Sunergos

New Creations in Christ

2012-01-16T10:09:00.000-08:00

New Creations in Christ
2 Cor. 5:17

There are many benefits to being a follower of Christ in a country like the United States where we have freedom of religion. We have tax exempt status as a church, we don’t worry about your leaders being hauled off to jail, we can have public baptisms down at Dean’s Mill, we can post Bible verses to Facebook, we can go on mission trips and pass out Bibles and other religious literature at the Youth Fair, you can pray with your Christian co-workers, and the list goes on and on. And when you think about it, we live in a country that is saturated with Christianity – Christian colleges and seminaries and Christian schools, Christian camps, Christian television, Christian Radio, Christian movies, Christian music, Christian artists.
There is no shortage of “Christianity” in our country.

But at the same time, there is a very serious danger, even an insidious danger, that necessarily goes along with the freedoms we enjoy, and that is the danger of embracing Christianity without embracing Jesus the Christ. And guess who is most prone to this danger that results in people passing into eternity separated from Christ, doomed to eternal torment? People who grow up in religious homes. People who are raised in Christian families. It is because of this danger that I feel compelled to speak to you this morning about what it means to be a new creation in Christ. So if your parents are or were Christians, if “church” has been a major part of your life for as long as you can remember, I want you to pay special attention to what we are talking about today.

Our text is found in 2 Cor. 5:17, and in this verse Paul says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” The point Paul is making here is that you cannot have a genuine experience with Jesus Christ, and remain unchanged. Let me say that again. You cannot have a genuine experience with Jesus Christ, and remain unchanged. In other words, if you claim to be born again, if you claim that Jesus is your savior, if you claim that you expect to spend eternity in heaven and you are no different today than you were before you came to Christ, you better give some serious though to your salvation claim. Because the point Paul makes in this verse is that a genuine salvation experience changes you. You are a “new creation.” “The old has passed away, the new has come.”

Let’s look at some passages in the New Testament that illustrate this truth. We will start in the book of 1 Corinthians, and look how Paul shows this truth in chapter 6, verses 9 – 11.

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.

Let’s look next at Eph. 2:2-7. And again, note the presence of a changed life. It is seen primarily in the tenses.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The third passage we need to look at is Eph. 4:17-32. This passage is important because it shows us the process of becoming a new creation. In other words, what steps do we actually have to take if we want to change from our former way of life to a way of life that pleases God?

17 This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
20 But you did not learn Christ in this way,
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,
22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Now at this point, Paul is going to illustrate that threefold process in five different ways. He addresses the issues of lying, sinful anger, stealing, unwholesome speech, and destructive behavior.

25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

Lying – you replace with truth

26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. Sinful anger - you replace with resolution
28 Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need.

Stealing – you replace with honest work

29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Unwholesome speech – you replace with edifying words

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Destructive behavior – you replace with kindness, etc.

So do you see how it works? You put off the old, change your thinking, and put on the new. Now the final passage I want us to see quickly is in 1 Pt. 4:1-5, where again we see the contrast between life lived before Christ, and life lived after coming to Christ.

Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousals, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. 4 And in all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excess of dissipation, and they malign you; 5 but they shall give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

So here we have four biblical examples of what a new creation in Christ looks like. Do you see the reality that when a person has a genuine experience with Jesus, he is changed? Do you see that he is a different kind of person? Now building on this, I want to take you the book of 1 John to show you four evidences of this new life. In other words, we just looked at illustrations of how this change works, now I want to show you proofs, or evidences, that you are a new creation.

1. You will have a new desire to obey your Lord. 2:3-6, 2:28-29

3 And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. (1Jo 2:3-6 NAS)

28 And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him (1Jo 2:28-29 NAS)

Cf. how my parents used to take the Bible and appeal to me as a teenager to change my ways, and my response was, “So, what’s your point?”

2. You will have a new love for other Christians. 2:9-11, 3:11-15

9 The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.10 The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (1Jo 2:9-11 NAS)

11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. 13 Do not marvel, brethren, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1Jo 3:11-15 NAS)

Cf. people who say to me, I really love God, it’s just his people I can’t tolerate.

3. You will have a new attitude toward sin. 3:4-10, 5:18

4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. (1Jo 3:4-10 NAS)

18 We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him. (1Jo 5:18 NAS)

Cf. how I used to love sin, it was enjoyable; but now I’m grieved by it.

4. You will have a new understanding of who Jesus is. 5:1

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. (1Jo 5:1 NAS)

Cf. how differently people think about Jesus. A radical revolutionary, a wise teacher, a moral philosopher, a good luck charm. In reality though, He is the Christ, the anointed one, the promised Messiah and Savior of the Old Testament.

So as we skim through the book of 1 John we see that when a person comes to Christ for salvation, there is visible evidence of the change that comes into his life. He will have a new desire to obey his Lord. He will have a new love for his brothers in Christ. He will have a new attitude toward sin. And he will have a new understanding of who Jesus is.

Something that is interesting to me as I read through 1 John is what is missing. There is nothing here that says:

 “And you know you have passed from death unto life because you go to church every Sunday.” Reality: hell is going to be full of people who were in church every Sunday!

 “And you know you have passed from death unto life because you love southern gospel music.” Reality: hell is going to be full of people who love southern gospel music!

 “And you know you have passed from death unto life because you prayed the “sinners prayer” when you were a child.” Reality: hell is going to be full of people who prayed the sinners prayer at their mother’s knee as a child.

 “And you know you have passed from death unto life because you believe in Jesus.” Reality: hell is going to be full of people who believe that Jesus was a literal, historical, man.

The question I want to leave you with this morning is, “are you a new creation in Christ?” Remember Paul’s point: “It is impossible to have a genuine experience with Jesus Christ and remain unchanged.” So just take a moment and think about it. “Are you a new creation in Christ?” If your answer is “yes,” what evidence can you appeal to as proof? What “old” things have passed out of your life, and what “new” things have you replaced it with? How are you doing in these four areas John mentions? John uses very strong, categorical language in these verses that is designed to make us stop and analyze where we are.

So as you examine your life this morning, if you don’t see the change in your life that the Bible talks about, why don’t you deal with that right now?

Christ in Isaiah?

2012-01-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Birth of Jesus Predicted in Isaiah
Isa. 7:1-16

Several weeks ago we were looking at Old Testament predictions about the birth of Jesus. We started in the book of Genesis (which contains three), and it is there that we see God revealing to mankind that even though there was a great failure on the part of man in the garden, He wasn’t going to abandon His desire to live in fellowship with His creation. So immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God promised them that eventually He would send them a Savior to make things right between God and man.

That first promise, made 1,500 years before it was fulfilled, was somewhat vague and indistinct, but it revealed God’s heart. He wasn’t content to let His creation languish in a state of alienation, living lives characterized by toil and fear and ultimately death. And so right in the immediate context of a massive failure on the part of man, God was making a way to get things back on track. Then, we saw that after hundreds of years of silence about the coming savior, again, in the context of sin, rebellion, and failure on the part of man, God gave His people another glimpse of their coming savior. We saw this in the book of Numbers when Balaam prophesied in Numbers 24 that a scepter was going to rise from Israel. Their deliverer wasn’t in the immediate future, and He wasn’t from the immediate area, but God’s plan was still on track.

And so what I want to do this morning is take you to the book of Isaiah and show you what is perhaps the most well known - as well as misunderstood - of the Old Testament prophecies about the birth of Jesus. It is found here in chapter 7, and we’ll read it together and then look at some interesting things about it.

When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it. 2 Now the house of David (the court, or royal family) was told, "Aram has allied itself with Ephraim"; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer's Field. 4 Say to him, 'Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood--because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.

5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah's son have plotted your ruin, saying, 6 "Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it."

7 Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'It will not take place, it will not happen, 8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people. 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah's son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.'"

10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11 "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights." 12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test." 13 Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

The first thing I want to share with you about this prophecy is that once again it is given in the context of fear, and despair, and certain defeat. Ahaz, the king of Jerusalem, is facing two nations intent on destroying his country. They have been very successful in their march toward Jerusalem, and now they have encircled the city and a state of siege is in place. Food and water is limited, and the psychological dimension of this kind of warfare is setting it. On their way to Jerusalem, Rezin, king of Aram has already destroyed most of Ahaz’s army (120,000) and deported 200,000 people.

So what is Ahaz, as the king of God’s people, supposed to do? He has two choices. He can turn to God and look for deliverance, or he can turn to man and look for deliverance. In a situation like this, turning to man would be the idea of forging some kind of alliance with a stronger nation and ask them to come to your aid. That is exactly

what Ahaz does, even though our text doesn’t say it. But let me read to you 2 Kings 16, which is the historical account of this passage.

In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done. 3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. 5 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war; and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. 7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram, and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me." 8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria.

So in spite of the alliance Ahaz has forged with the king of Assyria, the message Isaiah is to give to King Ahaz is found in verses 3 – 6. In a nutshell, God’s message is, “Don’t panic.” He refers to the two kings of the invading armies as “smoldering stubs of firewood.” This is a reference to a branch that has been thrown part way onto a campfire, and when the fire eventually goes out, you can pick that branch up and what will it be doing? It may have a red coal on the end and be smoking, but it is only a matter of time before it goes out. That smoldering branch isn’t really a serious threat. That is the point God is making to Ahaz. Don’t worry about these two kings, there is some smoke here, and a little heat, but no serious concern.

Now, Ahaz may be a little reluctant to accept God’s assessment of the situation. After all, he has seen the devastation, so in verses 7 and 8, God explains the specifics. In the previous verses He simply says, “Don’t worry about these guys.” Now he shows why, and the essence of God’s message is that these two nations won’t even be in existence in the near future. God graciously gives Ahaz insight into the future and assures him that the plans of Ephraim and Aram won’t stand. (v. 7) – “It will not takeplace, it will not happen.” And because of this, God’s message to Ahaz in v. 9 is, “Stand firm in your faith.”

So it is in the context of Ahaz’s disbelief, and wavering trust, and unwillingness to throw himself on the care of God that God gives Ahaz an amazing offer. Look with me in verse 11 where God says, “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” This is what we call carte blanche, right? Anything you want, Ahaz, make it as big or as small as you want, and I’ll do it to prove to you that I will take care of you. This is an unprecedented offer on the part of God!

And in verse 12, we have Ahaz’s answer. Now on the surface level, it sounds pious, but from what we know about Ahaz he has no godly impulse, no interest in a right relationship with God, he has participated in barbaric idol worship, he has pillaged the temple of God to pay off Assyria, so his words, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test” is really nothing more than a pious dismissal. We know this as well because of Isaiah’s rebuke in verse 13 – “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?” He has cast his lot with the king of Assyria, so nothing God can do will change his decision.

What would you do at this point if you were God? Wouldn’t you say to Ahaz, “OK, if that’s the way you want it, that’s the way you’re gonna get it!” That would have been my response, but note what God does in verse 14. God gives him a sign anyway! And the sign is very curious. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He (this son)will be eating curds and honey (the equivalent of fast food as opposed to food produced agriculturally, necessitated by the land having been decimated by war) when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.” In other words, within a few years of the boy’s birth, the lands of Aram and Israel themselves will be destroyed.

The amazing sign that God was going to give Ahaz involved four things. First of all, God predicts that “the virgin” was going to get pregnant. Secondly, that conception was going to produce a male child; third, that the child was going to be called Immanuel, and fourth, concerning a time frame, that before the little boy was old enough to exercise moral judgment, the lands of these two kings Ahaz was so afraid of were going to be destroyed.

Now, the question we have to ask is this. When was this prophecy fulfilled? Another way we could put it is, “Is this a prophecy about Jesus?” Now remember, the prophecy is serving as a sign to King Ahaz – “the Lord Himself will give you a sign.” In other words, it is going to have to be fulfilled in his lifetime if it is going to accomplish God’s purpose in giving it. So, let’s look at the fulfillment in the next chapter. Look with me at chapter 8 and let’s read the first 10 verses that are describing the coming invasion.

Then the LORD said to me, "Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: [Maher-shalal-hash-baz – KJV, NIV] Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey.

2 "And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."

Starting in v. 3 is where we start to see the fulfillment of the prophecy of 7:14.

3 So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son.
Who is this prophetess? Obviously, she is Isaiah’s wife, and we see the prophecy of the conception producing a male child come true. The problem though is the part about the virgin conceiving. How does that work? There are two theories.

The first theory is that Isaiah’s first wife had died (remember in 7:3 he takes his son with him), and so “the prophetess” is his second wife. Now what about the virgin thing? Do virgins ever conceive? Probably on a regular basis! I’m not sure what the statistics are, but it isn’t out of the ordinary for a virgin to get pregnant on her wedding night. Now for a virgin to conceive without the aid of a male – like Mary – that is spectacular. So the first theory is that Isaiah married this woman and their first union resulted in a conception that eventually produced a son.

The second theory is this is an example of a prophecy that has both an immediate and a future fulfillment. Or sometimes it is called a near and a distant fulfillment – portions of it being fulfilled immediately with other parts coming true at a later date. If that is what is going on, the virgin conceiving part was fulfilled at the time of Christ.

Then the LORD said to me, "Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 for [and note the parallels here] before the boy knows how to cry out 'My father ' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria."

In other words, these things will come to pass in the child’s infancy. In ch. 7 that concept was conveyed by making reference to things happening before the child had reached the age of discerning between right and wrong; here his infancy is described by saying these things were going to come to pass before he speak coherently.

5 And again the LORD spoke to me further, saying, 6 "Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah [also known as the pool or stream of Siloam in Jerusalem], and rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah; 7 "Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates, Even the king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks. 8 "Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will reach even to the neck; And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.

Who is God talking to in v. 8? Is it Isaiah? Has Isaiah’s name changed? Most probably, He is talking to Isaiah’s son. Back in verse 3, he was named Maher-shalal-hash-baz, a name that was designed to convey a message, so it isn’t out of the ordinary to believe that this son was also called Immanuel, another name designed to convey a message. And before you start to think that I’m really reaching here, and seeing things that aren’t in the text, remember that for the prophecy of 7:14 to be fulfilled as a sign to Ahaz, this is how we need to understand it. Otherwise, there isn’t a sign.

Now, Immanuel means “God with us,” and that is precisely what comes out in verse 9. Starting in v. 9, the speaker changes, it is no longer God speaking to Isaiah, but Isaiah speaking to the nations that are coming against his land to destroy it.

9 "Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered; And give ear, all remote places of the earth. Gird yourselves, yet be shattered; Gird yourselves, yet be shattered. 10 "Devise a plan but it will be thwarted; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us."

The Hebrew there is what? Right. Immanuel. The idea here is that Isaiah’s son was a living, walking, object lesson to the nation of Judah and the people of Jerusalem that even though their nation was going to be overrun, and even though they were going to suffer through all the privations of war and siege and captivity, God was still with them. The essence of these two verses is that the hostile nations can give it their best shot, but God’s people are always going to come out on top. The temporary destruction is not an accurate reflection of the long term reality.

So what we see here is another example of the pattern that has been established by God as He comes to His people in the context of fear and distress to give his people glimpses of their eventual deliverance. This is why we read in Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus (1:23), “Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us." Isaiah 7:14 fits so perfectly the model of the messianic prophecies that God told Joseph the birth of Jesus was in fact, a secondary fulfillment, another fulfillment of the original prophecy.

Let me give you several lessons we can take away from this passage.

First of all, God doesn’t always grant us immediate deliverance from our oppressors. Isaiah’s nation still had to suffer through destruction and eventual deportation. But in spite of that, God’s people ultimately end up on top!

Secondly, note how God always appears in your extremity. In each of the prophecies we have looked at, God stepped into the situation and gave His people hope. That is God’s nature. And so we endure because we know how God works.

Third, we look forward with expectation to the return of our Savior. In the very same way that God fulfilled each of the prophesies of the OT concerning the birth of Jesus, so too will God fulfill all the yet to be accomplished promises of His return. It may not be this week, it may not even be in our lifetime, but we know “He is not slack concerning His promises.”

And finally, where are you looking for your salvation? Ahaz looked around him for earthly deliverance and spurned the offer of God. That was a disastrous decision and the consequences were enormous. How about you? God offers us salvation through the death of His Son, and we have to decide if we are going to accept it or not.

Thoughts For 2012

2012-01-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

Working Together for the Common Good
Phil. 2:1-4

Let’s turn in our Bibles this morning to Eccl. chapter four. It isn’t very often that the first day of the year falls on a Sunday, but since that the way it is this year, I thought it would be good to spend our time together focusing on a theme for the year. I want us to consider an issue that I’d like us to keep on the front burner all year long, and it involves the concept of synergy.

For those of you not familiar with synergy, synergy is not an increased capacity to sin. We hear the words “sin” and “energy” in there, and since it is something Murray is talking about in church, if you aren’t familiar with the concept you may be thinking that synergy has something to do with sinning with gusto, but it doesn’t.

The technical definition of synergy is when the result of an action is greater than the sum of the parts. A simpler way to say it is that sometimes one plus one equals three. The best illustration I have heard of synergy involves horses. Apparently, the average horse can pull a load of about 1000 pounds. Based on that you would think that two horses yoked together could pull somewhere around 2000 pounds, right? But guess how much they can pull? It is actually closer to 4000 pounds. Something happens in the realm of physics that multiplies the force they exert. In fact, I was reading about a horse pulling contest where the winning draft horse pulled a load of 5000 pounds, and the second place horse pulled a load of 4000 pounds. After the competition was over, they hitched the two horses together to see how much they could pull, and they pulled a load of 12,000 pounds! That is the concept behind synergy. When the result of an action is greater than the sum of the parts.

Of course there are always exceptions to this. Mark Twain is famous for the statement that if you have one boy working for you, you will get one boy’s worth of work out of him. If you put another boy to work with him, you will get one boy’s worth of work out of them. And if you put three boys together to work on a job, you will get no boy’s worth of work out of them. But generally speaking, a group working together can accomplish exponentially more than a series of individuals working alone. So the concept behind synergy is that it produces exponential growth as opposed to additional growth. 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 10. But what is 2 to the 5th power? 32! That is the idea of synergy. Quite a difference between 10 and 32, right?

It is interesting to me that we can find allusions to this concept in several places in the Bible. Going back to the very beginning, in the creation account we hear God say, “it is not good for man to be alone, I will him a helper suitable for him.” There is an even clearer expression of this in Eccl. 4:9-12.
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: 10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

So, I think it is easy to see that this concept of joint effort is taught in the Bible, and this morning we are going to be spending our time in Phil. 2:1-4 where Paul is appealing to the believers in the church of Philippi to pull together for the common good. Let’s read these verses and see the basis for our theme in 2012.
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if [you have] any comfort from his love, if [you have] any common sharing in the Spirit, if [you have] any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Even with this quick reading it is pretty obvious what Paul has in mind. He is encouraging the people to maximize all the things they have in common, lay aside any self interest, and pull together. As I look at theses verses I see three things. First of all, there is a motive. In other words, there is a reason to work together for the common good. Then there is a mandate in verse two. This is where Paul actually issues the command. And finally, there is a method in verses 3 and 4. Paul tells us a specific way we can all pull together and accomplish great things for the cause of Christ.

I. The Motive

In verse one, Paul uses four clauses that highlight what followers of Christ have in common. When you look around this room this morning, you see great diversity.
Personality. We have everybody from the class clown to the wall flower.

Family history. Everywhere between excellent parenting with a warm family tradition to people who had terrible parents and do their best to forget their upbringing.

Education. We span the stretch from people who didn’t finish high school to people with Master’s Degrees.

Income levels. We have people who live very comfortably, all the way to people who barely make it from paycheck to paycheck.

Spiritual history. We run the gamut from people who have been saved for a very short period of time to people who have been saved over 50 years.

Spiritual maturity. We have people who are rock solid in the faith as a result of their serious pursuit of godliness, all the way to people who spiritual infants.

Commitment. We have people who are involved in every dimension of the church all the way across the spectrum to people who just show up on Sunday morning, and that’s it.

And when you think about the tremendous diversity in a single body of believers, what is it that enables us to work together for the common good? It is the four bedrock truths that all followers of Christ share with each other. Let’s read them again in verse one.

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any
comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion.”

1. We have a common advocate in Jesus – seen in the word “encouragement.”

2. We have a common benefit from His love – His love for us is what compelled Him
to go to the cross for us.

3. We have a common source of power in the Holy Spirit – the same Holy Spirit that lives in you lives in me.

4. We have a common demonstration of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

The motive we have for pulling together to get the job done is our common experience in Christ. And when you think about all the differences we demonstrate in a group of this size, the only thing that could possibly keep us from splintering and each going our separate ways is these four common experiences.

So in verse one we have the motive for working together, in verse two, we have the mandate.

II. The Mandate

Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

Do you see the concept of unity? Like-minded. Same love. One in spirit. And I’m using the word “mandate” here in the sense of a command. We see this command in Paul’s use of the imperative. In the Greek language, the imperatives are the marching orders. They aren’t suggestions or recommendations, they are expectations. And Paul expects a sense of unity in thinking, love, and spirit. Let’s look at each of these a little more closely.

First of all, when Paul says we need to be unified in our thinking, he isn’t saying that we all have to see every issue the same way. Believe it or not, there is some room for diversity of opinion in Christendom. I know the road to heaven is straight and narrow, but it isn’t so narrow that I have to line up behind you in order to get there. What Paul is after is that we all think the same way, not that we all think the same thing. Does that make sense to you? How is it possible to do that?

It is possible to think the same way by thinking biblically. The Bible is our standard. If there is something we have to do, or a decision we have to make, or a direction we have to head, we need to all be committed to thinking it through in a biblical way.

Secondly, we are commanded to be unified in our love. What does that mean? It means that we have a common standard of love. We all aspire to loving our neighbor the same way God loves us. Just think about how much God loves you (Jn. 3:16), and what that love looks like (1 Cor. 13). That is what Paul is calling us to in this verse. We are to be unified in our love.

And finally, we are commanded to be unified in spirit and mind. What does that mean? It doesn’t have reference to the Holy Spirit, it has reference to the manner in which we carry out God’s work, the spirit with which we serve. We don’t serve with an eye to a reward. We don’t serve for the sake of recognition. We don’t serve in hopes that we will earn crowns in heaven. We don’t serve when we “feel” like serving. We serve heartily, as unto the Lord (Col. 3:23); we serve to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31), we serve in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col. 3:17). So Paul’s mandate in verse two is that we need to be unified in how we think, how we love, and in the spirit with which we carry out God’s plans for our church.

Now, I really like verses 3 and 4, because when you think about it, he really is setting a pretty high standard. Practically speaking, how are we to accomplish
this lofty goal he sets up? The answer in the two final verses where he outlines the method.

III. The Method

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

The key to unity, and even synergy, is to think about others more than you think about yourself. Isn’t that simple? But if you’ve ever tried it, you know it is much more difficult than you would think, because at heart, we are all selfish creatures. By default, by virtue of our humanity, because of the old nature we inherit from Adam we tend to look out for ourselves, and our own interests more than anything else.

And that is precisely what squelches synergy. When we focus on our personal agenda, and our personal methods, and our personal comfort zones, and our personal time frames, God’s work suffers. As I look back on over 20 years of involvement in church work, selfishness is at the root of almost every conflict, every battle, every offense, every disgruntled member leaving in a huff. Rarely are the conflicts over substantive, important issues.

If we are going to accomplish God’s plans for this church this year, we are going to have to lay “self” aside, focus on what we all have in common, and put our shoulders together and get the job done.

So here we have Paul’s treatment of synergy. To the degree that we are all on our own trajectory doing our own thing, staying secure in our own little comfort zone, insisting that people conform to my way of doing things, we will be inefficient. But to the degree we put self aside and all work together, we will do great things for the Lord. So our theme verse for this year is Phil. 2:3-4: “Do nothing out of
selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

The Birth of Christ Predicted in Deuteronomy

2011-12-27T12:07:00.000-08:00

The Birth of Christ Predicted in Numbers
Num. 24:17

This morning we are going to continue to look at some Old Testament predictions about the birth of Jesus. Last week I pointed out to you that like all good literature, the Bible has a story line. It has an overarching theme. In a single sentence, the essence of the Bible is that “man, originally in union with God, fell, and needs restoration to spend eternity with his creator.” That story line starts in Genesis, reaches its climax at the birth of Christ, and is drawn to an end in Revelation when our enemy is thrown into the lake of fire and a new heavens and a new earth is created.

Last Sunday we were in the book of Genesis where the story starts, and we saw three specific predictions concerning the birth of Jesus. We started in Gen. 3:15 where we have the fall of man. As a result, God curses the serpent but assures Adam and Eve that eventually they were going to have a descendant who would deal a fatal blow to their enemy. Then we looked at the Abrahamic covenant where God reveals the scope of the promise in that “all the nations of the earth were going to be blessed” through this deliverer. And then we finished up in chapter 49 where Jacob is passing out blessings to his 12 sons. In the blessing he gives to Judah, he makes the point that the scepter, that instrument that indicates kingly power, was never going to depart from the line of Judah. This prediction introduced us to the concept of a kingdom being associated with the Messiah, it involves authority and submission. So as we worked our way through these passages we saw God giving more and more clarity, more and more depth and understanding to what started out as a somewhat vague prophesy concerning the birth of Jesus.

Now this morning we are going to be in the book of Numbers, which is where we see the next specific prophecy concerning the birth of Christ. I find it rather curious that there are three predictions in Genesis, none in Exodus and Leviticus, and then the next one is in Numbers. Is there something we can learn from this? I believe there is, and to help us see this, let’s think for a moment about the theme of each of these first five books of the Bible.

The theme of Genesis is “beginnings.” You have the beginning of humanity, the physical world, sin, family, human authority, etc. In Exodus, you have the book of “deliverance.” Just the name itself conveys this idea. The nation of Israel is in slavery in Egypt, and God delivers them. The book of Leviticus is the book of the “law.” Think about Levites, the tribe responsible for mediating the relationship between God and the nation. In our current study of this book you have seen chapter after chapter after chapter of rules and regulations concerning how God’s people were to relate to God as well as each other as well as how they were to relate to their surrounding culture.

But what about Numbers? What do you suppose the theme of this book is? The best way to understand Numbers is to think of it as the book of “failure.” It is basically a book that records episode after episode after episode of God’s people forsaking their God and engaging in blatant and defiant acts of rebellion. Interestingly, the golden calf incident isn’t in this book, that took place in Exodus, but other than that, Numbers takes the prize for bad behavior. This is why in the book of 1 Cor., when Paul makes the point not to act as bad as the children of Israel, he rattles off five episodes of particularly egregious behavior – and every one of them comes from the book of Numbers.

Now, to my way of thinking, if I were God, by the time I got to the end of the book of Numbers, I would be having serious second thoughts about this whole covenant with Israel thing. This nation has repeatedly demonstrated by their actions that they are more intent on pursuing their own pleasures than God’s promises. Yet it is in this context of repeated human failure that God chooses to give His people the next glimpse of their eventual Messiah.

That says something to me! That tells me that the promise of Gen. 3:15 is not dependent on man’s ability to live up to God’s expectations! Aren’t you grateful for that? Or as Paul puts it in 2 Tim. 2:13, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny himself!” This is the concept behind grace, and we see it in the book of Numbers, the book of failure in the desert, when God, using the prediction of a pagan fortuneteller, lets His people know that His plan is still on track. So let’s look at this prophesy in Num. 24:16-19.

Let me take a minute and give you the context of these verses. Moses and the nation of Israel are marching through the desert on the way to the Promised Land. In chapter 21, they come to the land of the Amorites, whose king is named Sihon. They ask for permission to cross his territory and promise not to touch anything in the country. All they want to do is use the king’s highway to cross his land – they even promise not to drink water from any of the wells. Sihon responds by drawing up in military array to do battle, and the Israelites soundly defeat him.

Next, Israel comes to the land of Bashan, ruled by a king named Og. Israel doesn’t even have an opportunity to negotiate with him, Og meets them with his warriors and is ready to do battle. They go to war, and Israel defeats Og and the armies of Bashan. In chapter 22, Israel comes to the land of Moab, and Balak, the king of Moab, is scared to death. He knew what had happened to Sihon and Og, so he hires a prophet by the name of Balaam to curse the nation of Israel. You’ve probably heard of Balaam, because there is a story about him and his donkey! But in Num. 22:6 we read, “Now, therefore, please come, curse this people for me since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse you is cursed.” So even though Balaam wasn’t a true follower of the God of Israel, he did have prophetic abilities and could curse and bless people.

At this point, God himself appears to Balaam and explicitly forbids him to curse the nation of Israel. And so at four different times, Balaam blesses Israel, which sends king Balak over the edge. As we read in 24:10, “Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing theme these three times! Flee to your place now.”

So this brings us up to verse 16 where we see Balaam’s fourth and final vision, and he says, “The oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered. 17 "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall crush through the forehead of Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth.” 18 "And Edom shall be a possession, Seir, its enemies, also shall be a possession, while Israel performs valiantly. 19 "One from Jacob shall have dominion, And shall destroy the remnant from the city."

Verse 17 is the one I want us to focus on, because Balaam, under the direct influence of the God of Israel, has a vision and sees a Person with a capital “P”. And even though Balaam has no clue about the significance of what he is saying, God is using this pagan prophet to flesh out His people’s understanding of their Messiah. Balaam makes six points about the Messiah, three of them had been previously revealed, but three are new.

The three familiar aspects of the Messiah are seen in the phrase, he “shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall crush through the forehead of Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth.” This tells us that the deliverer of Gen. 3:15 will come from the family of Jacob, he will rule as a king, and he will be victorious over his enemies. Each of these dimensions was revealed to us in Genesis.

But note the three new elements. They are seen in the phrase, "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come forth from Jacob.” What does this tell us about the Messiah?

1. First of all, He is still to come – “I see him, but not now.” In other words, the prophecy is still on track. The promise of Gen. 3:15 has not been rescinded, and even though there is all of the events in Exodus and all the events in Leviticus without a specific mention of this Messiah, a deliverer is coming, but He is not currently on the scene.

2. Secondly, He is from a different country – “I behold him, but not near.” This is similar to the previous point, but has the additional dimension that the deliverer will come from a different land. This is significant because there was a good chance that the people of Israel were looking at Moses or some other national leader as their deliverer. After all, Moses was a military man, he was a successful strategist, he had delivered them from slavery. And if they were looking to Moses, this prophecy of Balaam squelches the idea because their deliverer was not in the vicinity.

3. And finally, He will have a universal rule – “a star shall come forth from Jacob.” The significance of this point is that it is broadening the scope of the Messiah’s rule. Gen. 49 has already introduced us to the concept that the Messiah was going to function as a king, but kings have a limited realm, right? As Dr. Seuss tells us in the story of Yertle the Turtle, the king turtle was king over what? “All he could see.” That is why he kept building his throne higher and higher. That is the problem of kings, their realm is limited.

But now, we see that Messiah is a star that is coming forth from Jacob. The idea of an earthly, terrestrial kingdom is being supplanted now by a cosmic scenario. Whereas the earthly king had dominion over all people, and nations, and tribes and tongues to the extent that every person was going to bow and declare Him to be the Lord, now we see that the celestial beings as well are going to be under Messiah’s rule. This is why Paul says in Phil. 2:9-10, “Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth.” A star will come forth from Jacob.

So as we think about the significance of this prediction of the birth of Jesus that took place 1,400 years before Jesus was born, there are several things to focus on.
1. First of all, this is a tremendous testament to the supernatural nature of your Bible. Predictive prophecy argues strongly for divine authorship. If you are into statistics, the startling statistic is that there were over 300 prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus that were fulfilled when Jesus was born.

2. Secondly, as the Sovereign of this universe, God can use any instrument He wants to for His purposes, even a pagan fortuneteller. God did this with several pagan kings, most notably Cyrus and Artaxerxes, and here he is using Balaam. The lesson for us is not to despair in the face of our pagan surroundings. We would prefer to see godly people in positions of leadership and influence, but God is not limited to accomplishing His will only through godly instruments.

3. And finally, the fulfillment of God’s promises may be a long time in coming, but they are inexorable. They are certain. “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near.” Followers of Christ have been saying for 2,000 years now, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” What are we to do in the face of what we perceive to be the reluctance of our Lord to return and take us away to be with Him forever? We affirm with the Apostle Peter that 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation.

Our Messiah was born 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, just like the Bible predicted. And based on that fulfillment we can look forward with certainty to His second coming.

Prayer: Father, thank you for the certainty we can face life with. Thank you for the stability you bring us in the midst of turmoil and upheaval. In the very same way you accomplished everything you promised at your birth, we believe that you will accomplish everything you promised about your coming again to take us to be with you for all eternity. So as we think about Christmas, help us to see beyond the birth of Jesus and appreciate the scope and magnitude of fulfilled prophecy.

The Birth of Christ Predicted in Genesis

2011-12-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

The Birth of Christ Predicted in Genesis
Gen. 3:1-15

One of the things that sets the Bible apart from all the other works of literature ever produced is its unity. The “unity” of the Bible is the term we use to describe the single theme that starts in Genesis and ends in Revelation. If you were to summarize the message of the Bible, what would you say? In other words, if you had the ability to boil it all down, even distill it, what would you come up with?

When I think about this theme, what I come up with is this. “Man, originally united with God, fell, and needs restoration to spend eternity with his creator.” That is about as simple as it gets. Every chapter of the Bible, every book in the Bible, relates directly to this theme. And my point is that this singleness of theme sets the Bible apart from all the other works of literature that man has produced.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself that this idea of a single theme really is no big deal, that there are lots of books that have been written that have the scope of the Bible and contain as much information as the Bible, yet they all have a single theme as well (cf. any book written by James Michner). But what sets the Bible apart from all these other works of literature is three things.

1) The number of human authors – over 40!

2) The diversity of background of these human authors – from the highly trained, highly intellectual (Moses, Paul, Luke) to the modestly educated, blue collar laborers (Peter); from royalty (David, Solomon) to obscure (Obadiah); and from clergy (Samuel and prophets) to laity (Amos). A great variety of men from different walks of life.

3) The time span involved in writing – roughly 1,600 years.
So the question is, “What is the probability that you can get 40 different guys, from all different walks of life, writing over the course of 1,600 years – and have every one of them contribute independently to the single theme that man, originally united with God, fell, and needs restoration to spend eternity with his creator?

It’s statistically impossible! For this to happen, there would have to be an external, overarching, supernatural influence guiding the whole process, which we know is what happened as the Holy Spirit filled the various men and enabled them to write the exact message God wanted to convey to His people. Or as Peter puts it in 2 Pt. 1:21 – “No prophecy (Scriptural writing) was ever made by an act of human will, [rather] men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Now, as we think about the story line of the Bible, like most literature, it has a climax, or a high point. The narrative that starts in Genesis waxes and wanes, it swells and diminishes, it has its exciting parts as well as its dry parts. There are protagonists and antagonists and a variety of settings and points of view, but it is working towards a pinnacle. And for the Bible, that pinnacle is the birth of Jesus as recorded in Matthew and Luke (Mark and John don’t address the birth). The birth of Jesus is the pinnacle because it is Jesus who brings about man’s restoration. After that point, the story continues and finds its ultimate resolution in the book of Revelation with the judgment of Satan who is cast into the lake of fire, and the re-creation of the heavens and the earth.

