Christ Church

Blasphemous and Absurd (Ascension Sunday 2024)
Grace Sensing on May 12, 2024
Read Full Article

Real Roman Trouble (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #28) (KC)

Grace Sensing on

INTRODUCTION

In 42 B.C. in the fields of Philippi in Macedonia, Greece, the armies of Brutus and Cassius collided with the armies of Mark Anthony and Octavian, and the latter soundly defeated the former. Octavian would become the emperor of the Roman Empire, taking the name Caesar Augustus and eventually lavish a great deal of prominence on the colony of Philippi as the site of that historic battle. 

Around 80 years later, in that same city, Paul and Silas began proclaiming the reign of another King, the Lord Jesus Christ, and a new way of being Roman. And as is the case wherever this gospel goes, it caused trouble – trouble that sets prisoners free. 

The Text: “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brough her masters much gain by soothsaying…” (Acts 16:16-40

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After a possessed slave girl followed Paul around in Philippi for many days, crying out that they were servants of the Most High God, Paul commanded the demon to leave her, and when it did, this ruined her soothsaying abilities, and Paul and Silas were brought up on charges to the magistrates (Acts 16:16-21). With some mob pressure in the background, the magistrates stripped and beat Paul and Silas and imprisoned them (Acts 16:22-24). At midnight, while Paul and Silas were singing praises to God, a great earthquake broke open the prison, but the prisoners remained and Paul saved the jailer’s life, preached the gospel to him, and he and his whole family were baptized immediately (Acts 16:25-34). The next day, the magistrates asked Paul and Silas to leave town quietly, but appealing to their Roman citizenship, they requested an official release and visited Lydia and the fledgling church before leaving (Acts 16:35-40). 

PRINCIPALITIES & POWERS

Literally, it says that the girl had the “spirit of a python,” which refers to the Greek god Apollo and his shrine at Delphi. This may be a general description of the kind of soothsaying she was doing, or it may mean that she was from that shrine or received her power from there. Regardless, she made her masters money and after Paul commanded the demon to leave her, she no longer could (Acts 16:19). What do we make of this? 

In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul says that idols are nothing and there is only one God, but then he goes on to say that pagan sacrifices are offered to devils and we must not have any fellowship with them (1 Cor. 10:20-21). Likewise, the phrase “principalities and powers” sometimes refers to human authorities (Tit. 3:1) and clearly at other times refers to spiritual beings (Eph. 6:12). And Daniel referred to spiritual beings ruling Persia and Greece (Dan. 10:13, 20). Putting this together, we should say that there are more material explanations for some things than we realize, but there are also sometimes spiritual forces at work. Superstition, illusions, science, and fear can do a lot, and sometimes the spirit of Samuel gets called up from the dead (1 Sam. 28). But in the resurrection and ascension, Christ has triumphed over all principalities and powers in heaven and on earth (Eph. 1:20-21, Col. 2:15). 

EARTHQUAKES & BAPTISMS

While Luke seems to describe the earthquake as a simple providence, worship is described in the Bible as an earth-shaking reality (e.g. Ps. 29). Regardless, Paul and Silas singing followed by an earthquake is a fitting picture of what the gospel is doing in Philippi: ‘exceedingly troubling the city’ (Acts 16:20). This is what the gospel does: it shakes heaven and earth, so that “those things which cannot be shaken may remain” (Heb. 12:27). It is shaking Philippi so that only the true Philippi may remain. The gospel addresses the spiritual realities at the core of human life and society, and in so doing, transforms all of human life (business and commerce, entertainment and arts, politics and law, education and recreation) into what it was created to be. We a see microcosm of this principle in the salvation offer Paul gives the jailer in the middle of the night: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31). We might add: and thy business, thy neighborhood, thy hobbies, thy city, and thy nation. 

CITIZENS OF ROME & HEAVEN

This episode contrasts rival visions of what it means to be “Roman.” The masters of the slave girl protest Paul’s disruption of their customary way of “being Romans” (Acts 16:21), but Paul is actually embodying a new way of “being Roman” in Jesus Christ and requires the Philippian magistrates to at least partially acknowledge that (Acts 16:37-39). Later, when Paul writes the Philippians, he exhorts them to reckon their citizenship according to the gospel of Christ (Phil. 1:27) and as primarily rooted in heaven (Phil. 3:20). Being an imperial colony, they would have understood that this didn’t mean they were not loyal or patriotic citizens of Rome, but rather the true form of that citizenship was being impressed upon them from Heaven. By preaching and casting out demons and baptizing, Paul was teaching the citizens of Philippi how to be true Romans. 

