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Biblical Counsel vs. Psychology (Practical Christianity #6) (King’s Cross)
Christ Church on April 11, 2025
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The Duty of Forgiveness (Practical Christianity #5) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

The Christian duty of forgiveness is a difficult one, but it is also a very freeing one. This is the center of Christian joy and peace: being forgiven and releasing those who have wronged us.

The Text: “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Mt. 18:21-35).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

When Peter asked how often Christians must forgive their brothers, Jesus said, seventy times seven (Mt. 18:21-22). Jesus then told a parable to explain why He said that: a story about a servant who owed 10,000 talents to his King, and was granted mercy and the debt was forgiven (Mt. 18:23-27). But when that same servant was owed 100 pence, he refused to have compassion, and had the fellow servant thrown into prison until he paid his debt (Mt. 18:28-30). When the King was told, he confronted the forgiven servant in great wrath and commanded him to be delivered to tormentors until he paid, and Jesus explains that this is what His Father will do with us if we do not forgive our brothers from our hearts (Mt. 18:31-35).

LET’S DO SOME MATH

In the New Testament a denarius (what the KJV translates “pence”) was a silver coin that was considered one day’s wage for an unskilled worker. So if you use our US minimum wage ($7.25 @ 8hr), you’d get an approximate equivalent value of $58 for a denarius. A “talent” was not a coin proper but the total weight of 60 minas and 1 mina was 100 denarii. So one talent (of silver coins) would be about 6,000 coins or approximately $348,000. This means that ten thousand talents would have probably been the equivalent of 3-4 billion dollars in modern currency. The King forgave the servant a vast sum of money, and that servant went out and demanded 100 pence (100 x $58), almost $6,000 in modern currency from his fellow servant, which is nothing close to what he was forgiven, but is still nothing to sneeze at (about 4 months of wages). And if a year’s worth of wages was around 300 denarii or 3 minas, it would have taken 20 years to make one talent, and about 200,000 years to make (pay off) ten thousand talents.

SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN

These numbers are not merely large numbers, they are loaded with symbolic significance going back to creation and the Sabbath. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, establishing a six and seven day rhythm to human economics. Six days of labor and one day of rest is the foundation of economic fruitfulness and faithfulness. But the Sabbath laws specifically required that this rest be given to everyone around us: “thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates” (Ex. 20:10).

This principle was extended to every seventh year, where the people were required to give rest to the land (and therefore the workers of the land) and forgive debts and release Hebrew slaves (Dt. 15), and every seven seven-year cycle was an additional sabbath year (the 50 th year) called “Jubilee,” the year of release, when all debts were forgiven and Hebrew slaves released (Lev. 25). When Judah was conquered by Babylon, it says they were carried away into exile “until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years” (2 Chron. 36:21). And if you do that math, that would suggest that they had failed to keep 70 sabbath years, or 70 7s, or 490 years’ worth of Sabbath breaking, nearly 500 years.

So “70 times 7” isn’t just a big number, it is the number of Judah’s hard-hearted sin against God. “70 times 7” is the number of Israel’s refusal to forgive, release, and give rest. It’s the number of their exile; and so it is also the number of God’s forgiveness of Israel. Jesus is not just pulling that number out of the air; He’s taking it from Old Testament history. In other words, Israel is the servant in the parable who was forgiven billions of dollars. This was initially the forgiveness/release of the Exodus from Egypt, but then also the forgiveness and return from the Babylonian exile for their refusal to practice Sabbath forgiveness. The logic of the gospel was proclaimed from the Exodus: You were slaves in Egypt, therefore, release your slaves. You were in hard labor in Egypt, therefore give rest to your people. You were redeemed from Egypt, therefore, forgive debts. You have been forgiven; so forgive.

APPLICATIONS

This brings us to the duty of forgiveness. It is what we pray week after week: “forgive us our trespasses (or debts) as we forgive those who trespass against us (our debtors).” And Jesus teaches that this is basic: “And if [thy brother] trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith” (Lk. 17:3-5).

