Christ Church

Apostles Creed 1: I Believe

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What we now know as the Apostles Creed descended from an earlier form of the creed, known as the Old Roman Symbol. The beginning of the creed dates from as early as the second century. We do not have any direct evidence that it was penned by any of the apostles, but it is an admirable summary of the apostolic teaching.

Introduction:
Most of the sermons preached at Christ Church are expositional, and seek to unfold and apply the meaning of a text of Scripture. Sometimes the messages are topical, and various passages of Scripture are brought to bear on the selected theme. This is a bit different. It is an expositional message of an uninspired text, but the thing that makes it a sermon is that this uninspired text is going to be used as the basis for the selected themes we will then treat, gathering the teaching of Scripture from all over as we go. We are going to be working through the Apostles Creed, phrase by phrase.

The Text:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the virgin, Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hades. On the third day He rose again from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Summary of the Text:
The first two words of the Creed are individual and personal. I believe. The Creed began as the confession that men and women would make upon their baptism, and so it is, as baptism is individual, so also the confession is individual. I believe.

Sole Instrument:
The noun form of this word in the New Testament is pistis, and the verb form is pisteuo. In order to get the same connotations in English, we have to use words with different roots. The word faith presupposes genuine faith, but believe doesn’t quite have the same force. “Everyone should believe in something. I believe I’ll have another drink.” To get the force if the New Testament usage, we would say something like I trust.

In Scripture, the sole instrument for apprehending all God’s blessings is faith. This begins in the first instance with justification, but it extends throughout our lives. “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28).

But it is not the case that faith is some kind of a nanosecond thing at the beginning of the Christian life, disappearing immediately after. “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3). We walk as Christians the same way we became Christians, which is by trusting God.

The Spirit is the one who enables us to do anything worthwhile, and He accompanies us throughout our lives. And the power of the Spirit is available to us through faith, and only through faith. “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Rom. 1:17).

There are two crucial things to note here. One is that the righteousness of God is revealed by faith, from first to last. There is no other way for it to be revealed. The second is that faith undergirds absolutely everything spiritual in our lives—the righteous will live by faith.

The Elements of Faith:
There are three elements to genuine faith, or to genuine believing. They are knowledge, assent, and trust (notitia, assensus, and fiducia). The first is awareness of the content of what is to be believed. The second is intellectual assent to it. The last is trusting in it. When you have all three together, and the object of faith is the truth of God, you are looking at a gift of God.

A Gift of God:
In our own fallen nature, we are incapable of trusting God. This is a moral inability, not a natural inability. We cannot trust God because we don’t want to trust Him. But our hearts are fully capable of trusting. They just aren’t capable of trusting anything good. If I could repent and believe with my old heart, then it is plain that I wouldn’t need a new heart.

This is why Scripture teaches that saving faith is a gift of God. We don’t gin it up ourselves. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8–9). “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” (Phil. 1:29). “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3).

The Object of Faith:
You have heard a number of times from me that there is no virtue or strength in a transitive verb. Everything depends on the nature of the direct object. What would you rather have? “I have bigfaith in puny object,” or “I have punyfaith in big object”? What is the difference between the early inventor with Batman wings jumping off a bridge, and a nervous and panicked little granny flying across the country in a 747? If we compared the size of their faith, the guy on the bridge has more.

Sara was able to conceive because “she judged him faithful who had promised.” (Heb. 11:11). And this is why Jesus taught us the mustard seed principle. “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:6).

Is your faith alive? And is it resting in the appropriate object? And of course the only appropriate object of faith is Christ Himself.

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Word and Spirit, Spirit and Word

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Introduction:
Last week we marked Ascension Sunday, the crown of the objective gospel. When we point to the objective gospel, we are talking about those elements of the gospel that would have been true had you or I never been born. But an objective gospel by itself saves no man—there has to be application. And when we are talking about application, we are talking about the two great elements of Pentecost, which are the Spirit and the Word.

The Text:
“That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:12–14).

