Observations on the Body of Christ

The Body of Christ- Jesus and His People

1.    It’s local- Being a member of the universal church without being a member of the local church is like being a member of the swimming world without actually being the member of a local pool. You can swim. You may even be able to swim in local pools. However, you do not have the benefits of membership. You have to sign in as a guest and you are neither required to perform the duties of membership nor are you a recognized member. You can come and go as you please with no commitment other than a day pass. You cannot swim on the swim team, come to the community gatherings, or sit for or vote for board membership. You are there but barely. Your membership in the swimming fraternity means nothing when it comes to participating and competing for your local pool.

However, once you join the pool, you can vote for the board, you can even run for board membership. You can swim on the swim team. You can come to member parties.

How much more important is the church than the local pool? If you are a member only of Christ’s universal Church, then your local visibility, accountability and access to benefits, are slim to none. You are here but barely.

2.    You must be a part of it- The Lord does not leave us the option of being in the body or not. If we are in Christ, we are in His body. But He tells us to honor those who serve in the Word and Sacraments. He tells us to submit to those who rule over us. We cannot do this if we do not know who they are. This can only be a reference to the local church and not the universal church.  So, joining a local church is not an option. It is required of you for your good and for God’s glory.

Heb. 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

1Pet. 5:1  The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:  2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;  3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

3.    More important than your own family- This is a good corrective for us. I do not believe that I have ever taught that the family is more important than the Church, meaning the local church. But I can see how our emphasis on marriage and family could be confused and the emphasis can shift. I see this shift practically when families choose to miss church for various family related issues. The issue really becomes the answer as to where your primary loyalties are located. Is it in your own blood family? Or, is to Christ and His Church? I have argued that it should be the latter. So, when we choose our own blood family over the family of God, we have revealed where our allegiances lie. Many times, this does not create a conflict if our immediate family's desires and activities align with Christ. However, we see where the allegiance is misguided when we choose with our family against Christ and His family.

We see this happen in many ways. How do you spend your Lord’s Days? Do you spend them primarily as another day off for the glory of your family? Or, is it a day set aside for the glory of Christ and His people? Again, these two things may go together well when the family is lined up with the Church. But what if family members do not want to attend church? What if they want to play soccer, or baseball or lacrosse on that day? What if you have extra work and see that time taken from Church as the answer to your prayers? Now, you have a choice to make. How are you doing on those choices?

What if you have family from out of town visiting over the weekend? What does it say to them if you skip church? It says that they are more important to you than Jesus and His people. That is entirely the wrong message to send them. Invite them to church. If they do not want to join you then let them know that you will be back at eleven. I think you would be surprised at the power of this. Many of your family members would actually join you for church. The others would be impressed that you have increased your commitment to Christ and His Church. This might be a profound and life changing event for them. But to stay home and visit with them for another hour on Sunday morning will not change their lives.

4.    Structured as Christ and His people for the salvation of the world- Why is the local church so important? Because it is God’s vehicle for the salvation of the world! God is building His kingdom through His Church. In both preaching and discipleship, the primary place for these things is within the scope of Christ’s Church. Again, I remind you that His Church is Jesus and His people. This does not all need to happen at church on Sunday morning. But it does happen through God’s people as we gather for worship and then go out into the world to gather in people from every tribe and tongue and nation. The Church’s ministry is healing to the world.

5.    Is eternal- Christ’s church is eternal. The family is not eternal. Even marriages are not eternal. The marriage covenant on Earth can be broken. Marriages and families disintegrate. But God’s Church lasts forever. Jesus and His people are eternal. So, they take precedence over the temporal family. By temporal, I mean time bound. Now, there is a sense in which the local body is also time bound. Providence Church will not last forever in the remade Heaven and Earth. But the collection of Christ’s people will last forever as a community and our local body will always be a part of that larger body.

Who Is My Brother?

I mentioned in the sermon that we all partake of Christ directly and that there is no need for fathers or mothers to mediate that Communion here at the Lord's Table. As we think about this, we should also think about our relationship to one another at this place. It is at Communion, even as we are gathered in families that we should understand that we are not gathered as families. 

At this place, we are all gathered as brothers and sisters in Christ. Your father is your brother in Christ. Your mother is your sister in Christ. Your son is your brother in Christ. Your daughter is your sister in Christ. Your wife is your sister in Christ. Your husband is your brother in Christ. Your brother is your brother in Christ. Your sister is your sister in Christ. Your friends are your brothers and sisters in Christ. 

I ran through all of those relationships with a purpose. As we look around, do not merely think of the blessedness of seeing your parents here, or your children here or your friends here. We are glad they are here. But think that they are here, like you, in Christ, directly appealing to Jesus and sitting as a co-equal with you and me, with their parents and elders and deacons and siblings, as co-equals before God, eating with Jesus and His people as full participants in Christ. I hope that begins to change your view of what is going on here as well as who your brothers and sisters are.