What is forgiveness? It is a promise not to hold any offense against you for the sake of Christ. Which means that forgiveness is not a feeling, although Jesus says that we must disciple our feelings so that we forgive “from the heart” (Mt. 18:35). But forgiveness is a promise that the sin will not come between you and your brother as far as Christian fellowship is concerned.

Forgiveness is not the same thing as trust. And forgiveness does not require the restoration of privileges (job, office, marriage). Forgiveness means no animosity, no rage, no bitterness, no careful accounting of wrongs.

The differences between the King and the servant are striking: the initial plan of the King is to “sell” the servant and his family, presumably into debt slavery, where he could actually work towards paying the debt (a little mercy!). The servant, on the other hand, ordered the fellow servant thrown into “prison” until he would pay – which would seem to be never. This is bitterness: putting a fellow image bearer into a prison (if only in your heart) in which you say they can pay it off but nothing would ever really be enough because your pain and wrath are too great.

This underlines a crucial aspect of the gospel: if you think about it, we can never pay for any of our sin. Even what we consider “small sin” is against the infinite goodness and majesty of a Holy God and against our fellow servants who bear the image of that Holy God.

This is why Christ suffered torture in our place and for sin. This is why He had to be both God and man. What we (and your dad, mom, sister, son) could never pay, Christ paid in His own body on the tree. When we “forgive” we are not actually taking away anyone’s sins. We are only agreeing with God that Christ has paid all our debts, and so, they are free.

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Heaven (Practical Christianity #4) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

It has sometimes been said that some people are so heavenly minded they are not any earthly good, but this is a malicious slander. The fact is that Christians are commanded to be heavenly minded so that they can be the most earthly good.

Heaven is the end toward which all things on earth are bending, growing up into. So, to focus on Heaven, where Christ is seated, is to focus on what you and all things are becoming in Christ. Heaven is not an escape. Heaven is the future. In this sense, Heaven is the most practical thing there is.

The Text: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God…” (Col. 3:1-10).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

If we have been raised with Christ, Scripture says we ought to be seeking everything that is heavenly, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1). We ought to think about those things which are in Heaven because to be a Christian means that we have already died, and our true lives are hidden with Christ in God in Heaven (Col. 3:2-3). When Christ appears, who is our life, then we will finally and fully appear glorified (Col. 3:4). Therefore, put to death your old, earthly ways (Col. 3:5). These “things of earth” are what God is destroying, and those are the things you used to live in (Col. 3:6-7). But since you don’t live in them anymore, put them off with all the deeds of the old man, and put on the new man who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the One in Heaven who made man (Col. 3:8-10).

WHAT IS HEAVEN LIKE?

The Bible teaches that Heaven is where God dwells: He is “our Father in heaven” (Lk. 11:2). Heaven is where Christ is seated on a great throne in all majesty (Mk. 16:19). Heaven is our Father’s house, full of many mansions prepared by Jesus for His people (Jn. 14:2-3). And since it is our Father’s house, Heaven is truly going home. If you are in Christ, Heaven is where your heart is. Heaven is described as a new heaven and a new earth, with a new capital city, a resplendent garden-castle coming down out of heaven (Rev. 21:1-2).

Heaven is that place where there is no death, no dying, no sin, no curse (Rev. 21:4, 22:3). And the God who has kept a record of all our tears, will personally wipe every tear away (Ps. 56:8, Is. 25:8, Rev. 21:4). This means that every sad thing will be completely undone, and we will have a fullness of joy that only grows and pleasures that only increase (Ps. 16:11).

The Bible says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8), but to be absent from the body is to be “unclothed” and therefore, the fullness of Heaven will be when our bodies are raised from the dead and we are given new immortal bodies (2 Cor. 5:2-5). It’s possible that there is an intermediate state, but since time need not work the same way in Heaven, it’s also possible that when we die, we are immediately taken to the resurrection at Christ’s second coming (1 Cor. 15:20-26). Since even creation groans for our redemption (Rom. 8:19-22), and Heaven includes a new earth, we are invited to believe that all of creation (including animals and stars) will be raised to incorruption, which could certainly include beloved family pets (1 Cor. 15:38-44).