Summary of the Text:
There are too many blessings crammed into the first chapter of Ephesians to be able to deal with them adequately. But suffice it to say that God has blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (v. 3). This includes election (v. 4), and predestination to our adoption as sons (v. 5). This is a purpose that lines up with His good purpose and will (v. 5). Our salvation results in praise for the glory of His grace (v. 6). We have redemption in accordance with His riches, not in accordance with our poverty (v. 7). In this God abounds toward us (v. 8), delighting to reveal the mystery of His will (v. 9). The point is the unification and unity of all things everywhere (v. 10). We were predestined to be included in all of this (v. 11), those believing first being to the praise of His glory (v. 12). And what is the catalyst that makes all of this take shape in the world? Hearing the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, and trusting (v. 13). Having trusted, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God, which is the earnest of our inheritance (v. 14).

Higher Than I:
In order for us to be saved from our sins, there has to be a transcendent and immovable place that is extra nos, outside of us. Lead me, the psalmist cries, to a rock that is higher than I (Ps. 61:2). We live in a therapeutic age, where everyone wants deliverance to be whatever happens when drowning sinners clutch at each other.

And so it is. Your salvation is anchored outside human history entirely. It is fastened to the eternal counsels of God, counsels that settled on you and your salvation before the first atom was created. It is not bolted to the good pleasure of God—that would not be secure enough. It is the good pleasure of God.

There are two halves of realized salvation—the objective message, which is about Jesus, His birth, perfect life, spotless sacrifice, silent burial, explosive resurrection, and glorious coronation. That is gospel. Jesus is Lord. But what is that to you? How does it engage? What is it that causes it to plug into a sinner’s life and there to begin its transformative work?
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain” (1 Cor. 15:1–2).
In this place, Paul begins by noting the subjective response, and then goes on to declare the objective elements of objective gospel—death, burial, resurrection.

In This Room:
The work of the Father was before all worlds. The work of the Son was outside Jerusalem, two thousand years ago. The work of the Spirit is here and now, in this room. The Spirit’s work in all of this began on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out in Jerusalem, and the words about Christ were preached in the streets of Jerusalem. Keep in mind what God is doing—He is saving the world. The earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Two thousand years ago, the Spirit was poured out in the streets of the city of man, and the gutters have been wet ever since. Some places we are already ankle deep, but oceanic glory is coming. Are you trying to avoid it? What are you going to do, stand on your chair?

So Put Out Your Hand:
This gospel reality exists independently of you. But you are summoned. You are invited. You are called. The gospel is objective forgiveness that God would place in your hand. What are you called to do? You are called to extend your hand, palm up. That is faith, and faith is the sole instrument for receiving the blessings of the gospel.

Do not dispute. Do not wrangle. Do not carp at words. Just extend your hand. Do not imitate those amateur high Calvinists who claim they cannot extend their hand. In defense of the prerogatives of the Potter, they tell the Potter not to tell them what to do.

The Praise of His Glory:
When grimy sinners are cleansed, all the glory goes to God. Philosophy can’t do this. Renewal projects cannot do it. Legislation cannot fix it. What can restore a drunk and drug addict? What can free men and women from the chains of lust? What can liberate us from churchy self-righteousness? The answer is, of course, exactly what the old gospel song said, which is nothing but the blood of Jesus.

When a sinner is saved, the sinner gets the forgiveness and joy. But who gets the glory? Paul was at pains to emphasize this in the passage surrounding our text. What He does results in praise of the glory of His grace (v. 6). He hauled us out of the mire so that we might be to the praise of His glory (v. 12). The culmination of our salvation is to the praise of His glory (v. 14). We are talking about God’s glory, but never forget that in this context we are talking about the glory of His grace.

What could possibly glorify the glory of God? The answer is porn addicts, drunks, liars, thieves, abortionists, sodomites, gluttons, and whores. The mines of God are deep, and He brings up the most unlikely ore. But when the propitiatory smelting is done, and the Craftsman of God is finished with us in His workshop, the crown that results is true glory added to infinite glory.

