New Testament Archives - Page 171 of 205

A Face Like Flint (Palm Sunday 2013)

Joe Harby on March 24, 2013

Introduction

As believers in the Lord Jesus, we have to learn how to see Him as our substitute in all things, and not just in His death on the cross. Jesus did not just die in our place (although He did do that), He also lived in our place. The sacrifice of Jesus was for us, but so was the obedience of Jesus for us. The blood of Jesus was for us, but so was His courage.

The Texts

“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).

“I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed” (Is. 50:6-7).

Summary of the Text

As we consider this text, and the courage of the Lord Jesus, there are four events we should keep in mind together. The first occurred earlier in this chapter (Luke 9:31), when the Lord was transfigured and met with Moses and Elijah. One of the things they discussed on that mountain was the “exodus” that Jesus was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. The second event is this one—the Lord, when it was time for Him to be “received up,” set His face steadfastly in the direction of Jerusalem, which was to be the place of His passion. The third event is His triumphal entry to Jerusalem, the event that we are marking on the church calendar today (John 12:13). The fourth event was His agonized prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32). The Lord knew what the Scriptures had prophesied, He knew the Father’s will, He had set His face already to do that will, and He was willing to go. Our passage from Isaiah concerns the suffering servant, who is the Lord Jesus. He knew the abuse He would receive from the authorities in Jerusalem. His face would be abused—beard plucked out. But He refused to hide His face, and in His courage He set His face like flint in order to pay the price for your salvation and mine.

A True Man

The Lord Jesus had a sense of His calling from the time He was twelve (at least). This was confirmed to Him at His baptism, when God spoke from Heaven, and the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. But remember that we confess that He was not only fully God but also a true man. Indeed, He was the true man. This meant that He felt and fully experienced the gradual approach of a day of dread. He knew what was coming, but when it was a week away instead of years away the burden was much greater. The Lord Jesus required courage, which He displayed, and the Lord Jesus had to carry the burden, which He did.

He spoke with Elijah and Moses about the great exodus He would accomplish. He resolved to do it, setting His face toward the cross at Jerusalem. He empathized with the rejoicing at His triumphal entry—He supported it and did not think it out of place. Incidentally, it always bears repeating that we have no biblical basis for supposing that the crowd with the palms and the crowd crying out crucify Him! were the same crowds. This was not about the fickleness of the masses.

Active Obedience

Christ is everything to us. He lived His entire life as a public person, as the last and final Adam. Everything He did was for us and to us, and God imputes to us all of His obedience, and not just His obedience of suffering on the cross. Theologians distinguish this by calling one His passive obedience (His suffering obedience on the cross) and His active obedience (His entire life of faithfulness to God). All of this is imputed to us, credited to us.

It was not just necessary for the people of God to pay for their sins. It was equally necessary for them to fulfill the vocation that God assigned to us. This is why Jesus identified with us from the first moment of His ministry (in His baptism). This is why He fasted forty days in the wilderness (remember forty years in the wilderness?). This is why He was tempted there. Who else was tempted there? This is why He invaded Canaan as the greater Joshua, and undertook a great warfare there, expelling demons. Christ is Israel, and Christ is Israel, finally doing it right. Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.

When Courage is Called For

Let us bring this down to particulars. Every Christian is called to take up the cross daily (Luke 9:23). But this is not a solitary cross (although it will often feel solitary enough). It is not solitary because Jesus invites us to take up the cross in order to follow Him with it. He promises, in the next breath, that whoever loses his life for the sake of Christ will save it (Luke 9:24).

If we are believers, we are in Christ. If we are in Christ, then our crosses are within His cross. We are never alone in what God has apportioned to us. If we are called upon to show courage, then our courage is located where it must be located—inside His courage.

Courage is needed when you don’t think you can do the work anymore. Courage is required when the pain continues to go on and on, and you don’t know what to do with it, or where to put it. Courage is required in the face of uncertainty—perhaps you are threatened by a diagnosed illness, or financial troubles. Courage is required when your reputation is threatened by those who would slander you—not because your work is deficient, or because you have been dishonest in any way, but because you identify with Jesus Christ. Now identifying with Jesus does bring this kind of hostility. But identifying with Him also brings a great and glorious blessing. Why is that? Because His courage is given as a gift to you. The one who gives you this blessing of high-heartedness is the one who set His face like flint in order to go to Jerusalem to purchase you out of the slave market of sin.

