Old Testament Archives - Page 133 of 143

Parenting Young People 1

Joe Harby on January 16, 2010

Introduction

When it comes to parenting, you have often heard me say that our parental responsibility does not consist in getting young people to grit their teeth and conform to the standard. The task before us is to bring up our children in such a way as to love the standard. This is not possible to do with externally driven rules. It is a function of loyalty, and loyalty is based on love and relationship. We should consider what this looks like.

The Texts

“My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck” (Prov. 1:8-9).

“My son, forget not my law; But let thy heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and years of life, and peace, will they add to thee. Let not kindness and truth forsake thee: Bind them about thy neck; Write them upon the tablet of thy heart: So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man” (Prov. 3:1-4).

“My son, let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck” (Prov. 3:21-22).

“My son, keep the commandment of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Bind them continually upon thy heart; Tie them about thy neck. When thou walkest, it shall lead thee; When thou sleepest, it shall watch over thee; And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee” (Prov. 6:20-22).

Summary of the Texts

In the texts quoted, there is a great deal of material—more than I am able to address today. What I would like to do is draw out one basic theme. First, the instruction of your father and the law of your mother should be treated as a garland of grace for the head, and as an ornamental chain around the neck (Prov. 1:9). Second, a young person should take care to bind kindness and truth around his neck, and he does this by not forgetting his father’s law, and by cultivating a heart that keeps his commandments (Prov. 3:3). The result is a blessed life. Third, sound wisdom and discretion is life to the soul, and grace around the neck (Prov. 3: 22). And last, take up the commandments of your father, and do not abandon the law of your mother. Tie them onto your heart, and hang them around your neck. These are not a good luck charm, but Solomon almost speaks of them as though they were. But this is blessing, not luck. This is the triune God of all grace, and not some rabbit’s foot.

Obedience and Glory

Obedience to parents is therefore a young person’s glory. What do you do with what your parents have asked? You do not trudge off reluctantly, muttering to yourself. No, the standard set forth in Scripture is to take what you have been asked to do and hang it around your neck like you would do with an Olympic gold medal that you had just won. If an athlete comes in first in the Olympics, he does not stuff the medal into his gym bag and slouch off halfway through the national anthem, No . . . what do you do with your glory?

A High Standard for All

Now this is the point where many parents are elbowing each other, and praying that their little pill of an adolescent is listening. This is the point where some are doing all they can to refrain from looking down their row to see if somebody is paying attention. But this is not a life of ease for parents, and the glory of raw obedience for teenagers, an obedience that drops mysteriously out of the sky. It does not work this way. Obedience, the kind described here, arises from personal loyalty, and this loyalty arises from love. Where does love come from? As always, God models it for us. What He asks us to do, He shows us how to do. And we love Him because He loved us first (1 John 4:19). And if we want our young people to love us, with grace around the neck, then we must show them how it is worn.

Raise the Standard by Lowering It

If you cannot get the kids to love the standard, then lower the standard. I am not talking about God’s commandments, which you have no authority to lower, but rather addressing the questions that surround your house rules. Lower the standard to the point where everyone in the family can pitch in together. This is not simply “lowering standards,” and “why is a preacher telling us to do that?” It is actually raising the parental standard, which is the real reason we don’t like it. Parents must embrace the task of communicating, in a contagious way, love for the standard.

Now some parents might protest that this is impossible. But what does this example teach the young people in the home? It teaches them that nobody around here has to do “impossible” things, and since the requirement to make your bed, or to comb your hair, or to stop texting so much, are all clearly impossible, then they don’t have to be done. If you want your children to be obedient, then show them how.

Apart from a context of love and loyalty, parental discipline is just clobbering a kid. And since clobbering a kid is not what God said to do, the child is learning the fundamental lesson that in this house, we don’t have to do what God says to do. Instead, we learn to be sneaky enough to not get clobbered.

