Christ Church

Calvary’s Law

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Introduction

Most parents, at some point, experience giving clear instructions to their children, and then, as soon as they’ve left the room, hearing the children misbehave. The apparent absence of the parent revealed the rascals for who they are. Whatever is in a tea bag comes out only when it’s put in boiling water. The hot water revealed what had always been there.

The Text

“These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it. And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess” (Deuteronomy 5:22-33).

Summary of the Text

The “second giving” of the Law took place in territory east of the Jordan river; this land had previously been inhabited by the giant kings: Og & Sihon (Deut. 4:44-49). Moses summons the congregation to not only hear the Law, but in hearing it, be compelled to obey it (5:1). The covenant the Lord made with them applied equally to this generation (5:2-3); Moses reminds them that the Lord made this covenant “face-to-face” with them, and they requested that Moses function as their mediator (Deut. 5:4-5). He then repeats the Ten Commandments (5:6-21).

Moses then returns to an expanded narration of how the Lord spoke personally to the congregation at Horeb, and how this elicited their request for a mediator. Moses describes the awful scene of darkness & fire descending on Sinai when God wrote the Ten Commandments, and spoke them to the elders of the people (5:22-23). After hearing the Lord’s voice, the congregation declared their reverence for the glory of the Lord (5:24); but, fearing for their lives, they request that Moses become a mediator for them, promising to listen & obey what God spoke to them through him (5:25-27). The Lord says they have spoken well, and expresses––in human terminology––a longing that they would live with such reverence at all times (5:28-29).

God grants their request, sending the people back to their tents; but Moses is commanded to stand by God to hear His commandments, in order to then instruct the people (5:30-31). Moses then comes to the application part of his sermon: obey the Lord––no veering to the right or left––and thus enjoy the blessing of life which God promised (5:32-33).

The Fear of the Lord

You’ll never find a section of the local Christian bookstore devoted to the fear of the Lord. But Solomon tells his son, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom & instruction (Pro. 1:7).” The reason foolishness abounds in the modern church is that we have minimized the holy terror which God’s Law is intended to strike within us. Spurgeon points out that “If the giving of the law, while it was yet unbroken, was attended with such a display of awe-inspiring power, what will that day be when the Lord shall, with flaming fire, take vengeance on those who have willfully broken His law?”

The Israelites beheld the mere outskirts of the Lord’s infinite holiness, and they feared for their lives. Modern believers can often drift into a sort of chumminess with God, never reflecting on the great power, grandeur, holiness, and sheer “otherliness” of the Lord. If we would be wise we must learn the lesson which thunders from Sinai: fear God.

This is what the Law is intended to teach us. First, the Law is a restraint on evil; in this way the Law functions as God’s border patrol for mankind. Secondly, the bright holiness of the Law functions to reflect back to mankind his deadness & depravity; it is like a mirror which shows us the truth about ourselves.

Reverence in Lip & Life

God approves of the Israelite’s request for a mediator. But He goes on to express in visceral terms, that He longs for the people to have such a heart at all times. We know that while Moses is on Mt. Sinai for forty days––fulfilling the mediatorial role the people requested––they turn to worship a golden calf (Cf. Ex. 32). The reverence they expressed with their lips was entirely disconnected from reverence in their life.

Jesus once rebuked the Pharisees for exactly the same inconsistency, “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me (Mk. 7:6).” The requirement of worshipping God with reverence is not somehow “lifted” in the New Testament; it is heightened! We are receiving an unshakeable & eternal kingdom, and we are adjured to “have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:28-29, Cf. Heb. 4:1).”

The Mediator of a Better Covenant

The outer rind of the Law is, in one sense, passive; it simply is intended to restrain evildoers. The inner shell is a hard husk which reveals our unrighteousness; it’s supposed to make you feel miserable. But the pith of the Law is that it reveals the life found in Christ.

The glory displayed on Sinai preceded the Israelites’ cry for a mediator. Indeed, we all shall one day stand naked before the pure light of God. All of our excuses, justifications, and lies we told ourselves and others laid bare. The horror of seeing the dingy gray of your sinfulness in light of the white holiness of God should compel you to cry out for a Mediator. As John Newton’s hymn puts it:

Let us love and sing and wonder. Let us praise the Saviors name.
He has hushed the laws loud thunder, He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame.
He has washed us with His blood. He has brought us nigh to God

The Law was always about giving life to dead sinners (Lev. 18:5). But God intends to give you that life, not through your paltry attempts to fulfill His Law, but all on the basis of a perfect Mediator. One who stands in your stead, and when He speaks to God the Father it is this, “This one is mine.” Moses mediated a temporal covenant which was a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, who would fulfill all the righteous demands of the Law, and offer justification on the basis of His obedience. The Law threatens, “Obey or die.” The Gospel replies, “Believe and live.” Sinai’s Law was glorious indeed; it showed the depth of your infinite need. Calvary’s Law is simply this: by grace you are saved through faith.

