point, December has proved to be one of the slowest month for our church…likely because most head “home” for the holidays and there are only a handful of homeowners or those with extended family in San Diego who are in our church. In the life of our church, this fall has been by far the busiest season yet…we moved to two services, added a third pastor and a couple deacons, added a couple new community groups, doubled those in leadership development and also have a bunch of new members! Praise God for his work among us!

Our church is in a super healthy place, with solid leadership, love and support firmly in place. So many do so much on a weekly basis living and existing as the church it has become vividly clear that The Resolved Church is not about one man, a weekly event or some new innovative strategy. Our church is a real church driven by a passion to glorify God, grow in and spread the gospel and love one another in our city. We are a real community of faith in Christ. It’s astounding to see and I feel so privileged to be just a small part of it. With that said, I have full confidence in Pastor Ron and Pastor James, our deacons, our community group leaders and those in leadership development to be able to carry my load while I’m gone for the month of December. I’ll be out of the pulpit for four Sundays and if anyone needs to speak with a pastor about anything, please contact Pastor Ron or Pastor James. If you have any practical needs please contact Deacon Dan as usual.

During this time away my wife Amy and my daughters are looking forward to this break. Six of our sister Acts 29 churches contributed financially to help enable us to do some special things. This last May was our ten year wedding anniversary and to celebrate Amy and I will be going on a cruise to Mexico. In addition, we plan to take our girls to Disneyland and simply spend some extra time just being together in the comforts of our home without all the normal busyness of our lives. Even though we’ll be in town for part of our vacation we plan to go completely dark and will be unavailable and out of contact (phone, email, text, events, visits etc.) for the entire month to everyone except immediate family.

You can be praying for me while I’m on Sabbatical in these ways:
• Pray I will personally have some sweet times in communion with Jesus. One of the dangers of being a pastor is that you can be around the Bible so much and sharing the gospel with others so much that you can easily start to become numb to it. I’m not, but it is ever my desire to dive deeper into dependence, love and trust in my savior.
• Pray that my wife would experience the great love of her husband and that my children would experience the great love of their father so that they would in some small way know the love of the true and better bridegroom and the love of the Father above. It is the heart and passion my life that my wife and children would always know that they are the first church I pastor and will always be more important than The Resolved. I pray that stepping away from the church for this season will be a sweet testament and reminder of that for them.
• Pray that God will be working in me to prepare me for the next season ahead in the life of our church. There are big things in store for us as a church…we have a big vision with a lot to accomplish in our city and beyond. As I attempt to do my job well in vocally leading the mission of our church, pray that God would not only deposit renewed energy and passion but also clarity in the next things to focus on in the coming year as we seek fulfill the ministry Jesus has given us to do.

Thank you all so much for your love grace and support in this. It’s going to be tough to be away, you all are our life and our family and we will miss you. But we will be back the first of the year and back in full force ready to charge ahead. May our Sovereign God bless you abundantly this Christmas season as we all remember that the greatest gift and the greatest thing we need is Jesus. Glory to his name.

- Pastor Duane

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:32-40 | Pastor Duane Smets

This is an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:32-40. It covers the story God’s various champions throughout the Hebrew history. Special attention is given to Jesus in that, while theirs is the valor, His is the Victory. This sermon was originally preached on November 20th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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Faith & The Example of Valor
Pastor Duane Smets  |  Hebrews 11:32-40

I.       The Foretaste from Faith  (v32-38)
  A.     Victorious Triumph: Judges and Kings
  B.     Victorious Defeat: Suffering Prophets
II.     The Fulfillment of Faith  (v39-40)
  A.     All God’s People
  B.     God With His People

Introduction

This morning for our time of worship in the study of God’s Word we’ll be working through the final verses of Hebrews chapter 11.  It’s this last chunk of characters which get brought up as examples of faith in this series we’ve been calling “Vintage Faith.”  It’s been somewhat of a whirlwind tour through some of the major figures of the Old Testament, who are like the founding fathers and mothers of theism…though it’s really the other way around.  They didn’t create theism but God created them and revealed himself to them.

So far we’ve looked at eleven different character or examples of “faith.”  What we’ve been discovering often is what we frequently think of and understand “faith” to be, very rarely has much to do with what it actually is.  “Faith” these days, in the way it’s popularly used seems to often have this nebulous undefinable quality to it like air or fog.  It’s usually just reduced to spiritual feeling.

In contrast we’ve been learning that faith, at least biblical faith has a very specific quality to it.  Rather than being an unknown, the first verse of the chapter told us it was assurance, “assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen.”  And if you’ve been here the last couple months you’ve seen us go through these eleven different examples of that.

Today, in the final section of the chapter we get this rapid fire list of six names and some group generalizations meant to sort of put the nail in the coffin and put the matter to rest.  And in this last section, we get what is easily the most bloody, gut wrenching, and emotional example of all…so I’ve titled my sermon today, “Faith and The Example of Valor.”  It’s sort of the Braveheart section of the chapter.

So we’ll finish up the verses in chapter 11 today looking at this, then next week we’ll go back and pick up the verses we skipped in the middle of the chapter and work with how this whole exercise of citing vintage faith is meant to function in regards to the message of the book of Hebrews as a whole.  And that will be our final fall sermon, the week after it will be December and we’ll start Advent.

Alright, so with that let’s go ahead and read our text for today, thank God for it and pray over it (read text and pray).  So what the way I’ve divided this up to help us is to look at “The Foretaste from Faith” in verses 32-38 and then “The Fulfillment of Faith” in verses 39-40.  I think once we get to verses 39 and 40 you’ll see why I called them that.  So for now, I guess you can just try and trust me.

I.       The Foretaste from Faith  (v32-38)

Okay.  So literally beginning with verse 32, all the way down through 38 functions pretty much like a big run on sentence structurally.  Tons of guys have tried to figure out some sort of rhyme or reason to it but it doesn’t really follow any pattern.  The names here are not chronological time-wise and once he moves on to some of the various feats without names attached to them, it’s hard to imgaine sometimes who the author of Hebrews may have in mind.

It’s weird, because up until now everything has been pretty methodical and orderly but these verses just sort of feel like a faith puke.  Jeremiah 20:9, the prophet says God’s word was like a fire shut up in his bones that he got weary of holding in.  This section kind of feels like that, like all this stuff just sort of came out at once.  Or maybe it was just kind of like one of those experiences where when you first start to get something and it starts to really make sense to you, you start seeing all these connections everywhere and you’re like, “wow, this is amazing!”

I don’t know.  What we do have are three different types of men that get referred to, judges, kings and prophets.  There’s this theme of victory.  You know.  When you read this passage it has this real feeling of success and celebration.  The only difference is that some of the examples are dudes who had very visible victory and triumph here on earth and others seemingly failed before others but are nonetheless recognized as likewise being victorious.  So I figured working through it from that angle makes the most sense.

Now, one other thing before we jump into it with these guys.  Look at the first line here in verse 32, “And what more shall I say?  For time would fail me…”  And then he goes on his rant.  I think we got to pay attention to that.

I think by saying this, the human author of Hebrews, whoever it was (Paul, Apollos or some other dude), is basically assuming that by now we’re starting to get his point, the point he has been making all chapter long.  He assumes that and assumes that we could see that whatever example we brought up, whoever we might mention as someone who really and truly loved and believed in God…we would see that their faith was of this kind.  But he doesn’t really have time to do that, so he just gives us this faith puke.

So what’s the point, the thing we’re supposed to be convinced of by now, now that he’s spent 31 verses, 11 different examples hammering us with?  That faith, real faith, biblical faith…is a confidence and conviction in God and his promises.  Assurance of things hoped for conviction of things not yet seen or we could say received.

Alirght, that’s probably good.  Let’s dive in.  “Victorious Triumph: Judges and Kings.”

A.     Victorious Triumph: Judges and Kings

Just looking at verse 32.  Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jepthah are all judges.  David is the only king mentioned.  And Samuel is the prophet who sets up the first king and basically installs the Israel monarchy…the founder of the kings, though it was really not his desire to do so.

First, let me tell you about the judges and their stories.  If you didn’t know, our Bibles have a whole book of the Bible called “Judges.”  It’s the seventh book of the Bible.  The book covers the story of twelve judges.  Don’t ask me why Hebrews only mentions four of ‘em, I don’t know.  Actually I think it may be each of their unique lack of faith…but we can chew on that later.

As we’ve been following the story of God’s people here in Hebrews we’ve seen how God created man, but man fell and sin entered the world, then God initiated his plan to save.  He first unveils this plan to Abraham that he will have a family of faith and a land of faith for them to live in.  He ends up only having one child near the end of his life but as the years and generations go on, the family multiplies.  They finally reach nation level numbers but they are slaves in Egypt until God goes to war for them against Egypt and delivers them out and brings them into the desert.  They’re there for forty years until  they face Jericho and after God defeats Jericho they finally go into the land God has promised.

The book of Judges covers the time just after the people go into the land.  What happens during this time is this cycle where God’s people keep slipping into sin, not being faithful to God…worshipping, loving and serving him only.  So when they do, God stirs up a nation to come attack them and rule over them but then he also raises up a “judge” to fight for them and deliver them once again.  When he does that they’re reminded of God’s love for them, until it wears off and the whole thing happens all over again.

So that’s Judges.  In super quick form, here’s the story of the judges according to the order they’re listed in our chapter, Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah.

What happens with Gideon is the Medianites end up overtaking Israel and ruling over them for seven years.  God’s people cry out to him to save them and God raises up Gideon.  He’s pretty doubting and distrusting of God constantly asking for signs but finally ends up following through and obeying and tries to round up as big of army as he can to fight and he rallies up 32,000 Israelite soldiers.  But God wasn’t having that.  He says to Gideon, that’s “too many for me…lest Israel boast over me saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’”  So God forces Gideon to whittle down his army to 300 men and sure enough they defeat 135,000 Medianites (Judges 8:10).

What happens with Barak, Barak of Abinoam, not Barak Obama…is the Canaanites rise up against Israel and oppress them cruelly for twenty years.  God’s people cry out to him to save them.  Barak is the military commander of Israel’s army at the time and he isn’t doing anything about it.  So God calls upon a strong woman named Deborah to go confront him and call him to lead.  Like a panzy he’s afraid and doesn’t want to go unless Deborah will go into battle with him.  Dumb.  So he goes and sure enough God grants him the victory and the Canaanites and their king are defeated.

What happens with Samson is the Philistines rise up against Israel and end up ruling over them for forty years.  This dude named Samson is born and he’s sort of the opposite of Barak, he’s a man’s man.  When he’s born this angel shows up and tells his dad Samson will deliver Israel because God has given him supernatural strength, but as a sign of his being set apart and dependent on God for this, he’s never to cut his hair.  Sure enough, the dude’s an animal and basically starts conducting his own little personal guerilla raids on the Philistines setting fire to their towns and on one occasion fighting them and killing 1,000 men single handedly.  Then Samson does something stupid and one night he decides to hook up with this Philistine prostitute named Delilah and while they’re in bed fooling around she gets him to tell her about his hair.  So she ties him up, then cuts his hair and the Philistines rush in, capture Samson, gouge his eyes out, take him to their temple and chain him to it’s pillars.  Samson then prays to God for strength and pushes down the pillars collapsing the temple and defeating thousands of Philistines and Israel is delivered.

One more judge, Jephthah.  What happens with Jephthah is the Ammonites this time take over Isarel.  God raises up Jephthah, who is super gung ho about taking them over.  In the midst of battle he prays this rash unwise prayer to God basically saying, if you let me win when I get home I’ll sacrifice whatever first comes out of my house when I return…probably thinking it would be an animal of some sort.  God answers and delivers Israel through Jephthah’s hand.  When he returns, his daughter is the first thing to come out of his house and so he follows through with his vow and sinfully sacrifices her.

These stories are just crazy huh.  So that’s the judges and then there’s David and Samuel.  Now unlike the judges who are basically just mentioned one time in the Bible, David and Samuel are huge characters who are mentioned a ton.  And besides there not really being time to tell their stories I don’t think we’re really meant to recall any specifics other than that David is the quintessential king and Samuel is the one who sets up the Israelite kings.

There’s not one defining event of David or Samuel other than that for all of Israel’s ensuing history, throughout all 43 kings of Israel and Judah documented in the Bible…David is remembered as The King, the best one and Samuel is remembered as the king maker or anointer.  Some of the kings were good, some were bad, some were successful, some were not.  In our passage when we look down through the descriptions given in verses 33-38 most of the references seem to be stuff about the prophets, who we’ll talk about…except verse 33 where it says “through faith (they) conquered kingdoms” and verse 34 where it says “became mighty in war, put(ing) foreign armies to flight.”  That’s probably referring to David and the successful kings who resulted from Samuel instituting kingship in Israel.

Okay, let’s pause and talk a bit.  I kind of feel like Bible story man at this point just telling stories but we haven’t really said anything about them yet.  It’s clear that they’re commended here. Looked highly upon.  There’s this tone of triumph.  The key phrase here is at the beginning of verse 33 where it says it was “through faith” that they were able to accomplish these things.  Meaning they were not just mere natural human achievements but rather a result in their conviction in God and assurance of his promises.

What’s interesting about each of the judges that are listed is they really, as individuals made some pretty big blunders, but despite those things they had a hope and assurance in God and he was gracious with them.  Same thing with David and Samuel.  David has an affair and then has his mistress’s husband murdered.  Samuel ends up  being a terrible father and spiritual leader for his sons, who turn out pretty evil.

It seems then, that like all the other characters in Hebrews 11, these men are not marked for their morality but rather the God who works in their lives despite them.  The point then in Hebrews noting their triumphant victory then must be victory of God.  The vintage faith they express is one that turns to and trusts in God even in the midst of spiritual weakness and failure.

John Calvin is good here.  He says, “All that was praiseworthy in them (was) faith, though there was not one of them whose faith did not fault…Thus in all the saints, something reprehensible is ever to be found. Yet faith, though halting and imperfect, is still approved by God.”

What we see again and again and again with the judges and with the kings is their physical victories and battles won was never really the point…that the true victory was in God’s people realizing their need for him, calling upon him and seeing him faithfully delivering.  What’s really going on is that “through faith” of verse 33…God is planting and drawing out faith in and through these stories and situations.  The real story beneath the stories is that God is working.

Now maybe that just sort of sounds good and you’re wondering what the heck this has to do with us and our own lives?  Think of it this way…most of us don’t find ourselves in real military battle so these stories might seem irrelevant.  A few have been in battle but for those who haven’t, think of it this way…  Have you ever prayed for God do something for you?  You know, one of those selfish prayers…like “God give me this job, or give me this house, or give me this relationship.”

What you really want is to win, you want what you want and may even need…but you go through this spiritual battle wrestling with your wants and desires.  And what God is at work in doing really, regardless of the outcome is drawing out your faith…the sense of your need for him and the conviction that only he can do and be what you need.  That what you really need is God.  That’s the story beneath all our stories.

Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel are not commended here for the greatness of their feats but for their faith that brought them about.  At the core of their faith was a conviction that God was their God, and that he cared for his people.  God is the one who brought about the attacking nations…so they would feel their need for him.  God is the one who brought about the kingship…so we would know we really need him as king.

I think I’m on pretty safe ground to say that every single situation and challenge you face in your life is about your need for him.  If you’re victorious in what you want to take place happening it will only truly be victorious if it deepens your love, trust, worship and faith in God.

So what is God really doing in your heart and your life right now?  What situation are you currently in this week, this month, this year, with your job, school, marriage, family…whatever, what situation are you in right now where God is wanting to show himself to you?  What does it look like to look at your life and what’s going on in it right now…through the eyes of faith, assurance and conviction in God?  How do you see victories in your life?  Is what’s going on with you about your faith in God or something else?

Well, let’s move on and talk about “Victorious Defeat” and the suffering prophets.

B.     Victorious Defeat: Suffering Prophets

With the exception of a few things I think most the stuff referenced here in verses 33-38 is stuff that happens with the prophets.  A few of them are good, triumphant victories but most of them are defeats that in spite of the defeats they were spiritually victorious.  Let me run us through them…I’ll try and do it quick.

Verse 33.  “Enforcing justice”…is the consistent theme of the prophets that we are to care for the poor and be gracious to them spiritually and physically.

Then we’ve got stopping “the mouth of lions.”  This is most likely the famous story of Daniel in the lion’s den.  Daniel is this prophet of God who won’t bow down and worship king Darius but Daniel won’t do it so they death sentence him by throwing Daniel into this den of hungry lions.  But God shuts the mouth of the lions and spares Daniel and as a result turns the heart of the king to worship God.

Verse 34.  “Quenching the power of fire.”  This is the well known story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego under Daniel the prophet who get thrown into a fiery furnace for not worshipping King Nebudchadnezzar.  But when they throw them in, their bodies don’t burn, Jesus shows up in the furnace as a fourth dude and as a result they are spared and then the king honors God.

Next in verse 34 is “escaped the edge of the sword” which could have been David or Elijah or one of the other prophets.  In verse 35 we’ve got this reference to women who “received back their dead by resurrection.”  The prophet Elijah prays for the son of a widow of Zarephath who gets sick and dies and after he prays  God brings him back to life.  Likewise the prophet Elisha prays for a Shunamite’s son who gets in accident hitting his head and he dies and God brings him back to life.

Verse 36 mentions others who “suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.”  Several of the Old Testament prophets experienced this, especially Jeremiah who tells of being beaten, chained an thrown into a pit.

In verse 37 it mentions those who were stoned and sawn in two.  The prophet Zechariah was stoned to death and the prophet Isaiah was sawn in half with a wooden saw.

Then lastly, in verse 37 and 38 there’s mention of those who sore skins of sheep and goats and who wandered in dens and caves.  The prophets Elijah and Elisha were well known for their sheep and goat skin clothes.  And both Elijah and David hid in caves on the run from those who were trying to kill them.

We’ve just got this smattering of all kinds of stuff that mostly the prophets became well known for.  And most of it isn’t good stuff.  Ravenous lions, furnaces of fire, swords, flogging, stoning, sawing dudes in two…gnarly stuff.  Most don’t make it out alive.  It doesn’t look too victorious.

But like the ones who were triumphant, these ones who were defeated were able to do what they did  “through faith.”  They are included right along with the triumphant ones as verse 33 says, “through faith.”  If we took the time to go through their stories in detail you’d see that each time they suffer it really is because of their either their devotion to worship and serve God only or their message that all people are to worship and serve God only.

So then, the question is how? Because when you go out like that…beheaded with a sword, stoned to death, sawed in two or when you’re facing a furnace or lions how do you do it with faith?  For most people these days when they face suffering or tough stuff, that often causes doubt or distrust in God.  You know, the whole “how can there be a good God if he lets such evil and suffering happen” question.

I think verse 38 here is helpful on that.  It says of them when they were afflicted and mistreated…that “the world was not worthy of them.”  That’s an interesting phrase.    “The world was not worthy of them.”  What this phrase does is place life and the events of life beyond just the temporal and immediate and it appeals to deep realities.

In general “the world” is this earth and beyond this earth is eternity among the heavens with God forever.  On this Matthew Henry, the old Puritan Pastor says “the righteous are not meant to live in this world.”  They are meant to live beyond it.  What this gets at is the reality that for those who have faith it opens up a whole new dimension, where you realize that there is more than just the immediate, just the now.  There’s a world beyond the world.

Similarly, Jesus himself says in John 12:25 “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”  That’s one thing the argument about suffering and the goodness of God does not take into account, that there is more to life than just this world and God will see to it that his justice and goodness will reign over all.

What we learn here in the example of these suffering prophets is that faith does not necessarily imply an immunity from persecution, pain, humiliation, suffering and even a violent death.   Faith through suffering.

No matter which way you look at it faith isn’t easy.  If you’re victoriously triumphant in this world, it’s hard to think that God’s the one who gave the victory and you need him both in and beyond this world.  To be victorious in defeat is hard because it requires you to believe God cares and there is life beyond suffering.  But faith, an assurance and conviction in God, gives you that.

The now late John Stott writes, “In some of life’s situations it is impossible to conquer, escape, become might or victorious.  The powers are too great, the circumstances beyond our control.  In these cases faith is a life-accepting quality, enabling a man or woman to face suffering and adversity with serenity, endurance and trust…(it) turns agonizing distress into triumphant achievement.”

Look, I’ll just say this.  Some of you don’t suffer well and you’re not prepared to.  When things get tough you tend to bail on God.  Or you think that if you have enough faith it means that everything will go well for you all the time and you’ll escape suffering…that faith is what keeps suffering away.

The truth is that’s not true.  We live in a sin stained world where suffering is the reality until Jesus returns and we need a faith that can withstand it.  Life is hard and painful at times.  Suffering will strike.  And when it does we will be tempted to dive into depression, seek comforts other than God to ease our pain, and become bitter and resentful toward God and jealous to others whom we do not see suffering like us.  That will be the temptation.

But the example of these prophets show us something different.  They show us a warrior like faith that can withstand all the afflictions of the righteous.  I think that sometimes we fail to realize we as Christians are in a spiritual battle and I don’t mean politically here in our land over it’s silly laws and presidents.  Ephesians 6:12 says, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but….against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.“

Having Biblical faith is signing up for war.  We’re called to have a wartime mentality.  I don’t think it’s an accident the war heroes are listed first in this final example of Hebrews 11.  The war is won when faith in God takes place.  Some of you simply need to learn how to fight better!  And that’s what we’re here for…to train you.

I’ll say one more thing here and then we’ll move on.  Some of you are suffering right now.  I know.  The stuff that comes my way in a week sometimes just breaks me.  Suicide, terminal diseases, the inability to have children, miscarriages, divorce.  I know some of you are hurting.  God knows.  Look to God.  Put your faith in him, he loves you and cares for you.  Fight the temptation to run away, instead run to him.  Psalm 46 says he a refuge and fortress we can run into and be safe.

Others of you, hear me say this.  You don’t know what the person sitting next to you may be going through.  So love one another.  Be sensitive and caring.  Help your brothers and sisters fight the good fight well.

Okay, let’s move on to this second part.  Not really second half, I promise.  “The Fulfillment of Faith” and I’ll do both the subpoints together.

II.     The Fulfillment of Faith  (v39-40)

A.     All God’s People

B.     God With His People

Let me go ahead and re-read verses 39-40 again for us just to get them fresh in our heads.  “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”

Okay, so verse 39 looks backward at all the guys we’ve just talked about, maybe even everyone in the entire chapter and says they were “commended for their faith” but none of them “receive(d) what was promised” yet.

So neither the ones who were victorious here on earth in winning their battles or the ones that lost in suffering received the promise.  That tells us that the physical material victory over the opposition was not the goal for either one.  Instead, what their faith was point them toward was something better.

Do you guys see that?  Is it making sense?  Everyone is commended for their faith here…but the stories and circumstances of their lives really were not about the things that happened to them but were about something in the future they would receive that would be far better than the temporal earthly victories!  The victories whether in triumphant or defeat happen through faith but what happened was really just a foretaste, not the real thing.  So we’re tracking right?  Then the question is what is the better?  What is the fulfillment?

It’s two things and they’re found here in the last part of verse 40 here.  First, notice it says “God provided something better FOR US that apart FROM US they should not be made perfect.”  Did you pick up on the word “us.”  Who is the us?  It’s the people of God throughout all time, us, believers, Christians, those who have put faith in God and his promises, us!

If the victories in the past were the reward or fulfillment of faith in themselves then they would have been incomplete because it wouldn’t have included us, those who believe here and now.  This is huge.  It’s pointing out that faith is not just an individual thing but involves God bringing together all the believers throughout all time.  And he is still working that.  And the more people the better.  Apart from us, who have come way later, the vintage faith of the people of old would not be complete!

Romans 11:25 says there is a full number of believers who must be brought in before the end comes.  Jesus himself says in Matthew 24:14 that the “gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

So then maybe you ask…what are the people of Hebrews and throughout all the history of God’s people and us…what are we all waiting for?  We’ll spend the whole week on it next week.  But I’ll give you a hint. Hebrews 13:14, “We seek the the city that is to come.”  But for now, just know the first thing that’s better here in Hebrews 11 is that when all God’s people are together throughout all time, then faith will fully be fulfilled.

Now the second thing.  It’s in this last word of verse 40, “perfect.”  I think this English word “perfect” is a bad translation from the Greek.  The Greek word behind it is the aorist passive subjunctive of “tele-o” where we get the English word telos or teleology.  It means appointed goal, completion, consummation or fulfillment.  I think when we hear the word “perfect” we think more of something that’s done just right, like a perfect brand new car without any dents dings or dirt.

Here’s the cool thing.  Look just two verses down.  The second verse of chapter 12.  We have this same word here again.  Check it out.  12:1, “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” …all them and us!  Let us look to, verse 2, “Jesus, the founder and telos of our faith.”  Look to Jesus the completor, fulfiller, cossumator of our faith.

So cool!  So in verse 40 faith is incomplete until it is completed and in two verses later Jesus is the one who completes it!  All the people of old, with vintage faith had an incomplete faith until Jesus came on the scene to fulfill it.  And us?  Our faith is incomplete unless it’s a faith in Christ.

You see just sort of having this airy aloof faith in God is not enough.  It’s got to be faith in Jesus Christ.  He is the one who completes and fulfills the longings of our faith.

Now there’s a couple application points.  First, I’ll just point out the obvious one that comes with recognizing that faith is meant to bring together “All God’s People.”  We live this out in many ways here in now.  It’s part of what it means to be a part of a church.  We are living and worshipping as God’s people together.

What we recognize here is that faith is not just an individual thing, it’s a communal thing.  God is not only in the business of bringing us to him but bringing us toward one another.  The more we grow and mature in our faith together the more we bond in and band together.  I cannot encourage you enough to do that.  Join in with us.  I’m like a broken record.  Get in a community group.  Start opening up.  Eat meals together.  Talk about your lives with one another.  Pray for each other.  Be God’s people together.

The other application point is simply Jesus.  He’s the completion and fulfillment of our faith.  Here’s how and then we’ll prepare for His Supper.

In our passage today we saw mainly two different kinds of people, those who were victorious in triumph and those who were victorious in defeat.  Those who triumphed physically failed spiritually and those who triumphed spiritually failed physically.  Jesus succeeds in both.

Jesus like the judges and kings, is raised up by God to rescue and deliver his people.  But he delivers them from a far greater tyranny and oppression, that of sin and it’s master and he does so without ever failing himself.  The judges and kings all fail miserably.  Jesus doesn’t.  Jesus is the true and better judge and the true and better king who stripped the enemy of all his power and authority by nailing sin to the cross and through it emerged victorious!

Jesus like the suffering prophets spoke the word of God and was tortured, suffered mocking, flogging, imprisonment, affliction, and mistreatment as one whom the world truly was not worthy…and then he was cast away into a cave called a tomb.   But Jesus didn’t just speak the word of God, he was the word of God come down from the heaven above into our world in order to be the God who suffers and dies for his people.

But unlike the prophets, Jesus wasn’t defeated in death because three days later he rose from the dead and he lives today.  Jesus is the true and better prophet of God because through his death and resurrection he speaks a better word, the word of a new covenant in his blood that all who put their faith in him shall be saved.

Jesus is the true and better judge because he was judged for us so we wouldn’t have to receive the judgment of God for our sin.

Jesus is the true and better king because he the king who does haven’t his people fight for him but instead he goes out in front to fight and lay down his life for his people.

Jesus is the true and better prophet because he’s the prophet because he doesn’t just speak words about someone else who we need to look or something else we need to do but he speaks words about himself in how he has done it all for us.

What you and I need most is Jesus.  He does for us what we cannot do.  He fights and wins the battle against sin for us.  He suffers and dies the eternal death we deserve, is raised and gives us his new life.  Jesus truly is the completor of our faith, only he could do it and only he is sufficient.

Let’s conclude and prepare to receive of his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.

Conclusion

I’ll be real short and just attempt to appeal to your heart this way.  Whatever you think you have or think you need…Jesus is better.  The good news of the gospel is Jesus is better because he lived, died and rose for our sin.  Whatever may be standing in the way between you and Jesus this morning…make an exchange.  Come forward, leave it at his table and receive his good gift of grace.

I’ll say this too.  I’m a sinner.  Some weeks, some days I realize it more than others.  I’ll be honest, I’ve had a tough week.  I so easily try to take the place of God in my life.  I try to sit on his throne as judge.  And that’s damnable.  But I’m so glad our God is a God of mercy and damned his own son on the cross so I might receive grace and be welcomed in.

So just come and be honest with God from your heart before him this morning.  He knows it all already, so just tell him, have him love on you and be freed from the weight and burden of it all.  Jesus bore it and completed it so we wouldn’t have to and because we never could.  So come to him and receive his grace and thank him.

Let’s pray.

The following classes will be offered this spring 2012 during the March and April (03/04/12 to 04/29/12):

Theo 101 – Theology of the Resolved
An 8-week course covering the range of theological beliefs essential to the gospel. Topics include: the existence of God, the truth of the Bible, the depravity of humans, the good news of Jesus, the order of salvation, and the role of the church, art & culture. This class is necessary for membership in The Resolved Church. Sunday Evenings from 5:30-6:30pm.
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Theo 211 – Hermeneutics
A 8-week long course addressing the discipline of Bible interpretation. Topics include: rules of interpretation, aberrant theories, the historical grammatical principle, genre analysis, textual analysis, determining historical/cultural backgrounds and it’s significance, and the proper place of word studies. You will walk away from this course with a much richer understanding of the Bible and the tools to know how to study it on your own better. Sunday Evenings from 6:30-7:30pm.
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From The Marrow of Modern Divinity | Edward Fisher

“Briefly, then, if we would know when the law speaks, and when the gospel speaks, either in reading the word, or in hearing it preached; and if we would skillfully distinguish the voice of the one from the voice of the other, we must consider:—

Law. The law says, “Thou art a sinner, and therefore thou shalt be damned,” (Rom 7:2, 2 Thess 2:12).

Gos. But the gospel says, No; “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”; and therefore, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, (1 Tim 1:15, Acts 16:31).

Law. Again the law says, “Knowest thou not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God; be not deceived,” &c. (1 Cor 6:9). And therefore thou being a sinner, and not righteous, shalt not inherit the kingdom of God.

Gos. But the gospel says, “God has made Christ to be sin for thee who knew no sin; that thou mightest be made the righteousness of God in him, who is the Lord thy righteousness,” (Jer 23:6).

Law. Again the law says, “Pay me what thou owest me, or else I will cast thee into prison,” (Matt 18:28,30).

Gos. But the gospel says, “Christ gave himself a ransom for thee,” (1 Tim 2:6); “and so is made redemption unto thee,” (1 Cor 1:30).

Law. Again the law says, “Thou hast not continued in all that I require of thee, and therefore thou art accursed,” (Deut 27:6).

Gos. But the gospel says, “Christ hath redeemed thee from the curse of the law, being made a curse for thee,” (Gal 3:13).

Law. Again the law says, “Thou are become guilty before God, and therefore shalt not escape the judgment of God,” (Rom 3:19, 2:3).

Gos. But the gospel says, “The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son,” (John 5:12).”

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:31 | Pastor Duane Smets

This is an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:31. It covers the story of Rahab, her life as a prostitute, and the way in which her faith plays a role in leading the Egyptian Jews to God’s Promised Land. Special attention is given to how Jesus is the means by which we can reach the “Promised Land.” This sermon was originally preached on November 13th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church

November 13th, 2011

Faith & The Example of Rahab

Pastor Duane Smets  |  Hebrews 11:31

I.       The Pinnacle of Chapter 11:  Rahab & The History of Faith

II.     The Prostitutes of Scripture:  Rahab & The Obedience of Faith

III.    The Promise of Land:  Rahab & The Commander of Faith

Introduction

Today is the week in this sermon series I have been looking forward to since we started because we’re looking at Rahab.  She’s this seemingly obscure person that’s really part of a side detail of a much bigger story in the Old Testament and she gets picked up and highlighted here in Hebrews 11 as being  a central figure of Christian faith and history.  There’s just some cool stuff today with her…I think.

Have any of you had the experience where there’s been something so common to you, something you’ve seen a hundred times and so you don’t really notice it and then you do and it changes everything for you?  Maybe it’s a restaurant you discover that you walked or driven by a ton of times but never realized it was there…or maybe it’s a landmark and you come to have a whole new appreciation or meaning or what that thing is or represents…or maybe it’s a person like that classic story where the person you fall in love with just happens to be right there under your nose and you didn’t even realize it.  Do you guys know what I’m talking about?  Where something happens and you realize this thing is actually there and it brings this whole new perspective and excitement about it?

I’m a big Chronicles of Narnia fan, maybe you’re familiar with the books.  To me it’s kind of how Narnia is discovered.  They’re in an old house, playing hide and go seek and there’s this old wardrobe in one of the bedrooms.  Just a common, old school wooden closet that no one really ever thought twice about…it’s just there.  Then one day the kids discover that it’s not just any ordinary closet but is a gateway or portal to this whole other world and by going into it brings about these life changing, extraodrinary experiences which change their view of everything.

To me the story of Rahab and Hebrews 11 is kind of like that.  So if you’re down, come with me and let’s jump into the wardrobe, go down the rabbit’s hole and see what’s going on with this amazing figure of faith.  Just one verse today, so I’ll read it for us, we’ll respond with thanks to God for his Word and then I’ll pray over our study in it today.  (Read text and pray).

Alright, so we’re looking at three things today from this text, “The Pinnacle of Chapter 11:  Rahab & The History of Faith”, “The Prostitutes of Scripture:  Rahab & The Obedience of Faith”, “The Promise of Land:  Rahab & The Commander of Faith.”

I.       The Pinnacle of Chapter 11:  Rahab & The History of Faith

This first point is driven by the context of Hebrews chapter 11, what comes before Rahab and what comes after her.   In the chapter, seventeen different individuals are mentioned by name, but only ten of them are specifically highlighted for being ones who “by faith” had the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  And Rahab is the tenth and final one.

Rahab is surprising in this chapter for several reasons.

One, she’s the only other woman besides Sarah to be listed and Sarah really is brought up in light of her husband Abraham, the famous father of the faith.

Two, the people who have been listed are in Hebrews 11 are spiritual heavy weights.  I mean everyone mentioned thus far are huge Old Testament heroes…Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. Huge crucial founding father roles in the history of Judeo Christian belief.

Three, Rahab is not even a Jew.  She’s a pagan, Gentile, false god worshipping outsider and on top of it she’s not only a woman who were looked down upon, especially if they were not married, but she’s a prostitute.  We’ll talk a bunch more about that in our next point.  But as you can see here, really it’s like she just doesn’t belong in this list, in this chapter of Hebrews 11.

The English paragraph breaks here don’t help either because they just sort of include her as being part of the same “by faith” section that we talked last week when we talked about the people’s faith as a group when the walls of Jericho came tumbling down.  But the whole with Rahab happened before the walls fell down and the city was destroyed.

She’s really meant to stand alone, as the final, key, culminating example of faith.  After her she’s mentioned, there is just a rapid fire list of list of six more names and some quick general comments and then the chapter ends.  She’s the last “by faith” figure.

So the question is why?  Why is she here in this list?  I think it would have been clear to any of the original readers of this letter and if you know your Bible pretty well and the major figures of the Old Testament and you’re reading Hebrews 11 I think it clear.  Rahab is a surprise.  You don’t expect her.  She’s shocking.  Why would you include and conclude this hall of heroes who lived “by faith” with her?

To try and figure it out, let me tell you the story of Rahab.  It starts in Joshua, chapter 2. Hebrews 11 kind of moves through Biblical history, chronologically follow its story.  If you remember the story and where things left off last God’s people, Israel was in Egypt where they had multiplied greatly fulfilling God’s command and promise.  But after 430 years there they had become slaves.  They cried out to God for deliverance and God went to war for Israel against Egypt and used Moses as the human figure to lead them out.  After they leave Egypt they wander around in the desert for forty years waiting and looking for this land God had promised them where they would settle and live under God’s blessing.

They finally come to the land and they know it’s the place but there’s this city Jericho standing in the way, blocking the entrance into the land.  God confirms it’s the place and promises to crush Jericho so they may enter in.  He does so but having them perform what seems like a silly act of faith to show they trusted God to fight for them as he did in Egypt.  So he has them march around the city seven times and then the whole place is flattened and supernaturally crumbles to the ground.

Now, before they go march around Jericho, Joshua the successor and leader of Israel after Moses’ time sends some spies into land to look for confirmation that this is God’s place and he also sends them into the city of Jericho to check out what they’re up against.  Joshua 2:1 says when they went into the city they went to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stay the night there.  That doesn’t sound or look good.

The king of Jericho gets word of it and send a message to Rahab to turn over the men.  When he does she lies and says the men came to her for her services but she didn’t know they were spies and that they had already left.  And the king buys it.  Joshua chapter 2 goes on to tell us what really happened…how she knew they were Israelite spies and that she had heard of the fame of YHWH, the LORD God and what he did to Egypt and confesses belief in him as the LORD God who rules over heaven and earth (Josh 2:11).  When the spies hear this from her they promise to save her, her family and friends.  And that’s what happens.

Okay…so to tell you the truth I don’t really want to tell you just yet why Rahab is here in Hebrews 11 and why she’s such a big deal.  We’ll get to it in few minutes, but I mainly wanted to introduce you to her and set the problem up for you.  However, there is an inherent principle in this for us just at a basic level.  Rahab is a nobody.  And she gets included in this great list of heroes in the history of the faith.  It’s a reminder to us of two things.

First, that God is a God who has chosen to work with men…and women…in human history!  There is a rich history of faith that gets passed down through generations.  Individuals matter, they count and God cares.  It’s more than just history because of that.  It’s not just backward documentation of things that happened.  It’s huge that God, the maker of heaven and earth, who needs nothing and is not required to do anything…chooses to make himself known little tiny insignificant people!  And that there is a purpose to that.  The history of faith is much much more than the mere recording of events it’s the story of God working in and among and with human beings.

God means for you to be a part of what he is doing in history.  We get so wrapped up into our lives and thinking that all about what going on with us right now or this week or whatever and got wants to have a much bigger vision for our lives.  In what he doing through individuals and generations of faith.

The second thing she reminds us of is that unexpected nobodies are can become extremely significant to God.  Have you ever felt like a nobody?  Like you really don’t have that much to offer?  Like there is always someone else or other people who are the ones really gifted or in the know or who always seem to do well…but when it comes to you, there’s nothing really special about you.  Rahab reminds us that as insignificant as we are we are special and important to God who he sees and means for us to be listed in the hall of faith.

Maybe think of it this way…what would your name look like in the chapter?  What would it say about you?  Where are you on the plane of God’s working with men and women in history?  If you were to die today what would you be remember for?  What is he doing and why?  What right now, in this season of your life does it seem like God is wanting to teach you or draw out of you?

Well, let’s move on and I’ll give us one more piece to add to the puzzle of why Rahab is significant, “The  Prostitutes of Scripture: Rahab & The Obedience of Faith.”

II.     The Prostitutes of Scripture:  Rahab & The Obedience of Faith

The very first thing our verse says about Rahab is that she is “Rahab the prostitute.”  Now back in Rahab’s day there were two kinds of prostitutes, common prostitutes and cult prostitutes.  Cult prostitutes were ones people would use to worship fertility gods, like Asherah of Rahab’s day and would normally be employed by the religious temple or place of worship.  Common prostitutes were like the ones we have today, whom men would go to for sexual pleasure.

It appears Rahab’s the latter kind.  She may have even ran a whore house, as some aspects of the story in Joshua allude to.  Now, what is striking besides the mere fact that the Bible talks about Rahab being a prostitute is that she is commended, not dejected and she’s commended for her obedience.  Do see that next line there, “Rahab…the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient.”  So in contrast she was obedient.  The prostitute is obedient.

We’ll talk about this obedience in a second but first of all I’d be failing you as a preacher of the Bible if I didn’t tell you that this actually happens to be a repeated and important theme in Scripture…God’s love or favor on prostitutes.  They’re called either “prostitutes”, “harlots” or “whores” in the Bible.  I’ll give you a brief smattering.  I counted 87 references to prostitutes in Scripture.  It’s seriously surprising how much they come up.

First, it’s not a good thing.  Prostitution, both the offer and use of a person’s body sexually outside of marriage for money is sexual sin.  Real clear, 1 Corinthians 6:15 “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!”  Interesting the Greek word in the New Testament that gets translated as prostitute is “pornea” where we get the word pornography.  So yes, looking at porn counts as getting a prostitute.

Second, some crazy stuff goes down with prostitutes in Scripture.  In the Old Testament, Sarah who was mentioned earlier in Hebrews, gets pimped out by Abraham twice.  Tamar dresses up like a prostitute to get Judah, who the name Jew comes from to sleep with her and he does.

In the New Testament, Jesus especially extends his love and forgiveness to prostitutes.  In Matthew 21:16 he says to the religious folk who thought they we’re better than others because they worshipped God, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.”  And then we read of a couple scenes where this gets demonstrated.

In one, Mary Magadelene, a town prostitute comes to a place were Jesus is eating dinner and she pours a whole bottle of oil, a whole years’ worthy of her harlot’s wages on Jesus feet petitioning him for mercy and salvation and he says to her, “Your sins are forgiven…your faith has saved you; go in peace (Lk 7:48,50).”

Now here is the really crazy thing.  No matter what time or era you live in, prostitution has never been looked at a good thing.  In the Bible it becomes one of the chief analogies for spiritual adultery, worshipping and serving other gods than the one true God, YHWH, the maker and ruler of all heaven and earth.  For example, Deuteronomy 31:16 God says to Moses “This people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them.”

On top of that, all throughout Scripture one of the main ways that God speaks of and describes his relationship with his people is like that of a groom and his bride.  God is the husband and the people are his wife.  Then comes the book of Hosea.  Maybe you’ve read it, maybe you’ve never heard of it?  It’s one of the Old Testament books of the Bible, it’s right after Daniel and right before Joel.

Here’s the story of Hosea. Hosea is a prophet of God.  God comes to Hosea and he tell him that he wants him to go marry this woman named Gomer. And he tells him ahead of time that Gomer is going to cheat on him, multiple times, have children from other men but each time he does to take her back and take the kids as his own.

Hoeas is obedient to God though. Things start off okay and they have a baby together named Jezreel. But then sure enough Gomer starts sleep around, gets pregnant and gives birth to a daughter. Hosea names her “No Mercy” and takes his wife back. But it’s not long before she cheats on him again and gets pregnant again from another dude. But he takes her back and calls the son “Not My People.” But then she leaves him again and actually ends up being an official whore employed by a pimp. What’s Hosea do? He goes to her pimp and buys back his wife, from the pimp with a bunch of money.

Crazy story right?  Here’s the question, “Why did God want Hosea to do that?” The Bible tells us. It says God told Hosea he wanted him to do this because his people had committed “great whoredom by forsaking [him] (Hos 1:2) but despite their whoring he loved them and was going to buy them back and then they would come and “fear to the LORD “ and know “his goodness” all their days (Hos 3:5). God had Hosea do this because it was a picture of his love for his us!

I went through all of this stuff about prostitutes today so that we could come to this point because I think this is the reason why prostitutes come up so much in Scripture and why they have such a special place in the mind and heart of God and probably even a little bit of why Rahab gets included in Hebrews 11…because it is in the nature and the heart of God to love and extends grace to his people even though they are like prostitutes.

It’s perhaps one of the most vivid pictures of the gospel there is.  Numbers 15:39 says “Remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.”  The reality and the truth about us, is we in our nature, in our sinful hearts and condition are like whores.  And the goodness of the gospel is that God loves us anyways and sent his son to die for us.

In Ephesians 5 one of the most well known illustrations of Jesus’ relationship with the church is that of a bride.  Ephesians 5:25 calls husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.  Romans 5:8 says that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  And even after becoming Christians we’re still prone to and inclined to whore ourselves away.  In fact 1 John 4:8 says if we say we have no sin we’re liars and the truth is not in us.  And we know this, we, on this side of heaven still fail and fall, countless times.  And yet, the gospel is not based upon our performance.  Jesus knew we were whores when he married us and died for us, just like Hosea.

And what makes the difference, is faith.  Embracing the promise and provision of God for us in Christ.  In our verse for today, in Hebrews 11:31 it says that Rahab didn’t perish because she was obedient.  What essentially happens in the story in Joshua chapter 2 and chapter 6 is God, through the spies offers Rahab and anyone who will listen salvation.  If they listened to the word and promise of God, that he was giving Jericho into Israel’s hand and if they obeyed and followed the spies instructions they would be saved.  And Rahab and many alongside her do.

Joshua 6:25 says “Rahab the prostitute and all her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshed saved alive.”  What we’re hearing and seeing with Rahab is what the book of Romans calls “the obedience of faith.”  Romans 1:5 says, “We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.”

Maybe you’ve never thought about faith like that?  Like it’s a mater of obeying.  But there is almost always an aspect of obedience to faith.  We hear the starkness of our condition…we’re sinners who need salvation, we’re whores.  Then we hear the good news of God’s plan of salvation that he has provided for and offers.  Then there is either obedience in embracing it or disobedience in rejecting it.

In a very real way our response to the gospel and our continual living in and through the gospel is an acknowledging this and embracing all that God has provided for us to save us through Christ.  There’s a song we’re gonna sing today during communion that a Christian folk artist named Derek Webb wrote awhile back called “Wedding Dress.”

It captures exactly what we’re talking about today in this point.  Let me read you the lyrics and then we’ll move on to our final point for today.  So listen for what it looks like for you and I to be those who embrace the gospel like Rahab in the obedience of faith.  “Wedding Dress.”  It starts out from the perspective of God in the fist two lines and the quickly switches over to ours for the rest of the song.

If you could love me as a wife,

and for my wedding gift, your life…

Should that be all I’d ever need?

Or is there more I’m looking for?

Should I read between the lines?

and look for blessings in disguise?

To make me handsome, rich, and wise?

Is that really what you want?

I am a whore I do confess.

But I put you on just like a wedding dress,

and I run down the aisle, and I run down the aisle.

I’m a prodigal with no way home,

but I put you on just like a ring of gold,

and I run down the aisle to you.

So could you love this bastard child?

Though I don’t trust you to provide?

With one hand in a pot of gold

and with the other in your side?

I am so easily satisfied,

by the call of lovers so less wild.

That I would take a little cash,

over your very flesh and blood.

I am a whore I do confess.

But I put you on just like a wedding dress,

and I run down the aisle, and I run down the aisle.

That song just wrecks me every time I hear it or read it.  Look.  I know it’s not politically correct to use the word “whore” in church.  But man, it’s in the Bible.  We got a whole book about it.  And I don’t know of a more piercing and and beautiful picture in all of Scripture that depicts the disgusting reality of my sin and yet at the same time the wonderful glorious grace of God for sinners like us.

It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’ve come from…whatever your story is…the good news of the gospel is that there is forgiveness and salvation in Jesus.  Maybe you’ve felt like this…  Like you’re two steps forward and then two steps back with God.   You love and serve him for awhile but then it drops off as you get caught up into other things.  You are not faithful.  Know the goodness of the gospel today.  God is a God who loves and cares for the cheaters who fail and he invites us in to be welcomed into his graces and to be changed.

May God grant us the humility and the obedience to run down the aisle to be embraced by his loving and forgiving arms…again and again and again.  Well, let’s move on to our final point this morning and I’ll finally tell you what I really think about Rahab and why she’s in this chapter.  “The Promise of Land: Rahab & The Commander of Faith.”

III.    The Promise of Land:  Rahab & The Commander of Faith

Alright.  So, the first character other God, the first human name to be mentioned in Hebrews 11 is Abel.  Abel is one of the sons of Adam and Eve who were driven out of the good land of the garden of Eden because of sin.  The stories of all the individuals mentioned in Hebrews 11 from him on is driven by the need for a people of God who worship him in the place of God.

The place of God with his people gets called “the promised land.”  In our chapter…Abel gets killed by his brother Cain who soils the ground with his blood. Enoch is taken out of the land. Through Noah the land is cleansed.  In Abraham the promise of new land and a people to populate it is given.  Through his son and grandon Isaac and Jacob the family grows.  With Joseph, the family of God moves away from the land to Egypt.  Under Moses, they leave Egypt to go back to the promised land.  Moses dies and who do you expect next, who actually takes them into the land?  Joshua!

They come to the brink of it, to the city of Jericho and if you know the story who is leading Israel?  Joshua.  But no Joshua in Hebrews!  Instead, who do we have?  Rahab, the prostitute.  This is shocking.  Unreal.  It would have sent any Jew who grew up with the Scriptures into a headspin.  Rahab is the punch line of the entire chapter because she’s there instead of Joshua!

Now follow me here, because as we’ll see with rest of the chapter next week and our final week in it, I think Rahab is the key that unlocks the entire meaning of Hebrews 11.  What’s easy to forget when you’re working through just a chapter like this, is that it is part of an entire book.  Hebrews 11 is one chapter among thirteen.  So with that I think there are two other passages we have to look at in Hebrews which pull this whole thing together for us.

The first is Hebrews 12: 1-2.  The very first verses of the next chapter.  What they do is look backward on all of Hebrews 11 and tell us what they’re all about.  So here it is, look at it with me, Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses (all the people just mentioned in Hebrews 11), let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings to us so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.”

Wow!  So what Hebrews 12:2 tells us is that the forward looking faith of every character was a faith that was looking to Jesus.  True faith is always and only fulfilled in Jesus.  And who is he?  What does he do?  He is a founder of faith.  The word “founder” is a construction term.  Jesus is a builder.  Remember that.

Okay, now the other passage.  Hebrews 13:12-14, in some of the concluding and summarizing marks of the entire book, Hebrews 13:12-14, “Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.  Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach that he endured.  For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”

This is huge!!!  Stay with me.  So all the cloud of witnesses, the heroes of Hebrews 11 are looking forward to being a people of God in the place of God, a promised land.  All of their future faith is fulfilled in Jesus who is the founder.

But! Rather than taking over the corrupt city of Jerusalem, he allows himself to be crucified outside it’s gates in order to take bring God’s people to the city that is to come.  You with me?  Okay.  One last verse.  Back to Joshua.  Joshua 6:23 again.  I read part of it earlier.  I read it in full now.  Joshua 6:23 “The young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belong to her.  And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp.”

Did you hear that last line?  They bring out her and her family and put them outside the camp!  They can’t be in the camp because she is a dirty Gentile whore.  But she believes in the God of the Bible and his promise to save sinners and thus she becomes the climactical example in Hebrews of what true faith looks like…because it wasn’t Joshua, the commander of the army of the Lord who took God’s people into the land.  It was Jesus…because the true land was the place of worship between God and his people and you only enter into that place through faith in him.

Super interesting…Joshua’s name means “YHWH saves.”  It’s actually the same name as Jesus.  Joshua is just the Hebrew word, Jesus is Greek.  In Joshua’s place stands a prostitute because she didn’t trust in the Joshua of ancient Israel, she trusted in YHWY, the God who saves, who is the true and better Joshua, Jesus Christ, the Lord.

Jesus, the sinless savior comes to earth, never whores himself away and instead always loves God and is devoted to him.  Then he takes on the sins of his people as if they we’re his very own and he’s crucified outside the camp like a pagan prostitute so that all his family and friends might be saved and brought into the great city of God that is to come.

The beauty of this whole story with Rahab is that she is the culminating figure who pulls everything together and directs it all to Christ!  Even in her very bloodline.  Rahab ends up marrying a man named Salmon and together they give birth to Boaz and if you follow their family line on down in Matthew 1, you find that it is is this very family who ends up giving birth to Jesus Christ several generations later.  Rahab ends up being one of Jesus’ great great grandmothers.

This is such a beautiful story and picture of the gospel.  Phenomenal.  I’ve just been astounded by all this.  But here’s the thing.  I was thinking about it all and preparing for today and I realized something that could be a danger for us…

To me, see how carefully crafted this story is and how it is all built and designed to point to Jesus in this incredible way just excites me!  That the Bible is this jewel of a book so cleverly composed and that the Bible writers had this Spirit driven ability to take the great stories of the history of God’s people and show how they were all pointing to Jesus…that just gets me going!  But here’s the danger for us.

We can look at a text and take a story like this and sort of look in on it from that outside.  Like, “oh look at that, isn’t that nice, how cool…over there…” like we’re looking at a painting or an artifact at a museum or something.  And if we do that, we would end up missing how God means for this story and his word to reach us.

Really, the goal of the story is that we too might enter into the promised land through faith in Jesus as Rahab did.  For so long the promised land, the place flowing with milk and honey, it was conceived of as a fixed geographical locale in the Middle East, Israel.  In John 4 Jesus encounters another prostitute of sorts at a well, a woman who had been doing a bunch of sleeping around with like 7 different men.  Jesus tells her he is the messiah and the way he does it is real interesting.

She wasn’t a Jew and because she wasn’t she strikes up a conversation with Jesus basically about the promised land asking him where he thought it was.  Jesus answers by saying this.  “The hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”  She answers by saying she knew one day that would be so when the messiah came and to that Jesus says, “I who speak to you am he (John 4:23,26).”

What Jesus does in that response is take all of the longing and looking for the promised land and centers it upon himself.  It’s in him…no longer fixed to one specific geographical local but is found wherever there is the worship of God through belief and redemption in Jesus the Messiah.

For us today, the way that we don’t keep this story sitting over there as a nice artifact is by entering into the promised land as Rahab did, through looking to Jesus the founder of the true and better city, the place where in Spirit and in truth we worship our God.  This city, this place, is the place of the redeemed, where instead of milk and honey the body and blood of our Lord nourishes us and enables us to live happily before our God.

So what land are you living in?  Do you live in the promised land, where sinners are welcomed into the fellowship of God through Jesus, who lived, died and rose again?  Or are you still seeking something different or something better?  Who or what are you looking to in order to make you happy?  What is the promised land for you?  The good life?  The answer of Hebrews 11:31 is that it is the place of faith, where we love, worship and trust Jesus Christ the Lord.  The danger is thinking anything else but Jesus will satisfy and save.

Conclusion

Well, let’s prepare for the Lord’s Supper.  Each week here at The Resolved we do this.  We sing about our God. We study our God’s Word.  And then we eat our God’s meal.  Each week when we come to this portion of the service, we respond to God’s word by coming down one of these aisles to one of the tables to deal with our hearts and to meet with Jesus.

When we tear a piece of bread off and dip it in the wine it’s really a confession.  We’re saying Jesus you are enough.  Jesus you are what I need.  Jesus you are my savior.  Jesus you died for me.  Jesus I live for you.  Jesus I trust you.  Jesus I thank you.

1 Corinthians 11:26 says every time we do this we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.  The promised land flowing with milk and honey comes through putting faith in the body and blood of Jesus which flows from his side.

The gospel is always a two edged sword.  Today, some of you feel beat up, broken, filled with shame, guilt and remorse.  Just like a prostitute.  And what you need to hear is that Jesus died for you.  He loves you and took on your sin as if it were his own and no matter what you’ve done or how many times you’ve failed, that doesn’t change.  So if you’re in that place today, look to Jesus and experience the saving power of the gospel.

The other side of the sword is that today, some of you think you’re fine and doing all right but the reality is there isn’t a whole lot of Jesus in your life.  You’re living in a different land.  You don’t like the thought of being called a sinner, being told your a prostitute and a whore and the reason is deep down you think you’re better than that.  And I would just beg and plead of you…if you took an honest look for just one second I’m sure you’d see the duplicity and flippancy of your heart.  You need Jesus.  Humble yourself and embrace the goodness of the gospel.

The gospel is the great equalizer because under it everyone is in the same boat.  We’re all sinners who need a savior and God in his grace has richly provided us with his son who died on the cross and rose again so that we might be forgiven and risen to new life with him.

I asked Sean to play Derek Webb’s song Wedding Dress today for our first song of communion. I know it’s an intense song.  But as we sing it and respond to the gospel remember the intensity of the cross and the beauty of what God does for us.  As a church we’re dirty, stained and unworthy and yet God puts a white wedding dress and a ring of gold on us and has us as his own.  God is a great God who has loved us with a great great love.

Let’s respond to that today as we sing and receive the Lord’s Supper.

Let’s pray.

Blog | John Bale

“O  happiness ! Happiness ! I have seen born life itself, I have seen its first movement.

The blood within my veins throbs so powerfully it can hardly be contained.  I feel a desire to fly, swim, and utter the noise made by every animal. I would have wings, a shell, be as the plants, the odors, water, sound, light, I would take every form, penetrate each atom, descend to the foundation of all matter — be matter itself! …

The day at last appears, and like the curtains of a tabernacle that are lifted, discovers the sky. In the midst of this sky and in the disk of the sun there shines forth the face of Jesus Christ. ”

The Temptation of St. Anthony by Gustave Flaubert

When I was younger, and [maybe just a little] less mature in my faith, I imagined myself to be a sort of monk, capably willful and full of spiritual fortitude enough to renounce The World and dedicate myself in allegiance to Christ alone. This was a silly presumption that I’d like to think I’ve grown out of, and, as much as it pains me to admit it an experimental French novel called The Temptation of St Anthony did a great deal to help me along the way.

The central question of the text is one that mirrors a concern brought up in Duane’s most recent sermon this Sunday: How do we consider the “fleeting pleasures of Sin” while living in The World, in light of the affections that God demands of us? If Moses is justified by faith in rejecting such fleeting pleasures, as Hebrews 11 tells us, how can a man who is believed to have rejected the same pleasures in exchange for the desert wastes of Egypt, still be a sinner, in need of The Cross, as Romans 3 tells us?

Gustave Flaubert, a man notorious for his licentious and self-indulgent lifestyle, even among the French, in Temptation showcases an insight into the human affections, religious or otherwise, that is unrivaled even in the work of such better, English-speaking, authors as Jonathan Edwards, Milton, and Herman Melville. “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous,” indeed.

Flaubert uses the story of St. Anthony for two reasons: First, even he seems uncomfortable questioning the accolades of Christ, Moses, or even the apostles; the legendary representation of a Catholic monk is much safer to humanize according to his own needs. Second, he was inspired when he saw Brueghel’s painting based on the legend in a museum. He spent 30 years working on the text afterward, and died (of complications related to venereal diseases) believing that it was his masterpiece. You might not know the story of St. Anthony, but you have seen one of the paintings. Almost everyone who was anyone has taken a shot at it. You might even know somebody who has a version of St. Anthony tattooed on their abdomen…

The short version of the story is this: Anthony follows the logic of verses like Hebrews 11 and associates the “fleeting pleasures” found in The World with Sin very literally, and in order to avoid Sin, leaves The World behind. While in the desert, various demons tempt him with visions of those same pleasures, and he is reported to have rejected them all.

Yet, if the Bible is true, even St. Anthony was a monstrous sinner in need of a savior. How can this be true? Flaubert seems to begin with the suspicions that are raised by Jesus himself in the Sermon on the Mount. Fantasy and visions still count. Hallucinatory or demonically inspired, Anthony’s visions betray the base motivations and desires of his heart, even if the simple realities of his life bare witness to the fact that he didn’t eat food, drink wine, or sleep with women. In Flaubert’s text, Anthony wants to revel in every last one of all Seven of the Deadly Sins. But, remembering The Cross, he denies them.

How do we know he is still depraved, even as deprived as he is? The story begins with the monk lying in the dirt, starving and alone. Compared to Job, he is immediately made to look like a fool, seeking company from vicious jackals that lurk near by, awaiting his death. When they scamper away Anthony begins to complain and tries to curse the earth, literally, by stomping, jumping up and down upon it like a child, mid-tantrum.

He cries out at the universe, but finds encouragement in a cross shaped shadow in the moonlight, and decides to power through. He goes back into his cave to find inspiration in The Bible.

But his sin is so deep that it corrupts even Scripture. He reads about other figures who had suffered and is constantly bitter and jealous, thinking about how they all got off easy compared to himself: Peter and the disciples got food (“Arise, Peter! Kill and eat!” Acts 10:11-13), the Jews got to slaughter their enemies in revenge (Esther 9: 5ff.), and even Nebuchadnezzar bowed before Daniel, for a time (Daniel 2:46).

Anthony is only able to dwell upon how much more he suffers than all the rest of God’s venerated servants. He is jealous and bitter, not holy or righteous. In this state, the hermit is visited by demons that tempt him with the full power of The Seven Deadly Sins.

It is when the text comes to Wealth that we get the clearest glimpse into what is going on with Anthony. Tempted with gold and silver he says that, “The one who possesses so vast an accumulation of wealth is no longer like other men. While handling his riches he knows that he controls the total result of innumerable human efforts – as it were the life of nations drained by him and stored up, which he can pour forth at will.”

What is appealing to Anthony, then, is not the wealth itself, but the power to be independently satisfied by his own effort, to indulge himself on his own desires by his own power; to serve himself. Anthony rejects “fleeting pleasures” in order to prove that his not a “slave to sin.” But he does not necessarily want to serve Christ as king in the place of pleasure. By seeking first his own justification, he is just as misguided in attempting to willfully reject The World as Moses might have been in accepting it. Moses chooses to serve God instead of using earthly pleasure to serve himself; Anthony finds a way to make the denial of worldly pleasure a self-serving act. You know the sin runs deep when he can even turn God’s Word into something that is self-involved and self-serving.

In this way Flaubert suggests that Anthony is still a sinner, damnable to Hell for his pride and heresy. Anthony doesn’t want to be like other men; he wants to be like Christ. But wanting to be like Christ by will is not the same thing as wanting to serve Him by faith. He wants the power to make pleasures serve himself. He wants to be his own master within The World, even if that means he must reduce “The World” to a cave in the desert.

For the Frenchman, this self-indulgent denial is almost satanic; “The two shadows formed behind him by the arms of the cross, suddenly lengthen and project themselves before him. They assume the form of two great horns.” The text goes on to say that with “his eyes still closed, Anthony yields to the pleasure of inaction; and stretches his limbs upon the mat.” Anthony has not rejected The World in favor of The Cross of his King, but only for another, smaller world, that he can rule with all measure of delight from the comfort of his mattress.

How different a sentiment is this than that of Milton’s Satan who is famous for stating that it is “better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven?” Not very much of one at all.

So what is it that we can (and I have) learn from this, the criticism of a heathen?

We can learn that a lack of indulgent affections for The World does not directly translate to a religious affection for The Lord. “The fleeting pleasures of Sin” are not “fleeting” because the pleasures are weak, but because the sinful world that we encounter them within is doomed. Within The World we can rule our own desires like tyrants, indulging them or denying them, but in either case, we are satisfied only within this world.

We cannot choose to reject The World and replace it, by our own power, with The Cross, because The Cross is so much bigger and more satisfying than anything that can be conceived within our tiny caves. In fact, the delight and satisfaction of salvation is so overwhelmingly powerful that when we are exposed to it, we are incapable of denying it; all other delights are lost in the shadow of the sun. The everlasting relief of The Cross divests of our ability to wallow in our self-indulgence. We become slaves once again, serving now a true and better king, according to His good pleasure.

As John Owen has said, “When someone sets his affections upon The Cross and the love of Christ, he crucifies The World as a dead and undesirable thing. The baits of sin lose their attraction and disappear. Fill your affections with The Cross of Christ and you will find no room for sin.”

The Cross must come first. Moses is justified by faith, not because he was better at denying himself the treasures and pleasures of The World, or because he was better at ruling himself than Pharaoh, but because he was given a vision of The Cross, and followed it, even into the desert. Anthony chased a shadow into the desert, but in the end it turned out to be his own.

After 200 pages of trippy narrative, the Frenchman ends his text with Anthony finally seeing the face of Christ, within the sun, looking down on him (yep, still pretty trippy), and is filled with ecstasy and affection, which obliterates all the worldly temptations that had come before. It is not the rejection in the desert, or the trials with the demons that save and justify Anthony, but an inspired affection for Christ, the only man capable of both ruling The World and rejecting it on The Cross.

I don’t know if Flaubert was capable of writing all of this without experiencing or believing in at least part of it; nobody will ever claim that Gustave Flaubert died a Christian. Yet, his examination of a monk’s affections helped me to see that I was living more like Flaubert’s Anthony than I was like God’s own Moses. The maturity of my faith in God’s glory began not with my rejection of The World, but with my affection for The Cross. Flaubert spent more time in brothels than he did in Church, and he rejected Anthony’s rejection of all the “fleeting pleasures of sin,” but in the end our hope is all the same: There is more pleasing glory in a moonlit shadow of The Cross than in every delight of The World by daylight.

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:23-30 | Pastor Duane Smets

This is an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:23-30. It covers the story of Moses, his life as a the first leader of God’s chosen people, who lead by faith in the God who was already “vintage” in the days of the ancient Egypt. Special attention is given to Jesus in that Jesus was the true king that Moses served, feared, and followed.  This sermon was originally preached on November 6th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church

November 6th, 2011

Faith & The Example of Moses and Israel

Pastor Duane Smets  |  Hebrews 11:23-30

I. Allegiance to the True King (v23,27)

II. Treasuring God and His People (v24-26)

III. Confidence in He Who Delivers (v28-30)

Introduction

Good morning. Today in Hebrews 11 we come upon Moses and the people of Israel, which basically looks at the time frame the whole book of Exodus covers.  Moses ties with Abraham in the whole book Hebrews as being mentioned more than any other person than Jesus and he also ties with Abraham here in chapter 11 in getting six verses that look at his example of faith.

If you were a Jew living in the first century, who a majority of the people who were first reading this book, Hebrews…Moses was a big deal.  He was considered by most as the greatest person of all Jewish history.  Nobody ranked higher.  Jewish culture was formed around the law and Moses was the one through whom God gave the law.  Moses is a big deal.

He sort of like George Washington is to the United States…the dude who really put the country on the map, it’s first president.  In Hebrews 11 the story has been progressing as God has revealed himself to various individuals and with Moses it finally reaches a whole group of people, Israel.  There’s creation, then the first sons of Adam and Eve, then Noah, then the promise of a family nation to Abraham, who has just one kid, but the promise gets passed down through Isaac, then Jacob and then Joseph.  As the promise is being passed on, the family is getting bigger and bigger.

In Hebrews 11, the previous three stories of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph all end in there death but when we come to Moses, the story begins with his birth and the birth of “the people” as we’ll see.  With Moses it’s the first time there is now “a people” and as a group they exercise faith.  So today we are looking at “Faith & The Example of Moses and Israel” in verses 23-30.  There are five “by faith” statements in these seven verses and six different scenes or stories that go with them.  Yet thematically there are really three main issues here, so we’ll work through the faith statements and the stories today by looking at: “Allegiance to the True King”, “Treasuring God and His People” and “Confidence in He Who Delivers.”

We’ll see as with all the other characters who get highlighted in this chapter, that their stories are not so much about them and their examples but the God they believed in.  So first, let’s go ahead and read the text and pray over it together.  We’re in Hebrews 11:23-30 (read text and pray).

I. Allegiance to the True King (v23,27)

Okay, so mainly what we have the writer of Hebrews doing here, is what he has been doing all chapter long and that is, he assumes we know the stories he references and what he is doing is adding theological content and interpretation onto what happened with these ancient figures of faith.  So here with Moses, he begins at his birth.

What happens according to Exodus 12 is about four hundred years go by from the time when Joseph (who we studied last time) is ruling the land of Egypt.  And after four hundred years, several new Egyptian kings come and go and any kind of preferential treatment toward Joseph’s family, the Jews, gets lost.  In fact what happens during this time is God fulfills his ancient promise to Abraham to make a great and numerous nation out of his family.  All the women are popping out babies like mad.  Super fertile.

A new Egyptian king comes along and he sees how the Jews are getting so numerous he worries that they will outnumber the Egyptians and overtake them.  So he does two things.  One he makes the Jews slaves and two, he made a law that any male Jewish baby that gets born is to be put to death.

Then Moses is born, a male Jewish baby.  The text says he was beautiful.  I’ve never seen an ugly baby, but okay.  Like any good parents they don’t want their child to die, so the hide him for three months and then come up with a plan.  They make a baby basket that can float in the water and they send him on down the river so that he ends up down near where the Pharaoh king’s daughter is bathing in the river and when she sees this little baby she does what all women do around little babies and she starts talking baby talk and picks him up and wants to take him home.

And she does, so Moses grows up in the house of the king like one of his own sons instructed in wisdom and trained for leadership and battle.  Historians say this was likely during the height of Egypt’s power and wealth.  Moses literally becomes an adopted in Egyptian prince.  It’s like winning the lottery.  He’s in!

Now, pause for a second and insert Hebrews theological interpretation.  Verse 23, says Moses life is marked by faith from his birth and it cites his parents hiding him and preserving his life as a sign of that.  Then Hebrews here says something else really interesting about it, almost odd.  What’s it say at the end of verse 23? That they were “not afraid of the king’s edict.”  Wait.  Isn’t that why they hide him, because they’re afraid of the king’s edict that all Jewish baby boys must be killed?

So what’s going on here?  Acts 7, is actually helpful here and will be super helpful later on today too.  In Acts 7, Stephen, one of the apostles who helped start the church, he gives a sermon before he is stoned to death becoming the first Christian martyr.  In his sermon he talks about Moses and he says Moses, when he was born was “beautiful in God’s sight (Acts 7:20).”

Now I could be wrong, but I think Hebrews may assume we understand when it says the parents saw he was “beautiful” that it means beautiful in God’s sight and not just that he was a cute little baby.  You gotta remember, Moses was huge, almost like comic book hero status if you were a Jew in the first century.  There were all kinds of legends about him, one even says that when he came out of the womb a brilliant heavenly light filled the room.

Okay.  So I don’t really think that happened and I don’t really think the parents could tell Moses was going to be this great figure one day when they saw him as a little baby.  I think very simply they recognized little babies are a beautiful gift from God.  Like Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.”

So when Hebrews 11:23 says they hid him because they saw the child was beautiful and were not afraid of the king I think what it’s pointing out is they worshipped and served and trusted a higher king.  A king who’s edict “to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” was more important.  Moses parents had an allegiance to the true king, the Lord God Almighty.  They feared God the king more than they feared the Egyptian Pharaoh king.

Then there this.  Fast forward a bit.  Moses grows up in the Pharaoh king’s house and one day he sees two dudes fighting, an Egyptian guy and a Jewish guy and he steps in and kills the Egyptian.  We’ll come back to this story and why he did it in our next point, but for now let’s skip down to verse 27 and look at what it says he did after this happened.

Verse 27 says, “By faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king.”  Funny.  Again we’ve got a situation where it looks like on the outset that’s the very reason he flees, he just killed a guy, he committed a racially charged murder against his own adopted race.  Common sense would say, he’s afraid of the king’s justice and judgment against him for killing an Egyptian.  This is the very thing the Pharaoh was worried about, Jews rising up and overpowering the Egyptians.

But instead of being afraid of the Pharaoh king, who does the text says he was concerned about?  “Him who is invisible.”  Who do you think that is?  I’ll give you a hint.  It’s God.  Listen to 1 Timothy 1:17 “King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.”

So rather than being afraid of the Pharaoh, Moses, like his parents, feared a greater king, the invisible, immortal King of the ages, the Lord God almighty.  Yes, for sure Pharaoh is livid with him, Exodus 2 says he sought to kill him.  And Acts 7 tells us that his Jewish brothers and sister are angry with him to.  He’s surrounded on all sides, but what he is most concerned about is God, what God thinks.

Now I don’t know here what necessarily is being said here when Hebrews 11:27 says “he endured as seeing” God.  Does that mean he had a vision or something and in it God called him to flee Egypt and he was just being obedient?  Does that mean he knew God would deliver the people but just realized it wasn’t God’s time yet so he endured, not giving up but planned on fighting another day?  Does that mean he felt guilty and knew he had sinned against God by committing murder but he saw God and God let him off the hook so he could endure or continue?

I don’t really now which of these it is and maybe it’s none of them.  And to be honest there isn’t enough here in the text to tell us.  But here is what it does give us.  Any time in Scripture when you see a word or a phrase repeated, especially in close proximity to each other, like only a few verses between them…that’s a huge sign that that word or phrase is really important.  It’s like the text is shouting, hey pay attention to this point, it’s really important.  And here what we have is twice, within five verses, this repeated line about not being afraid of the Pharaoh king.  And each time in contrast the focus and the reason for not fearing him is seeing God or the blessing and promise of God fulfilled.

Remember Hebrews 11:1 at the beginning of the chapter says, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  I think what we’re supposed to get from each of these cases is faith in God is meant to birth a higher allegiance in us than to any other king, boss, person or possession.  We’re not meant to fear anything or anyone but God alone!  It’s as Ecclesiastes 12:13 states, here is the end of all matters…”fear God.”  Fear God alone.  Set your sights on him.

And there is a ton of ways we could go with this in terms of application from putting false hope in political rulers of our land, to trusting the will and plan of God for our lives, to obeying God and his word rather than doing our own thing and living by our own rules or the world’s rules, to being literally afraid of God and his just judgment for our sin…there’s a bunch of things we could talk about when it comes to having an allegiance to God,  the true king.

But to make it really personal and attempt to really bring the point of the text and this story home maybe the best way is to ask ourselves where does our allegiance really lie?  Really.  When it comes down to it, is God our King?  Do you really live under his rule and reign?  What about when other voices and situations arise and are seemingly put in conflict with God and his standards or expectations, who wins?  Is what is beautiful to God beautiful to you or are you operating according to a different standard in the things you value and the things you don’t?

Do you fear God?  Does he run and rule your life or do you?  Is he your King?  Does he hold your allegiance?

The heart of this point is recognizing God is king and the question of our hearts today is, is he our king?  This point comes at things from the top down, from God to us.  Our next point comes at things from the bottom up, from us to God by getting into the inner workings and motivations of our hearts.  So let’s look move on to our next point, “Treasuring God and His People.”

II. Treasuring God and His People (v24-26)

In this point, we’re looking at verses 24-26 and to do so we got to go back to when Moses kills the Egyptian and talk about what brought it about.  The story in Exodus 2 almost makes it sound like it was  just in the heat of a moment something came over Moses.  I’ll just read it straight from Exodus 2:11-12 “One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.  He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.”

Enter Hebrews 11:24,25,& 26 which make it sound like this wasn’t just an accident, a sort of crime of passion but was very intentional.  Verse 24 says Moses intentionally “refused” Pharaoh family.  Verse 25 says he was “choosing” his people.  And verse 26 says the reason why he did it was he “considered the reproach of Christ greater.”

Okay, so the first two seem conceivable.  I’m sure he knew who his biological family were.  But apparently he has not lived among the Jewish people his entire life and Acts 7 tells us he was forty years old at the time this happened.  I can sort of logically in my head make sense of that.  He longs to be reconciled to his true family and finally has enough of it and acts to do something nice for them and try to help them out.

But verse 26 just sounds wild.  It says that what was going through Moses head, what he was considering was “the reproach of Christ.”  How could he?  It was like a thousand years before Christ was even to come on the scene!  This just sounds crazy.

Now, on one hand what we’re seeing here is how all the New Testament writers see all of life and all of history and all of the Bible in terms of who Jesus is and what he has done.  Jesus becomes the filter or the lens through which they see and understand everything.  And we do to.

But there’s a right way and a wrong way to do that.  What I mean is it’s not just like they’re taking this Old Testament story of Moses and adding to it this whole new meaning that it never originally meant or could’ve meant to Moses or anyone else during their day.  So the question is, how did Moses consider the reproach of Christ?

Here’s how.  Again, Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7 is key.  Super helpful.  Why don’t you turn there with me this time and check out verses 23-29.  Acts 7:23-29 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.  And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.”

Verse 25 here is the key, it gives us massive insight into what was going on in Moses head and heart, “He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.”

In case you didn’t know, the word “Christ” is not a last name.  My last name is Smets, Duane Smets.  Jesus last name is not Christ.  Christ is a title, like pastor is a title.  The title Christ means “messiah” or “anointed one.”  It’s was an expression used to identify a savior or a deliverer and it gets attached to Jesus name as a title, Jesus the Christ.  So when we say Jesus Christ it’s really a confession that Jesus is in fact the messiah.

Now what we learn from Acts 7 is that Moses realized the people needed a Christ.  They needed a messiah, a deliverer.  And he actually tries to be that man.  He tries to initiate on his own accord, God’s saving plan for his people.  It’s probably the reason why God made him wait another forty years before he would go back and lead the people out of Egypt, because only God is the deliverer.  It’s always him and Moses had to learn that.  When he does return and lead the people out, it’s God who fights the Egyptians and saves them, not Moses.

Okay.  So now we’ve sort of God a fully orbed picture of what was going on in this scene, let’s talk about Hebrews 11’s commentary on it, it’s theological interpretation and application for us.  There’s three parts to it.

One, he recognizes the spiritual family of God is his true family.  God is his true father, not Pharaoh, though it’s clear he was treated well by him his entire life long.  Verse 25 says he chooses the people, the people of God over and against his own household.

Two, he recognizes that all the money, all the power, all the prestige that the house of Pharaoh gave him, could not satisfy his heart.  That last part of verse 25 is such a key line, he chose the people of God rather “than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”

Then three, he recognizes that the treasure and reward of the promises of God through Christ were far better than the measly physical wealth and treasure of Egypt.  And he’s willing to suffer for it.  That’s what the word “reproach” means.

Let’s talk about each of these briefly, family, joy and treasure.

Family.  Pharaoh’s house had welcomed him in, physically adopted him as his son.  But Pharaoh’s family did not know God.  And thus Moses knew he needed a greater adoption.  He needed to be transferred into the family of God.  This is one of the key things we believe and proclaim as Christians, that through Christ, we get adopted into God’s family. It’s a wild thing.  I don’t know if some of you have experienced this or not…but if you’ve experienced Christian community in the way it’s meant to be lived out, then the crazy thing is, because you’re living and worshipping together as the people of God and because Jesus pours out his Spirit into the hearts of all who believe in him…sometimes you start to feel closer and more connected to your Christian family then you do your flesh and blood.  I mean I’ll tell you what.  I love my family, my mom, my dad and my sister.  But the truth is (don’t tell them) but I feel much closer to most of you then I do with them much of the time.

Why is that?  It’s because we, here, in and through this church are living and operating as the people of God together.  We share life and God’s Spirit at work among us.  It’s something you can’t get just from hanging out with your family at home during holidays or vacations.  There is something deeply uniting and satisfying about being the community of Christ together.

Moses realized he needed that, that he need to be with God’s people.  Some of you may be Christians but you have yet to really connect with God’s people.  You have yet to really enter into community and begun to live life with others in the church, relying on one another, praying for one another, sharing your heart, sin, struggles and joys with one another.

Some of you are not in community and you need to be so bad.  And I don’t even mean just attending a community group.  That’s only like one part.  It takes time, you’ve got to commit to it and then when you’re there you got to get gutsy and open up your heart and your life, you have to let people in.  If you don’t you’ll never really experience it.  God means for the church to be the place where we experience being the family of God together.

Let’s talk about joy.  This one is big.  I love the phrase here, “the fleeting pleasures of sin.”  I don’t know about you but that phrase feels pretty self-explanatory.  If you’ve lived life for any amount of time I know you’ve experienced this.

Sin always promises pleasure and satisfaction but it never follows through with what it promises!  It’s fleeting.  It provides brief moments of temporary happiness which quickly fade and leave you feeling guilty and worse off than you were before.

I’ll give you a few examples.  Alcohol.  Alcohol is good.  It’s godly.  Jesus made a bunch of it in his first miracle and drank it quite often, so much so that he was even accused of being a drunkard (Lk 7:34) though he never got drunk.  For those of you who have been drunk you know what happens.

You have a little.  It feels good.  You’re like, oh I like this.  So what do you do, you have more and a little more and a little more.  And you feel good for a little while.  But then something happens.  You start to feel sick and before you know it you’re puking your guts out in the toilet.  Fleeting pleasure of sin.

Sex.  Sex is good.  God designed and wrote a whole X-rated book about it in the Bible called Song of Songs.  Sex is pleasure-full and there’s no amount of sex and sexual activity within marriage between a man and woman that will bring guilt or shame before God.

However, sex outside of heterosexual marriage can be very enticing whether it’s in the form of pornography or the idea of being with some other woman or man other than your spouse.  It’s how affairs happen.  So you follow through with the temptation and there’s pleasure…for a moment.  But what always follows afterward is guilt, shame, ruin, strife and misery and often the destruction of relationships.  The fleeting pleasure of sin.

One more example.  Wealth.  This is the one Moses was tempted with but denied.  He could have been the next Pharaoh if he wanted to.  He had all the money and power anyone could ever dream of at his finger tips.  But he saw that it was meaningless.

This is the one that actually probably gets most all of us in this room.  I could be wrong but I think the majority of us think if we just had enough money then life would be better.  We look at the jobs or the houses or the cars or the clothes that other people have and think…man if I just had that.  But money and power are fleeting too.