Covenant Renewal with God's People

It is important that we renew our covenant vows each week both with the Lord and with His people, the people that we call the Church and the people in this room that we call the local Church.

         In serving the Triune God, we come to know unity in diversity. And in serving the body of Christ, we come to experience this unity in diversity in tangible ways. It is good that we are not all the same. If we were, we could not adequately image the Godhead. But it is also good that we strive for unity, loving each other because Christ has first loved us. In this, there is no room for spiritual competition, seeking to get ahead in Christ’s kingdom, to better our brothers and sisters in Christ.

         The differences that we have are part of the glory that God is revealing in the world, like the differences between a husband and wife that reveal a glorious marriage knit together by Jesus. This takes work and it takes the presence of the Holy Spirit. So, let us rejoice in each one and the fact that God requires me and you to love them and be at peace with them now and always, in Christ.

Unworthy of Jesus

Matt. 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

This is so vital that Jesus says that if you do not have it clear, then you are not praiseworthy. Do we not long to hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But if you love your father or mother or sister or brother, son or daughter more than you love Jesus, then you will not hear those words.

The Sword of Jesus

Matt 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

The peace of the blood family is not the ultimate goal, at least not at the expense of peace with Christ. As I mentioned before, when blood lines and water lines are in line, then God be praised. But if they are out of line, then your loyalties should lie with God’s people. In that sense, serving Christ can cause division in a blood family while maintaining unity in Christ’s family. Jesus clearly teaches that it is more vital to have peace in Jesus than peace in the Hurts, or Phillipses, or Smiths or Jones.

Balance in Christ

At Family Camp, pastor Duane Garner delivered several sermons on various aspects of the biblical family. He did an excellent job. The sermons were recorded and will be available and I recommend them to you. I think his sermons were timely and sparked some thoughts that are pertinent for us here at Providence Church.

         There is always a risk in any movement of getting out of balance. In one sense we at Providence Church are part of a movement. That is not all bad. Our movement, if you will, includes a return to the old paths in many things and putting a new twist on old things in other ways.

         Our emphasis has been on Worship. Our primary goal is to glorify God in every area of our lives. We believe that this glory is foremost revealed and then reflected by the gathering of the saints in corporate worship. Nothing that we do or say is more important than what happens in our churches every Lord’s Day. So, renewing covenant with God and with one another on a weekly basis is absolutely foundational to everything else that we do. What we are doing right now, Sunday morning, is the most important hour and a half of your week. It calibrates every other part of what you do and more importantly, who you are. You are the body of Christ.

         I hope that we have been consistent on our emphases on corporate worship as the foundational aspect of our lives together. We are the worshipping people of God.

         Sometimes our other emphases become dominant and our priorities are not clear. We emphasize the importance of marriage, of children and of families. We emphasize the importance of Christian Education, whether at home or through delegating to Christian teachers at Christian schools.

         If we are not careful, the emphases of family or education can trump the emphasis on Worship in the local church. If this happens, then we are in danger of erecting idols that must fall like Dagon before the Ark of the Covenant.

         How do we do this? How do we erect idols as we seek to reform our lives? I am going to suggest several ways in which we are in danger of inverting our priorities.  I expect to step on many toes as I do so. Let me assure you that I have also stubbed my own toes in the process. This is a corrective that we all need and so I pray that the Holy Spirit would open our ears and our hearts.

         Before I talk about ways in which we are tempted to get out of balance and erect idols, I want to establish biblically where our first priorities should be.

         In the passage that I read, Jesus clearly teaches that the will of the Father in Heaven is more important than family members. While family loyalties should be strong, it is important that we get the priority straight right in the beginning of our Christian pilgrimage. The will of the Father in the revelation of Jesus Christ trumps every other loyalty that might exist. This is true of the loyalty between parents and children, between husbands and wives, or between any other familial relationship.

         In saying this, we need to understand that there are relationships that trump our bloodlines. Those relationships are the ones with Jesus and His people. At Family Camp, Pastor Garner quoted somebody as saying that for we Christians, "Water is thicker than blood", talking about the waters of baptism. Blood is our birth line. Water is our re-birth line.

         It is most glorious when your blood line and your water lines are one and the same, but if they are not, then your fundamental loyalties should lie with those in whom you are washed in the water and washed in the blood of the Lamb.

We need to understand that those who belong to Jesus are more fundamentally our family than those who were birthed from our mother or even those who were created from our loins or the wombs of our wives. Your relationships with God’s people in Christ are more fundamental even than your relationship to your own father and mother.

