Old Testament Archives - Page 79 of 143

Have Yourself a Merry Little Chalcedon Christmas

Christ Church on December 2, 2018

Introduction

King Ahaz was enough of a good guy to at least have the prophet Isaiah tryingto encourage him. Ahaz had refused to join in with an anti-Assyrian alliance, and Syria (also called Aram) and Ephraim (also called Israel) attacked Judah for not joining with them. They failed in that attack, but succeeded gloriously in rattling Ahaz badly. Isaiah invites Ahaz to ask for a sign from God, but Ahaz (rebelliously) declines to do so. And so Isaiah offers the sign—a sign with two layers.

The Text

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

Summary of the Text

We are not told this explicitly, but the first Immanuel might well be a son to Isaiah. In this section of the book, the prophet has had two other sons with names full of meaning (Is. 7:3; 8:1). And the word for virginhere is interesting. The Hebrew word almahmeans young woman orvirgin, and so the sign for Ahaz was not one of a remarkable birth. The sign was that before a child could be conceived, borne, and grow to a rudimentary knowledge of right and wrong, the kings that he was so worried about would be long gone. But then centuries after this, when the Old Testament was translated into Greek (starting in the 3^rdcentury B.C.), the Greek word the rabbis chose to render the word almahwas parthenos. Parthenosmeans virgin, only virgin, and nothing but virgin. So the first Immanuel was born of an almah, and the second Immanuel was born of a parthenos.

“Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin [parthenos] shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matt. 1:22–23).

But the real sleeper in this passage in found in that word Immanuel. When you read this verse on a Christmas card, or hear it read at a Christmas program, the effect is profoundly comforting. God with us. But if your experience is anything like that of the early church, at some point you will have to say, “Hey . . . wait a minute.”

From the Very Start

Jesus is the single most arrestingfigure in all of human history. And for His followers in the first century, the authority of His person translated immediately and naturally into responding to Him as God.

This in itself was really unusual, because Jesus was born in the tribe of Judah, in the nation of Israel, a people that had had pagan forms of idolatry painstakingly beatenout of them over the course of multiple centuries. From the incident of the Golden Calf down to the exile into Babylon, the people had repeatedly fallen prey to gross idolatry. But after the exile, the Jews were fanatical about not allowing images in their midst—all their idols were now down in their hearts. In other words, if a manwere to come to be treated as God, this is the last place on earth where you might expect something like that to happen.

“Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God” (Matt. 14:33) “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). “Inthe beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1–3). “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Col. 1:16–17).

So from the very beginning, Christ has been worshiped by Christians as the Creator God (Rom. 1:4). That was the raw material.

The Nicea “Wait a Minute”

But it did raise some questions. And it did provoke some heretics, who denied it all and wanted to be accepted by the Church anyway. All these things took centuries to unfold, but by 325 A.D. it all came to a point. The question came to this: homoousiaand homoiousia—was Christ the samesubstance with God the Father, or of a similarsubstance with Him? This was actually a monumental question. The wiseacre historian who belittled it as a huge ruckus over the letter iotais just showing us how much he knows—that’s like saying the debate over atheism and theism is a debate over the letter a.

Nicea settled the question definitively. Christ isGod. He is not “like” God.

The Chalcedon “Wait a Minute”

It took another century (451 A.D.), but there was another “wait a minute.” If Christ is God, then . . . the question naturally arises . . . is He really manthen? And, if so, what is the relationship between His Deity and His humanity? And those are the questions addressed by the creed we recited this morning.

The Definition of Chalcedon affirmed, in unambiguous terms, that in the “hypostatic union” we find one person, the Lord Jesus, who has two natures that were united without confusing them, mingling them, or mashing them together. That which is predicated of one nature can be faithfully predicated of the person, and that which is predicated of the other nature can be predicated of the person, but that which is predicated of one nature cannot be predicated of the other nature.