Have you ever come into a chunk of money all at once?  I’ve had it happen a few times.  And you know what happens is I can’t wait to spend it and I start thinking about what I want to buy with it.  So you go ahead and make whatever purchase and guess what happens…after a few days or weeks it’s not new anymore and it doesn’t seem like that big of deal…then the thought comes later, man I wasted that money.  Fleeting pleasure in wealth or the ability to get wealth.

What we need is a better treasure.  One that doesn’t wear out.  Something that truly satisfies.

Now notice something with me for a second.  Sometimes when we hear things like don’t give into worldliness in loving the things the world loves, or don’t give into the fleeting pleasure of sin I think we start to think that pleasure in and of itself is sin.  But that’s not what the text says.  It doesn’t say don’t have joy.  It just says don’t enjoy sin.  Instead what does it offer?

It’s in verse 27, the “reward” that is found in looking to or trusting the promise of God.  A reward is a great and joyful thing.  Essentially the call here is for us to have God as our ultimate treasure and trust that he will satisfy us.  And this is what we really need.  Because we can try and fight our passions and inclinations to enjoy sinful things.  But we won’t really be that successful if we’re just trying to not feel anything pleasurable and think if we do feel happy, that’s sin.  No we need the right kind of joy, joy that’s in God.

Listen to what Thomas Chalmers says, an old Puritan from the early 1800’s.  He preached a sermon one time titled, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection” and in it he says this…”You cannot destroy love for the world merely by showing its emptiness. Even if we could do so, that would lead only to despair…it (the fleeting pleasure in sin) can be expelled only by a new love and affection—for God and from God. The love of the world and the love of the Father cannot dwell together in the same heart. But the love of the world can be driven out only by the love of the Father.”

Oh how we need to find our satisfaction in the love the Father has given unto us.  The reward, the treasure found in knowing him exceeds all.  Look I’ll be really straight with you.  Some of you have fallen in love with the world and its pleasures and you need to repent before God today.

I’m sure we’ve got sins of alcohol and drug abuse in this room.  Some of you just enjoy alcohol too much.  I’m sure we’ve sins of sexual lust and desire for money and status here in this room.  Some of you are addicted to porn.  For some of you your job is everything and your whole life revolves around it.  But the problem really isn’t our love and desire after these things…it’s our lack of love for God.  That’s the bigger problem. We don’t treasure him but instead take him for granted.  Do you get what I’m getting after?  We need a love and joy in God to crowd out enjoyment in the fleeting pleasures of sin.

I just want to let that kind of sit for a minute, uncomfortably.  Are you in love with the world and its pleasures?

We need God.  We’re sinners and we need him to save us from ourselves and the consequences of our sin.  And the good thing is, it’s the kind of God he is.  So let’s move on and talk about our gracious God who rescues his people in our last point for today, “Confidence in He Who Delivers.”

III. Confidence in He Who Delivers (v28-30)

Here in verses 28-30 we get three rapid fire events, where Moses really drops out of the picture and God himself comes to the forefront in his rescuing and rewarding.  Three events: the Passover, the Red Sea and Jericho.

First, the Passover.  Passover simply means pass-over.  When God went to war against Pharaoh and Egypt he did a bunch of miracles, each one attacking one of the supposed Egyptian gods.  His final one was a blow to the very heart of Pharaoh who considered himself divine.  Pharaoh began his oppression of the Jews by instituting a law that all male born children were to be killed.

God turns the tables and decides to send one of his angels, called “The Destroyer” here in Hebrews, to sweep through Egypt one night and kill every first born son, including those in Israel.  But anyone who put blood on their door that night would be passed over. And so it was, the Passover. An event and a night that to this day that has vividly branded into the consciences of men both that there is bloody judgment for sinners but a God who is merciful and makes a way so that his judgment might pass over all those who trust in him and his promises.

That’s what gets commended here in Hebrews.  It probably sounded like a crazy thing at the time.  Kill a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the door.  But God said it.  Moses obeyed and the firstborns were spared.

The second event here, is in verse 29 with what happens at the Red Sea.  Basically after Pharaoh’s first born son is killed he finally tells God’s people they can go.  So everybody packs up and starts leaving, traveling out of Egypt, six hundred thousand men, not counting women and children (Ex 12:37-38).  They only get about 12 miles away and come to a dead end at the Red Sea.  And just when they’re trying to figure out what they’re going to do, they hear Pharaoh’s army coming after them because he changed his mind about letting them go and now it looks like it’s going to be a bloodbath.

Instead, God parts the sea and all of Israel starts walking across it on dry land.  Pharaoh’s army tries to follow in after them, but God collapses the sea on them and they all drown.  It’s a phenomenal, riveting scene.  Hebrews looks at the story and says it was the people’s faith in God which enabled them to walk through.

I mean you got to think about his.  However God did it, one minute there’s a sea there and then there’s likely just a wall of water being held up to make a channel between to walk through.  Some have tried to say maybe the sea was low and maybe it was a strong wind that came and blew away a lot of the water so they could walk through in just two or three inches of water.  If so, it’s amazing that the whole Egyptian army was able to drown in two or three inches of water!  No matter how you look at this God had to have done some crazy miracle and to trust this invisible God who has a Destroyer and defies the laws of nature was no easy task.  But God delivers on his promise and rescues them.

The last scene here in Hebrews for today happens forty years later (Ex 16:35).  They’ve left Egypt but it’s been a long journey with all kinds of fiascos and things that have gone wrong because the people are like how we are so often…they’re two steps forward then two steps back.  The trust God and then they don’t.  They trust God and then they don’t.  After forty years of it they finally end up in the land God promised them.  They’re at its doorstep but there a city called Jericho which stands at it’s border preventing them from going in.

So God tells his people he wants them to march around the city of Jericho seven times and then he’ll give them the victory.  Again, God comes up with these crazy plans for the people to trust him about.  This time they do and after the seventh circle the wall come tumbling down and God brings them into the land he promised.

The point of each of these stories is that God always comes through on his promises.  God always does what he says he will do.  There is not a single promise God has ever made that he has broken or changed his mind about fulfilling!  Faith puts confidence in God’s word that it will surely come true.  That God will deliver.

I’ll just ask one simple question for us and then we’ll wrap up and prepare for the Lord’s Supper.  What does it look like for you to put your confidence in God and his promises?  What about believing in and following and trusting God is the hardest for you.

These stories are meant to make whatever that thing is for us seem to pale in comparison.  The people of old, the vintage people had a confident faith in the God who delivers.  And that’s what we need.  That kind of faith which says I know God will do for me what he said he would do.  May he work it in us.

Conclusion

Well, let’s conclude.  I’ll be really honest.  Sometimes all this stuff we believe just sounds crazy to me.  That there’s a God.  That the Bible is true and all this stuff really happened.  Even more than that, this belief that Jesus really lived and never sinned and rose again and that somehow me believing he died on the cross for me, makes me and God okay???  Let’s be honest.  It sounds a little crazy.

But you know…it’s just like God isn’t it.  To do something like that to make a way for us.  In the Exodus and the Passover and the Red Sea and Jericho God did some crazy, amazing stuff in order to rescue and deliver his people and likewise in the cross of Christ God has made a way so not just a few hundred thousand people who lived a long long time ago might experience the blessing and grace of God but for thousands upon thousands throughout all time.

In every part of today’s text God has been the hero.  He’s the true king, the true father, the true joy, the true treasure, the true power, the true judge, the true deliverer and the true victor.  God is the one who is true.  He is better and he can be counted on.

And when we look at it in light of who Jesus is and what he has done…Jesus just lights up the page.  Like Moses, Jesus escaped a death decree from an evil king but unlike Moses he didn’t grow up in a house of riches but in the home of a poor carpenter.

Like Moses, Jesus saw the mistreatment of God’s people but unlike Moses he didn’t kill a man to try and save them instead he allowed himself to be slain so that slavery to sin and death would be done away with once and for all.

Like Moses, Jesus forsook the the wealth and riches of a palace, but unlike Moses he didn’t leave just material wealth and power, Jesus left all his glory in heaven above to come to earth to be with and save his people, taking on a true reproach.

Like Moses, Jesus kept the Passover, but unlike Moses Jesus himself did so by being the Passover lamb himself who shed his blood so that all who put faith in him might have the destroyer of God’s justice pass over their guilty souls.

Jesus is the true and better Moses and he’s the one who leads his people on dry ground and is taking us to the city he has prepared for us in heaven and he has torn down and removed every wall and barriers so that we might enter in.

We’ve covered a ton of ground today. If you’re not yet a Christian or your new to the Bible, you just got a big intake and a sweet exposure to who our God is and what we believe.  I’m not going to take time today to walk back through all the points of the sermon and connect them to the gospel for us.

What I will say is this.  Have God as your King.  Treasure him above all things.  The truth is we haven’t and we know that but he made a way for us in Jesus so that we might be saved and delivered and you can trust that promise.  Whoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved, so cast your soul upon his mercy this morning.

Earlier I addressed some pretty pointed things.  I think there some of you today who have some serious repenting to do.  You need to come clean and get right with God.  He knows it all already and he died for you anyway, so just come into his embrace and be welcome at his table.

Other of us I pray have been inspired with a view of the greatness and majesty of God our King and Savior.  He is the God who cares for his people and he cares for you.  We serve a great, great God.

When we come before the table each week to receive the bread and the wine, the elements of Jesus body and blood, we’re coming into to the table of our Father, as sons and daughters in his family.  He died for us so that we might be his, a praise to his name and there is no better place, no better treasure, no better joy than to dine with him.

So let’s respond to the good news of the gospel today.  We’re sinners and yet he loves us and died for us and welcomes us into his graces.  Come and eat and drink deeply.

Let’s pray.

Blog | John Bale

This week we are reveling in the memory of Reformation Day, which is more than a clever ploy to give those of us who are more “Puritan” something to celebrate on October 31st. It is a day to reflect upon a significant moment in in the life of Christ’s Church. And as it turns out, the holiday is necessary; in the last couple weeks I have had a few conversations with people, new Christians and old, who confessed to having a very limited knowledge of Martin Luther’s famous act within the context of church history.

So, in honor of Reformation Day, I thought it would be appropriate to give a brief timeline of important events leading up to the 95 Theses. The Protestant Reformation changed the world, fixing problems that had stratified over the course of several centuries. But it didn’t happen in a day.

In The Beginning

*1st Century, A.D. – Jesus is born, crucified, and resurrected. After Pentecost the public ministry of the Gospel begins, lead by 12 apostles, commissioned by Jesus Christ. The New Testament is written. Various gatherings (ecclesia) of early Christians become solidified as “churches.” Many are persecuted by the Roman Empire.

*101 A.D. – Ignatius of Antioch, in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans, first uses the term “Catholic Church” to refer to the “universal congregation” of all believers. In Chapter 8 of the letter he insists that all believers “follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father… Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”

For future reference, the Bishop of Rome is The Pope.

*313 A.D. – Constantine the Great issues the Edict of Milan, which legalizes Christian worship within the Roman Empire. It is debatable as to whether or not Constantine was a believer, but he was baptized shortly before his death.

*325 A.D. – Constantine convenes all the various bishops in Christendom to discuss and develop a centralized document of Christian orthodoxy at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicea. The Nicene Creed is written. Biblical cannon is confirmed.

*380 A.D. Emperor Theodosius I issues the Edict of Thessalonica, which declares Christianity as defined by the Nicene Creed to be the state religion of the Roman Empire.

*529 A.D. – St. Benedict establishes the first Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, which represents the first monastic order that is officially recognized and supported by the Catholic Church. Catholic monasteries quickly become sources of income; “prayer factories” where monks are paid to pray for the specific needs of church members.

*1095 A.D. – Pope Urban II issues the first official form of plenary indulgence, which states that all Christians who volunteer to fight in the crusades will be forgiven for all of their sins without having to confess or perform penance. The idea catches on and is abused more and more as time goes on. Indulgences become one of the main sources of income for the Church and the various monasteries. The monasteries themselves quickly become countryside palaces for the clergy.

First Sparks

*1177 A.D. – Peter Waldo begins public preaching and teaching based on a model of Biblical exegesis that contradicts Roman Catholic orthodoxy. Waldo and his followers are excommunicated for rejecting ecclesiastical (Catholic) power. The vast majority of Waldo’s followers go into hiding after being declared heretics in 1215 A.D.

*1328-1384 A.D. – John Wycliffe, a professor of philosophy and theology at Oxford (England) begins speaking out against papal power (the Pope) and the wealth of the monasteries. Wycliffe also begins to distinguish between the “visible” Catholic Church, a political entity ruled by the Pope, and the “invisible” church, made up all people predestined for faith, lead by Christ alone. Before dying Wycliffe had translated all four Gospels and much of the New Testament into English.

Wycliffe is subsequently dismissed from Oxford, tried, and persecuted, though never successfully excommunicated. He dies of a stroke while saying Catholic mass. Thirty years later (1415 A.D.) he is declared a heretic and his body is exhumed and burned to ashes.

*1378-1417 A.D. – After almost a century of the Pope being so closely tied to France that the seat of papal power is temporarily moved to Avignon, a schism develops between the church leaders. When the last French pope dies, the cardinals attempt to recentralize the papacy in Rome and elect a neutral successor, Urban VI. When Urban VI turns out to be mentally and emotionally unstable, many cardinals move back to Avignon and elect a more stable replacement, Clement VII, while Urban VI remains in Rome.

For 39 years the world has two popes, one in Rome with an “Antipope” in Avignon. They spend the vast majority of that time trying to prove that the other one is the “AntiChrist.” Faith in Catholic leadership is eroded worldwide.

*1369-1415 A.D. – Czech priest and scholar, John Huss, becomes a student of John Wycliffe’s work and begins teaching it in Prague. Huss speaks out against the abuses of the Pope, the clergy, and the monks, calls for widespread reform, all dependent on historical Scripture as the source of orthodoxy. Huss also speaks out and fosters resistances against “the fraud” of indulgences.

Huss is excommunicated by Antipope Alexander V for being a follower of Wycliffe, declared a heretic, and eventually burned at the stake.

Fanning the Flames

*1420-1434 A.D. – The teachings of Huss and Wycliffe become increasingly popular in Prague and surrounding cities. Sigismund, The Holy Roman Emperor (not to be confused with the Roman Emperor or The Holy Catholic Church), uses the movement as an excuse to get papal support for his claim to the throne of Bohemia. Pope Martin V declares a crusade against Hussites and Wycliffites, inviting full-scale invasion of the region.

The crusades into Bohemia are a failure. After 14 years a peace agreement is made and the Pope is forced to allow citizens in Bohemia to worship freely, outside the oversight of the Catholic Church.

*1516 A.D. – Inspired by the ideals of the Northern Renaissance in Germany and England, the Dutch monk Desiderius Erasmus produces a comprehensive Greek translation of the entire Bible. Erasmus’s translation, the Textus Receptus becomes the source for all non-Latin translations that are produced during the Reformation (including Luther’s German and Tyndale’s English Bibles).

*1508-1512 A.D. – After spending years in a monastery, the German monk and scholar Martin Luther is released from his vows to study as a Doctor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg.

*1517 A.D. – John Tetzel, a “fundraiser” for various Catholic clergy, is tasked with syphoning the proceeds from Pope Leo X’s most recent plenary indulgence to help Albert the Archbishop of Mainz pay off a lot of debt (debt that Albert had incurred by paying the Catholic Church to appoint him as archbishop).

When members of Martin Luther’s church begin presenting him with plenary indulgences, purchased at great cost from Tetzel, Luther is upset that people are being tricked into buying what Jesus had already paid for. He sets out to write a criticism of the practice, and once he starts, he keeps going…

*October 31st, 1517 A.D. – Martin Luther nails 95 complaints against the Catholic Church and its practices to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg.

The Protestant Reformation explodes in Germany and spreads across a Europe.

Set your clocks one hour backward Saturday night if you don’t want to end up at church service an hour early on Sunday morning!

Reformation Sunday 2011 | Galatians 3:10-14 | Josh Feil

This is a topical sermon preached by relief-preacher/seminary-student/Resolved-leader-in-development Josh Feil, as part of The Resolved Church’s Reformation Sunday.  This sermon was originally preached on October 30th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
John Feil
October 30th, 2011

When Strivings Cease: The Law and the Gospel

1) Work and Wages: the Letter that Kills – Gal 3:10-12

2) Redemption and Reformation: Resting in Jesus  Gal 3:13-14

Good morning Resolved church.  It is always a high honor to stand before you with the duty of preaching the word.  And I am especially excited today because tomorrow, October 31, is reformation day.  What is reformation day?  It’s the day we remember and reflect on the reformation.  Kind of like Columbus day or secretary’s day, but a lot more important.  Back in 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther was starting to come up with some pretty radical and controversial observations and criticisms of the church, especially the selling of indulgences, which were basically pieces of paper you could purchase from the church that would get rid of some of the time you were supposed to spend in purgatory after you die.  He had 95 points of criticism or “theses” against the church.  That’s pretty impressive.  95 points.  When we complain about the church, usually we stop before we get to 10.  Luther had a lot of thoughts.  And good ones.

So we pick this date, because, well we have to pick a date.  The Reformation didn’t happen only on this day in 1517, but that’s what we look to as the big catalyst.  This was Luther pushing the big boulder down the cliff.  So what was the reformation?

The protestant reformation was a period during the 1500s in which the great truths of the Bible were recovered, most notably the gospel: that we are sinners saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone according to Scripture alone to the glory of God alone.  These are the great solas of the reformation.  Sola is a Latin word that means “alone.”  See, the definition of the gospel had slowly deteriorated away from faith in Jesus to essentially faith and faithfulness.  So in Luther’s day, how is someone saved?  By faith and faithfulness.  Jesus did his part, now you do yours.  He was faithful, now you be faithful.  This distortion of the gospel is what Luther thundered against.  That’s why the solas were so important.  They weren’t just saying what we believe, they were saying what we don’t believe.  These were the core principles of the reformation, and have been the core principles of protestant church ever since including here at the Resolved.  We see ourselves not as a new kind of church or trying to reinvent the wheel.  The reformation is simply part of our family history.  These biblical doctrines permeate everything we do here at the Resolved.  If you want to know what we’re about, this is the short version.  Grace, faith, Jesus, Bible, God’s glory.  There’s a lot more than that, but there isn’t less than that.  There cannot be less than that.

In a nutshell the Reformation, based on the solas, overcame 100’s of years of corruption in the church and helped Christians get back to the Bible and the true gospel.  It’s a great story of a fat little german monk who turned the world upside down.  But there was a lot that had to change in him before that infamous date in 1517.

We all experience things that change us pretty dramatically, just like Luther.  Has there ever been anything in your life that has completely and totally changed the way you think or act?  Something that has changed you as a person?  Maybe an event you attended, a book you read, a person who knew you, a crisis, a loss, a great triumph or a great failure that has left lasting impact on you?  Something where if you look back over the last year, 5 years, 10, 20 30 years you can point to it and say “that changed me.”  Not just changed your circumstances, like a decision to move or take a job, but something that deeply and profoundly changed the way you think and act?  In the sense that your heart and mind work differently now?  Something that has reformed you?  Can you think of something?  We all have things that have changed us.  Some big, some small.  But we all have them.

While you’re thinking about what that might be in your history, I want to share a little bit of mine with you.  I was born in a Christian family with Christian parents and grandparents on both sides.  By God’s grace I don’t really remember a time when I wasn’t a Christian.  Growing up I went to Sunday school, home school, private school and public school, basically every type of school there is.  Then I came down to San Diego for college.  I got involved with this Christian group on campus, did leadership there and had a great time.  I was a music major, started to feel a call to the ministry, so I changed my degree so I could graduate faster.  I met my wife and we got engaged our senior year.  Picture perfect, right?  But here’s the thing: My faith had become so much about doing the good moral thing and using rules to stay far away from the bad thing, that the main thing, Jesus, had effectively gotten muscled out of my life.  In my mind, I had Christianity figured out: read your Bible, pray, don’t mess up, and God will be happy.  So I tried really hard to do those things.

But my senior year of college, something happened.  I read a book called Christless Christianity and it blew me apart.  Christless Christianity is basically a critique of the modern American church, pointing out her moralism, legalism, her anemic theology and the prevalent teaching of Jesus as life coach, but not savior.  I couldn’t believe it.  That was me.  He was describing my life.  I was a moralistic, legalistic and anemic Christian.  I was convinced that I was a good person because I had been trying to be good for a really long time.  My theology was that if I perform for God, he will perform for me and Jesus will help me out along the way.  Faith and faithfulness.  Jesus as lifecoach.  That’s it.  I know it’s cliché to say that I felt like the author of the book was speaking to me, but I really did.  I felt like I had been punched in the gut but more than that I felt like I had taken a breath of fresh air after being bed ridden for days.

And here is why I felt that way.  Because I was beginning to understand what I would say is the most important distinction one can understand when reading the Bible, a distinction that will save you from all kinds of errors, set you free from despair, deliver you from guilt, open your eyes to the grace of God.  A distinction that Luther called “the height of all knowledge in Christendom”: the difference between law and gospel.  The difference between law and gospel.

That is the subject and focus of our reformation day sermon this year:  The distinction in scripture between the law and the gospel.  The great reformation, or as I like to say Biblical principle that there are two messages in scripture: a message of law and a message of gospel.  The law tells me what I have to do, the gospel tells me of something that Jesus did.  The law is a command, the gospel is an announcement.  The law requires obedience, the gospel declares Jesus obedience and sacrifice for us.  We’ll flesh this out more as we go.

The text that I will be referencing is Galatians 3:10-14, so you can open your Bibles to it.  If you need a Bible there are some at the table in the back.  If you are new to the Bible, Galatians is in the New Testament, right after the big letter 2 Corinthians and before Ephesians.  The study of Galatians was a milestone in the works of both Luther and John Calvin.  In it they rediscovered the beauty of the gospel.

READ GALATIANS 3:10-14.  This is the word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.

My main objective today is to convince you that the law condemns but the gospel gives life.

To do that I have just two points this morning:

1) Work and Wages: the Letter that Kills – Gal 3:10-12

2) Redemption and Reformation: Resting in Jesus  Gal 3:13-14

What we are going to talk about first is that the law promises life but only give death.

One of the cool things about the church is that there is so much diversity in the type of gifts we have and the things we do.  I mean in our church we have molecular biologists, financial advisors, school teachers, graphic designers, mothers, web developers, mechanics and many more.  We could probably run our own little city.  Even if you are unemployed right now, there has been a time for all of us when we have worked for payment of some type, usually in the form of dollars. You provide a service, you get paid for it, that’s generally how work works.  And many of you are good at what you do.  Maybe you’ve been promoted at your job because you straight up good.  You do good work.  And that’s a good thing.  We’re supposed to do everything to God’s glory.

But our work, just like everything which was intended for our good, has been affected by our sin.  We tend to take the principle of work, which is a good thing, and apply it to our standing with God, trying either to pay him off or pay him back, which is a bad thing.  In some form, we try to put God in our debt.

What the Reformation would say to us and what Galatians is saying to us is that no matter how hard we work, no matter how hard we try to make God happy, if we are trying to do that through the law, through doing the right thing and not doing the wrong thing, it won’t work.  In fact, it will do just the opposite.  If you look to the law as your advocate, as your friend and helper, it will turn its back on you.  It cannot deliver on its promises of life and happiness, only death and despair.

This was really the whole idea behind Luther’s 95 Theses.  If you can literally pay the church money to remove some of your punishment for sin, what is the implicit message in that transaction?  Try harder next time.  Just put a little more effort into it.

Let’s look at that.  Take the ten commandments for example.  Just 10.  That’s it.  10 laws that God wanted Israel to follow.  Here’s a sample: [1]

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Let’s pick one from the list and see if we measure up.  How many thieves do we have here today?  How many liars?  Any coveters?  Anybody ever wanted something so bad that you were tripping over yourself to chase it?  Here’s the point: it doesn’t take long for us to realize that we are law breakers.  What’s worse is that after God gives the 10 commandments to Israel, He says to the people, “Do this, and live.”  And what do the people say?  “All these things we will do.”  Worst possible answer!  In over their heads immediately.

If you want an example of how much we love to try and follow the law, just look at the debate that has been raging for some time over the presence of the 10 commandments in schools, courthouses and public places.  People have said that if the 10 commandments were posted in the courts and read in the schools, it would have a positive effect on public morality.  But I think it’s the exact opposite.  The Bible seems to say that the law makes our situation worse, not better.  Paul says in Romans 7 that “The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.” (Rom 7:9 ESV)

So it’s clear from scripture that we aren’t faithful in keeping the commandments.  But here’s the even worse part: Jesus comes on the scene and says that if you have ever lusted after a man or woman or hated someone in your heart, you are just as guilty as if you actually committed it.  Having the desire in your heart is equal to having the bloody knife in your hand.  It’s worse than we thought.  Not only am I judged based on my actions, but even the intentions of my heart bear witness against me.

The bad news is that we are bad people.  We’re not bad people because we violate God’s law, we violate God’s law because we are bad people.  And we hate to hear that.  We don’t think in those terms.  We think we are good people.  How do I know?  Because when I cut off someone on the road, I never think it’s my fault when they honk at me.  Because when I’m sitting in those chairs I do what most of you just did: you hear someone tell you that you’re bad and you jump to your own defense.

See, the law is like a swift kick to the gut of a sleeping dog that arouses the animal to bark and bite.  The law only creates sin in us.  It does not and cannot create life.

There’s an old comic strip called Calvin and Hobbes.  It’s about a mischievous little boy named Calvin and his tiger doll named Hobbes that comes to life in his adventures.  One of the recurring themes in the strip is a scene where Calvin and Hobbes are racing down a snowy hill on a sled and this is kind of a vehicle for Calvin and Hobbes to have serious conversations about deep philosophical topics.  In this particular scene, Calvin asks Hobbes if he thinks that people are basically good with a few bad tendencies, basically bad with a few good tendencies, or just plain crazy and who knows why they do anything?  Before Hobbes can answer, Calvin crashes his sled into a tree and Hobbes says from under the snow, “I choose crazy.”

I love the strip, but I think that Hobbes is only partly correct.  Listen to what the apostle Paul says in Romans 3:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

According to this we are cursing, murderous venom filled dead men.  Not a pretty picture.  But this is the curse we are under, according to Galatians 3.  “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law and do them.”  This is the curse we need saving from.

I think the non-comic strip real Calvin, John Calvin is helpful here.  Calvin says that because of our sin and wickedness of heart and hands, we are “overwhelmed by an unavoidable calamity” and that our nature is “utterly lost.”  What is the unavoidable calamity?  The just judgment of God against sinners like you and me.    That is our curse.

If you are sitting there thinking to yourself, “this guy is a total bummer, I thought he was going to talk about the reformation and something about law and gospel.  This sucks and is depressing.”  I agree.  We’re all bummers, Jesus isn’t.  But I wanted to pause here and say that we are talking about the law.  I’m talking about the results of living under the law.  You might be thinking, ok I get it, it’s the law’s problem.  But it’s not the law’s problem.  It’s ours.  The curse of death is the curse we live under when we try to make ourselves better, fix our flaws and adjust our behavior.  We do so many things, yet we never really address the problem: that at our core we are sinners in need of saving.  We need to be saved from ourselves.

And yet we see in Scripture that God wants us to follow his law.  That it’s good for us.  David says as much in Psalm 19:

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

⁸ the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

⁹ the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

What is David saying?  That living in God’s world according to his good law is the best thing for us.  It revives the soul and opens our eyes.  We ought to obey God and pay attention to the ways that we need to grow in obedience.  We need to repent of our sin and seek to live under God’s gracious laws.

This is where I think we run into a little bit of a snag.  Because it seems like the law drives us down into the ground, but then David here is telling us that God’s law revives his soul.  If we are honest, the law rarely does this for us, it rarely creates feelings of rejoicing and eagerness.   If we are honest, it seems like the law only exists to be a downer, make us feel bad about being bad and then just leave us to judgment.  But that’s not its only purpose!

Let me be perfectly clear: God’s great purpose for the law is not only to make you look within and see your failure, but to look beyond yourself and see your need for a savior.  The law is meant to be our guide to Jesus.

That’s why Paul says in Galatians 3:24-26 he says that “the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

The law was their guide to show them their need for Jesus, and indeed it functions the exact same way for us.  The whole Bible is about Jesus, especially the law.  So why does the law exist?  So that we might look to Jesus and be justified by faith!

What we all need, what we’re all longing for is for someone who keeps the law.  Someone who doesn’t mess up.  Isn’t that the story, the desire in sports, movies and novels?  Someone who perseveres? Someone who crosses the finish line?  Someone who isn’t wandering aimlessly?  Someone who will do what we could not?  Someone to be our advocate.  Someone to grab us, and shake us back to life!  Someone to rescue us from our lawlessness and set us on the path of righteousness.  We need Jesus!

This is what the reformers realized.  I mean just think about it.  If salvation is really just about me doing a pretty good job at life, then I don’t really need Jesus to be anything more than a life coach or counselor. In that medieval system of faith and faithfulness, Jesus eventually becomes little more than the GPS lady, reciting monotone instructions to make sure you don’t take a wrong turn.  The reformers thundered NO!  I don’t need Jesus to make sure I keep the law, I need Jesus because I DON’T KEEP THE LAW!  I rely on the works of the law and I am under a curse, according to Galatians 3.  I need someone to take that curse from me.  I need Jesus to deliver because the law promised life and it didn’t follow through.  And it cannot.

Have you ever felt the sting of the law?  Today?  This week?  Have you ever looked to your morality and good behavior for life and realized that it cannot deliver on its promises of life and hope?  Have you ever built your own system of laws and expectations and felt it collapse in on you?  And have you ever known what it feels like to turn and look to Jesus, who has carries that burdens for you?  It is a sweet feeling and we need to feel it again this morning.

Well that brings us to our second point here on Reformation Sunday.

Redemption and Reformation: Resting in Jesus

Here’s where we are.  We said in that first section that the law promises life but only give death.

The Bible is clear: we are all sinners, the wage for our sin is death, and the law doesn’t make our problem better, it makes it worse.  It doesn’t give us what we need or want.

But here’s the problem with starting there, starting with the law.  It gives you a warped, unbiblical perception of God.

Why is that?  Because it’s not where God starts.

Here’s what I mean.  Remember the law of Moses at Mount Sinai from earlier?  The 10 Commandments?  They are demanding right, when you start to seriously examine your obedience to them?  I might be wrong, but I think that most of the time, when we think of God, we tend to think of him first as lawgiver.  Like a cosmic policeman.  Like a cold-hearted accountant, merciless and frigid.

But if we do that, if we start with God as lawgiver, then this whole law/gospel thing gets thrown off course.  Why?  I’ll show you.

Stick with me here, this might be the most important aspect of understanding this whole idea of law and gospel.  The whole purpose of the law/gospel distinction.

The God of the Bible is a covenant making, covenant keeping God.  Think of a covenant like a blood oath.  It’s a serious promise.

What God did with Moses and Israel after they got out of Egypt, giving them the law, the 10 commandments, that was a covenant.  We can’t get into all the details, but basically God gives the law, makes the covenant and the people promise to obey.  The people are bound under threat of death to keep their end of the deal through obedience to the law.  We call this the covenant of works.  Why?  Because the covenant is predicated on the faithful obedience of the people.

But there is an earlier covenant, one that came before Moses.  It’s the covenant God made with Abraham.  In it, God promised to make Abraham a great nation, that his family would be huge and that through his family line, all the nations would be blessed.  That through Abraham’s line, God would provide a redeemer.  God makes a promise and seals the covenant, but this one is different.  He doesn’t bind Abraham to keep his end of the deal.  God actually binds himself.  God basically says, “I will accomplish all that I have promised.”  We call this the covenant of grace.  Why?  Because the covenant is predicated on the faithful obedience of God alone.

My point is this: if we start with the law, the Bible becomes about us and how we are doing.  But, if we start with a God who is gracious, who makes a covenant to keep his promises, to provide a redeemer for his lost people, that changes everything.

The law is about Jesus just as much as the gospel is about Jesus.  They both direct us to him.  That’s the whole point.

Jesus is our redeemer.  He is our advocate.  He is our representative.   He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves: keep the law perfectly.  And he does it on our behalf.

This is why Galatians 3:13-14 says that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.  So that what?  So the blessings of Abraham might come to us, the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.  The blessing of Abraham is God’s grace.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the law.  It points to him.  And the gospel tells us of what he has done in order to fulfill it and provide the salvation that God long ago promised to his people.

This is the gospel:

That Jesus left his heavenly home and came to earth as a human baby

That he grew in wisdom and maturity

That he was perfect, sinless and obedient in every way

That he went to the cross, and on the cross he suffered and paid the penalty we deserved and accomplished salvation for his people.  That he paid for our sin once and for all.

That he died, was buried and rose again 3 days later to give us new life and hope.

That he is our advocate, substitute, representative and savior.

He does not hold the sins of his people against them.  He is quick to forgive and in Jesus he removes our sin and makes us clean.  We are so clean, so united to Christ that God does not see our sin, but only Jesus righteousness in our place.

Paul makes it clear for us in Romans 8:1-4

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. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

(Rom 8:1-4 ESV)

And now because of what Jesus has done, we are able to follow the law and obey God’s commandments.  The gospel doesn’t discourage obedience.  It actually allows us to be obedient out of gratitude for what God has done.  Now as Christians, the law becomes our joy and delight, because it please God when we follow him.  Just remember that it cannot give you what Jesus gives.

Say with the psalmist that “As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! (Psa 40:11 ESV)

My friends, there is no greater distinction to make than the one between the law and the gospel.  In an age that desires to steamroll distinction and difference in the name of unity and tolerance, we cannot afford to lose this one.

This is the distinction:

The law cries out “do this and live.”  The gospel whispers, “Jesus has done it all, and he gives it freely.”

The law reminds me of my imperfection, the gospel proclaims that Jesus was perfect for me.

The law suffocates me with its requirements and demands, the gospel tells me of how Jesus met them all, including death, and was resurrected so that I might have life.

The law magnifies the sin in my flesh, the gospel tells me that Jesus took on flesh to pay for my sin.

The law calls me a criminal, the gospel tells me that Jesus was crucified as a criminal for me.

The law does not let me forget my sins, but the gospel tells me that as far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed my transgressions from me.

The law tells me that I am cursed because of my sin, but the gospel announces that Jesus became a curse in my place.

The law torments my blemished conscience, the gospel tells me I’ve been washed white as snow.

The law tells me of the coming judgment, the gospel tells me that Jesus was already judged in my place.

The law tells me I’m an enemy of God, the gospel tells me I’m his child.

The law tells me I can never get to God, the gospel says that Jesus came to me.

The law is for the proud and confident, the gospel is for the weak and broken.

The law is attractive to the prideful and arrogant, the gospel is water for the parched and weary.

The law is for the upstanding citizens, the gospel is for the repeat offenders.

The law is for those who strive and never stop, the gospel is for those who gave up a long time ago.

My friends, Jesus offers you salvation today.  Not the opportunity to be saved, not the chance to be saved if you believe hard enough, but actual real salvation.  Believe on Jesus, put your faith in him, your great substitute and advocate.  He does not make impossible requests, but comforts us and holds us in our weakness.  He calls us to himself, not with the burden of the law, but with the sweet aroma of grace.  The law says, “Do this and live.”  But Jesus says “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mat 11:28 ESV)

We all need the gospel.  We need the gospel just as much as we needed it the day we first believed.  So for believer and unbeliever alike, would today be the day that you look to Jesus.  Let us pray.

Blog | Tracy Martin

By Faith Sarah became a mother and believed the promise that God had given her many years earlier. I feel a sense of kinship with the matriarch of our faith. When I was a young girl, God placed in my heart a desire to be a wife and mother. Not only that, but a particular desire to be with my children daily, to care for them, as well as support and care for my husband and our home. I actually remember the day after school, the crisp autumn air and the peace in my heart at my calling. I spent the next 13 years planning my wedding!

You see, while I do have advanced degrees, various trainings and qualifications in careers outside the home, for me nothing really compares to fulfilling that dream God placed in my heart when I was very young. I don’t see being home with my children, training them in righteousness, and being their primary caregiver as undervaluing me. I see all of this as utilizing the gifts and talents God has given me to His glory.

I recall saying several times as a young girl that I wanted to be the one to raise my children. Reading endless stories, eating pretend meals, pushing swings at the park, and dealing with discipline issues day in and day out is a high calling I don’t take lightly. I don’t see it as ever diminishing me as a person or undervaluing my purpose in life. There really is nothing greater than caring for my family.

When days are hard, diapers are plenty, a good nights sleep is a distant vague memory, and I don’t think I could possibly get caught up on laundry any time this decade, I am reminded of the promise that the One who is faithful put in my heart. Sometimes my sweet husband gently reminds me of the WHY behind the WHAT I am doing.

Really, what it boils down to is this: My worth and value is not derived from my role as a wife or mom. I do find great joy in cooking nutritious meals for my loved ones; however, when I put my focus on joy in daily tasks it always comes up short. Striving to be a loving supportive wife or even an amazingly creative stay-at-home mother is not the goal in and of itself. Loving the Lord with all my heart, my soul, and my mind; that is the greatest commandment! Living my life to fulfill why I was created, that is what will bring enduring satisfaction.

So when I’m discouraged and think life would be better if I changed it up and went to a job that paid more than hugs and kisses, I am pulled back to see that my hope and satisfaction are found in the finished work of Christ alone. When we take our eyes off of our current circumstances, surroundings, or even off of what we’ve been told is truth by societal norms, we are able to find real joy and real satisfaction in life!

Yes I love being a wife and a mom. Unquestionably, I am called to it. It is not the end. Rather, it is the overflowing of my life lived to bring glory to God.

My days are often filled with the same tasks. Day in and day out I cook meals, give baths, change diapers, wash dishes, instruct children, and year by year a home is built. A home that is dedicated to glorifying God. A home that is filled with voices of rejoicing and salvation. (Psalms 118:15)

Blog | Pastor Duane

October 31st is one of my favorite days of the year and not because it’s Halloween. On October 31, 1517, (now known as “Reformation Day”) Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of Wittenburg which ended up launching what is perhaps the biggest event in the history of Christianity since the resurrection of Jesus. The Reformation represents a significant point in history when Pastors and Christians throughout the world began to believe in and herald the gospel with a renewed passion and conviction that had not been seen since the days of the apostles. Simply put, the Reformation is the biggest revival in Christian History.

So this coming Sunday is Reformation Sunday and the day after is Reformation Day. We’ll have a special Reformation Sunday sermon and then the next day I will be celebrating Reformation Day in my own home by reading some choice selections of one of the Reformers (Luther, Calvin, Knox etc.) followed by watching either the 1953 or 2003 movie “Luther.”

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Luther quotes to help prepare our hearts for this coming Sunday’s study of God’s Word. At the Diet of Worms, when Luther was put on trial for the gospel and asked to recant upon threat of his life here was his response:

“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience would be neither right nor safe. God help me. Here I stand, I can do no other.”

——————————–

For more on the Reformation check out these posts:
What Is Reformed?
The Five Solas
Reformation Day
Revelation and Reformation

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:22 | Pastor Duane Smets

This is an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:22. It covers the story of Joseph, his life as a God-centered visionary, and his death. Special attention is given to Jesus in how he is the focus of God’s own God-centered vision for history. This sermon was originally preached on October 23rd, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
October 23rd, 2011

Faith & The Example of Joseph
Pastor Duane Smets | Hebrews 11:22

I. Having A God-Shaped Identity
II. Having A God-Given Vision
III. Having A God-Centered History
IV. Having A God-Entrusted Mission

Introduction

Well, rather than being a good public speaker and giving you some sort of attention getting hook or story I’m just going to jump right in and get to work with our text today. Just one verse today, Hebrews 11:22. If you’re a new Christian or new to this church or the Bible, the book of Hebrews is actually one of the easier books to find. It’s toward the end of your Bible just before James and right after Titus and Philemon. Or if you’ve got a smartphone you don’t even have to worry about it. Just go and navigate to it on there.

So here we go, Hebrews 11:22 (read text and pray).

Okay, we’ll I’m gonna kinda of tell you my plan right up front. We’ve got this amazing chapter of the Bible with all these amazing men and women of God who are marked for their faith in the promise of God, which it defines at the beginning as “the conviction of things not seen.”

Some of the dudes in the chapter get one verse some get a few more with more details as we’ve been discovering in this series we’re going through. Ours for today is just one simple verse, which could be easy to pass over but it’s got some phenomenal stuff in it. There’s sort of four parts to this verse, so I want to look at each part and then we’ll see how it really does relate to Jesus and the gospel. The four things we’ll look at it is, “Having a God Shaped Identity, Having A God-Given Vision, Having A God-Centered History, Having A God-Entrusted Mission.” Let’s start with the first one, “Having A God-Shaped Identity.”

I. Having A God-Shaped Identity

This first point I’m picking up mainly just from Joseph’s name. As we’ve been working through this chapter we’ve been discovering that these are not just random people pulled out of a hat. Each one of the people in this chapter are well known characters in the Bible. In the Old Testament, the sort of first half of the Bible, multiple chapters are often given to telling the stories of each one of these people. So there’s an assumption from the writer of Hebrews here, when it was originally written, that the people who were first reading it would have known some things about these people.

So for example, today if I say the names “Obama” “George Bush” “John F. Kennedy” George Washington” certain things are going to come to mind when you hear their names right? They might be good, might be bad, but you’re going to know some things about them. Obama is the current president. George Bush went to war with Iraq. JFK got shot. George Washington was the first president.

Same thing with these guys here in Hebrews 11. In fact if you’ve been a Christian for awhile or grew up in the church you probably know some stuff about these guys, some things come to mind when you hear their name.

Now when it comes to our guy for today, Joseph…there’s a lot that’s said about him. He basically gets the last thirteen chapters of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. That’s a big chunk. And a lot happens. And it’s riveting…there’s a murder plot, a sex scandal, an imprisonment, a rise to power and tear jerking family reunion. Not boring Bible stuff at all! And Joseph’s story is a great one indeed.

But here when we come to Hebrews we just get this one little verse which really doesn’t mention any of it. Instead it just throws out his name. There’s a little allusion to the events of his life that we’ll talk about in our next point but for the most part there’s really nothing here. Which leaves me with the question why?

With a lot of the other people in this chapter details about their life and their story are talked about, even people who were given a lot less space and time in Genesis. So what’s up with that? Here’s what I think is going on. I could be wrong but I’ll just throw this out there. I think the lack of any details of Joseph’s story here is intentional because what we’re meant to pick up on is the significance of Joseph’s whole life and identity all together.

Here’s what I mean. In Joseph’s story there are a number of sequential events which are all inter-connected and effect one another. He’s the youngest, so his dad kinda favors him and gives him this jazzy expensive coat. He is kind of weird because he starts having these crazy dreams about the future saying all his brothers will one day bow down to him.

Because of that his brothers get jealous and decide to murder him, they throw him into a pit and are about to put an animal in there to eat him when they change their minds and instead decide to sell him into slavery in Egypt and just tell their dad Joseph’s dead.

While in Egypt Joseph works hard God grants him favor and he gets a job in the house of one of the top officials of the land named Potiphar. When he’s working there, one day Potiphar’s wife traps him in the bedroom and says, “Lie with me” and literally rips his clothes off. But Joseph won’t do it and runs away naked. It’s like something you’d see on HBO. Well you can guess what happened next. Potiphar’s wife says Joseph tried to rape her and Joseph gets thrown in prison.

But guess what happens? While he’s in prison, the Pharaoh, the ruler and king of all of Egypt starts having bad dreams and no one can figure out what they mean. Someone tells the Pharaoh about Joseph who has continued using his gift with dreams thing where he can see and understand the future. So Joseph goes and interprets the Pharaoh’s dream, which is basically saying famine is coming and you better start storing up food. Pharaoh listens and sure enough it comes true, so he makes Joseph his right hand man, second in power and wealth only to the king.

Well, guess what happens? Because there is famine, no one anywhere in the land has food except Egypt, thanks to Joseph’s dream. And this includes Joseph’s family, his dad, mom and brothers. They don’t have any food in the famine. So what do they do, Joseph’s family goes to Egypt to buy food. And guess who they’re bowing down to begging for food? Joseph. Just like in his very first dream.

When they realize it’s him, they’re scared for their lives because they tried to kill him. And even though Joseph could have, he doesn’t. Instead he exercises mercy and forgives them and embraces them. Scripture says he literally collapsed on their necks weeping. Rather than dishing out judgement he gives them a bunch of land and food and they and all their families comes to live in Egypt. And that brings us to the final scene of Joseph’s life which is mentioned in our passage for today in Hebrews 11.

So I wanted to tell you in quick form the story of Joseph’s life so you would know something about him. But I also wanted to tell the story so you might pick up on something. What you might have noticed is there is not one part of the story that stands alone. It’s all interconnected. Every event causes the next event and then births a new event.

Here’s the point. Joseph’s life, from beginning to end, is meant here in Hebrews, I think, to be taken as one whole event. From the very beginning of Joseph’s story, when you first read about him in Genesis, right away we’re told of his dream that his brothers will bow down to him. And Joseph’s story concludes with all of his brothers and family under his rule in Egypt.

Now, what do you think is up with that? I think there’s a verse in Genesis which gives us a good clue. So turn to Genesis chapter 50. The last chapter in the first book of the Bible. It’s in the middle of the scene where Joseph is reuniting with his family and they’re afraid for their lives. Genesis 50:20 “As for you (speaking to his brothers) you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.”

I’ll leave questions about theodicy and God’s control and use of evil and suffering for another day. But what I want us to notice is how key this verse is in the memory and understanding of who Joseph is. This is a huge verse on so many levels. For our purpose think about this. How did Joseph see himself? When Joseph thought about himself and who he was, his job, his career, his family, his money…all the events of his life…how did he see himself?

It’s clear isn’t it! From Genesis 50:20 we can see that the chief way Joseph viewed himself was as an instrument of God. Who he was, his identity, his role on earth was solely informed by God’s purpose and plan for his life. You meant it for evil, God meant it for good. I think this is perhaps the chief thing Joseph gets remembered for in biblical history.

So for us today. Do you see yourself and your life as created and determined by God for his purposes? What defines you and your identity? Your job in what you do for work? You husband or wife or kids? Your money or possessions? Your fashion sense or hobbies or music? What makes you you?

For Joseph, he stands for us as an example of a person who saw that the core of their identity, the thing that mattered most, was seeing himself in light of who God was and what God wanted to do through him.

For some of you, the things that you look at which define you need to change. The things that you care so much about and look to for some sense of security and uniqueness need to change. Our culture even seems to encourage us to look for identity in all the wrong places. On Facebook you’re, encouraged…no, actually pressured by Facebook to list all your unique hobbies, interests, music, books and movies as if those were the things which really make you you.

You and I need a bigger and fuller understanding of who we are. You are person, ultimately put here on earth, by God, to glorify and serve him and his purposes. You need a God-shaped identity.

So let me ask you. Have you been looking to something else other God for your sense of identity and security? When you think of who you are do you think of how God uniquely made you, gifted you and has called you? Or do you look to silly peripheral things that don’t really matter a whole lot in the big scheme of things? Or maybe for you, just in me saying that is a huge wake up call and you’re like, “oh man…I totally do that.” If so God is calling you to look to him and see yourself through his eyes.

Well, let’s move on to our next point “Having A God-Given Vision” and see how that works itself out in us.

II. Having A God-Given Vision

This is the next part of our verse in Hebrews. It’s where it says, “at the end of his life.” “Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of…” So follow me here. I envision an old man by this point. He’s either bald with no hair or has long flowing white hair and a beard like all the Bible pictures you see.

The verse before ours has Jacob, his dad at the end of his life and now we’ve got Joseph at the end of his life. It’s an intriguing thing to me. Sometimes I wonder about it. The older I get the more I find myself forgetting things. I’m only 33 but in talking to my friends who are same age they tell me they forget stuff too.

I just had my birthday a couple months ago and somehow someone found out about in the weeks leading up to it and they asked me how old I was going to be and I had to just sit there and stop and think and trying and remember how old I was. I remembered the year I was born and started to do the math, which frustrated me so I just stopped and yelled out to Amy, “how old am I?”

So I wonder what it’s like to be an old man, looking back over all of your life? When I imagine Joseph here, he’s an old man. It’s natural, he’s forgot a lot of things. Maybe I’m just speculating here but I imagine when you’re old and you’re looking back over your life you tend to realize the stuff that really matters. That doesn’t sound too far fetched does it?

Now here’s striking thing. Let me show you something that blew me away. It’s probably one of the most exciting things about this verse. What does it say here in Hebrews 11:22 Joseph talked about at the end of his life? What did he make mention of? The Exodus! That’s this famous Israelite event. And here’s the kicker. If you know about the Exodus, when did it happen? Before or after Joseph? After!

I’ve read this a million times and never noticed it. You just kind of naturally think he’s looking backward and talking about something that had already happened. But he’s not. Joseph here is doing what he had been doing his entire life. He’s looking forward! He actually prophesying here! It’s amazing. He makes mention of and talks about the Exodus here before it had even happened!

We’ll talk a little bit more about the significance of the Exodus story in our next point but for right now just think about this for a minute with me. One of the constants which we see in Joseph’s life throughout his story is his consistent commitment to use his God-given gift having and interpreting dreams about the future in order to live out his God-given role on the earth. Down to the very last moments of his life, he’s still exercising and using his gift and playing his part because he had a firm grasp on what God’s vision for his life was.

Here’s what I’m getting at. Some of you are just sort of floundering through life and you don’t have a vision or trajectory for where you are or where you are going and you need to figure that out. This plays out in a number of different ways. Here’s a few.

One, in your career. We grow up being told, “You can be whatever you want to be when you grow up.” That’s actually not true. You can’t be whatever you want. The Sea World Shamu message, “Just believe” is wrong. We ask kids or college students, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” That’s actually the wrong question. The more important question is, “What has God called you to do and to be?” That’s one way this thing plays out.

Here’s another. In your family. Some of you just start having kids and that’s great. I’ve been hammering that drum the last couple weeks…get married, make babies. People ask Amy and I how many kids we want to have and our answer is, “as many as we can.” And then we can’t anymore we’ll start adopting.

So having kids is good. But some of you have kids and you have no vision for your family. What your goals are as a dad and a mom. What you want to instill and how your going to instill it. What you want your family to be like in 10, 20 years. You need to get a family mission statement and have a vision for you family.

The background of my computer screen has our family mission statement on it. I’ll read it for you.

Family Mission Statement

My wife & children would see God as the most important treasure of our home.
We love God, live under his rule, and worship him in all we say and do.

My family would be kind & tender-hearted, loving one another as Jesus has loved us.
We believe in the gospel and live out of it with the Holy Spirit’s help.

My wife & children would see that I enjoy them and put them first before others.
We believe our home is the first church Daddy loves and pastors.

My family would witness me loving Jesus & his Word as an example for them to follow.
We believe the Bible is God’s Word & has revealed what we need for life & godliness.

I’ll do one more. Having a God-given vision for your career, for your family and then for ministry. It’s not just the pastor and the church staff who are called into the ministry. That’s everyone who is a Christian. 1 Peter 2:9 says if you’re a Christian then you are a priest or a minister, “a royal priesthood” who has been “called” by God. So everyone of you are called into the ministry and according to Ephesians 4 Jesus has given everyone of you spiritual gifts he means for you to use for his kingdom and glory.

Some of you have no idea what your gifts and calling is and you need to figure that out. Some of you know what they are but you’re not using them. Some of you know what they are and you’re using them but you’re using them for your own glory and not God’s.

I’ll put it another way. God means for you to get involved, to get out of the seat on Sunday and actually do something. He doesn’t want you just to be a consumer he wants you to be a contributer. There are a ton of ministries and things going on here you can get involved in. Or if you’re excited about some new thing we’re not doing that we could do, then let’s figure out how to do it together as a church. So often we have people who come to us wanting our church to support this ministry or that ministry that’s going on out there, outside of our church by some other agency. But we’re not really into that. We don’t want to outsource ministry. We be the church Jesus has called us to be, using our gifts underneath the covering of leadership he sets up and calls us to.

We have such an amazing wealth of resources here in this room. The gifts, talents, passions, ideas…If we work together, there’s little we can’t accomplish. So figure out what you’re passionate about and how you’re gifted and start using it for God’s glory in and through his church.

Career, family, ministry…Get God’s vision for your life and go do it. You’ll be a lot happier serving God and his people than yourself. I promise.

I’ll say one more thing on this point. Having vision is a future thing. In fact faith in general in large part is a future oriented thing, especially in Hebrews 11. Perhaps you’ve heard this story about Walt Disney. After Disneyland was finished the leaders of the company were marveling at how phenomenal it all turned out. One of them then commented, “Isn’t it too bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see it.” To that the director, Mike Vance replied, “He did see it, that’s why it’s here.” He had a picture of it in his head before any of it was ever built.

Having a God-Given Vision is looking ahead and seeing what God might accomplish through you in this world and going after it. Maybe some of you have heard of reverse-engineering. The Christian version is where you imagine where God wants you to be in say 10 years and what he wants you to do and then you work backwards and think of the stuff you need to accomplish to get there.

Some of you need to look into the future and start dreaming and experimenting with what God may have you to do in his world. What is amazing about Joseph is he got ahold of that. He figured out what his place was and then with a firm grasp held to it. He had a God-Given vision, not just in his dreams about the future, but he had a God given vision for his life…to serve God and use his gifts to care for God’s people.

Well, let’s move on and talk about Joseph’s last dream and vision, the Exodus and how it shows the importance of “Having A God-Centered History.”

III. Having A God-Centered History

So Joseph is at the end of his life and he prophesies about the Exodus. Now, the word “exodus” here in Hebrews is another hot-button word. You say “exodus” that’s like saying “holocaust.” Everyone knows what that is and it was a big deal. There are certain events which leave a deep mark on a people’s history and identity. Like Pearl Harbor or 9/11. The Exodus is like that.

If you’ve ever seen the old Charlton Heston movie, “The Ten Commandments” or the Dreamworks film “The Prince of Egypt” or if you we’re ever in a church for more than just one Sunday or ever read the Bible you know what the Exodus is. It’s one of the most well known things about the Bible and it referred to in the Bible a ton. It’s one of the biggest events in all of the Bible and a whole book of the Bible is named after it, “The Book of Exodus.”

The Exodus is when God’s people exited out of Egypt. Basically after Joseph dies, over 400 years go by and in that time lots of Pharaoh kings come and go and after awhile no one really remembers Joseph and Joseph’s family stops getting special treatment and instead they actually end up becoming slaves. They cry out to God and God decides to deliver them and he does all these crazy miracles, basically going to war for them against Egypt and they finally get to go the land God originally promised to their great, great, great, great grandfather Abraham.

Now, I’m not going to go through the details of the Exodus, I just want us to understand how big of an event it was on the plane of history. On scholar writes this, “The Exodus from Egypt is the focal point of ancient Israelite religion. Virtually every kind of religious literature in the Hebrew Bible – prose narrative, liturgical poetry, didactic prose, and prophecy – celebrates the Exodus as a foundational event.” It’s amazing.

In Deuteronomy 6, we’re told that when a son asks why there are commandments in the Bible, the dad is supposed to answer by explaining the Exodus. Listen to Deuteronomy 6:20-21, “When your sons asks you in time to come, What is the meaning of the statutes and the rules the LORD our God has commanded you? Then you shall say to your son, We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.” So we teach our kids about the Exodus. My oldest daughter knows it as the story about the blood on the door.

We’ll come back to each of these points at the end when we talk about the gospel. But I will say this here. I don’t think that the Exodus event was just a central and significant event for the ancient people of Israel but was central and significant for all of human history.

You see, what we pick up on in our Hebrews passage is Joseph looked forward to the Exodus and looked at it as a key event that was going to take place.

But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s pull it back and bring it a little closer to home. When it comes to history you pretty much have three options. One, it’s uncontrollable and sort of chaotically spinning out of control with no rhyme or reason to it. Or two, it simply and wholly determinable by human decisions and actions, whether they be survival of the fittest or whatever. Or three, history is ultimately and wholly guided and determined by God, the ruler over ALL.

We don’t have time to do a big extensive Bible study on it today. So I’ll just give you a couple references to show you that the Bible opts for the third.

Daniel 4:17; 5:34-35 “The Most High rules the kingdom of men and give it to whom he pleases..his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are are accounted as nothing and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand and or say to him, ‘what have you done.’”

Acts 17:28 “(God) made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.”

What I’m trying to pick up and focus us on from the Bible is the it’s theme and conviction that God rules over all of history and every event and especially every major central event is about him. You see too often I think we buy into one of the other views..that history is not necessarily going anywhere or is meaningless, that there’s no grand story or metanarrative. But the view of the Bible is it is.

And here’s the real thing. I think for most of us, most often our view of history is about this small…just our own lives. We don’t really see much bigger than ourselves and what’s right in front of us. What we need is a God-Centered History. We need to see that history really is “his story.”

That’s what undergirds the first two points we looked at today. You can’t have a God-Shaped Identity or a God-Given Vision if you don’t see history as being guided, determined and purposed for him and his glory. You’ll end up with a “you-centered” history and it’s really not about you…it’s about him.

J.B. Philips was a Bible translator, commentator and Anglican pastor before he died. He wrote a book back in 1961 titled, “Your God Is Too Small” I’ve told you guys about before. I think for some of you today, your God is just too small and you need to get a bigger God. What we see here from Joseph is he had a God who ruled over and planned history. He spent his life learning that and proving that. He had a God-Centered History.

Do you look at yourself as being placed here, on earth, by God, not for you, but to play some small part in a much bigger story that is going on? If you don’t, you need to get a more God-centered view of history and your life.

Well, let’s take a quick look at our final point this morning, “Having A God-Entrusted Mission.”

IV. Having A God-Entrusted Mission

With this last point, we pick up the last words of our verse, “he gave directions concerning his bones.” This is the skull and cross bones part of our text. It’s punk rock Goonies status. His bones. Fitting for Halloween.

In all seriousness, it’s kind of an odd thing at first glance right? This thing about his bones. What’s even weirder is you can follow his bones around in Genesis, Exodus and Joshua. In Genesis he dies and tells them his concern about his bones. Exodus 13 recalls that he made them “solemnly swear” to do it this thing with the bones. In Joshua 24 we learn that later, literally almost 500 years later his bones finally get buried in his homeland in plot of land bought in Shechem.

So here’s the question… Why do you care so much about your bones sicko? Doesn’t it sound kind of morbid? Wierd? There’s two things going on here.

One’s a leadership thing, the other is a love thing. Remember Joseph had vision right? He was a great leader. Here, what you have him doing is giving instructions to those who will lead after them. And what was Joseph’s vision for the future about? Fulfilling God’s promise to made to Abraham to be experiencing God’s blessing in the land he would give ‘em.

So really, what Joseph is doing is trying to ensure that the plan comes to past by making a personal request with his that his family leave Egypt one day and follow through with God’s calling. In a very real way here, Joseph is passing on the faith to his children. He leaves his bones as a final reminder to listen to, obey and follow the will and plan of God.

Here’s the other thing, the love thing. Think about Joseph and his stature and wealth at this point in his life. He’s been Pharaoh’s right hand man of the richest county in the world at the time. He’s been in Egypt since he was 17. He probably doesn’t even remember what Canaan looked like. His homeland is a faint, faint memory. He’s got luxury, riches, and power beyond anything most of us could ever conceive. But he doesn’t care about any of that. All he cares about is loving, serving, obeying and following God.

Both John Owen and John Calvin are good on this. I’ll quote ‘em both.

John Owen says, “This holy man lived and died in faith, being enabled to prefer the promises of God above all earthly enjoyments.”

John Calvin says, “Wealth, luxuries and honor made not the holy man forget the promise…whatever was elevated in this world…(he) esteemed it as (having) nothing precious in it.”

This is huge. Joseph had all the wealth and the power. He probably could have worked a way to become Pharaoh himself or set one of his sons up to be it. But he didn’t. He realized all of that was worthless and he cared more about the mission God had given to his family. Joseph didn’t care about his own kingdom, he cared about the kingdom of God.

So where are you at with mission? Do you have people you are working at passing the faith onto? Who’s kingdom do you care about? Do you look to money and luxury and esteem for security and happiness? Really. What’s the thing you’re really working for in life? To play? For more toys and nicer things? To try and make a better life for yourself? Are you on mission for God or yourself? Do you see yourself as a missionary for God in all of your relationships…looking to spread his kingdom? Or are you trying to build your own kingdom?

Joseph here is at the end of his life and he basically, like the wise Solomon of old says, here is the end of all matter, “fear God and keep his commandments (Eccl 12:13).” Follow through with loving and serving God, that’s all that matters.

Conclusion

Well, I want to conclude with the gospel because here’s the thing. You can try and mimic Joseph or any of these characters in Hebrews 11. That’s the big danger with this chapter and the trap that many follow into with it. There’s a big tendency to look at each of these characters as good moral examples for us to follow and imitate in living a better life.

You see, even in our outline today…you can try and get a “God-Shaped Identity”, a “God-Given Vision”, “A God-Centered History”, and “A God-Entrusted Mission” and you really won’t be able to apart from Jesus. I kind of intentionally left him out in this sermon up to this point.

You see you could take everything I’ve said so far and it could sound good. We’re talking about God and identity and vision and mission and it just sounds all good. But there’s no Jesus. What will happen is you will try and seek these things and two things will happen. One, they’ll end up being centered on you. And two, you won’t be able to really find them or accomplish them, you’ll fail. The reason is because all of those things are only found in Jesus.

Here’s what I mean..

We have no identity apart from Christ. To be a Christian is to bear his name…to be all about him. The truth about my identity is I am a person created by God to serve him and his purposes here on the earth…but I haven’t done that. Instead I’ve served myself and my own purposes. I am a sinner.

Jesus comes, the true and better Joseph, who doesn’t just serve a purpose in one part and place in the story in the Bible to save and forgive just his relatives but he comes to fulfill every story, bring it all together and save many sinners throughout all time and adopt us into his family. Here’s how he does it, he says he came, “not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Mk 10:45).” When Jesus forgives and saves, our identity as children of God gets reinstated and then we have a truly God-shaped identity.

When it comes to having a God-Given vision. Here’s what we’ll be tempted to do. If you can get on board with the idea of having you’re vision come from God, here’s what we’ll be tempted to think about…the great things we can accomplish for God. And really what we’re excited about is we will do and not what he has already done.

Jesus comes, the true and better Joseph, who didn’t just see parts of the future before it happened but as God sees every single day before it happens, including as Psalm 139 says, every word of our tongue before we speak it. And before the world was even created he looked forward and saw a day he had determined would be the day he would come and give up his life on a cross. Through the vision of the cross our life and gifts get real meaning, purpose and focus because then we take part in something that counts for eternity.

On having a God-centered history…we may, if we’re honest enough, be able to swallow this big idea that God rules over all events that ever happen. But we’ll naturally probably think of it in as though God does that completely detached, like he’s on another planet with a remote control.

Jesus comes, the true and better Joseph, who didn’t just see the Exodus but saw something even greater, so he exited his glory in heaven above and instead of leaving a place of torture and captivity he ran toward it and took on sin itself in his own body so that many might be freed from their bondage and slavery to it once and for all. Having a God-centered history makes our of our lives about one event, the one where we get redeemed.

Mission? We can try to live our lives on mission for God but we will try but lose passion and get frustrated that we can’t make it happen no matter how much we try and so we’ll slip into caring for the things we can control and end up being on mission for ourselves building our own kingdom.

Jesus comes, the true and better Joseph, who didn’t just give some instructions and then die to help those who would come after him. Jesus rose from the dead and ever lives to empower us and direct us, fulfilling his promise to be with us always because as he said, apart from him we can do nothing (Jn 15:5). Through Jesus we can actually accomplish the God-entrusted mission. You see…

Our identity. In the gospel, God knows the worst of us yet he forgives us and accepts us on the basis of Christ.

Our vision. In the gospel, God gives us a greater vision than we could ever come up with on our own, a vision to use all of our time, talents and treasure so that he might be made known.

Our history. In the gospel, history becomes centered on the focal climactical point of Jesus’ cross and we make it our resolve to know nothing except Christ and him crucified.

Our mission. In the gospel, Jesus gives us his Spirit so we might truly become missionaries for him in his world.

The Gospel is the good news that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures and was raised on the third day. The gospel is everything. Let’s pray and turn towards its provision.

Blog | Pastor Duane

Catechisis is a form of question and answer teaching used for training the mind to think and understand properly. The word “catechism” literally translated means “to sound down” into the ears, a metaphor for indoctrination.

For hundreds of years Christians have prescribed to and used catechism as a method of learning for both children and adults. Some of the most well known Catechisms are the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Westminster Confession and the London Baptist Confession.

Since they were babies fresh out of the womb, I have informally practiced catechisis with my children teaching, them basic things about who God is, the word he has given and the gospel he has provided for our salvation. As time has progressed I discovered the need for a more comprehensive program to assist me in the spiritual leadership of my home. I discovered an old catechism for children written in 1840 by Joseph Engles, but in some parts the language was outdated. So I have updated that catechism and also included at least one Scripture verse (ESV translation) for each answer which can be used for memorization.

Feel free to download it and use as you please: Children Catechism

Joseph Engles word to Fathers in his introduction is one of the most humbling and weighty things I have ever read about the responsibility I have before my God regarding my children. May it inspire you and encourage to lead your children in knowing God’s Word which heralds the Gospel.

You have an awfully responsible office in being entrusted with the training of immortal spirits for the service of God on earth and for glory in heaven.  The temporal welfare and the eternal salvation not only of your own children, but of future generations, may depend upon your faithfulness in the discharge of this duty.  The prosperity, and even the continuance, of the church of God on earth are connected with the religious education of the rising generation. 

Be admonished then to enter on this work of faith and labor of love with diligence, preparation and prayer.  Endeavor to impress the minds of the dear children with the importance of understanding what they learn.  Be not satisfied with the verbal accuracy of their answers.  Encourage them to ask and be ready to answer questions for information, while you gently check a spirit of idle curiosity.  Endeavor to make what most children consider an irksome task a pleasing and profitable study.  Be not discouraged nor chafed in your minds if you find that “ line upon line and precept upon precept” are required to overcome the dullness or heedlessness of your youthful disciples.  Remember the words of the divine Teacher, who, when inviting sinners to become his disciples, said, ‘Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart (Mt. 11:29).

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:20-21 | Pastor Duane Smets

This is an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:20-21. It covers the story of Isaac and his blessing of Jacob. Special attention is given to Jesus in how he is the fulfillment of the Covenant made with the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the focus of our families today. This sermon was originally preached on October 16th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
October 16th, 2011

Faith & The Example of Isaac and Jacob
Pastor Duane Smets | Hebrews 11:20-21

I. The Faith To Be Passed On (v20-21a)
A. A Father’s Blessing
B. A Covenant Promise
II. The Faith In Family Worship (v21b)
A. Why? Needed and Commanded
B. How? Examples and Options

Introduction

Well I’m really excited about this morning’s sermon because it seems like we’ve had a couple real challenging weeks here at The Resolved Church just because some things in our text the last couple weeks brought up some real challenging life issues that are not easy to talk about. So that’s good because we need to talk about real things but I’m grateful for this breather where we get a opportunity to talk about something everyone for the most part likes and that’s kids! Families.

Most people like kids…I think. I’m probably biased because I love my kids but if you don’t like kids then you need to think about that and what’s up with that. Every one of us were a kid at one point who came from a family. And everyone’s families are different. Some of you grew up with a great experience. Others of you didn’t. And that’s okay. The cool thing is when we come to the Bible and look at what it says about families it tends to help make sense of all our experiences…either showing what was good about them or what was wrong with them and then it points us in the right direction for our own lives.

So this morning we’re in our Vintage Faith fall sermon series going through Hebrews chapter 11 looking at the lives of various Old Testament historical heroes and what it points out about them and their faith that we need to look at and adopt in our lives. Last week we looked at Sarah and talked mainly about the importance of marriage and having children. This week looks more at what to do with the kids once you have them.

Now if you’re not married and don’t have kids yet or if you already did and their all grown up. Don’t tune out on me and think this sermon will be of any use to you. One of the beautiful things about being a part of a church is that one of the terms in the Bible for a church is “family.” We’re a group of brothers and sisters living in and under the house of God our father. Part of that is in a very real way we help each other raise our kids. And we’re serious about that, when baptize or dedicate a baby, if you’ve been here a while then you know we publicly covenant as a church to help the parents raise the child in the discipline and instruction of gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Plus as I said earlier, because our family experience growing up is so an influential in the forming and shaping of who we are…I find that every time we talk about family in church it has this way of ministering to many as they are trying to make sense of their family experience and it often draws out things God wants to redeem and heal or encourage and replicate. So you all with me? Besides, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correcting and for training in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16. Amen?!!!

Okay, so here we go. Only two verses today. Hebrews 11:20-21. Let’s read it and pray over our time together. (Read text and pray).

Alright, so we’ve got a short passage today but it makes some huge claims. First, that this “faith” Hebrews 11 is unpacking for us is one that is to be passed on. This is the 15th time faith is mentioned in just this chapter and here what it singles out most is how it is passed on through generations. So let’s look at our first main point for this morning, “The Faith To Be Passed On.”

I. The Faith To Be Passed On (v20-21a)

Last week we talked at length about promise of God given to Abraham to have a family of faith and how it didn’t seem like it was going to happen. Sarah his wife doubted it, but then toward the end of their lives together God gave them a son Isaac, the son of the promise.

Now the funny thing is our text for today mentions three figures, Isaac, and his two sons Jacob and Esau but it doesn’t really tell us anything about their lives. Here’s what’s crazy about that. Genesis gives a combined 15 chapter to these three guys and tons of stuff happens in their lives. But none of it gets mentioned here in Hebrews.

I mean there’s the story of Isaac meeting his wife and getting married. The story of his wife Rachel giving birth to these two twins Jacob and Esau. The story their fighting against one another for their Dad’s favor. The story of Jacob’s scheming, pursuit of a wife and the children he has. The story of Jacob wrestling with a man who turns out to be God (Jesus). The story of Jacob’s reconciliation with his brother. I mean these are big Bible events. But none of them get mentioned. The only thing that gets mentioned and signaled out is what happens at the end of Isaac and Jacob’s lives. That’s it.

This is surprising. So we have to ask the question why? Why out of all the events of these guys’ lives was this final minor story of what happens when they are dying singled out by the writer of Hebrews as what is most significant example of faith in their life? There’s a lot of other stories which seem like they’d be a lot better examples of faith.

To answer that question we’ve got to look at two things: One, “A Father’s Blessing” and Two, “A Covenant Promise.”

A. A Father’s Blessing

First, “A Father’s Blesssing. Here’s what happens. The story is in Genesis 27. Jacob and Esau were twins but Esau came out first. As the first born, it was the custom for him to receive a double portion of the inheritance and the leading of the family. Isaac is old and blind and on his death bed and prepares to pass on this “blessing” to Esau and asks him to prepare a meal of wild game for this ceremony.

Jacob and Esau were very different. Esau was a hunter, a rough outdoorsman, a simple man. Jacob was a shepherd and a farmer, a smart and cunning man. Jacob wants this blessing. So he dresses up like Esau, puts dirt and blood on his clothes and prepares a meal and goes to his father and lies to him and says he is Esau and Isaac blesses him.

Once Esau finds out he is broken hearted. Genesis 27:38 says to his father, “‘Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my Father.’ And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.” It’s a bitter scene. In response Isaac blesses him to.

Now Hebrews doesn’t point out the difference in the blessings even though they were very different. Isaac receives the same promise blessing that God gave to Abraham and that Abraham had passed on to Isaac…that God would give him land and a people. To Esau he basically says your life is going to be hard but you will yet live under the blessing of your brother. Hebrews doesn’t mention any of that but in the next verse, verse 21, who do we see dispensing the blessing on to the next generation? Jacob.

Okay, so this brings up all kinds of questions. First, let’s deal with what this blessing is and then the Father’s role in this. Hebrews 11, verse 20 says Isaac invoked “future blessings” and verse 21 says Jacob “blessed each of the sons of Joseph.” So what is this blessing?

Normally, the word “blessing” just seems kind of casual, like to pray for or wish good luck right? But it’s obvious here that there is much more going on with this blessing. That it is a unique and very powerful passing of the guard, where the blessings and promise of God is transmitted.

Hebrews 11 says it was “by faith” that Isaac and Jacob did this. We’ll talk about whether or not there is anything special about children born of believing parents in a minute but first let’s talk about the principle here about passing on the faith and the father’s role in that.

What is being described here is clearly faith in the blessing of God being passed on. This isn’t happening out of a vacuum like this is the first time these sons have ever heard their dad talk about God or his blessing. They are very aware of it and in Genesis are actually fighting for it.

Underlying this is the principle that the faith ought to be passed on. We can’t take that for granted anymore.

Recently I was talking to a new mom who was considering Christianity but her husband was a Buddhist and she just didn’t really no where she was at. She believed that we are all spiritual people but that it didn’t really matter what we actually believed or practiced. One of the reasons she was actually interested in Christianity is because she thought it would be good and healthy for their new baby to grow up with each of their parents following a different religion so that their new child could see options and choose for herself.

This is the most popular idea around when it comes to children and faith…”We don’t want to push anything on our children…If they are into it then cool, if not then that’s okay, it’s up to them.” According to what God has said in the Bible, however, it’s actually the opposite.

Psalm 78:5-7 “He (God) established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children so that they should set their hope in God.”

In Malachi 2 where it talks about God hating divorce, verse 15 speaking about marriage says, “Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring.” So part of the purpose of marriage isn’t even just to have children but to have believing children…Godly offspring.

Teaching your children who God is and the grace he has promised in the gospel is not an option. It is required. It’s demanded. In fact you maybe even go so far as to say, if you don’t then maybe that’s a sign you’re not really a Christian yourself because if you really believed all of this stuff wouldn’t you want to pass it on to your children? I can’t think of any true Christian parent who dreams of their children going to hell.

I mean how do we think they are supposed to figure it out? Sadly too many simply leave it up to the church, supposing they’ll learn it in Sunday School and consequently there is little to no spiritual input in the home other than maybe a prayer at meals. If you love your children you’ll want God as chief in their hearts and lives and you’ll have to work at it.

Now, it takes both parents working together for this to happen. And there a number of verses in Proverbs which speak of mom helping instruct the children. Paul says of Timothy in the New Testament that it was his Grandmother, Lois and Mom Eunice who taught him about Jesus. So moms and our women are extremely important in this.

However, in the Bible God holds the Father especially responsible. As the head and leader of his home he is responsible before God to make sure his children learn who God is and to teach them the gospel. It’s super clear. In Joshua 24:15 Joshua says, “Choose this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

In his book, “Bringing The Gospel To Covenant Children” Joel Beeke writes, “Fathers, you are especially to be ministers in your own houses. Your home is a little seminary in which together with your wife, you are to serve as an instructing prophet, an interceding priest, and a guiding king. As a prophet you must teach your children God’s truth, addressing the mind, the conscience, the heart and the will. That means you must teach your children Bible stories and Bible doctrines and you must apply those stories and doctrines to their daily lives for their proper development – spiritually, morally, socially, emotionally, and physically.”

This was always the pattern and principle of God’s people throughout the ages. Fathers were to lead their homes and pass on the covenant blessing of God. Are you doing that Dads? Are you taking on that responsibility, seeing to it by every means possible that your kids get this? For all parents and parents to be and anyone who works with kids…are you seeking to pass on the faith? What’s going on back in those Sunday school rooms right now, is not childcare! We’re working at passing on the faith. Are you telling your kids about the wonder of God? Who his Son Jesus is and why they need him?

Well let’s look at this blessing, the “Covenant Promise” of God more closely that is to be passed on.

B. A Covenant Promise

I know the word, “covenant” doesn’t occur in our Hebrews passage. But that is really what is going on here in this special blessing the fathers are passing on. Genesis 17:7 fills that in for us when God institutes this practice with Abraham. Here’s what it says, “I will establish my covenant to you and to your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant.”

Now the word “covenant” is a big deal and I’m gonna massively oversimplify it. Covenant is a pact or a promise, a spiritual and legal contract and it’s simply a huge deal in the Bible. Essentially covenant is the main form or basis for how God works with mankind. God makes a promise and he keeps it.

He made a covenant with Adam. He made a covenant with Noah. Nearly 300 hundred years go by then God shows up and makes a covenant with Abraham. And this time with Abraham he puts this focus on the covenant passing on through his “offspring.” This is what Hebrews 11 picks up on.

So here’s the big question. Huge really! Is there anything special about kids who are born from parents who have faith? What is this covenant passing through offspring all about? Is there somehow some natural divine favor that follows family lines? And if so what does that mean for us? What about the gospel then? Isn’t salvation by grace alone through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus alone? What does that have to do with family bloodlines? So you see this kind of opens up a can of worms.

Here’s what I’ll say. It’s pretty hard to deny there is something to families of faith. Not only statistically are kids who are born and raised in Christian homes more likely to become Christians…but we’ve got verses like 1 Corinthians 7:14 which says children born in homes of at least one believing parent are “holy.” Thus, throughout the centuries Christians have called their children, born into families of faith, “covenant children.” On top of it, both Matthew and Luke’s Gospel start out by with a long genealogy list to show the family line of faith that Jesus was born from. Blood family lines definitely are important.

So it’s pretty hard to say there’s not something to this covenant children thing. However, here’s the rub. Simply because a child is born in a Christian home doesn’t guarantee they’re Christians. There are numerous example in Scriptures of Godly parents who ended up having horrible kids…like Samuel and David for example. The book of Romans in fact goes out of it’s way to say that your family bloodline cannot save you (Rom 2:17-3:26), only Jesus can.

Kids ought to grow up learning who God is, worshipping him, reading his word, praying to him, receiving the gifts of his church in fellowship, the Lord’s Supper and baptism…but none of that guarantees anything. Thus, there’s a natural tension here. And I’m not sure it’s one the Bible totally solves for us. So we just affirm both.

Yes, pass the covenant…your kids are special. Kids of Christian parents are blessed with all kinds of resources around them that are going to naturally help. And…God generally seems to delight in imparting faith in families. Sure he does so outside of families but first and foremost God is a family God in his very being as Father Son and Holy Spirit and he is about making families who love, serve and worship him. Since Abraham, Isaac and Jacob he’s been passing on the everlasting covenant and he’s still doing that today among families.

So “yes,” we pass the covenant to our special children and “yes,” the covenant we pass on is one of grace. It’s not based on who your family is but is based on who God is, the promise he’s given to save and his provision of a savior. The biggest thing in fact that we can pass on in our families is teaching that God has provided a covenant, a promise that all who put their faith in the person and work of Jesus will be saved and included in his family. That is the best and most important thing we have to give our kids. This is the blessing of God.

Well, how do that? What does this actually look like? Let’s talk about “Faith in Family Worship.”

II. The Faith In Family Worship (v21b)

If you look at the end of verse 21 here in Hebrews 11, it says that when Jacob was dying he gave this blessing while “bowing in worship over the head of his staff.” This is just awesome. Jacob concludes his life worshipping God. It doesn’t say exactly what he was doing, whether he was praying or singing but whatever it was, Jacob’s heart was set in a position of worship toward God.

Now, one thing to realize here is this isn’t some sort of end of his life, death bed conversion for Jacob. Jacob had been in rebellion and running against God until he broke down one night after a long spiritual and physical battle and then he became a worshipper of God. After that happens in Genesis 32, Jacob becomes a changed man. A couple chapters later he cleans out his house of idols and foreign worship and he holds a worship service to God with his family.

Really when Hebrews notes him worshipping at the end of his life, it’s like the concluding picture of the man he came to be. Jacob once the deceiver becomes the one devoted to the Lord. Have you reached that point, where you’re a devoted follower and worshipper of God or are you still kind of fighting it? Do you have you’re sights set on living your life in worship and concluding it in worship?

Isaac and Jacob here in Hebrews 11 are examples of fathers who led their families in worship. So I want us to talk for a bit today about family worship, what it is and what it looks like.

First, let’s look at the why question, “Why Family Worship?” And the answer that it is “Needed and Commanded.” “Why? Needed and Commanded.”

A. Why? Needed and Commanded

One passage I want us to check out. One is Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

So many Christians throughout the years have thought it is the church’s job to teach and train their children or the Christian school’s job. But that’s all backwards. The Bible here in Deuteronomy 6 clearly places a high calling on family and what happens in their home every day.

We’re not going to go through all of the passage today but I do want to point out five quick things.

One, the primary objective is to know who God is and to love him and his word. The Lord is one. Love him with all the heart, soul and might. And get his word in your heart. Everything is about God, loving him with all we are and knowing his word.

