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John 3:1–21—The New Birth (CCD)

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The Text

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus[a] by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’ 3 Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’ . . .” (John 3:1–21).

1-8 You must be born again

9-13 No one has ascended to heaven but the Son of Man who is in heaven

14-18 The Son of Man must be lifted up

19-21 The light has come into the world

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When God Sings

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INTRODUCTION

The early portion of Zephaniah’s prophecy is dark, heavy, and full of the thunderings of the law. But only those who are stubborn and stiff-necked need to be fearful of these thunderings. The proud only hear the fire and thunder of God’s just anger over their sin. But the meek are given news ears. They don’t hear the tumult of God’s wrath; they hear the sweetest song. A song that all the most gifted composers, if they worked together for a thousand years, would be unable to compare with.

THE TEXT

“Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame…” (Zephaniah 3:1–20).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Zephaniah has taken us to the four corners of the compass, to declare to all nations that God is coming in judgement upon the whole world (2:2-15). But now Jerusalem is addressed as if it were one of the heathen nations. She’s become indistinguishable from the nations. She’s a filthy, polluted, oppressing city (v1), rather than being clean as commanded by God (Cf. Lev. 10:10, 11:47). Her chief sins are listed: she wouldn’t obey the voice (Cf. Deu. 6:4), receive correction, trust the Lord, or draw near to God (v2). Her princes are lions, her judges are wolves, her prophets are treacherous, her priests have polluted the sanctuary and raped the law (vv3-4).

Despite all this corruption, God the just is still in their midst, and His justice is an inescapable reality (v5). The Lord has ruined nations before, toppling their towers of vain glory (Cf. Gen. 11); this should have been a cause for fear for the Jews, but instead they eagerly pursued their corruptions (vv6-7).

The Lord returns to addressing “all the meek of the earth” who were summoned to gather together to seek the Lord (2:2-3). They’re to wait upon the Lord; trusting that He will hasten the promised day, when He’ll gather all nations and kingdoms to pour upon them the fire of His jealousy (v8). Running parallel to this is the Lord’s promise to cause people from all nations to call upon Him with pure lips, while gathering the scattered, yet faithful, Israelites (v9-10). This multi-national host won’t be ashamed for their sins, for God shall have purged His church of the haughty, self-assured boasters (v11). The proud shall be purged out like dross, and in their place the afflicted and the poor who trust in the Lord’s name shall dwell in Jerusalem (v12). The remnant of Israel shall indeed be holy, and shall enjoy her promised rest (v13).

This motley band of faithful Jews and gathered Gentiles––though having been poor and afflicted––are called to sing, like true children of Jerusalem (v14). The Lord has forgiven their sins, destroyed their enemies, and now assumes His place as their rightful King (v15). The gathered remnant shall not dwell in fear, but will be fortified to render faithful service unto God (v16). God their King dwells in their midst as a mighty conquerer, a sure defender, and a husband in the throes of delighted love for His beloved (v17). Those faithful Israelites who endured various afflictions––the derision of their unbelieving countrymen and their foreign captors––will be brought back in glory, fame, and praise, for God will have turned back their captivity before their very eyes (vv18-20).

THE ONE LEFT SINGING

The heathen cities have been presented as rejoicing in their corruption (2:15); but now they are cut down and God and His people are the ones who end the day in joyful song. This is the way it will always go. Recall Bunyan’s “Interpreter’s House”.  Passion gets all his now, but Patience waits on and receives a greater reward. Passion is left barren, empty-pocketed, and forlorn. Patience receives all he longed for and more.

Zephaniah is like a cliff notes version of the minor prophets. He summarizes the message which the faithful prophets had proclaimed. First, God will judge the wicked. Second, God is the God of the whole world and so there is nowhere to hide from Him. Third, the only escape is to seek the Lord in meekness. In other words, the proverb rings true: “Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly (Pro 3:34).” The proud shall be brought low, but God will raise the humble up to glory and gladness. God will get the last word, and the last word will be set to heavenly music.

JUDGEMENT & REDEMPTION

God’s judgement and our redemption go hand in hand. The faithful await God’s judgement on wickedness, as a means of attaining their deliverance and redemption.

This is flipped on its head when Christ comes and takes the brunt of God’s judgement, that was due to us for we were God’s enemies. You can only be saved if first your sin is defeated. So, Christ died for you. He took your judgement, so that you might enjoy the redemption freedom He purchased for you.

A ROYAL LINEAGE

Remember that Zephaniah begins this book by trotting out his ancestry.com findings. His connection to the royal lineage is highlighted in the opening verse. Those kings and princes listed there either failed miserably to reform the people, or else played a large role in willfully corrupting the people.

But as Zephaniah concludes his prophecy, he tells of how God will be the King in the midst of His people. He begins with a reminder of the failures of both the good and evil kings of Judah. He concludes by declaring that “great David’s greater Son” will use the Gentile nations to gather scattered Israel back to Him. While David’s glorious songs, and Solomon’s lavish wealth were Israel’s ancient glory, the coming Messiah would turn men from every nation to worship the Lord, enjoying His songs over them, delighting in His blessing, grace, and favor.

YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN

As with the whole Bible, the message of Zephaniah is that you are proud sinner, deserving God’s wrath. But for those whom God chooses to humble, who then seek Him with the rest of those He has chosen to gather unto Himself, they are given a bright promise which outshines the sun. God will take away all your shame, all your proud boastings, all your abuses of His law, all your crimes against your neighbor. God will not only forgive you, but He shall delight over you.

This might seem a bit much. A bit over the top to describe God as singing over us a like a love-struck bridegroom would serenade His bride. But the Gospel is over the top. It is good news. It is the news that your sins are forgiven, and God looks upon you, not with a cloud of brooding suspicion, but with joy.  He has taken away your shame. God loves you. God loves His bride. Because His Son endured all the wrath you deserved, and has now gathered you to himself.

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Run that You May Win

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The Text

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

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Set In Order

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Introduction

If you were to pick a word to describe the current state of affairs, what would it be? Disorder? Chaos? Fear? Confusion? A big mess?

What about the current state of your own soul? Could you describe yourself as peaceful, full of joy, at ease in your conscience? Or is your inner man a hairball of guilt, shame, disordered desires, and fear of judgment? It is clear that all around us and within us things are all out of order. The nub of the matter is: how do we get things back into order?

The Text

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee” (Titus 2:11–15).

Summary of the Text

Paul sent Titus to set things in order in Crete (1:5), an island nation which was notorious for being, to use the technical Greek term: scumbags. Even Epimenides the philosopher noted how the Cretans were “alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies (Tit. 1:12).”

But Paul insists that because Christ, the grace of God which brought salvation, has now appeared to all men, mankind is obliged to learn a lesson (2:11). The lesson being taught is that in denying our sinful cravings, we are to live sober, righteous, and godly lives (2:12). We deny our lusts and pursue holiness by looking to the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus (2:13); and when we look to Jesus we must think of the redeeming work He accomplished for us (2:14). He did this to purify us to be a set apart people who are zealous for good works (2:14). And Titus is tasked with proclaiming this truth with force and authority, regardless of the disdain that may befall him for it (2:15).

Good Works

Paul wants the Cretan church, under Titus’ oversight and by his example, to be busy with good works. Paul’s very greeting emphasizes that our faith and the truth accord with godliness (1:1). Some among them had professed to know God, but had shown themselves in regards to good works to be reprobate (1:16). Later on, Titus is to told to be a pattern of good works (2:7). Christ’s redemption purifies His people to be set apart to and zealous for good works (2:14). The Gospel which Paul proclaims is that we are not saved by our works of righteousness but according to God’s mercy (3:5) and by the kindness and love of God as displayed by sending His Son (3:4); all this is so that the Cretans “might by careful to maintain good works (3:8).” The believers under Titus’ care were to “learn to maintain good works” so that they would not be found unfruitful (3:14).

Paul, the great Apostle who formulated for us the glorious truth that we are not saved by our works of righteousness but by God’s grace alone, insists that though we are not saved by our good works, we are saved in order to do good works.

Arranging Skeletons

All of our current cultural chaos is the direct result of man trying to set things in order without the the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit. We are like paleontologists in a dinosaur graveyard just imaginatively assembling bones according to what we think the creatures must have looked like.

Our politicians try to arrange the dead bones of racial animosity into a semblance of peace and justice, and all they get is dead works of racial hostility, envy, and bitterness. When you try to simply do good works so that men think well of you, all you are doing is polishing the dead bones of self-righteousness to be displayed in a museum, which sooner or later will get cancelled anyway. Dead hearts make dead works. Dead men make dead laws. Dead bones make dead cultures.

But Paul tells Titus that he is to set things in order by preaching sound doctrine. The Gospel preached is the only way for mankind to be arranged properly. To put it another way, the Gospel is a setting of things in order.

The Good News is that the grace of God which brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to slit the throat of our disordered and depraved desires, and to zealously pursue good works. This is what Jesus redeemed us for, that by Him our sin might be forgiven and defeated, and our good works truly received by the Father. After all, Christ’s redeeming work gives us a new heart, by the regenerating and renewing power of the Holy Spirit (3:5).

So, are you in disarray? Are you fearful of all the derangement in our culture? The Gospel sets it all in order. It tells elders what sort of men to be (1:6-9), and how aged men are to bear themselves (2:2). It tells older women to teach younger women how to keep their home, love their husbands and children (2:3-5). It teaches young men to be sober and grave not hooligans given to every impulse (2:6). It has servants obeying their masters with fidelity (2:9-10). It reminds you of your foolish enslavement to lust and malice (3:3), and how you were re-ordered by the kindness of God (3:4).

And it can do all this and accomplish all this within you and within the church––and even within a nation––because God the Father, sent His Son to die for your sins, and the Son sent the Spirit to give you a new heart that you might be busy with good works. You are given a new heart because you have also been given a new identity. You are no longer a Cretan. You are no longer to be known by your lies, your lusts, your fears, or your follies. You have been set in order, by the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit, which lifts up the Lord Jesus who died to forgive your sins and who is your righteousness.

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Psalm 114: Song of the Exodus

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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).

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