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Chestertonian Gospel (Practical Christianity #1) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

G.K. Chesterton was a Roman Catholic who famously saw the beauty and extravagance and personalism of God’s world. Life is an epic adventure, an extravagant stage, an outrageously stunning canvas of God’s glory. Unfortunately, Chesterton believed that Calvinism was a plot to bury all that glory in a pile of fatalism (He knows better now). But the Bible teaches that the doctrines of grace (Calvinism) recovered in the Reformation go hand in hand with his exuberance. Sovereign grace brings the glory into sharp relief.

Robert Capon put it this way, “The Reformation was a time when men went blind, staggering drunk because they had discovered, in the dusty basement of late medievalism, a whole cellar full of fifteen-hundred-year-old, two hundred proof grace – bottle after bottle of pure distillate of Scripture, one sip of which would convince anyone that God saves us single-handedly. The word of the Gospel–after all those centuries of trying to lift yourself into heaven by worrying about the perfection of your bootstraps–suddenly turned out to be a flat announcement that the saved were home before they started. Grace has to be drunk straight: no water, no ice, and certainly no ginger ale, neither goodness, nor badness, nor the flowers that bloom in the spring of super spirituality could be allowed to enter into the case.”

The Text: “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son…” (Gal. 4:3-7).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Scripture tells the story of our salvation like a grand adventure. We are all like lost orphan children, trapped and imprisoned in the great dungeon of sin and death (Gal. 4:3). And just when all hope seemed lost, God sent His Son, born of Eve just like us yet without sin, made under the law just like us yet no law breaker, to lead the great prison break, and bring us home to His Father – not only to bring us home but to be adopted as sons (Gal. 4:4-5). Not only have we been adopted, but God has given us the very same Spirit that fills His Son, teaching us to call Him “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6). This means that we are no mere servants but true and full sons, and royal sons, with a full inheritance at that (Gal. 4:7).

RAGS TO RICHES

Imagine that one of your ancestors was adopted by a Great King, but through pride and greed was tricked by an enemy and betrayed the King and was disinherited, banished from the Kingdom, and all his descendants were sentenced to work as slaves ever since. But one day a letter arrives at your slave hut, and it is an official legal document, a will and testimony with a deed to a castle. But it isn’t just any castle, it’s the castle of the King your ancestor betrayed, and the will restores all that was lost, making you a lord in the kingdom, and it is signed and sealed in the blood of the Great King’s Son with the words “Debt Paid In Full.”

That is what the gospel is. The gospel is the “good news” that what we thought we had lost forever, what we thought was impossible, has been found and completely restored – the gift of living forever as God’s favored nobility.

DOUBLE IMPUTATION

Theologians call this legal transaction “double imputation.” The gospel is that what is rightfully ours (sin, guilt, and judgment) inherited from Adam has been reckoned to Jesus Christ on His cross, and what was rightfully His (righteousness, holiness, and the inheritance of God), since He was completely sinless and obedient – that has been reckoned to us by faith alone. “For He [God] hath made Him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him [Christ]” (2 Cor. 5:21). “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:3-4). This double imputation is only possible because Christ came as a new Adam, a new covenantal head. So just as by Adam’s sin, we all inherited sin and death, so by Christ’s righteousness, all who trust in Him inherit His righteousness and life (Rom. 5).

BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD

But there is one more significant piece that really makes a big difference. The Bible teaches that all of this was planned before the foundation of the world: “according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world… having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ… That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ… in Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will: that we should be to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:4-6, 10-12). “Sovereign grace” is God’s eternal plot to save.

CONCLUSIONS

Chesterton thought that this doctrine of predestination (Calvinism) was a terrible thing because he thought it turned God into a monstrous puppeteer and destroyed the beauty and excitement of Christian life. But Scripture says just the opposite. God’s absolute sovereign grace underlines two things about our salvation: It was utterly impossible for us, and it is all His mercy (Eph. 2:5-9). We were dead, and God made us alive. That is the beginning of the most epic adventure.

If God were not absolute goodness and beauty and life, we might grant that His absolute sovereignty could be a downer. But if the most brilliant, creative, and perfectly gracious and personal Author is telling the story, how could the story be anything less than wonderful? We are His characters. This world is His canvas, His symphony. This story is His surprise party.