Two, we’re to teach this diligently. This means being consistent. Not just sometimes or some days but all the time and not giving up on it even when it doesn’t seem like our kids are getting it. Or not doing it because we’re tired or don’t have time.

Three, it’s every day and all throughout the day. When you “sit, walk, lie, and rise.” This covers each and every day from the time your kids wake up, to when you go do stuff (walking) to when you’re relaxing or having a time of family worship (sitting) until you lie down to go to bed. So it’s real clear, there ought to be family worship and love of God each day that includes getting his word in our heart. Daily expressions of love to God and daily intake of his word as a family.

Fourth, helping the kids make the connections with how we see the world with our eyes and how we work with our hands. We see the world through the lens of who God is and that the world is his that he made. We work in all we do with our hands for the glory of God.

Then lastly, fifth. On the doorposts of of our houses and gates. God is meant to rule and reign in our homes. He is meant to be the Lord and center of the places we live.

It’s real straightforward. Laid out real clear. It’s commanded. That should be enough in and of itself. But perhaps more than that, we need it. Without God as the center of our homes our homes will fall apart and end up loving and worshipping foreign things. Even if you don’t have a family yet, you get a real clear picture of the kind of life God means for you to live, loving him, every day from the time you get up to when you go to bed and loving him in all you do. If you do have a family this is probably the best passage in all the Bible to help you learn how to lead your home.

So, you’re hopefully here’s what you’re hearing today so far. The faith needs to be passed on. God loves families and is about creating families of faith through his covenant. Fathers are held responsible for it. And families are meant to have daily family worship and practice. Those are the big things, the clear principles. But maybe you’re wondering how? Wondering what that looks like. So let me give you some example and options. “How? Examples and Options.”

B. How? Examples and Options

What I want to do for you is basically tell you a little about what we do in our home. There’s a ton of different ways you can implement family worship in your home. So it doesn’t matter exactly what you do or how you do it but it matters that you’re doing something. If you look up “Family Resources” on our website it’ll point you to a ton of good material that will give you some ideas. But here’s some things we do. You don’t have to do exactly what I do but I want to help give you some idea of what family worship can look like.

First, I’m home for dinner every night by 6:00pm and that’s when family time begins. I’m usually gone before everyone gets up and when I get home I’m usually tired. So I park in the driveway, pray for a minute and ask God to give me strength to be a good dad and to lead my home well this evening.

I walk through the door and my daughter who’s just about 4 years old comes running, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” I pick her up and hug her and then we sit down for dinner and we take turns asking each other how one another’s day was. We try to be honest and work through any issues that may have come up, either with the kids or with Amy and I…what we did, how we felt about it, and what we learned about God that day.

After dinner I usually play with the girls for awhile while Amy does the dishes, then after we get baths done and everything we sit down on our couch for family worship at about 7:15 each night except the night we have community group.

We start off with Bible time and I rotate what I do with the Bible. One night we’ll work on memory verses together. Like Deuteronomy 6, Psalm 119:11 says we’re to store up God’s word in our heart. Adina’s got eight verses memorized now so we’ve stopped adding new ones and instead what we do is recite one and then talk about what it means. And basically what we do is family exegesis.

For example. We’ll take a passage like Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” And I’ll ask, “So who are children?” And we’ll start talking about the difference between children and adults. Then I’ll ask, “What’s it mean to obey?” And we’ll make it fun and silly and we each take turns coming up with hypothetical examples of obeying or disobeying. Then I’ll ask, “Why does it say “in the Lord.” And we’ll talk about how obeying God is even more important than obeying Mommy and Daddy. So one night we spend just working with the actual words of the Bible.

One night we’ll just read stories from the Bible, either from the real Bible or “The Jesus Storybook Bible” which does a phenomenal job of retelling a bunch of Bible stories in a way a kid can understand and then points them all to Jesus. After we’re done reading the story I’ll ask, “So what was the story about and we walk through it all together again.” So one night we spend on stories.

One night I spend on doctrine. We’ll go through the gospel, why we receive the Lord’s Supper on Sundays, what sin is and what Jesus did on the cross. I’ll ask, “What’s sin?” To which Adina will answer, “Breaking the commandments.” And then I’ll reply, “Oh really, which ones?” And we’ve taught her the ten commandments and we’ll just start going through them one by one. And I’ve simplified them so they’re real easy to understand. “Commandment number one, “no gods but god.” Commandment number two, “only God is God.” And we’ll play a game…”I’ll grab a pillow or a glass and ask, ‘Is this God?’ No. And we all laugh about it.

Then after we’ve gone through the commandments for awhile I ask, have we broke the commandments? And we get all sad faces. Then I ask, “Who is the only person who ever kept all the commandments? And we all shout, Jesus! And then I always explain how Jesus died on the cross for our sin of breaking the commandments and he rose again and that’s why we love and worship him. I ask a lot of questions to try and probe the heart and draw out my daughter’s mind and affections. It’s basically Catechism, a question and answer method of teaching and we make it fun. I’ve actually been working on updating an old 1937 written catechism for kids I’ll put out here soon and then you guys can use it.

The other thing we do at night is the homework from Sunday School class. If you have kids in the family ministry, the get sent home a worksheet that has the Bible story they worked through and activities and projects on the backside. So we’ll work through that. Like last night, one of the projects was to do something nice for someone who is sick. So we made a card for the neighbor girl who is sick and we prayed for her.

So that’s Bible time. After Bible time it’s prayer time. During prayer time we each take turns asking each other what we need prayer for. And Amy and I have worked really hard to be really honest and lead an example of repentance for her. We’ll admit our struggles and our sins and say we need God to help us and change our hearts. Often times, Adina will say she needs prayer because she’s had trouble obeying and she needs Jesus to change her heart.

Sidenote, my fear in sharing what we do is you’d think our family is super great or spiritual or something. And we’re not. I guarantee Adina is just as sinful as any other kid and even though we do this stuff there’s still a lot of stuff we as a whole family need help and change in. I just want you guys to get a picture of what family worship time can be like.

After we’re done doing prayer requests we all take turns praying for each other and thanking God for his goodness and the gospel. Then it’s singing time. This part is fairly new for us but after we pray we sing. Lately I’ve been leading the family acapella through three whole verses of Amazing Grace and we’ve been doing it every night for three weeks now. Then we put the girls to bed.

I know some of what we do will have to change the older our kids get. But hopefully you maybe get a picture of what family worship could look like. It doesn’t take long, 15-20 minutes but it’s my favorite part of every day and some of the most meaningful family times we share together.

Now I know, some of you are married and you don’t have kids, but you can start something like this now just with you and your spouse. And if you’re single, all family worship is, is an extended form of what you ought to be doing in your own personal daily worship of God. If you’ve never done that, some of those things are thing you can begin to work on now.

God is glorious and he is meant to be praised and worshipped each day and we need it so bad. Our souls dry up without it and we are led away into all kinds of sin and idolatry. We need God.

Conclusion

Well, today has been a ton about families. Here’s how I want to conclude. What each and every passing on of the covenant promise in the Bible was about was a looking forward for the true son to one day come into the world and redeem his family. Jesus is the fulfillment of every blessing and the focus of all true worship. Isaac and Jacob were looking forward in faith for the blessing and salvation of God to come, they were looking for Jesus.

The faith to be passed on and the faith of family worship is a faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The reason it needs to be passed on is because each person and each generation is dealing with the same thing people have dealt with for thousands of years, sin and the need for a savior. The covenant promise is a promise to save us from sin once and for all, that we might live as family together in the everlasting covenant.

The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus came, the one true son, the long awaited fulfillment and he didn’t sin and instead paid the price for sinners by offering up his life on the cross. He, the eternal son of God died an eternal death so that all his brothers and sisters might be born again and brought into his everlasting family.

We’re going to come to the table and receive the Lord’s Supper here in a minute. I’ll venture and appeal to you this way.

God is the one true father of the family, all good dads point to him and all bad dads fall short of what he is. God is our good heavenly father who cares for his children.

Jesus is the one true son of the family who through his life, death and resurrection makes a way for us to be adopted in to his family and experience all the joys and blessings of it with him.

The Holy Spirit is the one true force of the family who binds us together in unity and love.

Today, I don’t know where you are at and what your needs are but God knows and he is present to minister to his family today as we come to his table. So let’s repent, let’s worship, let’s love and adore our Lord.

Let’s pray.

Jesus Walks (Into A Bar) | J.D. Bale | A Consideration of Divine Comedy

A significant part of the “vintage” of the Resolved Church comes from our valuation of our Puritan heritage. An unfortunate aspect of that heritage is the fact that the Puritans were among the most unfun/unfunny people in all the known universe. Jonathan Edwards stated that he was “Resolved (familiar?), never to speak anything that is ridiculous, sportive, or matter of laughter on the Lord’s day, Sabbath evening.”

No jokes allowed on Sunday. Church is serious business. God is not funny. Hell is no laughing matter. Stop laughing. Got it?

Yet, this last week’s sermon on Sarah and Isaac shows that laughter and humor have a place in the overall Gospel narrative. This blog entry will be a cursory attempt to justify our laughter in the order of things and work toward a Theology of Humor.

The Bible, Theology, and Philosophy

We don’t have a “systematic theology of humor” because most of the good systematic theologians were Puritans and they avoided the subject almost entirely. So, the best analyses we have of what laughter is and how humor functions come from secular philosophers. But the story of Sarah and Isaac in Genesis 17,18, and 21 provides a great context to test out some of their best ideas.

As Duane pointed out, there are two stages of Sarah’s laughter in the Genesis story, and one of them can be considered “bad,” while the other was made “good.” The Word of God itself only seems to provide qualitative judgments of particular instances of laughter and humor. It is either holy benevolence (Psalm 126:2, Proverbs 17:22, Job 8:21, etc.) or crude jest (Ephesians 5:4). But the question remains: What is the difference between good and bad laughter?

The Bad Laugh

When we are introduced to Sarah, she hears of the reassurance that is made to Abraham, and she laughs. We know that she is “wrong” in laughing because she denies that she did it out of guilt, and because Jesus shines his light upon her fault, identifying it as doubt. So what is going on in Sarah that causes her to laugh when she knows that doing so would be something she would not want to admit to doing?

There are four categories of humor in philosophy and we will deal with two of them.

The first and broadest theory of humor is Incongruity Theory. The theory has its origins in the aesthetics work of Immanuel Kant (not a funny guy, at all) who describes it perfectly as follows: “In everything that is to excite a lively laugh there must be something absurd (in which the understanding, therefore, can find no satisfaction). Laughter is an affection arising from the sudden transformation of a strained expectation into nothing.”

The human brain expects to process the world in a rational and predictable way and becomes “strained” when it cannot do so effortlessly. Humor plays with this expectation. It sets up a strained situation and then purposefully eschews real world logic in favor of the absurd internal logic of a joke.

So what is potentially wrong with Incongruity, particularly in the instance of the Sarah narrative? Well, Sarah is laughing because she mistakes the rules of her own logical understanding with the bounds of the power of an omnipotent creator. Her understanding and her knowledge of herself and human limitations tell her that she cannot have children. To entertain the possibility of a frail old lady having a baby falls within the absurd realm of humor. Sarah cannot conceive (see what I did right there?) of a God that is capable of fulfilling his very practical promise without reducing Him to a punchline. Any reduction of God and His glory is exactly the kind of blasphemy that the Puritans were afraid of.

But there is still hope in Sarah’s first laughter: She would not have laughed at the situation unless she did not believe that God was incongruently placed within the absurdity of “the joke.” Sarah knows that a God who does not honor his promises is a concept worthy of laugher and ridicule. God fulfilling an absurd promise is not absurd; it is to be expected. But Sarah does not expect it, and she knows there is something wrong with that, so she laughs at the existential disharmony in her heart.

A second, more specific, and perhaps more useful category of humor involves what philosophers call Superiority Theory. Under this theory, we laugh at things that are below us; we ridicule the things that present an incongruity where we end up in the position of the Superior. Superiority Theory comes form the Greeks who defined a Comedy as a drama where embarrassingly wretched creatures get a happy ending (as opposed to Tragedy, where the virtuous fall). We laugh because these lowly creatures should be crushed by the cruelty of the universe, but incongruous with logic, they get a happy ending, and this satisfies our Incongruous and Superior senses of humor.

Applying this to the “drama” of the human experience, Thomas Hobbes (a little funnier than Kant) says that, “Laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from some sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison to the infirmity of others, or with our own [former infirmity.]” In this sense, Superiority is a sort of reverse Incongruity; we laugh at the infirmity of others because it is happily incongruous with the reality of our own situation (at least as far as we perceive it). We laugh because we know that we are just as infirm, but are allowed to be elevated above them, despite our expectations.

So why is Superiority humor dangerous, particularly in the case of Sarah? She is not laughing at the incongruity of the promise along WITH Abraham ,or WITH Jesus. She is laughing AT Jesus. When Sarah laughs at her creator’s promise she is reducing him to the status of a fool. When we laugh at God in Superiority we elevate ourselves to the role of spectator (or even author) and attempt to trap Him within the bounds of Comedy and look down at him as a fool. “A fool says in his heart, ‘There is no god.’’ But what of the person who says that God Himself is a fool?

In both cases, Sarah’s sin is more complicated than doubt, which is a lack of faith. The problem is that she has faith, but it is faith in her own expectations and understanding. Rather than laughing at herself for doubting the promise of God, she laughs at God for telling her something that she does not believe.

The Good Laugh

So now the question is: what was made different in these things when the promise of The Lord was fulfilled and Isaac was born?

First, we see the beneficial reverse of Superiority Theory. Robert Solomon explains the flip and restates it as a kind of Inferiority Theory: “Rather than comparing our current with our former inferior selves, the ability to not take ourselves seriously, or see ourselves as less than ideal, is a virtuous form of modesty and compassion.” Inferiority Theory takes the same incongruity that feeds Superiority Theory and uses it to show that our rational perception of ourselves is often just as absurd when compared to reality as a bad joke is when compared to a good story.

So when Sarah laughs from Inferiority, what is she laughing at, exactly? She laughs at her past self who has laughed at and doubted her creator. She comes to terms with the absurd comedy of the universe, but recognizes her place within it as a lowly character, reigned over by a masterful God who laughs in all His pleasure and revealed glory. His is the eminence. His is the absurd triumph over logic. She laughs at how absurd it was that she ever doubted God. Her second laughter is an act of contrition and an acceptance of her place within the Comedy. She is delighted by the fact that other people will laugh at her and she is comforted by the relief that comes from accepting that she is there, within the punchline of a cosmic joke, by design.

Once she recognizes and develops an affection for her Inferiority, Sarah’s is compelled to memorialize her laughter by naming her son after it. In doing so she recognizes that, as strange as it may seem, God is a humorous God. He is humorous in the sense that he loves Incongruity. God loves to set up expectations and then fulfill them in the most unexpected way possible. Sarah’s laughter in the story of Isaac’s birth reminds us that God’s purpose often defaults toward showing us how incongruous our understanding and expectations are with His will. All measure of fear and trembling is completely appropriate, yet man has been endowed with a sense of humor so that they know to expect the unexpected with all measure of joy and laughter.

The Divine Comedy

All this philosophizing only becomes something like a Theology of Humor when it is connected with Jesus.

Jesus is the True and Better Isaac, the best joke that God ever told. Nobody saw Jesus coming. Nobody expected God’s chosen people to be a band of laughable fools and embarrassing harlots. Nobody expected victory to be achieved by contrition. Nobody expected the messiah to come from the middle of nowhere and die on a cross. Nobody expected a dead guy to come back to life (Jesus, The True and Better Kenny McCormick!) Nobody expected to be waiting more than 2,000 years for him to come back. But these are all things that God as seen fit to include as parts of His story.

Maybe if more of us had a higher valuation of our sense of humor, we wouldn’t have/continue to be so unpleasantly caught off guard and frustrated by such Providence. We might even expect it, embrace, and enjoy it.

It might have been off base for me to propose that I could “justify” laughter in exploring a Theology of Humor. Humor is not a lowly part of human nature that we have to work into some grander theological scheme. Humor is part of God’s character and His creation, and laughter is a proper response.

But it all depends on the fact that Jesus actually came into the world.

If Sarah had remained faithful and never been given a child, her life would be a tragedy. If Isaac and Jesus had never been born, the story of the Hebrews would be a tragedy. Without Jesus we are all justly doomed and everything is Tragedy. But if Jesus truly did redeem us in the most absurd and unexpected way, then we have nothing to fear and everything is Comedy. A good laugh is an indicator of faith within us; faith that we are part of God’s Divine Comedy – detestable fools that still get a happy ending.

All of this hinges on a conviction of the absurd truth of the Gospel. The Goodness of Jesus has no more place in this world than serious talk does in a dive bar filled up with the cackling of fools. But Jesus still came. He came to tell his joke to Sin, to tell his joke to Death, even to tell his joke to Satan. All the universe is laughing.

A Theology of Humor then, is this: A good and hearty laugh is a proper and faithful response to the Greatest Joke that Was Ever Told.

This Month:
Bryan Bangerter

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:11-12 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:11-12. It covers the life of Sarah and the birth of Isaac, Sarah’s doubt and received faith in the promise of God, and her reliance on the Word of God. Special attention is given to Jesus in how it is Jesus that reminds Sarah of and encourages her in God’s promise. This sermon was originally preached on October 9th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
October 9th, 2011

Faith & The Example of Sarah
Pastor Duane Smets | Hebrews 11:11-12

I. God’s Patience: Sarah’s Trial of Faith
II. God’s Power: Sarah’s Blessing From Above
III. God’s Promise: Sarah’s Consideration of The Word
IV. God’s Posterity: Sarah’s Children of Faith

Introduction

Well this is the portion of our Sunday worship service we set aside each week to read and study God’s Word together. It is what God’s people have done throughout the centuries all the way back to the ancient gatherings of Israel when they we’re just an extended family and then on through to their development as a nation. It is because God’s people have always understood themselves to be a people of a God who made himself known, through words recorded in a book.

So we don’t gather here each week and listen to a sermon from me or someone else just because we are supposed to or because we may like it or even because it’s just what God’s people have always done. No. We do it because we believe the Bible is God’s book and that all of our life, our church, and our future depends on us knowing, receiving and following God’s Word. We see everything as directed by God’s Word. So we take it real seriously and seek to study it and apply it.

In a very real way, this portion of our time is worship. All of our service is worship. This is when worship God through his word. Not worshipping the Bible, that would be bibliolatry, but worshipping the God of the Bible by learning from him through the tool he has given us.

I want you to imagine for a minute what it would be like if there was no Bible. If we did not have a Bible would there be a Christian faith? What would be the basis of belief? How could anyone know anything about God, what he is like or what he expects of us? Sure, we could postulate and project our imaginations but how would we have any way of knowing if any of them were correct? If there was no Bible what would be our guide, our rule, our authority? It seems to me if there were no Bible we would be left to the mercy of our own feelings, opinions and ideas and there would be no way to know which one would actually be correct.

I’ve told the story before of a time when I was once lost in the woods in the middle of a snowstorm. I had hiked about five miles into the mountains and was camping when a terrible snowstorm bared down on the mountain and I had to hike out in the middle of the night. Trees had fallen all over the place. Two feet of snow had covered up any tracks or signs of a trail. It was dark. I didn’t have a compass or any technology. All I had was a flashlight and the memory of the direction from which I had come in order to try and find my way back.

I made it back. But can you imagine if I didn’t have a flashlight to help me see where I was walking? And can you imagine if I had no memory of the way I had originally come from? I think that’s what it would be like without the Bible. We’d have nothing to cast light on the path we’re walking on and we’d have nothing to tell us where we’ve come from and how God in his grace has made a way for us to come to him.

For some of you…this is actually where you’re at. You’ve never really come to grips with the Bible. Actually, if you’re honest you’re not really sure about it and you just follow your feelings and opinions more than you do anything else. What faith you do have, if you can call it that, is only an internal thing…but you’ve never really received the faith that comes from God…the faith that comes from his faithfulness to give and keep his word.

I start out my sermon today this way because today we’re in our Vintage Faith sermon series and this week we’re looking at Sarah, one of the great matriarchs of the Bible. And what Hebrews 11 highlights her for, is her faith and how God brings that about in her. And it all revolves around His Word. The words he gave, that get recorded into this book we call the Bible.

So with that, let’s open the Holy Bible this morning. Read our text for this morning and pray over it. Today, we are working with Hebrews 11:11-12. You’ll notice we’ve updated our bulletin a bit. Most of you know this but some of you are new to it…but in order to remind ourselves and emphasize that the Bible is God’s Word every week I read our sermon text and declare, “This is the word of the Lord.” And then you, the congregation respond, “Thanks be to God!” So today’s sermon text is Hebrews 11:11-12. (read text and pray).

Aright, so our first main point this morning is “God’s Patience: Sarah’s Trial of Faith.”

I. God’s Patience: Sarah’s Trial of Faith

What I wanna do first is tell you the story of Sarah and why it’s significant that Hebrews here says she had faith. Sarah is Abraham, who we looked at last week, she is his wife. And she’s the first woman mentioned in this list. Her and Abraham meet and get married back in Ur, where Abraham was born. In Genesis 12 Abraham says she was a “very beautiful woman (Gen 12:11,14).”

She goes with Abraham when he receives God’s calling for him and his wife and move to an unknown place, this “promised land” where God’s going to grant them children and a big family. And she really embraces it. While Abraham’s wandering around in the desert, they end up in Egypt for a brief stint and her husband Abraham asks her to pretend to be his sister and she consents and ends up as part of Pharaoh’s harem. The end up leaving after awhile.

Probably around 25-30 years go by and Abraham and Sarah have been trying to have children believing this promise of God would be fulfilled but she’s not getting pregnant. So she comes up with this idea that her husband Abraham should just have sex with Hagar, one of their servants and maybe Hagar would get pregnant and the promise of God would be fulfilled. Dumb Abraham goes ahead and does it and sure enough Hagar gets pregnant when Abraham is 86 years old and Sarah is 76.

Fourteen years later a man shows up called “The LORD” (it’s Jesus) shows up and tells Abraham that’s not how it’s going to happen and that Sarah, who is then 90 years old is going to get pregnant and then the promise of God will be fulfilled. Sarah overhears him saying this and laughs in disbelief. Here’s what she says, Genesis 18:11-12 “Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself saying, ‘After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”

In response, Jesus rebukes her. He says in verse 14, “Is anything too hard for the LORD? At this the appointed time I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” To make matters worse, then Sarah lies in response. In the very next verse, Genesis 18:15 says, “But Sarah denied it, saying, ‘I did not laugh.’” And then…Jesus rebukes her a second time! And he says, “No, you did laugh.” And then the story is just cut off and we don’t hear her response after that.

Now here’s the problem. Hebrews 11:11 says Sarah had faith and received the power to conceive even though she was past the age because she believed in God’s promise. But it doesn’t sound like that does it? When we go back and read the story in Genesis it doesn’t sound like she had faith at all! Rather the opposite.

So what’s going on here? Two things I think. One, I think we have to consider the whole of Sarah’s life and what happens in the situation of Genesis 18. From the start of the story of Abraham, Sarah has been with him and behind him and twice she allows herself to do crazy stuff…sleep with Pharaoh and then let her husband sleep with her servant…because of her commitment to and belief in the promise God gave to Abraham. She wanted to see it fulfilled.

But a lot of time goes by. We don’t know how old Abraham was when he received the initial call and promise of God…but Sarah was likely in her mid twenty to early thirties or she would have never been accepted into Pharaoh’s harem. So realistically, we’re talking forty years…forty years Sarah had been holding onto the promise of God and she had pretty much reached the place where she had given up on it. Think you’d give up after forty years?

Then Jesus shows up…which you just kind of discover everywhere in the Bible, whenever he shows up he throws a wrench in everything. Jesus shows up and tells her and Abraham it’s about to happen. Her laugh is either sarcastic and she’s upset…like, “Ha! So now you’re going to do it!” Or all out disbelief…like, “Ha! Like, that’s gonna happen!” Whatever kind of laugh is it isn’t good. And she realizes it. After Jesus corrects her, Genesis 18:15 says she was afraid.

So the first thing is, Sarah, for the most part had been believing this promise of God her entire life long. Here’s the second thing. Three chapters later in Genesis 21, Sarah has a son a year later, just like Jesus said she would. This is what she says in response to it. Genesis 21:6-7 “Sarah said, ‘God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.’ And she said, ‘Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have born him a son in his old age.’”

It’s beautiful. Amazing really. Her laughter of sin and disbelief gets redeemed and turned into a laughter of praise and worship to God. Her first laugh came from sin and doubt. Her second laugh comes from God and from faith. So much so she names the boy Isaac, which means, “laughter.”

Okay, so this gets cool. The question is when did this renewed faith come? I think Hebrews 11 is telling us when. Hebrews 11:11 says, “Sarah herself” so it’s specifically identifying her, herself…received the power to conceive…when she considered him faithful who had promised.” Real interesting here. The literal translation of Hebrews 11:11 is “received the ability to deposit semen.” Not joking.

Now listen to Genesis 21:1-2, “The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised (there’s that word promised). And Sarah conceived.” So! I think what Hebrews is telling us is after Jesus rebukes Sarah the second time, she is stabbed awake back into her faith in the promise of God…and he God does something to her so that her womb now functions in such a way that she has an ability to direct Abraham’s sperm to her eggs. I know that sounds graphic but I’m telling you, this is literally what the text says…what we have in English, ”received power to conceive” in Hebrews is smoothing out the Greek here big time and making it sound a lot nicer than it is.

Alright, so what’s the point here in all this? That if you have enough faith you can tell your sperm how fast to swim and where to go? No. What Hebrews says about Sarah is one of the final things said about her in the Bible and it commends her here as having concluded her life in triumphant faith. So I think the lesson really is sometimes there are trials with faith.

Sometimes our faith wavers or falters. Like Sarah she had faith but it was mixed with unbelief. Yet when she was reproved by the Word of God, she re-put her faith in the promise of God and he changed her laughter from one of wicked jest to worshipful joy. Really, it’s not about Sarah but the goodness of God who has patience with her and grants her this great blessing despite her initial disbelief.

Do you ever feel like your faith falters? Like you take two steps forward and then two steps back in your walk with God? Sarah had held on to the promise of God for forty years. And she just about gave up toward the end. Then God swooped in and rescued her and enabled her to carry through for the last leg in the home stretch of her life.

Philippians 1:6 says “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.” In John 10:28 Jesus says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Sarah is a perfect example of that. Perhaps for some of you today may feel like God has abandoned you. That at one point you had this vibrant faith where you were excited and believed with all your heart but now that has just faded away.

Know today God is not done with you yet. God is at work. He’s going to continue to work in you and bring you to completion. You will not be lost or plucked out of His hand. My encouragement to you today is to pray the prayer of the young father who cried out to Jesus in Mark 9:24 “I believe, help my unbelief!”

Well let’s move on to our second point for this morning and look at “God’s Power: Sarah’s Blessing From Above.”

II. God’s Power: Sarah’s Blessing From Above

I’m taking this point from one word in Hebrews 11:11, the word “received.” That word tells us what happened in Sarah came from God. When we go back to Genesis it becomes clear. In the story there is this massive emphasis placed upon the blessing of God toward her in this work.

Neither her nor Abraham are really great characters. But like every other figure we’ve looked at, God just chooses for reasons unknown to us, to set his favor upon these people. Listen to Genesis 17:16. God says to Abraham “I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her.” I will bless her.

When God says this to Abraham Sarah is 90 years old. Forty years of a seemingly failed promise. This is so easy to pass by. You’ve got to get your mind around this. Sarah was barren! God had closed her womb up. She says in Genesis 16:2 “The LORD has prevented me from bearing children.” You’ve got no idea the amount of spiritual ruin, social disregard and psychological depression Sarah felt because of this.

Maybe if you’re a woman and you’ve desperately wanted children and haven’t been able to…you might have some insight into this. But for most of us we don’t because our culture has got this one all flip flopped so that we tend to think really abnormally about having children.

Let me read to you from J.I. Packer in his book, “Manners and Customs of the Bible.” He writes, “Today as in Bible times, the birth of a child is a momentous occasion. But today’s parents…debate questions that people living in ancient Israel would have found strange and startling. For example, the following questions would not have entered the minds of the Israelites: ‘Should we have children? If so, should we limit the number to one or two? If we do have children, when should we begin?’ The ancient Israelites’ attitude could be summed up like this: ‘We want children. We want them now. We will have as many children as we can because children are very important to us. In fact, we would rather be ‘wealthy’ with children than with money.’”

Every Jewish couple wanted to have children. To die without descendants, like Abraham and Sarah were about to, would make it so an entire family would be wiped out and forever forgotten. All of life centered around family: marriage and children. An official part of a wedding ceremony was the pronouncement that God would bless with children. If a woman could not have a child it was a great reproach. They were treated like societal outcasts among their peers and looked at as though they were objects of divine disfavor.

We’ve got to talk about this one and I know, every time we do here I get myself in hot water because it go so strongly against the thrust and message of our culture. It’s not like I have an axe to grind, it just comes up a lot in the Bible and my job is to preach the Bible. So here we go.

Girls listen up and guys too. Ladies, you are told that you need to go to college and get a career and make something of yourself. The Bible’s view is that God has made you and designed your body to have babies. What you need to do is get a husband and trust the promise of God that you will be far happier being the woman of God he designed you to be than spending years trying to get some career to make money in.

And guys, you if you’re not married you need to get a job and get a woman you start making babies with. If you are married and you’re scared, I get it, it’s scary. But be obedient. Don’t hold your wife back from being the woman God made her to be.

I’ll give you a verse so you know that the Bible is not just speaking descriptively about Sarah here but that having children is the norm. Jeremiah 29:6 “Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.”

The prophet Jeremiah declared this word from God in a time when men and women thought they had a better plan and could do things differently than what God declared in his first words to man and woman, “Be fruitful and multiply” Genesis 1:28. I believe that due the anti-family, divorce ridden, egalitarian, feministic, money pursuing, false identity seeking culture we live in that the words of Jeremiah the prophet need to be freshly heard today. Get married and have children. If you don’t you are disobeying the direct words of the Lord God almighty.

It’s a whole other thing if you can’t like Sarah, but if you’re intentionally not having children because you are pursuing other things first…here’s what Abraham and Sarah and others from Bible times would have said, Craig Keener writes, “it was taught that one who refrained from seeking children was as though he had diminished the image of God. Thus starting with Adam, begetting children was a divinely ordained duty and neglecting to beget children came to be viewed as nearly equivalent to killing them.”

Now here’s the thing. It seems like every time this comes up and I say things along these lines two things happen. One, a few couples get engaged and a few others get pregnant. Good! But the other thing that happens is I get this push back. “Well Duane, are you saying that we’re living in sin if we’re not just at home making and taking care of babies? Do you think that’s all women are worth? Are you saying women can’t have a job or a career? What about money? Children are expensive. I want to do this or this or this first.” The questions just come flying in.

Normally my answer goes like this. Look, there is grace. I realize that some of you have never been taught well from the Bible and hearing this is like a shock to your system. What we care more about is where you end up, what your plan is a year or two from now? Are you working towards getting to a place where you can be and do what God calls you to? Or are you just on a track to continue rebelling and thinking your own plans and ideas are better?

Here’s the other thing. Usually the push back is from girls who are in college or have a really good job and they don’t yet have kids, they’ve put years and thousands of dollars into getting to where they are at right now, and to actually follow through with what I’m calling for almost requires an entire worldview change. I get it.

The other push back I get is from guys who are scared. Scared about the money. Scared about being a dad. Scared about actually having to grow up. Yeah. It’s scary. I get it. We never had any money when we started having kids. We still don’t. Get over it.

I don’t mean that. Here’s what I do mean. Here’s the answer for both. What all the questions and all the fears have behind them is an assumption of a particular value system than is different than God’s. We’ve come to value certain things more than we have come to trust the promise of God’s word.

What I mean is this. Do you want to be blessed by God? You want the blessing of God? Don’t pray and ask him for money. Don’t pray and ask him for a better job. Pray and ask him for children and a mate to do that with. Children are a blessing. Psalm 127:3-5 “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!”

Former US President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “It is exceedingly interesting and attractive to be a successful business man or a successful lawyer or doctor or writer or a President…But for unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children…makes all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.”

Here’s the answer for all of the questions and fears you have about pursuing making a family. Genesis 18:14 in what Jesus says to Sarah when she reacts with skepticism, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” Money, your happiness, your career, your physical womb? Who are you to say God will not provide? Who are you to say you won’t be happier being a wife and a mom? Who are you to say God won’t make you a great dad? Who are you to say God couldn’t open your womb if you’re having trouble?

I had a couple come up to me after church recently who had come to me exactly one year before in tears and asked me to pray for them because they had had a couple miscarriages and the doctors told them there was something wrong with her uterus and she wouldn’t be able to have a baby. And now, guess what? They’re having a baby. God is still in the business of opening up wombs. He can do that today. We also have the added benefit that wasn’t really around in ancient Judaism and that is adoption. The ability to have a child as your very own as a part of your family.

What this story and this text scream out is the power and the goodness of God. He blesses and he is able because he is God and he can do anything.

Well, let’s move on to our third point for today, “God’s Promise: Sarah’s Consideration of The Word.”

III. God’s Promise: Sarah’s Consideration of The Word

Okay, so let’s recall what an impossible situation this is. Both Abraham and Sarah are old. I thought of putting a picture of my 90 year old grandma on the screen, but that just seemed mean. I can’t imagine the thought of her having a baby. That’s actually kind of scary. Not only is Sarah old but as we’ve talked about she’s discouraged, probably bitter and depressed as her initial reaction indicates.

But look again at Hebrews 11:11 and what it says she did. “Even when she was past he age…she considered him faithful who had promised.” So what did she do? She “considered.” This is a somewhat interesting word. It means “to think on” “to esteem or regard.” Sometimes it would be used of a judge who would consider two sides of case and make a decision or of a political officer who had to govern. To consider… And what did Sarah consider? Him who is faithful and what had promises. She considered God.

I don’t think we actually do this very often. To actually think on and consider God. To think on his being. We use his name so flippantly and easily and we forget who we are talking about. He is the one who authored and orders the universe. What did he tell Sarah? He’s the one whom nothing is too hard to do? He can do anything! Everything! Sometimes I think we simply need to remind ourselves of who we’re praying to and singing about. It’s God! The all-powerful one!

So first she considers the faithful one, God himself and in particular the attribute of his faithfulness. That this God is one who keeps his word. He does what he promises. There is not a single promise of God he has ever broken. Unlike us he is faithful and always does what he says he’s going to do.

Here’s the thing, there is no such thing as a true faith that does not rely on the promise of God’s Word. If your faith is of a different kind, it’s not biblical faith. Biblical faith is inherently dependent upon what God has said in his word. God’s word is meant to direct everything in our lives and the reason is it can be counted on.

Listen to Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” God keeps his word. So much so that one of his very names is “faithful.” We’ve got to consider that. We need to think on it and regard it. Because the more we do the more it will change the entire course, direction, passion and outcome of our lives.

We waste so much time considering everything else under the sun. Other people’s perceptions of us or things they’ve said. Business problems. Relationship challenges. For me lately, Fantasy Football. What we need most is to spend time considering the word of God.

So what does that look like? I’ll just give you two, though there’s a ton of ways. One, to meditate on it. To actually think about what the Bible says. I’ve told you before the Hebrew word for meditate is a word picture of a cow chewing on its cud. It chews up its food, swallow it a bit, regurgitates it and chews on it some more. You actually think through what it says, deeply.

If you’ve never done it before I suggest you take one verse of the Bible and you spend time thinking about it everyday for one week. I promise you, you will not regret it. Learn to meditate on God’s Word.

Here’s a second way. You take the next step beyond thinking. You act based on it. Not based on feeling. Not based on providence, just making decisions by pulling straws or something. But based upon what God has said in his Word! God has given us this book for our good, so that we might be safe and have clear direction for our lives. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” That’s what this book is supposed to do for you. If you’re feeling directionless the answer is to go to The Word and have it guide you.

So many of you very rarely even read the Bible, except maybe here on Sundays and then of those who maybe do read the Bible sometime during week, rarely think about it after you close up the book. We need more of a faith like Sarah’s, who considers God’s word and it’s promises, takes it in, and the moves forward banking her life on it.

Maybe I’m wrong and I’m crazy. I don’t think I am. But let me tell you. I’m a Bible guy. I’m kind of a one trick pony. God didn’t give me a whole lot when it comes to the naturally gifted stuff. But I’m into the Bible. And part of my vision for this church is to create a whole crew of people who know, love and read the Bible daily in their personal private life and with their families and as a result are always talking about it and repeatedly getting excited about the things it says. That’s one of my main visions for our church. This book, doing it’s work in us.

God, “I simply pray you would help us to know your word, love it and live by it.” Well, let’s move on to our last point for this morning, “God’s Posterity: Sarah’s Children of Faith.”

IV. God’s Posterity: Sarah’s Children of Faith

This is verse 12. The result of God’s patience, power and promise to Sarah. Numerous descendants…as many as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. So what’s this talking about? We know from Genesis that Sarah died 36 years later when she is 127 years old and nothing mentions her having any other children than just the one, Isaac.

Here’s what up. Galatians 4. We’re not going to look it up and work through it, I’m just gonna tell you what it says, you can check it out the chapter later. It says Abraham had two sons. One born by the slave woman Hagar and one by his wife Sarah, the son of the promise.

Then it says something real interesting. That those who attempt to earn their salvation by trying to make it happen, by own’s own works, by “obedience to law”…that you are a son of Hagar the slave and it won’t get you what you’re looking for. But if you put your faith in Christ and he is born in you, then you, like Isaac are a child of the promise and are saved. And thus Sarah there is referred to there as the mother of all who put faith in the promise of Christ. Galatians 4:26 says, “she is our mother.”

Abraham indeed is the father of faith, the first one…and his wife Sarah likewise is the mother of faith. This is actually where I want to end up and conclude this morning on this last point. Because you see, I think what so easily happens when we read and study a story like this is that what we hear is…”Okay, so I have a dream…to do this or be that someday or for this thing to happen and maybe it’s even a spiritual thing.” And then we think, so I just need to hold on to and keep believing God for it because if I don’t give up on it, God will make my wish come true.

And we would miss the entire point of the whole story and of Sarah’s life. You see, what Hebrews 11:12 points out is that her faith in the promise of God looked pass just the birth of Isaac. Ultimately, as Galatians 4 clearly points out to us, is she looked forward to a family of believers who, like her, were saved by God’s grace and brought into God’s good household.

She didn’t know how the Lord would do it, but she had heard his word and that was enough. Now we stand on this side of the story. We’ve seen how as each generation went by God granted more and more children to the family line of Abraham until one day that same man who so many years ago, spoke the word of promise to Sarah and told her anything was possible for God…he himself was born anew into this world as a little baby.

And he would grow up into a full grown man, never sinning but always trusting and obeying the word of God and then take the place of punishment for his family who have all distrusted and disobeyed the word of God. And he rose again and he is the ultimate fulfillment of the promise.

The greatest thing about Abraham and the greatest thing about Sarah is that they looked forward in time to the promise of a savior. And that savior is Jesus. So you see, the story isn’t so much about trusting God to make your dream come true, but us trusting God’s promise to save us based on the person and work of Jesus Christ.

What we really need isn’t for our dream to come true but for Christ to come alive in our hearts and to draw us into his family and for us join that joyous multitude who delights in the God who kept his word.

Here’s the truth…we’re all like Sarah. We’ve wavered and faltered in unbelief. We’ve all become barren, left with a vacant void where God is meant to reign in us. We’ve all neglected and distrusted God’s Word. And yet God invites us into his family, to be one of his numerous children. And he does it by making a way through his Son Jesus who died on the cross and rose again for sin.

Jesus never wavered. Jesus is one with the Father. Jesus always fully obeyed God word. And he took the place of his own who failed in everyone of those ways. And he rose again and gives us new life and changes us and makes us more and more like him as we keep trusting in and leaning on his Word.

Conclusion

We’re going to receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper here in a minute. Jesus body in the bread and his blood in the wine. A special time of grace between believers and their God where Jesus ministers to us and imparts his goodness to us through his Spirit.

As you come today prepare your heart. Just be honest with the Lord this morning.

Have you been doubtful and distrusting and gone backward in your faith? Just confess it and say, “Lord, help me in my unbelief.”

Do you have areas of barrenness in you where there is just a brokenness or sadness and you just need God to heal you take it away? Just ask him and know that God is the one who has promised to one day wipe away every tear from our eyes and to cleanse us and heal us of all our diseases.

Have you been basing your hopes and dreams on some other promise than that of God’s Word? Hear the Word of the Lord this morning, Romans 10:11 “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” You can trust in him to save you and change you.

My dear friends, my church. Hear this today, there is nothing better than being a child of God. Let’s go to our father’s table and eat and drink richly for he has provided abundantly.

Let’s pray.

Blog | Pastor Duane

Hebrews 11 exhibits several characters as an example of a faith described in it’s opening words as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Abraham is presented as a premier example of one who “considered” (Heb 11:19) what God had said and done in the past, then put faith in it and acted. This flies directly in the face of perhaps the most popular conception of faith about today in our culture. Namely that faith is a “blind leap into the dark.”

A History of The Blind Leap Idea

In 1843 Søren Kierkegaard published a little book titled “Fear and Trembling” in an attempt to find a way for Christian spirituality to still have a place in the world. He ended up becoming known as “the father of existentialism” and founded a philosophical movement whose effects are still being felt today.

Søren Kierkegaard came on the scene when a deadness had overtaken his country’s church. Ingesting the claims of 19th century liberalism, such as Frederich Schliermacher’s message that Bible could not be trusted because it espoused such impossible things such as Jesus being the son of God and dying on the cross for sin…the church was dying a slow death. Kierkegaard cared and attempted to rally the church with his new ideas to combat this sentiment that the “human race has outgrown Christianity.”

“Fear and Trembling” is a look at the life of Abraham and is a metaphor for how he felt toward what he could not know. Not fear of God per se but of what he could not reconcile in his mind by reason. Thus out of this fearful, trembling anxiety Abraham makes this blind leap into the unknown and as a result becomes justified by God. He writes, “Faith is this paradox…the single individual simply cannot make himself understandable to anyone.”

In a very true sense the concept of a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” can be attributed to the teachings of Kirekegaard because his solution to the higher criticism of his day concerning the claims of Scripture was to privatize faith into one’s own subjective personal experience. Hence the idea of faith being a blind leap into the dark wherein a person only experiences validation (faith) once they make a choice or decision against the evidence of reason (the dark).

My Existential Problem

During the years of 1996-2000 I was a student at Point Loma Nazarene University where I studied religion, philosophy and theology. I was a brand new Christian at the time and had never really read much theology or philosophy. I was new to the Bible and was reading it for the first time and was quite simply enthralled. However, when it came to my college class I very quickly found myself in a quandry because there I was being indoctrinated in the classical Tübingen School of higher criticism which challenges the inspiration, truth and authority of the Scriptures and the Christianity it dispenses.

It was then that I discovered Søren Kierkegaard and others in his existential camp such as Karl Barth and Jean Paul Sarte. And I bought into it all…hook, line and sinker because they provided an answer to what I was hearing from my professors. When I was told the words of the Bible didn’t really mean what they said and couldn’t really be trusted, existentialism provided a way out because it provided an answer for why I was having such a radical experience with Jesus and why the Scriptures were imparting such life. I thought…well maybe there’s no reason the Bible can be trusted, but surely my experience can. So I made the blind leap.

Until I encountered a problem…I fell on the ground. It actually took a couple years. For awhile I just rode the wave of my feelings, which were quite up and down. But as long as I was feeling something then it could be true. The most dangerous thing to me was feeling nothing because then there could be no truth.

I attempted to strip myself of all distractions from true feeling. I quit using electricity. I quit driving a car and only rode a bike. I would stare at a candlelight to contemplate reality. My method for reading the Bible was to read, then close my eyes and pray God would reveal its meaning to me. I was lost in a sea of uncertainty and a dependence on spiritual adrenaline. And I fell on the ground. I couldn’t keep it up and I wasn’t winning at my attempts to escape the fear and trembling.

It really wasn’t until I went off to grad school that I was exposed to some things which really helped me out. One, some professors of mine began talking about the same form of higher criticism I was exposed to at my undergrad but they had reasonable answers to the questions and charges I had resorted to blind existentialism to cope with. I learned there was a whole other school of scholarship, a branch known as “evangelical” from which I had been shielded from in my liberal indoctrination. It was like entering a whole new world. Then I learned what the gospel was all over again.

The Unblind Gospel

The Gospel is the good news that Jesus died for sinners on the cross and rose again so that all who put faith in him might be saved through what he did. What had snuck by me with existentialism was that it really was a move away from Jesus and a move toward saving yourself. Existentialism turns faith and it’s results onto the weight of the human person.

Once I saw that I began to start seeing all kinds of other holes. Like how existentialism doesn’t work on itself. It calls for a blind leap against reason all the while attempting to use reason to persuade you into it’s belief system. Thus it’s self-refuting.

Ethically, I began to see that since all my decisions where based upon my feelings that I was developing a very piece meal character where sometimes I did one thing and other times I did another…there was no consistency or stability to my way of life.

Biblically, I realized I could never really read the same passage twice because according to existentialism my experience was always different every time I read it. Furthermore I realized another person and I could never really read the same thing because according to existentialism their experience was different than mine.

Like a house made of cards the whole thing came crashing down. Existentialism had been a nice solution for awhile but I found out it didn’t really work. And on top of it I was tired. Tired of trying. Tired of my whole life of Christianity being dependent on how I felt and what I did.

What picked me off the ground and set me back on my feet was the gospel. The gospel, in contrast to thrust of existentialism, is the good news that God saves us and that he does so by doing an objective (not subjective) work in history. God became a man in Jesus, God incarnate in the flesh in the first century. Jesus did not sin. Jesus took the place of sinners and died for their sin. Jesus rose from the dead three days later, a physical bodily resurrection. Both the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus are historical claims which defy normal notions of science and reason.

Christianity bases it’s claim of faith upon an assurance and conviction that these events really happened and that because they did, what God has promised in his word about the future will surely take place. Namely the wrath to come for sin, the real thing we ought to fear and tremble about. Yet for those who are found in Jesus, they will be spared from that wrath and be risen with him.

This brings not only life into our faith now, but a consistent lens through which to read and understand Scripture and to speak into every ethical situation of my life…most importantly that of worship, giving all thanks and glory to God for HIS WORK of salvation he provided for in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Lord.

The gospel provides a different philosophy than existentialism, the philosophy of the gospel. Colossians 2:8 says, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” May God helps to to depend on him and him alone.

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:8-10,17-19 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:8-10,17-19. It covers the life of Abraham and how it was one of faith, his obedience and the importance of us doing what God tells us, and how God proves to us his work in us is real. Special attention is given to Jesus in how he is the true and better Abraham. This sermon was originally preached on October 2nd, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
October 2nd, 2011

Faith & The Example of Abraham | Hebrews 11:8-10,17-19
I. The Obedience of Faith (v.8)
II. The Life of Faith (v.9-10)
III. The Proof of Faith (v.17-19)

Introduction

Good morning greeting.

Well we’re a month in now on our fall sermon series “Vintage Faith” where we’re looking at some great figures from the Old Testament who are surveyed in Hebrews chapter 11 as being individuals who modeled the type of faith God has called his people to from the beginning. This week we come to Ab-ra-ham, otherwise known as Abraham and he is a huge figure in the Bible.

Genesis, the first book of the Bible takes twelve chapters to tell his story. Hebrews mentions him more than any other person except Jesus and God the Father. He’s the first Jewish convert. He’s known as the father of faith. Some amazing things happen in his life. And he is a stellar example of what it means to be a person who had the faith Hebrews 11:1 described as the “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Now Hebrews here only mentions 3 of the 15 different major events of Abraham’s life, 4 if you count the birth of Isaac which we’ll cover next week when we talk about his wife Sarah. So in contrast to some of the other characters we’ve looked at thus far and some of the ones we’ll be checking out in weeks to come…I don’t think Hebrews here means to summarize Abraham’s life or consider it as a whole. It seems to be selecting key events from Abraham’s life which especially demonstrate the nature of true faith.

Because of that I’m not going to walk us through Abraham’s story in all of the events covered in Genesis and instead just stick real close with the text here in Hebrews 11. So let’s get right into it by reading the text and praying over it. We’re working with Hebrews 11:8-10 and 17-20 today. We’ll come back to the verses in between next week in working with Sarah and then in the last sermon of our series when we spend a whole week on “The City To Come.” Today I just wanted to focus on Abraham.

(read text and pray)

I. The Obedience of Faith (v.8)

Our first point for this morning is “The Obedience of Faith” and it begins with the birth of Abraham. Genesis 11 tells us he’s born in Ur of the Chaldeans. Ur could have been one of several ancient cities or even just a general region. What we do know is Abraham grows up in Ur and after he marries and starts having children of his own Genesis 15:7 & Acts 7:2-3 tell us God shows up and comes and speaks to him and calls him to leave Ur.

At this point it’s been nine generations and over 262 years since anyone is recorded as having heard from God. Then all of a sudden God is on the scene and speaking to Abraham. Here’s what he says…Genesis 12:1-2 “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation.” And two verses later it says, “So Abram went, as the LORD had told him (Gen 12:4).”

[*The general consensus is Abraham’s father Terah moved his family to Haran (Gen 11:31) in response to Abraham sharing the calling of God and that after Terah died Abraham continued on in following through with God’s calling by leaving Haran (Gen 12:4).]

Hebrews 11:8 picks up on this, this first major event of Abraham’s life and unpacks the significance for us of what was going on there. You see, the book of Genesis is narrative material…it’s describing or telling a story. Hebrews is what we call didactic material, it’s directly instructional, explaining things for us. There’s a few things it draws out.

One, it is “By faith” that Abraham was able to obey this command of God to get up and move his family. As we have seen faith is not natural or guaranteed, it is the gift of God. So right away this is telling us, it would not have been Abraham’s normal inclination to go. He would not have wanted to unless God was enabling him to respond. This especially makes sense when you think about Abraham’s situation.

He’s essentially lived in the same region his entire life. He likely has many relational connections, friends and relatives of his father’s household. They live in a city, which provides protection and physical safety. They’re in Mesopotamia, we know that much from Stephen’s speech in Acts 7. Mesopotamia means “land between rivers” which means there’s food and water. Everything else outside of that is hostile.

It’s said that the well known Anglican pastor and theological professor Stuart Barton Babbage has four largely framed pictures of the desert in his office. One on each wall, north, south, east and west. Each one of them look the same but they are pictures he took from each of those directions at one of the potential sites of Ur where Abraham was from. When asked why he has them up, his response it that it helps remind him of how bleak the situation looked for Abraham when he received the call and responded and that such response is very close to the heart and nature of faith.

If you remember from past weeks we’ve been saying, faith in Hebrews “is convinced sureness and is directed toward either the unseen or the future.” So the first thing Hebrews points out is that there was something about God’s Word, God speaking to Abraham, that gave him faith and thereby the ability to respond with obedience to God’s directions. There was an unseen place Abraham becomes convinced God will take him.

The second thing this verse points out is he obeyed. Obedience is simply doing what God asks you to do. Following through. Notice Hebrews 11:8 specifically points out “he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Most of us, especially guys, don’t like to make decisions and particularly decisions which effect our families, unless we’ve got everything mapped out so that we know exactly what’s going to take place and there will be no or little risk involved.

I mean can you imagine renting a U-haul and just packing up your whole house and your family and filling up the thing with gas and just taking off not knowing where you’re going? That would be ridiculous. Please don’t do that actually, that’s not the point of the story, as we’ll see. But the principle here does stand. The principle is that God is the one who is supposed to determine the place we live.

Acts 17:26 says, “(God) made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.” God determines and means for you to live in a place. Far too often we pick that place based upon what sounds good to us. So many people become a slave to the job, you pick a place to live or to leave based upon what job you get…or if the city sound like a nice place…or if you’ve got friends or family there. Abraham did not have any of that. But he knew God called him to a place and he obeyed.

One of my daughters is a month away from turning 4 years old which means we’re having to have a lot of talks lately about listening and obeying Mommy and Daddy. Her mind and reasoning capabilities have been excelling and along with that comes things like “why” or “but I” or “I just want to.” Arguing words. What it boils down to for her is she wants to do her own thing, instead of doing what we ask.

And it’s the same thing when it comes to God. So often we just want to do our own thing rather than trust and obey. God always has our good ahead, we just often have a different idea of what’s going to be good for us. Notice, what God had promised Abraham was blessing and an place to possess that would be an inheritance. An inheritance is a rich and undeserved blessing from a father.

The whole thing here happens by faith, so we know it isn’t something we earn. We don’t earn our salvation or righteousness and it isn’t always in the form of health or wealth. But there is always a great reward which comes along with obeying God. Paul calls it the “obedience of faith” in the book of Romans (1:5; 16:26). In fact in Romans 4:3 says it was it was upon Abraham’s belief that God credited to him righteousness.

So let me summarize this point for us, “The Obedience of Faith.” One, faith does not always mean understanding. In this example, Abraham does not know where he will be going. But he has an assured confidence that God does and that it will be good. Two, faith requires obedience. Things that are easy do not really require much faith. It’s when things are tough to do that we often discover the true nature of faith because it requires us to trust and obey and do what we most likely don’t want to.

Before we move on to the next point, let me ask you…are there some things that don’t fully make sense to you but you know God just wants you to trust him? Do you believe that God knows what’s best for you and has good things in store for you when you respond to his calling?

What about obedience? Are you living a life of obedience or are you off doing your own thing? Is there anything in your life right now you know is not pleasing to God and you know you are living in disobedience? Are there some things, right now, you know God is asking of you and expects of you? Often times there are things in God’s word, which is how he speaks most clearly to us…there are things in there he speaks to us expects of us that we have a real difficult time listening to but we know their true and God wants us to trust him.

Or how about just simple promptings of God’s Spirit to pray or do something nice for someone. I’ve been doing a terrible job lately about being obedient with that one. I tell my daughter all the time, “It’s so important for you to obey, you need to trust me.” May God grant us great faith and obedience to his word. Okay, let’s talk about “The Life of Faith.”

II. The Life of Faith (v.9-10)

In the next two verses of Hebrews 11, verses 9 and 10, Abraham goes into the land, “the land of promise” also known as “the promised land” and he lives there. But it’s not his land yet. He’s there like a guest, camping out, waiting for God to fulfill his promise.

There’s a number of things going on here. How many of you have ever traveled to another city, country or whatever and you feel like an outsider? Recently my wife and I were in a little town called Corrales, New Mexico for a wedding. When we first got there we were hungry from traveling on the plane and then driving to the town and checking in this little bed and breakfast…so we went into town to this little mexican restaurant. We sat down at a table, order some drinks from this one girl. Then a waitress came over to take our order. Then the owner came to say hi. Then the cooks. Then the people who were hanging out over at the bar started stopping by because they all wanted to meet the couple from California or something. It was great! We felt like we were famous or something!

Maybe it was how we dressed or talked or whatever but apparently it was obvious that we didn’t belong. We were foreigners. Just visiting. It’s actually kind of the same thing on my street. We bought a house last year and we’ve started getting to know some of the neighbors. It’s cool. They’ll be like, “Oh, have you met so and so, they’ve been here for like 8 years.” And so I start asking questions about different houses and who lives there and they’ll start naming them off. Noel lives there. Sandy and her husband live there. Carlos and Maria live there. And then there’s that house. We don’t know them. They rent. This is the first time we’ve ever bought a home, so we’re like, “Yes! We’re in the club!”

There’s this attitude that if you rent, you’re not going to be there long and they don’t want to welcome you in. If you rent you’re a foreigner! The lesson is all you renters should buy a house here and stay awhile! Well…if you can, if you can’t we’ll still love you.

Now here’s what’s crazy about this. Abraham’s there. But the promise is not yet fulfilled. Remember what the promise was. A great nation. So this involves a place, a big city for sure…and a progeny, many children and followers. Abraham’s conviction and confidence here in the promise of God is amazing. He believes it so strongly, he is there, living in tents with his family…just waiting for God to bring it about.

It’s the opposite of how things happen today. Do you know how new towns or communities get started today? It’s a mega, multi-company effort. They go into an area, put up a whole new track of homes. Plop in a target, a Chilis, a Home Depot and a Grocery store all in this nice shopping center and bam! You’ve got a new suburban city.

Abraham’s deal is the opposite. He goes in when there’s nothing and camps out and waits…for years. But he is committed to living out the promise of God in the place God had called him to. Are you? Are you living out your life as a response to God’s call and promise?

Now here’s the other thing. Notice Abraham is called to a place and he goes there and sticks it out. I’m gonna capitalize on that because we need to hear this in transient San Diego. San Diego is one of the most transient cities in the country because people come to live here for a little while and then they’re gone and very few new people are investing in the city long term…which is one of the reasons our city has been facing some of the unique financial difficulties it has. Whether it’s military, college kids, or those who are seeking a temporary oasis, it’s very difficult to find people who have lived here for more than 10 years…even harder to find people who were born here.

So I’ve heard it over and over again…people love to go to the story of Abraham and use it to support their sense of calling to leave a place and to move and go to some place new. Besides the fact that isn’t the point of the story of Abraham…to teach people to move…I think that has more to do with the grass is greener syndrome, where people are always looking for something new and better thinking life will be better or easier somewhere else. That wasn’t what was going on with Abraham. Remember, he didn’t want to leave. But he does and he goes to a place and sticks it out.

The real focus with Abraham is the land of promise, the land God calls him to. “Land” in the Bible is a big deal. It’s out of dust from the ground of the land that God forms the first man. After sin enters the world, man’s relationship with the ground gets severely affected so that it fights against him and man gets expelled from the good land of the Garden of Eden. Before Abraham comes on the scene in Genesis, the stories prior to him reveal an increasing tension between humanity and the earth with things like the flood and the tower of Babel which result in divine judgment in the form of exile and alienation from the earth.

Thus, when God comes on the scene and promises an inheritance, a gift of land…it’s no small deal. It’s a major movement in God’s redemptive plan. In fact much of the overarching narrative of the whole Bible can be seen as a movement from losing the land in the garden to regaining it in the heavenly city. John Milton eloquently describes it as Paradise Lost and in his subsequent poem Paradise Regained.

Here’s the point, Abraham is consistent. He’s not a drifter. He lives out the promise of God because he’s looking forward and trusting that God will bring it about. Look at verse 10, “he was looking forward to the city that has foundations (not a tent), whose designer and builder is God.”

Living a life of faith involves looking forward, seeking the city to come, which is built by God. We’re not going to go into depth a ton on this because we’re gonna come back to it and spend a whole week on the city of God as our final sermon of this series after we finish the chapter. As we’ll see it’s probably the main reason any individual gets selected in Hebrews 11 as being an example of faith…if they were seeking the city to come.

But let’s press in just a little today. Abraham was looking for a city designed and built by God. As designer, God’s the architect. As builder, he’s the construction manager. And what’s the emphasis? God does it. God designs it! God builds it! So often we try and try and try to make stuff happen. We try to make our lives work. We try to design and build our own kingdom. We try to map things out and get everything lined up. We try and try and try…and we fail because we’re not looking to God to doing it, we’re looking to ourselves and our own efforts. We’re not trusting God’s design and trusting him to build it.

The other piece is recognizing that no city and no life will be perfect until Jesus returns and sets up his city. We’re going to be left longing and in want until that happens. We’ve got to look forward and put our ultimate hope in that. It’s having a long term vision.

The life of faith really involves sticking it out. You know what’s crazy about Abraham? The only land he ended up ever owning before he died was the small plot he was able to buy for his wife’s burial when she died. And that’s it. Abraham came to realize that the vision and calling he had received from God would be fulfilled by his heirs and not in his lifetime.

Not only is that a huge lesson for us parents in caring more about their future than ours and what’s happening right now…but it also shows us that living a life of faith is about something so much bigger. It involves all of history and what God is doing and will do in the world. Looking forward to the city that is to come whose designer and builder is God. Preparing, longing and looking to that…instead of the measly attempts we make to try to create heaven on earth now. Politics, cities, people we’ll all be broken until Jesus comes again.

So let me ask your heart some questions and we’ll move on to our final point. Do you have a sense of calling about where you live? Like God has called you here to these people and this place? You should. Because until you do, you’ll just be a drifter and it will keep you from really living out a life of faith. Are you trying to make your life happen when you just need to sit back, trust and let God do it? Do you have a vision for the city to come, or are you just hung up on what’s happening right now?

So much of faith has to do with actually living things out. Faith is not just this ethereal feeling. It’s confidence and action based upon a conviction of what is ahead that comes from God. Putting feet to our faith. May God help us in that. We’ll let’s check out our final point this morning, “The Proof of Faith.”

III. The Proof of Faith (v.17-19)

This is the famous story of Abraham offering up his son Isaac on the altar. Let me re-read the text from Hebrews so we get it fresh in our heads. Hebrews 11:17-19 “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”

Okay, some crazy stuff here. Next week, when we look at Sarah, Abraham’s wife we’ll hit up what a big deal it was that Isaac was born. Abraham was longing for a son so that God’s promise would be fulfilled. It wasn’t happening. He tries to make it happen but that doesn’t work. And then by a great miracle God finally gives him a son by opening up the 100 year old womb of his wife. Suffice it to say today, Isaac was a big deal. Here in verse 17 of Hebrews 11 he’s called his “monogenes” in Greek, his “one and only.”

So here’s the story. It’s in Genesis 22. Abraham finally has a son, which is the first real sign of God fulfilling his promise. Then God comes to “test” him and says, Genesis 22:2 “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will show you.”

This is crazy. Not only going against ever fiber in a parent’s bones, but this is the son of the promise and a religious abomination. But Abraham, apparently has grown to really trust God, so he does it. He loads up a donkey with wood, takes his son up on the mountain, builds an altar, put the wood on it and goes as far as tying his son down on the wood and taking a knife is about to kill him before he lights the fire and suddenly he hears the voice of Jesus, “The angel of the LORD (Gen 22:11)” call out “Abraham, Abraham!” And he stops him, gives him a Ram to sacrifice instead.

Hebrews 11 picks up on this story and says it was “by faith” Abraham was able to do this and then it unpacks and explains that for us. Now, many people have read all kinds of stuff into this. Soren Kierkegaard is famous for writing a book titled “Fear and Trembling” where he develops a full-blown philosophy of known as existentialism based on this story. Basically he defines faith as this blind leap into the dark through which one then escapes anxiety and finds reality.

Here’s the problem. How has Hebrews 11 defined faith? Not as a blind leap but an convinced sureness of the unseen or the future. So verse 19 tells us something God doesn’t say in Genesis but chose to reveal to the writer of Hebrews and that’s how Abraham could’ve have done this insane thing. It says, Abraham considered, or reasoned…i.e. not a blind leap…that God would raise him from the dead.

So, Abraham believed Isaac was the son of the promise from God. But he also believed God asked him to offer him up, so he considered, reasoned or figured that God would raise him from the dead. I suppose the boy was already a miracle anyway since he was born to a 100 year old barren woman so Abraham didn’t think it was too far fetched that God could bring him back to life. Abraham saw God as the one who gives life and can do it by whatever way he chooses.

Now here’s the real interesting thing. Verse 17 here along with Genesis 22 say Abraham was being tested. Most often when we hear that English word “tested” I think we come up with this idea in our heads like God is trying to find out something about Abraham…as if he didn’t know.

But not only does God know everything, including the thoughts and intentions of the heart as Hebrews 4:12 says…but also, God does not tempt people to sin. Listen to James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”

So what’s going on here? Here’s what I think. James 1 also says this in verses 2-3 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” So really what is going on when we face tests and trials is God is proving to us our faith is real. God knew what he was going to do with Abraham all along. And he knows what he’s doing with us and he is faithful to show us that his work inside our hearts is real and not just our imagination. When we follow through and live out our faith in obedience and action, especially when it’s hard. We discover God’s work in our heart and life is real. Our faith is real.

I think so much of the times faith is a discovery. We don’t really realize it’s there or how strong it is until something hits us and our own response surprises us. I remember a couple critical junctures in my life where it would of made the most sense to throw in the towel and give up on the whole Christianity thing, but I just couldn’t do it because I felt as though I knew and had experienced too much. I discovered my faith was much stronger than I realized. Difficult, hard, challenging situations in life have a way of drawing out faith.

This week at our community group…we were eating, laughing and having a good time getting to know one another since our group is new and toward the end I told everyone we were going to pray and asked if anyone had anything they wanted us to pray for. And the tone of our group changed real fast. Family members with cancer and surgeries, friends who had recently died, and three individuals really struggling with a need for a job…and the lack of one causing all kinds of doubt and questioning about life, identity, meaning and purpose.

Life is real and it is hard. And God uses those real life situations and trials to beckon and birth faith in us. There may be some of you today who are going through something really tough right now. I want you to know God knows and he wants you to look to him and trust him. God is at work in proving to us his goodness.

Often times what happens in us is something like what happened with Abraham. We want something so bad, so we pray and pray and pray and ask God for it. And then he gives it to us. Our one and only………whatever. Then we make a idol out of it and treat it as our god. It’s the thing we love, cherish and protect the most. And God, the one true and real God sees that and cares for us, so he calls us to give it up because only he can be first and no other God will satisfy. If we do and we’re actually willing to give it up and have him first in our hearts…so often, in time he’ll restore that thing to us because we’ve learned the lesson that he must be first.

So let me ask you, is there something today God is calling you to give up and let go of? Something he wants you to offer up to him so that he might be first in your heart? Are you in the middle of a trial right now and God is calling you to put your faith in him? What’s that look like for you? As we’ve seen faith almost always has some follow through in action? How is God wanting to prove his gift of faith in you?

Well, let’s wrap up.

Conclusion

By faith, Abraham obeyed…verse 8. By faith, Abraham lived…verse 9. By faith, Abraham was tested or proved…verse 17. I want everyone to listen real closely. When we look at these things and hear these things. It’s so easy to be like, “Wow, Abraham…what a great guy.” But he wasn’t.

I didn’t take time to chronicle his sins today which included adultery with his housecleaner and pimping out his wife, twice. I got myself in hot water last week talking about Noah’s faults so I didn’t want to get you all upset at me today too by telling you Abraham wasn’t good either. For some reason we hate hearing that these Old Testament heroes weren’t really heroes at all.

But we’ve got to remember, Hebrews isn’t commending their morality but their faith…God’s work in their heart and their life. That’s the only way they are examples to us. Because what the truth?

Have we obeyed? No. And if we’re Christians we’re constantly battling belief and obedience…whether we do our own thing or God’s. Have we lived by faith in the land? No. We tend to be flippant and uncommittal and very few of us actually have a vision for the future and the city that could be. How do we do at tests or trials? Not good. We whine and complain, caring more about the gifts of God than God himself and we hate giving anything up.

Obedience, life, trials…we fail. But here is the good news of the gospel my friends. Jesus has done them for us. I know you hear me say it each week. But grab ahold of it fresh today.

Jesus obeyed the father perfectly for us. We haven’t. He has. And he gives us his obedience. Abraham left Ur to go to the promised land. Jesus left the glory heaven above and stepped down into the dirt he made in order to take us to the promised land.

Jesus lived the life of faith. He was treated as a foreigner, never had a home, but through his life and death became the cornerstone and foundation of faith. Abraham looked forward to the city of God. Jesus is the prince who opens the doors to his house, the one he designed and built in the heavenly city and there is room for faith in him.

Jesus proved who he was and offered himself up on the cross for us, so that we might put faith in him and be saved. Abraham knew some amazing things. He knew a son had to be offered up, he knew there had to be a resurrection and he learned there was a substitute sacrifice. Jesus is God’s one and only son, who was not just laid up on the altar but was actually killed so that he could be a substitute for all sinners who put faith in him.

Jesus simply is the true and better Abraham in every way and he is the one we need. Wherever you’re at, whatever you’re dealing with this morning. Jesus is who you need. The point of Abraham’s story is to point us to Jesus.

Know…if you’ve been really disobedient to God…know that where you’ve failed Jesus has succeeded. Jesus was obedient, always…for you so that we might not only have an example but one worthy to take our place. Allow that truth to transform your heart so that you’ll want to trust and obey.

Know…if you’ve been living your own life rather than a life of faith…know that where you’ve been selfish and tried to build your own kingdom and been treasuring other promises and dreams than God himself. Know that Jesus had it all and gave it all up so that you might truly come to the promised land with the city that God designed and builds.

Know…if you’ve been in trials and testing and failing…know that Jesus was tried and tested and found to be true so that you can look to him and run to him and be safe. Whatever you’re going through, God knows. He was offered up on the cross for your sin and he rose again so you might be forgiven and redeemed. Put your hope, your peace and your trust there.

Jesus is who we need. He is our obedience, our life and our hope. Let’s pray.

Fear and Trembling | A Bunch of Dead Guys | A Brief[ish] Survey of Holy Terror

An Introduction from Paul:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13)

Kicking things off in the 1500s:

Martin Luther – The Holiness of God

“At these words I was utterly stupefied and terror-stricken. I thought to myself, “With what tongue shall I address such majesty, seeing that all men ought to tremble in the presence of even an earthly prince? Who am I, that I should lift up mine eyes or raise my hands to the divine Majesty? The angels surround him. At his nod the earth trembles. And shall I, a miserable little pygmy, say ‘I want this, I ask for that’? For I am dust and ashes and full of sin and I am speaking to the living, eternal and the true God.”

The 1600s were a good century for the Fear of God:

*In other news, shout out to dead dudes named John.

John Bunyan – A Treatise of the Fear of God

“And, indeed, God may well be called the fear of his people, not only because they have by his grace made him the object of their fear, but because of the dread and terrible majesty that is in him. “He is a mighty God, a great and terrible, and with God is terrible majesty” (Dan 7:28, 10:17; Neh 1:5, 4:14, 9:32; Job 37:22). Who knows the power of his anger? “The mountains quake at him, the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him” (Nahum 1:5,6). His people know him, and have his dread upon them, by virtue whereof there is begot and maintained in them that godly awe and reverence of his majesty which is agreeable to their profession of him. “Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” Set his majesty before the eyes of your souls, and let his excellency make you afraid with godly fear (Isa 8:13).”

…

When God giveth his presence to his people, that his presence causeth them to appear to themselves more what they are, than at other times, by all other light, they can see. “O my lord,” said Daniel, “by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me”; and why was that, but because by the glory of that vision, he saw his own vileness more than at other times. So again: “I was left alone,” says he, “and saw this great vision”; and what follows? Why, “and there remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned into corruption, and I retained no strength” (Dan 10:8,16). By the presence of God, when we have it indeed, even our best things, our comeliness, our sanctity and righteousness, all do immediately turn to corruption and polluted rags. The brightness of his glory dims them as the clear light of the shining sun puts out the glory of the fire or candle, and covers them with the shadow of death. See also the truth of this in that vision of the prophet Isaiah. “Woe is me,” said he, “for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” Why, what is the matter? How came the prophet by this sight? Why, says he, “mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isa 6:5). But do you think that this outcry was caused by unbelief? No; nor yet begotten by slavish fear. This was to him the vision of his Savior, with whom also he had communion before (vv 2-5). It was the glory of that God with whom he had now to do, that turned, as was noted before of Daniel, his comeliness in him into corruption, and that gave him yet greater sense of the disproportion that was betwixt his God and him, and so a greater sight of his defiled and polluted nature.”

John Owen – Overcoming Sin and Temptation

“For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry, and hid myself”(Isa. 57:17). What peace, I pray, is there to a soul while God hides himself, or strength while he smites? “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face” (Hos. 5:15)—“I will leave them, hide my face, and what will become of their peace and strength?” If ever, then, you have enjoyed peace with God, if ever his terrors have made you afraid, if ever you have had strength to walk with him, or ever have mourned in your prayer, and been troubled because of your weakness, think of this danger that hangs over your head. It is perhaps but a little while and you shall see the face of God in peace no more. Perhaps by tomorrow you shall not be able to pray, read, hear, or perform any duties with the least cheerfulness, life, or vigor; and possibly you may never see a quiet hour while you live—that you may carry about you broken bones, full of pain and terror, all the days of your life. Yea, perhaps God will shoot his arrows at you, and fill you with anguish and disquietness, with fears and perplexities; make you a terror and an astonishment to yourself and others; show you hell and wrath every moment; frighten and scare you with sad apprehensions of his hatred; so that your sore shall run in the night season, and your soul shall refuse comfort; so that you shall wish death rather than life, yea, your soul may choose strangling. Consider this a little—though God should not utterly destroy you, yet he might cast you into this condition, wherein you shall have quick and living apprehensions of your destruction. Wont your heart to thoughts thereof; let it know what [it] is like to be the issue of its state. Leave not this consideration until you have made your soul to tremble within you. There is the danger of eternal destruction. For the due management of this consideration, observe—

That there is such a connection between a continuance in sin and eternal destruction that though God does resolve to deliver some from a continuance in sin that they may not be destroyed, yet he will deliver none from destruction that continue in sin; so that while anyone lies under an abiding power of sin, the threats of destruction and everlasting separation from God are to be held out to him (so Heb. 3:12; to which add Heb. 10:38). This is the rule of God’s proceeding: If any man “depart” from him [Heb. 3:12], “draw back” through unbelief, “God’s soul has no pleasure in him” [Heb. 10:38]—“that is, his indignation shall pursue him to destruction” (so evidently Gal. 6:8).

That he who is so entangled, as above described, under the power of any corruption, can have at that present no clear prevailing evidence of his interest in the covenant, by the efficacy whereof he may be delivered from fear of destruction; so that destruction from the Lord may justly be a terror to him; and he may, he ought to look upon it, as that which will be the end of his course and ways. “There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).”

John Milton – Paradise Lost, Book VI (Jesus scaring Satan and his angels out of Heaven)

“So spake the Son, and into terror changed His countenance too severe to be beheld And full of wrath bent on his Enemies .At once the Four spread out their Starry wings With dreadful shade contiguous, and the Orbs Of his fierce Chariot rolled, as with the sound Of torrent Floods, or of a numerous Host. He on his impious Foes right onward drove, Gloomy as Night; under his burning Wheels The steadfast Empyrean shook throughout, All but the Throne itself of God. Full soon Among them he arrived; in his right hand Grasping ten thousand Thunders, which he sent Before him, such as in their Souls infixed Plagues; they astonished all resistance lost, All courage; down their idle weapons droped; O’re Shields and Helms, and helmed heads he rode Of Thrones and mighty Seraphim prostrate, That wished the Mountains now might be again Thrown on them as a shelter from his ire.

Nor less on either side tempestuous fell His arrows, from the fourfold-visaged Four, Distinct with eyes, and from the living Wheels, Distinct alike with multitude of eyes, One Spirit in them ruled, and every eye Glared lightning, and shot forth pernicious fire Among th’ accursed, that withered all their strength, And of their wonted vigor left them drained, Exhausted, spiritless, afflicted, fallen.

Yet half his strength he put not forth, but checked His Thunder in mid Volley, for he meant Not to destroy, but root them out of Heaven: The overthrown he raised, and as a Heard Of Goats or timorous flock together thronged Drove them before him Thunder-struck, pursued With terrors and with furies to the bounds And Chrystal wall of Heaven, which opening wide, Rolled inward, and a spacious Gap disclosed Into the wasteful Deep; the monstrous sight Struck them with horror backward, but far worse Urged them behind; headlong themselves they threw Down from the verge of Heav’n, Eternal wrath Burnt after them to the bottomless pit. Hell heard the unsufferable noise, Hell saw Heav’n ruining from Heav’n and would have fled Affrighted; but strict Fate had cast too deep Her dark foundations, and too fast had bound.

Nine days they fell; confounded Chaos roared, And felt tenfold confusion in their fall Through his wild Anarchy, so huge a rout Incumbered him with ruin: Hell at last Yawning received them whole, and on them closed, Hell their fit habitation fraught with fire Unquenchable, the house of woe and pain. Disburdened Heav’n rejoiced, and soon repaired Her mural breach, returning whence it rolled. Sole Victor from th’ expulsion of his Foes Messiah his triumphal Chariot turned.”

And finally, a classic from the 1700s by the source of our church’s namesake:

*For more on Fear and the Gospel in Jonathan Edwards, see Duane’s blog from the past

Jonathan Edwards – Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

“There is nothing that keeps wicked men, at any one moment, out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God.

By “the mere pleasure of God,” I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God’s mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment.

…

They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God’s using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, “Cut it down; why cumbreth it the ground” (Luke 13:7). The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and ’tis nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God’s mere will, that holds it back.

…

There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God’s restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men a foundation for the torments of hell: there are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. These principles are active and powerful, and exceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments in ‘em as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in Scripture compared to the troubled sea (Isaiah 57:20). For the present God restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, “Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further” [Job 38:11]; but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all afore it.

Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is a thing that is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God’s restraints, when as if it were let loose it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so, if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into a fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.”

Special Feature: A Perspective from the 20th Century:

That Evil Nazi Guy – Raiders of the Lost Ark

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhAHHHHHHHHHHHaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:7 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:7. It covers the life of Noah, the wrath and fear of God, God’s care for covenant family and how God’s promises work. Special attention is given to the gospel in how God provides the righteousness he requires. This sermon was originally preached on Sepetember 27th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
September 25th, 2011

Faith and the Example of Noah | Hebrews 11:7
I. God’s Wrath & The Fear of Events to Come
II. God’s Welcome & The Household Who Is Saved
III. God’s Word & The Righteousness It Promises

Introduction

Good morning greetings etc.

Well, it’s week 3 in our fall sermon series “Vintage Faith” where we’re doing a little time travel and checking out several ancient figures of the Bible whose lives are marked in Hebrews 11 as having the kind of faith we need. The faith that from the beginning God has been calling men and women to and been providing.

Increasingly we as a people live in a world that seems to constantly be changing and one that just seems to big to quite get our hands around. Global economics. Political allegiances and country boundaries. Disease. Jobs. Technology. Science. Everything always seems to be in a state of flux.

In his new book King’s Cross, Dr .Tim Keller recounts how thirty five years ago so many people were saying that our society, as time went on, was going to become less and less religious…and that there would be fewer and fewer religious believers because we were getting so philosophically and scientifically sophisticated. Very few people are saying that now. In fact, the more secular our society becomes the more it seems to be driving individuals to seek transcendence and purpose and meaning and spirituality and many are seriously investigating faith in general and specifically the Christian faith.

I think that is because like a ship lost at sea it’s almost like we have no reference point with no way of knowing what way is north, south, east or west anymore. We’re looking for something to grab hold of. In fact several studies have shown a significant spike in the amount of people who have joined the Eastern Orthodox branch of the Christian church because it is the one sect of Christianity that has not changed their liturgy for nearly two-thousand years. We’re longing for consistency, stability, something we can count on and build our lives on. Just like the words of that old southern spiritual says, “Gimmie that old time religion.”

It’s into this context that the characters of Hebrews 11 speak…because they point us to a faith and a God that has stood the test of time…a faith of a different flavor than we so often see and experience these days. So last week we looked at the characters of Abel & Enoch. This week we look at Noah, “Faith and the Example of Noah.”

In contrast to the two guys from last week, who didn’t really have a whole lot written about them in the Bible, Noah has quite a bit. He basically gets four whole chapters of Genesis. Generally most people have some kind of idea about Noah because of the story of the flood, the ark he built and the animals that were saved by it.

Here’s how the story goes in Genesis. Noah is born ten generations down from Adam, the first man. He has sons who are mentioned and seemingly daughters, but he’s a terrible dad and lets them marry outside the faith of his family. Actually no one is really worshipping God. Genesis 6:5 says The LORD God looks down at what happening upon the earth at the time and says God “saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” And this includes Noah and his family.

So God decided to do as any good and righteous judge ought and he sets out to administer justice by wiping out man off the earth with a flood. But he decides to select one man and his family whom he will save along with the animals. And he picks Noah and tells him to build an ark, a big ole’ wooden boat about three stories high and a football field and a half long. 2 Peter 2:5 says while he was building it he preached to the people of the land and offered them a ride, but before the flood strikes…just Noah, his wife and three of his sons and their wives and the animals get on the boat.

It rains for forty days and forty nights, and the whole known world or maybe even whole globe gets flooded for one year. After they finally get off the boat, Noah offers God a sacrifice and holds worship service. Then God establishes his covenant with Noah, promising to give him children and children of faith. God promises to never entirely wipe out all men again with a flood and he makes the rainbow as a sign of it.

Then, the last thing the Bible records about Noah is that the next thing he did is plant a vineyard, get drunk and seemingly has sex with one of his sons. When he sobers up, he pronounces judgment on the son who took advantage of him and then he turns to God and prays for the covenant blessing of salvation to be passed on to two of his other sons. And that’s the story of Noah.