This morning I want to show you the earliest stages of the development of this storyline (man, originally united with God, fell, and needs restoration to spend eternity with his creator), and we find three distinct prophecies about the birth of Jesus in the book of Genesis.

1. The Stage is Set – Gen. 3:1-15

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 And he said, "I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." 11 And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12 And the man said, "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." 14 And the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly shall you go, And dust shall you eat All the days of your life;15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

So here in the third chapter of the Bible we have the stage being set for a drama that will be played out for many years to come. Let me quickly draw your attention to the first three elements of the story.

a. Note first of all the human vs. non-human dimension of this conflict. In verse 15 we see God say that there was going to be “enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman.” Does that mean that for the rest of time that women are going to be afraid of snakes? No. This really isn’t about snakes. The Genesis account doesn’t tell us explicitly that Satan was filling the serpent, but we can conclude from the content of the conversation, and it is confirmed in later scriptures, that it was none other than Satan, a non-human created being who was opposed to God and God’s plans that was going after Eve. This idea is fleshed out by Paul in Eph. 6:12 when he says, “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the . . . spiritual [non-human, non-physical] forces of wickedness in heavenly places.”

b. Note secondly that there is an indeterminate timeframe. Verse 15 says that the enmity between these two factions was going to last longer than one generation, it was going to be carried on by the seed of the woman (a reference to all the generations that would follow her) and the seed of the serpent (a reference to all those other non-human created beings that rebelled against God and were cast out of heaven). But the text doesn’t tell us when this enmity will cease – there is an indeterminate time frame.

c. And note finally that humanity is the ultimate victor. We see this in the phrase in verse 15, “He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." In other words, one of Eve’s male descendents (“he”) was going to inflict fatal damage to Satan. That is the significance of a head wound. But in doing so, Eve’s male descendent was going to suffer as well. But a wounded foot isn’t fatal like a wounded head is.

So to sum up this first point of the stage being set, here we see that even though Satan scored a huge victory right out of the gate, and that even though the conflict seems unfair in that it pits man against powerful spiritual beings, a time was coming some day in the future when Satan would receive a death blow from “the Man, Jesus Christ.” Rom. 5:15.

Now I’d like you to turn to Gen. 12:1-3 and let’s look at the second mention, and I’m calling this “the scope is revealed.” Once the stage is set and we know who the major players are and have a general idea of the time frame, God shows us how big this plan is and how one can get on board in the Abrahamic Covenant.

2. The Scope is Revealed – Gen. 12:1-3, 22:15-18

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." So Abraham went forth as the Lord had spoken to him.”

15 Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 "And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

Very quickly, note some new dimensions of the story. First of all, a human family is identified. In 12:3, God makes a powerful promise in that “all the families of the earth will be blessed in you.” The “in you” is a reference to Abraham. The significance of this point is that from the time of Adam and Eve to the time of Abraham, humanity has really expanded. Now, instead of there being a single family (Adam and Eve), there are hundreds if not thousands of families. And so God narrows the field to the family of Abraham and promises him that the scope of this covenant is huge – it will affect all the families of the earth. So the human family is identified, but a global family will be blessed.

Secondly, we see the concept of faith is introduced. We see it in 12:1 where God simply tells Abraham to pack his bags and start travelling. God doesn’t reveal the destination to Abraham, He simply says, “get going.” In chapter 22, Abraham responds in faith to another command of God, this one much more significant than the first one as he is commanded to sacrifice his son, his only son. Again, Abraham responds in faith to the command of God, and the Apostle James tells us in James 2:21-23 “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God.”

So in this second passage of Genesis that points us toward Christmas, we see the scope of the story. The final addition the book of Genesis gives us is found in Gen. 49:8-10. As you follow the genealogies of Genesis, after Abraham is chosen, he has two sons – Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac is chosen of God to carry on the covenant, and he has twins – Jacob and Esau. God chooses Jacob, the younger of the twins, to carry on the covenant, and Jacob ends up with 12 sons. At the end of Jacob’s life, he calls his sons in to bless them, and in chapter 49 we have those blessings. The blessing Jacob gives to Judah is found in verses 8 – 10, and the new element being added to the story is that sovereignty is revealed.

3. The Sovereign is Revealed– Gen. 49:8-10

8 "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's sons shall bow down to you. 9 "Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? 10 "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

The three things we see here are that first of all, another human family is identified. The covenant is going to be passed from Jacob to Judah. To use the wording of Gen. 3, the “seed” of the woman is now contained in Judah’s lineage. The second thing we see is the element of dominion being introduced. It is implied in verse 8 where his brothers are praising him and bowing down to him, but it is explicit in verse 10 where reference is made to a kingly instrument – the scepter. The scepter was the jeweled staff a king carried as a sign of his authority. This is why 640 years after this blessing, a young man from the tribe of Judah by the name of David became the King of Israel.

The significance of this point is that now our story takes on a new dimension of kingdom rule. This isn’t simply a one-on-one battle between the seed of man and the seed of the serpent, this isn’t simply a man blessing all the nations of the earth. This story line involves kingdoms, and dominion, and sovereignty, and obeisance. This dimension is referred to repeatedly in the gospels as Jesus emphasizes the importance of the kingdom of God. He tells Nicodemus that “unless a man is born again he won’t even see the kingdom of God.” Paul tells us that a day is coming when “every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

So the blessing that Jacob confers on Judah introduces us to the idea of sovereignty, but there is a phrase there we don’t want to overlook because it shows us the terminus of the promise. Note the little phrase, “until Shiloh comes.” “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes.” The word “Shiloh” means, “the one who brings peace.”

The point here is that the earthly rule of the tribe of Judah was going to come to an end when? When “the one who brings peace” comes. Who do you suppose that is? Right. It is Jesus. This is what Paul has in mind in Eph. 2:14 when he says – “He himself is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.”

Isn’t it amazing to realize that 1,500 years before it actually happened, the birth of Jesus was predicted? In three different places here in the book of Genesis we see direct information alerting us to the possibility of man being restored to his place of union with his Creator. It was somewhat vague and shadowy in Gen. 3:15, but it took on more shape in Gen. 12 and 49. And what we are going to see next week is that as we get to the book of Numbers, and eventually into Isaiah, the predictions become more and more crystallized.

But what does all this mean for us today?

First of all, I want you to appreciate the unique nature of your Bible, and in particular, its unity.

Secondly, I want to appreciate your place in history. We are incredibly privileged to have a completed Bible, full revelation, and insight based on 2,000 years of biblical scholarship.

Thirdly, I want you to appreciate that we can go to the end of the story and see how it all turns out. God has not left us in the dark wondering how it will all end. We don’t live lives of suspense hoping that we are on the right side in this battle between the seed of Eve and the seed of the serpent.
And finally, I want you to really appreciate the significance of the birth of Jesus. What a tremendous event it was as God miraculously brought about the culmination of 1,500 years of prophesy.

God and Google

2011-10-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

This past week, Nancy and I were traveling in PA, and we had stopped for lunch at a little diner. While there, we were discussing where to go next, and since we didn’t have any good maps, we were somewhat frustrated. Then I remembered that I have a little program on my phone that finds restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and concerts. So I turned it on, it thought for a minute, and then on the screen there came up a very detailed map of the area, and right in the middle of the map was a little blinking light. I showed it to Nancy and said, “Guess what that little blinking light is? It’s this phone!” Does anybody else find that a little bit scary?

There is a reason these phones are called “smart” phones (my phone contains more computing power than the entire NASA program of 1969 when we landed men on the moon!), but sometimes they are a little bit too smart for my comfort – and this was one of those times! I found it very unnerving that there was a satellite out there somewhere that could pinpoint, to an intersection, the location of my telephone. That is a level of involvement in my personal life that is too close for comfort.

Technology really is a wonderful thing, but in the wrong hands, that technology can have very bad consequences. The scary thing about technology is that it has become predictive.

This morning we are going to be spending our time looking at Someone who has a level of knowledge about you, and a level of involvement in your personal life, that is going to blow you away. If you are impressed by what a smart phone can do, or what Google or Pandora Radio or Amazon can do, wait until you see what Psalm 139 teaches us about God’s involvement in your life.

In Psalm 138:8, David says, “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me, your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting, do not forsake the works of Thy hands.”

There are three distinct clauses here, and I want us to look at each of them very briefly as an introduction to Psalm 139.

“The Lord will accomplish what concerns me.” Note the tone of certainty here. There is not a hint of question in David’s assertion. “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me.” There are at least two other passages that teach this idea, the first in Jer. 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not calamity, to give you a future and a hope.” In the NT, we read in Phil. 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

The point of these passages is that God has a plan for your life, and He will bring it about. Both the good and the bad are a part of the plan. We need to be careful not to make the mistake of thinking that God’s plan is working when my life is running smoothly, and that God’s plan has gotten off course when my life is full of difficulty. That isn’t the way it works. “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me.” What this means in everyday language is that there is nothing random or arbitrary about your life.

So in the first phrase, we see what God is going to do. In the next phrase, we see how God is going to do it. David goes on to say, “your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting.”

I want us to think first about that word “lovingkindness.” It isn’t a part of our normal vocabulary, is it? The KJV uses the word “mercy,” “Your mercy, O Lord, is everlasting” which is a legitimate translation, but our perception of mercy is not nearly broad enough to encompass the meaning of the Hebrew word. “Mercy” in English is “not giving someone what they deserve,” which is true of God, but we limit mercy to a judicial / legal context. The Hebrew word here is much broader and entails the concept of faithfulness, especially faithfulness to the covenants God established with Abraham, Noah, and David.

This is why the ESV translates it as “your steadfast love, O Lord, is everlasting.” The word conveys not only kindness, and mercy, and love but also faithfulness to a promise. The point David is making is that the plan God is working out in your life is going to be carried out within the context of love, and kindness, and mercy.

This is an important point for us to remember because many times we have the misperception that our setting in life is outside of, or beyond the scope of God’s love, or God’s mercy, or God’s kindness. But this phrase tells us otherwise, doesn’t it? “Your steadfast love is everlasting, O Lord.” One of the surprising things I have learned in the prison ministry is that many of those men there have learned the truth of this, and many of the men in the prison church will tell you that prison is the best thing that has ever happened to them. It was actually an act of God’s kindness, even God’s mercy to them, that brought them to a conviction and sentence.

So as we follow the flow of thought in this verse David starts out by telling us what God is going to do, in the phrase “the Lord will accomplish what concerns me.” Then we have how God is going to carry out His plan for our life by telling us it will happen within the context of love and mercy. And finally, we have David’s plea in the phrase, “do not forsake the work of Thy hands.”

The reason I am calling this a plea from David is because God’s plan for our lives often involves difficulty if not outright hardship, pain, and even suffering. David knew a lot about things of this nature, and this is often where we find ourselves when God’s plan for our lives takes a turn in a direction we don’t want to go.

I remember Elisabeth Elliott telling about her conversation with God right after her second husband had been diagnosed with cancer. They were leaving the surgeons office and he had just described the hideous surgeries he was going to have to perform, and EE’s question to God was, “Again?” In other words, “I’ve already lost one husband, am I going to lose another one?” When we find ourselves at this point in God’s plan for our lives, we can identify with David’s plea, “do not forsake the work of thy hands.”

And it is at this point that we come to Psalm 139. It is like the Holy Spirit gave David a microscope and the ability to peer into God’s invisible workings in your life. And it is a sight to behold! Let’s just skim through the first six verses and note how God’s knowledge of us, and His involvement in our lives is so much deeper, even intrusive, that most of us are aware of.

1 & 2 O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. 2 Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar.

David’s point here is that God is aware of the mundane (“sitting and rising”) as well as the profound (“you understand my thoughts from afar”). The significance of God’s understanding your thoughts from afar is seen in that when a husband and a wife have been together long enough, they eventually get to the place where they can somewhat read each other’s minds. They can tell what the other person is thinking. But they can only do that when they are close enough to each other to see the face. God doesn’t have that limitation. He “understands our thoughts from afar.”

3 Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways.

I want us to think about this word “scrutinize” for a moment (the KJV uses the word “compasseth”). The Hebrew word for “scrutinize” has the idea of “measuring,” but with the ultimate emphasis on comprehensive knowledge. Here’s how it works. How many of you are familiar with the old carpenter’s adage, “measure once, cut twice?” What’s the point? Before you commit to making a cut, you better measure, and then measure again. And if you are working with mahogany, or teak, you better measure one more time just to make sure. So the idea of scrutiny grows out of this activity of careful measuring. And when you are scrutinizing something, the net result is that you end up with a comprehensive knowledge of the subject.

Think about the the difference between having a “comprehensive” knowledge of something, and a “working” knowledge of something? For instance, I have a “working” knowledge of plumbing, but certainly not a comprehensive knowledge. The same with carpentry and mechanics. That old saying “a jack of all trades and master of none” fits me well.

David’s point is that God’s knowledge of us is not a working knowledge! It is a comprehensive knowledge, based on His scrutinizing of our lives.

4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, Thou dost know it all.

This verse is telling us that God’s knowledge of me is not limited to my ability to express / articulate my need. Several years ago we were babysitting several children for a couple of days, and one of the children had some kind of condition where she would become extremely agitated and incommunicative. When she got like this she would moan and groan and gasp and writhe – obviously in great distress – but she couldn’t talk. And one night at bed time, she was having one of these times and I remember saying to her over and over, “I want to help you, but you have to use words.”

David’s point is that we don’t have to use words! There may be times in our life where we are so agitated or hurt or disillusioned that we can’t even articulate what is on our hearts. That’s not a problem with God! “Before the word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, Thou dost know it all.” The N.T. teaching of this is found in Rom. 8:26 where Paul says “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” So again, we see how incredibly deep God’s knowledge of us really is.

5 Thou hast enclosed me behind and before,

The concept here is complete protection. I really like how the various versions translate this.

“I am shut in by you on every side” BBE
“You surround me – front and back” CEB
“You hem me in, behind and before” NIV
“You go before me and follow me” NLT

David’s point is that when you have protection on one side only, you are still very vulnerable. So God surrounds us! And then note what David says. Not only is God completely surrounding us, note how close He is to us. “And laid Thy hand upon me.” Have you ever noticed how comforting touch is?

Something I have learned about painting houses is that the higher up I go, the less comfortable I am standing on a walk board. I don’t mind being on a ladder because I hold on to a rung with one hand and paint with the other, but when you are on a walk board, there is nothing to hang on to! One time I was about 30 feet up painting the peak of a house. I was standing on an 18” walk board, which is more than sufficient – it shouldn’t have been hard for me at all. But I couldn’t hold my paint pot in one hand and paint with the other. I had to keep a finger on the side of the house! And as long as I kept one finger on the side of the house, I could lean out to the side and paint, and reach up high overhead and paint, but the moment I took my finger off the side of the house I felt like I was going to lose my balance and fall.

Which is completely illogical, when you think about it. Having my finger on the side of the house accomplishes nothing in the realm of reality when it comes to protection from falling. If I stumble, that finger on the side of the house isn’t going to do one single thing to help me out. But as long as the touch was there, I felt safe. That is the power of touch. So when David says “Thou has enclosed me behind and before, and laid Thy hand upon me,” he is conveying not only protection but also tangible comfort.

And then in verse six we see David’s conclusion. I really like the way the CMV translates it. “I am blown away by all of this.” By the way, CMV stands for the Contemporary Murray Version, the way the NAS puts it is, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it.” And so as David meditates on the level of God’s knowledge of him, and the depth of God’s involvement in his life – it blows his mind. He gives up on trying to wrap his head around it.

Isn’t this an overwhelming answer to the plea of Psalm 138:8 – “do not forsake the work of thy hands”? God’s response is “not only will I not forsake you, I will monitor your most mundane activities, I will predict your very thoughts, and I will comprehensively envelop you and keep My hand on you.”

Are you starting to see that God’s knowledge of and involvement in your life is a little bit deeper than we usually think? In our introduction this morning, I talked with you about how far our technology has progressed, and that it has even become predictive, but warned you that too much personal information in the wrong hands can be dangerous. Isn’t it comforting to know that God knows more about you than Google or Facebook will ever find out? But you don’t ever have to worry about how God will use that knowledge. You won’t ever lose sleep at night wondering about it, in fact, you’ll sleep better!

Church Leadership in the New Testament

2011-10-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

Church Leadership in the New Testament

This morning we are going to be doing a quick study of church leadership in the New Testament. Several months ago, the trustees presented a revised constitution to the church that we voted on and approved, and in the near future they will be presenting a revised set of by-laws that we will discuss and vote on as well. One of the matters that is covered in the by-laws is this matter of church leadership, and in particular, what labels should we use to refer to the men who lead this church.

And to start us thinking about this, I have some questions for you. Why am I called a pastor, but in other churches the man filling my role in the church is called “Father?” Why are some men in a church called a “bishop?” Why do some churches have “elders,” and “teaching elders?” Why am I called “Pastor Murray?” Why is Nancy sometimes called “Mrs. Pastor?” What does the word “pastor” mean? Is it biblical? Is it the best word to use to describe my function. Let‟s see if we can answer some of these questions this morning.

Let‟s start by looking at 1 Peter 5, and what I want to show you is that there are five different words used in the NT to describe male leaders in the church, the first one is found in 1 Pt. 5.

1. Elder – 1 Pt. 5:1

Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

presbuteros – emphasis on age, wisdom, and maturity.

2. Deacon – Phil. 1:1

Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:

diakonos – emphasis on physical ministry to the body of Christ.

3. Overseer (the KJV uses the word bishop) – 1 Tim. 3:1

It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.

episkopos – emphasis on oversight and superintendence.

4. Pastor – Eph. 4:11

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers

poimen – emphasis on shepherding, tending, protection.

5. Teacher – James 3:1

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.

didaskalos – emphasis on instruction.

Summary: according to what we have just seen, there were five specific leadership roles in the New Testament Church: elder, deacon, overseer, pastor and teacher. I don‟t think every church had one of each, and there is evidence that some of these roles overlapped. For instance, in Eph. 4:11 shows us that the concept of pastor and teacher was a dual role. In Col. 1 Paul refers to himself as a diakonos.

What I want us to do now is look at a very instructive passage in Acts 20 where you see three of these words used in the same paragraph to describe the same group of men. In verse 17 we read, “And from Miletus [Paul] sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders [our word presbuteros – what is the emphasis on? wisdom, age, and maturity – it was a clearly identified, select group of men] of the church. And when they came to him, he said to them . . .” From verse 18 through 35 Paul leaves his parting challenge with these elders.

Now, in verse 28 he says, speaking to this group of elders, "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [episkopos – oversight, superintendence], to shepherd [poimein – tend, protect] the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

What do we see from this passage? First of all, we see that the “elders” and “overseers” refer to the same person, and secondly, we see that their responsibility is to shepherd. What this means is that the label to use for these men is “elder,” and the functions they perform are twofold: oversight and shepherding. So remember that the label is “elder” and the functions so far are “oversight” and “shepherding.”
Now, there is a third function an elder performs, and that is found in Eph. 4:11 and James 3:1 where we read that God has graciously given “teachers” to His church. In Eph. 4:11 we have the idea of the “pastor – teacher,” and in the James passage we have the admonition not to be too eager to become a teacher in the church because of the additional accountability you incur.

Summarize: so do you see that elder, overseer, pastor, and teacher are all synonyms for the same group of men. Only one of the terms (elder) is a label; the other terms (overseer, pastor, and teacher) are all functions. You can‟t “elder” a church, but you can “oversee / pastor / teach” a church.

Now, let me give you a curious note about elders: the word “elder” is used as a singular noun only four times in the NT.

 “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis . . .” 1 Tim. 5:19
 “. . . as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ . . .” 1 Pt. 5:1
 “The elder to the chosen lady . . .” 2 John 1:1
 “The elder to the beloved Gaius . . . “ 3 John 1:1

Otherwise, the term “elder,” used in connection with the local church, is always used as a plural. Fifteen times the male leadership of the church is referred to as “the elders.” A quick sampling includes:

 Acts 14:23 – “when they had appointed elders for them in every church . . .”
 Acts 15:2 – “go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders . . .”
 1 Tim. 5:7 – “Let the elders who rule well be considered . . .”
 Titus 1:5 – “I left you in Crete that you might . . . appoint elders in every church.”
 James 5:14 – “Call for the elders of the church . . .”
 1 Pt. 5:5 – “. . . be subject to your elders . . .”

Now, something significant that I want to point out to you is that never once do you see the term “pastor” as a singular noun in the NT, as in “the pastor.” It is seen only once as a plural noun, in Eph. 4:11; and there, the context is the universal church, not the local church. One of the gifts God has given “the church” is “pastors.”

Where then does the idea of “a pastor” as the head of the church come from?

Turn with me to 1 Tim. 3:14. In these verses we have Paul‟s purpose for writing to Timothy, and he says, “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”

Paul‟s intent / purpose in these two letters to Timothy was to give Timothy instructions on how a church was to function. This is why we have extended sections dealing with

 prayer in the church,
 the role of women in the church,
 qualifications for bishops (church leaders),
 qualifications for deacons (church leaders),
 how to care for widows in the church,
 the function of elders (church leaders),

In other words, 1 and 2 Timothy is all about what a biblical church should look like. But these aren‟t the only books in the NT that address this issue, because the letter to Titus contains the same basic information. Look with me at Titus 1:5.

“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.” And as you read further through Titus you see many parallels to the letters to Timothy.

Now, here is my point. I‟m trying to answer the question, “Where does the idea of a pastor (as opposed to a group of men) as the head of a church come from?” and the answer is that when Paul was writing to a church to give them instructions on how they should function, he sent those letters to an individual, not to a board. Timothy and Titus were the acknowledged human leaders of the church in Ephesus and Crete.

In addition to this, when the Apostle John wrote to a group of churches in Asia Minor, he addressed his message to “the angel” of the various churches. In Rev. 1:20 we read "As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Then when you go into chapters 2 and 3, each section dedicated to a church starts with the phrase, “to the angel of the church in ________________.”

The word used here can be translated as either “angel” or “messenger,” and the context indicates that this “angel” was the human leader of the church. So the point is that when John had a message to communicate to a church, he did not write to a board, or a group of men, he wrote to an individual.

This is where the idea of “a pastor” comes from. But understand that it is a role. It is a function a man fulfils in the church. Technically, it shouldn‟t be used as a label. Now, is it wrong, or unbiblical to refer to me as Pastor Murray? Not at all. That is the role I fill in this church. But what am I? I am a presbuteros (elder) who episkopos (oversee), diakonis (serve), poimein (shepherd), and didaskolos (teach).

Summary: By far, the term used most often to describe the leadership of the local church is “elders.” And the fact that it is most often plural (15 out of 19) is significant. What this tells us is that it is the plurality of godly leadership in a church that provides the most comprehensive care and the most balanced leadership.

Now, what about deacons? In the New Testament, deacon refers to the men charged with the physical dimension of church ministry. Most Baptist churches mistakenly label these men as trustees. But when you study the scriptural accounts of how the work was carried out in the early church, you see there is a clear division of labor between spiritual ministry and physical ministry. We see this most clearly in Acts 6:1-6.

Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. 2 And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. 3 "But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. 4 "But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word." 5 And the statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. 6 And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.

Something interesting about this passage is that none of the terms under discussion are found in this passage, but what we do see is that there is a clear difference between “serving tables” (v. 2) and the “ministry of the word” (v. 4). The parallel between the work to which the apostles wanted to limit themselves, and the work of the elders / overseers / pastors / teachers is very obvious -it is the “ministry of the word.” What that leaves is the “serving of tables,” or the physical ministry of the church.

The word “deacon” (diakonos) means “one who executes the commands of another.” It is often used to refer to a servant, as in Mt. 22:13 – “Then the king said to the servants (diakonois), „bind him . . .‟” Mt. 20:26 – “It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant (diakonos).” John 2:5 – “His mother said to the servants (diakonois) „Whatever He says to you . . .‟”
Several times diakonos is translated as “minister” showing the spiritual dimension of the word. Col. 1:25 – “Of this church I was made a minister (diakonos) according to the stewardship from God . . .” Eph. 6:21 – “Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minster (diakonos) in the Lord.” Mt. 4:11 – “Then the Devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister (diakonoun) to Him.” His qualifications for the position are listed in 1 Tim. 3, but how he actually serves the church is found in how the word is used throughout the NT.

So that is a summary of what the NT teaches about church leadership – two clearly defined roles that overlap from time to time. What does all this mean for us? How closely do we want our church to follow the model for church leadership established in the New Testament? In a couple of months, you will be voting on a new set of by-laws that reflect this understanding. I look forward to your feedback and questions.

How To Conquer A Critical Spirit

2011-07-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

How to Conquer A Critical Spirit
Psalm 139

This morning we are going to be finishing up our little series on a critical spirit. Just to make sure we are all on the same page, we have defined a critical spirit as a negative attitude / perspective that focuses on real or perceived problems, with no thought given to a biblical or practical solution. The key phrase is the last one because what separates the critical spirit that God judges from genuine concern that God blesses is the presence or absence of a proposed solution.

So far in this series we have seen the danger of a critical spirit and the roots of a critical spirit. The danger of a critical spirit is seen in the severity of how God dealt with it [Miriam and Michal], and the roots of a critical spirit is usually either envy, pride, or hypocrisy. If you missed either of these two messages, please download them from my blog. All this leads us up to where we are today as we think about how to conquer a critical spirit. As I shared with you last week, there are four steps we can take to do this. Now, I need to point out that the title of this message isn’t “Four Easy Steps to Conquering A Critical Spirit.” It involves a lot of hard work and a humble spirit. And for the first one, I want us to turn to Psalm 139 as we consider the practice of rigorous self examination.

1. Practice Rigorous Self-examination – Psalm 139

O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. 2 Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar. 3 Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, And art intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, Thou dost know it all. 5 Thou hast enclosed me behind and before, And laid Thy hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

In verses 7 – 12, David spends some time talking about the impossibility of getting away from God’s presence. You may try to hide from God or ignore Him, but it’s impossible! In verses 13 – 16 he addresses God’s creative involvement in the fetus. If you have ever wondered about a good passage dealing with life before birth, this is it.

In verses 17 – 22 there are some thoughts about the wicked, but then note how David ends the psalm with a request. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

What is interesting about this Psalm is that it starts with an acknowledgment of God’s intimate knowledge of us, but ends with an invitation for God to investigate his life. This needs to be our prayer. The first step to conquering a critical spirit is to humble yourself before God and ask Him to “probe” your heart. That is what the word “search” literally means.

When I was sanding our floor and got a huge splinter in the heel of my hand, it was broken off so deeply that I couldn’t see it. The doctor took a scalpel and cut the length of the bump, and then took a long needle and started digging around to find the splinter (which felt like a plank!). What was he doing? He was “probing.” It was difficult, and it was painful, but it was necessary to fixing the problem.

That is what David is asking God to do to his heart. Dig around. Probe a little bit. Pull away the layers of flesh and see if there are hurtful, grievous things in his life. And if you are serious about dealing with a critical spirit, this is where you start. You ask God to reveal to you if you are struggling in this area.

Next, I want you to turn to Mt. 23. In this passage we are going to see another important factor in conquering a critical spirit, and it is the discipline of distinguishing between gnats and camels. Look with me at verses 23 – 24.

2. Practice Distinguishing Between Gnats and Camels – Mt. 23:23 - 24

23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, but have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
Here we see Jesus rebuking the religious leaders for a practice that is pretty familiar to us. In v. 23 we see how the scribes and Pharisees were punctilious, even obsessive in their tithing – even going to the point of separating out 1/10th of a portion of some of the smallest spices they had. Why would they be preoccupied with something so minute? It was because of their hypocrisy. One of the primary indicators of the hypocrisy / pharisaical spirit is a fixation on the visible. They pray on street corners to be seen of men, instead of in their closets. They mope and have long faces when they fast so that everybody will know they are fasting, instead of fasting in secret. They make a great show when they bring their offerings so that everyone will be impressed with their generosity instead of giving in secret so that only God knows of their generosity. Pharisees want to be seen, and their thinking was that if people saw them obsessing over something as small as their spices, surely the observers would conclude that the Pharisees were equally serious about big matters, and therefore quite spiritual.

But in verse 24 Jesus exposes them for their hypocrisy by mentioning two unclean animals, the gnat and the camel. In Lev. 5 God tells the nation of Israel that the swarming insects are unclean, and even if you inadvertently touch one, you are ceremonially defiled. In Lev. 11, God tells the nation of Israel that camels are unclean as well. So what we have here are the two extreme ends of the size spectrum of unclean things, gnats and camels.

The Pharisees, true to form, would put gauze over their drinking vessels to make sure they didn’t accidently swallow a gnat. But when it came to the huge issues that would defile a person, they couldn’t care less.

This concept has great application to a critical spirit, and if you struggle with this, it is important to learn how to distinguish between gnats and camels. Were gnats legitimately unclean things that could defile you? Yes. But all unclean things were not equal in their “badness.” How do we know this is true? Because the requirements for being restored were different depending on the infraction. For instance, sometimes when you became defiled, you were unclean until evening, sometimes you were unclean until evening and you had to bathe, sometimes you were unclean until evening and you had to wash your clothes, sometimes you were unclean for a week, but at other times you were unclean for a month, sometimes you just had to wait for a period of time but sometimes you had to bring a sacrifice.

All unclean things were not equal in their gravity, and the same is true with the issues we encounter in life that we are tempted to have a critical spirit about. Some things are gnats, and some things are camels, and a person with a critical spirit needs to develop the ability to distinguish between them.

I had a co-worker one time who continually bugged me because I ate ham. He told me I was violating scripture, that the swine was unclean (he couldn’t even bring himself to call it ham, or pork, or even pig – it was swine), and it was a huge issue to him. Yet he smoked pot every night because it acted as a sedative for him. In fact, he tried to argue that his smoking pot every night to get to sleep was no different than me drinking coffee every morning to wake up. Do you see the inability to distinguish between gnats and camels? The critical person needs to understand that all problems are not equal in gravity, and he then needs to give his energies to the big things and let the little things ride.

So as we think about the steps to conquering a critical spirit, we have seen that we need to practice rigorous self-examination, and secondly, we need to learn how to distinguish between gnats and camels. The third thing we need to focus on is found in 1 Thess. 5:18, and I’m calling this step practicing the discipline of gratitude.

3. Practice the Discipline of Gratitude – 1 Thess. 5:18

“In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

How many of you see the comprehensive nature of this command? The verse doesn’t say, “Give thanks in most things,” or “Give thanks in many things,” but “Give thanks in everything.” Something else I want you to note about this verse is the phrase, “for this is God’s will for you.” That is a very rare phrase in the Bible! In fact, I think the only other place you see the phrase “for this is God’s will for you” is in 1 Th. 4:3 which talks about abstaining from sexual immorality. What this tells me is that there are at least two issues where you will never have to worry about what God’s will is – being thankful and keeping yourself pure.

But I point this out because God takes gratitude very seriously. It is God’s will for you to give thanks in every situation. I don’t know of too many things that will cure a critical spirit as quickly as this matter of deliberate gratitude. I learned this principle in the context of my migraine headaches. I knew I could either lie in bed and stew and complain and gripe about my condition, or I could “give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” So I decided to give it a try one day and started thanking God for the chemists who have discovered codeine to deaden the pain, and a soft bed to lie on instead of being on a bumpy road, and for being self-employed which gives me the flexibility to lie down for a couple of hours. And it is amazing what the discipline of gratitude will do to improve your outlook on life.

Let me challenge you. The next time you find yourself about to complain or gripe about or criticize something (regardless of how legitimate it is), see if you can find ten things about that situation to give thanks for. And to make this really practical, let’s work through a situation that is facing us right now.
When I got home Friday night, I saw that our governor had signed this Marriage Equality Bill and I was very disappointed about it. I don’t know if you appreciate the magnitude of what happened in Albany on Friday, but it was huge. In the realm of culture, and society, and freedom – it was bigger than 9/11. 9/11 was simply terrorists who hate the United States, so they destroyed two landmark buildings and killed a lot of people. Without diminishing the grief of those who lost loved ones in the tragedy, 9/11 did not fundamentally alter our culture and set in motion a series of events that will eventually bring about the end of our freedoms as we know them today.

But my point is that as easy as it could be to have this critical spirit, is it possible to find ten things about this scenario to be thankful for?
1. Expressing my opinion without fear of arrest and torture.
2. I’m on the right side.
3. This world isn’t my home – no matter how bad it gets here I’m in heaven for eternity.
4. I can stand before God with a clear conscience in this matter.
5. It was a huge educational opportunity for my children.
See how that works? It takes our focus off the negative and onto the positive. We aren’t ignoring reality here, we are creating a spirit of optimism through the discipline of gratitude, even in the face of defeat or serious problems.

Now the final truth I want to share with you comes from the book of Nehemiah, and it is here we see the idea of focusing on solutions, not merely the verbalizing of the problem. So why don’t you turn to chapter one and we’ll skim through several chapters of this short book to look at how Nehemiah faced his problems.

4. Practice Focusing on Solutions – Neh. 2:17

If you aren’t familiar with the context of Nehemiah, here it is in a nutshell. The nation of Israel has been conquered and the people have been deported to foreign countries. The capital Jerusalem, and even worse the temple, have been destroyed.
In chapter 1, we see that Nehemiah is a Jewish official working in the palace of King Artaxerxes. The king graciously gives Nehemiah permission to go back to his homeland to start rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. Starting in chapter 2 verse 12, you can read about Nehemiah’s survey of the damage.

In verse 17 we read “Then [Nehemiah] said to them, "You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach." That was all he had to say about the situation. He wasn’t asking “why” it had taken so long to start rebuilding, he didn’t try to analyze the work ethic of the people, he didn’t deride the people who had been living there for not starting the work, he simply said, “let’s get to work.”

So in chapter 3 you see his solution to the problem. Various groups of people were assigned to various sections of the wall to get the job done. Some worked while the others stood guard, but they had definite goals to accomplish. What I like about Nehemiah is that he was a doer, not a talker. He was not an armchair quarterback. He could see the problems very clearly, but his focus was on solutions, not merely verbalizing the problem! Anybody can verbalize about a problem, and many people excel at it, but few people are willing to go on and do the hard work of coming up with a solution.

I remember when God highlighted my tendency to do this. Several months ago, there was a bill in the senate that was granting broad powers to the Child Protective Services. Part of the bill established that if a parent refused to let a CPS worker into the home, that refusal constituted probable cause and immediately established grounds for a search warrant. This is a huge invasion of privacy, which is why so many people in NY were having fits about it. So I called the Senator responsible for sponsoring the bill, spoke with his administrative assistant and expressed my opposition to the bill. I pretty much repeated verbatim the little paragraph that had been sent to me, and the woman on the other end of the line said, “And sir, what do you suggest instead?” And for a moment, I was stunned.

I could see what the problem was. I felt strongly about the situation. I could have spent some time telling her the problems this was going to cause in the future, but I had given no thought at all to an alternative solution to the rampant child abuse that takes place in the homes in our state. Fortunately, I was able to recover and said something about finding different language that protected our freedoms, but it was a powerful lesson to me about this problem of focusing only on the verbalizing of the problem.

So what does it take to overcome a critical spirit? Rigorous self-examination, the ability to distinguish between gnats and camels, the discipline of deliberate gratitude, and a focus on solutions, not simply spouting out criticisms.

