Cornerstone Bible Church

How do you approach a believer who is tempted to abandon the faith? Deconstruct as it's being called. Not a person outside of Christ, someone who has professed the faith in the gospel and then is drifting away spiritually?

What are you trusting in for your acceptance before God? That's the key issue that is being addressed today from this passage. If you are in Christ, then of course your answer is: Jesus. Jesus is my righteousness. I need no other righteousness; I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died. And that he died for me. But let's move from the merely theological, into the practical, everyday working… When the Word of God exposes your sinfulness… how do you respond? Run to Jesus? Or do you run away from him? When you run to Jesus how do you imagine his response to you? What is his disposition toward you—what about when temptation keeps getting the best of you? What about when you vow to do better only to fall flat on your face again and blow it in some fashion. Sure, there are things we aren't aware of and new truths we learn, but what about the sins you commit that you know better.

This morning we come to a very familiar passage in the Bible. It's a little bit intimidating to approach such a familiar passage. One that we hear often quoted about the power and precision of God's word. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is used for our understanding of bibliology. It certainly teaches us about God's word, but the writer of Hebrews is not primarily concerned with establishing the doctrine of the word here.

Grab your Bibles and turn with me to Hebrews 3. Hebrews 3. We are going to cover 5 verses today. We are in the middle of a large section extending from 3:1-4:13 warning us not to fall away from Christ. The warning passages of Hebrews are challenging to understand and apply. They are given to the church. They are not to be threats. They aren't designed to make all of God's people doubt their salvation. Rather they are gracious warnings. They are to cause self-examination to make sure that you are in Christ. They are to stimulate perseverance to not depart from the Christ of your confession.

Grab your Bibles and turn with me to Hebrews 3. Hebrews has been showing us rich and lofty truths about our Savior. Last week we saw Jesus obeyed the Father as a man. We saw that he was truly a human. And as a human he was truly tempted. And so in his temptation to sin, he never for a moment had one sinful desire. He was set apart. And he obeyed in the power of the Spirit with a mind saturated in the truth. This brings us two comforts… * His righteousness becomes ours by faith. 100% obedience. He came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it and fulfill it he did by obeying to the fullest. * His obedience leads us. If Jesus obeyed using the same resources we have in Him then we can face temptation with the boldness to say that no temptation is so great that we are unable to resist it.

Today we come to one of my favorite teachings in Scripture. It's a doctrine that doesn't get much airtime—this passage and a few others in the New Testament provide a particular window into this amazing and wonderful comforting truth: Jesus resisted temptation as a man and is now qualified and ready to help men in their temptation. We will dive into some deep theological waters this morning. Take a deep breath. But we are going to see Jesus portrayed in a way that is very precious to the believer.

Theme: Jesus is again shown to be better than angels, as he took on flesh to serve as the ultimate merciful and faithful high priest for his people. Why is it that Jesus had to take on flesh. This is a profound mystery. And yet the Bible continually clarifies the pattern of who he is here. What we see is that he came because of his great love with which he loved us. And there was no substitute. How do you view the ministry of the Lord Jesus, for you? Where do you turn when fears and doubts arise in your heart? Our generation is one that is prone to look inward… * How do I feel? * What rings true to me? * Pragmatism… what has worked for me or others in the past? You must get outside of yourself and your own assessments and look to the person of Jesus. The writer of Hebrews is giving us a portrait of him today. The purpose of this letter is to those who are tempted to lose confidence in Christ. To those who would begin to find resident in their hearts a growing distance from God in the form of unbelief. Those who would find the combination of suffering and difficulty to begin to erode their trust in Jesus as the one qualified to bring them to God.

Hebrews 2:10-13 “Jesus, Your Perfect Older Brother” Jesus became lower than the angels to bring salvation for us. And in bringing salvation he made us his brothers and sisters. This is tightly connected to the Old Testament concepts of salvation and God’s deliverance as we will see. But this section focusing on the humanity of Jesus shows him as your brother. The comfort of having a big brother in your corner. On your side. A big brother who isn’t ashamed of you. Who protects you… and who brings you to where you need to be. Jesus is your big brother, spiritually speaking. And it so wonderful. The passage may be divided into an introduction, which speaks of the appropriateness of the Son’s suffering within the divine purposes (v. 10), the Son’s solidarity with the sons and daughters (vv. 11-13), the reasons for his incarnation (vv. 14-16), and a conclusion that speaks of Jesus becoming an effective high priest (vv. 17-18).1 Hebrews 2 (ESV) 5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? 7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, 8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” 13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.” 14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. 10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. It was proper that He… the He from whom and by whom all things exist is the Father. 1 Corinthians 8:6 (ESV) yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. It is proper that God the Father should make perfect… that’s the point of emphasis here God is the cause. The director. The one who designed the plan and implemented the plan… 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Why was this a good plan to humiliate the Lord of glory and to make him suffer? We know it was to accomplish our salvation. It was to rescue us from the consequences of our sin. In this context, it is connected to what we saw last week, which is the restoration of creation. The idea that Jesus comes to make right all that went wrong in Adam. Jesus will restore mankind’s dignity and dominion over the creation. Our writer says here: in bringing many sons to glory This is why Jesus tasted death for everyone (v. 9)… This is your ultimate destiny. It’s what you were created for. Not the glory of creation, but the glory of the creator. The enjoyment and magnification of the creator. For the one who is before all things and in whom all things come together. God’s salvation work is in our behalf, but it is not anthropocentric (man-centered) by theocentric (God-centered). We share in his glory, but it is ultimately about him. Isaiah 60:19 (ESV) The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Romans 2:7 (ESV) to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; Romans 5:2 (ESV) Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. You and I were created for glory—and expression of God’s glory in creation. And in the fall that glory was diminished and marred by sin. But God gets what he wants and he will get glory now through the redemption of sinners. It was fitting… it was only right and appropriate that what was originally designed would be recovered. Eternity, with God, forever and ever in glory. This is your orientation now in life… deferring hope to the life to come. many sons Some translations make this sons and daughters. Or people will say, “daughters of the king”—it kind of misses the point here. That’s true. 2 Corinthians 6:18 (ESV) and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. The analogous use of language. We are all sons—by that meaning that relationship between us and God is how a Father relates to a Son. It’s an analogy. God saves many men and many women and many boys and many girls. The focus here isn’t on age or gender, but on defining the relationship between us and God. Consider how God is a Father. God is our Father but he didn’t procreate us as an earthly Father. He doesn’t parent us identically to how an earthly father does. He isn’t married to a mother who is also God that brough us forth. God isn’t a male when we think of his biology as if he has a sexual expression. God isn’t analogous to a single-parent home where we are raised by our stay-at-home Father or absentee Father out in the workplace. Rather, we learn various characteristics about how God relates to us through the expression, through the analogy, of God as our Father. It is how God accommodates himself to our understanding. How do I want my people to view the way we relate to one another? We relate as a Father to a son. Likeness. Legal rights of the family inheritance. You were brought into sonship by the work of Jesus Christ, here designation as… founder of their salvation The founder. The originator. The initiator. The source. The author. Use three other times in the New Testament, always referring to Jesus.2 The best translation value for how this is being used is pioneer. He is the pioneer of their salvation. Trailblazers, pioneers—are the ones who go ahead into uncharted territory where there isn’t yet a path and way and makes it so that others can come along behind and reach the same destination. Pioneer provides implications beyond simply starting a process… a founder who gets the ball rolling. A pioneer is not only starting something, but starting something in behalf of and in relation to others. Richard Phillips writes: We follow a path blazed only by Jesus Christ, who leads us into the promised land of salvation and eternal life. He has gone where we could not go; by his own resources of righteousness and truth and an all-conquering life, he has opened up the way to heaven for us.3 You couldn’t get to God on your own efforts. You couldn’t navigate this life in sinless perfection. You were born in Adam. Jesus didn’t merely come to show us the way to God. He did show us the way to God. But after as he provided the way to God. John 14:2–4 (ESV) In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” No alternative trail. No alternative path. You can’t make it on your own. You can’t find a method of gaining John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. This connection of the pioneer of salvation indicates the sovereign work of God in saving his people. That he and he alone gets the credit. Salvation has always been God’s work and Jesus as pioneer of our salvation in the New Covenant, looks back to the salvation of YHWH in the Old Covenant. The same Lord who led Israel in the exodus, freeing them from Egypt, is leading his people to glory through Jesus Christ.4 Who led Israel out of Egypt? Moses certainly was the earthly leader. He was the head. He led the nation. He was replaced by Joshua. There was a clear leader, a clear chief over the nation. But who put Moses in that role? Who commissioned Moses from the flocks? Who equipped Moses with mighty wonders and signs? Who gave Moses the words on the teleprompter? Israel followed Moses, but who was Moses following? Moses was the deliverer, but he himself was only the earthly component. Exodus 3:7–10 (ESV) Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:17 (ESV) and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ Exodus 6:6–7 (ESV) Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. Exodus 20:2 (ESV) I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. YHWH brought Israel up out of Egypt. YHWH authored and initiated and accomplished salvation for them. And now the writer of Hebrews picks up that theme, connecting it to Jesus. Israel was delivered by YHWH, we are delivered by Jesus. God led Israel out of a foreign land into the promised land of Canaan. Jesus leads us out of this cursed world and into the new heavens and the new earth, the ultimate promised land.5 What he did there was amazing. He took a nation that was under the thumb of the greatest superpower in the world at that time. And he brought that superpower, Egypt to her knees. He made it so that the leader, Pharoah was begging them to leave. And the people were not only saying, “good riddance…” but “here take my most valuable stuff with you when you go…” There was no battle. No bloodshed. Israel received deliverance from YHWH her God. And that was the pattern. That was to show what it was going to look like when deliverance came for not only Jews, but for the whole world. That was YHWH through Moses for one ethnic group. Now is God through Jesus for every tribe and tongue and people in his church. The same pattern. Now expanded. Elevated. He passed through the heavens and then says, trust me and I’ll bring you with me. perfect through suffering. We hear perfection and we think moral perfection. Spotless. Without defect. Without lack. Not imperfect, but perfect. And perfection could be understood in that way. It is used in Scripture in that way. But not here in Hebrews… in Hebrews here the author is not indicating Jesus lacked something morally that was made up for in suffering. He didn’t have a sin nature. He didn’t have any moral defects or moral incompleteness that needed suffering to make up for. He is the lamb without blemish or spot. Rather, we must understand this in light of the connections to the Old Testament. See, where this author is going is the identification of Jesus as our great high priest. Much of the arguments of the central part of the book relate to his priesthood. So, Jesus, was made perfect not in terms of moral improvement. But in being shown or proved to be qualified to serve as priest. Perfect or complete in the Old Testament was used of priests in conjunction with their consecration for the office. Was fully equipped for his office. God qualified Jesus to come before him in priestly action. He perfected him as a priest of his people through his sufferings, which permitted him to accomplish his redemptive mission.6 The writer of Hebrews here begins a theme that will dominate much of this book. Jesus, the true high priest to whom all the other pointed, offered his own life and gave his own blood to open the way for sinners to come to God.7 Think of it by way of analogy like this: Jesus deity alone isn’t what qualifies him to be a our substitute. It wasn’t just Jesus showing up as God incarnate and then dying. A stillborn Jesus couldn’t accomplish redemption. An adult Jesus slowing up couldn’t accomplish redemption. He had to be born under the law. He had to be born as a Jew. His family line, and yes even his DNA was traced back to Abraham. And not only born under the law, but he then had to obey under the law. He had to be circumcised on the eighth day according to custom. He had to fulfill every dimension of the law not only in the letter, but in the intent behind it. All ______ regulations. And so, it was his life as a man, which demonstrates and in one sense even qualifies him to serve in that role. Under the Mosaic covenant a priest would be ordained. He would go from at some point being a man who was not a priest to become a man who was a priest. We see a similar example of qualifications in the apostle Paul—he is saved on the road to Damascus and instantly called as an apostle of Jesus Christ… regeneration. He has a divine calling. He is equipped by Jesus himself. Intrinsically qualified. Yet in terms of his qualification to serve as an apostle alongside the others he had to go to Jerusalem first and spend time with the apostles. He had to submit his doctrine to them. He had to the credentials. Paul would even say, no one added anything to me… He wasn’t lacking prior to that. Yet it was still a necessary part of the qualification process. Furthermore, it was qualifying in the sense that he could say, “I’ve actually been there and done that.” He isn’t a human priest because he is the all-knowing God who looked upon creation and merely said, “I get it.” He wasn’t like the person is an expert in something that they really haven’t experienced yet. From time to time go out in the field to show some respect for the role… go jackhammer in the trench for 8-10 hours in the mid-90’s. Jesus didn’t just play sympathetic high priest by proxy. He became a man and lived on this earth so that he might be qualified to serve in this role. He suffered. Not just at Calvary. Surely at Calvary. The cross was the apex of all of the suffering of Jesus. But he suffered far beyond the cross. Slandered/misrepresented—good efforts called evil (loss of reputation… he does his miracles by Beelzebul) Misunderstood—crowds and even disciples asking… who is this? Ignored—stay awake and pray… don’t go tell anyone who healed you… Hated—many plotting to kill him because of intense hatred Disregarded—his own feeling Loneliness—no one who truly understood him… weeping over Jerusalem… a burden and a mission that he bore alone (even in the Garden the disciples weren’t engaged) Rejection—he came to his own and they did not receive him Exhaustion—marathon weeks, early mornings, pressed continuously by the crowds Sickness—not recorded, but happened to him… canceled plans, fever and chills and body aches Fear—cup in the Garden, even the threats of those who hated him Temptation—40 days without food… the temptation to have the glory without the cross Humiliation—taking on flesh was humiliating, getting his diaper changed, submitting to flawed parents, with his ultimate humiliation being the cross Separation from his Father—in his humanity he left heaven above Forsaken—forsake by all his friends and ultimately by his Father, “Why have you forsaken me…” Learning and acquiring knowledge— What did Isaiah say of him? Wonderful Counselor. When you meet the one who can identify with your struggle… Jesus was perfected through suffering And he comes through that equipped to meet our needs. The pioneer. Perfected in this role. Completed in this role. By his experience. Pre-requisite for being a priest is knowing God and knowing the human experience. Now he has both. He is able to help us and come to our aid in our suffering because he understands our constitution, our weakness. For it was fitting that he Entirely appropriate… this is the focus of this verse. The appropriateness. It is frontloaded in the original, the first position in the sentence. Of greatest significance and attention. Greco-Roman world this was incomprehensible… utterly shocking and inappropriate the idea that a deity, whom you worship experiences suffering—weakness and pain. The notion of a crucified Lord was a scandal to the first century world. Crucifixion was a public form of execution, and its cruelty was well known. For Jews, death by crucifixion meant a person was under the curse of God, while pagans protested that it was sheer madness.8 To the human, it’s inappropriate. Stone of beauty? Stone of easy acceptance? Stone of sweetness? Stone of offense. What is so offensive about the stone of Jesus? It’s the reproach of the cross. The natural man finds Jesus offensive. And an object of ridicule and scorn… “on the contrary, perfectly appropriate.” 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. Jesus is here the one who sanctifies. He doesn’t need to be sanctified, because he is the very essence of sanctity and the one to whom all the rest of us are to be set apart to. Jesus as the ever-obedient one didn’t need to be placed into the realm of the holy. He was always and ever the holy one and was dedicated to God throughout his life. Holiness is the defining characteristic of God’s people. He is holy, we are to be holy. How is it that we are made holy? Consecration and purification was a theme of the Old Testament. God is holy. You are not. Set apart what is common for special use. Consecration. Purification. How does this relate to perfection here? And the priesthood? A Christians unconcerned about personal holiness is a misnomer. Jesus is the savior and the sanctifier. One of the great goals of your sanctification. Ephesians 1:4 (ESV) even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love Romans 8:29 (ESV) For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. On the path to glory… We are called to trust and to obey. We are called to pursue sanctification by these means. Even commanded to be holy (be sanctified). Christian, be who you are. God tells you, who are his child to: 1 Peter 1:16 (ESV) since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” He set you apart when he saved you. Know you are to grab hold of that which is yours in Christ, by faith. Hebrews 12:14 (ESV) Strive … for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. This is what the Christian life is about—growth in holiness.9 Francis Schaeffer once defined the basic aspiration of people today, including evangelical Christians, as material affluence and enough personal peace to enjoy it. But what we see in this passage is something far greater, a higher and more wonderful destiny and calling. We are reborn in Christ as his fellow brothers and sisters for the glory that his in the heavenly realms, and the holiness that distinguishes God and his children.10 Sanctification is always by faith. We don’t possess the ability to sanctify ourselves. God does that. You do it because God is at work in you. Beware of those who diminish or make muddy this very simple and plain doctrine in Scripture. There are those who use the grace of God as a license to excuse fleshly indulgences. They are crafty. They are deceptive. They use compelling, articulate arguments. And they appeal to the flesh. Christ has secured your justification and now you are passive in sanctification. Misunderstand the Scriptures and God’s design for the believer. The distinction between justification and sanctification. Others would speak of sanctification and imply that it is just learning to do the right thing. Learning better habits. Trying to stop the bad things you do and do more good things apart from the resources God supplies. Ephesians 6 is clear—God provides all of the weaponry and the armor and strength. But you are called to put it on. So, when your sanctification wanes you are not to blame God for his lack of sanctifying work in your life, and when you pursue sanctification it is through the grace which he supplies. This is such a help. When you are weak and when you are failing, you trust he will sanctify his people. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (ESV) For this is the will of God, your sanctification… And so, for Jesus here to be the sanctifier of his people is to connect him to YHWH in the Mosaic law. In the Old Testament sanctification is an activity regularly ascribed to God: so in the Pentateuch he identifies himself with the formula, ‘I am the Lord who sanctifies you’.134 Sometimes this sanctification of people is done through other agents, like Moses (Exod. 19:14; 29:1; Lev. 8:11-12).11 Leviticus 20:8 (ESV) Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you. Leviticus 21:8 (ESV) You shall sanctify him, [the priest] for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy. Leviticus 21:15 (ESV) that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.” Leviticus 21:23 (ESV) but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” Leviticus 22:9 (ESV) They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the LORD who sanctifies them. Leviticus 22:16 (ESV) and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” Leviticus 22:32 (ESV) And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you, Here’s what you are to do… follow the plan, obey my commandments in faith, and trust that I am the one who makes your working effectual. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. There is a qualitative difference between us… and yet a solidarity. Difference—he is sanctified, we are being sanctified. Similarity or solidarity—we have the same Father. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, The ones being sanctified, that’s the, “them…” If you are being sanctified, Jesus isn’t ashamed to call you his sibling. He isn’t ashamed of you. Are you ashamed of him? We’ve all been ashamed of Jesus. We are often ashamed of him, but he is never ashamed of us.12 Hebrews 11:16 (ESV) But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. They experienced the temptation to be ashamed of him… Hebrews 10:32–34 (ESV) But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Hebrews 13:13–14 (ESV) Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 12 saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” 13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.” Psalm 22:22 (ESV) I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: Psalm 22:1 (ESV) My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? Psalm 22:7–8 (ESV) All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” Psalm 22:16–18 (ESV) For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Isaiah 8:14–18 (ESV) And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 12 saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” Literally: I will sing hymns in church. When did Jesus first call his disciples brothers? Notice that he doesn’t call them besties… or homies… he calls them brothers, but only after the cross. In fact, immediately after the cross he told the women who had just seen him in his resurrected body: Matthew 28:10 (ESV) Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” It isn’t our shared humanity that makes us siblings of Jesus. It isn’t that we are both human. But rather a spiritual connection by faith. We have the same righteousness. We have the same Father. We are united now to him as his brothers and sisters. The most important blessing we gain by having Jesus as our elder brother is entry into the family of God. He is not only the elder brother, but he is also the natural-born Son of God. By grace we adopted into the family to which Jesus belongs as the rightful Son. We are not his brothers and sisters because we are children of God; rather, we are children of God because we are his brothers and sisters.13 13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” Jesus in his suffering had to put his trust in the Father. He endured by entrusting himself to his faithful Father. It was an act of submission to the Father. It was dependence. It was how he endured suffering. When you are suffering, you have Jesus as your example of entrusting himself to God in the midst of a situation. He had to trust: the Father will raise me from the dead, the Father will recompense my enemies. And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.” God has given children to the Son. Oh, that he would want us. Beloved, let this sink in deeply to your thinking. Jesus isn’t ashamed of you. He isn’t embarrassed to be a human and he isn’t embarrassed that you are part of his family. He isn’t begrudgingly receiving you from his Father as a punishment. It’s not that his Father has paired Jesus with the bad ones to rehabilitate us. Or because he has displeased his Father in some way. Rather, it is regarded that we are a gift to him from his Father. John 6:37 (ESV) All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. John 10:27–29 (ESV) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. John 17:6 (ESV) I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Sorry, Lord, you got the short end of the stick on that deal. You became a son of man that I could become a Son of God? Yes. Gladly. It was my intention and my very best plan from the beginning. Jesus became lower the angels. He took on flesh. He tasted of death on a cross. And it was so that he might bring us into God’s family, where we become little brothers and little sisters. We look to him as our pioneer who made a way for us and who ministers to us as a high priest who can sympathize with our weakness.

