Sunday, November 02, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Wise Words from Mark Driscoll for Anyone Who Desires to Preach the Gospel to All People
Mark Driscoll's Sermon
grace and peace,
naak
(These are notes taken during the session and provided by Desiring God, not a manuscript.)
I was asked to speak on “Christ, Controversy, and Cutting Words.” The big idea is that some go too far, and some don’t go far enough. We’re going to spend some time reading Scripture, including Scriptures that some may not be comfortable with.
1. Christians are to feed the sheep.
We deal with different people differently, and we have to discern who goes into what category. When we’re dealing with Christians, the effort should be to love, encourage, grow them. I love my people with all my heart, and I’ve given them my life. I’ve told them I’m preaching my own funeral. That’s how I intend to go out. I love and adore my people.
We see this in the ministry of Jesus. He speaks to the woman at the well in a loving way. Jesus speaks like this to Zaccheus. Romans 14 shows us this as well. Paul says “It doesn’t matter what you eat or don’t eat. Love your brother.”
Ephesians 4:32 - “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” This is speaking of sheep. We’re not supposed to be kind to wolves or false teachers. We’re not to be kind to those speaking false doctrine. Some Christians, when you begin to critique others, quote Eph. 4:32. We are supposed to be kind, but to one another. We are not to be kind to wolves.
2. Rebuke the swine.
These are people who are habitually unrepentant in their sin. Their not acting like sheep, though they claim to be. Paul tells Timothy to rebuke with all authority.
Isaiah 3:16-24 - “The Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet, therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; the signet rings and nose rings; the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils. Instead of perfume there will be rottenness; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty.”
We read that and say, “That’s fine,” unless you are that woman, unless that’s your daughter or wife. All of a sudden, you are offended because the God of the universe has opinions about accessories. Here God rebukes women for their sin.
Whole books of the Bible are devoted to rebuke in a satirical way. The whole book of Amos is a satirical rebuke.
Amos 4:1 - “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’”
You laugh because you don’t think he’s talking about you. I’ve never seen a culture where a woman likes being called a cow.
These women live in very nice homes up on the mountains. They are very rich. God shows up to these women and says, “The clothes you are wearing were made in a sweatshop and your nanny is an illegal immigrant. I know your gal pals are part of the local Rotary Club. I’ve decided to call you the cows of Bashan.” It’s funny, and you can laugh, even though it’s a nervous laughter. Some would say, “I would never say that.” God said that.
Amos 6:4-6 - “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music, who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!”
Woe to you who roll around in Escalades and wear lots of bling and lay around on couches hoping you can get onto MTV Cribs. This is God’s way of rebuking the sheep who are acting like swine. Their consciences are so broken that apart from a storng rebuke, they will not be changed.
Again, we don’t think God is talking about us. How many of us are in debt with buying things to impress people. The Bible is okay when it’s talking about them. But it’s painfully read when it’s talking about us.
Ezekiel 16:26-28 - “You also played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger. Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you and diminished your allotted portion and delivered you to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. You played the whore also with the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied.”
I was listening to Christian radio recently, and it said “We are safe for the whole family.” The DJ read the verse of the day, and I knew it wouldn’t be this one.
Ezek 23:18-21 “When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt and lusted after her paramours there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed your young breasts.”
Some translations translate “semen.” God is rebuking his people for idolatry, sin, and sexual perversion.
Today we use euphemisms like “Having an affair.” I can’t handle it. A pastor having sex with someone not his wife is not an affair. It’s adultery. We use good words for good things and bad words for bad things, and we confuse people when we use good words for bad things.
More money is spent on pornography than on foreign aid. A porn film is made in this country every forty minutes. When you’re in the middle of a war you sometimes have to bring out the big guns.
Proverbs rebukes the sluggard. He’s talking about you 20 year old bloggers who live with your mom and sleep in Star Wars sheets.
Prov. 22:13 - “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!’”
Prov. 19:24 - “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.”
Proverbs also rebukes women, calling them dripping faucets. It’s better to live on the corner of a roof than on a house with a quarrelsome woman.
Rebuke the swine. You don’t rebuke the sheep. If a guy comes in and says, “I was reading my Bible and didn’t understand it,” you don’t rebuke him.
3. Shoot the wolves.
These are false teachers. Martin Luther says, “With the wolves you cannot be too severe. With the weak sheep you cannot be too gentle.” People only see me on the stage losing my mind but not praying with rape victims afterwards.
My point is that many of us have become worldly, thinking that you only say certain words. Wordliness is not having courage or speaking truthfully. We worship a guy who got murdered. The cross is an offense, and if we don’t speak of it in an offensive way at times, we may be false teachers.
Each of us to varying degrees is a hypocrite. We worship what we do or do not do instead of what Jesus did for us. The Pharisees were the devoted Biblicists. You love it when Jesus rebukes the Pharisees, but you don’t think you are on their team. When you read this, put yourself, your church, your denomination in this passage.
Matthew 23:13 - “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.”
You are so worried talking about what you should be against that you don’t win people to Jesus.
Matthew 23:16-21 - “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it.”
These are people that have memorized the entire Pentateuch. Didn’t Jesus tell us not to call people fools? He did. We should call fools fools. That takes discernment.
“You can’t call me blind. I went to seminary!”