Romans 5:1-11

Joe Harby on February 24, 2013

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The Text

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-11

Peace with God

When Jesus first appeared to the gathered disciples after his resurrection, he focused his message on this one word – peace (John 20:19, 21, and 26). Jesus had just brought about the reconciliation of God and sinners, and the result was peace. Jesus couldn’t get over it. We’re at peace now. We don’t understand the full significance of the word because we probably don’t fully appreciate the severity of the sentence that was against us. But Jesus knew what that sentence was. He knew the wrath that we were under. And he returned to his disciples, bursting with the news that he was at peace with us.

The glory of God was once death for us (Exodus 33:18-23, Ez. 1:27-28). When a sinful man stood before the glory of a perfect God, the result was an all-consuming terror. But now the apostle Paul says that we rejoice in it Rom. 5:2, that is we rejoice in what we were once terrified of, and we are now at peace with God’s holiness. This change in our relationship to God’s holiness, from terror and fear to peace and joy, is what it means to be justified.

And Not Only That

Paul is describing a surprise reversal. Now that we are standing in this grace – “We also glory in tribulations . . .” Tribulation really ought to lead us to despair. But Jesus saw it as an opportunity for God’s glory to be revealed. Outside of Christ, tribulation on earth is merely a foretaste of the eternal condemnation that is waiting for us. But when we are in the grace of God, these tribulations produce something altogether different in us.

Holy Spirit

This is why we are given the Holy Spirit now. The Holy Spirit is regularly described as a guarantee (Eph. 1:13- 14), a deposit, a promise. The reason that this deposit is so important is that it is going to look, at times, like you aren’t headed towards eternal life. When you suffer it is going to feel at times like you are headed towards death and destruction. But the Holy Spirit is poured into your heart as a confirmation that God is actually moving you towards eternal life. It is a supernatural peace and confidence in the face of suffering.

The world describes people who endure suffering as “fighters.” It is a hollow boast. Because we all know that any victory that they might experience is a temporary victory, a remission from suffering. But Paul promises us that in Christ “we are more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:37-39). Because through Christ we have conquered death itself, our hope will not be disappointed.

For When We Were Without Strength

Paul is about to explain the reason why we can have this confidence, this peace. The answer is – while you were still an absolute jerk, Jesus died for you. And if he was willing to die for you in that condition, then how much more is he going to give his life to you, now that you have been forgiven? We have peace in suffering because we have Jesus’ eternal life promised to us.

Wisdom from Above V

Joe Harby on February 17, 2013

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Introduction

The fact that this prophetic warning is located just on the threshold of God’s judgment of Israel in 70 A.D. does not prevent it from providing us with a number of useful warnings. They were told to look back at similar times of affliction in the Old Testament, and so we have two sets of such historical warnings. Locating this in the first century, therefore, does not make this irrelevant to us, but rather doubly relevant.

The Text

“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten . . .” (Jas. 5:1-20).

Summary of the Text

The rich are instructed to weep for the coming miseries (v. 1). The wealth they have, and the luxuries they possess, are all coming apart (v. 2). Their gold and silver is corroded, and will both testify against them and devour them (v. 3). They have made piles of treasure for the last days (v. 3). The next judgment tells us what kind of rich men we are talking about (v. 4). They can hire roomfuls of lawyers to keep the working man in bondage to the fine print. They are sensualists, fattening themselves for God’s charnel house (v. 5). They are rich men who kill just men (v. 6).

So the brothers ought to be patient in waiting for the coming of the Lord, just like a farmer waits (v. 7). They should strengthen their hearts as the coming of the Lord approaches (v. 8). Don’t break out into squabbles . . . the judge is at the door (v. 9). Christians in the first century should take a page from the Old Testament prophets (v. 10). We consider men happy who endure misery through to the end (v. 11). Count Job a happy man therefore.

