Exhortation-Love

It is sad that in the kingdom of God there is so much sin driven by the companion sins of covetousness and envy. We are called to live together in unity, preferring our brothers above ourselves. We are explicitly told by Jesus, Paul, Peter, James and other New Testament writers to esteem others above ourselves, to love the brethren, to pursue peace. But we have a hard-dying tendency to not do this. We tend to cloke our sins in pretended holy concern for others, when in fact, it is often driven by a more unholy zeal to have God’s heavy hand fall upon them. Lord, shall we call down fire?

When God blesses our brethren, in any manner, physically, spiritually, or financially, our tendency is to wonder why it didn’t happen to us. To wonder is not a bad thing. That wondering may just find an answer. The answer may be your own sin, particularly in the area of always wanting someone else’s blessing. If you get that answer and recognize it for what it is, then well and good. Confess and repent. We all deal with this and it the means of our sanctification as well as the sanctification of the body. But if that wondering spills over into discontentment and jealousy, the resultant sin is both pernicious in, and dangerous to, the body of Christ. And this is much too often the case.

The result of our lives together in Christ should be unity. This comes about because our primary duty is to love one another. Jesus said that if we do this, we are His disciples indeed. Of course, we do this in outward duties, meals, helping with a building project, counsel, friendship, the breaking of bread at the Lord’s Table and at your tables. But there is another aspect of our lives together that we do not spend enough time examining and refining. And that is how we view and speak about others. Is it your tendency to complain about others, thinking that they are not worthy of the blessings that they have received? I am referring to the way that you speak of others in this church as well as with those other parts of Christ’s body that do not worship with us here or in our denomination or sector of Christianity. Why has God blessed them, we wonder, when WE have all the right truth? Oh? And what about the truth of thinking too highly of oneself? Have we got that one down, too?

It may be true that your brother in this church or in the church at large is in sin. If that sin is the kind that is likely to be his downfall, and you find that you simply MUST speak about it to somebody, then it is your Christian duty to speak about it to him. I make one exception to this rule. If you are truly seeking counsel about how to deal with this brother or sister and their sin, then it is not sin to discuss it with a person that can actually help. I would make a really short list of who these discussions are allowed to be with. Your husband or wife, parents, the pastor or the elders. Other than that, the desire to talk to others about it is not so much for the purpose of finding a solution but rather to hear yourself talk, especially when you get to talk from a standpoint of superiority.

If their sin is not the kind that you must confront, if it is a foible, a quirk, a shallow weakness, then your duty is to love them through it. Don’t get on your high horse. Don’t complain about them to your husband or wife. Don’t discount God’s blessings upon them. Don’t build yourself up by bringing them down. Don’t feel the need to discuss their shortcomings with others, even the short list given above. Don’t justify your sin in mock protestations about ‘concern’ for them. Learn to love them, in spite of their foibles.

The bottom line in all of this is to be busy about our own callings and duties without being busybodies about other people’s callings and duties. Don’t you have enough to do already? If you do your duties well, perhaps God will give you the grace and opportunity to serve, truly serve, your brother or sister that you have been busy criticizing for all these months and years. If that were done, perhaps their particular besetting sin, that seems to beset you as much as them, will not be such a stumbling block to you. Love covers a multitude of sins. Let us learn to love.

Easter Communion Thoughts

Our fellowship with God and man was broken in Adam. The one loaf was broken but it lay shattered and torn, not reunited. But in Christ, there is a new humanity. He was broken for us but He was not left broken. His body was raised bringing life to all that are raised in Him. His body was gathered from the dead that all those who are gathered in Him are also gathered from the dead. His gathered body is offered to all that sit here and are the called according to His promises. His body is given for you. We are all reassimilated in Christ. What was broken and shattered is now put back together. We are new men, women, and children. The death that reigned in Adam has been conquered in Jesus. The broken body of humanity in Adam has been gathered by the broken body of Jesus Christ.

This means that we have new life and the hope of new life. This life is realized primarily in the body of Christ, His Church. Because we have been made partakers of the body of Christ, we live, like Him. Death no longer is master and ruler. Sin no longer is the tyrant on the throne. There is a new Master and Lord and we must serve Him in righteousness rather than sin and death in unrighteousness. As we eat and drink, we are being transformed into the new humanity that we are. We are being renewed into the likeness of Christ. These words may sound abstract but they are not. They are very practical. We are growing in thankfulness, hope, and joy. The fruit of the Spirit should be present and growing among us.

Gal 5:16-6:2 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulful the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

The works of the flesh should be diminishing and struggling among us. Life conquers death in Jesus Christ. So let us live as the new creation in the regeneration, loving one another in Christ and so fulfilling the law of God.

Easter Exhortation

We often make the mistake of having a sentimental religion. By this, I mean, constructing a faith upon what we feel would be best or what it would be if it were nice and tidy, a precious moment, so to speak. But the Bible and the gospel comes to us on God’s terms and not ours. Because of this, we have to take it as it is given and not as we had hoped it would be. This causes us to submit to God, His Providence, His wisdom, His Christ.

