Douglas Wilson

Difficult Relationships

Christ Church on June 13, 2021

INTRODUCTION

For a number of years now, we have been emphasizing community, life together, fellowship, communion, what the New Testament calls koinonia. The response to this emphasis has been significant—showing that there is a real spiritual hunger for this kind of thing. But there is a hitch—other people are involved. There is always a catch.

Some might remember the conclusion of Sartre’s famous play, No Exit, where he said, “Hell is other people.” But we are Christians, and so we are called to affirm, to the emphatic contrary, that Heaven is other people. But a long stretch of road in a fallen world lies in between us and that Heaven.

THE TEXT

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus . . . (Phil. 2:1-5).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul is about to set before us the great example of Christ’s servant-heart (vv. 6ff). This is an example that he wants us to follow, and he gives us the charge before the example comes. If there is any consolation in Christ (v. 1), and there is, and if God provides any comfort of love, and He does, and if He creates fellowship in the Spirit, which He most certainly does, if there is a deep sympathetic connection in the gut between Christians, and there is, then fulfill Paul’s joy (v. 2). How would we go about fulfilling Paul’s joy? We need to be like-minded, sharing the same love, being in agreement, and settled in one mind (v. 2). We should guard ourselves against noble-sounding but superficial motives (v. 3). Put the other person first, and do so in lowliness of mind (v. 3). Don’t think about your own stuff, your own issues, first, but let every man consider the “things of others” (v. 4). This is the kind of thing Jesus did, and he then proceeds to talk about that stupendous example (vv. 5ff).

INTELLIGENT FELLOWSHIP

There are three basic assumptions that cause conflict in the Church, that contribute to what we might call difficult relationships. First, we tend to assume that every disruption is the direct result of sin, pure and simple. Second, we tend to assume that we know what the sin is. And third, we tend to assume that it is the other person’s sin. All three of these assumptions are drastically, radically, wrong-headed. And remember that the first two easily blend together—when you assume sin in others, it is usually “apparent” to you what the sin is.

GOD-GIVEN DIFFERENCES

We are commanded in this passage to strive toward certain things in common—like-mindedness, being of one mind, a shared fellowship in the Spirit, mutual giving, and so on. This does not mean that we can only do this if we start from some clone-like identity. No, we serve and worship a triune God, who has built some glorious differences into the world. We are to proceed from those differences to the unity described, which is not the same thing as obliterating those differences for the sake of a unity not described. What are some of those differences that have to be embraced at the starting point? You are cooking with onions and eggs, not trying to turn onions into eggs. Here are some of the glorious built-in differences, some of the onions.

Personality types: do not dismiss this just because you have heard it described by some secular psychologist. Every observant person in the history of the world has known the differences between Pooh, Rabbit, Eeyore, and Tigger. Give them other names (e.g. choleric, melancholic, sanguine, and phlegmatic), or rearrange them and call them something else. Like the fact of gravity, it is something we all have to deal with and, also like gravity, this reality is equally stubborn. There are different kinds of people.

Men and women: the differences between how men and women think, respond, emote, etc. are deep and profound. Men are linear; women think laterally. Men are goal-oriented; women are relationship-oriented. Men seek respect before love; women seek love before respect. Men want honor; women want security. Men want solutions; women want conversation. What a world we live in!

Culture and ethnicity: there are deep differences between a hardscrabble Scot, an expressive Greek, and an inscrutable Japanese. Our PC world should deal with it.

Age and birth order: how can someone who is sixty-years-old still be the little sister? And still feel like she has to compete for dad’s attention?

Mix and match: now take the categories outlined above, and see how many other different combinations you can get. Out-going African woman, shy, retiring, introspective Asian man. You get the picture.

Now if you want to think that every “head bonk” is the result of sin, you are going to wind up thinking that the whole world is engaged in a vast, perverse conspiracy, designed and operated solely in order to offend you grievously every day. And that is what we might call a self-fulfilling prophecy

ESTEEM OTHERS BETTER

We tend to judge others by their actions, and ourselves by our motives. And since this collision “must be” the result of sin, we immediately try to diagnose what sin it is. And naturally, we always lift the hood of the other guy’s car first. We always give ourselves the advantage. But Paul says here to give the advantage, the benefit of the doubt, the other way.

