Christ Church

Easter Sunday 2011: A Rest Remains

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Introduction

We are celebrating Easter, the day on which we commemorate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead. But not only did He rise, but all things were restored in Him, which is something we model, not only annually, but also on a weekly basis. We worship on the first day because we are privileged to have a weekly Easter, a weekly memorial of life from the dead. Eventually we may be able to shake the name Easter (a Germanic fertility goddess, for crying out loud), but in the meantime we can rejoice that the names of the baalim don’t mean much to us anymore (Hos. 2:17). Thursday is Thor’s Day, and who cares anymore? This is an endearing quirk of English- speaking peoples—everywhere else Christians have the good sense to speak of Pascha. During the transition, if someone objects that Easter used to be a pagan name, we can reply that this seems fitting—we used to be pagans. But now we are Christians, and Christ is risen.

The Text

“There remaineth therefore a rest?? to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Heb. 4:9-10).

Summary of the Text

The Scriptures in the older testament speak of different rests—all of which the believer is invited to enter into on the basis of faith. God created the world and He rested. God promised Abraham the land of Canaan, which was another rest. And God promised that Jesus would come to bring an ultimate salvation rest. This means that believers throughout history were invited to enter into the antitypical rest of Jesus by approaching every lesser rest with the eye of true and living faith. But now that Jesus died and rose in history, this does not mean that we have no tangible rests to work through any more. No, God helped the Old Testament saints look forward to the resurrection, and He helps us look back to it. There remains a Sabbaath-rest for the people of God (v. 9). But why? Verse 10 often throws us because of the dense cluster of pronouns. We still have a Sabbath-rest because “he” has entered a rest, and has ceased from “his own works,” in just the same way that God did at the creation (v. 10). We need to fill this out.

It is sometimes assumed that the he here is a repentant sinner, ceasing from the futile labor of trying to save himself. But why would we compare the ungodly labors of self-righteousness to the godly work of creation? Why would we compare a foolish sinner to a wise God? Why would we compare an incomplete and botched work to a glorious work that was fully completed? It seems like a really bad comparison.

But what if the He is understood as Jesus? Jesus has entered a rest, just as God did. Jesus recreated the world, just as God created the world. Jesus said it was finished, and God looked at what He had made and said that it was very good. Jesus ceased from His labor of recreating the heavens and earth, and entered into the reality of the new creation. God labored for six days and nights and rested. Jesus labored for three days and nights and rested. Therefore, the people of God still have a Sabbath rest. Therefore, we worship God on the first day of the week (the day He entered His rest) instead of on the seventh day of the week.

A Regulative Reality

First, some background. We do not have the right to worship God with whatever pretty thing comes into our heads. The apostle Paul elsewhere calls this tendency “will worship” (Col. 2:23). In Reformed circles, the desire to honor this truth has been called the “regulative principle”—that which God does not require of us in worship is therefore prohibited. All Protestants need to be regulativists of some stripe, and the best expression of this principle that I have found is this one: “Worship must be according to Scripture.”

But there is a strict version of the regulative principle which is impossibly wooden, and it is not surprising that there are many inconsistencies. We can’t have a piano, because they are not expressly required. We can’t sing songs by Charles Wesley because he and other hymn-writers are not authorized. You get the picture. But we also have no express warrant for serving communion to women, or . . . worshiping God on Sunday.

A Few Hints

The most we have are a few hints. John tells us that there was a specific day that he called “the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10). The apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that they should set money aside “on the first day” (1 Cor. 16:2). We are told of an instance where the disciples gathered on the first day of the week to break bread and Paul taught them (Acts 20:7). But if we are looking for express warrant, this is thin soup.

The Real Reason

How does God require things of us? What does He do to get the message to us? Are His actions authoritative? Well, yes. The material universe was created on Sunday (Gen. 1:5). The Jews had been observing the seventh day Sabbath for centuries. God appears to have told the Jews that the seventh day observance would be an everlasting covenant (Lev. 24:8). But then the day shifted from the seventh to the first without any notable controversy. How could that be? What could account for this? Nothing less than the total recreation of all things. Behold, Jesus said. I make all things new (Rev. 21:5; 2 Cor. 5:17). He came back from the dead on the first day of the week (Mark 16:9; John 20:1), meaning that this was the day on which the reCreator entered His rest. Jesus made a point of appearing to His disciples on this same day (John 20:19). His next appearance to them was a week later, on the following Sunday (John 20:26). The Holy Spirit was poured out fifty days later, also on Sunday (Acts 2:1). And in the main, the Christian church has never looked back.

