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Christians in the Judgment (Authentic Ministry #11)

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INTRODUCTION

As Christians, we must live our lives here in the light of the life to come. Those who live in the ways of YOLO are like pigs under a vast oak tree, looking for acorns. They do not consider what is above them, not at all, they do not care about the source of their blessings, not at all, and they keep their snouts pointing toward the dirt always, hunting for the next acorn. We are summoned to a way of life that is completely and entirely different.

THE TEXT

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:1–10).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

So we begin with a summary of this passage. Paul starts by comparing our mortal bodies to tabernacles, to be followed by an eternal body in the heavens, fashioned by God Himself (v. 1). Dwelling in tents is a time for groaning, as we look for our permanent heavenly house, which will clothe us (v. 2). If we are clothed in this way, we will not be found naked (v. 3). While we live in these tent bodies, it is a burden, and we groan under it. But we do not groan in the direction of “no body,” but rather in the direction of “ultimate body,” so that our mortal bodies might be swallowed up by life (v. 4). God has fashioned us for this very thing (v. 5), and He has given us the earnest payment of His Spirit (v. 5). This means that the Spirit is dwelling here with us in these tents. This is the ground of our confidence—we know that to be present in these bodies is to be absent from the Lord in Heaven (v. 6). We walk by faith (faith generated by the Spirit who is the earnest within us), and not by sight (v. 7). But the confidence we have while not seeing with our eyes is a confidence that is looking forward—to the time when we leave this body, and are present with the Lord (v. 8). This is why we work as hard as we do, so that whether we see Him with our eyes or not, we are nevertheless accepted by Him (v. 9). This is what we want and need, because absolutely every one of us is going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ (v. 10). The upshot of this judgment is that we will all receive according to our life in the body, whether good or bad (v. 10).

THE SPIRIT HELPS US GROAN

When Paul points out we live in a tent, he says we groan (stenazo, v. 2). With the burden of tabernacling, we groan (same word, v. 4).

He teaches something very similar in Romans 8. The whole creation groans (stenazo), like a woman in labor (Rom. 8:22). We who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan as we look forward to the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8: 23). Yearning toward that same end, the Spirit Himself labors with groans too deep for words (Rom. 8:26). This is because the entire cosmos is pregnant with the new creation.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE

Putting all this together, we can see what happens when believers die. Our bodies are called tabernacles, and this is where we live now. If this tent is destroyed, we are (Paul says) “with the Lord.” This is some sort of intermediate state, and too many Christians confuse this intermediate state with our final eternal state. That final eternal state is after the dead are raised. So being a ghostly spirit in Heaven is not our final hope. We are Christians, and we believe in the resurrection of the body.

CHRISTIANS AND THE JUDGMENT TO COME

As we consider the end of the world, we must distinguish between two different aspects of how God will judge the world at the last day.

In the first instance, there is the Great White Throne Judgment. We see this in Revelation 20:11-15. This is a judgment that distinguishes and separates the saved from the lost. We see the same thing in Matthew 25, in the separation of sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31-36). Those who are saved through this judgment are saved on the sole basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, imputed to them by the grace of God. You will stand in this judgment, or not, on the basis of whether or not you are in Christ. Salvation is based on whether or not their names are found written in the “book of life from the creation of the world” (Rev. 17:8).

But there is another judgment, often called the bema-seat judgment. This is a judgment that evaluates the lives of Christians, and rewards them (or not) on the basis of how they lived. Paul refers to this in our passage (v. 10), but also elsewhere. “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ . . . So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10–12). If we compete in accordance with the rules, we will be crowned (2 Tim. 2:5). “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 9:25).

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Light Affliction (Authentic Ministry #10)

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INTRODUCTION

We read in the book of Job that man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward (Job 5:7). This being the case, we need to learn how to handle these troubles rightly, for you will have them. They are not optional. There are no exceptions. What do you call a man who is really wealthy, who has a sunny disposition, and good digestion, and a photogenic family, and a shelf stacked with trophies and assorted other honors? Well, one name for him is “worm food.” This is the only way to reckon the value of everything “under the sun.”