Resurrection Sunday is another one of those parts of the Bible that is often remembered in a sentimental way. I think many Christians envision something other than what actually happened. We have sunrise services so that we can glory in the empty tomb. We picture Mary Magdelene, Peter and John running to the tomb in eager anticipation of finding it empty in proof that Jesus has been raised from the dead. But that is not what happened. They came to the tomb but not eagerly, not in belief, but still lost in their despair and misery. They had not yet believed and so their doubts and fears and disappointments completely blinded them. Among the disciples and even the apostles, there are no exceptions. None anticipated the Resurrection. None were eager for an empty tomb.

But this does not change the fact that Jesus really had risen. The disciples did not believe it and could not see it, but nonetheless it was true. And because it was and is true, they would soon be able to see and have their hope and strength renewed.

We are not unlike the first disciples. We are disciples of Jesus, indeed, but we have our dark moments. We have our Black Fridays like that horrific Friday when Jesus was crucified. All is black and gloom. All hope is lost. All confidence is shattered. We have great doubts and are at a loss as to who Jesus really is. Will He come to me? Will He save me? Am I really His beloved? Or was all that hope just a dream?

We all have our Barren Saturdays, when the day drags on without a word from the Lord. He seems to be gone and not coming back. Where is the joy that we once had in Christ? Where is the hope of Him being King and protecting me from the enemies of my hope? Will He fight this sense of loneliness, of apathy, of unrequited longing? Where is Jesus at this hour of great need?
We have all had our Dissapointing Sundays, when a hope has arisen that perhaps He will come, perhaps He will rise only to find that the tomb is empty but Jesus is not to be found. We thought we could go to Him but He is not there. He has gone.

But all of your Fridays, Saturdays and early Sundays do not change the fact that Christ is Risen. He has risen and conquered the death of Friday. He has returned and brought meaning to the drought of Saturday. He is right behind you on your disappointing Sunday. He speaks and like Mary, you must simply turn around to see Him. His resurrection puts all of the loss, longing, and languishing in perspective. It turns sorrow into joy and mourning into rejoicing. There is nothing that can separate you from His love. You have but to remember what He said, to believe that His rising is the crowning of victory over death. And that in this victory are all the hopes and joys of your victory. He comes to you on Friday and you must see Him crucified for sins and your sins. He comes to You on Saturday and you must see Him bringing victory over sorrows and your sorrows. He comes to You on Sunday and all hope is renewed. He is risen.

Proverbs 2-The Strange Woman

Prov 2:16-19 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

This is a very frightening warning and one that fathers should spend a great deal of time teaching their sons. Of course, a father does not want to raise a daughter that will be such as the strange woman but the warning here is to sons. We live in an age of multiplied strange women. They have left the path of light and lurk about seeking some man to devour. Of course, they would not be successful unless there were many willing marks. And there are. However, this does not lesson the warning here to sons. Look out! This way is perilous. Note what he says. Those who go into her find death. We have heard that before and may have grown callous to the warning. Many sons do not find death there at all. At least not at first. They find pleasure. They find personal sexual pleasure in the strange woman. They also like being flattered. She tells him how great he is. Men like this sort of thing immensely and if they do not hear it from their fathers and mothers and later their wives, then they are prone to seek a strange woman to tell them these things. But what will a son find there? A trap. A trap of the soul. It is like Hotel California. Easy to get in, near impossible to get out. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

Sons, husbands, beware! Not only will you get burned if you go to her, in your mind first, in your sneaky actions second, and in your deeds third, but you may be stuck forever. Perhaps not with the same strange woman. There may be many. But you are stuck with her curse. You may enter into the darkness in such a way that you can never return. You are now in the paths of the dead and the curse will never be broken. You are forsaken of God. You have become like the man in the iron cage in Pilgrim’s progress, or Esau seeking vainly for a place of repentance, or Saul knowing that David is chosen but hating him all the more for it. Forsaken. That is the kind of death the strange woman brings.

Exhortation-Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

As I mentioned last week, life is full of trouble. In a particular church there is trouble because people are trouble. This would not be the case if people were not sinners. Except for the fact that we seem to always blame the sin on someone else. But we need to remember that Jesus is trouble, too. This really calls us up short when we think that our troubles are outside of us, that someone else is the cause of them. But why do men, women and children have a hard time with Jesus? He is no sinner, so it cannot be that. The only reason is that He confronts us. He reveals us. His truth reveals our way of life. We often do not like to see this and ignore His testimony in our lives. But doing that only brings more trouble. For Jesus is persistent. He will not let it rest. He keeps stirring up the trouble until it gets dealt with. Some do not like this but those who have tasted of the fruit of Jesus’s persistance in dealing with sin are humbly thankful.

Be we must remember that the purpose of all this trouble is not to be troubled. Jesus does not want this. People are trouble and sins are trouble but Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled." And He said this to a bunch of disheartened disciples who were about to fail their Savior in the most miserable ways. He will stir up trouble from Him to you or from one to another because it is His desire that we deal with Him and deal with one another so that our hearts will not be troubled. Trouble comes but trouble goes and good riddance. But troubles, strife with God or strife in the brotherhood, are like monsters in the closet. The more they are avoided, the scarier they become. Only when they are revealed as the petty tyrants that they are can they be effectively eliminated, nailed to the cross, killed with Jesus. And when the resulting blessing comes, we are thankful for the trouble. We even have a cliché that describes what we mean. We say, "It was worth the trouble."

So, let God deal with us. May the Spirit reveal to us where we have resisted the rule of Jesus, where we have been ashamed of His work in the world, where we have boasted in our flesh only to fail, where we have slandered the brothers, or another man’s good name. May we see that the purpose of Jesus in this is that we will see our own sins and deal with them so that we will be at peace and our hearts will not be troubled.

