Christ Church

Lord of Life, Dealer of Death, Giver of Gifts (Pentecost 2020)

Christ Church on

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

Today we celebrate Pentecost, the ancient harvest festival of the Jews, the great day on which the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church, and three thousand souls were harvested into new life. This giving of the Spirit was a great event in the history of the church, but the gift of the Spirit also has great significance for each individual believer. Today we are going to consider three important activities of the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer here.

The Text

“And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:9–13).

Summary of the Text

We too often interpret these words of Jesus as though He were speaking about answered prayer with regard to material things. Now Jesus does teach elsewhere that we are to trust God for material things—like our daily bread (Matt. 6:11), and what you will wear (Matt. 6:30)—but that is not what is happening here. Jesus is not here saying that if you need a new car, then ask, and you will receive it. You should still ask for the car if you need it, but you need to find a different verse.

In His teaching here, the Lord is very specific about what we should ask for, what we should seek, and where we should knock. First comes the promise. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will open (v. 9). And then He goes on to reiterate the certainty of this. Everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. Everyone who knocks, stands before an open door (v. 10). The Lord then sets up a comparison between God’s goodness and ours. If a man’s son asks for bread, will his father give him a rock? If he asks for a fish, will his father give him a snake? If he asks for an egg, will he receive a scorpion? (vv. 11-12). These are rhetorical questions, and the answer to all three is obviously no. So then, if evil human beings know how to not betray their children, how will it be with God? Obviously, our heavenly Father will give us the good gift.

What is that good gift? What will everyone receive if they ask for it? The Holy Spirit. What will everyone find if they seek for it? The Holy Spirit. Who will open the door for everyone if we knock there? The Holy Spirit.

“How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:13b).

The Infinite God

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Holy Trinity, and not to be regarded as some kind of impersonal force. We are sometimes tempted to think this because He works in such a way as to not draw attention to Himself. His task is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:13-14), and the Lord Jesus is the one who brings us to the Father (John 14:6). And so Christian prayer is to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18). To remind you of an illustration we have used before, the triune God encompasses the entire journey. The Father is the city we are going to. The Son is the road we travel on. The Spirit is the car we drive.

But never interpret His behind-the-scenes work as that of an impersonal force, like electricity. When Peter rebukes Ananias and Sapphira, he says to Ananias that he has lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). And in the next verse he says that it was a lie told to God (Acts 5:4).

And the work of the Holy Spirit in your life includes, but is not limited to, the following three realities.

Lord of Life

The Spirit is the one who gives the new birth. He is the one who quickens you, and brings you to life. He is the one who regenerates you.

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2).

You were previously dead in your trespasses and sins, and the reason the principle of new life suddenly appeared in you is because of the Holy Spirit. He is the Lord and Giver of life.

Dealer of Death

But God does not save us, and then rocket us up to Heaven that instant. He wants us to learn some things about ourselves first, and He wants us to do this in a difficult environment. Because of the Spirit’s presence and the new life He brings, we no longer have to deal with reigning sin. Reigning sin, the old man, the unconverted you, is forever dead. But the transformation is not entirely complete. We still have to deal with remaining sin, and the Holy Spirit in you is an effective killer.

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom. 8:13).

Giver of Gifts

One Spirit knits us into one body (Eph. 4:4), and that Spirit joins all of us together in love. In thatcontext, He gives particular gifts to His saints (Eph. 4:11; 1 Cor. 12:7-11; Rom. 12:6-8). Those gifts cover a wide array of abilities—helps, administration, mercy, faith, teaching, and so forth.

“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:” (Rom. 12:4).

So as you rejoice in the new heart you have been given, and as you hunt down remaining nodes of self-centeredness in order to pull them up by the roots, don’t forget to look down at your hands. What has God placed there that you might be privileged to give to your brothers and sisters in this community?

The only gift we can ever give one another is the gift of Christ. But we must also remember that Christ, and the love of Christ, comes in many different shapes.

Read Full Article

The Clouds of Heaven (Ascension 2020)

Christ Church on

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

One of the great difficulties that modern Christians have is that we do not let the two testaments inform one another. Because of this neglect on our part, we miss many visions of coming glory that the Old Testament prophets set before us. And as a people starved for glory, we ought not to miss any of it when God offers it.

The Text

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13-14).