Today we see Jesus from a new vantage point. We are used to seeing a central character doing different activities and relating in different contexts…

Difference between asserting something and demonstrating it. One of the features of Hebrews that is causing me to love this truth is that the author keeps not merely telling us that Jesus is greater. But he is taking the time to demonstrate that assertion. He’s walking us through looking at this from one angle after another. Children maybe you have a favorite superhero. Someone who possess some special power. We all know superheros don’t exist in real life. Fun to think about because they are somewhat similar to humans, but they are supers. They possess attributes that make them superhuman. Superior to humans in their power. Supers don’t exist. But angels do. Angels are similar in some ways to humans, but they are better. They are superhuman, greater than humans. Today’s point is that as awesome as angels are, Jesus is way better.

Our author is writing to a band of believers—who came out of Judaism and into Christianity. And as he opens this letter, he has one main intent: to re-introduce them to Jesus. This isn’t their introduction into the faith. They have been established in the gospel for some time. But they need to hear it again. They need to hear the old, old story. They need to be refreshed in contemplating freshly the excellencies of Jesus again. They need to reflect on the One in whom they had placed their faith. They need to see again that Jesus is a sure and steady anchor for their souls. And so, he opens this letter by stating that God is a talker… who has spoken to us.

Hebrews 1:1-4 Jesus, God’s Climactic Revelation Grab your Bibles and open them up to Hebrews 1. Hebrews 1 we begin digging into this letter sermon together. Hebrews 1:1–14 (ESV) 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. If you read the Bible, and especially the letters written in the New Testament, you realize this is not the normal way that a letter begins… No greeting. No pleasantries. No commendation. No author. No blessing. It’s not: to the saints; grace and peace; greet you in the Lord Jesus; blessed be our God. He doesn’t even mess around with introducing himself. It’s a good way to start a sermon. Right out of the gate, he throws down the core proposition of the book. What God gave you in Jesus is better—and once you have Jesus, don’t ever go back to what you had before him. What God gave you in Jesus is better—and once you have Jesus, don’t ever go back to what you had before him. The theme of this opening monologue is this: God spoke his final and best [ultimate] revelation not through human prophets, but in his divine Son. God spoke his final and best [ultimate] revelation not through human prophets, but in his divine Son. The purpose of the letter is to convince a small group of Jewish Christians not to go back. Don’t do it. We find out in the next chapter (2:3-4) that this church was begun under the apostolic preaching ministry that proclaimed Jesus as Christ. It was an exhilarating message. Jesus of Nazareth is your Messiah—he is God’s anointed. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. He is the resurrected son of David. Acts 2:36 (ESV) Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. These precious saints heard that message and they believed it. They have left the comfort Judaism. Left the synagogue. Left the festal calendar. Left the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Left the comfort of close family relationships severed by allegiance to Jesus Christ. Left the safety of being a religion that was more culturally tolerable than Christianity. Christ had meant the seizure of their property. Christ had meant for some imprisonment. For them in those early days it was worth it—they accepted persecution joyfully. The body has been in existence long enough that the preacher will say in 5:14—you should have a whole rack of teachers by now because you’ve been in the faith long enough to be mature, even though you aren’t yet mature. They had come out of the shadows of Judaism and into the brilliance of Christianity. And yet now they are contemplating going back. Returning what they knew so well. Those good old ways. If after coming to Jesus you have ever doubted whether you want to or can remain in him, Hebrews is a message for you. When you have been disillusioned because people in the body keep failing you. When you have become discouraged because your progress in the faith seems like its at a standstill and you are tired of struggling in the Christian life. When you have been rattled by opposition to Christ or your own personal doubts and you wonder… is this really worth it? It happens. And when it does, your solution is to become freshly acquainted with Jesus. Christ is the ultimate object of worship. If you are in Christ, then the Spirit of God draws you to Christ and he is your solution. That’s how the preacher shepherds this congregation. Let me reexplain, further explain Christ to you. His approach is simple: I’m going to make Jesus clear to you, and in so doing make you say—how could I possibly go back? Whatever loss I have experienced I count it gain that I now have Christ and am found in him. As unbelief has crept in and like Israel began to complain in the wilderness. Numbers 11:4–6 (ESV) Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” Jesus is a fuller revelation. He is a better revelation. Once you hear from God through him, there’s no going back. God has spoken to his people Previously God spoke piecemeal revelation through human prophets (1) Now God spoke ultimate revelation through unrivaled his Son (2-4) This is a brilliant way to begin a sermon. It is written with wonderful logic and clarity. God spoke his final and best [ultimate] revelation not through human prophets, but in his divine Son. This is one sentence in the original from v. 1-4. One sentence that unequivocally asserts and demonstrates the superiority of Jesus Christ over everything. The theme in vv. 1-2a is God speaking. Previously God spoke piecemeal revelation through human prophets (1) 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, Πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ θεὸς λαλήσας τοῖς πατράσιν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις It opens here sounding a bit like a long ago in a land far, far away. But it is nothing of the sort. The best English rendering here is: God, having spoken long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways (Legacy Standard Bible) God speaks to people through people. The people he speaks to first are called prophets, they get a message that they give to other people who receive it as God’s words. God spoke to the fathers… to the forefathers, the patriarchs, the founding fathers by the instrumentality of prophets. Prophets spoke for God. In the Old Testament this took place at many times and in many ways. Each one brought a message that was truly the voice of God. Their opening refrain was often, “thus says the Lord” or “the Lord says.” Every message was 100% true. 100% divine in the source. That prophetic word was considered to be directly from God himself. It never strayed. It was utterly reliable. It came in many times or you could also translate this many portions. Many parts. I think both are true—it was many different instances of communication, each contributing a part… It was bits and pieces along the way. What lacked in this revelation wasn’t that it wasn’t true. It just wasn’t the whole deal. Each word from the Lord was fully accurate, but just a piece. You go to an expensive restaurant. As you know the pricier the menu the smaller the portions (generally). Let’s say you order a five-course meal. What happens? Someone brings you a plate with a tiny little bit of delicious food on it. It’s part one. The hors d'oeuvre, but that first little plate is a complete dish. It’s not just the garnish. Or just the sauce. It is a full hors d'oeuvre. But that first plate isn’t dinner. It’s just one part of the bigger meal. Many portions. Many pieces. A tid bit here. A tid bit there. Like hors d'oeuvres and various appetizers it is preparing you for the main course. Each one would contribute to a greater understanding like puzzle pieces each one coming together and creating more and more of a picture. Not only many pieces (many times… many portions). But many ways. Something I have always loved about God’s creative mind is the way he spoke to us. He could have had one sit down discussion with one person and given us the whole enchilada at one time. He could have dropped one book at one point. No. He revealed himself progressively. And he spoke in many ways…1 He walks with Adam in the Garden He comes to Abraham in a vision while he sleeps and shows up in person to speak to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre He wrestles with Jacob He gives Joseph dreams He speaks face to face with Moses He uses the still small voice, the gentle whisper to speak to Elijah (1 Kings 18:20-40; 19:12) A message here. A vision there. A dream here. A theophany (appearance of the pre-incarnate Son) there. But over and over we find God speaking over several thousand years to over 50 individuals.2 But the many ways ought not cause us to focus on the avenue for the revelation, but rather see its piecemeal nature. One commentator notes: His point is not merely the diversity of revelation in the Old Testament, but its fragmentary, incomplete, and gradual character.3 And every prophetic word originated from God: 2 Peter 1:21 (ESV) For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, whatever a prophet spoke was to be received as the very word of God and believed. Jesus rebukes the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Why? Because they didn’t see that he was the hermeneutical key to unlocking the Old Testament? No. Luke 24:25 (ESV) And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! You should believe the prophets. Those Jewish Christians knew the prophets. They grew up reciting the prophets. They memorized verses in the prophets. It was how they came to know God. If you want to begin to talk about privilege and privileged people on the earth—Israel had privilege. God spoke to them: Romans 9:4–5 (ESV) They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. But for the most part when God spoke, Israel yawned: Romans 10:21 (ESV) But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” Being a prophet wasn’t exactly posh in Israel. God’s people often rejected the prophets. Some of them were even killed. But to this little church, they valued the prophets. And they are tempted to think this… maybe we can find a Christless path to God. Christ is the dividing line for us—perhaps we can still relate to God without professing Christ and thereby remove the costliness of following God. People do this today. Give up wherever Christ is costly and attempt to relate to God on their own terms. So arrogant. That we would set the terms by which we relate to God rather than coming to his terms. The preacher here takes the prophets. And he doesn’t denigrate them. He doesn’t say they were useless or bad. But he uses beautiful and persuasive logic to argue for the superiority of Jesus as God’s final word. Era: Long ago vs. now in these last days Audience: God spoke to our fathers vs. now God spoke to us Manner: at many times and in many ways (i.e., piecemeal and incomplete) vs. (implied) now final and authoritative, the closing word. Instrument: by the prophets vs. now by his Son God spoke best and finally in his son Previously God spoke piecemeal revelation through human prophets (1) Now God spoke ultimate revelation through unrivaled his Son (2-4) 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, ἐπʼ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ, Here’s the uncreated creator. The self-existent God who needs nothing and answers to no one. Speaking. Speaking. Making himself known. Sharing himself by revealing himself. God is pictured not as a silent and distant force, impassively regulating the universe, but as a talker as One who has been speaking, arguing, pleading, wooing, commanding, telling stories, conversing and generally spinning words across the lines between heaven and earth since the beginning of time.4 God speaks to his people. We hear it and read it so much it requires pause to apprehend such a thought. So how did God speak to his people? The main verb in vv. 1-2a actually comes in v. 2. Your translation probably says has spoken. If you mark up your Bible, you can indicate that this is the main verb. Back up in v. 1 you probably have God spoke or after God spoke. This is a helping verb. So, here’s how this would work: having spoken or after having spoken, God spoke. The second speaking is a finite verb that indicates the definitive reality. Having previously spoken, God now spoke authoritatively and finally, you could say conclusively. Indicative here is presenting the information with absolute certainty.5 Forming a conclusion vs. formed a conclusion. And this point is furthered by the reference. He didn’t speak in prophets he spoke in Son. No article. No “the.” Of course, it was his Son, but it just says “in Son.” Why? Because he was just a son? We use the definite article in that way—hey could you bring a ball means something different than could you bring me the ball. The one signed by Steve Cishek. But this doesn’t men a Son. Rather to use Son without the article draws attention to the essential character of the one who is Son.6 The author’s point is not so much the identity of the Son, but the one having the quality of Sonship. It is one who: has the characteristics of a son. His credentials are vastly different from the credentials of prophets (or from the angels, as the following context indicates).7 Jesus, as God, brings superior revelation to any human prophet. Jesus is, “uniquely qualified to be the one through whom God spoke his final word.”8 Prophets. Prophets are great. Except their human. Except they are sinners. Except they die. Except they can only tell you what little piece of the puzzle they were given. Prophets are great if that’s all you’ve got. But to hear from the son is a whole other story. Sonship is oneness with the Father. The same essential nature. The same essential being. The Son of God is God and so to be spoken to in a Son is to be spoken to by God himself. Jesus came as the text says here in the last days. The last days came in (you guessed it) the prophets.9 The last days spoke of a new era where God would put his law in the hearts of his people. A time when he would visit Israel. And now you see that this time God didn’t send an average-Joe-run-of-the-mill-live-for-70-or-80-years kind of prophet. No this time God himself came to speak. John 6:45 (ESV) It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— God is here before you, teaching you, not through one human to the others humans, but through himself. God the Father is the source speaking. He is the ultimate cause here. The Son is the agent. This is the reality of the incarnation that we grapple with. God becoming man. Moses was the great prophet of old. The pre-eminences of the prophecy of Christ above that of Moses and all other prophets were of two sorts:—(1.) Such as arose from his person who was the prophet; (2.) Such as accompanied the nature and manner of the revelation made unto him.10 It was God himself coming. And God himself speaking. That made it final. Conclusive. It was the last word on salvation. It was the complete package. The main course. The last puzzle piece. This testimony was that the Son had arrived. It isn’t Jesus mixed in a group and he just seems to be roughly equivalent or similar in benefit. It isn’t even that he is first in the line of equals, or a head above all the rest. He is utterly unique and unrivaled in his excellencies because he is God of very God. He is intrinsically superior. Matthew 17:5 (ESV) He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” This final word spoken must be listened to. To hear the voice of the Son is to hear the voice of God. How you relate to the word of Christ is how you relate to Christ and how you relate to God. Turn with me to John’s Gospel and look at this portrayal of the final word of God. John 1:1 (ESV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus is the word—he speaks and reveals God. John 1:11 (ESV) He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. Just as they rejected the prophets of old. Now the Father sends his very own Son and they reject him too. But this Son came bringing a better message than Moses, a better message than the prophets, through his own person: John 1:14 (ESV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. God became flesh. He dwelled—made his abode on earth. Coming from the Father. This was a better message: John 1:17–18 (ESV) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. Literally, Jesus exegetes the Father. Moses brought the commandments. The instruction. There was grace in the law, but it was the code for how God would relate to his people. You want a relationship with God? It comes through the law. Jesus shows up and brings grace and truth. You can get to God directly because I’m here. I came to you. Everyone who had eyes to see could see that he was the divine Son: John 1:34 (ESV) And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” Peter’s testimony: Nathaniel’s testimony: John 1:49 (ESV) Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” And we are just in John 1. I want to show you just a few snapshots of this connection it is so obvious in light of Hebrews 1 and it is so marvelous: John 5:23–25 (ESV) 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. John 5:36–40 (ESV) 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. John 6:45 (ESV) 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— John 6:63 (ESV) 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. John 6:66–69 (ESV) 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” John 7:16–18 (ESV) 16 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17 If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. John 7:46 (ESV) 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” John 8:28 (ESV) 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. John 8:31 (ESV) 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, John 8:43–47 (ESV) 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” John 10:1–5 (ESV) 1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” Implication: what do you do with the voice of Jesus? If you listen to his voice, then you are his. But if you are hardened toward him or indifferent, then you are outside of him. See the warning was, recognize that this word of Jesus is even more significant than ignoring a prophet. Ignoring a prophet was bad. This is much worse. Likewise so is the corresponding comfort. Don’t leave the substance for the shadow. For them there was the temptation to return back to the former shadow. For us, the Son is the final and authoritative word. And God has graciously revealed himself to us. Instead of humans bringing parts and pieces you get God bringing you the complete and final word. So, for those original hearers…Think about it… Every patriarch was beset by sin Moses didn’t even get into the promised land because of his unbelief and anger that misrepresented God Elijah was used mightily by the Lord but then went into depression because of self-pity and fear of man and unbelief Jesus speaks a better word. God has spoken to us in his Son. Only reliable source for truth is God himself. There’s no other voice that you can trust except the voice of God. No other voice you need except the voice of God in Jesus Christ. This is to be your trust… Pulpit? As much as you can trust it, as it conforms to God’s Word. God speaks here as much as his word is the content. But his voice alone contains no error. Experts? Science? Politicians? The government? The academy? Hopelessly agenda-driven. Fallible. Self? Own thoughts. Your own feelings. Your own way of doing things? It’s as though God is still speaking today through what he spoke before. That’s the living and abiding word of God. It is a final, conclusive word. That means that we can soundly reject any prophet coming today to speak new revelation from God. Many false Christs. Many false prophets. Claiming they have new revelation from God. Claiming they know when Jesus is returning. Claiming all kinds of personal insights and authorities. Implications… How can I disregard in my thoughts and with my life? How can I distrust such a worthy word? How can I be indifferent? Comfort Commands Promises Warnings How can I not be humbled? What sets me apart from those who haven’t heard… or who have heard, and haven’t listened? Nothing… I’m a scoffer. Were it not for the grace of God there go I… But if you hear his voice as your shepherd, then you belong to the fold. How gracious that God speaks at all. Let alone came to speak to us in these last days. Do not be astonished if an emperor writes to us, for he is man. Wonder rather that God wrote the law for human beings and has spoken to us through his Son (Anthony, in Athanasius, Life of Anthony, 81). 11 Well as we said, this opening four verses is one sentence. And it presents Jesus as the superior prophet, the ultimate priest and the greatest king. This week we saw him as prophet, next week Lord willing we will see him as priest and king. Our great Messiah. We will see the qualities of this Son whom we have heard God speak to us through.

Always a wonderful time when we get to crack open a new section of the Scriptures and dive into it together. A sense of freshness and expectation—what is God going to teach us? How is he going to shape us through a study? Hebrews is no different. It is a unique book in the New Testament. Unrivaled in the presentation of the ministry and the character of Jesus. Why Hebrews? In order that we might better understand our Savior. Jesus is in exhaustible person. We can’t fully comprehend all of his attributes. In many ways, the more you think about him, the more mysterious he becomes. Take for granted statements like And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; And then you start to ponder… how did he learn obedience through suffering? How did he grow in wisdom (that means he learned wisdom) growing in stature that’s easy… his body got bigger and older. But grew in wisdom the omniscience God? Jesus Christ is an exhaustible object of our focus. He is your entrance into the kingdom and he is your everyday sustenance. And yet as glorious as he is. We don’t see him as we ought…

How often does the resurrection come up in apostolic preaching… Skepticism about Jesus is nothing new. Unbelief. Doubt. Rejection. Misunderstanding. Anything you’ve ever experienced relationally, Jesus has way more. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single greatest moment in human history. The cross is where Jesus satisfied the wrath of God, but without the resurrection, the cross would be nullified. It would be nothing more than a religious leader of some group who died for his cause. Many different ways of looking at the resurrection. Such a significant topic with implications for our sanctification. Implications for the life to come. Implications for dying. Implications for the demonstrating that historical reality of Jesus and his deity. Implications for understanding our justification and the finished work of Jesus. This morning we are going to look at the resurrection and the person of Jesus. How the risen Jesus is central to the preaching of the gospel.

Last week—indicating the connection between pursuing a difficulty-free life and compromise of the gospel · Expect to be humbled—encounter the glory of God… see your sinfulness. And be reminded of the faithfulness of Christ. · Hebrews 4:12 Week before we celebrate the resurrection together, I want to take our attention back to scene just a few days before the crucifixion of Jesus. Take your bibles at turn with me to Matthew 26. There is not greater subject to study for the believer than our Lord. Jesus is God. He reveals God. He is so many things for us. He is our Maker. Our Master. Our Savior. Our Friend. He is our helper. He is our comforter. Our Righteousness. He is our atonement. Our Passover Lamb. He is the prophet who reveals God to us. He is the king who rules and reigns in glory. He is our high priest giving us access to the Father and helping us amid temptations. He is our elder brother. He is our life.

Life is hard. Not every season equally. Not every life equally. But life is hard. It is taught principally in scripture and then felt personally by experience. We might look at others and think about how nice it would be to have the relative ease of life that they do—remember when Asaph got in trouble in Psalm 73 because he was doing that?

