Christ Church

Expositional

Many Farewells (Acts of the Apostles) (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

So Paul is resolved to go to Jerusalem, and apparently a sense of destiny rests upon him. He is repeatedly warned what will happen if he does, and Luke records the warnings carefully. This is not to make us think that Paul was disobeying the Spirit. The prophecies did not say, “You must not go,” but rather, “This is what will happen if you go.” This warning happens in “every city” (Acts 20:22-23). It happened in Tyre (Acts 21:4). Agabus also warns him (Acts 21:11). Nevertheless, Paul is resolved to do what he must do. He may even have the long game of appealing to Caesar in mind.

THE TEXT

“And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara . . .” (Acts 21:1–16).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

We begin with another accounting of their travel itinerary. Having left Miletus, they came to Coos, and then to Rhodes, and then Patara. Coos and Rhodes were small islands off the coast of Asia, and Patara was a seaport in Asia (v. 1). They found a ship going to Phoenica, the east coast of the Mediterranean (v. 2). They passed Cyprus on the left, sailed to Syria, but landed at Tyre, where the ship unloaded (v. 3). They found some Christians there, they remained for a week (v. 4). In the Spirit, these believers warned Paul against Jerusalem (v. 5). After a week, these folks—wives, children and all—accompanied Paul’s group down to the shore, knelt there and prayed (v. 5). After the farewells, they got on the ship, and the believers returned home (v. 6). They came to Ptolemais, a city in Phoenicia, greeted the Christians there, and remained for a day (v. 7). The next day Paul’s band left for Caesarea, and 30 miles away (v. 8).

They came to the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven men appointed in Acts 6, and they stayed with him (v.8). Philip had four virgin daughters, all of them gifted with prophesy (v. 9). They were there quite a few days, and a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea (v. 10). He was the one who had prophesied the famine in Acts 11:28 (v. 10). When he arrived, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own hands and feet, prophesying in the Spirit that Paul would be so bound by the Jerusalem Jews and handed over to the Gentiles (v. 11). Hearing this, Paul’s band and the house of Philip urged not to go to Jerusalem (v. 12). Paul replied that their weeping was breaking his heart. For the sake of the Lord Jesus, he was ready to be bound and to die at Jerusalem (v. 13). Paul remained unmoved, and so everyone resigned themselves to the will of God (v. 14). So then they all packed up, and headed to Jerusalem (v. 15). Some of the disciples from Caesarea came with them, bringing with them an elderly Christian from Cyprus, a man named Mnason, and they were going to stay with him in Jerusalem (v. 16).

PROPHECY AND SCRIPTURE

The believers in the book of Acts had their Old Testaments, a few scattered epistles, and perhaps a gospel or two, but they did not have a complete New Testament. This gap was filled by the extant gift of prophecy, which appears in “every city.” We are told that Philip had four daughters who were prophetesses, but we don’t have any of their prophecies recorded. Why do I bring this up?

In debates with our charismatic brothers, who believe that the gift of prophecy is still operative today, I have often asked why nobody is taking notes. Why are the words of prophecy not recorded, typeset, printed and bound? Why are they not printed as the sequel to the Holy Bible? When I ask this question, it is usually not long before Philip’s daughters come up. They were prophetesses, and none of their prophecies are in the Bible. So we therefore know that not all prophecies need to be in the Scriptures.

This is certainly true, but that is not the issue. The issue has to do with who makes that decision. It is the Word of God, and He can dispense with it if He chooses. Say that Philip’s house burned down, and all the prophecies with it. But if we are in possession of words that we believe to be inspired by God Himself, do we have the authority to toss them? No. We must treat them as the Word of God.

FAREWELLS A DESIGN FEATURE

One of the themes emphasized by Luke is the element of bittersweet farewells. Paul bids farewell at Ephesus (Acts 18:21), promising to return if he can. There is an implied farewell at Troas, where he preaches all night (Acts 20:11). He gives an emotional farewell to the elders of Ephesus (20:25), saying he will not see them again. He bids farewell to the disciples at Tyre, kneeling down with them on the beach (Acts 21:5-6). And a hard farewell is implied at Caesarea (Acts 21:10-14).