Whatever you do, don’t swear by created things. Let your yes be yes (v. 12). The afflicted should pray (v. 13). The merry should sing psalms (v. 13). The sick should ask for the elders to come (v. 14). The prayer of faith will raise up the sick, and sickness is more closely related to sin issues than we might want to think (v. 15). Confess your faults and failings to one another, so that you might be healed (v. 16). In this humbled, honest context, fervent prayer avails much. Elijah was a man with problems like we have, and look how God answered his prayers (vv. 17- 18). Go after those who wander off (v. 19). Let the one you are chasing know that he is being pulled back from death, and that a multitude of sins is being covered (v. 20) . . . which is the task of love.

Injustice on the Threshold of Judgment

The Bible describes the run-up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. in terms that should make us think of the denouement of The Odyssey. We see rich and insolent suitors devouring what is not theirs, while justice is right at the door. This chapter describes this kind of scene for us well.

The rich here are the same ones in chapter two, those who mistreat the saints (Jas. 2:6). Their wealth is not like that of Abraham or Solomon, but rather was wickedly obtained (v. 3). They rob their laborers of wages that were promised to them, keeping the wages back by fraud (v. 4). They live in wanton luxury (v. 5). They use their wealth to murder just people (v. 6). Foolish saints are tempted to flatter such men, but what is required is for us to stand against them with a prophetic courage.

For all their wisdom (the kind of wisdom that is from below), these rich people do not know they are on the precipice of disaster. They have heaped up piles of loot for the last days (v. 3). A mound of gold at your feet in Hell will just melt and run away. Those afflicted by these people are told to be patient to the coming of the Lord (v. 7). The coming of the Lord is drawing near (v. 8). The judge is standing right at the door (v. 9). From these descriptions, this had to have happened in the first century. But this does not make such warnings irrelevant to us —all of us will meet God within one lifetime . . . our own.

Sickness and Sin

We know from the teaching of Scripture that sin and suffering are not automatically connected. James mentions Job here as a patient and happy man (v. 11), and not the sinner that his three counselors thought he was. And of course, Jesus effectively countered His disciples who thought a man was born blind because of his or his parents’ sin (John 9:3).

But the fact that there is not an automatic connection does not mean there is no connection. When the elders pray, it says, healing and forgiveness are closely connected (v. 15). This is why we should be honest with each other (v. 16). Being honest means that we will not treat the whole thing as a cosmic karma machine, but neither will we shuffle off all responsibility as though there could not be a connection.

Merriment and the Psalms

The psalms are like the blues. One of the striking things about the blues is that singing them makes you feel better. Even though the subject of many blues songs is pretty grim (“nobody loves me but my mother, and she could be jiving too”), the overall effect of the blues is pretty upbeat.

The same thing is true of the psalms. Notice that James says that if someone is merry, he should “sing psalms.” He does not say that the merry one should sing Psalms 148, 149, and 150. The book of psalms is full of affliction, and yet God tells us that it provides us with our vocabulary of joy and godly mirth. Psalms of distress, psalms of war, psalms of fear, psalms of imprecation, psalms of penitence . . . into the hopper.

Confession and Accusation

Remember that the world runs on envy and accusation. Remember that God gives more grace. But what sense does it make to confess my faults to others when anything I say can and will be used against me? We are not to confess anything in an attempt manipulate God, or as we try to get Him to do our bidding. We are to confess our sins in Christ, and we are to be lifted up in Christ. Confession must not be a “work.” It must be all of grace.

Wisdom from Above IV

Joe Harby on February 10, 2013

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Introduction

The devil is a moralist. The devil is self-righteous. The devil is an angel of light. The name Lucifer means light- bearer. Who could be against that? The devil is censorious. The devil disapproves of us, and likes it when we disapprove of one another. The devil is a Pharisee. The devil is the accuser of the brethren, accusing them day and night before the throne. And this means we should be more far more concerned than we usually are about the danger of becoming like the devil.

The Text

“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not . . .” (Jas. 4:1-17).

Summary of the Text

Where do our fights come from (v. 1)? They come, not from outside us, but from inside us. You want something, but don’t get it (v. 2). You kill but don’t get it. You fight and go to war, but you won’t humble yourself and ask for it (v. 2). You want it by conquest, not as a gift of grace. And, when you do ask, your motives for asking are all messed up (v. 3). Friendship with the world and friendship with God cannot coexist together (v. 4). The spirit in us veers toward envy (v. 5). But God gives more grace. He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (v. 6). Submit, resist, and watch the devil flee (v. 7). Approach God and He will approach you (v. 8). To approach God, you must purify yourself. You must afflict your soul (v. 9), and not on the surface of it either. Humble yourself so that God might lift you up (v. 10).

