Christ Church

Holy War: A Post-Election Sermon (King’s Cross)

Lindsey Gardner on

INTRODUCTION

In the aftermath of this most recent election, we have much to be grateful for. Our God is surely merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness. He has not given us what we deserve. But the mercy of God is always a test: hard hearts get right back to sin and apathy, but soft hearts are driven to worship, repentance, and a renewed zeal for holiness.

While our holy war is not primarily or fundamentally fleshly or carnal, our weapons are mighty for pulling down strongholds, “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Cor. 10:3-6). This does not mean no political action, but it means that obedience to Christ must drive everything we do.

 

HOLINESS AS POWER

Holiness is power. Holiness is that which is set apart, pure, and whole. God is holy, holy, holy, and this holiness drives His omnipotence and power: “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex. 15:11) “And [Jesus was] declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4).

Human beings were created to reflect and share in God’s holiness, and this is what is being restored in Christ (Eph. 4:24). Ephesians says that growing in this means coming to know the exceeding greatness of His power at work in us, which raised Jesus from the dead, far above all principality, power and might (Eph. 1:17-21). If American Christians seem remarkably impotent culturally and politically, it is because we do not understand or care about holiness. We are more concerned about pragmatic, short term gains than long term victory, but God disciplines us so that we might share in His holiness (Heb. 12:10). God cares more about holiness than political freedom because without holiness, there can be no freedom. So how do we pursue God’s holiness?

 

HOLY WORSHIP

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus…” (Heb. 10:19ff). While all of life and nature proclaim God’s holiness (the whole earth is full of His glory), He designed the world and people such that we participate in God’s holiness by setting time and space apart to worship Him, by “drawing near.” This is why God set apart the Trees in the Garden, holy ground at the burning bush, and the holy places in the tabernacle and temple. He also set apart one day in seven and made it holy for rest and worship (Gen. 2:3, Ex. 20:8-11). In the New Covenant, after the curtain of the Most Holy Place was torn, any space can be set apart for worship, as can any day, but the Lord’s Day is the first day Sabbath and when God’s people gather together they are His holy priesthood and temple (1 Pet. 2).

The Bible calls this obedient, formal, public worship the “beauty of holiness” (Ps. 29:2) on the “mountain of holiness” (Ps. 48:1, cf. Heb. 12). God’s power of holiness is the source of our power (Ps. 110:3). “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron…” (Ps. 149:6-8). In Revelation, it is the worship of the saints that God uses to send air strikes on the earth.

This also happens as individuals and families are transformed by the renewing of our minds, through offering their bodies in worship (Rom. 12:1-2). Planting churches is the New Covenant equivalent to Abraham building altars in Canaan. Wherever the gospel establishes communities of biblical worship, we are acknowledging that Jesus purchased that land, that nation with His blood and insisting that it must and will bow to Him.

 

HOLY MARRIAGE & HOMES

“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4). Holiness is not prudish or sanctimonious. Holiness in the home is earthy, physical, material, and full of joy. The Holy Spirit created the heavens and the earth, and He filled the artisans with skill to build the tabernacle (Gen. 1:2, Ex. 35:31).

Holiness means husbands loving their wives like Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her and wives submitting to their husbands as the Church does to Christ: so that husbands might present their wives holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:22-27). But this is not merely spiritual, this includes loving and protecting your wife as your own body (Eph. 5:28-29) and raising joyful, obedient children (Eph. 6:1-4, 1 Tim. 3:4-5). This means dealing with sin quickly, forgiving one another, and covering sins in love. We cannot be a force for good in this land, if our homes are not models of order and peace.

 

HOLY WORK

Jesus said clearly that he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much, and this includes faithfulness in justice (Lk. 16:10-12). “And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?” Our vocational labors are the practice field for authority and fruitfulness in the world. Honesty, integrity, hard work, fixing mistakes, learning to communicate, and multiplying your talents is the path to influence and blessing (Mt. 25:14).

“Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men” (Eph. 6:6-7). We cannot establish justice in the land if we are not practicing justice in our daily labors.

 

CONCLUSION

Thank God for a clear Trump victory. Now the Church must gird up our loins to fight. We must fight sin and corruption at every level, beginning in our own hearts, families, businesses, churches, and cities. We cannot be a free or powerful America apart from obedience to Christ, apart from holiness.