But there is another calculus, introduced to the world three days after the crucifixion of Jesus.

THE TEXT

“We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:13–18).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul has the same spirit of faith as Christ, and so he speaks the same way the psalmist did. He believes, and therefore he speaks about it (v. 13). This is cited from Ps. 116:10. True heart belief is connected to the tongue. Paul then turns to reason from the certainty of the Lord’s resurrection to his own resurrection (v. 14). The one who raised up Jesus will raise up Paul, and will present them all together with the Corinthians (v. 14). Everything is for their sake, Paul says, so that abundant grace might redound to the glory of God through the thanksgiving of many (v. 15). Widespread gratitude in a community of saints is potent. Grace brings that gratitude, and gratitude brings abundant grace, which glorifies God (v. 15). This truth is what keeps Paul going. He does not faint (v. 16). The outward man might be getting beat up, but the inner man is getting younger every day (v. 16). Now remember that we have previously noted that Paul was one of the most afflicted men who ever lived. He certainly had gone through countless troubles. But how does he describe it here? He calls it “our lightaffliction” (v. 17). It is light affliction, and it is also a momentary affliction (v. 17). It will pass in a minute. But notice something else. Paul says the light affliction “worketh for us” a much weightier thing—the eternal weight of glory (v. 17). So gratitude works abundant grace, and affliction works its weight in glory. Paul therefore says that the key is to keep your eyes off what you can see, in order to fix your eyes on that which we cannot yet see (v. 18). Why? Because the things you can see you will only be able to see for a minute—they are temporal (v. 18). All day yesterday is now ghostly. What was so real turns out to have been momentary. And the eternal things you cannot now see in the present moment are things you will be able to see forever and ever (v. 18).

NOT KIDDING HIMSELF

Now when Paul calls his afflictions “light,” this is not because he is delusional. He knows very well the weight of his afflictions. Talking about how pressed and pushed down he was, he earlier referred to the weight of his troubles in Asia (2 Cor. 1:8). He was not a block of wood, and no Stoic. He is not arguing that his pains are non-existent, or trifling. Rather, he is telling us, by faith, that his pains fade in comparison to something else. He refuses to weigh his troubles in isolation. He evaluates his life, and the troubles in it, by the video and not by the snapshot.

This is a typical Pauline turn of mind. He says elsewhere in Romans that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18). You put the glory of the resurrection on one side of the scales, say ten bricks of gold, and then drop twenty or so lead molecules of affliction on the other side. That is the kind of thing he is doing. He is comparing, not muscling through. This is not a stiff upper lip approach. He calculating and comparing. But in order to do this you have to be able to see the coming glory, and this is only possible with the eye of faith.

AFFLICTION’S BLOOM

But Paul is not saying that there are bad things that happen down here, but then later, in a completely different realm, good things happen up there, and so it all evens out somehow. No, he is not saying that. Rather, the weight of glory that is coming for us, which we cannot now fully comprehend, is the bloom of our afflictions. The afflictions are the instrument that God uses to bring the other about. The “light” affliction works for us the weight of glory. That is what he is saying, that is what he is arguing in v. 17. As the cue ball put the eight ball in the corner pocket, so your troubles are laboring industriously for your gain. They are your friends. They are your very best friends. You ought to be nicer to them.

They are remodeling contractors, come to renovate your soul. They showed up right on time, 8 am, and they all have crowbars in their gloved fists, and that kitchen is going to be fabulous when they are done. Your afflictions are the dust all through the house. So this is why you need to count it all joy when you meet various trials (Jas. 1:2)—you can see what is coming (Jas. 1:3-4). This is why we are to glory in tribulations (Rom. 5:3). This is why, when you are tempted to look at your demolished kitchen in despair, you are instructed to go pull out the computer rendering of what it is going to look like, and then rejoice in the chaos (Rom. 5:4-5).