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Fighting Giants

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Introduction

What do you need to succeed in a military conquest? Bigger guns, more men, better equipment, shrewder strategy, more courage than the enemy––all seem reasonable. What did Israel need to successfully conquer Canaan, a land of giants? Faithfulness to God.  For Israel, it wasn’t about the size of their army or tactics or chariots but about faithfulness to their covenant God and obedience to his commands. God promises to fight for his people when they are faithful to Him. This is why in a series of sermons, Moses preaches faithfulness for the next generation––because Canaan is a land full of giants.

Your Giant Killin’ Cousins (Deut. 2:1-25) 

We pick up mid way through Moses story of Israel’s wilderness wandering. The Lord is kind and leads his people on a walking tour of their giant killing cousins of the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonities and encourages them that they too can kill giants and take their land. Moses, acting as the tour guide, says in verse 10, “And let me draw your attention over to the Emim who formerly lived here. They were a great people and many and tall as the Anakim––remember, the Anakim, the giants your parents feared? Yup, the Moabites took care of their giant problem and settled in their land.”

Israel keeps trekking and comes into the territory of the people of Ammon. And like their Moabite cousins, the Ammonites be giant-killers and land-takers (vs. 20-21).And the Edomites, Esau’s people took on their own cluster of giants––the Horties, the Avvim, the Caphtorim––they destroyed them and settled in their place.” (vs. 22-23). The implication of all this for Israel is “Go thou and do likewise.”

King Sihon and King Og (Deut. 2:24-3:22)

Israel needs practice possessing the Land and fighting giants. So that’s what God gives. In the next section, God commands Israel to go fight King Sihon and take possession of his land. And the Lord said, “Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land” (2:31). And Sihon comes out and all his people, and guess what? “The LORD our God gave him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and all his people. And we captured all his cities…” (vs. 33)

The LORD continues the faith training with a Og the King of Bashan. The Lord says, “Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites.” Which is just what happened.

At the conclusion of the history that brings Israel to the border of the Promise land, Moses encourages Joshua, “Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you” (3:21-22). This is the key for Israel’s conquest––the Lord your God will fight for you. So what must Israel do?

Call to Faithfulness (Deut. 4:1-40)

In chapter 4, Moses concludes this first sermon by calling Israel to faithfulness. Moses gives the the application of this history of giant fighting––hear and obey God’s commandments. “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go into and take the possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers is giving you” (4:1). Israel’s biggest challenge in the land is not the giants, but obedience to God. God will fight the giants and all the rest. But Moses knows that Israel will struggle with whole-hearted obedience through the generations. And so Moses charges them to listen to the rules, the statutes, the commandments of the Lord starting with the Ten Commandments and teach the next generation (vs. 9-14). If your commanding officer was explaining the directions to cross a mine field that you must walk through, would you pay attention? Would you pay extra attention if you must lead your kids and then your grandkids?

Jesus and Giants in Your Life

God intends for his people to go into a land full of giants. This is not a mistake. This is sanctification. Perhaps you’re like Israel, and you expect that once you were delivered from the slavery of Egyptian sin, that all of life would be the milk and honey of a promised land. But you get into it and realize that there are giants. And you think, “This isn’t the promise land I expected––maybe could I get some smaller giants? Maybe less battles to fight?” Obedience looks hard, difficult, terrifying, but still necessary. Chesterton said it poignantly in What’s Wrong with the World?, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

Israel was to be a nation of faithful giant fighters. Why? The answer is that God loves good stories. And good stories come with big bad guys. The best story is about Jesus the Giant Killer. The Gospel of Luke describes Satan as an armored strong man guarding his treasures. Jesus is the stronger champion who overpowers the strong man, takes his armor, and divides the spoils. We’re not understanding the story right when we think of Jesus as a godly giant fighting a puny devil. Rather, Christ became one of us, and as Isaiah says “with no form nor appearance,” and as a normal man He bound and defeated the greatest giant. Jesus the Giant-killer is the One who leads his people into the the Promise Land, and this is a land full of giants. And we are to be just like Jesus––a nation of faithful giant fighters.

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Honest With God: Confession of Sin

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Introduction

I would like to spend this week and next addressing honesty with God, and what it means to grow in grace. In brief, there are two elements to growth in grace. The first is the removal of impediments to that growth, which we will address this week, and the second is the presence of that which feeds grace. The first is negative, dealing with sin, and the second is positive, which has to do with the reception of means of grace.

Think of a house plant that has been knocked over, and the pot has been shattered. If the plant is to grow and flourish, it is necessary to repot it . . . but repotting a plant is not the same thing as watching it grow. Repotting is what is happening when sins are confessed. Growth is what happens when the soil is rich, the sunlight plentiful, and water is abundant.

