Christ Church

The Lord Sets the Ambush

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INTRODUCTION

One of my favorite lines that I’ve heard from a parishioner came from a sweet, faithful lady who had followed the Lord for many years. When she would recount to me something that wasn’t quite as it ought to be, something troubling that needed sorting out, she would add, “Now, Pastor, I am not the fourth member of the Trinity.” 

That is a good thing for us to remember for the Lord resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Our passage reminds us of these things.

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

2 Chronicles 20:1-24

Jehoshaphat, king of Israel, was informed that a great multitude of Moabites and Ammonites were camped at En-gedi and soon to come up in battle against Judah (v. 1-2). Jehoshaphat feared, proclaimed a fast, and all of the cities of Judah gathered to seek the LORD (v. 3-4). Jehoshaphat stood amid this assembly in the house of the LORD and prayed, acknowledging that the LORD ruled over all kingdoms (v. 5-6). He recounted that God gave Israel the land promised to Abraham in which they built a temple for the LORD (v. 7-8). Jehoshaphat recalled the words of Solomon at the dedication of the temple: the name of God was in the temple. When God’s people sought Him there during times of trouble, He would hear and help (v. 9). Jehoshaphat then marked the particular threat from Ammon, Moab, and Edom, asking the LORD to judge them. For Judah had no strength against such a large invading army, indeed they knew not what to do. But their eyes were on their God as they stood before the Lord with their wives and their little ones (v. 12-13) . . .

YOUR NAME IS IN THIS HOUSE

It is not incidental that all the cities of Judah gathered in Jerusalem. Jehoshaphat stood in the house of the Lord because that is where God had placed His name. God made promises about that house. Jehoshaphat recalled those promises that Solomon marked in his day when the temple was dedicated.

“That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive” (1 Kings 8:29-30).

There remains a house of God . . .

BUT YOU SAID, LORD

Jehoshaphat ran into a predicament that all of God’s covenant people run into. God has made promises. But there are routine threats to those promises. Jehoshaphat played it just right when he prayed, 

“Lord, we know not what to do. But our eyes are upon you.” The reply comes, “But Jehoshaphat, you’re the king. Aren’t kings supposed to know what to do?”

And so we discover that the wisdom of kings ultimately lies in them knowing where to stand, with whom to stand, and where to look . . .

THEN CAME THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD

Being downstream from both the industrial revolution and the technological revolution, we are tempted to think we can steer God. Sermons aim to teach the three easy steps to a healthier marriage, or the four simple principles for raising godly children. Practical Christianity is one thing. And paint-by-numbers morality is another. 

All Judah stood before the LORD with their children. They did this while their enemies were just around the corner. And the pragmatic among the congregation were getting a little antsy. “Wait for it . . . wait for it . . . “ whispered the faithful. And the Spirit came upon Jahaziel. 

That’s really the end of the matter. The Spirit comes upon us, and we are saved. He does not come, and we perish . . .

SO SHALL YE PROSPER

The Spirit does His work. And His work is ultimate. But it does not follow that we have nothing to do. We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We must do so because it is God who works in us (Philippians 2:12-13). We’d like to break this down like it is an equation: we do 50% and God does 50%. But, God being holy—set apart—the breakdown is actually that God does 100% and we do 100%. Jehoshaphat knew that Judah had obligations in the face of adversity, so he said, “Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” 

We want to prosper. And there is only one way to do so. Believe God’s prophets . . .

WHEN THEY BEGAN TO SING

When God’s people believe His prophets, they can’t help but worship. Worship is our vanguard. You do have to wonder, if you’re honest, “But really, why the choir out front and not the soldiers?” 

The answer is, you win every battle in the same way you won your eternal salvation. “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” Where were you when Christ determined to lay down His life for you? 

While you very much must suit up for the contest and mind your duties. Do you think He needs you for this one? No, you need only to stand still and see the salvation of the LORD.

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A Woman in Timnah (Judges #14) (CCD)

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THE TEXT:

Judges 14 NKJV

1Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.

2 So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.”

3 Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”

And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for [a]she pleases me well.”

4 But his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

5 So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah.

Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him.

6 And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

7 Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

8 After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion.

9 He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

10 So his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do so.

11 And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

12 Then Samson said to them, “Let me pose a riddle to you. If you can correctly solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.

13 But if you cannot explain itto me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.”

And they said to him, “Pose your riddle, that we may hear it.”

14 So he said to them:

“Out of the eater came something to eat,
And out of the strong came something sweet.”

Now for three days they could not explain the riddle.

15 But it came to pass on the [b]seventh day that they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, or else we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is that not so?”

16 Then Samson’s wife wept on him, and said, “You only hate me! You do not love me! You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me.”

And he said to her, “Look, I have not explained it to my father or my mother; so should I explain it to you?”

17 Now she had wept on him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it happened on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed him so much. Then she explained the riddle to the sons of her people.

18 So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down:

“What is sweeter than honey?
And what is stronger than a lion?”