Various Scriptures Thy Kingdom Come As humans we are very interested in kingdoms. Just consider the concept of a fairy tale. Among other things, the requirements to meet that genre includes some battle with good and evil and royalty. A kingdom that has something wrong that needs to be made right by a hero. Narnia Arendale Neverland Wonderland The Pride lands What compels people to keep writing these kinds of tales? What makes them so interesting to children and adults alike? We even call these timeless classics. Why? Because they transcend generations. And even continents. They have universal, wide appeal. Why? Where does this originate? I believe it is because this reflects the indelible imprint of the image of God in man. We establish kingdoms because God is a king with a kingdom who delegates authority to humanity. And we understand that corruption spoils this kingdom and we want to be in a kingdom with a good king, and joyful subjects and vanquished evil, where everyone lives happily ever after. Take your favorite fairy tale off the shelf this afternoon and go read it and you can predict how the story is supposed to end. The kingdom is one of the key themes in Scripture. The concept of kingdom is all over the Scriptures. From a statistical point of view, all but three books in the Old Testament speak of the kingdom. In the New Testament the kingdom is spoken of in all but six books. All in all, 57 of the 66 books of the bible have the theme of the kingdom.1 So kingdom language is found at the beginning and end. The story begins with God as King and man’s right to rule under Him. It then culminates with God on the throne and man reigning under Him over a new earth.2 The Bible’s storyline shows how the kingdom created goes to the kingdom fallen, which then leads to the kingdom restored. This storyline is centered and anchored in Jesus the Messiah.3 I want to set before you this morning the thrilling reality of Jesus the coming King. He is going to be revealed as king and this is to be our great hope. Last week we saw that the coming kingdom is not connected to the rise and fall of America. It is not brought about through moral or immoral leaders. It transcends any earthly legates. Jesus is bringing about a kingdom that you get the privilege of belonging to. And it is a kingdom that can never be threatened or hastened by wars and rumors of wars. It isn’t guaranteed by the constitution, or a peace treaty, and you lie against Christ, you can imprison and kill his people, but the kingdom will come. As we saw last week, this confounded Pilate. Jesus told him straight up, that his kingdom did not originate from this world. My ambition over the next minutes together is to fill your mind with truth about the kingdom of God. And that as that truth engages your mind, you will be filled with joy… expectation… comfort… hope… anticipation. We are to pray for this kingdom to come. We are to anxiously await the revelation of this kingdom. We are to live as though we belong to this kingdom. We are to invite others to enter with us into this glorious kingdom. This is going to confront some ways that we think wrongly about the coming kingdom. It exposes a lack of faith: Misplaced hope in seeing the kingdom here and now on your own terms—political peace, relational peace, etc. Discontent from trying to find contentment in this current life with a groaning creation—if I could just get to …. If I could just … then I’d be content. Lies abounding… censorship of Christian ideas… immoral men and women ascending to high positions of leadership in powerful organizations and government… tend to get fearful and fret Whether you pine for the good stuff or just want less of the bad, it is within all of our hearts. But how you handle that desire or that fear is very important. Jesus taught his disciples to pray: Matthew 6:9–10 (ESV) Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. What are you praying for, exactly? Are you asking God to save more people? To expand the church? To expand his rulership over all of creation? We get a clue about his will being done on earth as it is in heaven… a clue that the kingdom being spoken of here is looking toward a day where God’s will is not merely decreed and coming about in that manner in the world. But it is being manifested. A time when you could look around and say, “I see that this and this and this and this is according to God’s will.4 If you are anything like me, often times it is a bit fuzzy. I can point to aspects of this kingdom, but it isn’t always the clearest concept with clearly defined lines. We know that one day Jesus will be revealed as the king: Philippians 2:9–11 (ESV) Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We are to be like Joseph of Arimathea in Luke 23:51 who was waiting for the kingdom… I want to introduce this with a couple of definitions and then we are going to look at several passages beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation. First, it seems rather obvious, but what is a kingdom? The concept of “kingdom” includes at least three essential elements: Ruler—a kingdom involves a ruler with rightful and adequate authority and power. Realm—a kingdom involves a realm of subjects to be ruled. Rulership—a kingdom involves the exercise of ruling. All three elements are needed for a kingdom, including active ruling.5 This bears itself out. A kingdom requires a ruler (one with authority), a realm (a place to rule over), and a reign.6 J. Alvin McClain There can be no kingdom in the truest sense without the ruler, the realm, and the reigning function.7 Consider then a kingdom isn’t really a kingdom unless you have each of these three components.. So, for example, in Nigeria there are currently many kings—no one has an exact count, but it is estimated to be in the thousands. Every tribe has a king. I met someone who said they were related to the king of Nigeria and I thought, “wow, that’s kinda hard to believe…” then I realized that in Nigeria the kings are tribal leaders. The government in Nigeria has changed and these kings at this point have no real power. One person commented on the irony of referring to kings as such when they aren’t actually ruling: [These kings] … have no authority, no armies, fight no wars, bear no responsibility for the development or prosperity of their domain. Yet we indulge in this pitiful fantasy of them being the all powerful as Kings who did all these and more in the days of yore.8 The point? A king who isn’t ruling over a kingdom is isn’t really a king. A king needs a kingdom to rule over and a kingdom needs a king reigning over it. A ruler, a realm and a reign. Seems straightforward enough. But then we go to apply the concept of kingdom to the Scripture, and we find that the concept of kingdom is used in different ways. This answers the dilemma posed by the question—if there is a coming kingdom, then what is God doing right now? If God will be exalted on the throne one day, where is he and what is he doing now? Specifically is Jesus raining and ruling right now, and if he is in what sense is he? The Bible speaks of the concept of the Universal Kingdom: God’s eternal rule over all creation.9 Goldsworthy writes The Bible does not leave the kingdom in the abstract. If God rules, he rules somewhere, even if somewhere is everywhere.10 This is being a creature in his world. This is my Father’s world. You and I live in it. Recognize or not. Submit to it or not. It is an inescapable reality. And in fact, one day every person will meet this sovereign. As a friend or as a foe. J. Alvin McClain It is not for men to choose whether or not they will be under the rule of the Universal Kingdom. Whether they like it or not, they are already under it (Ps. 75:4–7).11 Every activity under the sun is within the realm of this sovereign. You don’t choose to join it. There are no signups. There are no quitsies. No backsies. No exemptions. Every human is created in the image God for his glory and placed within the realm of his creation over which he rules. Isaiah 66:1 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? Psalm 24:1–2 (ESV) The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Psalm 115:3 (ESV) Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. This is the Universal Kingdom: God’s eternal rule over all creation. And for the Christian this is a source of great comfort and joy. We know this king. This king is pleased with us. He is on our side. He has told us how we can be reconciled to him. To fellowship with him. To be with him eternally. Even the temporary flourishing of evil and the presence of sin is under his purview. Colossians 1:15–17 (ESV) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. From Satan and his demons to every evil potentate, governor, president, judge, commissioner, king, legislator, prison guard, police chief—whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities… they were created through him and for him and he holds all of them together. His invisible reign is in control of every creature and every event. No evil deed will go unnoticed or unpunished. Every wrong is accounted for—either paid for by the person who committed the sin, or else by the Savior Jesus Christ in their behalf. The inescapable universal kingdom of God. That keeps from freaking out. It stabilizes me. It anchors me. But the universal kingdom of God isn’t the only way the kingdom is portrayed in Scripture. It isn’t all that God has established. God is so generous and wise and amazing. God wanted to display his glory by delegating his authority to mankind to rule the earth. His glory was to be displayed by people, created in his image, exercising dominion over the domain he has allotted to them. Theologians refer to this as the: Mediatorial Kingdom: God’s rule on the earth through man who acts as God’s representative. God’s rule on the earth through man who acts as God’s representative. God was pleased to not only rule from heaven directly upon the earth, but to rule from heaven through people ruling on the earth. What we see throughout biblical history then is that God delegated an earthly kingdom to Adam who failed. He kept promising that an earthly kingdom would come that would do what Adam failed to do. Jesus the Messiah is that second Adam, he is David’s son. In his first coming he laid the groundwork for the coming of his kingdom, that kingdom that we are still awaiting. I want to show you this development. It will leave you with such an appreciation for what God has done and what he is doing and what he will do. We’re gonna do biblical theology this morning. We are going to traverse from Genesis to Revelation and select just a few of the many places to see the development of the kingdom. Our outline today is: The Hope of King Jesus Revealed in History The Development of the Kingdom of God in Scripture… The preparation for King Jesus The promise of King Jesus The preview of King Jesus The presentation of King Jesus Let’s begin of course, at the beginning. Once upon a time. Open your Bible to Genesis 1. I want you to see the design here. The kingdom framework beginning on page one of your Bible. Genesis 1:26–28 (ESV) Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. God eternally pre-existent. No beginning. No starting point. No need to create man. He wasn’t lonely. He didn’t need us. He was fully self-satisfied in his existence. And yet according to his own good pleasure, our Trinitarian God (let us) wanted to make man in his own image. Wanted to magnify his glory by putting it on display in creating. And the very first responsibility… the first form and structure to this creation comes in the second part of v. 26— And let them have dominion… Dominion. Almost sounds like a kingdom. This word is used in fact of royalty ruling in the Psalms. It means to rule, to govern. It is the work of a king. It is the role of a king. He didn’t say let’s make man to just be our royal subjects or to have playdates or to be little robots or to live passive lives on the earth. Let’s make man to rule. To have dominion. To govern. To take charge… … over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, This is instruction is to go and conquer the earth. Fill the globe with people. Bring it into submission. Subdue is a raw word. It means to bring something into subjection. Even by force. In person-to-person usage in the OT subdue sometimes involves violence and bringing someone into subjection against his or her will.12 The idea is to dominate and subjugate. Enslave. This isn’t some license to abuse the earth, but it is the instruction to go and conquer. What a wonderful plan! God shares dominion. He gets glory by sharing glory. He rules. He creates man in his image to rule. The King of kings and the Lord of lords delegating authority to human beings, created in his image. We each have our realms: Psalm 115:16 (ESV) The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.13 As a side note, whatever station of life you are given dominion, you are conquering for his glory. Whether you work in the home or outside the home. Fixing your car. Mowing your lawn. Balancing your checkbook. Sweeping the floor. Wiping a snotty nose. You are bringing the earth into subjection. And he looks as says, this is good… very good (v. 31). And then Eve believes the lie that God is withholding something good from her and she has a better way to find fulfillment and happiness. And in pride she is deceived and eats of the tree. Adam takes the fruit and eats of it as well. The result? You failed to rule in the way God designed. Adam blew it. He was a failed ruler. And so, this realm, this world that man was supposed to rule over as God’s regent, is cursed. It’s why we have desires to exercise dominion and why we want to see a good kingdom—it was the original design. But in our corruption we simply aren’t able to maintain this kingdom. The good kingdom gets so bad by Genesis 6 that God starts all over. He destroys every human and every land animal on the planet except one family and the animals he could fit on a boat. Noah comes out and what is he called to do? Repeat of Genesis 1:26-28. Genesis 9:1 (ESV) And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. What’s humanity do? Mankind, instead of multiplying and filling the earth tries to multiply and stay in one place. Man wants glory for himself. And so, what does God do? He scatters them at the tower of Babel. He is forcing them to fulfill his plan to spread out over the earth. His kingdom plan keeps getting stymied by sin. Adam isn’t the perfect king. Noah and his family didn’t provide the kingdom of perfect righteousness. But God hasn’t given up… and so alongside this failure is also… The Hope of King Jesus Revealed in History The preparation for King Jesus The promise of King Jesus Remember there is a promised seed in Genesis 3.14 Genesis 3:15 (ESV) I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” There will be one born of a woman who will succeed. These two kingdoms are going to be at war with one another. One kingdom ruled by Satan in his realm. The other kingdom is going to be led by God’s son. You can trace Satan’s enmity through all of human history. The famine that almost wiped-out Israel and his sons, but God preserved his people through sending Joseph to Egypt. Pharaoh trying to kill the Hebrews boys in genocide, yet God delivered them through the Exodus and into the Promised Land. Saul attempting to kill David before he was even had children. Haman trying to kill all the Jews in Persia, yet God preserved his people through Esther. Herod attempting to kill Jesus by slaughtering the baby boys in Bethlehem. When that failed, Satan tried to get Jesus to sin and abandon his mission. He incited hatred in the hearts of the people of Israel at that time to reject Jesus. The story is of a Messiah, God’s anointed facing opposition through all of his history. But God promises in Genesis 3:15 that this seed will prevail. He will crush the serpent. Genesis 12:1–3 (ESV) Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Here’s the promise. Built upon Genesis 3:15 and now expanded with greater clarity. You are going to get a nation. A people group that is blessed of the Lord. And you will have offspring. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed through this seed. I’m gonna promise to send one who does what I gave Adam to do in Genesis 1. He is going to be a source of blessing to the entire earth. He is going to be a descendent of Abraham. And so, we see that Israel and Israel’s land is a microcosm of what is going to happen worldwide in the church and for all of the people groups of the earth. This was Israel’s hope and consolation. This was Israel’s comfort. God’s covenant with Abraham started to make the picture a little clearer. Then we get even more specific. He will be the second Adam. He will be Abraham’s son. A descendent of Isaac, the son of promise. The son of Israel (Jacob, the little brother, not Esau the older one). And then as Israel is blessing his sons we read of the next narrowing prophesy about this coming one: Genesis 49:8–10 (ESV) “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Fast forward to David. David is of the tribe of Judah. Judah was also given a promise. 2 Samuel 2:4 (ESV) And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah… David is the anointed. 2 Samuel 7 (ESV) 1 Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” 4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. 18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! 20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24 And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O LORD, became their God. 25 And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. 26 And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27 For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28 And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.” Davidic Covenant15 Prophets The Hope of King Jesus Revealed in History The preparation for King Jesus The promise of King Jesus The preview of King Jesus I want to show you how connected the reign of Jesus was to his arrival and his mission. He came as Savior, but also as the promised king. Matthew 1:1 (ESV) The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. The seed in whom all the nations would be blessed and the Son who would inherit an eternal kingdom. It wasn’t just how Matthew framed things up in his gospel. Look at how the angel Gabriel framed up the son whom Mary would bear. Luke 1:31–33 (ESV) And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Simeon. Anna. Zacharias. John the Baptist. All saying the same thing. He came bringing a preview of the kingdom. People think that Jesus did miracles because he was compassionate. Of course, he had compassion on people afflicted in this cursed world. And the miracles attested to his ministry. Just consider: Matthew 4:23–24 (ESV) And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. Mark 1:32–34 (ESV) That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. Isaiah 35:5–7 (ESV) Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water… Matthew 12:22–23 (ESV) Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” This wasn’t the beginning of the kingdom. It was a taste. A sample. Like Costco. Chips and salsa for the family. I had a taste. Every blind person had their eyes deteriorate and their ability to focus clearly wane as they aged. Every deaf person who regained hearing lost it as the sensory hair cells in their ears were damaged. Every paralytic he gave movement to would one day be lifeless in the grave. It was a taste, but it was only a taste. The Christ is the Messiah. The Anointed One. This kingdom motif opens up so many passages. So many places Jesus gives a little taste. A little foretaste. A sample. A preview of what’s to come. Just consider the mount of transfiguration. Matthew 17:1–9 (ESV) 1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Peter is no dufus. Why’s he so excited and ready to set up booths for Moses and Elijah and Jesus? Because he believes it’s the revelation of his kingdom. You say, how do you get that out of Matthew 17? Peter’s own commentary on this passage. 2 Peter 1:16–19 (ESV) 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. We saw his majesty. We saw his power and glory. This is what is on Peter’s mind when he asks in Acts 1—will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Where is Jesus right now? Psalm 110:1–2 (ESV) The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Acts 2:33 (ESV) Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. That is still coming. We are waiting for the day that he is on the throne. Present Age: Jesus is in heaven and the nations do not yet submit to Jesus as King. Typology in the OT—David when he was anointed was in fact given the right to rule over Israel. But there was a period of time between his anointing as king and his ascendency to the throne. In a like manner, Jesus is now exalted to the right hand of the Father and given all authority. But he is not yet reigning on David’s throne. It is worth noting that the establishment of David’s kingship occurs in progressive stages. He is anointed as the rightful king by Samuel in 1 Samuel 16. Much later, in 2 Samuel 2:4, he is anointed king over Judah. Only after a long war between his house and the house of Saul (2 Sam. 3:1) is he anointed king over all Israel (2 Sam. 5:3–4).16 All authority at the Father’s right hand, awaiting his kingdom. The Hope of King Jesus Revealed in History The preparation for King Jesus The promise of King Jesus The preview of King Jesus The presentation of King Jesus What still remains to come? He himself said: Matthew 25:31—When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. He came as David’s true Son. He was and is the Messiah. He came bringing the kingdom and it was rejected and so all that is Israel got was a preview. Just as David was anointed and waited receiving the promised kingdom. So we wait for the glory to be revealed when Jesus returns. Millennial Kingdom: Jesus rules the nations on earth and punishes those nations who do not act as they should. Revelation 20:1–3 (ESV) 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Clearly the age we live in is not this kingdom. For starters all the physical promises of peace and prosperity as the curse is reversed have to be taken spiritually… not physical changes in the world around us, but simply spiritual ones. It divides or dichotomizes the spiritual and physical vs. viewing the kingdom involving both. But most obviously, Satan isn’t bound right now. Jesus isn’t ruling in all his kingdom glory with the devil bound: 1 Peter 5:8 (ESV) Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 John 5:19 (ESV) We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 2 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV) In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Jesus is reigning during this time. He is on the throne according to v. 11. Revelation 20:4 (ESV) Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. We are not living in this living under this kingdom reign of Jesus right now. Isaiah 65:17–25 (ESV) 17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. 20 No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD. Animal kingdom getting along (last time I checked at the zoo the goats and the tigers have a fence between them) No more crying or weeping (you haven’t been in my house this week) No more infant mortality (friends who lost a little one just this past month) Older people not dying early People living long and enjoying what they worked for (friends who have lost businesses) People will build houses and live in them (no evictions) Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of their work (gardens uyielding) Violence will be removed from the land Nations and kings will come to Israel Look, that description does not match the world we live in. And neither does it describe eternity. Babies being born and elderly dying. This is what we await. A world that has basically no healthcare industry because sickness and disease is suppressed A world where I things work the way they’re supposed to. The creation is being restored. All the stuff that continually frustrates you living in a fallen world is it going to be thriving without the curse. A world where peace and harmony prevail. In families. In neighborhoods. The news will be filled with feel-good stories. A world where God’s people are vindicated. God himself is vindicated. This is the beginning of the happily ever after ending that everyone wants. Before eternity, God is going to give Jesus, the second Adam the rulership to do what Adam failed. This view recognizes that the world itself is not bad. It has just been corrupted. And God is going to redeem not just individual souls, but creation. Well, how does this kingdom relate to eternity? Well, they are related. In fact, this kingdom is the opening scene in what the Bible calls the age to come. This kingdom is the first phase of this new era. Jesus will hand this intermediate kingdom over to the Father: 1 Corinthians 15:24–26 (ESV) Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Jesus reigns. He rules until the end of his thousand-year kingdom and then he destroys all of his enemies once and for all. And then he hands the kingdom over to his Father and so begins the eternal state. Eternal State: The nations do exactly as they should with no need of punishment. What a marvelous plan. We are to long for this kingdom. To pray that it would come. To wait for it expectantly. To tell the gospel to those who don’t know this king. God created Adam as a son and king tasked to rule over God’s very good creation on His behalf. But with the fall, Adam and mankind failed the kingdom mandate. Man’s right and responsibility in regard to this world was not forfeited, but in his sinful condition all he could do was fail. God, though, launched a promise plan by which a coming seed of the woman would be victorious in defeating Satan and restoring the creation. Several strategic representatives of God would come including Noah, Abraham, and David, but the fulfillment of the seed promise culminated with the arrival of Jesus the Messiah (Gal 3:16). He is the One tasked by the Father to fix this fallen world by ruling over it successfully, fulfilling the kingdom mandate of Genesis 1:26–28, and bringing the creation into conformity with the perfect will of the Father. Jesus is the One who will succeed from and over the realm where the first Adam failed. Yet Jesus’ kingdom campaign will cover two main phases. With His first coming Jesus laid the basis for the restoration of all things by dying on the cross in fulfillment of the ministry of the Suffering Servant. The second coming will bring complete restoration under the King. When Jesus successfully reigns over the earth He will then hand His kingdom over to the Father so God may be all in all (1 Cor 15:28). This is God’s kingdom program. The kingdom of God is the great and grand theme of Scripture. The believer in Jesus can know the kingdom is not a spiritual escape to a cloud in the sky, but a transformed planet earth where the nations serve our great God and King Jesus. Having a proper view of the kingdom gives the believer a clearer understanding of God’s purposes for this planet and a real hope for a wonderful future. When one contemplates the kingdom how can we not help but be excited for its coming? How can it not affect how we live our lives? How can we not be motivated to share Jesus with those who do not know Him? May the prayer of God’s people be exactly what Jesus taught: Pray then this way . . . “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:9–10). Amen! Come Lord Jesus

