Christ Church

500 Years of Cumulative Grace

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Introduction

So we have now come to the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. What I want to do is briefly remind you of certain key elements in that Reformation, and then address the meaning of time and anniversaries. What are we doing when we commemorate things like this? Recall that 500 years is eight percent of human history.

The Text

“The days of our years are threescore years and ten; And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, Yet is their strength labour and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Return, O LORD, how long? And let it repent thee concerning thy servants. O satisfy us early with thy mercy; That we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, And the years wherein we have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, And thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: And establish thou the work of our hands upon us; Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it” (Ps. 90:10–17).

Summary of the Text

On average, we are assigned 70 years (v. 10), and 80 by reason of strength sometimes (v. 10). But even in that strength there is labor, sorrow and vanity. It is soon cut off, and we fly away (v. 10). We have this struggle because of the anger of God. When God withholds His hand, we run riot. But when God chastises, it often seems to land heavily on the ones who acknowledge Him (v. 11; Heb. 12:6). “And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been . . .” (Gen. 47:9). It cannot be denied that God frequently loads up His favorites with troubles, but there is a purpose in it. Our response should be—and here is our point—to request that God use it all to teach us about time. Teach us to number our days so that we might behave with wisdom (v. 12). Though God has good purposes in loading us up, we are still within bounds to ask Him to stay His hand (v. 13). In the midst of all our labor and sorrow, if God grants our request then we will rejoice and be glad all our days (v. 14). Our request ascends to the pinnacle of faith—make us glad according to the days of our affliction (v. 15). We pray that God would show His work to His servants and to their children (v. 16). Remember that children and grandchildren are one of the central ways for us to number our days across generations. And then, with all of this in mind, may the beauty of the Lord rest upon us. May His beauty adorn our labor, sorrow, affliction and gladness, and consequently establish it (v. 17).

A Reminder of the Solas

One wiseacre once asked why they are called solas—since there are five of them. But if you meditate on them in wisdom, you see instantly how they all harmonize in one gospel. It is no more a contradiction than Paul’s statement that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”

We believe in sola Scriptura. This means that Scripture is our only infallible and ultimate authority. We believe in sola fide, which means that we are saved through the sole instrument of faith in Jesus Christ. We affirm sola gratia, which teaches us that it is the grace of God alone that moved Him to save us—nothing that we did. We have one Savior—solus Christus—Jesus Christ alone is our deliverance. And all of these together redound to the glory of God alone—soli Deo gloria.

This is right at the heart of what was recovered in the Reformation. It is all about gospel, all about Jesus, all about the Bible, and all about the salvation of sinful men. This is it; this is our central business. But once it has done its work, what is this central business supposed to affect? The answer is everything.

Numbering Our Days

So you have numbered your days. But what fills up your days? Sweeping the floor. Working on legal briefs. Writing code. Writing novels. Changing diapers. Driving a bus. Washing windows. Teaching children. Managing an office. Filing papers. Answering the phone. Swinging a hammer. Studying at college. Emptying the trash. Counseling people. Painting pictures. Painting houses. Doing graphic design. Troubleshooting computers. Laying asphalt. Manufacturing breakfast cereal. Making movies. Deep frying French fries.

Now to a certain kind of “spiritual-mindedness,” given what He assigns to us, it would seem that God is not very high-minded. Now this is quite true. Our notions of true spirituality and His often vary. “That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). Remember that He is the one who thought up a Messiah in a manger, and a Savior nailed to a tree. No, He is not high-minded.

“For thus saith the high and lofty One That inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, With him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Is. 57:15).

God is the high and lofty one. He is the one who inhabits eternity. His name is ultimate holiness. He dwells in the high and holy place. And where else does He dwell? He dwells with the lowly. God’s calculus of worthwhileness is not the same as ours.

