New Testament Archives - Page 98 of 196

Speaking to God

Christ Church on February 9, 2020

Introduction

One of the key doctrines recovered in the Reformation was that of the priesthood of all believers. What that resulted in was an increased fervor for piety. Calvin’s original (very catchy) title of the 1536 edition of The Institutes was: The Institutes of Christian Religion, Containing almost the Whole Sum of Piety and Whatever It is Necessary to Know in the Doctrine of Salvation. A Work Very Well Worth Reading by All Persons Zealous for Piety, and Lately Published. The Reformation restored a biblical understanding of fellowship with God to the individual believer, and thus recovered true fellowship between believers as well. God wants to speak to us, in His Word by His Son (Heb. 1:1-3), and God wants us to speak to Him. In other words, God wants to be with us.

The Text

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:1-8

Summary of the Text

Zoom out of this passage, and I want to highlight something about Luke’s narrative. One of his focal points is the activity of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of Jesus (Lk. 1:35, 41; 2:25-26; 3:16; 4:1, 18; 11:9-13; 12:8-12; 24:49). Think of Luke as volume one, and Acts as volume two of the same work. Along with this comes a frequent emphasis on prayer, which we know from elsewhere in Scripture is closely linked with the ministry of the Spirit. So Luke shows how Christ’s ministry, teaching, and example was marked by prayer (Cf. Lk 22:44).

Unlike most parables, this one comes with an answer key, this parable is an exhortation to prayer, the sort of prayer that isn’t feeble or fainthearted (v1). The sort of persistence we are to have in prayer is exemplified by the picture of the relationship between a hard-hearted judge (v2), and a widow (v3). Her request is to be avenged, but the judge refuses to take her cause (v4a); but because of her persistence he agrees to take up the cause of avenging her lest he wear out (v5).

Jesus tells us the takeaway from this story of the unjust judge (v6). That is, even the most corrupt judge will finally give way due to persistent petition. This is a how much more argument (similar to Lk 11:13). If the unjust judge will finally hear the persistent petitions of the needy widow, how much more will God avenge His chosen people (v7)? His tarrying is not evidence of His not hearing their prayers, it is a means whereby their faith is tested and proved (v8). God has promised His people that He will avenge them. So, they must not relinquish faith that He will perform His promise.

The Importunate Church

Why does God wait to answer our prayers? The Evangelical church has been praying for close to fifty years that the abomination of Roe v. Wade would be overturned. The Chinese church has been praying for deliverance from communist persecution for close to a hundred years. The Reformers were persecuted for well over two hundred years before they enjoyed the peace of deliverance.

It might be easy to think that God’s delay is because He must be like the unjust judge. He must have a lot on His plate; or He wants to “teach us a lesson”; or He only begrudgingly answers our prayers. But this runs antithetical not only to this text, but to the whole of Scriptural revelation as to God’s character. He is a Father. He delights to answer our requests. And this text highlights the speed with which He will avenge His beloved.

One reason is His tarrying demands that our prayers continue in faith, which implies that we are all too likely to treat Him like Santa Claus. This makes man out to be the cause of the effect of answered prayer, rather than the believer being part of God’s means whereby He effects His answers to prayer. Another reason is that waiting for His answer to come results in us coming to see that the Giver is better than the gift, the Answerer is superior to the answer. Finally, we must not overlook the fact that He is not “time-bound.” He answers in accordance with His sovereign will. All our prayers, even if the answer comes long after we are dead and gone, result in great glory for God and the building up of the faith of the Church. The church has been asking “Thy Kingdom come” for millennia, and God assures us that it will come, and when it does the whole church will say, “Amen.”

Pray Like a Psalmist

Pray big prayers. Pray specific prayers. Pray tireless prayers. Pray that Your enemies might be undone (either in conversion or in judgement). Pray that God might be glorified. Pray in faith. Pray, pray, pray.

And just as importantly, expect God to answer your prayers. Jesus commands us to ask the Father for whatsoever, and accompanies that command with a promise that the Father will answer: “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full (Jhn. 16:23-24).” In other words, pray like God told you to pray. Pray like a psalmist.