All Together Now

Each member of the family is supposed to understand that the whole family is a unit. All of you are on the same team. If you have drifted into an adversarial set of roles, then the parents have to do something to stop the game, change the rules, do something that works. Let us suppose the whole family is flunking high school calculus. Wouldn’t it be far better to all go back to sixth grade and pass that grade together?

The standard set in the passages from Proverbs is not an impossible standard. That was not written for angels in Heaven. It was written for us. These things are set before us now.

Tidings Of Comfort And Joy

Joe Harby on December 13, 2009

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Introduction

Last Lord’s Day, the message was brought to us from the conclusion of Isaiah 40, and we learned from that message that there are two kinds of waiting. There is a waiting that causes our strength to dissipate, and there is a waiting that gathers our strength for us. There is a waiting that renews, an anticipation that is full of joy, and there is a waiting that is an emotional corrosive. This week we want to develop this idea further, and to do so from a few verses earlier in that same chapter.

The Text

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Is. 40:1-8).

Summary of the Text

The text begins with comfort (v. 1). Godly preparation does not begin with affliction, but such preparation actually ends the affliction. How so? The prophet speaks comfortably to Jerusalem, telling her that her sins are forgiven before the great deliverance arrives (v. 2). The next verse is a prophecy of the ministry of John the Baptist (v. 3; Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; John 1:23), who prepared the way for the coming Christ. Every valley is lifted up, and the high places are humbled—for just one example, Zebulon is humbled, and Galilee is exalted (Is. 9:1). Notice that this time of preparation is a time when things are made level, not uneven, when things are made smooth, not rough, when things are made straight, not crooked (v. 4). This time is aiming for a particular result, which is the revelation of the glory of the Lord, which all mankind will see (v. 5; Luke 3:4-6). The prophet is told to cry out—but what is he told to cry? Men are like the grass, and their glory is like the flowers of the field (v. 6)—and as the grass withers and the flowers fades, so men also fade (because of the breath of the Lord). This passage is quoted by the apostle Peter (1 Pet. 1:24-25), to the effect that the Word preached to Christians is the Word that stands forever, and it is the Word by which Christians are born again (1 Pet. 1:23). This means that men who are regenerate are no longer numbered with the withered grass and fading flowers. That Word is preached “by the Holy Spirit” (1 Pet. 1:12), which is of course the same breath that makes the flowers fade.

Two Kinds of Sorrow

Just as there are two kinds of waiting, so also there are two kinds of sorrow—and they parallel the two kinds of waiting. One dissipates strength and the other restores it. One kind of sorrow rakes you over the coals, and the other is the word that speaks comfort. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Cor. 7:10). One sorrow leads to comfort and no regret, and the other leads to sorrow upon sorrow. You can be sorry today, sorry tomorrow, and you can die sorry. That is not what Christ came to do for you.

Repentant or Penitential

Our English words repentance and penitence are obviously related to one another (via the Latin paenitere), and we do have to be careful not to be superstitious about words. But there are different connotations to these words (in English) having to do with their history in our theological debates. Beginning with Tyndale, who translated metanoeiete as repent, instead of do penance, we have had a long history of distinguishing what it means to receive the grace of God, and what it means to try to surreptitiously earn the grace of God. Luther’s 95 Theses began with this whole issue of penitence understood in gospel terms: “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in saying “Repent ye,” etc., intended that the whole life of believers should be penitence.”

The Real Deal

True repentance should take the time to confess and forsake real sin, and the time should not be wasted through indulgence in nebulous angst about possible sinfulness that is always carefully undefined. “Penitential” seasons can be put to a genuinely good use if they are a time when serious, once-for-all mortification of particular sins occurs— if real sins and real bad habits are uprooted from your life. Pray, practice and pursue Colossians 3:5 and 3:8. Who could possibly be against that? The real problems come in when sin is not really dealt with, and yet the times of squirrel-cage run penitence don’t even slow down, and the penitent daily comes to resemble more closely the policemen in Penzance. “Yes, but you don’t go!”