All of this of course means that we will have plenty to do with our new and perfect bodies in this new creation: good work and games, inventions and discoveries, cheetah and dragon rides, the loveliest arts and architecture, and the best adventures forever and ever. But it will always be without the burdens of pain and anxiety, and full of perfect rest (Heb. 4:10).

In that place, we will be reunited with our believing families: “gathered to our people,” as it was said of the patriarchs (Gen. 25:8, 35:29, 49:33). We will be with our fathers and mothers, grandparents, spouses, children, and dear friends who have died in the Lord. We serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of the living, the God of generations and families, and therefore, while marriage will not be the same, we will know and love one another even better there than we ever did here (Mt. 22:29-32). We will be with all the saints, all the angels, and there will never be any sad goodbyes again.

And at the center of it all will be the greatest Wedding Feast, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9), full of the best food, a feast of wine and fat things, full of marrow and the finest wines (Is. 25:6). And there will singing and music like we’ve never heard, vast choirs and orchestras and bands, from all the nations, with all their instruments and distinctive languages and styles and rhythms, praising the Lamb who was slain, the King of kings (Rev. 5:8-9, 7:9-12, 14:2-3, 15:2-4). And every one of us will see His face (Rev. 22:4). And we will cast our crowns before Him, and He will give us lavish rewards that we don’t deserve and put crowns on our heads that defy all reason (2 Tim. 4:8).

APPLICATIONS 

Since all of this is true, put to death your sin. As the old hymn says, “Fading is the worldling’s pleasure, all his boasted pomp and show; solid joys and lasting treasure none but Zion’s children know.”

Your wrath and anger and lust and envy are weights holding you down, bending you down, deforming your life into nothing. But Jesus Christ died so that you might die, so that your sin might die in Him, and He rose from the dead so that you might rise with Him from the dead (without your sin) now in this life and rise in a new body in the Resurrection of Heaven.

Heaven and Hell begin here in this life. Either you are being pulled down into increasing selfishness and pettiness and bitterness and idolatries and fading, or else you are being set free to love and forgive one another as true human beings, real men and women, and beginning to enjoy creation as it was meant to be enjoyed and gathered to the Heavenly Mt. Zion to worship the King forever.

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Assurance of Salvation (Practical Christianity #3) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

In a room with this many people, a preacher always runs the risk of worrying the faithful and flattering the faithless. There are some who have very fragile faith who need to be encouraged, and there are some full of arrogant presumption that really need to be rattled.

What do I mean? There are some fragile folks who love God and their neighbors, and they can get themselves into a knot because one time in second grade they *might* have said something a little disrespectful to Mrs. Jones and they’re just not sure they’re really saved.

On the other hand, there are others who are real pills to their families, regularly causing harm and heartbreak, who constantly explain it away as “not perfect just forgiven.” And it would never even occur to them that they might not be saved.

And with a message like this, chances are good that the presumptuous will latch on to the encouragement, and the easily worried will get rattled. So pray that the Spirit would direct the Word to the right targets. When we talk about assurance of salvation, the goal is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.

The Text: “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; whosever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother…” (1 Jn. 3:10-24)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

While it is certainly true that God saves sinners, such that a snap shot of Cain and Abel might have caught Cain in what appeared to be a good moment and Abel in a bad moment, nevertheless the game film generally reveals God’s grace working righteousness in believers and sin working evil in unbelievers – this is manifest (1 Jn. 3:10-12). Some of this is proven by the hatred of the world for believers (1 Jn. 3:13). But we know that we have passed from death to life because we love other Christians (1 Jn. 3:14). But bitterness and spite for those around you is a sure sign that you are still in your sins (1 Jn. 3:15).