All our doubts come down to one central fear: but what if God isn’t good? And the answer to that is: He sent forth His Son to make us His sons.

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Hard Law, Hot Gospel: Foolish Galatians (CC Downtown)

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INTRODUCTION

Perhaps you’ve had the frustrating experience of being in a crowded reception, making small talk with someone you barely know. The music and crowd noise is deafening. The lips of your interlocutor are moving, but you only catch every other word. Trying to piece together what they are saying takes all your focus. Even then you nod politely, offering the obligatory “oh yeahs” and “for sures”. This is the opposite of the Gospel proclamation. When the Gospel is proclaimed faithfully, it is not only crystal clear, but it is forcibly potent to display Christ before formerly blind eyes.

THE TEXT

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. […]

Galatians 3:1-14

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Apostle Paul is still at a fever pitch. The Galatians are called fools for being bewitched, and this bewitching resulted in their disobedience from looking in faith to Christ crucified (v1). They are confronted with a series of rather embarrassing rhetorical questions: did they receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by the hearing of faith (v2)? Are they really so foolish as to try to perfect what the Spirit began by means of the flesh (v3)? Why have they endured sufferings for the Gospel, only to vainly toss it aside (v4)?  Lastly, Paul confronts them with a piercing question about whether the Spirit which was poured out upon them, and the wondrous signs done in their midst were accomplished by the arm of fleshly might or by the hearing of faith (v5).

To prove that justification is not may works of the flesh but by the power of the Spirit working faith in us, Paul points to Abraham’s example of faith (v6, Gen. 15:6). Then he makes bold statement: those who believe are the true children of Abraham (v7). Paul proves that this doctrine is not newly minted, but is more ancient than the Law itself. He does this with a sequence of six proof-texts. The heathen being included in the blessings of faith in Christ was foretold when the gospel was preached to Abraham (v8, Gen. 12:3 & 18:18). By faith you share with Abraham the blessing promised to him (v9). That the blessing came by faith and not law is obvious because a curse was upon those who failed to keep everything contained in the law, a certainly impossible task (v10, Deu. 27:26). Paul says this is plain as day, Habakkuk said so, don’t you know (v11, Hab. 2:4)?!

This is set in contrast to the doing which the law demands for those who would obtain life (v12, Lev. 18:5) But since none is righteous in their doing of the Law and therefore under the curse, Christ came to take the curse for us upon Himself (v13, Deu. 21:23). Christ did this for us (the Jews) in order that the Gentiles might be showered with all the blessings promised to Abraham. The central promise is that of the Spirit and which we receive by faith alone (v14).

THE HEARING OF FAITH

Visual media is predominant in our age. But up until the printing press was invented, most people who lived never read a book. Rather, the tales were told and retold. The herald would come to town square with the king’s decree. This was how most people in ancient times received news and instruction. It is interesting that Paul here rebukes the Galatians for not seeing what he had set before their eyes: Christ crucified. How did Paul set Christ crucified before their eyes? By heraldry. By preaching.

The blindness and deafness of unbelieving Jews during Jesus earthly ministry, which Isaiah had foretold (Is. 6:9), was contagious. The Galatians had succumbed to this infectious moral disease. So Paul grills them with his series of questions. Notice what he contrasts the works of the Law with: the hearing of faith. This is a bit of a curious phrase, that I think we can take two ways. You might simply say: believe what you’ve heard. This would be quite true. Nevertheless, Paul’s phrase “the hearing of faith” seems to have more meat on the bones that just “believe what I told you.” Tying it back to the “faith of Christ” we saw in the last chapter, we can see that for Paul, hearing the story of Christ is more than just relating historical facts. Proclaiming the message of Christ’s faithfulness is potent. You want to see Christ? Then listen to the Gospel of His perfect faithfulness, His perfect faith, as displayed by all that is contained in Christ crucified.