Not one Christian in ten thousand could give a decent biblical defense of our practice of worshiping God on the first day, and yet here we all are. Look at us go. Can we account for this through an appeal to the stupidity of blind, inexorable tradition? No—we should actually attribute it to the fact that two thousand years ago God overhauled everything, raising His Son from the dead in broad daylight. Jesus entered His rest, and consequently we may rest and rejoice before Him.

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Palm Sunday 2011: A Plot Twist Triumph

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Introduction

The triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem is the prelude to His crucifixion, and so it is odd that it has come to be called the triumphal entry. But it actually reveals a good understanding of what was actually happening there. The right hand of the Lord does valiantly (Ps. 118:16), but it turns out to have been the left hand. That it was a left-handed triumph did not keep it from being a triumph. No one thinks that the Greeks lost the Trojan War because the Trojans hauled what they thought to be a trophy of their victory inside the city walls.

The Text

“The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death. But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses” (Psalm 68:17-21).

Summary of the Text

The Bible is filled with many descriptions of triumph. Many of them are of the straight up the middle kind, as here. But when God overcame the rulers of that age, who did not know what He was doing (1 Cor. 2:8), the language of these right-handed triumphs is applied straight across. The psalmist pleads with God to arise and scatter His enemies (v. 1), which the Lord then proceeds to do. The Lord is among myriads of angels, in the holy place (v. 17). He then ascended on high, prefiguring the ascension of the Lord Jesus into Heaven (v. 18; Eph. 4:8). The Ascension looks like a triumph ought to look, but it was prefigured (accurately) by a march of death in faith. God is the God of our salvation, and He daily loads us with benefits (v. 19). The God of our salvation holds all the issues of death in His hand (v. 20). God shall win a complete victory, wounding the head of his enemies (v. 21).

A Most Unusual Triumph

Christ entered the conquered city in triumph before He had conquered it. Usually you have the battle and after that the victory parade. Jesus, the model of all faith, reversed the order. He held a triumphant procession before the battle. This had all been laid out in Scripture beforehand, and Scripture cannot be broken. Jesus knew that, because He saw Scripture rightly. And it did not matter how explicitly He spoke of this plan, spiritual blindness— attached as it is to the wisdom of the world—cannot comprehend it, and cannot overcome it (Jn. 1:5).

But we can understand how it is that they could not understand. Not only did Jesus conduct the victory parade before the victory, but His victory, when He came to it, was accomplished by dying, and not by killing. He crushed the serpent’s head by allowing Himself to be bruised by a crushing blow (Is. 53:5). And so being crushed was actually the crushing blow.

But the lack of spiritual understanding was not because the words were unclear.

“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (Matt. 16:21)

When God Speaks in Code

As Christ entered into His victory, so should we. We are Christians, imitators of Him. What then is your triumphal entry? Have you been demoted, insulted, wronged, or badly handled? Has the Lord of all affliction assigned a portion of that peculiar blessing to you? Do you chafe because Lot pushed ahead of you and chose the choice portion, right next to Sodom? Are you mystified because after Samuel anointed you the next king, all the promotion memos resulted in you hiding from Saul in the wilderness? Why does God persist in thinking that down is the way up?

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matt. 5:11-12).

This is how God speaks in code; this is how He hides the purloined letter. He says what we would rather not hear, and does so bluntly, overtly, plainly, and with all clarity. If we receive it in faith, the promise is apportioned to us in accordance with our faith. If we say, sorry, we “can’t do that, not after what they did to” us, then the first thing we ought to do is consider the possibility that what they are saying is not false. The promise does not belong to those who reject the terms of it. When we take up our cross to follow Jesus, as He required of us, the process includes exulting in a great victory by faith beforehand.

The Righteous Shall Enter

But Christ is righteous, and we are not. Of course He knows how to do this kind of thing. But how can we approach the “gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter” (Ps. 118:20)? “Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in” (Is. 26:2). How do we enter those gates? Because Christ defeated the devil in this “upside down” fashion, it is possible for sinners to respond to His invitation. Left to our own devices, we would have entered the wrong gate, taken the wrong entry ramp. We would have done the obvious thing. He made it possible for us not to.

