As the kingdom of Christ is established and rooted in any given place, the only way this can happen is by displacing what was there before. Sometimes that previous regime is old and decrepit, and is ready to relinquish its hold. These are tribes, nations and kingdoms ready for conversion, eager for something different. Other times the older way of doing things still has a lot of kick. They don’t want to go quietly. This is the source of long and savage persecutions. An example of the latter would be the Roman Empire under the reign of Domitian. An example of the former would be that same empire under the reign of Constantine. There will be resistance in both cases, but the situations are entirely different. Another factor can be found in the attitude of the Christians. If Christians have come to believe that their only role is to figure out how to “fit in,” then they will always try to negotiate and “settle” whenever it looks like trouble. Sometimes we think the regime is … [Read more...]
Spiritual Eyes, Hands, Mouth
Although your soul is not a body, it nevertheless has eyes, hands, and mouth. I am speaking here of more than the eyes, hands and mouth that it possesses through possessing your actual physical body. No, the Bible teaches that you can see without physical eyes, hold without physical hands, and eat apart from a physical mouth. Paul prays that the Ephesians would have the eyes of their heart enlightened. He wants this so that they might grasp with spiritual hands what was theirs in Christ Jesus. And when we partake of one another in love, we are eating life, but not physically. This ability is called faith. Faith would be the two eyes of the soul, discerning Christ when and where He is offered. Faith would also be the two hands of the soul, enabling you to receive Christ as offered. Faith is the mouth of the soul, making it possible for you to feed on Him, to the satisfaction that brings life. You come here body and soul, but you come here so that both body and soul might … [Read more...]
40 Years of Gratitude
This Lord's Day, we are celebrating our 40th birthday as a congregation. Forty years is a biblical generation, and since God promises His covenant mercy to a thousand generations, we still have 999 to go. But of course you must realize that the promise to a thousand generations is a promise offered to each generation, which means that we never have to worry about His kindness to us expiring, like a lease. On such an occasion as this, and as we look forward to what God will be doing in the years to come, one principal response must be gratitude. First, we are grateful enough that we are still here. There were many opportunities for this church to blow up, and we haven't. This is entirely owing to the mercies of God. We are grateful for the quantitative growth God has bestowed on us. Our attendance this year is significantly higher than it was this time last year, and last year was significantly higher than the year before. In the third place, we are grateful for the qualitative growth … [Read more...]
Now You Have Tasted
When we come to this Table, we are doing as we have been instructed. We observe communion because the Lord established the meal, and instructed us to observe it. This is one reason for coming, and of course it is the foundational one. Partaking of this meal is an act of glad obedience. But part of the reason the obedience is glad is that the more we observe it, the more we have an understanding of what obedience is like. When the apostle Peter tells us to desire the milk of the Word, he tells us to do it the way a newborn infant does. When a newborn is rooting for milk, he is doing it in obedience, but he is not following orders in some stoic fashion, bound to his duty. But he is obeying a deeper law. And then, Peter adds, we are to keep coming, now that we have tasted that the Lord is good. When we discover that obedience is delightful, this does not make the obedience evaporate. No, it means that our obedience is maturing, growing up. And it is the same with this ingestible … [Read more...]
True Glue
Throughout Scripture, one of the central bonding agents in true community is a foundational commitment to truth-telling. Lies are corrosive, and the truth is a great adhesive. The ninth commandment says not to bear false witness against your neighbor (Ex. 20:16). The Colossians are told not to lie to one another, seeing that they have put off the old man with its evil practices (Col. 3:9). The Israelites are told not to be false with one another (Lev. 19:11). And in Scripture, whenever deception is honored it is honored as an act of war—lying to the enemies of God who have forfeited their right to the truth. The midwives to Pharaoh would be one example, and Rahab protecting the spies is another. In time of war, you are not trying to develop unity with the enemy. But when unity is the assigned goal, when it is desired as God requires us to desire it, a commitment to the truth at all times is essential. There are three aspects to this. First, remember at all times that the Truth is … [Read more...]
Seated Among Family
Sometimes people tend to think that the Lord’s Supper consists simply of the bread and the wine, and then the eating and drinking. But more elements are involved than just that. There is the prayer of consecration, there is the word that sets these elements apart to a holy use, then the breaking of the bread, and the distribution of the elements. Today I want to focus on this last thing, the distribution. You notice that a minister is presiding over the meal, and this is because the elders of the church hold the keys. When the bread and wine are consecrated, the men then distribute the elements to you in the congregation. They do this with you seated, and you pass the elements up and down the rows, family style. You are seated because this is a feast. The early Israelites were told to eat the Passover meal standing, to symbolize their pilgrimage out Egypt. They were to eat while ready to go. Years later, after they had entered the land of Canaan, the Israelites began to eat it … [Read more...]
Engaged to Fresh Obedience
By the time we come to this point in the service, we have already confessed our sins. We did that at the beginning of the service, which means that we have already lamented and repented any disobedience. We wash up before we come to dinner, and dinner does not consist of constant introspection, trying to wash up while you eat. At the same time, it would be a mistake to assume that partaking of this meal has nothing to do with matters of obedience. Not at all. This is a solemn meal, one in which we are engaging ourselves to fresh obedience. This obedience is fresh in at least two senses. The first is that it is an obedience that starts here, starts now. We are taking in nourishment in order that we might go out from this place equipped to live according to His purposes for us. It is fresh in the sense that the moment is now. A new week lies before you. Obey Him by His grace. In Scripture, works are autonomous, proud, and inadequate. But obedience is a gift. Obedience is a good … [Read more...]