Of course, God’s people, even under the Law, were summoned to hear God’s covenant promises: “Hear, O Israel…”. Paul is insisting that it isn’t the works of the Law, but the hearing of faith by which the Galatians received the Spirit. Luther’s remarks on this is glorious: “The human heart does not understand or believe that such a great treasure-namely, the Holy Spirit—is given only by believing what we hear.” And so this begs the question, what had the Galatians heard. For that it is worth looking at what Paul proclaimed to the Galatians when he first established churches there (Acts 13:14-14:23). Paul had heralded that Christ had obtained for all nations what Isaiah had foretold: the sure mercies of David (Is. 55:3-5). This preaching was marked by both the believing Galatian Jews and Gentiles being filled with Joy and the Holy Ghost (Acts 13:52).

DOING OR BELIEVING 

It is a perennial temptation to find a righteousness we can point to and take credit for. Here’s my good behavior, my tithe record, my church attendance, my voting record, my degrees and certifications. But you are not justified by reciting the catechism properly. You are not justified by knowing the doctrine of justification by faith alone. You are blessed with faithful Abraham by trusting in God as he did. Paul says that the Gospel was preached to Abraham. What was that Gospel? It was that God’s blessing––the blessing of the Spirit––would be poured out upon all the nations. And how was this accomplished? Through Christ crucified. Nothing else. Not your filthy rags or mine.

This is what your baptism is a promise of. The deep and inner washing which only the Spirit of God can bring about. This washing gets in every corner. It cleanses every crevice. It purges the filth of the most beastly sins as well as the most respectable sins. So, having heard of Christ, having heard of His faithfulness, believe that He gives you the washing which comes by His Spirit of holiness dwelling in you.

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Hard Law, Hot Gospel: How Dare You (CC Downtown)

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INTRODUCTION

In this chapter we have two splendors. On one hand we have a hero of the faith, contending, almost entirely alone against error and as a result keeping the early church from sliding into a grievous error. The reason he does so is because of the greater splendor, that of the Gospel of justification by faith alone.

THE TEXT

Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. […] Galatians 2:1ff

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Remember that Paul swore before God as to the veracity of his record (1:20). So we must either believe him, or accuse him of falsehood. Now, he has related one trip to Jerusalem in Galatians 1:18-20 which corresponds to Acts 9:26-30, here in our text (Galatians 2:1-10) he relates another trip to Jerusalem, which I believe must be the famine relief trip recorded in Acts 11:27-30, 12:25. This famine was foretold by prophetic vision (Acts 11:28), which is what Paul seems to be referring to in Gal. 2:2 when he says they went up “by revelation”. It is important for the arguments which Paul will make later that we note here that if this was written after the Jerusalem council to the Northern Galatians, then Paul’s sworn record is false for failing to cite the visit to Jerusalem for that vitally important council.

So then, the visit to Jerusalem for famine relief was without fanfare, lest Paul’s mission get gummed up with unnecessary disputes (v2). Titus, a Greek, was with Paul on this trip, but was not compelled to be circumcised (v3). But there was clear pressure, from false brethren, to subject Titus (and therefore all Gentile believers) to this rite (vv4-5). But after conferring with Peter, James, and John, those apostles gave the right hand of fellowship confirming that the ministry to the uncircumcised really had been given with heavenly might unto Paul and as the ministry to the circumcision was proper to Peter (vv6-9). The only stipulation was that Paul remember the poor, which Paul was only too happy to oblige (v10).

The dangerous error which was troubling the Galatians was spreading, and Paul relates an intriguing episode between him and Peter. Peter came up to Antioch, and was happy to dine with Gentiles (Cf. Mk. 7), that is until some of James’ colleagues from Jerusalem arrived. Peter, because he was afraid, withdrew from table fellowship with Gentiles. This act was so pregnant with meaning that even Barnabas was led astray (vv11-13, Cf. Acts 15:39). Paul publicly rebuked Peter’s hypocrisy, and is, of course, committing his public rebuke to the public record (v14). Paul’s rebuke was this, “How dare you freely act as a Gentile one moment, and then browbeat the Gentiles to adopt Jewish manners the very next!”

Paul then transitions from timeline to theology. The Jews of all people, unlike the sinful heathens, ought to know that from top to bottom we are justified not by our works of righteousness but by the faith of Christ (vv15-16, Hab. 2:4). Christ’s coming had really changed the cosmos. Jews who would be justified by Christ must first recognize that they are categorically kin with Gentiles: sinners (Rom. 3:9, 2:15). But this arrangement doesn’t make Christ a minister of sin (v17). Paul didn’t preach a Gospel of gluing the shattered tablets of stone back together, only to break them again (v18); rather, the Gospel is that by faith in Christ we die to the law, and live to God (v19). Nevertheless, this union with Christ is only made possible by His crucifixion, which we are joined to by faith alone; for righteousness is only found in Christ’s death (vv20-21).