Glad Tidings

Jesus assumes that such times can be spiritually healthy, but He requires His followers to keep it a secret that they are observing such a time. “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly” (Matt. 6:16-18). A fast is a time for reflection, personal discipline, and confession, and if you are doing this during a penitential season, Jesus requires that you take reasonable measures to hide what you are doing from others. Why? Because your life should embody the truth that this entire season is a time when we are bringing to the world tidings of comfort and joy.

Waiting on the Lord (Dr. David Field)

Joe Harby on December 6, 2009

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Sermon Notes

Isaiah 40:27-31
27Why do you say, O Jacob,and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
29He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
31but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40
Comfort has been announced (prophetically) to the exiled people of God: they’ve done their time, vv.1-2; God’s word of promises stands, vv.3-5; just look at him, vv.9-11; he is sovereign and wise – over the
nations, vv.12-17; the living God (contrast the idols), vv.18-20; the sovereign creator – over the rulers, vv.21-24; incomparably holy – over the powers.

Isaiah 40:27
And yet in the face of this they are despondent and doubting as if the LORD doesn’t care or understand (v.27).

Isaiah 40:28
So the prophet challenges them to remember their creed, their history, and the prophetic word already given. (v.28a)

The LORD is the everlasting God who is sovereign in and over time – there is no doubt that he will keep his promise. (v.28b)

The LORD is the creator of the ends of the earth – his arm can reach there and bring his people back to the centre. (v.28c)

The LORD’s living power is limitless – he is not tired of ruling the universe or exhausted by caring for his people. (v.28d)

The LORD’s wisdom is immeasurable – he knows precisely what is going on and can’t be tricked into missing his purpose. (v.28e)

His rule, his reach, his resources, his regard are boundless and indubitable.

Isaiah 40:29
Perhaps, then, the problem is that he meanly withholds what his people need? No, the LORD is a generous God, tirelessly munificent, abundant in goodness. (v.29)

Isaiah 40:30
Wind it up, Isaiah. Set up the contrast. Young men, choice men have limited resources and fall to the ground.

Isaiah 40:31
Bring it home, Isaiah. But … While they wait and because they wait, those who wait for the LORD to act / those who wait on the LORD in trust exchange one worn-out strength-garment for a new one (v.31a).

Far from falling to the ground, they soar to the sky (v.31b). As the LORD arrives to lead and accompany his people on the journey from exile to home, he energizes those who walk with him.

A couple of summaries:
a) 28-30 are true so stop occupying 27 and occupy 31 instead.
b) the flow:
27 – despondency amongst God’s people is groundless
28-29 – because God is great and wise and generous
30-31 – so wait for the LORD to act and wait on the LORD in trust and you will find strength for the journey

Keep in mind:
You and your circumstances – one trustful step at a time.
You and your sin – “consider Him … so that you may not grow weary” Our persecuted brothers and sisters – pray for them to prove Isaiah 40.31. The church in history – walk upright in bold confidence.

But most of all …
What Jacob-Israel calls out faithlessly (v.27), the Lord Jesus Christ calls out faithfully. Never was a man more faint and weary. Never did a man more wait on the LORD. Surely, surely, he must rise.

And he does.

And we find in him, both the Jacob-Israel who truly looks to the LORD and the LORD whose advent (coming) is renewal and redemption for those who look to him.

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Deep Peril, Deep Thanksgiving

Joe Harby on November 22, 2009

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Introduction

We sometimes try to cultivate the right heart attitude by denying the obvious challenges and perils in the world around us, and we sometimes try to pretend that we see the “real world” by adopting a cynical and artistic posture toward it all. We think that in order to have an enjoyable thanksgiving, it would have to be in an idyllic Norman Rockwell setting—a cartoon thanksgiving. And if we have attained to the sophomoric wisdom of knowing that there is evil in the world, we think that we are justified in falling back into the profound evil of ingratitude.

The Text

“Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee” (Dt. 28:45-49).