Along comes Hebrews 11 and it picks up Noah as an example of faith. We’ll talk about his more in a few minutes, but Noah, like all the other characters in this chapter, does not get selected because of his superior life of morality but because of his faith in God and his provision.

So let’s read what Hebrews 11 says about him, pray over it and look at just three points this morning. Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” Let’s pray.

Now, I’ll tell you right off this morning, you’re not going to like this first point. My job is to preach to you the Bible. Not to sugar coat it and make it more palatable and pleasing. But to honestly and straightforwardly tell you and show you what it says. Sometimes there is stuff that comes up in the Bible that just isn’t easy. Actually that seems to happen quite a bit. And this is one of those points. So here it is, “God’s Wrath & The Fear of Events to Come.”

I. God’s Wrath & The Fear of Events to Come

This is the first thing Hebrews marks Noah for, that he was “warned by God concerning events as yet unseen.” What’s that? The judgment of the flood. God told Noah about the event of the flood before it happened. And what was Noah’s response? Fear. The ESV here has “reverent fear” here but it comes from one Greek word that can sometimes mean reverence or respect, but I just don’t think so here.

I think this the Greek word’s more normal meaning, that being downright fear, terror, dread. I think Noah was scared. Here’s why.

One, he was a jacked up sinner. In Genesis 6:5 it says God every man on the earth was wicked and “that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” This includes Noah. Genesis 6:12, just a couple verses later says, “all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”

If at some point you heard this story before and it was sold to you like God saw every man was evil but there was one guy Noah who was good out of all them, so God saved him…then you weren’t sold the true story.

So think about it. You’re Noah. Your heart is jacked up with sinful thoughts and acts of wickedness all the time. Sin, universally in the Bible comes from the heart…from the motives and thoughts first before it ever reaches the hands or feet in action. So you’re Noah and you know you’re a sinner. Then God comes to you and the first thing he says is Genesis 6:7 “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land.”

Noah does not have reverential awe at this point. He is freaking out! He has just been caught red-handed by the God and judge of the universe. The Bible doesn’t tell us how God spoke to him but however he did was probably scary just in and of itself. Most people who know they are sinful run away from God and when you’re in his presence you automatically begin to think of and feel your guilt and the judgment you deserve for it. Just that God shows up and speaks probably already had Noah afraid, like really afraid. Then the first words out of God’s mouth are I’m gonna wipe out all mankind because he is sinful. Scared. Terror.

Now I’m gonna make it even worse because as we’ve talked about in past weeks about this chapter, it has a future orientation. Faith itself looks to the future and the book of Hebrews is pointing toward and moving toward an expectation things which will take place in the future. Namely the return of Jesus, when he will come to gather his own in the heavenly city of Jerusalem and banish all his enemies to the place of fire.

Here’s what Hebrews 12:25-29 says, “If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven…he has promised…’I will shake not only the earth but the heavens…for God is a consuming fire.”

It’s all over the Bible. 2 Peter 3:6-7 refers to the flood and the future judgment of God. It says, “the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” In Matthew 25 Jesus himself says when he returns he will judge and gather those who truly loved and trusted him and for the ones who did not he will say, “depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

So here’s the point. Just straight up old school hell, fire and brimstone preaching. I told you, you weren’t going to like it. Noah is an example for us, because God told him of judgment that was to come and by faith he was afraid. Likewise for us, God has told us of judgment that is to come and we ought to be afraid…if we have faith. Faith is not the absence of fear but the presence of it.

Like Noah and every man on the face of the earth at the time, we too have sinful wicked hearts and are evil. None of us are good. Romans 3:11 says, “No, not one.” But we don’t even really need the Bible to tell us that. We know we’re not. I think that’s why we feel like we have to constantly try to convince ourselves and one another saying things like, “No, you’re a good person. You’ve got good in you.” It’s a lie and we know it. No, we’re sinful and we deserve judgment, the eternal wrath of God in the fires of hell.

Look. At least I’m being honest with you. This stuff is right out of the Bible and more than that it’s out of our hearts. Deep down we know it. It would be so much easier to just take scissors to the Bible like some so called “pastors” have done and cut out hell. Actually I heard Rob Bell quit this week, praise God! But honestly, it would be so much easier to hide all the hard stuff. But not only would it not be true but it would fail to address the thing which we need most to be addressed in us. Our sin and our need for a savior.

You see here’s the thing. I’m terrified of God. I really am. I’m not sure where or how we got to a place where that’s slipped away from us and we think it’s okay to think of God like he’s a cuddly teddy bear you fluff full of stuffing at build a bear. Most people in the Bible were really afraid of God. They had a fear of God. They were not just in awe of him like the beauty of a sunset. No, we’re talking about an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good, everywhere present being. That’s scary! He’s scary enough just him. And then to be really honest about my sin. I’m scared of judgment. I’m scared of hell. I know I’m a sinner and deserve it. I’m scared. And I think we ought to be. Like Noah.

Are you? Some of you have probably never thought of God in this way in your entire life. All you have been told of is that God is love and you’ve never heard the other half, the first half of the story. If you don’t have a sense of the utter horror of hell and the wrath of God you deserve upon your soul, you will never truly understand the depth of God’s love for you. It’s what makes his love so great, that though he is a God of shuttering justice, he is also a God of mercy and makes a way for us to be saved.

So let’s change tunes, shift gears and move on to some happier things and talk about “God’s Welcome & The Household Who Is Saved.”

II. God’s Welcome & The Household Who Is Saved

What I want us to focus on and look at for this point is the ark and how through it Noah and his household are saved. It’s the middle of verse 7 in Hebrews 11 where it says out of Noah’s fear of God he “constructed an ark for the saving of his household.”

Now, first it’s important to note that building this boat was not Noah’s idea. It wasn’t like God just showed up and told Noah he’s gonna wipe everyone out with a flood and then Noah comes up with this great idea of how he can escape God’s wrath.

No, when God tells Noah he’s going to flood the earth, the very next thing he tells him is to….”make yourself an ark of gopher wood.” It’s not Noah’s idea. It’s God’s. Consistently, always, every time throughout Scripture, salvation is initiated by God because man cannot save himself. God has to do it and provide it.

And it’s the same thing here. God’s announcement of judgment is immediately followed by an extended hand of mercy, how Noah can be saved. God tells him to build the ark and he gives all kinds of detailed instructions, like how to seal it with pitch, how big to make it down to exact cubit measurements. Some have tried to put the math together in Genesis and have estimated it may have taken him 100 years to build. An amazing feat.

Seven days before the flood God speaks to Noah again and tells him it’s time to get in. No one but his immediate family joins him, so just his household gets on the boat and it rains and rains and rains…flooding the earth for a year before the boat lands on the ground and they’re able to get out.

One of the things you run across when you delve into this story is a lot of skepticism about it sometimes. Like how did they get all the animals? How did they all fit? How did this flood work? Was it the whole earth? Was there enough water on the earth? And on and on and on the questions go.

I’m not going to answer them because I don’t know all the answers. And though there are some good answers out there I’m not sure it’s helpful but instead actually distracts from the real point of the story. One thing to remember is the Bible was not written to be a science book, it’s just describing what happened. On top of it since this boat was commissioned by God and since there is more going on here than just the physical salvation, there’s the spiritual issue of hearts…you’ve got to think there was something supernatural about this boat and this flood. God was up to something…flooding the earth and saving Noah’s family.

In 1 Peter 3:20 the Bible says just as Noah’s family were brought safely through the waters to new life on the ark, that through Jesus we have gone through the waters of baptism and into a new life with God. You see, there’s a spiritual thing going on in the story. The real point of the story isn’t so much about the total depravity of mankind on the earth, it’s not really about this monstrous ark and the animals, it’s not even so much about the flood…most of all it’s about God making a way to save and change the hearts and lives of Noah and his family.

If you read through the story in Genesis, it’s very specific. Noah, his three sons, his wife and the wives of his sons are the only humans who get on the boat. 1 Peter reaffirms it and says it was eight persons. What we pick up in this is an emphasis on family. In Peter’s other letter, 2 Peter, he mentions that Noah was a preacher…that he preached to the ungodly ancient world about the judgment of God. But no one listened. Only Noah’s household. Noah is only able to save his own.

All throughout Scripture we see and hear about his emphasis on family. To make families. To care for families and to seek the salvation of our families. Noah here cares for his family. By faith, in fear of God, he constructs the ark God told him to make so that his family may be saved.

It presses the question. Why the focus on the family? Here’s what I think. God is a family in his very being, a father, son and Holy Spirit. And the whole reason he creates the world according to Isaiah 43:7 is to create a people for himself…a covenant people.

In that goal there is a welcome of God that has been extended to us, like Noah. To be a part of God’s covenant family. There is a judgment coming, but God constructed a new and better vessel to save the household that belongs to him. Two pieces of wood, nailed together with the son of God crucified on its planks so that all those of Jesus’ house might walk into its arms and be saved. Through Jesus God gathers and makes a people for himself and saves his household.

You see for all the darkness and wrath we read about in the last point, it’s the provision of salvation in this point which enables us to see how loving God is. It’s why I’m not just scared of God but also love him. Because he has first loved me. Though I deserve judgment, he has opened the door and welcomed me in to his graces. It’s all him and his provision!

The ark…it was God’s idea. Noah’s family…really was God’s family. And God cares for his own and saves them. God loved Noah. In the last part of verse 7 he’s called an heir. That’s a family term for one who inherits the property and wealth of their father. So here’s the million dollar question I’ve just sort of been leaving out there…how do you get into God’s family. Why did God choose Noah?

Well, let’s move on to our last point for this morning “God’s Word & The Righteousness It Promises” and I’ll tell ya.

III. God’s Word & The Righteousness It Promises

Here’s the answer. Why did God choose Noah? I don’t know. I dunno. That’s my answer. The Bible doesn’t really tell us. It just says that he does. Genesis 6:8 simply says Noah found favor with God. Now I don’t think by “found” it means discovered, like Noah did something good and won the favor of God, God liked him for it. Remember, Noah was included with those who were evil with bad wicked hearts doing evil things. Even after the whole flood thing, he falls into sin and gets drunk and commits adultery.

Noah’s not a good guy. None of these people in Hebrews or the whole Bible for that matter are. They are all screw ups who need God and discover he is gracious. That’s why I love the story of Noah because it gives hope for people like me and you.

I think what’s going on here, with why God chose him is that favor was founded in him, like established or placed on him. Because the very next verse in Genesis 6 after it talks about Noah finding favor with God, it says then was a righteous man and walked with God and was blameless.

In fact this is the theme almost with every character in Genesis, it’s God’s favor that he sets upon various individuals and their families. In the New Testament in Romans 4 the language that is used is “credited” that righteousness is credited. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 it’s the result of God’s work in us that makes us “blameless.”

Hebrews actually seems to tell us the clearest thing about how this righteousness or favor came to Noah. Look at the last part of our verse in Hebrews 11. It says Noah “became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

Let me ask you a question. What do you do to become an heir? Nothing. You are an heir because you are born into the family. So here’s what I think. Why God chose Noah. Simply because he did. He selected Noah out of all the fallen mass of sinful humanity and set his favor on him and made him an heir of righteousness that is by faith.

And this is the best part. Because it’s trustable. Noah believed what God promised he would certainly perform. Noah took God at his word. We’ve said in the past two weeks that faith is convinced sureness and is directed toward either the unseen or the future. When God’s word came to Noah he believed it and result God placed his righteousness upon him and saw to it he was protected and saved.

This is the take home for us. It doesn’t matter who we are, how evil or wicked our hearts are, what things we’ve felt thought and done either before or after becoming a Christian like Noah. What matters is if we take God at his word! We receive the promise of God.

God has promised us judgment for sin but has promised us salvation in Jesus if we put our faith in him. We must put all of our hope and confidence in the sureness of God’s word. It will come through with what it promises. And all it promises it provides.

The question before us is will we trust God’s word or not? Do you trust this book and what it says? Or are you trusting your own book…the one you make up by picking and choosing the things you like or don’t like?

Noah, a sinner, took God at his word and God granted him a righteous covering so that he could safely pass through the waters of judgment. Have you embraced the message of God’s word for your own righteousness? Are you doing that daily? It’s what we need and God offers it to us all in Jesus.

You see, Jesus really is the true and better Noah. Not only because he was and is without sin but he constructs a bigger and better ark on the cross that has room for all who put their faith in him. All those who do get adopted into his family and are carried through the waters into new life and escape the judgment of God.

I don’t know what it’s like to be adopted. Maybe some of you were. To not have a family at all and then at great cost be brought into a loving, caring family and become one of their own. This is what Jesus does for us, at great cost to himself he adopts us in to his family and we receive all of his benefits, the benefits of the heir of heaven…and we are saved.

This is the message of the gospel my friends. It’s a word. A word of faith God has provided for us that if we look on the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved.

You see in the first point, it’s a fear of God and his judgment that will come. In the second point it’s the welcome of God in providing a way salvation. In this third point, it’s that God tells me so. He comes and communicates his heart and his plan. His Word. The message of the gospel real simply is a word that tells us there is justice and judgment for sin, but love and salvation in Jesus.

Conclusion

As we conclude today, I want to ask where would God want to work in your heart this morning? Or where has he been working thus far in the service?

I could be wrong but I think the straightforward, simple message of the gospel, sin and savior is one of the reasons why in a time when people are supposed to be getting less religious they’re getting more and seriously considering Christianity.

We know if there’s a God we ought to fear him. Have you ever really had a holy fear of God? Some of you today, maybe need to spend some time on your knees, physically kneeling, recognizing that we don’t worship a teddy bear. We worship a loving God yes, but a frightening and holy God at the same time.

We know if there’s a God he must be loving. Do you know the love and welcome of God? Are you part of the family? Have you been adopted in? If you have are you living like you’re one of the family or have you still been living like an orphan? Are you in the ark with us, it’s an ark built with wood and nailed together in Jesus’ blood and there is room.

God’s Word has given us the message of salvation, through believing Jesus, God grants to us his righteousness and we will be saved from the wrath to come. Are you taking God at his word? Hear the Word of God this morning, believe it and obey it.

All of us here are like Noah. Sinners in need of God’s grace and salvation. But God gives us his righteousness through Jesus Christ so we might be saved. Let’s look to him and trust him. He’s all we need.

Let’s pray.

The Book of Weary Saints | John Bale | A Vision for The Resolved Church Blog

Very recently I have taken on the responsibility of making sure that we at the Resolved Church have something to post up on our blog every week. Though it might seem kind of like I volunteered myself for such a responsibility because I love making people read all the random stuff I like to write about, it’s really a bit more complicated than that… Thus far the blog has more often than not been the “Sermon Special Features” section of the website, which is great. But I want to take a shot at building it up into something a little bit bigger.

The truth is I took on the responsibility of The Resolved Blog not because I like to write, but because I like to read, and I want to read what you, the members of The Resolved Church, have to write. Now, as we are just barely delving into Duane’s sermon series on Hebrews 11, it happens to be an appropriate time to talk about my vision for the Blog as well as give a bit of context for my thoughts on the whole project.

Also, nobody else is quite ready to give me something to post this week, so there’s that…

Intercessors in Story

For a long time I’ve wanted to get around to working on a book of modern saints’ lives.

I spent the majority of my time as an undergraduate attempting to follow in the footsteps of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and T.S. Eliot by studying medieval literature, in which the sometimes fantastically told biographies of Catholic saints make up a significant part of the canon. Most people today think of saints, theologically, as intercessors in prayer; holy people that we can ask to pray to God on our behalf. Any halfway decent theologian will tell you that this role is completely redundant.

When it comes to literature, though, the saints were intercessors of story. Saints were the (also completely redundant) exploration of the hypostatic union of Jesus Christ; divine enough to have a say with God, but human enough for us to relate to. Jesus was fully man, but divine in perfection, which makes him a little difficult to compare ourselves to. The saints that were popular in medieval literature were dirty cowards and filthy heathens that met Jesus and then turn into super-heroes. We relate to their sin and the desire for transformation. Their stories helped, and continue to help many Christians relate their daily lives to the eternal promises of The Gospel.

These stories that we have about the medieval saints represent a time when the Hebrews 11 worldview that Duane will be preaching to you every week for the next few months was the prevailing Model for the Universe. In one of the most important books I read as a student, The Discarded Image, CS. Lewis defines this outlook as “Historicism; the belief that by studying the past we can learn not only historical but metahistorical or transcendent truths.”

He goes on to explain the nature of that “metahistorical truth” as follows:

“History, in a word, was not for [the Greeks] a story with a plot. The Hebrews, on the other hand, saw their whole past as a revelation of the purpose of Yahweh. Christianity, going on from there, makes world-history in its entirety a single, transcendently significant story, with a well-defined plot pivoted on Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Judgment.”

Medieval artists saw this Plot as the central Model for everything else that happened, and spent their lives devoted to emulating it ad infinitum. As Lewis goes on to explain, “poets and artists depicted these things because their minds loved to dwell on them,” because it was “satisfying to the imagination.” They didn’t need to invent their own plots or generate their own meaning, because “the Model universe of our ancestors had a built in significance. And that in two senses; as having ‘significant from’ (it is an admirable design), and as a manifestation of the goodness that created it.” There was no need for, or even the illusion of some personal genius being involved in the artistic process: “The achieved perfection was already there. The only difficulty was to make an adequate response,” in life as well as art.

The saints’ lives were attempts to tell stories about perfected human beings, individual lives that represented the eternal destiny and design of every life.

Rediscovering the Discarded Image

So what happened? Why have we lost touch with this Model?

Well, we’re still waiting for Jesus to come back and resolve that Plot. We’re still waiting for God to visibly fulfill some of his promises. We’re still waiting for Redemption and Judgment. As Christians in a post-post-modern, increasingly secular and/or anti-Christian world, it is hard to talk about God’s purposeful p/Plot and how it reveals itself in our lives because it has become relatively easy to lose track of its progress. Whether we admit it or not, we are tired of waiting around and a little bit embarrassed that we are still here, trying to keep the faith. We have grown weary. And nobody wants to admit that, much less write about it.

But the thing is, there truly is “nothing new under the sun.” What is true about the weary saints today was true about the weary saints at the turn of the first millennium, and was true about the early Christians that were encouraged by the Epistle to the Hebrews, and was true about the Hebrew Prophets and Patriarchs. We have been told from the beginning that we will never progress by our own diligent works, and in Hebrews 11 we are told that nobody has ever been justified by anything but their faith in the Plot of God’s Diligent Purpose. God knew that we would get tired and planned accordingly.

When we talk about our faith having a “vintage,” we mean two things: First, that it’s old and that it’s valuable, not despite, but because of the fact that it is old. Its quality has sustained itself. Second, because it is in reference to a very specific time and/or place. When we point to old (but never adequately replaced) models of the universe and identify them as the inspiration of our “vintage faith,” we are saying that something so specific happened in history that it adds significant weight to a moment, causing that moment to transcend and redefine History itself. As followers of Jesus, it is His life and death on the cross that redefines, refocuses, and reminds us of the nature of our God-centered worldview. This is a worldview that is centered on a story about one work that provides meaning for every story, whether we have faith that those stories are meaningful or not.

A Pilgrim’s Re-Progress

So what can we do differently as we try and go back and re-evaluate that Faith that had such a vintage that it not only redefined history going forward, but also backwards? How can we correct the mistakes that might have contributed to a tendency toward losing track of the Plot?

We refocus on Christ. As medieval literature progressed, it became more and more focused on the human experience and the ways in which Christianity provided commentary on that experience, rather than vise versa. Western culture lost track of Christ because we as humans are prone to focus on ourselves, and we are always prone to wander in life, just as we are prone to start, but get distracted away from finishing The Brothers Karamozov, or any of those other books that wise people tell us we should read (Ahem, The Bible).

The story of the Epistle to the Hebrews is that God alone has been faithful, and God’s faith alone, gifted to us, is what sustains us. Over the course of our lives we might change a great deal, and we might even attempt to change ourselves in even greater measures in order to attempt to ornament our lives as a form of worship to our God, to provide an even more “adequate response” to the already perfect story that he is writing all over History. But as Duane’s last sermon concerning Cain and Able demonstrates, there is no “adequate response” but to follow him and be satisfied by letting our “minds love to dwell upon” his glory, and being satisfied thusly, glorify him all the more.

Our vintage faith needs to be one that looks to the stories of the saints as reminders of the fact that the only things that make any human anything close to “divine” are those visible marks left over when the invisible God has seen fit to use humans to fulfill his divine purpose.

We might feel unprepared to write a whole book and call it our Life. But if we know that somebody else has already written The Book (of Life), and that all we have left to do is contemplate the placement of our chapter within that volume, we surrender our own obsession with personal rhetoric, and submit to the progress of the narrative.

A Vision of Purpose

As I said near the start, I have always wanted to get around to writing a book about modern, weary saints. But I am nowhere close to feeling ready for the difficulty that I imagine to be an “adequate response.”

And then it occurred to me that I will never be ready, and I never have to be ready. I don’t have to make these stories up because they are playing out on a daily and momentary basis in the lives of Jesus’ Church, at The Resolved and elsewhere.

I know it’s intimidating to try and write something that you know others will read (I’m doing it right now and it kind of sucks…), but we need to focus on the fact that it is notour work that matters but our attempt to respond to the Work that matters. In the same C.S. Lewis passages that I quoted before he explains that, “there [is] no question of waking [God’s Model] to beauty or life. Ours, most emphatically, [is] not the wedding garment, or the shroud. The achieved perfection [is] already there.” Though there is always some value to be found in trying, we cannot ornament the Glory of God. We can only get lost within it.

In attempting to write out our versions of the stories that God is telling in our lives, we force ourselves to imagine them in terms of those vintage stories that have already been written, as well as that One story that God’s first spoken words initiated into being. In telling and reading the stories of the weary saints we learn to understand ourselves better in terms of our place within our immediate church body, as well as the Universal Church that spans the length and width of all history. This act is both satisfying to ourselves and glorifying to God.

My hope for The Resolved Blog is that it might become a place where we as a church body can come to share and enjoy the storied gifts that God is continually giving us; sharing our trials and His triumphs, asking difficult questions and offering honest prayers. A place where we can build up our identity as a church in terms of not only our immediate community, but the eternal heritage that is founded upon the Plot of God’s greatest epic, of “Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Judgment.”

And, if absolutely nothing else, it might give me something to read other than comic books.

So please, dare yourself to testify to the things that God is doing in your life, to the Faith that he is sustaining within you, and contribute to The Book of Weary Saints that continues to be written every moment of every day, whether we/you are reading it or not.

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:4-6 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:4-6 which explores the first two stories of faith that are referenced in the chapter: Cain and Abel followed by Enoch. Special attention is given to the gospel in how God teaches his people to faithfully worship, all the while knowing that only blood of faithful Jesus can cause their bones to sing out a satisfying song. This sermon was originally preached on Sepetember 18th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
September 18th, 2011

Vintage Faith | A Sermon Series From Hebrews 11
Faith and the Example of Abel & Enoch | Hebrews 11:4-6
I. Righteous Abel (v4)
A. His Story
B. God’s Way Of Worship
C. Dead Men Talk
II. Rewarded Enoch (v5-6)
A. His Story
B. God’s Disdain For Death
C. Pleasure Must Be Had

Introduction

Welcome to the second week of our new fall sermon series “Vintage Faith” where we are learning from the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews about the kind of faith the people of old had…the ancient people who loved and lived for God thousands of years ago. We believe faith has not changed and our hope is by digging into their lives it will enliven us to the same kind of deep, long lasting, God glorifying faith which enabled them to put a stamp on history and leave a great legacy for others.

Sometimes it seems we get this attitude that people who lived like 5-6,000 years ago were just really stupid, ignorant people; primates just barely smarter than a tree or something. For some reason my mind automatically starts imagining these cave men and women playing with crayons inside caves. But as we’ll find, the people and the faith which they lived out had more meaning, vision, and vitality than much of what passes for being religious, spiritual or even Christian these days. We need to learn from these who have gone before us.

Today we’re looking at two guys: “Faith and the Example of Abel and Enoch.” So let’s read over our text for today, pray and get into it. Hebrews 11:-4-6 “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Let’s pray.

I. Righteous Abel (v4)
A. His Story

We begin today by looking at Abel. So let me tell you Abel’s story. There’s not a lot of length to it but a ton of depth. His life was short. In fact his very name means “breath” or “vapor.” We first read about Abel in the first book of the Bible, Genesis.

Adam and Eve, the first man and woman God created are apparently popping out kids like mad, fulfilling God’s first commandment to be fruitful and multiply. We don’t know how many kids they had, the Bible only tells of the names of three but does say they had many other sons and daughters (Gen 5:4). I mean, they’re populating the earth, right? The Bible says Adam lived like 930 years…so who knows they could have had literally like a hundred kids. I don’t know. The mom’s are like, “No way. Poor Eve.”

That’s beside the point…What the Bible is interested in are the names of the children who played a role in the passing down of God’s promise to Adam and Eve in the garden to one day put an end to sin and the serpent, and to one day bring a group of people back to the garden of life to live with him.

So here’s what happens. Two sons are born. A dude named Cain is born and seemingly right after him, a dude named Abel is born. Cain and Abel are brothers. Cain grows up and he ends up being a farmer, he works the ground growing grains, fruits, whatever. Abel grows up and he ends up being a shepherd, raising sheep.

Now apparently their parents, Adam and Eve had taught them something about the importance of worshipping God and offering him sacrifices as a part of that. After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God made the first sacrifice himself, the first one to kill an animal and he makes clothes to cover Adam and Eve since after sin they had become guilty before God and were aware of their need for physical and spiritual covering.

So Abel sacrifices the firstborn of his flock, the best and most valued sheep and offers it to God. Cain makes an offering from his working of the ground, but very interestingly Genesis doesn’t say it was a first fruit, the best and first of his crop. In fact, the text almost lends to this idea that he was doing it begrudgingly…he didn’t really want to make any sacrifice and give anything to God because when he offers it God didn’t have regard for his offering.

In response Cain gets angry and then God addresses the desires of his heart saying, Genesis 4:7 “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” I mean this is a word of grace from God. Cain has already blown it but God throws him a bone, tells him how to make it right and how to avoid making it worse.

Some people have tried to say it was that he should’ve offered an animal, a blood offering or something. But that’s not what God addresses when he speaks to Cain, God addresses the motivations and desires of his heart…essentially his faith or lack thereof. But Cain doesn’t listen. Instead, he goes out to the field where Abel is with the sheep and he kills him.

And that’s the story of Abel. He’s a man of many firsts. He’s the first man ever recorded offering an acceptable sacrifice to God. He’s first man to die. The first man to be murdered. And as we’ll see later he’s the first man other than Adam to be connected to Jesus.

Now there is a couple things in this story of Abel I want to draw out and focus on with you guys today. Both are from what Hebrews says. One is the nature of an “acceptable sacrifice” and the other is his death that “still speaks.”

So let’s talk about an “acceptable sacrifice” and “God’s Way of Worship.”

B. God’s Way Of Worship

Look back at the passage in Hebrews. Verse 4 says, “By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous.” So here’s my questions. What makes a sacrifice acceptable? What is a sacrifice? And who gets to determine whether it’s good enough or not?

First, a sacrifice. To sacrifice means to give to another at great cost to yourself. There is something you give up or let go of in order to help, bless, benefit or love another person. Whether it’s time, money, or a physical object…there’s always some sort of internal pain or death involved in sacrifice. Right now, all of us here in this room are sacrificing a portion of our day and our time to listen to and learn from the word of God…hopefully it’s because we realize he’s worthy and we love him and recognize we need him. But you may be here for some other reason.

Now here’s the thing. Both Cain and Abel knew that they were created by God and were meant to offer him sacrifice because of it. They like us, owed their life, their food, their jobs and their families to him and they were to honor him for it. But Cain’s sacrifice and Abel’s sacrifice was far different.

John Owen, the great Puritan writer and preacher says Cain he merely just paid homage to God as the creator and preserver but he did not look at his own sin and recognizing his need for deliverance and turn to God for it…instead he was just sort of paying God off. In contrast, Owen says Abel fixed himself on God both as creator and redeemer, recognizing that sacrifice was the means through which God provided covering for his sin.

Jesus is actually the best on this. He’s the one who actually calls Abel, righteous Abel. It’s in Matthew 23. Jesus is in a gnarly fight with the Pharisees. And he is railing against them. He tells them they are like a cup that is all clean on the outside but filthy dirty inside. He tells them they are like nice fancy white tombstones but stand over dirt and death and dead men’s bones. His whole point is that outward acts of worship, whether it be giving money, going to church, praying, doing good deeds…whatever it is is worthless if it is not coming from a heart of love and worship to God!

So Jesus is saying all this stuff and then points to Abel as an example saying that mere external acts of religious worship that are not from the heart follows the heritage of Cain who killed “righteous Abel.” So what made Abel righteous? What made his sacrifice acceptable to God? His faith. His heart of worship.

Here’s the deal. The only kind of worship God is interested in…the only kind of worship God will accept…is the one that comes from faith. This old dude, F.F. Bruce, well he’s actually dead now, said, “Sacrifice is not acceptable to God because of its material content but only when it’s an outward expression of a devoted and obedient heart.”

I mean do you really think that God like the smell of burning animals? That the odor was just like so pleasing to him? “Mmm burning flesh!” When was the last time you burnt your hair or your skin? It reeks. God is not interested in you just working harder and doing more things to try and please him or make him happy. He’s only after the inward purity of heart that comes from faith. That is God’s way of worship. All other ways of worship end up in the way of Cain, which is the way of death and hell.

So the real question before us today at this point is are you worshipping God in the way of Cain or the way of Abel? Are you just paying homage to God because you know you are supposed to or are you actually loving and serving the one who made you because he is your God and your hope and you’re putting all your faith and trust in him? Is worship of God real or is just a performance where you’re just going through the motions? Do you really love God?

Oh God would you give us great faith in you like the faith of righteous Abel. Well, there’s one other thing here about Abel and then we’ll move on to Enoch, so let’s look at Dead Men Talk..

C. Dead Men Talk

This is where our passage in Hebrews says, “through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” These words are actually a direct reference to a part in the Genesis story of Cain and Abel that I didn’t read earlier. I’ll read it for you now.

After Cain kills Abel God goes to Cain and says to him, Genesis 5:9&10 “‘Where is Abel your brother?’ And he (Cain) said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ And the LORD said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.”

Abel’s blood, his death, it speaks and it cries out to God for justice! For vengeance! In fact in Judaism there is a long tradition in writings, commentaries and stories of Abel being a judge, a chief of justice, which Hebrews may even be eluding to.

This is the same thing we feel and react whenever evil and injustice occurs. For example, last year when Chelsea King was raped and murdered and her body was thrown in Lake Hodges here in San Diego… We cry out for justice! Or when the surfer Emery Kauanui was beaten and killed after a bar fight here in La Jolla a couple years ago… We cry out of for justice! Or when 10 years ago some men flew planes into the twin towers in New York killing hundreds of people… We cry out for justice!

Their blood cries out. Dead men talk! But here’s the thing. Even when we do get justice and the people pay and they’re put to death for their crimes…it just doesn’t seem to be enough…it just doesn’t seem to make everything fully right…and we’re left with this feeling, this longer for something better, a better solution, a better justice.

Do me a favor. Turn one page over in your Bible and look at Hebrews 12:23-24 “To the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

Normally I wait until the end of my sermon to try and surprise you all and be like…”and look how this all points to Jesus and the gospel” as if you didn’t know I was going to do it every week. Surprise! But this is just too good and I couldn’t wait until the end.

We sang it just a few moments ago, “your blood speaks a better word.” It comes straight from this passage here in Hebrews 12:24…Jesus blood, his blood shed on the cross, speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. What word does Abel’s blood speak? Justice. What word does Jesus’ blood speak? Both justice and mercy.

In Hebrews 12:23 God is the judge, the one to whom everyone will answer. Every crime committed with hands and every commandment crossed in our hearts. Before God the judge we are all guilty. But what does Jesus do? He mediates with his blood. With his blood he suffers, he takes the place of the guilty and suffers the penalty we as criminals deserve so that justice gets satisfied. And then the better part, the new covenant…we get to go free. His blood, his blood is better because it doesn’t just speak justice but it speaks mercy and enables us to be made new and to start all over again.

Have you longed for justice? Know that God will judge all. You can be sure of it. But also know that there is mercy in Jesus to be had for those who stand underneath the covering of his blood. What we’re really longing for when we long for justice is for things to be made right and in Jesus God makes a way and it’s better. So really Abel is just meant to be a sign post to point us to the true and better Abel, the Lord Jesus Christ upon whom we can look to and be saved.

If you’re just longing for vengeance and justice there’s a deeper thing you’re missing and that is your own guilt and the vengeance and justice you deserve. What you really need is mercy. The true and better word Jesus speaks. Are you looking to him and embracing his provision or holding out for something different which deep down you know cannot really satisfy the longing of your heart? Dead men talk and the thing they speak out most is the need for life, new life…and it comes from Jesus who rose from the dead and gives that life to us.

Well, let’s move on and look at Enoch, another who points us to our longing for and need to escape death.

II. Rewarded Enoch (v5-6)
A. His Story

First let me tell you Enoch’s story. Enoch is the great, great, great (6 greats) grandson of Adam. I’ll read to you everything the Bible says about him. It’s even shorter than Abel. Genesis 4:21-24 “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” Super short right?

So basically Enoch’s story is a weird one. He’s not a Christian. He turns 65 and he has a son with a crazy freaky name, Methuselah and something about that has an effect on him so that he becomes a Christian and starts walking with God. After walking with God for 300 years he disappears and Genesis says, what happened is God took him. Not meaning “took him” like we say sometimes when someone dies, but took him in the sense of he didn’t die and God just transferred him over to heaven or something.

Crazy weird story right? I mean there’s only two other places in the Bible where something like this happens. In one place there this dude named Elijah who is walking along the road with his buddy Elisha talking and all of the sudden this whirlwind comes and separates them and then Elijah is floating up into the air in a chariot of fire until he disappears (2 Kings 2). I’m telling you there is some freaky stuff in the Bible.

Then there’s Jesus himself whom after he died on the cross and rose again, appearing for forty days to hundreds of people is hanging out with his disciples when all of a sudden he’s caught up in a cloud into the air and ascends into the atmosphere until he disappears (Acts 1:6-11).

Now for a lot of people these stories just sound like crazy stories that couldn’t be true and if anything prove how the Bible is just a false fairytale. But you’ve got to remember one thing. The Bible, from the very first words of its pages presents us with a God who made everything by his own great power. So if you’re in fact God and you’re able to do that big of a thing…then it’s no big deal for you to decide to make some people ascend into the air and then take them to wherever heaven is at. So philosophically David Hume fans, we’re still sound and consistent logically speaking.

What’s more important with Enoch than the craziness of him disappearing is what the Bible says about his life. One the change that occurred in him and then the reasons why Hebrews says God took him.

First, think about the change. He was not walking with God until after his son was born. Often times major life events can have the effect of waking people up to the things which really matters. I have had multiple couples who while in the middle of pre-marital counseling we’re doing become Christians because it’s the first time they’ve begin to think seriously about their lives.

Same thing with having kids. There’s something about having another little person who you’re going to end up teaching one thing or another that can cause parents to begin to realize they need to figure out exactly what it is they believe and how they’re going to raise their kid.

It seems that is what happened with Enoch. Something about having his son Methusaleh had an effect on him and God used it to change his heart and the course of his life so that Enoch began to walk with him. Walking with God is this universal metaphor in the Bible for really what it means to be a Christian or part of the people of God…you are living your life, day in and day out with God, following Jesus and seeking to do everything with and for him on into the future he has prepared.

There’s this old Christian kid’s song which has this line in it, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.” We’re on a temporary journey here on this earth and we’re meant to travel it with God. Walking with him…back to the garden.

Are you walking with God? Following his lead? Or are you blazing your own trail doing your own thing? Is there some event which has happened recently in your life and through it God is trying to get your attention and tell you to begin walking with him?

You are meant to walk with God. We are meant for life with God, not death…which is what Hebrews brings out from the story of Enoch, so let’s look at God’s disdain for death.

B. God’s Disdain For Death

Look back at Hebrews 11:5. It says, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death.” And then it says it was God who took him. What the text emphasizes here is God’s antithetical attitude toward death. God don’t like death. God is the author and giver of life. Death is opposed to him and despised by him. It’s why he sent his son into the world, to die and rise…so that death would no longer have the final word and that life would win.

In Ezekiel 18:32 God says, “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone.” God hates death. The Bible begins with God creating life. Death is an intrusion. Through Jesus God puts to death death itself. And the story of the Bible ends in life everlasting with God. It seems the reason Enoch is singled out here right after Abel is the contrast. Abel is a figure of death killed by the sin of his brother. Enoch is a figure of life, who lives because he walks with God.

Many have noted that our culture seems to have a fascination with death. Whether it’s nightly on the news, from the seemingly endless row of murder, suicide and natural disaster…whether it’s fictional stories, TV shows and movies based on war, violence or the paranormal activities of vampires, werewolves and zombies…or whether it’s the art of musicians, poets, painter and the like…or whether it’s the real life situations of war and terror or the simulated situations of video games like Call of Duty: Black Ops, a game which sold over 7 million copies in the first 24 hours it was released and over a billion dollars in profit…death is sometimes seemingly glorified as though we delight in it.

Enoch stands as a figure in the Bible who reminds us we are meant for life, not death and there is more pleasure to be found in living and walking with God than any other thing. Which brings us to our final point for this morning that “Pleasure Must Be Had.”

C. Pleasure Must Be Had

This last point comes from the added commentary in Hebrews 11 on the nature of faith which springs from the Enoch example. Verse 5 ends by saying Enoch was commended as “having pleased God.” And verse 6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Two things here about faith. Last week we learned that faith is a convinced sureness and is directed toward either the unseen or the future. What verse 6 adds here is that the intended recipient of faith is God and not just a simple acknowledgment of his existence but a life lived in a pursuit and desire to please him.

That’s what pleasing God is about pleasure. I could be wrong here but I don’t think this verse is trying here to convince us that God exists. If we’re honest we all know God exists. Even the athiest affirms a certain God’s existence he believes does not exist…he has to argue the existence of God in order to deny it. Psalm 14:1 says the “fool says in his heart there is no God.” You’re a fool if you say that because you know it’s not true.

So I don’t think this verse is really emphasizing the existence of God but rather the pursuit of God and seeing him as the source of pleasure. Look at it. The goal and the thrust is to “please him”, “draw near” to him, want to be “reward”-ed by him and to “seek him.” What the text here seems to be getting at is if you really do in fact actually believe God exists then you’ll want him…you’ll want to please him, you’ll draw near, want his rewards, and will seek him. If you don’t then you may know there’s a God deep down but you’re living like a practical athiest.

There is perhaps not another man who has labored for most of his life to help us understand the importance of this truth than theologian and pastor John Piper. In 1986 he published his landmark book, “Desiring God” where he coined the phrase “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” A statement meant to express the twin truths that we as human beings are meant to glorify God and we do that best by finding our satisfaction, pleasure, happiness…whatever you want to call it…we find it most in God.

Six years prior to publishing the book “Desiring God” he gave a sermon on the topic. He begins it this way, “I think my desire to be happy is a proper motive for everything I do. I do what I do because I think it will make me happier in the long run. In fact, I think that if I abandon this pursuit of joy, I will become incapable of worshipping and obeying God. For what is worship but the expression of delight in God? What obedience does God want but cheerful obedience?” And then he cites Jonthan Edwards 22nd resolution, “Resolved, To endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.”

The point is there is no happiness outside of God. Pleasure, pleasure in God, must be had or else it is darkness and misery. I got an email this week from a friend who has been battling AIDS for years now. He has his ups and downs and recently hit a big down where he became so depressed he had to take a medical leave from work, quit taking his pills, hadn’t spoken to anyone in months and had decided to just wait it out until he died. He’s coming out of it now and I responded to him with some words of love and some resources for him to check out.

Here is the heart of what I told him. God is the fountain and the root of all joy. Jesus died on the cross and rose again for sinners like you and me. That is the root of joy, for the more we grasp how great and good that truth is the more it will transform our affections. God has designed you to be in community with him and in community with his people and without it you will always find yourself battling darkness.

You see the reward we seek is not something we earn from God. We saw that clearly with Abel. The reward we seek is the pleasure of God himself. That’s why we draw near to him. He and he alone has life. Pleasure must be had. And it comes from walking with God like Enoch did. Faith and faith alone is the only thing God ever rewards and his reward is always the same, infinite joy and life everlasting.

Some of you today have been searching for happiness in all the wrong places…looking for it in a guy or a girl or your husband or wife or your kids or your job or money or your house or this or that. Some of you have even been searching for happiness in the search itself. It’s popular these days to say you’re searching but not too popular to say you’ve found. Some of you need to come to a place this morning where it becomes fixed in your brain that you will never be happy apart from God and you will seek your happiness in him and him alone…where he is the end of your search.

Conclusion

We need to conclude and I want to conclude this way today…with the gospel. Surprise! Here’s the truth. Listen. None of us in this room has ever sacrificed enough to be acceptable to God. The truth is none of us are like Abel, we’re all Cains. We’re so prone to just paying God off or giving him a part of ourselves but never really giving our hearts.

The truth is we long for God’s justice to be done to others but we don’t want it for ourselves. We’re quick to call God on fairness when we think it will benefit us but we don’t want fairness from God when it comes to what we deserve.

The truth is none of has walked with God. In fact, as Isaiah 53:6 says, “we all like sheep have gone astray” and gone our own way. We prefer to take the lead rather than to follow the Lord’s. We don’t have faith. We haven’t pleased God. We don’t draw near to him and seek him out. We want good things, rewards but not the reward of God himself.

This is the truth my friends. But hear the gospel of Jesus Christ this morning. Though we all like sheep have gone astray and have turned our own way…the Lord laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. Jesus satisfied the justice we deserve on our own heads. Jesus offers all of himself on the cross for all sinners who put faith in him. The greatest sacrifice of all! And then guess what he does…he seeks us out, he draws near to us, and he freely gives us the reward of himself and life eternal.

The good news of the gospel is that though we have failed at all these things…Jesus has been and accomplished them for us and he gives all of that to us through us putting our faith in him and walking with him. Jesus is the true and better Abel, the true and better Enoch and the true and better you and I. It’s him. He is all we need. There is no faith but faith in him. So let’s go to our great God and savior and worship him today. He is great. He is good. And he gave his life for us.

Let’s pray.

Blog | Pastor Duane

Creatio Ex Nihilo is the classical doctrine of the Christian church that God is the creator of everything and that he created (creatio) it all out of nothing (ex nihilo). The doctrine is grounded in passages of Scripture like: Genesis 1:1-3 “In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep…and God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” Psalm 33:6 “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.” Hebrews 11:3 “The universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of gthings that are visible.”

The Importance of Creatio Ex Nihilo

The doctrine is important for two reasons:

[1] It provides an epistemological (way we know things) ground for knowledge with the inherent power of God’s creative and sustaining word. God is thus the reference point from which all other things can be compared and evaluated. Without such a being as God there can be no external verifier of truth. Like the single point from which you draw a circle with a protractor God is the center and anchor of knowledge. See “Borrowing From God” in Paul Henebury’s Introduction to Presuppositional Apologetics

[2] It provides a consistent worldview to give life definition and meaning. Ancient cosmogonies (origin of the universe) all affirm the universe was created from some other pre-existing persons or substance, which begs the question of where it/they came from. Many have noted Genesis has a polemical intent meant to correct these other speculations. See G.F. Hasel’s The Polemic Nature of Genesis Cosmology
   • The Egyptian account (Hermopolis): Eight different gods have an orgy and as a result
   give birth to the universe.
   • The Babylonian account (Enuma Elish): Two gods battle and when Marduk splits open Tiamat
   her guts create the earth.
   • The Sumerian account (Nammu): Already existing primordial “soup” or matter is
   simply put into order and the universe results.
In contrast to these cosmogonies, creatio ex nihilo says God did not depend on some other greater power, being or material to create but that he and he alone is chiefly God from whom all knowledge, beings and objects originate.

The History of Creatio Ex Nihilo

Creation out of nothing is the historic view of Christianity. Not only did it stand in contrast in days of the ancients and the surrounding world religions in the Old Testament but likewise in the days of the Greco-Romans in the New Testament. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (“the Septuagint” or LXX) of Genesis 1:1 is translatable as “the primary cause caused to be.” This prompted Philo, the Jewish historian to say Judaic monotheism predated Plato’s idea of a prime mover long before the Greeks ever came on the scene.

This view of creation has been carried on throughout the Christian tradition. Consider these words from St. Augustine, “When the Bible says, ‘In the beginning God made heaven and earth’ it must be inferred that God has created nothing before that.” Irenaeus wrote, “God, in the exercise of his will and pleasure, formed all things…out of what did not previously exist.” Calvin writes, “God by the power of his Word and Spirit created heaven and earth out of nothing.” It has only been since the turn of the 20th century with the popularity of the theory of evolution that some Christians began to question this foundational doctrine.

Exegesis of Creatio Ex Nihilo

The very words of Genesis 1:1 imply creation ex nihilo since a noun isn’t used for creation (like “qanah” or “yatzar”) but instead the verb “bara” which contains the idea of complete effortlessness out of nothing. Other repeated and alliterated statements of the Bible, such as Psalm 33:6 and Hebrews 11:3 go out of their way to communicate their intent that readers would understand how important it is to know and believe it was the creative power of God’s word which made everything out of nothing.

This understanding becomes the background and presupposition behind several key Jewish and Christian concepts. Sabbath Rest: In Exodus 20:11 the fourth of the 10 commandments states that God’s people must rest for a 24 hour period, a “day” because God took a 24 hour period day of rest after he created the heavens and the earth. Promised Land: In Jeremiah 4:19-31 God states that he created when there was nothing so that he could bring about a land for his people to live in and be with him. Regeneration: In John 3:1-8 & Ephesians 2:1-10 the Bible describes the new life of a Christian as the work of God which he births out of the nothingness of death and spiritual non-existence in our hearts.

Conclusion

Creatio Ex Nihilo is a foundational Christian doctrine, which is not only thoroughly biblical and historical but really does provide the base for all knowledge and meaning. Simply put, it comes directly from God. For us as a people, the thing we need most is the word of God to give our lives substance and to direct in our walk in this world. Hebrews 1:1-3 states that the same word of God which spoke the universe into existence out of nothing is the word of God which speaks life into our being through God’s Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who died on the cross and rose again for sin. Through this gospel, may God continue to speak life out of the deadness and nothingness of sin in our hearts!

Here are some other good resources you can use to further study this topic:

Articles
• Theology of Creation: Historical Perspectives and Fundamental Concepts by Robert J. Schneider
• Is Creatio Ex Nihilo A Post-Biblical Invention? by Paul Copan
• Creation Ex Nihilo by Derek Thomas
• Biblical Creation & Storytelling: Cosmogony, Combat & Covenant by Brian Godawa
• Philosophical and Scientific Pointers to Creatio Ex Nihilo by William Lane Craig

Books
• Creation Out Of Nothing: A Biblical, Philosophical, & Scientific Exploration by W.L. Craig & Paul Copan
• Creation, Fall, Restoration: A Biblical Theology of Creation by Andrew Kulikovsky
• Who Made God? Seraching For A Theory Of Everything by Edgar Andrews
• Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview by Albert M. Wolters

Article Series | Gabe Hagstrom | Cities Within Cities: Shizuoka, Japan

The Ramparts of Mt. Fuji

Just over 3 years ago I decided to take a trip to Japan. I was just entering my final year of college and I knew I wanted to do something with my final summer break. It probably also helped that all my college ministry leaders were telling me, “You know, you should do something with your final summer break.” So after some conversations with friends, some prayer, and a some time left to the deep curiosity that was growing within me, I decided to join an 8 week trip to Shizuoka Japan to build relationships with college students. It changed my life.

Japan

First, a couple things about Japan. It is a very secular and highly moral culture. They have a high value on doing the right thing, being honorable, and personal accomplishment. They also have one of the highest rates of suicide and depression in the world. The major religion is Shinto Buddhism, of which you can see shrines and temples all over Japan. Christianity has a very small presence with only 00.5% of all Japanese professing faith in Christ. That means if you met 200 new people tomorrow, chances are that 1 of them is a Christian. They are rare. And the ones that do exist are starved for fellowship.

BEST Club

While in Japan 3 years ago (and again this summer) I worked with with the BEST Club, a university club created by and operated by staff from The Navigators. BEST is an acronym for the main activities of the club which are Bible, English, Sports, and Travel, some of the key missional activities that The Navigators use to build relationships on college campuses, military bases, and in communities all over the world. As part of a summer mission team I would go over to Japan for 6 weeks and expose the university students to Christian community by teaching them English using the Bible, playing sports together, and by living/traveling with them. The goal was that the students would be intrigued and moved to learn more about Jesus and His Gospel; to lay a foundation that the long term staff could build upon and nurture in the following years, long after the summer team has gone.

I started that summer with an admittedly small view of God that was a reflection of my belief in a small, uncomplicated, and homogenous world. Experiencing the wildly different culture, spending time with the people, and seeing how God moves all over the world (and not just in the city I live in) was so eye opening. Growing in my knowledge of God was a huge part of that first trip, but I also got a taste of what it was like to try and take the Gospel to another nation. That taste is what sent me back for a second trip earlier this year.

Genius

This summer I lived in a house near the Shizuoka University campus with 4 Japanese guys. One of the guys was a freshman we had nicknamed Genius, mostly because it sounded vaguely like his Japanese name, but also because… I dunno, he often came across as a piano playing, curry cooking, comic book drawing genius. We did the living life thing together for about 4 weeks, and we had some good conversations. But one of the things with the Japanese is that they have separate “faces,” and the most meaningful “faces” are the ones that they never show to people outside of their closest friends. So for 4 weeks I was stuck talking to Genius’s polite roomate “face”.

It was good, but it was never truly deep. Now I only had 6 weeks with this guy, and I really wanted to have a conversation with him about The Gospel or The Bible or anything. I mean I had come all this way, there had to be some way that I could maneuver our relationship in a way that I could really do the “missionary” thing, and give Genius a Gospel message. But there wasn’t. Genius wasn’t interested in talking about sensitive things like that with me.

So I prayed. One of passages I read that summer was Habbakuk 2:1 in which the prophet relates his outlook on prayer. He says, ”I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved.” He expected God to answer, and he wanted to be ready. So I figured that was my only hope: I couldn’t make Genius talk about the gospel, I couldn’t trick him into it, I couldn’t push him into it, or even nice him into it. Only God was going to move him that way. So I prayed. And I asked my friends and family in America to pray also.

The last week of my trip we took a trip to Mount Fuji to climb with the students. Genius came on that trip and after we’d climbed the 12,000 ft cinder cone and came back and gotten cleaned up, he finally opened up. He told me all about his feelings about the Bible, about his uncertainty about God, and how he loved the stories of Jesus in the Bible but didn’t feel like he could actually know him (He is dead after all). So I told him what I thought, how much I loved Jesus, how and why I knew that there was a God, and how I learned about Him through the Bible. And that was it. No sinners prayer, no tear wrenching repentance, no decision to be made that day. Genius enjoyed our talk, told me he would keep reading his Bible, and meeting with the Navigator staff at his university to talk and think through the things we had discussed.

And that’s pretty much how ministry goes in Japan. I’ve heard from believers there who have held Bible studies with non believers for 8 years, the same people faithfully coming every week, and none of them making a decision from Christ. They’re slow to move and scared to move. The whole idea of monotheism is so outside their worldview that to be a Christian is almost to be insane; certainly to be different, and in Japan, different is not good.

So now I keep in touch with Genius, and learn Japanese from him while helping him brush up his English through skype. I pray for him too now, as it’s probably the best thing I can think to do. I pray that he would be like the Centurion from Luke 6. I pray that Genius, though he’s from a largely unbelieving people, would yet have more love for God and faith in His Son than those who come from countries where Christianity is ingrained in the culture. I pray that he would be in a position of influence so that his faith can be witnessed by those that work for him, and the people he will bless in everyday life. I pray that one day Jesus will marvel at the faith of Genius. That’s what I’m praying for. After my last trip to Japan this summer, I believe it can happen and I wait expectantly for God’s answer.

Hebrews 11 | Vintage Faith | 11:1-3 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:1-1 which addresses the place of chapter 11 in the book of Hebrews, the importance of Christian heritage and tradition, what is not biblical faith and what is, and how God creating the world out of nothing is an essential and foundational point of the Christian worldview. Special attention is given to the gospel in how the same word and power of God which spoke the world into being is the one which speaks new life into believers. This sermon was originally preached on Sepetember 11th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
September 11th, 2011

Vintage Faith | A Sermon Series From Hebrews 11
Faith & The Example of Creation | 1:1-3

I. Hebrews & Hebrews 11 (v1)
II. Those Who Have Gone Before (v2)
III. What Is And Isn’t Faith (v1,3)
IV. Creation Ex Nihilo (v3)

Introduction

This morning we embark on new sermon series here at The Resolved Church which will take us through this fall until Christmas time. What we’re going to be doing is working through Hebrews 11, just one chapter of the Bible.

It’s a phenomenal chapter that has been much loved and appreciated by Christians throughout the years because of its chronicling of real people and real life situations and how they walked with God and held onto his promises by faith. Sixteen different people, thirteen specific stories, whose lives, though most of them lived like over 3,000 years ago…still speak with amazing power, truth and clarity.

We’re calling this series, “Vintage Faith.” The dictionary says vintage means “something of high quality, especially something from the past, like wine of high quality or a characteristic of the best period of a person’s work.” It’s our prayer that through our study of this amazing chapter over the next couple months that God will use it to help us develop the high quality kind of faith these people had that we read about here in Hebrews 11.

Today is sort of an introduction to the chapter, so we’re just looking at the first three verses which set the tone for the entire thing. So let me go ahead and read these verses and pray over ‘em and we’ll jump in. Hebrews 11. If you’re new to the Bible and you’re not using some digital form of it, the book of Hebrews is actually just two pages after Titus, the last book of the Bible we worked through at The Resolved. It’s a pretty easy book to find because it’s one of the bigger books in the New Testament.

Okay, here we go, Hebrews 11:1-3 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” Let’s pray.

I. Hebrews & Hebrews 11 (v1)

Alright, so the first thing I want to do this morning is tell you a little bit about the book of Hebrews and how chapter 11 fits within it. Context is very important when you’re reading the Bible, what comes before and what comes after the things you read. It’s the number one way you can better understand what the Bible is saying.

It’s become so common to do what I call roulette reading, where you just opening to a page and read a random few lines and then try and make sense of out. You just can’t because you looking at words and sentences that fit with things which come before and after and so much of the time if you don’t look at those things you can easily take that single sentence or verse and come up with a meaning that has nothing to do with what’s actually being said.

For example, say you just randomly open up the Bible and say you end up on Matthew 27:5 “Judas went and hanged himself.” That doesn’t sound so good. So you roulette again and this time end up with Luke 10:37 with Jesus saying, “You go and do likewise.” No good. That’s a bad way to read the Bible.

So the book of Hebrews. The book as a whole is just beautiful, panoramic and poetic account of God’s work in the world from the start at creation, throughout the whole history of God’s people and into the age of the church unto a excited anticipation of the future. It starts at heaven, moves to earth and then ends looking to heaven again. And throughout the whole thing, in the entire book…Jesus, his person and his work on the cross is unpacked with amazing detail in how it relates to everything.

There’s not another book in the Bible that specifically walks you through all of the Bible in showing how everything in it and everything in this world points to Jesus and is all about him. It’s just incredible. If you’ve never read through the whole book, you ought to just sit down and read through the entire book of Hebrews. It would probably only take you about 30-45 minutes. I did it about a month ago and it is just breathtaking.

Okay, here’s what’s up with chapter 11, how it fits in and why we wanted to take this season and preach and teach through it. If you look at the first verse, how does it start out? It says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for…etc.” Notice that word, “now.” That’s a transition word. In fact, many people have noted that the book of Hebrews actually kind of reads like a sermon and may very well be a recorded sermon manuscript.

What the word “now” is doing here is setting off a digression, sort of a long side note. The reason is because the author has just said something huge about faith in chapter 10 but he realizes the word “faith” can easily be misread and misunderstood and really mislived. Chapter 11 really is the author’s way of saying, “now let me tell you what faith is and how it ought to work itself out in your life.”

So look just for a second with me at what he said about faith in chapter 10. The first half of chapter 10 talks about Jesus sacrifice on the cross and how it provides for forgiveness of sin. The second half of chapter 10 mainly talks about some problems people were having.

In verse 22 some were calling themselves Christians, confessing it, but not really living it out.

In verse 25 some had been a part of the church, but had started slacking off getting in a habit of missing the worship service all the time.

In verses 32 & 33 some had come upon some hard times, some suffering and because of it we’re beginning to give up God.

In verses 34 some had started making their lives all about seeking jobs and money and positions and possessions in this world instead of reaching out to and serving others.

The whole thing climaxes in this crescendo at the end of chapter 10 in verses 37-39, which basically say NO! Don’t do those things. Jesus is better, living life for him is more pleasure and he is coming, he will come…so don’t give up. Actually let me read those verses for you.

Chapter 10, verses 37-39, “Yet a little while and The Coming One (that’s Jesus!) will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

So you get it? Hebrews 10 brings up some issues about how people who said they had faith were not living like they actually did! So it says, “live by faith” find “pleasure” in that because Jesus is coming and if you don’t you’re going to destroy your soul.

“Now” insert chapter 11…an unpacking of what faith actually is and what it ought to look like in life. You see, if you don’t get that…chapter 10 and how it ends, you completely miss out on that the faith which is described in chapter 11 is the justifying or righteous-ifying faith which looks to and has pleasure in Jesus and his coming. That’s the kind of faith chapter 11 is talking about.

In fact chapter 11 is basically sandwiched in between these two great statements about faith in Jesus. Chapter 10 ends with Jesus coming. Chapter 12 starts with encouragement to look to Jesus who it says is “currently seated at the right hand of the throne of God (12:2).”

So many have missed that and because of that when they have come to Hebrews 11 they’ve just looked at the individuals it talks about as moral examples and failed to see that the whole point Hebrews is trying to make is to have the kind of faith which puts faith in Christ. We’ll get into that more later on. For now just get these bits, because they’re the reason we wanted to do this chapter.

We’re seeing a number of people become Christians in our church, new believers. It’s exciting. People really getting the gospel for the first time. And what we want to see is the transition to living it out. Not just confessing Christ but living for him.

We want to see the love and commitment to this church grow. We want to see us as Christians grow in our depth and maturity so that we’re able to handle it when things don’t go great, when suffering strikes. We want to us increasingly become a people who are serving others and reaching out to them, seeking the city that is to come rather than building our own personal little kingdoms.

Plus, on top of it, the Bible really is new for many of you and by going through this chapter we get to survey some of the great stories from some of the foundational figures of the Bible. We want their faith, the vintage faith. So join in with us. If you’re not yet regular, make a commitment in yourself for the next three months that you’re going to be here each week and study through this chapter with us. If you are regular already my challenge for you is come each week and look at these characters and work to figure out how you can go deeper in your faith and become like these people. Start working now on the kind of legacy you will leave with your life.

Some of you are Christians but there’s just not a lot of depth to you yet. Have God form that in you. Some of you are not yet Christians and you need to hear this stuff and see what God has done in people’s lives of the past because he wants to do it in you…and he will if you have him.

II. Those Who Have Gone Before (v2)

Alright, that’s a lot of set up for this series. Let’s move on to our second main point in our outline for today, “Those Who Have Gone Before.” I’ve already said a bunch about the characters in this chapter and we don’t even get into a character today…so I’m not really going to saying anything else about that. But what I do want us to look at is this principle we pick up on here in verse 2. Look at it. Verse 2 says, “For by it (faith) the people of old received their commendation.”

Throughout the book of Hebrews there is a repeated theme which comes up of looking to those who have gone before and it refers to them in several different ways. Here we have “people of old.” Not old people, “people of old.” Some translations have elders, some have ancients, and some have men of old.

In Hebrews 13:7 we have one of my favorite verses. It says, “Consider your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” You could almost put that at the top of our chapter to title and introduce it.

Two things on this, what looking to those who have gone before does for us. One, it points us to something bigger than ourselves. Being a Christian is not just his personal spiritual thing. In being a Christian you are entering into a long line of those who have walked down the same path you are traveling on. You are entering into a family of believers that goes back a long long way.

That’s big. We live in such a fragmented society. Where we’re often detached and unconnected and ungrounded to anything. There’s nothing or no one that hold us. In Christianity you become enveloped in a rich history of treasured stories, traditions, characters and events which become very dear to you and in a way begin to define and shape who you are.

There is an old book called Pilgrims Progress, written by a man named John Bunyan in the 1600s. In it there is a man who become a Christian and when he does he sets off on a journey to travel to the Celestial City whose builder and maker is God. In a very Lord of the Rings -esque way he goes through all kinds of adventures and trials on his way there.

In the beginning of the book as he is leaving he attempt to bring some of his neighbors along. One says the Celestial City is fantasy and returns to his house. Another asks how he knows the way to get there. In response the new Christian man says it is “an endless kingdom to be inhabited” where “everlasting life is given” and where “there shall be no more crying, nor sorrow” and that the way there is one traveled by “thousands and ten thousands who have gone before” and that they got there by “walking in the sight of God.” That’s what we’re looking at here!

The tens of thousands who have gone before is who and what we belong to in the Christian faith. The other thing I love about this theme of those who have gone before is something I try to talk a lot about here and that is teachability…learning from the older and wiser.

It seems to me that far too often we are quick to think we know the answers to things and know what we ought to do and how we ought to be instead of asking questions and looking to those who have gone before. It seems to me that far too often we think the people of old or the older people don’t really know anything and there is nothing to learn from them.

I believe it is quite the opposite. The people of old, those who have lived longer and who have walked in the faith for thirty and forty years are treasures among us with a wealth of wisdom. They ought to be the ones we immediately go to for advice and or even when we don’t need advice just going to them to have them talk to us and to teach us and help shape our character.

I think every Christian ought to have at least one Christian in their life that they can talk to who has been a Christian for at least 30 or more years. Someone you can go to and just listen and learn from because they’ve more than earned the right to speak and they know far more than you could ever read in a book.

Do you have someone like that? Are you teachable? Do you see yourself as part of this long tradition that is much bigger than yourself?

Alright, we’ve got a fair amount left to cover so I’m going to move on to our next point, “What Is And Isn’t Faith.”

III. What Is And Isn’t Faith (v1,3)

Faith is perhaps one of the most slippery, misused, misunderstood and confused things out there. Consider this sampling of quotes on faith.

Wordsworth, “Faith is passionate intuition.”

Ghandi, “Faith is a state to grow into.”

Henry Beecher, “Faith is spiritualized imagination.”

Nietzsche, “Faith is not wanting to know what is true.”

James Dewey, “Faith is not worrying.”

Michaelangelo, “Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.”

Buddha, “Faith is nourishment on life’s journey.”

Paula Abdul, “Keep the faith, always trust your gut instinct.”

Michael Jackson, “All you need is a little self-esteem…so keep the faith…get your dreams off the ground…keep the faith…you can be a winner…keep the faith.”

O-ka-ay??? What is faith again? It’s this word that gets thrown around all the time but I’ve got no idea what people mean when they use it. Bible commentator George Guthrie says you can group the misconceptions about faith into one of four camps.

First and perhaps the biggest one is thinking faith is getting God or the universe to be good to me. If I believe it, if I have faith then it whatever it is I want will happen. I just gotta have faith. It’s a widespread prosperity conception of faith. So say I buy a lottery ticket, if I just have enough faith…then I could win. In this sense your desire is your faith.

The second biggest one is the idea that faith is this blind leap into the dark. When you have no reason to believe something could be true but you believe it anyway, then many will say that’s when you’re having faith. You jump into the unknown and the jump is the faith.

The third one is this idea that faith is just being spiritual. People will say you just have to have faith in yourself. Or I have a very spiritual faith. In this sense faith is just this nebulous religious feeling.

Then fourth there’s putting faith in some religious leader or one of the “faiths.” In this one you’re accepting someone’s creed or teaching you align yourself with and call your own.

There are just all kinds of ideas out there about faith and a lot of them sort of maybe sound good. Like if you just put the word “faith” into a sentence then it sounds all wise or something. Like if I make up some sentence like…”Beauty and bounty are heart of faith.” Oh, that just sounds good, right. But what the heck does that mean, just because the word faith is in there doesn’t make it good or true!

Here in Hebrews 11 we are given one of the most helpful discourses on faith. It’s not necessarily meant to be a full on definition of faith but it comes pretty close.

Verse 1, “Faith is the assurance of things hope for, the conviction of things not seen.” Two big words here, assurance and conviction.

The word “assurance” here is the word “hypostasis” in Greek, sometimes translated substance. It would be used to talk about the foundation of a building, like cement or the support for human life, like blood or air. It’s actually where we get the word hypothesis from, the basis for an argument and evidence. So with assurance we learn that faith is far more than just a blind hope or leap, it’s much more sure, hence the second word “conviction” which normally comes with proof or evidence so that you become convinced or convicted that something is so.

Notice where at the end of verse 1 it says “of things not seen.” That’s really helpful. Because how are things seen? Through the eyes right? We normally see things with our eyes, so we can sense them and then know they are real and that the objects actually exist. What verse 1 points out here is that faith, like the organ of the eye, is what enables us to know about things that are real and actually exist which are not viewable by the human eye. There are things unseeable that faith enables us to become convinced and sure they actually exist.

Then there’s one other thing said here in this verse, that faith not only enables conviction of unseeable things but also the assurance of things “hoped for.” Hope points forward to the future. So faith enables one to know something promised in the future will actually happen. Dudes have said it different ways. One guy said explaining this, “Faith celebrates the now reality of future blessings.” Another said, “Faith binds believers securely to the reality they do not see.” One more, “Faith directs us to the far off we do not yet enjoy.” All of those are good.

So let’s simplify. Faith is a convinced sureness. And faith is directed toward either the unseen or the future. Guthrie summarizes it well, he writes, “Faith is not a static emotion…but living and active, not a state of immovable dogmatism but a vital certainty…with it the believer…lays hold of those realities in which hope is fixed and though unseen are already his in Christ.” You starting to get the feel for biblical faith?

It’s not just a way to get good come your way. It’s not a blind leap. It’s not just being spiritual. It’s not just affirming some belief system or person. It’s much bigger and more alive and concrete than that. Well, our text helps us by giving us an illustration or example. And it’s a good one.

So let’s look at our last point for today, “Creation Ex Nihilo.” Ex nihilo is Latin for “out of nothing” and creation ex nihilo is the Christian doctrine which addresses how God made the universe.

IV. Creation Ex Nihilo (v3)

So creation ex nihilo…this is verse 3. “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” First let’s look at how this illustrates what we just learned about faith and then we’ll talk about how important this doctrine is.

Now, it’s common knowledge…seemingly that if you believe there is a God then one of the things which immediately goes along with that is that he is the author of life, the one who created the world. But from there a lot of ideas are out there about how that may have happened. Even back to the time when the book of Genesis came on the scene.

Other cosmogonies of religions and religious beliefs and stories at the time were that there was already matter in the universe, some primordial soup as it gets called and then God took that and created the world and everything out of using that. Genesis comes on the scene and the very first book and words of the Bible are, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And how did he create it? The next line in Genesis, “The earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep.” Meaning, he created it out of nothing.

Then Genesis goes on to describe how God created everything by simply commanding into being with his voice. He says, “Let there be light” and then there is light. He says, “Let there sky and waters” and then there is. He says, “Let there be earth and plants” and immediately it is so. He says, “Let there be animals and there are animals.” Then he says, “Let there be man” and then there is man.

And not only do we read of this in Genesis but it gets celebrated throughout the Bible. Some have tried to say, “Oh Genesis is just being poetic and metaphorical there.” Oh no. Listen to Psalm 33:6,9. “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host…For he spoke and it came to be; he commanded and it stood firm.” The universal view of the Bible is that when there was nothing God spoke everything into existence with his word!

Now how does faith play into this? John Calvin is good on this. He says people who are not Christians they may think there is a God and maybe even that he is the creator but their thought of him is a “mere shadow of an uncertain deity, not the knowledge of the true God but a transient opinion.”

That’s good because what he draws out is there is no personal recognition of God. It’s sort of just an acknowledgment by default because any honest person has to admit it is more ridiculous to believe everything, all this stuff that has such order and design and complexity and how it all works together…that it just came about by chance…that’s far more ridiculous to believe than that it came from God. So you can just sort of tacitly admit it and say, “yeah sure, there’s probably a God who made everything.” But it’s a whole other thing to say he spoke the word into existence with his word.

But how could you know that? Here’s the only way. God would have had to tell us. And that’s exactly what the Bible claims it is. Genesis is the record of what God told Moses. And likewise the Psalms and Hebrews all belong to this book which repeatedly, throughout it says was breathed out by God’s spirit so that the words the human men wrote were ordered by God.

If faith is convinced sureness of the unseen or of the future, the only way it would ever come to us is from the most sure being who exists. God. Who knows the future? Only God, because he’s all-knowing. How can I know there are realities unseeable with my eyes? Only if God has said so. Faith says when it comes down to it God is and God can be trusted. Faith is the response to what God has said. Not in your subjective feelings but what he has said and recorded in his book, his word, the Bible. Some of you just follow your feelings far too much.

The claim of Hebrews 11 is that the visible world was created by something invisible, the word of God. And the only way you can believe that is take God at his word and believe it gives you understanding. If you don’t believe his word, then you do not have faith and do not really understand the universe and its creator.

What we will see throughout our study of this chapter is consistent examples of men and women who believed what God told them. His promises. His Word. The whole thrust of the chapter is wrenching us and trying to get us to come to a point where will believe in trust and have faith in His Word.

Now, why is this so important? There’s a hundred things I could say. Some technical, about epistemology. Some practical, about the benefits of it. Some Scriptural about why and how you can trust His Word. But more than anything perhaps the best thing I could tell you is that without it you are lost.

The reason Creation Ex Nihilo is such a foundational thing is because it provides the core reality and worldview we need for everything. If there is not a constant, a living being who created and upholds everything there there can be no rhyme or reason for anything. Everything is simply meaningless and I cannot have any kind of certainty that when I walk out of this room I will not walk out into a grass field in China or into a black hole.

Without God creating the world with the power of his word there is no reference point. It’d be like taking chain off a chandelier, it cannot hang, it will come crashing down. You cannot draw a circle with a compass without a having a single central point you draw from. And it’s the same with God. He is the anchor point of everything.

Whether they acknowledge it or not, every single scientist every time he performs an experiment of any kind borrows from a theistic worldview because he is presupposing and relying on consistency and coherence. Without a God who speaks and upholds with the power of his word you can’t do that, there can be no reasons for anything.

But here’s the deal. My fear in diving deep into all this stuff is you’ll just hear academics and science and theological and philosophical reasoning. Because here’s the deeper thing. The commendation we really need, is like the people of old. God. We need God. Without him we are lost. We need God. And not just an awareness that he’s the creator and not even an understanding that he did it with his word, as great and awesome a thing that is. Bigger than that we need God himself. We need to hear the voice of God speak life into us and make us live.

Conclusion

You see as we conclude here this morning this is where I want to end. Because here is the truth…if each one of us were really honest with ourselves…do we have assurance, assurance of the things we hope for? No, my guess is at best they are a little more than wishes or dreams. Do we have conviction? Perhaps, at times. But there’s probably an equal amount of doubt, fears and uncertainties. Do we have faith, in God the creator? Maybe but at best it’s probably a distant idea of God being back there way back in the background. The truth is we all lack these things.

But here is what God has done for us. Listen to the first words of the book of Hebrews. “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb 1:1-3).”

This my friends is the good news of the gospel. Because of Jesus we are not left to welling up faith, assurance, conviction, and hope in ourselves. No, through Jesus God has spoken to us and speaks life into our very being. This is what happens. The same word which created the world comes to us and says, “Jesus died on the cross and rose again for your sin…now live!” The son of God who spoke the world into existence speaks life into us!

When we latch hold of the truth of Christ, that where we have failed he has succeeded…that where we deserved death he died for us…that though he was dead he rose again and is coming again…when we latch hold of those truths faith illuminates our heart and the world with a bright and brilliant light and we live!

Some of you have had a really jacked up conception of faith. Today God is calling you to respond to his word, to quit trusting in and trying to put faith in yourself and instead to put your faith in the person and work of his son.

Some of you have yet to really comes to grasps with the fact that through Jesus we get connected to the creator of the universe. For some of you it’s just been darkness inside and you need the light of Christ to shine on you.

Some of you have simply been shallow in your faith and God is calling you to a deeper, more committed walk with him this morning.

Some of you have been dry for a while and you’re biggest need today is to pour your heart out in worship in adoration, thanks and love.

We’re going to respond to God’s word today and receive the Lord’s supper as we do each week. His body and his blood on shed on the cross for our sin. As you come, wherever you are at today with God you come and allow him to minister to you and speak life into you.

Let’s pray.

Blog | Pastor Duane

A few weeks ago at the leaders conference our church put on our keynote speaker Dave Kraft he pressed us on having a clear vision for the future of our church. He gave examples from Scripture, Christian history and current movements who had a vivid, detailed picture of what God had put on their heart and what it would look like when it happened.

Many have noted having and communicating a clear vision often involves answering three questions: “Where are we going? Do I belong? What’s in it for me?” I’ve touched on a few of these elements here and there in member meetings, sermons and blogs but never clearly and simply addressed it outright out of insecurity, fear, and a long period of questioning my own personal motives since my chief desire is to see Jesus glorified and not Duane Smets or The Resolved Church.

I asked Dave Kraft how you know whether the vision in your heart is from God or just from yourself and he replied, “a good indicator is whether you would be okay with someone else accomplishing your vision without you.” It was an immediate point of clarity when I heard that because I know I would be completely happy if the things you are about to read happened even if I was never a part of them. Since then, several of you from the church have asked me to write more on my vision for our church. So here it is…

We believe San Diego needs a healthy, strong, God-centered, gospel saturated church which can be a base and a platform for ministry throughout the city, our state and beyond. An important element we need to become that is to have our own building and we’d like that to be here in Bay Park.

This area of San Diego is perhaps the most central part of the city where downtown, Mission Valley, and the beach communities collide at the I-5 and I-8 interchange…thus we feel is a key location in having a vision to reach the entire city. Ideally we would like one of the big warehouses in the industrial section underneath/near the freeway interchange. We would take the warehouse and convert it into full blown sanctuary complete with stained glass windows, current/cutting edge architecture and art, state of the art technology and the ability to seat 2-3000 people.

In order to accomplish this however, having a building and big service(s) is not enough. We have a vision to plant community groups all over town in the 133 different neighborhoods. Community groups (a.k.a. “missional communities” “small groups” etc. are the backbone of any solid, healthy church. We want everyone in our city to be no less than a couple miles away from a gospel community. San Diego has 5,000 miles of sidewalk and we’d want to see a known gospel presence on every every street (approx. 2,800). It’s a vision to truly loving Jesus with all we are and to be on mission for our literal neighbors.

A core commitment of our is to be a church planting church, thus we envision The Resolved Church becoming a church planting center where church planters can be trained, equipped and sent out. We don’t believe any one church can reach the city of San Diego, it’s going to take multiple churches working together. Thus, we’ve recently launched www.sandiegochurchplanting.com (viewable online Sept 12th!) to help facilitate the goal of planting as many churches as possible in the San Diego region. The geographical spread of our city is large (4,525 square miles) and as God grants this growth we envision planting multiple churches and campuses through as many means as possible (house, marketed, mother-daughter, multi-site).

We plan to have a full-fledged accredited seminary underneath the covering of our local church elders where men and women can be trained in the gospel and leadership of the church. The Resolved School of Theology is simply the small beginnings of which we dream will be the restoration and progression of theological, practical, and missional training so that men and women of God might be thoroughly equipped, and trained to hold firm to sound doctrine and to carry out the Great Commission.

Our vision truly goes beyond just growing and building The Resolved Church, we want the gospel for San Diego. The vision is for a gospel city within the city of San Diego growing in it and underneath it eventually taking it over with the love of Christ so that every life, home, school and workplace can be transformed. When you read through church history there are points and peaks of time where the gospel saturated a city, where everything was turned upside-down and whole regions were turned to the worship of God. As impossible as it seems, we believe that can happen again.

This means transformed businesses, where work is not conducted for money but for the glory of God. We want to see all kinds of businesses that spring up and are run by gospel-centered principles and church leaders. A true city within the city…with coffee shops, hair salons, web companies and hospitals and all kinds of other places that are run according to the principles of the gospel. A prime example is www.monkdevelopment.com led by Pastor James Martin, which filters every company decision through the lens of the gospel. Another example is our our own LampPost Café, a now monthly event we envision becoming a 6 days a week coffee shop and music venue. Businesses run by the gospel for the glory of God!

This vision is big! Huge really! I’ve never heard anyone say we want to take over a city. That sounds crazy. William Carey, the well-known missionary and church planter said, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” Throughout the Old Testament the vision and dream of God given to the prophets and Godly under-kings was for whole cities that worshipped God with him as the king and Lord of the city. In the New Testament Jesus tells the disciples to take that vision of God’s kingdom throughout the lands (Acts 1:8) and what you read of in the book of Acts is that very thing happening.

How does such a vision happen? It only happens through people like you catching an excitement and passion for the vision and adding your contribution to it. There are literally hundreds of elements needed to accomplish such a thing as I’ve outlined here. It takes each of the unique giftings, talents and abilities God has placed in you being put to work. There is nothing in this vision which would exclude a person who’s heart and life has been surrendered to the cause of Christ. You belong! The simple fact is, with more people contributing we can do more for the sake of the Jesus’ kingdom and glory.

What’s in it for you is the opportunity to be a part of something truly bigger than yourself that will transform our city. Is there a greater thing to be a part of? In the Bible when I read of the brief periods of God’s reign in cities in the Old Testament…when I read of the early church and whole cities turning to Christ…and when I read of the church to come with every tribe and tongue in whole cities worshipping together…such excitement fills me! Jesus will return and between now and then we need to prepare the way for the Lord to come and take his seat over our city. What joy and what privilege to be a part of what God is doing on the eternal plane of history!

In order to accomplish this small steps like moving to two services must be taken. This coming Sunday we are moving to two services and as we look down the road for the future of The Resolved Church, this will likely be the first of several major shifts we will make in order to follow Jesus lead and steward the growth he gives. In the short term if we can fill our current space for 2-4 more services in it then we could likely afford a bigger facility.

Some get sketched out when they start hearing a vision for “big things.” Sometimes that’s because of a personal idol of attention and liking things small, other times it’s because people have been a part of something “big” that was done for the wrong reason(s) of which there are many. However, we need to be careful and remember that great numbers is not the sin…sin always begins in the heart in having motivations for man’s glory rather than God’s.

And numbers are a big deal in the Bible. God’s original promise to Abraham was one of big numbers, worshippers as many as the sand on the seashore (Gen 22:17). God’s vision for his worshipping people was city-wide and world-wide mission (Ex 19:2-6; Acts 1:8). Jesus consistently ministered to large numbers as well as the apostles. There is even a whole book of the Bible called “Numbers.” When numbers become bad is when you’re willing to compromise in order to get them. But we won’t do that. We are resolved to be about the glory of God and will not shrink an inch in our commitment to God being first and foremost in all things. You can always expect The Resolved Church to have a high view of the glory of God, to be gospel-centered in everything and to always be seeking to fulfill the vision of becoming a city inside the city of San Diego.

Hopefully hearing how big our vision is doesn’t scare you but excite you. Since before The Resolved Church was birthed the vision has been to build a big strong gospel centered church that had a high view of God’s glory and a vigorous commitment to mission. We believe that God is at work and will continue to do great things if we are faithful with the small things he has entrusted to us. May we be faithful and may he do his work and get much glory! Join us in fulfilling this vision together!

Conversion & Calling | 2 Timothy 3:16-17 | Pastor James Martin

This an topical sermon where newly installed Pastor, James Martin shares the story of his conversion and calling. Using 2 Timothy 3:16-17 this sermon emphasizes the role of God’s Word in your conversion and how we can know the “truths” of the gospel but not yet have our hearts and lives converted. This sermon was originally preached on September 4th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

Listen

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Introduction


The purpose of today’s message is about Jesus, not about me. I’m simply going to tell my story and demonstrate my own experience with the Gospel.

We’ll talk about the power and purpose of the Gospel story and that all of scripture (Bible) tells this story and it is all about Jesus [e.g. Luke 24 On the Road to Emmaus].