And he said to them:

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
You would not have solved my riddle!”

19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained the riddle. So his anger was aroused, and he went back up to his father’s house.

20 And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

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Instruments in Yahweh’s Hands (Survey of Isaiah #18) (Troy)

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SERMON TEXT

Isaiah 10:1–19 KJV

1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?

9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?

10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:

14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.

17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.

19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.

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Reformational Family (What is “Reformed” Anyway? #5) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

We live in a world that says you can be anything you want, anything at all – the more bizarre and perverse the better, just don’t be an ordinary, faithful man who marries an ordinary faithful woman, and have a pile of happy, ordinary kids and love and serve the Lord together. Anything but that. And the mischievous Tom Sawyer inside you should grin and say, “Well, now I’m going to normal even harder.”

A significant part of the Protestant Reformation was a recovering of the Bible’s teaching concerning the goodness and power of marriage, children, and family. Celibacy had come to be seen as the “higher calling,” and the duties and responsibilities of family as therefore lower and menial. The devil has always sought to lure people away from the glory of marriage and family precisely because when God’s blessing is upon it, it is such potent goodness. 

The Text: “And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him…” (Gen. 2:18-25)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In a striking contrast to all the “good” that God has made/seen before, God says it is “not good” for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18). This is not merely a statement about bachelors, it is also a statement about the goodness of family and community. The process of naming the animals was educational: Adam was naming their attributes and learning about how God made the world, concluding in part that other creatures had mates, which he lacked (Gen. 2:19-20). So God put Adam in a coma, removed a rib, and constructed the woman from the rib and brought her to Adam (Gen. 2:21-22). Using a Hebrew superlative, Adam spoke the first recorded poem, calling her the best version of his flesh and bones (Gen. 2:23). He also names the woman “eeshah” which is related to the word for “fire,” suggesting glory, and he simultaneously renames himself “eesh,” a glorified-man. For this reason, a man leaves his father and mother and becomes one flesh with his wife, and this union has no shame (Gen. 2:24-25). 

NUCLEAR MARRIAGE

It is perilously easy to take some ordinary things for granted. But one of the ways God tries to get our attention is through death penalties. Modern Christians are sometimes tempted to be embarrassed of the death penalties in Scripture for rebellious sons, adultery, or homosexuality, but even Jesus cited the death penalty for a certain high-handed dishonor of parents (Mk. 7). If you met the CEO of a nuclear power plant, and he told you they just “wing it,” you would be understandably concerned. If your neighbors announced one day that they bought some uranium and plutonium off the internet and they were going to be doing some experiments in their basement, you would be very concerned. And it should not give you any pause, when they ask why you care so much about what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home. 

We are living in the nuclear fallout of the sexual revolution. Skyrocketing crime, mass incarceration, substance abuse, suicide, sexual abuse, and 65 million dead babies and counting is our Chernobyl. It is not whether there will be death penalties. The only question is who will be executed. We have not actually repudiated capital punishment; we have simply reassigned it to the most innocent. While the death penalty is only mandatory for murder, other crimes do approach that harm to the image of God and therefore allow for death as a possible maximum sentence. And many of those crimes center on the destruction of marriage and family because that is where people are being made: immortal souls, images of God, that will live forever. 

REFORMED MARRIAGE

A reformed view of marriage understands the gift of marriage to be a great “good,” not an accommodation to human sin or weakness (Gen. 1-2). Sin certainly adds many difficulties, but marriage, sexual intimacy, and the fruitfulness of children were gifts given before the Fall. A reformed view of marriage also affirms the creational good of the original structure of marriage: the woman was made from the man and for the man, and she is therefore, the glory of man (1 Cor. 11:1-12). Closely related is the sacrificial leadership of the husband and the respectful submission of the wife to her own husband (cf. Eph. 5:22-25). All of this is bound by a covenant, enacted by public vows and sealed with sexual union, recognized by God and blessed by Him (Gen. 1:28, Mal. 2:14). This is why a man must love his wife as his own body. God really does make the two into one covenant body, and therefore what a husband/father does impacts everything. The covenant is a multiplier for good or evil. While each member certainly is responsible before God individually, the head is also responsible for the whole body. 

APPLICATIONS

One of the “doctrines of devils” is “forbidding to marry” (1 Tim. 4:3). And sometimes this happens through a kind of hardening that simply rejects the natural use of men/women (Rom. 1:26-27). Therefore, beware of celibacy movements. Nevertheless, encourage singles in chastity and faithfulness even as they bear this hardship. Related, generally aim for earlier marriage, but don’t overshoot. Just because early 20s is good, doesn’t mean that 17 is better. It is not buying into worldly feminism to want your sons and daughters actually prepared for marriage. 

To the married: do not deprive one another sexually (1 Cor. 7:3). There are relatively few warnings about Satan’s attacks, but regular intimacy is one way to guard against them (1 Cor. 7:5). The marriage bed is honorable and undefiled (Heb. 13:4). The Song of Songs is in the Bible.