Summary of the Text

The 28th chapter of Deuteronomy contains a list of blessings for faithful obedience, and curses for unfaithful disobedience. The words of the law that are set before the people of Israel then are actually the words of the gospel, as Paul explains it (Rom. 10). They are words of gospel, that is, if we receive them in faith. In the course of explaining these blessings and curses, Moses makes this comment on what unfaithful disobedience actually looks like. The curses will chase down and overtake God’s people, destroying them, because they could not be bothered to do what God had told them to do (v. 45). And what was that? It was not because they had not gone around with pinched and pious faces. The problem was the opposite problem. The curses would rest on them as a sign and a wonder, and upon their children after them (v. 46). And why? Because they had not served the Lord their God with joyfulness, with gladness of heart, for the abundance of their stuff (v. 47). And because they did not serve the Lord with joy, then they might as well serve their enemies with no joy, since that is clearly more fitting (v. 48).

Carnal Wisdom

True faith sees the world as it is, and also sees the world as God has declared it will be. So if we live by faith, we will not be content with superficial gratitude, and we will not be content with superficial ingratitude.Carnal wisdom either opts for the upbeat attitude, and acts as though the world is not full of sin, or it sees the grit and rejects the attitude of triumphant gospel declaration. Churches that fall for the former problem devolve into a condition where the sermons are full of treacle, and the whole church falls into a sentimentalist vat of goo. Churches that drift into the latter error adopt a posture of “too cool to care.” They get their view of depravity, not from the apostle Paul, but from gritty film-makers. The former elevate a cozy community, while the latter embrace an autonomous (and very artsy) individualism. A plague on both their houses—we want to see the world for what it is in order to be able to overcome it. This is not possible unless we, like Abraham, look forward to the city that God is in the process of establishing. God has intervened in human history, He is intervening, and He will continue to intervene. The New Jerusalem descends from the heavens.

Unsheathed Gratitude

So Thanksgiving is not what we fight for. Thanksgiving is what we fight with. Take your celebration of Thanksgiving out of the scabbard. Consider these truths. “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6). The joy of the Lord is your strength “Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). And of course we know that thanksgiving looks back on past blessings, but true thanksgiving also anticipates coming victories as well. “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place” (2 Cor. 2:14).

Thanksgiving Is Not Murmuring Cleaned Up

Some might want to say that they are not complaining, but rather just commenting. Right. Others want to say that the reason they grouse about stuff like Wal-Mart, or pharmaceutical prices, or global corporations, or the Internet, or preservatives, or Nancy Pelosi’s Congress, is that they are bringing a Christian worldview critique to bear. Fine, but where is the joy? A sentimentalist resents having to fight, which is why his fighting, when it occurs, is so anemic. A biblical Christian hates evil, which is not the same thing as whining about it. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Prov. 8:13), but it is a clean hatred— glittering, pointed and joyful.

Application This Thursday

And so, we know that the days are evil. “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16). But this is what Paul tells us right before he urges us to walk in the Spirit, overflowing with thanksgiving. In what kind of time are we to be filled with the Spirit, singing and psalming in our hearts? In evil days. And he says this right before he says to give thanks for all things (Eph. 5:20). Did we catch that? We give thanks for all things in evil days. We serve a sovereign God. And so, this Thursday, strike a blow for righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, and do it with turkey, stuffing, cranberries, potatoes, and pie.

Refugees and Apostles

Christ Church on October 30, 2009

Introduction

As we seek to live our lives as faithful Christians, informed by the Word of God, we soon discover that it is not a simple process. It is not as though the Spirit gave us a rule book, in outline form, fully indexed. He gave us laws, principles, stories, and parables, strewn across various ages and cultures of men. What are we to do with it all?

The Text

“Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times . . .” (Lev. 19:27-29 ).

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world . . . ” (1 John 2:15-17 ).

For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe . . .” (Heb. 5:13-14 ).

