Christ Church

Which Covenant? (CC Troy)

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ISAIAH 28:9-19

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

13 But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

14 Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

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Happy Sabbath (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

A common phrase heard in our churches, especially on the Lord’s Day or leading up to it, is “Happy Sabbath.” But what does this mean? What exactly is the Sabbath and what makes it so happy? And are there ways in which, under glad obedience to Christ, we can order our lives to make the most of this great gift from God to His people?

THE TEXT

10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”

15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17 And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him (Lk. 13:10–17 NKJV).

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT 

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Ex. 20:8–11 NKJV, see also Deut. 5:12–15).

WORSHIP

The Lord’s Day is first kept holy by the reverent and joyful worship of God. While Sunday mornings are set apart for this public worship, that worship is meant to flow out into the rest of the day in our homes. Likewise, as this Sabbath is now observed on the first day of the week, the following six days of labor is meant to be performed for the glory of God and out of the rest and refreshment we have in Christ.

“Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings” (Lev. 23:3).

REST

The Lord’s Day was given for genuine rest—for the family, the servants, and even the animals. This means that we cease from our normal vocations and routines, not treating Sunday afternoons like any other day. Rather than viewing this as a restrictive burden, this call to lay your usual labor and routines aside is meant to be liberating for God’s people, making the Sabbath a true delight.

“If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isa. 58:13–14 NASB95).

CONCLUSION

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mk. 2:27). The Lord’s Day is not primarily about rules and regulations, do’s and don’ts, but embracing what God has done and is doing for us. The woman with the spirit of infirmity is a daughter of Abraham, a picture of the church. Just as she was “loosed” from her burden and pain on the Sabbath, so are we “loosed” from our burdens and sins in Christ, who is our Sabbath rest (Heb. 4).

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Quicksilver Evangelism (Acts of the Apostles #18) (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

The early church father Tertullian once famously said that the “blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”  This aphorism has been proven to be true in countless ways down throughout the history of the church. And the great Augustine made the same point:

“The earth has been filled with the blood of the martyrs as with seed, and from that seed have sprung the crops of the church. They have asserted Christ’s cause more effectively when dead than when they were alive. They assert it today, they preach him today; their tongues are silent, their deeds echo round the world. They were arrested, bound, imprisoned, brought to trial, tortured, burned at the stake, stoned to death, run through, fed to wild beasts. In all their kinds of death they were jeered at as worthless, but ‘precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.’”

THE TEXT

“When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (Acts 7:54–8:4).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As the members of the Sanhedrin listened to Stephen’s conclusion, they were completely convicted, and gnashed their teeth at him (v. 54). But he, full of the Spirit, looked up into heaven and saw two things—the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (v. 55). And so he declared it, saying that he saw heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God (v. 56). That was too much for them, so they shouted, stopped their ears against the “blasphemy,” and they all rushed at him together (v. 57). They cast him out of the city, and stoned him there (v. 58). The witnesses against him were casting the stones, and so they laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul (v. 58). This is our first introduction to Saul of Tarsus. As he was being stoned, Stephen called out to God, asking Him to receive His spirit (v. 59). Stephen then knelt, either because of the stoning, or in order to pray, and he prayed (in a loud voice), asking the Lord not to lay this sin to their account (v. 60). Saying this, he fell asleep (v. 60). Now Saul was in full agreement with all of this (8:1). The murder of Stephen was a spark that set off a great persecution against the Jerusalem church, scattering everyone (but the apostles). They were scattered into Judaea and Samaria (v. 1). Devout men buried Stephen, and mourned greatly (v. 2). And for Saul’s part, he made havoc of the church (v. 3). He raided their homes, and hauled believers off to prison (v. 3). But the believers who scattered took the Word with them, preaching as they went (v. 4).

CUT TO THE HEART

These men were infuriated by the things Stephen said (Acts 7:54), and when he said that he saw heaven opened . . . they rushed at him. When God cuts our hearts open, there are two different ways it might go. But there is a way for this to happen that leads to murderous thoughts. A few chapters earlier, this same body were resolving to murder the apostles . .. until Gamaliel warned them off. “When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.” (Acts 5:33).

But in the second chapter of Acts, when they were pierced or cut to the heart, the response of the people was one of repentance. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).

One notable thing about this incident is that they went straight to the execution. Even though they had no legal authority to execute anyone (John 18:31), in this case they didn’t go through the Romans at all. They apparently got away with it because Stephen was not “a famous name” like Jesus or the apostles were.

