Christ ChurchState of the Church: Music and Reformation (Christ Church)
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Caleb’s Inheritance (Christ Church)
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INTRODUCTION
In the current climate, a large swath of secularists would be nervous if they knew we were considering the conquest of Canaan in the book of Joshua. The remainder would be fascinated as they attempted to understand the Christian way over against their own unbelieving assumptions. Their fascination would not be misplaced, nor their fear. Granted, many of them would speak of a Christian jihad, and we are up to nothing of that sort. But their true fear is the terror of the Lord—the sword of the Spirit—which is more deadly than any earthly blade.
What this means for us is that we should not let the secularists understand the times better than we do. If they understand Joshua is an apt book at this moment, how much more should we?
TEXT (JOSHUA 14:6-15)
Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, “Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God . . .”
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
At Gilgal, Caleb went before Joshua to remind him of what the LORD said to Moses about him in Kadesh-barnea (v. 6). Caleb was forty years old back then when he went with others to spy out the land of Canaan (v. 7). Caleb followed the LORD fully, but the other spies feared and made the hearts of the people melt (v. 8). As a result, Moses swore that the land where Caleb had walked (which was Hebron) would be his and his children’s inheritance forever (v. 9). Caleb noted that he was still alive at the age of eighty-five, and this according to God’s promises (v. 10). Moreover, he had the same strength for battle that he had when he was forty (v. 11). Caleb asked for Hebron, since the LORD had promised it to him, with confidence that if the LORD would be with him, then he would drive out what remained of the giant Anakims (v. 12). Joshua blessed Caleb and gave him Hebron, and Caleb possessed it as an inheritance because he wholly followed the LORD (vv. 13–14). Hebron used to be named Kirjath-arba, after Arba, the greatest of the giants; but the name of that land changed, and it had rest from war (v. 15).
OBEDIENCE TO THE HILT
Three times we are told that Caleb wholly followed the LORD (vv. 8, 9, 14). The testimony from the book of Numbers has the same phrase and adds that Caleb had another spirit with him—one that was not with the other spies (Numbers 14:24). Wholly following the LORD boils down to the old- fashioned spirit of faith and obedience in the face of obstacles. The lack of this spirit caused the spies to see the giants and fear. The presence of this spirit of obedience made Caleb look at the giants at Hebron and say, “They are bread for us” (Numbers 14:9).
HOW INHERITANCES WORK
The tribes of Israel received their various inheritances, but Caleb’s situation is unique because he was ready for his forty-five years earlier. You can imagine him asking the Lord back then, when he was ready to enter Canaan, “Can I skip out on the wilderness wandering?” But the answer was no. Caleb had to wait for his inheritance—and he had to wait while exercising that spirit of obedience the whole time.
An inheritance is the kind of thing that is out in front of you until it is not. But wholly following the Lord is not dependent upon receiving the inheritance. Receiving the inheritance is dependent upon wholly following the Lord. The man who waits around to trust and obey the Lord, insisting that he will do it right after he has received the promise, is like a man who says he will climb the mountain right after he enjoys the view from the summit.
ARBA TO HEBRON
The land that Caleb inherited used to be named after a great one among the giants, Arba. But the land was rightly renamed Hebron—a word meaning “association” or “league.” Abraham built an altar in Hebron some four hundred years earlier as God covenanted with him and his children (Genesis 13:18). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were buried in Hebron. Caleb took that land not as an act of selfishness to exalt his own name like Arba, or like those in the days of Babel who sought to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:4). But Caleb drove giants from that land, for God had promised it to his fathers, and to him, and to his children. Hebron would be designated a city of refuge (Joshua 21:13) and a place for Levites (1 Chronicles 6:55). Hebron was a land of covenant promise for covenant people. This is a reminder to us—a reminder about why we are here.
Trust in the LORD, and do good; So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed . . . For evildoers shall be cut off: But those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth (Psalm 37:3, 9).
How do we know we will inherit the earth? Because our Caleb has—and we in Him. Like Caleb of old, He wholly followed the LORD, wandered in the wilderness tempted by the serpent, walked through the River Jordan, conquered Canaan, and has turned this place of high rebellion into a land of priests and refugees.
