Christ Church

Lessons for the Limelight (Joint Outdoor Worship Service Part #2)

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INTRODUCTION

Even given the tumultuous time we have had over the last few years, and the attention that it has brought us, it would still be too much for us to say that “all eyes are on Moscow.” That is simply not true. But it would be accurate for us to say that more eyes are on us than used to be the case, and that more eyes are on us than we are accustomed to. On the assumption that you have taken to heart the exhortation you have heard from Pastor Toby today, which is that you need to be faithful within your radius, within your reach here locally, you are still going to be affected by what is going on nationally and even internationally. What should all of us be doing about that?

THE TEXT

“So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

We can take note of three distinct things about this passage. The first is that a spirit of willingness to work had come upon the people. The “people had a mind to work” (v. 6). The second is that they were competent in their work. Their willingness did not result in the kind of haste that requires you to tear it up and start over. “If you don’t have time to do it right, how will you have time to do it over?” It says that they built the wall, and it shows that the wall was successfully joined together. This was competent work. And third, if you look at the preceding verses, they were working diligently and competently in the presence of hostile outsiders (vv. 1-3). This becomes very evident in the next verse also. “But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it” (Nehemiah 4:7–8). 

MIND TO WORK

When Scripture speaks on certain principles, we need to remember that they apply as much to communities as they do to individuals. On this point, individuals can be lazy, but so can cultures be. For example, Paul chided the Cretans— “One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies” (Titus 1:12). When this takes root in a culture, the same kind of destructive consequences start to unfold as well.  

“The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: But the soul of the diligent shall be made fat” (Proverbs 13:4). 

“The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason” (Proverbs 26:16). 

CREAM RISES

But hustle is not sufficient. There are people who work hard, and they are very confident, but their level of expertise and level of self-awareness are not even in the same room. 

“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men” (Proverbs 22:29, NKJV). 

OPPOSITION IS A DETAIL BUT…

We are accustomed to the opposition, and know how to process it. We have gotten to the point where opposition is baked in. But what shall we do when the dam breaks and everybody wants to team up? What kind of help do we receive? What do we reject? What do we cooperate with cautiously?

Ezra and Nehemiah certainly received help from a pagan king. 

“And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me” (Nehemiah 2:8).

At the same time, there was help that it would have been foolish to accept (Ezra 8:22).

“If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (2 John 10–11). 

ALL OF CHRIST FOR ALL OF LIFE

You are no doubt aware of the very visible place that various Moscow institutions have come to occupy—from Canon+ to Logos School, from Logos School to New St. Andrews College, and from NSA to our network of churches. There has been a torrent of books, documentaries, graduates, joint projects and more. In all of this, and for all of this, we must give glory to God. In addition to such things, you might also guess that this has opened some doors that are not so visible, and that there is significant influence that is not visible. If you guessed this, you would be correct.  

Now a lot of this treasury of teaching and information was accumulated and stockpiled back when we were being ostracized. In fact, there were seasons when we would get beat like a rented mule. As it happens, this is starting to shift, for which we are most grateful. At the same time, we must remember that the devil has two major tactics that he uses on the church. The first is harassment and persecution, in which he tries to get the church to fail by failing. When that doesn’t work, and the church perseveres through those dangers intact, he moves on to his second strategy, which is to get the church to fail by succeeding. 

“How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (John 5:44). 

“But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; Then he forsook God which made him, And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation” (Deuteronomy 32:15).

To which we must respond as Christians—Christians in the beginning, Christians in the middle, and Christians to the end. 

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A Mind to Work (Joint Outdoor Worship Service Part #1)

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INTRODUCTION

We live in the ruins of Western Christendom. The walls of once great Christian nations and civilizations have been breached by new pagan hordes. But God in His kindness has done something remarkable here locally in Moscow. He has given us a mind to the work of rebuilding the walls of Christendom. And He has done this in such a way as to cause a spotlight to be shone on this work. People have noticed us building. 

So what are we to think of all this? And what we are to do? The simple answer and exhortation is to remain faithful at your stations. Keep your mind to the work.