The Doctrine of Vocation

One of the principle fruits of the Reformation was the restoration of dignity to the work of the ordinary man and woman. A milkmaid is as called to her vocation as a minister is to his. We are not divided into a two-tier system—where the clerics are holy, and a grubby laity pay the bills. A gospel that reaches down to every person has the effect of lifting up every person. And this is why—for just one more bit of Latin—we are enabled to live out every aspect of our lives coram Deo, before God.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:1–2).

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

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Word and Spirit, Spirit and Word

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Introduction:
Last week we marked Ascension Sunday, the crown of the objective gospel. When we point to the objective gospel, we are talking about those elements of the gospel that would have been true had you or I never been born. But an objective gospel by itself saves no man—there has to be application. And when we are talking about application, we are talking about the two great elements of Pentecost, which are the Spirit and the Word.

The Text:
“That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:12–14).

Summary of the Text:
There are too many blessings crammed into the first chapter of Ephesians to be able to deal with them adequately. But suffice it to say that God has blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (v. 3). This includes election (v. 4), and predestination to our adoption as sons (v. 5). This is a purpose that lines up with His good purpose and will (v. 5). Our salvation results in praise for the glory of His grace (v. 6). We have redemption in accordance with His riches, not in accordance with our poverty (v. 7). In this God abounds toward us (v. 8), delighting to reveal the mystery of His will (v. 9). The point is the unification and unity of all things everywhere (v. 10). We were predestined to be included in all of this (v. 11), those believing first being to the praise of His glory (v. 12). And what is the catalyst that makes all of this take shape in the world? Hearing the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, and trusting (v. 13). Having trusted, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God, which is the earnest of our inheritance (v. 14).

Higher Than I:
In order for us to be saved from our sins, there has to be a transcendent and immovable place that is extra nos, outside of us. Lead me, the psalmist cries, to a rock that is higher than I (Ps. 61:2). We live in a therapeutic age, where everyone wants deliverance to be whatever happens when drowning sinners clutch at each other.

And so it is. Your salvation is anchored outside human history entirely. It is fastened to the eternal counsels of God, counsels that settled on you and your salvation before the first atom was created. It is not bolted to the good pleasure of God—that would not be secure enough. It is the good pleasure of God.

There are two halves of realized salvation—the objective message, which is about Jesus, His birth, perfect life, spotless sacrifice, silent burial, explosive resurrection, and glorious coronation. That is gospel. Jesus is Lord. But what is that to you? How does it engage? What is it that causes it to plug into a sinner’s life and there to begin its transformative work?
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain” (1 Cor. 15:1–2).
In this place, Paul begins by noting the subjective response, and then goes on to declare the objective elements of objective gospel—death, burial, resurrection.

In This Room:
The work of the Father was before all worlds. The work of the Son was outside Jerusalem, two thousand years ago. The work of the Spirit is here and now, in this room. The Spirit’s work in all of this began on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out in Jerusalem, and the words about Christ were preached in the streets of Jerusalem. Keep in mind what God is doing—He is saving the world. The earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Two thousand years ago, the Spirit was poured out in the streets of the city of man, and the gutters have been wet ever since. Some places we are already ankle deep, but oceanic glory is coming. Are you trying to avoid it? What are you going to do, stand on your chair?

So Put Out Your Hand:
This gospel reality exists independently of you. But you are summoned. You are invited. You are called. The gospel is objective forgiveness that God would place in your hand. What are you called to do? You are called to extend your hand, palm up. That is faith, and faith is the sole instrument for receiving the blessings of the gospel.

Do not dispute. Do not wrangle. Do not carp at words. Just extend your hand. Do not imitate those amateur high Calvinists who claim they cannot extend their hand. In defense of the prerogatives of the Potter, they tell the Potter not to tell them what to do.

The Praise of His Glory:
When grimy sinners are cleansed, all the glory goes to God. Philosophy can’t do this. Renewal projects cannot do it. Legislation cannot fix it. What can restore a drunk and drug addict? What can free men and women from the chains of lust? What can liberate us from churchy self-righteousness? The answer is, of course, exactly what the old gospel song said, which is nothing but the blood of Jesus.