Exhortation-Advocate

Christians are called to resist the world the flesh and the devil. We are called to fight against the sins of the flesh. However, we do not do this immediately or perfectly. Our growth in grace is exactly that, growth in grace. We are to grow up into all things in the Spirit of God. We do have an advocate with the Father. We are not perfectionists even though perfection is our goal. We do not require a man to be sinless in order to be a Christian. No, he must be a sinner in order to come to Christ. And he remains a sinner in Christ, but a new kind, one with grace and hope and forgiveness.

Last week, in the exhortation, I reminded you that Christ has overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. All of you need to hear this but some of you hear it strangely. All of you, if you are indeed, in Christ, struggle against sin. Some of you feel like immense failures for this fact. But that is not how it should be. If there was no struggle against sin, if you had acquiesced to it, were not sorry for it, and did not repent of it, then that would be shameful. However, if you were in that condition, you likely would not feel the shame that leads to repentance.

The struggle against sin is one mark of the true believer. Instead of this being a discouragement to us, it should be an encouragement. Yes, we get tired and weary and we wonder if we will persevere until the end. But if we struggle, as a Christian, the fact of our perseverance should be becoming a more thoroughgoing reality for us. The reason is that while we fight sin, we learn to fight the right way. We stop taking credit for our victories and give the victory to Jesus. We realize that our only hope eternally and our only hope in this life is the power of Christ, not only for daily living, but especially for cleansing and restoration.

Our boats are constantly besieged by storms, storms of trouble, storms of enemies, storms of sins. But Christ is in the boat. He speaks, "Peace be still." So, look to Him, and like the calming waves, be at peace.

Communion Thoughts-Light

Some of you have had to drink the die that can be x-rayed. You drank it and it traveled through your body and when it was x-rayed, it glowed. The light of this substance is visible to the x-ray machine, even if you cannot see it.

When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we drink light. It is as if the light of this meal travels into us, enters our blood and makes its way through our entire body, bringing light to all the dark places. I should make some qualification here. I do not believe that the bread and wine are literally the body and blood of Jesus. They are still bread and wine. But as we eat and drink in faith, we are being assimilated into the life of Christ. We really are being transformed into Christlikeness. This really is happening.

Here on earth, we are fully saved but we are not yet fully sanctified. This is a process that takes a lifetime and perhaps much more. How could our sanctification take more than a lifetime? Do not get me wrong here either. I am not proclaiming the need for Purgatory. Curse that vile doctrine. When we die, sin will be banished from having any influence on us. And when we are resurrected, our bodies will be fully incapable of sinning. So, in the sense of not being able to sin, our sanctification is on layaway at death and completed at the resurrection.

But will we not always be learning Christ? Is not His realm, and work and person far beyond all ability for finitude to grasp? And we will always be finite. We will never be God. Then, we will continue to be assimilated into the life of Christ, seeing, hearing and experiencing new wonders in Him for all time and for all eternity. This is one way in which our sanctification, or growth in grace, will never be complete, and to God be the glory.

But here, as we eat and drink, we eat and drink promise. Those who eat and drink, believing simply, have the light of this promise spread throughout their body, soul and spirit. They are washed in the blood, nourished in the body, made strong in Jesus, kept until the last day, made fit for the resurrection, preserved for the life of Jesus. So, eat this way. Drink this way. In hope, in faith, in love, in Christ.

Christmas EXHORTATION-Better to Give

We all face the temptation to not be thankful. The only reason we are ultimately unthankful is if we are not satisfied with our lives, and though it hurts us to say so, if we are not satisfied with the God who gave us this life. We seldom break it down to this degree. We like to think that we really are satisfied with life except for some really small inconveniences that we want to get fixed. But if we are honest, this is not really the case. If you get the big problems fixed, the little ones become comparatively insignificant. While I do not want to make light of serious trials and suffering, this is also true of these hard providences. For even then, having a godly perspective enables us to live in joy, even in earthly sorrows. And this is not contradictory.

For most of us, life swims along at a pleasant pace and we do not give ultimate ideas much time in thought. We spend our days worried about tonight’s dinner, getting the Christmas letter out, wrapping presents, dealing with the extended family, wondering if we’ll have enough money to pay our bills once our spending on presents is accounted for. For some, these worries set in as thieves to steal away true joy, particularly, the joy of the reason for doing all of these things. The answer to this is right thinking and right thinking usually comes when one steps back to gain proper perspective.

What do you have that has not been given to you by the hand of a benevolent Father? What do you lack that has not been held back from you by the hand of a benevolent and wise Father? Behind all of our good and pleasant gifts and behind all of our good and unpleasant gifts is a God who is intimately concerned with us. We must receive all that he brings us knowing that He has thought well about what He is doing, about what kind of gifts He is dispensing.

Of course, at this time of year, we also receive gifts from others, all of whom are not as thoughtful as our God. Some of them do not give us the perfect gifts. Our tendency may be to be disappointed or unthankful. But I must remind you that behind even their unthoughtful gift is a thoughtful God. God has given you such parents, such friends, such children. And He has determined that their gift is fitting for you. But I didn’t want…but it doesn’t fi….but I hate this color… but I, but I, I, I, I, I, I…..Starting to get the point?