 

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Series of Coronations

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Introduction:
On Ascension Sunday, we mark the departure of the Lord Jesus into Heaven, where He was received in great glory, and where He was crowned with universal dominion. This is our celebration of His coronation proper. But there were a series of glorifications prior to this, each one building on the last—at each stage of the gospel. The Ascension, rightly understood, is the crown of the gospel.

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” (Dan. 7:13–14).

Summary of the Text:
The one place in the Old Testament where Son of Man was plainly a Messianic title was here in this place. Elsewhere it was commonly used to identify a human prophet, for example. Here the one like the Son of Man is a figure of infinite dignity, and He is granted an everlasting kingdom.
When we read the phrase coming on the clouds, we think of the Second Coming, as though it were speaking of Jesus coming to earth. But the phrase refers to the Ascension—it speaks of Jesus coming into Heaven, coming into His crown. “Came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days . . .” The passage tells us where He comes. He comes into the throne room of Heaven, and there He is given universal dominion.

And this is what Jesus self-consciously refers to when He was on trial before the Sanhedrin. Within a few months, He would be standing before the Ancient of Days, with everlasting honors bestowed on Him, but right then He was standing before the petit principalities, who were filled with malice and poured out every form of dishonor they could think of. And when the high priest asked Him if He was the Christ, the Son of Blessed, Jesus said, “I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62).

And notice the reaction to this:

“Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death” (Mark 14:63–64).
For Jesus to say that He would be seated on the right hand of power, and that He would come to that right hand of power on the clouds of Heaven, was reckoned by them as blasphemy, and was worthy—or so they thought—of death.

Glory Stages:
What Jesus received at the Ascension is what we normally think of when we think of a coronation. It was glorious beyond anything any of us could imagine, but what we can imagine was a miniscule amount of the same kind of glory. But we arrived there in stages, and the earliest form of Christ’s glorification

Think of these elements of the gospel. Christ was crucified. He was buried. He was raised from the dead. He ascended into Heaven. Let us meditate on the gospel progress of those four words—crucified, buried, raised, and ascended.

Building to the Ultimate Crescendo:
Crucified—we begin with the glory of His humiliation. “And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matt. 27:29). The Bible teaches that the cross was a moment of glory (John 12:27-28). The purest man who ever lived laid down His life for millions of the grimiest. Not only so, but God calls it a glory.

Buried—the Lord Jesus was glorified in His burial through the love of His forgiven followers. “For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her” (Matt. 26:12–13). So the preliminary ointment of burial is part of this stupendous story, not to mention what Nicodemus did (John 19:39). So another glory, another part of the wonder of this story is the fact that God gathers up the tears of the truly repentant (Luke 7:38), and stores them in His treasury (Ps. 56:8). This is yet another glory. But the tears that adorn His burial are only possible because of His burial.

Raised—why did the Lord Jesus tell the demons, and also tell His followers, not to proclaim His identity? I believe it was because He was jealous to have the first great proclamation be made by His Father. “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). We are starting to approach the threshold of unspeakable joy, and full of glory (1 Pet. 1:8). The disciples staggered in their joy (Luke 24:41). They were as those who dreamed (Ps. 126:1-2).
Ascended—telling the gospel story faithfully prevents us from trying to circumvent God’s pattern. Apart from the cross, no sinner should ever be trusted with a crown. Our tendency is to go straight to the triumph, by-passing the difficulties. But the Lord established a better pattern for us than this.

“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Phil. 2:8–10).

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Decluttering Your Marriage #2

Ben Zornes on

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Introduction:
In the message last week, we addressed how the problem of how pride and a lack of self-reflection compounds the problem of cluttered relationships. In this message we are going to focus on practical steps that will help you get things picked up, and will help you keep it that way. As things stand now, you are contemplating moving to the Swiss Alps to start your own signature ministry—you could call it Debris.

The Text:
“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Prov. 28:13).