The Duty of Like-mindedness
Cultures and subcultures both can be tight or loose. At the extreme end of the tight scale we have small communities in lockstep, agreeing on virtually everything. At the extreme end of loose, we have cosmopolitan cultures with the only thing in common being the fact that everyone is in the same place at the same time, having very little in common. Tight cultures are not interested in proselytizing really, because converts just track things in. Loose cultures develop a radical live-and-let-live mentality, which devolves into an individualist autonomy. When a Christian church is functioning as it ought to function—declaring the whole counsel of God, worshiping together, sharing community, and so on—the end result is going to look a lot like a tight community. The trick is to develop the bonds of koinonia community, such that it rivals the Amish or Hasidic Jews, but while at the same time maintaining a radical openness to newcomers. The temptation, once you have the good thing … [Read more...]
Odd Gifts
Love makes a Christian community grow, but gifts give that growth focus and direction. When the Lord ascended into Heaven, He gave gifts to men, and He did this for the edification of the church. “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men . . . And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4: 8, 11–13). The fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit must always be distinguished. At the same time, they must not ever be separated. God intends for them to function together. Now of course, if you had to choose between a church of godly people and a church full of gifted people, you should choose the … [Read more...]
Obligated to Receive
As we learn from Tertullian, our word sacrament comes from sacramentum, a term that was used to describe the oath of enlistment that a soldier would take. This is a covenant meal, and covenants are God-given bonds and obligations. These bonds are not burdensome—His yoke is easy and His burden is light—but His bonds are in fact bonds. We are engaged to His service. When we come to this meal, we are engaging to be faithful. We have already confessed those sins and occasions where we were not faithful, and we come here in order grow in our commitments to Him. We gather here in order to cinch the knots tighter. We do this self-consciously, knowing what we do. The battles we are fighting are difficult, and we need sustenance. What happens here is that we renew our commitment to be faithful and at the same time, for those who come to it honestly, we are given grace to be faithful. We obligate ourselves to be strong, and we are given strength. The Lord is present in the person of His … [Read more...]
Tend the Weeds
As I mentioned before, love is what makes a Christian community grow. Community is like a garden, and gardens contain many growing, beautiful things. But community is also the garden in which grumbles grow. Since the fall of Adam, there has never been a garden without weeds, and this is because our hearts are in such a condition that a garden without weeds would be terrible for us. If sinful men were given weedless gardens, this would simply prove that the garden had been entirely abandoned, and that they were the weeds. So when a Christian community is a growing and thriving place, grumbles will grow, depend upon it. Everything depends on how the grumbles are handled. In ancient Israel, the problem with grumbling ran much deeper, and it was sometimes met with severe judgments from God. But in the New Testament, as the new Israel was growing, complaints sprang up as to how some of the widows were being neglected in the distribution of food (Acts 6:1). They handled it properly, … [Read more...]
Seven Courses
Not only is this a covenant meal, with all the parties to the covenant alive and present, Scripture gives us another image to use with our grasp of the word testament. “For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth” (Heb. 9:17). Here we have the image of a reading of a will. Our elder brother has died, and we have gathered to hear what He has left for us. Now of course, these images complement each other, and we do this in the full and certain knowledge of His resurrection. But even though He is risen, we remain His heirs. That part of this image is true enough. In thinking about this, we can rely on the insights of the old Scots Reformed preacher John Willison. He points out that the executor of this will and testament in this world is the Holy Spirit. And as we have gathered to learn what we have received, we may learn it under the figure of a meal with seven dishes. This is a seven-course meal, and when you come in … [Read more...]
On Not Threatening the Minister
"At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #198 “Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. Let no man therefore despise him: but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me: for I look for him with the brethren. As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time” (1 Cor. 16:10–12). Paul now gives a series of exhortations concerning two of his fellow workers in the gospel. If Timothy comes to Corinth, they are to make sure that he can work there “without fear.” The reason for this is that Timothy is engaged in the work of the Lord, just as Paul was. If they received Paul, so also should they receive Timothy. What the threat to Timothy would be, what he might have to fear from them, is not mentioned. … [Read more...]
No Faithy Sensation
As we heard in the message today, we are called to live from faith to faith. The just shall live by faith. But living is an all-encompassing verb. Living by faith means walking by faith, singing by faith, fellowshipping by faith, eating and drinking by faith, reflecting by faith, and meditating by faith. And faith requires an object. When you believe, you are believing someone, something. Biblical faith means apprehending, grasping, holding on to what God has spoken to us. To attempt to have faith by cultivating a faithy sensation down in your heart is not dispensing with the need for an object. That is not an objectless faith; rather, it is faith trying to believe in itself. Ultimately, there are only two choices—faith in God or faith in yourself. You know from experience how reliable you are, and so the word of the gospel comes to you as sweet relief. Lay it all down. Set it down. Take off your burdens. Trust in Christ. He is set before you now. He is offered to you now. … [Read more...]
A Cabin by a Pristine Lake
Love is what makes a Christian community grow—people are attracted to it. They gravitate to the fellowship, to the teaching of the Word, to the worship of God, and to the community that all this necessarily engenders. But precisely because love makes a community grow, so also a community growing makes love harder. It is much easier to maintain tight communion in a church of 100 people than in a church of 800 people. And then if you go to two services, it is harder to do what used to be so easy to do. People are attracted to a good thing, which makes it harder to keep it a good thing. A cabin by a pristine lake is a good thing, and it would remain a good thing if there were a second cabin. The only trouble is, 150 people want to build the second cabin. As a church community grows, and loving one another gets more challenging, it is easy to assume the worst. Things aren’t what they used to be. But these challenges are not necessarily signs of love fading, but are rather signs that … [Read more...]
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