Expositional

Psalm 1: Blessed is the Man (CCD)

Christ Church on February 23, 2020

Not a Monkey-Paw-God

Croesus, king of Lydia, died screaming his final words – “Oh Solon, oh Solon, oh Solon, count no man happy until he is dead.” The pagan gods were powerful, but fickle. And the state of man living under them was always uncertain. A short story by WW Jacobs, published at the beginning of the twentieth century, concluded with the moral, in a very creepy way, that you shouldn’t mess with fate. But Psalm 1 tells us that, as Christians, we stand in a very different relationship with God and with the fate that he has decreed for us – “blessed is he,” “happy is he,” “fortunate is he.” There are various ways of translating it. But it all amounts to the same. There is a man that lives, walks, stands, and sits, that you can know lives in the blessing of God, experiences his joy and happiness.

1. The Blessings of the Man Who does not Walk

The word “blessed” (see Gen. 30:13) in the Hebrew is actually in the plural, indicating not just a singular blessing, but an overarching blessedness. This blessing is for the man who does not walk, stand, or sit with the wicked.

You must understand that to be a Christian necessarily requires being set apart. The Jewish Talmud makes this profound observation here – “…if he has walked he will finally stand, and if he has stood he will finally sit, and if he has sat he will finally scorn, and if he has scorned, of him the Scripture says ‘and if thou scornest thou alone shalt bear it.’” Sin is progressive. Faithfulness sees this and cuts it off at the beginning.

2. Delight

Instead of giving himself to sinful fellowship, the godly man gives himself to God’s word, and in it finds an exquisite delight. The Bible is the word of God that called you into this body, that called you to life itself. The command to immerse yourself in the Bible (Deut. 6:6-9, Josh. 1:8-9) is like a command to never skip dessert.

3. The Tree

Don’t rush past this image, because in it is pictured the profound blessing of God that you need to hear. God will make you like a deeply rooted tree (Jer. 17:7-9). So many of your fears, your temptations, your stresses, your pathologies are all answered in this picture. Your fleeting life is made permanent, made fixed when you find yourself inside of this blessedness (Ps. 121:3-4).

4. The Chaff

And you can see the blessedness of the godly even more when you see the curse against the ungodly. They are chaff, which the wind (the Spirit) drives away. Their moment is always fleeting, here for a moment seeming to dominate, and then gone. What a tragedy that someone would trade the permanent blessedness that they have with God in order to walk with the chaff.

5-6. Standing in the Judgment

If we were to simply read the first four verses of this Psalm on their own, it would be easy to come away with a health and wealth interpretation of this passage. But here we see that the blessedness, the permanence that God promises is ultimately fulfilled in the final judgment. There are still a partial fulfillment in this life. But the final fulfillment of this passage is a scene that takes place at the end of history, before the throne of God (John 5:29, Rev. 20:11-13). And those who stand with sinners in this life, will not stand with the righteous in the life to come. The final judgment is a terrifying thing to consider (Acts 24:25, Joel 2:11). But here we are promised that God knows you and he will make you like a tall, thriving tree to stand in that day.

Psalm 114: Song of the Exodus

Christ Church on February 2, 2020

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Introduction

As we continue through the Hallel Psalms, we come to the second of them, and this is a great song of historical remembrance. When we set ourselves to praise God, to say hallelujah, we are to remember His great works of deliverance in history. Keep in mind that the Christian faith is not a faith in detached theological doctrines, but is rather a faith in God’s meaningful interventions in history—His great deeds among the people, deeds rich with theological gold. And so as we consider this song of deliverance from our older brothers, the Jews, we are reminded of an even greater Exodus, the exodus that all other deliverances point to.

The Text

“When Israel went out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was his sanctuary, And Israel his dominion. The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back . . .” (Psalm 114:1–8).

Summary of the Text

The psalm begins with a burst (v. 1). “When Israel came out of Egypt” means that we are talking about the events that were inaugurated by the Red Sea crossing. The house of Jacob went down into Egypt, and did so when Jacob was still alive. Centuries later, they are still the “house of Jacob,” and they come out of Egypt still one family—about two and a half million of them. When they come out, Judah is first and is called God’s sanctuary. Israel is called His kingdom or dominion (v. 2). We then get our first inkling that the poet is treating the entire departure from Egypt and entrance into Canaan as one event, including the key events in between. The sea saw what Judah and Israel were and fled, and the Jordan was also driven back (v. 3). The mountain skipping like rams appears to be a reference to the convulsions that Mt. Sinai (or Horeb) went through (v. 4; Ex. 20:18). We then return to the Red Sea and to the Jordan. What is the matter with you, sea? What is the matter with you, Jordan? (v. 5). The same question is then posed to the mountains that trembled (v. 6). The answer is then given, and it is an obvious answer—the earth should tremble at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob (v. 7). Remember that this means the presence of the God in Jacob (vv. 1-2). He is the one who turned the rock into standing water (Ex. 17:6), the flint into a fountain of waters (v. 8).