Summary of the Text:
The text contains an overt teaching about confession and the blessing of God. But there is also an unstated assumption about time which we can make explicit in paraphrase. “He who covers his sins for any length of time shall not prosper for that length of time. But whoever confesses and forsakes them immediately shall have mercy immediately” (Prov. 28:13).
This is one of those things that you might think goes without saying. And it does go without saying in any area where the prideful heart of man is not messing with us. Suppose you burned yourself, and a doctor gave you some ointment for the burn. He said, “Put this on.” Would you ask, “Should I start applying it next August? Or perhaps after the first of the year?” No. You got burned now, and so you put on the ointment now. Stop covering up your sins now and receive the blessed prosperity of God now.
One more thing, since we are talking about “covering sins.” Sins must be covered. It is not a bad impulse to want to cover them. They are shameful, and cry out for a covering. Our own lame efforts to cover them with lies, bluster, and moralistic furniture polish are not wrong because they cover, but rather because they don’t. The only thing that really covers sin is the blood of our great High Priest. Every other way of dealing with sin has to be done constantly, repetitively, over and again. And like the woman with that discharge in the gospels, the more the doctors treated her the worse it got. When we cover, the problem is that we can’t. But knowing the need for the covering is not the problem.

A Tale of Two Houses:
Those of you who have gone through my pre-marriage counseling have almost certainly heard this illustration. But given the nature of the world, I give it to you again with no apologies.

Imagine two families living side-by-side. They are good friends, the husbands work at the same company, they drive the same kind of minivan, and they have the same number of kids. The only visible difference between the homes is that one of them is apparently spotless and the other one is knee-deep in clutter.

Now life happens in both of them. And the kind of life that happens is at least comparable. The same number of tee-shirts get put on in the morning and taken off at night. The same number of shoes are worn. The same number of breakfast bowls are used. The difference between the two homes is not the rate at which things get dirty. The difference between the homes is the rate at which things get clean. In the clean home, the philosophy is “it must be done, so let’s do it now.” In the cluttered home, the philosophy is “let’s postpone this until it is bad enough to be thrown into the fright room.”

This is a parable. Your marriage is one of those houses. Which one is it?

Why Not Now?
The Bible tells us to confess our faults to one another (Jas. 5:16). This is something that should characterize life generally, but it is most obvious when done in the home. And when people refuse to do this in the home that is also glaringly obvious. Something just spilled. Wipe it up now. Something just go knocked over. Pick it up now. Something just got dirty. Rinse it out and put it in the dishwasher now.

What this is about is the confession of your own faults, period. You can confess other people’s sins all day long, and your joy still doesn’t come back. And if confess your own sin, but you are doing it only to “prime the pump” of their confession, and then you get mad because they didn’t take the hint, it should hardly be a news flash that you are doing it wrong. And if you wrap up a barbed accusation in the thin filmy gauze of an inadequate confession, this is also a problem. “I am sorry for being mildly annoyed at your egregious behavior just now.” When you confess, confess as though you are the only person in the history of the world who ever did anything wrong. You know theologically that this is not the case, but your emotions need the practice anyhow.

A Few Rules of Thumb:
We all need reminders to help us “do it now.” When Nancy and I were first married (or engaged, I forget), we agreed on some basic rules that would govern our behavior in this respect. And if you were to ask me for one bit of advice on marriage and one only, this is what it would be. Keep short accounts. Pay it down now. Rinse it now.

This is what you do when you get out of fellowship. And by “out of fellowship,” I mean annoyed, irritated, bent, frosted, angry, ruffled, agitated—with the barbs directed at the other. You have such an episode, the kind that we called “bumps.” And a bump is not a simple difference of opinion.

1. When you have had a bump, do not separate, do not part company.
2. When you have had a bump, do not let anybody into your home.
3. When you have had a bump, do not go into anybody else’s home.
4. When you have had a bump in the presence of others, use your pre-arranged hand signal.

Remember the Relationships:
These are not the rules that “nice” people follow. These are just simple reminders for sinners to pick up after themselves. And to constantly remember that apart from Jesus Christ, there is no way to pick up after yourself. He is the third party in your marriage relationship, and so do not treat Him as an abstract principle. What do you want the aroma of your home to be? You want people to walk in and feel like Christ is there.

