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The Keeper of the Vineyard (CC Troy)

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ISAIAH 27

In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

2 In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.

3 I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.

4 Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

5 Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.

6 He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

7 Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?

8 In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.

9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.

10 Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.

11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.

12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.

13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

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A Christmas Kingdom (CC Troy)

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MATTHEW 2:1-18

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, “In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, ‘And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.’” Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.   And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.” When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.   And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”

 

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The Necessity, Mystery and Hope of the Incarnation (Advent #2) (CC Troy)

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INTRODUCTION

So, as we continue in our Advent series, we are in week 2 of 4, we will focus on Jesus’ incarnation. This will include reviewing the actuality of the incarnation, the necessity of the incarnation and some thoughts about how we may view the reality of the incarnation as Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father until all enemies are made His footstool and all the nations are given to Jesus as an inheritance that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus in Lord.

1. ACTUALITY OF THE INCARNATION 

Luke 1:26-27, 31-38

Matthew 1:22-23

Luke 2:40, 49-52

1 John 1:1

2. NECESSITY OF THE INCARNATION

Hebrews 9:22-26

Hebrews 2:17-18

Revelation 5:8-13

3. REALITY OF THE INCARNATION 

Romans 6:3-11

1 Corinthians 15:1-3, 20-26

1 John 3:1-3

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Herald of the Kingdom (CC Downtown)

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MATTHEW 3

1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

4 And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,

6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

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In the Place of Moses (Acts of the Apostles #15) (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

One of the hallmarks of worldliness is when the curators of museums subvert the legacies of the men they are ostensibly honoring. The Lord Jesus referred to this common pattern when He said that the men who build memorials to deceased prophets are the descendants of the men who murdered the prophets. As the stage is set for the martyrdom of Stephen, we see the very same dynamics in play.

THE TEXT

“And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel” (Acts 6: 8-15).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Along with six other men, Stephen had been elected and ordained as a deacon. But he was given more in his ordination than perhaps was anticipated. Full of faith and power, he began to do wonders and miracles, and all out in public (v. 8). This brought about a verbal confrontation between Stephen and certain men from the Synagogue of the Freedmen (v. 9). These men were from various places around the empire Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia. In modern parlance, they were from Libya, Egypt, and various places in Turkey. In this confrontation, they were unable to deal with Stephen’s wisdom or spirit as he spoke (v. 10). Rather than give up, they then secretly induced some other men to lie about Stephen, testifying that they had heard him blaspheming both Moses and God (v. 11). With that lie started, they then stirred up the people, elders, and scribes, and then came upon Stephen, arresting him, and bringing him to the council (v. 12). They had false witnesses prepared beforehand here as well, who said that Stephen never stopped blaspheming the Temple and the law (v. 13). They reported that Stephen had said that Jesus was going to destroy the Temple, and that the customs delivered by Moses would be changed (v. 14). But when the members of the council looked at him, they saw that his face was radiant, like that of an angel (v. 15).    

DISCIPLES OF MOSES WHO WEREN’T 

In their back and forth with the man born blind, the Pharisees had this to say. “We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is” (John 9:29). But how had Moses established his authority in Israel initially? God gave him power to work wonders (Ex. 4:1-5). But what had Stephen been doing at the beginning of our passage? Great wonders.

But there is more. When Moses came down off the mountain, having met with God, his face was radiant and shining (Ex. 34:29-30). And when the council here looked at Stephen, just before his defense, they saw that his face was radiant, like the face of an angel (v. 15).

In short, the defenders of the ways of Moses had a Moses return to them, and he began to minister in their midst. And so what did they do? They arrested him, in the name of Moses, and put him on trial for blaspheming Moses.

BLASPHEMY CHARGES 

One of the great contemporary topics is that of Christian nationalism. And one of the first objections that is raised is brought up on the basis of a fear that Christian nationalists would start arresting freethinkers in order to charge them with blasphemy—as though our biggest concern would be the village atheist who puts out a newsletter with a circulation of 153.

But one of the central goals of any true-hearted Christian nationalism would be to radically reduce the power of the state? And why? Because in Scripture you deal with beams and poles before you deal with specks and floaters (Matt. 7:3). In Scripture, the greatest threat when it comes to blasphemy is found in the ruling authorities. The beast from the sea had the name of blasphemy on its head (Rev. 13:1) The great Harlot was full of the names of blasphemy (Rev. 17:3). When Saul of Tarsus was a persecutor, he would force believers to blaspheme (Acts 26:11). The rich men who control the courts blaspheme the name (James 2:7).

Not only do they blaspheme, but they do so while charging faithful believers with blasphemy. Never forget that the Lord Jesus was convicted on a blasphemy charge (Matt. 26:65). And here, in Acts 6, this same terrible travesty is happening over again. Convicted of blasphemy by blasphemers.

When we have ensured that this can no longer happen, then would the time to worry about the village atheist.

THE INFLUENCE OF STEPHEN ON SAUL

We know more about Saul of Tarsus than we think we do. First, his hometown of Tarsus was located in Cilicia. Note that this was one of the regions mentioned when the Synagogue of the Freedmen was being described. Second, we are introduced to Saul by name for the very first time when he was watching the cloaks of those who were stoning Stephen (Acts 7:58). In Jewish law, those who testified in a capital case were required to participate in the execution. But the men throwing stones in this case had been suborned by the synagogue men who had lost their debates with Stephen. These synagogue men were the agents of this judicial murder, and one of them was clearly Saul. He consented to the death (Acts 8:1).

But we know from all our available information that Saul was a zealous man, and a world class intellect, far surpassing other men of his generation (Gal. 1:14). We also know that he was insolent, conceited, and proud, as he acknowledged later (1 Tim. 1:12-13). Now how do you think such a man would react to losing a debate with a Christian soup kitchen guy? Not well, we can pretty much guarantee. But someone with such a mind would also know that having a man set up and murdered is not the same thing as answering him. So after the execution of Stephen, when Saul erupts in a rage (Acts 8:3), we know that internally he is wound tight. That was his condition, exhaling threats and murder (Acts 9:1) on the Damascus road. This was just before the Lord appeared to him, and humanly speaking, it was all thanks to Stephen.

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