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Bible Reading, Prayer, & Worship (Workbench of Practical Christianity) (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

It is a great misfortune that many evangelicals view spiritual growth in a very inorganic way. If a little boy wants to grow to be a great warrior, he needs to do three things: eat, sleep, & breathe. Many view spiritual growth in a very mechanistic way; as if to become more godly they need to add more hardware to themselves. But true growth in godliness comes through a few acts of obedience which spring from evangelical faith: read your Bible, say your prayers, and above all, worship the Triune God.

THE TEXT

Exodus 34:14

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

A JEALOUS GOD

We often associate jealousy with sinful attitude. What we often call jealousy would be better described as envy or covetousness. “Jealous” is one of God’s names. This text expands upon the the first commandment, warning Israel that as they enter Canaan they must resist the pull to enter into covenant with the nations which the Lord is going to drive out before them. The ultimate reason for this warning is that such loyalty to the pagan nations is that they will entice Israel into self-willed worship, which is another way of describing idolatry. 

Israel is in covenant with God. For them to break covenant provokes His jealousy. As one theologian points out regarding the sacrificial system under Moses: “The rite speaks of God’s claims on us, whereas what we too often want […] is some kind of claim on God’s mercy, bounty, or gifts.”

SHAPED BY THE WORD

The distinct aroma of the Christian’s life should be the Word of Life. We are not at liberty to live as we pleased, we have been separated unto service. You are not your own.

So in both our private & public worship we must insist upon the grooves of our habits & rituals being biblical. But this is precisely where our internalized sentimentality is rubbed the wrong way. We don’t want to conform to anything other than our own ill-defined grab bag of preferences. 

But if you would serve the living God, you must leave your opinion at the door. You must put your hand over your mouth. You must bend your knee. Most Christians don’t reflect on the fact that much of the OT is a description of how God calls His people to worship Him.

COVENANT RENEWAL 

Our liturgy is shaped by asking the question, how does God expect us to worship Him? When we study Scripture two things emerge in regards to how God deals with His people. First, is that God always deals with man covenantally. Meaning, this world is His and He reveals to us the terms of living in His world, and the blessings which come with living according to His ordering of things, and the curses that will come if you defy Him.

The second thing we see is that the covenant which God brings His people follows a glorious pattern of cleansing, ascending, and communing. This is seen most clearly in the ordering of the three primary levitical offerings. 

The Sin Offering was followed by the Ascension Offering, and the concluding sacrifice was the Peace Offering (Cf. Lev. 9). In the Sin Offering, the caul & the kidneys were offered, and rest of the creature became a portion for the priests, but not the worshipper (Lev. 4:1-5:13). The entire creature, except for the skin, was offered entirely to the Lord in the Ascension/Burnt Offering (Lev. 1:1-17).

But after these were offered, the Peace Offering could be sacrificed. This was a shared meal: the LORD has his portion (Lev. 3:9-11), the priest/mediator received a portion (Lev. 7:31-32), and finally the worshipper partook of this offering (Lev. 7:15). A glorious pattern emerges: God calls us, cleanses us, and consecrates us in order to commune with us.

When Christ took the Passover seder and renovated it into a simple meal of bread and wine, He didn’t disconnect it from what came before. He became the final & all-encompassing sacrifice. 

When we confess our sins at the beginning of our service, we are enjoying Christ as our Sin Offering, His righteousness covers our guilt. When the Word is read & preached to us, and as we lift our various thanksgivings and petitions, in Christ & by Christ our High Priest we are offered up entirely to God. The knife of His Word cuts us up, and the Holy Spirit’s fire consumes us that we might be set apart as priestly kings here upon earth.

Then we come to the Peace Offering which Christ offered on our behalf. This ensured that we might partake with the Father and the Great High Priest of that covenant meal. What Christ offered was the blood of the new testament (Mk. 14:22-24). Having been called, cleansed, consecrated, and enjoying the abundant feast of communion with God Almighty, He commissions us to go forth as ambassadors of this gracious covenant which is offered to all men everywhere.

THE WORD OF LIFE

We begin our week with this ascension into God’s presence, communing with Him and all the saints both here and in Heaven. As we proceed to our various spheres, the duty is to be governed & nourished by the Word. Our worship service is saturated with Scripture, creating grooves in our way of speaking and thinking and living. This ministry of the Word & Visible Word spurs on our daily meditation on the Word which trains us to worship the Lord with skillful understanding (Ps. 47:7)

Trying to walk in accordance with the covenant which we renew here each week, without studying what the covenant calls you to is like fasting for a week before hiking a 14er. You won’t make it far. The Word is our light & our feast.

Regular Bible reading is not just a suggestion. It is mandated by Scripture itself (Deu. 6:6-9; 2 Pt. 3:14-16; Rom. 15:4). The Scriptures fill a man out (2 Tim. 3:17). It illuminates his path (Ps. 119:11). 