PILLARS OF A NEW TEMPLE

The old Jerusalem was being replaced by a new Jerusalem. A new temple, with a chief cornerstone had been established, and the pillars of Herod’s temple had been supplanted by living apostolic pillars. Therefore, it would be like trying to time travel backward through time to go back to law-keeping as if nothing had been altered. This new temple had apostolic pillars, carved from Jewish marble, but it also had living stones cut from a Gentile quarry. Paul relates that the Gospel he had been preaching from his conversion was completely in line with the Gospel which the other apostles preached. It was not at all at odds. It was as Isaiah had foretold, the mountain of the Lord (the temple) would be exalted over all the earth, with Gentiles streaming into it, being incorporated into the service of it, and it being made a house of prayer for all nations (Is. 2:2, 56:6-7).

From Paul’s conversion (near Jerusalem), his visit with Peter in Jerusalem after three years in Arabia, and then his private conference with Peter and James 14 years later he had been preaching this Gospel of the coming of Israel’s Messiah, the Resurrection, and therefore the blessing of deliverance from sin for all nations. Paul insists that the other apostles “added nothing” to Paul’s Gospel (2:6). In other words, those who wanted Gentiles to submit to the law-keeping (as represented in the sign of circumcision) were missing the central glory of the Gospel.

The Judaizers, not unlike many modern apparently well-meaning charlatans, likely presented themselves as discipleship gurus. They came with an ethos of “we’re here to help.” But though they appeared to be putting training wheels on the discipleship of Gentiles, they were in fact removing the bike chain, popping the tires, and cutting the brake cords. It was the Judaizers, and those who were swayed by their arguments––Peter in particular––who were not “walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel”. They moved, not Paul; and most certainly not the Gospel.

THE FAITH OF CHRIST

This portion of Scripture is a priceless cask of the finest wine. You do not find right standing before God by keeping the law. Rather, your faith must be in the faith of Christ. This is a curious phrase that is used twice here (2:15, 20), and once in the next chapter (3:22). Paul will flesh this out more as he goes on, but the sword-point of His argument is that it is by Christ’s perfect righteousness, including His faith in all of God’s promises, by which you are justified. Of old, God had made great promises to His people; Jesus Christ believed all these with a perfect faith and received the inheritance that came along with that faith.

So the Gospel, as always, is the glory of glories. Sin is the transgression of the law. Yet God assures you that all of it, the very worst of it, the sin that you committed willfully, with eyes wide open and heart hardened, is entirely forgiven if you come by faith to Christ. We often want to rush in and add stipulations about living righteously and obediently. Paul will soon explain what the Christian’s life looks like, and it is certainly not marked by continuing in sin. But the scandalous glory of the Gospel is in this: you are crucified with Christ. That means if you look in faith to Christ, your sins, every damn one, is forgiven.

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Hard Law, Hot Gospel: Any Other Gospel (CC Downtown)

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INTRODUCTION

Apathy is like wearing concrete boots while swimming. Yet, all too often we are tempted to skate along and ignore complacency and indifference. We say things like, “the honeymoon is over” to justify marital apathy; or “we’ve always done it this way” to justify corporate bloat; or “don’t rock the boat” in order to maintain some status quo. This epistle is Paul being an apostolic burr in the saddle, pebble in the boot, and pain in the neck. In so doing, he kept not only the Galatians, but the early church as a whole from apathetically drifting back into business as usual.

