Christ Church

The Good News of Jesus Christ (KC)

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SERMON TEXT:

1 Cor. 15:1–11

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

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The Conquering Word (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #34) (KC)

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INTRODUCTION

Paul begins his third missionary journey in Ephesus, and the Lord confirms His presence with Paul through extraordinary signs, causing the Word of God to overcome all opposition. It was true then, and it is true today. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Whatever you face, whatever you need, Scripture is your light, your power, your peace, your wisdom.  

The Text: “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Gost since ye believed?” Acts 19:1-20

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

When Paul returned to Ephesus, he found certain disciples of John who did not know that Jesus had come and had not received the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-4). When those twelve disciples believed in Christ, they were given Christian baptism, and Paul laid his hands on them and prayed for them to receive the Spirit and they spoke in different tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:5-7). From there, Paul began preaching the Kingdom in the synagogue until he was forced to separate from them and began teaching daily in the school of Tyrannus for about two years (Acts 19:8-10). 

Some really extraordinary miracles happened during this time, which caused even some of the unbelieving Jewish exorcists to invoke the names of Jesus and Paul, which seriously backfired, causing a great reverence among the Jews and Greeks for the gospel (Acts 19:11-17). And many believed in Jesus, confessing their sins, and publicly repenting, particularly of their superstitions, and the word of God grew mightily (Acts 19:18-20). 

THE BAPTISM OF JOHN

Last week, we said that Apollos was a disciple of the school of John the Baptist, but he clearly knew the Lord and only needed some minor instruction. But here we have twelve disciples who don’t appear to know that Jesus had come and had not heard of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2-4), which was the particular promise of John that would accompany the Christ (Mt. 3:11). While this variation may seem strange, it also underlines that baptism really is tied to discipleship and teaching. To be baptized into Christ or in the name of the Lord Jesus is to be baptized into His school, His teaching, His way. Those twelve had received John’s baptism of repentance, but they were only taught to look forward to the Messiah. When they believe and receive Christian baptism, God sent a mini-Pentecost in Ephesus confirming the presence of Christ and the apostolic authority of Paul (cf. Acts 8:17). This was now the fourth “Pentecost” in the book of Acts: Jerusalem (Jews), Samaria (Samaritans), Cornelius (God-fearers), and Ephesus (Jews and Gentiles) (cf. Acts 1:8). 

SOFT CESSATIONISM

One of the questions that Christians have wrestled with over the centuries is whether we should expect miracles and signs of the Holy Spirit. Broadly, those who believe that the sign gifts have ceased are called “Cessationists” and those who believe they continue are called “Continuationists” or more popularly “Charismatics” or “Pentecostals.” We are what you might call soft-cessationists. A significant part of the reason for the extraordinary gifts given to the apostles was to prove that they had the right to speak for God and write the New Testmant (2 Cor. 12:12). When the New Testament was finished, that particular apostolic gift ceased, but we don’t at all believe that the Holy Spirit has ceased or that miracles have ceased. We simply don’t believe that anyone has that apostolic authority any longer, because Jesus Christ is the fullness of God’s revelation (Heb. 1). 

BATTLE WITH THE POWERS

A bunch of this passage echoes earlier stories in Scripture on purpose, underlining that this is the same Jesus at work bringing His Kingdom further into this world. We have “twelve” who receive the Holy Spirit and speak in different languages (like the twelve apostles), followed by extraordinary miracles (like Peter), followed by an inverted “seven” (Acts 6), and people trying to “buy” the Holy Spirit (Acts 8). As Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (Jn. 14:12). When God rises up to deliver His people, the “magicians of Pharaoh” often attempt to mimic that power as the Jewish exorcists attempt to do here. But this always backfires, as is currently happening with secularism. 

APPLICATIONS

The central miracle of the Holy Spirit is regeneration. As Jesus said, “you must be born again.” This is not merely a spiritual experience. We preach repentance in Christ – death and resurrection in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:20).

This is the power to be delivered from the powers of darkness through the forgiveness of sins. This is what baptism proclaims, and this is what the Holy Spirit confirms. But just as there were disciples who had been baptized that did not know Christ, we must constantly preach this Christ who gives His Holy Spirit without measure. 

And this change always has public ramifications. The Word of God rules in the Kingdom of God and so restores and glorifies nature, colliding with the Kingdom of darkness, setting the captives free.

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Sexual Decorum in the Home (Biblical Child Discipline in an Age of Therapeutic Goo #8)

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INTRODUCTION

In some ways, this message will be like a lesson in firearms safety—one of the basic rules of firearm safety is that you should always treat all guns as if they were always loaded. We are all of us sexual beings, men and women, boys and girls, and as Christian disciples, we need to learn how to conduct ourselves accordingly, with propriety and decorum. 