The Text: “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work” (Neh. 4:6)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This comes in the midst of God’s people being mocked for their work under Nehemiah, rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Their enemies are angry, and they are trying to stir up trouble. They say the Jews are weak and feeble. They say they will not accomplish much. And they say the Jews will certainly not reestablish worship. And whatever they do accomplish, it will be worthless and flimsy and collapse again. And in the midst of that opposition, Nehemiah prays that God would hear these taunts and turn their attacks back upon their own heads. And armed with that prayer, the Jews built the wall, and they made good progress in building the wall, and the people had a mind to work. 

Broadly speaking, our central tasks can divided into three areas: keeping short accounts, honest/diligent labor/study before the Lord, and worshipping like you mean it. 

KEEPING SHORT ACCOUNTS

In order to keep our minds to the work, we must have clear minds. And the only way to have clear minds is to have clean hearts. Jesus says that before you talk to your brother about the speck in his eye, first remove the log in your own eye. Then you will see clearly to help your brother. Sin gums up the gears of everything. Sin is like mud on your windshield. Sin is like walking in the dark. Sin doesn’t allow you to see clearly or think clearly. One of the great lies of the Devil is that sin is just the way things are and there’s nothing really to be done about it. The lie is that since everyone sins, normal life is just full of darkness. 

But the gospel says that is not true. The gospel says that God sent His Son into this dark world in order that we might have light. The gospel says that it is possible for sinners to walk in the light with God and have fellowship with one another. 1 John 1:7 says: “If you walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” How does the blood of Jesus cleanse us from all our sins? “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9). It is possible to walk in the light. It is possible to have a clean heart. This is what we mean by keeping short accounts. 

This is how you don’t allow sin to accumulate in your hearts or lives. If you have two houses on the same street, both with large families, and one is clean and tidy and the other one looks like a bomb went off, the difference between the clean house and the dirty house is that in the clean house they pick up. The clean house family has dirty dishes and dirty clothes and spills just like everybody else, but they do the dishes and the laundry, and they clean up the spills. The dirty house ignores the messes, tries to hide them in closets or under the rug, despite the awful smell permeating the house. So this is how you can have a clear mind: have a clean heart and stay in fellowship with your people. 

HONEST AS A HUGUENOT

In the 17th century, it was common say, “honest as a Huguenot.” We want to cultivate the same kind of reputation in all our labor. This means no lies and complete sobriety. The truth is the foundational currency of value. A good name and honesty and integrity are even more valuable than the gold standard, bitcoin, or however you’re trying to stave off inflation. The most damaging form of inflation is the inflation of truth. The shysters in the ancient world shaved and clipped coins: do not clip the truth, do not shave the truth. The righteous man swears to his own hurt and doesn’t break his promises. Let your yes be a “yes” and your “no” a “no.” A mind to the work, is an honest mind to the work. Liars have to constantly keep track of their lies, but truth-tellers sleep well at night. And wherever you have not told the truth, go make it right, even if it hurts. That’s the only way to have a mind to the work. But every brick you lay in your family or in this community under pretense or hypocrisy or theft, hoping no one will find out about your lies, is a brick that has no integrity. It would be far better to confess it now, so we can repair the damage now than in six months or six years when the damage is even greater. 

Closely related to honest work is sober-minded work. We are community that celebrates, and that means it is common to attend a dinner or a party with wine or beer or scotch. The Bible says that God gave wine to make the hearts of men glad, and Jesus turned water into wine for His miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. We want to be the kind of people who would gladly enjoy Christ’s miracle. But the Bible is equally clear that drunkenness is sinful, harmful, and utterly disastrous. We want to continue to build a culture of true Christian joy and celebration, but that joy is clear-headed and sober-minded, not tipsy, not buzzing. 

CONCLUSION: WORSHIP LIKE YOU MEAN IT

At the center of all our labor is worship. And that means coming before the Lord honestly. If we are to be truly honest about our sins and truly honest in all our labor, we must fundamentally come before the Lord in complete honesty. God already knows everything. He sees through all our excuses, all our blame-shifting, all our hypocrisies. And those who humble themselves and come in the righteousness of Jesus Christ are most welcome, and the Spirit comes and blesses them and sends them from God’s presence with joy and vigor. 