So let me make it concrete. Jesus is God. Jesus was 5’11” (say). Can we say that Deity is 5’11”? Jesus is God. Mary is the mother of Jesus. Is Mary the mother of God? No. She was the mother of the one who isGod.

Implications

There are numerous implications, but one writer thinks (correctly, in my view) that this decision at Chalcedon was one of the most pivotal events in all church history. “Chalcedon handed statism its major defeat in man’s history.” In a world of undifferentiated being, the state can swell up to any size it wants. But not anymore.

To use the categories of the theologian Peter Jones, there are two basic approaches to reality—oneismand twoism. In oneism, all things are part of the same great chain of being. In twoism, there is an infinite divide between Creator and creation. There is one (and only one) intersection between the two, and that intersection is our Lord Jesus Christ. But note, even at that intersection, the nature of humanity and divinity must never be muddled. In fact, coming to Christ is the only way to prevent them from being muddled.

Because of what happened in the first Christmas, and because of how it was defined and defended at Chalcedon, it is possible for mankind to be saved and glorifiedwithout being deified. The Incarnation brings us together with God, but with a hard stopbuilt into the system.

The point of union and the point of distinction are forever and always the same, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 100: Serve the Lord with Gladness

Christ Church on November 25, 2018

Introduction

True worship comes from true hearts, and true hearts are filled to overflowing with gladness. This gladness can be solemn, as it is at a wedding (solempne), or this gladness can be jubilant, as it is after a victorious battle. But the thing it must never be is sullen or surly or sulky. Who needs that kind of worship? Who needs thatkind of service? Not the Lord.

The Text

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lordwith gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lordhe is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lordis good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Ps. 100:1-5).

Summary of the Text

This is a psalm of thanksgiving, praise and joy. All the tribes, all lands, are invited to join in with the joyful noise (v. 1). True service rendered to God is, of necessity, glad service rendered to God. We are supposed to come into His presence with singing, which is the indicator that we are supposed to do it with gladness (v. 2). We begin this service with knowledge—knowthat the Lord is God (v. 3). He is the one who has made us, and not we ourselves (v. 3). We are the sheep of His pasture (v. 3). As we come into His presence, we should do it with thanksgiving and praise (v. 4). We must be thankful to Him, and bless His name (v. 4). The Lord is truly good. His mercy is everlasting. His truth endures to all generations (v. 5).

Worship in Gladness

The word rendered as “serve” here in v. 1 has the sense of worship, which is what worship is. We are accustomed to those who treat praise and worship as synonyms, but they are not. Praise is a subset of worship, but worship is not a subset of praise. Worship is when we make ourselves available to God to do whatever He requires of us. Worship is service. Worship is to appear before the Lord in an obedient frame of mind. “Present your bodies a living sacrifice . . . which is your spiritual worship” (Rom. 12:1-2). When Isaiah catches a glimpse of the Lord, high and lifted up in the Temple, and his response is “Here am I, Lord, send me,” this is his worship.

We come to worship the Lord because He tells us to, but we must also worship the Lord in the way He tells us to. And here He summons us to come before His presence with thanksgiving, and with praise, and with singing, and with gladness.

For He Has Made Us (Again)

We are to do so because we know that the Lord God is the one who has made us. It would be natural (and not wrong) to take this as gladness in the mere fact of our creation. We are creatures, and did not fashion ourselves. We did not make ourselves, or create ourselves. Of course not. But John Calvin interprets this place as talking about our re-creation in God’s regeneration of us. Because the psalmist follows it up immediately with the observation that we are the “sheep of his pasture,” Calvin assumes that this is talking about the gift of the new birth.

Thanksgiving Based on Knowledge

Because we know that the Lord is God, because we know that He is the one who has made us (or remade us), thereforewhat follows? What follows is a joyful noise, singing, gladness, thanksgiving, praise, and a blessing of His name. This knowledge is not a knowledge that simply uses the name Godas a placeholder, but rather understands the Godness of God.