Where Faith Shall Be Sight

Our Lord taught us to pray that God’s will would be done on earth as it was it heaven. We pray by faith, awaiting the unseen answer. But God does answer our prayers. Faith asks, faith waits, and faith keeps its eyes open for the answer.

Prayer need not be eloquent. In fact, grunts and groans are acceptable forms of prayer (Rom. 8:26). Lengthy times in the prayer closet don’t expedite the answer. But God invites you to ask. He wants to hear you. He wants to answer your prayers. He wants to answer them with nothing other than Himself.

We pray together throughout our service each Lord’s Day. But this should not replace frequent converse with the Lord both as families, individuals, and friends. Paul commands us to do everything by prayer (Phi. 4:6); Tozer pointed out that the church’s temptation is to do everything by committee, rather than by prayer and supplication.

So, pray without ceasing. After all, you are in Christ, Christ brings you to the Father, and the Spirit grants you power to ask with boldness what God delights to answer: that in all things He might receive all glory, honor, and praise. This is true piety. The sort of piety that isn’t lost in the la-la-land of introspection. This is the sort of piety that reads the Bible to hear from God and obey what He says, and then talk continually to God as His own child requesting what He’s promised to give. This is the fellowship with the Father which Christ purchased for you, which the Spirit seals to you.

Hearing from God

Christ Church on February 2, 2020

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Introduction

A child can be disobedient in one of two ways. First, he can outright rebel. He can insist on his own way, marching to his own drum, being his own boss. The other way is bit harder to notice, but just as dangerous. He can never grow up. A child is taught obedience not so that he might always be a child, nor so that he can become an entirely independent entity. Rather, so that he might become his own man, but a man in fellowship. Willful immaturity and rebellious autonomy are both sinful.

The Text

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:1-3).

Summary of the Text

These opening lines of Hebrews were written to believing Jews who were bracing for looming persecution. They are told that whereas God had spoken in times past through prophets (Heb. 1:1), He had now spoken by His Son, who is the appointed heir of the whole kit and caboodle. Not only that, but the Son was eternally with the Father in the act of Creation (Heb. 1:2). The long and short of it is that the God who had spoken creation into being, is the very same God who now spoke by the Son. This demands precise and faithful adherence to the Son’s kingship (Heb. 2:1). The Triune God spoke creation into being, and the Triune God has now spoken a new creation into being. We know this because God became a man, purged our sins, and became King of the world (Heb. 1:3). This was all a warning to them to not return to the incomplete word of Moses, but to hear the fulfillment of what God spoke through Moses and the prophets by His Son. The better Word had been spoken, and with blood red finality.

How God Speaks

The Scriptures begin with crucial assertion about God: He speaks (Gen. 1:3). He speaks clearly, and He speaks directly. He commands light and it comes into being. His Word creates and commands and upholds. He gives Adam clear orders and injunctions. After the fall, God comes to talk with the patriarchs. On Mount Sinai, God reveals Himself to the entire nation via Word: “ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.” Later, the Holy of holies came to be known as the Oracle (debiyr דביר).

The gods are never quiet. There is no culture in history which does not have priests claiming to speak on behalf of the gods. Replace God with Science, and you begin to see how religious the so-called rationalists actually are. We are repeatedly confronted with claims that “The science is settled.” Which is just another way of saying, “Thus saith the Lord.” Look at our American religious landscape where every person is a priest of a god in their own likeness. When people say things like, “Well to me, God is…” they are claiming to speak for God. So, the unbelieving objectivism of pseudo-science, and the unbelieving subjectivism of feel-good religion are both at odds with reality.

Man is always looking for ways to plug his ears to God’s voice, in order to hear his own voice. This unbelieving way of thinking often creeps into the church. Various types of Christians claim to have “words from the Lord”. Some believers with tender-consciences want to truly honor the Lord and follow His guidance and thus have become confused about how to hear the Lord’s voice; while others have seen a grand opportunity to be God’s mouthpiece. The first type hear “God” saying an awful lot of murky and/or wishy-washy sentimentalism, while the second type hear an awful lot about sending donations to the number at the bottom of the screen.