It is a blessing to get. The Bible clearly teaches this. We should rejoice in the fact that others love us so much that they give of their substance to us. Getting presents is a good thing. But it is better to give than to receive. We must make our receiving full of grace and thankfulness and we must seek to learn the blessedness of giving over and above the blessedness of getting. God showed us the way by sending His Son. He receives us but He gave a better gift than the one He got back. Let us learn the lesson. And let us learn that all of God’s gifts to us are good. Be thankful. And if you are tempted to be unthankful in getting, then learn to be completely thankful in giving. And may God be honored and praised at the end of the day for all of it.

The Savior is Born-Sermon Intro

At Christmas time the obvious text is the birth of the Christ Child in a lowly manger in Bethlehem. It is a beautiful story of God’s graciousness and provision to a young couple in dire straights. Joseph and Mary were poor and needy and the God of the universe provided for them, albeit with meager means, by our standards. There was no room for them in the inn, the place where proper men dwelt, so God provided for them in a stable, or as some legends have it, in a cave.

Instead of being appalled at the enormity of the insult to our God and the blessed Virgin and her betrothed husband, we romanticize the event. But there was little romance in it. Many of you here have had, or have witnessed the experience of having, a baby. It is frought with dangers, even in the most modern medical facilities. Having babies is dangerous business. Can you imagine going into labor on a cold winter night in a place far from home with your only recourse being to the nearest barn or a hole carved into a cliff? Far from romantic, this experience would be the most frightening.

Put on top of that the fact that Mary knew that she was carrying the Son of God. I assume that she was able to place that burden into the arms of God, Himself. But I have wondered about this. Perhaps she felt the burden of protecting Him against enemies, keeping Him alive, nurturing him until His time had come. Joseph and Mary eventually do flee to Egypt to keep the boy Jesus alive. God used them as His protector and they clearly felt the weight of this duty to some degree unknown to us.

Of course, the story of the shepherds is wonderful, too. The angel appeared to them and they were moved to seek out the Messiah, Christ the Lord. How moved and surprised they must have been to see the baby Jesus, not in royal robes or a king’s carriage but wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a feeding trough.

The visit of the wise men was no doubt some time later. But even they were no doubt equally amazed to find the baby Jesus in the home of poor laborers of Israel, rather than in the King’s palace that they had expected.

The story is beautiful. But if we give it just a little more thought than our cute children’s Christmas pageants, we see that something quite unexpected is going on. God has entered creation and humanity in a way that would never have been foreseen by the wise of this world.
Our sermon title is Joy to the World. And great joy it is. But unless we see the enormity of the need, we have a hard time understanding the exceedingly great nature of the joy.

We understand, to some degree, the plight of fallen man. In Adam all fell into sin and were in need of being saved from this wretched state. In the very beginning, in the garden, God made a promise to Eve, the mother of all living. Gen 3:15 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

One day, the seed of the woman would rise up and crush the seed of the serpent. He would give that serpent a final crushing blow to the head. This promise grows as God systematically reveals His will towards men.

Through the ages, to Noah, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to Joseph and Moses, to David and His seed, the vision of this promise grew. Israel understood that God had made this promise and though they have seen partial fulfillments of His promise in beating back enemies, in restoring them to the land, in the rebuilding of the temple, the final crushing blow never arrives. They wait upon the Lord. They know that one day God will raise up a King that will be King of kings and Lord of lords. They knew that of His government there shall be no end.

Each victory over their enemies must have occasioned all sorts of hope that the Messiah was soon to arrive to save the people Israel from their enemies. But time marched on and their futility marched on. And hope waxed old and the chosen people grew cold. And in this coldness, on a cold night, with a cold heart turning away a poor pregnant woman in labor, God’s promise to humanity is born.

Communion Thoughts-Good Shepherd

MEDITATION
The Shepherds were keeping watch over the sheep in the fields by night. They were diligent by day and through the night. They were faithful to their master so that they would not lose even one sheep. Gabriel appeared to these shepherds to announce the coming of the Great Chief Shepherd, one who is ever faithful to all that His Father calls Him to do. He has been given charge of the sheep and of them He shall lose none.

We often emphasize the truth that if you do not stay in Christ then you are not in Christ. If you do not remain with Him until the last day, you will not receive the good rewards of the last day. And this is most true. But for some, particularly those weak of faith, or in a place of doubt or a season of trial, battered and bruised reeds, these words bring doubt and fear. How do I know if I will remain until the last day? Will I be able to hang on to Jesus that long?

You need to hear the parable of the Good Shepherd. It is not you that hang on to Him but He that holds you. The Lord knows His sheep, calls them all by name and leads them. They know their Shepherd and follow Him.

How can you know if you will be His sheep at the last day? Are you His sheep now? If you are His sheep now, then you will be His sheep then. Do you love His appearing? Do you long to hear His voice? Are you in need of His kindness and protection? Then take heart, no one, no man, no wolf, no false shepherd, no devil, can take you from the Chief Shepherd’s hand. Remain in His flock. Stay in His fold. Eat in His pasture. Drink from His well and be at peace.

Exhortation-Fourth Sunday in Advent

This is the fourth Sunday of Advent. The Shepherd of our souls is come.