As C.S. Lewis once pointed out, when you are dealing with a difficult family, or company, or class, you are only dealing with everybody else. God has the same problem with that same group of people, only He is dealing with one more than you are—He is dealing with you also.

STRIFE OR VAINGLORY

Ignoring the creational distinctives that God has given us is a good way to get “one up” on everybody. If you had done that, then your motives would have been thus and such. They did that, and so their motives must have been what yours would have been. This is a recipe for one conflict after another. Those who resort to this tactic frequently accuse others of sin, but they are the ones bringing the sin to the situation. We are so focused on identifying what his sin must be, that we neglect entirely what our sin might be. Always remember that one of the traits that difficult people usually share is the fact that they think that everyone else is being difficult. So don’t you be that person.

When Paul says to avoid strife and vainglory, he says that we are, in lowliness of mind, to consider the possibility that the person with the other perspective has a point. Yes, but—you want to scream—you have a point too, and nobody’s listening! Well, let go of it, and maybe they will. Put it down for a second.

IN ONE ACCORD

The apostle knows that striving for this kind of like-mindedness is not a day at the beach (4:2), but it most necessary. To return to the cooking metaphor, we are not trying to make a bowl of cream of wheat, without the sugar. We are making a complicated dish, with hundreds of ingredients, and when we are done, we want to still be able to taste both the rum and the coconut. This is Trinitarian community, Trinitarian koinonia.

This is the kind of humility that looks to Christ, and when we look to Christ in this way, the humility grows.

Christ the Friend of Sinners

Christ Church on June 6, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

If Satan could successfully get us all to believe one lie, what would that lie be? Is there an aboriginal lie, one that lies at the root of every twisted thought or desire that we might have? And there is a scriptural answer to that question. The assumption behind the first question posed to our first mother contained that foundational lie. The question was, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen. 3:1). The lying assumption was that God was not ultimately good, and that He did not have the best for His creatures in mind.

The primeval lie is that God is not to be trusted. The primeval lie is to encourage us to have hard and erroneous thoughts about God.

THE TEXT

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The great problem with a text like this one is that we hear the lofty words, and we immediately default to our factory settings. But our factory settings were established for us in the Fall, and entertaining them were in fact the cause of the Fall. If we are believers, we tell ourselves that our hard thoughts of God are actually high thoughts of God, but this is not the case.

The text tells us that God does not think the same way that we do, and we need to remember that this applies—in the first instance—to how we read texts like this one. God’s thoughts are not like ours, and His ways are not like ours (v. 8). The heavens are much higher than the earth, and God’s ways and thoughts are that much higher than our ways and thoughts.

But here is the problem. Define higher.

The context of this wonderful passage is not what many would anticipate. Seek the Lord while He may be found (v. 6). Call on Him while He is near (v. 6). If the wicked and unrighteous man forsakes his way, what will God do? He will have mercy on him (v. 7). If a vile man comes to God, this God will abundantly pardon (v. 7). Why is this? Because God doesn’t think the way we do—or the way the devil does, for that matter.

God’s words of pardon and mercy come down on the earth like the rain and snow that give moisture to the earth (v. 10). Forgiveness grows, green and luxuriant (v. 10). God’s word of forgiveness is not impotent (v. 11)—it will prosper. It will result in songs of salvation (v. 12). Our salvation will be an everlasting sign that “shall not be cut off” (v. 13).

SQUASH YOU LIKE A BUG?

The natural man can believe that Almighty God can squash him like a bug. But confronted with a passage like this, we think the text is saying that we should always remember that God “can squash us a lot flatter than that.”

When we focus on the greatness of Almighty God, we revert to thinking of Him as the ultimate Zeus, a storm god who wields fistfuls of thunder, lightning, and blue ruin. And there are passages in Scripture that do talk this way, but we must always remember that the true greatness of this God is revealed to us in the juxtapositions.

Where does God dwell? He dwells, according to the prophet Isaiah, in two places.

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57:15)

He dwells in the high and holy place, and He also dwells in the contrite and humble place. And how can He do this? He functions this way because His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He is full of tender mercies.

THE HEART OF CHRIST

The men of Christ’s generation didn’t get much right, but they did get one thing right. Christ was the friend of sinners.

“The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!” (Luke 7:34).

