Christ Church

Resurrection Hope (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

Far too many people in the church are not truly converted to God. They are religious or maybe conservative, but they do not know Christ and the power of His resurrection. They know about Christ, and perhaps they know about the Bible and catechism answers. But they do not know Christ, and this is obvious because sin still has power over them. They are still dead in their sins, even while they may think they are serving God. This is what Saul/Paul thought until the Risen Jesus met him and gave him a new life. 

The Text: “My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers…” (Acts 26:4-23)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

When Paul testified before King Agrippa, he gave his testimony as growing up as a strict Pharisaical Jew, and now standing trial for the hope of the promise God made to the Jews (Acts 26:4-7). That hope and promise to the Jews was the resurrection of the dead (Acts 26:8). Paul had thought he was serving God by persecuting those who followed Jesus, putting them in prison, and pursuing them in great anger (Acts 26:9-11). But it was while in that pursuit even to Damascus, that a bright light shone out of heaven, knocking him and his companions to the ground, and the Risen Jesus confronted that persecution and commanded Paul to become a minister and witness of Him (Acts 26:12-16). 

In particular, Paul was commanded to preach to the Gentiles that they might have their eyes opened, turning from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that they might have their sins forgive and become holy through faith in Jesus (Acts 26:17-18). Paul explained that he was obedient to the vision of Christ and that he had been arrested by the Jews for no other reason than the hope of the Jews that the Messiah should suffer and be the first to rise from the dead and bring light to all (Acts 26:19-23).

COVENANTAL CONVERSIONS

The Bible describes two basic patterns of conversion to Christ: the stark conversions of complete pagans and the quieter, subtler conversions of covenant members. An example of the first would be Paul on the road to Damascus. An example of the second would be Timothy who learned the Scriptures and appears to have known the Lord from childhood (2 Tim. 3:14-15). Samuel would be another example of a young covenant conversion (1 Sam. 3). The first scenario need not be overly dramatic, but the transition tends to be radical: darkness then light. In the second scenario, you have a bunch of covenantal light (going to church, learning to pray, confession of sin, etc.), but the question is still: is that light in you? God often gives that light early on as parents teach and explain the gospel, such that many covenant kids grow up not remembering when they were first converted. 

The striking thing here is that Paul grew up in the Jewish covenant but did not know the Lord until the road to Damascus. Paul was converted as a covenant member the way the pagan Gentiles would need to be converted: turning from darkness to light. And the thing to note is that all of that covenant light turned out to be a kind of darkness for Paul because it was the very thing that made Paul trust in himself instead of Christ (Phil. 3:4-9). 

CHRIST IN YOU

While we see God saving individuals in both ways in Scripture and life, we must insist that it is the same salvation and therefore the same conversion. When the sun rises on a perfectly clear day, if you’re watching closely, you can pretty much pinpoint the moment of sunrise. Or if you are in the shadow of great mountains, it’s harder to tell the exact moment, but as Pastor Wilson says, you don’t need to know the exact moment the sun rose to know that it is risen. But we absolutely must insist that to be a true Christian, the sun must be risen.  

Christ is risen from the dead, so the fundamental question is: Is Christ risen in you? When Christ lives in you, you come alive. And it really is a stark difference. It’s the difference between night and day, the difference between death and life. And it’s the difference between trusting yourself and your own goodness, and fully surrendering to Jesus Christ and trusting in Him alone. Christ is risen. Are you risen? 

And if you immediately think, well, yes, of course: I go to church, I read my Bible, and I’m generally a good person – you need to know that Paul had all of that too and he didn’t know Christ. This is why Paul says he has come to consider all of his own righteousness as dung: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:8-10). 

APPLICATIONS

In Galatians, it says the difference between light and darkness is the difference between the fruit of the Spirit versus the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:17-18). The works of the flesh are manifest: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, hatred, wrath, envy, drunkenness, and the like (Gal. 5:19-21). But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22). Which are you? 

And the thing to note is that the fruit of the Spirit is not you doing better. The fruit of the Spirit is not you. The fruit of the Spirit is Christ in you: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). 

So this is the message: Christ was crucified so you might die because everyone is born dead in sin, and Christ was raised first according to the hope of the Jews so that all men might be turned from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, for the forgiveness of their sins and to walk in holiness by faith in Him. Christ is risen: are you? 