THE PATTERN OF PRAYER

The normal pattern of prayer for Christians is to pray to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the power of the Spirit. We address the Father at the beginning of the prayer, and we conclude the prayer by saying something like “in Jesus’s name, amen.” We are stirred up to this task by the Spirit of God, who dwells within us. But while this is the normal pattern of prayer, we have to remember that all three persons of the Trinity are fully God, and are worthy of our adoration. It is not unlawful to address the Son or the Spirit directly . . . just unusual. Notice that in this place Stephen sees Jesus directly, and he prays to the one he sees. “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He also asks the Lord (Jesus) not to hold this sin against those who hated him so murderously. At least in the case of Saul, this prayer was gloriously granted. In this prayer, Stephen was privileged to be appointing his successor from among his enemies.

THE LEGACY OF STEPHEN 

We are not Darwinians, meaning that we do not consider survival to be the greatest good. What matters is faith and the faithfulness that faith produces. This was very much the case here. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). Stephen’s life was short . . . but it was exceedingly fruitful. We can see this in two places.

We have already discussed the impact that Stephen had on Saul. Saul was from Cilicia, which was one of the regions represented in the synagogue of the freedmen—the men who lost in their attempts to debate with Stephen. Those men suborned the witnesses against him, who did the actual killing, with Saul right there approving. This was the man who was to write the majority of the New Testament.

The second place we see this is in Luke making a point to tell us that the scattered followers of Christ went everywhere preaching. It was as though the unbelieving leadership in Jerusalem saw a puddle of quicksilver on their table, and sought to solve their problem by slapping it. Quicksilver evangelism.

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A Fortified City (CC Downtown)

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INTRODUCTION

John Bunyan, in his book Holy War, once typified our personal battle against sin, the devil, and the world as a warfare against a city. He took the various attributes of both the body and soul and represented them as a city besieged by an array of threats. I want to attempt something similar, but applied to the life and work of the church. As is commonly said, the story of Scripture began in a garden, but it will end in a garden city that fills the whole earth.

THE TEXT

Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Psalm 87:3

CITY WALLS

The church is not an amorphous entity with indefinite boundaries. The liberal wants the walls of the city of God to be all-encompassing. The hidebound legalist wants the city walls to be just big enough for the handful of people they agree with…for now. But the Bible defines for us where the city walls are for the Church.

These walls require us to look at them as they are at present and then look in faith to when they will encompass the whole world. Jeremiah describes what will one day be true of the entire globe: “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more (Jer 31:34).” The liberal wants the city walls to be universal right now; the purist wants to hold off on any expansion plans until the final trump shall sound.

City walls are essential. They serve two functions: keeping in and keeping out. That wonderful line from Tolkien comes to mind, “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” Walls surround the citizens so they know where they belong. Within these walls is your home.

The walls of this city are the Word and Sacraments. Or to put it another way, we dwell in Christ. The Apostle John uses the language of a dwelling place: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit (1Jo 4:13).” The walls of this city are Christ. His Word and His signs. Those who have heard His Word and received it by faith dwell in Him, for He places His covenant sign of water upon them, and He feeds them with Himself. We dwell in Him, while He dwells in us.

But the secondary function of a city’s walls reveals something which is offensive to many. The walls keep out. Our culture is drunk on the cheap wine of inclusion. The walls of the Gospel of Christ make it plain that the only salvation to be found is within the walls of this City, which is Christ, and the signs of citizenship. Throughout the story of the Church’s history, these walls of God’s commandments surround God’s people, and expel the enemies of these divine truths (Deu. 6:16-18, Acts 20:29, 1 Co. 5:11). There are only two types of people, and Scripture bears this out in a number of different figures: sheep and goats, wheat and tares, elect and reprobate, sons of God and sons of the devil.

One temptation we face is to mistake the lesser walls within the cities which mark out the different neighborhoods as the city walls themselves. The city walls are not our confessions of faith, or our books of procedures, or denominational lines. The City walls are the Word of Christ, and those who trust in Him as He is proclaimed in Scripture find refuge within those everlasting bulwarks of His righteousness. This is what Jesus teaches when He said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out (Jhn 6:37).”

CITY GATES

After the erection of city walls, the next most important feature of city fortifications is the gate. In the ancient world, the gate functioned as the gathering place, the market place, and most obviously, the access point. A city gate is where it is most vulnerable. It can have impressive walls, but if the gate is compromised the city will be overrun by its enemies.