Summary of the Text

In the night visions, Daniel sees someone like the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven (v. 13). This one like the Son of man approaches the Ancient of days (God the Father), and is brought before Him (v. 13). When this mysterious figure approaches the Ancient of days, the end result is that universal dominion is bestowed on him—dominion, glory, and a kingdom. The nature of this kingdom was that all people, nations, and languages would serve Him (v. 14). His dominion was to be everlasting, and the kingdom he was receiving would never be destroyed (v. 14). And therefore preaching the kingdom of God, among other things, means preaching this.

The Son of Man

The first thing to note is how Jesus identifies with this phrase—“the Son of man.” Although the phrase is common in the Old Testament, this passage in Daniel is the only place in the entire Old Testament where it is used in a messianic sense. Thus, it is a messianic term here, but not a common messianic term. The Lord Jesus uses it of Himself, and it simultaneously conceals and reveals His identity. Some common examples would include Mark 2:10, 8:38, and 10:33.

The Lord Jesus did not want His disciples proclaiming His identity until the time was right. After His resurrection and ascension (Rom. 1:4), the time was more than right, and so two thousand years into it, this reality now must be declared until the end of the world. This is what we are charged to declare—the universal lordship over (and consequent salvation of) the entire world.

The Clouds of Heaven

We must let the Bible tell us what a phrase means. When we think of “the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven,” what do we tend to think? We almost always think of the Second Coming, with Jesus descending to earth on the clouds of heaven. But this is not what it means at all.

The fact that Jesus ascended into heaven on the clouds (the event we are commemorating today) is not meant (with regard to this prophecy) to point to another event many thousands of years later. Although Jesus will come again the same way He left, His manner of going was the beginning of the fulfillment itself.

“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:9-11).

Where This is Quoted

The first place to consider is in the Olivet Discourse. “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Mt. 24:30-31). This is not a sign in heaven, but rather a sign concerning the Son of man, who is in heaven. The tribes of the earth see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven. Now, in Daniel, where does He come? Into the presence of the Ancient of Days. His authority is apparent on earth (the tribes see it), but the coming is apparent in heaven. Put simply, He is crowned in Heaven; we see the ramifications of that coronation on earth.

The Jews who put Jesus on trial understood the ramifications of this phrase better than many modern Christians do. This is why, tearing his clothes, the high priest considered the statement blasphemous. “Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.” (Mt. 26: 64-65; cf. Mk. 14:62-64). We should pay close attention to it—for this was the passage that brought about the conviction of Jesus. These were the words that condemned Him.

Lord of All

Returning to Daniel, what did the Lord Jesus receive after He departed from the disciples’ sight in a cloud? What did He receive when He approached the Ancient of days? The Scriptures are exceedingly clear on the point. He received everlasting dominion, glory, and an indestructible and universal kingdom (Dan. 7:13-14). He received the heathen for His inheritance, and the uttermost ends of the earth as His possession (Ps. 2: 8). He received the worship of all the families on earth, and the remembrance of all the ends of the world (Ps. 22:27). He will receive all men as they stream to Him, the ensign of Jesse (Is. 11:10), and His rest shall be glorious. The earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus as the Pacific Ocean is wet (Is. 11:9). He will receive all His adversaries, fashioned by the power of God into His footstool (Ps. 110:1). He will receive the human race, unveiled (Is. 25:7), and will set a feast of fat things, full of marrow, full of fat, and wine on the lees, well-refined (Is. 25:8).

This world, the one we live in now, will be put to rights, before the Second Coming, before the end of all things. The only enemy not destroyed through the advance of the gospel will be death itself (1 Cor. 15:26)—and even that enemy will be in confused retreat (Is. 65:20). The ramifications of this are many, but one of the things it means is that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. So return to your labors encouraged. You know your weakness, that is true, but hear the words of your God. It is an invincible weakness because one like a son of man has entered into the throne room of the heavens. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Read Full Article

Koinonia and the Way of Christ

Christ Church on

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

The lock down orders that have been imposed all over the country have revealed to us a number of things—outside the church, in the relationship of the church to our broader society, and within the church. The thrust of this message has to do with the latter. What have we learned, if anything, about true Christian fellowship, true Christian koinonia, true Christian community?

The Text

“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:41–42).

Summary of the Text

In the second chapter of Acts, the Holy Spirit is poured out on the disciples of Jesus (Acts 2:2-4), and the first great gospel sermon was preached to the people of Jerusalem (Acts 2:14ff). Thousands began to flood into the church, and Luke describes for us how the church began to assume its ordained shape, and our text describes four features of their community.

Those who received the word were baptized, which ushered them into the body of Christ. About three thousand came in that first day (Acts 2:41). And what did these three thousand people do? Luke tells us that they did four things, continuing in them steadfastly. The first was that they submitted to the apostolic teaching. The second was that they continued in fellowship with one another (koinonia). The third was the Lord’s Supper, the breaking of bread together. And the last was prayers (Acts 2:42).

