Today’s exhortation is on joy. And you might think it a bit misplaced. We are less than two weeks away from Good Friday. “Doesn’t the joy exhortation go on the other side of the cross?” Well, no. And I’m glad you brought that up.

Too many people assume that joy is simply the result of having obtained a prize. And I do not deny that there is an element of truth in that sentiment. We are to run the race to win the prize and we have not won it until we have crossed the finish line. But, joy is not so much what is bestowed upon you after you have crossed the finish line as it is the fuel which gets you across the finish line. As you have heard, our Savior endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him.

Joy is manifestly available to you now. And that joy is limitless. How much of it would you like? Joy is available to you now. But it requires setting your mind and heart on things above. Joy is not simply the fruit of your dominion. It is the fruit of the Spirit. That fruit is accessed by faith. Look around. You have been liberated from your sin. You will never know the flames of hell. Neither will your children according to the covenant promise of God. Look around, with your heart fixed on God. He has given you all things, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours. Winter is already turning. Just look at the crocus. Winter is already turning. Christ knew that when He set His face to go to Jerusalem. And you have been given the mind of Christ.

Jared Longshore – March 17, 2024

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Gratitude is the fundamental response of man to God. We are to be thankful in all things. God made this world and God governs this world through His providence. He is sovereign over everything that happens to you, and so you are called to give thanks. We know from Job that this includes both the evil and the good. Naked you came into the world and naked you will leave. Everything you get in between is a gift from God.

But what happens when we are not thankful? Paul tells the Colossians that every act they do and every word they say should be done in thankfulness to God. Every single one. Giving thanks is turning oneself to God with the right response, but when you do not give thanks you turn your face away from God. And this leads to every other sin imaginable. This is no small thing. You are the creature, and you are rejecting your creator. 

In ungratefulness for the state in which they were created Eve took the fruit and ate. And in so doing all the blessings of God became a curse for her and for Adam. The garden full of fruit was a blessing, but now it would be a curse to them, and they were removed from it. Dwelling together in perfect unity, naked and unashamed was a blessing, and now nakedness was a curse. Work was cursed. Childbearing was cursed. The earth was cursed. 

When you are ungrateful, the blessings you enjoy will be turned against you into curse. Many of you are building or remodeling houses right now. With thanksgiving that project is an amazing joy and a blessing. God has given you an opportunity to use your hands, to makes something of your own and bless your family. But as soon as you are ungrateful that same project becomes a burden upon you, that stresses you and drags you down. You begin to hate your own project. 

Ungratefulness will turn everything that should be a blessing in your life into a curse.  Your kids, your spouse, your friends, fellowship, food, sex, your job, your vacations, you name it.      

And so, what should you do? First look down at your hands. Next look up to God and give thanks for whatever he has put in those hands.

Zach Browning – March 17, 2024

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We sometimes refer to the Lord’s Day gathering of the saints as a “worship service” wherein we serve the Lord by giving Him our worship. But what is worship exactly? The term gets a bit slippery.

Some will say that everything in your life is worship, and they have a distaste for any formalism in the Lord’s Day service. While there certainly is truth to this view, the folks that holds it are often lax in actual works of righteousness and holy living. It turns out that the distaste for formalism in one area turns into irreverence in others. The principle that we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, that all our life and work should be presented to God as a sacrifice of thanksgiving is solid, but this flows from robust weekly worship; it is not in competition with it.

Another view limits “worship” to the 2-3 songs the guy with the guitar plays up front and which you close your eyes and sway to before the sermon. This also has a grain of truth, namely that the songs we sing to God are a potent means by which we render Him the honor due His name, but it fails both in scope and execution. Meaning that it is both too narrow and also really bad at living up to its own narrowly defined claims.

Here is a simple thought experiment: Worship is that which is given to God and to God alone. What is idolatry? It is the rendering of worship to anything which is not God. So there is this thing, which we call worship, which is for God alone. The comparison to a marriage is apt. A wife is always married to her husband, and her whole life is an act of love and devotion to him, but there are also particular expressions of this devotion which cannot be overlooked and which must not be given to anyone else.

So what is God owed? Of course, He rightly claims your whole self, but also He is owed your particular praise and adoration. When we gather here, we do so in response to His lovingkindness in calling us, in order to give to Him that which is owed to no other. And when we go out from here, we go with His blessing on our heads and hands, ready to render to Him our whole selves as we carry out the work of our vocation.

And finally, practically, God is owed our fear. What we fear is as good an indicator as any of what we worship. But fear is something we owe to God alone. It is worship. Too often we talk about what this doesn’t mean (“don’t be scared of God”) and fail to consider what it does mean: that when we continually fear something other than God, we are guilty of idolatry and should repent. And this is good news, supremely good news in that it frees us from bondage to cowardice and depression, but it also reminds us of our need to confess our sins.

Joshua Edgren – March 17, 2024

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Psalm 15:1 says “LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? “He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.”

Truth is paramount for Christians. All truth is rooted in God, Jesus is the Truth, and every word of God proves true.

We live in a world, though, that is saturated with lies. Lies in media, lies in politics, lies everywhere you look. And because God is truth, all of these lies are direct attacks on Him.

These attacks against God, though, all fall flat. Even though every man is a liar, God remains true. The lie, then, because it cannot touch God Himself, does its damage on us, God’s image bearers.

Man, created in the image of God, is to reflect God’s truth. But because our first parents believed the lies of the serpent, we are all born liars.

Jesus died and rose again to set us free from lies, to make us people who live truthfully and speak truth in our hearts. Yet, because we still must fight against our fallenness, we are not impervious to lies. This is why scripture is filled with warnings about being deceived.

Deceived by false doctrine, deceived by seducers and seductresses, and deceived by ourselves.

Many of the popular lies in our culture are easy enough for us to spot.

No, that bearded man with makeup in a dress is not a woman. No, those two men who claim to be married are actually just roommates. And no, abortion is not healthcare.

The lies that are less obvious to us, however, are the ones that we tell ourselves.

“I’m not lashing out at my child, I’m being stern. I’m not being hyper-critical of my wife, I’m leading. I’m not coveting my neighbor’s wife, or husband, I’m admiring their virtue. I’m not cutting corners on this deal, I’m being shrewd. It’s not gossip, it’s expressing concern.”

When you lie to yourself about your own sin, it’s as though you’re calling that bearded man in the dress, a she.

Speaking the truth in the heart means calling your sin what God calls it. So confess it to Him, plain and simple, no sugar coating. Christ was crucified for our sins and raised again for our justification, so speak the truth in your heart and be cleansed.

If you try to fool Him, you’re only fooling yourself. God is not mocked, but He is abundant in mercy.

Mike Niam – March 17, 2024

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