Jesus clearly teaches this in Matthew.

         Matt. 12:46   While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.  47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.  48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Jesus and His People

We should think a lot about Jesus and His people. We call Jesus and His people, the church. But when we speak of the church, we should be careful to not simply mean the broader church, out there somewhere. That is a church that we belong to, one holy, catholic and apostolic church, but one in which we are not able to participate with at any meaningful level. Many Christians lay claim to their inclusion in the Universal Church while at the same time resisting inclusion in the local church. This ought not to be the case.

         Christ’s body has particular members, hands, arms, legs, eyes, ears. The local body is the representation of Christ’s universal body. It is here in the local body that we find our identity in Christ, who is the head of the body. There is not a more important organization or political structure that you belong to than Christ’s body as represented in the local church. In fact, your own blood family is not so vital as Christ’s body. This may come as a shock to some of you but it is at the heart of what Jesus revealed to us as He taught us to hate father and mother, sister and brother, in comparison to our love of Jesus and His people. It is those who do the will of Jesus that are our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers and we find them in Christ’s Church.

         Our call is to commit to Jesus and His people. To the extent that you have not submitted to Christ in His Church, then the Lord would have us confess our sins and walk in newness of life in and among Christ and His people.

Christ's Family, Our Family

As I mentioned in the sermon, each person here is directly connected to Christ. That means that they are also directly connected to His Church. Their primary connection is to Christ and His Church. They receive nurture from God the Father, through God the Son, by the means of God the Spirit, in the divinely instituted body of Christ, His bride, the Church. The Church is located wherever God’s people are gathered but is particularly revealed in the local church, the gathering of particular saints at a particular place. This is vitally important.

         It is these saints gathered here, from the oldest to the youngest, from the greatest to the least, that are Christ’s body to us who are gathered here. We gladly embrace all other saints who are in Christ, but God has given us these particular saints to live with, suffer with, rejoice with, weep with, commune with and die with.

         As we look around we see not only forgiven sinners gathered before the Lord but we truly see our brothers, our sisters, our mothers and our fathers in the faith. This is our fundamental family in the Recreation, in the beginnings of the New Heaven and Earth. How then can we not rejoice around so glorious a Table, in Jesus and His people?

John Calvin is the man

I just read Banner of Truth's gift version of A Guide to Christian Living by John Calvin. It is an excerpt of Book 3 of The Institutes of the Christian Religion. Reading Calvin is such a blessing. He is very pastorally practical, theologically astute and very readable. I highly recommend this little book and much larger doses of Calvin. It is no secret why nearly every commentator worth their salt, has liberal doses of Calvin quotes.

Eschatological Hope

Matthew 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to His works.

When men are rewarded for their works, the ones who take up the cross of Jesus are rewarded for His work.

Those who would not take up the cross of Christ are rewarded for their own works which are never equal to the purchase of their soul.

Heavenly Math

Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

One man’s soul is more valuable than all the riches of the world. This is the math of Jesus. How is your math? We do not have the temptation to hazard our soul for the riches of the world. Few Christians are in a position to hazard their soul for great wealth or fame or power. But we do have these temptations in small ways. We see that many Christians do not do their math aright. They hazard their souls at a much smaller price, for the sake of position in the corporate world, or power in politics, or for the alluring sentient pleasures purchased with riches. 

Do a thought experiment. What aspects of your faith in Christ do you hold back or even hide in order to advance your career, be seen as sophisticated in the corporate or political or academic world? How do you spend your riches on pleasure instead of in denying yourself and taking up your cross?

The flesh is not opposed to physicality. The flesh is that part of us which denies the Lord and takes up our way over His. His way includes times of refreshing and the Lord blesses us in body as well as Spirit. So, rest and pleasures are part of His gift to us. But when they become idols, then we are to utterly repudiate them for the sake of Christ.

Deny Yourself

"All the disciples and followers of Jesus Christ must deny themselves. It is the fundamental law of admission into Christ’s school, and the first and great lesson to be learned in this school, to deny ourselves; it is both the strait gate, and the narrow way; it is necessary in order to our learning all the other good lessons that are there taught. We must deny ourselves absolutely, we must not admire our own shadow, nor gratify our own humour; we must not lean to our own understanding, nor seek our own things, nor be our own end. We must deny ourselves comparatively; we must deny ourselves for Christ, and his will and glory, and the service of his interest in the world; we must deny ourselves for our brethren, and for their good; and we must deny ourselves for ourselves, deny the appetites of the body for the benefit of the soul." Matthew Henry

Life in Christ

This is the final sermon on the fruit of the Spirit. Recall what we have studied. The fruit of the Spirit is love, love of God and love of neighbor, joy in the Holy Spirit, peace that passes understanding in the midst of trouble, patience as we wait upon the Lord, kindness, for the Lord’s kindness leads us to repentance, goodness, doing that which is good as we are lead by the Holy Spirit, faithfulness, having faith and being faithful,  gentleness, a counterpart to kindness and is always a better way to lead than harshness.

