Christ Church

The Happiest Man (Psalms | King’s Cross) (King’s Cross)
Christ Church on June 25, 2025
Read Full Article

Dreams, Visions, and the Holy Spirit | Pentecost Sunday (King’s Cross)

Christ Church on

INTRODUCTION

How often have you heard someone say, “The Lord told me…?” Or maybe you or someone you know had a dream or vision in which they believe God was directing them. Or maybe sometimes you wish you had a direct word from the Lord.

We are no position to limit or deny God’s freedom to speak directly to anyone, but the Bible is clear that God’s clearest and fullest Word is Jesus Christ and the Scriptures spoken by His Holy Spirit (inspiration) (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The gift of the Holy Spirit poured out at Pentecost was not about giving a new or additional word; rather, the gift of the Holy Spirit is about giving believers the ability to actually hear the Word already given (illumination) (Jn. 14:26).

The Text: “… that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened…” (Eph. 1:15-20)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The apostle says that after the Ephesians had come to faith in Christ, he began praying for them that the Holy Spirit would give them an even fuller knowledge of God (Eph. 1:15-17). Even though they were already Christians, he was praying specifically that the “eyes” of their understanding (or minds) would be given even more light (Eph. 1:18). Specifically, he says he was praying that they would know the hope of God’s calling, the glory of His inheritance (Eph. 1:18), and the greatness of His power at work in us (Eph. 1:19). He was praying that they would experience the same power in their own lives which raised Jesus from the dead and set Him at God’s right hand (Eph. 1:20).

CONVERSION & SANCTIFICATION

Scripture says that to the unconverted the gospel seems like foolishness (1 Cor. 1-2). It’s like there is a veil over their hearts, blinding their minds, so that they cannot see the light of Christ in the Scriptures (2 Cor. 3-4). At conversion the Holy Spirit is given and you begin to see the glory of Christ, but that same Spirit begins a life-long process of opening your eyes to more and more of the hope, inheritance, and power in Christ (Eph. 1:18-20). The final step in this process is called glorification, when we will be transformed to be able to see Him as He is (1 Jn. 3:2). To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, ‘How can we meet Him face to face, till we have faces?’

HE IS THERE & HE IS NOT SILENT

In the meantime, God has spoken clearly, but we are slow to believe all that He has said. Our eyes are not yet adjusted to His glory. Our ears are dull. But as Francis Schaeffer once said, God is there and He is not silent. He is always speaking in His creation: day unto day, night unto night, in every language (Ps. 19:1-4). And He has spoken most clearly in His written word (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

The apostles were given unique signs to confirm their authority to speak on behalf of God, including visions and dreams (2 Cor. 12:12). And where their word has initially gone, God has often confirmed it with extraordinary signs and wonders (Mk. 16:20). But the apostles urged Christians not to look for visions or some other word from the Lord, but rather to cling to the Word of God that was spoken to them and written down: “Now we beseech you, brethren… that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us… Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle” (2 Thess. 3:1-2, 15, cf. 3:14).

Likewise, in 2 Peter, it says that God’s “divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature…” (2 Peter. 1:3-4). And he goes on to say that he’s writing these things [those great and precious promises] so that they will remember them when he is gone (2 Pet. 1:15). He affirms that the apostles were eye witnesses of Christ’s glory on earth (2 Pet. 1:16-18), but then he says something extraordinary: “we have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:19-21). The written Scriptures are a more sure word than any vision or dream or spiritual experience.

APPLICATIONS

It is true that we long to see Jesus Christ face to face, to hear Him speak directly to us, but right now, in our current state, His Word in the Bible is a more sure word than any vision or dream.

You might say that you wish God would talk to you, and this is the clear answer of Scripture: He is talking to you all the time. But this is a bit like an ant asking for Einstein to explain his theory of relativity. Or change the image: it’s like looking up at the night sky and seeing a few stars but then looking through a telescope and seeing thousands. The stars are there all the time; you just can’t see them. You don’t need another word, a dream, or vision; you need your eyes opened by the Holy Spirit.

The Lord is not telling you to disobey Him. The Lord is not telling you to dishonor your parents, sleep with your girlfriend, or steal from your neighbor. You don’t need to pray about whether to become a drug dealer or accept homosexuality or transgenderism. The Lord does not contradict Himself.