John 18:28-37 A Kingdom, Not of this World In 1979, the late Jerry Falwell pioneered a political machine known as the Moral Majority. Falwell, originally a pastor and university president, became alarmed at that social and cultural transformation taking place in America through the 1960’s and 70’s and responded by seeking to reclaim the nation through the American political system. Falwell saw traditional family values were under attack. Sexual promiscuity was on the rise, the advance of homosexual agenda socially, the legalization of abortion, schools were promoting evolution and removing group prayer. Falwell shifted his focus in 1979. Previously he had been a radio and eventually a television preacher. But he found a greater opportunity in politics than in preaching. One historian writes: Recognizing that he could gain greater attention by talking about social issues than theological topic, Falwell turned (from television preaching) to politics.1 Things started off with a bang. In the fiscal 1979, the program raised $35 million from the two and a half million people on its mailing lists.2 Adjusting for inflation, that would be $95 million in today’s money. Almost $100 million raised in one year. The Moral Majority, was self-described as pro-family and pro-American. They were anti-abortion. Anti-pornography. Anti-communist. Anti-homosexuality. Anti-gambling. Pro-Israel. In 1980 the Moral Majority was credited with helping Ronald Reagan win the presidential election. A new day of political conservatism seemed to be dawning. Grass roots campaigns were taking place at the local and state level. Many others had tried unsuccessfully to create similar movements and failed. What gave the movement such success? Well Falwell was joined by other megachurch pastors—Charles Stanley (adding a Southern Baptist contingency) and D. James Kennedy (from the PCA, the Presbyterian Church in America). Reached across doctrinal lines within Christianity. And not just from within Christianity, but beyond it. They found allies and supports among Catholics, Mormons and Jews who shared the same concerns about society and desire to see cultural transformation.3 As sociologists reflect on what made this movement so powerful, it credits the key to the apparent success the fact that they were able to enlist the support of 72,000 pastors. 72,000 pulpits that began to unite a grass roots campaign and a concerted effort to take back America and reclaim the moral high ground. 72,000 pulpits that began to prioritize the focus of God’s people from the simple message of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, to one of reclaiming America. That was the trade. Fast forward ten years to 1989 and the Moral Majority had already disbanded, and although they had aligned the American church with the republican party in the so-called religious right, even they recognized that their ambitions never materialized as they hoped. So, what’s to show for all the time and money today? Every moral battle the Moral Majority fought for in America is now either in the same spot or much worse. Go down the list and compare the legislation, the legal rulings, the media and entertainment industry, the practice and celebration of sin and compare the 1980’s to today. What was the problem with the Moral Majority? Was it what they stood for? No. Not really anyway. Christians should care about many of the things the Moral Majority did. They should fear the Lord, affirm what he affirms and hate what he hates. Was it that they involved themselves in politics through legislation and supporting candidates? No. Christians have a stewardship and the privilege of living in a democratic republic where we get to tangibly support what we believe honors God. The problem was a misplaced hope and a misplaced means for accomplishing that hope. What they failed to understand, and what we so often fail to understand is that although there are consequences of legislation and legal rulings from court battles and elections, God’s mission for his church is to center on the evangelizing of the lost and the edification of the saints so that we would be worshipers of God, for his glory. What they wanted was a good desire. What Christian doesn’t want to see righteous leaders and just laws. And punishment of evil doers and the promotion of legitimate civil liberties. The restraint of evil. Truthfulness. And honor and respect. The protection of the vulnerable. And peace. That kingdom is coming, but it isn’t here yet. We struggle because we want to see the promised kingdom come here and now through our own efforts. Through something that we can control. Something we can fundraise for. Mobilize. Gain enough influence and clout. Have the right party in control. Have the right person in the White House. God’s mission for his church is to center on the evangelizing of the lost and the edification of the saints so that we would be worshipers of God, for his glory. And to wait for his coming kingdom. It is a misplaced hope and a misplaced means for accomplishing that hope. We want the promised kingdom to come here and now through our own efforts. My friends, there is no such thing as a Christian nation or empire. What if the Moral Majority had been successful? What if every initiative had proved successful? What if we had a Christian for a president? Christian governors and judges and senators? What if abortion was illegal? What if evildoers were punished and true civil liberties were protected? Everyone feels better about their grandkids and reading the news and what others are posting online. But how does achieving that impact the cause of Christ? We don’t know exactly. But we have somewhat of a case study in church history. At the end of the third century, Christians suffered the most intense persecution the church had ever faced to that point. It started in rather indirect ways. First, pressure came against Christians regarding the military. Around A.D. 295 a number of Christians were condemned to death, some for refusing to join the army, and others for trying to leave it.4 Basically, Christians were viewed as a problem because they might not be embracing the military the way the pagan would. It was viewed as a threat to military morale. So, the pressure for conformity wasn’t direct (i.e., you believe in Jesus) but rather your lack of conforming to our military expectations. Next, in 303 A.D. Diocletian issued an edict to remove Christians from positions of responsibility within the empire. It seemed fairly benign. Just remove believers from government positions. And yet when it came to applying this decree, there were those who did it with greater zeal—they went beyond what was commanded by the decree. They began to destroy Christian buildings and books. If people refused to hand over their books, they were tortured and condemned to death. This caused conflicts that led Diocletian to become convinced that Christians were conspiring against him. And so he decreed all church leaders be arrested, and every Christian sacrifice to the gods. Thus was unleashed the most cruel of all persecutions that the ancient church had to endure… efforts were made to encourage Christians to abandon their faith. Accustomed as they were to the relative ease of several decades, many Christians succumbed. The rest were tortured with refined cruelty, and eventually killed in a variety of ways.5 Galerius was the mastermind behind Diocletian who was pushing the agenda against Christians. He was succeeded by Maximinus, who: …sought to perfect the policies of Galerius by having Christians maimed and put to work in stone quarries.6 But of course, that work didn’t stop the progress of the church: But then many of the condemned began organizing new churches in their places of punishment, and Maximinus had them killed or deported.7 Soon there was a decree granting a stay to stop punishing Christians as long as they “do not interfere with the public order.” I highlight that because the injunction wasn’t to stop preaching Christ, but to not do things that would threaten society. Public health and safety and peace in the empire were the ways that pressure came against the church. All of this set the backdrop for the arrival of Constantine. Constantine the night before a battle for the empire, had a dream where he received a command to put the Christian symbol on the shields of his soldiers. He didn’t come to salvation through repentance and faith in the finished work of Christ, but he had an experience that led him to believe that he wanted the Christian God on his side. And we get a window into what happens when the church goes from being persecuted to being in vogue. Constantine legalized Christianity. Finally, we had a guy who was on our side. He immediately upheld the free exercise of religion. He gave Christians back their property. Constantine was convinced that the glory of the Roman empire would be realized not apart from, but through Christianity. With the empire led by a supposed Christian, people were flocking to the churches. Apparent converts were happening so fast that there was hardly time to catechize them before baptism, let alone disciple them in the faith, or even validate if they were truly regenerate. Churches were receiving donations from the government. Soldiers were ordered by edict in A.D. 324 to worship the God of the Bible on the first day of the week. Constantine appointed a number of Christians to high positions within the government. He called together a church council in 325 and also sought to remove pagan temples and replace them with churches. During this time there were those who saw Constantine as God’s man for the job. He had been given to bring the church and empire together and for history to culminate. Constantine’s influence is difficult to underestimate because western civilization and much of our view of Christianity here in the West is connected to these very roots. Just consider some of the changes that were taking place… Christian theology was being shaped by the new circumstances, even to the point of abandoning some of the traditional themes… For starters, the prevailing view of the early church was that it was rare for the rich to see their need for salvation and be saved. But under Constantine, Riches and pomp came to be seen as signs of divine favor… Church buildings went from simple structures to get the job done (i.e., be a place to gather) and became ornate. There was a clerical aristocracy that began, that is to say church leaders began to operate in an official capacity, not longer just one of the common folks. They began to change from normal clothing to special attire. But perhaps the most significant change was in the area of a believer’s hope. Eusebius of Caesarea was one of the great theologians of his time. He was caught up in the apparent success of Christianity as marked by money and buildings and social clout and favor. And in the midst of that, his theology shifted. Although Eusebius does not go as far as to say so explicitly, in reading his words one receives the impression that now, with Constantine and his successors, the plan of God has been fulfilled. Beyond the present political order, all that Christians are to hope for is their own personal transference into the heavenly kingdom… there was a tendency to set aside or to postpone the hope of the early church, that its lord would return in the clouds to establish a Kingdom of peace and justice… the scheme of history that Eusebius developed led him to set aside a fundamental theme of early Christian preaching: the coming Kingdom of God.8 Do you see what happened? The shift from being out of season, to being in season marked a shift in focus among God’s people. Rather than think about the kingdom to come, they began to focus on seeing the kingdom come in their own time in their own way. My friends, it is a luxury to have such a view. In fact, I would dare say that the worldview that things will get better and better until Jesus comes not only misunderstands the Scripture, but could only be maintained if you live in a place like Rome during the time of Constantine or America for the past 300 years. And the kingdom is not here right now. We are not living in the spiritualization of kingdom promises. By that we mean to say that this world does not fit the description we read about in Scripture when the Messiah is reigning and ruling with his enemies subdued under his feet. World religions. Islam fastest growing religion in the world right now. Buddhism. Hindu. Atheists. Paganism and other faiths. Then you have within the supposed Christian numbers Roman Catholics. Prosperity Gospel. Protestant liberalism (to say they don’t believe in the core tenant of the Gospel). Worldwide lawlessness abounds. Error abounds. There’s no nation you can point to that is experience peace within and without, with God-fearing rulers who love justice and citizens who live righteously. We reject post-millennialism, that is to say that we are going to see the kingdom ushered in through the gradual progress of Christ’s dominion on this earth. We reject amillennialism, which says either the kingdom doesn’t exist at all, or we are in the kingdom right now. Rather, we believe that the kingdom is a bona fide reality where Jesus will actually be visibly seen, seated on a throne, and by which his glory will be made known. He is coming to establish this kingdom. The Bible teaches that we are still waiting for this to come to fruition. Turn with me to Acts 1 to see this in just one place so evidently. This was after Jesus died and was raised and appeared… Acts 1:6 (ESV) So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Is it gonna be here now?? What does he say next? My kingdom, the promises you have been waiting for are actually spiritual realities. I’m head of the church, so all of that stuff about peace and justice and righteousness, I meant that will happen in the church, not in society. You misunderstood the promises of my kingdom. No. Acts 1:7–8 (ESV) He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. We are waiting on it. I’m not giving you a date. But in this Jesus is affirming that there is a kingdom and in that kingdom is coming. What are the disciples to do in the meantime? But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Wait for the spirit and then get to work. I’m tasking you with a mission until my kingdom comes. Make your way back to John 18 with me and we get to see how this kingdom is presented here by Jesus. Pilate meets his maker today and declares him innocent (John 18:29-38). Last week we parked on the first verse and saw that… Religious hypocrites do anything to keep saving face (28) That was our main point. Religious hypocrites don’t want to be righteous, but they don’t want to stop looking righteous. So they pretend. Pilate meets his maker and declares him innocent (29-38) John 18 (ESV) 28 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30 They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” 31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” 32 This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. 39 But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 40 They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber. John’s purpose here as we said, is to demonstrate that Jesus Christ was unjustly condemned and in fact, exonerated of any guilt. He records the details, and we will look at them briefly as we make our way to the statement, we are going to hone in here in v. 36 my kingdom is not of this world. 28 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. The they here, is explained by Mark in his Gospel as: Mark 15:1—the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; This was the Sanhedrin, the ruling body in Jerusalem made up of various religious leaders. Almost like a city council, except they operated in behalf of the nation. It was early morning. Not a legitimate trial. This was carried out through the night. But a man wasn’t to be tried and convicted on the same day according to their own statutes. Due process is being violated because they aren’t concerned with justice. This is an outcome-based trial. We know what we want and so we force the situation to fit into those rules. Jesus knew this was going to happen and said as much: Mark 10:33–34—…Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. The whole thing is a sham. But these men are hell-bent on their own desires and they are blind to their hypocrisy. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. Save face at all costs. Unwilling to come clean and drop the pretending. The religious leaders, filled with pretense, must still keep the appearance of righteousness. They must keep it up to appease their own consciences and to garner the esteem of others. Normally the governor lived in Caesarea, but during the great feasts it was prudent for him to come to Jerusalem in case a riot or insurrection took place. Passover was particularly dangerous because emotions ran high as the Jews remembered their deliverance from bondage. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, He goes outside. One time when the Jehovah’s witness ladies came to our door and I didn’t know that that’s a big no-no for them to come into the house. So, I told ‘em, “come in, let’s talk…” I told them… I’m in seminary right now, and we were just talking about you guys the other day. I’d love to sit down and try out some passages on you. They never came back… I think we had a different idea of a good time. Anyway, we had to stay outside to talk. Pilate goes outside. He’s no dummy. He knows this is a sham. And so, he asks them, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30 They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” Great non-answer. Just be honest. They say if he were not doing evil… What’s the truth about what Jesus has done? … he has cured every kind of diseases, has driven the devils out of men, has made the paralytics and the lame to walk, has restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and life to the dead? Such were the real facts, and those men knew them well; but… when men are intoxicated with pride, nothing is more difficult than to arouse them to form a sound and correct judgment.9 31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” Look, I’m not going to be sucked into this. You can’t even bring a legitimate charge for something that I need to deal with. The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” We can’t. the Sanhedrin already condemned Jesus for blasphemy. But they can’t carry out the sentence because they would be breaking Roman law. They need the conviction at that level. Pilate isn’t going to swallow this thing. Even though he could at times be hard on the Jews, he has no interest in petty matters, and he certainly isn’t interested in granting false death sentences. So, he chooses rather than to simply affirm the case the Jews have made, to conduct his own trial and investigation. All of these events from the individuals are just happening. But God has a divine purpose in all of it. Verse 32 is an editorial comment by John. This would be in parenthesis if we were writing it today. Note: 32 This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. If the Sanhedrin had Jesus killed they would have stoned him. Stoning broke bones. Here Jesus would be crucified in order: (a) to fulfill prophecies (e.g., that none of His bones be broken; cf. 19:36–37); (b) to include both Jews and Gentiles in the collective guilt for the deed (cf. Acts 2:23; 4:27); (c) by crucifixion, Jesus was “lifted up” like “the snake in the desert” (cf. comments on John 3:14). A person under God’s curse was to be displayed (hanged) on a tree as a sign of judged sin (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13).10 33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” What’s he trying to figure out? Is this guy actually an insurrectionist? Is he trying to overthrow the government? 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Putting it Pilate’s conscience. Is this really what you think I am? The charges of course were partly true and party false. Jesus was in fact the Christ, but Luke tells us the charge they made was: Luke 23:2b—We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King. They knew the claim to be a king would be the only potential way to get Rome involved. Jesus is an enemy of the state. 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Why are you here? You’re the one who got delivered over today… not me.11 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” I wonder what went through Pilate’s mind at that moment. Jesus is no doubt unphased being before Pilate. He isn’t begging for his life. He isn’t railing insults. He is calm. And he is undeterred. Unintimidated. And he looks him in the eyes and he says: my kingdom is not of this world. Unlike your kingdom that is of the world, mine is not. Jesus is speaking of origin here. The preposition of is ἐκ = source. It doesn’t originate from this world. It isn’t brought about through traditional forms of conquest. What’s his evidence? If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, We would have organized a militia. We would have some plan to overthrow Rome. I would have been campaigning. Stockpiling resources. Organization. Planning. When I was to be brought into custody my servants would have been battling… that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.12 There would have been a coup. A coup d'etat is defined as a group who overthrows a government and rules for at least a week. Usually requires significant skill or resources to overthrow even a weak government. You need a lot of power on your side. Jesus is saying, if my kingdom originated here on this earth, I’d have some military guys who knew how to use weapons and kill people. Instead look at me… I’ve got fisherman, tax collector, one random zealot with Simon who was involved in politics but wasn’t a trained military man that we know of.13 Look, if you need proof, just go ask Malchus. Malchus is the servant of the high priest who Peter took a swipe at with his sword in the Garden. The guy should be dead right now because Peter went for his head and came away with just an ear. Jesus gives him the truth. Gives him the opportunity to submit himself to the truth, which Pilate will not do. He repeats himself. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Such strange words. Not backing down his claim to authority. This would be unnerving. You catch an insurgent leader—someone trying to lead a rebellion you expect them to be either 1) belligerent and defiant; or 2) diminutive and meek. Either still fighting or else trying to smooth things over. Either spit in your face or kiss your hand. But to stand there and not be angry or defensive and also not cower is astounding. Jesus sticks to the claim. He repeats himself. I’ve got a kingdom. Rome? Whatev… Yawn. Jesus doesn’t mock Pilate, but you could almost see him laughing… oh wait, you think I’m talking about this goofy little empire you guys have going? No. Sorry Charlie. I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in your cute little job Pilate. That’s so cute you guys stamp your faces on your money in your little kingdom. Pilate’s trying to figure out if Jesus wants Rome. Jesus is sticking to the facts—I’ve got a kingdom and it has nothing to do with yours. I actually feel bad for Pilate here. 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Struggling to track this whole situation. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. Jesus never claims to be a king during his first coming. It wasn’t part of his mission at this time. Jesus never refers to himself “the King of the Jews.” He says, “the designation is yours” And He answered him, “It is as you say.” Why? Well, because it is true that he is the promised, anointed one of Israel. Calling himself a king is going to bring confusion.14 Pilate is going to call him King of the Jews. The Maji are going to call him that. But that’s not a moniker he takes for himself. It’s not the right timing for him to be revealed as such. He’s not going to be caught saying, “I’m the King of the Jews” because it is going to be misunderstood, and his kingdom is going to include a lot more than just Jewish people. Nevertheless, the kingdom is a central theme of the earthly proclamation ministry of Jesus.15 Some would say it’s the central theme of the Bible. Explain Michael Vlach… Just let’s take one sample. Here in one gospel record. Matthew wanted to demonstrate Jesus was the promised Messiah fulfilling Jewish prophecies. But he’s just recording Jesus ministry. Let this convince you of how central the kingdom is. Matthew 2–Jesus Messiah… John the Baptist came on the scene before Christ saying what? Matthew 3:2 (ESV) “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Satan comes to tempt Jesus. And what’s the bait? Matthew 4:8 (ESV) Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. You can have your glorious reign now with all of the nations bowing to you in worship, and I’ll offer it to you without the pain of the cross. Bypass the humiliation and get the glory now. What’s his temptation? The kingdom exaltation without the suffering. Right off the bat, same chapter the preaching ministry of Jesus is centered on what? The kingdom.16 Matthew 4:17 (ESV) From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It is near. Matthew 5, Jesus preaches what we know as the sermon on the mount. What does he address in that sermon? Who inherits the kingdom? Who gets to be in? Matthew 5:3 (ESV) “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 (ESV) “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20 (ESV) For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The future kingdom is to influence your life today recognizing that there are those who will be great and those who will be the least in this kingdom… Matthew 5:19 (ESV) Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. You are to pray for the arrival of this earthly kingdom: Matthew 6:10 (ESV) Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Your entire life is to be oriented around Christ and the future you have with him. Matthew 6:33 (ESV) But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Finally, entrance in the kingdom will not be based upon what you have done for God or done in his name. It will be based upon those who those who obey God out of a heart of love because they have been born again. Matthew 7:21 (ESV) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Jesus is found preaching about, you guessed it, the kingdom.17 Sons of the kingdom, Matthew 8 The gospel (good news) of the kingdom, Matthew 9 Sends his disciples to go preach 10:7 that the kingdom is at hand Talking about the kingdom in Matthew 11 The kingdom in Matthew 12 In Matthew 13, Jesus says that: Matthew 13:11 (ESV) And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. And from then Jesus begins to teach in parables saying, “the kingdom of heaven is like…”18 The seed that a sower sows on various kinds of soil The wheat and the tares (good soil mixed with weeds) Like mustard seed Like leaven Like a treasure Like a fishing net It’s going to be a place where righteousness and justice reign: Matthew 13:41–43 (ESV) The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. The church is given the keys to this kingdom. Talk about an amazing and wonderful responsibility. The idea that the church is carrying out the responsibility of on earth clarifying who is and isn’t part of the kingdom Matthew 16:19 (ESV) I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Humility is esteemed in the kingdom… Matthew 18:1–4 (ESV) At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. A few days prior to this, Jesus had come riding into Jerusalem on an unridden foal. It was the sign of a humble king: Matthew 21:9 (ESV) And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Many are called into this kingdom, but few are chosen. Matthew 22 records that Jesus tells a parable of a King who offers an invitation to his son’s wedding. And when his invitation is disregarded (in this case by Israel) he extends the invitation to anyone who will come. And yet those who come in their own clothes, their own righteousness are cast out. 19 You are to be ready for this kingdom by repenting and turning to Christ now while there is time. So, you are not left like the virgins who are unprepared when the bridegroom arrives and they miss entering the kingdom. Matthew 25:1 (ESV) “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. You are to be looking forward to the fact that there is a new kingdom coming that will be your inheritance. God will be doling out rewards and punishment. Matthew 25:34 (ESV) Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. The glorious promise of this kingdom. What you are desiring is good. And it will be fulfilled. Just not yet. So many in Israel at the time of Jesus had a hard time understanding his ministry, not because they were completely wrong about the fact that Jesus was David’s promised Son who would rule. But they misunderstood that he wasn’t establishing his kingdom in his first coming. It was coming later. Too often we lose sight of this coming kingdom and we want to see these things here and now through means that we can control. It’s a misplaced hope. What you want isn’t wrong with regard to the desire for a coming kingdom. But you have to understand the timeline and agenda for getting there. It’s a different path, generally speaking: Acts 14:21–22 (ESV) When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. That message isn’t suffering so that you can get saved. You get saved by trusting in Christ. But entering the kingdom, that process—is fraught with many trials. Many hardships. Right now, where is Jesus in all of this? He is seated at the right hand of the Father. He has all authority. He has been affirmed in the right to rule. But not all things have been put in subjection to him. Satan is still deceiving the nations. World superpowers are still doing what they will in rejection of Christ. Error and deception and wickedness is running amuck. 1 Corinthians 15:24–25 (ESV) Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. You can belong to this kingdom. Jesus invites you to enter into his kingdom. He beckons you to be part of it. How do you gain citizenship in this glorious kingdom? Faith in his all-sufficient sacrifice for you. But there’s a catch. You’ve gotta wait for it. Conclusion See his kingdom not of this world. It doesn’t originate from any human authority. And it isn’t brought about through human means. This should be an anchor point for you. It should be invigorating. Hebrews 12:28–29 (ESV) Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. His kingdom agenda is not cultural transformation. It isn’t to eradicate poverty. Or to relieve human suffering. That day is coming. But it comes when he brings it. And it comes when he is seated on David’s throne and he rules over all in perfect justice and righteousness and peace. It comes when he subdues his enemies underneath his feet. And at that moment he comes and reverses the curse and begins to make right what is currently wrong with this earth. Pilate has Jesus killed. Ok so that just accomplished God’s will. And then it didn’t even work because Jesus came back to life. Diocletian tries to get people to abandon their faith. Maximinus starts maiming Christians and sending them to work camps—ok now they have work camp church plants. Constantine ushers in a golden age of Christianity. Well kinda. Some huge benefits to the church—free to work on out theology and yet it also weakened the the church. Earthly kingdoms rise and fall. Pendulums will swing. The wicked are going to prosper. Not bringing the kingdom here and now… Your invitation… Are you part of this kingdom? Then are you joining in advancing this kingdom? Don’t you dare for a second get caught up in the wrong definition of the kingdom. You can properly care about good legislation and good candidates without hoping in it. So now we are ambassadors for this king: Matthew 24:14 (ESV) And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. It was the words of our Lord to comfort his disciples: Matthew 26:29 (ESV) I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