Matthew 23:23-24 - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!”
You tithe out of your spice rack. You’re that legalistic.
Matthew 23:25-26 - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.”
You look nice, you put your makeup on, ladies, you comb your hair, gentleman. You look wonderful to everyone but God who sees the heart.
Matthew 23:27-28 - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
“He’s amazing! He’s memorized verses! He’s read books and paid attention to the footnotes!”
Matthew 23:29-33 - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”
There is a propensity for those who are Pharisees to read the Bible and think things would have been different if you were there. You would have done worse, and so would I.
These are church-going folks, they teach Sunday school, they have memorized books of the Bible, they have given their lives to teaching Scriptures, they have masters degrees in theology, and he says “How can you possibly escape being sent to hell?”
Matthew 23:34-35 - “Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.”
Jesus shoots the wolves. Some of you get very frustrated because you want to be treated like sheep, but the problem is you are acting like wolves. We are supposed to love the sheep and shoot the wolves because we love the sheep.
Consider the following examples from the New Testament:
Philippians 3:2 - “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.”
Colossians 2:8 - “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”
Colossians 2:18 - “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind.”
1 Timothy 1:3-7 - “As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.”
1 Timothy 1:19 - “…holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith”
1 Timothy 4:1-2 - “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared.”
1 Timothy 4:7 - “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness.”
1 Timothy 6:3-5 - “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”
2 Timothy 2:14-18 - “Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.”
2 Timothy 2:23 - “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.”
Titus 1:10-14 - “For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.”
2 Peter 2:1-3 - “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
2 Peter 3:16 - “as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”
1 John 2:18 - “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.”
We feed the sheep, we rebuke the swine, we shoot the wolves. Paul does it. Look at Galatians 5.
You cannot allow Victorian nicety to define what is love and then judge the God of the Bible by Victorian niceness.
Galatians 5:11-12 - “But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!”
The Judaizers are saying “Jesus plus circumcision.” Jesus plus anything for justification ruins everything. This is a very serious issue. The gun needs to be loaded and wolves need to be shot when they are hurting the sheep.
I once had a guy who wanted to talk about paedocommunion. I told him you have more important things to do than argue about paedocommunion. He said “I’m willing to fight over this issue.” I said, “I’m not.” Some people won’t fight for anything. Some fight for everything. Paul here is fighting for the sake of the gospel and the welfare and his church.
The cross is offensive by itself. We will offend people by preaching it. What we believe is so offensive that half the pastors don’t want to talk about it. Seminaries are saying “Don’t say that; you might get hurt.” The guy who first preached it got murdered. I don’t expect anything better.
Every seminary graduate should get a Bible and a cup, and that will set them for their future.
These people in Galatians 5 are saying a little circumcision makes you closer to God. Paul is saying, “Go varsity.” Some of you wouldn’t say that to your people. You don’t say that to sheep. You say that to wolves.
Paul goes on to say, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:13-14).
Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is destroy someone before they go to hell and are ultimately destroyed suffering forever.
People love to prooftext verses, and they don’t read the context. The guy who said “love one another” prefaced it by saying “cut your thing off.”
Paul even names people sometimes who are false teachers. He is saying,”Don’t read their books, go to their conferences, etc.”
1 Timothy 1:19-20 - “…holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.”
2 Timothy 2:17 - “and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus.”
2 Timothy 4:14 - “Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.”
You shoot the wolves, and occasionally you have to name them.
We’ll talk about Martin Luther, the man who, outside of Scripture, elevated this into an art form. Some of you would judge Luther and say he was too hotheaded. Well, we got the Reformation out of it.
Luther said that he has “not been hesitant to bite my adversaries….What good does salt do if it does not bite? What good does the sword do if it will not cut?”
We are told that our speech is to be seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6). You know what salt is? Salty.
The Papists would never quote verses. Luther called on them to quote Scripture, calling them “coarse asses.”
Luther often debated Erasmus of Rotterdam. “Erasmus of Rotterdam is the vilest miscreant that ever disgraced the earth. Shame upon thee, accursed wretch! Whenever I pray, I pray for a curse upon Erasmus.” Some of you will say, “I think he has anger issues. I don’t think he’s stable. If we gave him meds and concert tickets to John Tesh, I think he’d do better.”
Here’s what he says of his anger: “I have no better remedy than anger. If I want to write, pray, preach well, I must be angry. My entire blood supply refreshes me….My mind is made keen and all temptations depart.”
Feed the sheep, rebuke the swine, shoot the wolves.
4. Bark at the dogs.
These are religious people. Barking at them is mocking them, making fun of them.
The Bible uses humor often in a prophetic way to show the hypocrisy and vanity of people who are religious, who seek to appropriate their own righteousness apart from what Jesus has done. It either leads to despair or pride. Those who despair tend to leave the church. Those who are proud tend to be elevated to the leadership.
Some of you will say, “Should we use satire?” The Bible does. Psalm 1 doesn’t say, “Don’t be a mocker.” It says, “Don’t mock God.” Throughout the rest of the Psalms, God mocks people.
Religion is ridiculous. Jesus is wonderful. The two are totally different.