May God help us at Cornerstone Baptist Church / Greenville Center Baptist Church not to harbor critical spirits.

The Roots of A Critical Spirit

2011-06-22T06:08:00.000-07:00

The Roots of A Critical Spirit
James 4:1

Last week we were in Numbers 12 where we were looking at the danger of a critical spirit. In this passage we saw that Miriam and Aaron were "speaking against" Moses. The nature of their speaking against him doesn't seem all that bad, does it (something to do with his Cushite wife)? Yet it was significant enough in God's eyes that He responded to that criticism very strongly. One of the thoughts I had this past week is that this kind of response on God's part may seem foreign to us because of our growing up in the United States where "freedom of expression" is one of those inalienable rights that we hold so dearly.

There are two issues here that come into play. The first has to do with speaking against duly ordained authority, and the second has to do with spreading dissension. We developed the spreading dissension aspect by looking at Prov. 6:16-19 where we saw that "sowing discord among the brethren" is an "abomination" in God's eyes, but what about this matter of speaking against your authority?

How many of you have ever heard a sermon taken from 1 Sam. 24:1-7. This is the story of David and Saul when David is on the run. Saul wants to kill him because so many of the nation of Israel are enamored with David. And even thought the people of the nation want David to be king, and even though God has already chosen David to be the next king, and even though the prophet had anointed David to be the next king, Saul is king. As such, he is David's duly ordained authority, and as such, David has to live under Saul's authority and treat him with due respect.

Well, the opportunity comes up for David to kill Saul. Saul is asleep, and David sneaks into his camp, but instead of killing Saul, he humiliates him by cutting off a part of his robe. In this little scenario, David articulates a timeless principle. When his soldier says, "The Lord has delivered your enemy into you hand, kill him," David says, "I will not lift up my hand against the Lord's anointed."

That is the principle that was being violated when Miriam and Aaron "spoke against" Moses. And that is why God responded so strongly. He publicly, visibly, disciplined her for a prolonged period of time. And so the entire nation of Israel sat in neutral for a week while God dealt with Miriam.

Today, we are going to be looking at the roots of a critical spirit. In other words, the critical spirit is a surface issue, there is something beneath the surface we need to address. The critical spirit is a manifestation of something deeper. And it is silly to treat surface problems, right? We don't put band-aids on basal cell carcinomas, do we? We get out the scalpel and treat it conclusively.

So let's look at this passage in James 4:1 where we see the root of all sinful expressions, especially a critical spirit. "Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?" These two words, "wars" and "fights" refer to prolonged conflict, as well as smaller conflicts. They span the spectrum from armed conflict like we see all over the world, to the verbal conflicts that may have taken place on the way to church this morning! James is telling us that these things happen because in our heart, we have desires that are fighting for supremacy, or control.

"We want what we want, when we want it. And when we don't get it, bad stuff happens if the Spirit of God is not in control of my life."

Let's look at three heart issues that generate a critical spirit. The first is found in last week's text, Numbers 11 &12, where we see a spirit of envy in Miriam and Aaron. This spirit of envy isn't explicitly recorded for us, but when you look at the flow of these two chapters, you can see something interesting. Listen to this series of verses while I read them.

11:1 - Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord, for the Lord hear it, and his anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed, the fire was quenched."

11:16 - God gives Moses 70 assistants to help with the administration of the nation. "So the Lord said to Moses, "Gather to me 70 men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone."

11:18 - when the people were complaining about not having meat to eat - "Then you shall say to the people, consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat."

It is in the context of Moses stopping a plague simply by praying, and Moses providing meat for the nation simply by praying, and Moses having so much of the Spirit of God that he can share it with 70 other men who are going to help him with the nation, that we come to chapter 12:1 where we read, "Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses and said, 'Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses and not us also?" The envy is pretty obvious, isn't it?

Envy produces a critical spirit. I remember the first time I saw how this worked, and it was 43 years ago! I still remember it today! I was about 7 years old, and my older brother had just received his first shotgun, a .410, and I was so proud of him. In fact, I was so proud I immediately ran down the road to tell my friend Mark. And to this day I can still see Mark's face and hear his voice as he said, "I wouldn't have it." Even at that young age, I saw the dismissive contempt in his voice was really nothing more than envy. And that spirit of envy was producing a critical spirit.

What I have learned over the years is to look for envy at some level whenever I see a critical spirit. If it isn't envy driving the critical spirit, it's probably pride, which is what we see in our next source of a critical spirit. Look with me next at 1 Sam. 18:5-9.

"So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. So the women sang as they danced, and said: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him: and he said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?" So Saul eyed David from that day forward.

Do you see how Saul's pride had been wounded? And what did that wounded pride generate in his heart? A critical spirit.

We see another example of this in the life of David in 2 Sam. 6. This is the story of David coming back to Jerusalem with the Ark of the Covenant, and he is so thrilled that the Ark is back in the Tabernacle that he sets aside his kingly decorum, and in verse 14 we read that, "David danced before the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. 16 Now as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal, Saul's daughter [who also happens to be David's wife], looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart." How's that for a critical spirit? Now drop down to verse 20. "Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, "How glorious was the king of Israel today [just in case you can't see it, this is sarcasm], uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!"

Do you see how her wounded pride as generated a critical spirit? Her husband was the king, and in her estimation, the King doesn't take off his ephod and dance in the streets. That is what the "underclass" does (she uses the term "base fellows"). And as a side note, God severely chastises her. Look in verse 21. So David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, bu them I will be held in honor. Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death."

Do you see the pride that has been wounded, which in turn generates the critical spirit? It is no coincidence that proud, or arrogant people are also very critical people. We don't have time to look at it this morning, but spend some time this afternoon in Luke 7:36-50 where you have the story of the Pharisee Simon and the woman who anoints Jesus' feet. As Simon watches Jesus' interaction with this woman, you can hear his critical spirit as he says to himself, "This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."

The final heart issue that generates a critical spirit is a spirit of hypocrisy. For an illustration of this one, we are going to look into the New Testament, so let's look at Mt. 7:1-5.

"Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me remove the speck from your eye, and look, a plank is in your own eye?" Hypocrite! First, remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

We see an example of this concept in action in the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8:2-11.

Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him, and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery [This is significant that it was the Scribes and Pharisees, two groups of religious leaders known for their hypocrisy]. And when they had set her in the midst [this is a public humiliation], they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded that such should be stoned, but what do you say?" This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear [I love this dismissive act on the part of Jesus]. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." And again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heart it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more."

Did you see how Jesus gets right to the heart of the pharisaical, hypocritical issue here? These men, because of the planks in their own eyes, couldn't see clearly enough to see the speck in the adulterous woman's eye. Which is really interesting when you think about it, because adultery is not small sin! But Jesus masterfully makes a statement that exposes the motives of these men when He said, " he who is without sin can cast the first stone."

Do you remember me saying last week in our definition of a critical spirit that a critical spirit is marked by a lack of a solution?

So what does all this mean for us this morning? A critical spirit is like a warning light on the dashboard of your car. When that little orange light comes on, you know there is something wrong under the hood. It may be that you are low on gas, or that it is about time to change the oil, or that you have a slow leak in your radiator and the engine is overheating - but the presence of the orange warning light means that something isn't right with the engine. That is what the presence of a critical spirit indicates. Either there is a a spirit of envy in the heart, or a spirit of pride that needs to be dealt with, or simply the presence of a hypocritical, judgmental attitude.

Whatever it may be, just understand two things. 1) It needs to be dealt with. You dare not let it go unchecked. And 2) remember that God takes the critical attitude seriously. He doesn't overlook it by saying, "Well, Michal was having hormonal issues, she'll feel better tomorrow." No, she was childless until the day of her death. He doesn't minimize the critical attitude by saying, "Miriam is really tired and has been stressed recently, she'll be more optimistic in another day or so." No, God struck her with leprosy and publicly chastised her. This is a serious matter in God's eyes.

And finally, let me challenge us to work together to deal with this matter. What I mean by that is, don't leave it up to your pastor to deal with critical attitudes! When somebody comes to you with that negative attitude and they haven't given any thought to a biblical or practical solution, would you stop them in their tracks? Remind them of what we talked about last week in spreading discord in the body. Remind them that they need to speak to the person who is the problem, or to the person who is a part of the solution to the problem. Another way you can help us work together on this is to get a copy of this message to those who weren't here last week or this morning. Now, do it in a gracious way. Don't hand the manuscript to them and say, "Here, you really need help with this. You're the most critical person I've ever met!" There are better ways to do it than that. But the idea is for all of us to get on board together with it so that we can be in a place where God will bless us.

The Danger of a Critical Spirit

2011-06-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

The Danger of A Critical Spirit
Num. 11

Several weeks ago we were studying the issue of contentment. I shared with you that as humans we have a tendency toward being discontent. It is part of our old nature, and when you grow up privileged, as we Americans have, this can really be a problem. We defined contentment as “a heart that was satisfied with Jesus because we could acknowledge His sufficient care for us in every realm; physical, emotional and spiritual.” This truth is taught repeatedly in the Bible. In 2 Pt. 1:3 we read that God’s “divine power hath given unto us all things concerning life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” In Phil. 4:19 we read, “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” In 1 Pt. 5:7 we read that we can cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us. And the list goes on and on - contentment in this life is possible.

What I want to speak about this morning is on the other side of the coin, and that is the danger of a critical spirit. And just like this matter of discontent, a critical spirit comes to us naturally. We don't have to be taught how to gripe, do we? Your parents never sat you down and said, "Here's how to whine about the humidity." This ability comes to us at birth, so let’s start right in with a definition of a critical spirit. “A negative attitude that focuses on real or imagined faults with no thought toward a biblical or practical solution.” Let me repeat that. "A negative attitude that focuses on real or imagined faults, with no thought toward a biblical or practical solution."

There are several things I want to point out about this definition. First of all, note that a critical spirit isn’t limited to perceived problems. We can have a critical spirit about genuine, real problems. Another way of putting this is that the existence of an actual problem does not justify a critical spirit. For instance, we have a genuine problem with our church cleaning system. We used to pass a clip board but that can be disruptive, so we went to a voluntary signup sheet. But for a variety of reasons, no one was signing up. So the church either doesn’t get cleaned, or the same person cleans it week after week. So then we went back to sending the clip board around, but we usually only get one family per week to clean, which isn't optimal. This is an actual problem, not a perceived on. The church still does not get cleaned on some weekends. But just because this is a real problem doesn’t mean that we can harbor a critical spirit. We can't gripe about the leadership of the church, or the policies of the church, or anything else.

And this leads us to the second half of the definition. How do you know if your feelings about a situation are a critical spirit or “righteous indignation?” I mean, even Jesus himself got angry from time to time, right? It has to do with where you go with your feelings. This is what we see in the phrase, “with no thought toward a biblical / practical solution.” This is a critical distinction. A critical spirit focuses on the problem only! What separates griping / complaining / whining / critical spirit from legitimate concern is the presence of absence of a solution. So let me challenge you right here at the beginning of this message to learn how to evaluate your concerns and focus on solutions, not simply the airing of your grievances.

So with this introduction to a critical spirit, let’s go to the book of Numbers and look at an example of a critical spirit and God’s response to it. Let's read chapter 12 verses 1 - 16 together. What we are going to see in these verses are the effects of a critical spirit. Then, as we have time, we are going to go to some other Scriptures and look at the roots of a critical spirit, and finally we are going to see the cure for a critical spirit.

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman) 2 and they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.) 4 And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, 6 He said, “Hear now my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. 7 Not so, with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my household; 8 with him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?” 9 So the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed. 10 But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. 11 Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned. 12 “Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother’s womb!” 13 And Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “O God, heal her, I pray!” 14 But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward she may be received again.” 15 So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again. 16 Afterward, however, the people moved out from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

In these verses, we see at least four effects of a critical spirit, so what I want to show you this morning is how a critical spirit can affect Cornerstone Baptist Church.

First of all, in verses 1 - 3, we see that a critical spirit separates us from our fellow Christians. Because of the envy Aaron and Miriam had toward Moses (and this is something we are going to develop further next week), there was division now between these family members. What is the purpose of the family? Turn with me to Prov. 17:17 where we see the answer. “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” That does not mean that brothers are born to fight with each other, it means that a family is supposed to be a cohesive unit so that when adversity comes, you aren’t facing it alone. These three siblings were the recognizable leaders of the nation. Moses and Aaron were a team, and Miriam was a prophetess, and now at this critical point in the history of the nation, the unity had been jeopardized. And had this division not been dealt with the consequences could have been disastrous. This is why Jesus said in Mt. 12:25 that “a house divided against itself will not stand.”

That is how a critical spirit works - it separates us from our fellow Christians. If you have a chronic critical spirit, nobody wants to be around you! You will find yourself becoming a very lonely person. From time to time you will find another critical spirit who will give you an ear, but generally speaking, nobody wants to hear it. Over the years I have met multiple people who have church all by themselves, in their living room, every Sunday morning. Why? Because their critical spirit has made it impossible for them to have any significant level of relationship with other Christians.

So the first effect of a critical spirit we see in these verses is that it separates us from our fellow Christians. The second effect is found in verses 4 – 9 where we see that a critical spirit separates us from fellowship with God. One of the things this passage alerts us to is that God is aware of a critical spirit. Did you catch that at the end of verse 2? “And the Lord heard it.” Sounds ominous, doesn’t it? Can you imagine how careful we would be in our conversations if God still worked this way today? God is the “unseen listener of every conversation,” and when He heard this critical spirit being expressed, He dealt with it strongly. Note especially in verse 9 where we read that the “anger of the Lord burned against them.” God was angry with them for their words about Moses.

When you are harboring a critical spirit, you can forget about having any kind of good relationship with God. Your fellowship with Him is gone, He isn’t going to be hearing and answering your prayers, He isn’t going to be communing with you through your Bible reading. The only thing you can expect in the relationship is to be “called out” (cf. vv. 4-5) and dealt with strongly. So in addition to a critical spirit affecting your relationship with other Christians, it also brings separation between you and God.

The third thing we see in this passage according to verses 10 - 15 is that a critical spirit brings serious consequences to the one practicing it. God struck Miriam with leprosy. This was a public, visible punishment. The entire nation was aware of it. It is similar to Paul’s advice to Timothy in 1 Tim. 5:20 that when you have a person in a place of leadership that continues in sin, he is to be “rebuked in the presence of all.” Why the public rebuke? “So that the rest also may be fearful of sinning.” That is the price of leadership, and as a leader in the nation, Miriam is publicly chastised by God.

This tells us that this matter is significant in God's eyes. It is no small thing to have a critical spirit! Please don’t dismiss these messages as “Murray is making mountains out of molehills again.” Let me share with you a very sobering passage from Proverbs. Turn with me to chapter 6, and let’s read verses 16 – 19. “There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife (discord)among brothers.”

Proportionately, there aren’t too many things in the Bible that are labeled as abominations in God’s eyes, so when an activity gets that label, we ought to pay attention to it! Few things spread strife among the brethren more effectively than a critical spirit!

And finally, note in verses 15 - 16 that a critical spirit hurts the progress, of others. Verse 15 says that “the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again, and afterward, the people moved.” The entire nation of Israel had to sit there and wait until Miriam was done being disciplined by God before they could move on. For seven days, they were shut down and went no where. And what a sad reality it is that the entire nation, not just the guilty parties, suffered the consequences of Miriam and Aaron’s critical spirit.

So the four effects of a critical spirit are that a critical spirit separates us from our fellow Christians, it separates us from fellowship with God, it brings serious consequences to the one spreading the criticism, and a critical spirit hurts the progress of those around us. But what does all of this mean for us this morning? Let me give you several points of application.

• In a church setting, you are in the midst of sinful, selfish leaders; and sinful, selfish brothers and sisters in the Lord. Because of this reality, you aren’t going to have to look too hard to find problems. Some of them may be real problems, some of them may be perceived problems, but how are you going to deal with them? Are you going to harbor a critical spirit and spread dissension in the church, or are you going to deal with it in a biblical way?

• When you see a problem, deal with it the right way – don’t pull a Miriam and Aaron who spoke against the person they had the problem with. Let’s say that you don’t like how long I preach, or you don’t care for the music that Ray / Mary picks out for our choruses, or you think that some of the deacons are unqualified to be serving as deacons. How are you going to deal with problem? Well, keeping in mind our definition of a critical spirit let me give you two important reminders.

• There are only two people you can talk to in each of these situations: the person who has the problem (Murray, Ray / Mary, or the deacon), or a person who is a part of the solution to the problem. This is vital to keeping a critical spirit from spreading in the church. If you discuss your concern with anyone else in the church, and please hear me carefully here, you are demonstrating a critical spirit and spreading discord among the brethren, which God takes very seriously.

• The second thing to keep in mind is that what distinguishes a critical spirit and sowing discord from genuine concern is the presence or absence of a practical or biblical solution. Let me let you in on a little secret. I don’t need anyone telling me there are problems at Cornerstone Baptist Church. Do you know what I need? Proposed solutions. Do not talk to me about the sound system unless you are also prepared to talk with me about possible solutions. Make sense?

By way of conclusion, I want you to turn to Acts 20:28. Have you wondered why God dealt so severly with Miriam and Aaron? Or let me ask it this way. Was the punishment proportionate to the offense, or did God overreact (cf. how God dealt with the men making fun of Elisha)? The severity of the punishment tells us something. It tells us that God takes a critical spirit very seriously. Please understand that this is no small thing we are talking about this morning. And the reason He takes it so seriously is because of how precious the church is in His eyes. Look at the truth we see in Acts 20:28. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.” Think about this. This flawed church (your pastor, your deacons, your trustees, that person sitting next to you) that is so easy to have a critical spirit about is so precious in God’s estimation the God sent His Son Jesus to create it. And because of this, you don’t want to be found guilty of “messin’” with His church! Which is what a critical spirit does.

So let me leave you with this challenge this morning. If you have a problem with anything at Cornerstone Baptist Church, handle it in a way that is pleasing to God. The presence of problems is not a problem – that is a part of the human experience – how we handle them can be. We know how God feels about a critical spirit, and we know the effects of a critical spirit, so let’s each do our part in making sure we conduct ourselves in such a way as to generate God’s blessings on our church, not His judgment.

Loving the Unlovely

2011-04-17T03:28:00.000-07:00

Loving The Unlovely
Phil. 2:1-11

One of the hallmarks of true Christianity is the ability Christ gives his followers to love the unlovely. Something that sets Christianity apart from the other world religions is the Jesus fueled capacity to treat others the way we want to be treated. There is a reason why the caste system still operates in India today, and it is connected to Hinduism.1 One of the closely guarded secrets of our day is the prevalence of the sex trade in fundamentalists Islamic countries. Why is it that a country like Iran, that will stone a teenage girl to death for walking down the road holding her boyfriend‘s hand, has seen a 635% increase in legalized prostitution in the years it has been in power? Why is it that in Tehran you can find over 200 houses of prostitution with over 80,000 prostitutes working the streets? Why is it that the head of Iran‘s Interpol bureau believes that the sex trade is one of Iran‘s most profitable activities?2 It has to do with Islam‘s view of women. There is a reason why the slave trade is flourishing in Islamic countries, and it has to do with their belief system.3

Contrast this with the influence Christianity has had over the years. Who was the driving force behind the abolition of slavery in England? William Wilberforce. Was he just a social ―do-gooder,‖ was he a wealthy philanthropist who had a soft heart, or was there something more important driving him? There was something more compelling him to stand up for the dignity of all men, and it was his commitment to Christ. Wilberforce came to Christ for salvation under the ministry of John Wesley, and in fact, the last letter Wesley ever wrote was to Wilberforce encouraging him to carry on in his work.

John Piper writes of Wilberforce like this. ‗What made Wilberforce tick was a profound Biblical allegiance to what he called the ―peculiar doctrines‖ of Christianity. These, he said, give rise, in turn, to true affections—what we might call ―passion‖ or ―emotions‖—for spiritual things, which, in turn, break the power of pride and greed and fear, and then lead to transformed morals which, in turn, lead to the political welfare of the nation. He said, ―If … a principle of true Religion [i.e., true Christianity] should … gain ground, there is no estimating the effects on public morals, and the consequent influence on our political welfare.‖‘

Wilberforce wasn‘t the only reason behind the abolition of slavery. Thomas Sowell says, ―The anti-slavery movement was spearheaded by people who would today be called ―the religious right‖ and its organization was created by conservative businessmen. Moreover, what destroyed slavery in the non-Western world was Western imperialism. Nothing could be more jolting and discordant with the vision of today‘s intellectuals than the fact that it was businessmen, devout religious leaders and Western imperialists who together destroyed slavery around the world.‖4

The reason Christianity operates this way is because of its founder, Jesus Christ, and we see the example he set in Phil. 2:1-11. Read these verses along with me.
If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself (do you see how this flies in the face of other world religions?); 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Note the example Jesus sets for us as his followers:

1. He left a place of comfort and honor to go to a place of privation and derision. Think about what it would be like for you to leave your life and all its creature comforts and move to the Sudan. Now, multiply that by several thousand times and you see what Jesus had to go through to leave heaven and live on earth!

2. He associated himself primarily with the working class, the socially marginalized, and even the outcasts. He certainly didn‘t receive the royal treatment when he got here.

3. He focused ministry on the receptive needy, not the affluent indifferent. Jesus seemed to focus his ministry on those people who didn‘t have the capacity to reciprocate. What a difference between the groups of people Jesus targeted for ministry and the people most church planters target for establishing new churches.

The point I am making here is that Jesus sets the example for us emptying ourselves, crossing social barriers and loving the unlovely. This example runs 180 degrees opposite to our human nature.

Sociologists have a term called the ―homogeneity principle.‖ In a nutshell, it says that human beings like to hang out with other people just like them. The statistic is that you can go to any group of humans on the globe (e.g., a volunteer fire company, a local church, a bar, a neighborhood, a health club) and you will find that 80% of the people in the group are just like each other in three categories: their level of education, their level of income, and their ethnicity. 10% of the people in that group will be lower than the rest, and 10% will be higher than the rest. What this tells us about human nature is that we like to be with other people who are just like us!

But the example Jesus sets for us compels us to do things that are contrary to human leanings, and history is full of examples. If you‘d like to do an interesting study, look into the life of Father Damien, a catholic priest who ministered to the lepers of Hawaii. He ended up contracting the dreaded disease and eventually died as a result of his leprosy. But his Christianity compelled him to love the unlovely. Think of the Moravian men who sold themselves into slavery so they could be shipped to the islands to work on the sugar cane plantations, and minister to the slaves there.

There is a movie currently out called Of Gods and Men, and it is a great illustration of this point. It is the true story of a group of monks living in a monastery in Islamic Algeria during the 1990‘s when there was a bloody civil war. They have to decide if they want to leave or stay with their community when that community comes under threat by militant Islamic terrorists. They stay, because that is what followers of Christ do. When the mayor of the village offers to station government troops at the monastery for their protection, they decline the offer, and sure enough, seven of them get kidnapped by the terrorists, and they are found two months later, beheaded. Sometimes that is where following the example of Jesus will lead you. It‘s certainly where Jesus ended up.

I think of all the orphanages that were established by Christians meeting practical needs of society. Think of all the hospitals that were founded for the same purpose. Think of the social programs churches used to run that provided food, shelter, education, and clothing for the destitute. It all has to do with following the example Jesus set of ministering to the needy. And when the church relinquished its responsibility in these areas and gave them to the government, poverty exploded, the cost of health care exploded, and the cost of social services exploded, and the cost of adoptions exploded. What is the connection?

The connection is that when the motive for each of these changed from selfless ministry in the name of Christ to revenue producing enterprises, the cost of these activities exploded. It shouldn‘t cost $20,000.00 to adopt a baby from Russia, but why does it? Because adoption agencies aren‘t serving Christ, they are generating revenue. It shouldn‘t cost $24,000.00 for an appendectomy, but it does. Why? Because hospitals aren‘t in the business of Christian, physical compassion anymore, they have boards of directors to answer to and have to show a profit. It shouldn‘t cost $99 billion to take care of poverty in America, but it does. Why? Because welfare is big business.

Are you starting to see the difference Christ makes in practical ways? Jesus set the standard when he left his place of comfort and went to a place of deprivation, when he associated himself with the socially ostracized, and when he focused ministry on the needy who couldn‘t minister back to him. And there are times when Jesus calls on us to follow Him in this manner. So I‘d like Shaun to come up at this time and share with us his testimony of where he spent last weekend, because it is a perfect illustration of being obedient to the call of Jesus.

I want to end our study about loving the unlovely with a powerful passage in Luke 6. It is found in verses 31 – 35.

31 "And just as you want people to treat you, treat them in the same way. 32 "And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.33 "And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 "And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, in order to receive back the same amount. 35 "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

Do you see the difference between ministering to those who have the capacity to reciprocate, and ministry to those who can‘t reciprocate? Ministry to those who can minister back isn‘t wrong, it‘s legitimate ministry. But that isn‘t what distinguishes a follower of Christ – even unsaved people do that. What makes us stand out is our willingness to

 love the unlovely,

 do good to the ungrateful, and

 lend without any expectation of return.

The promise of Jesus is that if we will do that, our reward will be great, we will be demonstrating that we are sons of God, and we will be truly following the example of Jesus.

Footnotes:

1 http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/dharmadata/fdd53.htm

2 A measure of Islamic fundamentalists‘ success in controlling society is the depth and totality with which they suppress the freedom and rights of women. In Iran for 25 years, the ruling mullahs have enforced humiliating and sadistic rules and punishments on women and girls, enslaving them in a gender apartheid system of segregation, forced veiling, second-class status, lashing, and stoning to death. Joining a global trend, the fundamentalists have added another way to dehumanize women and girls: buying and selling them for prostitution. Exact numbers of victims are impossible to obtain, but according to an official source in Tehran, there has been a 635 percent increase in the number of teenage girls in prostitution. The magnitude of this statistic conveys how rapidly this form of abuse has grown. In Tehran, there are an estimated 84,000 women and girls in prostitution, many of them are on the streets, others are in the 250 brothels that reportedly operate in the city. The trade is also international: thousands of Iranian women and girls have been sold into sexual slavery abroad. The head of Iran‘s Interpol bureau believes that the sex slave trade is one of the most profitable activities in Iran today. This criminal trade is not conducted outside the knowledge and participation of the ruling fundamentalists. Government officials themselves are involved in buying, selling, and sexually abusing women and girls. http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/iran_sex_slave_trade

3 Tragically, Muslims are still enslaving blacks today in Africa. African-American economist Dr Walter Williams of George Mason University writes in Black Slavery is Alive in 2001:‗Slavery in the Sudan is in part a result of a 15-year war by the Muslim north against the black Christian and animist south. Arab militias, armed by the Khartoum government, raid villages, mostly those of the Dinka tribe. They shoot the men and enslave the women and children. Women and children are kept as personal property or they‘re taken north and auctioned off. http://creation.com/anti-slavery-activist-william-wilberforce-christian-hero

4 http://creation.com/anti-slavery-activist-william-wilberforce-christian-hero

Clean and Unclean - Part Two

2011-04-16T18:14:00.001-07:00

Studies in Leviticus
Clean and Unclean – Part 2
Lev. 11 - 15

I‟d like you to turn in your Bible this morning to Lev. 11:44. Two weeks ago we were in Lev. 11 – 15, and we started to consider the concepts of “clean” and “unclean” in the life of Israel. We saw that things that were “clean” were acceptable to God, and the things that were “unclean” were unacceptable to God. It really is a very simple concept. Sometimes you had control over being clean or unclean, and sometimes you didn‟t. These five chapters deal with food, skin disease, bodily discharges, mildew, and procreation. We ended our survey of these chapters here in Lev. 11:44 where I shared with you God’s rationale and Israel’s response. The thinking behind these guidelines, stated generally, is that the God who created the nation of Israel and delivered them from bondage in Egypt had the unequivocal right to regulate their lives as He saw fit. When you are the creator and deliverer, that is your prerogative! We see this in the phrase, “For I am the Lord your God.” The response on the part of Israel is seen in the next phrase, “Consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am holy.” They were to separate themselves from their surroundings (the concept behind “consecration”) so they could be in fellowship with God.

This concept of separation from our surroundings lies at the heart of our memory passage, so let‟s say it again before we start to make some practical application from these five chapters.

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”

What I want to do this morning is go a little further and show you that there is more going on here than God simply doing whatever He wants to with His people. There is more here than some autocrat exercising the whims of his power. So let me give you four secondary purposes behind the laws of the clean and the unclean.

1. God was building a barrier between His people and the surrounding cultures.

As I mentioned several weeks ago, if a person practiced these stipulations rigorously, it would be impossible for him to have any significant level of relationship with the surrounding nations. Why?

A. Because of the very limited diet. The nations around Israel did not have such a structured diet, so an Israelite was running the risk of contaminating himself any time he accepted an invitation to have a meal with someone of the surrounding nations. Take for instance the coney, or rock badger. It was a delicacy in that part of the world, and could easily be a meat the Canaanites would serve if they were having a guest over for a meal. But the Israelites couldn‟t eat them. Their limited diet served as a barrier between them and their surrounding cultures.

B. Because their cleanliness could so easily be compromised. Any time an Israelite touched something that had been touched by something unclean, he himself became unclean. Remember the point I made about how uncleanliness could be spread to inanimate objects as well as other people. If you had an open sore on your body and were under observation by the priest, if you sat on a stool, that stool became unclean. And if someone in your family came along and sat on that stool, he himself became unclean for the rest of the day. So the chances are very high that if you visited the home of your Canaanite neighbor or spent time shopping in their marketplace, you would become unclean.

C. Because of the public nature of being unclean. When you were unclean, basically everybody around you knew it. It was hard to keep it a secret. You were forbidden from tabernacle activities. In some cases you had to verbally announce your uncleanness. In some cases you were physically separated from the entire nation for observation. If you were sensitive to those around you were very cautious not to spread your state of being unclean. Do you see how this point would restrict your contact with the nations around you?

So the first thing God was doing with these guidelines was creating a barrier between His people and the surrounding nations. The next thing God was doing, which is very significant, maybe even the most significant, is that He was demonstrating the impossibility of holiness through human effort.

2. God was demonstrating the impossibility of holiness through human effort.

Probably the most startling dimension of this concept of cleanliness is the reality that the people of Israel were incapable of maintaining lasting fellowship with God. Look with me at 14:33 where we see a very interesting verse that illustrates this. “The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, „When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, „There seems to me to be some case of disease in my house.‟” Did you catch the significance of that? It was possible for you to be doing everything you were supposed to to maintain fellowship with God, and then bam! Here‟s mildew in the house, everything in the house is unclean, and because I have touched it, now I‟m unclean. And my separation from God is not because of something I have done, it is because God has put a case of the leprous disease in my house.

Last week I shared with you that normal, bodily functions made you unclean. In certain instances, obedience to God‟s expectations made you unclean. I want us to appreciate the reality of this situation because if you disobey, you are separated from God, and if you obey, you are separated as well. What‟s the deal with that? God was sending a very powerful message, and then illustrating it physically, that holiness by human effort is impossible. The nation of Israel couldn‟t do it 4,000 years ago no matter how hard they tried, and we can‟t do it today either!

So we see that God is doing some very important things with these rules for cleanliness and uncleanliness. He is building a barrier between His people and the cultures around them, and He was showing them that holiness through human effort was impossible. The third thing I want to show you this morning is that God was instilling in his people a profound reverence for human life.

3. God was instilling in His people a profound reverence for human life.

I‟ve spent quite a bit of time over the last month meditating on Lev. 12 which deals with childbirth, and Lev. 15, which in part deals with procreation. As I expressed several weeks ago, I was struggling with why something that was created by God, and ordained by God as holy, and blessed by God - would put you into a state of dis-fellowship with God. The immediate answer that came to me I shared with you – conception and birth brings another sinner into the world. So I understood the childbirth part, but what about the other parts in chapter 15 that deal with male emissions and female cycles and the consequences of marital intimacy?

To understand what is going on here, we need to contrast the culture of Lev. 15 with the culture of the evangelical church. From our perspective, marital intimacy is viewed primarily from the perspective of pleasure. It is a God ordained activity that is the pinnacle of the human sensory experience, and we need to appreciate that God created us this way deliberately. He could have created us in such a way that the female of the species went into estrus, and the male of the species could sense that. But we aren‟t animals, God created us differently, and we are right to perceive this as God‟s gracious gift to us as humans. But what we evangelicals have lost, though, is the procreative potential that accompanies that intimacy. By embracing the concept of contraception, we have inadvertently downplayed the primary purpose of our sexuality. We like the idea of conception, but only on our terms! In other words, if the mother‟s health is conducive to it, or if the house is large enough, or if the family income is sufficient, or if the father has health insurance, or if we don‟t already have several children – then we like the idea of conception.

Contrast that perspective with Lev. 15. In Israel‟s culture, every single dimension of conception, both male and female, both married and single, was marked by one day of being unclean! Why? Because it is a God thing. Every single month, each woman of childbearing age spent a week reflecting on God‟s role in conception. Every time a husband and wife were intimate, they both spent a day contemplating the spiritual dimension of conception. It was impossible in Israel‟s culture to separate marital intimacy from the potential for human life. This is why Judaism as a culture has a profound respect for life, as these statistics show. In the US,

 Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions,

 Catholic women account for 31.3%,

 Women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7%,

 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as "Born-again/Evangelical," and

 Jewish women account for 1.3% of all abortions.

This is why I say that the rules of clean and unclean created in Israel a profound reverence for human life.

The final thing I want to show you about these rules guiding what is clean and unclean I am saving for last on purpose, because it really is the least significant of these four points. And that is that God was protecting the physical well-being of His people.

4. God was protecting the physical well-being of His people.

As you read these chapters, you can‟t help but notice that something in the physical realm was taking place. What kind of animals were they prohibited from eating? Generally speaking, bottom feeding, scavenging, and predatory animals. In other words, those animals who were at risk for disease because of their own diets. And if you eat a diseased animal, guess who gets that disease?

We see more of this practical dimension in that infectious skin diseases were very closely regulated or even quarantined. Why? Because of how easily they can spread throughout the family and even an entire community. The same is true for how mildew or mold was to be treated. In addition, it makes sense not to touch dead animals because of the possibility of contracting disease yourself. So its easy to see that God had built into His nation some basic rules for the prevention and containment of disease.

But I mention this last because I want you to see it in its proper perspective. I think it is very unfortunate that some people come to these chapters and all they see is this last point. Or maybe they see a little more, but they hold this last point up as being the focal point of the entire passage. How do we know that this point is the least significant of the four? Because Jesus himself rescinded it! Out of these four points, three are still in effect today. God still wants a barrier between His people and the world. God still wants us to realize that holiness by human effort is impossible. God still wants his people to have a profound respect for human life. But when it comes to mildew in my closet, or my wife not being able to go to church for 40 days after the birth of a child, or picking up a dead cat and burying it, or eating bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed jalapenos – those things don‟t separate me from God like they used to.

I want to remind you of one of the first messages I brought from this book of Leviticus. I shared with you that one of the dangers of the book was to focus on the particulars and miss the big picture. Do you remember the illustration of the huge picture window that looks out over the ocean and the person standing there was preoccupied with the woodwork around it? This warning is especially true for these laws of the clean and unclean.