APPLICATIONS

This is Ascension Sunday, and so we celebrate Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, far above all principalities and powers, and we set our affections on Him there so that we will be truly affective here in this world, in our city and nation (Col. 3:1-4). This is how we learn to be true Americans, true men, true women, true husbands and wives, businessmen and members of our various tribes. Christ restores our humanity.

We ought to fight the temptation to see demons behind every tree, and this includes the need for governing our thoughts to think about those things that are good, true, noble, and lovely (Phil. 4:8). But we should also pay close attention to the warnings in Scripture about where the Devil likes to creep in: do not let the sun go down on your wrath (Eph. 4:26-27); spouses, do not deprive one another sexually (1 Cor. 7:5); women, watch out for idle chatter (1 Tim. 5:13-15), and men, watch out for pride (1 Tim. 3:6). 

In a world gone mad, sanity is trouble. We are gospel-trouble makers, not out of spite or a desire for chaos. We are here to establish the worship of the Triune God, set prisoners free, teach true justice, and establish the customs of Christ in the marketplace, home, and governments for human flourishing.

Read Full Article

Into Heaven Itself (Ascension Sunday 2023)

Christ Church on

INTRODUCTION

One of the reasons Christians are not as bold as they ought to be is because they do not know what covenant they are of. We have heard the stories of saints who have smelled of heaven; they have sizzled with the aroma of angels. And this is just what we are after. Some, not knowing the kingdom of heaven, have looked upon such saints and mistaken their boldness for pride, their freedom for madness. Some believers, even, who have drifted too far from the Heavenly Father, have made this same misjudgment. Even so, this is what we are after: the full assurance of faith seen in the likes of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before the fire, or Jonathan climbing up to the Philistine garrison, outnumbered.

THE TEXT

For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Hebrews 9:19–24).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After Moses spoke God’s Word to the people at Sinai, he took the blood of calves and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled both the book of the covenant and all the people (v. 19). This was not just any blood but the blood of the covenant (v. 20) that covered the covenant people, the altar Moses had erected, and the book of the covenant itself (Exodus 24:7). Thus far, Paul refers to Exodus 24 when the Mosaic Covenant was inaugurated in blood.

Then he carries this theme further into the history of Israel. The tabernacle itself and the vessels of ministry were also sprinkled with blood (v. 21). The tabernacle and vessels did not exist yet in Exodus 24. So Paul carries the theme of “sprinkled with blood” to the Day of Atonement which we hear about in Leviticus 16. On that day, blood was placed upon the horns of the altar and even brought within the veil and sprinkled on the mercy seat. This sprinkling atoned for the holy place and the tabernacle (Leviticus 16:16, 20).

This blood atonement was necessary for in the law nearly everything was cleansed by blood; without it there was no forgiveness of sins (v. 22). Therefore it was necessary that the patterns of the things in the heavens should be purified with blood sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with a better sacrifice (v. 23). For Christ didn’t enter into man-made holy places, which were antitypes of the true, but into heaven itself to appear before God for us (v. 24).

A BIT OF WORLD EXPLAINING

Those last two verses can raise the eyebrow. They don’t make sense without a little world explaining. God did not merely tell Moses to build a tabernacle, but He told him to construct a tabernacle according to the type he saw on the mountain (Hebrews 8:5; Exodus 25:40). The Old Testament tabernacle was constructed according to a real, heavenly one.

ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

The pattern God regularly uses is: from heaven to earth. It was this way in the beginning. He made the heavens and the earth, not the earth and the heavens. We pray that our Father’s kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven not in heaven as it is on earth. David’s soldiers could go marching out to battle only after he heard the heavenly army marching atop the mulberry trees (2 Samuel 5:24). Many of our problems in life come from trying to boss heaven around. The other problems come from ignoring heaven, as if it had nothing to do with things down here on earth. The solution to these problems is to live on earth as it is in heaven.

THE HEAVENLY THINGS THEMSELVES

The stage is now set for the potency of our text. Where has Christ gone? Into heaven itself. What has He done? He has purified the heavenly things themselves by His blood. He is in heaven “for us” (v. 24). In another place we hear that we are seated with Him in those heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). If you are forgiven there, you are forgiven here. By faith, you are already there while you are still here.

 BOLDNESS TO ENTER IN

The veil of the true temple has been torn in two and that veil is Christ’s flesh (Hebrews 2:20). You are in the holy place right now by faith in Christ. The tent made without hands has been sprinkled with Christ’s blood. The water from his side has washed you clean. The blood of the better sacrifice has been sprinkled on the true mercy seat, the true altar. The heavenly tabernacle is purified with you in it. What could you possibly be afraid of?