Most pastors call sinners to repentance and not religious people. The sinners think you are calling them to religion, and the religious think they are better than everyone else. God commands all men everywhere to repent, including religious people. You are not a faithful teacher if you don’t call religious people to repent. By satire, the Bible shows that people take themselves way too seriously and God way too lightly. This is love for those who are confused about the gospel.
Exodus 32:24 - “So I [Aaron] said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
Isaiah 64:6 (NIV) - “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
He’s talking about religious righteousness, imputing my own righteousness to myself. “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Those are bloody tampons. It’s supposed to be disgusting. Standing before God saying “Here’s my righteousness” and it’s other than the person and work of Jesus, it’s a bloody tampon. Do you know that our religion is that disgusting to God?
1 Kings 18:26-27 - “And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
There’s a cage fight up on the mountain. Elijah’s determined. Coming as well are the prophets of Baal, and they want their god to show up and make his magnificence known, and he doesn’t show up at all. Elijah mocked them.
Isaiah 44:15-17 - “Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, ‘Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!’ And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, ‘Deliver me, for you are my god!’”
Isaiah mocks a guy who makes his own god out of a piece of wood. It takes amazing skill to know which end of the log is for worship and which is for burning wood. That’s hilarious. This is like a lumberjack out in the woods saying “Alright, boys. I know you’re new. This end of the log is for worship. And this end of the log is for firewood.”
Some people say that Jesus wasn’t funny. Jesus was funny. Elton Trueblood wrote “The Humor of Christ” saying that once we realize Christ was not always engaged in pious talk, we are on the road to understanding.
There are some things Jesus said that, unless you understand his humor, you won’t understand.
Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven ( Matthew 19:24 ). I love to hear commentators deal with this verse, because they don’t get the humor.
How about the plank and the sawdust story ( Matthew 7:1-5 )?
Jesus mocked religious people. He mocked the way they prayed. He mocked the way they tithed and fasted.
The disciples came to him in Matthew 15:12 and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” You can picture Jesus saying, “Really? It bothered them? I had no idea that would happen.”
Matthew 11:6 : “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
The only way not to be offended by Jesus is to repent. Religious people preach repentance but don’t practice it. Martin Luther began the 95 theses with “All of a Chrsitian’s life is one of repentance.” If you want to be a heretic, just stop repenting. If you want to miss the grace of God, be offended by Jesus instead of laughing with him at your silly self.
Paul said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.”
The Philippians passage is where the dynamite is buried. Philippians 3. Paul has talked about his qualifications. He talks about his religion this way: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” ( Philippians 3:7-8 ).
The debate is over what Paul means by “rubbish” or “dung”. How far do you go in barking at the dogs, in making fun of religious people?
Daniel Wallace has a PhD from Dallas Theological Seminary. He has taught Greek at the graduate level since 1979. He has a Greek grammar and is the senior New Testament editor of the NET Bible. If you’re a blogger, he’s smarter than you. I know he’s smarter than me.
Here’s what he says: “In Hellenistic Greek, it [the word for “rubbish”] seems to stand somewhere between “crap” and “s**t”. I quoted a PhD who said a naughty word.
Some of you say, “That’s not right.” It is, because religion is like a steaming pile that a dog leaves on the lawn. Mormonism is that. Oprah is that. Vague, general spirituality, anything that dishonors the God of the Bible. Paul says you can be very devoted to the wrong cause. You can be zealous in worshiping a false god. Sometimes we need to speak strongly so people understand what we are saying.
Should we say this word all the time? No. It’s not a word we should use on sheep. Paul used the word once in the New Testament. On occasion, strong language can awaken people.
Feed the sheep, rebuke the swine, feed the wolves, bark at the dogs.
5. Pray for the shepherds.
Pastors have a very difficult job, because we have to decide who is a sheep, a swine, a wolf, and a dog. We don’t know peoples’ heart, and sometimes we get it wrong. It can become so paralyzing that we treat everyone like a sheep and wolves take over the church.
Before you pray for the shepherds, consider their context. Some of the prophetic passages in the Old Testament are to guard people from Baal worship. Paul is contending against Judaizers, Luther is contending against Papists. Judge them by their context, not by your context.
Maybe your church doesn’t have the situation they did, but if it does, pray for a Paul who can come in and do battle, who can come in and kill the wolves. God determines the times and places in which we live. He puts certain people in certain times and places to do certain things.
What are the shepherds dealing with? That may explain their tactics. This is one of the most personally painful aspects of my ministry. People wearing Christian clothes and driving Christian cars wonder why I’m so intense. It’s because I’m dealing with unbelievers.
Do I feed the sheep? Yes. I want lots of people to become sheep. In my context, where I preach at the Ballard campus, if you take a right, there is a huge statue of Vladimir Lenin. It’s in front of a Taco Del Mar. You eat a burrito and sit under Lenin.
The biggest even of the year is a parade where they worship the sun.
We got picketed last Saturday. Four protesters showed up because we had a parenting conference. The speaker said that spanking is an appropriate form of discipline.
The big issue I’m dealing with now is the Hump Fest coming up next month. It’s the amateur porn festival. Everyone gets together in a theater and votes on which porn is the best. To make it in the festival, you need to have something in the film that shows that the film was made for this festival. This year, that’s me. People are trying to have sex around our church and in the bathrooms. I know that Christians are going to freak out. That’s my world. I preach with bodyguards in front of the stage because I’ve had people get up and try to kill me.