The father of the prodigal son was looking down the road, longing for the return of his wastrel son. When he saw him coming back, bedraggled and humiliated, what did he do? He ran down the road and embraced him—and thus we have the parable of the running father. He then ordered the fatted calf to be killed, and party clothes to be put upon his loser son, and he hired a loud band, one that the older brother could hear out in the driveway. Did this father think that what this loser son really needed was another party? For one who had spent his entire inheritance on hookers and cocaine? Apparently so.

Just before this parable, the Lord told the one about the lost coin, and He concludes it this way. “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10). He doesn’t say that the angels rejoice (although I dare say they do), but rather that there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God. Who would be doing that but God Himself?

“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph. 3:17).

THE FEAR OF GOD IS NOT WHAT WE THINK

We all know that Scripture calls us to a life of moral rectitude. God wants us to walk worthy of the gospel of grace. We do not want to give an inch to any kind of moral disorder (Rom 6:1-4), of course not. But the grace of God does not encourage moral disorder, and the fear of God is not craven.

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears” (Isaiah 11:1–3, NKJV).

The grace of God is liberty in Christ. It is not the death of legalism, or the disorder of licentiousness. It is liberty. What is it that can enable a man to stand upright in his moral integrity, and to have that moral stand to be saturated in grace? We all want to know what that looks like, and so to see what it looks like we are summoned to look to the only place where it has been perfectly done—in Christ crucified and risen.

Patience in Work That Waits (2 Thess. #5)

Christ Church on May 30, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

Although the church at Thessalonica was a remarkably healthy church, it could not be said that there were no disorders there. At the conclusion of this second letter, Paul turns to some practical matters concerning their lives together. Right at the center of that is the question of work.

THE TEXT

“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you. And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ . . . ” (2 Thess. 3:1–18)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul concludes this letter to the Thessalonians by requesting prayer, as he often does. He prays that the word of the Lord might run freely, and be glorified, as it is in Thessalonica (v. 1). In order for this to happen, he requests that prayers be offered up for him (v. 1). When the gospel runs freely, it does so through human agency. He requests that they might be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, the kind who do not have faith (v. 2). God is faithful, and will protect the Thessalonians (v. 3). Paul has confidence in the Thessalonians, that they will follow his instructions (v. 4). He asks God to direct them into the love of God and into a patient waiting for Christ (v. 5).

They are to withdraw from any disorderly brothers (v. 6). Paul’s entourage had set the example in this for them (v. 7). The apostle Paul paid for his own food (v. 8). He could have required support, but preferred to set an example (v. 9). He set the standard when he was there—non-workers should be non-eaters (v. 10). The report comes that the church there did have some busybodies (v. 11), who lived in a disorderly way. He commands those people to get a job (v. 12). He then exhorts them not to get tired of doing the right thing (v. 13). If any are uncooperative, then mark and shun them (v. 14)—doing it in a brotherly way (v. 15). Then comes the benediction. May the God of peace grant them His peace (v. 16). Paul signs off with his own hand, as was his custom (v. 17). The grace of God bless all of you (v. 18), and amen.

WHAT PATIENT WAITING LOOKS LIKE

This chapter begins on a strong gospel note, and then takes a surprising turn. May the word of the Lord run free. Pray for gospel proclamation. Pray we be guarded against those who would persecute us for our preaching. May God guide you into a greater love for God and into a patient waiting for Christ to come.

Note carefully what patient waiting for the Final Coming looks like. It does not look like a complicated system of charts and graphs calculating when the end will come. Still less does it look like some poor sap sitting on his roof because he thinks those charts and graphs are the truth. No. What does patient waiting look like? It looks like working hard at your vocations.

Everything Paul teaches here is aimed at this kind of Christian industry. Waiting for Christ looks like withdrawing from the disorderly (v. 6). Working hard is an apostolic tradition (v. 6). Paul set an example of hard work (vv. 7-8), an example he wanted them to follow (v. 9). Waiting for Christ follows the command not to feed certain people (v. 10). Waiting for Christ means that you learn to distinguish productive work from busy work (v. 11). The disorderly are often busybodies (v. 11), and the Greek word for that indicates the man bustling around the edges of all the hard work, carrying a shovel, and wearing an official reflector vest (v. 11). We wait for Christ by working without a lot of fanfare or noise (v. 12). We wait for Christ by sustaining that work over time (v. 13), and not getting tired of it. And last, we wait for Christ by being willing to give brotherly admonitions to others about the quality of their work (vv. 14-15).