This is what we mean by worship like you mean it. Worship in faith, believing that the God of Heaven really lifts us up into His presence. That as we sing and pray and listen and eat, the gates of Hades are being shaken – that everything that cannot stand is being broken down, so that only those things that can remain stand firm.

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Meditating on Mt. Zion (Troy)

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SERMON TEXT

Joshua 1:8

INTRODUCTION

What are the spiritual disciplines in this great religion of ours? Prayer is usually the first to come to mind. To watch God work through the vehicle of answered prayer is one of the great experiences of a believer. We should cling to it like a butterfly to a flower in the wind. Martin Luther said, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” E.M. Bounds said, “Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.” Which is why the consistent charge here at Christ Church Troy has been to be spiritually disciplined about prayer. What about Bible reading? Like the Jews who gathered their manna from off the ground, we turn to the pages of scripture to have our portion for the day. And what the Lord has for us will vary: sometimes conviction, sometimes a proverb. There is chastisement and warnings. There is comfort and blessing. There is cloak and dagger, characters who prefer the shadows. And there is Jesus who teaches the inverse, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men.” John Wesley said this about daily Bible reading, “I want to know one thing—the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very end He came from heaven. He has written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God!”

A BIBLICAL DEFINITION OF MEDITATION

I would like to provide a working definition of biblical meditation. Biblical meditation is a deliberate act of contemplation where a focus is maintained on an object for a period of time. Consequently, the caliber of the meditation is determined by the virtue of the object. There is a prayer that the Psalmist makes in Psalm 19 and Psalm 104. He says, “Let the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. May my meditation be pleasing to Him.” The verse contains an implicit assertion, that what you meditate on, may not please God. When Johannes Kepler, a German scientist in the 17th century, was asked how he was able to make such incredible discoveries about planetary motion he said, “I was merely thinking God’s thoughts after him.” And that is exactly what this meditation business is all about, syncing up our minds with God’s. Now in the definition I provided, I mentioned that meditation requires an object. We’re going to see that the scope of this singular object can be broad and the time period can be of varying lengths, but the Bible does tell us what it is we should focus on when we meditate.

THE OBJECT OF OUR MEDITATION

Joshua 1:8 says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Notice these four things in the verse. First, anything you say should be guided by the Bible, influenced by the Bible, filtered through the Bible, or a quotation of the Bible. Second, anything you think should be directed by the Bible, supported by the Bible, and controlled by the Bible. Third, the reason why you speak biblically and think biblically is so that you will do things that are biblical. Do you remember Luke 11? Jesus walks by and a woman in the crowd shouts to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” And His reply was, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” What good is your theological knowledge if you don’t do anything with it? James says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Paul says, “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.“ And lastly, if you speak, think, and act biblically then you will have prosperity and success.

A TIME AND A PLACE

Third, let us comment on meditation regarding time and place. When it comes to time, there is no time limit restricting mediation. Psalm 1:2 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 119, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” But interestingly, there does appear to be a special connection between night time and meditation. Listen to these verses, “My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may mediate on your promise.” “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” “When I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night, you have been my help.”

CONCLUSION – THE METHODOLOGY OF MEDITATION AND THE BATTLE FOR OUR MINDS

I will grant to you that perhaps no other generation in history has had to contend with more distractions than we have. Isaac did not have to deal with an algorithm that is designed from the ground up to keep you scrolling. Whether it’s social media or video games, we’ve got a problem. Jamie Griesemer, a lead game designer for Bungie asked this question, “What makes a video game addictive and can you deliberately design that? The secret of great game design is creating a repeatable gameplay loop to hook players. This loop needs to be the central activity the players engage in and it also needs to be flexible enough that it can be applied across the entire length of the game.” And so software development firms are now hiring PhD psychologists to help them perfect the timing. Achievements, treasure chests, and in-game loot are all carefully delivered to the player at the right time in the right amounts to maximize the game’s addictive property. And it’s working. In 2005, a 28-year-old man from Beijing died after playing the game World of Warcraft for several days straight. In 2015, a 24-year-old man from Shanghai played for 19 hours straight, he collapsed in an internet cafe and could not be resuscitated. In 2014, a 38-year-old man committed suicide after struggling with his addiction. This world wants to enslave your mind. Instead of carefully curating and selecting what we consume, we let the algorithm tell us what to focus on. And the future will continue to supply more and more amusements to vie for our attention. Because of this, our need for meditation has never been greater.