         Today, we come to the pinnacle of the Fruit of the Spirit; temperance or self-control. Self-control is the ability to do that which is good and right, neither swaying to the left or the right, neither going overboard or falling short. Self-control is the ability to master both the body and the mind. Of course, this seems impossible and there is a sense in which that is true. Self-control outside of Spirit control is impossible. In our fallen form, we simply are not able to do that which is right.

         The only answer is to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we are empowered by God to obey God. And when we are filled with His Spirit and through this means are enabled to submit to His will, we realize that He is the One who gets the glory. We are thankful to be filled with His Spirit. We are thankful to be freed from sin, shame and guilt. We are thankful to be cleansed and justified. But we realize that none of it is of our making. The Lord attended to us merely out of His kindness and the only thing we can do is worship Him with a thankful heart.

         Having been filled with His Spirit, the Lord then calls us to walk by that Spirit. That is what we have been discussing as we make our way through the fruit of the Spirit. You do not produce this fruit in order to receive God’s blessing. The fruit of the Spirit is the result of God’s blessing you with His Spirit.

         But there most certainly is a sense in which our progress in the faith is our own. Once the Lord has filled us with His Spirit, He expects us to walk in this newness of life, grow up in grace and be productive fruit bearers. The ultimate fruit is that fruit which reveals a consistently obedient Christian, one who governs actions, thoughts and words. This person is very nearly perfect, in the sense that they are a mature Christian. That is the fruit of self-control.

         I want to make a qualification before I move on to my main point. Although I am speaking about growing up in Christ and producing the mature work of the Spirit, I am not talking about perfectionism. We do not have to perform perfectly to please God. What we have to be is ‘in Christ.’ Being ‘in Christ’ is the perfection that the Father is seeking and is the focus we are aiming at today.

         Furthermore, I do not believe that you can reach a sinless state in this life. No matter how mature you grow in Christ,  you will still have the war of the flesh snapping at your ankles. You may get some relief from particular nagging or troublesome sins. You may grow kinder and gentler as you age and mature. You may gain control over your tongue and even to some degree your judgmental and self-deceiving thoughts. However, as you do so, it becomes apparent to you just how holy God is and just how far short you fall. You may actually sin less, if we are taking a daily sin count, but your awareness of your natural sinfulness increases. This is not bad, at all. If you are growing up in Christ, then what is happening is that as you grow in the Lord, your awareness of your need for Jesus and His Holy Spirit is also increasing. While others may interpret this as you growing closer to the Lord and perhaps even some perfectionistic expectation, you, yourself, are becoming more and more aware of your need to cling to Jesus every moment. This does not make you more insecure. It makes your security more sure because you are becoming more and more aware that your only security is in Jesus, in Christ, in His Spirit.

         I want to make a segue from speaking this way into our topic today. The title of the sermon is Take Up Your Cross but the subject of the sermon is Self-Control. And I have mentioned many times that we were working our way UP to self-control as the telos of the fruit of the Spirit. Aiming at this high goal, we get near the peak and realize that there is simply no route to take the summit. We are stranded at the threshold of success.

         What are we to do? The answer is to go back to basics. I do not want to overload you with ways to practically be self-controlled. We are all different and the Lord has called us to different tasks, different lives even. The one common life that we have is the life we share ‘in Christ’. This is absolutely fundamental but we need to fully understand what the Father has called us to, being in Christ, if we are to live a full life in the Lord.

Glory in the Cross

Jesus took up His cross and the result was our salvation. When you take up your cross the result is your salvation. Our cross is His. In it you are fully absolved from all your sins. The Lord Jesus paid the price for them and both you and your sins have been nailed to the cross in Christ.

         When you take up your cross you fully identify with Jesus and embrace His way which is always the way of suffering unto death and then life after death and then life after life after death, which we call the Resurrection.

         We need to see both the glory and the joy in taking up our cross. Jesus said, Father, take this cup from me. But He also said, Not my will but Thy will be done. And in that Holy Spirit, He went to the cross willingly for the joy that was set before Him on the other side. So, let us freely embrace the cross and the joy that is set before us in the glory to come.

Take Up Your Cross

The title of the sermon today is Take Up Your Cross. We sometimes view this sort of admonition as embracing misery. That is not what I mean or is it the thrust of Scripture. The Scripture calls us to joy at the same time that it calls us to take up our cross. How can this be? How can there be joy in the presence of such a daunting vision as the cross?