So think of this time like Joseph’s seven years of plenty. We have 2-4 years to store up and build strong families, businesses, and churches. May God grant us longer and may He grant a true Reformation and Revival, but we must build houses on the rock that are ready for storms.

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Availing Prayer (CCTroy)

Lindsey Gardner on

The Text
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit (James 5:16–18 NKJV).

What Kind of Prayer Avails Much?
I. Effective, fervent
II. Righteous

Why the Example of Elijah? (1 Kings 17–18)
I. He was a righteous man, “with a nature like ours”
II. He prayed earnestly

Concluding Applications
I. Be encouraged to pray, not discouraged. If you are seeking to live a godly life through the power of the Holy Spirit, then you have God’s attention.
II. Recognize where you pray already, and do so earnestly and with renewed faith.
III. Take practical steps to cultivate additional times of focused prayer—because God is faithful and kind.

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The Things of Earth

Lindsey Gardner on

As we enter the holiday season, we ought to take a moment to explore the foundation for our love for God and our enjoyment of this world. Many Christians feel a tension precisely at this point. They ask themselves: “How does a single-minded, whole-hearted pursuit of God and Christ fit with a real and deep enjoyment of created things?

Here are some diagnostic questions:

  1. Do you feel a low-grade sense of guilt because you enjoy legitimate earthly pleasures?
  2. Do you ever have a vague sense that you’re not enjoying God “enough” (whatever that means) or that you’re enjoying his gifts “too much” (whatever that means)?
  3. Do you have the sense that as you progress in holiness, your joy in things of earth ought to diminish because you are becoming increasingly satisfied with God alone?

Where does this tension come from? Think with me about the following Scripture passages. Everything is rubbish compared to Christ (Phil. 3:7-8). Don’t set your affections on things below (Col 3:1-2). Desire nothing besides God (Psalm 73:25).

On the other hand: Everything created by God, and nothing is to be rejected (1 Timothy 4:4). Every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17). And in our passage, God richly provides us with everything to enjoy (1 Tim. 6:17).

So which is it: Only desire God? Or enjoy everything God richly provides? Count everything as rubbish? Or receive everything with thanksgiving? Set your mind on things above? Or enjoy the good and perfect gifts that have come down from above? That’s the tension.

 

1 TIMOTHY 6:17-19

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Paul gives three exhortations in this passage. First, don’t be haughty. It’s easy for the rich to boast in their riches. Riches easily feed pride. Second, don’t set your hope on the uncertainty of riches. It’s easy for wealthy people to think that their strength comes from their wealth and not from Christ. “I can do all things through wealth which strengthens me.” It’s easy to forget Paul’s words earlier in the chapter (1 Tim. 6:6-10). Third, set your hope on God. He’s not uncertain. Moth and rust don’t destroy him; thieves cannot steal him from you. You can take God with you out of this world. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

And then, Paul surprises us. He reminds the rich that God “richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” That’s not what I would expect Paul to say to the rich. Paul tells us, “Remember rich people, God has given you your wealth so that you would enjoy it.” And so the question becomes: how do you enjoy everything that God richly provides without setting your hope on the uncertainty of riches?

 

TWO APPROACHES

I want to suggest that Paul here is giving us two complementary ways of viewing God’s relationship to his gifts. The first is a comparative approach, in which God and his gifts are separated and set next to each other to determine which is more valuable. Put God on one side of the scales, and his gifts (your wealth) on the other side, and ask, “Which one will I hope in?” And if you’re a faithful Christian, there’s only one answer. “There is nothing I desire beside you.”

The second I call the integrated approach, in which God and his gifts are enjoyed together. When we set our hope on God, we are free to love creation as creation (as gift, and not as God). God’s gifts become avenues for enjoying him, beams of glory that we chase back to the source. In the words of Charles Simeon, we “enjoy God in everything and everything in God.”.

My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off. (Proverbs 24:13-14)

The sweetness of honey points beyond itself to the wisdom of God. Our souls have taste buds, just like our tongues, and we can train the soul-buds by exercising the tongue-buds. And this means that we can’t short-circuit the enjoyment of the honey. Neither can you stop with simply enjoying honey. First, enjoy the honey. Taste it; it’s good. And then, press beyond honey to the God who stands behind it.