Summary of the Texts

These texts before us provide us with a good snapshot of the difficulty. First, consider this. The ancient nation of Israel was told to keep themselves distinct from the pagan nations round about. There were many aspects of this. They were not to eat blood (Acts 15:20 ), use enchantments (Gal. 5:20 ), or observe times (Gal. 4:10 ). They were not to round the corners of their heads (huh?), or trim their beards (what?). They were not to mutilate their flesh, or get tattoos (see?). Because the Lord was their God, they were not to prostitute their daughters (1 Cor. 6:9 ), which would defile the land. The question is which things in this list should we obey, and why? Christians obey some things on this list, ignore others, and have arguments about a third category.

The apostle John tells us that root of sin is an attitude, that of loving the world. If we are wise, we don’t work from a list of prohibited items to the attitude, but rather we deal with the attitude, knowing that it will necessarily entail a list. He breaks out what this love of the world looks like—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These three things, as it happens, were part of the temptation in the Garden. The forbidden fruit was good for food, delightful to the eyes, and able to make one wise (Gen. 3:6 ). None of this is of the Father, but is rather of the world. And the problem with the world is that it is transient, while the one who lives out the will of God lives forever.

As these are difficult issues, they should not be sorted out by those who have been Christians for a year. These are not problems to be handed over to the nineteen-year-olds. Those not yet weaned are unskilful in the Word. But those who are mature understand the Word, and through long practice in sorting out these kinds of issues, know how to distinguish good from evil when a judgment call is needed. All Christians know some things, but not all are mature.

Some Practice Exercises

In this current climate, it is not possible for Christians to go more than fifteen yards without encountering some new practice commended, urged, or demanded by the world, and it is necessary to deal with the resultant questions from your teenagers. “Can I, can I, huh? Why not?” You can keep life simple (for a time) by always saying no, for no particular reason, but that is no worldview. What about temporary tattoos? What about getting permanent tattoos? What about reading vampire fiction for teens written by a Mormon? What could possibly be problematic about that? What about metal music that sounds like a troop of cavalry going over a tin bridge? What about those fetching lip rings and tongue studs? As G.K. Chesteron once put it, art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.

Questions to Work Through

Begin by distinguishing the basic question—always an easy one—from the more complicated ones. Is this an expression of love for God and His Word or is it being filed under the category of, “Well, God never said I couldn’t“? This basic question is another form of asking whether you are being worldly or not. There is another question right next to this basic question. Think of all the people you know who are saintly and are at least twenty-five years older than you are. Do you want to ask them their advice on this or not so much? Is it because you already know what they will think and you don’t want to do it? An honest motive check would fix about 90 percent of our problems, and enable us to talk intelligently about the remaining 10 percent.

Once you have resolved to not be worldly, you still can’t go through life saying, “just because.” You should have reasons for what you say and do. Why are tattoos not in the same category as temple locks? Because of the flow of the whole story. Look at all the piercings and cuttings, and what they mean. Even the one required cutting in the Old Testament is replaced with baptism in the New. What is wrong with vampire fiction? The question should be answered by Christians who know the history of European literature, not to mention sexual diseases. The whole thing is a metaphor for immorality and syphilis. So what could be problematic about sweet Christian girls being taught to be drawn to a dangerous lover? Is this a trick question? What is wrong with music that celebrates rebellion? Why do we even have to ask?

Refugees and Apostles

But as we are interacting with the world (which we must do), we have to make a distinction between refugees and apostles. The twin businessees of the church are birth and growth. Evangelism must not exclude discipleship, and discipleship must not be allowed to exclude evangelism. So in this culture, robust evangelism means welcoming refugees from the world. That means, in the current culture, that we should want our churches filling up with tattooed people, those with memorials of who and where they used to be. But this should not be used as cover for receiving apostles of the world. We must not receive them, or give them the time of day.

God takes us all where we are, and not from where we should have been. If He only took those who were where they should have been, we would all of us be lost. Evangelism means that nonbelievers will be brought into the church. And they will track things in. So? Didn’t you track things in? Did God kick you to the curb?