         Two things to keep in mind. One, is the joy that hope brings. Jesus saw the glory on the other side of the cross, the salvation of His people and the Resurrection, and He rejoiced to go to the cross. So, while you are taking up your cross, look forward.

         The second thing may be more to the point in present sufferings. Taking up the cross means a willingness to do the Lord’s will, whatsoever comes to pass. We are not our own. We are His. This may seem hard but that is only because it is impossible. The only way we can fully submit to the Lord’s will in all things is to fully submit ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Lord says that His yoke is not burdensome. As we take up our cross we realize that it is the Lord’s cross and He is able and willing to bear our load.

         So, let us confess any grumblings, embrace the Lord’s will and look with joy for the glory on the other side of sufferings.

Severed Sins

One of the purposes of confession and repentance is getting current. We want to press forward but pressing forward is hard to do when we are caught in the past, whether in the grip of real sins, or in the grip of the failure to grasp forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

         So, the first thing we must do is heed the Spirit’s leading in conviction of our own sins so that we can recognize them and turn from them. But having done this, we need to fully embrace the glory of forgiveness in Jesus so that we can press forward without the burdensome weight of our sins. Forgiveness from Jesus severs those sins so that we are free from the weight of guilt and shame.

         We need to be honest before the Lord because, like the Prodigal Father, He is eagerly awaiting our return to Him so that He can clothe us in the finest of apparel, prepare a sumptuous meal for us and seat us at His table for wine and mirth, feasting and fellowship, overwhelming joy in Jesus Christ.

Already in Heaven

As I mentioned last week, it is important for us to focus on the things we have received in Jesus ALREADY instead of focusing on the shortcomings of the NOT YET. But we can also look forward to the additional blessings that we will possess in the future when the shortcomings will be completely filled up in Resurrection. So, we glory now but we do so with an eager anticipation and hope of something even more glorious.

          

As we look around at our fellow saints, we should have the present sense of being in Heaven. 

How can this be? It seems like just another day at church, not heaven. 

But the greatness of heaven is the collected saints of God around His throne, without sin and without death, forever basking in the glory of God. And here we are, the gathered saints, gathered around the throne of God, without fear of condemnation, celebrating the death of Jesus who gave the deathblow to death. This may not be heaven, proper, but it is a foretaste of heaven and should whet our appetites for the greater glory that is to come and that we already possess in part here and now.

Psalm Power

Whenever the Psalter is abandoned an incomparable treasure vanishes from the Christian Church. With its recovery will come unsuspected power.

In the ancient Church, it was not unusual to memorize the 'entire David'. In one of the eastern churches, this was a pre-requisite for pastoral office.

Dietrich Bonhoffer- Psalms, The Prayer Book of the Bible.

Prayer Book

It makes good sense, then, that the Psalter is often bound together in a single volume with the New Testament. It is the prayer of the Christian Church. It belongs to the Lord's Prayer.

Dietrich Bonhoffer- Psalms, The Prayer Book of the Bible.

Already New Creation

We are here in the New Creation. We are new. We have that already but we are not yet fully new, we are not perfect and so we have an acute sense of our need for continued grace and mercy. We are perhaps more aware of the NOT YET part of our condition than the ALREADY part. But at the Lord's Table we should focus on the ALREADY. 

Jesus has already died for our sins. Jesus has already arisen from the dead and we have risen with Him. Jesus has already ascended to the right hand of the Father and we are already seated with Him in the heavenlies. The Father is already well pleased with His glorified Son and in Him, He is well pleased with us. The Spirit is already among and in God’s people. And all of this is already declared and promised to you here today, you who are new creatures in the new creation in Jesus Christ.

Confession Comfort

The great benefit of confessing and repenting of sins is receiving the assurance of God’s forgiveness so that we can stand before Him without fear, shame, or guilt. Obviously, for those who refuse to confess, they do not receive this peace. They are uncomfortable in the Father’s presence and the only way that they can keep coming into the Father’s presence, without confession, is to be self-deceived that they are, in fact, not sinners needing to repent. And their last state is worse than the first.

         But for God’s saints, confession and repentance, while hard, are the path to peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. May God grant us His favor to see ourselves as we really are and having seen that hard truth, quickly humbling ourselves before Him. That difficult confession leads to all the benefits of goodness in Jesus; forgiveness, peace, joy, resurrection, hope, and glory. We are going to glory, so let us all lay aside and leave behind the sin which so easily entangles, and grasp hold of forgiveness joy in Jesus Christ.