I have sinned a lot and said things I totally regret. I got saved at 19. My dad was a union drywaller. Isaiah said, “Woe to me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips.” I’m the son of a union drywaller. I have crossed the line, gone too far and been deeply convicted over the sin in my past. What I have said will live with me forever, and this message is particularly painful for me. But I don’t want to be that cowardly guy who gets up every Sunday and feeds the sheep, the wolves, the dogs, everybody.
Pray for the shepherds. Pray for them more than you criticize, e-mail, gossip, or blog about them. Pray that they would have a discerning mind to know who is a sheep.
Pray that they would have a thick skin. Pray that they would have a humorous outlook. That they would laugh at themselves, that they would have a tender heart toward Jesus and the sheep. That they wouldn’t be hammered, that they would keep a tender heart, that they would have a humble disposition, that when criticisms are true, they would repent. That they would look at a criticism for a kernel of truth to be sanctified by.
Pray that shepherds would have encouraging families, that their wife would endure all the criticism, backbiting, people who would use her to get influence, that she would remain close to Jesus and be a place of refreshment for her husband, that her job is to keep her husband from despair, by not always agreeing with him but agreeing that she will always be for him.
Pray for his children as people take shots at his family. That his children would not go astray because critics love that.
Pray that one of the elders in the church is a good sniper. That he could spot people who are trying to take down the pastor. If the pastor tries to do it, it’s a lose-lose situation. Some of you elders here need to get in the middle.
That the shepherds would have evangelistic devotion, that they would not just feed the sheep, but that they would love the lost. That they would not waste their time checking their ratings and overlook Paul’s admonition to do the work of an evangelist. That they wouldn’t be so buried in firefights that they can’t see more people become sheep.
Pray for the shepherds, that they would learn selective hearing, that they would listen to their elders, that they would invite into their lives good counsel. Not everything that is said is worth a hearing. Shepherds can become so hard-hearted that their ears are closed and they spend time justifying themselves when they shouldn’t. They need to know who to listen to, who to heed, and who to not to.
There is a short list of people that I will listen to: the elders, my wife, John Piper, C.J Mahaney, Gary Breshears. I’ll listen to them because they have love and hope for me. They will criticize me, but it’s so that I can be more like Jesus, and not so that they can glory in their victory.
Some of you who are critics and snipers will see someone who is not where they should be. A good shepherd comes to help them, and you shoot the shepherd who is trying to help them. Paul said there are not many people who are good shepherds like that.
Pray for the young shepherds, that older shepherds would not shoot them like wolves and wouldn’t criticize them like dogs, but would encourage them like dads.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Death, Holiness, and Mercy: The Message of God in Calamities
Here is a sermon I preached at Kenwood Baptist Church. The main theme of the message is God's absolute holiness. This sermon's attempt was to make one fearful of the awesomeness of God's holiness and cling more closely to the cross of Christ because of what it accomplished.
Below is a manuscript for the sermon. It is not meant to be exactly like the sermon I preached and does not have the closing comments from Romans 5.
DEATH, HOLINESS, AND MERCY: THE MESSAGE OF GOD IN CALAMITIES
September 11, 2001 – a plane crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Moments later a second plane crashes into the south tower. Commotion surrounds the world. What has just happened? Moments later, the unthinkable happens: the towers collapse – 2823 people dead!
August 29, 2005 – hurricane Katrina hits the shores of Louisiana and Mississippi. The levies of New Orleans fail allowing the city to be flooded. Many people stuck to go through the storm unable to leave because of poverty and old age, some just deciding to wait it out – 1836 people dead!
September 12, 2001, August 30, 2005 – people arise and ask the question: “Where was God in all of this?” Ministers, pastors, and other religious officials attempt to give their best answers. Some rise up and say that they don’t know where God was in these. Others say God just allows these because He can’t stop freewill. Some even dare to say that God was unable to stop these. Today we will look the God’s Word to see what it says about such events.
Turn in your Bibles to Luke 13:15 and the title of my sermon is DEATH, HOLINESS, AND MERCY: THE MESSAGE OF GOD IN CALAMITIES. By looking at Jesus’ response to calamities in His time we will see 1. The Nature of Calamities, 2. The Response of Jesus, and 3. The Proper Response of Man.
Jesus, the great man of wisdom to the people, had been teaching His listeners on various topics. Then some arose and told the great teacher of some Galileans who where offering sacrifices and the Roman governor, Pilate, killed these men and mixed their blood with the blood of the sacrifices. These who spoke us wanted an answer for why this happen? They wanted an account of the Almighty in this atrocity. How is it that a good and loving God could allow something like this to happen to innocent men? Is it because they were Galileans from the north and not of Judea? Where they wicked sinners deserving of death?
Jesus resounds, “Do you suppose that these Galileans where greater sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
These men were killed by the evil deeds of another. Like those who perished in the World Trade Center, the evil deeds of men caused it to happen. But why did God allow these calamities to happen. First, we will discuss the nature of calamities.
1. We must not allow our own feeling effect our understanding of the truth of God’s Word. Jesus gives no defense of God in this. There is no defense needed.