The X on the Map

A quick orientation may help. Moving from west to east, picture Egypt, the Red Sea, the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Akaba, and then Arabia. The land of Goshen, where the Israelites were living in Egypt, was in the eastern part of the Nile Delta—up north. Now the traditional view is that Mt. Sinai is located in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula. But this view has a number of difficulties associated with it, not least being the fact that it was identified as such by that noted archeological authority, Constantine’s mom, Helena. I consequently prefer an alternative view, which is that the mountain of God (Sinai, or Horeb) was in Midian (which is in Arabia). We see this in the burning bush incident (Ex. 3:1), where God told Moses that he would bring the people out of Egypt and back to that particular mountain (Ex. 3:12). Furthermore, the apostle Paul also places Sinai in Arabia (Gal. 4:25)—as do Josephus and Philo. This means that I believe that the Red Sea crossing was a deep-water crossing, somewhere at the northern end of the Gulf of Akaba. And that would make it a miracle with a capital M.

The Misery of Man

When Israel went through the Red Sea, the Lord was present with them. The glory cloud prevented Pharaoh from getting at them until the sea parted (Ex. 14:19-20). On the other end of their wilderness wandering, they had fashioned the ark of the covenant by this time, and so that is how the presence of God was manifested this time, causing the waters of the Jordan to stop flowing (Josh. 3:8).

The next time the mercy seat came down to the Jordan it was to be baptized by John (Matt. 3:13).

The Great Exodus

On the Mount of Transfiguration (which was probably the mountain called Tabor), Jesus met with both Moses and Elijah. Note that this means that after his life was over, Moses didmake it into the promised land. Note also that it meant that Christ was meeting with two men who previously encountered God on Mount Horeb. Moses went up on the mountain there and he met with God (Ex. 19:20). And Elijah fled to Horeb after the showdown on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 19:8), and it was there that God spoke to him in a still, small voice. But most importantly, what were they talking about on Tabor with Jesus? Luke tells us—they were conversing with Him about the Exodus that He was going to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31).

If we are the people of God, then this means that we are His remembrancers. We are to recallwhat He has down for us throughout the entire history of redemption. You have the Table set before you, do you not?

The Presence of the Lord

What is it that gives victory to the people of God? How is it that enemies are turned to flight? How is it that the adversary is abashed? The Red Sea fled when the Red Sea saw the sanctuary was in Judah, and that the kingdom was with Israel. They saw the presence of the Lord, in other words. “Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob” (Psalm 114:7).

In short, if God is present, who can be against us? “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).

Hearing from God

Christ Church on February 2, 2020

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Introduction

A child can be disobedient in one of two ways. First, he can outright rebel. He can insist on his own way, marching to his own drum, being his own boss. The other way is bit harder to notice, but just as dangerous. He can never grow up. A child is taught obedience not so that he might always be a child, nor so that he can become an entirely independent entity. Rather, so that he might become his own man, but a man in fellowship. Willful immaturity and rebellious autonomy are both sinful.

The Text

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:1-3).

Summary of the Text

These opening lines of Hebrews were written to believing Jews who were bracing for looming persecution. They are told that whereas God had spoken in times past through prophets (Heb. 1:1), He had now spoken by His Son, who is the appointed heir of the whole kit and caboodle. Not only that, but the Son was eternally with the Father in the act of Creation (Heb. 1:2). The long and short of it is that the God who had spoken creation into being, is the very same God who now spoke by the Son. This demands precise and faithful adherence to the Son’s kingship (Heb. 2:1). The Triune God spoke creation into being, and the Triune God has now spoken a new creation into being. We know this because God became a man, purged our sins, and became King of the world (Heb. 1:3). This was all a warning to them to not return to the incomplete word of Moses, but to hear the fulfillment of what God spoke through Moses and the prophets by His Son. The better Word had been spoken, and with blood red finality.

How God Speaks

The Scriptures begin with crucial assertion about God: He speaks (Gen. 1:3). He speaks clearly, and He speaks directly. He commands light and it comes into being. His Word creates and commands and upholds. He gives Adam clear orders and injunctions. After the fall, God comes to talk with the patriarchs. On Mount Sinai, God reveals Himself to the entire nation via Word: “ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.” Later, the Holy of holies came to be known as the Oracle (debiyr דביר).

The gods are never quiet. There is no culture in history which does not have priests claiming to speak on behalf of the gods. Replace God with Science, and you begin to see how religious the so-called rationalists actually are. We are repeatedly confronted with claims that “The science is settled.” Which is just another way of saying, “Thus saith the Lord.” Look at our American religious landscape where every person is a priest of a god in their own likeness. When people say things like, “Well to me, God is…” they are claiming to speak for God. So, the unbelieving objectivism of pseudo-science, and the unbelieving subjectivism of feel-good religion are both at odds with reality.

