New Testament

Hospitality Without Grudging

Christ Church on August 21, 2022

INTRODUCTION

Hospitality is one the central expressions of the Christian gospel, holiness, and the glory of God. Hospitality is an essential way we are commanded to love one another, and we love because God loved us first in Christ. And this is one of the central ways God has determined to proclaim to the world that the Father has sent the Son and draw the world to Himself (Jn. 17:23).

THE TEXT

“And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging” (1 Pet. 4:8-9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Peter is encouraging Christians facing significant persecution and preparing them to face even more, and even in that context he encourages them that at the top of their list of things to do needs to be fervent, constant, earnest love for one another (1 Pet. 4:8). And the reason he gives is that love covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8). This “covering love” both builds true unity, but it also ministers real holiness. And the particular application is to practice hospitality with one another without grudging, without complaining, without bitterness (1 Pet. 4:9).

WHAT IS HOSPITALITY?

The word translated “hospitality” is literally “love of strangers,” but given the context here and elsewhere, it clearly includes anyone you might come in contact with, especially fellow Christians in the church. Romans says something similar: “Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality” (Rom. 12:13). This is an expression of giving yourself as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1), humility — thinking highly of others first (Rom. 12:3), kindly affection, brotherly love, honoring one another (Rom. 12:10). All of this goes back to the second greatest commandment given in Leviticus 19, explicitly extended to strangers: “But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God” (Lev. 19:34, cf. Dt. 10:19). Christian hospitality is the natural response to God’s hospitality.

Elders must be men who are “given to hospitality” (1 Tim. 3:2, Tit. 1:8). Scripture associates “strangers” with orphans and widows, the more vulnerable and needy (Ps. 94:6, 146:9). And immediately following the high call to worship God as a consuming fire, it says, “Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13:1-2). Think of Abraham, Lot, and Rahab as examples. But Jesus says that the sheep who enter the kingdom will have received Jesus into their homes, when they welcomed strangers in (Mt. 25:35-45). All Gentiles were strangers from the covenants of promise, but are now fellowcitizens with the saints and of the household of God (Eph. 2:12, 19).

APPLICATIONS

So here is a list of scattershot principles and encouragements:

Begin with those closest to you; practice small and grow. Remember that many things get easier with practice and routines. God has put people in your home, and it is hospitality to love them and care for their needs well. A man who does not provide for his own family is worse than an unbeliever, and don’t use hospitality to others as a way to avoid loving the people right in front of you. So make sure you’re on the same page as a family. Related, do not give what you don’t have (e.g. fellowship, time, money). We are called to give generously and sacrificially, but we are never called to give beyond our means (2 Cor. 8:12). But sometimes God uses needs to show you that you have more than you thought.
Christian hospitality requires joy and fervency. In fact, the word Paul uses in Romans 12 he uses elsewhere to describe how he “persecuted” the church of God (e.g. Acts 22:4). When you pursue something with fervency and joy, you barely notice the obstacles and inconveniences. When you love a sport, or a vacation, or someone really important or dear to you, you are happy to endure the challenges for the sake of the gift. It should be considered a high privilege to provide food, friendship, encouragement, and hope our homes to those who bear God’s image, those for whom Christ died. Christian hospitality is always an invitation to Christ. May our congregation be known for our joyful pursuit of hospitality.
The warning against grudging and complaining and bitterness is there for a reason. Hospitality takes work: being thoughtful, preparing, conversations, cleanup, dishes, and on top of it all, people can be challenging, rude, thoughtless, or just different. And this is why it says love covers a multitude of sins. Serious sin must be confronted in love, but lots of thoughtless or careless sin must be simply covered in love (and forgotten). This love also delights in and laughs at all of our cultural differences and quirks. Put away all envy, vain glory, and fleshly competitions.

Jesus is the friend of sinners, and He came eating and drinking with sinners in order to bring us home to the Father. We live in a world that claims to celebrate love, but it is an empty, hypocritical, self-serving, and conditional love. Christ has come and given Himself for us freely, and He invites us to His table every week in order to knit us together with Him in true fellowship, in order to draw the whole world to Himself.

Light & Blindness (Authentic Ministry #8)

Christ Church on August 14, 2022

INTRODUCTION

A faithful proclamation of the gospel of Christ does bring in disputes and challenges. There are unbelievers, many of them very clever, who say that what we are claiming is ridiculous. And so if you want to settle ultimate religious truth by democratic means—taking a vote—you are going to be sorry. But the Christian assumption is that these debates are not occurring on level ground. We are charged to go into a country filled with people who have been blind from birth, and we are told that our message is to be “bright blue.” How is it possible for this to work?