2. Many times people ask the question, “Why does God let bad things happen to good people?” These men were good guys. They were offering up their sacrifices. The men and women who worked in the World Trade Center were just ordinary people working in ordinary jobs. They were just regular people living their lives like everyone else. Why in the world would God allow such a things to happen?
3. God allows calamities to demonstrate His wrath towards sinners. In the men who were slain and the deaths of the falling towers, God reminds us that He is angry towards sinners and they are all destined to suffer their just end.
The response of Jesus must have shaken the hearts of the listeners. It could not have been what they were looking for.
1. Jesus assures them that the fate of these men was not because they were more wicked than all the others. The men and women of 9/11 did not die because they were worse sinners than all of the rest of the country.
2. Jesus demands that they repent or they will likewise parish under the wrath of God.
Before I continue to speak of God’s wrath, I must first explain what His wrath is.
God is a Holy God. When we think of God the first word that comes to mind should be Holy. Many in the world today when asked what they think of when they thing of God they give the answer of love, grace, mercy, goodness, kindness – and all of those are true. God is love. He is gracious, merciful, good, and kind. But the Scriptures are clear that above all else – He is holy.
Isaiah 6:3 says, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of host, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
When ever the Bible repeats itself, it does so to show importance and strengthen the statement. When Jesus spoke in the New Testament, many times he would say, “Truly, Truly” which means “Amen, Amen, I say unto you.” His listeners would have understood that what ever He was about to say was important and they should listen up. The only time word ever taken to the third degree is holy. God is never said to be love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, but “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of host.”
So what does it mean that God is holy? First, it speaks to His transcendence. That is that God is above all things. That He is supreme. If there is power – He is the source and completion of power. If there is wisdom – He is the source and completion of wisdom. He is dependent on nothing and everything is dependent on Him. The Lord God Almighty is awesome!
Secondly, it speaks to His complete devotion to Himself. By the nature of His holiness, He seeks to keep Himself pure from all defilement. He is completely righteous. There is no moral wickedness found in Him. Not only that, but no wickedness can come before him.
Two examples of this are found in the Old Testament. In Leviticus 10, the Word of the Lord says this,
1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.
2 And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying,
‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy,
And before all the people I will be honored.’ ”
So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.
4 Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp.”
5 So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said.
6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that He will not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the LORD has brought about.
7 “You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for the LORD’S anointing oil is upon you.” So they did according to the word of Moses.
The Lord was not about to let His holiness be defiled by the sinfulness of these sons of Aaron. The Lord gave specific instructions on how He was to be ministered to and there was no room for error. He is a holy God.
A second example of God’s holiness and complete devotion to Himself by keeping Himself pure from the defiled flesh of man is seen in 1 Chronicles 13
5 So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor of Egypt even to the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.
6 David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, the LORD who is enthroned above the cherubim, where His name is called.
7 They carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart.
8 David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, even with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals and with trumpets.
9 When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, because the oxen nearly upset it.
10 The anger of the LORD burned against Uzza, so He struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark; and he died there before God.
11 Then David became angry because of the LORD’S outburst against Uzza; and he called that place Perez-uzza to this day.
12 David was afraid of God that day
Here are to Old Testament references to God’s absolute demand for His holiness. When His holiness is attacked by the foolish sin of men He is angered against them. For many in the modern church the holiness of God is swept under the mat. No one wants to speak to the holiness of God. People are afraid if you call them to serve a God who is holy and wrathful towards sinners you will loose them.
Unfortunately the opposite is happening. Instead of people being scared away by the absolute power of the holy God, they leave the church out of boredom. They fail to see the excitement in serving a God who is betrayed as a baby in a manger instead of the Holy Mountain King who strikes fear into the hearts of those who sin against Him. Remember the words of Isaiah 6, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of host.” The word host means army and in this case is referring to the angelic army at God’s disposal. When one sins they are merely breaking a little command of God like we do if we run a red light. When we sin against God we are making an overt and aggressive attack on God. We are acting in rebellion to the creator of heaven and earth in an attempt to set up our own glory and take away from His. God’s wrath towards sinners is not the anger of a judge towards someone who gets a traffic violation, but the fury of a king towards someone who tries to setup his own throne.
God will not be mocked and do not be confused to think that this is the God of the Old Testament while the God of the New Testament is different. Remember Jesus’ calming the storm in Mark 4:
35 On that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”
36 Leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.
37 And there *arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.
38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they *woke Him and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.
40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”
41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
Or those who lied to God about what they had given in Acts 5:
1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,
2 and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?
4 “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it.
6 The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.
7 Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?” And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”
9 Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”
10 And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
11 And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.
So don’t be confused. God is holy and He will keep His name holy. Next time you debate whether or not you should sin – the fear of a holy and awesome God should remind you of what is demanded of you.
So what is the proper response of man to calamities? Jesus said, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Repentance should not be confused penitence, which is simply sorrow for one’s wrongdoing. Nor should it be confused with penance where one imposes punishment on himself for sin. Rather, true repentance is seeing sin for what it is and turning away from it.
Now this seems like a good place to stop. The Lord has spoken well to the calamity that has happened and has answered the questions with divine fullness. But the Lord brings up another calamity, the tower of Siloam that fell on eighteen men. Here were truly innocent bystanders when all of a sudden the tower fell on them. Unlike the slaughter of Pilate or the attack of terrorist on 9/11, this event had no cause by evil men. Like hurricane Katrina it was an event completely removed from the hands of evil men. No other explanation can be given to this event outside the sovereign hand of God. Why in the world did God let this happen?