Two Questions

Back in the seventies, the great question was what is truth? Today the pressing question is where is community? Some might make this kind of observation in order to set the questions against one another, but rightly understood they are complementary questions. Truth is foundational to any true community, and community is the only appropriate response to the truth. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” (1 John 1:6). Fellowship exults in the truth, and truth generates fellowship. In our text, it was dedication to the apostles teaching (truth) that resulted in fellowship (koinonia).

Koinonia

And so here is how the fact that the biblical word for fellowship is koinonia, connects to true discipleship. Think of how Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem in the Triumphal Entry. In order to welcome Christ into Jerusalem you have to go down to the street He is on. When you do so, you are not just praising Him as He travels by you. You also have a necessary relationship to those people on your right and left who are also praising Him. Christ was welcomed to the week of His passion by a crowd, and not by the last true believer. Save us, they cried, and that is what He did.

But the crowd had to come to Christ. They could not have gone two blocks over, turned and faced each other, and establish a little koinonia by themselves. It never works. The point of integration must be the incarnate truth. But at the same time, life that doesn’t congregate around the truth is not really alive.

In modern church parlance, fellowship means coffee and donuts. But in the biblical world, fellowship meant mutual partaking and indwelling. Fellowship is what we have in the body together, as we are being knit together in love.

One Another

A body is what we are. We do not act in a particular way in order to become a body, we are to act that way because we are a body and we desire to be a well-functioning one. “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Rom. 12:5).

Receive

When it comes to life in the body, there are all kinds of offenses. There are business offenses. There are family offenses. There is petty rudeness in the parking lot, and there is glaring sin within a marriage. What in the world are we to do with other people? “Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God” (Rom. 15:7).

It glorified God when Christ received us, and it glorifies Him when we receive one another. When we receive a brother or sister, we are not promising to “look the other way.” That is not biblical receiving. We are promising to let love cover it, when that is appropriate, and to confront it, when that is appropriate. We are promising to not complain about it to others. We either cover it or confront it, and this principled communion is why it is possible to excommunicate in love.

Love

Of course the center of this is love. When we look at the “one anothers” of Scripture, this has a central place. “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34). “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). “These things I command you, that ye love one another” (John 15:17). “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8).

We can only love because we have been loved. And we can only know that we have been loved if we grasp—through a living faith—the glories of the gospel. Christ died and was buried, Christ was buried and rose, and He did it so that you might be put right with God. You are ushered into the fellowship of love that He offers, and this is what makes it possible for you to love your neighbor.

Strive

But it is very tempting for us to conceive of love as a generic disposition to “be nice.” But love rolls up its sleeves, and gets into the dirty work. If all we had to do was sit around and radiate love rays at one another, I am sure we would all be up to the task. But what about all those provocations that come from . . . you know, other people?

We begin by making sure that we do not rise to the provocations. We need to have peace with one another. One of the characteristics of the band that traveled with Jesus is that He had to caution them to preserve the peace with each other. “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another” (Mark 9:50).

We should labor to think alike. We noted earlier that truth is the foundation of community, and the more we share in the truth, and walk in it, the greater will be our unity. “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus” (Rom. 15:5). Our modern temptation is that of simply “agreeing to disagree,” which is fine as a temporary measure—but it is not the ultimate goal that Scripture sets out for us.

But the “one anothers” we pursue should not be limited to staying out of fights. “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another” (Rom. 12:10). Scripture tells us to point the honor away from ourselves, and toward the other.

Conclusion

As the people of God, we are being gathered. But we cannot be gathered without being gathered together. And once we are gathered together, we face the glorious calling of life together. But in order to maintain this, we have to keep emphasizing the basics—gospel, love, forgiveness, truth. And the fact is that in the time of the coronavirus scare, these truths about koinonia must be prioritized by us, and not placed on the back burner. One of the things that has happened over the last couple of months is that we have started to accept some unbiblical definitions of words like essential. The only way to say that our gathering, our worship, our singing, is unessential is by saying that the church is unessential.

We cannot invite Christ to accompany us without inviting His bride to accompany Him.

Read Full Article

The Sinfulness of Worry

Christ Church on

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

In times like ours, there is a lot to worry about, is there not? If we are not worried about the coronavirus killing us dead, we are worried about panicked overreactions to the coronavirus killing our businesses dead. And so we like to think that our situation is somehow unique. We live in the modern age, and so our worry or anxiety is somehow justified. But it isn’t.