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In The Tombs (The Inescapable Story of Jesus #5) (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

Our experience shows that death, corruption, and uncleanness flow one direction. But Mark’s Gospel summons us to look at Jesus the Son of God and by faith see the glory of this Kingdom of Messiah.

THE TEXT

And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. […]

Mark 5:1ff

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Jesus has just shown Himself to be, as Yahweh in the flesh, the Captain of the Seas. He now marches on a fortified buttress of the enemy. Having crossed over the Sea of Galilee Jesus disembarks from the boat and is immediately met by a character straight out of a horror story (vv1-2). This man emerges from the graveyard with the broken chains which others had sought to subdue him, bleeding and scarred with wounds of self-mutilation, and was a sleep-deprived raving madman (vv3-5). Jesus’ pres- ence alone compels the spirit to drag the man unto Him and bow before Him; the spirit begs and pleads to not be tormented, for Jesus had commanded the spirit to come out of the man (vv6-8). Jesus asks the spirit for its name, and the haunting answer comes: My name is Legion: for we are many (v9).The spirits beg to not be sent into the out of the country (i.e. abyss) but into the nearby swine herd (vv10-12). Jesus gave them leave, and they enter the swine, driving this unclean herd of 2000 swine (likely intended for use by the Romans) into the sea which Jesus has established as being under His domain (v13).

The herders rush to the nearby town to report their losses, and the town-folk come out to see the re- markable sight of salted pork-jetsam (v14); but they discover a more remarkable sight when they see the demoniac clothed and sane (v15). Out of fear, Jesus is adjured by the town-folk to leave (v16-17), while the restored man pleads to go with Him (18). Jesus has other plans for the man and tasks him with publishing the tender-mercies of the Lord to a region in which a great number of Gentiles dwelt (vv19-20).

Jesus returns to His hometown (v21) and Jairus (the Synagogue Ruler), like the earlier Demoniacs, runs to Jesus and bows before Him (v22). He begs greatly for Jesus to come and lay hands on his dying daughter that she might live, and Jesus agrees to come to the aid (vv23-24).

Mark gives us a cliffhanger by seemingly interrupting the narrative with the story of a woman who had suffered from some sort of internal bleeding for twelve years (v25); we’re told all her attempts for res-

toration ended in greater misery (v26). She’d heard of Jesus and had repeatedly told herself that if only she could touch His gadilim (Cf. Dt. 22:12) she’d be well, so she sneaks up behind Jesus to carry out her plan. Straightway she feels the restorative power of God make her well (vv27-29). Jesus knew power had gone out from Him, and was certainly not ignorant of who had touched Him, but He asks anyway in order to spotlight the faith which the woman showed and with priestly authority confirms her clean- ness (vv30-34)

Mark then returns to the Jairus story, but with devastating news: the daughter has died. Jairus had hastened to Jesus to plead for his daughter’s healing, but as one commentator put it: “Death outran him and won the race.” The messengers say there is no need to trouble Jesus, but Jesus has come to be make trouble for death and tells Jairus to fear not (vv35-36). Coming to the house Jesus sends the paid mourners away, enters with three chosen witnesses, and brings the girl to life with the touching words: Talitha cumi (vv37-41). Straightway where there was death, Jesus brought life (vv42-43).

THE REJECTED MESSIAH

Jesus’ parable of the Sower should still be in our minds as we come to this battle with a garrison of demons. Jesus has bound the strong man, and the demons seem to be aware that the Jesus the Son of David is the Messiah and has authority to cast them out. But though He has recapitulated the Red Sea crossing and the drowning of Pharaoh’s army, that line from John’s prologue rings true: He came unto His own and His own did not receive Him ( Jn. 1:11). This episode foreshadows what is in store for Jesus: rejection.

The Lord drives out the unclean enemy of His people. And still they reject Jesus. They are the soil where the thorns and thistles of worldly cravings have choked out the Word of Life. Nevertheless, the foreshadowing isn’t done. The delivered man is commissioned by Jesus to tell of the great compassion which the Lord (Yahweh) had shown to him beginning with his own home/friends.The man presum- ably begins with his own home, but Mark foreshadows the Great Commission for the man declares Jesus in the entire Ten City region (Decapolis).