We remember emotional moments typically very well. Those are the things that tend to stick in our minds. I remember the phone call from one of my best friends distinctly. It was years ago. I was standing outside, and I could tell immediately from his voice that this wasn’t a typical phone call. One of our mentors had just defected from the faith. He had been part of the ministry for years. He had spent time ministering to both of us. We esteemed him highly in the Lord. And he was caught living a double life. It was disorienting. It’s not the only time that’s happened in my life.

Today we are going to see how love works in the body of Christ. Love is the preservative element that keeps everything working together properly. It’s the fluid that surrounds all the joints and keeps them lubricated so they can do their jobs. Love is central to the church because Christ loves the church. Christ shed his blood for the church. The church loves Jesus because he first loved us. And then as children of God we love one another instinctively. Because we brought together in one family. I have one father. One spirit. And now we are brothers and sisters. There’s a shared identity with our union in Christ.

A working church displays the worthiness of Christ. Provide for ourselves and others. It’s no secret that work is very often a challenge. Whether you are eight years old learning to make your bed with excellence and do your own laundry, and clean up after yourself. Whether you are a student with homework assignments and papers to write and exams to study for. Whether you work inside the home or outside of the home. Work is hard. Work is work. Labor means labor. The expenditure of energy in toil and even pain. In carrying out a responsibility to accomplish something. Living in a creation that is groaning, and a world that is currently suffering under God’s curse doesn’t make matters any easier. Just to make a point of it, the Lord saw fit to give me major computer problems this past week, with a light seasoning of printer issues and a lack of battery power on other devices mixed in just for good measure. Work by itself is work. And then trying to do it in some concerted effort with other creatures who are various levels of skill and competence in addition to their own sinfulness and then the simple challenges of a cursed world makes work difficult.

We begin the end today. The closing chapter of 2 Thessalonians. Take your Bibles and turn with me to 2 Thessalonians 3. We are going to come to a passage that is filled with rich encouragement and comfort for our souls as Paul instructs the church on God’s character that provides for our spiritual needs. One of the great diseases that plagues the church is a man-centered way of thinking about ministry. And salvation. And sanctification. In every dimension we can miss the obvious and basic reality that all of these things originate with God and they are accomplished in our lives by Him.

As a child lying in bed at night… having been well instructed in God’s law and seeing the darkness in my own heart. I have the distinct memory of, as a little boy, praying the sinner’s prayer over and over and over. Not just one night, but many nights. Even through tears: Lord Jesus, please forgive me of all my sins… come into my heart… I’m sorry for my sin. I want you to be my savior. I can remember the turmoil. What if I didn’t remember to confess something that I did today? What if my motives in praying this prayer are just to avoid hell and not be saved? And all the nagging questions that would linger after offering up such prayers: * Do I feel different? Am I supposed to? * Did I get the words right? * Did I mean it enough? * Did it take that time?

Take your Bibles and turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. This morning we are going to wrap up this section where Paul is reminding the Thessalonians what he previously taught them concerning the Day of the Lord. It’s gonna take us right into partaking of communion together.

Well this morning represents the Lord’s Day that we will discuss the glories of Christmas. And as we transition into our time of study together this morning, I want you to consider for a few moments with me the many various shades of Christmas.