Across many historical studies, before the modern era about a quarter of all children did not survive their first year. Another quarter of them did not make it past puberty. And from around 1500 to 1800, general life expectancy was somewhere between 30 and 40 years old. So tell us some more about your great troubles, Methuselah. You might not make it to a thousand?

The Text

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:4–7).

Summary of the Text

When it comes to our base coat demeanor, Paul gives us our foundational marching orders. He tells us to rejoice always (v. 4), and he repeats himself for emphasis. Rejoice, he says. The KJV translates the next word as moderation, which we would call gentleness (v. 5). We are to do this because the Lord is at hand (v. 5). In the next phrase he says that we are to be anxious about nothing (v. 6). Instead of being anxious about whatever it is, he says that we are to present our requests to God in our prayers and supplications (v. 6). We are to make them known to God, but not because God doesn’t know them. We are to make them known to God so that we can know that God already knows them. Moreover, we are told to present these prayers and supplications to Him with thanksgiving. This is key, as we shall see in a moment. When we do as Paul instructs us here, we find that the anxiety is dealt with. How? The peace of God, which transcends all our understanding, will keep or protect our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (v. 7).

Your Shield and Buckler

Because we do not have great experience with the peace of God, we tend to assume that it is a frail little thing. We know that we ought to enjoy the peace of God, and so we resolve to do better. We set our hearts and minds to higher and nobler deeds, saying to ourselves that we will protect that poor little “peace of God” by means of

The fundamental thing we must notice about this approach is that it is completely upside down and backwards. Our hearts and minds are not to protect the peace of God. It says that the peace of God—which passes understanding, note—will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Trying to protect your peace with your good resolutions is like trying to protect your helmet with your head. It is like trying to protect your breastplate with your stomach. It is like trying to protect your shield with your neck. That maketh no sense, man.

How to Take Up the Shield and Buckler

We miss this because for several reasons I can think of. The first is that Paul says that this peace shield is an invisible shield. It passes understanding. When there is tumult all around you, and you remain unruffled, the people who know the circumstances cannot see what it is that is protecting you. But they can see that you are in fact being protected by something that “passes understanding.” And sometimes we forget that it passes understanding.

The other reason is that we often forget a key word in the exhortation that Paul is giving us, and that word is thanksgiving.

A Few Bullet Points

And so we should be done with our worries. We should be done with anxiety. Here is a small checklist for you to consult from time to time. Why should we not give way to anxiety?

  • We are Christians, and Jesus said not to. If we call Him Lord, we should do what He tells us to do. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things” (Matt. 6:34, NKJV).
  • We are Calvinists, and a worried Calvinist is a theological oxymoron. Either God is in complete control of all things or He is not. If He is not, then you, my friend, need to go run and hide. Good luck. If He is, then . . . “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thess. 5:18)
  • Worry and anxiety are a waste of time. It doesn’t do any good anyway. “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matt. 6:27).
  • You start living your life completely out of order. Worry is like thinking there is going to be a famine next year, and eating double portions at every meal now. It doesn’t work that way. “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matt. 6:34, NKJV).

Freedom from Worry is Not Recklessness

Remember that our text presupposes that you actually know the content of your prayers and supplications. Paul says that you are to lay them before God “in every thing.” You know what your burdens are. You feel the weight of them. But when you are free of anxiety, you do not know the inordinate weight of them. “Rejoice always” is not the same thing as a happy happy joy joy approach. “As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Cor. 6:10).

“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: But the simple pass on, and are punished” (Prov. 22:3). Prudence is like money. It is not wrong for God’s people to have money, but it is wrong for money to have His people. You know you have gone astray when your heart is located where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal. It is the same with prudence. Whenever you are being what you call “prudent,” do the little thieves of worry creep in? God wants His people to have prudence. He does not want prudence to have His people.

Christ the Shield

Worry is like a little greased piglet, and you are not going to able to catch it. And even if you did, what would you do with it then? Worry is not an adversary to be wrestled to the ground. Worry is not an adversary that you can just hit on the head with a chemical rock. Worry is a sin to be repented—as you would repent of lying, or adultery, or theft. You name it as sin, and offer it to Christ. And what does He do? He forgives it (1 John 1:9).