There were shepherds in the land during the Advent of our Lord. They had been commissioned by God, entrusted with the very oracles of God and set over the house of Israel for good. But they were not true to their oaths to their master. Instead of protecting the sheep, they began to feed on the sheep. Instead of killing wolves and foreign invaders, they, themselves, were in league with them, allowing them to climb into the sheepfold and devour the sheep. These shepherds were dastardly cunning and hurt, rather than helped, the sheep. They did not gently lead the sheep but ever drove them on before with threats. And so their master, the God of Heaven, brought forth a new Shepherd, one who would do all His holy will.

To herald His coming, He sent His angels to appear to true shepherds of Israel, watching over their flocks by night. He did not send the message to His former shepherds for they had grown weary of well-doing and watching over the sheep. But these shepherds, who saw the angel, were ever faithful. They recognized the day of the Lord’s visitation, welcomed Him as their Chief Shepherd, their baby King, and worshipped Him in the manger.

But the false shepherds were ever wary of a new Chief Shepherd, for they were not busy about the Master’s business and had been negligent in their duties. They had lost many sheep and eaten many more. They knew that His coming would be their doom. And so they opposed all who would come in the Master’s name, and forbid Him to take the authority and care over the sheep. This was an insult to their pride as well as to their bellies.

The Lord has given duties to those in authority. All who are in authority must do all the Father’s will, watching over their charges. This is true, whether it be the wife of your youth, the children in your home, the employees in your care, or the souls in the charge of elders and pastors in the Church. We are to be faithful to our duties, being ready to give an answer to the Chief Shepherd when He appears. Of course, as Christians, we do not do this, we cannot do this, on our own. The Spirit of the Chief Shepherd must enable us to accomplish this difficult and never-ending work. We must confess when we have failed and seek His forgiveness and His strength to do this work. And so prove to be a faithful shepherd to the One Chief Shepherd.

Amen! and Amen!

In this church we say Amen together in many places. We pray at the opening of the service as we praise God. At the end we say, Amen. We mean to say, "We love God and offer Him praise. We agree that this is our duty and our joy." We then sing a song to praise Him. Again, as a congregation we say, "Amen." We mean something more now. We agree with the words of the song. We Amen the song in agreement to abide by its words, to proclaim what God has done and to declare our allegiance to Him.

We confess our sins and say, "Amen." We admit, as a body, that we have fallen short and are in need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. We pray in Jesus name, Amen. Our Amen says, "Truly, our salvation is in Him and no other." We read the scriptures and say, "Amen." In this, we confess the Word of God as the Word of God and swear our allegiance to it, understanding that obedience brings blessing, disobedience brings cursing. Our Amen leaves us without excuse. We sing more songs and again say Amen. The Amen ties us to the duties of the Psalms. Men pray on the behalf of the congregation, representing you before God. We say Amen, admitting that we are covenantely tied to him as he prays and agreeing with him in his prayers.

We hear the Word preached and pray at the end. We have heard the Word of God and are required to obey it. Again, we are aware of the conditions of the covenant. Blessing for obedience. Cursing for disobedience. And we say, Amen. We commune with God and one another at the Lord’s table. We say, Amen. We declare that He is ours and we are His. We declare that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We say, Amen. This is true and no man can separate us from Christ or from one another in Christ. We conclude with praise to God in the doxology and Amen. And blessing from God in the benediction and Amen.

Saints, this word Amen has much meaning. Be aware of it each time you say it. Mean it when you say it. This means that we should be practiced at our Amens. We should be hearty and sincere in them. We should wake up to the reality of them. So, let us say Amen and mean "truly Lord, I swear, I agree, I promise to abide, I am Yours." And when we say, Amen, together, let us not do it just out of habit, or just because our liturgy calls for it. Let us mean it. Let us get ourselves ready for it. Let us listen to the words of the songs because we know we are going to have to Amen. Let us listen to the prayers and the preacher and the reading and the blessing, for we know that we are going to sign on to it all with ‘Amen!’.

Exhortation-First Sunday in Advent

Today is the First Sunday in Advent. This is a time when we begin to look with anticipation toward the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, this has already happened and to merely commemorate the fact is not a help to our Christian virtue or service to God and His Kingdom. But we don’t merely do anything. We do this with our eyes wide open, understanding that Jesus has already accomplished this work that we remember. But it is good for us to remember, to recover a child like expectation of Christmas. We long for the day, though we have experienced it many times before. We enjoy the season, the greenery, the decorations, the tree, the hot chocolate, the fudge, the wine, the turkey and ham, the bread.

These are all wonderful and to be enjoyed. But most of all we look forward to the presents. We know that there will be many under the tree and we desire to open them up and see what new treasures we have found. This is the kind of anticipation that we should imagine and cultivate as we look forward to the gift of Christ, of Messiah, of the Savior, of Jesus Christ. God gave us Jesus and we should open Him, if you will, with eager expectation, every Christmas Day.

Another important aspect of Advent is recovering something very important that has been lost. As modern day evangelicals we do not pay much attention to the calendar. We keep vestiges of it with Christmas and Easter but we, as an American culture, are trying hard to stamp out the evidence of our Christian past. The name Christmas is objected to and has become just a holiday. But even there they cannot get away from Christian language. For what is a holiday but a holy day? But the rest of the calendar is ignored in our culture largely because we Christians ignore it. The fight for the naming of the year is a very important fight.