THE TEXT

Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. […] Galatians 1:1ff

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Before we begin expositing the black and white letters of this epistle, we should take notice of the colorful context of this letter. Other than the synoptic Gospels, this letter from Paul to the Galatians is one of the earliest NT writings (~AD48). As we shall see, this fact proves to be pivotal in locking the door against a dangerous error that was threatening the early church. But this was not only from Paul, it was from Paul “and all the brethren” (v2), to the churches (plural) of Galatia. This helps us decide between two theories regarding the timing of this letter. The Northern Galatian theory argues that this was written to the Gauls located in what is now central Turkey; these were Celtic peoples, who were spread across Europe at the time. Paul eventually visited the northern Galatians (Acts 16:6; 18:5). The Southern Galatian theory is that Paul wrote to the Roman province of Galatia which consisted of four primary cities which we know Paul visited in his early mission trips: Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:14), Iconium (Acts 13:51), Lystra, and Derbe (Acts 14:6, 20 – 21). Given the content, not to mention the heat, of Paul’s letter we are left with a strong case for this being written in the lead up to the Jerusalem Counsel (Acts 15) not after.

Paul begins by asserting the nature of his apostleship (v1). He greets them with grace and peace, and briefly states the Gospel: Jesus (whom the Father had raised from the dead) gave Himself for our sins (Cf. Is. 53:6), to deliver us from the “present evil age”, by the Father’s will, and this all leads us to glorify God (vv3-5). Instead of pleasant thanksgiving for the Galatians, Paul begins with a deep grievance. And no wonder! The Galatians have drifted from the Gospel which he had taught them, into a graceless Gospel (v6). This took place because the Galatians were troubled by some who had perverted the Gospel (v7). Paul pronounces a double anathema on angelic or human teachers of this mangled Gospel (vv8-9).

This is very personal, not academic, for Paul. Other than Acts we learn more about Paul’s biography from this section of Galatians than anywhere else. This is important because Paul wants to impress upon the Galatians that Christ’s coming was apocalyptic, and Paul had personally experienced the potency of the revelation of Jesus Christ. None of what Paul has done was by man or for man, because this Gospel was from God and for God’s glory (vv10-12).

Beginning in 1:13, Paul launches into a lengthy personal history which continues through most of chapter 2 as well. Paul had been a zealous hall monitor for the laws of the Pharisees and was infamous for his seething persecution of the disciples of Christ and profiting from his persecutions (vv13-14). Elsewhere he describes himself as a blasphemer (1 Tim. 1:13). Central to Paul’s Gospel is the sovereign will of God to deliver such wicked sinners from their sin. Paul explains that by God’s grace the Son was revealed to him, and this was foreordained by God even when Paul was in his mother’s womb (vv15-16a, Cf. Is. 49:1). God kindly did this so that Paul would bring news of Christ’s deliverance from this present evil age to the heathen (v16). After Paul’s conversion, he didn’t enroll at Jerusalem Apostolic Seminary. This will be important to the argument that Paul concludes in chapter 2. Rather, he went into Arabia, presumably to pray and study (v 17; Cf. 2 Cor. 12:2-4). Three years later, he visited with Peter & James in Jerusalem for 15 days, but didn’t spend time with any of the other apostles (vv18-19).

Paul avows the truth of all this (v20); he didn’t linger in Judea, going instead to Gentile regions. The Judaean Christians knew that their former persecutor was now preaching the Gospel he’d attempted to destroy, though they hadn’t met him personally these Jewish believers glorified God because of him (vv21-24).

THE GOSPEL IS PERSONAL 

It might seem incongruous to us why Paul stresses his personal history in making his argument against the Judaizers. The work which Paul has been set apart for, from his mother’s womb, is not a merely human venture. We could easily mistake Paul’s concern about establishing his apostolic office as some sort of territorial turf war. This is not why Paul is arguing. His apostleship is tied up with ancient promises which God, through Christ, has now made good.

We see this in Paul’s two allusions to Isaiah. First, consider his allusion to Isaiah 53:6. The sheep had strayed, every last one; so the Lord offers up His anointed servant as the sacrifice. He gave himself for us. Faithful OT saints believed that God would inaugurate the last times and would do so with two clear signs. The first would be the coming of the Messiah, the Lord’s servant and true King of Israel. The second sign would be that of the resurrection (Job 19:25). As Paul makes his argument throughout this epistle, these articles of ancient faith must be kept in mind. Jesus’ coming was the breaking through of God’s new creation work, and this of course was manifestly vindicated by Jesus’ own resurrection.