Our passage for today is 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV) “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

My story

I was born into a pastor’s home. My dad was a church planter. If you are not familiar with that term, it simply means he started churches. We would move into a new community where a church didn’t exist and start one. This would look like a group of people meeting in our house for a number of months then we would move into a coffee shop, rented office space, daycare center or local school cafeteria. In all we did this three times from scratch and a couple of other times taking over struggling churches that might have lacked vision or leadership and my dad would “turn them” around developing leaders, building buildings, etc. He left quite a legacy dying at a very young age of 50.


Overall my experience with church was good. Growing up hearing so much about Jesus and having so much church experience you might think I loved Jesus or at least the church, but I didn’t. I had an idea of Jesus that was distant but I never really fully grasped him or the Gospel.

And while I grew up in church, I was never really part of the church. Both God and the church seemed distant. The church was little more than a project or a building (time and event) and God seemed to work for my dad but God never really seemed to “work” for me.

I went off to Bible College in an attempt to “get” God. Attending the same college where my parents met. I filled my head with more knowledge and sought to go deeper with God often having spiritual experiences but never really experiencing true spirituality or anything that resulted in real change. It wasn’t all-bad though, I did meet my wife Tracy there at school and as you can see I certainly married up.

For the first 25 or so years of my life my focus had always been on myself, my ability to change and need to please God. With me at the center I was powerless, never happy, often frustrated and ashamed. If I had heard the Gospel it was just words. I hadn’t heard the music. I had not tasted grace and therefore the gospel had no flavor.

Instead I heard religion.

I was frustrated being very aware of my sin and aware that something was wrong, something deep inside of me. I hated what I did. Yet I couldn’t seem to stop doing it. I was ashamed and filled with regret. My sin didn’t just affect me, but it affected my wife. We had serious marital strife and were headed for certain divorce. I had already purposed in my heart to divorce her thinking I needed a significant change in my life to bring me happiness.

I just knew this was wrong, but didn’t know why. What was I supposed to do?

Make no mistake, I prayed. I prayed often for change, for peace, for hope. But more often than not my prayer focused on the experience or the intended joy or peace not in finding my joy or peace in God. My heart affections were no doubt for the idols and experiences of this world. And God was little more than a cosmic vending machine who might grant my wishes. I didn’t see this as clearly at the time. But the gospel that I thought I knew was not the gospel. Therefore my eyes had not been opened and my heart had not been unlocked.

When it seemed as if we had hit bottom, my wife and I joined a newly formed church. I had an unmistakable draw to this new community. I was part of a community that had a deep conviction about preaching through the scriptures.

I was hearing things for the first time. Things like how important theology was because it shapes every aspect of your life. That theology done right was more than just a study about a distant God but a study in how we find life. I heard how important scripture was as it rightly shapes how we think about God and how we ought to think about ourselves. So to scripture we turned and it did prove to be profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. It proved to be about the Gospel, about Jesus.

The more I learned the more I began to really struggle with my own view of self, my sin and my God and my “belief systems” began to unravel. My view of Jesus changed and I began to see him as a strong and capable savior that was so clearly the center of the entire Bible, both testaments were actually connected and told an overarching narrative of the Gospel. Previously I had never made this connection (Luke 24).

As I read the bible and as I heard it preached so clearly from the pulpit and taught in community I began to really understand the gospel, the good news of Jesus. How we were created for a purpose, to glorify God and enjoy him forever. How sin entered the world causing separation between man and God, man and himself, and man and man. How God (starting with Abraham) called out a people and sent a savior to die on the cross for their sins, and how he rose on the third day, formed the church and gave them power to overcome sin and live on mission!

Religion had said that if I obey God I’d earn his favor. But the gospel was clear that because of Jesus, I ALREADY had God’s favor therefore I could obey. The answer and power shifted away from me and onto the broad shoulders of Jesus.

A brighter prize began to crystallize! The prize of my heart became Jesus. Seeing him so clearly caused the things of this world (such as myself) to become blurry.

Again, in and through scripture, my eyes were opened to see the Gospel. The gospel that said that I was not loved by God or accepted by him based on what I did or didn’t do. But rather based on what Jesus had done on my behalf, a gospel that said that Jesus lived a life that I couldn’t and died a death that I should’ve. And I could now live empowered by this gospel to live a life that was pleasing to God. Not because I was earning God’s favor but because I already had it.

Slowly but surely my mind became renewed and heart affections began to shift. I found this new Jesus to be so much bigger and His Word to be powerful. I found a deep love and appreciate for the Church and for the teaching and preaching of scripture. I began to see and savor Jesus!

My identity when it was wrapped in self
• Uncertainty
• Confusion / Frustration
• Shame

My challenge when confronted with the truth.
• My theology unraveled. I am confronted with who I really am.
• A brighter prize crystallized. I see Jesus for who he really is and my heart affection begins to shift.
• At the same time I am both crushed by my sin and guilt and yet I find great hope and comfort.

My identity now wrapped in the Gospel.
• The resulting transformation of my life.
• Certainty and hope
• Truth and no more confusion
• Joy and Peace. Centered on God.

My commitment as a new elder is to lead The Resolved Church in the mission of the gospel, that many might be converted and calling into Jesus’ kingdom and service.

Let us pray…

Blog | Pastor Duane

On September 11th this year we will begin having two Sunday morning worship services. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone since we’ve not only been talking about it and getting feedback and input at our member meetings (Feb, May, & Aug) but also in ministry meetings and community groups. What I want to do here in this blog is provide you with the reasons why we are doing this and what it will look like.

Jesus Is The Head Pastor

At The Resolved Church we believe that Jesus is the head pastor (Eph 4:15; 1 Pet 5:4), the church planter (Matt 16:18) and the one who grows the church (1 Cor 3:6-7). This is a principle of ministry which runs through just about everything we do as a church. Whenever we are faced with a decision the question is, “What is Jesus doing and how can we get on board with that.”

In looking at the stage of life our church is in and as we have discussed and received counsel and input both from inside and outside the family of The Resolved Church it seems pretty clear that this is what Jesus is up to. Not only has this step been recommended to us by our Acts 29 Network brothers but we have received confirmation from all the ministry leaders of our church. In our elder meetings it has also been unanimous. We make this step in confidence this is our Lord’s leading. Surely there will be challenges but we believe Jesus will always lead us well.

Stewarding Growth

One of the things we talked about a lot in our elder meetings was what the wrong reasons for moving to two services would be. We agreed if we we’re taking this step as a gimmick or trick to try and get more people then our motives would be wrong, portraying a greater love for more numbers than for Jesus himself and the satisfaction he has already given us in the gospel.

What we have witnessed however is that God has been giving us numerical growth, so much so that we have run out of space. In the book Launch: Starting A New Church From Scratch, Searcy and Thomas write, “When a room of adults reaches 70 percent of its maximum seating capacity, the room is effectively full. Period. It’s time to open up additional seats or find a larger space.”

In our worship hall we have 204 chairs and nearly every Sunday in the last couple months we have had few empty seats. Statistically summer months are the lowest in attendance and fall is a growth season. What this means is there is barely any room for our returning college students and effectively no room for any other new comers. Put very simply, the biggest reason we are moving to two services is space. If we had the space for more we wouldn’t do it but we currently cannot afford a bigger venue. We want to be good stewards of the growth God gives and never put a cap on how many people we can minister to.

Reaching More People

One of our core values as a church is to be missional in reaching the city of San Diego with the gospel, a “city within the city.” In his article, 10 Reasons Why Churches Stay Small Joe McKeaver states that the number one reason is because of a self-centered church mentality which says, “We like our church just the way it is now…We want to stay small.”

We don’t want The Resolved Church to stay small. Only a small portion of our city has yet to experience the grace of the gospel (6% according to the last study done). There are many, many people who still need to be reached and need to be a part of a solid church. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, “Woe to me if I preach not the gospel…I am entrusted with a stewardship…that I may win more…that by all means I might save some.”

In his article on church size, Tim Keller writes, “Often the key change that a congregation must allow is the move to ‘multiple options’- such as more than one Sunday service…As a general rule, multiplying options creates a ‘growth spurt’. The single best way to increase attendance is to multiply Sunday services. Two services will immediately draw more people than the one service did.” We believe moving to two services will enable us to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Vision For The Future

The vision for The Resolved is not small by any means. Eventually we would like to have our own building here in Bay Park. This area of San Diego is perhaps the most central part of the city where downtown, Mission Valley, and the beach communities collide at the I-5 and I-8 interchange…thus we feel it a is a key location in having a vision to reach the entire city. Ideally we would like a big warehouse converted into full blown sanctuary complete with stained glass windows, state of the art technology and the ability to seat 2-3000 people.

The vision is big! In order to accomplish this, small steps like moving to two services must be taken. In the short term if we can fill our current space for 2-4 more services in it then we could likely afford a bigger facility. The simple fact is with more people we can do more for the sake of the Jesus’ kingdom and glory.

Hopefully hearing how big our vision is doesn’t scare you but excite you. Since before The Resolved Church was birthed the vision has been to build a big strong gospel centered church that had a high view of God’s glory and a vigorous commitment to mission. We believe that God is at work and will continue to do great things among us if we are faithful with the small things he has entrusted to us.

Practical Implications

1. Community Groups. As we grow the need for you to be in a community group is increasingly important because it will become even more challenging to get your community needs met on a Sunday. This also means we are going to need more community groups, which means more hosts and leaders. Perhaps Jesus would enable you to do one or the other.

2. Strong Leaders. As we grow we need our leaders to lead well. Our elders, our deacons, our community group leaders and up and coming leaders will all need to continue leading well by caring for others with the gospel, working hard and developing new leaders to minister to the ones God brings.

3. Unity Lunches. As we grow and multiply services we are going to have to work extra hard to keep the “unity of the spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4:3).” In order to do this we plan to have a luncheon the first Sunday of every month at our building once we move to two services. This will provide an opportunity for those from the first and second service to spend time together.

Conclusion

We’ve tried to give several opportunities for input. If you have any questions or some ideas of how you can help facilitate this transition feel free to email us at info@theresolved.com. We are super excited about this step and what God will do in our church through it. It’s a joy to be on mission together for the sake of the gospel. May Jesus get much glory!

This Month:
Patrick Morgan | www.patricknorton.bandcamp.com/
Chris Clark | www.myspace.com/iamchrisclark

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Blog | Pastor Duane

It is my joy to introduce to you our third pastor of The Resolved Church, James Martin and two new deacons, Errin Samuelsz and John Bale. These men have proven their character and their giftings among us and were installed at our Sunday morning worship service. May God bless them and empower them as they seek to serve Jesus’ church with all their might. Here’s some brief words about each of them:

James Martin

James is married and has three kids. He and his wife Tracy are passionate about church planting, community, family and the Gospel. Raised in a church planting pastor’s home, James has a deep love and appreciation for the church and ministry. The gospel has transformed James and Tracy’s marriage and home and as such they are committed to loving and leading families in our community with Jesus at the center.

Errin Samuelsz

Errin is married to his wife Rachel and is leading the audio and visual crew at the Resolved, as well as serving in the music worship ministry along side. Errin has a passion for using science, technology, music and art to create a place for the church to worship in spirit and in truth.

John Bale

John Bale grew up in San Diego but tried to escape. By the grace of God he was lead back and brought to The Resolved. After learning and serving at the church for a number of years John has discovered a new love for the city, and a new hope for seeing The Gospel revealed in the lives of its people. In more ways than can be accounted for in so few words, Christ’s body at The Resolved Church has worked to transform John into a man who is addicted to God’s Grace; who looks forward to walking alongside and supporting the members of The Resolved as they seek out and celebrate the Glory of God in San Diego.

Article Series | John Bale | Dumb Things That God Has Used to Teach Me About The Gospel

Part IV – A Christological Hermeneutic of the Life of J.D. Bale
“Shut Up, It’s Already Done: Jesus, The True and Better Tyler Durden”

All the cool guys had their own trade-marked set of wheels: Batman had the Batmobile, Han Solo had the Millenium Falcon. Even the Ghostbusters had the Ecto-1. As a teenager I knew that, driver’s license or not, I had to have grand plans for my future ride-to-be. My best-buddy/wannabe-band-mate-bass-player, Gump, and I were going to install a Porsche engine into the frame of a gold and black Chevy Astrovan. Except we were going to chip off the word “van” wherever it appeared and replace it with the word Physicist. ASTROPHYSICIST; John Bale, The Man and His Van.

The van represented the man that I wanted to be. It was a persona that I had created, literally, as part of a 10th grade English project. I spent 6 months writing what turned out to be a 200 page science fiction epic in which I troubled kid finds God, becomes the representative Astrophysicist/Jesuit Priest on a mission to colonize a New Earth, loses God, and then has to find him again. It’s almost a little embarrassing how obviously and obliviously I was trying to work out all the things that had gone wrong in my life and filtered my experience through years of watching Star Trek with my dad. But it turned into a compelling, hopeful identity that I could grow into.

And I almost pulled it off. I pursued Christ and sought to use my works to glorify him to the best of my abilities. I got accepted into the best school and the best program I could have dreamed of. For just a while I felt justified because everything I had desired was falling into place. But I wasn’t content. I knew that my persona didn’t represent my full story, and I grew angry with myself for having things within in me that didn’t fit into my idealized self portrait.

In a kind of symbolic prelude to what I would eventually come to refer to as my “Fight Club Moment,” I tried to burn the only existing copy of the novel I had written, and was trying to live out. But my best-buddy/wanna-be-band-mate/editor, Gump, stole it from me before I could do anything. I wanted to do this because it was becoming clear to me that I couldn’t live up to being that person, and I wanted to destroy any evidence that I ever cared to try. I knew that something was going to give.

The actual collapse came when I returned home for my first Thanksgiving break after going up to Berkeley for school. My parents had a copy of my senior picture framed and sitting on a bookshelf. The picture was less than six months old, but I couldn’t recognize the person that was in it. I knew it was supposed to be me, but it wasn’t the “Me” that I had seen in the mirror over the years. There had been clues; cracks in the painted image I was living, but it wasn’t until that weekend that it all caught up to me and I realized that I was not the person that I thought I was. I returned to school in a prolonged, confused, and panicked fugue as the not-life I had been living started to crumble around me, all to the sound of Black Francis of The Pixies cooing, “Where is my mind?”

I found it natural to go to Fight Club to process the whole ordeal. I had seen the movie around the same time that I had my senior picture taken, and I immediately fell in love with it. At first I fell for my own deception in the way that Ed Norton’s “Cornelius” does in the movie; I admired the brutal and often destructive honesty of Tyler Durden. I “Christianized” it by mixing it up with a Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis. Read it.) kind of introspective action. Christ called me to put on a “New Self,” so I raged against what I conceived to be my “Old Self” and challenged everybody else around me to do the same.

The problem was, I wasn’t putting on a “New Self,” or even so much as singeing my “Old Self.” I was dealing in imagined identities, alter-egos, that I had created, if anything, to keep my True Self hidden and protected.

I backtracked from “The Fight Club Moment,” and it became clear that I had started doing this in Middle School. I made the mistake of telling a friend of mine a few of the things that I’ve gone over in the first three parts of this article series. In turn, he told others, and before long, I began to feel like everybody in my school knew all my dirty secrets and there was nothing I could do about it. When the juvenile insults came, instead of being able to fall back on the “sticks and stones” bit and pretend that nobody knew what they were talking about, I knew that they were right. After a while I started to believe everything they said about me.

To protect myself I pretended not to care and constructed an identity out of an Ikea catalogue of counter-culture. The person I became was a performance, and I learned to laugh at the people trying so hard to hurt a persona that didn’t exist. I became Straw-Man, The Invulnerable. They did everything they could to marginalize me so I built up my hidden fortress in the desert and convinced myself that sand was better than grass. Of course, this didn’t work (See Parts I, II, and III of this articles series). I really, really hate sand.

When I became a Christian a number of very important things changed, but on the surface, all I did was more of the same. The new identity I constructed for myself in the 10th grade was just another pastiche of appealing ideas. Now I had a god (a very small one) to integrate into my design, and it was GLORIOUS. I told myself that the things that were important to me were things that God wanted me to have so that I could glorify him. I could pretend that I didn’t care about most things and at the same time feel “good” because I cared about God. There were hints of truth in all these things, but in the end I was still addicted to my own secret identity.

In the same way that I had used a straw-man version of myself to protect the things that I cared about from the world, I used a straw-man god to fortify my life against the sovereign will of the Almighty. But Jesus Christ is not a straw-man god.

I love the end of Fight Club, but my favorite scene had always been the one in which Tyler Durden drives a car into oncoming traffic and off the side of the road, calling it “A Near-Life Experience.” After that scene, “Cornelius” begins to realize that something strange has been happening all along. In a figurative sense, this is what happened to me after that Thanksgiving weekend. I had my ASTROPHYSICISTVAN-life and was driving it to The Promised Land… until The Author of Creation saw fit to send it over the side of the road, exploding into a burning mess.

I spent the next few years of my life driving into oncoming traffic and climbing out from the wreckage of my alter-ego(s). Part of not having a clear understanding of who I had been and where I had come from was accepting that I had no idea where I was going. Being self-reliant had not worked. At all. I was left with nobody to look to, nobody to seek after, but the real, authentic Christ.

It took me a while to figure out that Christ had no use for my alter-ego. I still had a hard time separating that person from who I actually was, and so I spent a lot of time trying to trick God into showing me what parts were worth saving. I knew who I was and I knew that He had saved me, so I needed to know what He liked so I could become that person. I wanted to be a world renowned astrophysicist, “who also loved Jesus.” Later I wanted to be the next great American novelist, “who also loved Jesus.” I wanted to be the next C.S. Lewis, “and also love Jesus.”

It was more of the same: a personal resistance, a rebellion against the true grace and power of Christ. I was fighting tooth and nail against the work God had begun in me. There is no “who also loves Jesus.” There is no “Jesus loves me because.” I can’t invent a glorified version of myself that is worthy of the grace I have been given. I can only be content in the fact that I am valuable because of the grace that God has given me in order to glorify Himself. I am meant to identify with what God had done for me in Christ, not what I (fail to) do for Him.

Which goes back to that moment from Fight Club that I will never be able to separate from all of this. Cornelius (Ed Norton) is pleading to Tyler (Brad Pitt) for his life, to which Durden responds, “Hey, you created me. I didn’t create some loser alter-ego to make myself feel better.” That comment initiates the following exchange:

“Have I ever let us down? How far have you come because of me? I will bring us through this. As always, I will carry you kicking and screaming, and in the end, you’ll thank me.”
“Tyler, I’m grateful to you, for everything you’ve done for me. But this is too much. I don’t want this.”
“What do you want? Wanna go back to your [smiley-face] job, [butterflies] condo world, watching sitcoms? [Hug] you! I won’t do it!”
“This can’t be happening…”
“It’s already done, so shut up. Sixty seconds. Can you see alright?”

I worship a God who saw fit to create a loser image of Himself, and a Christ who dragged me kicking and screaming into his green pastures. In the end, I thank Him, because I do in fact try to walk away from everything He has done for me, and try to write my own story, yet still it is written that “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Jesus Christ is the True and Better Tyler Durden who, at a very strange time in my life, preached His Gospel to me and showed me why I was created and why I will always matter. “It’s already done,” he says. “So shut up. Can you see alright?”

If You Love Jesus You’ll Love His Church | Selected Texts | Pastor Duane Smets

This an topical sermon rooted in Hebrews 10:23-27 addressing the need, importance and centrality of the local church. It looks at what the church is, who the church is, how a church works and why the church exists. In addition, it provides some biblical basis and background for the installation of a new elder, two new deacons and the move to two Sunday morning services. This sermon was originally preached on August 28th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
August 28th, 2011

If You Love Jesus You’ll Love His Church | Selected Texts
I. What is the church?
II. Who is the church?
III. How does the church work?
IV. Why does the church exist?

Introduction

Good morning greetings.

Well, let me explain what we’ve got on tap for today. Our normal modus operandi for the time of our worship service when we study God’s Word is to simply go through books of the Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, word by word. However it just so happens that we are in between books right now just having finished up the book of Titus a couple weeks ago and then we’ve got just a couple more weeks until we plunge forward full force into the fall season.

When that happens we’re going to be taking three months until Advent to work through the famous chapter of Hebrews 11 often times known as the heroes of the faith or hall of faith chapter. I think we’re calling it “Vintage Faith” though cause that sounds cooler.

So usually when we’re between books we try to take those Sundays to specifically address any particular issues or happenings going on in our church we need to address. Today is one of those days. We’ve got some big stuff happening. Today we will be installing our third pastor and we’ll also be installing two deacons! Then in two weeks we’re going to be moving to two Sunday morning worship services. So some huge things are going on in the life of our church, which is why I thought it would be a perfect Sunday to preach on the nature of the church in a sermon I’m calling “If You Love Jesus You’ll Love His Church.”

Here’s my outline for how we’re going to go about this. Four questions: What is the church? Who is the church? How Does the church work? Why Does the church exist?

Mark Dever, a well known pastor not too long ago began his sermon with this phrase, “If you call yourself a Christian but you are not a member of a church you regularly attend, I worry that you might be going to hell.”

Indeed numerous recent studies have shown that more and more Christians are now trying to get more spiritual by getting less church. There’s even whole books written to promote this idea. Consider these titles, “Life After Church” “Quitting Church” “So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore” and “They Like Jesus But Not The Church.”

The story is told that Charles Spurgeon once found himself in a conversation with man whom he was encouraging to join the church. The man said, “Well, I have given myself to the Lord, but I do not intend to give myself to the church.” To which Spurgeon replied, “Why not?” The man said, “Well, because I can be a Christian without it.” Spurgeon was taken aback and replied, “Are you quite clear about that? You think you can be as good a Christian by disobedience to your Lord’s commands as by being obedient? What is a brick made for? To help build a house. It is of no use for that brick to tell you it is just as good of a brick laying on the ground in the dirt as it would be as part of a house. It is a good for nothing brick. Sir, are living contrary to your purpose, to the life which Christ would have you live and there will be much blame and injury to you for doing so.”

One of my main goals in today’s message is to try and help us see and catch a glimpse of how central God’s care and love for the church is and the how dire consequences are for rejecting it. I’ll be citing a bunch of passages today but we’ll call this first passage our main text for this morning, Hebrews 10:23-27. Turn there with me in your Bibles. “23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.”

So a few quick things here. We’re not going to do a full exegesis and explanation of this passage today but I do want us to see a couple real important things.

First, the call here is to “hold fast” to our confession “without wavering.” So we know we are going to be prone to let go and waver as people. The answer or antidote is for us to stir one another up. That word stir is a strong word, sometimes even meaning provoke. So we’re to stimulate, stir or provoke one another to love and good works and the main thing which is going to enable us to do that is by “not neglecting to meet together.”

It doesn’t take much here to recognize it’s talking about church worship service. This isn’t a call to keep making sure you’re hanging out…eating meals and drinking beers in the basement or whatever. No this is a special kind of meeting together, one that has it’s sights set on “the Day” that’s “drawing near” which is a reference to the return of Jesus. This is a meeting together for worship.

So basically we’ve got this super strong call or command for us as Christians to make sure we’re regularly gathering together and meeting as the church. And then…there’s this super gnarly consequence for us if we don’t.

Verse 26 basically says if you’re supposed faith in Jesus as the savior of your sins does not lead you to regularly meeting with church, then you are knowingly and willfully sinning and whatever knowledge you think you have of the truth is not a sufficient one to save you…Jesus’ death and sacrifice for sin does you no good, you’re in effect rejecting it with your actions and instead of salvation you get damnation…a fearful judgement of fire that will consume you because you have become an adversary against God…for neglecting his church.

Super intense huh? I mean I’m not making this up. It’s right here in the Bible. So here’s my question for us today. Why is Scripture so gnarly on this? Why would Spurgeon say no church is a recipe for getting injured? Why would Mark Dever say you might be going to hell if you’re not a faithful member of a local church?

I think the best way to answer that question is to look at some of the things God calls the church. Because if we can get into the mind and and heart of God in how he feels towards his church then maybe we’ll be able to better understand and see why he cares so much about us being a part of it. So let’s look at the first point of our outline today, “What Is The Church?”

I. What is the church?

The Bible uses five main metaphors to describe what the church is.

A. Bride

One is a bride. In Ephesians 5, parallels between Jesus and the church are made based on the relationship and roles of husband and wife. It says Jesus “loved the church and gave himself up for her…so that he might present the church to himself in splendor (Eph 5:25,27).” The book of Revelation straight out calls the church Jesus’ bride. The church is Jesus beautiful wife, whom he came into the world to specifically pursue and die for on a cross so the she might be redeemed.

Jesus loves the church. For you married men, can you imagine if you had a friend who every time he came over he would crack jokes about your wife, talk about how ugly she was and how he couldn’t stand her and didn’t want to have anything to do with your wife? If whenever she came in the room he rolled his asked and then asked you if you could make here leave. In effect, this is what we do is we say we’re Christians but we’re not into Jesus’ church.

John Stott the great theologian who recently passed away says of the church, “On earth she is often in filthy rags and tatters, stained and ugly, despised and persecuted. But one day she will be seen for what she is, nothing less than the bride of Christ, free from spots, wrinkles or any other disfigurement, holy and without blemish, beautiful and glorious.”

You know it is so easy to criticize the church. There’s no way around it. Every church has it’s problems. That’s because churches are made of people. One time a guy came up to a pastor who had had a bad church experience at his previous church and said he was looking for a new one but was somewhat tentative because he didn’t want to get mixed up with a “Judas” again. The pastor replied, “Then my church is not the one you’re looking for and if you should happen to find such a church I beg you not to join it, for you will spoil the whole thing.”

The church is Jesus’ bride he came to die for. If we truly love Jesus we’ll love, cherish, appreciate and honor his bride.

B. Building

A second thing used to describe the church is that of a building. 1 Peter 2:4-8 says the church, though they are people rejected by men are like “chosen and precious” stones God picked out and is taking them and using them together to build a spiritual house on top of Jesus the cornerstone or foundation. In 1 Corinthians 3 the building of the church is called the temple and built on Jesus.

Do you know what would happen if you just started building a house on dirt without laying down any kind of cement or stone foundation first? After time that wood would get wet and it would shift in the dirt and rot and the whole thing would eventually come falling down. It house can’t stand without a foundation.

God is a phenomenal architect and is building the most glorious church building ever seen, because it’s built with people who lives get changed by the power of the gospel. The result is more magnificent than the largest and most ornate cathedrals of the world. The church is the most incredible building project ever taken on and Jesus is at its base.

C. Body

A third way God describes the church that it is his body upon which Jesus is the head. Listen to this phenomenal passage. Ephesians 1:19-22 “The immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe (is) according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

This passage ties past, present, future and all things to the church. Are you starting to get a feel for the scope and significance and importance of the church in how God sees and feels about it? The church is Jesus’ body and he is it’s head! Kevin DeYoung and a friend of his wrote a book titled, “Why We Love The Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion” and in it he says this idea of liking Jesus but not liking his church is like decapitation. When you’re not into church you in effect cut the head off of Jesus because you’re not part of his body. You’re not meant to just carry around a head. That’s weird. The church is Jesus’ body and he loves and cares for it and nourishes it with his word.

D. Flock

A fourth picture of the church in the Bible is that it is a flock of sheep and Jesus is the shepherd of it. In John 10 Jesus says the church is a group of sheep who listen to his voice and follow him. In fact the word “church” itself simply means “called out ones.” It was a common word used for all kinds of stuff. If you were going to have a meeting of some kind you would call some people up and ask ‘em to come. Jesus took that common word and turned it into this deep, powerful picture for those who followed him.

He calls himself the “good shepherd” and then later Peter calls him the “chief shepherd.” What makes him so good is he protects the sheep from wolves and then he pays the ultimate price lays down his life for the sheep when he dies on the cross in order to save them.

You know what happen to sheep without a shepherd? They get lost and they die either from a lack of food or from predators. Have you ever noticed there is no difference between the singular word for sheep and the plural word for sheep. They’re both sheep. Sheep cannot exist by themselves and sheep are never meant to be alone apart from the flock. The church is Jesus’ flock of sheep and he ferociously loves and care for them.

E. Tree

Lastly, Jesus describes his church as a tree in which he is the vine, stalk or the trunk and the church is the branches. He says the tree is crafted and continued by abiding in his love and then it is able to bear fruit.

What would happen to a bunch of branches that were not connected to a vine or a trunk? They would break apart and dry up and die. God sees the church as meant to be a beautiful big strong tree planted by streams of water that yields much fruit through which to feed the hungry world with. The church is the true and better tree which replaces the one from the ancient garden of old.

A bride, a building, a body, a flock and a tree…and those are just the descriptions with a vivid picture attached to it. There is also the reality that the church is the Royal family of God comprised of adopted in brothers and sisters of Christ. The church is the vehicle for the kingdom of God, where he extends his rule and reign…Jesus and the apostles repeatedly describe the church as usher in the new heavens and new earth when God makes everything right and new again!

Almost every single place you turn in the Bible you see the church. It is the central focal point of God’s purpose and plan in redemption through which he shows how good and glorious he is. The church simply put is glorious.

Daniel Wray, a Presbyterian pastor wrote a phenomenal little book back in the 80’s titled, “The Importance of the Local Church.” In it he writes, “There is no group, no movement, no institution of any kind in the world which can even approach to the glory, the splendor, the honour, the beauty, the magnificence, the wonder, the dignity, the excellence, (and) the resplendency of the church of God…Many of our problems about the local church would be solved immediately if we shared God’s perspective.”

I’m convinced that one of the biggest needs of the world is for people to be drawn into the church through the gospel for true church is where the gospel is played out in the lives of people together. Churches are proofs of the gospel and they are THE place where health and growth happens for the Christian. So many problems would naturally be solved if people were just actually part of the church. I mean I’m in counseling meetings with people all the time and nine times out of ten if the person was regular on Sunday and in a community group and in real relationships with other real Christians, their problems would naturally solve themselves.

You simply will not find the kind of community we were made for outside the church. So much time and energy is wasting looking for things only the gospel can provide within the context of the church community.

When you hear the word “church” do you have happy positive things come to mind or are they immediately negative things? What do you think God’s thoughts are when he hears the word “church”? Where and how do you need God to give you more of the love he has for his church?

Well let’s transition and talk about where the church is, how it works and why it exists.

II. Who is the church?

My second point here, “Who is the church?” Is meant to probe us on a couple levels. One level is to question the idea that church is a physical place you go to because as we’ve seen, the church is the people, it’s not a physical object or even an event.

The other thing I wanted to try and get at with this question is how we conceptualize what we mean when we say “church” because there are a lot of churches right? Here’s the deal. Since all the way back to St. Augustine Christians have recognized this and talked about it. So they came up with this simple way of distinguishing things by using the language of “invisible” and “visible” church. Sometimes that’s helpful, sometimes it isn’t.

The idea is that the invisible church as the capital “C” Church is all believers in Jesus across all time and space, past, present, future and geography. The visible church is then one particular expression of this capital “C” invisible church, usually called a local church because there is a specific location where it exists and gathers and is composed of people you can actually see, look at and know.

Now here’s the problem. Both these things can not be the church. You can have people who are a part of a local visible church but they may not really be Christians and thus they are not a part of the invisible capital “C” church at large. Like Dave Kraft said last week, going to a church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger.

And there’s also the flip side. You can also have people who claim to belong to the invisible capital “C” church who are not a part of a visible local church and because of that they may very well not be Christians either like we talked about earlier. If you don’t care about a local bride, building, body, flock and tree then it’s pretty likely you don’t really believe in and love the bridegroom, the foundation, the head, the shepherd and the vine. You’ve got to have both.

And I’ll make it even worse. Here’s the thing. The word “church” occurs in the Bible 73 times. In almost every one of those times it’s clearly talking about local visible churches, not the global universal capital “C” church. I’ll just give you a smattering.

In Matthew 16 Jesus told the disciples of his specific intentions to start the church and to have Peter preach at the first service. In Matthew 18 Jesus told the disciples how to handle problems that arose and how to exercise their leadership authority and discipline. In the book of Acts we see the word church being used every time to describe specific gatherings of people under proven, qualified and appointed leaders which we get detailed instructions for in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. All of the 16 New Testament letters were written to either specific local churches or the leaders of a specific local church. Lastly, you have Jesus himself writing to seven specific churches in the last book of the Bible, Revelation.

In his book “Living Church” John Stott calls the Christian who is not a part of a church a “grotesque anomaly” and says “the New Testament knows nothing of such a person.” The reason the language and the point here is so strong is not because the church can save you or anything of the sort, only Jesus can save you. But what does he save you into? A redeemed life which gets lived out in and through the church.

We’ve got scores of Christians trying to do good Christian things like having small groups and doing evangelism/mission/outreach and what not and they are doing so while not being a member of a local church and doing it under the authority of local church pastors and that is extremely concerning. It ought not be. That’s dangerous and unbiblical. Which brings us to the third part of our outline today, “How does the church work?”

III. How does the church work?

A. One Head

The Bible is far from silent on this topic. There are very specific instruction on how a church is supposed to function and operate. Of first and foremost importance is remembering that Jesus is the head. Jesus is always meant to be the only one who holds any singular authority. Jesus is supposed to be the only head pastor, senior pastor, chief pastor or whatever term you want to use. So many churches have got in trouble because they have given “pastoral authority” to a single human sinful man instead of leaving that role solely to Jesus.

This works itself out practically in two ways. First it’s a principle of ministry which runs through just about everything we do as a church. Whenever we are faced with a decision the question is, “What is Jesus doing and how can we get on board with that.” We know that we are prone to error so we want to follow our CEO’s leadership because he’s far more creative and knowledgeable and successful than Steve Jobs ever was. So in our church, this is number one on our list in everything…to lay aside our agendas and be submissive to however it seems Jesus may be leading.

The second way it works itself out is structurally in the various roles which operate underneath Jesus’ head pastorship. So there’s one head and then many parts under him.

B. Many Parts

Ephesians 4:15-16 is so clear on this. It says, “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.”

One head, many parts. Here’s a few of the parts.

First…elders or pastors, same thing just two different words the Bible uses for the same role. A pastor is one who shepherds through protecting, teaching, leading, managing and caring for the practical needs of Jesus’ people. One pastor can only shepherd so many people. As a church as we have grown in numbers things have beyond that of which Ron and I can pastor well. So we are super glad that God brought along James Martin who had been a pastor at another church and then was willing to prove himself here among us for two years. So we’re super pumped to install him today. In the future we will continue to develop and add other elders so that as we grow people are cared for well.

Then there some other parts under the head. Deacons. Deacons work closely with the elders in caring for the church. Whereas elders lead mainly with their words, deacons lead mainly with their works taking care of behind the scenes necessities of the church. Up until now we’ve only had one official deacon and we’re super excited to also be installing two new deacons today who have also proven themselves among us the last couple years.

Alongside the elders and deacons are several other parts, some of the most important parts and these are the various servants who are spiritual fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters who are using their gifts and caring for their homes, one another and the church and our city. Each person who is a part of our church is an invaluable member and asset. There’s no way one person could do what we do, but together we join and are able to accomplish great things for God’s glory. It a healthy and rightly functioning everyone is serving and doing something.

One head and many parts working together. I’ll say one last thing here and then we’ll move on to our final point. Maybe there’s a few of you out there who are not yet members and you’re kind of sketched out on that and not sure if this local church member focus is really good or biblical. That’s okay. I’ve been there.

Actually when we first started this church I wasn’t sure whether church membership was biblical. I had never really thought about it before and had never been a church that took it seriously before. Here’s a couple of things which hit me hard when I looked into it.

We started out today looking at Hebrews 10 and how it talks about the importance of each member regularly gathering for worship. Just three chapters later when the book is closing out, Hebrews 13:17 says this, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

So two questions (from Matt Chandler). If the Bible does not require and expect membership to a local church then what leaders is a Christian supposed to obey and submit to? Second, if there’s no local church membership who will I as a pastor have to give an account for?

You see a pastor is only accountable for those people who have committed to being under his care. God isn’t going to get all upset at me for that crazy guy who put up an end of the world billboard saying everyone was going to burn last May right? At least I hope not. I’m not accountable to God for all the Christians in all of San Diego. That’s ridiculous. You see it’s an issue of who I’m supposed to pastor. I’m to pay more attention to those who are actual covenant members than those who are not yet. And those are the ones I’m responsible before God for.

Other biblical evidences for church membership include clear instructions for church discipline, when someone has to be kicked out of the church for unrepentant sin. For example, in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul told the leaders of the church in Corinth they needed to kick this dude out who was having sex with his step mom. You can’t do that if there’s no membership to be removed from. In addition throughout the New Testament you see records and lists of names who were members of specific local churches. It is supposed to be the norm not abnormal.

Okay. So the point is, if you’re not a member become one, if not here at least somewhere…there’s some great churches in San Diego, it doesn’t have to be this one. But find a solid church and commit to it. God wants you to. If you want to become a member here our next new members class will begin the first Sunday in October. So you’ve got like a month to sign up. Secondly, if you are a member be a good one so you don’t upset Jesus and risk getting kicked out. Be regular, serve, be in community, don’t just attend and you’ll be alright.

We have an awesome opportunity here. I visited one of the community groups this week and a couple was there visiting for a week staying with their friends who are part of our church. And seeing our love for one another and how much time we share together and the depth of our relationships and our mission…they said, “We’ve never seen anything like this.” They are part of a church back in Wisconsin but they said they’re church was nothing like this.

You see the thing is church is fun. Being part of a church is the good life. Our daughter wakes up on Sunday morning and runs into our room and says, “Do we get to go to church today?!!!” or “Is tonight commmmunity group?!!!” We have tried to foster an attitude and excitement that church is something we love and enjoy and is not a drag.

Alright, last point for today, “Why Does the Church Exist?”

IV. Why does the church exist?

I’m going to do this one fast. Two things, one’s permanent the other is temporal.

A. Eternal Worship

First, the church exists, like everything else, for the glory of God. Church is about worship and it always will be for all of eternity. It’s permanent. The church exists for eternal worship. Three things the church is always supposed to do when it gathers for worship: receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, administer baptisms for new converts and children if the head of the house so desires, and third preach the word. Singing isn’t so bad either. We’re probably safe to add that one in there even though it’s technically not a sacrament.

B. Earthly Mission

Second, the church exists during this age, before Jesus returns, to bring others into it’s fold to confess Christ and worship God. This is a temporal task of the church which will end when Jesus comes back. Until then we are meant to be on mission and reach as many as possible with the gospel. In this aspect the church is designed to be an ever growing body of increasing numbers who are putting faith in Jesus and then becoming part of the church.

This one is really what our moving to two services is all about. Here’s some of what I wrote on the church blog this last week. “When a room of adults reaches 70 percent of its maximum seating capacity, experts say the room is effectively full and it’s time to open up additional seats or find a larger space.”

In our worship hall we have 204 chairs and nearly every Sunday in the last couple months we have had few empty seats. Statistically summer months are the lowest in attendance and fall is a growth season. What this means is there is barely any room for our returning college students and effectively no room for any other new comers. Put very simply, the biggest reason we are moving to two services is space. If we had the space for more we wouldn’t do it but we currently cannot afford a bigger venue. We want to be good stewards of the growth God gives and never put a cap on how many people we can minister to.

It is one of our core values as a church is to be missional in reaching the city of San Diego with the gospel, a “city within the city.” In his article, 10 Reasons Why Churches Stay Small Joe McKeaver states that the number one reason is because of a self-centered church mentality which says, “We like our church just the way it is now…We want to stay small.”

We don’t want The Resolved Church to stay small. Only a small portion of our city has yet to experience the grace of the gospel (6% according to the last study done). There are many, many people who still need to be reached and need to be a part of a solid church. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, “Woe to me if I preach not the gospel…I am entrusted with a stewardship…that I may win more…that by all means I might save some.”

In his article on church size, Tim Keller writes, “Often the key change that a congregation must allow is the move to more than one Sunday service…As a general rule, multiplying options creates a ‘growth spurt’. The single best way to increase attendance is to multiply Sunday services. Two services will immediately draw more people than the one service did.” We believe moving to two services will enable us to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The vision for our church is not small by any means. Eventually we would like to have our own building here in Bay Park. This area of San Diego is perhaps the most central part of the city where downtown, Mission Valley, and the beach communities collide at the I-5 and I-8 interchange…thus we feel it a is a key location in having a vision to reach the entire city. Ideally we would like a big warehouse converted into full blown sanctuary complete with stained glass windows, state of the art technology and the ability to seat 2-3000 people.

We’ve got a big vision and in order to accomplish this, small steps like moving to two services must be taken. In the short term if we can fill our current space for 2-4 more services in it then we could likely afford a bigger facility. The simple fact is with more people we can reach more for the sake of the Jesus’ kingdom and glory.

Hopefully hearing how big our vision is doesn’t scare you but excite you. Since before The Resolved Church was birthed the vision has been to build a big strong gospel centered church that had a high view of God’s glory and a vigorous commitment to mission. We believe that God is at work and will continue to do great things among us if we are faithful with the small things he has entrusted to us. So join us and let’s go after the city together! Love Jesus and his church with us!

Conclusion

Well let me wrap this up. The thrust of my message today has been to try and convince you of the awesomeness of the local church and to encourage you in every way I know how to really be a part of it.

You can go about church one of two ways, you can either go about it in a me-centered way where you’re main concerns are about programs, activities, and social compatibility where you can keep your independence, not get involved too much, stay critical and quick to find fault, and never really grow. Or you can actually join in, make it a high priority, help actually serve and care for people, use your gifts, contribute your finances, give and receive community, and spread the gospel out of the strength and support of the church.

I say this every once in awhile. Just stay and stick it out with us a while. I promise you, it doesn’t matter who are, where you come from, what baggage you bring, how different than all of us you think you are…if you really dig in and stuck it out with us Sundays and community for let’s say six months, I know you’d end up making lifelong friends and partners in the gospel. So do this for me. If you were planning on being a one year, make it two. Two years make it four. Five, make it ten. Just double what you were planning so you can give some space for God to work some things in your heart and life that can only come through time and being a member of a local church body. Some of you are always jumping from one thing to another because you always think the grass is green and you just need to sit.

Here’s the last thing. The central message today is, “If you love Jesus, you’ll love his church.” They are inseparable. I’ve tried to manipulate you, coerce you, convince you, plead with you and appeal to you. Love Jesus’ church.

But here’s the truth. You won’t be able to. In fact all of us have failed miserably at loving Jesus bride. We gravitate toward jealousy, anger, bitterness, isolation, and criticism toward church and its people like it’s candy. But here’s the beauty of it all. Jesus knew that when he married us, blemishes and all…and Jesus died not just to save us but to change us. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus died for the church and he rose again and ever lives to love us and care for us.

No matter how hard you try you’ll fail at trying to be a good church member. I think I fail weekly. But Jesus never hesitates or abandons or fails us for one second. And that is why we love him and why Jesus is the rock upon which this church stands. Church is messy because people are but Jesus is the great physician and in his church he heals and restores So let’s do what we do each week and go to him through the bread and the wine and worship and thank him for all he is and all that he is done.

A few years back an artist named Derek Webb wrote a song called “The Church.” I close with it’s lyrics to prepare us to receive the Lord’s Supper. It’s written from the perspective of Jesus speaking.

I have come with one purpose
to capture for myself a bride
by my life she is lovely
by my death she’s justified

I have always been her husband
though many lovers she has known
so with water i will wash her
and by my word alone

‘Cause i haven’t come for only you
but for my people to pursue
you cannot care for me with no regard for her
if you love me you will love the church

I have long pursued her
as a harlot and a whore
but she will feast upon me
she will drink and thirst no more

There is none that can replace her
though there are many who will try
and though some may be her bridesmaids
they can never be my bride

i haven’t come for only you
but for my people to pursue
you cannot care for me with no regard for her
if you love me you will love the church

Let’s pray.

Blog | Amy Smets | www.amysmets.com

After reading and seeing various quotes and blogs from my mommy friends on the book Give them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson, I decided to read it myself and see what it was all about. Just the fact that a mother and a daughter wrote a book about parenting together grabbed my attention from the start. This happened about the same time I had my second daughter, so I was somewhat (ok all the way) sleep deprived, and at somewhat (ok all the way) at a loss of how to love two children at the same time with patience and grace.

With both of these things going on, I was blown away. There were definitely points that I was floored and humbled as a mom. First, floored that God in His graciousness has even allowed me to be a mom, and second humbled that I had been thinking I knew what I was doing as that mom. And then I started to notice my language and attitude in the way I parent.

So much of the way I talk is “I, I,I” and the way I talk to my daughters is “you, you , you”. This is where I started to slowly (and continue to very slowly) realize what grace is and is not. Grace is a free gift from God (Eph 2:8). Free, as in no cost. There is nothing I can do as a mom that is “good” There is nothing that my little girls can do that is “good” (Rom 3:12). That is without Jesus.

This is liberating news as a mom, and freeing news as a child. Fitzpatrick says in her book, “The good news of God’s grace is meant to permeate and transform every relationship we have, including our relationship with our children. All the typical ways we construct to get things done and get others to do our bidding are simply obliterated by a gospel message that tells us that we are all both radically sinful and radically loved. At the deepest level of what we do as parents, we should hear the heartbeat of a loving, grace giving Father who freely adopts rebels and transforms them into loving sons and daughters.”

This is the message that my children need to hear from me daily, not the message that if they dont do “good” i will be disappointed with them. I want my children to care far more about what God thinks, than what I think (1 Cor 10:31). I don’t want my children to “behave” just to make me happy. I don’t want my children to have the idea that they are chalking up points with me, or God.

In our home, Adina (our almost 4 year old) has been memorizing the 10 commandments. And while it is very cute that she knows them all and can recite them when asked, what we want her to know more than just what the laws are is that none of us obey them perfectly (Js 2:10), ever, except Jesus (2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 1:22). And even though we will never obey them perfectly, Jesus still loves us.

Fitzpatrick says, “Even though our children cannot and will not obey God’s law, we need to teach it to them again and again. And when they tell us that they cant love God or others this way, we are not to argue with them. We are to agree with them and tell them of their need for a Savior.”

It is a popular idea in our culture that children just need to have good self esteem. That little girls are princesses and little boys are warriors and need to be told all the time that they are “good” little girls and boys. Children long to be told that they were good during the day, or as my daughter puts it when she is about to be disciplined “I promise Ill be a good girl”.

Really, Christ is the only good one. Our children are not innately good (Ps 51:5; Eph 2:3). And telling them they are over and over again only reaffirms that they don’t really have a need for grace. Children are not good, but they are loved. If they truly start to believe this, Jesus’ love and grace will start to change their little hearts. With Jesus grace and love as the basis of a childrens motivation, the actions are so much sweeter.

In our home we have started to back off from the “good” language and encourage our daughter to rely on Jesus to help her. It is really amazing what happens. Just simple things like, “Jesus is helping you to be so loving to your sister today” to “I think you should pray and ask Jesus to give you more patience with your mommy.”

There is Something about even a 3 year old positioning herself to prayer that softens her heart almost instantly (sometimes are harder than others, of course) and inables her to have a different and more loving outlook on whatever the situation at hand may be. Talking a lot about grace starts to foster a place where a child can be honest in dealing with their heart and be open to letting Jesus help them. And this is where our children can start to get a glimpse of what God’s grace is.

There are day to day things that our children need, like sleep, food, care, protection, and of course some rules set up to create an atmosphere where these things can take place. But what they need most of all is the gospel of grace.

What they need most of all is the gospel of grace.

Some parents may think that parenting with grace is just a different way of saying that you are giving your child a free pass to figure things out on their own and hopefully that will be Jesus in the end. But really, parenting by grace is just the opposite.

Fitzpatrick writes, “Giving grace to children is an exercise of faith and faith is always more difficult than works. It flows out of humility, a character trait that none of us comes by naturally. Thats why most people miss it and why works, not faith, is the stumbling block at the cross. You are not slacking off when you tell them of his dazzling love. You are doing the hardest thing.”

My encouragement to you who are parents, and you who are going to be someday is to excite your children about the cross of Christ. Talk about Jesus a lot in your home. Encourage your children to run to Jesus and receive His grace when they may be flourishing and when they may be failing. And the amazing thing about all of this is that as a parent, we get to be amazed as well. Because God’s grace never runs up. There is more than enough for our babies and for us.

A Bible Study | w/Kathy Broersma | Mon nights at 7pm

Psalm 128:1 “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways.”

What does it mean to live a blessed life? Does it require wealth, beauty or success? Can we achieve it on our own?

The eight blessings of Jesus called the Beatitudes form the basis for this study. Come and join with other women to study the Scriptures and discuss what they mean for us as we live our our daily lives.

• Sept 19 – Introduction
• Sept 26 – God’s Redeeming Love
• Oct 3 – A Sure Foundation
• Oct 24 – Loving Mercy
• Nov 7 – Seeing God
• Nov 14 – Standing Fast

For more information and/or directions email: contact@theresolved.com

Divine Desires | Selected Texts | Guest Speaker: Pastor Dave Kraft

This a topical sermon on the topic of what God expects of his leaders and those who follow him. This sermon was originally preached on August 21st, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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What Does God Desire For His People?
I. Conversion to His Kingdom (John 3:3)
II. Communion with His Son (Mark 1:32-39; 1 Timothy 4:7)
III. Community with His People (Acts 2:42-47)
IV. Commitment to His Purpose (2 Cor 5:18-21; Eph 4:11-15; Matthew 28:18-20)

What Does God Desire For His Leaders?
I. He wants to see Christ in His leaders (1 Peter 5:1-11)
II. He wants to see Character in His leaders (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1)
III. He wants to see Caring in His leaders (Ezekiel 34:1-3)
IV. He wants to see Competence in His leaders (1 Timothy 5:17)

The following classes will be offered this Spring of 2012:

Theo 101 – Theology of the Resolved
An 8-week course covering the range of theological beliefs essential to the gospel. Topics include: the existence of God, the truth of the Bible, the depravity of humans, the good news of Jesus, the order of salvation, and the role of the church, art & culture. This class is necessary for membership in The Resolved Church. Oct 2nd to Nov 20th on Sunday Evenings from 5:00-6:00pm.     REGISTER HERE

If you’re a member of The Resolved Church, thinking about becoming one, or just want to experience a little of the behind the scenes action of the church…then stay after our morning worship services on Sunday. For members this is an important time for us to talk together about the in-workings of our church and an opportunity to share reports, ask questions and take care of any needed business.

• Date: Nov 13th
• Time: 12:30-1:45pm
• Food: Provided
• What: Review & Report

Blog | Dave Kraft | from “Leaders That Last”

I am saved by and kept by the power of God and am a Christian and a leader by grace and grace alone. I didn’t earn it and I don’t deserve it. Ephesians 2:8-9 says it well: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” As I lead, I lead out of the reality of being saved by Jesus, and Jesus alone, and empowered by the Holy Spirit for the leadership role and responsibility to which he calls me. It is too easy for the work and the ministry to be the center instead of Jesus himself.

I had a rude awakening a few years ago. I was asked to speak to a group of pastors at a retreat on the subject of a pastor’s devotional life. As we launched into the first day, I was shocked to find out that most of the pastors only spent time with Lord in his Word when preparing for preaching and teaching.

I thought this highly unusual, since I was taught early how important it is to feed myself from the Scripture before seeking to give spiritual sustenance to others. Ezra 7:10 has long been my benchmark: “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” First, I study and apply God’s Word to my life. Then I teach others.

Since that retreat, I have discovered that many leaders have never established spiritual habits of the heart that include confession and worship, as well as intake of the Word of God. This is vital to staying connected with Jesus, the power and source of our life and ministry.

In order to achieve balance in my life as a Christian leader (and yes, I believe it is possible), I start with Jesus Christ in the center. Jesus Christ is my power. I desire to tap into his infinite energy daily and consistently and to not rely on my own finite power supply. [from pages 29-30 in "Leaders Who Last"]

MAKING LEAKERS – This sermon series works through the book of Titus addressing several aspects of identifying, becoming and developing leaders. Emphasis follows the text in recognizing: God who makes leaders, the differences between leaders and destructive leaders, the importance of having doctrinal, wise and transformed leaders, as well as being secure, gospel-centered, and justified leaders who have been entrusted with a mission.

Listen   Read    1:1-4 | God Makes LEADERS
Listen   Read    1:5-9 | Good LEADERS
Listen   Read    1:10-16 | Destructive LEADERS
Listen   Read    2:1 | Doctrinal LEADERS
Listen   Read    2:1-10 | Wise LEADERS
Listen   Read    2:11-14 | Transformed LEADERS
Listen   Read    2:15 | Secure LEADERS
Listen   Read    3:1-11 | Gospel-Centered LEADERS
Listen   Read    3:4-7 | Justified LEADERS
Listen   Read    3:12-15 | Entrusted LEADERS

The Book of Titus | Making Leaders | Titus 3:12-15 | Pastor John Alwood

This an exegetical sermon of Titus 3:12-15 which addresses the call and responsibility Jesus has entrusted to us of replicating leaders. It looks the worth and zeal Jesus has given us through the gospel. This sermon was originally preached on August 14th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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In Titus 1:9 we’re told to hold firm to sound doctrine. The book of Titus climaxes in this great doctrinal declaration in chapter 3, verses 4-7 where it heralds the goodness of “being justified” through Jesus.

In the late 70′s and early 80′s a new kind of theology in regards to justification, now known as the “New Perspective on Paul”, started being thrown around in the academic world. In the last 10 years it has really started to gain traction and as the usual trend goes has now found itself inside churches. Several “Christian” individuals and churches are now aligning themselves with this kind of thinking.

Some of the blogs out of The Resolved are easily readable supplements to the teaching provided on Sundays and at community groups. Occasionally they have a more scholastic aspect. This is one of those posts. The goal is to make you aware of an unsound doctrine out there which you should not hold to, so that when you hear of it you will properly be able to “refute” it (Tit 1:9).

The New Perspective of Paul is a re-interpretation of Paul’s thought concerning justification by faith which has been held by Protestants since the reformation. The new interpretation is this: justification is not a legal status of one’s standing before God but simply a declaration by God that Jesus is the messiah of God’s people.

Main Points of the New Perspective
• Judaism was a religion of grace and inclusivism rather than exclusivistic communal competition and striving for individual righteousness with God.
• Law was not something one used to earn favor with God but was merely a Jew’s identity mark as being a people of God.
• Jews boasting that they were elect/favored/chosen was the main problem Paul is addressing in Romans and Pauline thought.
• Justification does not have to do with one’s standing before God but one’s identity with a people group of God.
• Jesus does not satisfy the wrath of God and then transfer his righteousness to us.
• A person does not need to individually put faith in Jesus but just realize God accepts them as they are and join the community of God.

Main Propenents:
- Dr. James D.G. Dunn
- Dr. E.P. Sanders
- Dr. N.T. Wright

Main Problems with the New Perspective
• Judaism was clearly one of exclusivism and religious competition both according to Jesus and Paul (Mat 5:17-20, Phil 3:4-8) and this is not eisogesis (reading into the text something that isn’t there). In these passages notice Jesus distinction of the individual ["whoever" vs. "others" and what they are called] and notice Paul’s use of “I” and “myself.”
• “Law” is used in three different ways in Romans. To minimalize these contextual and exegetical observations and to reduce them to merely being a “boundary marker” is to do violence to the text.
     1) universal moral law > ex. Rom 2:14-15
     2) the Jewish Torah > ex. Rom 7:1-6
     3) principle of the way sin works > ex. Rom 7:21-23.
• The main problem Paul is addressing in Romans is sin, idolatry deep in mankind’s heart, not boasting (Rom 1:18-:24).
• A thorough study of the Greek word “dikaiosune” translated in English as “righteousness” clearly shows that righteousness is not merely communal identity. www.theresolved.com/downloads/dikaiosune.pdf
• A study of the word “propitation” in Rom 3:25 and a study of the word “counts” (“logidzomai”) in Rom 4:23-24 clearly teach the imputed righteousness of Christ.

Main Conclusions
• Propenents of the New Perspective utilize a form of “chronological snobbery” as C.S. Lewis once described it. Basically this means they caricaturize the classical Reformed view of justication by faith as being primitive and scholastically unwarranted and that if one was to believe this “new” theory, only then could they claim intellectual warrant.
• The New Perspective’s charge of cultural eisogesis (reading in our own culture’s mentality) cannot stand up to its own criteria. When pressed with exegesis of specific words and specific texts it becomes difficult to see how the postmodern virture of pluralistic inclusivism is not driving hermeutical decisions of the New Perspective, particularly when dealing with the writings of Paul.
• The New Perspective is dangerous and is heresy because it eliminates not only the Jew’s need for Jesus but as a result all other’s need. Faith is not merely a realization of what you already are. This is a serious conflagration between the doctrines of justification and santification.
• An acceptance of this doctrine will set the church back to a pre-reformation setting and the gospel will be lost. As Martin Luther said, “justification by faith” is the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls.

Resources

Books in favor of the New Perspective:
• James Dunn, “Jesus, Paul, and the Law: Studies in Mark and Galatians”
• E.P. Sanders, “Paul and Palestinian Judaism”
• N.T. Wright, “Justification: God’s Plan & Paul’s Vision” & “What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?”

Books refuting the New Perspective:
• D.A. Carson, Peter O’Brien, and Mark Seifrid, “Justification And Variegated Nomism”
• John Piper, “The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright”
• William B. Barcley, Ligon Duncan “Gospel Clarity: Challenging the New Perspective of Paul”

Video
• Michael Horton – “Nine Points on the New Perspective” (Part I) (Part II) (Part III)

Audio
• D.A. Carson – The New Perspective on Paul

Articles
• Sinclair Ferguson – What Does Justification Have To Do With The Gospel?
• Ligon Duncan – The Attraction to the New Perspective on Paul
• Matt Williams – What Is The New Perspective of Paul?

Article Series | John Bale | Dumb Things That God Has Used to Teach Me About The Gospel

Part III – A Christological Hermeneutic of the Life of J.D. Bale
“Who’s Scruffy Looking?: Jesus, The True and Better Princess Leia”

In the 10th grade I set out to accomplish what I thought would be one the most glorious feats possible for a nerd of my caliber: convince a girl to read science fiction. I made a deal with the one that sat next to me in Spanish. If she read one of my all-time favorites, Ender’s Game, I would read The Notebook.

Not my cleverest hour. She got to read Ender’s Game for the first time  and I had to be that guy who actually admitted to reading The Notebook. I fell for a similar scheme when, after falling head over heels in love with Crime and Punishment, and then War and Peace, a very clever girl persuaded me to read Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen is very much not a Russian novelist.

By the time I was a freshman in college, I no longer needed to be tricked into admitting that I was willing to appreciate a good romance. By day I was the scruffy looking miscreant donning skull-clad hoodies and telling everybody their music was bad for not being punk-rock; at night I put on pajama pants and watched chick-flicks with the girls from my co-ed dorm floor. I still had the tendency to let my true and better colors fly, disrupting mini-series festivities with a Kanyesque interjection, “Yo Mr. Darcy/Colin Firth. I’mma let you finish, but Empire Strikes Back is the best romance of all time. ALL TIME!!!!”

It’s funny because it’s true. The Star Wars trilogy counts as a romance. People are supposed to learn about Affection from their parents, and Romance is a significant part of that design. The concept of a healthy marriage is meant to serve as a model for the relationship between Christ and His Church, and romance has been used as a conversion metaphor for centuries. Unfortunately, most marriages don’t provide inspiring examples, so we look to idealistic fantasies to fill the void. My parents’ relationship was more disastrous than most, so I learned from the most positive (though completely fantastic) example available: Han Solo and Princess Leia.

I have always related to Han. One of the first brief descriptions that George Lucas gave while developing the character described him as “a loner who realizes the importance of being part of a group and helping for the common good.” Check, check(ish), and check. Not a lot is said about his upbringing, but I imagine you don’t become an Inter-Galactic Coyote/Drug-Runner when everything goes according to plan. There had to be a number of reasons why Han always had “a bad feeling about [everything].” I related to that.

And Princess Leia is more than just a romantic interest. She is the unexpected Good Thing that happens to him that he has no idea how to deal with. Again, this was something I related to, especially in the first couple years after Christ had become a part of my life. Love was changing my life but I was too damaged to understand, process, or even communicate what was going on. It was Charles Dickens that taught me the ways of The Force. He was my Obi-Wan Kenobi, making clear to me that Perfect Love was more than just a “hokey religion” for girls.

After years of reading comic books, pulp sci-fi, and fantasy, the first real book I spent any time with was A Tale of Two Cities. It was the first thing I had come across that sympathetically portrayed a troubled man undergoing overwhelming spiritual and psychological transformation. I wasn’t comfortable or even close to effective in trying to explain what the Holy Spirit had been doing in my life, but I could hold conversation about Sydney Carton being “Recalled to Life” for hours on end. And I did.

So I wasn’t amused when my buffoon of an English teacher almost ruined the book by reducing it to nothing more than a series of melodramatic love-triangles. Taking something that helped me contemplate Jesus and turning it into something that reminded me of the daytime soaps that my mom watched only hardened my heart against the affection that was welling up inside me. I complained to a teacher whose opinion I respected a little more, but she agreed with the assessment, and played an even dirtier trick by pointing out that the same could be said about pretty much everything Dickens (and even more so Dostoevsky) wrote. Screw. That. I didn’t want love in my murderous psycho-dramas because it transformed them from something I understood into a source of frustration. I acted like Han, refusing to treat the Princess like a Princess.

But God is a patient genius, and he used my cynical obstinance to teach me something deeper and truer about myself and my relation to Him: Out of the brokenness of my affections comes a helpless inability to reciprocate. If accepting and understanding perfect Love is hard, responding to it is practically impossible.

Again, this goes back to my parents. My mom told me she loved me, but then she lied to my face over and over again. She told me she loved me, but then she sold my Nintendo and my comic books to pay for drugs. She told my little sister that she loved her, but then she left the state when it came time to prove it. By the time Christ came into my life, love as a word had no meaning, and there was probably no part of my heart that was more rotten and barren than that place where Love was meant to dwell.

My dad was another story. He didn’t even bother with “I love you” all that often. He struggles with his affections as much as I do, which is probably why it is easier for me to believe him when he tries to communicate. Even still, there are few things that are harder for me to hear coming out of his mouth than “I love you too.” When he says it, he says it in the same dutifully uninspired way that he says “Bless you” when I sneeze. It’s all courtesy, just a thing that he knows he’s supposed to say. To this day I’m reluctant to tell him that I love him because the awkward side-hug and “I love you too” that comes next always makes my skin crawl just a little bit.

When God used the message of The Gospels and the preaching of Paul in Romans and 1st Corinthians 13 to crack into my hardened heart, I was uncomfortable and confused. This makes perfect sense, given the context. I was never taught how to deal with affection. The Holy Spirit made it know to me that I was loved, not by the parents that had given birth to me (and then screwed up pretty much everything else,) but by The Author of All Creation. Being convinced of this in every moment of every day is still a struggle, but knowing how to respond is even harder. In response to Christ’s love I am most often speechless. I definitely never say “I love you too.”

What, then, can I say? What can I do? I can learn from Han Solo. In Empire, when Han is about to be frozen in carbonite, and his passive-aggressive romance with Leia is coming to a head, one of the most famous exchanges in cinema history takes place. “I love you,” she says. He responds with the most perfect words: “I know.”

A lot of people try and identify Han’s curt response as evidence of his cocky, self-absorbed attitude. They say he’s too manly to admit that he loves her. These people are wrong. When Leia says “I love you,” it’s after they kiss. It’s after they have expressed the affection that they had been holding back through two thirds of the trilogy. When she says “I love you” it is a separate statement. It is a promise. In three words she is saying “I know things suck right now, but BECAUSE I love you, know that I will do whatever it takes to get you out of this mess. I am going to save you.”

If Han had said, “I love you too,” it would have devalued her declaration. “I love you too” claims that he too would do whatever it took to be reunited with her. But in that moment, when he is helpless and doomed, the words would have been meaningless. “I love you too” would have been a final act of contrition, a “Goodbye.” Han says “I know,” not just because he is emotionally inarticulate, but because he has full faith in Leia’s love and her ability to back it up with action. It is the only thing he can say, but it’s the only thing he needs to say. What he is really saying is, [I love you because “I know” that you love me.]

This was the loving relationship that had been missing from my life. This was the love that my parents didn’t have to give. This was the love that saved Raskolnikov. This was the love that Christ offered to me on the Cross.

I tried to find a way to present this entry as a story about “the True and Better Han Solo,“ but I already did one on Harrison Ford and didn’t want to give off the wrong impression… I am all about Princess Leia. But let’s keep it real here. I wouldn’t know what do with a princess. I wouldn’t know what to do with Perfect Love. And I’m not alone. Whether it’s in a two hundred year old novel, a thirty year old sci-fi epic, or a dime-a-dozen chick-flick/bromance that came out last week, the absolute brokenness of human affections is evident everywhere you look. Even if my parents had a happy, comparatively healthy marriage, I would still be missing something truer and better in my life.

Talking about romance, A Tale of Two Cities, Empire Strikes Back, The Notebook, whatever, has taught me to accept and understand my place within the only Romance that matters. Broken romance is broken relationship is about broken worship. I wasn’t made to worship saying, “I love you too.” To be honest, I probably wasn’t even really made to worship saying,“I love you.” I was made to say, with every measure of honest and grateful conviction, only that “I know” that I am loved, and that I worship the God who has loved me. 

Han Solo is not worthy of a princess, and neither am I. Jesus Christ is the True and Better Princess Leia who has told me that He loves me and has rescued me from a fate far worse than carbonite. So many things that I do (and probably a lot of things that I don’t do) are works that separate me from My Author and Creator. Even still, [I know] that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate [me] from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. “I know” is the only thing that I am truly capable of saying. Thank God it’s the only thing I need to say.

The Book of Titus | Making Leaders | Titus 3:4-7 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Titus 3:4-7 which addresses the need for and nature of justification. It looks at how we are need because of our guilt and God’s goodness and how the nature of justification involves three aspects: the picture of a hospital where we are regenerated, the picture of a courtroom where we are justified and the picture of a graveside where we are granted the inheritance of eternal life. This sermon was originally preached on August 7th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990 | contact@theresolved.com
All Rights Reserved © The Resolved Church

Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material provided you not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.

The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
August 7th, 2011

The Book of Titus: Making Leaders
Justified LEADERS | Titus 3:4-7

Justified LEADERS | 3:4-7

I. “But” – The Need For Justification (v.4)
    A. Our Guilt Before God: We Are Sinners
    B. God’s Goodness Before Us: The Trinity Acts
II. “By” – The Nature Of Justification (v.5-7)
    A. A Hospital: A New Kind of Birth (REGENERATION)
    B. A Courtroom: A New Kind of Verdict (JUSTIFICATION)
    C. A Graveside: A New Kind of Life (GLORIFICATION)

Introduction

This week, we’re back in the book of Titus for our summer series “Making Leaders.” This week we’re zeroing in on a few verses we sort of glossed over a couple weeks ago when we looked at the whole paragraph of verses 1-11 all together and talked about what it means to be gospel centered. That sermon focused on how all of our life relates to the gospel. Today we’re focusing on the structure of the gospel itself and are looking at what many have said is the heart of the gospel, “justification.”

My sermon today is titled “Justified LEADERS” for really there is no way you can actually be a Christian or actually lead or properly influence anyone else as a Christian unless you understand and believe that you are justified. There’s a couple introductory things I think I need to say today and then we’ll jump into the text and the outline.

One, today’s sermon is a little more on the technical end because our passage is. There are some passages of the Bible which tell stories or deal with real life situations and because of that they are by nature more accessible. There are other passages which dig deep into the mind, heart and working of God and they require more of us. This is one of those passages. So I just want to be real up front about that today. God gave each of you a mind and he means for you to use it and you’re going to need to today. So here’s my invitation this morning, in the word of Isaiah the prophet, “Come now, let us reason together (Is 1:18).

Here’s the second thing, it’s kind of a subset of the first thing and it’s that there are big words in our text today. Words like “regeneration” and “justified.” For some of you when you hear words like that you naturally start to tune out. And there are some well meaning church leaders who in wanting to make everything easier and more accessible think we ought to just do away with using these type of words. For example, The Message Bible, which really shouldn’t be called a Bible, gets rid of these words and instead of “regeneration” says God “gave us a good bath” and instead of “justified” says God “restored our relationship with him.” As we’ll see neither of those things are even close to what regeneration and justification are about. There are some words that God has given in his book that there are simply no easier way to say them and we just need to learn what they mean.

Okay, one more intro thing. Justification is SO IMPORTANT. I’m not going to take time to tell the whole story of Martin Luther and the Reformation. I’ve done it a few times here before and if you haven’t heard it or know who he is, just knowing that he was a very influential pastor and scholar in the sixteenth century will be good enough.

Here is what Martin Luther said about justification. “Justification is the chief article of Christian doctrine. To him who understands how great its usefulness and majesty are, everything else will seem slight and turn to nothing…If we know this article, we are in the clearest light; if we do not know it, we dwell in densest darkness. If you see this article impugned or imperiled, do not hesitate to resist Peter (or Paul) or an angel from heaven; for it cannot be sufficiently expelled…It is the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls!”

I will second that. Justification I believe is the chief article of Christian doctrine and it will be the thing upon which not only The Church at large stands or falls but also that upon which this local church, The Resolved Church, stands or falls. For those of you who don’t know it or get it yet, my goal today is to put a rock under your feet. For those of you who do know it my goal is to call attention to that thing upon which you stand.

And by the way, justification is far from irrelevant to practical life. I like what John Piper says about justification, he says, “few things give lively comfort and lion hearted courage like (this) truth.” Sinclair Ferguson, a great Scottish pastor says this, “The practical importance (of this doctrine) cannot be exaggerated…When a child of God loses his sense of peace with God, finds concern for others dried up, or generally find his sense of the sheer goodness and grace of God diminished, it is from this fountain he has ceased to drink.”

Alright, so hopefully now you are pumped to read this great text and get into it. Let’s read Titus 3:4-7 and pray over it. (read text and pray)

Okay, so two main parts to our outline today, “‘But’ – The Need For Justification” and “‘By’ – The Nature of Justification.” In order to really comprehend it’s significance for each of personally we’ve got to understand a couple of things first, mainly involving why we need it. So let’s look at our verse for today and talk about this need.

I. “But” – The Need For Justification (v.4)

For today’s text we’re basically cutting into to a thought pattern which has already been building and building until we get to this great exclamation we’re looking at today. So we’re cutting in and our first word is “but.” The but signals this huge transition after what was just said. And what was just said was the miserable condition we are in as human beings. So this is really the first reason why we need justification, because of “Our Guilt Before God: We Are Sinners.”

A. Our Guilt Before God: We Are Sinners

If you look backward in the context at verse 3 it’s lists a bunch of stuff about us, and notice Paul the human author includes himself. He says, “We ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.”

That’s a stark picture. I’m not going to stop and take time to go through each of these things. But I’m sure if I sat down with each of you and dug a bit and asked questions I’d find that several of these things either have been or are true about you.

Here’s what I want to say. Sin comes up quite a bit in the Bible and in our sermons and church. And I always feel like the bad guy because I’m trying to convince us all of how horrible we are. And I haven’t quite found a good way to do that yet. I think that’s because no matter how you go about it, it’s an uphill battle. Nobody wants to hear it and we all want to think of ourselves being better than we are.

We live in this culture of positivity, where it’s really a sin to say anything is sin or to say anyone is a sinner. I think part of the problem is we always start with ourselves. We look at our self and then try to evaluate whether we are good or bad.

I came across this quote from Martin Luther which goes about it in an entirely different way. I know I already quoted him once today, but we’re talking about justification, so gimme a break. Here is how Martin Luther articulated our state and position before God…

“With what tongue shall I address such Majesty, seeing that all men ought to tremble in the presence of an earthly prince? Who am I that I should lift up mine eyes and raise my hands to divine majesty? The angels surround him. At his nod the earth trembles…I am dust and ashes and full of sin and I am speaking to the living, eternal and true God.”

Do you see the difference? If we compare ourselves to one another then we’re likely to think we’ll I’m not that bad, not bad as that guy or this guy. If look internally we’re likely to only see the good and be blind to the bad. And on top of it we’re naturally looking to our “good” as though it were “good enough” for God to win or earn you some favor with him. So when we start with ourselves we’re always going to come out looking better than we really are.

But when we start with God, oh what a different story. When we’re looking on and beholding The Almighty, pure and utter righteousness and unadulterated goodness…we shrink and shudder. The light of God’s holiness functions like an immediate spotlight on all the areas of darkness and sin which consume us. Like Isaiah the prophet when he saw God seated on the throne, our natural instinct is to start condemning ourselves and pronouncing judgment on ourselves…hiding, recoiling and running away because we instantaneously realize we are not worthy.

I’ve said it before but it’s fitting to say today here…If you think you have a small sin problem you end up with a very small God and savior. If you think you have a really big sin problem you end up with a really big God and savior.

So that’s the first reason we need justification, because we are guilty sinners. The second has to do with God’s goodness, so let’s look at “God’s Goodness Before Us: The Trinity Acts.”

B. God’s Goodness Before Us: The Trinity Acts

A few things here. One, notice the emphasis on goodness here in our text. Who’s good here? Us or God? Not us. Verse 3 is an ugly picture of us, not good. And in verse 5 it says we can’t save ourselves by doing an righteous or good works. So what verse 4 does is set up Christianity as being about the goodness of a God who acts for us. Look at it. Verse 4, “When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us.”

We need saving. That’s what all religions, and cults, and life philosophies and advice are all about. How to be happy, successful, satisfied…saved. BUT, Christianity is different from every other religion because it says there is nothing you can do to save yourself, nothing. No “works done by us in righteousness.” Nothing. No matter how hard you try and no matter what you do, you can’t do it. Christianity is the one religion which says God saved us, because he and he alone is good and is the only one who could do it.

Here’s the second thing about God’s goodness. Do you see there where it says his goodness “appeared”? What do you think that is referring to? Likely it’s when Jesus came into the world specifically, in fact every time this word is used in the New Testament that’s what it’s referring to. However, it also includes here the whole message of salvation, which we’ll see is wholly dependent on him and his work.

So follow me here. In Romans 3:25-26, Paul the same author as here says there was a problem with God’s goodness prior to Jesus coming. In that passage he says, it seemed like God wasn’t good because it seemed like he was just letting sin go. Get this, you got to think differently than our culture trains us to think. You see today it is often objected that God wouldn’t send anyone to hell because he’s good. But really it’s the opposite problem. If everyone is really sinners how can God himself actually be good if he doesn’t just send everyone to hell? That’s a much bigger and harder question.

In Romans 3, Paul says it was like God was just passing it over. And if he’s just letting people who are really and truly guilty go free without consequence and if he’s doing that he’s not good. He’s corrupt himself. So when God appears in Christ and does his work, he makes a way to show how he can still be good and get people off the hook. Got it? Alright, hold that thought.

Third thing here and we’ll move on to the nature of justification. The third thing here is just kind of a fun thing. Whenever the Bible is talking about time and the actions of God, like here with this “appearing” in history, that’s normally a reference to the Father who sovereignly determines all things. Then in verse 5, we have talk about the Holy Spirit who is God and plays an active part in salvation. Then in verse 6, we have Jesus who is God and called the savior. So, even though the Bible never uses the word “trinity” we have a real clear case in these verses that God is one, one God in three distinct persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit…the Trinity! That’s just a side note. But it’s cool.

Alright, let’s move on and to the second half of our outline today, “‘By’ – The Nature Of Justification.”

II. “By” – The Nature Of Justification (v.5-7)

In mid-verse 5 the passage breaks into a discussion of how God the savior saved us and it names three distinct parts of this salvation. It’s starts off with the word “by” right after “according to his own mercy.”

There’s three distinct doctrines here which have three different pictures or scenes which go with them, a hospital where regeneration takes place, a courtroom where justification happens and a graveside where glorification is granted.

Now to be clear, justification is the core and center of this triad. Regeneration is what enables justification to take place and glorification is the result of justification. So they all work together in tandem, never apart from each other. But it’s important to understand their differences.

When I was studying and preparing this week I was amazed at how much and how often they are confused and mixed together. That’s not good. It’s not what was called for earlier in Titus when we were told to “hold firm to sound doctrine (Tit 1:9).” Calling regeneration justification is not holding firm it’s being sloppy. So let’s look at each of these.

A. A Hospital: A New Kind of Birth (REGENERATION)

First, a hospital. When was the last time you were at the hospital for the birth of a child…either you’re own or visiting someone else’s? Do you remember what it was like? The bright fluorescent lights. The hospital staff always rushing around. The hospital gowns. The little room with an electric bed. And that brand new baby…barely able to open his/her eyes, so soft and cuddly all wrapped up tight in a blanket. My second daughter is just a little over four months so the memory is still fresh.

For the moms and dads out there, you especially know this…there’s nothing like the birth of a new child is there? It’s phenomenal. It is truly special, amazing, and glorious. That brand new life there before you.

That’s what this word “regeneration” means here in verse 5. It says when God saves us there is a “washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” The word “regeneration” literally means new birth. Now I know they didn’t have hospitals back when this was written, they were pretty much all home births so you hippies who are all into that you’re probably more biblical than the rest of us.

But the point is that this word “regeneration” calls to mind the picture of birth, a new birth. It’s was a rare word, not used much outside the Bible. Sometimes philosophers would talk of a rebirth of the world, sometimes when a new king or emperor would come to power they would talk of a nation being reborn or sometimes when someone would be released from prison they would speak of a new life. But it’s really Jesus who puts this concept on the map.

It’s in John 3. He gets in a discussion with a dude named Nicodemus. Nicodemus is trying to figure out who Jesus is, if he’s from God and how one can be saved. And Jesus answers him in John 3:3 by saying “you must be born again…(or) you cannot see the kingdom of God”

Nicodemus’ response to this is natural he says, “How can a man be born when his is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” And here’s Jesus answer, listen close. John 3:5 “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

So Jesus basically says, you have to be born again before you can to see or enter the kingdom of God. Just being born of water from your mother’s womb is not good enough. You’ve got to be born again by God’s Spirit. You see the problem is from the time we are in our mother’s womb and are born we are born sinful and guilty before God.

How do you know? Well beside the fact that the Bible says so in places like Psalm 51 and Romans 5, here’ s one way. Babies cry. And I don’t just mean cute cry. There’s cute cry and there’s mad, demanding cry. That’s sin coming out in that little precious baby. From the time we are first born we have a self-centered bent that gets angry when we don’t get what we want when we want it. What we need is to be born again and to know and have a God we can trust who will always take care of us.

Now in our text in Titus I got to tell you about some things. I’m leaning pretty heavily on the meaning of the word “regeneration” in straight, literal dictionary definition coupled with what seems to be Jesus’ pretty clear description of it.

But that is not the only idea out there on this. There is a TON of spilled ink over this. I mean, it talks about washing and anytime washing or water is mentioned, there’s a good chance the experience and picture of baptism is in mind. So tons of scholars and pastors think this passage is all about baptism…and maybe it is, even if it’s just an allusion to it.

Then after it brings up regeneration there’s this other thing it says, “regeneration…and renewal.” So then the question is whether renewal is just further describing regeneration in alliteration or whether its a second thing and if it’s a second thing when does it happen? And good, solid Bible commentators are all over the place and all divided on those questions because theoretically and grammatically any of the options are possible.

To be honest, I’m not sure which is right. Renewal is usually a reference to sanctification, the process where the image of God is renewed in us as we are increasingly formed into the image of Christ after becoming Christians. But the flow of the text here is talking about how you become a Christian not what happens afterward. So I dunno?

When I’m not sure, what I do is move from the clear to the less clear. What is clear from the Bible is we have to be regenerated by God’s Spirit. It’s not only Jesus who says that, but the prophets. Ezekiel in the 6th century BC looked forwarded in time, to the time when God would do something unique in history (to the time of Jesus) and he says God would, “give you a new heart and a new spirit…and remove the heart of stone (Ez 36:26).” That’s basically another way of talking about regeneration.

Here’s why regeneration is important. We have to be regenerated before we can be justified. Sometimes so much emphasis can be put on “choosing Christ” or “making a decision for Christ” when the reality is unless one has been regenerated they would never choose Christ or make a decision for him, apart from regeneration we will always not choose him and instead choose ourselves and our sin.

And notice, regeneration is something God does, it is a work of his Holy Spirit. No one can make themselves born again. God has to do that. Just as no one makes themselves born out of their mom’s womb, so we cannot make ourselves born again.

Think back to the hospital with me. Think how amazing a new baby is. The whole world is new to them. Light to their eyes. They kind of just grope with their hands and legs and don’t quite know how to move them. They have to start learning how to eat right away instead of being fed by an umbilical cord. Everything is new.