THE SPIRIT OF FAITH

This is not courage, not in the first instance. This is not endurance, not all by itself. This is not insight, not as the first thing. This is faith. That is what lies at the foundation of all courage, endurance, and insight. This is faith, and because Paul believes, he speaks. Because he speaks, he gets stoned and dragged outside the city again. And then he gets up, and because he believes, he goes on to speak again. He does this because he knows how the transaction works.

Where does this faith come from? According to Paul, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). This is why faith is being formed in your hearts right now. The Word is being proclaimed, right now, and you are hearing it, right now.

What is that Word? It is that Christ was crucified. He was buried in the tomb. On the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures, He rose again from the grave. A short time later, the Holy Spirit was poured out into the world with the express purpose of anointing that message, making it powerful to save. Because all of these things are true, I am authorized as an emissary of Christ, to invite you to come. Are you already a Christian? Then come. Are you not a Christian at all, in any sense? Then come. Are you a nominal Christian, a Christian only on the surface of your life? Then come. This is the gospel call. What does Isaiah say? “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else” (Is. 45:22). What does the Lord Jesus say? “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). And what does the Spirit say, together with the bride? “Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come” (Rev. 22:17). And this is why we say, every week we say, “Come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.”

And when you come, be assured that your afflictions will not disappear. But do understand that when you come, your afflictions will start to make sense.

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Justice, Liberty, & Love

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INTRODUCTION

At first glance it may appear to us that justice, liberty, and love are three very distinct topics. But if we examine them in light of Scripture and a biblical worldview, we will discover that they are all addressing the same thing. Every virtue, every grace, is a manifestation of the gracious gift of the singular holiness of God. The integrated Christian life is therefore all of a piece.

THE TEXT

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. . .” (Galatians 5:13–23).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul begins by telling the Galatians that they have been called to liberty (v. 13). He immediately moves to tell them that they are not to use that liberty in the cause of self-indulgence (v. 13). Instead of serving the flesh, they are called to use their liberty to serve one another in love (v. 14). Why is this? Because the entire law is fulfilled in one phrase, which is to love your neighbor as yourself (v. 14). Paul is citing the second greatest commandment, identified as such by Jesus (Matt. 22:30), and which is taken from Lev. 19:18. But if instead of loving, they bite and devour each other, they need to take care that they don’t eat each other up (v. 15) . The thing that will enable them to avoid fulfilling these fleshly desires is what Paul calls walking in the Spirit (v. 16). The flesh and the Spirit are fundamentally at odds with one another, which prevents them from doing what they wanted to do (v. v. 17). But if they walk in the Spirit, they will not be under the condemnation of the law (v. 18). The works of the flesh are obvious (v. 19), and Paul then works through a litany of uncleanness (vv. 19-21). They range from all manner of sexual impurity and self-indulgence to thoughts of hostility and accusation. People who are like this are not going to inherit the kingdom (v. 21). The fruit of the Spirit, by way of contrast, is a unified whole of goodness—love, joy, peace, and so on. Or put another way, justice, liberty, and love (vv. 22-23).

AND SUCH LIKE

Scripture frequently gives us lists of virtues and vices. These lists should be taken with that phrase “and such like” kept in the front of our minds. The lists vary in their details, but the aroma coming off all of them is always the same.

Christian graces are described by Peter here (2 Pet. 1:5-8). Paul uses the language of fruit here in our text, but he also describes the fruit of the light in Eph. 5:9. And then in Romans 5:3-5, we see the same thing again.

Lists of clustered corruptions work the same way. Paul gives us one list in Romans (Rom. 1:29-32). And then he gives another list to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 6:9-10). And we have the list in our text. The lists never map on to one another exactly, but they all have the same kind of thing in common. It is as though a gifted writer was writing a series of articles on seedy dive bars around the country. They would all have the same feel, and the alleys behind them would all smell like urine.