When a sinner is saved, the sinner gets the forgiveness and joy. But who gets the glory? Paul was at pains to emphasize this in the passage surrounding our text. What He does results in praise of the glory of His grace (v. 6). He hauled us out of the mire so that we might be to the praise of His glory (v. 12). The culmination of our salvation is to the praise of His glory (v. 14). We are talking about God’s glory, but never forget that in this context we are talking about the glory of His grace.

What could possibly glorify the glory of God? The answer is porn addicts, drunks, liars, thieves, abortionists, sodomites, gluttons, and whores. The mines of God are deep, and He brings up the most unlikely ore. But when the propitiatory smelting is done, and the Craftsman of God is finished with us in His workshop, the crown that results is true glory added to infinite glory.

 

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Series of Coronations

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Introduction:
On Ascension Sunday, we mark the departure of the Lord Jesus into Heaven, where He was received in great glory, and where He was crowned with universal dominion. This is our celebration of His coronation proper. But there were a series of glorifications prior to this, each one building on the last—at each stage of the gospel. The Ascension, rightly understood, is the crown of the gospel.

The Text:
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:13–14).

Summary of the Text:
The one place in the Old Testament where Son of Man was plainly a Messianic title was here in this place. Elsewhere it was commonly used to identify a human prophet, for example. Here the one like the Son of Man is a figure of infinite dignity, and He is granted an everlasting kingdom.
When we read the phrase coming on the clouds, we think of the Second Coming, as though it were speaking of Jesus coming to earth. But the phrase refers to the Ascension—it speaks of Jesus coming into Heaven, coming into His crown. “Came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days . . .” The passage tells us where He comes. He comes into the throne room of Heaven, and there He is given universal dominion.

And this is what Jesus self-consciously refers to when He was on trial before the Sanhedrin. Within a few months, He would be standing before the Ancient of Days, with everlasting honors bestowed on Him, but right then He was standing before the petit principalities, who were filled with malice and poured out every form of dishonor they could think of. And when the high priest asked Him if He was the Christ, the Son of Blessed, Jesus said, “I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62).

And notice the reaction to this:

“Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death” (Mark 14:63–64).
For Jesus to say that He would be seated on the right hand of power, and that He would come to that right hand of power on the clouds of Heaven, was reckoned by them as blasphemy, and was worthy—or so they thought—of death.

Glory Stages:
What Jesus received at the Ascension is what we normally think of when we think of a coronation. It was glorious beyond anything any of us could imagine, but what we can imagine was a miniscule amount of the same kind of glory. But we arrived there in stages, and the earliest form of Christ’s glorification

Think of these elements of the gospel. Christ was crucified. He was buried. He was raised from the dead. He ascended into Heaven. Let us meditate on the gospel progress of those four words—crucified, buried, raised, and ascended.

Building to the Ultimate Crescendo:
Crucified—we begin with the glory of His humiliation. “And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matt. 27:29). The Bible teaches that the cross was a moment of glory (John 12:27-28). The purest man who ever lived laid down His life for millions of the grimiest. Not only so, but God calls it a glory.

Buried—the Lord Jesus was glorified in His burial through the love of His forgiven followers. “For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her” (Matt. 26:12–13). So the preliminary ointment of burial is part of this stupendous story, not to mention what Nicodemus did (John 19:39). So another glory, another part of the wonder of this story is the fact that God gathers up the tears of the truly repentant (Luke 7:38), and stores them in His treasury (Ps. 56:8). This is yet another glory. But the tears that adorn His burial are only possible because of His burial.

Raised—why did the Lord Jesus tell the demons, and also tell His followers, not to proclaim His identity? I believe it was because He was jealous to have the first great proclamation be made by His Father. “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). We are starting to approach the threshold of unspeakable joy, and full of glory (1 Pet. 1:8). The disciples staggered in their joy (Luke 24:41). They were as those who dreamed (Ps. 126:1-2).
Ascended—telling the gospel story faithfully prevents us from trying to circumvent God’s pattern. Apart from the cross, no sinner should ever be trusted with a crown. Our tendency is to go straight to the triumph, by-passing the difficulties. But the Lord established a better pattern for us than this.