Being born again, being regenerated is like that. It’s seeing the world with a whole new set of eyes. All of the sudden God is much more important. All of a sudden you realize how desperate of a position you are in as a sinner. All of the sudden everything makes sense and you realize how little you have understood. And you’re hungry. Hungry to learn about who Jesus is and what God has done for you. That’s regeneration.

Some of you need to be regenerated, completely made new. It is not an uncommon thing for people to grow up in church and never be regenerated. Here’s one way to tell. When it comes to God and the gospel, it’s just boring to you. You don’t see any life in it. That’s because you have yet to truly be born again. SO MANY people in Jesus day were in that boat. They grew up with the Bible and an awareness of God but they needed to be born again. Nicodemus is just one example.

Some of you didn’t grow up with any of that and you know, you’re life has been a mess and you just need to start over and to have all the junk of the past…all the anger, hurt, pain and sin of the past be wiped clean and you need to be made new once again. You need to be regenerated.

Oh God I pray by that you by your Spirit would regenerate souls right now here in this moment. Give life. May the lights go on for the first time that they might see the glory of who you are and what you have done. May it be.

Well, after regeneration our text turns to justification. If this were another passage of the Bible, like in Romans we’d read about a few more steps in here, like faith and imputation. But we don’t see them, which is another reason I think we need to be careful about treating this passage as a full-blown doctrinal treatise detailing every step in salvation. It’s hitting the high clear points of God’s work. So let’s turn to justification and move into the next scene, the scene of a courtroom.

B. A Courtroom: A New Kind of Verdict (JUSTIFICATION)

We’ve talked a lot already about this word “justification” but we’ve yet to really say what it is. The word “justified” here in verse 7 is a very specific and technical word. Here’s a definition for you, “Justification is the verdict of acquittal or vindication from God the judge.” There’s no way around it. When the Bible talks about being “justified” or “justification” it’s using courtroom language not common language in the way were you are justified in doing this or that. Justification is a sentence read by the judge at the end of a trial.

So let’s get our minds around this. When was the last time you were in a courtroom? I was there a few times this last year. I had like three stop sign tickets in a year and half. Have you been to court ever? The judge sits behind this huge desk like thing, the bench. It’s like probably fifteen feet across and about seven or eight feet high and the judge is wearing all black and sitting in this big black chair. It’s meant to feel intimidating. And it is. I basically do public speaking for a living, preaching sermons. I’m not scared of it. But when it’s been my turn to go up to the podium and speak into the microphone to the judge I’m seriously all nervous and shaky. It’s scary. I hate going to court.

I did some research and pretty much courts haven’t changed in a long time. They’ve always been scary. The didn’t have juries, just a judge. For the Greco-Romans, the judge would listen to the plaintiff and the defendant and then render his decision after weighing the evidence. For the Jews, their kings acted as judges and they would sit on a throne, hear cases and then announce their verdicts.

In our text, verse 7 says we are “justified by his grace”, so we’re declared by God the judge as “not guilty” and verse 6 says the way that God can grant this verdict is because Jesus Christ our Savior has been richly poured out on us. Now, to be honest…that’s pretty ambiguous. God just says “not guilty” because he’s given us Jesus? It just says he was richly poured out, what does that mean?

That’s my first reaction. Because there’s not any real details with that my next reaction is okay, so he must be assuming I know what it means for Jesus to be richly poured out. So I looked back through the book of Titus to see what he’s said so far. In Titus 2:14 he said, “(Jesus) gave himself for us to redeem us.” And when we looked at that saw that it was a clear reference to Jesus work on the cross where he shed his blood. The key phrase in that is “gave himself.”

So here’s what’s going on. We’re sinners. Jesus never sinned. Then he gave himself in this way…He took on our sin as if it were his own and died on the cross an eternal death as the eternal son of God in order to redeem or purchase us from the eternal debt of justice owed to God. Remember, he can’t be good if he doesn’t punish sin. So sin gets punished in Jesus instead of us. By doing that Romans 3:26 says God is shown to be just and provides a way for people to be justified.

This is the second giving. Jesus first gives himself up on the cross and then he gives all of his righteousness, all his never sinning to us, as if it were our very own. So get this. This is the heart of justification.

We are in the courtroom. We are before God the judge. It’s clear, we’re guilty. There’s not just circumstantial evidence like the Casey Anthony trial. There’s a full-blown movie screen playing all of our sinful thoughts and deeds from our entire life. It’s caught on tape. No doubt about it. We’re guilty.

But then something happens. Instead of either foolishly trying to defend ourselves or just accepting our guilty sentence, God regenerates us and thereby enables us to cry out to Christ in faith and then his righteousness comes flooding in. God then leans over the courtroom bench to look at us and there standing in front of us is Christ and all he sees is Jesus’ perfect righteousness. So the verdict is clear. He reads it out loud, “not guilty, you’re free to go, you’ve been justified once and for all time.”

These words my friends are perhaps the most precious words in the entire Bible, “justified by his grace.” The declaration of God almighty who sees and knows all, judging the thoughts attitudes and intentions of my heart…sends Christ into the world and makes a way so that he looks on him instead of my and I get acquitted! What goodness! What a God!

This is the heart of the gospel you guys. I know, there are a lot of aspects to the gospel. It’s like a beautiful diamond. But the this is the stone itself which makes all its sides glimmer…God’s words, “not guilty…you are justified.”

Here’s what John Murray said about justification. He helped found Westminster Seminary which now has a campus in Escondido. In his book, “Redemption: Accomplished and Applied” he writes, “Regeneration is an act of God in us; justification is a judgment of God with respect to us. The distinction is like that of the distinction between the act of a surgeon and the act of a judge. The surgeon, when he removes an inward cancer, does something in us. That is not what a judge does — he gives a verdict regarding our judicial status. If we are innocent he declares accordingly. The purity of the gospel is bound up with the recognition of this…Justification is still the article of the standing or falling of the Church.”

Some of you are walking through life and you always feel the weight of guilt on your back or you feel that God loves you more or less depending on how good you are doing, if you are doing enough or doing the right things or not sinning…what you need is a good healthy dose of justification. Jesus did it all for us and if he is yours God has already rendered the verdict, not guilty. So be free. Don’t sit in the courtroom any longer. Go outside and enjoy the life Jesus purchased for you.

Well, there’s one last thing in our text which comes as a result of justification and that’s what I was just alluding to, new life. So let’s take a quick look at this last picture, the picture of a graveside and the new kind of life we’re given.

C. A Graveside: A New Kind of Life (GLORIFICATION)

I’m getting this last point from verse 7 where it says that as a result of our justification we “become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Let me ask you a question. When does someone become an heir? Usually when their last living parent, their mother or father dies right?

Let me ask you another question? When was the last funeral you went to? Do you remember what it was like? A lot of people dressed in black. A lot of teary eyes. An almost noticeable heaviness hanging in the air. Sadness. Mourning. A sense of loss and pain. An overwhelming feeling that something went wrong and this shouldn’t have happened. Right?

Here’s the deal. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Maybe you were wondering when all that whole courtroom scene happens right? It’s when we die. Or at least it’s supposed to be. But Jesus did this crazy thing in that after he died on the cross he rose again three days later and because of that he offers the courtroom scene and action of justification to us here and now.

Maybe you remember that word back in verse 5 we didn’t really talk much about, the word “saved.” See it? Notice it’s past tense, sav-ed. But when does salvation happen? Well, what are we saved from? The eternal judgement we deserve at the end of our life for being guilty. It’s in the future and that future judgement is normally called “the pouring out of God’s wrath.”

But here’s what happens. When we become Christians by embracing Christ, he gives us the not guilty justified verdict here and now, before we die and thus we can speak of being saved even though it hasn’t happened yet. The result is we begin to experience the quality of that eternal life now as we look forward to and wait in expectant assured hope for it’s full measure to come our way.

Because God has done it we can be secure and rest in it. He’s not a God who changes. As Romans 8:30 says, since he justified us he will glorify us…the glorification of eternal life. What it does is turn a funeral or a graveside into a whole new thing. Instead of being the pouring out of God’s wrath it is the rich pouring out of Jesus Christ our Savior.

And it doesn’t just make funerals better…it makes our lives better and new because they become imbued with a eternal quality. Things actually matter. Things actually count. Things are actually beautiful because there is a beautiful God who has saved us through his Son.

Some of you have just been searching because you’re still looking for meaning or happiness in life. It’s only found in the quality of eternal life God gives through his Son Jesus. We are not promised tomorrow and a tomorrow without Christ is falls far short of the glorious eternal life he means for us to live in and enjoy. So look to Jesus for life. Become an heir to that which he offers through his death and resurrection. Some of you need to die today…you need to have a funeral of your old self and enter new life.

Conclusion

Okay, let’s conclude today. We have covered A LOT of ground today. But it all boils down to this one simple truth…to be justified before God is the greatest words sinners could ever hear. It’s the only thing we really have to stand on. Our works won’t do. And it’s really the only thing we have to give to others. The new birth, the new verdict and the new life we all need and long for…regenerated, justified and glorified. It’s what the good news of the gospel is all about.

A couple weeks ago Sean introduced a new song to us. Well, it’s not new, it was written in 1863 but it was new to us, the hymn titled “Before The Throne of God.” If you’re wondering how justification is practical or relevant to your life this morning then perhaps the words of this hymn will help you.

We’re going to receive the Lord’s Supper here in a moment, Jesus body and blood given on the cross for us who believe. To prepare us and to conclude my sermon I’d like to read the lyrics to this great hymn because I think they capture all we’ve been talking about this morning so well.

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

Let’s pray.

Blog | Jenna Baffoni

Meet Jenna. She’s been a part of The Resolved Church for a couple years now. Jenna is one of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet and can rarely be found not smiling. At our last members meeting she had an idea for a new ministry of our church. She followed through with her idea by writing up a proposal and thinking through the practicals involved in pulling it off. Here is her heart and vision for this ministry. We encourage you to read it and think about getting connected in serving Jesus, his people, and the about to be his people (mission) through this ministry. – Pastor Duane

“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.” Romans 12:4-6a

At the Resolved we are part of a church body and have been gifted with different talents. These gifts are not by our own accord and are only granted through God and by his grace. I would not be gifted with anything had it not been for the grace poured out by Jesus on the cross. Any good gift in me is only a reflection of the grace God has granted me. I would like to preface my vision with the fact that I do not want this ministry to be about me in any way. I would only like it to be a means of glorifying Christ through welcoming people into the Resolved Church. He has granted me with the gift of hospitality and welcoming new people and as we are called to, I would like to use my gifts.

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:8-11

To greet people and welcome them into the church is loving people. By showing them how happy we are to see them and getting to know the church body we are showing hospitality. We would be serving the body only though the strength that God has given us, in order to glorify God. I believe that by humbly welcoming the new comers of the church and connecting them we will be glorifying God!

“When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.” Acts 15:4

Just as the early church welcomed Paul and Barnabas, we should welcome people into the Resolved and declare with them all that Christ has done in them. By this I do not mean just saying hello, but truly getting to know people and connecting with them through Christ.

“But God has composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that members may have the same care for one another.” 1 Corinthians 12:24b-25.

I do not want people to think of the Resolved as cliquish or people feel like they do not fit in. The body is to have no division and greeting ministry will aid in creating unity. By welcoming people and talking them we will be caring for one another in brotherly love!

Practically speaking I think it would be sweet to have two sets of greeters! It is necessary to have a few people in the front of church handing out the morning bulletins and initially greeting the people. Although these people do not really get to connect to anyone, as there is a constant trickle of people entering. They are still key to making people feel welcome though.

It would be awesome to have a few greeters mingling after the initial greeters. Their job would be to seek out the new people and get to know them. They can spend as much time doing this before service, but instead of leaving the new person they could introduce them to another member of the church or even offer to sit with them.

It is a lot easier to enter a church if other people introduce you to their friends. The new comers then would feel initially very loved and welcomed. They would also feel connected to multiple people and get involved faster! The greeters would hopefully be consistent and would know who the new people are. To lessen the awkwardness of random people introducing themselves to everyone, the greeters could have badges of some sort saying their name and greeter.

Ultimately I hope this ministry is a way to connect the body to each other! As the church is growing I think this would be the perfect opportunity to care and reach out to new comers!

- Jenna

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Article Series | John Bale | Dumb Things That God Has Used to Teach Me About The Gospel

Part II – A Christological Hermeneutic of the Life of J.D. Bale
“Dark Knight of the Soul: Jesus, The True and Better Batman”

The summer of 1989 was significant to the world I come from for two reasons. First, Tim Burton’s Batman: The Movie was released and, though it was rated R, I somehow got to see it. Second, the video for “Ill Be Loving You Forever” hit MTV and, underneath his leather jacket, Jordan Knight was wearing a crisp, black and yellow Batman t-shirt. Coincidence? I think not. I hate, hate (hate, hate, HATE) the New Kids On The Block, but that was the summer that I became a fan of the Caped Crusader forever.

It started with a game. Two kids would pick two characters, real or fictional, and argue over who would win in a fight. It didn’t take long for me to discover one of the universe’s Fundamental Truths: Batman. Always. Wins. The perfect combination of wits, wealth, and willpower made him bankable in any situation.

Before long the game became “What Would Batman Do?” If I was ever stumped, I could spend days thinking up a solution and then come back to the argument and explain that Batman was way smarter than me and would have come to the same conclusion in a matter of seconds. In fact, he would have planned ahead and put everything that he needed into his utility belt. He was Batman. He could do that.

I haven’t changed a whole lot in the twenty or so years since I was that little five year old. The walls in my room are covered in comic books (50% Batman, 40% X-Men.) It’s not about nostalgia, or finding something cool looking to fill up all the empty space. It’s a kind of history, like the wall paintings in the caves at Lascaux. The assorted posters and signed variant covers function as a chronicle of my own ethical development, a testament to the fact that I always have been and always will be a fundamentally moral person.

Of all the images that wrap my walls, two poster-sized prints, companion pieces, are larger than the rest. On the left is a Gotham City rooftop panorama depicting what is known by members of the “nerdantry” as The Bat Family. Contrasted and positioned directly to the right is a similar graveyard representation of the Arkham Asylum inmates. 70 years of DC Comics history are masterfully represented in about 18 sq.ft. of ink and paper. These iconic Jim Lee prints take center stage not just because I like the art, but because they pay tribute to the fact that everything I know about Right and Wrong I learned from Batman.

At first it was just Ethics. It wasn’t a matter of doing “Good,” so much as just doing what needed to be done. If somebody needed help, Batman would help them. Even villains were not necessarily moral beings so much as arbitrary combinations of problems to be solved, wrapped up in spandex, and given goofy names. I couldn’t find any Bad Guys in the 1st grade so I declared war on spiders, rescuing the girls on the playground from anything that had more than four legs. This wasn’t some dualistic battle between Good and Evil, this was a kid running around with a towel tied around his neck like a cape, solving problems with the bottom of his foot; “Stupendous Man does The Categorical Imperative. “

My moral understanding of Batman came when simple ethics were not enough to explain what was happening in my life. When I was 8 years old and my parents got divorced and my mom did a really good job of making it look like it was my dad’s fault. She turned him into a Super-Villain. The Problem to End All Problems. No matter how hard I tried to “batman” (that’s right, he can even be a verb!) my way back to the Good, Safe, and Happy Way That Things Were Supposed to be, it was beyond every power that I had. Things only got worse outside of home base. One day at school a kid thought it would be funny to hit me in the face with a basketball, giving me a bloody nose and breaking my glasses. At The Boys and Girl’s Club someone peed on my clothes while I was in the swimming pool. Horrified and embarrassed I hid the clothes, put on my cape/towel, and pretended like nothing happened. I got in trouble for leaving puddles of pool water all over the game room.

Life was no longer a game I could play with my friends. The more I dwelt on the reality of an unsolvable problem, the more I felt cheated. What is the point of a problem that couldn’t be solved? And these weren’t just a series of ethical dilemmas, one after another. These were conscious and conscientious human beings willfully choosing cruelty. At the time when I needed the most help, the people around me found new and better ways to hurt me. They were Bad Guys and real Bad Guys were Evil.

As the years passed by, one after another, things only got worse and I started to believe that Good was just a fantasy belonging to comic books. For the first time I understood why Batman always had Robin. It really sucked being alone in a world filled with Bad Guys, no hope of rescue. But the real tragedy was that I let it all get to me. I slowly started to see the same cruelty in my own actions. At first I told myself that my response was appropriate. I had read about The Golden Rule and I felt like I deserved a chance to “do unto others as they had done to me.” I felt justified. My evolved sense of Justice was only insulted when MY responsive cruelty was actively punished. How is it Fair that I look like the Bad Guy? INJUSTICE!

But the problem with the world was this: Batman, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The A-Team, none of them existed. Evil did. By the time I was nearing the end of middle school, all my super-hero daydreams had devolved into elaborate revenge fantasy nightmares. One night I woke up alone in my own pitch-black room, sick with despair, realizing that the Evil World had succeeded in turning me into a Bad Guy. Ethical convictions hadn’t protected me; trying to do Good just made me look like a fool. I was bitter and dejected. I wasn’t Batman; I was The Joker.

In those posters that cover up half of my wall, there is a very subtle but extremely significant incongruity. At the far right of the poster with all the villains, the unmistakable visage of The Joker takes up an inordinate amount of space. He is not just larger than any of the other villains he’s larger than any character on either poster. The pistol in The Joker’s hand covers more paper than Batman and Superman combined. The incongruity is intentional. It highlights the complex moral tension that is integral to the Batman mythology’s appeal.

Batman and The Joker are not all that different from each other. Both are warped and tragic beings struggling with their own moral failings; neither of them is truly just or justified. The story isn’t about Batman, it’s about Gotham, the broken city that he lives in. Hero and Villain alike are trapped within the same dilemma, desperately battling to make sense of a tragic world. This was the story of my life; my heart was in Gotham, and Batman and The Joker were raging inside of me.

During the months that were stretched between my soul’s darkest nights and dawn of God’s mission to break into my life, I considered a vast range of unethical actions. Murder and suicide were among them. But it was Batman’s most confusing characteristic that held me back: his Mercy. Time and time again Batman spares The Joker. The Dark Knight’s darkest nights are those in which he is tempted to cross that Line and kill The Joker, ending his madness. But he never does it, because as warped and broken as he is, Bruce Wayne knows that revenge is not justice, and execution is not atonement. His mercy demonstrated a conviction that somehow, somewhen, even the impossible problem could be solved. Mercy was a form of hope. It was like when I played “What Would Batman Do?” as a kid. I never gave up because I knew that there was always another way, a better way. I just hadn’t seen it yet.

Jesus is the way. As much as I never expect Batman to put The Joker in his grave, even less would I expect him to cross that eternal chasm between Mercy and Grace. There will never be a day in the History of Comics when Bruce Wayne lays down his own life to save The Joker. The Grace of Christ is this: while we were still sinners, He died for us. God has shown Mercy to an Unjust world only because He anticipated a singular act of Grace, an act He had planned all along. A Faith in this Truth gave me a Hope that Batman could not.  The sun also rises in Gotham and by daylight the city isn’t such a scary place after all.

I’ve met a lot of people, Christians even, who say that Jesus is just an inspired paradigm of human ethics; a Golden Rule with a face (and beard), to be lauded and emulated, but not necessarily worshipped. I’ve had my moments of theological idiocy, but I’ve never fallen into this particular heresy. I grew up with my own moral paragon; his name was Batman and he couldn’t save me. In my darkest hour God saw fit to show me that I didn’t need a sympathetic hero. I needed a Perfect Savior. I needed somebody that could serve Justice and not just fight for it. One man fits the description and He doesn’t wear tights.

I will be putting posters on my wall and reading about Batman every Wednesday until the day I die. Jesus Christ is the True and Better Batman, who offers True Justice and Better Mercy, but also Perfect Grace. In remembrance of His True and Better Goodness I will break bread and drink wine every Sunday from now unto Eternity.

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” -Matthew 28:18-20

On Tuesday evenings several ladies of the church get together to share a meal, break up into small groups and discuss the work of the gospel in their hearts and lives. Currently they are using Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms our Daily Life by Elyse Fitzpatrick to help facilitate discussion.

Invite your friends to join in. It is a great opportunity for us to grow our community in depth and breadth. Send an email to womensdiscipleship@theresolved.com for more information.

Heroes of the Faith | Joseph: A Model of God-Saturated | Hebrews 11:22 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Hebrews 11:22 which the Old Testament patriarch Joseph and his significance in regards to the gospel. Particular attention is given to his own view of himself, the visions God gave him, his view of history and what mission he endeavored to carry out. This sermon was originally preached on July 31st, 2011 at The Fields Church in Carlsbad, CA.

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Pastor Duane Smets
July 30th, 2011

“Joseph: A Model of God-Saturated Faith”
Hebrews 11:22

I. Having A God-Shaped Identity
II. Having A God-Given Vision
III. Having A God-Centered History
IV. Having A God-Entrusted Mission

Introduction

Thank you for having me. It’s good to be here. Pastor Dave has become a good friend of mine over the years and I’m grateful for him in my life and for the Acts 29 Network that both our churches belong to.

Well, rather than give you any kind of flashy attention getting hook or story I’m just going to jump right in and get to work with our text today. We do this thing at our church where each week we start out by reading the text we’re preaching and then afterward the whole congregation responds, “Thanks be to God.” It helps teach and remind us that this book, the Bible, is God’s book given to us through the pens of his men without error and that everything we need for life and godliness is found in it. So you guys want to try it?

Just one verse today, Hebrews 11:22. If you’re a new Christian or new to this church or the Bible, the book of Hebrews is actually one of the easier books to find. It’s toward the end of your Bible just before James and right after Titus and Philemon. Or if you’ve got a smartphone you don’t even have to worry about it. Just go and navigate to it on there. And I’m using the ESV translation if you’re wondering.

So here we go, I’ll read Hebrews 11:22 then we all respond, “Thanks be to God” and we’ll pray. Cool? Alright (read text and pray).

Okay, we’ll I’ll kinda of tell you my plan right up front. We’ve got this amazing chapter of the Bible with all these amazing men and women of God who are marked for their faith in the promise of God, which it defines at the beginning as “the conviction of things not seen.”

Some of the dudes in the chapter get one verse some get a few more with more details as you’ve been discovering in this series you’re going through. Ours for today is just one simple verse, which could be easy to pass over but it’s got some phenomenal stuff in it. There’s sort of four parts to this verse, so I want to look at each part and then we’ll see how it really does relate to Jesus and the gospel. The four things we’ll look at it is, “Having a God Shaped Identity, Having A God-Given Vision, Having A God-Centered History, Having A God-Entrusted Mission.” Let’s start with the first one, “Having A God-Shaped Identity.”

I. Having A God-Shaped Identity

This first point I’m picking up mainly just from Joseph’s name. You guys have probably talked about it already as you’ve been working through this chapter but these are not just random people pulled out of a hat. Each one of the people in this chapter are well known characters in the Bible. In the Old Testament, the sort of first half of the Bible, multiple chapters are often given to telling the stories of each one of these people. So there’s an assumption from the writer of Hebrews here, when it was originally written, that the people who were first reading it would have known some things about these people.

So for example, today if I say the names“Obama” “George Bush” “John F. Kennedy” George Washington” certain things are going to come to mind when you hear their names right? They might be good, might be bad, but you’re going to know some things about them. Obama is the current president. George Bush went to war with Iraq. JFK got shot. George Washington was the first president.

Same thing with these guys here in Hebrews 11. In fact if you’ve been a Christian for awhile or grew up in the church you probably know some stuff about these guys, some things come to mind when you hear their name.

Now when it comes to our guy for today, Joseph. There’s a lot that’s said about him. He basically gets the last thirteen chapters of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. That’s a big chunk. And a lot happens. And it’s riveting…there’s a murder plot, a sex scandal, an imprisonment, a rise to power and tear jerking family reunion. The Bible is not boring stuff! And Joseph’s story is a great one indeed.

But here when we come to Hebrews we just get this one little verse which really doesn’t mention any of it. Instead it just throws out his name. There’s a little allusion to the events of his life that we’ll talk about in our next point but for the most part there’s really nothing here. Which leaves me with the question why?

With a lot of the other people in this chapter details about their life and their story are talked about, even people who were given a lot less space and time in Genesis. So what up? Here’s what I think is going on. I could be wrong but I’ll just throw this out there. I think the lack of any details of his story here is intentional because what we’re meant to pick up on is the significance of Joseph’s whole life and identity as whole.

Here’s what I mean. In Joseph’s story there are a number of sequential events which are all inter-connected and effect one another. He’s the youngest, so his dad kinda favors him and gives him this jazzy expensive coat. He is kind of weird because he starts having these crazy dreams about the future saying all his brothers will one day bow down to him.

Because of that his brothers get jealous and decide to murder him, they throw him into a pit and are about to put an animal in there to eat him when they change their mind and instead decide to sell him into slavery in Egypt and just tell their dad Joseph’s dead.

While in Egypt Joseph works hard God grants him favor and he gets a job in the house of one of the top officials of the land named Potiphar. When he’s working there one day Potiphar’s wife traps him in the bedroom and says, “Lie with me” and literally rips his clothes off. But Joseph won’t do it and runs away naked. Well you can guess what happened then. Potiphar’s wife says Joseph tried to rape her and Joseph gets thrown in prison.

But guess what happens? While he’s in prison, the Pharaoh, the ruler and king of all of Egypt starts having bad dreams and no one can figure out what they mean. Someone tells the Pharaoh about Joseph who has continued with gift with dreams thing he’s had since he was a kind about seeing and understanding the future. So Joseph goes and interprets the Pharaoh’s dream, which is basically saying famine is coming and you better start storing up food. Pharaoh listens and sure enough it comes true, so he makes Joseph his right hand man, second in power and wealth only to the king.

Well, guess what happens? Because there is famine, no one anywhere in the land has food except Egypt, including Joseph’s family, his dad, mom and brothers. So what do they do, Joseph’s family goes to Egypt to buy food. And guess who they’re bowing down to begging for food? Joseph.

When they realize it’s him, they’re scared for their lives because they tried to kill him. And even though Joseph could have, he doesn’t. Instead he exercises mercy and forgives them and embraces them. Scripture says he literally collapsed on their necks weeping. Rather than dishing out judgement he gives them a bunch of land and food and they and all their families comes to live in Egypt. And that brings us to the final scene of Joseph’s life which is mentioned in our passage for today in Hebrews 11.

So I wanted to tell you in quick form the story of Joseph’s life so you would know something about him. But I also wanted to tell the story so you might pick up on something. What you might have noticed is there is not one part of the story that stands alone. It’s all interconnected. Every event causes the next event and then births a new event.

Here’s the point. Joseph’s life, from beginning to end, is meant here in Hebrews, I think, to be taken as one whole event. From the very beginning of Joseph’s story, when you first read about him in Genesis, right away we’re told of his dream that his brothers will bow down to him. And Joseph’s story concludes with all of his brothers and family under his rule in Egypt.

Now, what do you think is up with that? I think there’s a verse in Genesis which gives us a good clue. So turn to Genesis chapter 50. The last chapter in the first book of the Bible. It’s in the middle of the scene where Joseph is reuniting with his family and they’re afraid for their lives. Genesis 50:20 “As for you (speaking to his brothers) you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.”

I’ll leave questions about theodicy and God’s control and use of evil and suffering up to your pastor. What I want us to notice is how key this verse is in the memory and understanding of who Joseph is. This is a huge verse on so many levels. For our purpose think about this. How did Joseph see himself? When Joseph thought about himself and who he was, his job, his career, his family, his money…all the events of his life…how did he see himself?

It’s clear isn’t it? From Genesis 50:20 we can see that the chief way Joseph viewed himself was as an instrument of God. Who he was, his identity, his role on earth was solely informed by God’s purpose and plan for his life. I think this is perhaps the chief thing Joseph gets remembered for in biblical history.

So for us today. Do you see yourself and your life as created and determined by God for his purposes? What defines you and your identity? Your job in what you do for work? You husband or wife or kids? Your money or possessions? Your fashion sense or hobbies or music? What makes you you?

For Joseph, he stands for us as an example of a person who saw that the core of their identity, the thing that mattered most, was seeing himself in light of who God was and what God wanted to do through him. For some of you, the things that you look at which define you need to change. You need a bigger and fuller understanding of who you are. You are person, ultimately put here on earth, by God, to glorify and serve him and his purposes. You need a God-shaped identity.

Well, let’s move on to our next point “Having A God-Given Vision” and see how that works itself out in us.

II. Having A God-Given Vision

This is the next part of our verse in Hebrews. It’s where it says, “at the end of his life.” “Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of…” So follow me here. I envision an old man by this point. He’s either bald with no hair or has long flowing white hair and a beard like all the Bible pictures you see.

The verse before ours has Jacob, his dad at the end of his life and now we’ve got Joseph at the end of his life. It’s an intriguing thing to be. Sometimes I wonder about it. The older I get the more I find myself forgetting things. I’m only 33 but in talking to my friends who are same age they tell me they forget stuff too.

A friend recently told me the reason you forget things is because knowledge is like an iceberg with a bunch of penguins on it and only so many penguins can stand on the iceberg. What happens is over time as you learn new things and have to register new memories, some of the penguins fall off or get kicked off. And that’s why you forget…you’re just losing penguins.

So I wonder what it’s like to be an old man, looking back over all of your life? I’m still young but the older I’ve got the more teachable I’ve become where I want to listen and learn from those who have gone before me. Someone told me recently that Acts 29 stood for “arrogant 29 year olds.” I started our church when I was 26 years old and I definitely fit that bill. Now I’ve got a few white haired men in my life and it’s one of my favorite things to do to just sit down and ask them questions.

When I imagine Joseph here, he’s an old man. It’s natural, he’s forgot a lot of things. Maybe I’m just speculating here but I imagine when you’re old and you’re looking back over your life you tend to realize the stuff that really matters. That doesn’t sound too far fetched does it?

Now here’s striking thing. Let me show you something that blew me away. It’s probably one of the most exciting things about this verse. What does it say here in Hebrews 11:22 Joseph talked about at the end of his life? What did he make mention of? The Exodus! And when did the Exodus, this famous event of the Israelites happen? Before or after Joseph? After!

I’ve read this a million times and never noticed it. You just kind of naturally think he’s looking backward and talking about something that had already happened. But he’s not. Joseph here is doing what he had been doing his entire life. He’s looking forward! He actually prophesying here! It’s amazing. He makes mention of and talks about the Exodus here before it had even happened!

We’ll talk a little bit more about the significance of the Exodus story in our next point but for right now just think about this for a minute with me. One of the constants which we see in Joseph’s life throughout his story is his consistent commitment to use his God-given gift having and interpreting dreams about the future in order to live out his God-given role on the earth. Down to the very last moments of his life, he’s still exercising and using his gift and playing his part because he had a firm grasp on what God’s vision for his life was.

Here’s what I’m getting at. Some of you are just sort of floundering through life and you don’t have a vision or trajectory for where you are or where you are going and you need to figure that out. This plays out in a number of different ways. Here’s a few.

One, in your career. We grow up being told, “You can be whatever you want to be when you grow up.” That’s actually not true. You can’t be whatever you want. The Sea World Shamu message, “Just believe” is wrong. We ask kids or college students, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” That’s actually the wrong question. The more important question is, “what has God called you to do and to be?” That’s one way this thing plays out.

Here’s another. In your family. Some of you just start having kids and that’s great. I’m constantly getting on our young married people to start making babies. It’s the first thing God ever says to human beings and the first commandment God ever gives, “Be fruitful and multiply.” It’s not an option that supposed to be up to you. You’re not supposed to be able to ask the question, “Do you want to have kids?” You’re commanded to unless for some reason God makes it so your body can’t. Sorry, digression. I love my two girls. I think Dave’s pretty into kids to. Don’t you have like 10 and you’re still making babies?

So having kids is good. But some of you have kids and you have no vision for your family. What your goals are as a dad and a mom. What you want to instill and how your going to instill it. What you want your family to be like in 10, 20 years. You need to get a family mission statement and have a vision for you family.

I’ll do one more. Ministry. It’s not just the pastor and the church staff who are called into the ministry. That’s everyone who is a Christian. 1 Peter 2:9 says if you’re a Christian then you are a priest or a minister, “a royal priesthood” who has been “called” by God. So everyone of you are called into the ministry and according to Ephesians 4 Jesus has given everyone of you spiritual gifts he means for you to use for his kingdom and glory.

Some of you have no idea what your gifts and calling is and you need to figure that out. Some of you know what they are but you’re not using them. Some of you know what they are and you’re using them but you’re using them for your own glory and not God’s. I’ll put it another way. God means for you to get involved, to get out of the seat on Sunday and actually do something. He doesn’t want you just to be a consumer he wants you to be a contributer. I’m sure there are a ton of ministries and things going on here at the Fields that you can get involved in. So get God’s vision for your life and go do it. You’ll be a lot happier serving God and his people than yourself. I promise.

I’ll say one more thing on this point. Having vision is a future thing. In fact faith in general in large part is a future oriented thing, especially in Hebrews 11. Perhaps you’ve heard this story about Walt Disney. After Disneyland was finished the leaders of the company were marveling at how phenomenal it all turned out. One of them then commented, “Isn’t it too bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see it.” To that the director, Mike Vance replied, “He did see it, that’s why it’s here.”

Having a God-Given Vision is looking ahead and seeing what God might accomplish through you in this world and going after it. Maybe some of you have heard of reverse-engineering. The Christian version is where you imagine where God wants you to be in say 10 years and what he wants you to do and then you work backwards and think of the stuff you need to accomplish to get there.

Some of you need to look into the future and start dreaming and experimenting with what God may have you to do in his world. What is amazing about Joseph is he got ahold of that. He figured out what his place was and then with a firm grasp held to it. He had a God-Given vision, not just in his dreams about the future, but he had a God given vision for his life…to serve God and use his gifts to care for God’s people.

Well, let’s move on and talk about Joseph’s last dream and vision, the Exodus and how it shows the importance of “Having A God-Centered History.”

III. Having A God-Centered History

So Joseph is at the end of his life and he prophesies about the Exodus. Now, the word “exodus” here in Hebrews is another hot-button word. You say “exodus” that’s like saying “holocaust.” Everyone knows what that is and it was a big deal. There are certain events which leave a deep mark on a people’s history and identity. Like Pearl Harbor or 9/11. The Exodus is like that.

If you’ve ever seen the old Charlton Heston movie, “The Ten Commandments” or the Dreamworks film “The Prince of Egypt” or if you we’re ever in a church for more than just one Sunday or ever read the Bible you know what the Exodus is. It’s one of the most well known things about the Bible and it referred to in the Bible a ton. It’s one of the biggest events in all of the Bible and a whole book of the Bible is named after it, “The Book of Exodus.

The Exodus is when God’s people exited out of Egypt. Basically after Joseph dies, over 400 years go by and in that time lots of Pharaoh kings come and go and after awhile no one really remembers Joseph and Joseph’s family stops getting special treatment and instead they actually end up becoming slaves. They cry out to God and God decides to deliver them and he does all these crazy miracles, basically going to war for them against Egypt and they finally get to go the land God originally promised to their great, great, great, great grandfather Abraham.

Now, I’m not going to go through the details of the Exodus, I just want us to understand how big of an event it was on the plane of history. On scholar writes this, “The Exodus from Egypt is the focal point of ancient Israelite religion. Virtually every kind of religious literature in the Hebrew Bible – prose narrative, liturgical poetry, didactic prose, and prophecy – celebrates the Exodus as a foundational event.” It’s amazing.

In Deuteronomy 6, we’re told that when a son asks why there are commandments in the Bible, the dad is supposed to answer by explaining the Exodus. Listen to Deuteronomy 6:20-21 “When your sons asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the statutes and the rules the LORD our God has commanded you? Then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.”

We’ll come back to each of these points at the end when we talk about the gospel. But I will say this here. I don’t think that the Exodus event was just a central and significant event for the ancient people of Israel but was central and significant for all of human history.

You see, what we pick up on in our Hebrews passage is Joseph looked forward exodus and looked at it as a key event that was going to take place. In the book of Hebrews as a whole, which is written to all Christians throughout all time, it makes six different references to the Exodus and every one sets them up as marks it as being a key preparatory event for the biggest event in all of history, the coming of Christ and his death on the cross.

But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s pull it back and bring it a little closer to home. When it comes to history you pretty much have three options. Either it’s uncontrollable and sort of chaotically spinning out of control with no rhyme or reason to it. Or it simply and wholly determinable by human decisions and actions, whether they be survival of the fittest or whatever. Or, history is ultimately and wholly guided and determined by God, the ruler over ALL.

We don’t have time to do a big extensive Bible study on it today. So I’ll just give you a couple references to show you that the Bible opts for the third.

Daniel 4:17; 5:34-35 “The Most High rules the kingdom of men and give it to whom he pleases…his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to genreatoin; all the inhabitants of the earth are are accounted as nothing and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand and or say to him, ‘what have you done.’”

Acts 17:28 “(God) made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.”

What I’m trying to pick up and focus us on from the Bible is the it’s theme and conviction that God rules over all of history and every event and especially every major central event is about him. You see too often I think we buy into one of the other views…that history is not necessarily going anywhere or is meaningless, that there’s no grand story or metanarrative. But the view of the Bible is it is.

And here’s the real thing. I think for most of us, most often our view of history is about this small…just our own lives. We don’t really see much bigger than ourselves and what’s right in front of us. What we need is a God-Centered History. We need to see that history really is “his story.”

That’s what undergirds the first two points we looked at today. You can’t have a God-Shaped Identity or a God-Given Vision if you don’t see history as being guided, determined and purposed for him and his glory. You’ll end up with a “you-centered” history and it’s really not about you…it’s about him.

J.B. Philips was a Bible translator, commentator and Anglican pastor before he died. He wrote a book back in 1961 titled, “Your God Is Too Small.” I think for some of you today, your God is just too small and you need to get a bigger God. What we see here from Joseph is he had a God who ruled over and planned history. He spent his life learning that and proving that. He had a God-Centered History.

Well, let’s take a quick look at our final point this morning, “Having A God-Entrusted Mission.”

IV. Having A God-Entrusted Mission

With this last point, we pick up the last words of our verse, “he gave directions concerning his bones.” This is the skull and cross bones part of our text. Kind of an odd thing at first glance right? What’s even weirder is you can follow his bones around in Genesis, Exodus and Joshua. In Genesis he dies and tells them his concern about his bones. Exodus 13 recalls that he made them “solemnly swear” to do it this thing with the bones. In Joshua 24 we learn that later, literally almost 500 years later his bones finally get buried in his homeland in plot of land bought in Shechem.

So here’s the question… Why do you care so much about your bones sicko? Doesn’t it sound kind of morbid? There’s two things going on here.

One’s a leadership thing, the other is a love thing. Remember Joseph had vision right? He was a great leader. Here what you have him doing is giving instructions to those who will lead after them. And what was Joseph’s vision for the future about? Fulfilling God’s promise to made to Abraham to be experiencing God’s blessing in the land he would give ‘em.

So really, what Joseph is doing is trying to ensure that the plan comes to past by making a personal request with his that his family leave Egypt one day and follow through with God’s calling. In a very real way here, Joseph is passing on the faith to his children.

Here’s the other thing, the love thing. Think about Joseph and his stature and wealth at this point in his life. He’s been Pharaoh’s right hand man of the richest county in the world at the time. He’s been in Egypt since he was 17. He probably doesn’t even remember what Canaan looked like. A faint, faint memory. He’s got luxury, riches, and power beyond anything most of us could ever conceive. But he doesn’t care about any of that. All he cares about is loving, serving, obeying and following God.

Both John Owen and John Calvin are good on this. I’ll quote ‘em both.

John Owen says, “This holy man lived and died in faith, being enabled to prefer the promises of God above all earthly enjoyments.”

John Calvin says, “Wealth, luxuries and honor made not the holy man forget the promise…whatever was elevated in this world…(he) esteemed it as (having) nothing precious in it.”

This is huge. Joseph had all the wealth and the power. He probably could have worked a way to become Pharaoh himself or set one of his sons up to be it. But he didn’t. He realized all of that was worthless and he cared more about the mission God had given to his family. Joseph didn’t care about his own kingdom, he cared about the kingdom of God.

Where are you at with mission? Do you have people you are working at passing the faith onto? Who’s kingdom do you care about? Do you look to money and luxury and esteem for security and happiness? Really. What’s the thing you’re really working for in life? To play? To try and make a better life for yourself? Are you on mission for God or yourself? Do you see yourself as a missionary for God in all of your relationships…looking to spread his kingdom?

Joseph here is at the end of his life and he basically, like the wise Solomon of old says, here is the end of all matter, “fear God and keep his commandments (Eccl 12:13).” Follow through with loving and serving God, that’s all that matters.

Conclusion

Well, I want to conclude with the gospel because here’s the thing. You can try and mimic Joseph or any of these characters in Hebrews 11. That’s the big danger with this chapter and the trap that many follow into with it. There’s a big tendency to look at each of these characters as good moral examples for us to follow and imitate in living a better life. You seen even in our outline today…you can try and get a “God-Shaped Identity”, a “God-Given Vision”, “A God-Centered History”, and “A God-Entrusted Mission” and you really won’t be able to apart from Jesus.

I kind of intentionally left him out in this sermon up to this point. You see you could take everything I’ve said so far and it could sound good. We’re talking about God and identity and vision and mission and it just sounds all good. But there’s no Jesus. What will happen is you will try and seek these things and two things will happen. One, they’ll end up being centered on you. And two, you won’t be able to really find them or accomplish them, you’ll fail. The reason is because all of those things are only found in Jesus.

Here’s what I mean..

We have no identity apart from Christ. To be a Christian is to bear his name…to be all about him. The truth about my identity is I am a person created by God to serve him and his purposes here on the earth…but I haven’t done that. Instead I’ve served myself and my own purposes. I am a sinner.

Jesus comes, the true and better Joseph, who doesn’t just serve a purpose in one part and place in the story in the Bible to save and forgive just his relatives but he comes to fulfill every story, bring it all together and save many sinners throughout all time and adopt us into his family. Here’s how he does it, he says he came, “not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Mk 10:45).” When Jesus forgives and saves our identity as children of God gets reinstated and then we have a truly God-shaped identity.

When it comes to having a God-Given vision. Here’s what we’ll be tempted to do. If we can even get on board with the idea of having you’re vision come from God, here’s what we’ll be tempted to think about…the great things we can accomplish for God. And really what we’re excited about is we will do and not what he has already done.

Jesus comes, the true and better Joseph, who didn’t just see parts of the future before it happened but as God sees every single day before it happens, including as Psalm 139 says, every word of our tongue before we speak it. And before the world was even created he looked forward and saw a day he had determined would be the day he would come and give up his life on a cross. Through the vision of the cross our life and gifts get real meaning, purpose and focus because we then take part in something that counts for eternity.

On having a God-centered history…we may, if we’re honest enough, be able to swallow this big idea that God rules over all events that ever happen. But we’ll naturally probably think of it in as though God does that completely detached, like he’s on another planet with a remote control.

Jesus comes, the true and better Joseph, who didn’t just see the Exodus but saw something even greater, so he exited his glory in heaven above and instead of leaving a place of torture he ran toward it and took on sin itself in his own body so that many might be freed from their bondage and slavery to it once and for all. Having a God-centered history makes our of our lives about one event, the one where we get redeemed.

Mission? We can try to live our lives on mission for God but we will try but lose passion and get frustrated that we can’t make it happen no matter how much direction we give and so we’ll slip into caring for the things we can control and end up being on mission for ourselves building our own kingdom.

Jesus comes, the true and better Joseph, who didn’t just give some instructions and then die to help those who would come after him. Jesus rose from the dead and ever lives to empower us and direct us, fulfilling his promise to be with us always because as he said apart from him we can do nothing. Through Jesus we can actually accomplish the God-entrusted mission.

You see. Our identity. In the gospel, God knows the worst of us yet he forgives us and accepts us on the basis of Christ. Our vision. In the gospel, God gives us a greater vision than we could ever come up with on our own, a vision to use all of our time, talents and treasure so that he might be made known. Our history. In the gospel, history becomes centered on the focal climactical point of Jesus’ cross and we make it our resolve to know nothing except Christ and him crucified. Our mission. In the gospel, Jesus gives us his Spirit so we might truly become missionaries for him in his world.

The Gospel is the good news that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures and was raised on the third day.

Let’s pray.

Guest Speaker | Pastor Matt Ortiz | 2 Corinthians 2:12-3:6

This sermon works through 2 Corinthians 2:12-3:6 to address the motivations and identity of Christians who are meant to be leaders as well looking at the rewards and reactions of the success or failure of leading. This sermon was preached on July 31st, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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Article Series | John Bale | Dumb Things That God Has Used to Teach Me About The Gospel

Part I – A Christological Hermeneutic of the Life of J.D. Bale
“Can You Drink This Cup?: Jesus, The True and Better Indiana Jones”

When Saint Augustine was a teenager, he and some other kids made a little game out of stealing half-rotten peaches from a vineyard, not because they were hungry, or because the not-even-worth-forbidding fruit were of any particular value, but because they wanted to do something “disgraceful.”

The first time I read Confessions and came across this story I was reminded of a similar game I used to play with the neigborhoodlums in Lemon Grove. We would find a stranger’s house, empty as far as we could tell, and challenge each other to go in and “recover” something. It wasn’t quite theft (because we never took anything fun or useful) and it wasn’t quite breaking and entering (because most of the time the back door was unlocked.) At worst it was trespassing. But we loved it.

I remember certain things quite vividly. I remember the horrifying sound of kitchen floor linoleum creaking under my Airwalk high-tops. I remember the feeling of the loose springs in a queen sized bed that I rolled over/under, trying to hide when somebody thought it would be funny to jangle the knob on the front door. I can’t remember, however, whatever happened to a single tube of re-appropriated toothpaste among the many that I never needed or ever used.

Still, I wouldn’t say I was so wicked a kid as Augustine, The Church Father (Yea, I said it.) Many times more often than not, my imagination just got the better hand of wisdom. I was a tireless kid busy trying to fill up all the hours between Perry Mason and the lighting of the streetlamps with every kind of adventurous shenanigans imaginable. This was the time for getting lost on purpose and calling it exploration, for jousting with broomsticks on BMX bikes, for hide-and-go-seek in construction sites, and spelunking in the sewers looking for Master Splinter. I guess I could say that I was a bad seed, intoxicated on high fructose corn syrup and a fiending for mayhem. I could say it was all enabled by an absentee Navy dad and a drug-addled single mother who were busy doing anything but keeping tabs on me. Really though, the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of one man, and his name is Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr., Ph.D.

During the 80s and 90s, Indiana Jones was the silver screen Incarnation of the Spirit of Adventure. I loved Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I really liked Temple of Doom, but in the end they served to inspire a passion for only the most general category of Adventure. I adored The Last Crusade above all because it taught me the transcendent value of The Quest. It taught me that fun and games were a worthy source of memories, but that there were other, grander things in this world worthy of devoting an entire life to. This was before I was really exposed to or had any understanding of Christ, or why anybody would want his glorified sipper-cup. For the time being the mysterious “Holy Grail” was just a placeholder; a symbol for something that so barely fit within the bounds of Life that it threatened to overwhelm it entirely.

Halfway through the third grade my dad left the Navy, won a custody battle with my mom, and moved me away from everything I had known. The World changed. I was grounded a lot. “Adventurous shenanigans” had to be kept between the pages of whatever comic books or fantasy novels I had in my room. My dad, though present, was only ever talkative when he was forcing me to do something I didn’t particularly want to do (homework, eat oatmeal, explain why I was in trouble at school, again). He did me a number of favors in that regard, but he was far from perfect, and our relationship was irreparably damaged. A couple years later I watched Last Crusade at school when it was raining too hard to go outside. It was a different, deeper movie than I remembered. The relationship between Indiana and his own estranged father reminded me of home. I found myself longing for some kind of adventure that would fix everything. I wanted to escape from “Gnat-zies” on motorcycles and ride tanks in the desert. I wanted to find a journal with all my parents’ secrets. I wanted answers, solutions, or at the very least a couple of clues. More and more the lack of these things in my life gave definition to the grail-shaped hole in my heart.

In one of the movie’s great scenes Indiana is locked in a standoff with an agent of the Brotherhood of The Cruciform Sword. “Why do you seek the cup of Christ,” the man, Kazim, asks. “Is it for His glory, or for yours?” Jones replies saying, “I didn’t come for the cup of Christ. I came for my father.” To which the guy-who-is-not-so-villainous-after-all responds, “In that case, may God be with you in your journey,” and they go their separate ways. It’s funny how things work out, really.

At some point my dad had started going to Church. He didn’t ever really force me into it with him, and at first I only knew Church as the place he went for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. From 4th grade on into my miserable Middle School years, I slowly but surely got to know his Church better and agreed to show up for more stuff. I did none of this out of a desire for Christ. I did it to make my dad happy. For the most part it worked, and at the very least it brought peace. But all was not well, and as I came closer to starting High School, God was with me in my journey and He set out to excavate my soul, making room for The Gospel. Responding to some powerful work going on in and around me, I decided to get to the heart of the matter in the way that my father had taught me. I set out to read The Bible from cover to cover and judge it for myself. It was a mission, and I was 14 so parts of it were just flat out inaccessible. When I got to life of Jesus, things started to click. There was this reading-comic-books-in-the-wrong-order sensation of “I don’t know this story but I know this story.”

From a certain point of view, The Gospels are just prequels to Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade; an origin story of The Holy Grail. Blasphemy, I know, but it all worked out. Certain thematic elements just made a lot more sense to me having grown up with the movies. I knew that a “Penitent Man Will Pass” because he is humble before God [KNEEL!] I knew that Jehovah starts with an “i” in Latin [Hello, Historical-Grammatical Hermeneutics!] I knew that “Only in The Leap from The Lion’s Head will he prove Worthy” [Justification by Faith Alone.] Even Christ himself wasn’t so different from Indian Jones as I expected. Google-Image the guy and convince yourself that he’s not a homeless drunk. Take it on faith that he has a Ph.D. and has saved the world from supernatural destruction on numerous occasions. It’s about as easy as believing that the vagrant son of a carpenter is the King of Kings. I also found it natural to admire Jesus for his “swagger.” I hope that I’m not the only person who noticed that the Pharisees debating doctrine with the Author of Creation is equivalent to bringing a sword to a gunfight. Jesus and Doctor Jones have a very similar mind for judiciously dispatching their enemies.

But in the end, it all comes back to the success of The Quest. As The Last Crusade closes, Indy comes to understand that The Grail is more than a prize, a fast lane to fame and fortune. It is a representation of glory and power beyond measure; of victory over Death. Though Jones and his father are rewarded with priceless riches in the form of reconciliation and what Henry, Sr. calls “illumination,” they can’t take the cup. Because of their conviction and devotion, they are worthy of seeing The Grail, witnessing its power, and for a few minutes holding it in their hands. But they are not worthy of possessing The Grail, or taking it into the world. The Law of my childhood had taught me that Indiana Jones represented the pinnacle of human greatness. Yet, even for him, The Holy Grail was literally out of reach. Taking this knowledge with me into my first real reading of The Gospels made understanding possible.

The question from the outset was clear: What had Jesus done that even Indiana Jones couldn’t do? Miracle stories and cocky rebuking of hypocrites was impressive, but when I came to The Last Super, and saw that The Grail is used to identify The Cross as the objective of His quest, I was in awe. Jesus Christ had been on a Mission From God since the Dawn of Time. He took on Death and lived to tell the tale, and he did it to fix the damage done by Death in all its forms. Even the transcendent majesty of The Holy Grail is only a subordinate representation, a shadow of The Cross. The “crusaders” after whom “The Crusades” are named were known as such because they bore the symbol of a red cross upon their armor in battle. They fought wars hoping the fix the world (by killing people) or find the Power to do so (The Grail Myth.) The Crusaders lost The Crusades. But Jesus, who bore a cross on his bloodied back, was victorious in battle and is worthy of all the glory that we are not. The embarrassing inaccessibility of The Grail only verifies the glorious necessity of The Cross.

There are few things in this world that I know better than my broken relationship with my father, and if there were some “quest” that offered hope of restoration, I’m not sure either of us would have the courage to pursue it. Yet, because Christ has succeeded in His Crusade, because He drank The Cup and took up The Cross, I have assurance that our divergent paths will one day come to rest at a place where He has made reconciliation possible. Jesus Christ is the True and Better Indiana Jones, God Almighty is the True and Better Steven Spielberg, and I am the true-though-not-much-better Short Round; along for the ride, acting like and idiot, and always holding out for a little more “illumination.”

The Book of Titus | Making Leaders | Titus 3:1-11 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Titus 3:1-11 which addresses the need for Christians to have gospel character, gospel change, to know the gospel content, follow the gospel command and stand up to gospel challengers. Particular attention is given to the importance of the gospel informing everything we are and do. This sermon was originally preached on July 24th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990 | contact@theresolved.com
All Rights Reserved © The Resolved Church

Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material provided you not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.

The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
July 23rd, 2011

The Book of Titus: Making Leaders
Gospel-Centered LEADERS | Titus 3:1-11

I. Gospel Character (v.1-2)
II. Gospel Change (v.3)
III. Gospel Content (v.4-7)
IV. Gospel Commands (v.8)
V. Gospel Challengers (v.9-11)

Introduction

Good morning everyone. Summer is in full force and we hope you are enjoying our great city this summer. Most of you know me. If you don’t my name is Duane. I’m one of the sub-pastors here under the real pastor King Jesus. One of my jobs and ways that I serve God and his people is by working hard to prepare a sermon from the Word of God each week to preach for all of you. However, my goal is never really first and foremost to entertain you. I mean I hope I’m not boring and am able to keep your attention for a little while. But my main goal each week is to preach and present the gospel from the Bible.

We’re a church who’s super into the Bible. So we read it a lot, talk about it a lot, sing it a lot and preach from it a lot. This summer we’ve been working through the whole book of Titus, the second to last book of the Pauline corpus in the New Testament. We’ve called the book a series on “Making Leaders” and today we launch into the third and final chapter of the book. We’ve got a big section to work through today, so I’m not going to waste any more time and just jump into it. So let’s read the text together and then pray over it. Titus 3:1-11. (read text and pray)

Alright. So I know this is a super big section and there is a lot here. If you’re wondering why last week we took just one verse and hung out on it for a whole sermon and then this week we take eleven verses the reason is I really try, to the best of my ability to follow the theme and the flow of the text. When you read through the book you look for natural breaks, flow and emphasis. As I mentioned last week, the last verse of chapter two sort of stands alone as a summary of what had been said so far and a transition into the content of chapter three we look at this week.

In contrast to that verse, this week there’s not a single verse in all of verses 1-11 which stands alone. They all go together like one big run on paragraph. Many have noted the reason for this is in many ways what this section, the bulk of chapter three does is unpack in greater detail what was merely introduced and summarized in chapter two. There’s a lot of similarities.

So what I want to do for us today is to give us the overview flavor of this section and how it all works together, because that’s important. Then in our next Titus sermon, we’ll slow down and spend a whole week on verses four through seven which contain one of the most beautiful and condensed statements of the gospel in the entire Bible.

Now what we’ve got in this fat paragraph is a central theme or thread which ties it all together. And that thread is the gospel. Let me show you real quick and then we’ll jump into it.

Verses 1-2 give these clear and specific instructions of how we as Christians are supposed to be and behave. Verse 3 says the reason for that is we have become different people from who we were before we were Christians. Then verses 4-7 tells us what it was that caused us to become Christians and how it happened. It doesn’t use the word “gospel” but describes with great precision what is defined as “the gospel” in several other places of the Bible. Then we’ve got verse 8 which gives a command to share and live out the gospel. And then there’s verses 9-11 tell us how that’s not going to be easy.

So hopefully what you see here is that the gospel in verses 4-7 is the heart and center of this passage which tie it all together. The verses before it are rooted in the gospel it describes and the verses after it are the outflow of the gospel it defines. So I titled my sermon this week “Gospel-Centered LEADERS.”

To be “gospel-centered” is one of the core values of our church. It’s up there on our main church banner and tagline. This week will perhaps give you the best clarification we’ve ever provided on what it means to be gospel centered. It involves five things: gospel character, gospel change, gospel content, gospel commands, and gospel challengers.

I. Gospel Character (v.1-2)

Let’s look at this first one, “Gospel Character.” Verse one starts out “Remind them.” We’ll talk about the specific character things we’re reminded of here but before we do I want to talk about the nature and need of being reminded.

The older I get the more I find myself forgetting things. A friend recently told me the reason you forget things is because knowledge is like an iceberg with a bunch of penguins on it and only so many penguins can stand on the iceberg. What happens is over time as you learn new things and have to register new memories, some of the penguins fall off or get kicked off. And that’s why you forget…you’re just losing penguins.

In the Bible there is a consistent theme where God’s people are regularly told not to forget and instead to remember and be reminded.

So for example, consider the ancient people of Israel of the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy God instructed them, “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments…(don’t) forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery (Deut 8:11,14).” But if you read on from Deuteronomy 8 what do you find? They forget. They forget what God did and who he is. They begin to complain and even beg to go back.

In the New Testament, God’s people are instructed to receive the Lord’s Supper when we gather. Jesus says to do it so we will remember who he is and what he has done. That’s why we have communion here each week. We realize how easy it is for our lives to get sidetracked away from the gospel. So each week our worship service is structured to help us remember the centrality of the gospel.

Now here in Titus 3:1-2 there are some specific things listed right away we’re told to be reminded of: “to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.”

What’s interesting about this list is it has a very missional slant to it. The beginning has local law in mind. Rulers and authorities are police officers, the irs, and city, state and country officials like the president. The last part, which inclusios the list says to “show perfect courtesy toward ALL people.” This is Christians and non-Christians alike. One commentator called this section “Living as the church in the world.”

What it gets at is your character. How you carry yourself. I’m not going to go through each of these words in this list because the theme is really clear. It’s your reputation, as a Christian who represents the gospel and as a church who represents the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here’s the real simple thing. If you’re cheating on your taxes being thrown in prison for committing crimes, if you’re arguing and fighting all the time, criticizing non-stop and just in general are not a very nice person (no courtesy) you don’t make Jesus look very good. That’s not gospel character.

And here’s the really sad thing. Just stop and think about it for a second. What do people think of when they think of “Christians” in our city or country as a whole. I got a quick 1 minute video piece of a bunch of interviews for us. http://youtu.be/5m3Q2lDMRm0

In his book unChristian, David Kinnaman, now president of the Barna research group writes this, “In virtually every study we conduct, representing thousands of interviews every year, born-again Christians fail to display much attitudinal or behavioral evidence of transformed lives. For instance, based on a study released in 2007, we found that most of the lifestyle activities of born-again Christians were statistically equivalent to those of non-born-agains. When asked to identify their activities over the last thirty days, born-again believers were just as likely to (squander money), to visit a pornographic website, to take something that did not belong to them, to consult a medium or psychic, to physically fight or abuse someone, to have consumed enough alcohol to be considered legally drunk, to have used an illegal, nonprescription drug, to have said something to someone that was not true, to have gotten back at someone for something he or she did, and to have said mean things behind another person’s back.“

I think that’s pretty accurate from my experience. I’d probably add that we’re also often known to be argumentative, defensive and condescending.

To that, Titus 3:1-2 says, “Remind them…” Remind them that how we carry ourselves and how we represent Jesus and his gospel matters. We’ve got to have gospel character or the gospel will not look that good.

Let me press in just a bit here. Think of a friend you have you is not yet a Christian. Got ‘em in your head? If you can’t think of one, you need to repent and go get some friends today. That’s not okay. So think of your friend. Now say you die, you’re gone. And they sit down to write out what “the gospel” is based on your life, what you did and what you said…what would they write? Have you done enough or said enough so that they would know? What kind of life have you shown them? A gospel life or something else?

Well, verse three points out the reason our gospel character is supposed to stand out…and that is if we are really a Christian then we ought to have a marked change or transformation in our lives. Let’s look at this in our next point, “Gospel Change.”

II. Gospel Change (v.3)

Verse three begins, “For we ourselves were once…” That’s a big transition, a big “for.” For is one of the most important words in the Bible. What it draws out is how the gospel changes us…that before Jesus we were one way and after Jesus we become different.

We spent a whole sermon on this two weeks ago. How the gospel really does make us different people…that there becomes a discernable difference in who we are, how we see ourselves, how we function and how we relate to others.

Now it used to be popular in church services to have “testimonies” each week. We still do them every once in a while, we just call ‘em gospel stories instead of testimonies. Usually the old school testimonies would go something like this…”I was such a sinner, totally addicted to drugs, alcohol and promiscuous sex…and then Jesus saved me!” That’s actually my story. But what I’ve realized is this.

Two things. Often times when we glorify those stories there’s two negative outcomes. One, it leaves the person who hasn’t had that kind of a drastic radical life transformation feeling less than because they didn’t experience that. Two, it leaves the impression that now, because of this change there is no more sin and now the person is all fixed up.

Here’s the deal. Both of those are untrue. The gospel teaches us that all people, non-Christians and Christians alike are all born into sin. I know some of you were literally born in a church, which is a good thing. But you were still born into sin. Yes. Psalm 51 says even when babies are still in the womb they have sin.

There is no one in this room who is exempt from this list here in verse 3: being foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to passions and pleasures, having malice, envy and hatred. But what the gospel does as we believe in and trust Jesus is it changes us. Sometimes big chunks at a time. Other times little pieces being shaved and sanded off.

Now let me give you a little of Paul’s strategy. Paul, the human writer here, I think this is how he means verses 1-2 and verse 3 to function in us. When we read verses 1-2 it’s easy. Right away you hear those things and you’re like, “Oh yeah. Those are good things. That’s the kind of person I want to be…what I want to be like.”

But then when you read verse 3 I think, I could be wrong here, but I think he means it in part to be a rebuke because when I read it I don’t start patting myself on the back thinking…”Man, I’m so glad I’m not foolish any more, never disobedient, led astray, caught up into my own passions or having hateful anger towards other people.” No. It does the opposition in me. I’m like oh man! That stuff needs to change more in me.

Sometimes I’m still foolish. You know what foolishness is? It’s not listening to wisdom.

Sometimes I’m still disobedient. Knowingly doing something I know God, his word, and his leaders disapprove of.

Sometimes I’m still led astray. Get off and start doing my own thing and blazing my own trail without submitting myself to the input and counsel of my community and my God.

Sometimes I’m still a slave to passion and pleasure. Caught up into my feelings, thinking how I feel is all that matters.

Sometimes I’m still have malice, envy and hatred. I get angry, bitter and think dark unloving thoughts towards others and sometimes act on it.

Do any of you experience any of that? I think God means, through the hand of Paul here, to get a reaction out of us. It’s another way of reminding us, don’t go back. Because on this side of believing the gospel we recognize that those things are wrong and out of step with our faith.

Some of you are just foolish sometimes. You make bad, unwise decisions. Some of you are disobedient and don’t care what God has to say about something in his word or what his leaders or pastors are telling you. Some of you are still in the drivers seat of your life and because of that you get led astray. Some of you are just a slave to your feelings and think whatever makes you feel happy is right and that’s wrong a lot of the time. Some of you have got deep seated anger against others.

The answer for us is the gospel. The gospel is the only thing that can change us. Where do you need to have the gospel work in you today? I beg you. Don’t get defensive in me pointing these things out today. It’s just God’s word and that’s what it is supposed to do, to convict us of sin and unrighteousness. Don’t reject that and push it away, welcome it. Have God’s Spirit work in you in these moments.

I’ll even go out a little further on a limb today. Some of you very well may think you’re a Christian. But when it comes down to it, you’re really not. There has never been any marked difference in your life. No real change ever. You see for those of us who are Christians, we know that change because we see it at work in us…we know we’re changing. But if you can’t see that you’re growing and changing and becoming more and more like Jesus…that’s a sign that you’ve never really become a Christian and it’s my prayer for you that today would be the day of salvation for you.

Alright, so the answer is the gospel. I’ve been using the word “gospel” a ton. Let’s get on with it and look through what it is and how it works. Our third point today, “Gospel Content.”

III. Gospel Content (v.4-7)

First off, let me re-read the section. If you haven’t picked up on it yet. I like to re-read the text a lot. Because my hope is even if you don’t remember anything I’ve said to maybe you’ll remember the words of the Bible and that is most important. Plus, these verses are loaded. So verses 4-7 of chapter three here, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to eternal life.”

This is loaded. I mean there are about ten major theological concepts here. Where to begin? Well, what I’m going to do as I said earlier is give these verses a whole week so in our next sermon in Titus we’ll go through it in detail and talk about what regeneration, justification and glorification are all about.

This week I just want to try, to the best of my abilities and just make it simple for us. Sometimes when we’ve got a big important passage like this with big important words we can easily skip over the obvious things which just as big and important. So real simple, four simple things.

One, God is good. It may not always seem like it. Life may not seem to go right at times. But God is good and he did something once and for all time to show and prove his goodness. His goodness and loving kindness appeared in sending Jesus!

Two, God did a work. When God’s goodness appeared He did something. Not us. There is no good or righteous thing anyone can ever do to save themselves. God did a work! Why? We don’t know, all it says is he felt like having mercy, which is not giving someone something bad that they deserve. God did a work of mercy.

Three, God gives Jesus. Jesus, God’s righteous son who died on the cross and rose again for sin, gets given to sinners by God’s Spirit. Follow the thinking. We can’t do a work of righteousness or any amount of works of righteousness to save ourselves. But Jesus did, richly or perfectly and God gives us his work. Just gives it to us.

Four, God grants life. The result of God giving Jesus is that when he is received, one receives life. They become an heir of eternal life. And that doesn’t just mean going to heaven. Sure eternal life is a quantity, forever. But it is more than that, it’s a quality to. It’s the life we long for and life the way it is meant to be. God is the one who first made life and he’s the one who gives new life to his creatures who have become dead.

Now that might be a massive oversimplification but for you theology heads, don’t forget the gospel is supposed to be simple, always…understandable to a child. Yes, there are deep and complex things about it but it’s core is simple. God is good. God did a work for us. God gives Jesus. Through Jesus we get life.

This is the nuts and bolts of the gospel. The word gospel means good news. And it is good because it frees us from our failings and striving to try and make our lives good or happy and it frees us from the burden and fear of eternal consequence and judgement. This tells us yes, God is good and loves you, yes God did something for you to save you, yes God did it in his son Jesus and yes through him we live!

It is so good because we get freed from pursuing religious trying and we get freed from avoiding religion altogether and we get the thing we we’re longing for and needing all along. Life!

Now, I’ll tell you one weird thing about this section. There is no mention of anything you or I ever do here. There’s no mention even of faith, believing, trusting, praying, receiving, confessing or any of that. It’s all God. I don’t think that’s a mistake. The whole point is God is the giver, he does it all and we simply get to enjoy the goodness and lovingkindness of it all.

So here is probably the best thing I could say to you today. If you feel like you have to do something or be a certain way or be in a certain place in your life to have God be kind and good to you, you’re wrong. You don’t. God just likes to give. And he gives richly. He gives his son.

This likely is the simplest and most difficult truth of the gospel for us. We never do anything. God does it all. Some of you have got all hyped up about some decision or prayer you’ve made or thinking it’s something you need to do, but even those things only come from God working in you. Even faith. Perhaps you think “I believed.” Well the Bible teaches that even that belief or faith was God’s gift to you (Eph 2:8-9). God simply gives. The gospel is a giving thing. We never bring anything to the table. We always come empty handed and receive.

I’m going to venture out here because it very well may be that you have thought the gospel which required you to do something. If you have thought that, I’m trying to tell you today, that’s not the gospel. That’s not good news. Because the truth is you could never do enough or do it good enough. The gospel is good because God is good and he is enough and he did enough to save you.

Oh how I pray today that you get the gospel. God gave his son Jesus up on a bloody cross in or to be your savior because you can’t save yourself. Some of you have been trying and you need to give up and embrace Jesus as your savior today. May God grant great grace.

Well, immediately following this jewel of a gospel description, there comes some commands. So let’s look at “Gospel Commands.”

IV. Gospel Commands (v.8)

Verse 8, “This saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.”

Three quick things here. One, he looks backward at what was just said and says you can trust this, it’s trustworthy. You see, it’s easy to think that the gospel is either too good to be true or that it’s just crazy talk. How can anything good ever come that you don’t have to work for or earn? How does God’s Spirit pour out on us Jesus and then give us life? Sounds too good and a little crazy.

Then in swoops verse 8. You can trust this. You know it’s true. You are built for this. You know this. Comic-Con was full this week of all kinds of superheroes. We know we need a hero to save us. It’s Jesus. You can trust it. He died and rose again to give new life.

The second thing here is he says, “I want you to insist on these things.” That’s a strong command. Insist on the gospel. Don’t ever move away from the gospel. I like that. It’s one of the reasons we named our church “The Resolved CHURCH.” 1 Corinthians 2:2 says, “I resolved to nothing while I was among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” We insist or resolve to know nothing else here except Jesus.

If you’re here and you wonder, when are we going to move on to something else. You know, learn some other things besides the gospel. We’re not! Every week is the gospel. There is nothing else besides the gospel. We will spend our lifetimes plunging down into it’s depths and soaring high into it’s heights. I’ve been walking with Jesus now for fifteen years and I feel like I’m just now starting to scratch the surface of the gospel. I’ve been preaching now for over twelve years and I hope I got about another fifty years of gospel sermons in me. The gospel is it. It’s our resolve and we will insist on it.

Now, there’s a third thing here in verse 8 that can almost throw you for a loop. After all this emphasis on what God does and how we can’t do a good work to save ourselves he says, “be careful to devote (yourself) to good works.” What?! Don’t get confused here. These are not good works we do to save ourselves, their works we do because we’ve been saved. Notice it says these good works are supposed to come from “those who have believed in God.”

Really the truth is you can’t do any real good work if it’s not a work produced by the gospel. The reason is because your motive will always be off kilter. Your work might look good on the outside but inwardly you are trying to achieve something and make yourself seem better than you know you really are. Only works done out of belief in the gospel can be works without corrupt motive.

It’s like this. We’ve been switching some things up with parenting action. Until recently we had been naturally using a lot of positive reinforcement. If my daughter did something good, we would say “good girl.” What we realized is we we’re feeding her idolatry and teaching her she could be good and save herself. We were teaching her that the most important thing is to get our approval. But that’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is God’s approval. And on top of that, does she have the ability to be good? No, not unless God enables her. So now we’re saying all the time, “Wow, Jesus really helped you be good today!”

You see good works done out of belief in the gospel recognize that without Christ’s work in our heart we either wouldn’t do them or we would do them with jacked up motives. So a real good work is one where we recognize is God working in us to will and to do his good pleasure.

Because we’ve all got this moral compass built inside us I think we all know we should to good works. And because of that I think as Christians we tend to just think of good work as good works and we don’t think of them in connection to the gospel. Verse 8 says no, don’t do that. Insist on the gospel and do good works that are born out of the good work of God in giving us Jesus.

Why do we help someone out? Because Jesus helped us out. Why do we give? Because Jesus gave. Why do we work? Because Jesus did the work for us? Why do we care? Because Jesus cared. Good works are meant to be rooted in the gospel. There is no good work you can ever do where you cannot make the tie to the gospel. And if you do that it will change the entire way you feel and approach what you’re doing.

Well, let’s move on to our final point for this morning, “Gospel Challengers.”

V. Gospel Challengers (v.9-11)

Verses 9-11 “But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.”

In this last point and last part of today’s passage we find out that sometimes it’s going to be a fight to stay gospel-centered. We as a people in general love to get charged up about secondary things and forget to keep the main thing the main thing. So many churches have been split up over externals in how things should be done. Very few actually split over the gospel.

There will be challenges and challengers to the gospel. I thought about taking a whole separate week on these verses and talking about the importance of having “Unified LEADERS.” Unity is so important. And we’re told here and several other places in the Bible that people will rise up among us, criticize things, and have all kinds of other ideas for how the church should be and what it should teach. What that brings is division. This passage is a call for strong unity based in the gospel.

Every one of the things verse 9 here lists are not gospel issues. In fact some of them were likely anti-gospel. It’s interesting what’s said here. When someone stirs up division, it says you try and do what we talked about last week…biblical rebuke, a warning. But after that if it happens again, it says to have nothing more to do with him. Basically, let him be divided. If someone is stirring up division then let ‘em go.

What’s going on is the gospel provides a protective circle. If we all have the gospel as the thing we cherish and prize the most…if the gospel is front and center…then we won’t get caught up in secondary things that divide. Then it’s clear. When someone’s main concern isn’t the gospel, when some secondary thing starts being treated as though it was as important as the gospel. You cut that off because the gospel is too precious among us. It must be protected.

So just do this. Be all about the gospel. And know this. If you’re not about the gospel, that’s not the thing you care about most then that’s not going to be good. It’s just going to bring division and strife. So be about the gospel or be gone.

Conclusion

Okay, let’s conclude today, “Gospel-Centered LEADERS.” I did a search through my manuscript and I’ve said the word “gospel” 94 times in this sermon. I was kind of bummed. I thought maybe if I hit a hundred it would truly be a gospel-centered sermon.

Look, we’ve covered a lot today. It’s one of those passages and sermons that feels like you just ate a huge steak and potatoes. I’ll just end with this.

I like using gospel language. Meaning I like using the word gospel in how we talk and see ourselves as Christians. I think that’s a good thing. And I’ve noticed in some of you how you’ve begun to take on that language as well..talking about the gospel’s work in your heart how you’re starting to get the gospel more and more. I like that I think that’s good.

However, I also find myself asking people more and more what they mean by the word “gospel” and a lot of times I get blank stares. So don’t miss the meaning of the gospel in all this talk about gospel.

Here’s the gospel, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 says this is the gospel, “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, was buried and was raised on the third day.” That’s it. That’s the gospel.

So this week, like every week here we conclude our time in the study of God’s word in the receiving of the Lord Supper. Jesus body in the bread. Jesus blood in the wine. The elements of the gospel. Usually I try to give a few different application points and ways for you to respond. But this week when you come, will you just pray this prayer with me? In your heart or out loud when you arrive at the table, say “Jesus I believe you died on the cross and rose again for my sins. May my life never become about anything else but you and what you’ve done. Help me to be gospel-centered in every aspect of my life. Amen.”

Okay. Let’s pray.

Blog | J.I. Packer | Excerpt

Truth & Power: The Place of Scripture in the Christian Life

Authority is a word that makes most people think of law and order, direction and restraint, command and control, dominance and submission, respect and obedience. How, I wonder, do you react to such ideas? Have they any place in your vision of the life that is good and sweet? If so, you are unusual. One tragedy of our time is that, having these associations, authority has become almost a dirty word in the Western world, while opposition to authority in schools, families and society generally is cheerfully accepted as something that is at least harmless and perhaps rather fine.

Freedom today is almost a magic word…in one form or another has been a worldwide passion, encouraged and catered to at every level. Therapists labor to induce freedom from inhibitions. Playboy carries the torch for sexual freedom. Campaigning politicians promise freedom from this or that social evil. Young nations seek freedom from the domination of overbearing neighbors. Artists pursue freedom from conventions of form and style that bound their predecessors.

Longing for freedom…for many people (is) the strongest of life’s driving forces. And freedom is always seen as involving rejection of authority! The crisis of authority marks our time…all forms of authority are seen as cell walls, which makes the quest for freedom feel like a great escape from some ideological prison camp.

The truth, paradoxical yet inescapable, is this: there is no freedom apart from external authority. To say, “I am my own authority, a law to myself” is to enslave myself to myself. Authority signifies the right to rule. When historic Christianity received the Bible as an absolute authority for creed and conduct, it does so on the basis that since God is a God of truth and righteousness, the instruction he lays before us in writing must have the same qualities.

Authoritarianism is authority corrupted. Authoritarianism appears when the submission that is demanded cannot be justified in terms of truth or morality and actually harms those who submit. Any form of human authority can degenerate in this way. You have it in churches and other religious groups when leaders claim control of their followers’ consciences. You have it in academic work in high school, university or seminary when you are required to agree with your professor rather than follow the evidence of truth for yourself. You have it in the family when parents direct or restrict their children unreasonably. Such experiences leave a bad taste and prompt skepticism about authority in all its forms.

Authoritarianism is evil, antisocial, antihuman and ultimately anti-God and I have nothing to say in its favor. (However) built into Christianity is a principle of authority. This is because Christianity is a revealed religion. It claims that God our Creator has acted to make known his mind and will, and therefore his revelation has authority for our lives. Biblical religion is marked by certainty about beliefs and duties. The diffidence and indefiniteness of conviction that thinks of itself as becoming humility has no place or warrant in Scripture, where humility begins with taking God’s word about things.

All through the Bible God’s servants appear as folk who know what God has told them and are living by that knowledge. This is true of the patriarchs, prophets, apostles and other, lesser lights, and is supremely true of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. The believer’s constant aim will be to have the Scriptures judge and correct all human ideas, including his or her own. The believer will value the church’s doctrinal and expository heritage but not give it the last word. The believer will echo Augustine’s breathtaking words to God: “What your Scripture says, you say.” Believers will view the Spirit’s teaching role as, first and foremost, one of keeping our mind humbly and eagerly attuned to Scripture, the divine textbook, so that we are willing to have Scripture change our minds where it find us wrong.

Such is the freedom (and the victory) found under the authority of the Bible. There are few aspects of the Christian message with which the church and the world need so urgently to be faced as the truth – the precious, stabilizing, enriching truth – of all the full trustworthiness and divine authority of the written Word of God.

The Book of Titus | Making Leaders | Titus 2:15 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Titus 2:15 which addresses the need for Christians to be ones who speak, encourage, and correct as well as being ones who are commissioned and ones who will receive criticism. Particular attention is given to the experience of insecurity, where that comes from and how the gospel gives us confidence. This sermon was originally preached on July 17th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
July 17th, 2011

The Book of Titus: Making Leaders
Secure LEADERS | Titus 2:15

I. Ones Who Speak – “declare”
II. Ones Who Encourage – “exhort”
III. Ones Who Correct – “rebuke”
IV. Ones Who Are Commissioned – “authority”
V. Ones Who Are Criticized – “disregard”

Introduction

Today, we finish of the second of three chapters in the book of Titus which we are studying through this summer. It’s a book which focuses on leadership and the assumption in it is all Christians are meant to be leaders in some way. It’s directly written to a man named Titus, who was ministering in a church much like ours in the first century on the island of Crete. But it was also written for all churches throughout time because it gives universal principles and directions for every single Christian whom Jesus has specifically given the charge to “go and make disciples (Mt 28:19).”

This week we are slowing down and looking at just one verse, in a sermon I’m calling “Secure LEADERS.” The verse we’re looking at is 2:15. I’m spending a whole week on it for a couple reasons. One reason is it’s sort of a transitional verse between the things which are said in chapter one and chapter two. But the other reason, the more important one is because I think it hits a vein in us where we really need the medicine of God’s word to be injected.

What I mean is this. All the Bible is good and is true for all people in all times in all places. However, culture…the different places, interests and ideas of a certain geographical locale….those shift as time and history moves forward and are different depending on the particular place. The theme of today’s verse is the security, confidence or authority of Christians. And it seems to me our culture is one that has an especially hard time with this. We don’t like authority and are perhaps more unsure and insecure as a people than we’ve been in a long time.

I’ll give you an example. Taylor Mali is a comedian, slam poet and teacher. He’s not a Christian as far as I know. He did this piece at a New York comedy club a few years ago called “Totally, Like, Whatever, you know?” It goes like this.

In case you hadn’t realized,
it has somehow become uncool
to sound like you know what you’re talking about.
Or believe strongly in what you’re, like saying?
Invisible question marks and parenthetical (you know?)’s and (you know what I’m saying?)’s
have been attaching themselves to the ends of our sentences.
Even when those sentences aren’t, like, questions. You know?

Declarative sentences – so-called because they used to, like, you know DECLARE things to be true, okay
as opposed to other things which were, you know, not -
They’ve have been infected by a totally hip and tragically cool interrogative tone?
As if I’m saying don’t think I’m a nerd just cause I’ve notice this okay,
I’ve nothing personally invested in my own opinions.
I’m just inviting you to join me in in the bandwagon of my own uncertainty.

What has happened to our conviction?
Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?
Have they been, like, chopped down with the rest of the rain forest? You know?
Or do we have, like, nothing to say?
Has society just become so, filled with these conflicting feeling of eugh.
That we’ve just gotten to the point where we’re the most aggressively in-ar-tic-ulate generation to come along since…you know, a long, long time ago!

So I entreat you, I implore you, I exhort you, and I challenge you:
To speak with conviction.
To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which you believe it.
Because contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker,
it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY.
You gotta speak with it, too.