This distinction flows directly from the love of God, who laid His life down for us, compelling us to love those around us in word and deed (1 Jn. 3:16-17). This truth is part of how God assures our hearts, even if our hearts sometimes condemn us (1 Jn. 3:18-21). God also gives us assurance by answering our prayers, which He does in part because He is pleased with the obedience which He has given to us (1 Jn. 3:22). But the fundamental obedience is faith in His Son and love that obeys, which proves that we have been given the Holy Spirit (1 Jn. 3:23-24).

PRESUMPTION VS. FAITH 

Jesus said that there would be some who prophesied in His name, cast out devils and performed wonderful works, to whom He will say, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Mt. 7:22-23). Scripture says that it is possible to be baptized and take communion and still become idolaters and be destroyed (1 Cor. 10:1-11). It says, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Likewise, in Romans, it warns Gentile branches in the covenantal olive tree against boasting and presumption: “Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee” (Rom. 11:20-21). Presumption assumes everything is fine because nothing too bad has happened (yet) but it is always far worse than they think. Faith trembles before God knowing that it deserves destruction. Presumption is arrogant; faith is humble.

ASSURANCES OF SALVATION 

When Christ saves a sinner, He begins a work that He has already planned, paid for, and guaranteed: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

This work begins as a seed that is planted, and the first fruit of that good soil is confessing that Jesus is Lord and calling upon Him: “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 12:3). “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:9). “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God” (1 Jn. 4:15). This is part of what makes worship central. Do you love to gather with all the saints and proclaim Jesus is Lord?

Baptism is also given as a sign of salvation: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” (Rom. 6:3) Baptism is not so much something that we do as it is something that God does and says: “The like figure [Noah’s Ark] whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 3:21, cf. Heidelberg 69). Do you believe?

Scripture also teaches that when God begins the work of salvation there is a real change of character: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” (Gal. 5:19-23). Which one are you? Which list characterizes your life?

The presence of the Holy Spirit confirms that we are Christians: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit” (1 Jn. 4:13). The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin (Jn. 16:8), gives us the power to repent and obey God’s commandments (1 Jn. 3:24), and leads us to pray and receive what we ask for (Rom. 8:15-16, 1 Jn. 3:22).

Finally, those who have passed from death to life love other Christians (1 Jn. 3:14). “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 Jn. 4:20) And this includes your children and spouse (Mt. 18:5, 1 Pet. 3:7). Do you love God’s people? Is there a growing desire to be around other Christians (1 Cor. 12:13)? Or are they often annoying and bothersome (2 Cor. 2:16)?

CONCLUSION 

The Christian life is marked by peace and comfort in the Holy Spirit and growing in grace and obedience over time (Rom. 14:17). This is not always a smooth ride, but it is sure and steady progress. What is the pattern?

And the trajectories are generally manifest. The difference between light and darkness, life and death are not really small. They are open and obvious. Do you love Jesus? Do you love to worship? Do you love the Bible? Do you love forgiveness? Are you baptized? Then you are a Christian. You are saved.

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Creationism vs. Theistic Evolution (Practical Christianity #2) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

One of the most virulent viruses to infect modern Christianity is Darwinism. On the one hand, many academics have been cool-shamed into compromise, and on the other hand, even many young earth creationists are functional Darwinists. But you cannot build any house on the sand of human whims and hubris. Scientific theories come and go, but the Word of God stands forever.

The Text: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light…” (Gen. 1:1-2:3)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The whole Bible opens with this record of God’s intentional, personal creation of all that exists from nothing by the power of His word. The Bible records this work of God as occurring over the course of six ordinary days, marked by “evening and morning” culminating in the seventh day of rest, and all “very good.” There is a clear structure to the work and text, the first three days “forming,” the second three days “filling.” God created light and separated day and night on the first day (Gen. 1:1-5). He separated the waters above and below and created the heaven or sky on the second day (Gen. 1:6-8). He gathered the waters into one place and caused dry ground to appear and the first plants on the third day (Gen. 1:9-13). He set the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament as signs and for keeping time and ruling the day and night (Gen. 1:14-18). On day five, God filled the sea with creatures and the sky with winged, flying creatures (Gen. 1:19-23). And God created every land animal on the sixth day and finally man and woman in His image to rule the world (Gen. 1:24-30). And God saw all that He had made and pronounced it very good, and rested on the seventh day and blessed it (Gen. 1:31-2:3).