So then, when a people have rejected Jesus, it is no surprise that insanity, nakedness, raving, and stub- born greed seem to prevail. But don’t miss the picture Mark has painted. The Sower has sown His life-giving Word; He has claimed dominion over the raging sea; He has foreshadowed that demons will soon be cast into the abyss to no longer afflict mankind. Jesus reign is inescapable. This gives great hope in the midst of the current unraveling of our culture. Jesus will turn raving madmen into righteousness- robed apostles. Jesus will take self-mutilators and make them godly messengers. Jesus will take terrify- ing men and make them ministers of mercy.

THE RESURRECTION IS COMING

Mark couples the story of these two daughters. Taken together we get a clear message. The Lord Jesus is on His way to defeat all demonic powers and principalities in His crucifixion. But death and the un- cleanness of the grave will not cling to Him. He will not be suffered to see the corruption of the grave (Cf. Ps. 16:10).

The woman with internal bleeding was not only cut-off from temple worship/service, she spread un- cleanness (Lev. 15:25-27). Her physicians had not only not restored her, they’d worsened her condition.

But earlier in the story Jesus described Himself as a physician for the sick. Those who come to Jesusfind their misery stanched and their uncleanness reversed.

Mark insists that we see that Isaiah’s prophecy of the path’s being made straight for the coming rule of Yahweh is being accomplished in each act of this drama. Demons obey His summons. The scourge is relieved by His power. Death itself must give way to His life-feast. Mark is leaving us clues that death will not be Jesus’ end, nor those who lay hold of Jesus. Resurrection is around the corner. And that’s not all. Jairus’ daughter is raised from death and Jesus immediately commands a feast for her. See the pat- tern: death, resurrection, feasting.

WHERE JESUS COMES

Jesus goes into the graveyard and emerges with a new man. Jesus goes into the house of mourning and leaves a thanksgiving feast of life. Where Jesus comes the scourging pain is cast out. Sanity is restored. A suffering daughter is restored to fellowship. A devastated family is put back together. How? Because Jesus goes into tombs and comes out again. It’s what He does.

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True Authority (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

Our modern world pits authority against friendship, falsely insisting that friendship can only exist be- tween complete equals. But in that case, a complete equal has nothing to offer, nothing to contribute. True friendship exists in relations of inequality and hierarchy, where different parties have different skills and responsibilities.

Ultimately, this heresy of egalitarianism seethes with pride that hates the authority and friendship of God over sinful creatures – that we are completely dependent on Him, that He has made us and not we ourselves, and that true blessing only exists in bowing before Him. But that is what we celebrate on Palm Sunday and every Sunday. God made us, and God saves sinners. He has true authority, and He is good and therefore He defines what is good.

The Text: “And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you…” (Mt. 21:1-16)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Jesus exercises His lordship by directing two disciples to a donkey in a village (Mt. 21:1-3). This was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah that Israel’s Messiah-King would come riding on a donkey with its foal (Mt. 21:4-6, cf. Zech. 9:9). The disciples laid their clothes on the beasts, and Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem while crowds spread their garments on the path, along with branches from the trees, shouting “Hosanna [“Save please!’] to the Son of David!” and blessing Him as the King of Israel (Mt. 21:7-9, cf. Psalm 118:25-26).

Most of the city noticed the procession and learned the name Jesus of Nazareth (Mt. 21:10-11). In- stead of going to some political building or royal palace, Jesus went into the temple, and drove out the money changers who had filled the court where the gentiles could pray (Mt. 21:12-13). While the chief priests and scribes were no doubt displeased with the whole event, they were particularly upset with the kids shouting his praises, as He healed the blind and the lame in the temple, but Jesus de- fended them (Mt. 21:14-16).

TRUE LORDSHIP

Clearly Jesus acts the part of a true Jewish King as He comes into Jerusalem. He commandeered the donkey and foal, and openly embraced the prophecy of Zechariah. But unlike many with this kind of authority, He immediately used it to disrupt a particular kind of corruption and reestablish prayer. Hisfirst act as King is to restore worship.This is how true lordship serves – not as the Gentiles who merely sit on their lofty thrones and issue political decrees (Mk. 10:42). Jesus of Nazareth claims His rightful authority and walks into “His” house and clears out the bandits and robbers. This is clearly a claim to deity, and the thing He is most concerned to use His power for is making room for the pagan nations to pray to the true God. And then He heals the sick and defends the children shouting His praises. The restoration of true worship is the center of true Reformation.

BLOOD OF THE COVENANT

But true worship drives true Reformation into every sphere. In Zechariah, the prophecy says that when the King comes riding in on a donkey, He will come to bring peace to Israel, and His dominion will include all the nations: from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth (Zech. 9:10). And then it says, “As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water” (Zech. 9:11) – these are likely the prisoners from the Jewish exile, scattered among the nations, but it indicates how all sinners may be set free from God’s judgment.