Read Full Article

Psalm 120: A Lament About Liars

Christ Church on

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

This psalm is the first in a series of fifteen psalms, called from ancient times psalms of ascent, or psalms of degree. What this means is frankly lost to us, but there have been reasonable speculations. John Calvin thought it had to do with the musical pitch of the psalm. A medieval rabbi said that the temple had fifteen steps, one psalm per step. I favor the view that argues that these are pilgrim psalms. When Israelites went to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple, they were going up (Ex. 34:24; 1 Kings 12:27)

The Text

“In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, Thou false tongue? . . .” (Ps. 120:1–7)

Summary of the Text

When a pilgrim left home to go up to the Temple, he was going to worship the God of truth. He was leaving behind the realm of men, the provenance of liars. One likely occasion for the composition of this psalm is David’s recollection of the lies of Doeg the Edomite. The lies, whatever they were, were distressing, and the psalmist cried out to Jehovah, and Jehovah heard him (v. 1). He cries out for deliverance from the evils that come from a lying tongue (v. 2). The lips are soft, but in the service of the devil they are razor sharp. He then asks what the liar will receive in return for all his labors in lies (v. 3). There is ambiguity in the next verse—is it talking about harm done by the liar, or about the recompence that God pays back to the liar? I take it as the latter (v. 4). David did not physically live in Mesech, or in the tents of Kedar, but it was as though he dwelt among an uncouth, and fierce, and barbaric people (v. 5). Against his basic desire, he dwelt together with someone who hated peace (v. 6). Despite his longing for peace, and his desire for peace, no matter what, they wanted war (v. 7). They insisted on unnecessary conflict.

The Liar Fights Dirty

One of the things that is so exasperating about dealing with slanderers and liars is not the fact of conflict with them. Rather it is that they feel free to use maneuvers that the righteous are prohibited from using. They are far more flexible in their construal of facts because they don’t need to go to the library to check them.

But a true man will not even touch the weapons that the slanderers resort to so readily. A true man will not return that kind of fire, trying to blacken the character of someone who is blackened enough already.

Deception and Lies

Having said all this, we must acknowledge that there is a difference between slander where there ought to be comity, and deception where there is already war.

The Hebrew midwives were blessed by God because they misled Pharaoh in his murderous policy (Ex. 1:19-20). And Jochebed, the mother of Moses, obeyed Pharaoh technically by putting the baby Moses in the Nile. The law didn’t say that the baby couldn’t be given a boat too (Ex. 2:2). And Moses asked Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go away from Egypt for a three day journey into the wilderness, not forever and ever (Ex. 9:1). And Rahab deceived the agents of Jericho’s defenses by sending the spies out by another way than she said she did (Josh. 2:4; Jas. 2:25). And, moreover, this is what James identifies as the very moment that vindicated the genuineness of her faith. The strategy that Israel used at the second battle of Ai relied on deception (Josh. 8:2), using a tactic God gave them. And the tactic that God gave to David at relied on deception (2 Sam. 5:23). Deception in time of war is to lying what killing in war is to murder.

At the same time, God will pour out all His fury on liars. The lake of fire is reserved for “all liars” (Rev. 21:8). One of the Ten Commandments prohibits perjury against your neighbor (Ex. 20: 16). We must not lie to one another (Lev. 19:11). Lying is included in two of the seven things that God hates (Prov. 6:16-19). Because we have cast off the old man and his ways, we must not lie to one another (Col. 3:9).

We are servants of Christ, who is the Truth incarnate. This means that we must be men and women who speak the truth accurately. We must be boys and girls who do not lie.

God’s Quiver

The psalm begins with the grateful acknowledgement that God heard the prayer of this man in distress. God heard him (v. 1). This is part of the reason why I take the arrows of v. 4 as the arrows of God’s judgments. The previous verse asked the question, “what shall be done to you, oh, false tongue?” and the following verse answers the question. God will draw one of His mighty arrows out of His quiver—and you don’t want to be one of those condemned individuals that God draws a bead on. The white broom tree of the desert (ratam), rendered by the KJV as juniper, is a wood that burns hot and long.

A Generation of the Lie

We live in time that is dominated by the Lie. The Lie is the coin of the realm. The Lie comes at you from every direction. You are lied to in your Spotify playlist. You are lied to in the movies, in the books you read, and on the Internet. You are lied to by our culture, you are lied to by our political authorities, and you are lied to by the devil.

Keep in mind that it is a sin to believe a lie. That is how our race fell into sin in the first place. God cannot lie (Heb. 6:18), and He told Adam to stay away from that tree. The devil wreathes himself in lies, and he is the one who told them to go ahead. The Fall was the result of believing a lie.

And one of the central ways to immunize yourself against believing lies is by resolving, before God, that you will speak the truth.

 

Read Full Article