The year is 2005, A. D. Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord. It is the Lord’s year. He has taken control of history. The year is His. We should do well to remember this and so mark time A.D., Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord. It makes sense to remember the Lord’s year, his birth, circumcision, purification, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, seating at the right hand of God the Father, coming in power at Pentecost, and His reign there until all enemies are subdued beneath His feet so that He can return in final glory. This is true history. This is God’s story. This is our story. Let us mark time this way lest we forget.

Exhortation-Second Sunday in Advent

This is the Second Sunday in Advent-One of the traditions behind the Advent Wreath is that the four candles of Advent each represent 100 years of time between Malachi, the close of the Old Testament canon, and the Advent of the Word Incarnate. God had gone silent among the people of God. No prophets were speaking until John the Baptist comes on to the scene.

The Advent season is for looking forward with eager anticipation. But sometimes, especially for a child, Christmas seems so far away. It seems like it will never arrive. Can you imagine how the Jews felt after not hearing any prophets speak in the land for over 100 years? And then 200 years? They probably grew weary of waiting. It may have seemed like the Promised One would never arrive.

Instead of looking forward, perhaps there was a tendency to wonder if the words were really true? Perhaps they wondered if they were interpreted correctly? Anticipation at its height can only last so long. After a while, the eagerness wears off and fatigue sets in. When will Christmas come? But John the Baptist brought hope. In Narnia, the Spring begins and the word is out that ‘Aslan is on the move.’ But that is one of the glories of being on this side of the Incarnation. We know that it already happened. We have the strength and stamina to wait for Christmas because we know it will come. So, we wait and do not grow weary. We wait on the Son and know that He will set all to right when He comes. And what is greater still, He has come. And He has set all things to right. But we do not see them all set right, yet. Well, He is still coming. He is still working the works of God. So, we must use this season to remember what has happened and to continue to look forward to Christmas with eager anticipation of the continuing establishment of the rule of Christ. Every Christmas solidifies His rule and the joy to the world because of it.

A curious passage from Malachi is tied together with Advent, waiting for Messiah. The people had grown weary of doing God’s will. God accuses them of robbing Him. This is right for us to remember at this time of year. Have we been faithful to God first? Specifically, God accuses them of robbing Him in tithes and offerings. How so? Well, they did not tithe or give offerings. They hoarded these things for themselves, to spend them on their own desires. This shows that they did not believe that God was the author of these blessings. If they did, they would have believed God to bless them further through their obedience to Him in giving.

At this time of year, it is a temptation to some to spend more than they should or can. For some, they may even justify not tithing or not thinking of the poor in order to spend more for themselves or their family. While I do think we should rejoice, eat, drink, give presents and celebrate at Christmas, this should all be done under God. This means we honor Him first and others because we honor Him.

Obviously, where we have not been faithful, we need to confess, repent, seek the Lord forgiveness and be united in a bond of fellowship with Him.

Exhortation-Joy to the World!

Luke 2:10-11 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King! A light has dawned chasing away the darkness and gloom of night.

The world is a sinful place. We don’t have to look very far to see the ill effects of sinful men. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are readily apparent to every cursory examination of the affairs of the world. Men chase after happiness, joy and satisfaction but it is always beyond their grasp. They are like little children trying to capture the rays of the sun in a bottle only to find that when night falls, the bottle has become dark again. The light has fled away.

As we see this condition of the earth, this longing for the Consummation, it is easy for us to lose sight of the light and to attempt to gaze into the darkness. Our thoughts and eyes are turned from the effulgence of Christ to the gloom that He is chasing away. Our faith becomes weak, our hope becomes cynical, our joy turns to sorrow.

We forget the glad tidings of the Christmas story and only look for the hope of the Second Coming and the Resurrection. Of course, there will be greater joy when Jesus comes again in the final triumph. There is total and complete victory over death in the resurrection. But we must not forget that the light has already dawned. We are standing in that light now and that light is Jesus Christ, the light of men. When we see Jesus shining brightly, the darkness beyond Him and the darkness behind us becomes obscured by His glory. We do not forget the darkness but we take His light into the very corners of the earth. We work, and pray and live to His glory so that Jesus shines brighter and brighter until a full day, until all the shadows are chased away in the resplendent glory that is Christ, the Savior of the World. The light has dawned. Rejoice, good Christian men for Jesus Christ is born.

Let us look to Christ and rejoice. When we have not rejoiced in His goodness and His glory, it is needful for us to confess our lack of joy and thankfulness so that He would restore to us the joy of our salvation.

COMMUNION MEDITATION

Matt 4:16 16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Matt 5:14-16 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Jesus is the light of men. We are told to let our light shine before men in such a way as to glorify our Father in heaven. We often think of our light shining as doing good works and I think this is a correct understanding of that verse. But we should never think that the Lord has somehow illuminated us and then left us to shine without the source of His strength and power. This is misunderstanding this verse altogether. Jesus is the light. We are merely moons. The light that shines in us is, in fact, the light of Jesus, Himself. His Spirit illuminates us so that we glow with His glory. As long as we are in Him, we shine and men are able to see that it is the life and light of Jesus Christ shining in us. However, if we think that Christ merely lights us and then we shine by our own light, we will only reveal fading glory.

The glory of Christ shines brighter and brighter until all is light and there is no darkness at all. That is the light that we are to shine.