ADMONISH AS A BROTHER

A church that does not practice church discipline is a church with an immune system collapse. Not disciplining against heresy means there is no protection for the body from error, and not discipling against moral failure means there is no protection for the body from immorality. The two things that mark a true church are Word and sacrament, but without the fence of church discipline, such a garden will not last for long.

But there are gradations of this discipline. Sometimes the discipline is conducted by means of warnings from the pulpit. Sometimes it is conducted by a personal admonition. Other times, when a person’s life is disorderly and not disciplined rightly, it is conducted by avoiding them. That is what we see here. In severe cases, you would follow the process laid out in Matt. 18:15-20.

Notice that the end result of the Matt. 18 process is that the person is treated as a heathen or tax collector. In other words, this person is ejected from the church, excommunicated. There are others, as here, who are avoided, but admonished as brothers (v. 15). This is why, incidentally, our church polity has the category of suspension, a place well shy of excommunication.

GOD GIVES HIMSELF

In v. 16, Paul prays that the God of peace give them peace. Reasoning by analogy, may the God of grace give us grace, may the God of love give us love, may the God of joy give us joy. In short, may the God of our salvation grant us salvation, which He does by giving us Himself.

God so loved the world that He gave . . . what? John 3:16 tells us that He gave us His Son. And what did His Son give us after He returned to Heaven? He gave us His Spirit? What does God do for His people? He gives us Himself.

The Holy Spirit and a Sound Mind (Pentecost 2021)

Christ Church on May 23, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

One of the common mistakes that Christians make as they think about the Holy Spirit—who was poured out upon the Church at Pentecost—is the mistake of depersonalizing Him. But the Spirit is no impersonal force, like gravity or electricity. The Holy Spirit is an eternal person, and is so personal that He is the one who shapes a collection of individuals into a personal Bride for the Son of Man. This is why we can both extend the great invitation. This is the testimony of Scripture:

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17).

This is why we are able to say, every week, come, and welcome to Jesus Christ.

THE TEXT

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:7–9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul reflects on Timothy’s character with gratitude and joy, recalling the unfeigned faith that Timothy had (v. 5). This was the same genuine faith that was in his grandmother Lois first, and then in his mother Eunice (v. 5). He then urges Timothy to get out the poker, and stir up the fiery gift he had been given through the hands of Paul (v. 6). And why? Thus we come to our text. God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but rather a Spirit of power, a Spirit of love, and a Spirit of a sound mind (v. 7). The application of all this, as Paul sees it, is a refusal to be ashamed of the witness or testimony of the Lord, or ashamed of Paul’s imprisonment (v. 8). Rather, Timothy is urged to be a partaker of gospel afflictions, according to the power of God (v. 8). This gospel is the instrument of our salvation, through which God has called us with a holy calling—not according to our works, but according to His purpose and grace, and which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began (v. 9).

PREHISTORIC PURPOSE

Not only do you have a purpose for your life, that purpose is much older than you are. It was assigned to you—salvation and a holy calling—before the world began. It is prehistoric. It is not downstream from your first birthday. Your first birthday is millennia downstream from your purpose. Your life has a meaning that is outside the history of the world. Your meaning is anchored elsewhere, secure in the eternal counsels of the living God.

THE ALTERNATIVE TO FEAR AND SHAME

Paul reminds Timothy that he was not given a Spirit of fear (v. 7). And after he itemizes the things that the Holy Spirit does bring, he goes on to say that Timothy must not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord (v. 8), and he must not be ashamed of the fact that Paul is in prison (again).

The Spirit bestows three characteristics in this passage. They are power, love, and a sound mind.

The Spirit was displayed in power at the first Pentecost when He equipped the disciples to speak in languages they had not studied. Jesus told them to wait until the Spirit came with power (Luke 24:49), and that was what was displayed in Jerusalem that day. The gifts of the Spirit are indeed powerful. But that is not the great power He has. His great power is the power of the holy calling. He can make tawdry, dirty little sinners like us into holy saints.

Remember that the Corinthian church was not lacking in any of the spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 1:7). Paul had to devote several chapters of traffic control with regard to those gifts (1 Cor. 12-14). But even though they had all those gifts, Paul could not regard them as spiritual men, but rather as carnal. “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1).