So then how do we relate these two approaches to each other? My suggestion is that we should seek to live integrated lives (Enjoying God in everything and enjoying everything in God) and we use the comparative separation as a test to ensure that our integration hasn’t become idolatry.

 

TESTING OUR JOY THROUGH SELF-DENIAL

How then do we test our enjoyment of God’s rich provision? We could talk about suffering, and the way that our sovereign God sends both good gifts and hard providences to test whether we treasure him above all his gifts. But I want to talk about the voluntary ways that we test ourselves: self-denial and generosity.

There is an unavoidable strain of asceticism in the Scriptures–Jesus insisting that every one of his disciples deny himself, take up his cross and follow him. This self-denial, such as fasting, serves our joy in God. We temporarily abstain from food in order to increase our physical hunger as a way of confessing to God, “This is how much I want you.” Self-denial serves our joy in God by reminding us that Jesus is better. But self-denial and self-restraint also serves our joy in the gifts themselves. Joy in God’s gifts depends in part on what C. S. Lewis calls resisting the impulse of Encore, that itch to overly indulge our earthly appetites and to have things over again and again and again.

Biblical self-denial puts the lust for Encore to death. By restraining our earthly appetites, we make space for the distinct pleasures of anticipation and memory. Whether we’re talking about a child eagerly awaiting Christmas morning or a married couple planning an anniversary trip, we all know that looking forward to some great event is itself pleasurable. And memories of past joys have a way of growing and maturing and sweetening with time. Again, as Lewis reminds us, a pleasure is only full grown when it is remembered. Resisting Encore makes it possible for us to fully enjoy God’s gifts through anticipation, through enjoyment, and through memory.

 

TESTING OUR JOY THROUGH GENEROSITY

1 Timothy 6 tells us that God richly provides us with everything, and he has purposes for his provision. There are four purposes: 1) to enjoy, 2) to do good, 3) to be rich in good works, and 4) to be generous and ready to share. So how do you test whether you’re enjoying God’s gifts rightly? By your generosity. If wealth comes to you and you’re enjoying it, but it’s not spilling the banks and flooding the lives of others, then something is wrong in your soul.

Gifts are given for our enjoyment, and gifts are given for God’s mission. Every good and perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights. We receive the gift. We enjoy it with thanksgiving, acknowledging that God is the one who gives it to us. This thanksgiving spills over into worship, since we know that as good as the gift is, it’s just a taste of his goodness. And then satisfied with God and enjoying his provision, our lives becomes a tidal wave of generosity—eager to do good, on the lookout for needs and ready with open-handed and big-hearted generosity. Our goal is this—we want to be as generous with others as God has been with us. We want to freely receive—because he richly provides us with everything to enjoy—and therefore freely give—because he richly provides us with everything to share.

Now I can’t tell you precisely how much to give. The Old Testament required a tithe. The rich young ruler was called to sell everything (Luke 18:22). When Zacchaeus was saved, he gave half his goods to the poor (Luke 19:8). Barnabas sold a field and put the money at the feet of the apostles (Acts 4:37). The poor widow put two pennies in the offering box and was commended by Jesus (Luke 21:1–3). The amount varies, but the commitment to use our resources to meet the needs of others is the same.

And doing good and being rich in good works and being generous and ready to share isn’t just about money. Be generous with your time and your efforts and your talents and your skills. Be creative in how you think about what God has given you and how your life can be poured out for the sake of others.

And when you do this, when you set your hope on God, and you enjoy what he richly provides, and you share what he richly provides, you are storing up treasure for yourself. You save up and you gladly spend it. You store it up and you pour it out. This is the true life; this is the true foundation for the future, the true foundation of everlasting joy.

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Great Grace, Great Fear (Acts of the Apostles #11)

Lindsey Gardner on

INTRODUCTION

We come now to the famous story of Ananias and Sapphira, the moral of which is sometimes thought to be “what happens to chintzy tithers.” But actually, that is not it at all. Many more layers are involved. It is also worth noting that we come across three men named Ananias in the book of Acts. We have this man in our text (Acts 5:1), we have the man who was used to bring Saul of Tarsus into the covenant (Acts 9:10), and the high priest who was so hostile to Paul (Acts 23:2; 24:1). In a figure, we have Achan, we have Joshua, and we have the king of Jericho.  