In this meal we understand that Christ must be in us in order for us to live. It is the vitality of Jesus Christ that enlivens us and enables us to live to His glory. We eat bread and drink wine and we should understand that we eat and drink light and life. For Jesus is the light and life of men.

Love Wisdom-Hate Sin

Love Wisdom-Hate Sin
Thoughts on Proverbs 8

Loving God means loving wisdom. In the language of Proverbs 8, it appears that loving God is loving wisdom. Wisdom is there personified and is spoken of as pre-existing creation itself. Wisdom is either the Spirit hovering over the waters or the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, speaking creation into existence. Of course, we know that all three persons of the Trinity conspired together to create.

Prov 8:25-31 25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: 26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. We see the crowning achievement of God’s creation in the creation of man. Wisdom delights in man. 8:31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

We must learn to love wisdom so that we can love God. God delights in us. Let us delight in Him. Many of us learn to love some aspects of God’s good gifts. We like to sing Psalms. Prayer gives us peace. Gathering on the Lord’s Day brings us into fellowship with people that we enjoy being around. These are all grand and we should continue in them. This is wisdom. But we must also learn to hate what God hates. Loving wisdom mean hating evil (v.13).

For many, the pull of sin is very strong. Temptations are strong because the sins that are their end are not seen as hated and despised enemies, but rather as dear, but banished friends. The longing for forbidden fruit is something that we must learn to hate. This takes discipline, concentration, meditation, saturation in the Word of God, and prayer. This is clearly a spiritual battle and we need God’s Holy Spirit in order to wage this war successfully.

Given this truth, I want to also encourage you in a simple way of thinking about these temptations. We must just use our heads, get out of the moment and be a little bit objective. I know, temptations are not very objective but stay with me for a minute. When you are tempted, you think before you sin. I know it sometimes feels as if you don’t but you do. At that point of decision is when you need to get objective. Stand back. Imagine yourself contemplating the situation. You may also want to imagine yourself thinking through this temptation with Jesus standing by your side helping you, because, in reality, He is.

You need to understand that the only thing that is going to make you truly unhappy in this world is sin. When you sin, you do damage to your conscience. This produces guilt and shame. This guilt and shame causes you to shrink from God’s presence. Confession and repentance are needed to close this gap of distance between you and God but the fact of the guilt and shame makes this difficult to do.

In addition to this shame before God are all the other consequences of your sin. The sin may only be for a moment but the consequences have a long shelf life. What will this sin do to your relationship with God? With your spouse? With your children? With your friend? With your employer? If it is a secret sin, you must expect it will go public sooner or later, because it most certainly will. At least, I am praying that it does. If it goes public, will I lose my position in the church? Will I get fired? Will my spouse divorce me? Will my children be ashamed of me? Will the church discipline me? Will I be viewed as a hypocrite? Will my Christian growth be stunted? How can I think it is a secret sin and still be a faithful Christian? Is it secret from God?

Okay, you are in the moment of temptation. Now, let these thoughts all run through your mind, all in about one second. You can think quickly. Do it. Be wise. Choose to walk in the Spirit. Hate such sins that would do such damage to you. Hate these sins and every evil way for they separate you from God and men, which is contrary to your calling as a Christian. Hate sin. Love wisdom. Love the Spirit. Love the Son. Love the Father. As we love God, our hatred of sin should increase. And as our hatred of sin increases, our delight in God will grow. We will then be strengthened to obey God and resist the temptations that so easily entangle us.

Loving the Saints-Feed the Children

Feed the Children

Matt 14:13-21 is an extraordinary passage of Scripture, particularly for those of us who rejoice in God’s goodness promised to all of His Saints. The disciples had a hard time getting their minds around this. When the children were brought to Jesus, they discouraged the people. Jesus rebukes them for doing so and blesses the little children. Here, the disciples are unable and unwilling to feed the people but Jesus is altogether of a different mind. He desires the multitude to stay and eat with Him. In fact, He so much desires this that He will feed them Himself.

On this occasion, as in every other occasion of a crowd coming to Jesus, Jesus was teaching the people with authority. We have a great picture of a worship service. The people come to God. They hear the words of life. They are healed. They are blessed by the Lord. And then they eat with Him. Jesus wants the people to sit and eat and be filled. These people had not been fed by the hypocritical Pharisees. Jesus is teaching His disciples to NOT be like them. They need to understand that God is not as nitpicky about feeding His people as the so-called establishment that has been designated to feed them. This is why He saw the crowd as sheep without shepherds.

But Jesus does a marvelous thing. He gives thanks. He breaks bread. And He feeds the multitude. He did not make the women and children go away into the outer court. He did not send them off to children’s church. He did not make the babies go play in the nursery. He just fed everybody. And we should remember that it was a big crowd, a big crowd of sinners. No doubt, a bunch of them were not too well behaved. There were probably more than a few hungry toddlers making a ruckus. But Jesus feeds them anyway and seems to want to teach the disciples, the apostles, that this is exactly what they are called to do.

Let all who are weary, all who are heavy laden and desiring rest come unto Jesus. And there were about five thousand of them, plus women and children. They all came, men, women and children. Who would refuse to feed the children with the food of Jesus? Let that man learn the lesson.