Man is always looking for ways to plug his ears to God’s voice, in order to hear his own voice. This unbelieving way of thinking often creeps into the church. Various types of Christians claim to have “words from the Lord”. Some believers with tender-consciences want to truly honor the Lord and follow His guidance and thus have become confused about how to hear the Lord’s voice; while others have seen a grand opportunity to be God’s mouthpiece. The first type hear “God” saying an awful lot of murky and/or wishy-washy sentimentalism, while the second type hear an awful lot about sending donations to the number at the bottom of the screen.

The Protestant position is that God has two books which He speaks to us. The book of the World (general revelation), and the book of His Word (specific revelation). Creation says enough to leave man without an excuse for not seeking, finding, and following the God he knows is there. The Word tells man that God has made a way to save man from His rebellion. The final Word which God has spoken is that Jesus who suffered for lost mankind, is now King of mankind. Which means man must hear and obey.

What Has God Said?

Now, where this gets real sticky is when you try to figure out what God is saying to you. It is easy to try to get your own way by looking to a subjective “inner voice” and pretending it was God speaking to you, but He always seems to say what you wanted to hear anyway. The other error is that of the liberal who treats the Bible as a novelty shop of nice aphorisms of by-gone “God-followers” who show us that every person’s journey to God is unique. On one hand you undermine the work of the Spirit, on the other you undermine the thunder of God’s voice in the Bible.

God’s definitive Word has been spoken, the Spirit opens our ears and grants us wisdom to apply it in our circumstances. Christ is King, the Spirit dwells in You, and the Bible makes your marching orders plain. So, look at your current circumstances. Do you really believe what the Bible says about them? God has ordered your steps.

So, what has God told you? Believe upon the Lord Jesus (Rom. 10:9). Honor your parents (Ex. 20:12). Love your wife (Col. 3:19). Submit to Your husband (Col. 3:18). Don’t lie (Ex. 20:16). Take a nap on Sunday afternoons (Mk. 2:27). Go to church (Heb. 10:25). Unfollow some Instagram accounts ASAP (2 Tim. 2:22). With a big smile, give a big fat check to the Lord’s work (1 Cor. 16:2, 2 Cor. 9:7). Work yourself ragged six days a week (Col. 3:23). Host a big feast on a regular basis (Rom. 12:13). Obey your rulers, and resist tyrants (Rom. 13;1 Sam. 22:2). If that’s not enough to go on, look at all the “one another” passages in the New Testament. Love one another. Receive one another. Forgive and forbear with one another. Serve one another. Admonish one another. Comfort one another with Scripture. Provoke one another to good works.

The point is, often when we are wrestling with making a big decision, trying to determine God’s will for our life, we stall out. If you want to know God’s will for your particular circumstances, you should get started by doing what He’s clearly and plainly told you to do. In short, God wants to speak to you. And do you know what He wants to tell you about? Jesus first. Jesus last. Jesus between.

Set Your Mind on Things Above (Colossians 3)

Christ Church on January 19, 2020

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1-4 Union with Christ

Remember that the “mystery” that Paul has been unpacking for us is that the body of Christ is both the incarnate reality of the God-man Jesus Christ, and also the picture of the church with Christ as its head. But if we, the church, are Christ’s body, then that means that wherever the head has gone, he takes us with him. And so when Christ sits down on his throne in heaven, he sits there with all his body with him. As the body of Christ we share in the events of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, ascension into heaven, and enthronement at the right hand of the Father. And if that is the case, then that is where our attention ought to be.

5-11 Put to Death

“Now, it being our duty to mortify, to be killing of sin whilst it is in us, we must be at work. He that is appointed to kill an enemy, if he leave striking before the other ceases living, does but half his work,” John Owen, The Mortification of Sin. If you are in this new man, with Christ as your head, then you are therefore called to a life of putting sin to death. This is the ongoing work of persevering faith. And at the root of mortifying your sin, is the question of where are your eyes.

Your heart follows your eyes. Where do you put your eyes? We lift up our heart to the Lord because we lift up our eyes to the Lord. So where are your eyes? Paul calls covetousness idolatry (v. 5, cf. Eph. 5:5) because your heart follows your eyes as your prayer will follow your longing. The mortification of a sin starts with your eyes.

A Dilemma

But here is the problem. I am telling you that the mortification of your sin depends on you looking to Christ and not looking at the enticements of the flesh. But the problem is that Christ, currently seated in heaven, cannot currently be seen. He inhabits what is still a future glory for us, a glory that “eye has not seen, nor ear heard . . .” (1 Cor. 2:9, cf. 1 Tim. 1:17). And, on the other hand, those things that you are not to be looking at are all quite visible.