I want us to close by looking at 1 Peter 2:9. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Can you appreciate this morning that you are holy, not because of your human effort to maintain your holiness but because God has declared you as such (Jn. 15:3). What the Israelite struggled for his entire lifetime, you obtained with a single declarative statement on God‟s part. And it is all because of Jesus.

Prayer: Father, thank you for Jesus. Where would we be with Him? We‟d be locked in a depressing, endless cycle of trying to maintain our own holiness. Thank you for your Son who made it possible for us to be in fellowship with You in this lifetime as well as the next. Amen.

Clean and Unclean - Part One

2011-04-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

Studies in Leviticus
Clean and Unclean
Lev. 11 - 15

This morning we are going to be looking at five chapters in our study of Leviticus. We don‟t normally cover this much material in a single service, but as you read these chapters you see that they are somewhat repetitive. They aren‟t as bad as a genealogy (actually, they are somewhat intriguing), but they do seem to go on and on about a topic that doesn‟t have a whole lot of immediate relevance to us today. In fact, the specifics of these chapters are unique in that they were abrogated by Christ and the New Covenant. But it would be a great mistake not to address them because we are going to see that there is a timeless principle being taught in them. So while the specifics may not apply to us, the overall teaching is critical to our maintaining fellowship with God and a testimony in the world. But before we go any further, let‟s say our memory project together.

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”

As we follow the flow of the book of Leviticus, God starts by establishing a means by which his people could draw near to Him. It was the sacrificial system (chs. 1-7), and it was designed to bridge the fellowship gap. God was holy and the people weren‟t, so if there were going to be any kind of relationship between them, something had to be done. The sacrifices erased the estrangement between the two parties. Then God established the priesthood (chs. 8-9), which was designed to bridge the communication gap. The High Priest was God‟s spokesman to the nation. The people looked to him for guidance and instruction, so God communed with the High Priest who communicated God‟s words to God‟s people.

Last week we saw a tragic failure in chapter 10 where two of the newly ordained priests lost their lives because they treated God as common and lightweight. God is holy, not common; and He is to be honored, not taken lightly. And when Nadab and Abihu diminished God‟s holiness and honor, fire came out from the presence of the Lord and slew them. That was a powerful, vivid object lesson to the entire nation concerning the holiness of God.

This brings us up to where we are today, and the issue that God is dealing with from Lev. 11 through 15 is the concept of “clean” versus “unclean.” This is something that might be foreign to us as followers of Christ living under the guidelines of the New Covenant, but this matter of clean and unclean comprised a significant dimension of the Old Covenant.

What is the concept behind the clean and unclean? The simplest explanation I have come across is the note in the MacArthur Study Bible which says, “God used the tangible issues of life which He labeled clean or unclean to repeatedly impress upon Israel the difference between what was holy and unholy. “Clean” means acceptable to God, “unclean” means unacceptable to God.” And when a person violated these guidelines, he himself became “unclean.”

When a person was in this state of uncleanness, several things happened. Let‟s say for example that a husband and wife are intimate one night. That made them both unclean. The man was unclean because of his seminal discharge, and his wife is unclean because it touched her. Here is what happened. First of all, they were barred from the Tabernacle. The person who had violated God‟s laws of cleanliness was physically estranged from God and all things holy. Secondly, the clothes they were wearing became unclean. The furniture they touched became unclean. In other words, the uncleanness was spreadable. If an unclean person spit on a clean person, that person became unclean as well! And finally, they had to go through a special ritual to remove the “uncleanness.” In this case, they could bathe and at the end of the day, and everything was back to normal.

What God is doing with these guidelines about things clean and unclean is showing his people the effects of violating God‟s standards. It doesn‟t matter if the violation of the standard occurred 5000 years ago in Israel or this morning in East Durham, NY, when we violate the standard, we are estranged from God. And what‟s more, our actions and the consequences of those actions spread. They aren‟t limited to the perpetrator alone. And finally, reconciliation is possible when we follow the protocol God has established to deal with the violation.

So with that little introduction to clean and unclean, let‟s move quickly over these five chapters.

Chapter 11 deals with clean and unclean animals, fish, insects, and birds. Let‟s read the first 8 verses which will give you a sense of the entire five chapters. “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 "Say to the Israelites: 'Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: 3 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud. 4 " 'There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. 5 The coney [other versions call this the “rock hydrax” or the “rock badger” – a rodent that was a delicacy in that part of the world], though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. 6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. 7 And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, dos not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. 8 You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses [in other words, touching a live rabbit did not make you unclean]; they are unclean for you.” I think you get the idea. Certain animals were on the list, and other animals weren‟t.

God then deals with clean and unclean fish starting in verse 9. Generally speaking, bottom dwelling, scavenging fish and seafood were unclean. Clean and unclean birds are described starting in verse 13, and the list seems to focus on predatory and scavenging birds. Note that in verse 19 the bat is mentioned. Something to keep in mind is that God is communicating to His people in general terms, not biologically technical ones. We all know that bats are mammals and not birds, but they fly through the air with wings and have the bodily shape of a bird. So God included bats in the bird category. Starting in verse 20, God starts the list of clean and unclean insects. So that is chapter 11.

Chapter 12 deals with childbirth. In a nutshell, if a woman gave birth to a male child, she was unclean for 40 days, and if she gave birth to a female child, she was unclean for 80 days. During these days, verse 4 tells us “She must not touch anything sacred [any animals being raised for a sacrifice] or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over.” According to verse 6, “When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. 7 He shall offer them before the LORD to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood.”
This chapter has sparked quite a bit of discussion for two reasons. First of all, childbirth is a divine mandate (Gen. 1:22 – “be fruitful and multiply”), not to mention that it is actually God who opens and closes the womb (Ps. 127:3 – “the fruit of the womb is His reward”). Since conception is an act of obedience and God is responsible for allowing it, why did that act of obedience make a woman unclean, and why did it require a blood sacrifice for restoration to a state of cleanness? That is the first area of controversy.

The second issue of controversy is the time inequity. Why was she unclean for only 40 days for a baby boy, but twice that for a baby girl? Most likely, this inequity served as a reminder that it was through woman that sin entered the world. Paul alludes to this in 1 Tim. 2:14 when he says that it wasn‟t Adam that was deceived, but Eve. We are going to elaborate on this a little later, but for now just understand that in Israel, every time a new sinner was introduced into the world through childbirth, there was a 40 or 80 day period of reflection on the significance of what had just happened.

Chapters 13 and 14 address various skin diseases, mildew or mold, and the purification rites for becoming clean again. In 13:1 we read, “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 "When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a bright spot on his skin that may become an infectious skin disease [some of you may have a version that translates this word as “leprous sore” or even “leprosy.” The NIV translates it as “infectious skin disease” because from the description we see in these chapters, this condition is not leprosy as we know it today. This condition involved things like boils (vv. 18-28), shingles, psoriasis, ringworm, etc.], he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest. 3 The priest is to examine the sore on his skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is an infectious skin disease. When the priest examines him, he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean. 4 If the spot on his skin is white but does not appear to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to put the infected person in isolation for seven days. 5 On the seventh day the priest is to examine him, and if he sees that the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, he is to keep him in isolation another seven days. 6 On the seventh day the priest is to examine him again, and if the sore has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a rash. The man must wash his clothes, and he will be clean.”

Starting in verse 47 there are guidelines for how to handle clothing that has been infected with the germs of the disease, and in chapter 14 verse 33 you have a discussion of how to handle things if you have an outbreak of mildew or mold in your house.

Chapter 15 addresses bodily discharges, both male and female. When you read this chapter, what you see is that there are two general categories of discharge; normal and abnormal. There are secretions that are the result of disease and there are secretions that are the result of simply being human. For a man, his normal discharge is nocturnal emissions and intercourse. The abnormal male discharge in this chapter is some kind of genital disease. We don‟t for certain what it was, but many scholars believe it to be gonorrhea. For a woman, the normal discharge involved her menstrual cycle, and the abnormal discharge involved some kind of genital hemorrhage.

So starting in verse 4 we see that “Every bed on which the person with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean. 5 'Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening; 6 and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.” While this is specifically directed to the man with a discharge, the stipulations are basically the same for the woman.

So there you have the overview of the five chapters. But what does this mean for us today? To answer this, I want us to go back to chapter 11 and look at verse 44 where we see two things. In this verse we get first of all a glimpse into the mind of God concerning the rationale behind these rules for cleanliness and uncleanness. The second thing we see is a response on our part. And understand that even though the specific context of this verse concerns clean and unclean animals, the overarching principle applies to all the categories.'For [this is a critical word – it is alerting us to God‟s reasoning, it is a summary statement] I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy.

The rationale in this verse is, “I am the Lord your God.” This tells us that God has an unequivocal right to regulate the behavior of his people. As a father, from time to time I used the phrase, “because I said so.” That is the essence of this phrase, “I am the Lord your God.” The response is: “consecrate [separate – cf. Bill‟s scripture reading this morning] yourselves therefore, and be holy.” This tells us that Israel had a solemn responsibility to distinguish themselves from their surroundings. It was difficult if not impossible for the Israelites to develop any level of relationship with their neighboring nations when they followed the rules of clean and unclean. These two ideas of God‟s right to regulate Israel‟s behavior and Israel‟s responsibility to separate itself from its surroundings lies at the heart of these five chapters.

And when you think about it, this isn‟t the first time we‟ve seen this concept, is it? It sounds familiar because it is also at the heart of our memory passage. “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God [rationale]. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived [responsibility], nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you [responsibility]; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes [rationale], to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God [He ends with a reiteration of the rationale]‟”.

Next week we are going to tie up some loose ends and look at a series of practical applications we can make from these chapters.

A Priestly Failure

2011-04-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

Studies in Leviticus
Nadab and Abihu – Priestly Failure
Lev. 10

This morning we are going to be in Leviticus chapter 10 where we see an example of priestly failure. Last week we were in chapters 8 and 9 where we saw God institute the priesthood. Once the sacrificial system was in place and the people could draw near to God, it was then necessary to establish a communication link – which is what the priesthood accomplished. The High Priest served as God‟s mouthpiece, he conveyed the will of God to the people of God, but almost immediately there was this tragic failure and Aaron‟s two oldest sons lost their lives because of it. This was a huge blow, not only to Aaron personally but also to the entire nation of Israel, and there are many lessons we can learn from this sad story.

Before we get into the passage though, let‟s review our memory passage.
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”

In the passage Bill read this morning from the book of Hebrews, we saw a principle that doesn‟t get a whole lot of exposure in Christendom today, and that is the truth that our God is a holy God who deals strongly with willful sin. It really is true that “it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” I don‟t think Bill read verses 26 and 27 of the chapter, but those verses say, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.”

When is the last time you heard a sermon from this verse? Well, this principle literally came true in Leviticus 10, and what I want to share with you this morning is the danger of diminishing a holy God. Why is that a dangerous thing to do? Because of the personal consequences, the familial consequences, and the community consequences. What we are going to see in this chapter is that when we fail to honor the holiness of God, a series of concentric circles emanate from us that affect those we love most. Let‟s start reading in verse one.

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.

The burning of incense was one of the more mundane jobs of the priesthood. It involved taking your firepan, going to the altar where the offerings were burned, taking some tongs and picking out some coals, and then sprinkling incense on them which would smolder and create the smoke and pleasant smell that is associated with incense.

This is what Nadab and Abihu did, but God called it “strange fire.” What is this “strange fire” that they offered? Some translations render this word “unauthorized fire.” Whatever it was, it was not done according to the directions God had laid out for the priests, as seen in the last phrase, “which He had not commanded.” God‟s word doesn‟t tell us the specifics of the disobedience. Was it offered at the wrong time? Did they take the coals from the wrong altar? Did they use incense other than the specific kind God had mandated? We don‟t know. All we know is that it was contrary to God‟s directions and therefore not recognized by God as being legitimate. It was “strange fire.”

In verse two we see the personal consequences of their actions.

2 And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

One of the truths I have come to be aware of is that in the church, imbalance is a greater threat to us than unorthodoxy. In other words, Satan causes more damage in our ranks through imbalance than through bad doctrine. Nobody here this morning is probably ever going to struggle with whether or not Jesus is the virgin born Son of God. But we will struggle with how much of our lives do we give to pursuing the Kingdom of God and how much of our lives do we give to pursuing our own agendas.

This phenomenon of dangerous imbalance is really seen in this matter of how we perceive God, because we know on the one hand that God is a loving, heavenly father. He is amazingly patient, and He has our best interest at heart, and longs for us as seen in the story of the prodigal son. But that is only half the story. God is also a holy and just God who has a hatred of sin that is beyond our understanding. I think we can legitimately say that our God is both a loving and a dangerous God!
And when we fail to keep both of these truths in balance, we get into trouble very quickly. That is the lesson that Nadab and Abihu learned. This is also the lesson that Ananias and Sapphira learned when they lied to the Holy Spirit about the price of a piece of land they sold, in Acts 5. This is also the lesson King Herod learned in Acts 12 when he accepted for himself the glory that was due to God. Yes, God is a patient and loving God, but that is only half the equation – he is also a God who will not tolerate willful defiance.

So here is where we see the personal consequences of diminishing the holiness of God. Nadab and Abihu thought they could serve as priests in the way they thought best. They found out differently.

3 Then Moses said to Aaron [understand that this is a man who has just seen two of his sons killed!], "It is what the LORD spoke, saying, 'By those who come near Me [the priesthood] I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored.'" So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

This verse shows us the crux of the issue. What was it that Nadab and Abihu did that was so offensive to God? Think about it. They were serving God. They were wearing their priestly robes. They were performing a priestly duty. They were in God‟s tabernacle. What else could God want? Thanks for asking, because God wants two things. Number 1), God does not want to be treated as common, and number 2) God does not want to be taken lightly. Let me repeat that. Number 1), God does not want to be treated as common, and number 2) God does not want to be taken lightly. We see these two truths in the two words “holy” and “honored.” God‟s expectations are, “I will be treated as holy,” and “I will be honored.”

The word “holy” carries the idea of being separated from the common, and the word “honored” carries the idea of being weighty. The God of the universe is not to be treated as familiar, nor are His instructions to be understood as suggestions. To do so takes God from His throne and place Him down on the pavement where we are, and Nadab and Abihu‟s failure lay in their diminishing of God.

4 Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp." 5 So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said.

Here we see the waves of consequence starting to spread from the offenders to their family. Remember why it is dangerous to diminish the holiness of God: because of the personal consequences, the familial consequences, and the community consequences. And so here we have two of Nadab and Abihu‟s cousins carrying their dead cousins away from the tabernacle, through the encampment, and to a place outside the camp. They carried them by grasping their garments so they wouldn‟t be defiled by a dead body, and I would imagine that this scene was seared into the memory of the entire priesthood. It was a vivid object lesson concerning the holiness of God.

Something interesting we see here is the divine nature of the discipline. In verse two we see that “fire” came out from the presence of God and killed them, but interestingly enough, the fire did not consume their garments. Nobody looking on could say that this was a tragic accident and that the fire in the firepans got out of control and killed them. Had that been the case, their clothing would have been burnt – but it wasn‟t. This was a case of divine judgment for diminishing a holy God.

6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you may not die, and that He may not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the LORD has brought about. 7 "You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, lest you die; for the LORD's anointing oil is upon you." So they did according to the word of Moses.

This verse shows us more of the familial consequences of Nadab and Abihu‟s sin – Aaron and his two remaining sons were forbidden from showing the traditional signs of grief. They weren‟t even allowed to accompany the bodies to the burial. And right off the bat, Aaron and his sons have to demonstrate whether or not they are going to treat God as common and light, or holy and honored. When God says, “Don‟t uncover your head or tear your clothes or leave the tabernacle,” He means precisely that. No exceptions. No extenuating circumstances. No going with the “spirit of the law.” No “But God, these are my sons!” The High Priest and his two sons had to show that they understood God‟s unequivocal right to dictate even how they expressed their personal grief.

Now when we get to verse 8 we see something interesting. Out of the entire passage it gives us some clue as to what was going on in Nadab and Abihu‟s mind when they offered strange fire. We know what they did, but a deeper question is why? What was going through their minds when they offered the strange fire?

8 The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 "Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you may not die-- it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations-- 10 and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses."

To be perfectly blunt, Nadab and Abihu were probably drunk when they did this. Why else would God interject this prohibition, and give it the status of a perpetual statute, at this time? We see further proof for this idea in verse 10 where God says that the rationale for not drinking strong drink when you come into the tent of meeting was so you could make distinctions between the holy and profane, between the clean and the unclean. When you are inebriated, what is one of the things you lose? Your ability to make distinctions between wise and foolish actions.

I heard about a drunk cowboy who went out into the street, stripped naked, ran to the edge of town and jumped in a bed of cacti. He sobered up real quickly. And when the doctor asked him why he did it, he said, “Well, at the time it seemed like a good idea.” That is what drunkenness does to you – it hurts your ability to make distinctions between good and bad ideas. And if there is anything a priest needs, it is that ability! Verse 11 is a sober reminder of the critical role the priesthood held in the nation of Israel – they taught the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord had spoken through Moses.

Now from verse 12 through verse 20, we have an account of the sacrificial meal that Aaron and his sons and family were supposed to eat. Understand that this probably happened on the day of the tragedy.

12 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, "Take the grain offering that is left over from the LORD's offerings by fire and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13 "You shall eat it, moreover, in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons' due out of the LORD's offerings by fire; for thus I have been commanded. 14 "The breast of the wave offering, however, and the thigh of the offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you; for they have been given as your due and your sons' due out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the sons of Israel. 15 "The thigh offered by lifting up and the breast offered by waving, they shall bring along with the offerings by fire of the portions of fat, to present as a wave offering before the LORD; so it shall be a thing perpetually due you and your sons with you, just as the LORD has commanded." 16 But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up! So he was angry with Aaron's surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, 17 "Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD. 18 "Behold, since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded." 19 But Aaron spoke to Moses, "Behold, this very day they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD. When things like these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of the LORD?" 20 And when Moses heard that, it seemed good in his sight.

In a nutshell, Aaron and his family were in too much grief to eat this sacrificial meal that was the privilege of the priesthood. Instead, they burned the entire animal and didn‟t keep back any of it for themselves, which was probably not a wise idea since it was contrary to God‟s expectations! This is why v. 16 tells us that Moses was so angry – he had just seen two of his relatives lose their lives for disobedience, and now Aaron and his family were running the same risk. But Aaron‟s explanation in verse 19 was that there was no way their family could have enjoyed a feast on the day of the tragedy, so in verse 20 Moses accepts his explanation.

What does all this mean for you and me today? First of all, it means that God means what He says and says what He means. And when we minimize or marginalize Him, we do so at great personal risk. Secondly, it means that our God is not the caricature we see Him so often portrayed as in our culture. He is not “the big man upstairs.” He is not a doting, forgetful grandfather. He is not your best buddy. He is a holy God and when we diminish Him in any way, the consequences are very severe.

The Priestly System

2011-04-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

Studies in Leviticus
The Priestly System – The Mediators Between Man and God
Lev. 8 & 9

This morning we are in Lev. 8 and 9, and we are going to move into the next section of Leviticus, the directions concerning the priesthood. If you kept your outline of the book, we are still in the general section of “How to obtain fellowship with God,” but we are now going from “how to draw near to God” to “the mediators between God and man.” It was the sacrificial system that removed the barriers, or estrangement between a holy God and sinful people; but now the communication issue had to be dealt with. And it was the priesthood that established a medium of direct conversation between God and the nation of Israel.

These are two very important words I want us to think about for a moment, reconciliation and mediation. The focal point of reconciliation is estrangement, and the focal point of mediation is communication. Reconciliation involves an act that reduces tension, hostility, and animosity; mediation involves a person who bridges the communication barrier. And what we are seeing in the book of Leviticus in this first section is that between the sacrifices and the priesthood, both of these issues are addressed. The sacrificial system erased estrangement, and the priestly system established direct communication with God.

I want us to take a minute and try to appreciate the significance of this event. Up to this point in the history of man, if God wanted to communicate with mankind, He did it in four basic ways. First of all, there was personal visitation, as in the case of Adam and Eve in the garden, and Moses at Mt. Sinai. Secondly, there were angelic messengers, as in the case of Lot leaving Sodom or Abraham being told of the birth of Isaac. Third, there were supernatural phenomena,as in the burning bush incident with Moses in the desert, and finally, there was dreams, as in the case of Joseph when God told him he was going to rule over his brothers.

All of that is changing right now. God is broadening his “audience” as it were, and now He is going to communicate with an entire nation as opposed to individuals only. And the instrument He is going to use is the high priest and his helpers, the rest of the priesthood. Keep in mind though that God‟s audience is still relatively small – it is the nation of Israel only. That dimension doesn‟t change until the ministry of Jesus.

To really get an idea of the significance of the priesthood, I want us to go to chapter 2 of the book of Malachi. In the first nine verses, God is rebuking the existing priesthood for their dereliction of duty, but I want us to read this passage because it shows us what God had in mind when He established the priesthood. These verses contain the job description of Aaron and his sons.

"And now, this commandment is for you, O priests. 2 "If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name," says the LORD of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart [in other words, the priesthood of Malachi’s day was not living up to God’s expectations]. 3 "Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts [this is a reference to a public and vile humiliation – remember the specific instructions for how to deal with the intestines and the careful washings]; and you will be taken away with it [a reference to carrying the parts of the offering to a place outside the camp and burning them]. 4 "Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi [the tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe that Aaron came from]," says the LORD of hosts. 5 "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me, and stood in awe of My name. [Starting in verse 6 we get to God’s intent for the events of Lev. 8 and 9] 6 "True instruction was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. 7 "For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. [Do you see the concept of communication here? God is now communicating to mankind through an intermediary – the priests] 8 "But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi," says the LORD of hosts. 9 "So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways, but are showing partiality in the instruction.

So understand that the priesthood was huge. For the first time in the history of humanity, there was not only regular communication between God and man (v. 7 – “he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts”), but also a mediator between God and man (v. 6 – “he walked with me in peace and uprightness”). I don‟t know if we can fully appreciate this because today, every follower of Christ is a “priest.” Collectively, we comprise “a royal priesthood” and “a holy nation” according to 1 Pt. 2:9. But what is commonplace and normal to us was highly significant 6,000 years ago, and chapters 8 and 9 of Leviticus record for us the ceremony where God officially inaugurates this new era of communication. It would be similar to the swearing in ceremony our nation has every four years in January after a new president has been elected.

The way I want to cover these two chapters is to go through them with a highlighter and just point out some specifics, and then we will close with three specific points of application that answer the question, “what does all this stuff mean for me today?” I want this to be more than a history lesson!

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Take Aaron [remember that Aaron is Moses’ brother] and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread; 3 and assemble all the congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting." 4 So Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.
Sin offering
Burnt offering
Peace offering
Everything being done in view of the entire nation

When the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting, 5 Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded to do.” 6 Then Moses had Aaron and his sons come near, and washed them with water. 7 And he put the tunic on him and girded him with the sash, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him; and he girded him with the artistic band of the ephod, with which he tied it to him. 8 He then placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. 9 He also placed the turban on his head, and on the turban, at its front, he placed the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Aaron‟s clothing set him apart from the rest of the priesthood as the High Priest
Any good Bible dictionary will show you pictures of what he looked like
Note the reference to the Urim and Thummim in v. 8 – not sure what they were, but they must have been some small items that performed the function of “lots” or some way to discern God‟s will. We see it referred to in Ex. 28:29-30. "Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the LORD. Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.”

Cf. Prov. 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”
We see an example of this in action in 1 Sam. 14:40-42. So he said to all Israel, "Stand on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will stand on the other." The people responded, "Do what you think best." 41 And Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel: "Why did you not answer your servant this time? If the blame for this resides in me or my son Jonathan, LORD, God of Israel, respond with Urim; but if this guilt is in your people Israel, respond with Thummim." Jonathan and Saul were designated, and the people went free. 42 Saul then said, "Cast lots between me and my son Jonathan." And Jonathan was designated.

10 Moses then took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. 11 And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. 12 Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him, to consecrate him.

These were all symbolic acts designed to “consecrate” them, or “set them apart”
The root word is our word for “holy”

13 Next Moses had Aaron's sons come near and clothed them with tunics, and girded them with sashes, and bound caps on them, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Their outfits weren‟t as elaborate as Aaron‟s, but they were distinctive enough to visually mark them as priests

14 Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15 Next Moses slaughtered it and took the blood and with his finger put some of it around on the horns of the altar, and purified the altar. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, to make atonement for it. 16 He also took all the fat that was on the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat; and Moses offered it up in smoke on the altar. 17 But the bull and its hide and its flesh and its refuse, he burned in the fire outside the camp, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

When they laid their hands on this bull, they were transferring their sinfulness to the bull, and then the bull was killed
The sin offering symbolized substitutionary atonement, accomplished forgiveness, part was burned outside the camp, and it covered sins where reparation was impossible

18 Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19 And Moses slaughtered it and sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 20 When he had cut the ram into its pieces, Moses offered up the head and the pieces and the suet in smoke. 21 After he had washed the entrails and the legs with water, Moses offered up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.

23 And Moses slaughtered it and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 He also had Aaron's sons come near; and Moses put some of the blood on the lobe of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot. Moses then sprinkled the rest of the blood around on the altar. 25 And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the entrails, and the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and their fat and the right thigh. And from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer, and placed them on the portions of fat and on the right thigh. 27 He then put all these on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons, and presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. 28 Then Moses took them from their hands and offered them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the LORD.

The first ram was a burnt offering – a voluntary offering symbolizing total consecration
The second ram is referred to as “the ram of ordination” or “installation.” According to v. 31, part of this ram was eaten, which means it would be a “peace offering.” Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, "Boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, saying, 'Aaron and his sons shall eat it.'

32 "And the remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire. 33 "And you shall not go outside the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day that the period of your ordination is fulfilled; for he will ordain you through seven days. 34 "The LORD has commanded to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf. 35 "At the doorway of the tent of meeting, moreover, you shall remain day and night for seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that you may not die, for so I have been commanded." 36 Thus Aaron and his sons did all the things which the LORD had commanded through Moses.

So you can see this is quite an elaborate process Aaron and his sons went through, but the net effect of it all was that the entire nation saw God take this group of men and set them apart for a very special purpose

They were visually distinct (dress), spiritually distinct (seven days alone in the Tabernacle with God), and ceremonially distinct (anointed with blood and oil)
They were “go betweens” between God and Israel.

We aren‟t going to go through chapter nine this way because it is basically a repetition of chapter eight with two distinctions. First of all, the main actor in chapter 8 is Moses and he is doing all the ceremonial things to Aaron and his sons. In chapter 9, Aaron is the main character and he is doing all the ceremonial, priestly things for the very first time. The second main point of chapter 9 is seen in verses 22-24. “Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he stepped down after making the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24 Then fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.”

This is God‟s stamp of approval on the events of the two chapters. Moses and Aaron had done everything God had asked of them, and now the priesthood was formally established. The nation of Israel had a mediator between them and God, and regular communication was now possible.

What does all this mean for us today? To answer this, I want us to turn to Heb. 5. We are going to read verses 1 through 9, and I want you to appreciate Jesus a little more.

For very high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; 2 he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. 4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, "Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee"; 6 just as He says also in another passage, "Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." 7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.

Our High Priest today is very unlike Aaron, and two ways come to mind. First of all, He didn‟t have to offer a sacrifice for His own sins before He could deal with us. And secondly, He was a combination priest and sacrifice, which brought an end to the entire system. When He was crucified, there was no longer a need for animal reconciliation and human mediation. Today, we “have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

An Overview of the Sacrificial System

2011-02-21T14:01:00.000-08:00

Summary of the Offering System

This morning we are going to be concluding our study of the sacrificial system by doing two things. First of all, I want to give you an overview of the five offerings highlighting their similarities, their differences, and each one‟s primary significance. After that, we are going to look quickly at how each of these offerings draws our attention to Jesus. Remember the concept of an object lesson. These offerings were object lessons for the nation of Israel. They were designed by God to convey a deeper truth, and we‟ll see that deeper truth this morning.

Before we get into this, let‟s go over our memory project again. “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”

Something to keep in mind as you are reading in Leviticus is the nature of chapter 6:8 through 7:38. This segment is a recap of the offering system from the perspective of the priesthood. In other words, the first five chapters of Leviticus all deal with the offerings from the perspective of the one bringing the offering: what animal is needed, the condition of the animal, how it is to be cut up, what part gets burned and what part goes to the priest, what the offering accomplishes, etc. The final chapter and a half focuses primarily on the role of the priest: what kind of clothes should he wear, what does he do with the ashes when the altar gets full, where does he eat the parts of the sacrifice and how much of it does he eat, etc.

So by the time you get to the end of chapter 7, you have finished the first segment of Leviticus, the offering system. It was a provision for them to be able to draw near to God. Starting in chapter 8, God turns His attention to the priesthood. God, in His goodness, provided the nation with mediators between Himself and the nation. The offering system certainly helped them draw near to God, but those animals couldn‟t communicate with God on the behalf of the people, and God couldn‟t communicate with the animals. There needed to be a mediator.

BURNT – symbolizes total consecration
 Lev. 1, a voluntary offering – used a bull ox, male sheep or goat – each animal representing a significant financial cost
 Involved atonement, but no forgiveness: 1:4
 Unique to this offering: it was totally consumed
 Provided a soothing aroma to God: 1:9, 13, 17

GRAIN – symbolizes daily provision
 Lev. 2, a voluntary offering – used a variety of grains
 No atonement was accomplished – this was purely an expression of gratitude for God‟s provision of food
 Emphasis on purity, no honey or yeast
 Emphasis on permanency as seen in the use of salt
 Only a portion burned, remainder went to the priests: 2:3
 Provided a soothing aroma to God: 2:2, 9
 Unique to this offering: it was bloodless

PEACE – symbolizes spiritual fellowship
 Lev. 3, a voluntary offering – used an ox, lamb, or goat
 No atonement was accomplished – this was a meal celebrating the existence of peace between God and the one bringing the offering
 Only a portion was burned
 Unique to this offering: remainder eaten by priest and offerer: 7:14
 Provided a soothing aroma to God: 3:5, 16

SIN – symbolizes substitutionary atonement
 Lev. 4:1 – 5:13, a mandatory offering – used an ox, lamb, goat, dove / pigeon, fine grain
 Involved atonement with forgiveness, unlike the burnt:4:20, 31, 35
 Instructions given for four different groups: high priest, whole congregation, a leader, a common person
 A portion was burned, remainder went to the priests: 5:13
 unique to this offering: part was burned outside the camp – 4:12 – very symbolic!
 Provided a soothing aroma to God only in the case of offering for a common person: 4:31
 Covered sins where it was impossible to undo the damage

TRESPASS – symbolizes reparation and satisfaction
 Lev. 5:14 – 6:7, a mandatory offering – used a ram exclusively
 Involved atonement with forgiveness: 5:16, 18
 A portion was burned, remainder went to` the priests: 7:5-7
 Unique to this offering: it involved a payment of an additional 20%
 It was not a soothing aroma

Summary: so this is the overview of the five offerings. They were graphic. They were full of sensory stimuli, and they vividly portrayed significant spiritual truths. But from our perspective, they were deficient! They were exactly what God established for them, and to the extent they obeyed God‟s directions they were in fellowship with Him, but they only accomplished a temporal restoration. They were a short-term solution to a long-term problem. And this was by design, because each of these offerings was pointing the way to Jesus – the eternal solution to an eternal problem.

Christ in the Sacrificial System

2011-02-21T13:58:00.000-08:00

Animals Involved

1. Ox – Christ is the strong servant (Isa. 52:13, 53:11) who was obedient unto death (Phil. 2:5-8).

2. Lamb – (Jn. 1:29, 1 Pt. 1:9) Christ was meek, pure, and silent in the face of death (Isa. 53:7).

3. Goat – Christ was numbered with transgressors (Isa. 53:12), and goats are almost always associated with sin (Mt. 25:32-33).

4. Ram – Christ was the substitute (Gen. 22:13) on the cross for us.

5. Dove / Pigeon – Christ was the mourning (Lk. 13:34-35), innocent (Mt. 27:22-25), poor (Lk. 2:22-24) sacrifice.

Burnt Offering – total consecration
Christ, the “strong servant” of Isaiah, symbolized by the bull ox, voluntarily died for us. Like the burnt offering, it was a complete sacrifice, so much so that He struggled with it, according to Mt. 26:39. Three times He implored His Father, “if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.” But He submitted to the will of His Father and held nothing back.

Grain Offering – daily provision
As the flour was spun repeatedly to remove all but the finest particles, Christ is the pure mediator between God and man. He had no corrupting influences, like the yeast and honey, and His promises to meet our needs for daily provision (Mt. 6:25-34) are as permanent as He is, as symbolized by the salt.

Peace Offering – spiritual fellowship
Christ “Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.” Eph. 2:14-15 In the same way that God, the priest, and the family of the one bringing the sacrifice all ate of the sacrifice, Christ allows us to have full fellowship with the Godhead.

Sin Offering – substitutionary atonement
A sinless sacrifice was mandatory if man ever wanted to be at peace with God, and this first of the mandatory offerings accomplished atonement with forgiveness. It is impossible for sinful man to ever satisfy God’s wrath against sin – which is why satisfaction and reparation are not involved in the sin offering – so Christ died for us, “the just for the unjust,” as a substitute (2 Cor. 5:21). Also, we read in Heb. 13 that “the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”

Trespass Offering – reparation and satisfaction
In Isa. 53:10 we read that “the LORD was pleased to crush Him [Christ], putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering.” The word for “guilt offering” in this verse is the very same word used for “trespass offering” in Lev. 5! Jesus, and Jesus alone, can pay the debt of sinners to God. God has been tremendously violated by our sin, and because of the magnitude of the violation, fair compensation would not have sufficed! My death for my sins would not fix the problem. Only the death of Jesus would satisfy the demands of a holy God who established the concept of 20% more in the trespass offering.

Heb. 10:1-6
“For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, but a body Thou hast prepared for Me; 6 in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast taken no pleasure.”

The Trespass Offering

2011-02-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

The Sacrificial System – How To Draw Near To God

The Trespass Offering
Lev. 5:14 – 6:7

This morning we are in Leviticus 5 and we will be looking at the last of the five offerings that regulated the sacrificial system of Old Testament Israel. The first three of these offerings – burnt, grain, and peace – were voluntary, and the final two – the sin and trespass – were mandatory. The overall purpose of these offerings was that they enabled the person bringing it to “draw near” to God. God is holy, and they weren‟t – and that‟s a problem! Sometimes the distance between them and God was sin, and sometimes the distance was because Christ had not yet come on the scene to serve as the one “mediator between God and man.” These offerings allowed the people to deal with the sin (sin and trespass) and the lack of a mediator (burnt, grain, and peace offerings – two of the three offerings did not accomplish “atonement”) and actually approach, or draw near to, and be in fellowship with God.

Memory Project: “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”

The final offering is called the trespass offering. If you‟ll look with me at 5:15, if you are using the NAS you read, “if a person acts unfaithfully.” In the NIV it reads, “If a person commits a violation.” And in the KJV, it reads, “If a soul commit a trespass.” This is where we get the label for this offering, and in contrast to the sin offering we looked at last week, the instructions for this one has only 13 verses describing it.