 

THE TEXT

“But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God . . . (Acts 5:1–16). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

So we come to the well-known story of Ananias and Sapphira (v. 1). He and his wife sold a possession, held back part of the price, and brought the rest to set at the apostles’ feet (v. 2). Peter asked why Satan had moved him to lie to the Holy Spirit about the sale (v. 3). Wasn’t the land theirs? Wasn’t the sale price theirs? Why did he do this? He lied to God, not man (v. 4). At these words, Ananias toppled over dead, and great fear descended on everyone who heard about it (v. 5). The young men carried him off (v. 6). Three hours later, Sapphira came in, not knowing anything about what had happened (v. 7). Peter asked her about the sale price (v. 8), and she confirmed the amount. Peter asked how it came about that they agreed together to tempt the Spirit (v. 9). He said the feet of the men who buried your husband are here for you now (v. 9). She fell down dead, and the same thing happened (v. 10). Fear descended on the church, and on everyone who heard about it (v. 11). The apostles were performing mighty signs, and they were all meeting with one accord in Solomon’s Portico (v. 12). They were feared, but respected (v. 13). Multitudes joined them, men and women both (v. 14). Things got to the point where the shadow of Peter passing by was powerful to heal (v. 15). A multitude of sick people from surrounding towns came to Jerusalem, along with those with demons, and all of them were healed (v. 16).         

THE FONT OF SIN

Peter asks about the origin of this sin in various ways. He first asks how it is that Satan “filled your heart” to do this (v. 2). But in the next verse, he attributes it to Ananias himself (v. 3). Why have you conceived this thing? And then in verse 9, talking with Sapphira, he says “ye have agreed together.” It is apparent that Satan’s working does not displace our own complicity in sin. Such things are not billiard balls.

ALL THINGS IN COMMON

Peter is very plain that the possession was theirs, and theirs to keep. There was no obligation to sell. This was not communism—there was nothing coercive about it. And once they sold and the money was in their hand, it was theirs to keep. The donations from the believers were not being strong-armed from them.

The fact that Jerusalem was doomed was unique, as was the fact that there were so many from out of town. But the spirit of koinonia-unity that these believers enjoyed was not a one-off thing. We see it elsewhere in the New Testament.

“For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack” (2 Cor. 8:12–15). 

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD

It is important to note how the lie was directed. It was not a lie told to men (v. 4). Peter says plainly the that lie was told to the Holy Spirit (v. 3), and then in the next verse he says that the lie was told directly to God (v. 4). Hang on to this because it will help to clarify everything in a moment. But we should note in passing that to lie to the Holy Spirit is to lie to God. 

GREAT FEAR

The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not a lack of generosity, but rather the lie. But more than this, it was the high-handedness and impudence of the lie. It was the context of the lie, and God’s response to their sin simply added a number of layers to that context. Great fear was already the context: “And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles” (Acts 2:43). 

Great fear came to everyone who heard about this (v. 5). Great fear came on the whole church (v. 11), and to everyone else who heard. The fear was so great that no one dared to join them (v. 13) . . . but then it says a bunch of people were joining them anyhow (v. 14)—multitudes, men and women both.

Now think about Achan back at the fall of Jericho. They had marched around the city repeatedly, then seven times in one day, and then they blew the trumpets, and the city walls collapsed. For a man to think that this was the moment for pilfering is a stupefying testament to the blinding power of sin. What do we have there? A doomed city. By furtively hiding a piece of the doomed city, they turned it into spoil. They attached themselves to the land that was devoted to destruction, and so they were the first inhabitants of Jerusalem to fall. The others were selling and letting go, and these two were “kind of” letting go . . . but reluctantly, the way Lot’s wife died looking back at her favorite shopping malls. Talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, who did Jesus say that Sapphira should have remembered? Lot’s wife (Luke 17:32). The lie revealed that they were trying to preserve a bit of the old world, doomed to destruction, carrying it around with them in their pocket.