Scripture says that if even an apostle or angel from heaven preaches another gospel, God damn him (Gal. 1). This would apply to Mormonism and Islam – both of which claim that angels spoke to their founders and radically altered what the Bible says. Dreams and visions can deceive and confuse: “to the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Is. 8:20).

So let this be the prayer of our hearts: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Ps. 119:18).

Read Full Article

So Much Better Than The Angels (King’s Cross)

Christ Church on

INTRODUCTION

Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended into Heaven. This is called the Ascension, and we celebrate that historical event on this Lord’s Day. The text before us says that the Ascension means that Jesus is so much better than the angels. Today we consider what that means.

The Text: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son…” (Heb. 1:1-2:9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In the Old Testament, angels had been God’s more common messengers telling the prophets His Word (Heb. 1:1), but in the last days of the Old Covenant, God spoke directly by His Son, Jesus, the heir of the world by whom all things were made (Heb. 1:2). Being the brightness of God’s glory, the exact image of His person, and upholding all things, having purged our sins, He ascended and sat down on God’s own throne, far above all angels (Heb. 1:3-4).

Christ had a right to this glory because He is God’s own Son (Heb. 1:5). What angel is worthy of the worship of angels (Heb. 1:6)? Angels are certainly God’s ministers, but the Son sits on the throne of God and rules all things forever (Heb. 1:7-12). Angels are ministering spirits, but Christ reigns until all His enemies are put beneath His feet (Heb. 1:13-14).

Therefore, we must give far more earnest heed to His Word (Heb. 2:1). If God guarded His Word thundered by angels in the Old Testament, how much more jealous is He of the Word of His Son, even as it has been passed down by those who heard Him directly (Heb. 2:2-4)? The angels are not the ones inheriting the world; rather, this was God’s design for man, who was made a little lower than the angels but created to rule all things (Heb. 2:5-7). Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death in order to be crowned with glory and honor and bring many sons to glory (Heb. 2:8-10).

FOUR TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS TEXT

1. This text gives us a glimpse of a biblical cosmology: the angels were present and cheering when God laid the foundations of the earth (Job 38:6-8). Angels sometimes appear in human form (e.g. Gen. 19, Dan. 10), but also seraphim (fiery, dragon-like creatures) (Num. 21, Is. 6) and cherubim (sphynx-like creatures) (Ez. 10), as well as the “angel of the Lord,” a “theophany” of Christ Himself (Gen. 32, Ex. 3, Jdg. 13). Since angels are described as ministers and guardians of men, it seems likely that angels would have been like tutors for Adam and Eve (“a little lower than the angels”) (Ps. 34:7, 91:11, Mt. 18:10). Since Satan appears to be a fallen seraph, he was the original false teacher (2 Cor. 11:13-14). When man sinned, cherubim became guardians of God’s presence (Gen. 3:24, Ex. 36-37, Gal. 4), delivered the law (Gal. 3:19), and enforced His justice (Ps. 78:49, 1 Chron. 21). The only way back into God’s glory was through their swords, but no one could do that and survive.

2. So Hebrews is emphasizing the supremacy of the New Covenant by underlining the supremacy of Christ: No man or angel dares claim God’s majesty (Heb. 1:3). No man or angel dares sit on God’s throne (Heb. 1:8). No man or angel has laid the foundations of the earth or can claim to have made the galaxies (Heb. 1:10-12). No man or angel may say that his years will never fail (Heb. 1:12). No man or angel could taste death for sin and survive (Heb. 1:3, 2:9). To ascribe all these things to Christ is either perfectly just or utterly blasphemous. This is either a lie and fabrication, or it is delusional madness, or it is historical truth and reality. People try to split the difference and say that perhaps it was all a very pious mistake – they all had a very spiritual experience, and it changed their lives. But that isn’t what Jesus or the apostles said (e.g. Mk.10:37, Lk. 14:26, Heb. 1:13, 2:8). Either Jesus was a liar, a lunatic, or He is Lord.