The Text

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Summary of the Text

I have entitled this short series Honesty With God, and such honesty is essential to all true confession. Let us start with the passage from Proverbs. A man who covers his own sins will not prosper. It is striking that this action of covering is positive or negative depending on how it is happening. The word for cover here (ksh) also means to forgive. “Hatred stirreth up strifes: But love covereth [same word] all sins” (Prov. 10:12). Covering is what love does, and covering is what a self-absorbed sinner does on his hell-bent way to “not prospering.” A man does not have the authority to cover (forgive) his own sins. The offense was against God (Ps. 51:4), and so God must forgive. What is God’s way in this? The man who confesses (honesty), the man who forsakes (true repentance) is the man who finds mercy from God.

We find the same element of honesty in the passage from 1 John. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. The word for confess here is homo (meaning the same) and logeo (which means to speak). To confess is to “speak the same thing” that God is saying. We do not engage in any spin control. Note that God is the one who does the forgiving, and God is the one who does the cleansing. We do the acknowledging. So what do we contribute to this process of confession? We contribute the sin, which creates the need for forgiveness, and we contribute the honesty about the sin, which engages the promises of God—promises that ride on the fact that He is faithful, and that He is just.

What Shifts and Evasions Look Like

What are some of the shifts and evasions we employ to keep from doing what God summons us to do? Here are just a few. We justify what we did. What we did was really right, we say. We excuse what we did. It was wrong, but it all happened so fast, and besides, she started it. We hide what we did. Nobody knows about it and nobody is going to know about it. We confess what we did in vague terms. Lord, please forgive me for anything I might have done today. We rename what we did. Everybody makes mistakes. We shrug over what we did. Nobody’s perfect. We give up over what we did. I am going to do it again, so why bother? We barter over what we did. Restitution would be too costly. We pass the buck over what we did. The woman you gave me. We postpone dealing with what we did. I’ll confess it next Sunday. We are overwhelmed by what we did. Nobody could forgive that.

Honest on Our Behalf

Now the problem for us is that we live in a world that is simultaneously corrupt and, more importantly, dishonest about the depth of that corruption. All we have to do is be honest about our sin, the man says. But how? We can no more do that than we can achieve perfection in any other area. And here is the gospel of grace.

Jesus did not just die for you so that the penalty might be paid for the sins you committed. He did do that on the cross, but Scripture teaches us that all of the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us who believe. So you are afraid because you are such an imperfect repenter? Are you discouraged because it is so hard to be honest about things like this? Christ didn’t just die for you, He also repented for you (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:21). From the very beginning of His ministry, He identified with sinners, and He—the sinless one—went through the humiliation of receiving a baptism of repentance. Why would He do that? The man who administered it to Him wondered the same thing.

“And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him” (Matt. 3:14–15, NKJV).

Now He did not repent so that you wouldn’t have to repent. Rather, He repented so that you could learn how to repent, following in His footsteps, freed from all condemnation (Rom. 8:1). Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. Let the one who repents, repent in the Lord. Let the one who is learning to walk honestly with God, walk honestly with Him in the honesty of Christ. This is what it means to walk in the light.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Walking in Christ means walking in the light. Walking in the light means walking honestly. And that means you will always be dealing with your sins in a well-lit area. Christ is that light.

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Anger

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Anger

Proverbs 22:24-25, “Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul.”

Proverbs 14:29, “He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly.”

Hot Noses

What a good picture of anger – a hotness in the face. Something doesn’t go your way, seems to be unfair, seems not the way you want it to be, not the way that it should be, and you get hot in the face, and (according to Prov. 14:29) you get stupid.

Notice what this heat in the face is inspired by – some perception of injustice.

Two Kinds of Anger

This means that it is possible for anger to be right and godly. And it is possible for us to be consumed by an ungodly anger.

God is capable of great, righteous anger (Rom. 1:18, 9:22)

But then there is man’s anger (Gen. 4:3-8)

Other great moments in the anger of men –

Jonah 3:10-4:5. “And it got hot.”

Luke 15:28. “But he was angry and would not go in . . .”

Wrath of Man v. Wrath of God

So we see God getting angry with a perfect and righteous and holy anger. And then we see men getting sinfully angry, trying to justify their anger as right and good. James contrasts these two kinds of anger – James. 1:19-20.

First, we tell ourselves that a terrible injustice has been committed and that is what has provoked our anger.

Second, we tell ourselves that our anger, the heat of our outrage, is itself the solution to the problem.

Anger Damage

Rather than bring about correction, anger damages the situation. Anger also makes us incapable of letting go. When it is held on to and you refuse to let it go, it becomes bitterness.

Dealing with Anger

So how do we deal with the anger that rages in our hearts? First, we have to understand the difference between the anger of God and the anger of men (Rom. 12:17-19). Once you have a proper perspective, you will find yourself able to name your sin. Then once you’ve identified it, confess it. Now that you’re ready to be done sulking under the gourd tree, go into the party for heaven’s sakes. God didn’t appoint you to wrath, he appointed you to salvation (1 Thes. 5:9).

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