But it cannot be. You cannot have the new world and the old world both. It must go one way or the other.    

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Covenantal Education (The Well-Pleased Father #5) (King’s Cross)

Lindsey Gardner on

INTRODUCTION

God created the world with covenantal dynamics wound through everything. This has been the source of our Fall into sin in Adam, but it is also the source of our salvation and new life in Christ. Analogous covenants exist in the family and public square.

One the one hand this explains many of the challenges we face as families and nations, and on the other hand, this is also an invitation into God’s blessing. And the Bible teaches that the curses of covenant rebellion are not as powerful as the blessings of covenant faith (Ex. 32:6-7).

The Text: “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).

 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Bible teaches that both mothers and fathers have significant duties in the raising of children. This is evident in the biblical requirement of honor and obedience of both mother and father (Eph. 6:1, Ex. 20:12). But the Bible also clearly lays this responsibility at the feet of fathers (Eph. 6:4). This is because of the covenantal nature of the family (Eph. 5:23), which is related the covenantal nature of the world: Adam was the father of the human race (Rom. 5:19), and Abraham is the father of all the faithful (Rom. 4:16). Thus, while mothers play essential roles, fathers are responsible to see to it that their children are not provoked to wrath but raised in the culture and counsel of the Lord Jesus (Eph. 6:4). And because God built the world this way, accepting this responsibility in faith is the path of God’s blessing.

 

COVENANT RESPONSIBILITY

Part of our problem is that we have been marinating in individualism for so long, we often think as mere individuals and think responsibility is either/or rather than both/and. Covenantal thinking teaches us to see the world as layered with loyalties, obligations, and duties (and therefore blessings). Cain was an early individualist: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The answer was yes, as a brother. A husband is the head of his wife, like the head of a body. This doesn’t mean the wife is passive or has no obligations; it simply means that she is to give input and support as her husband’s body. And a husband is required to nourish/feed his wife as his own body, and the same word is used here for “raising/feeding” children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Practically, this means that a father is responsible for the culture of his family, including the discipline and education of his children. Thankfully, there has been a great revolt among thinking Christians over the last several decades pulling kids out of public schools, but sometimes this has resulted in Christian education being led and dominated by women and moms. This temptation is understandable when the men are hustling to put food on the table and pay the bills, but fathers are responsible to oversee this as well. There is plenty of room for delegating, but it must be true delegation and not abdication.

 

NOT PROVOKING

Colossians says something similar to what is said in Ephesians: “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged” (Col. 3:21). Fathers are often tempted to harshness, and then sometimes in reaction to their failures, absent and distant. But both provoke children to anger.

Faithful fathers imitate the Father: they are present, engaged, consistent, responsible, and generous. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father or lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Js. 1:17). Of course no earthly father matches this perfectly, and therefore our task is to point to that perfect Father with everything we can. One teacher describes faithful leadership as “failing in the right direction.”

While there really is a dearth of fathers in our land, our hope is not in perfect fathers. Our hope is in the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

CULTURE & COUNSEL

The words translated “nurture” and “admonition” are paideia and nouthesia, which literally mean culture and counsel. A culture is a way of life: ways of speaking, dressing, eating, celebrating, customs, traditions, and worship. Counsel is wisdom, teaching, knowledge, history. We see both of these in the great Shema:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Dt. 6:4-9).

All of this is why Christian fathers must provide a distinctly Christian education for their children. This is why we have banded together in schools and coops to accomplish this. This is why our deacons have a Christian education fund to help families accomplish this.

 

CONCLUSIONS

Psalm 127 says that unless God builds the house and guards the city, the builders and watchmen labor and watch in vain. And no amount of anxiety or sleeplessness can make up for this. We must have God’s blessing on our houses and cities and nations. And the psalm says that one of the principle means by which God does this is through the inheritance of children. Children are arrows in the hands of a warrior; they will stand with their fathers in the city gates.

Children are these weapons in our hands as they are received by covenantal faith in the promises of God. This faith is expressed by Joshua’s ancient confession of faith: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15). But this is not a mere intellectual ascent. This is a living faith that believes and acts, trusts and obeys, takes responsibility and hustles in the right direction, looking to your Father for blessing.

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