Pentecost Holiness

May 26, 2013

Exhordium

Last week we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit in power at Pentecost. Our emphasis of application was on the convicting and renewing work of the Holy Spirit. It is imperative that each one of us know the work of the Spirit in our lives, from the least of us to the greatest. And this is the promise of the Spirit, that He comes to you and to your children and to all that are far off and to their children, to the very ends of the Earth.

And when He does come upon us, then He changes us into the holy people of God that do His bidding in the world. Sometimes we do not feel like the holy people of God, especially if we are not looking at the collective group but viewing this holiness from an individual perspective.

But how can we know that God is at work among us as a people? We have to examine the fruit. And how do we know that God is at work among us as individuals? Again, we have to examine the fruit. And when we do this, we have to be the right kind of fruit inspectors. Our goal is to grow up into maturity and perfection but if the banana is a bit green, it is still a banana. If the banana has a couple of bruises and blemishes, it is still a banana. The presence of defects does not make false fruit. An over critical examiner or an over tender conscience may tend to declare that which is truly the fruit of the Spirit as no fruit at all.

As the people of God, there are some proofs that God is among us, namely the worship, love and fellowship of the saints. As individuals, there is the fruit of the Spirit, which are essentially the same fruits.

As we walk through this today, I do not want overly tender consciences to declare immature fruit or defective fruit as no fruit. We must examine ourselves honestly to see if we are in Christ, but having found ourselves in Christ, then we must not listen to the voices that accuse and condemn us.

One of those voices says that you are not good enough. There are good people who are growing in Christ around you and you just do not measure up. To that voice, you simply say, “So, what. It’s true, I am not good enough.” That is why Jesus had to die on the cross, because you do not measure up. But in Jesus Christ, the Father is satisfied and you must claim Jesus as the one who measured up for you. If you keep claiming Jesus, even when you are accused, then you know that the Spirit is at work in you.

The devil’s job is that of accuser. He constantly accuses the brethren. You are not good enough. You still sin too much. Jesus’s work is not enough for the likes of you. But even the fact of your awareness of these accusations is proof that the Spirit is at work in your midst. The devil is a false accuser and desires to bring doubt and discouragement into the lives of the saints. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.

And in all of these doubts, our answer is to always go back to Jesus. We admit our failings, cling to Christ and are comforted in His Holy Spirit. As long as you do this, no accusation formed against you will ever be heard. You are justified, fully absolved by the merit and blood of Jesus.

So, now what?

At Pentecost, the Spirit was forming the Holy people of God. He had always done this. When He called out Abram and made him a nation, when Jacob and his seventy went down to Egypt. When Moses brought God’s people out of Egypt. When Joshua laid claim to the Promised Land, when the exiles were a people in Babylon, when the people returned to the land as the people of God. In all of these formations of God’s people, the Holy Spirit was at work. And while it is true that there were always some Gentiles attached to the people of God, there had never been an international formation of the people of God until Pentecost. From this day forth, the people of God took on a new meaning and a new identity. No longer was it the ethnic or national people of God. God’s nation is not bound by borders or languages. It extends to the ends of the Earth and includes all peoples, tribes and tongues.

And they all speak the language of worship of the One true God through Jesus and exhibit love for one another across all national and ethnic divisions. Gal. 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And this is the work of God’s Holy Spirit among His people.

The Spirit With Us

The Holy Spirit is God’s presence with us. As the Spirit dwells with us, we have full assurance that the Father dwells with us and that He loves us. The Holy Spirit is also the presence of Jesus on the Earth. Jesus promised that He would be with us always, even to the end of the age and then He sent His Holy Spirit to us in power at Pentecost.

         So, we are here now, in the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. He is moving in our midst, convicting, comforting, counseling, assuring, saving, healing, teaching, preserving, loving, sharing. Namely, He is God with us being everything that a Savior must be. He is leading us in the way of righteousness and true holiness and He is the One who cleanses us and presents us before the Father as joint-heirs with Jesus. Take heart, the Spirit is with us. Be at peace.

Holy and Righteous Saints

Life in the Spirit is necessarily a life of holiness and righteous. This is true because our God is holy and righteous and the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, is God. So, our life must be one characterized by holiness. This might cause us to squirm because we know our own thoughts, our words and our actions. And we see that some of these thoughts, words and actions are not holy or righteous. We still struggle against sin and find the way of holiness difficult. That is okay. Being holy and righteous is difficult. In fact, outside of God’s Holy Spirit, it is completely impossible.

At least three things should be apparent in the lives of the holy people of God. One, we desire holiness.  That desire is given to us by His Holy Spirit. Two, we are convicted of our sins. That conviction is also the work of the Holy Spirit. And three, we repent of our sins, turning away from them and turning to Jesus. This, too, is the work of God’s Holy Spirit.