It says God will free the prisoners “by the blood of thy covenant.”The phrase “blood of thy covenant” echoes the covenant God made at Sinai (cf. Ex. 24:8). When God made that covenant, He had given Israel the Passover Feast and delivered His people out of Egypt through the blood of a lamb and through the Red Sea. By fulfilling this prophecy, Jesus is in effect saying that He is coming to perform a new Exodus and establish a new covenant. He is coming to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, but this time, He will designate His own blood as the “new covenant in His blood” (Mt. 26:28). This time He will be the Passover lamb, to bring peace to the world and set free all the prisoners. The center of this peace is personal salvation, but this is a peace for all the nations.

APPLICATIONS

True authority serves others by rightly ordering priorities so others flourish, first before God and second in all of life. Jesus’ first act as king is making room for pagans to pray, healing the sick, and defending the kids shouting praises. Jesus restores good order for the healing and joy of the world. When Jesus restores men, they serve their families by dealing with sin quickly, restoring fellowship and providing for the health and education of their people. When Jesus restores parents, they serve their children by dealing with sin quickly and restoring fellowship. Companies provide honest goods and services, and employers provide work. Civil servants protect life and property without partiality. And all Christians are called by God to make room for the pagans to come in and pray with us. They are all invited. Until worship is restored, there will continue to be fighting in our lands.

True authority is true friendship. Our sins are the weapons we use to try to fight God and one another. Our sins are our personal prisons. Often the sins of religious types are like the tables and seats of the moneychangers in the temple. We call our harshness being strict. We call our laziness being laidback. We call our critical spirit being discerning, and we call our cowardice being kind. We call our idols necessary for living in our world. We ask God to save us and we’re often only thinking about one kind of enemy (e.g. political, familial, etc.), but Jesus is the true friend of sinners who comes into our pomp- ous habits and knocks over the tables in our temples. Remember, they had verses for selling doves and changing money (Dt. 14:24-26). But sometimes our sins are misplaced/disordered virtues. He came to truly save us, and only He really knows what we need. But He is our true Lord and friend.

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Dark Sayings & Deep Waters (The Inescapable Story of Jesus #4) (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

Jesus has just had a few fiery exchanges with the Pharisees and Scribes. The time for His sacrifice is coming, but the time is not yet fully ripe. So, He once more performs a strategic withdrawal, this time rhetorically. The accusers are hoping to use something He says to justify cutting Him down. Thus, He opts for the wisdom of dark sayings.

THE TEXT

And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine […]

Mark 4:1

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Jesus’ teaching, so far, moves from clarity to obscurity, from straightforward to parable. His doctrine was astonishing (Mk. 1:22), and His teaching on forgiveness caused a scandal (Mk. 2:8-10); so He began to wrap mystery around His teaching (Mk. 2:17, 20-22, 25-26, 3:23). The increasing threats demanded the keen wit of wisdom. From a boat, Jesus holds court and explains the constitution of the Kingdom He is founding, or to be more theologically consistent, re-founding (vv1-2). This Kingdom is like a farmer casting seed; some of it lands on the path, some in shallow soil, some amongst thorny weeds, and some in fertile soil and those seeds bring about a hundredfold harvest (vv3-8). Jesus’ story demands hearing from those with ears (v9).

The twelve, later in private, ask Jesus to explain the riddle (v10). He first explains why He is teaching in riddles: prophets rebuke with parables (vv11-12). Jesus then graciously explains the riddle to his inner circle (v13). The seed is the Word, and the four types of soil map onto four types of hearers of the seed-word cast by the Sower (vv14-20). Having explained this hidden meaning to the disciples, they are charged with the task to hold onto it steadfastly for the time will soon come for them to declare this openly (vv21-25).

Two more parables are given to the multitudes; both about seeds. The first depicts Jesus’ kingdom as a seed that a farmer plants, and while the farmer goes about his daily work and nightly rest the seed mysteriously does the same resting in the earth before rising ready for harvest (vv26-29). The second is that the kingdom is like the tiny mustard seed which grows into an expansively branching shrub which the birds may nest (vv30-32). Jesus spoke these parables to the general public, because these truths were explosive and the harvest had not yet quite come; but disciples received the inner meaning (vv33-34).