Eternity (Christ Church)
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THE TEXT
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
INTRODUCTION
As human beings, we struggle to even comprehend the meaning of the word “eternal.” To begin, we need to make some distinctions. First, we need to distinguish God’s eternity from our eternity, or timeless eternity from everlasting eternity. His life is so full that he doesn’t experience it in a succession of moments like we do. Our eternity is better thought of as everlastingness. Everlasting means that we will last forever. We never get outside of time; we live within time forever.
But, more than that, we will exist either in a state of everlasting joy and life, or in a state of everlasting destruction and death. The Scriptures (Matthew 25, Revelation 20) teach that at the end of history, Christ will return, raise the dead, and execute a final judgment. At that time, the righteous—body and soul—will enter into the Joy of God forever, and the wicked—body and soul—will enter into Misery forever. The common names for these two eternal destinies are Heaven and Hell.
I want to focus on two issues. One is a fear we have about Heaven and one is a concern we have about Hell. Our fear about Heaven is this: we worry that we will be bored. We know that we are promised unending joy, but we struggle to believe it because we fear that having “arrived” at Joy, Joy will grow old and stale to us. Our desires always outrun their satisfaction. Desire dies in its fulfillment. We get what we want, and we find that it’s not enough. And our repeated experience of this phenomenon, in every aspect of our lives, creates the fear in us that Heaven will be no different.
THE PROBLEM OF HELL
The concern about Hell is this: Hell sounds to us like Cosmic Overkill. God is pouring out infinite punishment for a limited and finite amount of sin. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime.
In response, consider: 1) The greatness or heinousness of evil depends on the one sinned against, either the worth and value of the person, or our relation to him. 2) God is the most valuable, important, and worthy being in reality. What’s more, he stands in the highest and nearest relation to all of us. Both of these mean that our obligation to God is an infinite obligation, because he is infinitely worthy of all honor. 3) Therefore, to reject God and despise God and disobey God is to commit an infinite offense. A small sin against an infinitely worthy Being is an infinite sin, 4) Finally, an infinite sin requires an eternal punishment.
Let’s consider three biblical images for Hell through the lens of one question: Is Hell God-inflicted or self-inflicted? Image 1: The Bible presents Hell as banishment or ultimate exile (2 Thess. 1:9). This is the outer darkness, outside the City of Joy and Life, where morning never comes, where we are utterly and completely alone. Image 2: The Bible depicts Hell as the pouring out of God’s wrath on sinners. The wicked store up wrath for the day of judgment (Romans 2:5). They fill up the cup of God’s wrath and he makes them drink it and they stagger and fall. Image 3: The Bible depicts Hell as eternal destruction. “The worm does not die; the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). The smoke goes up forever and ever (Rev. 14:11). Eternal death is eternal dying.
All three of these images accent that Hell is God-inflicted. We are “thrown” into the outer darkness, cast outside of the city, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. The pouring out of the wrath of God is his all-consuming response to human rebellion and pride. The fire of eternal destruction is sustained by the God who is a consuming fire. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:29).
But it’s also true that “men loved darkness and hated the light and would not come to the light, lest their deeds be exposed” (John 3:19-20). Those who are banished from God’s presence may hate Hell, but they hate God more. Their exile is, in some sense, self-imposed. When God gives a person or a people over to their rebellion, the Bible calls that “the wrath of God.” As C. S. Lewis once noted, “God says to us, ‘Thy will be done.’”So is Hell self-inflicted or God-inflicted? Yes. It is both. We cannot out-horror Hell.
THE PROBLEM OF HEAVEN
What about Heaven? What about our fear of disappointment and boredom? First, our disappointment in this life in some ways actually points to the surpassing glory of Heaven’s joys. Lewis called this the Argument from Desire: We were made for God. The best joys here can only awaken and stoke the flames of our deepest and ultimate desire; they are pointers to a joy that is deeper and higher and wider and longer than anything that we can imagine.
God is infinite—infinitely valuable, infinitely worthy, infinitely desirable, infinitely satisfying. And therefore, in Heaven, we will arrive at Infinite Joy, and never stop arriving. Just as a finite creature cannot receive an infinite punishment unless they have an infinite amount of time, so also a finite creature cannot receive infinite joy without an eternal amount of time. “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has the mind of man conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Just as we cannot out-horror Hell, we cannot out-hope Heaven.