         So, this call to be holy as God is holy is not a call to perfectionism. However, it is a call to walk in the newness of God’s Spirit, with godly desires. It is a call to feel remorse for your sins and to turn away from them. If this is happening, then you can rest assured that you are one of God’s holy and righteous saints.

If you do not desire holiness, if you are not convicted of your sins, if you cannot find a place of repentance, the ability to turn away from your sins, then I pray that you turn your life over to Jesus, asking God to regenerate you to new life in Christ.

Declarative Preaching

Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

Peter wasn’t proving but preaching.  There is a difference. And the difference is punctuated by the power of the Holy Spirit. A man can prove through reasonable arguments. But Peter simply declares, and that with power endued from on high. The Spirit gives him utterance and the hearers are cut to the quick. He is not really trying to persuade them. He is simply declaring the truth about what is going on, who Jesus is, the guilt of the crowd, the need for repentance. And by God’s Spirit, the people hear and respond.

Glory on Earth as in Heaven

When Jesus Ascended, He was received up into a cloud.  That cloud must have been the glory cloud of God, the Holy Spirit of fire.  When Jesus went to Heaven, He took His glory with Him.  However, His glory did not stay in Heaven.  He made a promise that the Spirit would come.  God’s glory descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove.  But it also descended upon the church in the form of tongues of fire.

Expectations Fulfilled at Pentecost

There is but one God only, the living and true God. There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

         This catechism answer is a good one. We tend to think in terms of hierarchy when with thing of God’s power and glory. The Father is the ancient God, Jesus is less than Him but someone we can relate. We know from our theology that the Holy Spirit is God but since we cannot see Him, He is even more mysterious to us than the Father.

         But this way of thinkng will not do. The Son and the Spirit are co-equal persons in the Godhead with the Father. The Son is fully God. He has existed always, is omnipresent and omniscient just as the Father. The Holy Spirit is also fully God. He has been God from before the creation. He hovered over the waters at creation. He was with Israel in the wilderness. He came with expansive power at Pentecost and dwells in the Christian Church globally and in each individual Christian personally.

         This is where we may even have a problem with the fact that Spirit is God. Since the Holy Spirit indwells His people, it is true to say that God is not only with us, He is in us and this is difficult for us to comprehend. God is in us, in our body, making us alive through the process of regeneration. The life that we now we live, we live in the Spirit.

         Of course, God is not wholly contained within us. He is in us and this is real and glorious but neither the Church at large nor our bodies fully contains the Holy Spirit. This is impossible because the uncreated Creator cannot be contained in Creation. And the Holy Spirit is the uncreated Creator.

         Contrary to popular modern Christian belief, the Holy Spirit did not arrive on the Earth at Pentecost. He had always existed here.  He was in the beginning hovering over the waters as God created the world.  He spoke by the mouth of the prophets.  He inhabited the praises of His people in a very tangible way in the glory cloud, in the pillar of fire and between the cherubim over the mercy seat.  The Holy Spirit did not begin to exist at Pentecost, but most certainly something new and glorious was happening.

This is a great and glorious passage.  It is the inauguration of a new age in the church and a new age in the world.  The old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.  We must see the coming of the Holy Spirit with all the splendor that our God desires.  He did not come merely that we might go to heaven.  Granted, that is a most precious reward of living in the Holy Spirit.  But believing Hebrews always believed that.  Remember that David said that he could go to his dead child?  He knew there was an afterlife and he looked to it in faith.  The promise of heaven is most certainly to all who believe in Jesus as the Savior of the world. 

But the Jews had promises given to them from God and they counted on God to fulfill that which He promised.  Faithful Jews believed that God will fulfill these promises.  In order for us to understand what was going on at Pentecost and the days following, we must get a hold of some idea of what the believing Jews expected. 

Expectations

Acts 1:6   When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?  7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

You see from their question that their expectation of Jesus is that He would be the promised King of David’s line that would rule the re-established kingdom of Israel. Jesus’s answer prepares them for the coming of the Holy Spirit and what it would mean for the Spirit to be poured out on all flesh. Instead of a kingdom in Israel, the kingdom would extend to the ends of the Earth. And this is exactly what happened when the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost.

Comfort in Jesus

As we have considered the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in power, we must now attend unto the power of the Holy Spirit here with us. We remember, here, at this Table, the Lord’s death, until He comes. But we do not remember here and now at this Table with sad hearts, troubled at our own sins and unsure of His love for us. In this place, at His Table, we take heart in His work for us on the cross, to be the perfect sacrifice for us, to take our sins upon Himself, to free us from the debt of sin, the shame of guilt and the fear of judgment.