So then, Paul’s insistence on tracing his apostolic calling is not off topic from his main argument, nor is it a pious flex. If God’s new creation work had really burst into this world, then Paul’s Damascus road conversion is not off topic. The Risen Christ in His ascended glory had revealed himself to this blaspheming murderer to convert him and then task him to go with the glad tidings of the new creation to the Gentiles. This ties in with the second allusion that Paul makes to Isaiah and his description of the Messiah’s mission (Is. 49:1). Isaiah says Messiah would gather Israel’s wandering sheep and then shine with Gospel light upon the Gentiles. So Paul’s Damascus conversion and thus Gentile commission really was on topic.

THE GOSPEL IS POTENT 

This Gospel is also potent. It is potent personally. But the personal potency of the Gospel is in force because of the transformation that took place in the order of things when Christ arose. Christ’s resurrection was the Galatian’s deliverance from the present evil world. The world governed by demons, where hard law was needful to restrain the raving of depraved man. But since Christ had come, the old order was passing away and along with it the dominion of devils. Thus, a return to the Law (which is the primary issue Paul will deal with) is to turn away from the potency of Christ’s life, to the impotency of dead flesh. To return to the law would be to return to business as usual, and with Christ’s coming it was no longer business as usual. All things were being made new.

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A Fortified City (CC Downtown)

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INTRODUCTION

John Bunyan, in his book Holy War, once typified our personal battle against sin, the devil, and the world as a warfare against a city. He took the various attributes of both the body and soul and represented them as a city besieged by an array of threats. I want to attempt something similar, but applied to the life and work of the church. As is commonly said, the story of Scripture began in a garden, but it will end in a garden city that fills the whole earth.

THE TEXT

Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Psalm 87:3

CITY WALLS

The church is not an amorphous entity with indefinite boundaries. The liberal wants the walls of the city of God to be all-encompassing. The hidebound legalist wants the city walls to be just big enough for the handful of people they agree with…for now. But the Bible defines for us where the city walls are for the Church.

These walls require us to look at them as they are at present and then look in faith to when they will encompass the whole world. Jeremiah describes what will one day be true of the entire globe: “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more (Jer 31:34).” The liberal wants the city walls to be universal right now; the purist wants to hold off on any expansion plans until the final trump shall sound.

City walls are essential. They serve two functions: keeping in and keeping out. That wonderful line from Tolkien comes to mind, “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” Walls surround the citizens so they know where they belong. Within these walls is your home.

The walls of this city are the Word and Sacraments. Or to put it another way, we dwell in Christ. The Apostle John uses the language of a dwelling place: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit (1Jo 4:13).” The walls of this city are Christ. His Word and His signs. Those who have heard His Word and received it by faith dwell in Him, for He places His covenant sign of water upon them, and He feeds them with Himself. We dwell in Him, while He dwells in us.

But the secondary function of a city’s walls reveals something which is offensive to many. The walls keep out. Our culture is drunk on the cheap wine of inclusion. The walls of the Gospel of Christ make it plain that the only salvation to be found is within the walls of this City, which is Christ, and the signs of citizenship. Throughout the story of the Church’s history, these walls of God’s commandments surround God’s people, and expel the enemies of these divine truths (Deu. 6:16-18, Acts 20:29, 1 Co. 5:11). There are only two types of people, and Scripture bears this out in a number of different figures: sheep and goats, wheat and tares, elect and reprobate, sons of God and sons of the devil.

One temptation we face is to mistake the lesser walls within the cities which mark out the different neighborhoods as the city walls themselves. The city walls are not our confessions of faith, or our books of procedures, or denominational lines. The City walls are the Word of Christ, and those who trust in Him as He is proclaimed in Scripture find refuge within those everlasting bulwarks of His righteousness. This is what Jesus teaches when He said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out (Jhn 6:37).”

CITY GATES

After the erection of city walls, the next most important feature of city fortifications is the gate. In the ancient world, the gate functioned as the gathering place, the market place, and most obviously, the access point. A city gate is where it is most vulnerable. It can have impressive walls, but if the gate is compromised the city will be overrun by its enemies.

Continuing our analogy, for those who enter by faith, the gate is baptism. For those who prove to be enemies of the cross of Christ, the gates are church discipline. The WCF describes the stages of church discipline this way: admonition, suspension from the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper for a season; and by excommunication from the Church (WCF XXX.4). This follows the pattern Jesus laid out in Matthew 18. We also see an OT example of this principle acted out by Nehemiah breaking up the Sabbath market which had shown up in Jerusalem’s gates.