“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Phil. 2:8–10).

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The Good News of Easter Baptism

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Text: Luke 24:1-7, Romans 6:3-4

Two Questions
This morning, we will address the two questions given in our two passages–– “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5) and “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3).The response to the first is “Jesus is risen!” The answer to the second is “Jesus is risen, and we’re with him!” Easter is the foundation for every baptism, and each baptism is a celebration of Easter.

Garden of Graves (Luke 24:1-7)
Luke 24 begins in a garden as several women attempt to anoint the dead body of Jesus (vs. 1). This garden is not full of life but has become a place of death, a garden of graves (Jn. 19:41) When the women arrive at the grave they find the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty (vs. 2-3). As they are processing, two angels appear and deliver a zinger, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (vs. 5) On first pass, the women seem pretty justified in their search. They know Jesus is died because they saw him die. So he’s going to be among the dead. This is how it’s been since the events of another garden––the Garden of Eden.

The Gospel According to Two Trees
In the beginning, God created Adam, the seed of humanity’s family tree. The tree of mankind is contained and represented in this tiny seed named Adam. As the seed goes, so goes the tree. If the seed is healthy, the tree is healthy. If the seed is sick, the tree is sick. On the day Adam disobeyed, sin entered the seed and this disease infected the human tree. The root, trunk, branches, fruit all share the same disease, and, like the seed, “shall all surely die.”
Here begins the good news of another tree from a new Seed. The Master Gardener loves the diseased, the rotting, the dying people in Adam’s Tree. So the Lord causes a new Seed to grow on the old tree and from this new Seed he would plant a new tree. The Holy Spirit caused Mary to conceive so that “the child to be born will be called holy––Son of God” (Lk. 1:35). This seed has to be the Son of God and not the son (or great, great, great, great, great…grandson) of Adam, so he can born without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Because Jesus is man, He is united to the tree. Because Jesus is God, He is free from the sin of the tree.

Baptized into Adam’s Tree
The first thing Jesus does in his public ministry is to identify with Adam’s Tree by being baptized by John. John’s baptism was of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk. 1:4). But Jesus is the one person who does not need to be baptized. As Paul says, “He made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus becomes the sin of those he will save. On the wooden cross, the Seed of the woman receives the punishment for the sins of Adam’s Tree. The Seed is then hacked off from the tree and the buried in the ground (Is. 53:8). But even when Jesus is buried as a dead seed, there comes new life. The angels announce to the women the miracle. The seed of the woman, Jesus, is no longer among the dead. He’s not here, but he has risen! And so the angels ask, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

Baptized into Jesus’ Tree (Romans 6:3-4)
This is all very good news for Jesus. But why is this good news for me and all those in Adam’s tree? At Easter, the seed of the new tree is planted. Pauls says that your baptism unites you with the Seed so that what happens to the seed, happens to you. In baptism, you die with the Seed. In baptism, you are buried with the Seed. And in baptism you are raised with the Seed in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4). To become a Christian is to be cut off from the dying Adam Tree and to be grafted into the living Jesus Tree. And if this seems impossible for an individual twig to accomplish, that twig is correct. The work must be done by another, and it’s a gift to you (Eph. 2:8-9).

Baptized Death, Easter Life
The same question the angels asked about the Seed can now be asked about those from the Seed, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” If there’s new life from the dead for Jesus, then there’s new life for all those unified to Jesus. Once you are connected to the living Jesus Tree, then live like it! Produce the kind of fruit in your life that shows the kind of tree you’re connected to. Easter is the declaration that “Jesus is risen.” And each baptism is the declaration on another Easter, “Jesus is risen, and I’m with him.” This is the good news of Easter baptism.