AFFLICTIONS AND THE GOSPEL

When someone like Paul is thrown into prison for the sake of the gospel, do you think the devil is stupid enough to grant that this is why? “Yes, we know he is a good man, and that he is bringing us good news of salvation through Christ, which a gracious God is offering us, but we want to jail him anyway. . .” Do you think that the devil is that foolish?

No. Jesus was executed for blasphemy. The charges against Paul made him out to be a pest and troublemaker. The early Christians were accused of cannibalism (because of the Lord’s Supper) and incest (because of the love between brothers and sisters). Canadian pastors get arrested because they won’t bow down in the spirit of fear that has gripped the world, but the official name for it is “denying the science.”

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

The Spirit is the one who gives us a sound mind. One of the central aspects of having a sound mind in this world is the result of having a purpose and meaning that is grounded outside the world. So don’t get tangled up in questions about whether you were predestined to reach for the pencil with your left hand or your right. You were predestined to be holy(Eph. 1:4). That is your purpose (Eph. 2:10). You were predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:23). That is your destination. And the Spirit is the one who brings you there.

No fear, and no shame. A holy calling. A sincere faith. Power, love, and a sound mind. All of it integrated together, knit together in love (Col. 2:2), as the Spirit completes the work He was sent into the world to do. Why not here? Why not now?

Kingly Obedience (Ascension 2021)

Christ Church on May 16, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

The progress of the gospel throughout the world is certainly going to have the effect of making your neighborhood a lot nicer, but that should not be considered as the extent of it. We look forward to the time when every son of Israel is at peace under his own fig tree, but there are also larger geopolitical issues involved. And those issues are directly related to what we are celebrating on this Ascension Sunday.

THE TEXTS

“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh” (Matt. 2:11).

“And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it” (Rev. 21:24–26).

“Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me” (Is. 49:23, NKJV).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXTS

Our first text is one we are accustomed to refer to in our Christmas celebrations because the story is given to us in the narrative of Christ’s birth at Bethlehem. But the story is also proleptic or anticipatory. What August did unwittingly, what Herod rebelled against doing, these rulers from the east did gladly, and that was to serve the interests of the holy family. These men worshiped the Lord, and they brought gifts to Him. That is what all the kings of the earth are summoned to do (Ps. 2:12), and which all will eventually do. Revelation tells us that leaves from the trees of life will be made readily available for the healing of the nations, and the New Jerusalem, which is the Christian church, will provide light for the nations to live by. The nations, and their kings, will bring their glory and honor into the Church. What the devil offered to Christ on that very high mountain as a bribe (Matt. 4:8) is instead brought into His Church as bounden tribute. This all happens when the Gentile nations bring sons of God in their arms and carry daughters of God on their shoulders. They will support the Church, not as lords over the Church, but as sons and daughters of the church themselves. Just as Jacob bowed down to Joseph, so also the mighty ones of the earth will acknowledge the wisdom of God resident in the Church, and will do so as they bow down.

A VOICE OF AUTHORITY

But before the kings of the earth will recognize the great authority that has been bestowed on the Church, something else must come first. The rulers of the Church will have to recognize it first, and they will have to repent of acting so embarrassed. The Church is not a social club with an interest in theological topics, in which we dabble during our Sunday meetings. Rather the Church is a militant army that makes the gates of Hades tremble as though they were the gates of Jericho.

There is something in the carriage of this kind of authority that makes carnal rulers shake, even when it appears that they are holding all the cards. “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid” (John 19:80). Why on earth would Pilate be afraid?

MIGHTY THROUGH GOD

A robust eschatology encompasses all of history. The “end times” are the last chapter in the story, and if you understand the last chapter, you understand the whole book. And as God is the author of the entire story, and because we are His friends, He has invited us to read His story in manuscript, well before final publication.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Cor. 10:3–6).

These words were written, and understood, and acted on, by the apostle Paul, who lived two thousand years ago. That being the case, he was clearly playing the long game. And because he was playing the long game two thousand years ago, we have no business refusing to play that same long game. Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10-11). The earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14).

So as God gives opportunity, and we stand before rulers and kings, we should be bold to declare what the magi in Bethlehem saw so clearly. We should be willing to echo what Paul said to Agrippa.

“For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds” (Acts 26:26–29).

Where does such authority come from? It comes from the recognition that the Christ who was crucified was the same Christ who was raised, and the Christ who was raised is the same Christ who has ascended to the right hand of the Father— where He has been given blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, amen (Rev. 7:12).