The point here is that the Great Commission cannot be fulfilled without farewells. The church cannot grow together without also, in another sense, be growing apart. All our church plants here on the Palouse mean that you don’t see some of your friends nearly as often as you used to. Worshiping in three services means the same thing. When a church grows to a certain size, coming in a different door can amount to the same thing. Churches grow, and they call a pastor, but he comes away from a church, a church that was dear to him. We could try to fix this problem by ceasing to be vibrant, but after enough time, we would realize that ceasing to be vibrant means ceasing to be dear to one another. In any growing Christian movement, the bittersweet is baked in.

READY TO DIE

What does it mean to witness? What does it mean to testify? It means far more than having a set of Christian talking points, and being willing to recite them. Paul says here that he is willing for both imprisonment and death. This is not for any wrongdoing (1 Pet. 4:15), but for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13).

And this is the pattern that the Lord Jesus Himself established for those who would follow Him.

“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

“And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).

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Eternity (Christ Church)

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THE TEXT

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

INTRODUCTION

As human beings, we struggle to even comprehend the meaning of the word “eternal.” To begin, we need to make some distinctions. First, we need to distinguish God’s eternity from our eternity, or timeless eternity from everlasting eternity. His life is so full that he doesn’t experience it in a succession of moments like we do. Our eternity is better thought of as everlastingness. Everlasting means that we will last forever. We never get outside of time; we live within time forever.

But, more than that, we will exist either in a state of everlasting joy and life, or in a state of everlasting destruction and death. The Scriptures (Matthew 25, Revelation 20) teach that at the end of history, Christ will return, raise the dead, and execute a final judgment. At that time, the righteous—body and soul—will enter into the Joy of God forever, and the wicked—body and soul—will enter into Misery forever. The common names for these two eternal destinies are Heaven and Hell.

I want to focus on two issues. One is a fear we have about Heaven and one is a concern we have about Hell. Our fear about Heaven is this: we worry that we will be bored. We know that we are promised unending joy, but we struggle to believe it because we fear that having “arrived” at Joy, Joy will grow old and stale to us. Our desires always outrun their satisfaction. Desire dies in its fulfillment. We get what we want, and we find that it’s not enough. And our repeated experience of this phenomenon, in every aspect of our lives, creates the fear in us that Heaven will be no different.

THE PROBLEM OF HELL

The concern about Hell is this: Hell sounds to us like Cosmic Overkill. God is pouring out infinite punishment for a limited and finite amount of sin. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime.

In response, consider: 1) The greatness or heinousness of evil depends on the one sinned against, either the worth and value of the person, or our relation to him. 2) God is the most valuable, important, and worthy being in reality. What’s more, he stands in the highest and nearest relation to all of us. Both of these mean that our obligation to God is an infinite obligation, because he is infinitely worthy of all honor. 3) Therefore, to reject God and despise God and disobey God is to commit an infinite offense. A small sin against an infinitely worthy Being is an infinite sin, 4) Finally, an infinite sin requires an eternal punishment.

Let’s consider three biblical images for Hell through the lens of one question: Is Hell God-inflicted or self-inflicted?  Image 1: The Bible presents Hell as banishment or ultimate exile (2 Thess. 1:9). This is the outer darkness, outside the City of Joy and Life, where morning never comes, where we are utterly and completely alone. Image 2: The Bible depicts Hell as the pouring out of God’s wrath on sinners. The wicked store up wrath for the day of judgment (Romans 2:5). They fill up the cup of God’s wrath and he makes them drink it and they stagger and fall.  Image 3: The Bible depicts Hell as eternal destruction. “The worm does not die; the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). The smoke goes up forever and ever (Rev. 14:11). Eternal death is eternal dying.

All three of these images accent that Hell is God-inflicted. We are “thrown” into the outer darkness, cast outside of the city, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. The pouring out of the wrath of God is his all-consuming response to human rebellion and pride. The fire of eternal destruction is sustained by the God who is a consuming fire. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:29).