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Easter 2017: A New Kind of New

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Introduction:
We have all heard about the new life in Christ. It is not possible to function in Christian circles without hearing that phrase. It is not possible to read through your Bible without realizing that Christ says that He makes all things new (Rev. 21:5). And if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation—old things have passed away (2 Cor. 5:17). But our hearts are slippery, and so we often miss the point by equivocating on the meaning of the word new.

The Texts:
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Rom. 6:1–8).

Summary of the Text:
Paul has started to answer objections to the gospel that he laid out in the first chapters of Romans. If we are saved by grace, plus nothing, what is to prevent us from becoming morally dissolute? The answer to that question is that grace comes to sinners in one form only, and that form is the glory of death and resurrection. Sinners cannot take advantage of grace, because when grace comes near the sinner dies.

Shall we abuse grace by continuing in sin (v. 1)? God forbid it, Paul says. How can people who are dead to sin continue to live in sin (v. 2)? Do you not know that everyone who is baptized into Christ is baptized into His death (v. 3)? That is what baptism with the water of grace means. So if we were baptized into His death, this means that in an analogous way we are raised up from the dead by the glory of Father, in order that we might walk in newness of life (v. 4). If we have been planted in the pattern of His death, this means that we will also be planted in the pattern of His resurrection (v. 5). We know this. Our old man, our body of sin, is both crucified and destroyed, so that from this point on we might no longer be slaves to sin (v. 6). Freedom from sin is attained by those who die (v. 7). So if we are dead with Christ, it necessarily follows that we will also live with Him (v. 8).

Union with Christ:
As you have heard many times before, Jesus did not die so that we might live. It is appropriate to say that in a form of shorthand, but only if it is shorthand, and only if you know what it is shorthand for. The truth of the gospel is here: Jesus died so that we might die. He was buried so that we might be buried. He was raised from the dead so that we might be raised from the dead. He ascended into Heaven so that we might reign with Him from the right hand of the Father. The gospel is the gospel to us only through true union with Christ.

In this short passage, Paul makes this profound point three times. If we share His death, then we will share His resurrection (v. 4). If we have been planted together with Him in the likeness of His death (which is what baptism is), then it will be the same with the resurrection (v. 5). If we are dead with Christ, we will also live with Him (v. 8).

Different Kinds of New:
There are two ways that we could take the word new. One is quantitative and the other is qualitative. A new day would be a quantitative illustration. Today is Tuesday, not Monday, but it is another day just like the previous one. You got a new car, but it was a used new car, meaning that it was new to you. New to you, but not new. But there is another sense we need to have if we are to understand the potency of the gospel. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, on Sunday. But this day was qualitatively different. There had been a previous Sunday, just seven days before, but this Sunday was entirely and completely different. The world had been born again. The times of regeneration had been inaugurated. Jesus really had made all things new.

Water New or Spirit New?
Paul is explicit here on what our baptism means. We do not have the authority to contradict the meaning of our baptism on the basis of the meaning of our carnal logic. In other words, we are not allowed to say that grace means liberty to sin when our baptismal grace says that it means death to sin. Look down a few verses (Rom. 6:14). If we persist in contradicting our baptisms in this way, it will not be long before our baptisms rise up in order to contradict us. If Tyre and Sidon will be able to accuse Capernaum on the last day, then the baptisms of hollow Christians should certainly be able to rise up to accuse them.

“But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit [same word for newness], and not in the oldness of the letter” (Rom. 7:6). The newness that indicates salvation is a spiritual newness.

Both Kinds of New:
Someone can move into Christianity the same way you might move into a new house, or buy a new car, or take a new job. It is new in the quantitative sense. This is not a sinful thing, and it does apply to everyone who comes into the faith. Someone might be truly converted, and still need to get used to the ordinary new things. Christians form an actual subculture on the earth, and the lingo and the customs and the government might be new to you in the same way that the analogous things would be new if you joined the Navy. But those who are actually planted together with the Lord’s death are those who actually walk in a qualitative newness.

If this has happened, then it means that you are walking where Jesus is. And where He is must be described as being on this side of death to sin.

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