BREATHING IN & BREATHING OUT

Every Christian esteems praying, but few pray. To continue an earlier metaphor, the prayerless Christian is like a runner trying to hold her breath while running a long distance race. But evangelical prayer has been muddied in a few ways. Jesus gives a real warning about prayer marked by mindless repetition.

Often believers develop a guilt complex about prayer. So, we can try to generate high quality prayers (“praying until we pray”). The thinking is that if you add a bit of zing & zest to your prayers they’ll get to heaven faster, and the good Lord will be obliged to answer them more quickly. 

We’re also tempted to think that we need to increase the quantity of our prayers. But while it’s our duty to “pray without ceasing,” we ought to understand it rightly, not dip it into an overly sweet piety syrup. Have you ever been paralyzed with the thought that you’re not breathing enough? So then, pray the Lord’s Prayer. Read the Psalms and let the language of them permeate your own prayers. Talk to God. All the time. Tell it all to Him. Ask Him for whatsoever. Intercede for the lost, the orphan, the widow. Breath in and breath out. Pray. Pray. Pray. But don’t be weird about it.

THAT RESTORATION MIGHT COME

When it comes to these basic Christian duties, we should bear in mind that when God gives commands, He is commanding our blessing. He’s the lavish God. When you look at the offerings which are required, the worshipper isn’t obliged to just give a pinch of incense. It’s entire beasts. It’s large casks of wine. It’s fragrant loaves of grain. But these offerings of worship unto God are the result of God’s abundant blessings to Israel.

He increased Abrahams flocks and herds and children. He loaded Israel with all the spoil of Egypt. He filled their barns, filled their wombs, filled their homes. He filled the tabernacle with glory. When we return to God, we find that He is already loading us up with bounty & blessings (Hos. 14). Here is a daily feast. Here is true rest in the courts of Jehovah. Here is the clear air.

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Honoring God in Personal Finances 
(Workbench of Practical Christianity)

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INTRODUCTION

Martin Luther once said that a man needs to be converted twice. The first conversion is that of his heart, and the second one is of his wallet. What we are going to be addressing here is the nature of that wallet conversion. How should we go about honoring God in our personal financial dealings?

THE TEXT

“And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:1–2). 

“And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living” (Mark 12:42–44). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Abraham was the friend of God (Jas. 2:23), and he is the father of all the faithful down through history (Gal. 3:29). He serves as our exemplar in faith (Heb. 11:8), and, as we see in our text, he was very, very rich (Gen. 13:1-2). Despite all of his wealth, he knew how to look for a deeper inheritance (Heb. 11:10), and he sets an example for us in this as well.

But we also have examples from the other end of the spectrum as well. The apostle Paul points out that the saints in Macedonia combined great affliction, deep poverty, and profound joy in order to achieve staggering generosity (2 Cor. 8:2). And in our text, the Lord Jesus sets before us the example of a nameless widow who, measured by the percentages, gave more than all the wealthy tithers. 

And so we see that money matters, and it matters a lot. But it is not a lot of money that matters, unless that is what you have on your mind. What matters is that God has a lot of your heart, as indicated by money. You are the one with the temperature. Money is just the thermometer. 

A NEW COVENANT TITHE

A common assumption that many Christians make is that the tithe was an Old Testament ceremonial thing, somehow fulfilled in Christ, and so our job is to give as “the Spirit moves,” meaning somewhere in the neighborhood of two percent. 

But there is a passage in the New Testament that opens up all the wonderful promises of the Old Testament for us. And here it is:

“Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:13–14). 

The passage in context is talking about how the ministry of the Christian church is to be funded. Paul brings up how the Old Testament Levites and priests were supported, which was by the tithe. He then says “even so, in the same way, likewise” the Lord has ordained the funding of New Testament ministry. The ministry in the Old Testament was funded by the tithe, and this is how the New Testament ministry should be funded—exactly the same way.

But this is not God running low on funds, and needing to put the squeeze on His people. 

“If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof” (Psalm 50:12).

No. Rather, this is an invitation from God to learn how He has determined to bless His people.  

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). 

THE MEANING OF TRIBUTE

Just as sabbath observance is a recognition that God is the Lord of time and history, so it is with the tithe. Observing one day out of seven is our recognition that all seven belong to Him. Giving a tithe your increase is a tangible way of acknowledging all your resources belong to Him, and that you are managing the remaining 90% as a responsible steward.

So you bring your tithes as the Lord’s financial training wheels for you, and this teaches you how to be responsible with your offerings (voluntary gifts) and with your management of the remaining resources that you retain. In all of this you should remember the exhortation of John Wesley: “Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” 

WHAT THE PRIORITIES SHOULD LOOK LIKE

You honor God’s sovereign authority through the tithe. You demonstrate your love for Him through your offerings. You make sure that you fulfill your basic responsibilities by feeding your family (1 Tim. 5:8). You live out your love for others by lending a hand where needed (1 John 3:17). And all of this blends together in one harmonious picture that Paul describes for us.

“Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17–19). 

MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD

You have been redeemed from the slave market of sin. You have been forgiven for all your idolatries, and this includes the idolatry of wealth. Greed is idolatry (Col. 3:5). Covetousness is idolatry (Eph. 5:5). The pride of life is idolatry (1 John 2:16). This means that whatever precious things you may possess—whether in money, or heirlooms, or rare collectibles—you should first make sure that your faith is more precious to you than all of that. 

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7).

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Hard Work & the Sabbath (Workbench of Practical Christianity)

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INTRODUCTION

Our elders recently decided that at the beginning of this academic year, we were going to have a three-week series of messages on practical Christian living, with different messages preached at King’s Cross, CCD, and here. These nine messages will then be bundled together for broader circulation. And so it is that we are taking a brief break from our series through Philippians. 

The topic of our message this morning is going to be “hard work and the sabbath.” Because we are living in the time of the new covenant, we will begin with the Lord’s Day—in the old covenant, it was six days of labor followed by a day of rest. In the new covenant, the day of rest is foundational—it is on the first day, and the six days of labor follow after, and are built on the foundation of gospel rest.

THE TEXT

“And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.” (Mark 2:27–28). 

“The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: But the slothful shall be under tribute.” (Proverbs 12:24). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The perennial sabbath snare is that as soon as we learn that the Fourth Commandment remains binding, we gravitate immediate to a list of things we are not permitted to do. This was the case with the old sabbath, and it has been a recurring temptations for sabbatarians under the new covenant. This is why Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, was routinely accused of sabbath breaking. How did He manage that? He knew that the day of rest was a gift to men, and that men were not to be sacrificed on the altar of sabbath strictness. The text from Mark 2 is from a context where the Lord’s disciples had been picking grain on the sabbath. But rest is grace. Rest is a gift.

What kind of work needs to be built on the foundation of gospel rest? This work needs to have two characteristics. It needs to be industrious and diligent (as in our text), and it needs to be skillful and competent (see Prov. 22:29).

A BRIEF SABBATH PRIMER

The fourth commandment is not the only commandment of the Ten that has somehow been retired, or put out to pasture. But the fact that it is among the moral commands of the Decalogue does not mean that it cannot be amended as redemptive history progresses. We see this when at the first giving of the Law, the ground of sabbath observance was the fact that God had created the world in six days and had rested on the seventh (Ex. 20:11). But in Deuteronomy, the text of the fourth commandment is altered, and the ground of observance was now given as the Exodus (Dt. 5:15). 

In the new covenant, the ground of sabbath observance is altered again. The fact is that Christ entered His rest after the work of redemption was complete, in an analogous way to how God rested at the end of the creation week. He did this on the first day of the week, which is why we still have a sabbath, and it is why our sabbath is on the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day.

“There remaineth therefore a rest [a sabbath] to the people of God. For he [Christ] that is entered into his rest [in His resurrection], he also hath ceased from his own works [of redemption], as God did from his [works of creation]” (Hebrews 4:9–10). 

The Lord pointed to this new reality in numerous ways. In the old covenant, God had said numerous times that the seventh-day sabbath would last as long as the old creation did, which it did (Ex 31:16-17). But when God ushered in a new creation, what then? The sabbath was fulfilled and transformed. The Lord rose on the first day of the week (Matt. 28:1; John 20:1). He appeared to the disciples one week later (John 20:26). The Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost, fifty days later, also on a Sunday (Acts 2:1). The early Christians began gathering on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). We have been honoring the Lord’s Day in this way ever since (Rev. 1:10). 

A WEEKLY CYCLE

We need to take note of what this does. Every Lord’ Day when we gather together, we are pouring a foundation. We want our worship to be Christ-glorifying, which is another way of saying that we want the foundation walls to be straight. When the foundation walls are straight, you are in a good position to have the (hard) work you do line up with that foundation. And what will that mean for your work?

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE

What does work with “straight lines” look like? It should be diligent, industrious. We are not just commanded to rest for one, but also to work for six (Ex. 20:9). It should be competent, skillful, intelligent (Prov. 22:29). Your work should be honest, not conniving or devious (Prov. 20:10). Your work should be imitative. You should not be too conceited to learn from others (Prov. 13:20). Your work should be creative. You must not be afraid to try something new (Eph. 2:10). 

A RITUAL OF REST

Christians ought to be the hardest working people around, but the work we do must not be tormented, or driven, or under the lash. Work is a true privilege, work is a grace. Work was granted to Adam before the Fall (Gen. 2:15), and was not the result of the Fall. Work became more onerous after the Fall (Gen 3:16-19), but that is quite different. The work itself is a grace. Christ came as the second Adam to begin the process of restoring Eden. That is the image we are given with Ezekiel’s Temple, and the New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven. The work we now do we have been liberated and recreated to do.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8–10).

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