As we think about the significance of the trespass offering, it was designed to cover two different categories of sins. We see the first category mentioned in verse 15, “If any one commit a trespass, and sin unwittingly, in the holy things of the LORD.” Committing a trespass in the “things of the Lord” would involve things like not bringing in a full tithe of your crops (that could be hard to verify), or maybe sacrificing an animal that was sickly. The other category of sins the trespass offering covered is seen in chapter 6 verse 2, “When a person sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD, and deceives his companion in regard to a deposit or a security entrusted to him, or through robbery, or if he has extorted from his companion.” This category of sins all focus on sinning against a fellow Israelite. So what we see here is actually a replication of the ten commandments – the first four all deal with our relationship to God, and the last six all deal with our relationship to our fellow man.

Now, as we read these verses earlier, you probably noticed a word that we looked at last week – the word “unintentional.” Verse 15 says, “If a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against the Lord’s holy things . . .” Since that is true, what is the difference between these two offerings? In a word, it is the concept of restitution. In the sin offering we looked at last week, restitution was not possible. If you had a farm accident and your hired helper was killed, there is nothing you can do to make up for it. If you accidentally brushed up against a leper, there was nothing you could do to undo your defilement. In cases like this, you offered a sin offering and went your way. That isn‟t the case with the trespass offering – restitution is possible when you steal something from someone or withhold something that belongs to God.

There are several things that are very interesting about this offering that I want to spend some time developing. The first is that this offering highlights the horizontal nature of sin. When we sin, our relationship with our fellow man is hurt. This is the significance of what the prodigal said when he came back home. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.” Sin is never limited to being an offense against God alone, and part of what brings about the restoration of fellowship with God is the restoration of fellowship with your fellow man. That is a very important concept, and to illustrate for us the importance of it, let‟s go to the book of Philemon and see this biblical principle.

In a nutshell, the book of Philemon is a letter written by the Apostle Paul. He is in prison in Rome, and he is writing to a Christian by the name of Philemon, who had a runaway slave named Onesimus. When Onesimus took off, it is very possible that he stole some money from his owner, and eventually he ends up in Rome. In Rome, his path crosses Paul‟s, and Paul leads him to Christ. What is Paul supposed to do now with this newly saved, runaway slave?

 Do you send him back to his master and expect him to submit to all the evils and horrors of slavery in the Roman era?

 How much can you ask of a new Christian? Cf. “take them where they are . . .”

 Do you ask the slave‟s owner to overlook the crime and “just let bygones be bygone.”

Paul has a very delicate situation on his hands and I love how he deals with it. Let‟s start reading in verse eight where he begins by throwing his weight around.

Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do that which is proper [he is an apostle with tremendous authority in the church], 9 yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you-- [and now he is going to lay it on thick!] since I am such a person as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus -- 10 I appeal to you for my child, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, Onesimus, 11 who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. 12 And I have sent him back to you in person [this answers our first question – do you expect new converts to do hard things?], that is, sending my very heart, 13 whom I wished to keep with me, that in your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel; 14 but without your consent I did not want to do anything, that your goodness should not be as it were by compulsion, but of your own free will. 15 For perhaps he was for this reason parted from you for a while, that you should have him back forever [he is acknowledging God‟s sovereignty here], 16 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 If then you regard me a partner, accept him as you would me. 18 But if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.

That last phrase is significant because Paul is offering to pay back the money Onesimus stole. Was Paul just being kind and generous, or is there a larger issue at stake? I believe there is a larger principle being followed, and that principle has its roots in Lev. 5 and the trespass offering which focuses on restitution.

So the most obvious and significant relationship that suffers when we sin is that of our relationship with God. Sin breaks God‟s heart and our fellowship with Him. But what other kind of relationships suffer? The next most obvious relationship that suffers is that of our relationship with the sinned against party. Let‟s go back to Lev. 6 where God gives us some illustrations of the sins for which the trespass offering was necessary.

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "When a person sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD, and deceives his companion in regard to a deposit or a security entrusted to him, or through robbery, or if he has extorted from his companion, 3 or has found what was lost and lied about it and sworn falsely, so that he sins in regard to any one of the things a man may do; 4 then it shall be, when he sins and becomes guilty, that he shall restore what he took by robbery, or what he got by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him, or the lost thing which he found.

Examples of sins needing the trespass offering were robbery, extortion, not returning a deposit, or keeping something of value you found that you knew belonged to someone else. This could also cover things like not paying your laborer his wages at the end of the day. But each of these sins involves an offended party – someone is hurt by your sinful actions. It is important to understand that not only was God offended, but also your fellow Israelite was offended.

Have you ever thought about how easy it is to make things right with God? It‟s relatively easy, isn‟t it? There is a degree of anonymity (not technically, but I can‟t see Him), and He‟s predictable in how He responds, according to 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” But dealing with the sinned against party is a different story, isn‟t it? I can see him, and he‟s not really predictable.

But getting back to Paul and Philemon, Paul knew that the sin of Onesimus was offensive to not only God but also Philemon. So if Onesimus was going to be right with God, he was also going to have to be right with Philemon. That is the overriding principle behind the trespass offering. It was designed to bring about peace and reconciliation not only between the sinner and his God but also between the sinner and the person he has sinned against.

Let‟ s take a minute and look at this matter of reparation. The way this offering restored relationships between estranged human parties is seen in Lev. 6:4-5 – “then it shall be, when he sins and becomes guilty, that he shall restore [“to return”] what he took by robbery, or what he got by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him, or the lost thing which he found, or anything about which he swore falsely; he shall make restitution [the word is shalem – sounds familiar, doesn‟t it? It is very close to shalom, the greeting of “peace.” It means “to be complete” or “sound”] for it in full, and add to it one fifth more. He shall give it to the one to whom it belongs on the day he presents his guilt offering.”

The way this worked is that if you defrauded your neighbor of 100 shekels of silver, when you were exposed in your fraud, before you brought your ram to the tabernacle for a trespass offering, you took 120 shekels of silver to the one you defrauded. This is not an “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” kind of justice, is it? This is a principle that says, crime doesn‟t pay. In fact, in this kind of a setup, the crime cost you more than you could gain from your criminal activity.

Restoration (giving back what you took) plus restitution (plus 20% more) is a concept that is critical to the maintenance of a stable society. Societies that don‟t practice this have prison systems that are bursting at the seams. If you don‟t believe me, go with me tomorrow night and I‟ll show you the result of a penal system that has replaced restoration and restitution with imprisonment. Let‟s say a man steals $30,000.00 and blows it all on a two month crack binge. He is sentenced to 12 years in prison and a $4,000.00 fine. Does that punishment bring about restoration and restitution? No. Has he paid his debt to society? No.

There was a time in our country when we had debtor‟s prisons. In fact, they lasted up into the late 1850‟s. Debtor‟s prison was where a person spent time until he could literally “pay his debt to society.” If you declared bankruptcy, that was where you went! Bankruptcy was not considered an “unfortunate reality of tough financial times.” It was considered theft, and sometimes you were branded with the letter “T” on your thumb to let everyone know you were a thief.1 Restoration and restitution were important concepts, as well as strong deterrents.

Now, is it a coincidence that our country‟s prison system exploded with growth at the same time we switched from a philosophy of restitution to a philosophy of rehabilitation? Not at all. There was a philosophical change in America‟s penal system that said the solution to crime is rehabilitation. The thinking was that more than anything else, the criminal needs
1 http://www.ihatedebt.com/ALookatDebt/TheHistoryofDebtinAmerica/index.php

education. Education and rehabilitation are not deterrents to crime. Restoration and restitution are!

The reason I‟m taking the time to show you this is because the trespass offering has this concept built into it. It illustrates God‟s wisdom in two ways. First of all, the potential criminal has to decide if the risk is worth it – which is actually a deterrent to the crime. He has to weigh the benefit of the crime with the risk of getting caught and being worse off after the crime than he is in his current situation. In addition to this, we see God expanding his focus from the broken relationship between God and man to the broken relationship between man and man.

So, what does all this mean for us today? There are at least two layers of application we can make. On the surface level, we can see the importance of dealing with sin at a much deeper level than we are accustomed to. The trespass offering digs deep and addresses sin at the level of motives and deterrents and restored relationships. One of these days I want to speak about the foolishness of “time out” as a child rearing device. I spent six hours yesterday with 1,900 men whom had been given a “time out” by our penal system – and the sad thing is that they aren‟t being dealt with at the heart level like the trespass offering demands.

But at a deeper level, how can we humans be restored to a right relationship with God? Where do we go to find not only an adequate payment for our sins but also 20% more? This is why the writer of Hebrews says, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” So where do we go? We go to Jesus! The sacrificial death of Jesus more than covered our sins.

The Sin Offering

2011-02-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

The Sacrificial System – How To Draw Near To God

The Sin Offering - Lev. 4 – 5:13

This morning we are in Lev. 4 and we will be considering the fourth of the offerings, the sin offering. Up to this point we have looked at three voluntary offerings – the burnt, the grain, and the peace offering. These offerings were all motivated by gratitude and love for God. Anyone could bring them at any time he wanted to and as the smoke went up to heaven, God said it was a soothing aroma in His nostrils. It pleases Him when His children acknowledge His goodness to them. Starting this morning, we are going to be looking at a different category of offerings, offerings dealing with sin.

Let‟s take a minute and work on our memory project. I hope you appreciate the timeless nature of what God is saying in this passage. For you and me today, we don‟t literally worry about what the historical Canaanites did, nor do we worry about what the 5th Century B.C. Egyptians did or didn‟t do. What we do have in common with the Children of Israel is that we are surrounded by a culture that is actively opposed to God. We are light surrounded by darkness. We are pilgrims and strangers who are “in the world, but not of the world.” We are ambassadors who have been sent to a foreign country by our King, and while we are here in this strange land, we have to be careful of how much we assimilate from the area we live in. That little statement, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” does not hold true for the follower of Christ! So as we work on the memory project, keep in mind that it holds a very relevant message for us.

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟” Lev. 18:1-5

The first thing that caught my attention about the sin offering is that there are a lot of verses dedicated to it. Up to this point, God has taken about 17 verses to describe each of the previous offerings, but when it comes to this sin offering, we see nearly 50 verses given over to instructions. That is nearly times as much as the previous ones! What does this mean for us? That this was an offering that was in much demand. In fact, one of the striking features of this chapter four and first half of chapter five is that God took the time to outline four categories of people who would need the offering.

He starts with a sinning priest in verse 3 – “if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then, he moves on to a congregational wide sin in verse 13 – “Now if the whole congregation of Israel commits error, then he moves to the next category, that of a sinning leader in verse 22 – “When a leader sins and unintentionally does any one of all the things which the LORD God has commanded not to be done,” and finally, in verse 27 he deals with everybody else in the nation, the common people. “Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty.” The point is that there is no one who doesn‟t need to know how to deal with sin. It is universal in its scope.

Something you probably caught in these last two categories of people was the word “unintentional” in verses 22 and 27, “when a leader sins unintentionally,” and “if one of the common people sin unintentionally.” The word is used in verse one as well, “if a person sins unintentionally.” What is this “unintentional” kind of sin that the sin offering was designed to cover?

The word translated as “unintentional” has the idea of “inadvertent” or “accidental.” It was used in the OT to describe manslaughter as opposed to murder. If you had an accident on your farm and unfortunately, someone was killed, you were guilty before the law, but it was completely different from premeditated murder when you lie in wait for the person. Probably the best way to describe “unintentional” sin it is to contrast it with another kind of sin, defiant sin. We see a good illustration of this in Num. 15:27-36.

27 'Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one year old female goat for a sin offering. 28 'And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him that he may be forgiven.
29 'You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them. 30 'But the person who does anything defiantly [The word means to be high, upraised, or uplifted. It is the fist raised in defiance], whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 'Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be on him.'" 32 Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation; 34 and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35 Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp." 36 So all the congregation brought him outside the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Over the years I have always thought of this passage as being somewhat excessive. It made me uncomfortable, it seemed brutal, harsh, and even uncivilized. But when I read it again this week considering the difference between “unintentional” sins and “defiant” sin, I saw it in a new light. God was illustrating the different types of sin in this story. This guy wasn‟t out simply picking up some sticks on Saturday afternoon to make a fire, he was blatantly defying God. It was the raised fist in God‟s face, it was the defiant posture of “you can‟t tell me what to do.” That is why it was so strongly dealt with.

How many of you have ever seen a young child blatantly defy his parents? It seems like most of my children tested the boundaries in this way, and we dealt with it very strongly. In fact, I dealt with it so strongly one time that I prayed that the child wouldn‟t get sick in the next day or so and have to go to the Doctor, because the Doctor would have seen a black and blue butt! Defiant, raised fist rebellion, cannot be tolerated. It was dealt with decisively in God‟s nation of Israel, Paul gives explicit instructions about how to handle it in the church, and as parents, we need to take it just as seriously as God and Paul did.

Leviticus 4 and the sin offering was not for sins like this! The sin offering covered things like what we see in chapter 5. “Now if a person sins, after he hears a public adjuration to testify, when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt [not coming forward to testify at a trial]. 2 'Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean cattle, or a carcass of unclean swarming things, though it is hidden from him, and he is unclean, then he will be guilty. 3 'Or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort his uncleanness may be with which he becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty [accidental defilement]. 4 'Or if a person swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, in whatever matter a man may speak thoughtlessly with an oath, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty in one of these [thoughtless vow]. 5 'So it shall be when he becomes guilty in one of these, that he shall confess that in which he has sinned.” Each of these three sins constitute a real breach of the law, and the sinner stands guilty. But they are not on par with premeditated, defiant rebellion.

Several interesting things to note about this offering. First of all, there is a scale of expense depending on your role in the nation. If you were a priest, it cost you a bull; if you were a leader, it cost you a male goat; and if you were a common person, it cost you a female goat or a lamb. If you were a poor common person, you could even bring grain instead of an animal. What is going on here? The principle being invoked is expressed most clearly in James 3:1. “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.” The way Jesus put it in Luke 12 was, “From everyone who has been given much, shall much be required, and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will require all the more.”
Which is worse, for me to cheat on my income taxes, or for you to cheat on your income taxes? It is worse when I do. Why? Because spiritual leaders are held to a higher standard than the rest of the congregation, and the model for that is established all the way back in Lev. 4. And just to make sure we understand the principle, look at verse 3. What are the consequences of the priest sinning. “If the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people . . .” When the priest sinned, the guilt was imputed to the people!

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones was asked one time, “What is your congregation‟s greatest need?” I would imagine that the person asking was expecting an answer along the lines of “they need a vibrant relationship with Jesus,” or, “they need to be involved in daily prayer and Bible study,” or “they need to be integrated into a small group accountability setting,” or something of that nature. Instead, what he said was, “What my people need more than anything else is to have a holy pastor.” Think about that. He understood the concept being established in Lev. 4:3.

The Apostle Paul did too. When he was giving advice to a young pastor by the name of Timothy, he told him in 1 Tim. 4:16, “Pay close attention to yourself, and to your teaching.” The chronology of that statement is critical! What was Timothy‟s primary area of concern to be? His people or himself? Himself! Sounds selfish, doesn‟t it? It sounds selfish until you appreciate the critical nature of spiritual leadership. It you have ever wondered how to pray for your pastor, this is a good place to start.

The second thing to note about this sacrifice is the way the blood was used. In the previous bloody offerings, the blood was poured or sprinkled around the altar where the animal was going to be burned. In this offering, there was a more elaborate ritual. After the blood was caught in a basin, the priest would take it into the Tabernacle itself. The tabernacle was divided into two areas called the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. Separating these two areas was a heavy curtain called the veil. Behind the veil, in the Holy of Holies, was the Ark of the Covenant. This place was so sacred that that the High Priest could only go in there once a year, and it was so holy because that is where the presence of the Lord resided. Standing in front of this curtain that separated him from the actual presence of God, he would sprinkle the blood seven times, before the Lord. Then, while still in the Holy Place, he would go to the altar where they burned incense and smear some blood on each of the four corners of the altar. Then he would leave the Tabernacle, and go back to the altar where they would burn the offerings and pour out all that remained at the base of the altar. You can see how this is much more involved than the other offerings. What is going on here?

Generally speaking, this is where we start to see the connection between sin and blood. It was a sin offering, and the first thing that was done with the blood is that it was taken right up to where the presence of God was residing and sprinkled seven times. The emphasis is on visibility and proximity to God. Then, the blood was smeared on the four corners of the altar of incense. The significance of this altar is that it represented the prayers of God‟s people. In the same way that the cloud of smoke would ascend toward heaven, you get a visualization of prayer ascending to God. But along with the incense was the blood that had been applied. And finally, the priest would exit the tabernacle, make his way to the brazen altar and pour out the remainder of the blood.

Sin requires the shedding of blood. In the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned, God killed an animal and used the skins to make clothing for them. There was bloodshed, and that was when the model was established. It is elaborated on in this sacrifice, and it culminated in the death of Jesus. Had Jesus been suffocated, or strangled, or electrocuted, or injected with poison, His death would not have accomplished the forgiveness of our sins.

Remember that as you are holding the little cup of grape juice when we celebrate the Lord‟s Supper. That is what the cup reminds us of. The way Peter puts it is that we “were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

The Peace Offering

2011-02-04T03:20:00.000-08:00

The Sacrificial System – How To Draw Near To God

The Peace Offering - Lev. 3

Several years ago I was reading through the church services section of the newspaper, and what I saw was pretty amazing. The listings went something like this. “Next Saturday the Lutheran church will be hosting a free-will ham dinner.” The next add said, “The Methodist Church will be serving baked ziti from 5 – 7 PM on Wednesday evening. Proceeds to help the Methodist Mission to America.” As I continued to scan down the listing, the Baptist were serving roast beef, the Episcopalians corned beef, and the Presbyterians were having a steak and clam bake. I kid you not, practically every listing mentioned food! What is this thing Christians have with food?

This morning we are going to see the historical roots of the importance of food to the follower of Christ, so let‟s look at Lev. 3 and investigate the peace offering.

Similar to last week in our study of the grain offering, this offering is known by several other names as well. Your Bible may refer to it as the “thank” offering, and one resource I consult calls it the “saving” offering. The word that is used to describe this offering is actually one of the Hebrew words most of us are familiar with, it is the greeting “shalom.” Literally, it means “peace,” and that is the word used in our text, hence, the peace offering. But the reason it is referred to as the saving offering is because this kind of offering was what was offered when a treaty was struck between two kings or nations at war. As applied to our relationship with God, when we are at peace with God we are “saved,” so in a very general sense we can call it a saving offering.

I want to take a minute and look at the handout you were given this morning. Remember that Leviticus has two basic sections, how to obtain fellowship with God and how to maintain fellowship with God. We are in this first section that deals with “how to draw near to God,” which is all about the sacrifices, but there is one division that you need to be aware of that isn‟t on your handout. Instructions concerning the final offering ends in chapter 6:7. Starting in 6:8 and going through the end of chapter 7, there is a quick overview of the five sacrifices, but the emphasis on the priesthood. Chs. 1 – 5 all focus on the person bringing the sacrifice – what kind of an animal can he bring, what kind of condition does it have to be in, how does he kill it, etc.; but this last chapter and a half focus on the priest’s actions during the sacrifice – what does he do with the ashes, where does he sprinkle the blood, what part gets burned and what part is waved before the Lord? It‟s all about the priesthood, not the one offering the sacrifice.

So with that in mind, let‟s think about the specifics of this peace offering. To begin with, either a male or female animal could be used (v. 1) – which was unlike the burnt offering, which had to be a male only. The animal had to be perfect, the one bringing the offering after he had placed his hand on the head to signify the transferral of his condition to the animal, he then killed the animal, cut it into pieces and gave it to the priest.

Where things start to get a little different from the burnt offering is seen in verses 3 – 5. “And from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, he shall present an offering by fire to the LORD, [now note what gets put on the altar] the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver [another piece of fat], which he shall remove with the kidneys. 'Then Aaron's sons shall offer it up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.”

Interestingly enough, the only parts of the animal that were thrown on the fire and consumed were the fat and the kidneys. Anatomically, it was only the fat that was easily removed. The one bringing the sacrifice didn‟t spend hours carving the animal up – he just took of the large areas of fat that were easily accessible. But this burning of the fat and kidneys only alerts us that something is a little different about this offering, and we see that difference elaborated on a little bit more in verse 11. Let‟s read this verse again and see if you can see a phrase we haven‟t come across yet. “The priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, as food, an offering by fire to the Lord.” What is the significance of this phrase – “as food,” especially in light of the fact that God doesn‟t need food? This phrase lets us know the primary significance of the peace offering, and that is that this is the only offering that involved eating a meal. It didn‟t come out explicitly in our reading of chapter three, but let‟s look at chapter seven where we see the rest of the information about this offering.

Starting in verse 11 we see the beginning of the instructions for the peace offering. “Now this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which shall be presented to the LORD.” Drop down to verse 15 where we read, “Now as for the flesh of the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offerings, it shall be eaten on the day of his offering; he shall not leave any of it over until morning. 16 'But if the sacrifice of his offering is a votive or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice; and on the next day what is left of it may be eaten; 17 but what is left over from the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire.” And then we drop down to verse 33 and read, “The one among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat, the right thigh shall be his as his portion. 34 'For I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their due forever from the sons of Israel.”

What sets the peace offering apart from all the other ones is that it provided a meal for the officiating priest (the thigh and the breast), the person bringing the sacrifice (everything else), and, according to 3:11, even in a symbolic sense, God himself.

Let‟s look at a couple of other interesting dimensions of this offering that are brought out in chapter 7. In verse 30 we read “His own hands are to bring offerings by fire to the LORD. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be presented as a wave offering before the LORD.” Then in verse 34 we read, “For I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their due forever from the sons of Israel.” From Ex. 29 we see that the thigh portion of this offering was to be “heaved” before the Lord.

The wave offering and the heave offering were not separate offerings, but a sub-category of the peace offering. “Waving” referred to a horizontal motion made with the breast portion, and “heaving” referred to a perpendicular motion made with the thigh portion. It didn‟t mean it was thrown! Both were symbolic gestures showing that ultimately they belonged to the Lord.

And while we are talking about sub-categories of the peace offering, chapter 7 shows us three more. First of all in verse 12 we see it could be a thanksgiving peace offering. “If he offers it by way of thanksgiving, then along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving he shall offer unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of well stirred fine flour mixed with oil.” Then down in verse 16, we see two additional choices, the peace offering could be a votive offering, probably better understood as a “vow” peace offering, or it could be a “freewill” peace offering. “But if the sacrifice of his offering is a votive or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice; and on the next day what is left of it may be eaten.”

So the thing to remember about the peace offering it that it was a broad category of offerings, all of them voluntary offerings, just like the burnt and grain offerings. You offered them at your own initiative, there was no compulsion. And the most striking element of the peace offering is that it involved eating. We‟ll come back to that in a moment, but as we think about eating, I want us to think quickly about the prohibition on fat and blood. In 3:16 we read, “all fat is the LORD's. It is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall not eat any fat or any blood.” Then it is reiterated in chapter 7. 23“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall not eat any fat from an ox, a sheep, or a goat. [Note that the prohibition extends beyond sacrificial meals] 24 'Also the fat of an animal which dies, and the fat of an animal torn by beasts, may be put to any other use [candles, lubrication, medical], but you must certainly not eat it. 25 'For [and here we see how seriously God took this matter] whoever eats the fat of the animal from which an offering by fire is offered to the LORD, even the person who eats shall be cut off from his people.”

This is an interesting dimension of Israel‟s laws, and it catches our attention for at least four reasons.

1) First of all, it is called a “perpetual statute.” That means it is a long-term, binding, significant stipulation. This calls attention to the gravity of the rule.
2) It is not mentioned in conjunction with any of the other sacrifices – truly unique to this offering.
3) It applied to home life as well, not just the sacrificial meal. This means that the object lesson was to be visible on a daily basis, not just periodically as the sacrifice was made. And finally,
4) It is reiterated in chapter 7. God saw fit to make sure His people heard the rule twice.

So, what is the big deal about fat and blood? Let‟s start with blood. When we think about blood, our minds go back to Gen. 9:3-4. “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. 4 "Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” Blood is what gives life to our flesh. If you cut off the blood flow to an organ, it will die because blood is what carries life giving nutrients and oxygen. That is in the physical realm. In the non-physical realm, we know that it is God who gives life to our flesh. In Gen. 2:7 we read that “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” What I want you to see is that blood is the physical representation of the spiritual reality. There is a connection between blood, and God, and life. That is why blood had to be poured out. It was sacred. The pagans would drink blood in hopes that the strength and vitality of the victim would become theirs. And God didn‟t let His people do that. And every time the blood was drained from an animal and poured out, God was reminding His people that He was the source of life for all flesh.

But what about the fat? Many people would look at this prohibition and see in it God‟s concern for the physical health of the nation. They would say that today we know that fat is bad for you – it causes heart disease, clogs your veins, and is linked to cancer and digestive disorders; but 4,000 years ago, people didn‟t know this, so God was protecting His people. They would say this is the thinking behind the prohibition against eating catfish an eels – they are bottom feeders. What is at the bottom of ponds and rivers, in addition to mud? All the feces of all the animals that inhabit that water! So to protect the health of the Israelites, God banned those kinds of fish from being eaten.

I don‟t believe that is the rationale here. Is fat really bad for you? Not necessarily. In the 1980‟s fat was public enemy #1, but now health experts are a little more cautious in their assertions. Now, in certain contexts fat is bad, such as when you eat too much of it, or when it is accompanied by a sedentary lifestyle, but eating fat isn‟t like eating poison. I remember a teacher telling us about his grandmother who collected all the fat on the plates leftover from the Sunday ham, she would sprinkle salt on it, and then eat it! And then he said, “It killed her!” when she was 93. In the Arctic regions where great amounts of energy is consumed keeping your body warm, fat is a vital part of your diet. So I don‟t believe what God is after here is a health provision.

Think with me a little bit about fat. Up until the last couple of hundred years, fat was an incredibly valuable asset. If you were to drive across the Rip Van Winkle bridge and go to Hudson, you could look at the street signs and see that all of them have a little whale on them. What is that all about? Hudson used to be a whaling town. Some historians think that whales used to come up the Hudson River as far as Poughkeepsie (an Indian word for “where the fresh meets the salt), but more likely is that the whaling vessels would bring their loads of whale blubber to Hudson to be rendered into whale oil. And when you think about it, whale oil was similar to the petroleum industry 200 years ago. So remember, fat was valuable.

Secondly, fat used to be a sign of wealth. What do you suppose is the connection between fat and wealth? Only wealthy people could afford enough food to get fat. So if you were fat, that said something about your net worth, especially in the Arabic world! When I was in college, we had an elderly missionary speaking in chapel one time, and I only remember one thing about his message. He had spent many years working in Arabic lands, and he told us that in their culture, fat was a sign of beauty. Again, it was tied to wealth, but more than that, fat was prized as being desirable in a woman. And what was disgusting to us was that some sheiks had harems of women who were so obese, they couldn‟t walk. He compared them to walruses that just rolled around to get to where they wanted to go. So in the Arabic culture, fat was not disgusting – it was a valuable commodity, and it signified health, wealth, and beauty.

And it burns very well! I believe that part of what was going on in burning the fat is that in the practical realm, it helped the fire burn. But this understanding of the prohibition of eating fat fits perfectly into the overarching meaning of the offering in that it was costly! That was a valuable portion of the animal, and to whom did it belong? God. Lev. 3:16 – “The fat belongs to the Lord.” So what we see in this prohibition is more object lessons – God is the one who gives life, whether to man or animal; and the valuable fat was sacrificed to God.

What does this mean for us today? I want to read a paragraph explaining the rationale of our fellowship committee. “It is hard to overstate the importance of social fellowship in the life of the follower of Christ. Jesus and the disciples apparently spent a lot of time eating (they must have been Baptists), and the connection between food and significant spiritual events is startling. Jesus‟ first miracle took place in the context of a wedding and involved the miraculous creation of wine (John 2). Several other miracles involved food as well (Mt. 14, 15). He instituted the Lord‟s Supper at a meal (Mt. 26), and a church-wide fellowship meal was a regular part of the early church (1 Cor. 11). After Peter denied Jesus, he was restored to fellowship during a breakfast shared with the risen Christ (Jn. 21). Profound spiritual truths were taught in the context of meals as well. Mary and Martha learned about what things are really necessary in life at a meal (Lk. 10), and Simon the Pharisee learned a huge lesson about forgiveness during a dinner (Lk. 7). It is not surprising then, that a large meal figures prominently in our entrance into heaven (Rev. 19:9).”

Parties who are estranged from one another cannot eat a meal together – they have to be at peace to be able to do that. And that is the significance of the peace offering.

The Grain Offering

2011-01-25T10:25:00.000-08:00

The Sacrificial System – How To Draw Near To God

The Grain Offering - Lev. 2

This morning we are going to be in Lev. 2 and consider the second offering God prescribed for the nation of Israel as a means for them to draw near to their God. It is known by a variety of names – meal, grain, and even meat (Keil and Delitzsch, Edersheim). I‟ll be referring to it as a grain offering because it consists of grain being offered on the altar in a variety of forms.

Memory Project: “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”

Very quickly, someone remind us of the theme of Leviticus. Right. It is “the holiness of God.” What does holy mean? Holy means separate, set apart, or sacred. God was holy, and the nation of Israel wasn‟t! So if they wanted to be in fellowship with their God, two things had to happen. First of all, they had to be aware of what was separating them from their holy God, and second, they had to have a means of dealing with the things separating them. Everything in the book of Leviticus falls under one of those two general categories. What constitutes separation from God, and how do I deal with it?

Remember too that Leviticus is full of object lessons. God graciously illustrated for His people what holiness looked like, and the first set of object lessons was the five sacrifices, or offerings. What is the root idea of the word “offering?” To draw near. If these people who were separated from their God wanted to get close to God, or to “draw near” to God, there was a specific way they could do it. So last week we looked at the burnt offering in which the one bringing the animal slit its throat, cut it into pieces, and then gave to the priest to throw on the altar. The entire animal was consumed in the fire on the altar – none of it was burned outside of the camp, the priest didn‟t get to keep a part of it, and the one bringing the burnt offering didn‟t get to share a meal from it with the priest, like some of the other offerings.

This morning we are going to look at the grain offering, and this offering is in a category all by itself in that it is the only offering that didn‟t involve the shedding of blood. This fact alerts us to the purpose behind the offering, which we will see at the end of the message, but for now, just keep in mind as we are going through the particulars that this offering has special significance for the one bringing it.

Let‟s start with the word that is translated as “grain” in the phrase “grain offering” in verse one. “When anyone presents a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour.” There is a very interesting word used here that really doesn‟t have anything to do with corn or wheat or barley. The word literally means “gift, tribute, offering,” or “present.” We see the concept illustrated in Gen. 32 where Jacob is on his way back home after spending 14 years in exile at his uncle‟s house. If you remember the story, Jacob tricked his older brother into giving up the family inheritance and then fled for his life. But in Gen. 32, he is now a wealthy man and on his way home knowing that he is going to have to face his brother. And he has no idea how Esau is going to respond – but he is clearly fearing for his life! So in Gen. 32 let‟s start reading in verse 13.

"So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,15 thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on before me, and put a space between droves." 17 And he commanded the one in front, saying, "When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?'18 then you shall say, 'These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.'" 19 Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, saying, "After this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; 20 and you shall say, 'Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.'" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me."

That is the idea behind the word translated as “grain” in the phrase “grain offering.” It is a “gift” or “present” used to “draw near” to God. The reason the translators use the word “grain” is because of what we see in verse one – “his offering shall be of fine flour,” and verse 14, “if you bring a grain offering of early ripened things to the Lord, you shall bring fresh heads of grain roasted in the fire.”

Concerning the specifics of this offering, there were four different ways you could bring it – it could be flour baked in an oven as we see in verse 4, or fried on a griddle as we see in verse 5, or something like a dumpling or donut boiled in oil as we see in verse 7. The NAS says, “Now if your offering is a grain offering made in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.” The Hebrew there indicates something a little different as the New English Translation shows, “If your offering is a grain offering made in a pan [the NKJV calls it a “covered pan”, so it would be similar to a pot], it must be made of choice wheat flour deep fried in olive oil.” The final way this offering could be made was to bring roasted grain, as we see in verse 14.

Of particular interest to us is the kind of flour that was used. It is repeatedly referred to as “fine flour,” to be contrasted with roughly ground flour that would be more like corn meal. Some of the resources I have been using referred to this as “spun” flour to reflect how it was obtained. After the wheat was ground, it was put into a bag that allowed only the finest particles of flour to come out, and it was spun around in a larger container. The centrifugal force of the spinning would force the fine flour through the cloth, where it would be collected and spun again in a finer woven bag. Jewish tradition stipulated that the flour used in these offerings had to be spun 13 times!

So as we think of what this offering entailed, don‟t envision going to the pantry and getting out some flour, making it into a batter, frying it, and then bringing it to the tabernacle to be used as a grain offering. It was much more involved than that, and in keeping with the costly nature of a sacrifice. While the grain offering may not represent the financial sacrifice that a burnt offering represented, it did represent a significant sacrifice of your personal time.

In the grain offering we are introduced to an element not seen in the burnt offering, and we see it in verses two and three. “He shall then bring it [the fine flour] to Aaron's sons, the priests; and shall take from it his handful of its fine flour and of its oil with all of its frankincense. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke as its memorial portion on the altar, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD. 3 'And the remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons: a thing most holy, of the offerings to the LORD by fire.” Only a portion of the sacrifice was put on the altar and burned, the rest of the offering went to the priest.

We will deal with this more fully when we look at the priesthood, but for now just understand that this was God‟s way of providing for the priesthood. The overarching principle is that since the “men of God,” or the priests, spent their days caring for the spiritual needs of the people of God, the people of God were to take care of the material needs of the priesthood.

Now, there were three special rules that applied to this sacrifice, found in verses 11 – 13. “No grain offering, which you bring to the LORD, shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to the LORD. As an offering of first fruits, you shall bring them to the LORD, but they shall not ascend for a soothing aroma on the altar. Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.”

The three rules were no leaven, no honey, and salt had to be added. Why the prohibition against leaven and honey? Leaven, or yeast as we know it, and honey were both used in fermentation. If you had some grape juice that you wanted to turn into wine, you added yeast and sugar, in the form of honey. If you had some grape juice you wanted to turn to vinegar, you added honey and let it ferment. But understand that there was nothing intrinsically evil or wrong with either of these ingredients. We know that because leaven could be used in the offering of firstfruits (v. 12), but it could not be used in an offering that was burned on the altar. So why the prohibition?