We are not Stoics or fatalists. We know that God is ultimately and absolutely God, and that He is in utter control of all events. This includes the events that we naturally and spontaneously thank Him for, obviously, but it also includes those hard providences that we have difficulty processing.

When you enter His courts with gladness, all of you are carrying something. Each one of you brings something here with you to present to the Lord. If that is a bountiful thing, a good harvest thing, a great promotion thing, it is our delight to fulfill our duty in this. But a number of you are dealing with (or reeling under) hard circumstances. It may be a difficult diagnosis, or a straying loved one, or financial pressures, or end of life decisions, or hard duties, or an impossible person in your life, or a difficult boss, or any number of other possibilities. When you come into God’s courts, that is what you must carry in with you to present to Him, and you must do it with gladness.

“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess. 5:16–18).

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20).

Gladness, Not Maneuvering

Gladness in all things, and for all things, is not maneuvering, or waffling, or noodling. It is growing up into a real maturity. Let me take a common stressor (finances) to illustrate what I mean.

Let us say that you consistently have too much month left at the end of your money. Financial pressure is a constant reality in your life. The temptation (when you are not leaning in the gladness direction) is to want, desire, and pray for extra money in order that the pressure might be relieved. Fourth grade is too much for you, and so you pray that a miracle might happen that will get you back into third grade. But more money would put you in seventh grade.

More money is additional weight, more responsibility. Our problem is that we ignore that part of it when we pray for more. We actually ask for more responsibility so that we might be allowed to be less responsible—which is absurd. It doesn’t work that way. Gladness grows you up. Mature Christians are the glad Christians. And poutiness is never a mature look.

Hesed Never Runs Out

We are Christians; we are followers of Christ. And Christ is Lord, and the Lord is good. For His mercy (hesed, lovingkindness) is everlasting. Everlasting means lasting forever. This is His truth, and His truth never runs out either. It endures to all generations. That was true when these words were written, and now thousands of years later, we are not ever close to the end of “all generations.” Christ is yesterday, today, and forever.

Psalm 99: Between the Cherubim

Christ Church on November 18, 2018

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Introduction

As we worship Jehovah for His infinite wisdom, right at the peak of our praises must be the recognition that His mercyto us is altogether holy. How He managed to do that is beyond all finite calculation. But fortunately, it is not beyond our ability to adore and praise.

The Text

“The Lordreigneth; let the people tremble: He sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. The Lordis great in Zion; And he is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name; For it is holy. The king’s strength also loveth judgment; Thou dost establish equity, Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt ye the Lordour God, And worship at his footstool; For he is holy. Moses and Aaron among his priests, And Samuel among them that call upon his name; They called upon the Lord, and he answered them. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: They kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them. Thou answeredst them, O Lordour God: Thou wast a God that forgavest them, Though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions. Exalt the Lordour God, And worship at his holy hill; For the Lordour God is holy” (Psalm 99).

Summary of the Text

This psalm can be divided into three sections or strophes as well. Each one of those sections ends with exultation in the holiness of God. Holiness is therefore the three-fold refrain. His name is holy (v. 3). His judgments are holy (v. 5). His mercy is holy (v. 9). Because Jehovah reigns, His people tremble and the earth staggers (v. 1). He reigns from between the cherubim, which is where the mercy seat is (v. 1). The Lord is great in Zion, high over the people (v. 2). His name is great and terrible (v. 3), and is to be honored as holy. God is the king who loves judgment, who loves the justice of judgment (v. 4), and He establishes equity (v. 4). All of it is righteous (v. 4). Because He is like this, we must worship at His footstool, in front of the mercy seat, for He is holy (v. 5). He is the God who answers prayer, as He did for His priests, Moses and Aaron, and as He did for Samuel (v. 6). He spoke to them from the cloudy pillar, and they kept His testimonies and ordinances (v. 7). When God answers prayer, He makes a distinction between sinner and sin. He forgave them, but took vengeance on their inventions (v. 8). Because all of this is truth itself, we are to exalt the Lord, and worship at His holy hill—for He is holy (v. 9).