Children are reinforcements (Ps. 127). Welcome and celebrate children. But a man with five kids and a wife who has had three miscarriages in a row is not necessarily becoming worldly to decide (humanly speaking) to be done having kids. But this is a private decision. So mind your own business, and husbands love your wives as you consider your resources (Lk. 14:31).

Every covenant brings with it blessings and curses. The central thing that God blesses is faith, but this faith is alive and it obeys. And therefore the instructions to family members are not arbitrary. Husbands love and lead like Christ. Wives respect and obey in the Lord. Parents teach and discipline. Children obey. The stakes are very high, but the blessings are very rich. 

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Psalm 148: Praise That Plunges

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INTRODUCTION

This is a psalm of praise in action. It begins in the highest heaven, and descends to the deeps, and invites everyone and everything in between to join in with this chorus of praise. Moreover, this wonderful psalm concludes with a promise that is attached to all heartfelt praise. God is exalted in a particular kind of praise, and He makes sure to exalt that kind of praise in turn. There is a reciprocity in praise that will usher in tremendous blessings when we come to understand it.

THE TEXT

“Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass. Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps: Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word: Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl: Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD” (Ps. 148:1-14).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

We have here another hallelujah psalm. It begins with yet another hallelujah. Praise ye the LORD (v 1). But this is praise that begins on the high dive—in the heavens, praise Him from the heights (v. 1). The residents of this high heaven are summoned to praise Him—the angels and heavenly host (v. 2). Moving through the high places, the sun, moon and stars are called into the rising praise (v. 3). The heaven of heavens, and the waters that are above the heavens are told to join in (v. 4). Let everything that is high praise the name of their Creator (v. 5). He is the one who established them for good and all (v. 6).

But then the psalmist takes a leap, and all that praise plunges to earth—praise the Lord, you dragons and deeps (v. 7). What down here shall praise the Lord? Well, fire does, and hail, and snow, and vapor. Then there are the stormy winds that do His pleasure (v. 8). Remember the astonishment of the disciples—even the winds and waves obey Him (Matt. 8:27). The choir includes both mountains and hills, fruit trees and cedar trees (v. 9). We then move out to the animal kingdom—beasts, cattle, and birds (v. 10). And don’t forget the creeping things (v. 10). One of the things we know about our Creator is that He has, as the fellow said, “an inordinate fondness for beetles.” There are over 400,000 species of beetle.

We come finally to the human part of the choir. At the risk of sounding like a Christian nationalist, kings and princes are told to praise Jehovah (v. 11). As Calvin noted, they might be among those who are the most reluctant to do so, and so they are singled out. But all the people, and all judges, receive the same summons (v. 11). Executive, legislative, and judiciary—praise ye the Lord. The psalmist leaves no one out—young men, old men, maidens, and children (v. 12). All are to praise Him, and the reason is then given to us—His name is excellent, and His glory transcendent (v. 13). And then comes the great promise. When we exalt Him, He exalts us (v. 14). He exalts the kind of praise that exalts Him. This is actually the meaning of revival—when the Spirit of God anoints and adorns the worship of God. So praise ye the Lord.

NOT DEAD MATTER

The cosmos is not simply an inert collection of atoms. It is not a mass of dead matter. The cosmos is teeming with life—angels, the heavenly host, principalities and powers, thrones, and dominions. And there are some things that are commonly assumed by modern materialists to be simply inanimate objects, but Scripture tells us otherwise. “Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what a star is made of.” The heavenly host—exhorted here to sing louder—is the very same heavenly host that came down and announced to the astonished shepherds that they needed to go into town to see something (Luke 2:13). And then there are things in this stretch of the Psalms that really are inanimate—cymbals, say. Nevertheless, everything that makes noise need to be employed in this triumph of praise.

So there is far more here than human beings looking at the stars and praising God for them. Rather, this would be the stars themselves doing the praising. A cascading waterfall praises God. Thunder in the mountains, and echoing valleys, praise the Lord. Cows grazing in the meadow, apparently not doing much, are praising God. All the insect life on the floor of that meadow—that too is a constant stream of praise.  

RECIPROCITY AND REVIVAL

We live in an astonishing world. When God gives the gift of a quickening revival, we get a glimpse of that astonishing world—both material and spiritual, both creational and redemptive, and we begin to praise. The praise catches fire—and the Holy Spirit is that fire—and the praise ascends to Heaven, tracing its way back up by the path that this psalm came down. The psalm is given by God from the heights, and it lands in the deeps. We pick it up, and offer it back to God. And what does He do?

He exalts our horn. A praising people is exalted by God, and one of the things He exalts is the nature of that praise itself. God Himself inhabits the praises of His people (Ps. 22:3), which is what makes it glorious. This is why we can go out to battle with the choir in the vanguard. This is the beauty of holiness, which does not mean the cuteness of holiness. It is truly dreadful, and awesome, and terrible, and worthy of all praise (2 Chron. 20:21). The God who created the choir of all creation is the same God who anoints that same choir. And when He does this, there is no standing against Him.

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