Read Full Article

Hearts Sprinkled Clean (Ascension Sunday 2023)

Christ Church on

INTRODUCTION

The Ascension of Jesus is one of the key glories of the gospel, and it really is part of the good news. Our Conquering King is our High Priest, and He has gone ahead of us, appearing in God’s presence for us.

THE TEXT

“For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people…” (Heb. 9:19-24)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

From the time God first confronted sin in this world, it has been accompanied with blood (Gen. 3). So when Moses renewed covenant with God’s people at Sinai, everyone and everything was sprinkled with blood for the remission of sins (Heb. 9:19-22). Hebrews seems to combine a number of different cleansings, summarizing the whole system from the initial covenant ceremony with various rites prescribed in the law (e.g. Ex. 24, Lev. 14:4ff, Lev. 16, etc.). What that earthly tabernacle pictured was Heaven itself and God’s presence, and therefore, what that Old Covenant dedication and cleansing foretold was the purification of the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices (Heb. 9:23). Thus, it was necessary for Christ to ascend into Heaven itself – the temple made without hands – to appear in the presence of God on our behalf (Heb. 9:24).

WHY DOES HEAVEN NEED TO BE CLEANSED?

One immediate question that ought to occur to us is: why does Heaven need to be sprinkled clean by the blood of Jesus? Isn’t Heaven perfect, pure, and sinless? Remember that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and therefore, they are both places that God created side by side, intending for them to mingle and overlap. We see glimpses of this with Enoch walking with God, the burning bush, Elijah riding fiery chariots into Heaven, the vision of the heavenly armies surrounding Elisha and his servant, the transfiguration, and of course the Ascension of Jesus. Heaven is not far away; it is near, but the original unity has been terribly strained by our sin. Thus, the ultimate goal is pictured in Revelation in the imagery of the Heavenly Jerusalem coming down to earth from heaven, and the dwelling place of God being with men (Rev. 21-22).

But that still doesn’t really answer the question of why Heaven needs to be sprinkled clean. Oscar Wilde once told a story about a picture that told the truth about a man, and while he miraculously remained young, the more wicked the man became, the more the picture grew old and hideous.

On the Day of Atonement, in the Old Covenant system, two goats were chosen, and the sins of the nation were confessed over one and it was released into the wilderness. The other was killed and the blood was brought into the tabernacle in order to cleanse the tabernacle from all the uncleanness of the people, their transgressions and sins (Lev. 16:16, 19). In other words, because Heaven is not far off, and God in His mercy has drawn near and bound Himself in covenant to a sinful people, there is a sense in which our sinfulness stains God’s glory and collects in Heaven – like in The Picture of Dorian Gray – and must be cleansed.

THE GREAT MERCY OF GOD

We live before God constantly, and in our sin, we foul His presence. As His image bearers, our sins lie about Him. God is the Great King of the Universe, and we are insolent rebels, spitting on His mercies, despising Him and His goodness, mad with our lusts and envy and bitterness and complaints. And He gives and upholds us, and like Israel in the wilderness, we only complain and turn to idols. But God in His great mercy sent His only begotten Son into the world to be the true tabernacle (Jn. 1:14), which means He came to become that Image where all our hideous sin might collect. And so it did. And when He was lifted up on the cross, He was lifted up like the hideous serpent pierced (Jn. 3:14). But whereas Oscar Wilde’s image only mocked and caused despair, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, and all our sin gone forever. And if that wasn’t enough, He ascended into Heaven itself, into the presence of the Living God, appearing there in the presence of God for us (Heb. 9:24).

CONCLUSION: HEARTS SPRINKLED CLEAN

In the following chapter, it says that because of the blood of Jesus, we enter the Holy of Holies with boldness, because He is our High Priest (Heb. 10:19-20). We draw near with true hearts with full assurance of faith because our hearts have been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:21).

How are our hearts sprinkled clean? First and fundamentally by agreeing with God that you are a sinner in need of His great mercy. But then whenever you confess your sins to God and anyone you’ve sinned against, He promises to cleanse us by the blood of Jesus and wash us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:7-9).

Which means that part of what Jesus is cleansing in Heaven is us because that is where we are seated with Him (Eph. 2:6). This also means that Heaven and earth have been reunited, and while we do not yet see all things under His feet, we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor (Heb. 2:8-9).