His Merciful Name is Terrible

This is a jubilant psalm, but the joy in it is not a frothy or lite kind of thing. The rejoicing people here tremble(v. 1). The name we are praising is a great and terrible name—with terriblehere being understood as that which means the kind of awe that causes earthquakes. The earth staggers (v. 1). It is a psalm that rejoices in forgiveness, but this is not a “boys will boys” kind of forgiveness. It is no gloss-over-it forgiveness. This is forgiveness that maintains the highest and holiest of standards. The king lovesjudgment and equity (v. 4). And after He has separated our sins from us, He takes vengeanceon them (v. 8).

Real Social Justice

A recent thing in Christian circles has been the cry for social justice. On one level there should be no problem with this—we see in our text that the king we serve lovesjudgment, and He establishesequity. He executesboth judgment and righteousness. How could we be against any of that? Biblically grounded, we are not. But we remember the warning the Lord gave us. “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).

Before programs or hearings, or investigations, or reforms, before any of that, we must have definitions. What do we mean by justice? If it is not biblical justice, biblically defined, then it is nothing more than a secular pursuit of continued unholiness. And that is precisely what the current “social justice” fad is, a love of the unholy.

From the Cloudy Pillar

Not surprisingly, the merciful and most holy word comes to us from the awesome cloudy tower that accompanied Israel by day, and which was a tower of fire by night. This is where the word of forgiveness comes from.

“And the Lordwent before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people” (Ex. 13:21–22).

In the time of the new covenant, this blessing is for all the houses of Zion—which means you.

“And the Lordwill create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, And upon her assemblies, A cloud and smoke by day, And the shining of a flaming fire by night: For upon all the glory shall be a defence” (Is. 4:5).

Both Just and Justifier

So how is it possible for God to save us, and execute vengeance on our inventions? He sees that we keep His testimonies and ordinances, and He also sees how we fail to do so. How is this to be dealt with? The answer to this question—and when it comes to a man’s salvation, it isthequestion—is double imputation. God imputes the sin and wickedness of our guilt to Christ on the cross, and He imputes the absolute purity of Christ’s life to us.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

“To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).

And He does it from the pillar of cloud and fire, with the tabernacle beneath. And in that tabernacle, there is the Holy of Holies, containing the ark of the covenant. On top of that ark are two cherubim, facing each other, and between them is the mercy seat. And God dispenses His judgments from that place, the place where the blood was put, and which was the holiest place within the holiest place in all Israel. And that means your forgiveness is not a matter of divine indulgence. Your forgiveness, your new life, your cleansing, is holy.

The Lord’s Faithfulness

Christ Church on November 18, 2018

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The Text

Deuteronomy 30:1-20

Introduction

We come to the conclusion of Moses’s charge to Israel and to the last sermon in the series Faithfulness for the Next Generation. An appropriate question to ask is what does God want from his people? Faithfulness. Even with the majority of the book devoted to explaining the Ten Commandments, God does not want a nation a box-checkers. The Law reveals God’s desire for the hearts of his people. Faithfulness to God begins with loving God with your whole heart. That is what the law reveals about God. But the law also reveals man and his unfaithful heart.

In his final sermon, Moses expounds the gospel truths that God is faithful even when his people are not. And God will do for his people what they can not do for themselves––circumcise their hearts and the hearts of their children. This is possible because the word, the Word, is very near to them and to you.

The Heart that Cannot See or Hear (Deut. 29:1-4)

Why can’t Israel be faithful? It’s easy to think that “If we had front row seats to seeGod’s wonders in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness, and if we have heard God speak from the cloud and heard the words of the Law, then we would have been really obedient. So what’s their problem?” Moses says that God didn’t give them a heart to see or to hear.