Theme: Don’t get shaken in your eschatology, you won’t miss anything when Jesus comes back. And don’t freak out about evil abounding because it’s under his control and accomplishing his purpose until he returns and wipes it all out. So crucial for our church. Perfectly timed. Perfectly suited.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (Part 2) “Lawlessness, then Jesus” Today we pick up where we left off a couple of weeks ago. I want to dive right in. We have a thrilling passage before us today. No one can adequately predict the future. But God knows the future and he gives a glimpse into what is coming next. The study of last things in the bible is known as eschatology. Eschaton means last. This is the study of the end times. It is technical because it deals with prophecies and predictions. The information is scattered throughout Scripture. Different writers use different language. We piece things together, but there’s clearly much we don’t understand. This message is going to be a bit more technical… but hang with me to the end. It’s an exciting conclusion to see how all of this ties together today.

God’s plan is so wonderful. Here we are coming into 2 Thessalonians and it provides such perfect issues for us to be addressing. Timeless truths that we need fresh application of in our hearts. Grab your Bibles and turn with me to 2 Thessalonians. We’re gonna move through this letter faster than we did the last one. At least that’s the plan. Today’s passage gives us a relentlessly God-centered perspective on the Christian life. Christianity is not about social reform. It is not about human flourishing. It is not about creating a utopian society on earth. It isn’t about moral reform as its primary aim. Christianity is about God getting himself glory on the earth. The church exists then to demonstrate his honor and fame and lift high the name of Jesus above all else. It testifies to his existence and his character. It testifies to his worth and majesty. Today we are going to see how God gets himself glory through a church that prevails in the face of difficulty. The church will prevail. And as she does it displays not the strength of her members, but the marvelous power of God that cannot be frustrated or prevented.

This morning we finish Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. Paul goes out on a high note. You often remember the last words of a letter because that’s the most recent part you have reflected upon. Summarize this section: Paul ends his letter positively, telling the church to trust God’s power and grace at work in their lives and to love and care for one another. Paul ends his letter positively, telling the church to trust God’s power and grace at work in their lives and to love and care for one another. 1 Thessalonians 5:23–28 (ESV) 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Paul Concludes His Letter with God-Centered Hope for Frail Believers

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 Don’t Neglect Prophecy Grab your Bibles and turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. This section is short that we are taking on this week. We will Lord willing pick up our pace again and take bigger chunks, but this topic is tough to handle briefly and so we’re gonna take a whole sermon to look at vv. 19-22. The apostle Paul writing to the church of Jesus Christ at Thessalonica says: 1 Thessalonians 5:19–22 (ESV) 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. Five instructions. Depending upon your interpretation of this passage they are either all interconnected, similar to our instructions last week on inner-life attitudes of joy and prayer and thanksgiving before God. These are either all relating to the issue of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the church through the prophetic word. Or, vv. 19, 21 and 22 are spiritual encouragements about living a godly life and v. 20 is the only verse that deals with prophecy. At the risk of testing your patience by repeating myself ad nauseam, I’m going to re-iterate a presupposition for interpreting the Bible. Do not approach the Scriptures with a conclusion and then attempt to prove it from the text. Do not approach the Scriptures with a conclusion and then attempt to prove it from the text. A good indicator that you need to watch yourself is when you read a text and it makes you feel a bit of discomfort because it doesn’t appear to line up with your beliefs. At that moment you can either begin to reinforce your perspective through what is known as confirmation bias—where you weight the data that you like, and you dismiss the data you don’t. You start out to disprove the other side rather than first objectively looking at the data. In the process you miss out on being shaped by truth and having your theology refined. So, we come to this passage and it deals with prophecy. Just for fun, here’s the basic ways this passage is approached, embellished for illustrative purposes. The prophecy avoider. Talking about prophecy is alarming because it is dangerous. They come to a passage like this and get hit with the prophecy dumbstick. Prophecy? What prophecy? This passage isn’t really about prophecy. And even if it was, we all know that prophecy is just preaching. This passage means don’t disregard preaching the written word and don’t disregard the written scriptures. Move right along. Nothing to see here folks (MacArthur, The prophecy accepters. Prophecy is an ongoing ministry of the Spirit in the church today. And in fact, this is proof positive that prophetic haters will exist in the church, they will despise prophecy and they shouldn’t. This also gives us the manner by which we test prophecy in the church and keep the good stuff and reject the bad. This passage validates a new category of prophecy that may or may not be true (Wayne Grudem, John Piper, D. A. Carson, Sam Storms, C.J. Mahaney). Called the “open-but-cautious” view. We just need to figure out what it meant to this church, and then we can figure out how to draw out the timeless implications for us. As you know, Paul has been dealing with how to strengthen the church and make it healthy. He is giving instructions on preventative maintenance to the body. It’s akin to a well-doctor visit where you don’t have any major ailments (at this time there are no major doctrinal issues in Thessalonica, no major moral issues) so these are instructions for how to stay healthy. Love and honor your leaders (12-13). Shepherds bear a burden of the care of your souls before God and give an account. Understand the burden. Pray for them. Satan loves to divide sheep and shepherds because it undermines ministry. This is a preventative. Minister to the strugglers (14-15). The church is a hospital, not for the healthy but the sick. God chooses the weak and not the strong. We are to help each other without favoritism. A call to be in one another’s lives and take spiritual responsibility for others. Humble, dependent relationship with Christ (16-18). The Christian life is to be one of great joy and peace and gratitude as we depend upon our God in prayer. We saw how these attitudes preserve the body. And now, today we come to the matter of cultivating a discerning church that loves and submits to the truth. A discerning church that loves and submits to the truth. 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church (a flourishing prophetic ministry) Don’t resist the Spirit (19) Don’t limit God’s word by your own opinion (20) Be a discerning listener (21a) Embrace good teaching (21b) Keep your life pure from evil (22) 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church Don’t resist the Spirit (19) This passage is one that gets a wax nose. Whatever you believe about prophecy becomes how you approach this passage. Why? It’s so brief. It’s so few words. It’s eight words in the original. So, you’ve got to figure out what God wants us to understand from these eight words.1 Paul frontloads the concepts with the verbs listed afterward… 19 Do not quench the Spirit. Quenched2 appears elsewhere in conjunction with putting out a fire. The imagery of the Spirit as a fire when at work is used in Isaiah 4, Matthew 3 and Acts 2. It’s a sign of his energy. That is just almost too tempting for me because it just preaches so well. Don’t extinguish the Spirit’s flaming fire in your life. Let the Spirit burn within you until you are consumed. Sometimes I’ll send Paul Ellsworth some song lyric ideas I’m writing, and I’d say this idea of burning and fire and the Spirit definitely has some legs on a CCM hit. As enjoyable as that may be—Paul’s talking about the Spirit burning anyone. It’s an idiom. We use these to communicate the same idea all the time: He’s a wet blanket She put a real damper on the mood His last glimmer of hope was dashed That really doused my big plans The Spirit isn’t burning. Quenching is an idiom that just means down stifle or shut down the Spirit’s work.3 Now this seems like a conceptual parallel with not grieving the Spirit in Ephesians 4:30. In that context it is focusing on the relational elements of your connection to God. Paul says there by whom you were sealed. The whom. It’s personal. If you are in Christ, you have a very special and precious relationship with the Spirit of God. The Spirit’s work in the life of the believer is irreplaceable: as he calls, quickens, regenerates, sanctifies, pours the love of God into our hearts, frees us from sins tyranny, places us into the body of Christ, enables us with grace-gifts to serve others, translates our prayers, leads us back to the Father and preserves us until we are with Christ in eternity.4 The thought there is that when you and I treat obedience carelessly then we are hurting the indwelling Spirit who seals us.5 Generally speaking, how you grieve or quench the Spirit is to neglect the truth. Stop reading your Bible and stop submitting to what you find in it. Neglect and unbelief are the path. Calvin says this is a warning against indolence (laziness) in spiritual things. It’s a warning against neglecting your soul and yet even so, the hope isn’t just more effort, but dependent striving.6 For although God works efficaciously in his elect, and does not merely present the light to them, but causes them to see, opens the eyes of their heart, and keeps them open, yet as the flesh is always inclined to indolence, it has need of being stirred up by exhortations. But what God commands by Paul’s mouth, He himself accomplishes inwardly. In the meantime, it is our part to ask from the Lord, that he would furnish oil to the lamps which he has lighted up, that he may keep the wick pure, and may even increase it.7 God’s preservation through exhortations that drive us back to him for a fresh supply of strength to follow him. We are commanded not to quench. 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church Don’t resist the Spirit (19) Don’t limit God’s word by your own opinion (20) Calvin says that v. 19 is generic and now v. 20 is specific. I don’t believe there’s an abuse of prophetic gifts in Thessalonica because the instruction here is so short. 20 Do not despise prophecies, What are prophecies? Communicating a message of direct revelation from God by speaking or writing. Communicating a message of direct revelation from God by speaking or writing. It could include foretelling future events before they come to pass. But that’s a dimension of prophecy. Prophecy could also include preaching—they key is the source of the revelation is directly from God to the individual prophesying. Active prophetic ministry in Thessalonica. And Paul has to say to the church… Don’t hold them in contempt. Don’t disregard them. We have little work on in terms of the context, but if we stick to the words themselves this much is clear: the Thessalonians were not embracing the God-given, Spirit-enabled exercise of prophecy within the church. Despising here could be to simply regard it as without merit—worthless—a waste of time. How they were doing this is a matter of speculation. Perhaps they were not allowing prophets to speak during the service. They were cutting power to the mic every time a prophet would get up to share. Perhaps they were listening, but then dismissing such things as not being authoritative messages from God. However, it was a low ministry priority for them. My best guess from the context is that they had gotten some bad prophecy and they decided to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. They had gotten duped and said, “we’re gonna cut that part from the order of service on Sunday mornings. No more prophecy. No more funny stuff.” The reason I’m inclined to think this is two reasons. The first is grammatical. Look with me at how v. 21 begins: but Grammatically this is a direct, correlating relationship. Don’t disregard, but (instead, in contrast) test everything; hold fast what is good. He doesn’t say don’t disregard prophecy but put it center stage during your church services. Don’t disregard prophecy but elevate it above the other gifts. He doesn’t say, prophets don’t stop prophesying but keep exercising your gift. No. Rather he says in effect, don’t kick it the curb because of some bad experiences, but instead test what you hear. The solution is to evaluate the prophecy for its validity. Grammatically it’s clear that some bad prophecy was in play. Second, we find bad prophecy addressed in 2 Thessalonians 2. In the very next letter Paul says: 2 Thessalonians 2:1b-2a … we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word… A spirit or a spoken word. A spirit was another word for a prophetic word. Not only that, but they had previously been in idolatry (1:9) meaning mysticism and incantations were part of their old worship. So they would have been skeptical. We get this. I got sick one time after eating honey and peanut butter from that peanut butter machine at Winco as a kid. I didn’t eat peanut butter and honey for years. And the smell of that machine when I’d walk by it would always make me feel queasy. It probably wasn’t sickness from the machine, but that didn’t matter. One bad experience with prophecy and you write the whole thing off. You go to a church service expecting to hear truth and some prophet gets up and promotes another Jesus. Says something that shakes your faith. Makes you doubt your salvation. Causes your peace to be disrupted as you hear a message supposedly from God. You’d be on board with cancelling open mic night at church… no more prophecy.8 But the problem is prophecy is a good gift from God to the church. And so, Paul says, “nah, hold on… breathe… test it and then cling to the good.” The problem was they were trying to filter out and protect themselves by error through their own approach. They were trusting in their own opinions more than in God’s Word and their fears caused them to cut off the Spirit’s ministry in the church. 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church Don’t resist the Spirit (19) Don’t limit God’s word by your own opinion (20) Be a discerning listener (21a) test everything; Put it to the test. Everything. Word for proving it. Take what you hear and test it by the book. Celebrating how God used Martin Luther and his famous stand where he’s saying that he will be convinced he’s in error through Scripture and plain reason. This is what the church does. The church is the pillar and support of the truth. The Thessalonians thought they would protect themselves by disallowing certain ministries in the church because of the potential for error. They knew better. Just imagine being in Thessalonica. You’ve got no New Testament. No systematic theologies have been written. No Apostles Creed. No Nicene Creed. No church councils. No Reformation. No Westminster divines. No church history. Pretty different from 21st century America. We need to explain a few things here: What is the NT gift of prophecy? Longer discussion, but here’s the summary. Prophecy has its foundation in the Old Testament. And in the OT there is no such thing as an “oops” I didn’t get it quite right category. Deuteronomy 18:21–22 (ESV) 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 13:1–5 (ESV) 1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. No passage clearly distinguishes a neoprophecy in the NT. But this view is built from 1 Corinthians 12-14 and the passage here before us. And in fact, Peter connects the OT prophet to the NT prophet. Quoting Joel talking about prophecy in the NT: Acts 2:16–18 (ESV) 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. What do we know about this prophecy? Let’s pull out some concepts from 1 Corinthians 12… 12:27—it’s a gift to the church. 