Don’t speak evil of one another. To judge your brother is tantamount to judging the law (v. 11), which is bad. There is one lawgiver, and it isn’t you (v. 12). Come now, ye big movers and shakers (v. 13)—you don’t know that your entire life is a little wisp of fog at 7 am that will be gone in 45 minutes (v. 14), as soon as the sun gets over the trees. Your plans for the future therefore ought to take the Lord’s will into account (v. 15). If you don’t, you are boasting, which is an evil self-sufficiency (v. 16). So if you know what is right, you had better do it (v. 17).

We might not really want to, but let’s unpack this further.

What Desire Does

The first and most obvious thing is that desire collides with other desires. Two men want the same job, the same honor, the same girl, the same reputation, the same birthright. Where does conflict come from? James answers the question bluntly—from the desires of your members. Instead of praying to God for the desire of your heart (Ps. 37:4), you pray with the desire of your heart, and so you are turned down flat. This blind desire (which amounts to the desire to be friends with the world) is a desire that is enmity toward God (v. 4). Our front end needs to be aligned—left to ourselves we always veer toward the envy ditch. This is because we desire things in a world where others are usually there first. In fact, given your luck, they are always there first.

How Desire Awakens

Desire awakens because of the presence of the other. This is why desire (and the desire of others) leads to conflict, war, grabbing, accusations, and judging. Using the law that way makes you exegete Scripture like the devil. The name Satan means accuser; the word devil refers to slanderous accusation. But who wants to be like that? Well, more people want to be like that than know they want to be like that. When you boast about what you will do tomorrow, such boasting has others in the rear view mirror (vv. 11, 16). Watch my dust, chump. So remember what we learned in the previous chapter about the wisdom from above and the wisdom from below.

And He Will Flee . . .

Now consider the wonderful promise of v. 7. Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. But if we have superficial views of the nature of our relationships, and the nature of our conflicts, and the nature of our desires, then we can apply this verse until we turn blue, and the devil will not flee at all. He will just sit there, leering at you. And he will make comments from time to time, because he likes to watch you twitch.

If you view the “world of desire” as simple, then it will not be surprising that you are easily confounded. God says not to take that chocolate chip cookie, and so all you have to do is submit to God on the point of law, recognize that the cookie belongs to another, and poof! the devil vanishes. So if it is so simple, why doesn’t he vanish?

Submit to God means to submit to His entire evaluation, as described in this extended passage, of the tangled web of conflicting desires that makes up your world, and it means to break off your adulterous friendship with the world entirely. To resist the devil means to resist the spirit of accusation that whispers to you every day about how right you are. Who is that who tells you every morning that you are “quite right”? Do you really need to ask? If you want the devil to flee and your right to accuse others to stay, then you are a double-minded man, not knowing what on earth you are asking for.

Gracious Vindication

When we are delivered from envy (and from the envious), we are delivered by grace. God gives more grace (v. 6). He gives grace to the humble (v. 6). He will lift up the one who has humbled himself (v. 10), not the one who has vaunted himself. God draws near to such a person (v. 8). If the Lord blesses, we will do what we do—otherwise not (v. 15). Please note that there is such a thing as vindication. There is a rear view mirror, but you had better not be looking in it the wrong way. Remember the contextual flow. The one who is boasting in his great business plans is someone who clearly has an eye on the competition.

One Last Thing

Is James an accuser? Look again at verse 4, and ask if James is a devil. Is any minister who preaches these words a pulpit devil? Well, it has been done before, but there is a key distinction. The cross comes down to one point, and one point only. The cross judges the judgmental.

Wisdom From Above III

Joe Harby on February 3, 2013

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Introduction

This passage contains the phrase that gives the title to this entire series of messages, the phrase “the wisdom from above.” But this wisdom from above is not an abstract set of rules. Never forget that our wisdom from above has a name, and His name is Jesus. He is the wisdom from above.

The Text

“My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole
body . . .” (Jas. 3:1-18).