Pretty good eh? It’s been running around on YouTube for awhile, so you can go check out the real thing if you want. What Taylor Mali taps into in that piece is the shift we have experienced in our culture to where we know longer are certain or secure or confident about much of anything. Low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence is one of the main diagnosis of popular psychologists seeking to help people overcome their fears and sense of failure.

What our verse offers today is a different solution. It addresses the problem and reminds us of where true security, confidence and authority comes from. So let’s read today’s verse, Titus 2:15, pray over it and then work through each of the words in it. (read text and pray)

We’ll look at each of the five key words in our text today. The first is “declare” where we’re directly told that leaders must be ones speak.

I. Ones Who Speak – “declare”

The word “declare” here is the simple phrase “to speak” but it’s in the imperative tone, which is a direct command, so the ESV translates it here as the more decisive term, “declare.” Two questions here. One, why do we have to be told to speak? And what are “these things” we are supposed to speak about?

On the first one, on why we have to be told to speak…there is a general principle which flows throughout all Scripture whenever it gives a command or an imperative and it’s this. It is because of our fault or failure, our sin that we must be told by God’s word what is expected and required of us.

Martin Luther in his great work, “The Bondage of the Will” addresses the nature or function of imperatives in the Bible. He references a formal argument he was having with this dude named Erasmus and he writes. “Friend Erasmus, as often as you throw in my teeth the Words of the law, so often I throw in yours that of Paul, ‘By the law is the knowledge of sin,’—not of the power of the will. Heap together, therefore, out of the large Concordances all the imperative words into one chaos…and I will immediately declare, that by them is always shown what men ought to do, not what they can do, or do do. And even common grammarians and every little school-boy in the street knows, that by verbs of the imperative mood, nothing else is signified than that which ought to be done…Thus, therefore, it comes to pass, that you theologians, are so senseless and so many degrees below even school-boys….so that, what you command to be done, and is therefore quite possible to be done, is yet never done at all.”

What Luther is getting at, with a little flair, is that the imperatives or the commands of Scripture exist not to boost our ability or our pride in what we can accomplish, but rather the opposite…they call out what we don’t do, need to do, and even cannot do. We are commanded by God to do things in which it is not in our sinful nature to do. So in this case, we are told to declare these things, because it is going to be our tendency and inclination to remain silent.

Now how the gospel works is that we realize our reluctance and even inability to do what God calls us but as we look to him he changes and empowers us to do it. That was the subject of all last week’s sermon. And it fits in the context right here with what we’re looking at. Verse 14 ended by saying Jesus purifies us and makes us zealous for good works. What’s that mean in regards to verse 15? It means he enables us to declare these things, when before or apart from him we would not and could not.

So that’s the first thing. Why does Scripture tell us here that we have to declare? Because in our sinfulness we’d rather stay silent. Indeed, it’s even commonly recognized in the business workplaces of the world…often what makes for bad leadership and a company that does not run smoothly is the lack of communication. Same thing in marriages which fall apart…often it’s due in large part to a lack of communication. What is a lack of communication? Not declaring. You’ve gotta speak.

Josh Feil hit it up a couple weeks ago when he was preaching on verse 1 of this chapter where we’re told we have to “teach what accords with sound doctrine.” His point was you gotta speak to do that. This idea that people will learn just by watching or just by your example is wrong. You need to be putting a good example out there but if it’s not followed up by words your example is worthless.

This leads into the second question of what things are we to declare? There’s some debate here about whether it’s referring to the things before or the things after here. Likely it’s both. I can’t imagine Paul would be like, “tell everybody about everything I’ve said so far but keep what I’m about to say a secret.”

But what he has said so far is pretty huge. Just in this chapter, he’s unpacked the gospel, outlined what the different roles and behavior for older men, young men, older women, younger women, slaves and masters, and he’s talked about how to deal with opponents. That’s quite a bit of stuff and a lot of it wouldn’t be that popular and Titus wouldn’t want to talk about it.

Here’s an example. Two weeks ago I was preaching on Titus 2:2-10 and I was totally dreading it because there this verse in there that says some things that are really not popular here in San Diego. I’m not going to tell you what it was because then you’ll all start thinking about that instead of what I’m saying.

But the point is I didn’t really want to talk about it. Before service I told the building transformation crew and the worship team that I needed prayer because it wasn’t a fun day for a preacher and I needed God’s help just to do my job and declare what he’s given us here in his book.

I don’t like people getting mad at me. But I’m commanded here. “Declare these things.” That helps. It helps because it helps me understand that my hope and my happiness is not in people liking me but in God being pleased with me. And my hope and trust is that if I faithfully declare God’s word, his word will do it’s work and the gospel to change hearts so that whatever God says God’s people will know and believe it’s good so we trust and follow it.

Here’s the thing. Some of you over-communicate and some of you under-communicate. If you’re an over-communicator you need to work at saying things with less words. We get bored trying to listen to you. If you’re an under-communicator, listen you’re not helping anyone. You need to speak up, even if it comes out ugly. You’re not going to want to but as you look to Jesus he will help you to say the things you need to say when you need to say them.

Alright, let’s move on to the next two, “exhort” and “rebuke.” These address two different types of speech, positive and negative and both are needed. The first one is that leaders are “Ones Who Encourage.”

II. Ones Who Encourage – “exhort”

The word exhort is generally a good thing. It’s a positive spurring along. Directly addressing them and saying something that will enable them to continue on, to keep going, and keep heading in the right direction. I like the word “encourage” here. To encourage means to pour courage in.

And there are lots of ways to do this. It can be saying thank you and expressing appreciation. It can mean complimenting people on a job well done. It can mean telling them the potential and gifting you see in them, boosting their confidence. It can mean painting vision for them of what might or could be.

I think of it like putting gas in a car. Encouragement puts gas in people’s tanks and enables them to run. What it gets at is that being a Christian is hard. If someone told you it was easy I’m sorry they lied to you. If you haven’t figured it out yet Christians are liars like everyone else. We just keep looking to Jesus, the only one who’s never lied and he’s helping us become more and more truthful.

But that’s not easy. Being a Christian is not easy. We need each other. We’re not meant to do it on our own. We’re not meant to live in isolation. We need encouragement from one another.

1 Thessalonians 2:12 says, “We exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.”

Or I like Hebrews 10:24 here and I actually like what the NIV does with it, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

I don’t know if it’s right or not but experts say it takes seven good and true things said to you to make up for one bad and untrue thing said about you. It’s probably not true, I don’t know how you would measure that. But it does capture the principle. We need a lot of encouragement. My father in law says you can never thank and encourage people enough. I think that’s true.

Here’s a little homework assignment for you church. Before you leave here today, encourage someone here this morning. If they did something in the service, or back with the kids, or in setting up this place, or maybe you just liked their voice when you heard them singing…whatever, encourage someone. Tell them you’re thankful for them and appreciate them. And here’s more homework. Look to see who you can encourage this week. Tell someone who has meant something to you, who has invested in your life, tell them thank you. Or mabye it’s someone you see great potential in who your working with. Tell them their doing a good job and you know God has good things ahead for them if they keep running the way they are.

Okay, let’s move on the negative one. This one’s harder. It’s one of those “I don’t like my job as a preacher words.” Rebuke. Leaders are “Ones Who Correct.”

III. Ones Who Correct – “rebuke”

This is the negative one. Hard words which must be said. Rebuke. Here’s a few other words which might help you with it’s meaning. It is to “correct, confute, chide, convict, punish or expose.” A few things on this one and say them without any fluff.

First, if when you hear the word “rebuke” you think of this loud, harsh, mean-spirited, chastising that’s not the biblical idea of rebuke. The Bible gives straightforward and clear instructions of how rebuke is supposed to be done. It’s to be done in love, Ephesians 4:15 says and Galatians 6:1 says it’s to be done gently. So if when you hear the word rebuke you think of an ugly argument that’s the wrong idea.

A biblical rebuke is much more like a long conversation where one person expresses deep care and concern for another person in what they are believing and doing. It’s not a stand up, point your finger and yell “I rebuke you!” It’s attempting with God’s spirit and all the fruits of God’s spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control), to use all that to try and turn the course of direction a person is heading in. If exhortation is encouraging them to keep on in the right direction. Rebuke is to challenge and call others to change direction.

Here’s the second thing about rebuke. You shouldn’t like it. If you enjoy rebuking people you need to be rebuked and you’re not in a place to be correcting others because of the plank you have in your eye as Jesus says. But here’s what happens. So many of you because you don’t like correcting others simply don’t ever do it. You hate and fear conflict and never want to rock the boat so you don’t say anything.

Here’s what I want to say to that. That’s not loving! If you really loved and cared for the person you know needs correction, you’d say something instead of sitting idly by hoping someone else will or that the problem will just get fixed on it’s own.

Not saying something almost always results in things getting worse. And really, let’s be honest. Who are you caring more about when you avoid conflict? Yourself. You don’t want to say something because you don’t like being uncomfortable and you don’t like people thinking bad about you…so really when it comes to it, it’s all about you. When you avoid and abdicate you’re really just loving yourself.

Okay, last thing on rebuke. One more reason why we need each other…not only because we need to be encouraging one another but we need each other to rebuke one another. We all have blind spots. And it is a lot easier for other people to see our blind spots than it is for us to see our own. We need other people to point things out to us and correct us. Psalm 141:5 says that it’s a kindness we shouldn’t refuse.

A while back the IX Marks of a Healthy Church ministry put out this article of 20 things of how to cultivate healthy counseling in the church and one of the points was on creating a culture of rebuke. It was like number 11 on their list. They said, “Teach the congregation to invite correction and rebuke from one another.”

When we see that we need rebuke and that it’s a good thing and when it’s done in love, grace and gentleness it almost always ends up becoming a positive thing. And even when it doesn’t and people get offended and run off because of it. That’s a good thing to for us. Rebuke also weeds bad seeds out. If you’re unteachable and can’t receive correction, then this isn’t the place for you.

Our church is full of bunch of screw-up who are growing and changing and seeking to become more like Jesus. But make no mistake, there are no perfect people here. Only people helping each other by both encouraging and rebuking one another.

I’ll ask this, “Is there someone you need to rebuke?” Someone you know is veering off, not living in line with the gospel and you need to lovingly attempt to correct them? If so, don’t sit back and do nothing. Set up a meeting. Go talk to them. You’re commanded to here. And that’s real love. Don’t resist the prompting of God’s spirit if when you’re hearing me say this someone is coming to mind. Follow through.

Okay, enough on rebuke. Don’t get wanna get rebuked for talking about rebuking people too much. The next key word in our text is the word “authority” wherein we recognize that Christians and church leaders are “One Who Are Commissioned.”

IV. Ones Who Are Commissioned – “authority”

What I mean by commissioned is that they have a derivative authority. First of all, all Christians and all churches are meant to sit underneath the covering and authority of the Word of God. It’s the “sola Scriptura” principle of the Reformation.

J.I. Packer, who some of you are familiar with, he wrote a great little book on the Bible called, “Truth & Power.” In it he writes this,

“Holy Writ (that’s a fancy way of saying the Bible) is not to be kept not under a bushel but under people’s noses…Churches must use all means to promote individual and corporate attention to the Bible; to recover the Bible-proclaiming, Bible-teaching ethos that was one secret of all the strength they ever had; to foster group and family Bible study; to sponsor good, clear translations and expositions; and to bring the Bible to bear on theoretical problems and practical decisions alike.

The church serves its master best by keeping the Bible not in store on the shelf as a relic of the past but in use in each congregation as the ever-relevant handbook of authentic discipleship, received in effect from the Master himself…So any congregation in which Bibles are not in worshipers’ hands at services nor used as the focus of attention in sermons nor studied as a main activity has cause to be ashamed of the poor quality of its discipleship.

…Biblical authority means believing, affirming, applying, and obeying all biblical teaching, both informative and directive, and submitting all human opinion – worldly, churchly and personal – to the judgment of that teaching…(it is) God’s abiding and reliable instruction, divinely authoritative against all human views that diverge from it…The Scripture cannot be broken (Jn 10:35).”

I know that was a long quote. But it is so good! So here are the two implications here. One, Paul was keenly aware that he was writing Scripture and wrote with divine authority which hands out here. Two, the Scripture here gave Titus authority both as a Christian and a church leader. So it’s like a chain. There’s God, then the Bible, then church leaders, and then all Christians and that is the line of authority.

What is means is you can’t just declare, exhort or rebuke people whenever you feel like it…only when it’s something the authority of Scripture addresses. It’s the same thing for what I’m doing right now. I don’t have freedom to just preach whatever I want. I only have authority as a pastor in so far as what I’m saying is in line with the Word of God.

The flip side of this is when we do speak and it’s something the Bible does clearly address, we speak with the divine authority of God’s word, because then our words are not our own but are clearly God’s because we can read ‘em and understand ‘em in his book. So when we’re speaking what the Bible speaks then our words carry with them a lot more authority.

Let me see if I can illustrate what I mean. I could say with a real strong authoritative voice, “Apple is far better than PCs, so you all need to get Mac’s.” I might be right (I am!) but that statement would lack any real pastoral authority because the Bible is silent on that issue. There’s no eleventh commandment saying Christians should buy Macs. BUT if I say, “You all need to put faith in and follow Jesus because he is your only hope!” Then there’s more weight to my words because that’s clearly in the Bible.

Here’s the last thing with authority. We are meant to be a people who live under authority. Only God does not live under or submit to anyone else. Everyone else is meant to submit to varying authorities and all of us are to submit to and follow God. We are not designed to be free but to be dependent on God. We are meant to live under rulership and authority, the authority and rule of God. The way we know and hear the authority and rule of God is right here in this book.

One of the main functions of the gospel is to turn our heart from rebellion to the authority of God. The gospel makes us soft, teachable, submissive and happy serving God our king. Once the issue of rebellion is dealt with then it’s much easier for us to simply find our place and be okay with playing the part God has given us.

Some of you probably need to grow in your confidence in the authority of God’s word and start offering your opinion less. In the place of your opinion you need a more Bible saturated worldview and you need to really study and learn what the Bible says about things.

Some of you probably have a hard time hearing about authority, maybe someone who was in a role of authority in your life abused their position so now you reject all authority. Maybe it’s some other reason. But there’s likely some of you who have been fighting against God and you just need to stop, trust him, he’s not going to screw you over, and you just begin to submit to his supreme rule and authority.

Some of you probably don’t think of yourself as a leader and you’re kind of hesitant. But you’re actually on track and you simply need to start asserting yourself and walking in the authority God has granted to you by bringing your life in line with his word.

Wherever you’re at. This verse applies. God has given us the authority and he means for us to walk in and with it. Alright, let’s move on to our last point for today looking at the word “disregard”, “Ones Who Are Criticized.”

V. Ones Who Are Criticized – “disregard”

This last one is an interesting one. The phrase in our text is “let no one disregard you.” This assumes a couple of things. One, it acknowledges the simple truth that leaders will be disregarded. It’s a simple and universal fact that if you’re leading, trying bring others along in a certain direction, you will be criticized. If you attempt to do what this passage calls for and speak out, there will be backlash. People will always criticize and have strong opinions about whoever is out in front.

That’s the first thing this phrase assumes. The other thing it assumes or addresses is the need for the leader to react and respond to that in a certain way. It’s the part of this phrase that comes out “let no one” in our text. So what that mean? How do you “let no one disregard you”?

Things will be said about you which are not true. For example, one of the guys in our church who became a Christian just this last year was telling me a few weeks ago how he was telling one of his co-workers about becoming a Christian and his co-worker friend started giving him a lot of flak for it. He was saying stuff along the lines of he didn’t believe it, that it was a fad or a phase that would wear out, that it was simply a crutch to avoid dealing with some hard things…the co-worker friend was disregarding him.

So how do you respond? How do you let no one disregard you? I think first it happens internally. The first way we respond is to look to the gospel and remind ourselves of who Jesus is, what he has done and who we are in him. Every single soul in the world may disbelieve us and think we’re crazy…and we will be tempted to think that too. But the realities of the gospel’s work in our heart and life and the truth it brings will outshine all the skepticism which may be thrown at us or arise in us.

I like how Paul says it in 2 Timothy 1:12 says it. “I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” I know in whom I have believed. You see what happens if you do let others disregard you? Is it really them who does the disregarding? No. It’s you. Ultimately it’s you who disregard your self. You allow others words to have power to effect you.

So the first response I think is internal. I’ve said it like this before. You gotta have a tough hide and a tender heart. You can’t let the words of others get in easy…tough hide. And you gotta keep your heart and your mind soft and centered on Jesus and hold firm to the faith…tender heart. Sometimes you have to remind yourself and say, “No. I know in whom I have believed!”

The other response I think is external. It’s where you speak up and silence others by defending the faith. It’s the Titus 1:9 thing. “To hold firm to sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” You’ve got to be careful with this one however. Because it seems to me that those who are so quick to move to this one are often the most argumentative and emotionally reactive because when it comes down to it they are not really sure about the gospel. So their words are driven more by fear and uncertainty than compassion and truth.

So make sure you’re not arguing just because you’re afraid of being wrong and looking stupid. No. Even if you’re right…if you’re a Christian you’ll still look stupid. But there is a time to speak up and make Jesus look really good by the things you say and how you say them.

Okay, let’s conclude today’s sermon in the gospel.

Conclusion

This last point has been warming us up to the gospel so it’s good. Look, the title and theme of today’s message is security, “Secure LEADERS.” Really what we’re talking about is security in the gospel.

Here’s the truth. When it comes down to it, we’re all insecure. If we we’re really honest, all of us have doubts and fears and uncertainties. Things about our life we don’t know how they will work out. Things about our relationships and how they are doing or whether they are good or not. Things about our jobs and our work and whether we’re in the right place? Things about our identities and who we really are and what our place is in this world? Insecurity surrounds us.

Here’s where the gospel comes in and speaks massive truth into our lives. The gospel says the most important thing about you and who you are is to know that you are a creature…that there is a God and he created you and made you to live life with him, worshipping and glorifying him in everything. That is the bedrock truth for you security!

Here’s why we’re all insecure. Because of sin. Sin has broken into our world since shortly after God created everything in that famous Garden of Eden and ever since we have been questioning ourselves, our worth, this world and our God. That’s where insecurity comes from.

Here’s what God did about it. He came into the world in Jesus. Jesus was never insecure. From the time he’s a little boy, to when he’s a full grown man and starts his earthly ministry he always knows who he is and what he came to do. And people recognized it. Repeatedly in the gospel accounts it’s noted that people we’re amazed at the authority with which Jesus taught. When he’s a little boy they’re amazed at his wisdom and confidence. When he’s a man, they’re astounded with the authority he asserts. When he’s on the cross, the place of utter weakness he speaks with strength, command and forgiveness.

Here’s is what Jesus did. He went to the cross to bury sin and it’s insecurity into the dirt. Then he was raised to new life three days later so we might be reconnected with our creator. Through belief in Jesus that is what God does. He reconnects us with God and in that we find the value, confidence and strength we know we we’re made for.

So really the answer to all these things we’ve been talking about today is Jesus. Where do we find the courage to declare, exhort, and rebuke with authority and not be disregarded? By looking to and trusting in Jesus. To the measure we believe in him we will become ones who speak, encourage, correct, are commissioned by God and able to handle criticism. Our security is not to be found in ourselves. We don’t need more self-confidence or self-esteem, we need more Jesus. We need to have confidence in Christ and we need to esteem Him!

We’re going to respond to God’s word and the message of the gospel today as we do each week by receiving the Lord’s supper. This sacred holy sacrament where we remember and recognized the grace of God extended toward us in Jesus, in his body and his blood in the bread and wine.

Today as you come, lay all your insecurities at the feet of Jesus. Allow him to take them and speak his righteousness over you. Where you need forgiveness and restoration, let him work that in you. Where you need empowerment by his Spirit to be a witness, let him give that to you. Where you need his love, grace and mercy, let him extend that to you.

Let’s pray.

Blog | Pastor Duane

Prosperity theology is a heretical teaching which says it’s God’s goal and desire to prosper his people financially and in other ways if they would only believe it and obey him. Prosperity teaching takes numerous verses of the Bible out of context and twists them to support what is often a money making business disguised as a “ministry.” If we are not careful these alluring teachings can sneak in and slip into the church in various ways which in effect redefine the gospel, turning it into a good news message of how we can get rich instead of a good news message of how a savior died for our sin.

Our church doctrinal statement and church elders unanimously recognize and condemn prosperity teaching as being false doctrine and are ever on watch to protect the flock from its destructive heresy. 1 Timothy 6:9 clearly states “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” Below are four main things which get twisted as a result of prosperity teaching. In addition we’ve added some links to other good articles and video on this subject.

Twisted Scripture

I can’t take the space to go through every Scripture prosperity teachers abuse but I’ll try and hit a few main ones. What they all have in common is taking verses out of context, both the immediate context and the context of the whole Bible. One of the best principles of interpreting the Bible is that Scripture always best interprets Scripture, so if any verse blatantly contradicts how you are understanding a given passage then one or both of the passages are being interpreted incorrectly.

3 John 1:2 is often used to support prosperity teaching. 3 John 1:2 says, “I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.” However, “go well with you” or “prosper” in the KJV does not mean financial prosperity. The word is “euodousthai” which means “to have a good journey” hence the ESV “go well with you” translation.

Matthew 16:18 is often cited as the method for getting prosperity, namely claiming or affirming it (a practice called rhematology). Matthew 16:18 says, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” However, any plain reading of the verses before and after this verse demonstrate this has nothing to do with citing certain words and believing them but rather God’s blessing on the exercise of church discipline by pastors.

Deuteronomy 29:9 and many other Old Testament verses like it are quoted as support for the supposed desire of God to financially bless all who worship him. Deuteronomy 29:9 says, “Keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper.” However, if you read the rest of the book of Deuteronomy and/or the rest of the Old Testament you hear the people do not keep the covenant (Deut 32:16) and in the New Testament we learn no one on this side of heaven besides Jesus will be able to keep the covenant (Rom 3:9-20).

Twisted Motive

The motive of prosperity teaching is often an appeal to either one’s sense of guilt and suffering or compassion for others. Enticing things are said like, “Don’t you wish you could have a better life? Or “Don’t you wish you could give more to others?” The knee jerk reaction is “of course!” Then prosperity teachers swoop in and say, “Guess what? You can live in prosperity and God wants you! Just do this…”

However, this is the wrong motive for Christians. Christians are called to be motivated in everything by a desire to worship and glorify God (1 Cor 10:31) and to live and give out of the grace of the gospel even when we’re in poverty. For example, 1 Corinthians 8:1-2 commends the Macedonian church, “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.”

The prosperity message often utilizes “the ends justify the means” appeal to the motive. The idea is, if you have more money won’t you be able to give to others more or take care of your family better? That’s the wrong motive. The right motive for handling money is a desire not for wealth but for worship. The best antidote to materialism and greed is not get more in order to give more, but to worship and honor Jesus in everything you do because it pleases him and he is all you need.

Twisted Suffering

One gaping hole in prosperity teaching is what to do with Scriptures where God directly calls people to financial poverty, including Jesus himself. Here are a just a few examples:

Jeremiah – Called to financial and physical destitution by God (Lamentations 3:1-20).

Jesus – Intentionally incarnated into a financially poor family. 2 Corinthians 8:9 “Know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor.”

The Early Church – Hebrews 10:34 “You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.”

God sometimes sees fit to call people to poverty for his good purposes. Sometimes idols of our heart need to be crushed and sometimes there are poor people who need to be reached by us becoming poor too. This does not negate the need for us to be good stewards of God’s money and it does not negate the fact that God sometimes blesses people with money but it does teach us we do not need financial wealth for our happiness.

Twisted Treasure

The implicit message of prosperity teaching is that life with more money is simply better. This is one of the beliefs Jesus himself attacked the most. Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

God’s goal is for him to be our treasure. For if we have him we may have no money and yet be the richest and happiest people in the world. Job 22:25-26 “The Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.” Or consider the great promise of Isaiah 55:1 “Come (to God), everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

One of the main errors of prosperity teaching is it considers the future heavenly life of the kingdom of heaven and all the physical and financial prosperity it will consist of…as being for now, here on earth. But we are not promised that now. Instead we are promised suffering in this age which will help us see how great and good our future prosperity will be. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Twisted Jesus

Bank tellers used to be taught how to detect counterfeit money by having to play with real money a lot. The thinking was you never know when and in what form fake money will come in…but if you know real money you’ll be able to detect counterfeit cash. One of the good things about knowing, believing in, teaching and loving the gospel of Jesus Christ all the time is when a false gospel comes in we are automatically able to detect it, even if we’re not exactly sure of what’s wrong with it.

The prosperity gospel in effect gets rid of Jesus because the real sin is not living in prosperity and the real answer is getting into prosperity by your own efforts. In the gospel, the real sin is not worshipping and honoring a holy God, which deservers eternal hell. Yet in love, God sent his son to die for our sin and rise again so that we can have a new and eternal life in and with him. That is true good news which will keep us happy even if we lose every dime we own. That’s the real gospel and any other “good news” is not good news at all but destructive news which will take our eyes off of Jesus and lead us down the road to destruction.

Conclusion

Keep an eye out for the prosperity gospel, not only from miscellaneous preachers, teachers, books, articles and videos that are out there but keep an eye out for it in your own heart. Anytime we are looking to wealth as the answer for our happiness we are looking to a false savior who cannot give us what we are looking for. Only Jesus can bring us the joy we are designed for. So look to him always.

Here’s a couple good articles and a good video on prosperity theology:
- The Bankruptcy of the Prosperity Gospel by David Jones
- It Promises Far Too Little: The False Gospel of Prosperity Theology by Albert Mohler
- The Theology of Rich and Poor by Mark Driscoll
- Why I Abominate The Prosperity Gospel (video) by John Piper

This Month:
Rhythm and Bluebirds | http://rhythmandbluebirds.com
Sweet Ever After | http://myspace.com/sweeteveraftermydeath

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Blog | Tim Chester | Excerpt

From the book: “You Can Change: God’s Transforming Power for Our Sinful Behavior and Negative Emotions”

In the early church, many people advocated living by the law of Moses. We become Christians by fiath, htey said, but we keep going by following the law. At first sight, that looks like a good option. after all, this list is God-given. It produces people who appear to be very serious about their faith. But Paul would have none of it. We continue as we began, he said – namely, through faith in what Jesus has done for us.

Colossians 2:6-7 “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

Our Christian lives began when we received the Spirit by believing in Christ crucified, not when we finally managed to observe the law. It’s foolish to think we can now take over and finish the job through human effort. Imagine being carried across Niagara Falls by a skilled tightrope walker. Halfway across you have a choice. You can let him carry you the rest of the way, or you can tell him you think it would be better if you walked the rest of the way under your own steam.

We become Christians by faith in Jesus, we stay Christians by faith in Jesus, and we grow as Christians by faith in Jesus.

J.C. Ryle wrote, “If we would be sanctified, our course is clear and plain – we must begin with Christ. We must go to Him as sinners, with no plea but that of utter need, and cast our souls on Him by faith…If we would grow in holiness and become more sanctified, we must continually go on as we began, and be ever making fresh applications to Christ.” It’s not just hat trying to live by laws and disciplines is useless – it’s a backwards step. It’s a step back into slavery, which ends up undermining grace and hope (Gal. 4:8-11; 5:1-5).

What the law does is show us we can’t change ourselves or make ourselves good enough for God. The purpose of the law is to point to the righteousness that Jesus offers (Rom 3:21-22). The law isn’t meant to be the starting point for change. It’s meant to bring us to an end of ourselves and so drive us into the arms of Jesus.

The Book of Titus | Making Leaders | Titus 2:11-14 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Titus 2:11-14 which addresses the transforming power of the gospel in how grace not only saves us but changes us. Particular attention is giving to Jesus’ diety, appearings, redemption, purity, his people, and their works. This sermon was originally preached on July 10th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
July 10th, 2011

The Book of Titus: Making Leaders
Transformed LEADERS | Titus 2:11-14

I. The School Which Is Grace
    A. A Message For All Peoples (v.11)
    B. A Training For Us Christians (v.12)
II. The Savior Who Is Grace
    A. His Deity (v.13)
    B. His Appearings (v.11,13)
    C. His Redemption (v.14)
    D. His Purification (v.14)
    E. His People (v.14)
    F. His Works (v.14)

Introduction

This summer as most of you know we are working through the book of Titus in the New Testament, which is a book on leadership, so we’ve called this series “Making Leaders.” Today, we are taking on a great passage in this book which highlights the need for good Christian leaders to be those who have and are experiencing change or transformation in their lives. So I’ve titled today’s message “Transformed LEADERS.”

I’d like to begin with a story. Paul, the human author of our text was someone who had a experienced massive change and transformation in his life. Before becoming a Christian he was a religious gangster who had people killed for not believing what he did. After becoming a Christian he began to realize how far he needed to go and what he had really embarked on was a lifelong process of change in becoming more and more like Jesus. He called it being conformed to His image in one of his other letters (Rom 8:29).

The story I want to tell you is the story of married couple who ended up in a mess. We’ll call ‘em Jack and Sally. Jack and Sally met at an amusement park waiting in line for a roller coaster ride. Jack was a young man who was super into music, tattoos and hanging out with his friends. Sally was your classic sheltered Christian whose parents hardly ever let her out of the house growing up.

Jack was nice and sweet to Sally and to Sally Jack was the forbidden boy she was not supposed to like but he didn’t seem so bad. Sally and Ted started dating and when her parents found out about it they were not happy and constantly criticizing him and they’re relationship which only fueled Sally’s interest in him. Sally finally couldn’t take it anymore and moved out of the house.

Right away she started spending every waking minute with Jack and her parents didn’t hear from her for awhile. Sally tried to tell Jack about Jesus but he really wasn’t interested. Sally kept telling him how important it was for them to share the same faith and so Jack finally agreed to go to a church service with her.

The first time Sally’s parents heard from Sally after an extended period of not talking was when she called to tell them that her and Jack were getting married and it was okay because Jack had “gone forward” during an altar call to reassure Sally about his salvation. Sally’s parents were concerned about the authenticity of this “conversion” but did their best to start them off right and give her away in a nice wedding. Sally had intentionally neglected to tell them she was actually pregnant at the time.

It didn’t take long for problems to arise in their marriage. Jack went from one bad job to the other. He started drinking a lot and rarely coming come at a reasonable hour despite the three children he and Sally now had. A day rarely went by without an argument and Sally become lonely, bitter and angry. One night their fighting got physical and Sally resolved to leave with the kids that night and get help for her marriage.

Jack and Sally ended up in a counseling session with a pastor of a church who waded through the swamp of difficulty in their relationship and kept pointing them to the love, grace and forgiveness of Jesus. Over time and several sessions he helped each of them admit way they had wrongly responded to God and each other and that all of that came out of their hearts. Both Jack and Sally began to see their great need for Jesus and the gospel become to them not just a word but the lifeblood of their lives.

As weeks and months went by changes started taking place. Jack started seeing himself more as a servant, started staying home more, being responsible at work, had fewer fits of rage and when he did get angry was more willing to come back and admit it and ask forgiveness. Sally began to see how she had made an idol of Jack and became less critical of him meeting that standard of perfection and learned to encourage and serve Ted.

Both of them became more and more aware of the depth of their sin and the sufficiency of Jesus to save and change them. They got connected into church community. Started serving. And before long people started looking to their marriage as a good example of a Godly marriage and opportunities arose where they could teach others about God’s grace and the transformation he brings.

Today’s text is about transformation, how the gospel changes us as people. We’re going to work through the passage in detail but I thought I’d sort of set the stage today with a real life story of transformation which highlights not only the importance of transformation but the extremely practical and relevant power that the grace of the gospel brings.

So let me read the text and pray over it. Titus 2:11-14 (read text and pray over it).

I. The School Which Is Grace

Our first main point for this morning is “The School Which Is Grace.” Verse 11 says the “grace of God has appeared” and verse 13 says it is “training us.” Based on this passage an old preacher named Canon Aitken, not Clay Aiken, Canon Aitken, wrote a book in 1880 titled “The School of Grace.” He was an Oxford graduate, a smart guy. But like anyone who really knows something what really matters, knows you don’t just learn it by reading it in a book…you learn it in the school of life, by going through it. Many have jokingly called it the “school of hard knocks.”

Aitken’s point in his book “School of Grace” looks at grace as a metaphor. In the metaphor the textbook of grace is the coming of Jesus in his life, death and resurrection. We are the pupils, who in life are being schooled and taught the significance, depth, meaning, relevance and power of this truth as it is increasingly changing us.

Grace in its root definition simply means getting something good you didn’t deserve or even initially ask for. Here in our passage grace is described as having two main functions, two connected gifts if you will. One it brings “A Message For All Peoples” and two it is “A Training For Us Christians.”

A. A Message For All Peoples (v.11)

Let’s look at the first at the “Message For All Peoples.” Verse 11 says the “grace of God has appeared” and that what it has done is brought “salvation for all people.” Now this assumes two things.

One, it assumes people need saving. It assumes there is a universal problem among all people, that there is something wrong with us and our world and that if something doesn’t change it’s not going to be good. We are broken spiritually, disconnected from our creator. We are broken psychologically, in the way we think and act. We are broken socially, in the way we relate with one another. And we are broken physically, our bodies are dying. We need saving.

The second thing this bringing of salvation for all people assumes is not everyone will be saved. In verse 12 those who embrace this message of salvation are trained by it to renounce and no longer live the way the rest of the world does and in verse 14 says this is a specific group of people called “a people for his own possession.”

So if here when it says this grace message is for all people it’s not talking about universalism, the idea that in the end everyone will be saved what is it talking about? If you look at the two previous verses in verse 9-10 and actually even the who paragraph before this, what you see are a bunch of different type of people: older people, younger people, men, women, slaves and masters.

Thus it seems, what this is getting at is that this message of grace is not only for one type person…it is a message which applies and is held out to all different kinds of people, regardless of age, gender or class. It doesn’t matter if you’re old, young, rich, poor…it doesn’t matter what race or family you come from…it doesn’t matter how good or bad you have been…this message of grace is something everyone needs.

I think it’s our tendency to want to both set up barriers against God for why he should not love us and we definitely set up barriers for others coming up for reasons why God should not love or be gracious toward them.

When we set up barriers for ourselves I think we tend to think we’re either damaged goods or so good that we’re not damaged. When we see ourselves as damaged goods it’s like we see ourselves as piece of fruit that has been eaten through by a worm and lost all of it’s flavor becoming dry and brown inside to the point where it is no longer edible and must be thrown away.

When we see ourselves as not damaged at all, we don’t think we really need grace and we’ve deceived ourselves into thinking that we are fine and have done a good enough job on our own. It’s like thinking you can become a good tasty piece of fruit without ever being on a tree and receiving sun and water. It simply not true. We need the source. We need the grace of God.

Then there’s when we tend to think of others as being beyond help. Sometimes it’s out of our anger, bitterness and resentment against a particular person who has hurt us or sometimes it’s just making a stereotype or generalization based on what we see from the outside…what we do is we look at them and think there’s no way in the world this person could ever change. This verse cuts through all that and says no. No one is beyond the grace of God.

I’ll tell you today, it doesn’t matter how bad or ugly things have got…it doesn’t matter how different and unlike everyone else you think you are…or even how fine basically good you think you are…you need God’s grace in your life and he offers it to you. Sometimes it’s been said the gospel is the great equalizer because under it we are all in the same condition when it comes down to it. We are all in need no matter who we are, where we are, or what we’ve come from.

I’ll ask this simple question and then we’ll move on. Do you see yourself as someone who needs grace? Do you see others as people who need grace? Is that the lens through which you see the world? Do you see yourself as beyond grace either because you think you’re good enough or too damaged? Do you look at others and think there’s no hope for them? Or do you see all in need of God’s grace?

May God help us to see ourselves and the whole world as a people in need of the grace of the gospel. Well let’s move on and see the second function of grace and that is how it is a “Training For Us Christians.”

B. A Training For Us Christians (v.12)

Verse 12 carries the subject of the message of grace and says that it trains “us” to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.” Okay a few things here.

First notice it’s a training. How does training work? I’ve got a buddy right now who is training for a triathlon, so every week he is spending time practicing swimming, riding a bike and running and trying to cut down his time in each area. The very nature of training recognizes that it takes time and a lot of effort to be able to become better. It distinctly recognizes that it doesn’t happen overnight but over a gradual continued process and commitment.

That’s huge. Far too often it seems to me that Christians get this idea that the gospel is merely the front door to get in and then once you embrace it and walk through the door then you’re all good, don’t need the gospel anymore and you’re better than everyone else now because of it. This verse actually has the opposite idea, that once you embrace the gospel then the real work begins. It’s then that you enter into a lifelong season of training and the gospel of grace becomes the chief training tool. It’s not just the front door it’s also the house we live in.

Now check something out with me. There is a subtle and significant shift that happens in verse 12. I basically argued that verse 11 is referring to a message of salvation that is relevant to and is to be presented to all peoples. If that’s true, then verse 11 is talking to non-Christians. Those who have yet to believe and embrace the grace of God provided for in Jesus.

But look what happens in verse 12. The second word is “us.” The grace trains “us.” So who is the us? There is an assumption here that grace only trains those who have embraced grace. Grace doesn’t teach or train anyone who doesn’t think they need it or those who don’t want it. It only trains those who say yes, I need God’s grace. So then, in verse 12 we’re talking about Christians, those who have entered into a lifelong process of being trained by God’s grace.

Okay so two things about that. One, it is a lifelong process. I get that because verse 12 says it is “in the present age.” See that? Present age, means this period of time in the plane of human history which extends to the next age, which is when Jesus comes again and everything changes. We’ll talk about that in couple minutes. But for now, what is important is we recognize that we’re talking a lifelong teaching and training, a lifelong learning how to be dependent upon God to change us.

Now the second thing. This is big. Remember, what is grace? Is it something we do? No. It is something God does. Grace is purely an undeserved gift. This week I had a meeting with a friend who was considering becoming a Christian. We talked for a long time. When it came down to it this is what he said…he said, “I’m afraid if I become a Christian I won’t be able to do it all. I’m afraid that a few weeks down the road I’ll just flip flop and go back to all my old ways of thinking and living. There is so much that needs to change in my life I just don’t think I can do it all.”

This is what I told him. I said, “Look man, I’ll be really honest with you. If you think you won’t be able to do it, you’re right you won’t. You’re not going to be able to. But that’s not the message of the gospel. The good news of the gospel of grace is that God say I will do it for you. You’re confidence has to be that God will not only save you but keep you. He’s not calling you to take on all this stuff by yourself, he’s only calling you to look to him and let him take it on for you.”

Tears began to stream down my friend’s face and he said, “That’s it. I’ve been putting all of this on me…my marriage, my beliefs, my whole life…all of it and I just can’t do it, I can’t save myself. I give up. I just want God to take the load.” We were outside, up at Big Bear lake on at a mountain peak we had hiked to and right there in the dirt we got down on our knees and my friend just wept and gave his life to Jesus.

You see, too often we Christians tend to think Jesus saves us but we sanctify ourselves. It’s simply not true. The same grace which saves us is the same grace which keeps us and continually changes us. You see we’ve got this list of things: ungodliness, worldly passions, self-controlled, upright and godly lives. Two negative things we renounce and three positive things we live in..things we learn to say “no” to and things we learn to say “yes” to. But here’s the qeustion, how do you think change in each of those areas happen? How do you think we are able to say no and say yes? How do we change? By our own efforts?

What’s the text say? It’s says it happens by grace training us. And what’s grace? Our effort and work? No. God’s. His person and his work…his gift to us. So it’s actually the opposite. The way we increasingly renounce ungodliness and worldly passion and live self-controlled, upright and godly lives is by grace training us that we can’t do it but Jesus did it for us and the more we look to him and trust him the more we will become godly, have a passion for him, exercising self-control and uprightness.

That’s how grace works. It teaches and trains us not to depend on ourselves and our own efforts but to look to God and the gift of salvation he has given in Jesus.

So let me ask you a question, actually a couple questions. Do you know some things in your heart and life which need to change? Some areas of ungodliness or worldly passion? Basically stuff you know is wrong? How are you trying to change? Are you trying to muster up your own strength, energy and effort to make it happen or are you looking to the grace of God in Christ and asking him to change you and change these things about your life? Be trained by grace, not your own efforts.

Well, I’ve sort of been dancing around Jesus, referring to his person and his work but not really getting into it. I’ve just sort of been holding back because verse 13-14 give this phenomenal account and description of who he is and what he has done.

The structure of this whole chapter actually works backward from what we’d normally see. Usually we get theology then ethics, meaning usually we see a doctrine of who Jesus is and what he has done and then what follows is how we should live in light of that. But in Titus, it’s backward. It’s starts out with how we should live and then says here’s why.

So let’s move on to our second main point for today, “The Savior Who is Grace.”

II. The Savior Who Is Grace

Really in verse 11, when it says “the grace of God” that’s a summary statement for verse 13-14 which describe how God has given grace. There are six statements here and they’re all about the greatness of Jesus. I’m just going to move right through them. Each are powerful, rich aspects of the gospel.

A. His Deity (v.13)

First, “His Diety.” Verse 13 sets things up by declaring who we’re talking about. It’s the second half, “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” This is one of the clearest and unmistakable declarations of the Bible which say Jesus is God.

There’s really no way around it. Some have tried to do interpretive gymnastics on this phrase but you just can’t get away from it, you can’t separate Jesus from being called God here. There’s no “the” before Savior, all the Church Fathers interpreted it that way, nowhere in the Bible does it talk about the appearing of just God, it’s always Jesus, the context here is clearly all focused on Jesus, and on top of it this is a straight rip off title of how the Romans would refer to the emperor who they considered deity. So this verse undeniably announces that Jesus is God.

That’s a big deal. Especially for us. There have been times in history when people have had such a lofty and high view of Jesus that they over-spiritualized him and could not conceive of him being a real normal human being. We don’t have that problem in our day and age. Today, the most popular idea about Jesus is that he was a good teacher. Most have a real hard time believing he was actually God, the creator and ruler of the world. But that’s exactly what the Bible unanimously declares.

We’ll see why it’s important for our Jesus to be God as we look at these other five aspects of the gospel.

B. His Appearings (v.11,13)

So the second thing here, “His Appearings.” There’s two places here which refer to his appearings. One is in verse 11 where it says the grace of God “appeared” and the second is in verse 13 when it says we are waiting for “the appearing” of Jesus. So what we’ve got are references to two different comings of Jesus. There’s a first coming and a second coming.

The first coming is his incarnation. That’s the verse 11 appearing. God’s grace appeared when he incarnated by showing up as a little baby in the town of Bethlehem. As John 1:14 says, when Jesus was born God had become flesh and dwelt among us. That was a epoch moment on the stage of human history, a big event…”the grace of God appeared” and men and women looked on him with their eyes at this babe who was called “Immanuel” which means God with us. Even Jesus name “Jesus” means “God saves.”

Then the second coming, the second appearing. This is the one that hasn’t happened yet. You see in the first coming, Jesus was born, grew to be about 30 years old and then began teaching and preaching for three years until the point when he willingly and intentionally gave up his life on the cross. Three days later he rose again, interacted with people for 40 days and then ascended into heaven with a promise to return once the gospel has been fully declared throughout the world.

His first coming is called the “incarnation”, his second coming is called the “glorification.” The reason is because when he comes it will be in great glory. You get a hint of that here, “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior.” You see in his first coming, Jesus came to provide grace…so he comes in humility as a lowly human, poor, looked down upon, and shielding the full array of his divinity.

In Jesus’ second coming, he comes in glory where he will not hide or veil the full display of his divine nature. In Matthew 24 he says he will come with all the angels of heaven, they’ll be a loud trumpet call, lightening and the book of Revelation says he’s come on a white horse, with a sword, a golden sash around his chest, and a tattoo on his thigh which says “king of kings and lord of lords!” His second coming will be glorious. And I can’t wait.

For us now we live between these two appearings, the time between the time. Here’s the cool thing. How both these comings function in our lives. Both of them are what provide the motive for godly living now on this side of embracing Jesus as our savior. We look both backward and we look forward.

This word “appearing” is an interesting word. It’s the Greek word “epiphaneia” where we get the English word “epiphany.” It’s a word that would be used to describe the dawn or daybreak when the sun first rises on the horizon.

It’s been said that we as Christians, each day we look out the western window of our house and see the sun setting, looking backward in time when darkness closed in upon Jesus crucified on the cross for our sin…then we move to the other side of the house and we look out the eastern window and see the light beginning to rise as the herald of a brighter and better day that is coming.

It’s out of those two twin truths, those two historical events we live in under the house of grace. Looking backward for healing and looking forward for hope.

C. His Redemption (v.14)

Well, the next thing here is redemption, “His Redemption.” Verse 14 says Jesus “gave himself”. That’s a reference to the cross, he gave himself “to redeem us from all lawlessness.” Now redemption could mean buying back a friend or family member from a slave master or if you were a Jew it would immediately call to mind God’s retrieving his people from Pharaoh in the great Exodus out of Egypt.

There’s a little story I’ve told before which I think illustrates the concept of redemption well. Basically, there’s a young boy who lived near a seaport. One day he decided to make for himself a little, scale size sailboat. He worked on it for weeks, carving the wood, setting the sails, and painting it. It was a beautiful little sailboat he built. Once it was finished he couldn’t wait to test it out, so he took it down to the water and set it in. Right away, he was amazed at how well it floated and sat just perfectly in the water. But then a big gust of wind came and carried off the little sailboat far beyond his reach. He tried to track it and follow it hoping the wind would change and it would come back to him. But it didn’t and the young boy left the seaport heartbroken. He checked everyday for weeks hoping it had washed up on shore but he never found the boat.

Months later, he happened to be in one of the local shops there sitting on the shelf was his boat. He went to the clerk and tried to explain how it was his boat, how he had made it and lost it. But the clerk simply said, “I’m sorry, if you want that boat you’re going to have to buy it.” But the price was so high. He went home and emptied out all of his savings, every penny he had and went back to the store, gave the lady the money and purchased his boat. He took the boat up in his hands and said these word to the little boat, “Little boat, you are twice mine. You are mine because I made you and now you are mind because I bought you.”

I love that story because it’s exactly what God has done for us in Jesus in redeeming us. He is our maker. We have been lost, carried away by the winds of our own lawlessness, just doing whatever we want. And God in his great grace and mercy spent every dime he had by giving up his Son on the cross so he might purchase us back. Now, as Christians, we are twice his because he made us and because he purchased us. That’s redemption.

Some of you have yet to experience the power of redemption. You know God is your Maker but you have yet to really know him as your Redeemer. Know that at great cost to himself he purchased you with his blood so that you might be redeemed and restored. He loves you and makes all things new as we turn to him and trust him.

D. His Purification (v.14)

Well, three more quick ones here. “His Purification.” Verse 14 says he came to “purify” us “for himself.” What this gets at is how sin has stained us. Like a pig covered in mud we have dirtied ourselves by not serving God and instead serving ourselves in all kinds of sinful attitudes and actions. If we could see a picture of ourselves and how sin effects us, we would see ourselves covered and marred in all kinds of ugliness that we would hardly even be distinguishable as human beings we’d be so ugly, dirty and deformed.

What Jesus does for us is clean us up. Isaiah 1:18 says the promise of the gospel is “though our sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Revelation 7:14 says we get “washed white” by the “blood of the lamb.” Jesus purifies us and makes u sclaean. He cleans out the stains and sorrows of the past and makes us new. Jesus increasingly weeds out of impurities and makes us more and more like himself. Jesus increasingly weeds out impurities and makes us more and more like himself. Totally pure and holy and righteous and true.

E. His People (v.14)

Next is “His People.” This one is from the next phrase in verse 14 where it speaks of his goal to make us “a people for his own possession.” Here’s the thing, this phrase is like a well known ad campaign that everyone knows. Like the old “Just for the taste of it, Diet Coke!”

Everyone would have known this phrase, “a people for his own possession.” They would have known it because Jews were really proud of it and Greco-Romans thought they were weird because of it. Here’s where it comes from. In Exodus 19:5 God says, “If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.” The idea is God wants to have a special people for himself which will be His treasured possession. So it’s about God not about you being for yourself, it’s about him.

Has anyone done that? No. So everyone has blown it. Scripture teaches us and we know it that we have all turned away and worshipped and served ourselves instead of God. None of us has listened and obeyed all the time and been okay with everything being about him instead of ourselves. So we’re not his people.

Actually a side note, I’ll go a step further. It seems increasingly popular today to talk about us all being made in the image of God and being his children. Usually it’s brought up when people are trying to emphasize how loving God is and thinking because he is loving he would never punish or judge his creation or his children with anything like sending them to hell.

But here’s the thing. We’ve taken a knife to that image. It’s as if God, our great sculptor and creator made this beautiful image out of clay and we went up to that newly formed piece of art and just slashed it up with a knife. And we’re not his children. Jesus himself says, “You are not o fyour father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires (Jn 8:44).” We are Satan’s children, not God’s.

So bring it back. Have we kept the covenant in order to be God’s treasured possession? No. Instead we vandalized the image and taken on a different father. But what does God do in Jesus? He redeems us, buys us back and then purifies us, cleaning up the image and restoring it to it’s original condition. The result is he adopts us in and makes us into a people for his own possession. And this time, how are we able to be that people? By listening and obeying? No. By the grace of Jesus who listened and obeyed perfectly for us.

Do you see how beautiful the gospel is? It’s just amazing what God does in and for us. The images gets restored. We get adopted back into the family. And we get to be God’s treasure. That’s good.

F. His Works (v.14)

The natural result is the next point, “His Works.” I mean you can guess this one. When you really realize how much God has done for us in Jesus what do you think automatically starts to happen in you? The end of verse 14, you become “zealous for good works.’

And what are good works? They are deeds that point to the goodness of Jesus. They’re not us earning or doing anything but merely works which show off the work of the savior in us. We become zealous for that. “Zealous” is a word of passion.

Earlier verse 12 says we trade away worldly passion. Zeal is worldly passion’s counterpart. It’s a passion for the glory of God. It’s where we become excited for others coming to see how great and how good God is.

Do you have a passion for God? If mot, that’s not something you can conjure up. If passion is an upward motion of praise and delight, then the source of it is the depth of God’s grace. So if you don’t have passion the answer is to dig downward into the rich mine of the gospel and the more you come to know, understand and love it the more your passion will increase.

Conclusion

Okay, let’s conclude. This whole sermon, this whole text hinges on change. The whole point is that Jesus changes us. When you believe in the gospel it transforms your life. Not just once but ongoingly. This what the whole thing is about, the grace of God has come and it is training or changing us because of Jesus who died to redeem and purify us.

So here’s the real question. Is Jesus changing you? Are you a different person than you were last year? Do you love God more? Is he changing and transforming you? What God wants to do in each of your lives is to make you into a new and better you, the 2.0 version.

We’re going to receive the Lord’s Supper, this special means of grace God has provided wherein we respond to God’s Word of the gospel and take in Jesus body, his perfect life in the bread and his blood, his perfect death in the wine. Let me just say this. Apart from Jesus, real change, not just grey hairs and more wrinkles or new hobbies and more toys…I mean real change, change of your heart and life will not happen apart from Jesus.

Some of you know right away what needs to change in your life. When you come, come and ask Jesus to change you.

Some of you don’t know what needs to change because you just can’t see it. When you come, come and ask Jesus to help you see what needs to change.

Most of all, for all of us…know the gospel, don’t forget it, it’s good news. You can’t change yourself. But Jesus can change you and transform you and do what you could never do. Jesus lived, Jesus died and Jesus rose for our sin. So let’s look to him and trust him for our every need.

Let’s pray.

Blog | A.W. Pink | Sermon Excerpt

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7).” Happy the soul that has been awed by a view of God’s majesty, that has had a vision of God’s awful greatness, His ineffable holiness, His perfect righteousness, His irresistible power, His sovereign grace.

If someone says, “But is it not only the unsaved, those outside of Christ, who need to fear God”? Then the sufficient answer is that the saved, those who are in Christ, are admonished to work out their own salvation with “fear and trembling (Phil 2:2).”

It was the general custom to speak of a believer as a “God-fearing man.” That such an appellation has become nearly extinct only serves to show how far we have drifted. Nevertheless, it still stands written, “Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear Him” (Psalm 103:13).

When we speak of Godly fear, of course we do not mean a servile fear, such as prevails among the heathen in connection with their gods. No, we mean that spirit which God is pledged to bless, that spirit to which the prophet referred when he said, “To this man will I (the Lord) look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word (Isa. 66:2).”

It was this the apostle had in view when he wrote, “Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” (I Pet: 2:17). And nothing will foster this godly fear like a recognition of the Sovereign Majesty of God.

Blog | Carolyn Mahaney | An excerpt from her book “Feminine Appeal”

Feminism has failed to deliver as advertised. Yet feminist philosophy has become thoroughly integrated into the values of mainstream society – so much so, that it has been absorbed and applied by the majority of women, even those who do not consider themselves feminist.

This is not altogether surprising. We should expect women who are unaware of the truth of the gospel to be confused and misguided about their identity and calling. But what is surprising and distressing is how many Christian women have been seduced by feminist doctrine. Not a few Christian wives and mothers have joined the women of our culture in the mass exodus from their homes (current statistics say 75% of American women now work outside the home).

Because we have breathed toxic feminist air for several decades now, we cannot ignore the fact that its poison has potentially infected us all – particularly in relation to homemaking, or as our Titus 2 passage calls it, “working at home.” We must return to Scripture to discover what God requires of us in this command.

Let’s pray that God would enable each of us to approach His Word with a humble heart, quickly admitting any attitudes or actions we discover contrary to His mandate to work at home and resolutely changing.

The Book of Titus | Making Leaders | Titus 2:1-10 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Titus 2:1-10 which addresses the older and younger relationships, the roles of husband and wives and the mission field of the workplace. Particular attention is also given to the important role of community in the development of leaders as well as the priority of God’s word in how we see ourselves and make decisions. This sermon was originally preached on July 3rd, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
July 3rd, 2011

The Book of Titus: Making Leaders
Wise LEADERS | Titus 2:1-10

I. The Important Place of Community
II. Older and Younger Relationships
A. Older Men & Younger Men (v.2,6-8)
B. Older Women & Younger Women (v.3-5)
III. Employer and Employee Relationships
A. The Slaves Role (v.9-10)
B. The Master Goal (v.10)
IV. The Important Priority of God’s Word (v.5)

Introduction

This summer we’re working through the book of Titus in a series we’re calling, “Making Leaders.” Last week Josh Feil, one of our up and coming leaders here at The Resolved, gave me a week off and preached a great sermon from the first verse of chapter 2, which say we need to know and teach sound doctrine.

Today I’m going to pick up from that verse and work up through verse 10, which are really interesting verses because basically instead of giving us what we would expect to be a definition or summary of “sound doctrine” we get bunch of practical advice on how various groups of Christians are supposed to act. It’s for that reason I titled my sermon “Wise LEADERS.” Wisdom is the practical application of truth and today’s text simply gives us a bunch of straight forward advice on how to be and become leaders depending on what stage of life and role we are in.

We’ve got some ground to cover today so I’m gonna jump right in, read the text and pray over it and we’ll go to work. (read text and pray).

Alright. The first thing I want to look at briefly this morning is “The Important Place of Community.”

I. The Important Place of Community

If you just scan through these verses and ask who are the characters, you notice there are a lot of them. There are older men, older women, younger women, wives, husbands, children, younger men, slave and masters. A whole lot of different people.

And not only are just a bunch of types people named but every one of them are viewed as being in relationships with each other. Older men and younger men. Older women and younger women. Wives and husbands. Parents and children. Slaves and masters. We’ll talk specifically about each of these grouping but first just notice that what we’re seeing in the big picture is community.

We’ve seen and learned in the book up to this point that it’s purpose and goal is to raise up and develop leaders in the church and in the city. I said it before at the beginning of the book that all Christians are meant to be leaders in some way and here in these 10 verses we get a real clear picture of that. Everyone is covered here.

Now here is why I wanted to point this out to you. Community is important. Community is the place where leaders are formed. There was a time in Christian history when the idea was if you want to become a leader, especially in the church, you get shipped off somewhere, like a monastery to go live with a bunch of monks. Or even today, there is the idea that if someone is going to lead then you should send him off to seminary and they’ll get ‘em all prepped up to come back and lead.

The thing is, it doesn’t work like that. Leaders are formed in community. In real life situations and scenarios. I can tell you from first hand experience. I’ve got two seminary degrees and there is a ton of stuff I encounter on almost a weekly basis that seminary just can’t prepare you for. Community is the best seminary of all, to be living real life and working through real situations in relationship and support with one another.

I mean one of the leader roles we’ll talk about today is that of a wife and a mom. We don’t send women off to some other place to learn how to be a wife and a mom and wait for them to come back and do it. No, they are to learn it here among us, in community. Community is so important.

It’s been said before that maturity as a Christian is both vertical and horizontal. You’ve got to grow into maturity with God vertically and in maturity in how you relate and live with people horizontally. I just wanted to note it briefly because I believe it is so important for everyone of us to be in community.

Some of you really, when it comes down to it you’re still kind of always doing your own thing and you’ve never really plugged into community. Maybe you go to a community group every once in awhile but you’re inconsistent, haven’t really committed, have yet to really open yourself up there, and when you’re not there your community-cation, communication doesn’t happen.

What I’m getting at is that being in community is bigger than just going to a group, it’s living life in relationship with one another. Others of you haven’t hooked up with a community group at all…it’s a good place to start. But what we’re seeing here in our text today is it’s way bigger than that. It’s doing life together. There is stuff you need to learn and grow in and mature in that you cannot learn, grow and mature in off on your own apart from community.

So get in community. Really get in. Older and younger, single and married, kids, workers and bosses…be in community together. Don’t try and figure out and handle stuff on your own. Do it in community.

Alright what I want to do is pair things off and talk about “Older and Younger Relationships” and then we’ll talk about “Employer and Employee Relationships.”

II. Older and Younger Relationships

We’ve got older men and younger men and older women and younger women both addressed here with specific instructions and we’ll talk about those in a second but first I think we need to recognize the importance of these two age groups being in relationship with each other.

I looked it up and the general consensus is that an older man or woman when this was written would probably have been considered being between 40-60 years old and a younger man or woman being 20-40 years old. Now the principle would stand true I think for young men less than twenty and elderly men older than sixty, but the principle is that the younger need the older and the older need to invest in the younger.

But what the most common attitude has been throughout history from both groups? You know it. Younger people often don’t think the older people know anything and that they can do it better and the older people think the younger are too crazy and different that they are just un-helpable.

One day there were a group of men working on a construction site. There was a young man who was bragging about how many sheets of plywood he could carry. One of the older men on the crew decided to teach the young man a lesson and offered to make him a bet. He said, “I bet you a week’s worth of wages that I can haul something in that wheelbarrow over to that other building that you won’t be able to wheel back.” The young man jumped at the opportunity to prove the old man wrong and show how strong he was, so he said, “you’re on!” Then the old man looked at him and said, “alright, get in.” It took a moment for it to click. And once the young man realized he’d be stuck at the other building unable to wheel himself, the group of old men all burst out laughing.

I’ll never forget that day and those old dudes laughing at me. It’s an important principle. Older dudes are smart. They know some things.

Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”

Here’s the thing. I used to think I knew everything and I looked at the older generation as simply being outdated but I saw them as sort of being the ones who held the keys and I just wished they’d let go and let us younger guys run the show because we could do it better. But as I’ve got out on my own and experienced how hard life and ministry is and that I don’t have all the answers…all I want to do is be around old dudes and ask them questions and learn from them.

When we get together for our pastoral meetings, like last week, I frequently just ask Ron, whose one of our other older men pastors here if you don’t know him…I just ask tons of questions and listen. One of my favorite things to do is head down to my father in-laws house in East Lake just to hang out. Often we’ll go down there for dinner and afterward he and I will head up to their hot tub and just sit in there and talk. I ask questions and listen and try and learn. You see, we younger men, we need the older men guys. So be humble. Be teachable. Ask questions. Learn. And it’s the same thing with the older and younger women.

I’ll say this too for our older folk. We love you and appreciate you. We need you. I know sometimes we have rough edges. Thank you for putting up with us and being patient with us. We need you and we need more of you. I’m always looking for the older, wiser, mature Christians who have lived some life to come in and help disciple us all…because we’ve got a lot of 20-40 here.

I talked to an older couple just a couple weeks ago and took them aside and specifically asked them to pray about being here because we need older wise haired men and women. Maybe you know some. Talk to them. Invite them in. We need them to come and invest in us their life, experience and wisdom.

Okay, let’s look at the specific things that are said about older and younger men here in our passage.

A. Older Men & Younger Men (v.2,6-8)

There’s six things here for each of them. The older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in the faith, sound in love and sound in steadfastness. The younger men are to be self-controlled, to model good works, to teach and show integrity, teach and show dignity, teach soundly and teach winsomely.

I’ll say a few things about each of these. For the older men. Sober-minded can either literally be not drunk or it can also simply mean serious. Normally older men don’t have a problem with drunkenness unless they’re a lifelong alcoholic…so it’s probably simply serious. What I think this gets at is the tendency to just sort of start to drift and have a whatever attitude. That’s not good. We need our older men to be intentional and be serious about how they spend their latter years.

To be dignified is to be worthy of respect. What this gets at is white hair does not always mean respectable. Some old men can tend to be foul and mean which is not respectable and dignified.

To be self-controlled is what enables one to be respectable…exercising the ability to reign in the feeling that you now deserve to do whatever you want since you’ve lived a long life and played by the rules so long.

After self-controlled we get this triad of being sound in faith, love and steadfastness. To be sound here is the same word Josh talked about last week in verse 1 in reference to sound doctrine. It’s a medical term meaning healthy or whole. So literally the call here is not to be sick in or have a diseased faith, love or steadfastness.

Old men ought to be spiritual pillars of the faith. Hebrews 13:7 like men who we can look to and look at their life and faith and it be something we want to imitate. They ought to be loving, meaning instead of becoming less gracious and harder in old age, they need to become softer and more forgiving because of love.

Then there is this steadfastness. This one is my favorite. It just sounds like steel. Weathered and toughened by time. Steadfast. Consistent. Immovable, strong and reliable. A man who is like this is a mighty man and a treasure among us to be cherished and honored.

These are the things younger men are to aspire to, to become a godly old man. You see, we got to look long term boys. But we’re also given some specific instructions which are needed due to the unique challenges of a more youthful age. Verse 6 begins, “Likewise, urge the younger men…” and it lists six things.

First, to be self-controlled. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, so it’s something God is working in us in all seasons of our lives. When you’re young, the things you need control over are often different than what the older man needs to reign in. One author said, “in youth the blood runs hotter and the passions speak more commandingly” especially in the area of the appetites of personal quest and sexual prowess.

Then young men are “to be a model good works.” Youth are more prone to peer pressure, to conform to the patterns of others, thus the call is to stand out and set forth a good model.

Next the young men are to teach and show “integrity and dignity.” Integrity is being honest. Being the same person when no one is looking. Dignity, is following the model of the older men and becoming someone who is worthy of respect. Young men here are called to become the kind of person others look up to.

Lastly there are two instructions on how young men are supposed to use their tongues. Verse 8 says it is supposed to be in “sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” So what I wrote is teach soundly and teach winsomely.

To have sound speech is to actually know what you’re talking about and if you don’t know what you’re talking about to simply keep your mouth shut. Why? Well, if you know what you’re talking about you will be able to silence your opponents because truth wins. But if you don’t know what you’re talking about and you’re just talking to talk, it just makes you look stupid and then you’re making the whole Christian community look bad. Notice verse 8 says so there will be “nothing evil to say about US.” The tongue is probably the biggest thing that gets young dudes in trouble. Well, that and their lustful eyes.

These lists here…both for the older men and the younger men. They’re not complicated. Really they’re just Christian common sense. But we need to hear them. God’s word functions like a rudder here to steer the course of our lives and to keep us on track.

Maybe there’s one of these things you really needed to hear today. I’ll just ask a few questions. If you’re older are you investing in the younger? If you’re younger are you looking to and for the older? Older men, are you being sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in the faith, sound in love and sound in steadfastness? Young men, are you being self-controlled, modeling good works, teaching and showing integrity and dignity and teaching soundly and winsomely? What do you need to grow in?yi[ii

Let each one of these directives hit you and check yourself. Okay, let’s move on and talk about the women, “Older Women & Younger Women.”

B. Older Women & Younger Women (v.3-5)

Let me just re-read the section to get it fresh in our heads. Verses 3-5 of chapter 2, “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”

Both the older women and the younger women here are given five clear instructions. So let’s do the older women first. The first three things have a negative connotation. Reverent behavior most likely is addressing sexual promiscuity. Slander is basically gossip, talking bad about other people. And slaves to too much wine is pretty self-explanatory.

I was looking at this list…”reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine” and what automatically came to mind is The View! The View is this ladies daytime talk show. It’s a show where five women…Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sherri Shepherd and Barbara Walters…they get together on TV to make jokes about sexual escapades, drink wine (or maybe that’s the Kathy Lee & Hoda show…getting my ladies talk shows mixed up!)…so they talk about sex, drink and gossip about other celebrities. I swear I don’t just sit around and watch women TV all day!

Titus 2 here is saying, “hey old ladies…don’t do that!” Instead, teach what is good and train the young women. William Mounce says this about this verse, “It pictures older women, experienced in life, marriage and child rearing taking the younger under their care and helping them adjust to their responsibilities. It is a blessed and needed ministry which cannot be accomplished by men.”

One of the things I love hearing about is how some of you moms in the church will have some of the other girls in the church who don’t have kids yet just over just to hang out with you to talk life while you’re making meals and taking care of the kids. It might not seem like anything special or fancy but it’s just as serious and important and valuable as any ministry of our church. You’re teaching and training. It’s awesome.

Now the text here gives these 5 specific things the older women are to teach the younger women…so younger women, these are the things you are supposed to learn. Five things, and they pretty much all go together…you could almost summarize them as being home focused.

To love husbands and children is call to cherish being a wife and to have babies and care for them. To be self-controlled and pure is a direct address of what was known as “the New Roman Woman” when this was written. The New Roman Woman was a philosophy and movement where women were turning away from traditional commitments to marriage and household and instead were endorsing freedoms from male dependancy, active sexual promiscuity, and self financial provision.

The call for self-control and purity coupled with the next two instructions to be working at home and kind and submissive to their husbands is essentially amounts to saying let being a wife and a mom be your job and let your husband do his God-given duty to protect and provide for you.

Now I know this may be making some of you uncomfortable. So let me just give a little bit more historical background and then we’ll just talk about it openly.

The problem of women not wanting to get married or getting married and not wanting to have children and getting their own career got so bad that the Roman Emperor Augustus directly addressed it in 9 AD. He passed a law for the entire empire called “The Right of 3” which said if you had three or more kids then they could be free born citizens. There was some outrage and backlash. So the story is told that he had the crowd that had gathered separate with those who were married with children on one side and those without children on the other, displaying the vast discrepancy and then he made this speech. Here is part of it, “there is nothing better than a wife who is chaste, domestic, a good house-keeper, a rearer of children, one to gladden you in health, tend to you sickness, be your partner in good fortune, and console you in misfortune.”

Now, sometimes people have read the verses here in Titus about women working at home and have said it is outdated culturally and really doesn’t stand true for us today. That idea has a host of problems we can’t get into for how you treat the Bible in general…but the reason I bring up the historical background of the first century when this was written is because it seems we are facing the same problem today in our culture that Scripture here is attempting to directly address.

An article in the Wall Street Journal written just in February of this year came out titled, “Where Have All The Good Men Gone?” The article bemoans that quality men today are difficult to find and cites a recent book titled, “I Don’t Care About Your Band: What I Learned from Indie Rockers, Trust Funders, Pornographers, Felons, Faux-Sensitive Hipsters and Other Guys I’ve Dated.” The article goes on to says that “guys” are “males who are not boys or men but something in between. Guys talk about ‘Star Wars’ like it’s not a movie made for people half their age; a guy’s idea of a perfect night is a hang around the PlayStation with his bandmates, or a trip to Vegas with his college friends…. They are more like the kids we babysat than the dads who drove us home.” Kind of funny and interesting. But here is where it gets really interesting. Listen

“What also makes pre-adulthood something new is its radical reversal of the sexual hierarchy. Among pre-adults, women are the first sex. They graduate from college in greater numbers, more women than men now have a bachelor’s degree, and they have higher GPAs. As most professors tell it, they also have more confidence and drive. They are more likely than men to be in grad school and making strides in the workplace. In a number of cities, they are even out-earning their brothers and boyfriends.”

So basically what this article is saying, and guys this doesn’t get you off the hook, but what it is saying is part of the reason there are not many quality guys around is because women have stepped into the man’s role of working and providing so the men are just sitting down on the couch and playing video games. This isn’t even a Christian writing this.

Not too long ago we had a guest post a blog on our website on this topic titled, “Career Wife.” It was written by a lady named Molly Reitsema. She and her husband are both medical doctors. After getting involved in a sister Acts 29 church and hearing some of the things you are hearing today, she and her husband entered into a year long season of prayer about her career as a doctor and at the end of it made the decision to quit her job as a doctor. In her blog she talks about the backlash she received from many of her friends, colleagues and family. She answers seven main questions. I’ll just read part of her response to you from one of the questions.

The question is, “Aren’t you too smart to be a homemaker? Won’t you be wasting the gifts God has bestowed upon you?” Here’s what she said.

“Just over a year ago, I thought the answer to these questions was a resounding yes. But I now that the answer is a confident no! My judgment was formerly clouded by my pride as a physician. I was too good to be “just” a homemaker. Medicine had become an idol for me; my identity was more in medicine than it was in Christ.

Finally I asked myself, ‘what is more important to me: what I get to do for God, or God himself?’ He is infinitely more important! As long as I have a saving relationship with him, who cares what career he tells me to pursue? And who am I to tell Him what I should do with the life and gifts he’s given me? In assessing the gifts that make me so well-suited toward medicine, I also realized that they are broadly applicable and will translate well into the role of homemaker — interacting with children, multitasking, teaching, sharp memory, quick learner, organization.

I also undervalued the role of homemaker. Of course, I should not be surprised that I held this belief — our society severely demeans the roles of wife and mother. Most would believe that being a homemaker is something only for those that don’t have “better options” and certainly doesn’t require much intellect. But the Bible instructs us otherwise: the roles of wife and mother are a high calling, something to yearn and pray for, an honor! There are several examples of godly women being specially blessed with marriage and children, and called ‘holy’ for pursuing such roles eagerly – Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, Ruth… and look at how God describes the wife of noble character in Proverbs 31:10-31: she is strong, intelligent, generous – and homeward in her focus.

In Titus 2:3-5 women are to instruct one another to “love their husbands and children” and be “working at home” so that “no one will malign the word of God”, and 1Timothy 2:15 states that “women will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, hope and holiness with propriety”. It is undeniable that the roles of wife and mother play a specific and special role in women’s ability to “work out their salvation with faith and trembling (Phil 2:12-13).”

The duties of a homemaker are important in ensuring the health of one’s family — a house does not become a home if we simply hire out the role of homemaker: paying others to raise our children, clean our home, and cook our food. My husband and I now see me being a homemaker as integral to us revealing the kingdom of God to and through our family and having a positive impact for Christ in this generation and generations to come.”

I know that was a lot to read for you but I also know that for some of you girls it’s hard hearing what you’re hearing from a man, so I thought I’d let a woman have an extended voice in today’s sermon by reading that.

Look, I’ll just say this and then we’ll move on. I think our culture has got so backward on this issue that we don’t know what way is up or down and for the most part we’ve all bought into a lie that there are no differences between men and women. But there are. We have different body parts. There’s things women can do that men can’t and things men can do that women can’t. God designed and means for us to have different roles and the sooner we start working at embracing and living in them the happier and more satisfied we will be.

We’ve worked through this a lot in our home. Because we bought into the lie and no one told us any different and it has taken us years to try and get out of it and get to a place where my wife Amy doesn’t have to work. And we’re almost fully there…two days a month. But she’ll tell you, ask her, she loves being at home and being with kids far more than she ever loved being a successful hairstylist.

I asked Amy if there was anything in particular she wanted me to say on her behalf in today’s sermon. She said to tell you this…”A lot of girls seem to be searching for their identity in a career outside the home, but God has already given you an identity and his plan for is always better and makes us much happier. When you’re in your God given husband and wife roles thing naturally flow better and there is more room for grace because you’re working with each other and not against each other.”

Girls this is really what you want, it’s how God made you and guess what…it really is the kind of girl guys want to.

Alright, we’ve got two short main points left to hit up. First, “Employer and Employee Relationships.”

III. Employer and Employee Relationships

A. The Slaves Role (v.9-10)
B. The Master Goal (v.10)

I’ll take both the sub points together, “The Slaves Role” and “The Master Goal” in verses 9-10, “Slaves are to be are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.”

I’m calling this point “Employer and Employee Relationships” because that in general is a more accurate understanding of slavery in the first century than what comes to most our minds when we hear the word slave and think of American Slavery and the Civil War.

Some slaves in the first century had miserable conditions, but most where either apprentices, workers of a domestic job and some even held government offices. The word slave meant, “to be subject to another.”

Apparently here, there were slaves who were members of the churches on Crete at the time and in this section which is addressing the need to rise up and be a good Christian leader, slaves represent an important part of the community who have unique opportunity for the gospel. Five things are said for slaves and how they are to use their employee role, they are to “be submissive, well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering and show their faith.”

These are simple. To be submissive is to do what your told. To be well-pleasing is to work joyfully. To not argue is to not question or talk back. Not pilfering is not stealing. And showing the faith means doing things in such a way that is going to baffle the employer and make him ask what you believe.

The instructions here are extremely relevant. Masters were not easy people to work for. Few bosses are. In fact a recent study says that more American hate their jobs now than they have in the past 22 years and most the time it has to do with the boss. It’s rare in any workplace if you don’t hear the employees complaining about the boss.

But the workplace is a prime opportunity for the gospel. Especially when the employer is hard to work for. The underlying principle here, the goal for the masters is that they would receive grace. Slaves are addressed here in our text because the hope is that the master will come to see how great the doctrine of God our savior is.

That phrase which addresses the master goal is beautiful one. See where it says “in everything they may ADORN the doctrine of God our savior.” See that? That word “adorn” means to arrange a jewel in such a way that it displays it’s full beauty. It’s like the jewelers who cut diamonds in way that they will sparkle the most and then put them in ring settings that will show them off and then put them in a glass display case with carefully placed light to show off the ring.

The analogy here is that the gospel is a beautiful jewel and we need to do everything we can to show off it’s brilliant light!

Some of you simply don’t make Jesus look very good to your boss and to your co-workers because of the attitude you have at work or how you work and that needs to change. Your workplace is a mission field for the gospel. It is the place God has given you to go put the jewel of the gospel on display by how you work.

Christians ought to be the most desirable employees because they are submissive, well-pleasing, not argumentative and don’t pilfer. And the result of that is your faith gets showed off and Jesus ends up looking really good. So do that.

Okay, one last point to hit up. “The Important Priority of God’s Word.”

IV. The Important Priority of God’s Word (v.5)

I intentionally skipped over the end of verse 5 which says wives which do not have the home as their focus revile the word of God. I left it to the end here because the same principle applies to our entire text today since all of verses 1-10 belong to the word of God. So all older men, younger men, older women, younger women and employees who do not listen and obey to the instructions here all revile the word of God.

The word for “revile” here is actually “blaspheme” in the Greek. It means to speak evil of, rail against or say it really isn’t from God. That’s a heavy heavy charge. The reason why I wanted to leave it to the end is because of the weight that phrase carries…”so that the word of God may not be reviled.”

What it underscores is that they way we are to formulate our thinking and the way we are to make decisions in this life is according to the word of God. It is to hold a higher place of authority than all else. Over all other opinions, arguments and feelings we may have.

So what are you to do when you fall into one of the traps our passage today addresses? Here’s my answer. What you can change you change immediately. Some things you can’t change immediately. Like the wives working at home thing. If you’ve become dependent in your budget on your wife’s income that can take some time to wean off of. And here’s what I want to say…there’s grace for that. It’s probably gonna be a season where you are working to bring your life more in line with God’s word. Especially in San Diego where it costs so much to live.

And that’s on you dudes. Go make some more money and stop building your home on the back of your wife. And wives you’ve got to let him and push him to do that.

What this phrase condemns is the open defiance against God’s Word in saying no, that not true, that’s wrong. You don’t want to end up there. It’s better to say, “I accept that. I know it’s true. And I’m gonna work on that, God help me.” What happens too often of the time, especially with a tough passage like this one is we don’t like it so we try to reason or explain it away and we end up essentially cutting it out of our Bibles. That’s reviling the Word of God. No. Don’t do that. Instead let it be true and set a goal to get there.

Conclusion

Alright, let’s conclude. Hear the good news of the gospel. Every single older man, older woman, young man, young woman and every single person who has ever worked a job in their life…everyone, everyone has blown it…in all of these areas.

We’ve had clouded judgment, been undignified, out of control, had a defective faith, love and been inconsistent. We’ve been irreverent, drunk, taught wrong things, not cared about teaching others, we’ve been impure, not cared about our spouses, children or our homes. Our character has been corrupt, without integrity or dignity. Our tongues have got us into so much trouble. As employees we’ve been rebellious, difficult to work with, argumentative, and haven’t made God our creator look very good. And we have all reviled the word of God. That’s the truth.

Here’s the goodness of the gospel. Jesus has been all of these things perfectly for us. Where we have failed, even repeatedly, he did it all and more than that he died for all our failings. We’re sick and sinful and deserve death and judgment but he took the judgment upon himself for us in our place on the cross and he rose again and freely gives us all of his perfect righteousness.

You see the gospel is good because we’re bad but Jesus is good and gives us his goodness. It’s a beautiful and gracious exchange. That’s why the gospel is a magnificent jewel. We could never be and do the things the Word of God calls us to be and do here. But Jesus is and did and in and through him our lives can be transformed and we can become the kind of people we need to be.

If you walk away today hearing the high bar the Bible calls us to here and feel burdened and crushed by it…you missed the jewel of the gospel. Come back and see the ring. The sound doctrine of our savior is he saves us from our failings and changes us and he makes us like him. We simply trust and believe in him and in his time he adds all these things to us. The gospel is the good news that Jesus did it and gives himself to us. So let’s pray and have him work in our hearts.

Blog | Pastor Duane

The English word “doctrine” gets its name from the Latin doctrina which means “a body of teaching.” It’s where we get the word “doctor” from. A doctor is one who has mastered the body of medical teachings. The Bible calls Christians to be doctors of the body of theological teachings it presents. Titus 1:9 “Hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught…be able to give instruction in sound doctrine.” When it comes to knowing and loving doctrine it can often have one of two effects in people.

Risky Doctrine

Frequently the more a person comes to know the more prideful and arrogant they become. As 1 Corinthians 8:1 says “knowledge puffs up.” Too often once a person begins to learn big words which end in “ology” they begin to assume they are not only smarter than others but better. In reality this is an ancient heresy called “gnosticism” which taught salvation was gained by acquiring more and more knowledge. The doctrine of the gospel is not one which says you are saved by what you know.

In my life and experience I have met men whose theology looks perfect on paper, where we would agree on every major area of theology but they have been some of the most mean-spirited, harsh, egotistical and argumentative people I’ve ever known. For example, I recently met a man who was hard core into Reformed theology, expository preaching, and had all the same heroes I do. But it turns out he was being abusive to his spouse, never wanted to talk about his heart, only wanted to criticize false theology and when questioned about anything was extremely defensive.

Knowledge puffs up. There is a real risk in coming to love theology and having “correct doctrine.”

Rich Doctrine

One reaction to know-it-all’s is to say doctrine and theology don’t matter. But they do. The reality is a doctrine which puffs up is flawed, even if all the i’s are dotted and t’s crossed. The reason is because the Bible does not separate one’s doctrine and one’s life. As 1 Timothy 1:9-11 says, “The law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to SOUND DOCTRINE in accordance with the gospel.” So anytime a person’s character or their heart and life seems is out of sync with the gospel, that is contrary to sound doctrine.

The way doctrine is supposed to work is to enrich a person making them extremely humble and grateful for God in all that he has given to us through his word and his Son by his Spirit. Doctrine is meant to make us glad and meant to make Jesus look good. If we are unkind and ungracious when we talk of doctrine what it implicitly tells others is Jesus is unkind and ungracious. Doctrine is meant to be a delight for us and for others. Thus Titus 2:10 calls us to be “showing all good faith, so that in everything (we) may ADORN THE DOCTRINE of God our Savior.”