This is why James tells us that if we break the law at just one point, we are guilty of breaking all of it (Jas. 2:10). The law of God is not a series of French pane windows, but is rather a plate glass window. It doesn’t matter that much where you put the hole—the window is broken. The law of God is personal, and is as unified as the character of the God it reflects. And lawlessness, the way of the flesh, is the anti-God frame of mind, and so it also is unified in that antipathy.

WHAT LIBERTY IS

Paul says in our text that we have been set free, we have been set at liberty. Now a popular (and wrongheaded) definition of liberty thinks it means doing as you like, whatever the consequences. But Paul here says that liberty is being set free to do as you ought.

Doing as you want is the way of the flesh, and it is characterized by two things. The first is that the flesh grabs at what it wants, and the second is that it accuses others for grabbing for what they want. Now when we grab, we wrong others by taking what is lawfully theirs. And when we have an accusative spirit, we wrong others by not following the scriptural requirements of due process. And what is due process? It is hearing both sides of story (Prov. 18:17). If the story is denied, it is requiring independent confirmation (Dt. 17:6). It is allowing the accused to face his accuser (Dt. 19:16)—no anonymous accusations. And if you are reading about anything on the Internet, all these standards go triple. It is to handle a matter justly, which is an outworking of love, which is how you are use your liberty.

TWO WORLDS

In a world ruled by the flesh, as Paul makes very plain here, you cannot have liberty, you cannot have justice, and you cannot have love.  As well try to grow orchids above the Colorado tree line. And this is why the plan to achieve greater liberty for Americans by opening the floodgates of porn, by legalizing pot, by telling everybody to give absolute free rein to their feelings, by urging all the drones to live on handouts, and encouraging all narcissists to live inside their own heads, was a plan that was singularly ill-fated. An indulgent society hates liberty, hates justice, and hates love. All the “liberties” they want you to have are liberties that can be indulged in a six by eight prison cell.

The way of the Spirit establishes form and freedom together. Form without freedom is despotism and tyranny. Nobody wants that. But freedom without form falls apart. What is the sense of freeing a locomotive from its tracks, putting it in the middle of a marsh, and telling it to go wherever it wants?

REFORMATION AND REVIVAL

And this is why the deliverance of our country is not going to happen apart from a great movement of the Spirit. Unless a people are cleansed of their guilt, liberated from their lusts, and empowered to do what is right by their neighbor, they cannot live as a free people. As we are seeing around us, they cannot even value the idea of a free society. They want the slavery, they want the malice, they want the injustice.

So go back to the two lists in our text. The works of the flesh are manifest. The fruit of the Spirit, as we all recognize, is equally obvious. Now take the cover off your heart. Which list is more descriptive of what you see in there? If it is a cauldron of seething lusts, as it is in the case of many, turn to Christ. He is the Savior, and He can save to the uttermost.

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Science, the Bible, & Defending the Faith

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INTRODUCTION

We will be taking a brief three-week break from our current series in 2 Corinthians in order to spend our time on what might be called a “back to school” special. Here at Christ Church, and at King’s Cross, and at CCD, we will all be addressing the same topics for these three weeks, and using the same texts. The reason for this is that our adversaries are not opposed to us for no particular reason. No, they have arguments, and we have a responsibility to address them. But as we do this, we want to do it on God’s terms, not theirs.

THE TEXT

“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Col. 1:15–17).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (v. 15). As such, He is the firstborn over all creation (v. 15). He is the firstborn over all creation because He is the Creator of all things in that created order (v. 16). This means, in the first instance, that He is not contained by that created order—He is the Lord of it (v. 16). He created everything in Heaven, and on earth. He created all the visible creatures and all the invisible creatures. He created the thrones, the dominions, the principalities, the powers, and all things else (v. 16). Not only was everything created by Him, it was also created for Him (v. 16). He is prior to, and underneath, everything. He is the one who sustains everything that He has made (v. 17). This means that He created everything, and that He holds together all that He has created. The basic takeaway for Christians is that Darwinism is the Ur-enemy.