Read Full Article

The Ascension and the Gunk in Our Brains

Christ Church on

Download Audio

Introduction

Whenever we discuss the incarnation of Christ, or His death and resurrection, or His ascension, we are talking about something that is much more important than simple location. We are not just interested in certain powerful works that He performed, but rather are interested in the meaning of those works. In the ascension of Christ, we are not interested in how He moved from here to there. His ascension was the occasion of His investiture to cosmic office. In other words, we are called upon to live our lives here in the light of His transcendental authority. And so this brings us to consider the ethical ramifications of the ascension of Christ.

The skeptic may want to allege that we are talking fairy tales about a divine being going up to a sky castle. But if we hear the story correctly, our response should be, “Man, that’s ethically serious.”

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. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:1–5).

Summary of the Text

The Scriptures teach us that Christ is the archetypal man, the Adam of a new race, the representative of all who have faith in Him. Just as we all sinned when Adam ate the forbidden fruit, because he was our representative and federal head, so also the obedience of Christ is our obedience—on the same grounds. He is an Adam, our federal head. By faith, we experience everything He experiences. When He died, we died (Gal. 2:20). When He was buried in the cave, we were buried in the cave with Him (Rom. 6:4). When He rose from the dead, we rose from the dead in Him (Eph.2:5-6). And to the point of our celebration today, when He ascended into the heavenly spheres, we ascended together with Him (Eph. 2:6). From His suffering, which is ours by grace, to His glory, which is also ours by more grace, the whole story is one of a salvation on earth which is anchored in the heavens. It began there, and it ends there.

So turning to our text, if we in fact are risen with Christ, then this should orient us to those things which are above (v. 1). The location of this “above” is identified as the right hand of God, where Christ is seated (v. 1). The Colossians are told to set their affections there, and not down here on the earth (v. 2). The reason for this is their prior participation in the death of Christ (v. 3), and as a consequence, their life is hidden with Christ in God (v. 3). Our life is hidden with Christ, and Christ is in fact that life. When Christ, who is our life, comes again in glory, then we will be manifested there with Him in that glory (v. 4). And so here we see the ethical ramifications of the ascension. Mortify, put to death, Paul says, your members which are down here on the earth (v. 5). He then lists those members, all of which appear to be sexual in nature—fornication, uncleanness, inordinate passion, evil desire, and covetousness—which amounts to idolatry (v. 5). One of the central reasons why our generation is caught in a morass of sexual deviance is because we have forgotten the transcendent reality of Christ’s rule.

A Hard Juxtaposition

Because of the work Christ has done on our behalf, we have a new identity in Him. Because of this work, the old man has been crucified, and reigning sin no longer has dominion. This is why Paul can address this letter to the “saints and faithful brethren” in Christ (Col. 1:2). This is who they are. But they (and we) still have to deal with remaining sin, and that is what Paul is dealing with here—our members which are on the earth.

Three Mortifications

So when it comes to the Christian life, there are three mortifications that we have to understand. To mortify means to put to death.

The first mortification occurs at conversion, when God by His grace puts the old man to death. “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). This occurs when God rototills a weed patch, transforming it into a garden.

The second kind of mortification occurs here, in our text. Paul is addressing saints who are already saints, but who have allowed certain weeds to grow up in their garden. But this is a garden, not a weed patch any more, and so the weeds must be put to death. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth” (Col. 3:5). The command here is an aorist imperative, meaning that it is a definitive, over and done kind of action. Kill those weeds.

The third kind of mortification is a daily thing, an ongoing thing. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom. 8:13). So if we continue with the gardening metaphor, this is a mortification of weeds that a good gardener performs, as she goes out every morning at 5 am to weed. It has never been the case (when a good gardener does this) that she comes back with nothing.

Gunk in Your Brains

Someone who is being moral isn’t thinking about how moral he is. Being moral and being moralistic are quite different. Moralism is a fussy sort of business, avoiding things that it wishes it didn’t have to avoid. Moralism suspects that the non-believers out there are having a good time, and wants to put a stop to it. At the end of the day, moralism is frankly impotent.

The liberating power of grace is found in this. God wants you to contrast your affections on things above with your inordinate affection for things below. He wants you to put them into the same sentence. He wants you to set the transcendence of the risen Christ on one side of the balances, and your favorite porn site on the other. He wants you to evaluate your life with a Temple measure.

Your members which are on the earth have this resilient characteristic—nothing earthly can put them to death. No sword fashioned down here on earth can penetrate the hide of any of these creatures—every blow glances off.

You are the saints of God, which means that you have gunk in your brains. Do not be astonished at this. You are saints and faithful brethren, just like the Colossians. They had gunk in their brains too. But notice what Paul is up to here. He does not say to leave the gunk behind because that gunk is sinful and bad. That is true enough, but it doesn’t work. He says to leave it behind because Christ has ascended into the heavenlies, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Read Full Article