THE CHOICE
Here we live in the world of the Choice. For much of the time, eternity feels distant, far away, out of sight, and out of mind. The reality is that, for all of us, it is always just around the corner. It is as near as death, and our lives are just a vapor. There is no turning back; you are here and now. You are alive and you are heading in a particular direction. This sermon is a fork in the road.
You will cling to something forever. There will be something that you will seek to satisfy the ache and longing of your soul with forever. It will either be God, or it will be yourself. You will either come out of yourself into the clear sky of God’s glory and gladness and find your heart filled to overflowing, or you will curve inward on yourself, trying to satisfy your soul’s thirst on broken pieces of clay that turn to ash in your mouth.
In a moment we’ll come to the Table. When Jesus died, he swallowed Death and Hell. On the cross, he endured the infinite wrath of Almighty God on behalf of sinners. He took our banishment, our wrath, our destruction. And in doing so, he opened a way out of the prison of Self into the bright, blue sky of God’s goodness and joy. At this table, we eat and drink to proclaim the good news that we need no longer fear eternity. In his presence is fullness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Acts for Americans (Christ Church)
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INTRODUCTION
I want to take a step back and highlight certain patterns in the first nine chapters of Acts, lest we miss the forest for the trees. This section has particular relevance for us given the events of the last ten days. We want to read the story that we’re in, in light of God’s story in the Scriptures, because while history does not repeat itself, it does rhyme.
TEXT: ACTS 7:54-8:3
Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
8 And Saul approved of his execution.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
ESCALATING CONFLICT
In this section of Acts, there are four main groups that we should attend to: 1) the apostles; 2) the believers; 3) the Jewish crowds; and 4) the Sanhedrin. The first seven chapters of Acts follow these four groups as they collide with one another again and again. Conflict abounds in these chapters, with the apostles and the Jewish leaders publicly colliding three times (4:1–22; 5:17–41; 6:8–7:60). The Sanhedrin opposes the apostolic testimony, and their opposition escalates over time in terms of the motive for arresting the apostles; the response to the apostolic witness; and the resolution to the collisions.
In terms of motive, we move from theological annoyance (Acts 4) to envy and jealousy (Acts 5) to outright hatred and slander (Acts 6–7). In terms of the Sanhedrin’s response, we move from amazement (Acts 4) to barely controlled anger (Acts 5) to uncontrollable rage (Acts 7). In terms of resolution, we move from verbal warning (Acts 4) to violent warning (Acts 5) to murder by mob (Acts 7).
THE ROOTS OF RISING OPPOSITION
What accounts for this rising conflict? First is the phenomenal growth of the church. From 120 people in Acts 1 to thousands in Acts 5. It’s no surprise that the Jewish leaders move from viewing the apostles with annoyance to being filled with envy and jealousy. They are losing their grip on the people.
The second cause of the escalation is the apostolic boldness. Christian boldness is courage and clarity about Jesus and sin (Acts 5:27-32). They fill Jerusalem with teaching about the risen Lord Jesus. And the preach clearly and courageously about particular sins and evil done by their audience. “God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness” (Acts 3:26)
WHERE BOLDNESS COMES FROM
The first and most important source of boldness is the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31). But the Holy Spirit doesn’t operate in a vacuum. And the most obvious means in these chapters is the formation of the church. Christian boldness emerges from a resilient community, united in one heart and soul around the testimony of the resurrection, stewarding resources to meet each others needs (4:32-37), and seeking the good of the lost (3:1-10), and living in holiness and integrity. A bold church is a holy church. Whenever there is a genuine work of God, it won’t be five minutes before counterfeits show up, aping generosity. As Ananias and Sapphira demonstrate, we cannot lie to God and expect his blessing (5:4–5). God is not mocked; he is a consuming fire, and insists that we live in holy fear before him.
So where does Christian boldness come from? It comes from God the Father, who fills us with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gathers a people around the preaching of the death and resurrection of Jesus, uniting us in heart and soul, so that we sacrifice to meet each other’s needs and seek the good of the city and live holy lives of reverent fear.