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On Loving the Standard (Biblical Child Discipline in an Age of Therapeutic Goo #9)

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INTRODUCTION

The chances are pretty good that over the years you have heard me say something like this. You task as parents is not to get your kids to conform to the standard, but rather to get them to love the standard. This may seem straightforward and simple, but there are actually layers to it. As we pursue this, we turn to the greatest commandment in the Bible, which is where we find the authority to say things like “love the standard.”

THE TEXT

“Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deuteronomy 6:1–9). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This passage is where we find the greatest commandment in all of Scripture. We know this on the authority of the Lord Jesus Himself (Matt. 27:36-40). Now God gave Israel all His laws and statutes, in order that they might live them out in the land (v. 1). Doing this, they would fear the Lord, keep His word, from grandfather to grandson, through lengthened days (v. 2). Hear and do, O Israel, that you might prosper (v. 3). Then we come to the great Shema, hear, O Israel. The Lord your God is one (v. 4). You shall love the Lord your God with all that you have and are (v. 5). These words must be taken into the heart (v. 6). From the heart, you are to teach them diligently to your kids—all the time (v. 7). Bind these commandments to yourself (v. 8), and post them on your house and gates (v. 9).   

LOVE CAN BE TAUGHT

The first thing to take away from this passage is the understanding that love is a thing that can indeed be taught. But it cannot be taught by people who do not understand it themselves. Those who would teach this love to others must have it first themselves. Before you teach it to your children, you must be doing it yourself. Love the Lord your God with all your heart (v. 5). The words of His commandments must reside in your heart (v. 6). From the heart, it flows to the mouth, and from the mouth to the environment of the entire home. 

Religious instruction of children must not be pro forma or perfunctory. You are not ticking boxes, but rather nurturing souls, starting with your own.

COMMANDED TO LOVE

The fact that we are commanded to love does not take away from the nature of God’s grace. In his Confessions, Augustine once said, “Give what you command, and then command whatever you will.” Our obedience to this kind of requirement is entirely dependent upon the sovereign grace of God. 

“Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway” (Deuteronomy 11:1). 

“In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it” (Deuteronomy 30:16). 

The fruit of the Spirit, the working of His grace in our lives, maps very nicely onto the commands of God. What is the greatest command? Love (Dt. 6:4-9). What is the first fruit? Love (Gal. 5:22). It is the same thing all the way through—joy (Phil. 4:4; Gal. 5:22), peace (John 14:1; Gal. 5:22), longsuffering (Eph. 4:2; Gal. 5:22), gentleness (Tit. 3:2; Gal. 5:22), goodness (1 Tim. 6:18), faith (John 8:24; Gal. 5:22), meekness (1 Pet. 3:4; Gal. 5:23), and temperance (Tit. 2:2; Gal. 5:23). God gives us commands, and His Spirit grows obedience to those commands in us. Our responsibility is not to go obey Him on our own, and then bring that obedience back to Him, expecting some kind of a reward. No, we go in His grace, and we come back in His grace.

And we model for our children what this is like. As we walk along the road, we have them by the hand. 

Children learn by imitation primarily. “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1). 

GOOD AND GODLY TEACHING

What does it mean to teach? It means to love your God, and the subject you are handling, in the presence of a student, whom you also love. It means to love God and your neighbor, and then to work out the problem together. 

This always brings us back to Jesus Christ. There is nothing worse, nothing more suffocating, than to be trapped in a Christless Christianity. Of course, this is not really Christianity at all, but there appears to be an abundant supply of this counterfeit nonetheless. A Christianity without Christ has no blood in it, no salt, no sap. 

But when Christ is present . . .? How would it be possible not to love the standard? “Great peace have they which love thy law: And nothing shall offend them” (Psalm 119:165; cf. 97,113, 163).

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