Continuing our analogy, for those who enter by faith, the gate is baptism. For those who prove to be enemies of the cross of Christ, the gates are church discipline. The WCF describes the stages of church discipline this way: admonition, suspension from the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper for a season; and by excommunication from the Church (WCF XXX.4). This follows the pattern Jesus laid out in Matthew 18. We also see an OT example of this principle acted out by Nehemiah breaking up the Sabbath market which had shown up in Jerusalem’s gates.

Those who come through the gate of baptism are not the exact same group of those who will dwell forever in the City of God when it’s full glory is revealed. This is what we commonly refer to as the visible vs invisible church. Too often believers recognize the significance of the church’s duty to welcome new saints (whether in infancy or in conversion) through the gates of baptism, but neglect that the church is also tasked with expelling false sons and barring the gates to apostates. There will be those who weep outside the city gates for all eternity gnashing their teeth, clawing out their eyes, and despairing. Some of those will have been baptized at one point, and their everlasting despair will be all the worse for having tasted the goodness of the Lord, only to fall away, hearing His words of judgement, “Depart from me, for I never knew you.”

Nevertheless, these city gates are not feeble cardboard. Baptism is not a gate from Wish or Temu. Baptism is a mighty gate, which really does mark the entrance out of the world and into the church. And if John’s vision is any indication, these gates are not only strong but they are beautiful. Your baptism really is a strong glory; therefore to apostatize, to walk out of those gates in high handed rebellion is a also a shameful horror.

CITY STOREHOUSE

The Word of God makes provision for the propagation and continuation of the Church. It does this in a few ways. First, the life of the Christian family, dwelling within the walls of Christendom fill the Heavenly Jerusalem with the next generation of worshippers. This is the family’s primary task, to raise up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Mal. 2:15).  Godly men, as Solomon teaches, make every effort to provide for future generations: A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children (Pro 13:22a). This should be taken in both the material and spiritual sense.

Additionally, we see numerous instances of generational thinking. The Patriarchs blessing their sons. Moses handing things off to Joshua. David commissioning Solomon to build the temple. Paul telling Timothy to “commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also (2 Tim. 2:12).” The city of God has a storehouse which faithful saints are to fill with the treasures of wisdom, the legacy of applying the Bible to all contexts of human life, and David’s burnished shields and spears of joyful Psalm-singing.

Where one generation neglects to fill the storehouse with good things, the following generation is poorly positioned to weather a siege by the enemies of error, sin, and compromise. Judah’s King Asa once plundered the treasury of the temple to pay the pagan Syrian king to go to war with his brethren in Israel; this significantly weakened Judah. Asa’s own health reflects this weakened state, as he ends his days with diseased feet, unable to go forth to plant his feet in conquest. All because he grew fearful of his circumstances, and instead of walking by faith decided to empty the storehouse for a foolish project.

CITY FORTIFICATIONS

One of the besetting follies of conquerers is to think that once peace is established the work is done. Many a victory has turned into a route because the would be victors became drunk on the spoil. The armor of God includes the need to have our feet shod with the Gospel of peace. This implies that the peace envisioned by the Gospel is not insular, retreat-ist, or communal.

Rather, once peace has been established the city must begin to think about expanding its footprint. This, like Israel of old, will be done bit by bit. While Christendom largely expanded North and West from Israel, we must not forget that there have been Christian churches found which date back to the 700s as far Northeast as Beijing. Missionaries have shed their bled in far off frontiers, and while their bones have long since turned to dust, the blood they shed for the Gospel is a seed which will, in future centuries turned into a glorious Gospel harvest bringing in once pagan nations into the newly expanded city walls of Christ’s global governance.

The Gospel Word, while we have been comparing it to city walls, is likened in Scripture to leaven expanding a lump of dough, or a mustard seed growing into a glorious tree, or a small stone turning into a global mountain. The City Walls are intended to be expanded to encompass the entire world. The universalist wants to tear down the walls in order to pretend that that somehow fulfills the Great Commission…tada no walls, now everyone is in the city! No, the walls must never be torn down, but they are to be steadily expanded by faithful application to every new hill, each new valley, each river and sea.