Remember that one of the unique elements of Leviticus is God‟s use of object lessons. He often took ordinary things to teach eternal truths, and we see this in the rejection of honey and leaven. What both of these substances were know for was their pervasive nature. In other words, a small amount affected the whole batch. One cup of sugar can ferment an entire gallon of kombucha. One tablespoon of yeast can double the size of a lump of dough. Honey and yeast don‟t stay contained – they spread. That is their nature, and it is because of this that leaven is often compared to sin. In both 1 Cor. 5 and Gal. 5, Paul makes the statement that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough,” and he says it in the context of unrepentant sinful people in close proximity to God‟s people. He goes on to say, “clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump.” And then just to make sure they understood his point, he ends the chapter by saying, “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”

God‟s point with the prohibition is that these two elements, know for their spreading and corrupting influence (fermentation is a corruption of the original liquie), have no part in a holy sacrifice that is going to ascend to Him in smoke on an altar. God wants purity. He wants a perfect animal. He wants flour that has been refined, and refined, and refined to the point that it is pure and without any corrupting influences.

But what about salt though? Salt is so common to us today that it is meaningless, but salt used to be so rare that it was very valuable. Our word “salary” comes from the Latin salarium, which is a form of sal, or Latin for salt, and it is believed that at one time, Roman soldiers were paid in salt because it was so valuable. So in the days of the Old Testament, to add salt to a sacrifice was a costly thing to do, but it didn‟t end there because salt also had symbolic importance, much like leaven and honey. Salt, as we all know, is a preservative. It draws the moisture out of food to enable the food to last for long periods of time. This is why we have things like salt cured ham and salted fish.

I have cabbage in my basement that is salted and preserved. This summer, I‟d lay down a layer of shredded cabbage, salt it, and then pound it flat. Then another layer of cabbage and more salt and pounding. Then another layer of cabbage and salt and pounding. And eventually, the crock was full of the liquid that had been sucked out of the cabbage. You let it sit in that brine for three or four weeks, and you have sauerkraut that doesn‟t need refrigeration. Because of the salting, it is preserved. Salt stops the course of nature as living matter starts to break down and deteriorate.

That is the nature of salt – it is a preservative. Which is why as recently as a hundred years ago, salt was being used symbolically in Arabic cultures to seal deals and invoke a binding nature to an agreement. The two parties would sprinkle a little salt on the ground, and that made the agreement permanent. This helps us understand Num. 18:19 a little better. “All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment. [Now listen to how God describes these offerings.] [They are] an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD to you and your descendants with you.” So to add salt to the offering was a symbolic gesture invoking permanence and incorruption.

Finally, the grain offering was another voluntary offering. Or as we described it last week, it was a free will offering. It was something you did at your own initiative, and it was usually offered at the same time of the burnt offering or peace offering, but could be offered all by itself. And in verse 2 we see that it was described as a “sweet savor” to the Lord. What is this “sweet savor” that described these first three offerings: the burnt, the grain, and the peace offering (the other category of offerings was the “non-sweet savor,” which were the sin and trespass offerings)? The best way to understand it is to think of it from the perspective of being “pleasing.” When you walk past a house where they are grilling something outside, you say, “m-m-m-m-m . . . that smells nice.” It is a pleasant smell, and God was pleased when His people would on their own initiative draw near to Him with a sacrifice.

I want to close this morning by pointing out one of the differences between the burnt offering and the grain offering. The burnt offering accomplished atonement, as we saw in 1:4. That means the person‟s sinfulness was covered up and he was acceptable to God. Note that the grain offering did not accomplish atonement! This means that the purpose behind this offering had nothing to do with wanting to be acceptable to God, it was all about appreciation for God. When your heart welled up with gratitude for everything God had done for you, you brought a grain offering. You weren‟t looking for anything from God. You weren‟t after acceptance, like in the burn offering. You weren‟t after peace, like in next week‟s peace offering. You were simply saying to God, “Thank you.”

The Burnt Offering

2011-01-21T03:32:00.000-08:00

Studies in Leviticus

The Sacrificial System – How To Draw Near To God

The Burnt Offering -Lev. 1

I‟d like you to turn in your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 1, and this morning we are going to start our study of the Old Testament sacrificial system. As I explained to you last week, this is not only a legitimate use of our time since all of God‟s Word is “profitable” according to 1 Tim. 3:16, it is valuable because of how it will enhance our appreciation of not only Jesus (especially as we study the sacrificial system and the priesthood) and what He has done for us but also of the New Covenant and life under the stipulations of grace.

Quick review: The theme of Leviticus is “the holiness of God.” Holy means “separate, set apart, or sacred.” The opposite of holy is common. Paper plates and plastic utensils are common. They are mass produced, used once, and then thrown out. But fine china and silver are sacred. We set them apart in special cabinets with glass doors and soft lighting. Since God is holy, only holy people can be in fellowship with Him. It doesn‟t matter if you lived 4,000 years ago in Israel, 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, or if you are alive today – only holy people can be in fellowship with a holy God. But because holiness is somewhat abstract, in the book of Leviticus, God gives the nation of Israel a way to visualize holiness (remember the concept of object lessons). In the Old Testament system, holiness could actually be measured and viewed. The sacrifices, the offerings, the priesthood, and the laws concerning clean and unclean all served to quantify holiness. If you did all the “stuff,” you could be in communion and fellowship with a holy God.

Finally, let‟s say our memory project together. “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”

So if you aren‟t in Lev. 1, let‟s go there now and look at the first object lesson God lays out for His people - the sacrificial system. This consisted of five different types of offerings – a burnt offering, a grain offering, a peace offering, a sin offering, and a guilt (trespass) offering. As we go through these offerings, be aware that I will be using the terms “sacrifice” and “offering” interchangeably. The offerings, for the most part, were costly; so whether you view it from the perspective of an offering or a sacrifice, it is the same concept.

What is this first offering we see mentioned in verse 2 when God says, “ . . . when any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the animals from the herd or the flock?” Offerings and sacrifices weren‟t a new concept to God‟s people, they go back to the early days of God‟s interaction with man, as far back as Cain and Abel in Gen. 4. But in Leviticus we see for the first time a systematic, comprehensive set of guidelines for the offerings / sacrifices. The word that is translated as “offering” has the basic idea of “drawing near.” So if the people wanted to “draw near” to their God, the sacrifices / offerings enabled them to do it. But to really appreciate what it meant to the Children of Israel to have a means of drawing near to God, we have to contrast it with Ex. 19. Let‟s turn there and see what the relationship between God and Israel was like when God gave the 10 Commandments.

10 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes
11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.
13 He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live.' Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain."
16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently,
19 and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
20 The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up
21 and the LORD said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish.
22 Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them."
23 Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, 'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.' "

How accessible was God in this chapter? Not very! In fact, if they got too close, they paid for it with their lives! What we need to appreciate is that that dynamic changed drastically in Leviticus when God laid out a program for them to utilize so they could get near to God without dying – and it started with the sacrifices. So that is the idea behind the word “offering,” it was a means by which people could “draw near” to God.

Now the first of these five offerings is referred to as a “burnt” offering. Read verse three again with me. “If his offering is a burnt offering from the heard, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting; that he may be accepted before the Lord.” Then in verse 10 we read, “If his offering is of the flocks – of the sheep or of the goats – as a burnt sacrifice . . .” and in verse 13, “And if the burnt sacrifice of his offering to the Lord is of birds . . .” Let me give you six particulars about this offering, some of them are unique to the burnt offering, some of them are held in common by others.

First of all, the burnt offering was a voluntary offering. If you are using a King James version of the Bible this comes out a little more clearly because it uses the phrase in verse three, “he shall offer it of his own free will.” This presents a little bit of a problem when you compare it to the NAS and the NIV which say the offering is so that “he may be accepted before the Lord.” Is it a “freewill offering,” or is it an “acceptable” offering? This difference in translation illustrates the complexity of translating Hebrew. The literal translation of this verse is, “If burnt offering gift from the herd, male, perfect, bring near toward the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer _____________________ before the Lord.”

There is no question about the word itself, it is the word ratzone, and it‟s translated in a variety of ways - “goodwill, favor, acceptance, desire, pleasure” and “to do as you please” or “to do as you desire.” So, which idea do you go with? Is the author‟s emphasis on the person bringing the sacrifice (“freewill”), or is it on the nature of the sacrifice (“acceptable”)? Both translations are legitimate as well as defensible, but I lean toward the idea of “freewill” – “He shall offer it of his own free will.”

The reason I believe this is because as you study the burnt offerings, there was no external compulsion requiring a person to do this. It was a voluntary offering. There are no rules specifying how often a person had to do this (though there were regulations mandating how often the nation had to do it), or what circumstances would require a burnt offering. The burnt offering was not like the sin offering of chapter four and the trespass offering of chapter five which covered known sins or even potential sins. In those cases, when you knew you had broken the rules, you made the sacrifice. But the burnt offering was done at the discretion of the one doing it. It was simply an expression of his desire to draw near to the Lord and be pleasing to God.

Second, it was costly. Think about what sacrificing a bull did to your net worth! There is a reason why the burnt offering was a “sacrifice.” Kind David expressed this truth when he offered a burnt offering that was offered to him for free. He said, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” The burnt offering was a costly, voluntary offering.

But you didn‟t have to be wealthy to bring this offering. If you weren’t wealthy, according to verse 10 you could bring a sheep or a goat, or if you were even poorer still, according to verse 14 you could bring a dove or a pigeon. The principle here is that your offering was according to your ability.

Third, it was narrow. What I mean by this is that not only were the guidelines very precise about the condition of the animal (male and without blemish), there was a limited number of animals you could choose from for the offering. The guidelines were very narrow. If you had a valuable horse you wanted to sacrifice, you couldn‟t give it! If you really wanted to make a sacrificial burnt offering to the Lord and wanted to sacrifice one of your valuable camels, you couldn‟t do it. You also couldn‟t sacrifice donkeys. Why were these valuable animals off the list of acceptable sacrifices, especially in light of how nicely they fit the bill of being costly to the giver? Because horses, donkeys, and camels were not only unclean, but also they were used by the pagans in their sacrificial systems! That is significant.

In this act, God is establishing a very clear division between His people and the pagan culture they were surrounded by. Let that phrase sink in. This is a timeless principle I want you to keep in the back of your mind because we are going to see it over and over in this book, and at some point we‟ll stop and look at how it plays out in our daily lives.

But for now, just remember the theme of Leviticus – God is holy, and He can be approached only in the way He prescribes. Just because you think you have something of value you can offer to God doesn‟t mean a thing. You can only give to God what He prescribes. And just to make sure we get the point, in Lev. 10, right after God lays out all the stipulations for fellowship with Him through the offerings and the priesthood, two priests got it in their mind to approach God in their own way and they paid for it with their lives! It is a very narrow path God had for His people.

Fourth, it was comprehensive. This particular offering is referred to as a “burnt” offering. The word “burnt” means “ascent,” and refers to the smoke that ascended toward heaven, but more than that, the entire animal was consumed by the fire. None of the animal being sacrificed was kept back for the priest, like some of the other offerings - the entire animal was consumed. This was different from the sin and guilt offerings because some of the animal in those offerings was carted out of the camp and burned outside the camp, but not in the case of this burnt offering. The one bringing it could stand there and watch the entire animal go up in smoke. There was nothing left.

In addition to this, you couldn‟t bring part of the animal and sacrifice it. Again, in contrast to the next two offerings, you could bring a portion and sacrifice it – but not with the burnt offering. You couldn‟t just throw a hindquarter up there and let that be your offering – it was the whole animal. And again, hold on to this thought because there is an important principle being illustrated here and we will be revisiting it.

Fifth, it was a substitutionary offering. Before we look at verse four where we see this matter of substitution, we need to go back to the Garden of Eden and recall God‟s actions when Adam and Eve sinned. What did God do in response to their sin? He killed an innocent animal and made clothing for them. In that act was established an eternal principle – sin is absolved only by the shedding of blood. The way the NT puts it is that “the wages of sin is death.” Any time you have sin, death follows. It doesn‟t matter if it was in the garden of Eden, or in the desert of Sinai, or in the days of Jesus, or this morning – there is an eternal principle that death always follows sin.

With that understanding, in verse 4 we read that the person bringing the sacrifice put his hand on the animal‟s head when he brought it to the door of the tabernacle. What was he doing? This was a symbolic gesture that transferred his sinfulness to the innocent animal. Why did he do this? Because blood had to be spilled! The offending, guilty party who could not draw near to God because of his sinfulness passed that guilt on to an innocent party, and then the innocent animal died instead of the one who deserved to die. And in that act, because of the blood being spilled, the person was brought into fellowship with his God. The bull or the goat was a substitutionary sacrifice.

Sixth, it was bloody. As we go through these sacrifices, you see blood everywhere. The blood was caught in a basin, and the, depending on the sacrifice, it was either sprinkled around the door, or poured out at the side of the altar, or poured on the four corners of the altar. We don‟t really appreciate how bloody this area was until we think about the size of the nation and realize that these offerings were taking place multiple times every day. God was making a very graphic point to His people, and that was that sin has serious consequences.

And seventh, it atoned for the sins of the one bringing the sacrifice as we see in verse 4. The word “atone” means “to cover.” In the Old Testament sense of the word, it doesn‟t mean to remove, only to cover. If I had a vase up here on the podium with me and threw a blanket over it, you would no longer be able to see it because it would be covered. Would the vase still be there? Sure. But it is only covered up. That is how we need to understand the idea of “atone” in these sacrifices. The sin was no longer visible to God because it was covered by the sacrifice, hence it no longer stood between the sinful person and the holy God. The holy God could be drawn near to.

I want us to close by looking at a short phrase in verse five. “And he shall slay the young bull before the Lord.” One of the dimensions of this sacrifice that we tend to overlook is that the person bringing the offering had to kill the animal himself. It didn‟t matter if you were squeamish about blood or not – you put the animal to death. Not only did you transfer your sinfulness to the animal through laying your hands on it, you were the means of its death. Let that sink in a moment - you were both the cause and the instrument of an innocent animal‟s death.

Several years ago Mel Gibson produced the very graphic movie The Passion of the Christ, and it is my understanding that when the part was being shot of the nails being pounded through Jesus‟ hands, it was a close-up and all you could see in the frame was Jesus‟ hand and the hands of a Roman soldier holding the hammer and spike. Guess which actor on the set was holding the hammer and spikes? Mel Gibson‟s!

That illustrates to me the reality of the burnt offering. That animal died at the hands of the sinner bringing it to the altar. He couldn‟t pass that off to the priest standing by. If it was a bird you were sacrificing, you ripped it in half with your own hands. There was nothing delicate about this offering – it was brutal and bloody! As we close in prayer, would you take a moment to reflect on the truth that Jesus was a burnt offering? Not that He burned, but when you think about the seven dimensions of the burnt offering, every one of them applies to Jesus.

It was voluntary

It was costly

It was narrow

It was comprehensive

It was substitutionary

It was bloody

It was atoning

And whose hands put Him to death?

Introduction to Leviticus

2011-01-21T03:21:00.000-08:00

Studies in Leviticus

Leviticus is not an easy book to read. One of the first things you will notice as you read the book that there is lots of repetition about things we don‟t do, nor are we expected or required to do them! Sacrifices, clean and unclean food, rituals for childbirth, priests, rituals for leprosy, rituals for death, feasts, rituals for mildew, rituals for offerings, and on and on the list goes.

Between the repetition and the emphasis on the culturally distant, at first glance there doesn't seem to be much there to hold our attention - much less apply to our daily lives. However, there are messages in these 27 chapters that are of great importance to us.

Leviticus in a Nutshell

The theme of Leviticus is “the holiness of God.” The word “holy” is used 57 times, and generally speaking, holy means “sacred,” “separate,” or “set apart.” That may be a little vague, so let‟s look at it this way. Holy is the opposite of common. If we were to apply it to dishes; paper plates, Styrofoam, and plastic utensils would be “common;” and fine china, crystal, and genuine silver utensils would be “sacred,” or “set apart,” or even “holy.” That is the root idea behind “holy.” Unfortunately, holiness is an abstract idea. If you were to ask three different people to describe it, you would most likely get three different answers.

Because of this, in the book of Leviticus, God gives His chosen people a series of object lesson that quantify holiness. In other words, He makes it tangible – it is attainable. So even though God is separate and not common (holy), by following the object lessons of Leviticus, God could be approached and communed with. The distant God could be brought near.

One other thing to remember about Leviticus is that it is very closely connected with Exodus. In Exodus, God chooses, delivers, miraculously provides for, and establishes Israel as a nation. The book ends with the people building a tabernacle to house God‟s glory, and in Ex. 40:34 we read that God filled the tabernacle with His glory, visible proof that God was near and present.

But that is only half the formula because now the sinful, unholy, rebellious people, separated from a holy God, needed access to their God. How could they do that? There were two critical things that had to happen. First of all, they had to be made aware of their sin. They had to know what was acceptable and what was unacceptable. And second, they had to then have a way to deal with that sin. Everything you read in the book of Leviticus has these two issues as their foundation – the knowledge of sin and then its antidote (cf. touching a dead body). We know this is true because of what Paul tells us explicitly in Rom. 3:20 when he says, “for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” He then elaborates on that in Gal. 3:24 when he says, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor [education] to lead us to Christ [antidote], that we may be justified by faith.”

Memory Project: Lev. 18:1-5

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”

Schematic of the book:

Chapters 1-16: How To Obtain Fellowship With God – Purification
Chs. 1-7: The sacrificial system – “how to draw near to God”
Chs. 8-10: The priestly system – “the mediators between God and man”
Chs. 11-15: The fellowship system – “clean versus unclean”
Ch. 16: The Day of Atonement – “the annual removal of sin”

Chapters 17-25: How To Maintain Fellowship With God – Sanctification
Chs. 17-20: Concerning daily living
Chs. 21-22: Concerning the priesthood
Chs. 23-24: Concerning the feasts
Ch. 25: Concerning the sabbatical and jubilee years

Summary of section #1 – sacrifice and purification culminate in atonement atonement

Summary of section #2 – sanctification culminates in rest

Chapters 26-27: Appendices
Ch. 26: Blessings for obedience and punishments for disobedience
Ch. 27: Guidelines concerning vows

Warnings about Leviticus

The follower of Christ today is faced with a tricky situation when he starts to interpret and apply the book of Leviticus. We acknowledge with Paul in 2 Tim. 3:16 that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.” We also acknowledge with Paul in 1 Cor. 10 that all the things that are recorded for us in the OT “happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction.” But what do we do with all the regulations in Leviticus? Do they apply to us today? Do we have to follow them? If so, why, and if not, why not?

Here is the principle I want you to keep in mind as we go through this book. We can‟t confuse the object lesson with the spiritual reality it represents. Let me say it again. We can‟t confuse the object lesson with the spiritual reality it represents. In the book of Leviticus, the visible and tangible always points toward the invisible and intangible. The physical leaven / yeast that grows and permeates the entire loaf of bread is an object lesson that illustrates the nature of sin (1 Cor. 5 and Gal. 5). Yeast is not intrinsically evil. The meat of the young goat boiled in it‟s mother‟s milk is an object lesson only. There is a bigger spiritual reality that God was drawing their attention to. It‟s not like something happened to the goat meat at the molecular level if it was boiled in it‟s own mother‟s milk that didn‟t happen if it was boiled in some other goat‟s milk.

How do we know that is true? Because of what Jesus said in Mt. 5:17-18. “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. 18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.” Circle the words “fulfill” and “accomplish.” “Fulfill” means “to give the complete or true meaning of something.” It means “to provide the true significance of something.” The word “accomplished” means “to come into existence,” and indicates that something was missing, it is still outstanding. What this tells us is that the law in its Old Testament form was incomplete. It was insufficient. It was missing something. The way the author of Hebrews puts it in chapter 8 is that the priesthood and legal system served as “a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.” Remember, the physical points to the spiritual. He goes on to say in verse 7, “For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second.” That is strong language! And then he ends the chapter in verse 13 by saying, “When He said, „A new covenant,‟ He has made the first obsolete.” The point is that eventually, the object lessons lost their value. They are not for us today.

What I want you to remember as we go through this wonderful book is that if you focus too closely on the particulars, you will miss the big picture. If you look at all the dietary laws and all you see are principle for healthy eating, you have just missed the point. There is something bigger going on. I have a pastor friend who lives in Red Hook, and he was telling me about his friend‟s house on Long Island. Apparently it was on the beach and had an amazing view, and the entire house was built around the great room that had a 7‟ X 11‟ window looking out at the bay. He would bring guests to this window and encourage them to just stand there and soak it in.

Let‟s say that I am the guest and he has just brought me into the great room, and we are standing there in front of the window and there is a gorgeous sunset – I mean the sky is on fire and there is a palette of colors in the sky no human could ever reproduce. And I walk up to the window and say, “Did you use cherry to trim this window out?” He says “yes, but look at that sky!” So I say, “This is incredible woodwork. Did you mill it yourself, or have it custom built?” He says, “I milled it myself, but look at this sunset. Have you ever seen such beautiful colors?” So I say, “I can‟t believe the patina on this wood. How did you get it? Did you use beeswax, or linseed oil?” He says, “It‟s neither – it‟s just matte varnish, but you really need to see this sunset before it is gone.” So I say, “How did you attach it to the wall? I don‟t see any nail holes – did you glue it up?” And he says, “No, I worked really hard to make sure the putty was an exact match.” Wouldn‟t that be sad? Yes, the woodwork is beautiful and intricate, but that is nothing compared to the sunset.

And that is the danger we need to be on the lookout for as we study the book of Leviticus – focusing on the particulars and not the big picture. Do people do this today? Absolutely! In my opinion, this is the weakness of the entire Messianic Jewish movement – a fascination with the Old Testament ritual which Jesus, Paul, and the author of Hebrews all said was deficient. There are women who will not be intimate with their husbands for 40 days after they give birth to a male child, and they won‟t be intimate for 80 days after the birth of a female child – because of the prohibitions in Leviticus. There are people who won‟t eat shrimp because of the prohibition in Leviticus. Are these sinful things? No, but they are illustrative of a deficient understanding of the whole of scripture. We have to be very careful about focusing on the woodwork around the window and missing the beautiful sunset.

Why did God see fit to include Leviticus in our Bible, especially since its focus is on a system of approaching God that is no longer relevant? Three reasons come to mind.

First of all, Leviticus reveals a holy God who can be approached only in the way He prescribes. You cannot come to God on your own terms. I don‟t care how smart you are, or how logical or illogical you think the Bible is, if you want to have a relationship with God, you are going to have to do it His way! That is the sunset we are going to be focusing on.

Secondly, Leviticus beautifully and simply illustrates complex spiritual truths. For instance, when Jesus died on the cross, He was taking care of our sins. Expressed that way, it doesn‟t say a lot. But when we study the scapegoat that was released into an uninhabited wilderness on the day of Atonement – what Jesus did with my sins when He was on the cross suddenly comes alive.

Finally, Leviticus forces us to have a greater appreciation of the New Covenant, enacted at Calvary, that conclusively deals with sin. My love for Jesus and His grace and the sufficiency of His sacrifice is fueled by and in proportion to my awareness of the ponderous, complex, deficient, Mosaic system.

Structural Steel

2011-01-03T10:04:00.001-08:00

Structural Steel
2 Cor. 4:6-10

I’d like you to turn to 2 Cor. 4 this morning, and I want to speak to you about structural steel. Structural steel is what large buildings and skyscrapers are constructed of. It is the skeleton that holds the entire structure together and erect. For thousands of years mankind was limited in the size and height of what he could build, but with the advent of steel, everything changed. Steel is easily and quickly manufactured whereas wood takes years to be replenished. Steel is stronger than wood, it doesn’t burn, and it’s more flexible and easier to use than stone. So when the steel smelting process was perfected by Bessemer in the late 1800’s, its easy to see why steel became such a huge industry and why architecture was changed forever.

What does structural steel have to do with you and me? Well, in the same way that steel gives strength and stability to buildings, we need something to give us strength and stability in our lives. Steel is what allows a skyscraper to flex and sway during a hurricane (sometimes as much as 3 – 5 feet) without collapsing. Steel is what keeps a submarine from imploding when it is under 1.25 metric tons of pressure per square centimeter on a deep dive.

I don’t know about you, but those ideas appeal to me, because you don’t have to be alive for very many years before you figure out that life can be hard. This is why we sing the song, “It’s not an easy road I am called on to travel, for many are the troubles we bear.” We struggle with our spouse, we struggle with our children, we are under pressure from our bosses, we deal with debilitating physical problems, we have too much month left at the end of the paycheck, we suffer from the decline of our culture and nation, we are faced with tragedy in the lives of those around us, and the list could go on and on. I heard recently about a young mother who swerved to avoid hitting a dear and had a terrible wreck. She will probably be in a coma for months, if not years, and then face extensive rehabilitation, if she ever revives. How is her husband and five children supposed to cope with that?

As Job puts it, “ . . . evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth. People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.” His point is that difficulty and trouble and suffering and hardship and pressure is inextricably entwined with the human experience. No one is exempt. So as followers of Christ, how are we supposed to handle the pressures and stresses of life that we don’t have any control over?

This is where structural steel comes into play, and the Apostle Paul refers to it in 2 Cor. 4:6-10.

6 For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

Even though Paul doesn’t use the phrase “structural steel” in these verses, he makes reference in verses six and seven to something on the inside that keeps us from collapsing or imploding when life hits us hard. So even though I can’t explain to you the “why” of difficulty, I can give you three truths that will add some steel to your life. The first piece of structural steel I want you to see is found in Jer. 31:3, and it is the truth that God’s love for me is everlasting.

I. God’s Love For Me is Everlasting - Jer. 31:3

When life hits us hard, we are often tempted to wonder whether or not God really does love us. Maybe you don’t personally struggle at this level, but I assure you that many, many other people do. The Bible teaches unequivocally that “God is love,” and it is impossible for many people to reconcile a loving God with suffering and difficulty. If God really is a loving God, why does He let little girls be sexually abused by their uncle? The reason we think this way is because from a purely human perspective, love is most often demonstrated by acts of kindness and generosity and self-sacrifice. From a human perspective, acts of malice or evil or ill will are indicative of a lack of love. Because of this kind of thinking, when something tragic happens to us, our first inclination many times is to interpret that event through a purely human lens. And if we make that mistake, we will draw some very dangerous conclusions about God.

So the first piece of steel I want to share with you today is found in Jer. 31:3, which says, "The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness." The point Jeremiah is making in this verse is that as he reflects on the history of Israel, he can see that God has a history of loving actions toward His people. It was an “everlasting love.” They were chosen out of all the nations of the earth to be God's special people. They were delivered from Egypt. They were sustained in the wilderness. They were miraculously installed in the Promised Land, they were providentially protected in their early years as a nation. So as far as Jeremiah could recall, God had a history of loving actions toward the nation of Israel.

And what is of great importance to us is that at the time Jeremiah wrote this, the nation of Israel was going through some very distressing times. These were not the glory days of Israel's history. Israel was not some wealthy, strong, unified, world power. They were weak and harassed and the rulers were corrupt and the economy was bad. Injustice was prevalent. And in that context, God comes to Jeremiah and says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love." God’s message to Jeremiah in this passage is that the presence of suffering / difficulty /the existence of injustice / hardship does not indicate a lack of God's love.

This is the kind of perspective we need to have, and when you think about it, it is a mature perspective, isn’t it? Think with me for a moment about a 6 year old who doesn’t want to go to school on a beautiful fall day. It is warm and sunny outside, he has been building a fort in the woods, and he has a new puppy he wants to spend the day with; and from his six year old perspective there is nothing worse, nothing more unfair, than being forced to sit still in a hot school room, with Mrs. McGregor, and memorize multiplication tables. In fact, in his six year old mind, he is going to perceive his father’s adamancy that he go to school as being unloving. And he may even tell his father, “When I’m a Daddy, I’m not going to make my children go to school.” This is typical of six year olds – they perceive enforced hardship as being unloving. Of course from our mature perspective as adults, we know that the unloving thing to do is to give in to the child’s desires.

We need to learn how to apply this perspective to God and His actions toward us. We need to grow up in our understanding of what love looks like. As Paul says in 1 Cor. 13:11, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, and I reasoned like a child. When I became a man [when I matured, when I grew up], I put childish ways behind me.” A mature perspective of love understands that trial and difficulty is not indicative of a lack of love.

If we think about it, regardless of our current difficult circumstances, we can recall the same kind of actions on God's part toward us, that Jeremiah could recall. God chose us for salvation. He delivered us from the power and penalty of sin. He has providentially protected and provided for us. In fact, as far back as we can see God had demonstrated his love for us. And we need to be careful to remember that the presence of tribulation in our lives does not indicate a lack of God's love (see also Rom. 8:31-39).

So our first piece of steel is that God’s love for me is everlasting. Look with me now at Romans 8 where we are going to see our second piece of steel. In verses 28 and 29 we see that God has an objective for my life, and that is that I become more and more like His Son, Jesus.

II. God’s Purpose For Me is Christlikeness

In verses 28 and 29 we read, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. [Please don’t ever stop right here! The “good” of verse 28 is found in verse 29] For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the first-born among many brethren; 30 and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

God has an objective for your life, and that objective is that you become more and more like His Son, Jesus. God is not content with you the way you are right now! Let that sink in. Let me make this real personal. God is not content with Murray in his present condition. He wants Murray to become more and more like His Son, Jesus. I don’t care how long you have been saved, I don’t care how mature you think you are, you have areas in your life where you need to grow to be more like Christ.

Because of this truth, because of God’s objective for us, God is constantly working in our lives to “conform us to the image of His Son,” to use Paul’s language. God wants Billy to look less like Billy and more like Jesus. God wants Loretta to look less like Loretta and more like Jesus. He has a variety of tools He can use to accomplish this – parents, spouse, pastor, obnoxious co-worker, children, in-laws, boss, the economy, your neighbor, the list is practically endless – one of them being difficulty. God often uses difficulty to conform us to the image of His Son.

Think with me about the significance of the words “all things work together for good.” “All things” is somewhat comprehensive, isn’t it? Does it include things like rape and unwanted pregnancy? Is that one of those “all things” that “work together for good?” I heard about a godly 18 year old young lady who was raped and impregnated. And now she is bearing in her body a constant reminder of the horror of that incident. And when this child is born, and she is not putting it up for adoption, she will daily be reminded of the trauma every time she looks at her baby. Does Rom. 8:28-29 apply to situations like this? Absolutely! Here is a truth worth writing down. “God will take you where you do not want to go, in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own.” Paul Tripp.

So what does this have to do with having reinforcing steel in our lives when going through difficult times. Here is the connection. Purpose in life is what makes the difference between living and simply existing. Having a sense of purpose takes us from simply weathering the storm to actually battling our way through it and coming out on the other side. Having a clear cut sense of purpose is what gives sense and rationality to the difficulty. And we need to remember that God has a purpose in mind for us when difficult times come – He is using this difficulty to make me more like His Son Jesus. This truth is another piece of steel in your life. There is purpose behind the difficulty – it is not random. There is purpose behind the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. There is purpose behind the child drowning. There is purpose behind the hunting accident that takes a young man’s life. All things work together for good because they conform us to the image of Christ.

I read a very interesting illustration of how this works in a prisoner’s account of life in a Nazi death camp. Every day the Jews of this particular camp were forced to do backbreaking, disgusting labor by combining a large city’s raw sewage and garbage. They would distill this to make a fuel additive. And even worse than the nauseating smell was the realization that they were fueling the Nazi war machine. And the man who was telling about this said that even though it was inhumane beyond our ability to comprehend, the men of the prison camp did their work every day. One night the Allies bombed the plant where this fuel was made, so the next morning the camp commandant had them spend the day simply loading carts with sand, carting it to the other side of the compound, and unloading it. And that was it for the day. The next morning, he had the men move the sand back to its original place, and that was it for the day. The next morning, he had them move it back to the other side of the compound - and they were through for the day.

After several days of this purposeless work, men in the compound started breaking down mentally. Dozens actually committing suicide. Some would attempt to escape from the prison in broad daylight, only to be gunned down by the guards. Some men would throw themselves into the electrified fences only to be electrocuted in a terrible sizzling flash. And the man who was giving this account said the reason these men started committing suicide was because the camp commandant took away their sense of purpose. He said that as vile as the work was in the sewage plant, and as repulsive as it was to the men to actually be helping the enemy, at least there was a rationale and a purpose behind what they were doing, and they were able to live. They didn’t have that when they were moving sand. And when the sensibility of their labor and their purposefulness was removed, they lost their will to live.

As unpleasant as difficulty is, there is purpose behind it. There are some things you will never learn when life is good and everything is going the way you want it to. As Charles Stanley says, “In the valley, we discover the character of God in a way we never would on the mountain peak.” Those of you who have been through the valley know what he is talking about. Peter talks about this truth in 1 Peter 4:13 when he talks about “sharing in the sufferings of Christ” and how suffering creates a closeness with Jesus and an identification with Jesus that non-sufferers don’t have.

Difficulty has the potential to conform us to the image of Christ, or to change us from being so much like ourselves to being more like Jesus. We need to keep this in mind when we are going through difficult times. And we have a choice to make in the face of difficulty - we can resist God’s purpose and pay the serious consequences, or we can join ourselves to God’s purpose and make it our purpose with the result that we won’t simply exist but rather forge our way through the difficulty and come out on the other side a better person.

So the two pieces of steel I’ve shared with you so far are that God’s love for you is everlasting and God’s purpose for you is Christlikeness. The final piece of steel I want to share with you this morning is found in 2 Cor. 12, verses 7 - 10, and here we are going to see that God’s grace for me is sufficient.

III. God’s Grace For Me is Sufficient

The context of these verses is important. Apparently, the Apostle Paul had some kind of physical ailment that he felt was slowing him down in his service for the Lord. From various indicators in his other letters, this ailment had disfigured him in some way and probably had something to do with his eyes. But whatever it was, he felt like he could serve God better if he were healed of this problem. With that background, let’s start reading half way through verse seven, " . . . for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me-- to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Did you see God’s answer to Paul. He said, “Paul, I’m not going to deliver you from your distress.” That doesn’t sound very kind, does it? Would God really say to us, “I’m not going to heal you. I’m not going to give you a better job with a higher income. I’m not going to give you a sweet, loving, understanding, considerate spouse.”? The answer is “yes.” But he continues with, “I will give you the strength (“grace”) to bear it.” We see the same basic idea in Hebrews 4:15 - 16. In speaking about Jesus we read, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

There are two important points to remember here. First of all, Jesus understands what you are going through (v. 15). Secondly, because of His ability to understand our sufferings, we can go to Him with confidence and He will give us the grace we need to bear up under our difficulty.

Look with me at 1 Cor. 10:13. “No temptation [“test” or “trial” is probably a better translation] has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted [tested, or tried] beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it. By virtue of the fact that you are in the situation you are (whether it is chronic pain, or deep depression, or spiteful children, or some addiction, of financial pressure), you know you can handle it with God’s help. God will give you the grace you need to endure the hardship. I don’t know about you, but I find this verse to be one of the most comforting verses in the Bible, because it assures me that there are some things I’ll never have to face. God knows what I can and cannot handle, and the promise of 1 Cor. 10:13 is that God will not ever give me difficulty beyond my capacity to handle with His help.

So what are the three pieces of steel? 1) God’s love for me is everlasting. 2) God’s purpose for me is Christ-likeness, and 3) God’s grace for me is sufficient. Do you see how these truths can act as steel in your life? This is the kind of stuff that allows you to sway without collapsing when you are hit hard. These truths enable you to endure pressure without imploding. It is my prayer that if you are struggling for any reason this morning that you will find the truth of God’s Word to sustain you and comfort you and enable you to be faithful.