Why does God let bad things happen to good people? Jesus’ response is exact in every way, but with it comes new insight. The question we are asking is the wrong question. The question should not be, “Why does God let bad things happen to good people?”, but rather, “Why didn’t the tower of Siloam fall on me? Why didn’t hurricane Katrina kill me? Why didn’t I die in a car accident on the way here? With all the men and women who have died in Iraq, why didn’t I die? Why wasn’t I in the World Trade Center the day if fell and killed thousands of people? WHY?!”
Do you understand how merciful God is in letting you have life today? Some attest and say hell isn’t a real place because God is to merciful to make people suffer. WRONG! God is so merciful to allow them the pleasures of this life and for them to take it and then stick it in His face and mock Him…my God, the God of this Bible is a HOLY GOD and He will not be mocked by sinners. Jesus resounds again, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
But what is repentance? We have already defined it as a turning away from sin…but oh hear me now, repentance is more than just turning away from sin – it is turning towards God by faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is not just a being saved from the wrath of God towards sinners, but a saving to God in Christ Jesus.
Look at Romans 5:6-11. Paul, the great apostle, knew the holiness of God. A Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees. He knew the Law and the righteous demand of God’s holiness. For Paul the great struggle was not why does God let bad things happen to good people, but how does a holy God allow sinners into His fellowship. Read the book of Romans and just feel the agony that Paul goes through as He struggles with this great mystery. I say it again, “How does a holy God allow sinners into His fellowship?”
In Romans 5, starting in verse 6 the word of the Lord says,
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Why Christians Need the Church and the Church Needs Christians
Why Christians Need the Church and the Church Needs Christians
Michael Naaktgeboren
Kenwood Baptist Church: Louisville, KY
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sacrificing All for the Savior Out of Joy
10/40 Window
"The Last Frontier of Christian Missions"
Here is my latest sermon. I preached it at Kenwood Baptist Church on June 22, 2008. In it is my hearts cry for sacrifice in the American church as we embrace suffering for the sake of Christ among the nations - starting in our own home towns and stretching out across the globe; and specifically to the most unreached parts of the world - the 10/40 Window.
In this sermon I discuss some major differences between what Paul thought and then what most in the American church think. For us, it is those who desire to go out as missionaries making tremendous sacrifices that are considered unusual. On the other hand, Paul found that those who expected to live normal comfortably lives without sacrifice or suffering for the sake of the gospel to be odd and contrary to the call of Christ. It is striking how different we as the American church are from what Paul expected. Thus, this sermon is a call to consider our lifestyles to see if we have truly heeded the call to being disciples of Christ.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
You're All I Want
I'm not a huge fan of Christian drama, but I thought they did a great job with this one.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
PERSONAL JOURNAL/MEDITATION AND REFLECTION: Hebrews 13:1-25
1 Let love of the brethren continue.
2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
3 Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.
4 Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”
6 so that we confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.
What will man do to me?”
7 Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
9 Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.
10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp.
12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
13 So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.
15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.
19 And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner.
20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
22 But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.
23 Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.
24 Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. Those from
25 Grace be with you all.
“Let love of the brethren continue.” Do not fail to love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus died for the church and we should love the church second only to Christ. Continue to suffer for the church – do not go weary in doing good for the body. Continue to care for the prisoners and for the weak. Love them as you would want to be loved and love them as Christ loved us – sacrificing His own life for His bride.
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Be a person who is hospitable to strangers. Anyone can love and be giving to a friend, but Christ has called us to show kindness to the stranger. By this you are giving a testimony to the world that Christ is no respecters of persons, but that the offer of grace is for all. So be like Christ and be kind to everyone, even those who persecute you and hate you. For by being kind to strangers, some will entertain angels whom God has sent for His purposes. You never know who that stranger might be – so show kindness and hospitality to all.
“Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.” Care for the prisoners. Help them in their needs and think of them as if you were right beside them. Think of the loneliness you would feel. Think of the pains of the beating. Think of the sorrows of missing your family. Think of them always and the stress and pain that you would endure so that you care for them more. Love them and care for them. And remember that they are apart of your body. When a member of a body is hurt the whole body is weakened. So care for them and also for those who are mistreated that they might be strengthened and thus the whole body strengthened.
“Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Marriage is good and a gift of God. However, keep the marriage bed undefiled. Guard yourselves and know the weaknesses of the flesh and the temptation of the devil. Keep yourself from all wickedness. Help the single remain strong and pure and pray for the married that the devil might not allow them to grow weak. Remember that marriage is to be a picture of Christ and His church – guard it with everything you have.
“Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?’” The Lord is good and kind and gives us all we need. Therefore do not be bitter when you see the wicked man who has much. Do not long for money and make it your God that you might have abundance and security. But give thanks to God for what He has given you. Remain content with what you have, even if little. Remember that this world is but a vapor, the end is quickly approaching and all of this will be wiped away. Treasure that which can never be taken from you – which is Christ your God. “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26). Christ has given us the greatest gift we could ever imagine. He has given us Himself. In Matthews 28 He commissions His people to go and gives us this promise, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (20). He is with you. Why would you desire anything else in this world? So don’t strive and work for riches, but strive and long for Christ. Glorify God by showing that all in this world is vain, but Christ is glorious. Live in such a way that people will see that your heart is not set on the things of this world, but your heart is set on the things in heaven. Glorify God by not striving for money and working for a better life, but by giving thanks for what you have and being willing to turn from this world and live a life of suffering and afflictions for the sake of the name – that the name of Christ might be glorified in all the earth.