THE TEXT

“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:1–6).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

There is no reason to faint or to be discouraged in ministry because we have already received mercy (v. 1). In the words that follow, remember that Paul is still picking up the pieces after a revolt against his authority in Corinth. Some rally serious allegations had been made against him, which Paul here flatly denies. He had not been dishonest, he had not been sneaky, and he had not handled the Scriptures deceitfully (v. 2). He was able to commend himself to every man’s conscience. And if someone doesn’t see gospel in what Paul was saying, it was only hidden from the lost (v. 3), and was out of their sight because of blindness (v. 4). That blindness was the result of the god of this world, the devil, blinding the minds of unbelievers, lest gospel light shine on them (v. 4). That gospel was glorious because it was the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God (v. 4). The message that is proclaimed must be from outside ourselves. Paul did not preach himself, but rather Christ the Lord (v. 5), and as a corollary, themselves as servants to the Corinthians for the sake of Christ (v. 5). This salvation is the creative work of God, who regenerates sinners in the same way He created light on the first day (v. 6). He says “let it happen,” and it happens. So what does He command for our hearts? The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (v. 6).

DEFENDING THINGS RIGHT SIDE UP

We have already seen that Paul did not have an ego-heavy ministry. If people preached out of envy, in order to get Paul in trouble, Paul didn’t mind—so long as the message was unadulterated (Phil. 1:15). But when false brothers, false teachers, or false apostles were wanting to corrupt the message, and Paul was in their way, they would need to attack him. And, that being the case, Paul would defend himself because he was defending something much greater than himself. That is what he is doing here in v. 2.

LIGHT AND BLINDNESS

Our message is light. Christ is the light of the world (John 1:9; 8:12). He came into the world in order to shine on every man. We come to the slumbering unbelievers, and summon them to wake up (Eph. 5:14). But there is a necessary process here. Christ appeared to Paul on the Damascus road, and commissioned him . . .

“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:18).

There are three steps here. The first is to open eyes. The second is to turn them toward the light. The third is to be a midwife to the actual transfer.

Much gospel preaching is shedding light on the blind. Much moral teaching opens people’s eyes to their need, but then gives no light. When the first two things happen, and in this order, the third thing happens—people are converted. As we preach law and light, a marvelous thing happens. As we minister in obedience by His grace, God gives out eyes.

RESTORATION WORK

Remember that we saw last week that we become like what we worship. The plain statement of that is here, in v. 6. As we look at Christ, as He is, we are in the process of becoming like Christ, as He is.

Remember that Paul said that he did not preach himself. He was not the message. Our lives are where the message lands, not where the message originates. Now the message that is set before us is this: “The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (v. 6). This is what we see when we look at Christ straight on, as He is preached in a gospel that is preached, straight on. But we are also told in v. 4 that Christ is the image of God (v. 4).

This means that as we worship God through the face of Jesus Christ, the image of God is being restored in us. We were initially created in the image of God, of course (Gen. 1:27). But when we fell, that image was marred, thoroughly wrecked. The remains of that image are still about us, because after the fall, we are told why murder is still to be punished (Gen. 9:6). So the restoration of the image of God in man is why Jesus came (Eph. 4:23-24). His mission was to make us complete human beings again, instead of what we are in our unconverted state—which is wreckage of human being. Our first parents fell, or more properly, they crashed, and we are the debris field.

Christ came to put it all back together again (Col. 1:15-20). How does this happen? It happens as we look to Him. Look to Christ on the cross, to Christ in the bread and wine, to Christ in your brothers and sisters, and to Christ in the gospel. Always look to Christ. This is what church services are for. This is why you come here. Look to Him.

The Order of Melchizedek

Christ Church on August 14, 2022

THE TEXT

4 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

5 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. ²He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. ³Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. ⁴And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.

⁵So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:

“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.”

⁶As He also says in another place:

“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek”;

⁷who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, ⁸though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. ⁹And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, ¹⁰called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” ¹¹of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing (Hebrews 4:14–5:11).

Lethal Glory (Authentic Ministry #7)

Christ Church on August 8, 2022

INTRODUCTION

We have now come to what might be called the crescendo of the great new covenant symphony. The overture was glorious, but it nevertheless fades in our memory as we listen to the part of the performance that God has brought us to now.

THE TEXT

“But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished . . .” (2 Cor. 3:7–18).

A QUICK CORRECTION

Before summarizing the text, we need to begin with a correction of a common misconception about this passage. That misconception is that Moses put a veil on his face so that the Israelites would not realize how transient his radiance was. This is thought because of a mistranslation of a verb that occurs three times here (vv. 7, 11, 13). In this understanding, the radiance of Moses’ countenance drained, like a battery drains, and he would then go into the tabernacle to meet with God, and to recharge. This is not correct; the verb used here (katargeo) does not actually have the meaning of “to fade away.” The children of Israel could not look at the glory of the ministry of death, a ministry that was going to be rendered inoperative, or be made obsolete.