Note: I'd like to thank Dr. James Berg, faculty member of Bob Jones Seminary, for the headings I used in this message. He actually deals with four principles in his lecture on Four Stabilizing Truths, adding the point that God's Word is the final, right answer.

The Danger of Bounty

2010-12-07T06:31:00.000-08:00

The Danger of Bounty
Deut. 8:1-11

I think we are all familiar with the stories of children born into vast wealth, and more often than not, these are sad stories – just do some research on Christiana Onassis and you’ll see what I mean. As the sole inheritor of the Aristotle Onassis shipping fortune, she died when she was 38 years old after years of excessive living and drug abuse.

Another particularly sad story is the story of Huntington Hartford. The fortune he inherited was from the A & P Grocery Store chain. At one time, A & P was the Wal Mart of the world – it was the world’s largest grocer and second only to General Motors in sales of goods. Since it was money he inherited and not money he had worked hard for, he blew through multiple millions of dollars and died as an alcoholic drug addict living in squalor in Greenwich Village. You can read his life story in the book Squandered Fortune, written by Lisa Gubernick.

We could go on and on with examples like this, but the biblical principle these stories illustrate concerns the danger of bounty. When you have a lot of something, there are some very specific dangers you have to be on the lookout for that you don’t have to be concerned about in other circumstances. For instance, if you are snorkeling in the ocean, do you have to be on the lookout for deer ticks? No. When you come out and dry off, you don’t examine yourself minutely to make sure there aren’t any crawling around on you. Why not? Because Lyme Disease is not a danger associated with snorkeling. It is a danger associated with hunting and hiking, but not snorkeling. In the same way, there are some dangers specifically associated with bounty.

We see this in Deut. 8. As I think about the nation of Israel and how God blessed them when they went into the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – I see some parallels with how God has blessed us today. Last Sunday we heard many testimonies about how much God has blessed us with. We live in a land of bounty, and there is a warning in this passage that is very pertinent to us today.

"All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers. 2 "And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 "And He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. 4 "Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 "Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 "Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.
7 "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you shall eat food without scarcity, in which you shall not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 "When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you (this was last Sunday’s service). 11 (Here is this Sunday’s message) "Beware lest you forget the LORD your God.

Bounty, as wonderful as it is and as much as we enjoy it, is very fertile ground for breeding all kinds of unbiblical attitudes. There are multiple passages in the Bible we could appeal to to show this truth, but think about Jesus’ teaching that it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. Why would He say that? Because bounty (in this instance, a bounty of money) has a tendency to breed all kinds of bad behavior, and this morning I want to share four of them with you.

First of all, bounty can foster a sense of autonomy – Mt. 6:11 “give us this day our daily bread.” Jesus’ point in this statement is that we need God’s direct involvement in our lives for our physical sustenance on a daily basis. When we have a lot – whether it is health, or food, or clothing, or money, or friends, or work, or property - we tend to forget our total dependence on God. We start to become autonomous – we get these feelings of independence.

We know we need Him in a general sense, in the large scheme of things, but not on a daily basis. I had a man in my church one time who never came to prayer meeting – until he was diagnosed with cancer. He had a hectic work schedule as a state inspector and on Wednesday nights at 7:00 he always had something more important to do – until he was diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly he discovered that he did have time for prayer meeting and that corporate prayer by the body of Christ was important. What was going on in his life? Bounty fosters a sense of autonomy. And when God took away his bountiful health he woke up to his need of God’s daily sustenance. I can’t tell you how many men I’ve know who have suddenly gotten serious about the Lord after their wives have walked out on them. What was going on? When they had a bountiful marriage they didn’t need God quite as desperately as they did when the marriage started to unravel.

So the first danger we need to be on the lookout for is that bounty fosters a sense of autonomy. The second danger we need to be aware of is that bounty can foster a sense of ingratitude.

Bounty can foster a sense of ingratitude – In Phil. 4:11 - 13, Paul alerts us to a very important lesson when he says, “I have learned how to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

When we have a lot we tend to think that our bounty is normal, and we get unhappy with less. Why do so many newly married couples get so deeply into debt? Because they think that the standard of living their parents have achieved is the norm. And because they think it is the norm, they get dissatisfied with what they have. But instead of saving to acquire what they want, they go into debt to get it. What is happening is that the bounty they grew up in makes them ungrateful for the little bit they do have.

I can remember being at a church dinner and watching a child fuss with his mother because he didn’t want to eat his applesauce. He wanted to throw his plate out and go get a new bowl of applesauce because some gravy had gotten into the applesauce on his plate. What was going on here? Bounty can foster a sense of ingratitude.

Several years ago our family was going through a very difficult time financially, and we were literally down to our last few dollars. Because of this we were taking some pretty drastic steps to cut our living expenses and were by no means living the American Dream. During this time my brother and his family came to visit us, and they wanted to go to the city and do some sightseeing. That evening, they took us out to dinner at the Olive Garden, and I can’t even begin to tell you what a treat that was for us after a year of marginal living. Also at the restaurant that evening was a group of young people all dressed up and enjoying themselves because they were
going to a show on Broadway. When I was done with my meal, I went to the restroom and had to walk through their area of the restraint. The wait staff was clearing their tables and as I walked past the large plastic tubs of dirty dishes, I saw multiple plates of untouched meals and many plates with only a few bites taken out of them. It just about sent me through the roof. Why was there so much waste? Because of the bounty these children had been living with. Bounty fosters a sense of ingratitude. Why did I have such a negative response? Because of the lack of bounty I had been living with. If those children had lived through a war or the Great Depression, their plates probably would have been licked clean.

When someone leaves the church because the pastor preaches too long, or they get overlooked after doing something special for the church, or they have a conflict with a Sunday School teacher, or because a Deacon reprimands their child, what is going on? The bounty of churches in a single county has bred a spirit of ingratitude in the body of Christ.

If you don’t like this church, go to Pastor Quick’s church in South Cairo, Will Balta’s in South Westerlo, Pastor Green’s in Westerlo, Greenville Christian Church, First Baptist in Catskill.

If you were a member of an underground house church in North Korea, and the Sunday School teacher was dry, and uninspiring, and always seemed to focus on the same few topics, how quickly do you think you would leave that church and find another one? You probably wouldn’t! North Korea doesn’t have bountiful churches, and the parishioners are grateful for what they have. Bounty had a tendency to foster a sense of ingratitude.

So the second danger of bounty we need to be aware of is that of ingratitude. The third danger I want to share with you is that of focusing on the temporal. Not only can bounty cause us to be autonomous and ungrateful, it can cause us to lose our focus on the eternal and become preoccupied with the temporal.
Bounty can foster a sense of the temporal – In Luke 12, Jesus tells a story about a rich farmer who had a very productive year, so he tore down his existing barns and built bigger ones to hold all his produce. He calculated that he had enough produce for many years to come, so he sat back to take it easy for a while, and in verse 20 Jesus said, “You fool, this night your soul is required of you, and who will own what you have prepared?” When we have a lot, we tend to forget about eternity. Our stuff tends to become the focus of our lives.

When we are living in bounty, it is imperative that we remember what John teaches us in 1 John 2:17. “The world is passing away as well as its strong attractions, but the one who does the will of God will abide forever.” John is referring to what Peter elaborates on in 2 Peter 3:10-12. “But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. 11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.”

Here is a very good exercise to do every once in a while. I want you to envision your most treasured physical asset – maybe it is your car, your house, your savings account, your photo albums – your most treasured physical asset. Not your spouse, or your family, or something like that. Do you have that in your mind? Now, picture that thing as a pile of ashes. That is the reality of our situation! That Honda Odyssey, with heated leather seats and a GPS is one day going to be a lump of molten metal. All those silver coins that you have been accumulating and stashing away to carry you when the economy crashes is one day going to be a pool of liquid silver.

This is why Jesus tells us not to lay up treasures here on earth. In Mt. 6:19-21 He says, “Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Bounty has a tendency to foster a preoccupation with the temporal,

So as we are considering the dangers associated with bounty, we have looked at autonomy, ingratitude, and a preoccupation with the temporal. The final danger we need to be aware of is that bounty can foster a sense of spiritual myopia. Myopia is the term given to defective vision. It’s when you can’t see an object clearly, and bounty has a tendency to cause myopia, not in the physical sense but in the spiritual sense.

Bounty can foster a sense of myopia – In Rev. 3:17 we read about a group of believers in a church in Laodicea, and God’s assessment of them is this. “'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing (do you see their bounty?)," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” Do you see the connection there? What kind of people are blind to their real condition? The rich, the wealthy, and the self-sufficient. When we have a lot we tend to be blinded to the reality of our condition.

We have talked before about the truth that all is not well in the church in America! Last summer I spoke to you about the matter of discipleship and I gave you the startling statistics about the condition of Evangelicalism, and it isn’t a pretty picture. Yet if you were to interview the average Evangelical this morning after he has attended his church, he would tell you that everything is going great. Why? Because of this truth – bounty fosters a sense of myopia.

I want to close this morning with a question. Why is it that the only place where the church is exploding with new converts is in countries where Christianity is illegal? Because of these truths about bounty. Bounty is very fertile soil for all kinds of bad behavior: autonomy, ingratitude, a preoccupation with the temporal, and spiritual myopia. Is there a solution? God has blessed us tremendously, how do we deal with our bounty?

1. Acknowledge its source – 1 Cor. 4:7 – What do you have that you did not receive?
2. Spread it around – 2 Cor. 9:7 – God loves generosity!
3. Strive for balance – Prov. 30:7-9 – Excess in either direction has its dangers.
4. Hold on to what you have very loosely – Job 1:21

As we come to the Lord’s table, I want us to appreciate the example of Jesus who left the bounty of heaven for our sake. He gave up the riches of heaven and became poor for us. Aren’t you glad that His bounty didn’t have the negative impact on him that it usually has on us?

The Separation of Church and State

2010-11-30T06:41:00.000-08:00

I‟d like to start my talk on the separation of church and state with a little survey. When you hear that phrase, how is it usually used? Do you hear it in the context of keeping religious expression out of the public square – or do you hear it in the context of keeping the government from passing legislation that would force religious expression on American citizens?

I can‟t recall hearing this phrase used in any way other than in the context of keeping morality and religious expression out of civic matters. For instance,

 You can‟t pray in school today because of “the separation of church and state.”

 You can‟t have a statue of the 10 commandments in a courthouse in Alabama because of “the separation of church and state.”

 You can‟t have a nativity scene on the courthouse lawn in many communities because of “the separation of church and state.”

 You can‟t have a Christmas concert in the school, it has to be a Holiday Concert – because of the separation of church and state.

To say that this phrase is greatly misunderstood is quite an understatement, so in our talk tonight I want to show you where this idea came from, emphasize where it did not come from, what freedom of religion means, what freedom of religion does not mean, and then we‟ll end by looking at early American history to see how our founding fathers felt about it all. Sound like a plan?

Where did this concept of separation of church and state come from? Most people think it is found in the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States. That is incorrect. The way the first amendment reads is, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” How many of you heard the phrase “separation of church and state” in that sentence?

Here is something we need to understand with great clarity. This phrase, “the separation of church and state” is not found in one single governing document of the United States! It isn‟t found in the Constitution, or the First Amendment, or the Declaration of Independence, or any other official document pertinent to the founding of our Country.

As I said, most Americans believe that it is actually taken from our constitution. Listen to this very sad conversation between the Christian historian David Barton, and a U.S. Congressman who was an accomplished attorney. They were discussing the importance of basic religious values in society, and the Congressman said, “We know these values are important; it‟s unfortunate that we can‟t do anything to promote them.” Barton responded, “Why not?” The Congressman replied, “We just can‟t.” Barton persisted, “Why not?” The Congressman answered, “Because of „separation of church and state.‟” Barton responded, “Separation of church and state? What about it?” He replied, “It‟s in the Constitution – the Constitution won‟t permit us to have religious values in public arenas.” Barton said, “That phrase is not in the Constitution!” Forcefully, the Congressman countered, “Yes it is!” “No it isn‟t!” “Yes it is!” They went back and forth until Barton produced a copy of the Constitution and asked, “Would you please find that phrase for me?” He replied triumphantly, “I‟d be happy to.” He immediately went to the First Amendment, read it – and became very embarrassed. He said, “I can‟t believe this! In law school they always taught us that‟s what the First Amendment said!” Amazed, Barton said, “You‟ve never read the Constitution for yourself?” He replied, “We were never required to read it in law school.” This is a pretty sad commentary on our law schools, and I‟m afraid that this particular Congressman who had never read the Constitution is not an exception to the rule.

So where does this phrase come from? To answer this question, we have to go back to the 1500‟s. On October 31, 1517, the Catholic Church was rocked by what is called today the Protestant Reformation. Three monks – Martin Luther in Germany, Ulrich Zwingli in Switzerland, and John Calvin from France – all broke with the Roman Catholic Church over issues like the authority of the Pope, the use of indulgences, and what they determined to be irreparable corruption.

There was another group of men at the same time, not quite as well known, who believed Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli didn‟t go far enough in their reform efforts. One of the primary issues at stake for these men was the relationship between the church and the state. In the 1500‟s, Catholicism made the state subservient to the church (cf. how the Pope crowned kings, Henry VIII), and Protestantism (Luther, Calvin, et al.) made the church and the state co-equal. This is why the king of the country was also the head of the church. This is why when a baby was baptized, that act made him not only a member of the National church, but also a citizen of the country.

Well, there was a group of men who strongly opposed this idea of the church and the state being so closely aligned. Men like Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, Balthasar Hubmaier, Jacob Hutter (Hutterites), Jacob Ammann (the Amish), and Menno Simmons (Mennonites). These men and those who followed their teachings were know as Anabaptists.

The Anabaptists understood with great clarity that even though God and State were closely connected and even intertwined to a great degree, there was a very clear boundary that the state could not step over. Cf. story of Jesus and the poll tax. These Anabaptist paid very dearly for their insistence on this matter because their actions and beliefs were considered treason. Yet it this insistence on the clear boundary between the church and state that has marked Baptist thought for the last 500 years, which is why on Oct. 7, 1801, The Danbury Baptist Association of Danbury, CT, sent a letter to President Thomas Jefferson expressing their concern about this matter.

The essence of their concern was this. These Baptist pastors felt that freedom of religion was an inalienable right, it had been given to them by God, not granted to them by the state. And there is a big difference between those two concepts. They were concerned that since freedom of religion was mentioned in the First Amendment of the Constitution (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .”), that people would erroneously conclude that it was a freedom granted by the Government, and not by God. And if the Government can give us something, it can also take it away. They wanted Jefferson to clarify that freedom of religion was not something that the state could grant or suspend – it was an inalienable right.

Jefferson replied to this letter on Jan. 1, 1802 and said, “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, . . . I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should „make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,‟ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”

Three things to remember about this: First - this phrase, “a wall of separation between Church and State” is a phrase taken from Thomas Jefferson‟s personal correspondence to a group of Baptist pastors, not some kind of official statement. Secondly, Jefferson was simply reaffirming that the U.S. Government has no right to establish a religion for the entire nation (like the church of England of that day, or the church of Scotland of that day, etc.), or to involve itself in religious disputes, as did the European states. The “wall of separation” was for the purpose of keeping the state out of religious matters (the presence of Christ in communion). To quote him, “religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God.” The third thing to take from Jefferson‟s statement is that he was not saying, nor does the First Amendment advocate that religious matters or expressions have no place in the public square or in government. Yes, he mentions a wall between the two institutions, but that wall only stops influence in one direction! From state to church, not from church to state.

How do we know this? Because of our history and architecture. Listen to these quotes and facts that demonstrate how closely intertwined religious expression and public life was in the early days of our country. If you have ever wondered how our founding fathers felt about religious expression, here it is.

John Adams, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813 said, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were . . . the general principles of Christianity.” Works, Vol. X p. 45

On Oct. 11, 1789, John Adams in a speech to a group of officers in the Massachusetts Militia said, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Works, Vol. IX p. 229

Robert Winthrop, a Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1840‟s said, “Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them, either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man, either by the Bible or by the bayonet.”

In George Washington‟s Farewell Address, he said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness – these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them.”

On the very first day after George Washington became the commander in chief of the American forces in the Revolutionary war, he issued this order: “The General most earnestly requires and expects a due observance of those articles of war established for the government of the army, which forbid profane cursing, swearing, and drunkenness. And in like manner he requires and expects of all officers and soldiers, not engaged in actual duty, a punctual attendance on Divine service, to implore the blessing of Heaven upon the means used for our safety and defense.”

Thomas Jefferson - “In our village of Charlottesville, there is a good degree of religion, with a small spice only of fanaticism. We have four sects, but without either church or meeting-house. The court-house is the common temple, one Sunday in the month to each. Here, Episcopalian and Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist, meet together, joining in hymning their Maker, listen with attention and devotion to each others‟ preachers, and all mix in society with perfect harmony.”

As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U..S Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view ... It is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments! As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door. As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall, right above where the Supreme Court Judges sit, a display of the Ten Commandments! There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington , D.C.

James Madison, the fourth president, known as 'The Father of Our Constitution' made the following statement: “We have staked the whole of all our political Institutions upon the capacity of mankind for Self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to The Ten Commandments of God.”

So what has happened over the last 100 years is that there has been an evolution of thought in our country. It has been fueled by an activist Supreme Court, and public opinion has swung from “government not being able to establish a national religion,” to “government not permitting religious expression in the civic arena.” As Dave Barton says, “The result is that the First Amendment is now used to prohibit the very religious activities that the Founders themselves once encouraged under the same Amendment.”

Alexis de Tocqueville was a French jurist who visited the US in 1831, and he was so impressed with what he saw that he went home and wrote one of the best studies of American culture and Constitutional system that had been published up to that point. His book was called Democracy in America, and listen to his first impression of our country in the early 1800‟s. “On my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things.”

He goes on to say, “Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions . . . . I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion – for who can search the human heart? – but I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or to a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society.”

“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

Let me close with another quote, similar to de Tocqueville‟s, also by a famous person, but with a very different slant. “America is like a healthy body, and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.” Guess who said it? Joseph Stalin! It behooves us as patriots to be aware of the enemy‟s agenda. And this misapplication of the first amendment to our Constitution is not coincidental – it is part of a deliberate plan to weaken and eventually destroy our great country.

For a list of the resources I consulted for this presentation, please email me and I’ll get them for you.

Leveraging Your Parentage

2010-10-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

Biblical Principles that affect the Christian Citizen
Principle # 3 – “Leveraging Your Parentage”
Isa. 44, 2 Chron. 7:13-14

I want us to turn to Isa. 44 this morning as we continue with our series on the role of the follower of Christ in the political process. For the past couple of weeks we have been looking at some broad principles that have particular application to our situation, primarily the principle of righteous rule and the principle of active involvement. The point I have been trying to drive home is that we are privileged to live in the United States of America where we have a say in who govern us. This is highly unusual in the history of humanity. Peter and Paul did not have that privilege! The “state” they had to be in submission to was put into place and ruled by force. The subjects had no voice in the process, unlike us. As I put in your bulletin insert, good stewardship demands that we are actively involved in the political process.

The next principle I want us to look at is going to take a few minutes to develop, but if you will stay with me I think I can demonstrate its validity. I’m calling it “leveraging your parentage,” and I want to introduce it to you by sharing a conversation I had with Daniel about a week ago. He told me it was common knowledge among the Mayfield children that if one of the boys asked me for something, I would many times say “no;” yet if one of the girls asked me for the same thing, I’d often say “yes.” So the boy’s way of handling their perceived favoritism was to ask their sisters to talk to me whenever they wanted something. I’m not going to take the time to share with you my response to the allegation, but I do want to call your attention to the phenomenon that was taking place. The boys were using the special relationship a father has with his daughters to accomplish their objectives. In the business realm, that is called “leveraging.”

“Leveraging” is one of those fad words that you see so often, and it is taken from the concept of a lever. Levers are incredibly useful tools and have been used for centuries to make man’s work easier. Historians believe that the Egyptians used levers to move stones that weighed up to 100 tons. Archimedes was the one who said, “Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the earth with a lever.” And so leveraging is when you use something you have for maximum advantage, it almost has the idea of exploiting, but without the negative connotations.

The point I want to drive home to you this morning is that we need to take advantage of our relationship with God as we think about the role of the follower of Christ in the political arena. We need to leverage our relationship with God to bring America back to its founder’s intent. Let me share with you three propositions that will develop this, and then I’ll end with a current example of how this worked in California.

First of all, God is sovereign and has a plan He is implementing in the political realm. He even uses unregenerate people to accomplish His will. Look with me at Isa. 44:24, and the example of a pagan, Persian king by the name of Cyrus.

24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone, 25 causing the omens of boasters to fail, making fools out of diviners, causing wise men to draw back, and turning their knowledge into foolishness, 26 confirming the word of His servant, and performing the purpose of His messengers. It is I who says of Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited!' And of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be built.' And I will raise up her ruins again. 27 "It is I who says to the depth of the sea, 'Be dried up!' And I will make your rivers dry. 28 "It is I who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.' And he declares of Jerusalem, 'She will be built,' And of the temple, 'Your foundation will be laid.'" 45:1 Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand, To subdue nations before him, And to loose the loins of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: 2 "I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze, and cut through their iron bars. 3 "And I will give you the treasures of darkness, And hidden wealth of secret places, In order that you may know that it is I, The LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. 4 "For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor Though you have not known Me. 5 "I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; 6 That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, 7 The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.

This passage absolutely drips with references to God’s sovereign power, at least 15. And what is of particular importance to us is that God’s sovereignty extends into the political realm. We usually think of God’s sovereignty in matters like salvation and creation – you know, these things that are really important and have such long-term consequences – but it obviously doesn’t stop there as we see in this passage. And two times God states that He was using Cyrus to carry out His plan, even though Cyrus didn’t know God. What this means for you and me is that God is involved in political matters, and sometimes He even uses unredeemed men to bring about His plan.

Now the second proposition I want to share with you is that as God’s children, we can influence God’s plan. Let me show you quickly four passages that teach this truth, and we’ll start with a familiar passage in 2 Chron. 7.

2 Chron. 7:13-14 "If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain [God’s sovereignty], or if I command the locust to devour the land [God’s sovereignty], or if I send pestilence among My people [God’s sovereignty],14 and My people [here we see the idea of God’s children] who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” As God’s children, we can influence God’s works!

James 5:16-18 “The effective prayer of a righteous man [here we see the idea of the special relationship with God] can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain [Who is in charge of whether or not it rains?]; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit. As God’s children, we can influence God’s works!

Joel 2:12-14 – "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning; 13 and rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, And relenting of evil. 14 Who knows whether He will not turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a libation For the LORD your God?

Jonah 3:4-10 – Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." [God’s sovereign plan being announced by Jonah] 5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God [now they are God’s children]; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and it said, "In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. 8 "But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.9 "Who knows, God may turn and relent, and withdraw His burning anger so that we shall not perish?" 10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.”

Are you starting to see that God’s children, because of their special relationship with Him, can actually influence His plan? Here are four passages that all teach this truth.

The final proposition I want to share with you answers the question, “How do we actually influence God’s plan? As we were reading through the four passages a minute ago, I’m sure you probably picked up on this, but let’s hit them again quickly.

First of all comes confession and cleansing, as we saw in the 2 Chron. passage. “If my people, who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” What does this concept sound like that we talked about recently? This is the essence of the entire series on idols of the heart. The Bible teaches that if we hold on to iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us, so it is imperative that we start with humbling ourselves and cleansing ourselves.

The second part of influencing God’s plan involves prayer. We saw this in the James 5 passage where Elijah was actually able to influence God’s use of the water cycle. Closely associated with prayer is the third element, that of fasting. To see the impact fasting has, I want us to turn to Mt. 17.

14 And when they came to the multitude, a man came up to Him, falling on his knees before Him, and saying, 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic, and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 "And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." 17 And Jesus answered and said, "O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. 21 "But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

This story teaches us that there are some issues we are faced with that are so large, that the only way to handle them is through fasting. These disciples had apparently cast demons out of people before, but when they came to this particular one, their normal mode of operation didn’t work.

So when it comes to leveraging your relationship with God, we see from Scripture that God has a plan He is implementing in the political realm, and that if we cleanse ourselves and fast and pray, we can actually have an impact on what God is doing.

In closing, I want to share with you real life example of how all this works together. What I have shared with you this morning is not theoretical. Remember my point: we need to take advantage of our relationship with God as His children, especially in the political arena. Or as I put it in my title, we need to learn how to leverage our parentage. And we see an amazing example of how this works in the passing of proposition 8 in California back in Nov. of 2008. Formally known as the California Marriage Protection Act, it stipulated that only “marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” When that was passed, it was a huge blow to the homosexual agenda of legitimatizing homosexual marriages, and the irony of this being passed in California is mind boggling! California! You could see something like this happening in North Dakota, or Wisconsin – but California?

How in the world did prop. 8 get passed? Significantly, the movement was spearheaded by Rev. Jim Garlow, pastor of the Skyline Wesleyan Church, in San Diego, CA. That in itself is a beautiful illustration of the point made last Sunday when we were talking about the role of the church in the political process. Dr. Garlow’s strategy was thoroughly biblical and involved a balanced use of human activity and divine activity. From the human perspective, thousands of people worked very, very hard. 25,000 people went door to door in California with their information, and ultimately organized 100,000 volunteers by Election Day. They raised over 67 million dollars to finance the push. On top of this, there were multiple webinars, satellite simulcasts and phone banks – all getting people educated. It is a perfect example of man doing his part to bring about God’s plan.

The other dimension of the strategy fits in with what I am talking about this morning. To begin with, a large number of people committed to a 40 day fast ending on election day. Three days before election day, 33,000 people attended a 12 hour prayer meeting, from 10 AM to 10 PM, in Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. I wish you all could have been at Legislative Day last year to hear Dr. Garlow’s personal account of walking through his church and hearing youth groups travailing in prayer during hours-long prayer meetings.

Something we need to keep in mind is that the sovereign creator and sustainer of this incredible universe is your papa! The Aramaic word is Abba. Jesus gives us some insight into the heart of our Father in Luke 11 when He says, 9 "And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. 10 "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened. 11 "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 "Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

Voter Information for New York Christians

2010-10-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

Important Items of Information:

1. If you are not registered to vote, you are a poor steward of one of the greatest privileges God has entrusted to you. Meditate on Luke 12:48 and see how it applies to the political process here in America. This Friday, Nov. 8, is the last day you can register to vote.

You can register by going to www.nycf.info. On the left side of the page, you will see an icon that says “register to vote.” Click on that icon, fill out the form, print it off, and put it in the mail tomorrow, Monday, Oct. 4, 2010!

2. It is vital that you vote intelligently. To help you with this, there is a great web page at www.politics1.com/ny.htm Every person running for office in New York State is listed, and most of them have a link to their web page.

There are big differences between Chuck Schumer, Jay Townsend, and Gary Berntsen. You get to vote between them (and some others) for that Senate seat. Your quality of life is on the line!

There are big differences between Andrew Cuomo, Carl Paladino, and Kristin Davis. You get to vote between them (and some others) for who will be our next Governor. Again, your quality of life is on the line!

There are big differences between Kirsten Gillibrand, Joe DioGuardi, and David Malpass. You get to vote between them and others for that Senate seat. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, your quality of life is on the line.

God’s grace has been poured out on us here in America by giving us a say in who rules us. Don’t squander that privilege!

The Principle of Active Involvement

2010-09-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

Biblical Principles that Affect the Christian Citizen
“The Principle of Active Involvement”
Rom. 13:1-7

This morning we are going to continue with our series on the role of the follower of Christ in the political process. The last time we looked at this we considered the principle of righteous rulers. We were focusing on the truth expressed in Prov. 28:12 – “When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.” Or as it is expressed in 28:16, “A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding, but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.” The principle involved here is that when ethical, just, fair, honest men of integrity come to power, good things happen. The populace rejoices. But when unethical, unfair, unjust, deceitful, selfish men come to power, the people under them suffer. This is one of the principles that God has built into His universe. Our founding fathers referred to these principles as natural law. The point for us was that we are privileged in our country to have a say in who rules us. So we need to be educated and involved in the political process and do our part to have righteous rulers.

The principle I want us to consider this morning is active involvement. To help us get going with this, I want to put the principle to you in the form of a question. “What level of involvement should the gathered church have in the affairs of the state?” And make sure you understand the significance of th e term “gathered church.” I‟m not speaking today of “the church” in the sense of individual believers, but “the church gathered,” a group of followers of Christ. There is a big difference in the two concepts. Right now, we are “the gathered church,” but when we leave this building later, “the church” will be disbursing. So the question is, “What level of involvement should the gathered church have in the affairs of the state?”

As we think about this, I want you to know that if I had asked this question 200 years ago, or probably even 100 years ago, both “the gathered church” and political leaders in general would have answer very differently from what would be expressed this morning. Over the last 100 years there has been an evolution of thought concerning this matter about the level of involvement the church should have in the affairs of the state. We‟ll discuss how that happened later in this message, but for now I want us to consider two points. First of all, we are going toanswer this question from a biblical perspective. Then we are going to consider it from a historical perspective.

I. Biblical Perspective

A. Rom. 13:1-7 “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities (when Paul was writing this – around A.D. 58 – who was his „governing authority‟?). For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. 5 Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience ' sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

We are starting with this passage because it sets the stage for the entire question. If you want to know how involved we should be in the affairs of the state, Paul lays out for us four important points. 1) Government has its origin with God – v. 1, 4, and 6. This is huge. As we are going to see in the next passage, the state has a very broad realm and a lot of power, but we must never forget that the state derives its authority from and has its origins in God. As much as I admire Abraham Lincoln, he was inaccurate when he finished the Gettysburg Address by making reference to a government “of the people (source), by (personnel) the people, and for (purpose) the people.” 2) Resisting the state is a serious breach – it is tantamount to resisting God himself and will bring punishment on the violator – v. 2. The word translated as “resists” means to set oneself against, to withstand, or oppose. We do this at great personal risk. When Herod and Nero were on the throne, the N.T. authors never encouraged people to go underground and joint the resistance. 3) The state is commissioned by God to punish evil and reward good – vv. 3-4. This is why it behooves us to be good, law abiding citizens. 4) There are two motives for being in submission to our Government – fear and love – v. 5. Fear of punishment by the state and love for God as a follower of Christ.

This is our foundational passage for answering the question of how involved we should be, and what I want you to take from this passage of scripture is that the things of God and the things of state are very intermingled! This is why for hundreds of years the European model has been that the head of the state was also the head of the church. Who is the head of the church of England? The Queen! The Archbishop of Canterbury is the religious head of the church, but the Queen is the “Supreme Governor of the Church of England.”

So, if the biblical teaching is that the church and the state are so closely related that resisting the church is tantamount to resisting God, why did our Baptistic forefathers endure martyrdom for holding to a separation between the church and state? Why do we have in America this concept of separation between the church and state? It‟s because of the teaching in Mt. 22.

B. Matt. 22:15-22 “Then the Pharisees went and counseled together how they might trap Him in what He said. 16 And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. 17 "Tell us therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?" 18 But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, "Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? 19 "Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax." And they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" 21 They said to Him, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." 22 And hearing this, they marveled, and leaving Him, they went away.

What bearing does this passage have on the question at hand (what level of involvement should the gathered church have in the affairs of the state)? Note these several points. 1) As followers of Christ, we exist in two clearly delineated spheres – God and state. Certain things are in God‟s realm, and certain things are in the state‟s realm. While these two spheres overlap in some areas (our first point), there are other areas where they don‟t overlap. God is God, and the state is not! And what this means is that any time the state encroaches on God, we side with God. This is a vital, critical distinction. 2) There is no incompatibility between giving your money to a godless state and maintaining your right relationship with God. I point this out because there is the thought in the church that since our state uses our taxes for godless enterprises, we shouldn‟t pay our taxes because that makes us participants in their wickedness. That isn‟t true according to this passage because Jesus said to give to Caesar what belonged to him, and if you think our government is corrupt, compare it to Herod‟s and Caesar‟s!

What this passage tells us about the question at hand is that even though church and state are very intertwined (as we saw from the last passage), there are very clearly marked boundaries between these two entities. If you want to know how this works in practical terms, read the story in Acts 5 about when the state ordered Peter and the Apostles to stop preaching.

C. 1 Tim. 2:1-4 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

This passage teaches us several things. 1) The church is commanded to pray for its governmental leaders. One of the things that really bugged me about the Bush presidency is that as soon as he was elected, a national Presidential Prayer Team was assembled to pray for him every day. When somebody placed the fliers advertising this in the church foyer, I started asking people, “Where was this Presidential Prayer Team for the last 8 years when Clinton was our President?” The command is to pray for your governmental leaders, not to pray for the governmental leaders you happen to agree with. 2) There is a direct connection between obedience to this principle and my quality of life. Do you see that? Paul tells Timothy that we should pray for those in authority over us so that we can “lead a quiet and tranquil life.” Quietness and tranquility in the social realm are very conducive to godliness and dignity.

What this passage tells us about our topic is that there is a correlation between the amount of involvement we have in government and the kind of lives we get to lead. I believe that the more proactive the church is in being involved in the affairs of state, the more freedoms and prosperity we can enjoy. We can prove this historically. There is a reason why America exploded with freedom, technology, and wealth in its first 200 years of existence, and it is tied to the involvement of the church in the affairs of the state!

D. Matt. 5:38-41 “You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 "But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 "And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 "And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two.

Now at first glance, these verses may seem like they don‟t have any bearing on the question at hand, but if we look at it a little deeper we‟ll see the relevance. The general point Jesus is making is that we need to maintain an attitude of love toward our enemies instead of an attitude of vengeance or retaliation. The “eye for an eye” “tooth for a tooth” concept, even though its origins were in the Mosaic Law, by the time it got to Jesus‟ day, was a perversion of the limits God had built into the Mosaic Law. The purpose behind lex talionis (law of retaliation) was to discourage private retaliation and let public justice rule. Its purpose was not to establish some kind of tit-for-tat justice system.

The teaching of Jesus is that we demonstrate love for our enemies by repaying their evil with good as Paul tells us to do in Romans 12, not insisting on the OT standard of the eye for an eye. And then, to illustrate what this new standard looks like, Jesus give three illustrations of what this concept looks like in real life – in physical assault (v. 39), in judicial assault (v. 40), and in political oppression (v. 41). In the days of Jesus, military personnel had the authority to make any civilian drop what he was doing and carry the soldier‟s load for one mile. This was something the Romans adopted from the Babylonians and Persians as well – forced conscription of civilian labor or animals. And I want you to put yourself in the sandals of these Jewish people who were living under the occupying force of the despised Roman army.

Here you are working in your field, minding your own business, and a Roman soldier comes along, yanks you out of your field, and makes you carry his pack for a mile. You know you have just lost at least an hour of your day, maybe more, and you are assisting a hated symbol of your oppressive, foreign government. He knows you despise him, just like all the previous Jewish men he has made to carry his pack, and when you get to the end of the mile, instead of dropping his pack and turning around to go back, you say, “Would you mind if I carried your pack another mile?” How do you suppose he will react?