“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.” Give thanks to God for those whom He placed over you. Remember them and pray for them who led you in this live that you might find Him and live for His glory. Praise God for those who spoke the word of God to you. If they are still alive give praise and thanks to them. Remember the life they lived. Remember how it was honorable and good and glorifying to Christ. Imitate them that you might be worthy as they were. And imitate their faith, a faith that trusted in Christ above all things and endured to the end.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.” Jesus is the same today as He was a hundred years ago. He will never change. So do not be carried away by ever new and strange teaching. Keep your heart steadfast on the things that have been taught to you. And it is good for your heart to be strengthened by grace, but do not think of foods as a means to gain strength. No food can give courage to your heart when it is weak. No food can help you live better today than it did yesterday. But seek grace – approach the throne of grace that you might find help in time of need. It is by grace that you are saved, so long for God and for His grace and do not try to use anything of this world to strengthen you.
“We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.” And to not consider yourself apart of the Old Covenant community, because we have a better alter and a better sacrifice to eat from. They bring goats and calves, but we have the Son of the Living God. And just as the animals were taken outside the camp to be offered, so was Christ. He did not suffer His reproach from within, but was forced out.
“So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Let us go outside the camp where we are left vulnerable. Go with Him to where there is shame and reproach. Do not seek for yourself a place of comfort and ease, but see the lasting city which is to come. Do not try to make this world a paradise, but live in the hardest parts of this world that those who have never heard of Christ might know Him and find grace in His sight and that He might be seen as glorious among the nations. Do not make this world look like heaven, but show that you are longing for heaven by giving praise to God and doing good for all men, even – especially when it makes life hard on you.
“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” Obey your elders and submit to their authority. They will one day stand before the God of this world and will give an account for the words they have spoken and the actions they have made. So honor them as men of a high position. And let them serve as your leader with joy and not grief. Don’t make life on them hard, but give them many reasons for praise to God because of you. There is no good in you making life hard on your elders, so live in such a way that you make them happy and they are encouraged by you.
“Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner.” Pray for those who are about the Lord’s work. Ask God to increase their ministry and for Him to guide their footsteps.
”Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Oh, how might we long that God would work in us to do what is pleasing in His sight. How blessed we are that He gave His only Son to die for us that we might be brought into the New and Eternal Covenant. Might He bless us to make up apt for every good work He has prepared for us that we might living for Him and that be would receive glory forever and ever.
“But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you. Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. Those from
“Grace be with you all.”
PERSONAL JOURNAL/MEDITATION AND REFLECTION: Hebrews 12:18-29
18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,
19 and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.
20 For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.”
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”
22 But you have come to
23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.
26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.”
27 This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
29 for our God is a consuming fire.
“For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.” The preacher points to the wilderness generations experience at
“For they could not bear the command, ‘If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.’ And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, ‘I am full of fear and trembling.’ But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church 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, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” But we are the New Covenant people and we do not live in constant fear of God and His mighty judgment. Rather, we have come to
“See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.” The God who speaks is speaking. He spoke through the prophets and now in His Son. Listen up! “And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.’ This expression, ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” By the power of His word He will shake the earth and the heavens. All that will be left what He has established as unshakeable. He is going to in completely do away with the physical and establish the enternal. “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe”. Worship should be the response to such a great gift. God has prepared for us a place of eternal dwelling that will never be damaged by sin. There is never to be anything wrong in this unshakeable kingdom and this should lead to praise and adoration. But for those who are not apart of this kingdom, “our God is a consuming fire” and should be greatly feared.
PERSONAL JOURNAL/MEDITATION AND REFLECTION: Hebews 12:1-17
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.
11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
12 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.
14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
16 that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
17 For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,” that is those who are named in chapter 11, “let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us”. The preacher seems to have two different things in mind here: encumbrances and sin. How do these differ? There are many things in this world which are enjoyable and yet not sin. Pastor John Piper says that TV is the great American time waster. Thousands of Americans waist their entire evening staring at a screen for nothing. Another thing that so many waist their lives on is sports. Children are taught that competing well in sports is the ultimate good in their lives. Families choose to skip church on Wednesday nights for baseball practice. Players take weekend trips to play basketball instead of being in fellowship with God’s people on Sunday. None of these things are bad, but when we look at what is before us we have to ask ourselves if these things are worth the cost. When people are going to hell every day, should TV and sports be what consumes most of our time? And there are many things that hinder us like these things. The other thing we must lay aside is sin. No believer can live for God as he should with sin in his life. The preacher has been clear that the means to beating sin is by paying close attention to Christ in His Word and by coming before His throne. We must defeat sin in our lives if we are going to accomplish anything.