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The law was a ministry of death. Graven in stones, external to the heart, all it could do was kill you. Nevertheless, this killing law was glorious, and the Israelites couldn’t even look at it (v. 7). This glory, the glory of the law, was to be done away. How much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit have to be then (v. 8)? If the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much surpassing glory would the ministry of imputed righteousness have (v. 9)? Like a bright moon that fades when the sun rises, the former glory pales in comparison (v. 10). If the temporary ministry of condemnation was glorious, why would the permanent ministry of imputed righteousness not be much more glorious (v. 11)? All of this is the basis of Paul’s plain speaking (v. 12). Paul could do what Moses couldn’t, which was to minister the glory which both of them had (v. 13). Israel couldn’t even look at their glory. The reason was that their minds were blinded, down to Paul’s day. For them the veil remained in the reading of the law, but the veil is removed in Christ (v. 14). He repeats that down to his day, when Moses is read, the veil is on their hearts (v. 15). When they turn to Christ, the veil is lifted (v. 16). The Lord is the Spirit who brings the liberty of being able to handle glory (v. 17). But we, like Moses in the tabernacle, worship the Lord with unveiled faces, and are ourselves transformed by the work of the Spirit (v. 18).

A GLORY THAT KILLS

The common reading that I rejected a moment ago has the problem of making Moses a manipulator and deceiver. He didn’t want the people to realize that his glory was not permanent, and so he hid the fading of that glory away. Or worse, Moses was not the deceiver, but Paul interpreted that episode in such a way as made Moses out to be a liar.

“And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him” (Exodus 34:29–35).

The passage in Exodus doesn’t have any hint of Moses trying to hide the fact that his radiance would fade. He wore the veil because his radiance was frightening to the children of Israel, and it was hard for them to come near. This is the ministry of death, remember, according to Paul. The law is not sin, but the law is death to sinners. Two chapters earlier, in the aftermath of the golden calf fiasco, three thousand Israelites were killed (Ex. 32:26-28). God had told them in the previous chapter that He would not go with them, lest He have to consume them in the way (Ex. 33:3, 5). Moses was veiling them from a glory that kills.

WHAT IS PAUL’S ILLUSTRATION ABOUT THEN?

Moses was not being deceptive about the glory that would fade, but some of his ostensible heirs most certainly werebeing deceptive about it. When the law was read, the unbelieving Jews could not see the condition of their Ichabod-hearts. The veil covers the face, and in his illustration, the heart is the face (v. 15). They cannot see the true condition of their heart. When the law was being read, a veil was over their heart, preventing them from seeing what the law was saying about their heart.

But we, with open face (heart), are looking at the glory of the Lord. We are in the same position that Moses was in during his visits to the tabernacle. This is why we are being transformed from glory to glory. And why? Because you become like what you worship—which means we can look ahead. God is giving us the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

All of Christ

Christ Church on August 8, 2022

THE TEXT:

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

²Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. ³For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— ⁴though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law,blameless. ⁷But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ¹⁰that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

¹²Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.¹³Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. ¹⁶Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

¹⁷Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. ¹⁸For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. ²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself (Philippians 3 ESV).

INTRODUCTION

Here at King’s Cross we have adopted the great mission statement of Christ Church as our own: All of Christ, for All of Life, for All of Moscow. We want the salvific fullness of Christ—all of His person and work—to flow into every nook and cranny of our lives—nothing untouched by Him. And we want this reality not just for ourselves, but for our whole town. All of Christ, for All of Life, for All of Moscow.

Therefore, in our church community, we put a big emphasis on living out the Christian life faithfully. We preach and teach a lot on marriage, family, Christian education, community and hospitality, evangelism, culture- building, business and finances, societal issues, and more. We want our faith to permeate everything. We want Christ to sanctify it all. We want to work hard to see his kingdom advance here and now. We want to see generational faithfulness.

However—if we are not careful, we can get this backwards. We can begin to make so much of our focus the All of Life part, leaving the All of Christ part somewhere in the distance behind. When this happens, pride creeps in and you can begin to look upon your good works, your efforts, your family or ministries, as the center of it all. Without realizing it, we can substitute the centrality of Christ with the centrality of certain convictions or endeavors – making the activity or good thing itself our focus. And so we must resist any temptation to elevate our families, our theology, our politics, our culture-building, or any other good work to a place where they begin to eclipse simple faith and trust in Christ.

We cannot let these good works, these blessings, become the things we begin to point to, in our hearts and minds, as the center of our faith and our confidence. It must be All of Christ. Christ is indeed the foundation… But He’s also what holds the whole building together. We do not move on from the person Christ. We don’t start with Christ and then move on to the work. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans, everything is from him, through him, and to him.

Christ is all in all. Christ is supreme. Christ is primary. Christ is central. And so here in his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul sets forth the knowledge of Christ as the most valuable possession in all the heavens and earth. Here Paul teaches that our greatest privilege in this life, and the life to come, is to know Christ and be known by Christ. If you were to live a thousand lifetimes you would never even get close to exhausting the riches found in Him. In fact, if you indeed are in Christ, you will one day spend forever beholding Him perfectly as He is, face to face, and yet still not come to the end of knowing Him in all His glorious splendor.

For the Christian, knowing Christ is everything. And here in this passage before us this morning, through warnings and encouragements, Paul is inviting you to imitate him in seeking to know Christ more and more—for making the knowledge of Christ as your true righteousness, your great ambition.