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matt 7:13).

In order to do this right, we have to stop thinking like scholars, and start thinking more like little kids.

“And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3).

“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14).

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State of the Church 2011

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Introduction

One of the customs we have in this congregation is that of having a “state of the church” message around the first of the year. Sometimes the message focuses on the local state of the church, and sometimes on the state of the national church. And sometimes, like today, it focuses on both.

The Text

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).

Summary of the Text

The Jesus submitted Himself fully to the will of His Father in heaven. He did this even to the point of a humiliating death on the cross. God honors the story, and most of all in the central story that He writes. Because Jesus submitted Himself to death on a cross—for the sins of the world—God has therefore exalted Him highly (v. 9). He has given Him a name that is above every name (v. 9). This is not isolated off in some “spiritual zone.” The name of Jesus has been established such that every knee should bow—in heaven, on earth, and in the subterranean places (v. 10). Knees will bend everywhere. And every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (v. 11).

What Lordship Means

We do not confess that Jesus is the Silent Lord. When we confess His lordship, we then wait upon Him. The next thing that happens is that He tells us what to do, and how to live. He does not just tell us what to do or how to live in a very own personal lives. He tells all the knees that bowed, and all the tongues that confessed, what He wants them to do now. This is what He meant by “teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28: 20). We don’t just confess. He speaks also . . . authoritatively.

Inescapable Discipline

Before the final culmination of all things, in this fallen world, we always have to deal with competing words from competing lords. Because a man cannot serve two masters, these competing words will always be on a collision course. We have, in this past year, seen one such collision in principle. When the Congress repealed the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy for the military, they were not just lifting discipline, they were imposing it.

The public debate over this issue reveals that virtually no one understands what is going on. The absence of discipline is impossible in any society, still less in the military. This means that this question is a “not whether but which” question. It means that it is not whether we will discipline servicemen in terms of a sexual ethic, but rather which servicemen we will discipline in terms of a sexual ethic. In other words, it is not whether we will have a set of imposed sexual standards for the military, but rather which standards they will be. As Lenin once put it, with much more insight than our current rulers, “Who? Whom?”

The public discussion of all this, in its sophomoric talking points way, addressed whether straight servicemen are willing to “serve alongside” their openly homosexual peers. This question would obviously include evangelical Christians. But this is not the question at all. Anybody who has spent any time in the military knows that it is not a bastion of righteous behavior. If you join, you will serve alongside fornicators and drunks, and you will learn how to work together with them. Adding patriotic poofters to the mix is a non-issue, and barely worth discussing.

The issue is this. Homosexual behavior in the ranks is now being considered as a protected and honorable lifestyle choice. This means that if an evangelical Christian witnesses to his crewmates, and he says that Jesus died to liberate them from their sins, and somebody says, “Like what, fer instance,” he can still say “drunkenness, cocaine use, gambling away your family’s paycheck, sleeping with hookers, laziness, stealing, adultery, and so on.”

But if he now includes sodomy, then if someone complains about him (and someone most certainly will), the witnessing Christian will be subject to the discipline of the service. The fact that he was witnessing on his own time will be as irrelevant as the fact that the homosexuals used to cruise the bars on their own time.

What This Means

We have many in our congregation who have served in the military, and we have others who are currently serving. The evangelical contingent in the American military is large, and not insignificant. And so we must understand what has happened.

All militaries have to have oaths of allegiance. This too is inescapable. It matters to the Christian whether false gods are attached to that oath. The presence of false gods can be detected through the presence of false law. That is what we have here. Now the ancient Christians in Rome faced a greater obstacle to military service in the idolatrous oath of allegiance than in the question of fighting and killing. Look at the Old Testament—what was the bigger problem, idols or fighting? Right.

But in our case, the problem is not the oath itself, but what the handlers of the oath have now determined that it must mean. This means that what you think “defending the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic” means, and what they think it means, will be two entirely differently things. Bottom line, this means that Christians who decide to serve must be prepared to wreck their careers over this issue. This has always been true, but the odds were long. Now it will be present in every unit. Rather than put up with this, staying away from that Hobson’s choice is an honorable thing to do. But if you sign up with every intent of keeping your head down, with an “ain’t gonna witness to anybody” mentality, then you are timid little creature. And you shouldn’t join the military in order to become a moral coward.