The Spirit is with us to declare to us, that in Jesus Christ, we have the full forgiveness of sins, we are approved of by God, just as Jesus is, and that His Spirit is with us now. Our way is through the cross but we are on the other side of the cross, with Jesus, receiving the promises of God in Christ and the first fruit of those promises is His Holy Spirit. In the Spirit, we have the peace of God and this assures our hearts of His grace and mercy towards us now and always, even to the end of the age. So, take comfort here from the great Comforter and peace to you.

Pentecost Conviction

Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday when we celebrate the Holy Spirit’s outpouring not only upon the disciples but also upon the crowds who gathered to hear them. The Spirit gave the disciples the ability to declare with power the wonderful works of God. When they did so, they preached Christ crucified for sinners and the Holy Spirit convicted the crowd for their sins. Peter expressly says that they had a hand in the crucifixion of Jesus.

         If the Spirit is present with us, we should understand that this is the connection of our sins to Jesus on the cross. He died for our sins. Those of us who are in Christ already understand this but when we come to understand it again, each time it cuts us to the heart. We realize that Jesus died for sinners, for you, for me, and also He died because of sins, your sins and mine. This makes His death personal to us and it requires a response from us. That response is confession and repentance and His response to us is forgiveness.

         So, I pray that the Holy Spirit moves you to confess and repent of your sins, for Jesus went to the cross so that you can be freed from them and forgiven for them and stand before Him without guilt, shame or condemnation. May the Spirit now reveal any present sins that you need to confess to Him today.

Honor Your Mother

Rarely do we honor quite as fully as we should. We sometimes chaff at the authority that requires our honor. Or, we seek to please the authority simply for our own benefit. Small children are perhaps the worst offenders, often immature and selfish, only wanting, seldom giving, sometimes, though, perhaps giving by mistake. But the parent takes great joy in the selfish child and that joy produces one who honors in due season.

         The Bible calls us to honor our fathers and mothers and God gives us a promise that we might live long and prosper on the Earth. Sometimes we have to work at honoring father and mother, especially if they have wounded us deeply. But all of you must honor your mothers here on Earth for at least one great reason. It is also the one great reason we honor our Father who is in Heaven.

         Quite simply, no mother, no you. She is creator and life giver. You owe her the very breath you breathe, the thoughts you form, the actions you make. So, let us at least start there, giving her honor for making us, for carrying us in her womb, for giving us birth, for giving us a chance to be in this place on this day to bless and honor our Father who is in Heaven. God bless our mothers here on Earth.

Ascension Meal

Today, we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord Jesus to the right hand of the Father. Of course, every day is the celebration of this Ascension because every day we are to get about the work of God here on the Earth, whatever work you are called to. But sometimes we do just stand gazing into Heaven wondering when the Lord Jesus will come to us. Well, He has already come, He lived, He died, He lives, He rules, He is coming again. But until that day when He comes again in body, He is with us fully by His Spirit.

         We celebrate that fact here in this meal. The Lord Jesus is not up in Heaven far away from us. He is near through His Spirit. Even now, we partake of His body and His blood to remind us that He is with us, now and ever, even until the end. So, we must not stand gazing up into the sky. Rather, by His Spirit, we look around at our brothers and sisters and at a lost world that needs Jesus and we offer ourselves. We do this by His Spirit and by His power, giving ourselves one for another, just as Jesus has given Himself for us.

Man of Peace

Col. 3:12-17 has to do with being a man of peace and unity. It takes a humble man to desire this and work for it. A gentle man can do so, but an aggressive, fault finding, defensive, self-justified man is unable to pursue peace. Wherever he goes, there is trouble. And he often fails to see that he takes his trouble with him wherever he goes.

But a gentle and humble man, is merciful, kind, humble of mind, meek and longsuffering. He bears with others, is quick to forgive, especially those he has been quarrelling with. He does this because he knows that he is a sinner and that Christ has forgiven him much and so he ought to forgive the little debts that are incurred against him. He loves the brothers perfectly and peace rules in his heart. He is full of thankfulness for the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

Such a humble man has the word of God dwelling in him richly and displays his wisdom in dealing with others. He does not return evil for evil but rather returns a blessing when he is cursed. Like David, he remembers to let God sort out wrath and vengeance. He can do this because his ultimate faith is in the Lord who works all things after His own will and who is the one who vindicates the righteous and punishes the evil-doer.

We ARE lowly

Part of being meek is realizing that we really are meek. We are lowly and not lofty. We are those who are the brokenhearted, the ones who realize that our sins have separated us from God. Like Lazarus in the tomb, we are dead in our sins and need to be made alive and set free.

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Comfortable in Your Own Skin

If you own who you are, then you are almost impossible to offend. And if you are impossible to offend, then you are seldom on the defensive. And if you are not on the defensive, then you are able to be humble and gentle with others. This comfort is a persuasive argument.