After he picks his jaw up off the ground, I can envision him saying something like, “A couple of days ago another guy did this, and he said he was a follower of Christ. Are you one of those followers of Christ as well?” And there is the opportunity to tell him about the difference Christ has made in your life as you spend the next half hour with him carrying his pack another mile.

The reason I‟m drawing our attention to this passage is because the difference that being a follower of Christ makes on us should have a profound impact on our involvement in the affairs of state. Peter makes the very same point in his first letter. Christians should be the best citizens! In fact, a constitutional republic, like ours, can‟t operate if it isn‟t fueled by moral people! This is something we‟ll look at next week, but certain types of governments work only when godliness is prevalent.

So to summarize what we have looked at this morning, we are considering the principle of active involvement. The question that helps us see this best is, “What level of involvement should the church have in the affairs of the state?” And the answer we see from the biblical record is that as followers of Christ, the church should have a very high level of involvement. It is natural and normal for us to do this, and what we are going to see next week is that historically, our founding fathers held tenaciously to these truths:

1. Government is ordained of God.
2. The church and the state have clearly delineated roles.
3. There is a direct connection between our quality of life and our political involvement.
4. Our relationship with Christ compels us to high level of involvement.

Biblical Principles that Affect the Christian Citizen
“The Principle of Active Involvement” – Part 2
Mt. 22:29

This morning we are going to finish the message I started last week when I was sharing with you the principle of active involvement. We are in a series of messages where I am answering the question, “What is the role of the follower of Christ in the political process?” And as we saw last week, government is ordained of God (Rom. 13), the church and the state are considerably intertwined yet they have clearly delineated roles (Mt. 22), there is a direct connection between our quality of life and our political involvement (1 Tim.2), and finally that our relationship with Christ compels us to higher level of involvement (Mt. 5). That is the biblical perspective that should motivate us to a high level of involvement in the affairs of the state.

I told you in the introduction last week that we‟d be looking at this matter of active involvement from two different perspectives – the biblical perspective and the historical perspective. Last week‟s message was the biblical part, so this morning we are going to look at the historical part. I want us to start by looking at this passage in Mt. 22:29. The Bible has a lot to say about the connection between ignorance and consequence. Ignorance can get you into trouble very quickly.

It pays to be educated (and I‟m not talking about formal education here), and in Mt. 22:29 Jesus condemns the Pharisees by saying, “you are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures.” In other words, their ignorance of the scriptures led to serious consequences concerning issues of eternal importance. We see another example of this connection between ignorance and consequence in Hosea 4:6. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Do you see the connection between ignorance and consequence?
Now, as we think about this matter of how involved we should be in the political process, there is a particular piece of ignorance, or we could call it a lack of knowledge, that is prevalent in our country and even in Christian circles that I want to clear up for us this morning. It has to do with the misconception about the “separation of church and state.” How many of you have ever heard that phrase used in connection with morality being kept out of civic matters? In other words, you can‟t pray in school because of “the separation of church and state.” You can‟t have
a copy of the 10 commandments on government property because of “the separation of church and state.” You can‟t have a nativity scene on the public library lawn because of “the separation of church and state.” We could go on ad infinitum ad nauseum. Most people base this thinking on the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .”

Here is something I want you to understand with great clarity. This phrase, “the separation of church and state” is not found in one single governing document of the United States! Most Americans believe that it is actually taken from our constitution. Listen to this very sad conversation between David Barton and a U.S. Congressman who was an accomplished attorney. They were discussing the importance of basic religious values in society, and the Congressman said, “We know these values are important; it‟s unfortunate that we can‟t do anything to promote them.” Surprised, Dave Barton queried, “Why not?” He replied, “We just can‟t.” Barton persisted, “Why not?” The Congressman answered, “Because of „separation of church and state.‟” Barton responded, “Separation of church and state? What about it?” He replied, “It‟s in the Constitution – the Constitution won‟t permit us to have religious values in public arenas.” Barton said, “That phrase is not in the Constitution!” Forcefully, the Congressman countered, “Yes it is!” “No it isn‟t!” “Yes it is!” They went back and forth until Barton produced a copy of the Constitution and asked, “Would you please find that phrase for me?” He replied triumphantly, “I‟d be happy to.” He immediately went to the First Amendment, read it – and became very embarrassed. He said, “I can‟t believe this! In law school they always taught us that‟s what the First Amendment said!” Amazed, Barton said, “You‟ve never read the Constitution for yourself?” He replied, “We were never required to read it in law school.”

This is a pretty sad commentary on our law schools, and I‟m afraid that this particular Congressman who had never read the Constitution is not an exception to the rule. And to help us out here at Cornerstone, there are copies of the Constitution on the information table in the foyer. Get one, read it, and be familiar with it. The words “separation,” “church,” and “state” are not found in the Constitution, or the First Amendment, or any other official document pertinent to the founding of our Country.

So where does this phrase come from? As I shared with you last Sunday, our 16th century Anabaptist forefathers had a very clear understanding of the Scriptures we appealed to last week. They understood with great clarity that even though God and State were closely connected and even intertwined to a great degree, there was a very clear boundary that the state could not step over. These Anabaptist paid very dearly for their insistence on this matter because their actions and beliefs were considered treason. Yet this insistence has marked Baptist thought for the last 500 years, which is why on Oct. 7, 1801, The Danbury Baptist Association of Danbury, CT, sent a letter to President Thomas Jefferson expressing their concern about this matter. The essence of their concern was this. They felt that freedom of religion was an inalienable right, it had been given to them by God, not granted to them by the state. And there is a big difference between those two concepts. They were concerned that since freedom of religion was mentioned in the First Amendment of the Constitution (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .”), that people would erroneously conclude that it was a freedom granted by the Constitution and not God.

Jefferson replied to this letter on Jan. 1, 1802 and said, “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, . . . I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should „make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,‟ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”

This phrase, “a wall of separation between Church and State” is a phrase taken from Thomas Jefferson‟s personal correspondence to a group of Baptist pastors, not some kind of official statement. But even if it were an official statement, even if it were in the Constitution, what would Jefferson be saying? He would be saying that the U.S. Government has no right to establish a religion for the entire nation – like the church of England, or the church of Scotland, etc. He would not be saying, nor does the First Amendment advocate that religious matters have no place in government.

So what has happened over the last 100 years is that there has been an evolution of thought in our country. Fueled by an activist Supreme Court, public opinion has swung from “government not being able to establish a national religion,” to “government not permitting religious expression in the civic arena.” As Dave Barton says, “The result is that the First Amendment is now used to prohibit the very religious activities that the Founders themselves once encouraged under the same Amendment.” Not only is this a sad commentary on our nation, it is also a sad commentary on the church because by and large, the church has bought into this thinking which is completely against each of the principles of active involvement.

Let‟s take a few minutes now and look at some historical illustrations of how actively involved the church was in the political process in the early days of our country. I want to do this two ways. First of all, we are going to look at some testimonies from our founding fathers, and then I will show you an example of exactly how integrated church and state was in the early days of our country.

II. Historical Perspective

A. Testimony of the founding fathers

1. John Adams, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson on June28, 1813 said, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were . . . the general principles of Christianity.” Works, Vol. X p. 45

2. On Oct. 11, 1789,John Adams in a speech to a group of officers in the Massachusetts Militia said, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Works, Vol. IX p. 229

3. Robert Winthrop, a Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1840‟s said, “Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them, either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man, either by the Bible or by the bayonet.”

4. In George Washington‟s Farewell Address, he said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness – these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them.”

5. On the very first day after George Washington became the commander in chief of the American forces in the Revolutionary war, he issued this order: “The General most earnestly requires and expects a due observance of those articles of war established for the government of the army, which forbid profane cursing, swearing, and drunkenness. And in like manner he requires and expects of all officers and soldiers, not engaged in actual duty, a punctual attendance on Divine service, to implore the blessing of Heaven upon the means used for our safety and defense.”

B. Example of churches meeting in court houses

For Americans today, the idea of a church being able to use a tax-supported governmental building for their worship services sound unbelievable, since we have heard so much about this “wall of separation between church and state.” But in the minds of our founding fathers, there was no objection to this idea. Understanding the importance of morality to a stable society, they encouraged it!

Listen to this testimony from Thomas Jefferson concerning the town of Charlottesville, VA. “In our village of Charlottesville, there is a good degree of religion, with a small spice only of fanaticism. We have four sects, but without either church or meeting-house. The court-house is the common temple, one Sunday in the month to each. Here, Episcopalian and Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist, meet together, joining in hymning their Maker, listen with attention and devotion to each others‟ preachers, and all mix in society with perfect harmony.”

I believe we have seen with great clarity, from both a biblical and an historical perspective, that Christians should have a high level of involvement in the political process. Our nation became what it did because of the level of involvement of Christians, and we have become what we are today because of the level of involvement of Christians as well! It is high time for followers of Christ to reengage the political process and wield its influence.

Alexis de Tocqueville was a French jurist who visited the US in 1831, and he was so impressed with what he saw that he went home and wrote one of the best studies of
American culture and Constitutional system that had been published up to that point. His book was called Democracy in America, and listen to his first impression of our country in the early 1800‟s. “On my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things.” That is what I have been trying to say for these last two weeks. It is the principle of active involvement. He goes on to say, “Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions . . . . I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion – for who can search the human heart? – but I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or to a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society.”

In Ps. 33:12 we read the truth that “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” That should serve as a motivation for us to not only be godly but also to seek to exert a godly influence in our culture. But it is also a warning that if America does not stay blessed, it will be because we did not stay involved! De Tocqueville‟s most famous statement serves as a very appropriate parting thought: “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

Biblical Principles That Affect the Christian Citizen

2010-08-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

I’d like you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Prov. 28:12. Last week we were in Deut. 28 and I brought you a message titled “The Benefits of Principled Living.” We saw that principles are divine in origin – principles don’t come into existence by a majority vote, and you can’t rescind them if you get enough signatures on a ballot. God created this universe with certain principle designed to govern it (economic, political, agricultural, spiritual, social, familial, civil, biological, physical), and to the extent we follow those principles, we will benefit from them. But the converse of that is true as well. To the extent we violate God’s principles, we will suffer.

I then gave you an extended illustration of how we see this being played out on a daily basis in our country in the abortion breast cancer connection. The reason there is a connection between abortion and breast cancer is because abortion violates one of the principles that God established to rule His universe, and that is human life is precious. How many of you knew that human life is so precious that even animals that kill a human are under the death penalty? Read Gen. 9:1-6 this afternoon and see if that isn’t what God is saying. The reason human life is precious is because humans are created in the image of God. That fetus bears the image of God, and to terminate the life of the fetus is tantamount to an attack on God Himself – and God doesn’t take that lightly. The message of Deut. 28 is that to the extent we violate God’s principles, we will suffer, and to the extent we honor God’s principles, we will be blessed.

Now before we leave this and get into today’s message, there are two very important clarifications I need to make. First of all, I don’t want anyone to make the logical mistake that every woman you know who has had breast cancer has also had an abortion. There is a connection, but there is not a one-to-one correlation. For instance, do we know that there is a connection between driving while intoxicated and wrecking your car? Yes. There is irrefutable evidence that if you drive while intoxicated there is a higher incidence of accidents. But do we immediately assume that everyone who has a car wreck was intoxicated? Not at all. There is an connection, but there is not a one-to-one correlation. That is the way I want you to view this abortion breast cancer link.

The second clarification is that as terrible and brutal as abortion is, God’s mercy is infinitely larger and more capable for forgiveness and restoration. This is the thrust of Paul’s teaching in Rom. 5:20 when he says, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” Do you see the proportionate nature of God’s grace? God’s grace is always more than enough to meet the need. What that means is that there is no sin beyond God’s capacity for forgiveness. The Bible teaches that “if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This verse teaches that God’s forgiveness is tied to two of his attributes, his faithfulness and justice. The faithfulness makes sense to us, but we don’t often think about forgiveness and justice in the same thought, do we? What do we usually equate justice with? Punishment, right. But this verse equates justice with forgiveness. In other words, if we were to confess a sin, and God refused to forgive us, He would be an unjust God. Well, abortion is one of the sins that this verse covers. So if abortion is a part of you past, there is a message of forgiveness and hope and healing in Christ.

So with that introduction to the concept and importance of God’s principles, I want us to turn our attention now to a series of principles that affect the Christian citizen. Remember, the theme of this series is the role of the follower of Christ in the political process. If you want to know what your role is, you have to know first of all what is important in the big scheme of things. In other words, you have to know what principles are at stake in the political process.
 If you want to know how to safely navigate the political process, you have to know first of all what is really important in the big scheme of things.
 If you want to have a positive impact on the political process, you have to know first of all what is really important in the big scheme of things.
 If you want to know which candidate is going to serve your interests the best, you have to know what he believes about the issues that are really important.

So what I want to do this morning and next Sunday as well is share with you a series of principles that have tremendous bearing on our country. The first one is found in Prov. 28:12, and I’m calling it the principle of righteous leadership.

I. The Principle of Righteous Leadership – Prov. 28:12, 29:2

“When the righteous (צַדִּיק - not “born again,” but just, or ethical in conduct and character) triumph, there is great elation; but when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding.”

“When the righteous increase, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, people groan.”

This is a principle that obviously has tremendous ramifications for our political situation, and when it is violated, the consequences are devastating. How many of you are familiar with the term “brain drain?” Brain drain is the term given to large-scale immigration of individuals who are academically, artistically, and technologically skilled. Brain drain is almost invariably the outworking of Prov. 28:12 – “when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding.” Out of hundreds of possible illustrations, think for a moment about Ethiopia and some of the other African countries. Conservatively speaking, brain drain has cost the African continent over $4 billion a year! This is due to the flight of over 150,000 professionals, and the revenue they generate, annually. Ethiopia lost 75 per cent of its skilled workforce between 1980 and 1991. Guess why? Because of the rise of Communism under Mengistu. Hundreds of thousands of people were murdered without trial in the red terror, and all who could fled the country. This is why there are more Ethiopian doctors in Chicago today than there are in Ethiopia. “When the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding.”

What does this principle (the principle of righteous leadership) mean for you and me as Christian citizens? It means we have a vested interest in the character of our elected officials. From our town officials, to our county officials, to our state officials, to our national officials, character counts! If there is a person running for office who is a local businessman, we need to investigate how he runs his business because how he runs his business is going to be how he runs his agency. We need to investigate his fidelity to his spouse because his fidelity or infidelity will be replicated in his political office. If he won’t honor commitments made to his spouse, do you think he will suddenly start honoring commitments made to his constituency? Character and ethical conduct are huge! You cannot separate political skill from personal character.

This principle is why it is right for people to be adamantly opposed to people like JFK, and Bill Clinton, and Eliot Spitzer serving as elected officials. And by the way, I think there is a difference between a man who succumbs to temptation and falls, but then confesses, repents, makes restitution and gets on with his life; and the man who is chronically unfaithful and lies and deceives and diminishes his guilt. But character is inextricably bound to political skill.

Most people know Samuel Adams only as a beer label, but listen to this quote: “Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt [this is last week’s principle – “the way of the transgressor is hard”. If you have a nation full of corrupt people, their lives will be difficult no matter how many wise laws and constitutions are passed.] He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.” Let me repeat that so it sticks in our minds. “He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.”

This sentiment was tenaciously held to by our founding fathers. They understood the principle of righteous leadership. They knew, based on their understanding of European and world history, that “when the wicked rule, men groan and go into hiding.” This is why they were adamant that men of noble character served in public office. For instance, they deliberately kept the salary of elected official very low so that greedy men would not be attracted to office. Greed is a character issue and our founding fathers believed that character was important. This is why George Washington refused a salary when he was the president – even though his plantation had been basically destroyed in the war and had not been built back to full production. He also refused a salary while serving as Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces during the Revolutionary War. This was the attitude of our country’s early public servants which is why our nation thrived under their leadership. “When the righteous triumph, there is great rejoicing, but when the wicked come to power, men go into hiding.”

Before I give you a series of practical steps to take in relation to this principle, let’s look at one more passage in Proverbs. Turn back one chapter to chapter 28 and look with me at verses 15 and 16. “Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.[How many historical illustrations could we come up with that demonstrate this truth?] A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding [this is a message all elected officials need to hear], but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days [cf. G. Washington not wanting to serve a second or third term].”

If you want to read a biblical example of how this works, read 2 Chron. 10:1-10 this afternoon. This is the account where King Rehoboam, upon ascending the throne of his father Solomon, rejected the advice of his elders and followed the advice of the young men he grew up with, and look at the consequences of his foolishness. He was a “great oppressor” [“my father disciplined you with whips, I will discipline you with scorpions”] which showed his “lack of understanding.” Rehoboam rejected sound principles because he was not a principled man, and he paid a high price for his foolishness.

What this means for you and me as citizens of the greatest nation this world has known, is that we have a huge privilege in being able to elect our leaders. We don’t live in a monarch like Israel did – we have a voice in who rules us. We don’t have a dictator who seized the Oval Office by armed revolution – we have a voice in who rules us. So let’s not forget this principle of righteous leadership.

Here are the three action steps we need to take if we are going to apply the principle we have studied this morning. Step #1 – get registered to vote if you aren’t already. How many of you heard the statistic Jason McGuire told us two weeks ago about church voting records? He said that in the last election, only 50% of the people in the church were registered to vote. That ain’t right! Or as my Southern friends say it, “dat’s just wroang.” Only half of all church members are registered to vote. It is a privilege to have a voice in the election of our officials, but if you aren’t registered, you have no say.

The second action step is to actually vote. Jason also told us that only half of the registered voters in the church actually voted! Again, that ain’t right! What that means is that out of all the possible voters in the church, only 25% of them actually made the effort to go out and vote in the last election. How can we have ethical, just rulers if only 25% of the church is voting? Again, it is a privilege to have a voice in the election of our officials, but if you aren’t actually going to the polls, you have no say.

The final step is to get to know the character of the candidates. Out of the three action steps, this one is the hardest. It isn’t hard work to get registered. It isn’t hard work to get out on election day, but it does take some effort to know the character of the candidates. The good news though is that there are lots of resources available that make the work easier. Voting records are online. You can just scan down the list of bills up for vote, see how they voted, and then draw conclusions about their character based on their voting record. There are organizations that are dedicated to voter education. And perhaps most importantly for us Christians, there are Christian Political Action Committees committed to educating Christian voters about where the various candidates stand. Next week I’ll try to have some links printed in the bulletin to show you where to go for information.

So, what is the role of the follower of Christ in the political process? His first role involves the principle of righteous leadership. “When the righteous triumph, there is great elation; but when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding.” What are you doing as a follower of Christ to bring righteous leadership to our town, state, and country?

The Benefits of Principled Living

2010-08-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

This morning we are going to be in Deuteronomy 28 where we are going to consider the fundamental principle that will serve as the theme for our study of the role of the follower of Christ in the political process. I hope you were blessed last Sunday by the ministry of Jason McGuire. He is a follower of Christ who has a vision for being involved in the political process. You heard it directly from his mouth that he wants to influence legislators and legislation for the glory of God. That is a great motto and certainly worthy of our imitation. If there is anything a Christian should aspire to, it is being influential. Not in a proud way, but in the biblical way of exerting an influence on those around you.

The title I have given this message is, “The Benefit of Principled Living.” Living according to principles as opposed to feelings, or polls, or your peers opinions is a discipline that will serve you well all your life. For example, a good principle to live by is to never spit into the wind. You usually only have to do that once to learn that that is a bad idea. Another good principle to live by is to make sure when you are using a hand saw, your first stroke should always be a pull, never a push. Similar to this is the principle that you should always use tools according to their design. Screw drivers are not designed to have their handles hammered, so don’t use them as a chisel.

These are all small principles and as such they have small consequences when they are violated. Breaking the handle of your screwdriver because you are pounding on it with a hammer really isn’t that big of a deal. Cutting your finger because you are using your saw the wrong way doesn’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things. But, the larger the principle, the larger the consequences of violating it. For instance:
 you can’t spend your way out of debt. That is a big principle of life! Another biggie is,
 you can’t have a high standard of living and high employment rates at the same time.
 You can’t hoard resources and generate wealth at the same time.
 The moral character of a leader affects his decision making ability – and consequently the quality of life of the follower.

These are huge principles and if you violate them, the consequences are staggering. This is why it makes sense to live according to principles. When we live principled lives, we trade short term pain for long term gain, which is why most people don’t live according to principles. The principled choice is almost always the more difficult of the two choices, but I assure you that principled living has great benefits.

Now, before we get into the passage I want us to look at, let me give you three important truths about principles. 1) Principles are divine in origin. God created this universe to operate by principles. I want to make sure everybody understands that this universe, and the inhabitants of this planet (both human and animal – cf. Gen. 9:5), are subject to the principles and laws God established at creation. 2) A principle does not become a principle because it won a majority vote. That is not how principles come into being. A principle does not cease being a principle if you get enough signatures on a petition to rescind it. Principles emanate from God and are reflections of His character. And 3), your relationship to God or lack of relationship to God does not determine whether or not these principles are binding on you or not. Every person on this planet is subject to God’s laws, regardless of his relationship to God.

So with this introduction to principles, let’s look at this passage in Deuteronomy and see the benefit of principled living. The passage we are going to be considering today is found in Deut. 28. We will be reading verses 1 – 20.

"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.
3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.
5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8 The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
9 The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.
10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you.
11 And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,
14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
15 "But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
16 Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.
17 Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
18 Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.
19 Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
20 "The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds.

If I were to sum up these 20 verses, here is what God is saying. “If you will live according to the principles I have established to rule my universe, you will reap positive consequences. But if you defy my principles, you will pay a very heavy price for your foolishness.” Now I know that the immediate context of this passage is the nation of Israel and their obedience to the laws God gave to Moses. But when you think about it, the reason God’s moral law was binding on Israel is the same as the reason God’s universal laws are binding on all of creation. As the creator (and it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about the creation of Israel or the universe), it is His right to regulate His creation as He pleases. So make sure you remember the teaching of Deut. 28: “If you will live according to the principles I have established to rule my universe, you will reap positive consequences. But if you defy my principles, you will pay a very heavy price for your foolishness.”

Let me give you in the rest of our time this morning an illustration of this truth that God blesses obedience and punishes disobedience. Turn with me to Prov. 13:15 where we see a very general principle. Here we read that “Good understanding gives favor: but the way of transgressors is hard.” How many of you have learned that “the way of the transgressor is hard?” We usually discover this principle early on in life, don’t we? This same principle is expressed using different terms down in verse 21. “Adversity pursues sinners, but the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity.” Look next with me at the book of Job. I want us to go to chapter 4:8-9 and see Job’s friend’s testimony. “As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. 9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.” This matter of suffering some kind of adversity for violating an established guideline is a universal principle established by God. It did not become a principle by popular vote, and just because you don’t agree with it or believe it is binding on you doesn’t matter – the way of the transgressor is hard.

How many of you were aware that there has never been a civilization that has not been regulated by some code of justice. You can go to the most barbaric, uncivilized tribe in the world and find that they had a recognized set of guidelines (minimal as they may have been) that established boundaries for the tribe, or group, or nation. If you lived within those boundaries, it would go well with you. But if you go outside those boundaries, adversity will pursue you! Your way will be hard. And the reason we can find this phenomenon throughout human history is because the reward of good and the punishment of evil is one of God’s principles.

The Apostle Paul elaborates on this principle in Gal. 6:7-8. While you are turning there, I will tell you that the popular way of expressing this principle is to say, “What goes around comes around.” How many of you have ever heard that saying? Is it true? You better believe it is! Another popular way of expressing this principle is to say, “He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.” Paul’s way of expressing it is found here in Galatians 6 when he says in verse 7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

I like the way Paul states this because he starts with a warning about dismissing the truth of what he is about to say. If you think you can sow something and then get away with not reaping the consequences, you are delusional. If you think that “what goes around comes around” applies to everyone else except you, you are “deceived.” Why? Because God’s nature as a just God is on the line here, and He will not be mocked. So Paul starts with a word of caution about trying to dismiss this principle. He then goes on to narrow this principle down and tells us that there is a specific connection between the sowing and reaping. Let me develop this for just a minute.

How many of you are aware of the connection between abortion and breast cancer? The first time I heard about this was at a seminar about 10 years ago when a doctor who did extensive research into it gave a lecture explaining how it worked. He said that the single best thing a woman could do to protect herself against breast cancer was to have a full term pregnancy. This was discovered back in the 17th century when doctors started taking note of the high rate of breast cancer among nuns. So the medical community has known for a long time that there is a connection between childbearing (or the lack of childbearing) and breast cancer.1 But it is especially harmful to a woman’s body if she terminates her pregnancy. Here’s why.
When a woman conceives, her body immediately starts flooding her breasts with the hormone estradiol to get them ready for lactation. At 8 weeks, the level of estradiol is 500 times the level it was at conception. This hormone, which is a form of estrogen, causes the proliferation of both normal and precancerous cells, which is why her breasts start to swell. Now, at 8 months, a second process takes place called “differentiation.” Differentiation is the process of shaping these cells into milk producing tissue and it shuts off the cell multiplication process. If the fetus is aborted before differentiation, the woman is left with all these pre-cancerous cells – more than she had before she got pregnant. This is why there is such a high incidence of breast cancer in women who have had abortions. And interestingly enough, research has shown that most miscarriages do not raise the breast cancer risk. This is because the woman’s body knows there is a problem with the fetus so her body stops the production of the progesterone which is needed to maintain the pregnancy, as well as the estradiol, which prepares her for lactation.

The reason I’m giving you this illustration is because it shows two things. First of all, it shows in a general way that if you violate God’s laws, there are consequences. You cannot snuff out a human life and expect to merrily make your way down life’s path without any consequences. What goes around, comes around. You live by the sword, and you will die by the sword. But more precisely than this general application is the truth of what Paul says in Gal. 6. Is it a stretch to say that if a woman chooses to take the life of her child, that God will take away the very organ that was going to be used to sustain that child’s life?

Is it a stretch to say that because of the egregious nature of a woman terminating the life in her womb (the womb should be the safest place in the universe, and the mother should be the most ferocious protector of that life) that in God’s justice the most visible manifestation of her femininity will be affected?

The bottom line here is that one of the principles that God has established to rule His universe is that our actions carry very specific consequences. God blesses obedience and God disciplines disobedience. This is why it makes a lot of sense to live within the confines that God has established. There are benefits to principled living. God said it explicitly in Deut. 28, and we see it illustrated bountifully in life.

By way of conclusion, you are probably asking yourself what in the world this has to do with the role of the follower of Christ in the political process, and I have to ask you to be patient and let me build my foundation. I assure you that what we talked about this morning is relevant to our topic, but I have to lay out several planks to build on before we get into the specifics. So starting next Sunday I am going to give you a quick overview of some of the biblical principles our nation was built on.

How Do I Deal With Idols of the Heart - Part Three

2010-08-07T04:22:00.000-07:00

Let’s turn in our Bibles this morning to 1 Tim. 2. This morning we are going to finish up our study of the idols of the heart. Idolatry is something that God takes very seriously, and just because we don’t burn incense to little gold and silver statues in our homes doesn’t mean we don’t struggle when it comes to idols. Here in the Western world, and in particular, in Western Evangelicalism, we have a tendency to worship concepts, not objects. Concepts like control, respect, appreciation, comfort, and success.

One thing I think we have learned in this study is that our God is a jealous God and will not tolerate any competition. Because of His exclusivity He deals strongly with competitors. Two weeks ago we looked again at Ez. 14 and saw that God has a single objective on His mind when His children have divided loyalties – and that is the destruction of the idol, the destruction of His competition.

The final dimension of our study of idols is “How to deal with idols of the heart.” We know what they look like, we know how detrimental they are, we know how to identify them in our lives, so it behooves us to get rid of them. And so far we have looked at three principles for dealing with idols. First of all, we have to choose whom we will serve – we can’t serve two masters. Secondly, we have to resolve to love God with all our hearts – we can’t give Him most of our affection, He wants it all. Third, we have to appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit – He was sent to be our Helper because God knows idolatry is a powerful attraction and we can’t defeat it on our own power.

This brings us up to where we are today, so let’s look at the final two principles we need to practice if we want to conclusively destroy the idols we have erected in our lives. I want us to start by looking at this passage in 1 Timothy 2:3-4. I’m calling this principle, “Carry a warrior mentality.”

4. Carry A Warrior Mentality – 1 Tim. 2:3-4

Several years ago Steve Farrar wrote a very good book for men and fathers called “Point Man.” In it he compared the job of a father to the job of the point man on a military patrol. He explained how in the Vietnam war when small groups of soldiers would be in enemy territory, there was this point man would walk some distance ahead of the rest of the patrol and serve as the lookout. It was a critically important position since the point man was responsible for the safety of the entire group, and it was a very dangerous position because he was exposed as well as isolated from the safety of the group. When you are the point man for the day, every nerve in your body is on high alert. You know that any stick on the path could be the trigger for a booby trap. Any indention on the side of the trail could be concealing a land mine. Any movement in the bushes could be an enemy soldier ready to take your life. And because of the unrelenting tension and danger, you didn’t dare mosey your way down the path and through the jungle.

That is the imagery I am appealing to when I say that one of the principles for tearing down idols is to carry a warrior mentality. The apostle Paul thought along the same lines, according to 2 Tim. 2:3-4. Here he says, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” In his letters to Philemon and the church in Philippi, he refers to two of his co-workers as “fellow soldiers.” Why all this military terminology? Because Paul appreciated the danger associated with being in enemy territory. When you are the point man, you are not wondering if the Yankees are winning or not. You aren’t planning what you are going to have for dinner that night. You aren’t worrying about the lack of rain and how low the water table is. You’re not thinking about how the dollar is doing against the yen, in other words, you “aren’t entangled with the affairs of everyday life.” You have a single focus, and that is the danger of your situation and the survival of yourself and your men.

Something to remember about dealing with idols is that you can never let your guard down. Every morning when we wake up, our feet need to hit the floor with the realization that we are at war with an enemy who is committed to our destruction. And to feed into our imagery of idolatry, there really is an idol behind every bush. In addition to that, just because you had victory yesterday doesn’t mean you will have victory today. Just because we had victory every day last week doesn’t mean we will have victory today.

I was talking with a man one time, and in the course of the conversation he told me he was an alcoholic. I didn’t think much of it until he told me later in the conversation that he hadn’t had a drink of alcohol in ten years! How does that work? I’ve had former addicts tell me the same thing – “I’m an addict, but I haven’t used in years.” What’s going on? These people understand the nature of an idol. They know they can never let their guard down. They know they can relapse in an instant, so they carry a warrior mentality.

We have to live this way as well. Several months ago I shared with you the basic principle that idols are insidious. They disguise themselves as legitimate desires, and if we don’t view life from the perspective of a warrior mentality, we will fall.
Transition: The final principle I’d like to share with you about dealing with idols is found in 2 Pt. 1:4 – 10, and that is to strengthen critical spiritual disciplines.

5. Strengthen Critical Spiritual Disciplines – 2 Pt. 1:4-10

[For by these] he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

Let’s talk for a moment about strengthening critical spiritual disciplines. Last week as we were talking about appropriating the power of the Holy Spirit, I emphasized the fact that we are incapable of dealing conclusively with idols all by ourselves. We need supernatural help. A misapplication of that truth would be the idea that we carry no responsibility in this matter and that we can simply sit back and let the Holy Spirit do all the work. That is an imbalanced view. The principle that balances appropriating the Holy Spirit is this one found in 2 Peter 1:2-4 that tells us we have a role in the matter as well.

What we all have in common is our faith, but then we have to “apply all diligence” (v.5) to add various disciplines to our faith: virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, etc. These disciplines need to be “increasing,” according to verse 8. “Increasing” is the opposite of “stagnating.” In other words, they need to be getting larger. And in verse 10 we see that we have to “practice” these disciplines.
Do world class athletes and musicians practice every day, or do they have their skills perfected and no longer need to practice? Obviously, even the most skilled athletes and musicians practice every day. Yehudi Menuhin is considered by many to be the greatest violinist of the 20th century, and he regularly practiced 8 hours a day. Why? Because he understood the principle that practice is important. World class musicians know that while they may have intrinsic abilities that separate them from the rest of the masses, it would be presumptuous to assume they could sit back and coast for the rest of their lives.

My point is that even though we have the Holy Spirit residing in us as our Helper, it is presumptuous for us to assume we can sit back and let Him do all the work in destroying the idols in our life. In fact, there are three disciplines that figure prominently in idol destruction. Let me give them to you quickly. The first is found in Mt. 17.

A. Prayer and Fasting – Mt. 17:21

14 And when they came to the multitude, a man came up to Him, falling on his knees before Him, and saying, 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic, and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 "And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." 17 And Jesus answered and said, "O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. 21 "But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

Prayer and fasting is a discipline we don’t talk a lot about, which is unfortunate in light of it’s power. The point Jesus was making to His disciples is that there are some things in life that are so overwhelming that there is only one solution, and that is to pray and fast about the issue. If you are struggling with an idol that you just can’t seem to tear down, I strongly suggest you start here. Set aside a day to fast and pray for victory.

The second critical spiritual disciple I want to share with you is found in
Matt. 18:7-9, and I’m calling it radical amputation.

B. Radical Amputation – Mt. 18:8-9

8 "And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble [sin], cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. 9 "And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell.

Radical amputation is the idea that we need to be willing to take radical steps to get rid of the idols in our lives. An outstanding example of what this looks like is in the movie Fireproof. Do you remember the struggle the fire chief was having with his computer? How did he deal with it? He didn’t purchase filtering software. He didn’t set up an accountability partner. He took it outside and smashed it with a baseball bat. That is radical amputation! I have a pastor friend in Albany who has men struggling this way bring him their computer. They have to turn it in to him for two months. Some of the guys balk and insist they can’t live without it, and he simply says, “How serious are you about dealing with the problem? If you are ready to do business and break the hold this has on you, you’ll bring me the computer. Otherwise, you’re just playing around.” That is radical amputation, and sometimes that is the missing element in dealing with our idols.

The final critical spiritual discipline I want to share with you comes from James 5:16. I’m calling it confession and accountability.

C. Confession and Accountability – James 5:16

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Confession and accountability is another one of those disciplines that isn’t practiced too often. The dynamic involved in this discipline is similar to the dynamic involved in appropriating the power of the HS. Do you remember when I showed you how the presence of another person had a powerful effect on our behavior? It is easy to be “good” when we are around other people, but when we are alone, it’s a battle to be “good,” isn’t it? This is the same concept behind confession and accountability.

It isn’t hard for me to confess a sin to God. Why? Because it is something I do in private, and I can’t see Him. It is a whole different dynamic if I have to confess my sin to another human. Earlier this year we tried to get a men’s accountability program going here at church, and the idea was that we would meet on a monthly basis, share our struggles with each other, hold each other accountable, and pray for one another. Guess how well that idea went over? It was a flop! Guess why? Because it is easy to confess sins to God. We can do that in private. It’s a whole different story though to confess sins to another person.

But what does James say? He says, “confess your sins to one another [not for forgiveness, only “God can forgive sins”], and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

So there you have the five principles for dealing with idols of the heart. Can you remember them all? Here’s another acronym to help you: C-R-A-C-S. Choose Whom you will serve. Resolve to love God with all your heart. Appropriate the power of the HS. Carry a warrior mentality, and Strengthen critical spiritual disciplines.