Knowing Jesus builds up. By drinking in the rich truths of the faith our hearts and lives begin to humbly rejoice in our savior

Recommended Doctrine

Since doctrine is a body of teaching, when it comes to the gospel which is Christianity, historically books containing doctrine are known as “systematic theologies.” The Bible is a collection of 66 different books by forty different authors compounded and compiled into one book. What a systematic theology does is take the main topics and themes of the Bible and organizes them together into one cohesive unit.

There are a number of systematic theologies out there. Below are the ones I’ve found most helpful. If you’ve never read anything intently theological then I would start with Wayne Grudem’s. I added a brief comment about each of these presentations of Christian doctrine to help you navigate these great works.

• 5th Century – On Christian Doctrine by St. Augustine.
The oldest one. Good on the Trinity and the authorial intent of the Scriptures.
• 16th Century – Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin.
Time tested, rigorous with Scripture, and poetic in its articulation.
• 17th Century – Institutes of Elenctic Theology – 3 Volumes by Francis Turretin.
Exhaustive and very thorough, perhaps the most precise out there.
• 19th Century – Systematic Theology – 3 Volumes by Charles Hodge.
Very technical, references a wide range of theological positions throughout history.
• 19th Century – Dogmatic Theology by William Shedd.
Very apologetic toward contrary positions. Really good on Christology.
• 20th Century – Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof.
Concise and to the point, uses classical latin titles for various doctrines.
• 20th Century – Christian Theology by Millard Erickson.
Interacts with other theologians and history of various theologies.
• 20th Century – Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem.
Most readable and user friendly, complete with personal life applications at the end of each chapter.
• 21st Century – The Christian Faith by Michael Horton.
Arranged according to the drama of the gospel story. It interacts across an array of specialized fields.

Conclusion

May God help us to hold firm to sound doctrine in all areas of our life: in our thoughts, in our affection and in our actions. Let us not become puffed up by what we know. Let us live what we confess. And most of all may we bring the Savior much glory.

The Book of Titus | Making Leaders | Titus 2:1 | Josh Feil

This an exegetical sermon of Titus 2:1 which addresses the nature and importance of sound doctrine. Particular attention is given to the biblical, historical and missional nature of doctrine, as well as the connection between confession and practice. This sermon was originally preached on June 26th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Josh Feil
June 26th, 2011

The Book of Titus: Making Leaders
Doctrinal LEADERS | Titus 2:1

1) Sound in the Faith: Healthy Doctrine
a) is Biblical
b) is Historical
c) is Missional

2) Teaching and Training: Words Fit for the Faith

Introduction

Thanks Duane. I am certainly humbled to stand before you all with the duty of preaching the Word.

When Duane and I sat down about a month ago to talk about the text I would be preaching out of in Titus, he said “how do you feel about Chapter 2 verse 1?” I looked down at my Bible, read it, and my first thought was, “this is going to be a very quick and efficient morning.” There are about 10 words in that verse. My second thought after how short my sermon would be was that we would finally beat the lunch rush at Chipotle. I don’t know how well I will meet either of those expectations. All I have to say is, hopefully you ate a good breakfast.

READ 2:1

The title of my sermon is “Doctrinal LEADERS.”

Faith=belief=theology=doctrine=confession ALL THE SAME IN THIS SERMON.

By way of introduction, I want to ask you a question. What is your confession? Not the catholic get-in-a-booth-and-tell-me-your-sins type of confession, but a statement of what you believe, a summary of faith. If you were pressed for an answer, what would you confess and profess with your mouth? Does it hold up? Is it sound?

Maybe you’ve grown up in church, or you’ve been around here at the Resolved and you know we’re all about Jesus. “Oh I believe in Jesus.” Well what about Jesus? “You know, he’s just, like, Jesus.” That’s like me saying, “I love bacon.” Well, Josh, what do you love about bacon? “You know, it’s just, like, bacon.” One girl in our church has referred to it as meat candy. But if you’ve never cooked bacon, never heard it crackle, never eaten it with eggs, then it would be hard for you to agree with me. If you don’t know anything about bacon, it’s just a strip of raw meat that will get you sick.

And in the same way with Jesus, if we can’t say anything about Jesus, who he is, what he has said, what he has done, then what do we actually believe in? Eating that imaginary Jesus will make us sick. One author has said that to put our trust in anything other than the message of Jesus’ death is “pitifully vain.”

The cornerstone of our faith is the gospel, the good news, the proclamation of what Jesus has done for sinners like you and me. It would be wise for us to drink deep from the well of doctrine concerning our Lord.

So here’s my goal this morning, full disclosure, just going to put it out there.

I want to convince you that just knowing Jesus isn’t enough.

That we have to know something about Jesus and what he did. I want to convince you that sound doctrine, the Christian faith is dependent on a record of action by God in history with and for people. It depends on a story. And good stories tell us many things about the characters and why their actions are so significant. So again I ask: what is your confession? What do you believe about God, about Jesus, about the great story of redemption told in the Bible? Does your confession, your doctrine, does it begin with you, or does it begin with God?

Let’s get into the text.

We’re gonna work through this text backwards this morning. I think it might be helpful to talk about sound doctrine before we talk about what it looks like to teach it. So that is where we begin here in Titus 2 verse 1.

Read: Titus 2:1

Sound in the Faith: Healthy Doctrine

I imagine there are a number of reactions to the word doctrine. Some of you are giddy with the hope that this will turn into seminary lecture on the doctrine of justification, some of you cringe at the thought of dogma; cold, dead religion. What’s your knee jerk reaction to the back end of this verse? I’ll share one of mine with you. When I sat down to read this passage, and then read verse 1, I thought to myself, “where’s the doctrine?” “where’s the doctrine?”

You look to the left and Paul is tearing apart these empty-talkers who are deceiving entire households with their moralism and then you look to the right and he’s giving exhortations and instructions to men and women in the church. But that’s not doctrine. Instruction, rebuke, encouragement, exhortation, but it’s not doctrine. It leaves us with the question, “what is doctrine?”

Not just doctrine, but sound doctrine. Some of you might have a footnote at the bottom of the page for that word that gives an alternate translation “healthy.” What is healthy doctrine?

Let’s use a common experience as an analogy. We’re humans, we get sick. Can you remember the last time you were sick if you aren’t right now? What it felt like? Can’t breathe, your throat hurts, you’re running a fever, your body aches and has chills. It’s debilitating.

I think we realize most clearly what it is to be healthy when we are not healthy, when we are sick. Some of you are probably sick right now. And some of you are, you have been, or you know people that are really sick. Sick even to the point of death. You see the sickness take over as the body deteriorates, the mind right along with it. Our bodies are broken as a result of sin. Our sin has wreaked havoc on our bodies and our minds and our relationships with each other. Our sin has profoundly affected our doctrine, making it about us and our desires rather than God and his desires. So what is sick doctrine? Doctrine that masquerades as helpful with promises of prosperity, success and fame. But it all really delivers is dead men’s bones. It’s interesting that bodily sickness and doctrinal sickness end up in the same place: death.

So if that’s sick doctrine, what is healthy doctrine? John Calvin says this about good doctrine: “Sound doctrine consists of two parts. The first is that which magnifies the grace of God in Christ, from which we may learn where we ought to seek our salvation; and the second is that by which the life is trained to the fear of God, and inoffensive conduct.” The two ingredients for healthy doctrine? The grace of God and the fear of God.

1 Timothy 4:16 tells us to “keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.” Keep close watch over your life and doctrine.

So let me ask you: is your doctrine healthy? Whether you’ve been in the church for a month or 40 years, the question is the same: is your doctrine healthy? Does your life reflect healthy belief about God? This is a matter of grave importance.

But how do you know that it’s really that important? Believe me, I know where I stand here this morning. To say that it matters what you believe? And not just that it matters that you believe something, but the actual content of what you believe matters? And the content is that God is real, Jesus is real, I’m a sinner deserving eternal judgment, but Jesus took on my judgment and putting faith in him alone is the only way to salvation? To say that, it’s like a fish swimming upstream with a grizzly bear at the top waiting to bite you in half.

But that is what we confess. Now this is where I could go off on an apologetic trail, and give arguments for the validity of God, of the Bible and the reality of Jesus. But I’m not going to do that this morning. I’m bound by this text and the thrust of this text is not an apologetic one. Paul is not primarily concerned with giving a logical defense of the faith. His concern is the purity of the church, the beliefs of its members, and the lifestyle they exhibit.

And as the basis of their lifestyle he is primarily concerned about their doctrine. How do I know this? Read it with me. “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” Skimming down through chapter 2… older men… older women… self control… model of good works… slaves… submissive… not pilfering… so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior…

FOR THE GRACE OF GOD HAS APPEARED, BRING SALVATION FOR ALL PEOPLE. WHAT DOES IT DO? Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age.”

Sound doctrine is nothing if not based in the grace of God in Jesus. The grace of God has appeared and his grace enables us to do all of the things Paul asks of the church in Crete.

So we look to God’s grace in Jesus as the basis of healthy, sound doctrine.

I think there are three main areas that the deserve emphasis in a discussion of sound doctrine. They are the screen, I want to unpack them for you.

Sound doctrine is Biblical, Historical and Missional.

Sound Doctrine is Biblical

“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.”

This one might seem like a no-brainer, but I think there is more than meets the surface. Paul tells Titus in chapter 1 verse 9 that elders must “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught.” Leaders are to rely on the Bible, to hold fast to the word. We are all to cling to the word as the basis for our understanding of who God is and what he has done. God chose the Bible to be the primary way he reveals his character and nature to the world.

Here’s my question for you: where do you get your ideas about God? Are they from the Bible, which is trustworthy, reliable, inspired, without error? Or do you get them from your experience and emotions? Is your conception of God different at 5pm after a rough day than it was at 8am after a kiss and a hug from your wife and kids? Have years of disappointment and regret shaped the way you think about Jesus? Has a recent negative or positive experience made God vindictive or gracious in your eyes?

This is a tough one in San Diego. Our culture is one that certainly values belief, but values the relativity of belief above all else. In other words, the doctrine of our day is that what works for you works for you and what works for me works for me but don’t you dare tell me what to think or feel. Don’t tread on me. That’s the doctrine of our day. Complete and total human independence. But as is easy to see, when everything is true, nothing is true.

Our theology, or doctrine of God our understanding of who God is must be shaped by the unchanging and steady Word, which tells us that God is creator, sustainer, author of life. That he is good, just, fair and gracious. That he wants his glory. That even in our painful experiences, his grace is evident because he withholds the judgment we deserve, and instead crushes his Son Jesus in our place.

The Bible tells the story of God’s redemption, of his rescue of those he loves. And from the story we get the great doctrines that we hold so dear. His mercy, his grace, our assurance. The Bible is a great drama. And to put it as one theologian has said, the drama gives us the doctrine.

Do you confess the Bible as truth? Do you confess the story as real and relevant? Is your doctrine based on the inspired word of God, or your own attempt at explaining life?

2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to “study to show thyself approved, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Is that you today? Do you rightly handle what God has given?

Would God gives us the grace to submit to his word and the great story it tells.

Sound Doctrine is Historical

“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.”

I don’t have a ton to say in this section other than to emphasize a few key points that Paul makes in his letter. I want to draw your attention to a number of statements by Paul in Titus. Follow with me.

1:4 – my true child in a common faith
1:9 – give instruction in sound doctrine
1:13 – sound in the faith

It seems that Paul understands the faith to be something that was handed down to him, and that he is handing down to Titus. An existing collection of beliefs. I think that’s why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1Co 15:3 ESV)

And Jude says in the very beginning of his letter toward the end of the New Testament that:
“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3 ESV)

And see if there is a word that stands out in these passages from Hebrews:
“Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession” (Heb 3:1 ESV)

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” (Heb 4:14 ESV)

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Heb 10:23 ESV)

WHAT IS YOUR CONFESSION?

We’re not just making stuff up here. The writers of the New Testament and theologians all throughout the history of the church have attested to the reality and necessity of a body of belief centered on the cross of Jesus. That even by the time of Paul’s letter to Titus, he understood that there was one faith. And he was handing it down to Titus, his true child in the faith.

So here’s my question for you: what are you handing down? Do you see yourself as part of the historic Christian faith? Are you orthodox? Are you handing down a good confession? Are people receiving from you the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints? Do you lead with the gospel? Do you see the results of the gospel in the people you lead? Are they gracious, generous and forgiving?

I was talking with a guy in the military the other day about leadership. We were talking about developing leaders and how certain people stand out and whether it’s good or bad to put your focus on those who have the most potential. I asked him what the military would say about that. He said that in the military’s eyes, if you aren’t developing everyone to lead, then you are failing as a leader.

I don’t know how I feel about that statement, but I do agree with the sentiment that we are to hand down the faith.

Parents: what are your children receiving from you?
Husbands and Wives: what is your spouse receiving from you?
Those that are single: what are the people that you lead receiving from you?
Children: what are your parents receiving from you?

If anything I would hope that aligning yourself with the historic Christian faith helps you see how gracious God has been throughout the entire history of his people, allowing them to know Him and making a way for them to be right in his eyes through Jesus’ life and death.

Sound Doctrine is Missional

“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.”

My last point in this section is that sound doctrine is missional. In other words, correct belief about Jesus is the only thing that moves unbelievers to belief. The reason we preach the gospel, the reason we take such a firm stance on the moving and beautiful doctrines of Christianity is because we find hope in nothing else.

The most loving thing we can do for each other is to be immersed in the ocean of Christian doctrine. Otherwise we have nothing of value. We are empty talkers. Our mouths are moving, but there is nothing coming out.

We are going to have a whole sermon about an upcoming section in Titus in chapter 3, but turn there with me just quickly. Won’t you read it with me?

Read 3:3-7.

Sound doctrine is missional because it tells us about God’s mission to save sinners! It moves us to mission because we have such a great story to tell and because God has been so gracious toward us.

Let me press this issue. There’s this parasite in the bloodstream of the long history of the church that has to be addressed.

Here’s the statement I want to attack: deeds not creeds. Or the statement sometimes attributed to St. Francis of Assisi (he didn’t actually say it): preach the gospel always, when necessary, use words.” In other words, it’s not about what you believe or say, it’s about what you do. Your action makes you who you are. It’s action, not belief. Doing, not doctrine. Here’s the problem with that idea: it is based on a flawed understanding of what the gospel is. The word gospel means good news. Good report. Announcement, proclamation. The gospel is the good news of Jesus dying on the cross for my horrendous sin. The problem with deeds not creeds is that is puts the focus squarely on us. What we do and don’t do. And since we are narcicisstic, self-obsessed people, Jesus tends to fade into the background when we are painting the picture of our man-made religion.

You’ve convinced yourself that you don’t need to know anything about Jesus, you just need Jesus. You don’t need to know anything that the Bible says about God, you just want to know God. Really? That’s how it works? I should try that on my wife. “Baby I don’t want to know anything about you, your dreams, concerns, gifts and desires, I just want you!” It sounds so… noble. But it’s not. It’s selfish and perverted. What you’re really saying is, “I don’t want to take the time to find out what makes you you, I just want the benefits. And it’s time to pay up.” You are what Paul calls in verse 10, an “empty talker.”

Your words are hollow.
If we don’t have what the Bible tells us about Jesus , we don’t have Jesus.

For others it’s the opposite. You are so concerned with your system and you get so tweaked on doctrine that you don’t know how to love anyone. You are prideful and arrogant when it comes to matters of the faith. You look down on those that haven’t read as many books as you or listened to as many sermon podcasts as you or attended as many conferences as you. You have journals filled with sermon notes from the past year but you’re still basically the same person you were a year ago when you started the journal. For you, Christianity is mainly an academic endeavor rather than a radical message of grace and mercy. You’ve convinced yourself that our ferocious and glorious God can actually be fit into your box.

We’re all jacked up and probably land on one of these sides. How do we avoid these errors? You have to get into the story of redemption. The story of an infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing God creating everything that we can touch, smell, hear, see and taste. The story of his creation rebelling against him, thinking they knew better than their father. The story of God telling them that he would make a way for them to be right before him. The story of Israel and their repeated disobedience, and God’s unending mercy toward Israel, relenting from the punishment they deserved on so many occasions. And then the story’s climax in Jesus God’s son, God in the flesh, coming to live a perfect life and then die on a cross in the place of sinners like you and me. And the coming kingdom of the king, when Jesus will rule and reign over all of his creation. When every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Jesus Christ, the Lord.

See, the story gives us the doctrine. “Jesus died.” That’s the story. “Jesus died for my sins.” That’s the doctrine. Putting yourself in the story helps you to see one thing: you’re not the central character. That’s why we don’t preach good advice or helpful guidelines for better parenting, job success or what have you. We tell the story of Jesus and what it means for our lives. So if you have a distaste for doctrine, get into the story. That helps you see that God is worth your time. Studying the Word to see what it has to say about God is a worthwhile effort. If you are a theology nut, get yourself into the story. Realize it’s not about your facts and knowledge, it’s about what Jesus did and why it matters.

The fact of the matter is that at some point, you will have to open your mouth and proclaim the message of the gospel. And that is how people will get saved. Not by your good deeds, your humanitarian efforts or your social justice, but the proclamation of the gospel alone.

The only thing that will ever get us on mission is to confess the grace that God had on us by giving us life through the death of his son.

Teaching and Training: Words Fit for the Faith

Now that we’ve spent some time talking about what sound doctrine is, I want to conclude by talking about the importance of words. Remember how I said I was confused when Paul told Titus to teach sound doctrine, but it didn’t look like there was any doctrine to teach? Well I also thought it was weird that he said “teach” not “live.”

In all honesty, the majority of this letter consists of qualifications for good leaders, disqualifications for bad leaders, and then positive instruction about how the church should live. So why does Paul say, “teach?”

I think it’s fair to say that Paul is concerned for the purity of church and the life choices of her members. But if that’s the case, which I believe it is, then why does Paul tell Titus to “teach what accords with sound doctrine?” Why doesn’t he say “live in a way that reflects the life of Jesus” or “as for you, make sure you are the most hospitable, self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined?” The letter is addressed to Titus, why wouldn’t Paul tell him to behave the best out of all the people in the church? Isn’t that what leaders are meant to do? Be the best at being good?

Look at me. If all that you ever get from the Bible is a list of things to do and things not to do, you will be crushed by the weight of that burden.

Paul commands Titus to teach (the word can also mean “speak”) what accords with sound doctrine because words and words alone can bring about salvation. Christianity is the religion of proclamation. Our God is a speaking God. He gives us his word so that we don’t have to guess at what makes him happy or what he wants us to know.

He spoke the world into creation, he spoke with Adam and Eve in the garden, he spoke judgment over them when they sinned, he spoke in his covenant with Abraham, he spoke to Israel, he spoke to his prophets, and he sent his son to speak and die for rebellious people like us. That’s why Jesus is called THE word in John 1. He is the true teacher, the true speaker, bringing words of redemption and hope for sinners. And today God works through the preaching of the word, the teaching of sound doctrine to bring people to saving faith.

So does your life match your teaching? When you open your mouth, do your words actually carry any weight? You are all teaching something.

Are you hearing his words this morning? What is he speaking to you today through his word? I pray that our relationship with Jesus would be like Peter’s when he asked, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of life.”

Conclusion

In a couple minutes we are going to receive the Lord’s Supper, but before we do I wanted to share a part of my sermon prep with you.

As I was nearing the end of my preparation for this sermon, I was thinking again about what Paul’s point is in this passage. I thought to myself, “You know how I could really pull the rug out from underneath everyone? Tell them it’s not about doctrine!” That’ll get ‘em. But that’s wrong. Don’t you see? Paul’s whole point is that doctrine, confession, theology, belief it all goes back to God and it all says something about our belief concerning God. So I ask you again: what is your confession? The question isn’t whether you are a theologian or not. We are all theologians. We all believe things about God, even if that’s he doesn’t exist. The question is: are you a good one?

But here’s the problem if you leave today feeling bad about yourself and your theology: that’s a terrible sermon because all you’re thinking about is yourself. You and how you need to try harder to fix the problem. That’s not the gospel.
The gospel tells me I don’t have sound doctrine. That I’m an idolatrous theologian and that we all teach what accords with false, treacherous doctrine. The good news is that Jesus doesn’t love me because my theology is healthy, he loves me even though my doctrine is sick.

Jesus enables us to believe not on the basis of what we can say about him, but on the basis of what he has said and done for us. We are not justified because of our confession, but because of Jesus’ confession of who He is and what he came to do, which was to seek and save the lost and give his life as a ransom for many.

So yes, confess his name, but remember that he has already confessed yours on the cross, and that because of his good confession, we are given life when we deserve death. So do not despair when your life doesn’t match your confession. Look to Jesus and his perfect obedience, and remember that we are secure in him, no matter how much we might waver. He will always hold fast to the good confession, and he holds us with him.

So as you come to the table, come to eat a meal with Jesus, come and be fed by him, come and receive grace. His body and blood for our sins give us all we need.

Pray with me.

Blog | Pastor Duane

I write this while headed home on the plane from the yearly Acts 29 Lead Pastors Retreat. The retreat serves as a time of rest and rejuvenation for the pastors and their wives as well as a time of instruction and inspiration for the futures of the churches we lead.

This year completes The Resolved Church’s sixth year of existence as an Acts 29 church plant. Some are familiar with the Acts 29 Network and some are not. So what is Acts 29 and why is The Resolved Church a part of it?

If you open your Bible to the book of Acts and look for chapter 29 you will not find it because it does not exist. What you will find is the last chapter, chapter 28 which ends quite abruptly without any conclusion to the story which began in the first chapter in Jesus’ call to the apostles to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Many have noted this is an intentional literary device meant to provoke the reader into not only wondering what happened but to pick up the story themselves, writing the last chapter by taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.

HISTORY and STATISTICS

The Acts 29 Network began in 2000 with a vision to spread the gospel among the earth through planting churches. At its base Acts 29 is a group of “churches planting churches.” There are a few multi-thousand member churches with big name lead pastors like Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, and Darrin Patrick. However, the majority of Acts 29 church members range from 50-150 people.

Currently 392 Acts 29 churches have been planted with over 115,000 people in weekly attendance and that number is expected to double within the next couple years. Already Acts 29 has become the fastest growing church planting movement in history and is on track to become the largest.

A RELATIONAL BROTHERHOOD

The Acts 29 Network believes and understands that in order to plant churches, those churches need strong relationship and accountability. So the network puts a lot of focus on the men who are planting. Pastors need pastors or they will burn out and end up in all kinds of grevious and disqualifying sin, which often means the end of the church plant.

In the New Testament you see a close knit relationship between the pastors and people of the churches which were planted. Acts 29 seeks to replicate that model of brotherhood, accountability and support. This means every Acts 29 church planter goes through a rigorous assessment process, if he passes he is then set up with coaching and is then required to regularly be involved in regional meetings to receive teaching, community, resources, and prayer.

Often I’m asked if Acts 29 is a denomination. The answer is no. Many Acts 29 churches are a part of denominations but many are not. Acts 29 is not a denomination because each local Acts 29 church is legally autonomous and no money is sent to Acts 29 to pay for the salaries of its board members. All the Acts 29 board members are pastors of local Acts 29 churches. However, despite the technical aspects, in many ways Acts 29 does function like a super healthy denomination. There is strong relationship and support among the pastors and churches and a strict doctrinal code and expectation to be followed.

DOCTRINE

The four defining marks of Acts 29’s doctrine fall under the headings of Christian, Evangelical, Reformed, and Missional (you can read the full doctrinal statement HERE). To oversimplify it, Acts 29 is big on Jesus, big on the Bible, big on God’s glory, and big on people becoming Christians.

Acts 20:20 says to “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” This was the big theme of the retreat this year at the retreat, which was titled “Am I Healthy?”

Repeatedly at the retreat pastors were called to keep a careful watch on their heart and their doctrine, to pastor their wives and families first and then out of that do a good job in caring for the church. Church planters and churches fail most often because the pastor ends up focusing on others at the expense of himself and his family or the church slips into not seeing the church as Jesus’ church which he purchased on the cross which always leads to false doctrine.

CONCLUSION

Personally, I can’t imagine a better network to be a part of. Sure, like every denomination and movement throughout Christian history, Acts 29 has it’s challenges and struggles. That is because men are sinful and sin always creeps into everything. Yet, by keeping the gospel first, Acts 29 has positioned itself to bring much glory to Jesus and thereby continue to thrive in planting new churches through having a strong brotherhood and through holding firm to sound doctrine.

May many people come to Christ through the planting of churches in the next year and may God help The Resolved Church to thrive in this as well. On behalf of the elders of The Resolved Church we feel privileged and honored to be a part of this great network. We are excited about what Jesus has already done and what he has planned to do ahead.

The Book of Titus | Making Leaders | Titus 1:10-16 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Titus 1:10-16 which addresses the difference between those who lead in rebellion and refrain and those who lead in redemption and rebuke. Particular attention is given to how one teaches by what they say in everyday conversation, how the gospel effects the mind and the heart, how belief in the gospel does not allow one to believe in their head but not live it out and how there are huge consequences of not changing or correcting one another. This sermon was originally preached on June 19th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
June 18th, 2011

The Book of Titus: Making Leaders
Destructive LEADERS | Titus 1:10-16

I. Leading in Rebellion vs. Redemption
A. One’s Talk & One’s Teaching (v.10-11,14)
B. One’s Mind & One’s Conscience (v.15)
C. One’s God & One’s Works (v.16)
II. Leading in Refrain vs. Rebuke
A. Homes & Hell are at Stake (v.11,14,16)
B. Truth is Better than Error (v.13-14)
C. Silence Not Be Silent (v.11,13)

Introduction

Today is our third week into our summer sermon series working through the book of Titus in the Bible, a letter book which focuses on the theme of developing and making leaders. Last week we looked at the qualities of good leaders, what God calls his people to be and how Jesus, the one perfect leader enables us to become solid good leaders.

This week, this next little chunk of Scripture flips the tables and highlights bad leaders and the destruction they bring versus gospel driven leaders whose minds and hearts are changed as they truly come to know God.

Now I’m aware that some of you hear the word “leader” and you think “I’m not a leader” and thus tend to think none of this is relevant to you.

One, I don’t think this is true. Everyone leads in one way or another, either outwardly in some role or action or inwardly in some example or model. You can lead unknowingly or intentionally. So everyone is a leader.

Two, everyone has experienced leadership…whether in churches, jobs or their families and you’ve either experienced good leadership or bad leadership. So working through the Bible on leadership helps you sort that out.

Three, God means for you to be a leader. All throughout the history of God’s people his design and intention for them is that they would be his kingdom of priests to the world, a force for the gospel to influence people all over with his goodness and his truth. It’s what we call the doctrine of the “priesthood of all believers.”

I think I would go so far as to say this morning that whatever you are dealing with in your life right now, whether it’s good or bad, encouraging or challenging…whatever it is, in one way or another comes down to leadership, what kind of leadership you are experiencing over you and what kind of leadership you are giving out to those around you.

The book of Titus bring us in and highlights the huge importance of having God over us in our lives as our leader and having him transform us into godly leaders in all our relationships. So let’s read this week’s text, pray over it and jump in. (read text and pray)

I. Leading in Rebellion vs. Redemption

Okay, to start off this morning I want us to look at “Leading in Rebellion vs. Redemption.” I get the word “rebellion” here from verse 10 when it says “insubordinate.” To be insubordinate is to be in rebellion and you could actually translate this word here as “rebellion” if you wanted to. And a lot of weight is put on this word in our passage. In fact the whole passage, all of verses 10-16 really hang on this word. All of it is describing what is is like and the effect of being in rebellion.

What we’ll see as we work through this is one of the main effects the gospel is meant to bring into our lives is to redeem us from our rebellion, wherein we are no longer are fighting against God and leading others astray by our embrace of false beliefs and corrupting practices. Three main areas we see this playing itself out: “One’s Talk & One’s Teaching, One’s Mind & One’s Conscience (v.15), and One’s God & One’s Works.” Let’s go through each one of them.

A. One’s Talk & One’s Teaching (v.10-11,14)

First, “One’s Talk & One’s Teaching.” Verse 10 says that one of the main characteristics of the insubordinate is they are “empty talkers and deceivers.” You guys see that? What’s an empty talker?

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone…and you’re talking to them about something serious, like their life or God or whatever…but they just seem to go on and on and on and none of it makes any sense? You’re like trying to listen and follow them and understand them but there’s like this rabbit trail down here and then another digression over here and you have no idea what they are saying. You ever been in a conversation like that?

Some of you are like “yeah, right now…I have no idea what you’re saying.”

The word here for “empty talker” actually means senseless. What they are saying doesn’t make sense. Usually it is in the form of questioning things and asserting beliefs and practices which really don’t make sense in light of who God is and what he has done for us in Jesus. I say that here because verse 11 adds that they are deceivers.

I have seen this time and time again. It’s so much easier to question things and to criticize things and to bag on things and what happens, when you’re in a group, maybe it’s just a couple of you or whatever and someone starts questioning what you know to be true. Somehow, some way it sounds sexy and so everyone else starts jumping in on it too and the bandwagon starts rolling. “…Yeah I just don’t know how anyone could ever know what is really true…yeah, Christians really are a bunch of crazy people who are wound up too tight…what they really need to do is relax and just live life.”

It seems and it sounds casual but it’s just empty talk that doesn’t really make any sense if you actually considered the truth and content of those statements. Is it really true that nothing is true. Then that statement couldn’t be true. That doesn’t make sense. It’s empty. What does it mean to really just relax and live life? That doesn’t sound like living but checking out. That sounds like a license to do whatever you want. And that’s called sin and it’s empty.

What I’ve found is usually empty talkers do not set themselves up as a “teacher” yet they are extremely influential and attractive to others. They are not “teaching” per se but they are teaching by what they say and it draws people in like magnets.

Now in Crete in the first century, the place and time this was originally written to there were some distinct talk and teaching taking place which, Paul, the human author of Titus directly addresses here. He says two real clear things about them. One, they’ve got a name, verse 10, “the circumcision party.” Two, what they’re into, verse 14 “myths and the commands of people.”

Both of these have some interesting background. In the book of Galatians in the Bible we hear this crazy story about “the circumcision party” and Titus himself. I tell you what happened but first you got a know what the whole deal is with circumcision.

If you don’t know what circumcision is, it’s when some extra outer skin around the penis, called foreskin, is cut off. Basically back in Bible times things we’re opposite then they are now. Most men today in our culture are circumcised because Doctors used to think it was healthier and now it’s just the norm. Back in Bible times, the only people who ever circumcised themselves were Jews and the rest of the world thought they were crazy for it. They wondered why anyone would ever take a knife to their penis!

So, the reason Jews circumcised themselves was because God had told them to. In the Old Testament he had said it would be an outward mark or identifier that they were his people. Now, I’m gonna oversimplify a ton of stuff right now and just say, basically in the New Testament after Jesus, water baptism fulfills and replaces the outward identifier mark of being God’s people. Jesus death and resurrection fulfills all of God’s commands and now all of our identity marks are connected to him.

This was a big deal. It was one of the first real big controversies of the church. Could you be a Christian and not be circumcised? In large, nearly the whole book of Galatians is written to answer this question and it does so with a resounding YES! So here’s what happened…

It’s about seventeen years since Jesus died and rose again and the apostle Paul on one of his missionary journeys was preaching the gospel and this Greek dude Titus becomes a Christian. Paul starts apprenticing him and he takes him on a trip back to the current headquarters in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, most the Christians were Jews, so meeting Titus, a Greek guy who had become a Christian was a pretty big deal. And guess what they wanted to know most of all? Whether he was circumcised!

Listen to Galatians 2:4-6, “Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in – who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery – to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved.”

This is funny. Basically Paul is saying Titus was not circumcised and some “false brothers”, guys claiming to be Christians but really were not, snuck in to a bathroom or dressing room or something to try and spy on Titus in order to see if he was circumcised. It’s hilarious. These guys think if Titus is really a Christian then he ought to be circumcised, so they are trying to sneak a peak at him to see if he is. And Paul says, “NO” that’s not the gospel! That’s false teaching from false brothers.

Guess what? Same thing in the book of Titus. This circumcision party. Thinking there was some outward thing you needed to do in order to be a Christian and in this case circumcision. And there were Jewish and Greek forms of it.

That’s what the other reference to the teaching in our passage is in verse 14 when it talks about “myths and commands of men.” Myths are fantastic stories. Both the Greeks and the Jews had myths. What they had in common was a focus on a story they looked to for meaning and truth.

Many of the Jewish myths or fables at the time had to do with magicians like the well known Jannes and Jambres who learned of secret powers. Greek myths were the well known ones of the gods, especially Zeus, whom Cretans claimed was born on Crete and buried there.

Today we still have myths that arise in Christianity which many are tempted to turn to for truth and meaning. For example, maybe you’ve heard of the recent New York Times best seller book “Heaven Is For Real” about this four year old boy who had an appendectomy and when he woke up after the procedure says he went to heaven and tells these fantastic tales of his experience.

Paul’s point here is the same as Jesus’s was in Mark 7 when the Pharisees got upset at Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands before they ate. Jesus said to them that they were “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” and were leaving “the commandment of God” (Mark 7:7-8).

Circumcision teaching, myths and the ideas of man…all it is empty talk that quickly and easily gets spread around and it has massively destructive results. We’ll talk about those in a few minutes but first let me ask you a couple questions.

Have you been either buying into or giving out empty talk? I mean I know nobody really cares about circumcision these days but maybe you’ve fallen into thinking it doesn’t really matter what you believe but it’s more about what you do or don’t do? Or maybe you’ve got caught up into your own or other’s spiritual experience, modern myths?

If you find yourself in either of those places today then what I pray you hear today, perhaps for the first time, is the true gospel. What surprised me about this text as I was studying and preparing for today is despite it’s overall context being about destructive leaders, the gospel actually shines pretty bright in it in an a very brilliant and unexpected way in the way it talks about the mind and the conscience. So let’s look at this second way we lead in either rebellion or redemption.

B. One’s Mind & One’s Conscience (v.15)

“One’s Mind and One’s Conscience.” Verse 15, “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.” This is a phenomenal verse because though it doesn’t use the word “gospel” it describes exactly what the gospel does and why we need it.

First, what does it mean to have your mind and conscience defiled? I got a real good experience of what it meant to be defiled the other night. Thursday night at about one in the morning my daughter woke up crying. I went into her room and she said her whole body hurt and when I touched her skin she was on fire. She had a temperature of 103.7 and she was crying. I picked her up into my arms and I was holding her and all of a sudden she started vomiting all over me. It was nasty, orange, smelly vomit all over my beard and my clothes. My wife made me take two showers before she let me into bed later.

That pretty much captures the word “defiled.” It’s a pretty grotesque word but what it gets at is the mind and the heart is sick and are not functioning properly. But why? Look at it. What does verse 15 say makes the mind and the heart defiled? Unbelief. “To the unbelieving, nothing is pure” and the result is the mind and the conscience get defiled.

That is huge. What this whole section focuses on is the difference between the rebellious and the redeemed. The rebellious mind does not work right, the way it reasons and thinks about things is corrupt, it doesn’t see the world and the self right. And the same thing with conscience, or we could even say heart. The rebellious heart does not work right, the way it feels and reacts and responds to things is corrupt. One commentator said, “the conscience gets darkened so it can barely hear the voice of God.”

What is so big about this is the way the gospel works. The word “redeem” means to buy back or restore to one’s former position or glory. What the gospel does, through belief in Jesus is purify the mind and the heart. When you acknowledge that you don’t think and feel correctly about things and that what you do think and feel is actually defiled, or polluted and that what you need is cleansing. The gospel says Jesus died for your defiled mind and heart so that it could be cleansed and made new.

The result is it is no longer about what you do anymore but about believing in, following and loving Jesus. That’s what purity is and that’s why Paul can say here, “To the pure, all things are pure.” If you’re just following Jesus you’re not going to end up in impure practices. So you don’t need to focus so much on what you’re doing or not doing you just need to focus on Jesus.

John Calvin says it this way, “Pollution is a filth which will spread to the whole man unless the heart is purified.” And that is the beautiful and good thing about the gospel, through faith in Jesus we begin to think differently and feel differently. The gospel changes us. And it’s good!

This is crazy here because usually when we think of rebellion we think about what we’re doing wrong, but here rebellion is not putting faith in, believing in and trusting Jesus. All sin, all sin flows out of a lack of faith in Jesus and trusting him alone is our only hope for change. True purity is having a passion for the savior! True purity is internal not external.

So where you at? Where’s your mind and your heart? How’s your faith? Is it an ongoing reality which effects the way your think and feel about everything?!!! Or is it just some back door thing of the past where you’re like, “yeah, I believe.”

May God grant us faith in his Son so that we will not be defiled in our minds and consciences and led into all kinds of impurity.

C. One’s God & One’s Works (v.16)

Okay, let’s move on and look at the third contrast here between the rebellious and the redeemed and that’s “One’s God and One’s Works.” Let me re-read verse 16. “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are destable, disobedient and unfit for any good work.”

My guess is that just reading that out loud to you all is probably pretty convicting for a lot of you without even a whole lot of explanation from me. I cannot tell you how many times I hear this. Probably at least three or four times in this last week in various meetings I had. It always comes out in something like this, “I know it in my head I just don’t feel it.” Sometimes it’s been said the longest distance is the twelve inches from your head to your heart.

According to this verse, that’s not true. My usual response to those who say “I know it in my head I just don’t feel it” is, “no, you don’t know it.” You don’t really get the gospel. That’s what this says. There’s a claim to know God, but your godless life shows you do not really know him.

That is serious. The Bible here has some serious words here about this condition. This word “destable” is sort of like defiled, it’s the word which gets used in the LXX for idol worship. When you’re living in this state you’re not really worshipping God you’re worshipping a false god which is usually yourself, you’re usually acting or living to please yourself rather than God.

And that is meaningless and worthless. This word “unfit” gets used to talk of some picturesque things. It used to talk of counterfeit coins, their useless. It’s used to talk about a solider who when the battle starts runs, he’s useless. And it’s used to talk of a stones, that because of their shape or compound are tossed aside and rejected by builders, they’re useless.

To say you believe in God but are not living for him does you no good. Whatever “good works” you do really are not good because of it, they’re corrupt. Why? Because you’re really doing it for yourself rather than God. Trying to get God to give you what you really want, which usually isn’t him but a desire to make the universe to go your way. That’s not worship that’s idolatry, it’s self-worship!

Look. I know I’m riled up. Here’s why. I know how serious this is and I am begging with you and pleading with you. If you’re claiming to be a Christian but are not really living for God something is seriously wrong…something has got to change. Please, I beg you. Come back to the gospel. Listen again. I don’t think you got it before.

Bryan Chapell, now the president of Covenant Theological Seminary, tells a story not unlike we’ve heard and seen several times in our midst. When I read it I was taken aback and amazed at his wisdom and how he responded to a new believer with the gospel on this subject.

He tells the story of a gay man who had begun to come to a church where he began to hear the true gospel for the first time. What he expected was what many from the homosexual community expect from us and that as a lot of judgment and rejection. But instead he heard that everyone had sin and struggles and that Jesus died for sinners and accepted all who put faith in him. After one Sunday he went up and told the pastor he was gay and asked if he had to stop being gay to become a Christian. Chapell tells the story how of in that moment the pastor was so tempted to say yes but realized it was not the gospel and would be telling him it was what he did or didn’t do that made him a Christian. So he told the man that Christ loved him and died for him and that he needed Jesus and to put his faith in him and Jesus would give him all of his perfect righteousness freely. So the man gave his life to Christ. But two days later he called the pastor one even in a struggle. He said he really believed in his head the gospel but didn’t know what to do because he really wanted to go out that night to find some male company for the evening and asked the pastor, “What do I do?” Chapell says the pastor then responded calmly and unalarmed, “Do whatever someone is to do who has been made as righteous as Christ.” And then he hung up the phone.

You see the answer for our hearts and temptation and sin and works that deny God is to further know, understand and believe the gospel. The more we realize the truth of who God is and what he has done for us in Jesus the more we will be empowered to live a life that is consistent with our confession.

Wherever you’re at today, whatever you’re dealing with, the answer is not to try harder the answer is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!

II. Leading in Refrain vs. Rebuke

Well let’s move on and talk about the response to rebellion our text commends to us. This is the difference between “Leading in Refrain vs. Rebuke” and there are three short examples of each.

A. Homes & Hell are at Stake (v.11,14,16)

The first one addresses the importance of this, “Homes and Hell are at Stake.” If you lead in the rebellion of unbelief and a focus and confidence in what you do or don’t do then you will destroy homes and send yourself on a hot road to hell. Verse 11, says that these kind of destructive leaders “are upsetting whole families” by teaching this. One translation says “ruining whole households.”

It’s been said that damaged doctrine damages people. That’s so true. The word in the Greek here is literally households and could imply either families like the ESV translates here, churches which met in houses, or both.

It’s true that small groups that meet in houses can easily be a hotbed for heresy, which is why we exercise such care and concern over our community groups and ministries of our church, in things like who the leaders are, what they’re talking about, what books or other tools are they reading or using. So this definitely includes that.

But the ESV is probably right here in translating families because this false teaching which puts confidence in religious works, the outward acts, and external purities most often directly effects the home. If you’ve got kids, it definitely plays out there.

Elyse Fitzpatrick recently came out with a great book my wife and a few other of you moms I know are reading. It’s called “Give Them Grace.” In it she writes, “Let’s face it: most of our children believe that God is happy if they’re “good for goodness’ sake.” We’ve transformed the holy, terrifying, magnificent, and loving God of the Bible into Santa and his elves. And instead of transmitting the gloriously liberating and life-changing truths of the gospel, we have taught our children that what God wants from them is morality. We have told them that being good (at least outwardly) is the be-all and end-all of their faith. This isn’t the gospel; we’re not handing down Christianity. We need much less of Veggie Tales and Barney and tons more of the radical, bloody, scandalous message of the God-man crushed by his Father for our sin. Instead of the gospel of grace, we’ve given them daily baths in a ‘sea of narcissistic moralism.’”

If you teach your children the law and not the gospel you will crush them and ruin your family.

In the first century when this was written one of other teachings these destructive leaders had bought into and passed around was they would be better off if they were not married and thus many were leaving their wives. Literally destroying their families. It’s amazing how often this happens today. A heresy creeps into a defiled mind and conscience which starts entertaining the thought that maybe life would be better without my husband or my wife.

Sure there are problems in marriage. You’ve got two sinners living together and sleeping together. But in this heresy the answer is separate rather than look to Jesus.

I had a phone call just three days ago as I was on my way to do pre-marital counseling with a couple. A friend of mine told me that one of our best friends from Bible college, we we’re both in each other’s wedding, have spent vacations together with our spouses. Really one of my best friends. I’ve been having trouble getting a hold of him which is why I called our mutual friend. On the phone he told me he had just found out that our friend has denied the faith and left his wife and doesn’t want anything more to do with us and that’s why he changed his phone number and isn’t responding.

I can’t tell you guys how many times I’ve heard this story and it breaks my heart every time. It always begins with a lie you begin to listen to and before you know it you’re deceived and turning away from the faith and your family. I’m telling you, your home and your life and eternity are at stake in this. What you believe effects those around you.

B. Truth is Better than Error (v.13-14)

Here’s the thing. “Truth is Better than Error.” The second to last thing here. Maybe some of this feels intense this morning. That’s okay. The deeper we dig the more diamonds we find. Here’s the diamond. In verse 13, it says the goal here in addressing all this is that we might “be sound in the faith.” “The faith” here with the definite article is The Faith that has been handed down through Jesus and the apostles in the Word. So get it, the whole goal is that we might believe in the gospel.

Why? Because it’s better. Verse 14 says when we don’t believe there is a turning “away from the truth.” We turn away from truth. But what do we turn away to? Empty and deceiving talk. Emptiness. We turn to other things and ideas and lifestyles that cannot satisfy. Only the truth of the gospel fits and fills the heart God gave us.

In verse 12, Paul masterfully quotes a Cretan prophet to help make his point. The quote, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons” shows not only what people thought of many from Crete but inherently acknowledges that God’s truth is better and you can’t get away from it.

I was thinking about this and wondering…what do people think of you? What’s you’re reputation? When people think of __________ , your name what comes to mind? What do they think of our church? Of our city? Of our country? Who are our prophets, the prophets of our land?

Our cultural prophets today most likely consist of the media, movies, & music artists…maybe a few authors in there too. Every once in awhile cultural prophets will say something that makes me turn my head and “I’m like wow, they got it right.”

A couple weeks ago I was sharing with my community group an article from the San Diego City Beat, which, if you’re not familiar with it is basically like the San Diego Reader with a little harder edge. I came across this article which was about the new court ruling that the state has to reduce it’s prison population by like 30,000 people or something. Most the article was political in nature but here’s the way it ended, this is the last paragraph, “What we’re not hearing is a more fundamental conversation about why so many people are being sent to prison. Yes, harsh sentencing laws are part of it, but we need to get down to the roots— down to broken communities, broken schools and broken families.”

I read that and I was taken aback. Our city knows there is something wrong with us. The Bible tells us what it is. Our hearts our sin factories and we need a savior and his name is Jesus.

What’s interesting about verse 14 on this is where it says the goal of turning to believe in the truth is to “be sound in the faith.” That word sound is interesting because it’s a medical term actually meaning healthy and not sick. The implication is it’s the truth of God which makes us well unlike anything else can do for us.

The truth is when it comes to truth, deep down we know what is really true. We’re simply either in rebellion or submission to it.

So real simple for us. We’re either always running toward the truth of God which is revealed in his word or we’re running away from it towards the words of others. What way are you running? God’s truth is better.

C. Silence Not Be Silent (v.11,13)

Okay, our last point for today, “Silence Not Be Silent.” The beginning of verse 11 says destructive people, like the ones we’ve been discussing, “they must be silenced.” The word silence here literally means “muzzled” like you would do to a dog to keep it from barking.

The problem with rebellious living and teaching is it spreads, easily and quickly it spreads and the way it spreads is by mouths. So these mouths must be muzzled and verse 13 tells us how. It says, “rebuke them sharply.” The word rebuke means to speak words against. Thus the way you correct false doctrine and false living is by using your mouth to do what it was created to do and that’s to make much of God.

What we’re called to here really is to silence others, not by physically restraining them but by declaring the wonderful truths of the gospel with our lips. The best way to rebuke is to shine light on the goodness of the gospel because it is far better than any belief system or lifestyle on planet earth. We are not to simply sit silent. We are to silence destructive doctrines and people.

We’ve already heard how serious and damaging it is to allow false teaching and living to go unchecked. Whole families get ruined and people turn to their own devices and head headlong toward hell. So we know it’s necessary. But here’s the other thing, one of the reasons I think Scripture here tells us to silence others…because it knows we won’t want to do it.

If you want to do it and you like doing it you’re probably not in the right heart and frame of mind. I mean if you’re like…”I love making people shut up,” that’s probably not good.

Most of us hate conflict. So we avoid it like the plague. It’s like the old Simon and Garfunkel song says, “People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening, People writing songs that voices never share, And no one dared, Disturb the sound of silence.” Empty talkers and no response but silence.

Look, I know you know what I’m talking about. When someone says something you know isn’t true but rather than speaking up you just don’t say anything. Or when someone wants to do something or is trying to make a decision about something and you don’t say anything. Instead you just let them run to swift destruction, often taking others with them. Don’t do that. Speak up. Silence don’t be silent.

So let me ask. Is there someone you know you need to talk to about something but you haven’t said anything yet…you’ve just been quiet? Is there someone you know you need to have a real heart to heart with? Have you just been too passive and not caring enough? Don’t be silent any longer. Look to God to give you the strength to say what you need to say.

Conclusion

Alright let’s conclude this morning. So last week I had a number of guys talk to me later and tell me last week’s sermon was heavy in hearing all that God expects of us but they all said the same thing…that they loved the end when we talked the grace God has provided for our failure to meet his expectation.

This week is similar. It might not be quite as heavy but here’s the truth. We’ve all, in one way or another been insubordinate and rebellious, we’ve deceived others either by our talk or actions, we’ve hurt people in our family, we’ve turned away from the truth, we’ve given over our minds and consciences to all kinds of impure thoughts and actions, we’ve all denied God and been disobedient toward him. We’re destructive.

But here’s the good news of the gospel…God sent his son to be destroyed and defiled on the cross for rebels and destroyers. Jesus died so that we might live. And here’s the cool thing that only the gospel can really do…guess what it does to us? It silences us, we are left standing in awe and in wonder and in thanks and adoration before a God who would be so kind.

I’m going to pray and we’re going to respond to God’s Word and come forward to receive the grace of his son displayed in his body and blood in the bread and the wine.

Some of you have just been talk talk and talking to avoid what’s really going on in you and you need to meet with God today.

Some of you have defiled your mind and heart and you need cleansing and for God to wash you clean and make you pure by the blood of his cross.

Some of you really have just been your own God and have been doing you’re own thing and you need to come and know the real and true living God who enables you not to just profess his existence but to truly live for him.

Some of you, you’re family is a mess either because of destructiveness you or someone else brought in and you need hope and healing.

Some of you have turned away from the truth and have just been listening to lies, it’s time to embrace the truth God has eternally planted in your heart.

Some of you just need to stand in awe of our great God. No words just adoration and worship.

Wherever you’re at today, respond to God’s Word and come and embrace Jesus for all that he and all he has done for us. He was destroyed so we might be delivered and might declare his greatness and goodness. Let’s go to him in prayer.

Blog | Sean Hutchinson

In this season of life and the ministry at the Resolved we are focusing on discipleship and leadership. Jesus has called us first to follow Him, to become a disciple, then to go into all the world and make disciples, to become a leader. This is a life long call and pursuit, both becoming a disciple and making disciples, and our prayer is that God would enable to take hold of His call and plan for our lives in discipleship and leadership.

Recently, I have really been challenged yet encouraged in this. Every other Thursday morning, dark and early, I get the joy of learning from and growing in discipleship with those who serve in leadership at the church. In Leadership Development and are currently working through a thick and heady book from Michael Wilkins on discipleship and what it means to follow Jesus as the Master. We rotate on leading and teaching chapters out of the book, learning from and challenging each other in our walk with and love for Jesus. “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). We musicians are not morning people but I am so stoked on Thursday mornings when I get to be sharpened by my pastors and leaders.

This last week Josh Feil took us through a look at the early church fathers and their perspective on what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus. We read about great men of the faith who fervently followed Jesus even unto martyrdom. We were reminded of the power of the Gospel that men were joyfully led to their death because of their unstoppable love for Jesus and the preaching of His Word.

But there is another side of Christian martyrdom, a call to be dead to sin and alive in Christ (Romans 6:11). Jesus tells the disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). Jesus is not asking us to all be physically crucified as He was. Rather, Jesus is calling us to be dead to sin but alive in His resurrection. As we sang last week, “Your love it beckons deeply / A call to come and die / By grace now I will come / And take this life / Take Your life / Sin has lost its power / Death has lost its sting / From the grave You’ve risen victoriously” (Charlie Hall).

Oh, what a beautiful death! For in the death of Christ we have life. When we die to ourselves the life of Christ comes bursting forth like the rising of the sun after a cold dark night. And one day our physical death will only be a transition into a glorious eternity with our Savior.

So here is a song to remind us that “to live is Christ, to die is gain” (Philippians 1:20), because God has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3-4).

———————–
ALL MY TEARS

When I go, don’t cry for me
In my Father’s arms I’ll be
The wounds this world left on my soul
Will all be healed and I’ll be whole.
Sun and moon will be replaced
With the light of Jesus’ face
And I will not be ashamed
For my Savior knows my name.

It don’t matter where you bury me,
I’ll be home and I’ll be free.
It don’t matter where I lay,
All my tears be washed away.

Gold and silver blind the eye
Temporary riches lie
Come and eat from heaven’s store,
Come and drink, and thirst no more

So, weep not for me my friends,
When my time below does end
For my life belongs to Him
Who will raise the dead again.

dē-kən – A servant officer who oversees the practical and material needs of the church.

On Sunday July 10th after our Sunday morning worship service we will be having a Deacon Day for those who are interested in deaconship in the church. Here’s what will happen…
• Lunch will be provided. We’ll start eating at noon.
• Pastor Duane will provide some teaching on the biblical description of deacons.
• Deacon Dan will give some vision and practical insight on the experience of being a deacon.
• We will divide into groups and have group interview discussions with everyone on how being a deacon may fit with your life and calling by God.

PLEASE REGISTER IF YOU PLAN ON COMING
This will help us to know how much food to plan for and how we can best structure the time.
Sign Up Here!

The Book of Titus | Making Leaders | Titus 1:5-9 | Pastor Duane Smets

This an exegetical sermon of Titus 1:5-9 which addresses the need for leaders, the example of leaders and the qualities of leaders. Particular attention is given to the plural elder model of church government, the importance of church planting and the qualities pastors need to possess in order to help teach and train others in those same characteristics. This sermon was originally preached on June 12th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

Listen

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The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com
(619) 393-1990 | contact@theresolved.com
All Rights Reserved © The Resolved Church

Permissions: you are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material provided you not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee. For web posting a link to this document is preferred.

The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
June 12th, 2011

Good LEADERS | The Book of Titus | 1:5-9
I. The Need For Good Leaders (v.5)
II. The Example of Good Leaders (v.6,9)
III. The Qualities of Good Leaders (v.6-9)

Introduction

This is our second week into our summer sermon series going through the book of Titus. Titus was a church planter involved in a number of young churches on the island of Crete and the apostle Paul wrote this public book letter both for him and the Crete churches and for us today that we might benefit and learn from it.

One of the things I’m so grateful to God about concerning the Bible is not only does it contain everything we need for life and godliness like 2 Peter 1:3 says but it also contains everything we need for being and doing church. The book of Titus is especially helpful for that.

Crete is a large island in the northeastern part of the Mediterranean sea and since Bible times has been an important passageway for commerce trade. Because of that it became strategic place for the going out of the gospel in the early church. In that way it’s not unlike our city, the city of San Diego…which due to it’s culture and climate and military and schools is one of the most transient or transitional places to live in the country…people are here for awhile and then gone. While that makes it difficult to plant and run a church here, it’s a great advantage for the spreading of the gospel.

The churches in Crete were young growing churches who had simply heard about who Jesus is and what he has done and the people were being changed by it. Then what happened is what happens a lot of times with new things…they grow.

When things first start out everything is sort of casual and cool. It may be disorganized and half hazard but it works because things are small and loose. But as things grow both in depth and in breadth, both the numbers of people and the messiness of lives being changed by the gospel begin to demand real, healthy, strong leaders with maturity who can manage and care for the people well in the midst of a lot of challenges.

That’s pretty much what we’ve experienced and what that does for us is put us in the direct line to receive the help and instruction from the book of Titus. It directly addresses our biggest need as a church right now and that is leaders. So we’ve called this series on the book of Titus, “Making Leaders.”

Last week we looked at the introduction to the book where we learned the biggest and most important principle of leadership and that is that God makes leaders. Ultimately all healthy and true leaders are that way because God designed and planned them to be and he is and has been at work in changing them and enabling them to be good leaders.

This week we launch into the body of the first chapter and look at the need, example and qualities of good leaders. So let’s read the text, pray over it and we’ll get into it. (read text and pray)

I. The Need For Good Leaders (v.5)

To begin, let’s talk about “The Need For Good Leaders.” In verse 5 we hear a glimpse of the historical situation in the first century which prompted the a number of events resulting in this letter we now have recorded as Scripture for all time. The nuts and bolts that we get straight from the text is Paul, the author of Titus, had been there with Titus…he “left” him there, churches were started, but Paul had not been there long enough to raise up and develop elders himself, so he “directed” Titus to do it and then he took off.

Now there’s a couple universal principles latent within the words of verse 5 here.

One, it takes time to develop leaders. When Paul was in Ephesus it took him three years (Acts 20:31).
Funny enough it took us a little over three years before we appointed our second elder here at The Resolved Church and since then it’s almost have been another three years when in a couple months we’ll likely appoint our third elder.

It takes time. We’ve had several guys that have come along but after getting to know them after a year plus, stuff starts coming out in their character or their life which shows they are really not quite there yet. In the six years that we have been a church we have had guys we thought would become pastors here that disqualified themselves with drugs, drunkenness, pornography, promiscuity, marital affairs, arrogance, and lack of commitment.

John Calvin says this, “The building of the Church is not a work so easy that it can be brought all at once to perfection.” It takes times to get the right guys. It’s why in 1 Timothy 5:22 Paul says not to be “hasty” in appointing elders, do is slow and careful and make sure they fit the bill.

The second principle here in verse 5 is the missional focus. Notice he says here “appoint elders in every town.” Crete was known as and referred to by Homer as the “island of a hundred cities.” So there is a vision here to plant churches in every one of these cities. It’s an affirmation of the principle we have seen throughout church history that the best way of reaching people for Christ is not so much through new and innovative ministries or evangelistic efforts outside the church but through planting churches.

Years ago now in 1991 C. Peter Wagner wrote “Church Planting is the most effective evangelistic strategy under heaven” and since then studies and statistics have proved it time and time again. In our own church we’ve seen several people become Christians. We want to see that trend continue and we want to plant other churches out of our church.

The third principle here in verse 5 is the clear identification and declaration that having multiple elders, a plurality of elders in each church is the model of church government the New Testament intends and instructs. We’ve got to deal with it at some point in this sermon, so I guess now is as good a time as any to talk about what an “elder” is.

In the Old Testament “elders” were the bearded ones. Which is why when we planted the church I grew out a mustache and a goatee. I’d do the full beard if I could but my face won’t cooperate. Now the word “elder” is an odd one. In our culture it often means elderly, like an old man. But that’s not the Bible’s idea of elder when it uses the word.

The book of Titus will specifically address “older men” in chapter two and in 1 Timothy 4:12 Pauls tells Timothy who was an elder in his mid thirties like myself ,“Let no one despise you for your youth.” When the church first got started in the first century “elders” were the guys who ran the Jewish synagogues, so a term that just got carried over. In order to differentiate the role, the New Testament uses a couple other terms. One is here in our passage in verse 7, “overseer.” See that? “For an overseer, as God’s steward…” It’s referring to the same elder role and underscoring that the role is being a steward God’s house. The word steward literally means housekeeper, as in a person who would manage the land and finances of a master’s estate. The overseer is literally the housekeeper of God.

The other term doesn’t occur here in Titus, it actually only occurs a few times in the Bible in reference to the leaders of the church and that’s the term “pastor.” It’s become the most popular term today for the primary church leaders but it refers to the exact same elder/overseer role. So elders, overseers and pastors are all the same thing. Got it?!

Alright, now back to the principle. I’ll just use the word pastor for you since a lot of you may not used to thinking of pastors as elders and re-read part of verse 5, “appoint pastors (plural) in every town.” So there are to be multiple pastors in each church in every town.

What we have is clear instruction on how the church is supposed to be set up and run. Commentator Donald Guthrie says this is, “an official endorsement of the plural elder system” of church government. John Stott writes, “the one-person pastorate is not a New Testament model of the local church.”

Here’s the point. Churches need leaders. My goal is not to bore you and get over technical with you here on church government but to highlight the point that the church needs leaders. Not just one but a lot of ‘em. That’s God’s design and intent for the church revealed in the Bible here. The Bible envisions team leadership for the church.

I’ll hit a few heart issues here real quick and then we’ll move on.

One, some of you have a real hard time with authority. I get that because I’ve been there. You don’t like hearing that there is supposed to be leaders who are over you that God means you to submit to. That may be because of a bad past experience, maybe a dude didn’t meet the qualification we’ll talk about in a second, or maybe he abused his role or whatever. Regardless, you can’t get away from the fact that God means for there to be elders in the church. An anti-authority attitude, when it comes down to it, every time, in one way or another, comes down to attitude of rebellion against God in your heart.

Two, some of you have a problem with church structure itself. This is sort of a subset of being anti-authority but in this one you just think community is all that matters and you see any structure as politics and unnecessary interference. Now community is super important, anyone who knows me knows I believe that. Yet, structure and systems are not a bad thing, they are a good thing, designed by God for our good. The lie is that things would be better and easier without having authority structures. It’s not true, not having it only creates confusion and inaccountability. As 1 Corinthians 14:33 says, “God is not a God of disorder but of peace.”

Three, some of you need to stop sitting back and just being a follower and letting others lead. You know there are areas and ways you could lead but you often opt just to be passive and it’s because you’re being lazy. God has gifted you and designed you to lead and if you’re not exercising that, you’re not only being disobedient but your squandering your talent and potential and the church is missing out what you have to bring to the table.

II. The Example of Good Leaders (v.6,9)

Alright, enough of me being mean. Let’s move on to our second point for today, “The Example of Good Leaders.” This is important, because in all this talk about church leaders it’s very easy to tune out and think, “oh I’m not a pastor so none of this applies to me” and you start reading this passage merely as a job qualifications list for hiring and firing pastors.

If you look at your Bibles a lot of them probably have even titled this paragraph “Qualifications for Elders.” That’s somewhat misleading. Sure that’s there, there is an official side to today’s text but at the same time there is an extremely practical reason why the leaders are supposed to be like this and that is because they are supposed to be able to lead by example and help everyone else become like the person described here. That’s why I used the word “leader” in my sermon title and outline, to help get that point across. Today is not just about pastors, though it includes them, it’s about all of us.

As I said last week, if you’re a Christian God means for you to be a leader. There are different spheres and places we lead. So if you’re a mom, you’re leading your kids. At your job, you ought to be leading your co-workers and your clients. Men are meant to lead their families. If you’re a student, you’re to lead your friends. In church we all lead one another in different ways. Everywhere you turn you’re either going to be a leader or a follower and God means for his people to be forces of influence for his glory in every sphere of life.

Look at verse 6 with me. Verse 6 says, “If anyone is above reproach.” This phrase “above reproach” is a real interesting phrase. It literally means “unaccused” or “unimpeachable.” The idea is among both the church community and among those outside the church a leader is someone who is observed and in that observing of them, there are no disqualifying marks but rather the leader has shown themselves to be a model to follow.

Now being “above reproach” doesn’t mean “sinless” or “perfect” or no one would ever be a leader. Jesus is the only one who meets that standard. Above reproach here means this is the normal tenor or character of a person’s life. Real simple, leaders often are obvious because you see it by how they carry themselves and by what they do.

It’s natural thing. There’s a real good example in the news right now. So say it comes out that you are sexting pictures of yourself in your underwear to teenage girls. Automatically, without much thought needed, the outcry from the community rises because the person has become accusable or reproachable.

The goal of every Christian ought to be living a life that is pleasing to God in accordance with God’s word and when they realize something is out of sync they quickly repent, not just with sorrow but change. But if there is an ongoing, unrepentant lifestyle happening…then really you’re not only showing yourself not to be a leader but demonstrating you’re not really even a Christian.

This is what we talked about earlier in that it takes time to find and establish leaders, because you have to watch and observe their life. It’s one of the reasons we don’t call anyone an elder or a pastor until they’ve proven themselves over time. Until then we just say leader, be a leader and then the title comes later. Too often the title can be the motivator which is really a desire for prestige or power when really the whole purpose of the role is simply to care for and lead others not lord over them.

You hear it real clear in verse 9 it when it says leaders are supposed “give instruction.” It’s so important for leaders to be above reproach because as a leader your job is to instruct others but if you are not living the way you are calling others to live, that’s hypocrisy and no one is going to listen to you and they shouldn’t.

Okay, so do two things for me. One, stop for a second and think of all the different things you are involved in amidst your life. Where are you or is there opportunity to lead? You’re meant to be a leader, are you leading? Two, here’s a real good test for being “above reproach.” Think of one week of your life, a normal week. If we were to do a reality show on your life and just follow you around with a camera 24-7 what would we see? Would we see you and learn and want to follow your example or would we want nothing more to do with you?

Your example matters. May God help us lead lives that reflect his glory, goodness and grace.

III. The Qualities of Good Leaders (v.6-9)

Okay, let’s move on to “The Qualities of Good Leaders.” I called it qualities instead of qualifications to hint at what we’ve just been talking about, that this passage though it’s listing some things that elders must be it does so because they are supposed to help everyone else become like this too.

In 1 Timothy 3 where Paul gives almost an identical list he follows it up by saying, “put these things before the brothers (1 Tim 4:6).” The idea is encourage everyone to be this kind of person. Now with that, the list also does set a standard which elders must meet. So I could’ve titled this point, “how to get myself fired.”

What I’ve got for us to help break it down is five divisions. There are fifteen qualities here and each fall into one of these camps: relation to God, relation to family, relation to others, relation to self and relation to opponents.

So we’ll go through each of these. But before we do I’ll tell you a story which helps illustrate why each of these qualities is so important.

In 1958 the Navy built the first real nuclear powered attack submarine. It took five years to build and finally one early morning in 1963 it set out off the coast of Cape Cod for testing. It got out about 220 miles and then began to take its first deep sea plunge. The sub was nearly 300 feet long and weighed about 3500 tons. As it began to dive and the water pressure mounted there was one joint in the piping system which had not been inspected correctly and the joint broke causing the entire sub to implode, sink to the bottom of the ocean and it killed the entire crew.

One of our church members is a welding inspector and he was telling me this story this last week and immediately it made me think of our text today because looking at these qualities is like looking at our joints. We’ve got these five main joints, our relation to God, our relation to our family, our relation to others, our relation to our self and our relation to opponents and if any one these joints are broken it will cause us to implode and we’ll take a bunch of people down with us.

Each on of these things here in God’s Word are so important. So let’s go through ‘em.

Relation to God

First, our relation to God: we’re a steward of God’s house, to be above reproach, hold firm the trustworthy word.

As a steward of God’s house, it means he’s entrusted things to us. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 we’re told our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit he has entrusted to us. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells us all of our money is God’s money that he has entrusted to us to steward well. In 1 Peter 4 we’re told all of our gifts and talents come from God who has entrusted us to use for his glory. And here in Titus God has entrusted to us his church. The idea drives at our personal responsibility. Being a steward of God’s house bars you from thinking of church just as something you go to and instead is something you must take care of.

In verse 7 we see and here that phrase “above reproach” we’ve already talked about a bunch, but it gets repeated there and this time in relation to God. Before it’s being above reproach before others here it’s being above reproach before God. Remember we talked about having a video camera follow you around 24-7 to watch everything. Here’s thing when it comes to God. He sees everything. Hebrews 4:13 says everything is uncovered before “the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.” God sees everything.

There should not be anything in our lives we would be ashamed of before God. With God you can’t have any skeletons in the closet, things you’re hiding. He calls us to walk in the light and have everything exposed. The Christian life is meant to be the open life. I try to say it often…my life is an open book and if there’s anything that’s questionable I want to know about it and be talked to about it.

At the end of our passage in verse 9 is other relation to God that matters and that is our relation to his word. It says the example we are to lead and follow is of one who “hold(s) firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may give instruction in sound doctrine.” For pastors this definitely means he needs to be educated in the Bible, know what it says, and firmly be convinced it is true. Too many pastors don’t put their confidence in the Bible but in their strategy or methods. Our confidence must be in the word, that the word of God does the work of God.

A biography of John MacArthur written by Ian Murray just came out. John MacArthur is a pastor in LA of Grace Community Church and has been so for over 40 years. I’ve been there before. There’s nothing flashy about the place, but the church has flourished and grown into one of the largest church in the country under their simple dedication to putting a huge focus on just preaching and teaching the Bible week in and week out.

Ian Murray writes this, “It has been a ministry marked by characteristics that re-appear in every spiritual advance – not concern for ‘relevance’; not special attractions for young or old, male or female; but love for God and dependence on his Word and promises. MacArthur has proved, without ever intending to do so, that true preaching of the Word of God is international, “because if you teach the Bible it transcends every border, every language, every culture. It is as relevant today, and will be tomorrow, as in all the years since God put it down.”

But holding firm to the word is not just for pastors is it? It’s for all of us. The phrase “holding firm” could be translated as “clinging to.” Imagine a person drowning in the middle of the ocean who gets thrown a life-line. When he does, he grabs ahold of that rope and he clings to it. That is what we are supposed to do with God’s word, “cling to it” with the fervor of a drowning man lost in a sea of ideas, philosophies and religions among the world. We can trust God’s word because it’s trustworthy as nothing else is.

That’s our relation to God. We live our lives before him above reproach, we’re his stewards, and we cling to his word.

Relation to Family

Now our relation to family. Two things are in view here a person’s marriage and their kids. We’re still in verse six. The man is to be “the husband of one wife, and his children are believers not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.”

First let’s talk about marriage, “the husband of one wife” literally a one woman man. Now officially when it comes to these being qualifications for a pastor, there are the obvious things here that he’s got to be a dude, not be hooking up with multiple women and probably not divorced. When you look at the culture of Crete concubines and divorce was rampant. But the way this phrase is constructed drives deeper than just a rule.

In the Greek text these words are set right against each other and the idea really is the man’s devotion to his wife, that he is all about that one woman. As Ephesians 5:25 says, the husband is to “love his wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Being a one woman man digs not just into the outward actions but the internal affection toward her in all things. One Greek commentator rightly noted that this even extends to the sex life of a man in his thoughts and actions, he is solely with and for his wife.

Now if you’re single it means you’re saving yourself for that one woman. And if you’re a gal the same principle goes for you that you’re a one man woman.

Second here in relation to family is kids. What the text is getting at with a man’s children being believers not open to charge of debauchery or insubordination is that they follow his lead. The man is meant to lead and teach his family the faith and he is meant to discipline his children. Debauchery is being reckless and insubordination is being rebellious.

The idea here for leaders of the church is as 1 Timothy 3:5 states, “if a man does not know how to manage his own household how will he care for God’s church.” It’s simple logic. Every dad is meant to be a pastor of his home and for every pastor, his home is the first church he pastors. The home is meant to be the training ground for church leaders. The good dads become the pastors of the church.

I mean really, if you can’t get your kids, who are exposed to your life and teaching more than anyone else…if you can’t get your kids to follow you in the faith what makes you think you’ll be able to get anyone else to follow you? If you’re kids don’t respect you and are reckless and rebel against you what makes you think people in the church are not going to do the same?

What Scripture is demanding of it’s leaders here is no less than what it demands of every dad. And if you don’t have kids yet the principle still stand for you. Can you teach the kids in Sunday school and they get it? Do you watch out for the safety of the kids in the church, physically and spiritually.

And moms you’re included in this as well. I know it’s primarily got the man in view here because he is ultimately responsible before God for what happens in your home, but you’re often the one who implements his lead. Do your kids follow your example of love for Jesus? Do they respect and listen to you? Dads, do you make sure mom is respected?

For pastors the text here clearly demands that your marriage and children be solid. If stuff isn’t right in your marriage and your children are out of control it disqualifies you and you’re not ready or in a place where you can be a pastor. That’s why we heavily inspect and watch a man’s marriage and the way he parents before ever calling him up to be a pastor at The Resolved.

It’s so important for the pastors to be this way because it’s part of their job to try and help teach and train the other dads how to be good husbands and good dads. I mean it, if I ever cheat on my wife, even by going to a website I shouldn’t or if one of my kids denies the faith and God’s Word and I let them live in my house…if either one of those things happen I will quit being a pastor of this church and you should know that’s grounds for firing me. We’re not messing around here with this church thing. This is our lives and our families.

Relation to Others

Alright, let’s move on to our relation to others. We’ve got five vices here in verse 7 and I’m going to fire through them quick. Five nots. Not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not drunkard, not violent, and not greedy.

Not arrogant means you can’t be a know it all. To be a good leader who teaches and influences others you’ve got to be humble and teachable your self. You’re really a chief learner always listening and learning.

Not quick-tempered means you don’t get angry easily. You’re quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Actually caring for people is like standing near a puddle, you’re going to get wet. We are all tainted and messed up because of sin and often times when you try to care for other you get bit because of it and it’s easy to get angry. But if you do you end up hurting people and making things worse.

Not a drunkard means you’re free from controlling substances. If you’ve got to use alcohol to cope or function in life, you’re looking to and relying on the wrong savior. Basically don’t be Donald Draper. Alcohol is not bad, it’s okay to enjoy a beer or two it’s what happens when you have too much that brings destructive results. Not drinking alcohol is not the answer, self-control is.

Not violent. This one often goes hand in hand with quick-tempered and drunkard. The word in Greek is “plektes” which usually meant a person who like to brawl. The old King James version translates it striker. Either physically or verbally, this one gets at someone who like to fight. It’s the opposite of being gentle. It’s being argumentative and forceful.

Not greedy has money in view. It’s when you think if you just had enough money then things would be better or when your confidence is in how much money you have. Money can become an idol either way. It’s entrapment and greed either way.

Each one of these things, not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not drunkard, not violent, and not greedy are all things which are perceivable by other people because they are the ones who are effected by them. The way you treat others by managing yourself matters.

Relation To Self

Okay, now relation to self. We’ll fire through these too. Six virtues here in verse 8. Hospitable, lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

To be hospitable literally means to welcome people into your home. The principle is being friendly and letting new people in to get to know you. And this applies both to people in the church and outside the church. You need to invite other people over and in to see how you live.

To be a lover of good means your inclinations have been transformed by the gospel so you don’t delight in wickedness but always want what is good and best…it’s the valuing of the things we naturally know are good and true.

To be self-controlled actually admits there is still remaining sin in us but as Galatians 5 states, through Jesus’ Spirit living in us, we learn to reign in and master our sinful passions and inclinations…by God’s grace and help we can control them…push them down and bring ‘em in.

To be upright is to be just and fair. Not underhanded and scheming. Your honest and truthful in all your dealings.

To be holy involves a passion and pursuit of purity in your internal heart and life before God. Like the song we sang earlier, “Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee.” That’s a prayer for holiness…for God to purify our hearts and lives. You’ve got to care about holiness.

Then to be disciplined. This means you’ve developed holy habits. Things like spending time with Jesus reading the Bible and praying every day. To be disciplined means you’ve developed some consistency and stability in your spiritual life.

Each of these things, being hospitable, loving good, having self-control, being upright, holy and disciplined…each one matters. How you function internally effects everything.

Relation To Opponents

Lastly today we have our relation to opponents. This is the last part of verse 8 which says not only are we to “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught” and “give instruction in sound doctrine” but we are to “rebuke those who contradict it.”

To rebuke here is to refute, confront or challenge winsomely one who is not holding to the word wherein there is sound doctrine. To be a leader means you can’t just sit on the sidelines and hope and wish people will magically get straightened out. No. Change most often happens when we are confronted and challenged.

I see two ways this one plays out. One is with those outside the church. Too many Christians don’t know what they actually believe, what Christianity actually teaches and even less know what other religions and philosophies teach. We are called here to be smart. You ought to know and learn other belief systems and how Christianity is different so you can actually have a healthy conversation with people coming from a different viewpoint. If you don’t know the word and you don’t know false doctrine it will be very hard to refute other ideas when you encounter them.

The other way this plays out is in church discipline. Often times the biggest opponents we face are those among us. It’s not fun but it’s part of really loving one another to tell each other when we’re denying the word and blindly running toward a cliff.

In Matthew 18 Jesus outlines real clearly how that’s suppose to happen in the church. When someone you love and care about is caught in a sin you go them alone and you do what it says here, you “rebuke” them. If they don’t listen you go get another church member and sit them down and together rebuke them. If they person still will not repent then you go get a pastor and if they won’t listen even to the pastor then the person has revealed they are really not a church member and are not welcome among the church anymore.

Refuting opponents means you’ve got to have somewhat of a spine. You got to get a little backbone. This goes for everybody but especially pastors. I swear half my job seems to be calling people out on stuff. I don’t enjoy it but the lives are at stake as well as the purity of the church. A pastor who will not call people out on stuff is not fit to be a pastor because he just becomes a weak enabler.

If I don’t call people out on things like drunkenness, husbands loving their wives and providing, parents parenting, single people dating unbelievers, arrogance, anger, discipline…all this stuff, then I’m not a good pastor. And you don’t call people out on that stuff too you’re a bad leader and a bad Christian. We can love better than that.

This stuff matters. The truth of the gospel and the way we live our lives matters. We can’t afford to let either slip away. So know the word, live by the word, instruct one another in the word, and rebuke deviations from the word. Okay?

Conclusion

Alright, we’ve hit a lot today. Let’s conclude.

I’ll be really honest with all of you. Reading and studying this passage in depth this week was really convicting. This passage is like a surgeon’s knife filet-ing open the heart and showing everything beneath. Personally I might keep a real good tight reign on making sure I meet all these qualifications. I mean I have ‘em memorized, they’re in my phone and I take ‘em seriously.

But if I told you I don’t have to fight the temptation to be a lazy husband and dad, if I told you I don’t have to fight arrogance and anger or greed…I’d be lying. I’m not detached and patting myself on the back as a pastor for meeting all these qualifications. I figure there’s a lot of you today who maybe in hearing all of this and what God’s word calls us to here feel like it might seem like this dark heavy cloud hanging over you.

What I want to say to you is this. Only Jesus meets all of this perfectly and he did it all for us, for all of us who have failed at every point. And because of that, through his life, death and resurrection we get grace and that changes us and makes us like him.

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.“ Know today that because Jesus died there is forgiveness for failure in these areas. There is cleansing where he washes all the junk away with his blood shed on the cross and we get to start new and fresh. This is why the gospel is good news, because there is hope for us.

If we are below reproach, many women men, have rebellious children, don’t care about God’s church, are arrogant, quick-tempered, drunks, violent, greedy, unwelcoming, love evil, have no control, are unjust, unholy and undisciplined, don’t believe and trust God’s word and never call anyone out…guess what there is hope because Jesus lived and died and rose.

What we need is to know the depth of his grace and forgiveness and that changes our hearts so that we can look at these qualities and see how he bringing them about in us and enabling us to be what we could never be on our own. If you try, you will fail. If you turn to Jesus he will enable you.

So as we come to the table today to remember and celebrate Jesus death and resurrection in our reception of the bread and wine in the Lord’s supper respond this way.

Admit to God, who sees and knows everything already, admit to him where you fall short and need change. Then accept his provision of Jesus for you. Acknowledge you could never achieve this on your own and ask him to change you and make you into the leader he designed you and calls you to be.

Maybe you feel like that submarine and you’ve already imploded, the good news of the gospel is Jesus is alive and he can resurrect you and give you new life.

Let’s pray.

On July 17th we have a few people who will be baptized. If you’d like to be baptized please read the rest of this post and fill out the form below.

Acts 2:37 “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

What is baptism? Baptism in Jesus’ time it was a pretty common cultural practice. When people converted to Judaism and wanted to become Jews they would baptize them. And then there were baptisms for all kinds of stuff, whether it was just washing up for meals or for other religious purifications.

The whole thing is all about this…water is a natural cleansing agent. That’s why most of us take showers regularly and wash our hands. Water makes us clean. In the Bible water is a symbol for spiritual cleansing. We don’t just get physically dirty but spiritually dirty. Sin which is our living apart from God, living for ourselves, seeking and enjoying things we know we shouldn’t makes our spirit or our soul dirty.

The message of the gospel is that Jesus cleanses us. He takes all of the dirt onto himself on the cross so that we can be forgiven and wiped clean and renewed into a right relationship with God. When that happens in us Jesus says to get baptized to seal the deal. Not because the physical washing of the water actually does anything for us spiritually, but because it’s an outward picture or demonstration of what he has done for us spiritually.

Believers in Jesus throughout the ages have been baptized as a sign of their love and commitment to him. Here’s a video of a few people being baptized at The Resolved last year. This year we are baptizing people on Easter Sunday. If you’re interested in getting baptized please fill out this

The Resolved Church and Acts 29 pastors will be hosting a special conference event with special guest speaker DAVE KRAFT on August 19-20th. The conference is only $50 which includes lunch on Saturday, Dave Kraft’s book Leaders Who Last and all the sessions and topics addressed. The conference structure will include worship, preaching and teaching, and group processing discussion with your table and/or team.

For more details go to www.leaderstheconference.com

Main Sessions
Dave Kraft – “A Credible Life”
Duane Smets – “Learning From Other Leaders”
Dave Kraft – “A Compelling Vision”
Tim Cain – “Leading By Example”
Dave Kraft: – “A Cohesive Team”

Breakouts
• Dave Fandey – “Leading Your Wife & Kids”
• John Alwood – “Leading Without Burning Out”
• Jake Chambers – “Leading College Students”
• Jesse Winkler – “Leading A Church Plan”
• Josh Cass & Sean Hutchinson – “Leading Church Worship”
• Duane Smets – “Leading A Life Mission”

If you’re a member of The Resolved Church, thinking about becoming one, or just want to experience a little of the behind the scenes action of the church…then stay after our morning worship service on Sunday. For members this is an important time for us to talk together about the in-workings of our church and an opportunity to share reports, ask questions and take care of any needed business.

• Date: August 21st
• Time: 12-1:30pm
• Food: Provided
• What: Review, Report & Elder Confirmation