Those who come through the gate of baptism are not the exact same group of those who will dwell forever in the City of God when it’s full glory is revealed. This is what we commonly refer to as the visible vs invisible church. Too often believers recognize the significance of the church’s duty to welcome new saints (whether in infancy or in conversion) through the gates of baptism, but neglect that the church is also tasked with expelling false sons and barring the gates to apostates. There will be those who weep outside the city gates for all eternity gnashing their teeth, clawing out their eyes, and despairing. Some of those will have been baptized at one point, and their everlasting despair will be all the worse for having tasted the goodness of the Lord, only to fall away, hearing His words of judgement, “Depart from me, for I never knew you.”

Nevertheless, these city gates are not feeble cardboard. Baptism is not a gate from Wish or Temu. Baptism is a mighty gate, which really does mark the entrance out of the world and into the church. And if John’s vision is any indication, these gates are not only strong but they are beautiful. Your baptism really is a strong glory; therefore to apostatize, to walk out of those gates in high handed rebellion is a also a shameful horror.

CITY STOREHOUSE

The Word of God makes provision for the propagation and continuation of the Church. It does this in a few ways. First, the life of the Christian family, dwelling within the walls of Christendom fill the Heavenly Jerusalem with the next generation of worshippers. This is the family’s primary task, to raise up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Mal. 2:15).  Godly men, as Solomon teaches, make every effort to provide for future generations: A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children (Pro 13:22a). This should be taken in both the material and spiritual sense.

Additionally, we see numerous instances of generational thinking. The Patriarchs blessing their sons. Moses handing things off to Joshua. David commissioning Solomon to build the temple. Paul telling Timothy to “commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also (2 Tim. 2:12).” The city of God has a storehouse which faithful saints are to fill with the treasures of wisdom, the legacy of applying the Bible to all contexts of human life, and David’s burnished shields and spears of joyful Psalm-singing.

Where one generation neglects to fill the storehouse with good things, the following generation is poorly positioned to weather a siege by the enemies of error, sin, and compromise. Judah’s King Asa once plundered the treasury of the temple to pay the pagan Syrian king to go to war with his brethren in Israel; this significantly weakened Judah. Asa’s own health reflects this weakened state, as he ends his days with diseased feet, unable to go forth to plant his feet in conquest. All because he grew fearful of his circumstances, and instead of walking by faith decided to empty the storehouse for a foolish project.

CITY FORTIFICATIONS

One of the besetting follies of conquerers is to think that once peace is established the work is done. Many a victory has turned into a route because the would be victors became drunk on the spoil. The armor of God includes the need to have our feet shod with the Gospel of peace. This implies that the peace envisioned by the Gospel is not insular, retreat-ist, or communal.

Rather, once peace has been established the city must begin to think about expanding its footprint. This, like Israel of old, will be done bit by bit. While Christendom largely expanded North and West from Israel, we must not forget that there have been Christian churches found which date back to the 700s as far Northeast as Beijing. Missionaries have shed their bled in far off frontiers, and while their bones have long since turned to dust, the blood they shed for the Gospel is a seed which will, in future centuries turned into a glorious Gospel harvest bringing in once pagan nations into the newly expanded city walls of Christ’s global governance.

The Gospel Word, while we have been comparing it to city walls, is likened in Scripture to leaven expanding a lump of dough, or a mustard seed growing into a glorious tree, or a small stone turning into a global mountain. The City Walls are intended to be expanded to encompass the entire world. The universalist wants to tear down the walls in order to pretend that that somehow fulfills the Great Commission…tada no walls, now everyone is in the city! No, the walls must never be torn down, but they are to be steadily expanded by faithful application to every new hill, each new valley, each river and sea.

CONCLUSION

Walls, gates, storehouse, and fortifications for future expansion. That is the life the Church. The Word begets us and defines where the City is. The gates welcome repentant sinners into the life of the Glorious City of our God. The storehouses must be continually filled with the virtues of grace, the blessings of faithfulness, and the foresight for generational prosperity. The citizens must not rest until every hill and distant island is circumferenced by the strong walls of Christ our Lord. Indeed, glorious things of thee are spoken, oh city of our God.

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