CONCLUSION

Walls, gates, storehouse, and fortifications for future expansion. That is the life the Church. The Word begets us and defines where the City is. The gates welcome repentant sinners into the life of the Glorious City of our God. The storehouses must be continually filled with the virtues of grace, the blessings of faithfulness, and the foresight for generational prosperity. The citizens must not rest until every hill and distant island is circumferenced by the strong walls of Christ our Lord. Indeed, glorious things of thee are spoken, oh city of our God.

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Keeping Your Heart in the Long Slog (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #45) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

This is a longer stretch of text describing the ongoing political grind surrounding Paul’s imprisonment in Caesarea. This is something of the quiet before the final storm of the end of Acts (literally). But it contrasts with all the action of most of the book: prison breaks, healings, mass conversions, and controversy all to (seemingly) land with a thud of several years in a prison.

Where is the fruitfulness of this? Sometimes the assignments of God are intense (moving, job changes, sickness, starting businesses, marriage, war, etc.); sometimes He acts in open and obvious ways and answers to prayer. But sometimes the assignments of God and His answers to prayer include a lot of waiting, patience, and maintenance obedience. But He is still at work.

The Text: “Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem…” (Acts 25:1-27)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The new Roman governor Festus immediately visited the Jews in Jerusalem, and they asked him to send Paul to them for a trial in Jerusalem, renewing the determination to ambush Paul on the road and kill him (Acts 25:1-3, cf. 23:14). Festus insisted that the Jews come and press their charges in Caesarea, which they did, and when Paul answered, Festus asked if Paul wanted to go to their court in Jerusalem (Acts 25:4-9). Paul insisted that he was innocent, and though he was willing to face death if he deserved it, he appealed to Caesar, and Festus granted the request (Acts 25:10-12). Now as Festus was preparing to send Paul to Rome, King Agrippa and his sister Bernice came to pay Festus honor, and Festus explained to them Paul’s situation (Acts 25:13-21). Agrippa asked to hear Paul, and so he was brought out again, and Festus explained the backstory, asking advice about what he should write Caesar (Acts 25:22-27).

ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY & REAL FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY 

It’s remarkable to note how close to death Paul had come: he barely escaped a mob (Acts 21:21), the Jewish council would have apparently killed him (Acts 23:10), more than forty men took vows not to eat until they had killed Paul (Acts 23:14), and now two years later, another plot has emerged to murder Paul (Acts 25:3). Now remember that Paul received a supernatural word from the Lord, “Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome” (Acts 23:11). But even with that clear word, notice that Paul has not been an inactive participant. He didn’t get the word from God and then sit back and watch. The absolute sovereignty of God does not displace human freedom and responsibility – even when there doesn’t seem to be a lot you can do.

The Westminster Confession says, “God, from all eternity, did, by the most holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established” (III.1) “Second causes” include things like prayer, preaching, telling the chief captain about a plot to murder you, defending your reputation, waiting patiently, obeying and having a good attitude today, exhausting appeals, and appealing to Caesar.

CHRISTIAN LIFE & MINISTRY 

We are not told a lot about these two years in Paul’s ministry, but they seem relatively less exciting and significant. It could have been tempting to Paul to be discouraged that nothing much seemed to be happening. Remember all the early parts of Acts: prison breaks, being let down out of a window in the middle of the night, many conversions and miracles. Sometimes we are tempted to think of the times of the prophets and apostles as constant miracles and wonders, but sometimes they just spent two years in prison with occasional requests to preach to corrupt politicians looking for bribes.

This underlines the sovereignty of God and the seasons of Christian life and ministry. Sometimes your life and your spiritual life can seem particularly exciting, and other times it can feel like plodding, like nothing is happening. And maybe you say, well, it would be less discouraging if I had a word from God that said, “Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.” But you do have a similar word: “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

APPLICATIONS

Think, pray, and work generationally: Our duty is to disciple all the nations. And this task, the Lord told us, is like a tiny mustard seed that goes into the ground and slowly but surely grows into a great tree. He said it is like leavening a large batch of dough. It takes time, but there is important action happening during that time. Your God is still active. Do not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Gal. 6:9).

Preach the gospel and faithfulness of God to yourself: sometimes your slippery soul is the assignment. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (Ps. 42:5). “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Ps. 103:1-2). “Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul” (Ps. 146:1).

But you don’t guard your heart and soul by trying to grab hold of it. You guard and tame it by opening all the windows and letting the light of Christ shine on it. And that light is the love and faithfulness and sovereignty of God. And then you tell your soul to sing praises.

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