But it’s also true that “men loved darkness and hated the light and would not come to the light, lest their deeds be exposed” (John 3:19-20). Those who are banished from God’s presence may hate Hell, but they hate God more. Their exile is, in some sense, self-imposed. When God gives a person or a people over to their rebellion, the Bible calls that “the wrath of God.” As C. S. Lewis once noted, “God says to us, ‘Thy will be done.’”So is Hell self-inflicted or God-inflicted? Yes. It is both. We cannot out-horror Hell.

THE PROBLEM OF HEAVEN

What about Heaven? What about our fear of disappointment and boredom? First, our disappointment in this life in some ways actually points to the surpassing glory of Heaven’s joys. Lewis called this the Argument from Desire: We were made for God. The best joys here can only awaken and stoke the flames of our deepest and ultimate desire; they are pointers to a joy that is deeper and higher and wider and longer than anything that we can imagine.

God is infinite—infinitely valuable, infinitely worthy, infinitely desirable, infinitely satisfying. And therefore, in Heaven, we will arrive at Infinite Joy, and never stop arriving. Just as a finite creature cannot receive an infinite punishment unless they have an infinite amount of time, so also a finite creature cannot receive infinite joy without an eternal amount of time. “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has the mind of man conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Just as we cannot out-horror Hell, we cannot out-hope Heaven.

THE CHOICE

Here we live in the world of the Choice. For much of the time, eternity feels distant, far away, out of sight, and out of mind. The reality is that, for all of us, it is always just around the corner. It is as near as death, and our lives are just a vapor. There is no turning back; you are here and now. You are alive and you are heading in a particular direction. This sermon is a fork in the road.

You will cling to something forever. There will be something that you will seek to satisfy the ache and longing of your soul with forever. It will either be God, or it will be yourself. You will either come out of yourself into the clear sky of God’s glory and gladness and find your heart filled to overflowing, or you will curve inward on yourself, trying to satisfy your soul’s thirst on broken pieces of clay that turn to ash in your mouth.

In a moment we’ll come to the Table. When Jesus died, he swallowed Death and Hell. On the cross, he endured the infinite wrath of Almighty God on behalf of sinners. He took our banishment, our wrath, our destruction. And in doing so, he opened a way out of the prison of Self into the bright, blue sky of God’s goodness and joy. At this table, we eat and drink to proclaim the good news that we need no longer fear eternity. In his presence is fullness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures forevermore.

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A Ministry in Retrospect (Acts of the Apostles) (Christ Church)

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INTRODUCTION

The great apostle had invested much of himself in the course of his ministry at Ephesus. It was one of his most successful ventures, and he had poured himself into it. He was about to let go, departing from them, commending them to God forever. This in-person farewell happened in the mid-50’s, and he wrote the book of Ephesians to them in the early 60’s. They stayed on his mind, in other words.

THE TEXT

“And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you . . .” (Acts 20:17–38).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul summoned the Ephesian elders to come see him at Miletus (v. 17). When they came, he said, you know how I have lived in your presence from day one (v. 18). Through tears, temptations, and Jewish plots, he had served the Lord in true humility (v. 19). He held nothing back in his teaching, whether in homes or publicly (v. 20). The content of his message, to both Jews and Greeks, was repentance toward God and faith toward Christ (v. 21). And now, constrained in spirit, he was traveled to the unknown future at Jerusalem (v. 22). Unknown, that is, apart from the Spirit’s testimony that it would include bonds and affliction (v. 23). But he was unmoved, and just wanted to finish his race with joy, and his ministry that was testifying to the grace of God in the gospel (v. 24). He knows that these men would not see him again, men among whom he has preached the kingdom (v. 25). He calls them all to witness that he free was from blood guilt (v. 26). For he did not hold back from them the whole counsel of God (v. 27). He called upon these bishops to heed to themselves and tend the flock, which God had purchased with His own blood (v. 28). And why? He knows that grievous wolves will attack the flock savagely (v. 29). Even some of their own number would, for the sake of a following, lead people off into perversion (v. 30). So watch, and remember, Paul says, how he had warned them night and day with tears (v. 31). He then commended them to God and to His grace, which is able to build them up, and grant them an inheritance (v. 32). Paul had coveted nothing that belonged to anybody (v. 33). He pointed to his hands, reminding them that he had supported himself and his companions (v. 34). This was probably tentmaking again. He lived out what he taught—workers should support the weak (v. 35). He quoted Jesus on the blessing of giving over receiving (v. 35). And so saying, he knelt and prayed with them all (v. 36). And so they all wept, embraced Paul, kissing him, most grieved over the fact that he said they would not see each other again (vv. 37-38). And they then went to the ship (v. 38).