“And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” The Christian life is not a life of ease, but of pain and struggle. It is like running a marathon and there is nothing but painful grueling agony to the end through much of it. But what keeps us going is an eyes on Christ – setting Him as the end of our race and the joy of our heart. We run to Him like a great treasure. We desire nothing more than Him in this life and we will struggle and suffer through everything in this world to get to Him. And to endure it we think about what He endured and suffered and consider how much He suffered and how little our suffering is in comparison. That way we continue in strength and not grow weary and lose heart in this long race.
“You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;” you have not suffered death like Christ because of living righteously “and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.’” It is because the Lord loves you that you endure such hardship and afflictions. He is doing this to make you more discipline. Do not lose heart because the Father reproves you, because He does it out of love and care. “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” Here the preacher makes a strong argument for why these Christians should rejoice in their afflictions, because they are being disciplined by the Father because He loves them. If their life was easy and painless, we would need to question if they are loved as children. How many in the church today are mocked and scorned because of the suffering they endure. Might it be that those who are faithful suffer, while the ones who seem to have everything going well are the ones who are disobedient, but God does not reprove them because He has no love for them? The ones who are loved will be discipline and transformed into the image of the Son.
“Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.” Our earthly fathers disciplined us because they loved us and wanted to do what was best for us, but they only did what they thought was right. However, our heavenly father disciplines us according to wisdom and we are for certain that His discipline is for good in making us holy. “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
“Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.” We are one body and if one is weak the whole body is weak. Therefore we should “pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” Here again the preacher commands that we look for one another; that we constantly encourage one another that there not be any who fall into sin, especially so that none be like Esau who could find no repentance though he sought it with tears.
PERSONAL JOURNAL/MEDITATION AND REFLECTION: Hebrews 11:1-40
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 For by it the men of old gained approval.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;
10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;
18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.”
19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.
21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of
27 By faith he left
28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.
29 By faith they passed through the
30 By faith the walls of
31 By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.
32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,
33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection;
36 and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
Here the preacher gives the greatest definition for what faith is. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” It is placing absolute trust in what we cannot see and the things we look forward to. We all remember the story of doubting Thomas who would not believe unless he touched the wounds of Christ. Jesus said blessed would be those who believed without being able to touch and see. The preaching is writing to a congration just like us – we never saw Christ, we never saw His micacles, and we never saw Him after the resurrection. We just have a conviction that what the Bible tells us is true. We have faith in it. And we are like the Apostles who look forward with hope. This isn’t a hope like a wish, but a hope that is certain and one by which we can ground our lives in. We live in that hope. That is the sort of faith that is needed in order to endure the life of pain and suffering that comes with being a Christian.
“For by it the men of old gained approval.” As we will see in a minute, there are many who had faith. Faith is not a New Covenant phenomenon, but something that has made men apart of the community of God from the beginning. And “by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” We understand this world to have been created by God from nothing. We cannot prove this by science, there is no way to argue this from reason alone, but we have to have faith that it is true.
“By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Here is another defining mark about faith – it is necessary to please God. Without faith it is impossible for God to be satisfied in what we do. And the faith that is necessary has to believe that God is God, and that He exist and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him. There are many in the world today who teach that all you need is faith, but do not define what your faith must be in. Faith in false gods is as good as faith in God. Your faith can be in a tree, it really doesn’t matter as long as you have faith. But that is not what the preacher says here. He demands that we believe in God, the God who has revealed Himself in the Bible and most clearly in His Son. Ultimately you have to believe in Jesus and see after Him and trust that He will reward you if you do – other wise your faith is in vain.
“By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Here is another mark of faith – its hope is not in the things of this world, but in the heavens, which is the dwelling place of God. Our faith shouldn’t be in having a good future. We shouldn’t hope for a good life with no suffering or pain. Rather, our hope and faith should be in Christ and long for nothing more than Him. He should be all we long for and therefore we look forward to the heavenly city where we will dwell with Him for eternity.
“By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.” A true faith will believe that the one who promised is faithful. God is not like a man that He should lie. God is not like a man that He might not be able to keep what He has said. But God is faithful and that faithful is sustained by His infinite wisdom and power. Our faith should have such great confidence that even when a woman is 90, if God says she will have a son we will believe it. Our faith should be so confident that if God calls us to minister in the projects, or in foreign lands, or among our family who might reject us, we should go forth in great confidence because He is able to do what He wills and no matter what happens to us it doesn’t matter because this life isn’t what we are longing for.
“Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” By faith the patriarchs lived as sojourners on this land by looking to the great city God had prepared for them. If the promise land had just been a few square miles of land in
“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.” Abraham could have rejected God’s command here, but instead he was obedient though faith. He knew that his son was the promised child and necessary for the promise of the covenant and so he had faith that God could and would raise him from the dead. And this was done as a sign, as a type of what was to come, that is Christ who was raised from the grace in ensure the promises of bringing God’s people to the heavenly city.
“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of
“By faith he left
It is by faith that men both gained great victories and endured great trails. Faith is the fiber that keeps the believer secured to God. And faith is what makes it possible for the believer to please God in any way. And faith has been made possible by Christ. “And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.” It was not until the New Covenant people came that the fullness of the promises could be obtained. In order for the faith of the saints of old to mean anything they were dependent on the work of Jesus on the cross. They placed their faith in what was to come and we must place our faith in what is to come – a heavenly city made possible by the work and blood of Jesus Christ our Savior.