The last episode in this chapter Jesus sets sail into the stormy Galilee waters (vv35-37). He is asleep and the disciples are awake with the terror of the storm and flooding boat (an inversion of the later Gethsemane scene). They awaken Jesus and accuse Him of not caring that they are on the verge of perishing (v38); He responds by rebuking the wind and waves and then their faithlessness (vv39-40). At this the disciples are left in fearful awe, and perhaps it really began to dawn on them that Jesus was Lord of heaven and earth, land and sea, angels and demons, time and eternity, seed and soil (v41).

THE KING’S RIDDLES

Mark has depicted Jesus as a Davidic heir, roving through Israel casting out the unclean spirits. But now in the parables of Jesus we see Him depicted as a new Solomon. Solomon said, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter (Pro 25:2).” In this chapter Jesus is the storyteller and the sea-farer. “[Solomon] spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. […] And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom (1Ki 4:32, 9:26).” Solomon’s reign was marked by proverbial wisdom manifested in imperial authority over land and sea. Remember, Jesus tells this parable of the sower from the prow of boat, upon a sea which He will soon tame.

Jesus opens His parable with a summons: “Listen up!” The parable is itself a comment on the listening skills of Israel. Some paid no heed to the Word of the Kingdom which John and Jesus and now Jesus’ disciples were proclaiming. Others were keenly interested, but were in danger of withering away when persecution and difficulty emerged. A third group were overgrown with the cares of this life, and the word was choked out. The last group received the Word, and brought forth a harvest.

Most of the time preachers focus on the soil-types. But Jesus draws our attention to Himself. He is the sower, broadcasting the Word. Are you listening? Have you caught the clues? Will you receive Him, all that He is, as King? This is why Jesus rebukes His disciples for their inability to understand one of His more readily accessible parables.

Through the Prophet’s, Yahweh had promised to sow in Israel once more. These seed parables are hints that the Word is in their midst, the Word is being sown. Will they hear it? The seed is growing into a harvest of Gentile salvation, which Jesus hints at by citing Joel: “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great […] (Joel 3:13-17).”

THE CALM SEA

The sea is often depicted in the prophetic tradition as the dwelling place of evil beasts, and it is usually closely associated with the Gentile nations. The Spirit of God hovered over the waters at creation (and at Jesus’ baptism, Mk. 1:10). Yahweh sundered the Red Sea for Israel’s deliverance. Yahweh ruled over the seas, stilling and subduing them: “Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people. […] Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them (Ps 65:7 & 89:9).”

This whole chapter is foreshadowing what Jesus’ greatest work would be. He would be a seed cast into the ground, he would “sleep” in the tomb, and yet He would arise. He would bring peace to the Gentile sea. He would bring about a harvest of Gentile saints. His Word and the wisdom of it would come to govern the land and the sea. Christ’s sacrificial death would not only come first, but would be the means of bringing this all about.

Zechariah makes it plain that Yahweh the Sower would also be Yahweh the stiller of the raging sea: “And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD (Zec 10:9-12).” Zechariah’s prophecy, however, will soon go on to describe that Messiah would be pierced by His own people (Zec. 12:10).

WHAT MAN IS THIS?

The disciples’ question “Who is this?” is the second time this sort of question has arisen. After his first encounter with driving out an unclean spirit the amazed crowds asked: What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him (Mk. 1:27). But Mark has told us who this man from Nazareth is: Jesus the Son of God.

Mark’s narrative takes our face in hand and turns our face to the face of Jesus. When you look at Jesus, you are looking at God. Here is your Salvation. Here is your Healer. Here is your King. Here is the Captain of the seas. Here is the Master of the deep waters. Here is the Keeper of true wisdom, the teller and revealer of riddles. Do you have ears to hear the riddles of the Sower and Sea-Captain? Have you wrestled with His words, to receive their blessing?

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Availing Prayer (King’s Cross)

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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). 

WHAT KIND OF PRAYER AVAILS MUCH?

  1. Effective, fervent
  2. Righteous

WHY THE EXAMPLE OF ELIJAH? (1 KINGS 17–18)

  1. He was a righteous man, “with a nature like ours”
  2. He prayed earnestly

CONCLUDING APPLICATIONS

  1. 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. 
  2. Recognize where you pray already, and do so earnestly and with renewed faith.
  3. Take practical steps to cultivate additional times of focused prayer—because God is faithful and kind.

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