APPLICATION
Over the last 20 years, we’ve seen escalating conflict in our country as the Christian faith and reality collide with our secular insanity. There have been smaller scale collisions through cancel culture and social pressure and the legal harassment. The Rainbow Sanhedrin have essentially said, “We’ve told you once; we’ve told you twice. Stop resisting, or else.”
And last week, with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, we saw our American Stephen. Like the apostles, Charlie never went to college; he was an “uneducated, common man.” Like Stephen, he was a man “full of faith and the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5), “full of grace and power” (Acts 6:8), and as a result of his labors, the word of God increased, and disciples multiplied in our country (6:7). Like Stephen, he was known for his boldness—his courage and clarity about Jesus and sin—for his willingness to go to the Leftist indoctrination centers that we call universities and discuss and debate and dialogue about the most important issues in our nation and in reality. And like Stephen, he was very effective, so that his opponents were “not able to withstand the wisdom and Spirit with which he was speaking” (6:10). And as a result, he, like other faithful Christians, was slandered as a fascist, a racist, a bigot, a Nazi (6:11-14). He was accused of blaspheming the current gods of secularism, progressivism, wokeness, and the gender cult. He spoke against their high places, and claimed that Jesus intends to change the wicked customs and practices that have taken root in America, especially among young people. He told them, “Trust Christ. Go to church. Get married. Have babies. Leave a legacy.” And, as a result of his faith and his boldness, he filled the enemies of Christ with teeth-grinding rage, and like Stephen, they murdered him in public. That’s where we are in the story. At this moment, in Arizona, we are in Acts 8:2: “Devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.”
Which raises the question: what’s next? If the pattern holds, what’s next? I see an opportunity, a temptation, and an exhortation.
First, the opportunity. In the wake of Stephen’s execution, a general persecution against the church broke out, which resulted in a scattering of the church throughout Judea and Samaria. But then, Acts 8:4: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” They don’t act like they got kicked out; they act like they got sent out. The martyrdom of Stephen launches the Samaritan mission, the same mission that Jesus promised in Acts 1:8, and a revival breaks out among the outcasts. So may we seize the opportunity that God has given us, and show the same joyful and grateful courage and boldness that Charlie Kirk did, and may the Lord spark a revival in surprising places.
But that leads to the temptation. As the Samaritan revival takes off, we meet Simon Magus, a sorcerer and Samaritan celebrity who thought he was somebody great (8:9-11). But when the attention shifts from him to Philip as he preaches the good news of the kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ, Simon wants in on it. He even gets baptized. But when the Spirit falls as the apostles lay hands on the church, we see that Simon’s “conversion” was opportunistic. He tries to buy his way in, offering money to get some of that spiritual power and seeking to co-opt the church for his own ends.
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s martyrdom, the chief threat will be allowing his deeply Christian legacy to be co-opted by opportunists who want to baptize it for their own purposes. The temptation will be to “Unite the Right” to “Fight the Left” by watering down the central truth that Jesus Christ alone is Lord, turning it into a generic call for “faith in God,” or muting our witness on the evil of homosexuality in order to link arms with secularists and gays agains the trans terrorists. We must not allow the desire for a big tent to smother Christian boldness or dilute the full Christian gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone.
And that brings me to the exhortation to boldness and to hope. Now is the time for courage and clarity about Jesus and sin. The wickedness of our nation reeks to high heaven—the abortion genocide, sexual immorality, racial and ethnic hatred, lawlessness and the perversion of justice, and ultimately our rejection of the living God and his Son Jesus Christ. We must be bold in the face of threats and dangers (Acts 4:24–30).
And here is the hope. One of the other striking parallels between Acts and our day is the approval of Stephen’s murder and the celebration of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Acts 8:1: “Saul approved of the execution.” Many of us have been shocked that thousands of our fellow citizens have rationalized, justified, and celebrated the murder of a young husband and father. But here’s the hope, and how we should pray. In Acts 8, Saul stood by and approved the brutal murder of Stephen. In Acts, he collided with Jesus on the Damascus Road, and the world was never the same. Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save.