3. If Jesus is God, His Word is the Word of God. Hebrews says that God has been speaking since the beginning in various ways (Heb. 1:1). And if there is a God and He has spoken at all, no human being may treat that casually, but if that God has now spoken clearly through His own Son, by whom He made all things, it is pure insolence to ignore Him (Heb. 1:2, 2:1-3). While the prophets and patriarchs and Israel had no excuses, it might have been understandable for someone far off to not be sure what the angels/prophets meant by their messages. But when Christ has come and spoken plainly, when there are hundreds of witnesses of His resurrection, four written testimonies, and over a dozen more documents attesting to what He said and done, there is no excuse (Acts 17:30-31). He has spoken. What will you do with His word?

4. Christ is King, and He will have dominion. Angels are ministers and servants. But Christ ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb. 1:3). All the angels worship Him (Heb. 1:6). He sits on the throne of God (Heb. 1:8). He loves righteousness and hates all evil perfectly (Heb. 1:9). He made all things (Heb. 1:10). His kingdom is forever (Heb. 1:11-12). He ascended and must reign until all His enemies are made His footstool (Heb. 1:13). Christ is Lord. Christ claims all things in Heaven and on Earth, and this necessarily has implications for all rule and authority (Mt. 28:18-20). He is reigning until everything is in submission to Him: every nation, every city, every family, every business, every husband, mayor, president, judge – until every knee bows.

CONCLUSION

Christ became man to taste death, to eat death for us (Heb. 2:9). This was the promise of the prophets: “He will swallow up death in victory” (Is. 25:8). Christ, the Eternal Son of God, humbled Himself to be a little lower than the angels in order to suffer death for us who deserve death, in order to take away our sins, in order to restore us to the glory of the Father. “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” (1 Cor 6:3, cf. Heb. 2:5).

We do not yet see all things put under Christ, but we see Christ crowned with glory and honor. We see Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high, and He will get His reward. You are either with Him or against Him. You are either under His blood or you scorn His blood. He is King. So crown Him.

Read Full Article

How to Grow in Christ (Practical Christianity #10) (King’s Cross)

Christ Church on

INTRODUCTION

When anyone confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord and they believe that God raised Him from the dead, they are saved (Rom. 10:9). This offer is made to all freely and to their children (Acts 2:39, 16:31). And this is why all who believe and their households are offered baptism (Acts 16:33). This is what God calls becoming a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) and the new birth (1 Pet. 1:23). This is all pure grace, received by faith, not by works, lest any man should boast, but it is the kind of work that God does in us that causes us to begin working and growing (Eph. 2:8-10). We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works. We are saved in order to grow up as trees that bear good fruit (Lk. 6:43).

Therefore, after becoming a Christian, the task before us is growing up into Christ, growing into maturity, becoming fruitful in every way. So this message is about that.

The Text: “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil… And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Lk. 4:1-4).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

We might be tempted to think that being full of the Holy Spirit might mean everything going easy in our lives, but here we see that it was when Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, right after His baptism in the Jordan River, that the Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Lk. 4:1). Not only was He being tempted by the devil, He ate nothing and was incredibly hungry (Lk. 4:2). Now God had just proclaimed that Jesus was His beloved Son at His baptism (Lk. 3:22), but forty days in a desert and severe hunger can make anyone doubt or forget and the devil started there, tempting Jesus to doubt God’s Word and double check “if you’re really the son of God…”, suggesting Jesus turn a stone into bread (Lk. 4:3). But Jesus knew to doubt His Father would be sin, and refused, quoting from Deuteronomy, that His life was upheld and strengthened, not merely by bread, but by the Word of God (Lk. 4:4, cf. Dt. 8:3).

SIX STEPS FOR GROWING IN CHRIST

Growing in Christ is a lot like growing up. So how do you grow up? Eat well, get enough sleep, exercise, go to school, learn from your mistakes, work hard, etc. Then it just happens. Plants and trees grow this way also: sunshine, water, good soil, fertilizer, pruning, etc. So here are six steps for growing in Christ.