REPENTANCE AND FAITH

Paul states the message in an interesting fashion here (v. 21). He says that repentance is towards God, who is the source of the divine laws that we have sinned by breaking. And faith is toward Christ, who is our appointed Savior, able to deliver us completely.

FREE FROM BLOODGUILT

The principle that Paul appeals to here is laid out clearly by the prophet Ezekiel.

“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul” (Ezekiel 3:17–19).

On this subject, Paul defends himself in two different ways. First, he reminds them that when it came to teaching, he was not guilty of any sin of omission. In other words, he did not leave anything out (vv. 20, 27). If it was in the text, he taught it, even it was something of a jagged pill. Secondly, he lived and worked in such a way that he did not contradict his message through any sin in his lifestyle (vv. 18-19, 33-34). He did not covet. He did not sponge off others. They saw clearly how he was a man who was “all in.”

QUOTING JESUS

We see something curious in Paul’s citation of something the Lord said. This is known as an agrapha, a saying attributed to Christ, but with that saying not found in any of the gospels. That said, the Lord did say, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” This fits and is fully consistent (Luke 6:38; Matt. 5:42).

CHURCH POLITY

In verse 17, he summons the elders of the church at Ephesus (presbyteroi). In the course of his discussion with them (v. 28), he calls them overseers or bishops (episkopoi). This demonstrates clearly that in the first century, these terms referred to the same office. The same thing happens in Titus, where Paul says to ordain certain kind of men as elders (presbyteroi) in every city (v. 5), and the reason give is that a bishop (episkopoi) must be blameless (v. 7). Note also Phil. 1:1.

WITH HIS OWN BLOOD

Paul uses shorthand here—God purchased the church with His own blood, even though God doesn’t have blood. He is of course referring to the Incarnation of the Son, through whom the blood which purchased us was shed.

Some elders will let their position go to their head, and they will start thinking of the flock as somehow theirs. And if it is theirs, they can start distinguishing themselves from others (and from Paul), in order to make their portion of the flock more obviously theirs. In order to pull this off, however, they have to begin saying perverse things (v. 30).

The antidote is to remember that the church is not just “a church.” It is God’s own possession, bought with the blood of His own Son.

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They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To (Wise Master Builder) (Living Stone Reformed Church)

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INTRODUCTION

Aging does not bring about automatic wisdom and godliness. Wine ages and becomes finer. Milk ages and becomes a stench. As we grow and mature, both as individuals and as the church, we must keep this reality in mind. In rebuilding the ruins, we must learn to both rejoice and mourn, like mature men of faith.

THE TEXT

And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening. […] Ezra 3:1ff

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After settling into their various villages, the exiles gather as one in Jerusalem (v1). The high priest, Jeshua, and David’s heir, Zerubbabel, rebuild the altar of the Lord, according to the requirements of Moses’ Law (v2, Cf. Gen. 8:20, 12:7). This act was undertaken despite the knowledge that their enemies would oppose the rebuilding of the temple; defying that fear, the exiles installed the altar upon its ancient site, and commenced morning and evening offerings (v3).

This all coincided with the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth), which they observed with great joy; this also coincided with the Day of Atonement, but that was not able to be observed until the temple was fully rebuilt. Nevertheless, you can see that these saints were very much minded to be scrupulous in how they observed God’s Law, and they were particularly minded to observe this feast (vv4-6). Although the altar was reestablished, the saints were eager to see the whole project completed. So, they began hiring the various artisans required, echoing Solomon’s temple preparations (v7, Cf. 2 Chr. 2).

As with many construction projects, it took awhile for the project to even be ready to begin. After two years, in the second month (the same month Solomon began work on his temple, 1 Ki. 6:1), the work commenced. Zerubbabel and Jeshua tasked the Levites to call in the bulldozers and get the project going, under the close supervision of the Levites (v8). The workmen being assembled, Jeshua put them to work (v9). At the completion of the foundation, the choirs were assembled to offer praise according to David’s instructions (v10). The various choirs offered thanks and praise to God, and the people shouted with a great shout at this wonderful progression (v11).