Summary of the Text

James tells us here that not many should want to be teachers (v. 1) because teachers come under a stricter judgment. We all stumble in many ways, including in our words, and teachers do it up in front of everybody (v. 2). If a man controls his tongue, then that means he is able to control himself entirely (v. 2). A bit is a horse’s mouth is small, but can direct the whole animal (v. 3). A ship of great size, and in a great storm, is still directed by a small helm (v. 4). The tongue is small but influential in the same way (v. 5). The tongue is a fire, a cosmos of iniquity, which is set on fire by Hell, defiles the whole body, and sets the entire wheel of life on fire (v. 6). Every kind of beast has been tamed by man (v. 7), but the tongue not so much (v. 8). The tongue is schizophrenic, blessing God and cursing the image of God (v. 9). Blessing and cursing gush out of the same mouth (v. 10), which is not fitting. Does a fountain do that (v 11)? Does a fig tree bear contrary to its nature? Does a vine (v. 12)? Neither does a fountain.

The tongue is a helm. Who is the helmsman? If we want to know who the wise man is, we look for a good way of life and meekness of wisdom (v. 13). But if envy and strife is residing in your heart, then stop vaunting in your glory, and stop lying against the truth (v. 14). This wisdom (for some call it “wisdom”) does not come down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish (v. 15). Where this heart is, then confusion, disorder, and every vile practice follow (v. 16). The wisdom that does come from above, and which Jesus is the perfect embodiment of, is pure, peaceable, easily entreated, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and honest (v. 17). Those who make peace are sowing peace, and the harvest is righteousness (v. 18).

Where We Actually Are

Whenever a minister announces that he is going to preach on “tongue,” the response is this: And all God’s people said uh oh. But we often hide our real problems under a veil of hyper-sensitivity to the wrong things. This passage is not at all describing a couple of church ladies chatting about who might get engaged next. Why do we always assume this is about gossip? Gossip isn’t even mentioned here. This is all about ambition, power struggles, envy, strife, in-fighting, cursing, throwing elbows, and so on. And before we say something like, “Oh, that’s a relief then,” we need to do a little spiritual inventory. James seems to think this problem is far more common than we tend to think.

Not Many Teachers

Teachers operate in a stand of trees; their calling puts them in a forest. And on top of that, teachers labor with their tongues, with words. This means that if the “unregulated fire” of their words gets loose, the result is a forest fire.

Claimants to Wisdom

James is not just comparing two kinds of people. He is comparing two kinds of people, each kind claiming to be the rightful possessor of something called “wisdom.”The question is “who is the wise man?”Who has true knowledge? The answer is that real wisdom is meek (v. 13). There is a kind of wisdom that isn’t, that wants to glory in its envy and strife, wants to lie against the truth, and still call it wisdom (v. 15). James calls it wisdom too, after a fashion, but he says that it is earthly, sensual and devilish. And like a squid spraying ink, it frequently gets away with this response because when everything gets disordered and confused enough, nobody can tell who did or said what.

Real wisdom, the kind that comes from above, is peace-seeking, gentle, full of mercy and sweet reasonableness. It is marked, not by claims to impartiality, but by impartiality. It is marked, not by claims that it is easily entreated, but by being easily entreated. Real wisdom does not conjugate the verb this way—I am firm, you are stubborn, he is pig-headed. In the final analysis, if you want to know what was planted, look at the harvest.

Wisdom from Above

Remember the perfections of Jesus, and marvel at this crowning perfection—the fact that He was not totally exasperated all the time, in every conversation He ever had. But look at how He lived. He emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, and was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Not only did He spend His time with us, He spent His life for us.

Envy and strife do not set their face to go to Jerusalem to be crucified by the chief priests and scribes. They don’t see any future for self in that. Self-centered glory does not set a child in the midst of disciples jockeying for position and tell them that they must be like that. Self-centered glory rather tries to keep the children away. Devilish ambition does not teach us to take the lowest seat so that God may be the one who promotes us. Devilish ambition cannot help itself, and must seek its own glory.

Jesus is the wisdom of God, and lest you assume that this meekness means becoming a doormat in the face of evil, remember that this meekness from God cleansed the Temple with a whip, rebuked the Pharisees with high satire, and was enough of a firebrand that the authorities had Him crucified as a public menace.