The Protestant position is that God has two books which He speaks to us. The book of the World (general revelation), and the book of His Word (specific revelation). Creation says enough to leave man without an excuse for not seeking, finding, and following the God he knows is there. The Word tells man that God has made a way to save man from His rebellion. The final Word which God has spoken is that Jesus who suffered for lost mankind, is now King of mankind. Which means man must hear and obey.

What Has God Said?

Now, where this gets real sticky is when you try to figure out what God is saying to you. It is easy to try to get your own way by looking to a subjective “inner voice” and pretending it was God speaking to you, but He always seems to say what you wanted to hear anyway. The other error is that of the liberal who treats the Bible as a novelty shop of nice aphorisms of by-gone “God-followers” who show us that every person’s journey to God is unique. On one hand you undermine the work of the Spirit, on the other you undermine the thunder of God’s voice in the Bible.

God’s definitive Word has been spoken, the Spirit opens our ears and grants us wisdom to apply it in our circumstances. Christ is King, the Spirit dwells in You, and the Bible makes your marching orders plain. So, look at your current circumstances. Do you really believe what the Bible says about them? God has ordered your steps.

So, what has God told you? Believe upon the Lord Jesus (Rom. 10:9). Honor your parents (Ex. 20:12). Love your wife (Col. 3:19). Submit to Your husband (Col. 3:18). Don’t lie (Ex. 20:16). Take a nap on Sunday afternoons (Mk. 2:27). Go to church (Heb. 10:25). Unfollow some Instagram accounts ASAP (2 Tim. 2:22). With a big smile, give a big fat check to the Lord’s work (1 Cor. 16:2, 2 Cor. 9:7). Work yourself ragged six days a week (Col. 3:23). Host a big feast on a regular basis (Rom. 12:13). Obey your rulers, and resist tyrants (Rom. 13;1 Sam. 22:2). If that’s not enough to go on, look at all the “one another” passages in the New Testament. Love one another. Receive one another. Forgive and forbear with one another. Serve one another. Admonish one another. Comfort one another with Scripture. Provoke one another to good works.

The point is, often when we are wrestling with making a big decision, trying to determine God’s will for our life, we stall out. If you want to know God’s will for your particular circumstances, you should get started by doing what He’s clearly and plainly told you to do. In short, God wants to speak to you. And do you know what He wants to tell you about? Jesus first. Jesus last. Jesus between.

For You Serve the Lord Christ (Colossians 4)

Christ Church on January 26, 2020

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Review

1:27 “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The presence of Christ in your life should point your attention to a future glory. 2:6 “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” The kind of Christian that perseveres to that future glory is the kind of Christian who continues walking daily in faith. 3:2 “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” The way that you walk daily in faith is by having your mind fixed on the resurrected Christ in heaven. But how do you fix your eyes on that which cannot be presently seen? He can be seen, because his body is all around you.

The Body of Christ

The body of Christ is before you in the web of human relationships into which each and every one of you have been woven.

3:18-19 Marriages

Wives, submit to your own husbands. What the secular world wants to pathologize, is simply the clear teaching of Scripture. A wife is commanded to submit to her husband. This carries with it two important qualifiers. First, she is to submit to her own husband and not any other man. Second, her submission is to be “in the Lord.”

Husbands, love your wives. Men your bar is too low for what you consider to be love. Your wife is an end to be pursued like you would any other ambition. One simple way to know whether or not you are actively pursuing your wife is to look to see if there is bitterness or resentment in your heart towards her.

3:20-21 Children and Parents

Children, obey your parents. This pleases God. Generational harmony is the key to culture building and covenantal blessing (Eph. 6:2-3). You give to yourself when you obey your parents.

Fathers, their obedience is actually to God and not to you. So your authority is not a dog whistle that you get to blow to impress people with your kids obedience. Parent their hearts, pointing them to Christ. And if they follow Christ, you will keep them because Christ has kept them.

3:22-4:1 At Work

Employees and Bosses, your contracted labor is a service that you offer before God, a labor that his word governs. Men, you especially are prone to exempt your careers from the rule of God in order to make room for fleshly ambition.

Serving Christ

Wherever we go, we are wrapped up in layers of authority and submission. But every authority that you submit to, you submit to because God would have you do it.

This is radically freeing because it means that you are actually being called to submit to one and only one – the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is worthy of your submission.