But this joy was also mixed with sorrow. Many of the older priests and saints, who had seen the former glory, wept loudly at seeing the completion of the foundation of a less glorious temple (v12). Shouts of joy, cries of grief mingled together to be a noise heard from afar (v13).

FEAST OF TABERNACLE

The altar was built during the most celebratory of the Israel’s feasts, the Feast of Tabernacle. This holiday, in the seventh month of Tishri (our late September/early October), was the climax of the entire Jewish calendar. It was a festival of thanksgiving for the gathered harvest. The feast not only commemorated Israel’s wilderness wanderings, but it also looked forward to the promise of Messiah’s coming. Part of this festival was that in the evening, no lamps would be lit, and everyone would come to the altar and light their torches from that fire on the altar and proceed back to their tents. This clearly anticipates the work of the Holy Spirit, the purifying and empowering fire of God filling each believer.

John frames his entire Gospel in terms of Christ coming to “tent” with us (Jn. 1:14). Much of John’s Gospel revolves around this particular feast. Jesus’ declaration that He was the light of the World had reference to this Feast. His declaration that He is the living water carried imagery tied to the traditions of this celebration. These regathered saints begin their rebuilding with an eye to their glorious past, and a hope for their glorious future. Israel was born as a nation while dwelling in tents at Sinai, and is born again here. When God gathers his people it always for the express purpose of a new birth. But this rebirth foreshadows the true new birth that could only come through the God who Himself would be born into the tent of human flesh. New birth is only made possible by the birth of the Word made flesh.

CONTINUITY

This chapter echoes with the stories of the altar building patriarchs Noah and Abraham. It resounds with the trumpet blast of Moses’ law, and the harp strings of David. Solomon’s blueprints are borrowed. But although there is continuity, there is also a note of discontinuity. Unlike the commemoration of Moses’ tabernacle and Solomon’s temple, something is noticeably absent. One commentator offers this insight, “this time there is no ark, no visible glory, indeed no temple: only some beginnings, and small beginnings at that.”

This note of incompleteness rings through this whole season of rebuilding. God is maturing Israel. While they ought to be faithful to the example and law, the fulness of time is ripening fast. God is about to build a temple made of people, founded upon the cornerstone of the Messiah, who’s Spirit would light the whole building.

JOY & GRIEF

This chapter ends with thunderous sound of joyful praise. But mingled with the cries of celebration at God’s kindness, there are sighs of sorrow. The sorrow of these saints is a bit ambiguous. Is this good sorrow, or bad sorrow? Are they grieving their sin, or just bemoaning the consequences of sin? Are these tears of repentance, or tears of resentment?

It is entirely possible to see God at work before your very eyes, and instead of whole-hearted rejoicing, you give way to a wailing, nostalgic grief. Your life isn’t what you thought it would be. Your career hasn’t taken off as you anticipated. You want to relive the glory days. You miss your childhood. You wish things could go back to normal. This kind of grief leads you to discontented grumbling. God’s past kindnesses aren’t like trinkets for a display case. They are more like, in fact they are, bread and wine which nourishes you in your pursuit of the glory ahead of you.

Godly sorrow, on the other hand, is sorrow that leads to repentance. It turns from false ways. It turns away from the idols. It hates the sin which brought about the ruination. Israel had stubbornly rebelled against God. She had been haughty. She had grown comfy in her compromise. Then, ruin and exile had befallen her. These mourning saints, insofar as they grieved in this way, were on the right path. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Those who sow in tears of repentance, will return with armfuls of joy. Their sin had brought them low, but the eyes of faith sees joy in the midst of such a grievous moment.

This is what we do when we believe the Gospel. Your sin is why Christ endured a crown of thorns, flogging, mockery, His beard ripped out, His body broken, full of a holy despair, crying out, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me.” But it was for your sin, your crimes that He suffered. This is the wonderful paradox of our faith. Grieve your sin that brought hot and holy wrath down upon Christ’s head. Then rejoice with great joy that by Christ’s death, your sins are entirely forgiven.

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