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Defining History

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

We have all enjoyed the anticipation of another Christmas, and we are still in a celebratory moment—a Lord’s Day celebration the day after Christmas. But we don’t ever want this celebration to drift off point—this is not the armistice day of a long-forgotten war. This war is on-going, and we celebrate this decisive point in the war as a means of continuing the faithful battle.

The Text

“And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:25-35).

Summary of the Text

After the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus up to the Temple to do for Him what the law required (v. 27). There was a just and devout man there named Simeon, and the Holy Spirit was upon him (v. 25). He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and it had been revealed to him that he would not die before he had seen this consolation, the Messiah himself (vv. 25-26). The Spirit brought him into the Temple, and he came up to Joseph and Mary, took the baby in his arms, and blessed God (v. 28). His first word considered what God had promised to him (vv. 29-32), which is that he would see God’s salvation, a light for the Gentiles and the glory of Israel (v. 32). Joseph and Mary were both amazed (v. 33). And his second word was a word of blessing for Joseph and Mary, and he turned and said something to Mary in particular (v. 34). Remember this is all in the context of a blessing. The child is set for the fall and rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be spoken against (v. 34), a sword will pierce through Mary’s soul (v. 35), and the thoughts of many will be revealed (v. 35). The definition of history, which we will consider today, is all wrapped up in this blessing for Mary.

Four Elements

There are four elements to this blessing, which we will consider in turn:

    • The fall and rise of many in Israel;
    • A sign that will be spoken against;
    • A soul piercing grief for Mary;
    • And the thoughts of many revealed.

Falling and Rising

History is a story. It unfolds and develops, and this means that the characters involved are going somewhere. The last chapter will differ from the first. Because this is a long story, this happens in cycles. Because of what Scripture teaches us throughout, there are only two ways for this to go. They are fall and rise, or rise and fall. It is either death, resurrection, and glory, or it is glory, pride, and death.

And at each stage of this development, we have the setting for the alternative. If history were frozen, we could have static good guys and bad guys. But those who fall and rise might need to fall again. These things were written for us as an example, on whom the ends of the ages have come (1 Cor. 10:11). “Don’t be that guy” in the story is a reminder that is constantly necessary. Pope Alexander VI should have been more interested in Caiaphas than he was. Yesterday’s poor, now delivered, are tomorrow’s wealthy, who therefore need to hear the warnings.

A Sign to be Resisted

Jesus is to be a “sign” that is spoken against. Signs carry meaning, and when someone speaks against such a sign they are saying, “No, that’s not what it means.” But when God gives a sign, He gives it with a meaning that is plain. The culmination of this sign was the resurrection of Jesus, by which He was declared to be the Son of God (Rom. 1:4). This divine Sonship means that Jesus will judge the world at the culmination of human history (Acts 17: 31), and that He is the prophet, priest and king over all things now (Ps. 2:8).

Grief is Real

We have every reason to believe that Mary is among the witnesses of the resurrection (Acts 1:14). But she knew, long before this, that the supernatural had invaded our world. George Herbert has a poem where he plays on the letters in the words Mary and Army, and says that this was fitting, for there it was that God pitched his tent (John 1:14). Mary knew she was a virgin, Mary knew what Simeon told them here in our text, she knew what the angel had said, and more. So she knew that the cross was not the end of the story—but it was true grief in the story nonetheless. Knowing we are in a story does not prevent real story grip from happening. A sword went straight through Mary’s soul—and she knew that it was coming years in advance.

Thoughts Revealed

We want to keep the thoughts of our hearts bottled up. As long as they are there, deep inside, we may pretend that we are the lord of them. No one else knows our spites, our petty adulteries, our bitterness. We keep them under our tongue, like a sweet morsel. The doctrine of God’s omniscience refutes this, but we have learned how to keep our doctrines up in the heavens. But Jesus . . . He has come down. He lived among us. His presence reveals, like nothing else can reveal, the thoughts and intents of our hearts. Not by projecting them onto a screen, but rather by showing the world whether we are drawn to Him, or repulsed by Him. From the moment Simeon spoke those fateful words, the winnowing has been in effect. It is come to Jesus, or go away. In Him is light, and away from Him is only darkness.