12-17 Put on Love

But you do have Christ before you because you have the body of Christ, the church that surrounds you now. Love is what holds the body together (v. 14, cf. 2:19). Love makes visible to us what is currently removed from our senses – Christ (1 John 4:20). The difficulty is that you must remember that God defines this love, not you.

That He Who Runs May Read (Habakkuk #3)

Christ Church on November 24, 2019

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Introduction

God is good and God is sovereign, and in addition we must never forget that He is good all the time, and sovereign all the time. In our passage this morning, we begin with a staggering display of His sovereignty, and the passage ends with Habakkuk able to rest in His goodness.

The Text

“. . . Although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, And he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments” (Hab. 3:1–19).

Outline of the Book

Remember the overall structure. Habakkuk complains about injustice in Judah (1:2-4). God answers by promising the invading armies of Babylon (1:5-11). Habakkuk says that this is no improvement (1:12-17). God tells him to wait. Wait. The just shall live by faith (2:1-5). God then gives an answer to the second complaint (2:6-20). The great force of Jehovah’s army contrasts with the army of Babylon (3:1-15). Habakkuk finally resolves his dilemma (3:16-19).

Summary of the Text

The prayer of Habakkuk is offered up (v. 1). He prays that God would finish what He had begun (v. 2). Revive your work. In wrath remember mercy. Teman and Paran were near Mt. Sinai, and this appears to be the import here—God came from Teman, and His glory was great (v. 3). God manifested His power, and even while holding it back, brightness suffused all, and horns came out of His hand (v. 4). Calvin calls the pestilence and burning coals “God’s officers.” This is likely referring to the deliverance out of Egypt (v. 5). God measures the earth, divides the nations, scatters the mountains and the everlasting hills bow low (v. 6). His ways are everlasting. The Jews are to be encouraged by remembering the great victories over Cushan and Midian (v. 7).

When God dried up the Jordan so Israel could cross over, was He angry with the river? Or was He delivering His people (v. 8)? God pulls out His bow, and again, this is for the deliverance of His people (v. 9). Mountains are afraid of the armies of Jehovah (v. 10). When God’s glittering spears went by, the sun and moon stood still (v. 11). God went through the land, and He threshed the heathen in His anger (v. 12). God went out in His strength in order to save His people, and to do so with His Christ (v. 13). He captured all the regional towns, even though the unbelievers came out like a whirlwind (v. 14). God went through the Red Sea with His horses; the waters were gathered in a heap (v. 15). And the next phrase brings us to a strange fusion—the prophet is overwhelmed with an abject fear, and with the kind of fear which is the strongest possible foundation for a great hope (v. 16).

And so Habakkuk comes at the last to his hope. Even though everything seems lost and gone (v. 17), yet he will rejoice in the God of his salvation (v. 18). God the Lord is his strength, and He will make us walk in the high places (v. 19).

As Scriptures Describe It

As the just live by faith, they are called upon to wait. What are they to do while they wait? They are to see? And what should they see? They should see with their mind’s eye, with their imagination, the majesty of God as Scripture describes Him.

Picture the fist of God holding a bright fury that looks like lightning, and radiates everything. The ends of whatever it is come out and bend around like horns. The armies of Jehovah march by and the Grand Tetons flinch. The light glints off the tips of these millions of spears, and the sun and moon stand agape.

The right kind of poetic imagination is in fact the fear of God.

Our God is Able

When the three Israelite captives are threatened with the furnace in the book of Daniel, they reply that God is able to deliver them. But they also say, regardless of whether God delivers them, they are not going to bow down to the idol in any case (Dan. 3:17-18). God is able to deliver us, but we will serve Him whether He does or not. God is able to deliver us, and we will serve Him while we wait for that deliverance, even when it may appear to us that the deliverance got interrupted on the way.

And so this is the confidence that Habakkuk ends with. We are talking about a complete crop failure, which means that we would have no way to sustain ourselves. Though the fig does not blossom. Though the vines bear no fruit. Though the olive trees do not produce. Though the fields produce nothing. Though the flocks do not return to the fold. Though the stalls in the barns are clean and empty. Though we look around us, and see nothing but bare wasteland in every direction. What?

Habakkuk says that he will rejoice in the Lord. He says he will joy in the God of his salvation. Notice that he is not rejoicing in what his eyes can see because all he can see with his eyes is miserable ruin. He trusts in God and, more than this, he rejoices—not in what God has done, but in what God will do. And what will God—his strength—do? He will make the believer’s feet like a deer’s feet on high places.

The wasteland is below. Christ is our high place, and we have been set securely there. It doesn’t matter what failures are going on down below. What matters is what is happening where God has placed us. And God has placed us on Christ.