THAT WORD SCIENCE

What is the most basic question we can ask about knowledge? The word science comes from the Latin scire, “to know,” and so science lays claim to knowledge about the material world. But because most people think that our debates about science and reason and revelation are debates about what we know, we go astray. The foundational question rather is this—what are the preconditions for being able to know anything at all? What kind of a universe is necessary for it to be possible for bits of that universe to know things?

The scriptural answer to this is plain. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: But fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7). “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: And the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Prov. 9:10).

And so in the context of our text from Colossians this morning, the Creator of all things was made incarnate so that He might reconcile to Himself all the things that He had made, things which had been estranged from Him because of our sin. “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled” (Col. 1:21).

In your minds. In your knowing. This includes scientific knowing. Engineered knowing. Historical knowing. Practical knowing. And so what this means is that the fear of the Lord is not the rival of science. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of science, the foundation of science, the ground of all science. It is what must be assumed in order for there to be any such thing as science. “The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them” (Psalm 111:2).

THE REAL QUESTION

The materialistic and atheistic scientist wants to treat this subject as a matter of what we know. He thinks the question of whether God made the world or not is the same kind of question as whether or not it is raining outside. “Let’s just apply the scientific method and go check.” But if there is no Creator, and the universe is just an infinite concourse of atoms, then no knowledge of anything is possible—and this would include the idea that the universe is a concourse of atoms. That means it is not the same kind of question at all.

Now I know that this might seem heady to some of you, but it is really important. If the cosmos is just the debris field of the Big Bang, and there is no God, then it is just simply an accident. But if you want to know what happened in an accident, the one thing you don’t do is ask the accident. It doesn’t know. It’s the accident. As soon throw thousands of Scrabble tiles in the air and then eagerly expect them to spell out a detailed explanation of how no one actually ever invented the game of Scrabble.

THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH

The pursuit of truth, any kind of truth, scientific and philosophical included, requires an antecedent commitment to the idea that there is such a thing as truth. And if someone denies it, saying there is no truth, just ask him if that is true. If anyone’s worldview says that there is really no reason to believe anything he says, then feel free to not.

Earlier generations of unbelieving scientists were like the prodigal son before he ran out of his money. They were still spending the capital they had inherited from their father. But now, just like the prodigal son had no money, they have no basis for truth. They say that matter is the only thing that exists . . . but truth is not material. But what color is it? How much does it weigh? What chemicals make it up? The truth represented by the statement that “all is material” is not itself material.

The scientific method cannot conclude no God. This is because the scientific method cannot consistently conclude with no scientific method. So it is not the case that science makes the idea of God incoherent. Rather a godless science makes science incoherent.

CHRIST THE ARCHE

And so we do not deploy our minds in order to defend the faith. Rather we recognize that it is the Christian faith that defends our minds.

In the verse just after our text, it says that Christ is the beginning (arche), the preeminent one, the one who was firstborn from the dead. Christ is everything. It means that He is the first principle. He is the integration point of all things. He is the cornerstone. He is the ultimate elemental, the final Word. Christ is Lord. In the gift of Jesus to us, God the Father poured the footings for all possible knowing.

But never forget the fact that the foundation of every form of lawful knowing, including the true gift of the scientific method, was established by a bleeding Christ. The crucified and risen one is the one who is given universal dominion, which means that His humility is the foundation of His exaltation. In turn that means that His humiliation is the deep foundation that enables us to know anything.

Again, it is Christ or chaos.