Set Your Mind on Things Above (Colossians 3)

Christ Church on January 19, 2020

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1-4 Union with Christ

Remember that the “mystery” that Paul has been unpacking for us is that the body of Christ is both the incarnate reality of the God-man Jesus Christ, and also the picture of the church with Christ as its head. But if we, the church, are Christ’s body, then that means that wherever the head has gone, he takes us with him. And so when Christ sits down on his throne in heaven, he sits there with all his body with him. As the body of Christ we share in the events of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, ascension into heaven, and enthronement at the right hand of the Father. And if that is the case, then that is where our attention ought to be.

5-11 Put to Death

“Now, it being our duty to mortify, to be killing of sin whilst it is in us, we must be at work. He that is appointed to kill an enemy, if he leave striking before the other ceases living, does but half his work,” John Owen, The Mortification of Sin. If you are in this new man, with Christ as your head, then you are therefore called to a life of putting sin to death. This is the ongoing work of persevering faith. And at the root of mortifying your sin, is the question of where are your eyes.

Your heart follows your eyes. Where do you put your eyes? We lift up our heart to the Lord because we lift up our eyes to the Lord. So where are your eyes? Paul calls covetousness idolatry (v. 5, cf. Eph. 5:5) because your heart follows your eyes as your prayer will follow your longing. The mortification of a sin starts with your eyes.

A Dilemma

But here is the problem. I am telling you that the mortification of your sin depends on you looking to Christ and not looking at the enticements of the flesh. But the problem is that Christ, currently seated in heaven, cannot currently be seen. He inhabits what is still a future glory for us, a glory that “eye has not seen, nor ear heard . . .” (1 Cor. 2:9, cf. 1 Tim. 1:17). And, on the other hand, those things that you are not to be looking at are all quite visible.

12-17 Put on Love

But you do have Christ before you because you have the body of Christ, the church that surrounds you now. Love is what holds the body together (v. 14, cf. 2:19). Love makes visible to us what is currently removed from our senses – Christ (1 John 4:20). The difficulty is that you must remember that God defines this love, not you.

So Walk in Him (Colossians 2)

Christ Church on January 12, 2020

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Paul’s Concern

Last week, Paul told the Colossians that they have Christ in them, the hope of a future glory (1:27). And because of this future glory, Paul is laboring to exhort the Colossians to live a life growing in faithfulness. But he is concerned because their long-term perseverance in the faith seems to be threatened. He hinted at that in the previous chapter (1:23). But now he gets more explicit about his concerns. He has “a great conflict” for them (v. 1). He is concerned about the people that they are talking to, who threaten to deceive them with persuasive word (v. 4) and cheat them through philosophy and empty deceit (v. 8).

The Root of the Problem

Paul unpacked for us in the previous chapter the redemptive work of Christ. Now he identifies the real root of this error as a challenge to the sufficiency of Christ (v. 8). This is the error of “Christ plus something else.” The saints at Colossae have mixed their faith in Christ with

A fascination with extra-biblical teaching (v. 8 and 22)
A commitment to the law that was the shadow of Christ rather than the reality of the Christ who has come (v. 11, 14, 16)
A fixation with a power structure that has passed away (15 and 18)
An asceticism born of prideful human wisdom rather than humble submission to God (21 and 23)

Paul has two fundamental answers to the erring Colossians.

Complete in Christ

A right understanding of who Christ is should eliminate the need to add anything to Christ. Paul returns to the image of a body with Christ as its head (v. 19), which he actually introduced previously (1:18). Our union with Christ means that we are complete in him (v. 9-10) because we share in all his victorious work (v. 11-15).

So Walk in Him

The difficulty we have is that we forget. We grow cold (Rev. 3:15). We begin in the Spirit and then shift to the flesh (Gal. 3:3). We think that the work of salvation was merely a first step that we can somehow then improve upon with our own accessorizing. But Paul says that we must continue to walk in Christ, in the same way that we began in Christ – through the simplicity of faith in the complete and total sufficiency of the work of Christ (v. 6-7). This is the only foundation on which we can build (1 Cor. 3:11-15). And the clear indicator that Paul has given us to demonstrate whether or not we are building on that foundation is gratitude (v. 7).