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Joy to the World

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Introduction

In this world, joy is a bedrock sort of thing—and not the froth at the top of a wave. Joy is deep satisfaction in the will of God, and this must be coupled with a recognition of the reality that God’s will is everywhere and in everything. There is no place where we may go and be allowed to murmur or despair in that place because God’s will is somehow “not there.” In the carol we sing about joy to the world, we are dealing with the reality of sins and sorrows that grow, of thorns that infest the ground, and nations that need to have the glories of His righteousness proved. That proof will be found in our faith.

The Text

“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet. 1:6-9).

Summary of the Text

The apostle Peter is exhorting believers who are facing significant trials. We still live in a world filled with trouble, and so what he says to them will apply to us also. When confronted with the weight of manifold temptations, our response should be that of “greatly” rejoicing (v. 6). When we are tried, our faith is tried (v. 7). Our faith is tried because God is a goldsmith. When the goldsmith plunges gold into the fire, it is not because he hates the gold, but because he loves the gold enough to want to purify it of its dross (v. 7). When the goldsmith beats the gold, it is not because he has contempt for the gold. He has a crown in mind. This analogy applies more to your faith than to gold (which ultimately perishes), and the goal is to have a faith that praises, honors, and glories at the coming of Jesus Christ (v. 7). You have not seen Him, Peter says, but you love Him (v. 8). You have not seen Him, but you nonetheless believe, and you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory (v. 8). You are striving to obtain the end of your faith (which is constantly being purified by troubles), and that final purpose is the salvation of your souls (v. 9).

The Problem

Christmas should not be treated by us as the “denial season.” One of the reasons why so many families have so many tangles and scenes during the “holidays” is that everybody expects sentimentalism to fix everything magically. But Christmas is not a “trouble-free” season. We want the scrooges and grinches in our lives to be transformed by gentle snowfall, silver bells, beautifully arranged evergreens, hot cider, and carols being sung in the middle distance. But what happens when you gather together with a bunch of other sinners, and all of them have artificially inflated expectations? What could go wrong? When confronted with the message of sentimentalism, we really do need somebody who will say, “Bah, humbug.”

Joy Unspeakable

Peter is not referring to someone living in the back of a cave, having mystic fits. That is not what is meant by “joy unspeakable.” It is not “cloud of unknowing,” or an orgy of pseudo-enlightenment in the back of your eyeballs. These words are written to believers in the midst of persecution and trial. Pain concentrates the mind. Pain tethers you to this world, and the rope is a stout one. But at the same time, the grace of God enables you to look along the pain, to look down the entire length of the trial, and to see the purpose and point of it all. For the unbelieving observer off to the side, watching you, there is no explanation that can make sense of it.

This is how God works. It is His way. “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). The peace of God is an invisible shield, one which others cannot see. This is why it passes their understanding. They see that your hearts and minds are protected, but they cannot see how.

Note that your hearts and minds are not the shield, and they are not set up to protect the peace of God. The peace of God is no frail thing, needing your help to keep it from being smashed. The peace of God is an impenetrable helmet, and your contentment is your head. It protects you, not the other way around.

Faith like Refined Gold

Faith can do this, even though it may do it imperfectly. Gold is gold, even with dross in it. The first round purifies the faith, so that you can see and understand the process. That faith thus purified is prepared for the next round— even if the fire is more intense, or the difficulties more severe. The point is not to avoid the process.

Joy to the World

So the message of Christmas is not a delusional message. We are not pretending that we live in a world that is not struggling under a curse. The doctor who applies medicine to a wound is not pretending the wound is non-existent. The craftsman who repairs a smashed piece of expensive furniture is not denying the damage. His presence presupposes the damage. The refiner’s fire does not exclude the reality of dross—it is excluding the dross in another way. The Incarnation is God’s opening salvo in His war on our sins. The presence of sin should no more be astonishing than the presence of Nazis fighting back at Normandy.

View the world with the eye of a Christian realism. The turning of seasons makes no one better. The gentle fall of snow removes no sin. The hanging of decorations only makes a living room full of sin sadder. As Jesus once put it, “Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? (Matt. 23:17). Which is more important, the hat or the cattle? The foam or the beer? The gift or the altar? The gold paper stamp on the Christmas card or the gold coin of your faith?

If our hearts are decorated with the refined gold of a true faith, we may therefore decorate everything else. If they are not, then what’s the point? Joy is fundamentally realistic—which is why unbelief thinks of it as insane.

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