THE TEXT

“Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity” (1 Timothy 5:1–2). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The apostle Paul is instructing Timothy on how to behave in an appropriate and pastoral way in the congregation of the Lord. The standards that apply in a decent household are used by Paul as the template for his instruction. The way we ought to behave in our households provides a pattern for how we should behave in the household of God. When a young pastor has to deal with folly in an older parishioner, he should not rebuke him, but rather entreat him the way you would plead with an aging father (v. 1). Younger men should be treated as brothers (v. 1). Older women should be regarded as mothers in Israel (v. 2). And then Paul comes to the sisters, where he tells Timothy to treat them as sisters. And how should sisters be treated? With all purity, with all holiness, with all comeliness (v. 2). This is necessary because every gun is always loaded.  

ARSONISTS AND FIREMEN

Given the times we find ourselves in, it is necessary for us to consider these things together. But in order for us to do so, I have to deal with a possible distraction first. As many of you know, over the history of our congregation, there have been various sexual scandals and pastoral snarls. And some of them have been kept in the public eye by our enemies for political purposes, over the course of decades. Because of this, some will want to say that we have no right to be talking about this subject at all. But if the protection of the church requires it, we have the obligation to address it.

As we do, just keep a few basic things in mind. Since this church was planted in 1975, the session of Christ Church has consistently acted in a biblical and honorable way with regard to the various situations that have arisen—not perfectly, but honorably. Second, an enormous number of lies have been told about us and it is often the case that the lies cannot be answered without betraying pastoral discretion and confidentiality. And we would rather be lied about than to expose any of you to the wolves. Third, it is clear that many of our critics have no idea what faithful pastors need to do. And last, some of our fiercest enemies are also carrying water for the pornification of America, the perverse grooming of drag queen story hours, and the pending legitimization of pedophiles—a.k.a “minor-attracted persons.” They are like arsonists critiquing the efficiency of fire fighters. While we are always willing to hear criticism, it would not be from the likes of them.       

 FATHER AND BROTHERS

One of the central obligations that the men of a family have is the protection of the household (Gen. 2:15), particularly of the more vulnerable members of that household (1 Pet. 3:7). Now if your first responsibility is the protection of your girls, then this begins with not being someone they need protection from. You are to protect them from snakes, and this begins with not being one.

Daughters and sisters grow up into women, a fact that is obvious to all with eyes in their head. The duty of the men in the house is to protect them by remaining warm, affectionate, and close—but not creepy close. As much as it is made fun of, there is a lot to be said for the Christian side-hug.

Third, you have a responsibility to behave like a gentleman (1 Pet. 3:7), treating the women in your house like ladies. There is a flippant and crass closeness that is also wildly inappropriate—innuendo or casual touching. Your home is not the locker room of your men’s rugby club.    

MOTHERS AND SISTERS

The women have a genuine responsibility in all of this as well. But because of feminist propaganda, we have come to treat those who believe in a woman’s moral agency as people who automatically “blame the victim.” This is ludicrous. Two things can be true at the same time—that thief ought not to have gotten into your car and stolen your wallet, one, and secondly, you shouldn’t have left your wallet on the dashboard with twenty-dollar bills sticking out of it. The thief should be arrested and prosecuted, of course, and all your friends should still call you an idiot. 

So there are two things that women should be prepared to do. One is that of comporting yourself in a chaste and modest fashion (Tit. 2:5). This begins with teaching little girls to “sit like a lady,” and it extends into the teen-age years, when their goal should be to adorn themselves in modesty (1 Tim. 2:9). The apostles of Christ do not call upon the young women to be cool, or fashionable, or “not dorky.” The goal is Christian modesty. The goal is NOT to be “not immodest.” Different things, different attitude altogether. You should not be asking yourself how short your shorts can be before you are definitely in sin, and then have your shorts be a millimeter longer than that.

The second thing that the girls of a household should be taught is the courage to be vocal about anything that makes you uncomfortable. The first level of this is preventative—getting people to back off. Tell your dad that you don’t like your brother coming into your bedroom like that. Tell your mom that you are too old to sit on dad’s lap. The second level is when pastors and/or legal authorities need to be informed and involved. This would be when anything of an explicit sexual nature has occurred. It is not your Christian duty to put up with that, or to make excuses for it, or to pretend that ignoring something is forgiveness. And incidentally, the same thing is true for boys. Do what you need to do, but do not enter into it lightly. You live in a time when false charges are too readily believed (Gen. 39:13-14), and so you should not play into that. But if it needs to be dealt with, then get the help you need to deal with it. 

BUT NEVER FORGET…

A topic like this is necessarily tawdry. But never forget that Christ came into a tawdry world, and He did it in order to suffer and die. And why?

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11).

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The Mighty Word (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #33) (KC)

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INTRODUCTION

While Paul takes a brief sabbatical to visit and encourage a number of the churches, the Word is going forth mightily in public through a man named Apollos and in private through a refugee missionary couple. This is how Christ rules the nations: through His living and active Word.   