12:29-30—not all believers are endowed with that gift. 13:2—prophet powers hyperbole… love is necessary + superior and more important for edifying the body than any gift. 13:8—fade away 13:9-10—What’s the perfect? τελος is complete. When Jesus comes? No. The comparison is to a child becoming mature and leaving behind the immature and childish things. 13:13—faith, hope and love abide (but faith and hope cease when Jesus comes). Hebrews 11:1 teaches that faith is seeing the unseen. Hope is going to go away when we receive the object that we are hoping in. 14:1—prophecy is good it builds the church. 14:2-5—prophecy is superior to tongues 14:29 14:39 Ephesians 2:20—it’s foundational. Ephesians 2:19–20 (ESV) So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, The church was being established… The apostolic age, like many OT times, was an age of revelation. The prophet had a supernatural gift whereby he was able “to reveal to his listeners new truth from God.”9 One of the reasons people have a hard time with the idea that these gifts aren’t operating today is because they can’t find a verse that specifically supports that. What’s often overlooked is the starting assumption regarding God’s revelatory ministry. As you read through the Old Testament you find many times where God is speaking to one person in the whole world at that time. Occasionally it would overlap, and he might be speaking to a couple. Or there would be periods of time when God wasn’t talking to anybody at all. In fact, between Malachi and John the Baptist there was 400 years of what? Utter silence from heaven. Then you have Jesus. Then you have Pentecost. And then you have a God doing a new work on the earth through the church and as we would expect we find revelation and miracles… it was always the case. It fits the pattern. Hebrews 1:1 (ESV) Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, It was a unique season in history. A new work of revelation until the Scripture was completed. His function as a spokesman for God included foretelling (prediction) and forthtelling (preach- ing), in either case on the basis of possessing supernatural knowledge (cf. John 4:19; Eph 3:3-5). In order to claim the gift for today, some writers have identified the gift of prophecy with inspiring and enthusiastic preaching,10 or congregational prophecy, “based on a ‘revelation’ from the Holy Spirit yet not possessing the authority of God’s own word.”11 This is totally out of keeping with all biblical data.12 Bob Kauflin in an article entitled, “How Do We Make Room for the Gift of Prophecy” refers to “prophetic impressions”13 This is where a member from the church gets up to share with the congregation a message or an impression that they believe God is telling them to tell the church. He admits that not all contributions will be “home runs” but that having two pastors near the microphone to screen contributions before they are shared is a good practice and a way to obey the command here in 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 to test prophecies. While I love Bob Kauflin’s ministry and have benefited greatly from it. We sing hymns he has written. And I appreciate his desire to involve the congregation in ministering to one another. I believe it’s a total misunderstanding of this passage. Kauflin holds to a neoprophecy that is articulated most comprehensively by Wayne Grudem and supported in various ways by other pastors and theologians such as Gordon Fee, C.J. Mahaney, John Piper and Sam Storms. For many of these testing essentially means, “pray about it and then go with your gut… if you sense peace then it’s from the Lord and if you don’t it’s not.” I know they mean well, but I find that an alarming way to begin to say things and cite your source as the divine creator of heaven and earth. Some define prophecy not as a direct, flawless revelation from the Spirit, but as faithfully preaching the word of God to a church congregation. This appears incorrect, since prophecy elsewhere in the Bible seems always to be connected with a direct revelation by the Spirit. Others, however, explain prophecy as a direct revelation of the Spirit, which can nevertheless be mixed with some error. The likelihood is that prophecy in the New Testament is the same as in the Old (a direct, infallible revelation from God) and that the discernment of a prophecy throughout the New Testament is a matter of distinguishing between true and false prophets.14 The key issue is this: false prophecies are just that. False. Pseudo. Fake. Nowhere in Scripture do we find a situation where God’s people are told to figure out what the mixture of a prophecy is: this one’s 50/50; we’ve got a 90/10 split on this one. It’s obvious because we are talking about the source of the message. In high school I was very aware of designer purses. I guess I was trying to find common ground with my friends’ mom’s or something. In the 90’s it was Kate Spade all day long. You had the $300 Kate Spade at Nordstrom and then $30 Kate Spade on the cart outside TJ Maxx. No one ever picks apart either one trying to figure out which components of the purse are authentic and which are fake. It’s either 100% genuine or 100% fake. There’s no partially authentic and partially fake. Matthew 24:24 (ESV) For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 1 John 4:1 (ESV) Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. Matthew 7:15 (ESV) Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. 1 John 4:1–6 (ESV) Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 Corinthians 14:29 (ESV) Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 1 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV) to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. You have a responsibility to test what you hear. Teachers give an account, are judged strictly. But guess what? Hearers are also judged. No teacher gets every interpretation right. You are to test what you hear against the standard of truth in whatever ability God has given you. Although Paul here doesn’t give the criteria for examining prophetic utterances, John Stott (The Message of 1 & 2 Thessalonians [IVP Academic], pp. 128-129) suggests five tests based on other Scriptures: The first test is the plain truth of Scripture. Like the Bereans, we are to examine the Scriptures to see if what someone is saying is true (Acts 17:11). The second test is the divine-human person of Jesus (1 John 4:1-3). Anyone denying either His full deity or full humanity is a false teacher. The third test is the gospel of God’s free and saving grace through Christ. Anyone who preaches a different gospel is eternally condemned (Gal. 1:6-9). The fourth test is the known character of the speaker. Jesus said that by their fruits we will know false teachers (Matt. 7:15-20). The fifth test is the degree to which what is said builds up the hearers. An authentic message will strengthen, encourage, and comfort the church, as well as convict those in sin (1 Cor. 14:3-4, 24-25, 31). But the main problem is this—how do you test a word from the Lord against Scripture if it isn’t pertaining to Scripture? Hey church, I think God wants some of us to sell our houses and downsize so that we can better influence various parts of the city and use the proceeds for other activities. I’ve just invoked God’s revelation to me. Or so I think. You have to judge if that’s true or not. How? We might be able to recognize it is something that would generally line up with a practice in Scripture. But practically how would you validate/invalidate? The responsibility of NT prophets to weigh the prophecies of others does not imply that true prophets were capable of giving false prophecies, but that false prophets could disguise their falsity by occasional true utterances.15 B.B. Warfield: Miracles do not appear on the page of Scripture vagrantly, here, there, and elsewhere indifferently, without assignable reason. They belong to revelation periods, and appear only when God is speaking to His people through accredited messengers, declaring His gracious purposes. Their abundant display in the Apostolic Church is the mark of the richness of the apostolic age in revelation; and when this revelation period closed, the period of miracle working had passed by also, as a mere matter of course.16 Prophecy in the New Testament is the same as prophecy in the OT; it is a continuation of the same office and function.17 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church Don’t resist the Spirit (19) Don’t limit God’s word by your own opinion (20) Be a discerning listener (21a) Embrace good teaching (21b) hold fast what is good. See prophecy is a gift of the Spirit that was blessing God’s people. 1 Corinthians 14:3b …the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. There’s edification here. Strength. Encouragement. Comfort. Help. And if you make a wholesale abandonment of prophecy, you’re gonna miss out on this crucial blessing. Rather than throw it all away, cling to the good. Hold it fast. This is another reason the possibly true prophecy category is problematic. If a teacher says something and binds you to it, but you can’t verify it in Scripture you are obligated. Revelation is a gift to us from God. Consider the personal nature of God’s revelation to his people… Hebrews 1:1–3 (ESV) Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, From a God who condescends to make himself knowable… John 1:14–18 (ESV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. Jesus came in part, to explain God to us. The detriment of not having revelation… 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church Don’t resist the Spirit (19) Don’t limit God’s word by your own opinion (20) Be a discerning listener (21a) Embrace good teaching (21b) Keep your life pure from evil (22) 22 Abstain from every form of evil. Now if you grew up memorizing scripture in the KJV like I did, you learned this as: 1 Thessalonians 5:22—Abstain from all appearance of evil. Great principle, wrong passage. Most people’s discernment on abstaining from evil is this—does Scripture explicitly forbid me from doing something? By that I’m not advocating for making rules to define what does and doesn’t please God. But I’m talking about the freedom of Christian conscience in the fear of the Lord that seeks to live a life that’s pleasing to Christ… Paul describes it as a worthy walk. To walk worthily. To walk in a way that is in measure Christ himself. How does turning away from evil effect your discernment and your receptivity to the ministry of the Spirit? We have seen many times that discernment is intimately connected to your practice of the truth. Mark 9:31–32 (ESV) for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. Lose discernment… unlike those who practice… Hebrews 5:14 (ESV) But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Practicing what? Believing and submitting to truth. And so immediately we recognize that we need the Spirit of God to do this work in our hearts. How devastating to tell someone your sin will blind you to truth, but you need truth to deal with your sin. It sounds like a catch 22. But God is gracious. He promises to give wisdom to those who ask, to give mercy to the humble, to draw near to those who draw near to him. We draw near by faith, trusting him to reveal things to us that we cannot otherwise see. I’d say the Spirit’s work was pretty effectual in those disciples. Paul wants the ministry of the Spirit to abound in that church in all truth. Hosea 4:6 (ESV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. It comes from a great God who never lies… Titus 1:2 (ESV) in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began… Communion The God of good gifts who has given us revelation and spoken to us, also gave us himself. That’s always the greatest expression of love—to give of oneself. My life for yours. No greater act of love has even been known that God taking on flesh and becoming the substitute for all who trust in him. Unfair for a righteous man to be punished for sin. And yet that’s the means by which we are given freedom. The just for the unjust. The innocent for the guilty. The spotless for the stained. He was the perfect lamb of God. And he is honored when we remember him. And it is also good for us to remember his death for us. If you belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ, then welcome. You are invited to partake and to fellowship around his table. The bible refers to this time in various ways, one is communion. This is from 1 Corinthians 10:16 that describes what we do as a participation, a fellowship, a communion with Christ’s work. It means that we get the privilege of identifying with him in a close association. It’s a time that we reconsider our relationship. In that, we want to come prepared with reconciled relationships within the body of Christ and reconciled relationships with our Lord. We want to take a couple of minutes and prepare our hearts for this fellowship. I’ll close that in prayer and then we’ll sing… PRAY Romans 10:3—not submitting to the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own. Every guilty thought Every evil deed Sing… Communion reminds us of the love of God for us… The Heidelberg Catechism gives us a wonderful answer to the question: How does the Lord’s Supper remind you and assure you that you share in Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross and in all his gifts? In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and drink of this cup in remembrance of Him. With this command He gave these promises: First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely was His body offered for me and His blood poured out for me on the cross. Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of the minister and taste with my mouth the bread and the cup of the Lord as sure signs of Christ’s body and blood, so surely does He Himself nourish and refresh my soul to everlasting life with His crucified body and shed blood. As surely as… we gain assurance as we partake. One minister puts it this way: Do you doubt what your eyes are seeing, what your hands are receiving, what your mouth is tasting? Then don’t doubt that Christ was sacrificed for you, loves you, and will continue to care for you!18 See this is a comfort to us. Imagine the comfort it was to the first apostles who had seen Jesus and been with him physically and then were without him physically… 1 Corinthians 11:23–24 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Take. Eat. Remember. And Believe. That Jesus willingly gave his body for you. Let’s fellowship in it together. As you know, the bread was the first part of the ordinance. Then came the cup. 1 Corinthians 11:25—In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” This new covenant is a better covenant. A better relationship through promise. And as we saw, this promise is made by a God who cannot lie. This covenant says that you have been bought with and cleansed by the precious blood of the lamb slain for you. Blood purified and cleansed things in the old covenant. It does so in the new as well, but it does so permanently. So, this is a reminder that you are clean. Take. Drink. Remember. And believe. That you now are secure in the blood of Jesus for you. Let’s remember Jesus together as we partake of the cup. Our Lord is coming back for us and until he returns, we proclaim his death until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:26)… in fact as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup. We are going to sing about that now and so I invite you stand together.