1. Read your Bible: Many folks in our community do the Bible Reading Challenge, and it’s a bit like cross-fit for Bible reading. If you want to get in Spiritual shape, it really is a great blessing, and I commend it to you. But if you’re not in great shape, and you don’t have regular Bible reading habits, just start reading a chapter a day. If you’ve never read the Bible before, read the New Testament first and then start over in Genesis and read the whole thing. The key thing is regularity not quantity, but as you grow, you’ll want more. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2).

2. Pray: God is real. He created the Heavens and the Earth, and He made us in His image for communion with Him. Pray the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father…” Pray the Psalms– they are 150 inspired prayers that God loves to hear and answer. To be a Christian is to receive the Holy Spirit of adoption that means you have been granted the same sonship as Jesus Christ, and you are invited to cry out to God as your Abba Father (Rom. 8:15). What do you tell your father? What do you ask from your father? God is your perfect Father.

3. Read the Bible, pray, and sing as a family: Men, you are called to be the spiritual leaders of your home. Husbands, wash your wife in the water of the word (Eph. 5:26). This is how you love your wife like Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:25). Fathers, you are specifically required to raise your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). Dedicate a regular time to this and lead your family before the Lord. This can be very simple: read a little bit of Scripture, pray, and sing a song. When the kids are little, this can take less than 5 minutes; when the kids are older, it can grow.

4. Repent of your sins: This is the invitation of the gospel that Jesus Himself preached: “the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mk. 1:15). To “repent” means to turn around, to stop going one way and go the other way. The Bible describes this as putting off the old man and putting on the new man (Eph. 5:22-24). Stop lying and tell the truth (Eph. 5:25, cf. 5:28). Stop looking at porn and lusting, pursuing a wife and be faithful to one woman and the children she bears you (Prov. 5). Do not be drunk with wine/pot/drugs, but be filled with the Spirit, singing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to the Lord (Eph. 5:18-19). Stop cursing and using filthy language, but let your mouth be full of thanksgiving, praise to God, and edification (Eph. 4:29, 5:3-4). Be anxious for nothing, but with thanksgiving, let your requests be made to God (Phil. 4:6).

5. Forgive those who have sinned against you: this is perhaps one of the central acts of repentance. The old, natural man is full of hatred, bitterness, and resentment (Tit. 3:3). And this part of the old man dies hard. This is why Jesus taught us to pray that God would “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The warning of Christ is clear: “But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses” (Mk. 11:26). Bitterness is a root that will cause much trouble, and it defiles many families, churches, and communities (Heb. 12:15). We forgive for the sake of Christ (Eph. 4:32).

6. Go to church, keep Sabbath, and tithe: “Going to church” means worshiping the Lord, and “worship” means complete surrender. When you become a Christian, you surrender in principle. This is what it means to confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord.” This means beginning to obey Him in everything. But two particular ways you demonstrate that complete surrender is by keeping Sabbath and tithing. From the beginning, God’s people have imitated God’s own rest, when He finished His work of Creation. Christians rest on the first day of the week because that is when Jesus finished His work of New Creation (Heb. 4:9). And we tithe, giving God ten percent of our first fruits, confessing that all that we have is from His hand, all that we have belongs to Him (Gen. 14:20, 28:22, Mal. 3:10).

Read Full Article

Potent Worship (Practical Christianity #9) (King’s Cross)

Christ Church on

INTRODUCTION

Many modern Christians simply equate “praise” and “worship.” But the Bible teaches that praise is one component of worship, not the whole thing. The word “worship” literally means to “bow down.” It is an action and posture from the heart of complete surrender and ascribing all worth and value. But how do you do that for the Lord of the Universe? Our existence compared to God is like a gnat before the Sun. How do we do that?

Worship is doing in God’s presence what He has commanded us to do in sincerity and truth, which is not whatever makes us feel good or whatever we come up with. God has a plan to grow us and this world up into a mature glory we cannot even imagine, and obedient worship is one of the central ways God is accomplishing that plan.