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 1 John 3:18-19

The Road Not Taken

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost

This is the last stanza of Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken. It conveys a wonderful picture of the result of choices. We make choices every day and many times within each day. Generally, we make choices the same way that we have always made them. We choose the well-worn path for it is a path of safety, convenience, comfort. We call these choices, habits. We become so accustomed to them that we hardly even realize that we are making choices at all. We think that we decide automatically, as if the choice in the matter is beyond us. But that is only because we have chosen the well-worn path so often that we head that way without a second thought.

A lifetime of choices has brought us to the point where we are today, for good or for ill. A situation arises. We react. We think that the reaction is not a choice but an instantaneous reflex response. But this is not true. An angry word hollered at the driver that did not accelerate fast enough when the light turned green is not the same thing as protecting your eyes from a suddenly falling branch. One is reactionary, natural, mechanistic, free of moral choice. The other is simply the end result of a particular way of thinking, trained into a habit. We say as we think for out of the heart the mouth speaks. This fact is equally true for facial expressions, bodily gestures, tones of voice, and particular comments. All of these outward expressions simply reveal what is under the skin.

This is not merely a matter of positive thinking and self help. At the root of a frowning countenance is an unthankful and discontent heart. And behind an unthankful and discontent heart is bad theology. God is the maker of events. He is the governor of history. He is most particularly the governor of the history of His people. If God superintends the world, how much more so does He superintend all of the events of all of His saints? A tendency to always see things in a negative fashion is merely the manifestation of bad or immature theology in the heart and mind. The mature Christian is always looking for God’s purposes, and therefore, God’s good hand in Providences.

PollyAnna played the Glad Game. She always looked for something to be glad about in every circumstance. This is not because she was a PollyAnna(how did she get a bad rap?), or shall we say a stork with her head buried in the sand, but rather, because she was a Christian and understood that all things have their purpose in the good purposes of God. If the event happened, then God meant it. God is good, therefore there must be some good in it. The harder the providence, the more difficult the game is and the more likely that the one in the hard providence who finds the answer will win the game.

It is easy to find good in a wrecked car when everyone lives and you get a new car out of the deal. But how to find good in the death of a child or of a husband or wife is not so easy. But we are Christians and we must know by faith that it is good because God is good. We must know by faith that there is purpose because God is purposeful. We must know by faith until we can know by sight. And when we know by sight, we win the game.

There are two roads. One is well worn and most people travel down it. “Life is hard. I am weary. It’s just not fair. Will I ever get a break? People are so stupid. We’re having that again?”

The other road is green. Few have taken it. The trail is hard to follow but it looks promising. “God is good. There is purpose. He knows better than I. This, too, will pass. I will believe until I see. I know this bad thing is good, I just don’t know how it is good yet, but I will wait and I will see. I am always treated better than I deserve. God is good.”

Take the second road. It will make all the difference.

Purity

We have become mechanical in our understandings of the world. We do not see cause and effect between the spiritual world and the physical world. We set the two at odds with each other when we ought not to do so. We also tend to do this in our own lives. Bad things happen and we are unable to make connections between what we have done and the circumstances that befall us. But we should take note to these prayers of Solomon. It was clear to him that Israel would generally be blessed for obedience and cursed for disobedience. This blessing and cursing was far beyond individual blessings and cursings. While individuals are blessed and cursed just as nations and peoples are blessed and cursed, the lesson ought to be more generally drawn from the larger context. The more we drill down into the details, the more difficult it becomes to speak authoritatively. This does not mean that we should shy away from doing so. Sometimes the cause and effect of personal sins are easy to see. But Job’s friends made some huge mistakes when trying to apply this general principle to his life. When we do this sort of thing, it simply means that we do so more carefully, prayerfully and biblically.

Now, in the case of national sins and consequences for those sins, it is easier to determine, especially if we look in the right places. Modern liberals and legalists have made sins out of behaviors that the Bible does not recognize as sin. Both tend to neglect the weightier matters of the law. Liberals say it is a sin to drive an SUV for we might hurt our mother. Legalists say it is a sin to consume alcohol for we might hurt the body, the temple of the Lord. Both have jettisoned the requirement to discern these matters biblically, and so while straining out gnats, they swallow camels.

We do have a list of many sins for which God will rightly bring His chastisement and if we do not repent, then ultimately His wrath and judgment. This first phase of His wrath is a turning away and letting us run headlong into these sins.

Sexual sins have ever been a snare, not only to those in the world but also to those in the church. This is nothing new. But God is letting us run headlong into these things and we must see that the fact that this is happening is proof that God has begun to judge us in it. And the Church, liberal and legalist, is strangely silent in this area. It is no wonder that these sins are rampant in those quarters. It is always easier to point out somebody else’s sins rather than one’s own sins.

The Church is full of such sins. This, in itself, should not alarm us. The Corinthians were just such sinners, but had repented. The Apostle Paul says, 1 Cor 6:9-11 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

If the Church is a haven of healing for refugees from the world, then we should rejoice. But if the church has become a den of iniquity, then we have reason to sorrow. It is not clear at this time what the outcome will be in short term in this country. I know that long-term, God will purge His Church, separate the wheat from the chaff and perfect His bride. But we must not lose touch with what God is doing. The danger is all around us.

Let us have a mind to be done with all such sins that will lead us away from Christ, both individually and corporately. Let us repent in such a way that we can say, “Such were some of us.” But now we have been washed and have put away those things that defile. So, let us confess and let us walk in the newness of life, hating all things that defile and loving whatsoever things are pure.