EVIDENCE OF HISTORY

Some Christians try to avoid the straightforward meaning of this text by arguing that it is symbolic or poetic. But that merely betrays a very modern prejudice against poetry, as though if something is poetic, it’s meaning is unclear or not historical. But the Song at the Sea celebrates the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex. 15) and the Song of Deborah celebrates the defeat of Sisera (Jdg. 5): and those poems are historical. Genesis 1 is poetic, but it is also historical.

While some like to connive by pointing out that God is outside of time and time is different for God, the Bible repeatedly invites us to believe that God condescended to our ordinary time. A “day” ordinarily means 24 hours, an evening and a morning, and that is exactly what is presented in Genesis 1. The Sabbath command says that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and that is why we work for six days and rest for one day (Ex. 20:11). Likewise, Jesus says that Adam and Eve were created at the “beginning of creation” (Mk. 10:6). To posit millions (or billions) of years of “creation” before Adam and Eve (or the first male and female creatures) contradicts Jesus.

THEISTIC EVOLUTION

While there several different ways Christians sometimes try to dodge Genesis 1, the most common and popular is called “theistic evolution,” or sometimes “evolutionary creation,” which generally accepts Darwin’s model of gradual evolution from pre-existent matter into simple organisms all the way down to the present complexity and intelligence of human beings, which really is one of the dumbest things moderns have come to believe.

And theistic evolutionists try to salvage the folly by insisting that God actively used and guided the evolutionary process.

The problem is that this means God used random mutations (deformities), survival of the fittest (strong destroying the weak), violence, suffering, and death for billions of years to create the present state of the world. But this does deadly damage to central doctrines of the Christian faith: First, the Bible says that creation groans for redemption, having been subject to corruption (Rom. 8:19-22). Creation was created “good” and pronounced “very good,” and it was Adam’s sin that subjected it to corruption. Theistic evolution essentially says that creation has always groaned, always been subject to corruption, and somehow that was “good.”

Second, the Bible teaches that death did not enter the world until Adam sinned: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). This guts the Fall of any real significance (there had been dying for millennia?). What really changed?

And this brings us to the biggest problem: Third, theistic evolution undermines the point of Christ and His death. Why did Jesus have to die if a sinless man could be evolved from a humanoid ape? Couldn’t God have just re-evolved man for salvation? The Bible teaches that Christ is a “new Adam” come to restore what the first Adam lost (Rom. 5, 1 Cor. 15).

POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS 

The Declaration of Independence famously says: “… that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men…”

You cannot have life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness or the kind of limited governments that actually secure those rights, unless you have a Creator who has created men endowed unalienably with those rights. You cannot have that freedom apart from that Creator. And the more muddled you are about that Creator and His creation, the more muddled you will be about those rights and how civil governments secure them. When the doctrine of Creation is considered non-essential, soon your churches, your businesses, and your unalienable rights will also be considered non-essential.

CONCLUSIONS 

The personal, intentional creation of all things by the Word of God in six days is the foundational expression of God’s kindness, and grace. It is what theologians often call “common grace,” but it is not really common at all. It is exotic and mind-blowing love.

And that it is why it is not merely enough to reject Darwinism as a scientific theory, you must also reject it in every form. And what I mean is the kind of functional Darwinism that imagines that you can trick God’s blessing out of disobedience, that presumptuously lies about the goodness of God’s providence, and no matter what, “God will work it all out for good.”

Sometimes some of the most hardcore creationist families are some of the harshest and ugly in their words. God’s word spoke the universe into existence. God’s word upholds it all with supreme kindness. What kind of world are you making with your words?

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