Listen to what Moses says in 29:2-4, “Now Moses called all Israel and said to them: ‘You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land––the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders. Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day.” Israel’s ears were hard of hearing because their heart was hard. There eyes were blind because their heart was blind. Israel’s problem was their heart. They don’t have the right heart because God has not given them the right heart.

The Heart of Man

This is not merely Israel’s problem, but mankind’s problem, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Your heart is a hypocritical, to others and to yourself. Moses warns again deceiving yourself with covenant presumption, “When he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his HEART, saying, ‘I shall have peace even though I follow the dictates of my HEART’” (Deut. 29:19). How simple it is to view your life through Instagram #blessed, when you are really cursed. While you and your heart may be deceived, God is not. He sees, he hears, he knows the heart of man. He knows your heart. He is not fooled.

The Lord Circumcises the Heart (30:1-6)

The Lord knows that his people will turn and fall away and would be unfaithful to their covenant. He knew this not only for his covenant people of Israel, but also that his covenant people of Christ Church would be unfaithful. But the Lord is faithful. And he is already planning to forgive. To restore. To show compassion. To return home. To change hearts. “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God will all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deut. 30:6). The glorious gospel promise is that God does for man what man can not do for themselves. Earlier in Deuteronomy 10, God told Israel to “Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer” (Deut. 10:18). A faithful Israelite would be wondering, “How do I apply this one?” What is impossible for us––whole-hearted obedience––God gives.

The Obedient Heart (30:7-10)

The heart circumcised by the Lord is the heart that loves the Lord. That’s the first and greatest commandment. And this obedience keeps spreading (verse 8). You can obey the Lord and turn to the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul, because the Lord has turned your heart.

The Word is Near (30:11-20)

In Romans 10, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 30:11-14 and shows how this is about Jesus. Paul begins, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Paul then outlines two options for righteousness––self-righteousness or Christ’s righteousness. You enter heaven either through yourrighteousness or Christ’srighteousness. It’s not a deep mystery whose righteousness will get you there.

But Paul shows how Jesus brings near the Word of this covenant. You can’t say that this covenant is not too hard or mysterious because Christ has fulfilled the law and graciously gives you his righteousness. Don’t say that the covenant is too far away, because Jesus is Immanuel. Jesus has come and has come to take on your curse. Christ conquered death and evil and now brings life and goodness for his people.

Moses says, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, his statutes, and his judgments, that you may live and multiply” (Deut. 30:15-16). Moses sets life and good and blessings before them by placing before them the law. And the law really can be life and good and blessing when you believe that Jesus is your Law, your Righteousness, your Savior, your Lord. Therefore choice Jesus.

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Christ Church on November 11, 2018

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The Text

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Introduction

Ecclesiastes tells us in a number of different ways that ending well matters. in fact the implication running through the book is that starting well is easy; ending well is much more of a challenge: “The end of a matter is better than its beginning; the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”

1 Samuel 16 is a transition point in the history of Israel. Samuel’s life and ministry is coming to an end and David’s kingship and the Davidic kingdom is just beginning. 1 Samuel 16 is an ideal lens to look closely at the end of a matter (Samuel’s life and ministry) and the beginning of a matter (David and his rule).

The End of a Matter (Samuel)

1 Samuel 16 is the last recorded event in Samuel’s life and ministry before his death in 1 Samuel 25:1 (aside a brief appearance in ch.19).

The way 1 Samuel 16 is carefully crafted in the context of all that has gone before suggests that it serves as a subtle rebuke/humbling of Samuel, one that has been building throughout the narrative.

1 Sam. 2:18-26

1 Sam. 3:2ff

1 Sam. 9:6-20

The Beginning of a Matter (David)

v.9 David is the ‘youngest’ of Jesse’s eight sons and has been left watching the sheep while Jesse and his sons attend the sacrifice arranged by Samuel

What about 1 Chron 2:15?