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Decluttering Your Marriage #1

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Introduction:
Many of you have been married for quite a number of years now. This can be wonderful, like aging wine, but before anyone says awwww, it can also grow seriously un-wonderful, as bad spiritual habits compound with interest. Marriages can get badly cluttered, like a neglected garage, attic, or basement. And when things get cluttered, they also get people into a position where they really don’t know what to do. Where should they start?

The Text:
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).

Summary of the Text:
We are going to begin with this text because it lays down some important principles for the process of decluttering any relationship, but particularly your relationship with your spouse.

Say that someone else is overtaken in a fault. You see a problem over there. Who should correct it? Paul first states what the qualifications are for the one undertaking the job of correcting another. He says that the task is limited to those “which are spiritual.” If you are annoyed, bothered, frustrated, exasperated, you are the one person on the planet who may not correct the problem. And the problem is that when you are qualified, you are not motivated. And when you are motivated, you are not qualified. But say that someone is overtaken in a trespass, and suppose further that you are qualified to say something. Paul has additional cautions. The first is that you are there to administer a restoration, not a beat down. The second is that you must conduct yourself in a spirit of meekness, gentleness, and humility. The third is that you must keep one eye on yourself, remembering that you too are susceptible to temptation.

So the presenting problem is that somebody else sinned, and you might be a person who could help. If you already succumbed to temptation, you need to stay out of it. If you cannot come with restoration in your heart, stay out of it.

If you are not functioning in spirit of meekness, then stay out of it. And if you are not mindful of your own frailty in these things, then stay out of it.

Considering Yourself:
I want to begin by helping you to “consider yourself.” This is coming from four decades of marriage counseling—and I want to assure you that I have pretty much seen it all. What creates intractable marriage problems? The answer to that question is not sins, but rather one sin—the sin of pride—the opposite of the spirit of meekness. Particular sins would be things like alcohol, porn, financial irresponsibility, and so on. One of you does something wrong or foolish, you recognize it as a sin, and then work with your spouse on reconciliation and forgiveness. Things can be messy but are pretty straightforward.

But what gets your marriage stuck right up to the axles? What creates marriages that are just impossible? This feat is accomplished by means of pride. “Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?” (Eccl. 7:16). In other words, you destroy your marriage with what you think are your virtues. You don’t repent of virtues, do you? Many Christians are marital Pharisees, flatly convinced of their own righteousness and of the ungrateful unrighteousness of everybody else under the same roof, not to mention the obtuseness of the counselor who fails to recognize the evil you must contend with daily. This is a common problem in the church, and it is why Jesus used to think it was important to say crazy stuff. “Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matt. 21:31).

You call it righteous indignation, but God calls it the wrath of man. You call maternal concern, but God calls it manipulative worry. You call it prudent input, but God calls it a critical spirit. You call it decisive leadership, but God calls it financial irresponsibility. You call it theological precision, but God calls it neglecting the weightier matters of the law. But whoever repents of righteous indignation, maternal concern, prudent input, decisive leadership, or theological precision? Nobody repents of those things, which is why many pastors wish there were a counseling equivalent of SWAT teams.

How to Approach a Pile of Clutter:
Now if you are at an impasse in your relationship, then you need to recognize that your pile of clutter is almost certainly the result of two piles of clutter that merged. And if you come to the realization that you have a significant amount of unconfessed sin in your life, then—returning to our text—do not start with the other person’s pile of clutter.

If they need to be motivated, if they need to see how easy it is to do, then here’s an idea. Show them how. You’ve got your own pile. Confess your own sins. Astonish the world.

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Prov. 28:13).

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

A Third Party
We need to realize that moralism doesn’t work in marriage any better than it works anywhere else. Moralism is a bust. High standards and traditional values are the ropes that sinners use to throttle one another. A spiritual home is a home full and overflowing with grace. And it is not possible for a marriage to be overflowing with grace unless it is overflowing with Christ.

And so Christ must be present in order for a marriage to be blessed. He need not be present for entropy to govern everything. He need not be present for your attic to fill up with useless clutter. He need not be present for pride to take over the atmosphere at the dinner table. He need not be present for conversations to grow snark and criticism the way gardens grow thistles. But He must be present for us to see all these things rightly.

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