The Text: “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ…” (1 Pet. 2:1-10).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Having been born again by the word of God (1:23), Christians are to lay aside all malice, envy, and hypocrisy, and like newborn babies desire the milk of the word to grow – which is evidence that you really know the Lord’s grace (1 Pet. 2:1-3). As you grow up into Christ, you are drawing closer to Christ, but you do this by coming to Him as a living stone, rejected by men, by chosen by God and precious (1 Pet. 2:4). As you come to Him as that precious, living stone, God builds us all together as living stones and priests into His temple, as we worship God through Christ the living Cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:5). This was the prophecy of Isaiah that the Messiah would be the chief cornerstone of a new building – which becomes a precious-honor for those who believe, but, as was also foretold, a rock rejected and offensive to those who refuse the word (1 Pet. 2:6-8). Those who believe have been appointed to be a royal priesthood, a new Israel of God’s mercy (1 Pet. 2:9-10).

So those who see Christ as the most precious living cornerstone become living stones and share in His glory, but those who reject Him are broken and offended by Him. It is as we see Him as precious and perform our priestly duties from the heart that God sets us in our places and makes us into the glory we were made for. This is the potency of worship.

WORSHIP IS CENTRAL

When we say that worship is central, one way to think about this is simply as Christ as our Cornerstone. A cornerstone is the first stone laid in a foundation that establishes the integrity of the entire project: it must be solid, secure, plumb, and square. If the first stone is off, the rest of the foundation and building will be off. We gather on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, every week, to align (and re-align) ourself and our families to Christ our Cornerstone. And God uses this worship service as the primary way of shaping us as to fit into His building project rightly.

Because we are made in the image of God, people are naturally builders/makers. We are all building/making something with our lives. The only question is whether we are building something worthwhile, something good or not. Solomon spent many years and great resources building the temple, but when he was old his many wives turned his heart away from the Lord and he built shrines and altars for all of their false gods (1 Kgs. 11). Not only were they worthless; they became snares for generations to come. What are you building? You are building whatever orients your life. You are building on whatever is actually your cornerstone. What orients your days? Your life? What is your security? Your peace?

COMING TO HIM AS PRECIOUS

That which is precious to you is carefully guarded, protected, and planned for. If worship is our formal, corporate gathering to Christ, it should be guarded, protected, and planned. It is precious. It need not be stuffy or fussy, but like a carefully planned wedding or a military formation, worship is a liturgy (an order of service) because Christ is precious to us. We plan out what we are going to say, sing, and do here because Christ is worthy.

After the Fall, the only way for fallen man to draw near to God is through sacrifice. In the Old Covenant, the three main sacrifices were the Sin Offering, the Ascension Offering, and the Peace Offering, and when they were offered together, they were done in that order, most clearly in the ordination of the priests (Lev. 9, cf. Num. 6:13-17, 2 Chron. 29:20-35). The Sin Offering focused on the removal of guilt and corresponds to our Confession of Sin. The Ascension Offering focused on the dedication of the entire body which was burned and ascended in smoke to God, and that corresponds to our Scripture Reading, Prayers, and Sermon. Finally, the Peace Offering was the one sacrifice that ordinary worshipers could eat a portion of in the presence of God, and that corresponds to our Lord’s Supper. Throughout Scripture, we see that God calls His people to worship Him and then sends them out with His blessing, and so we call this structure of worship Covenant Renewal Worship (or the 5 C’s: Call, Confession, Consecration, Communion, Commission).

CONCLUSION

To renew covenant is to remember and re-align with Christ our Cornerstone. We do this by doing the main things He requires of us, which are confession of sin (1 Jn. 1:9), consecration of our entire lives to Him (Rom. 12:1), and communion with Him full of joy and thanksgiving (1 Cor. 10:16-17, 11:23-26). And by this means, He is building His temple in this world and His Kingdom will fill the earth.

By drawing near in sincere obedience, we are bowing down and we are ascribing to Christ His great worth. Some traditions try to gin up the sincerity with highly emotional music and think that if they have “spiritual feelings” they must have worshiped. Other traditions know that can’t be it and emphasize the liturgy, but God does not want us merely going through the motions. He is here, and He is real. And He knows our hearts.

And this is why our only hope is Christ. God does not accept our worship because we “did it right” or had “the right feelings.” He accepts our worship because it is offered up in Christ and through Christ. But true worship is sincere. God receives us gladly as the easily distracted children that we are. But are you looking to Him? Are you hoping in Him? Come to Him as your Cornerstone and you will never be ashamed.

Read Full Article