The Text: “And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquilla; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow…” (Acts 18:18-28)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Here, Luke summarizes a fair bit of travel: Paul fulfills a Nazarite Vow in Cenchrea (near Corinth) before sailing to Ephesus and begins preaching (Acts 18:18-19). Asked to stay longer, Paul leaves, promising to return, heading to Jerusalem for a feast, and ends up at his homebase of Antioch before working his way back through Asia Minor encouraging the churches (Acts 18:20-23).

Apparently Aquilla and Priscilla stayed in Ephesus while Paul was traveling, and this is a “meanwhile…” backstory preparing for Paul’s return to Ephesus in Acts 19. While they were in Ephesus, Apollos, a very gifted apologist and a disciple of John the Baptist showed up (Acts 18:24-25). Aquilla and Priscilla took Apollos aside and further explained some things, and after some time, he was sent by the Ephesians to minister in Corinth (Acts 18:26-28). 

PAUL’S NAZARITE VOW

As mentioned above, Paul’s haircut is a reference to a Nazirite Vow, which was basically a temporary priestly vow (Num. 6). Samson was the most famous Nazirite (Jdg. 13:4-7). The central components of the vow were abstention from alcohol and no haircuts. Just as priests were forbidden from drinking in the tabernacle so that they could make careful distinctions and teach God’s law faithfully (Lev. 10:9-11), so too Nazirites vowed to keep strict sobriety for their holy service wherever they went: sometimes for war (like Samson, or Israel, Jgd. 5:1, or probably Uriah, 2 Sam. 11:11) and sometimes for teaching and preaching (like Samuel or John the Baptist). The long hair was a semi-permanent head covering, that was a sign of their priestly service, just as the priests wore head coverings for their priestly service in the tabernacle (Ex. 28:4, 40, Lev. 10:6). It was a sign that because of sin we needed a new “head” to represent us before God.  

It seems likely that Paul had taken a voluntary, temporary Nazirite Vow for all or some portion of this missionary journey, dedicating himself completely to this holy ministry. These were fitting signs of Old Covenant priestly service that was fading away after Christ came (2 Cor. 3). So why was Paul practicing Jewish ceremonies after Christ had come? The answer is that Paul and other Jews were free to keep Jewish ceremonies (without imposing them on Gentiles) until the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. But after Christ ascended into Heaven as our High Priest, no man ought to have his head covered (or have long hair) in worship, since the head of every man is Christ. This is what Paul writes to the Corinthians later, explaining that this is why God has given women longer hair as their glory and covering to honor their head (man) (1 Cor. 11:1-16). But all of this is meant to signify submission to the Word of God. 

MIGHTY IN THE SCRIPTURES

While Paul is visiting the churches, Apollos, a highly educated Jewish man, mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus, where Aquilla and Priscilla had remained. Luke says he was very zealous in the Spirit, having been well trained in the “baptism of John,” which is shorthand for thoroughly discipled in the school of John. Given this glowing appraisal, Apollos was certainly preaching the gospel from the Scriptures, but there were a few details that needed to be ironed out, which Aquilla and Priscilla did privately (Acts 18:26). 

This text is sometimes used to defend women preachers, or husband and wife pastor teams, but elsewhere Scripture is very clear that women are not to have leadership roles in the assembly but remain silent (1 Cor. 14:34-35, 1 Tim. 2:11-15). However, we do not mind underlining the point that women are to be present and learning, and as we see here, a woman in full submission to her husband may be of great assistance in privately encouraging a fellow Christian. And the older women are to teach the younger women (Tit. 2:3-4). Apparently, some Roman Catholics have used this text to try to argue for the necessity of extra-biblical tradition, but as soon as Apollos lands in Corinth, he’s right back to his powerful ministry, centered on the Scriptures (Acts 18:28). 

APPLICATIONS

Christianity is a “religion of the book,” a “religion of the Word.” In the beginning, God spoke creation into existence by His Word, and the rest of Scripture is an infallible record of God speaking and revealing Himself to His people. But many people, even some Christians, want to say something like, ‘the Bible is special, but it is a fallible, human book with many mistakes and human opinions.’ The problem with this is that there is no way of admitting errors into Scripture without unravelling the whole faith. 

But someone might say, ‘I believe in God and Jesus Christ, I’m just not sure about all the details.’ Now, it’s certainly true that someone like that might be truly saved and converted. But you cannot build a coherent worldview and religion on that uncertainty. The Bible itself claims to be the Word of God: “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16), “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:20-21). Jesus Himself taught that He came to fulfill the whole Old Testament, down to the punctuation marks (Mt. 5:17-18). And the point is that if Jesus was wrong about that, or Matthew was wrong about recording that, what can you trust? 

The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. It is our rock, our fortress. We have been baptized into this Word, this doctrine, and it is our power. Martin Luther once said, “I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.”

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