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A Cardboard Box Full of Diamonds (Authentic Ministry #9)

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INTRODUCTION

The persistent weakness of God’s servants is not a bug, but rather a feature. God does it this way because He wants us to glory in Him, and not in ourselves. If we won the battles all by ourselves, we would be tempted to trust in ourselves. But God wants us to trust in Him as the one who raises the dead. If we lapse into trusting in ourselves, we are trusting in a power incapable of raising the dead. In a world like ours, that’s no good.

THE TEXT

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4:7–12).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Earthen vessel, clay pots, were the cardboard boxes of the ancient world. They were used to store anything and everything. In Paul’s metaphor, our lives are the cardboard box while the pearls and diamonds inside it were the gospel, the excellency of God (v. 7). Paul then moves on to describe how beat up the cardboard box was (v. 8). All of his comparisons are meant to describe how the box remained functional, despite having gone through a lot. Troubled, but not distressed (v. 8). Perplexed, but not despairing (v. 8). Persecuted, but not abandoned (v. 9). Down, but not out (v. 9). Always carrying the death of Christ on the box so that the life of Christ might be seen within the box (v. 10). Coming at the same thing from another angle, he says that death has tattered the box to such an extent that the resurrection gems inside it can be seen (v. 11). Paul then adds a surprising twist—the death works in the apostles, but the life he is talking about resides in the Corinthians (v. 12). They were, as it were, part of Paul’s internal glory (v. 12).

WEAKNESS AS GOD’S COPPER

Just as copper wire conducts electricity, so also man’s frailty and weakness conduct the power of God. Anyone who has ever touched an exposed hot wire is learning something about electricity, and only secondarily about the copper.

Paul was squeezed but not squashed (v. 8). As one translator puts it, he was “bewildered, but not befuddled” (v. 8). He was persecuted by men, but never abandoned by God (v. 9). Paul was knocked over, but not knocked out (v. 9). They came close at Lystra, when they stoned him in the city, and dragged what they thought was his corpse outside the city limits, and left him there for the birds. But when they were gone, and the disciples were standing around his body, Paul opened his eyes and said, “We done here?” He then got up and went back into the town (Acts 14:19-20).

The afflictions of those who are closely following Christ are not haphazard. They are not random. They are not meaningless. They are not pointless. On the contrary, they are thepoint. How else can the copper conduct the electricity unless it is strung into wire?

WHAT PASSES UNDERSTANDING

When all these sorts of things are barreling down on us, it is easy to give way to anxiety. We are juggling cares, responsibilities, obligations, possible disasters, and tenuous relationships. But Paul—who knew quite a bit about this whole subject—said that we were to be anxious “for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” we should present our prayers to God (Phil. 4:6). He then says that the peace of God will protect us (Phil. 4:7).

There are two crucial things here. One is that we shouldn’t be worrying on our knees. Worry and anxiety are not sanctified because we give way to them in a posture of prayer. The key is that we are to present our petitions to God with thanksgiving. Sing a psalm.

That leads to the next thing. Doing this will not protect the peace of God down in the nether regions of your heart somewhere. No, the peace of God is not the frail thing that needs protecting, but is rather the great shield of God that does the protecting. What needs protecting are our “hearts and minds” (Phil. 4:7). Our hearts and minds are not the shield. They do not do the protecting. They are our soft innards that need to be protected.

BEARS MUCH FRUIT

Fruit bearing is a function of substitution, and we are called to imitate the Lord in this. Some people assume that as Christ is the only one who can die as a fully efficacious substitute, then that must mean that we do not participate in substitutionary exchange at all. But this is false. Remember what Paul said here—death was in him, and life in the Corinthians (v. 12). Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, and this results in their ability to wash her with the water of the Word (Eph. 5:25-26). And Jesus tells us plainly that unless a grain of “wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:24–25).

Christ sets the pattern of “my life for yours.” But He sets the pattern so that we might follow His example. And as we follow His example, He is pleased to enable us to “bear much fruit.” We are Christians. This is the Way.

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