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 Ministering to the Troubled Grab your Bibles with me and open them to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. We transitioned last week in this letter from eschatology to a section filled with instructions for how to maintain a healthy church. We said these verses from 12-22 are all about relationships. First, how you relate to your leaders in the church, then how you interact with others, and finally your relationship with the Lord. Regarding your leaders (12-13) Interacting with others (14-15) Trusting your Lord (16-22) Last week we looked at the obligation and privilege of the sheep to love and honor their shepherds. And the corresponding blessing that comes from that command. It strengthens the church. It makes the pastors job a joy and not a pain. It protects a key relationship that needs to be maintained for a church to remain strong. Last week we looked at sheep and their shepherds. This week we move to dealing with other people (really everyone else you could say). And the bulk of this instruction is about how to deal with difficult people. I love that about Scripture. It’s unapologetic and its raw. Instead of pretending that relationships will be easy. We are instead told plainly how to deal with difficult people. And if I could frame up a trajectory here for how to think about this text, it’s showing us how things are supposed to look in the body of Christ. What are we naturally predisposed to in the flesh? We gravitate toward certain kinds of people—who are the people that others like to associate with? People who are attractive and impressive (King Saul); people who are rich (Proverbs). People who are happy. People who are gracious. And appreciative. The flatterers. Why? Because those are relationships where you get something out of it for yourself. The Bible calls this partiality and it’s where you favor people based upon what’s rewarding to you. Regarding relationships in this way is part of the old life. To be a consumer rather than a servant. Christ has a higher calling for his bride. The church is a hospital. It’s a place for spiritually sick people to come and find care for their souls. And it isn’t based upon how much you deserve that care. And it certainly isn’t based in what you can contribute. The church is a community of people transformed who put on display the glory of Jesus Christ by loving others the way our Savior has demonstrated love toward us. Ministering to difficult people is challenging. It’s easy to ignore them. It’s easy to get angry with those who present challenges and don’t shape up. It’s easy to write people off in your heart when they have mistreated you. But Jesus presents an entirely different approach to life in the body of Christ. He presents a body where the spiritual misfits and the down-and-outers, and the strugglers find strength and encouragement and care. The church is to be counter cultural in the way that we love one another and support one another, even when we are at our worst. Early on in our family life even before Susie and I had children we were encouraged to cultivate our home as a refuge. It was great advice. To cultivate the atmosphere of the home to be a safe place. Certainly, that we would deal with issues. Confront sin. But to work hard, as best as we’re able to make it a place filled with love and encouragement and care. To know that when you are in our home you aren’t going to get belittled, or torn down, or ignored. You’re not going to have your own little life to yourself apart from the rest of us. No, there’s a mindset that we are all in this together and we will lovingly bear up with one another’s weaknesses. That’s a blessing to me. Difficult work experiences. Difficulties in the church. You know that in the home everyone has each other’s back. There’s a loving commitment to help one another even when we are at our worst. And we talk about it that way. Hey kids, daddy’s weak and struggling right now. Pray for daddy. Hey kids, one of your siblings is in a rough spot and it’s testing you, how can love and serve them in spite of being wronged? To create an environment that is characterized by graciously bearing up with one another and helping one another in this race called life. And to know that when you come into this home, you are accepted where you’re at. We don’t do that perfectly, but that’s our aim. And its exactly how things are supposed to look in the church. If I could sum it up, we sinners stick together. It’s not a club membership for the people who have it all together. Its where sick people come to find the boundless love of Jesus Christ through the hands and feet of his people. In the church of Jesus Christ, difficult people aren’t to be merely tolerated. They aren’t to be avoided. But lovingly ministered to not as projects, but as beloved brothers and sisters who need help. Let’s pray again… God pour out your love on us, and make it abound through us toward one another—that your good and wise plan would be true of us. Sub-Introduction 1 Thessalonians 5:12–28 (ESV) 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 5 Practices for Bringing Jesus to Troubled People Warn the line crossers Encourage the discouraged Help the weak Endure the difficult Bless the cruel Here’s how this passage is structured: Paul gives a persona (a type of person in the church) and then he gives a one-word instruction for how to deal with them. Now these are not exhaustive categories. By that we mean to say there are other types of people to minister to in the body This isn’t exhaustive. Furthermore, these aren’t comprehensive labels. By that we meant to say that you may be weak in an area or dealing with someone who is a line crosser, but that’s not comprehensive of their walk with the Lord at any given moment, and certainly not permanent. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, 5 Practices for Bringing Jesus to Troubled People Warn the line crossers admonish the idle, νουθετεῖτε τοὺς ἀτάκτους, νουθετέω: to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct, admonish, warn, instruct1 You perhaps recognize the νουθετέω word. It makes its way into our vocabulary in the study of the mind, which is the νοῦς. The nouthetic counseling movement which has been rebranded as the biblical counseling movement was borrowing from this biblical word. It was aimed at changing the inner life through the thoughts. If you were distill down then, how people change, fundamentally, it is through the renewing of our minds. Truth comes in and we begin to evaluate and reason differently. Who needs to be admonished? Well, all of us. But here is one particular type of believer that Paul has in mind. It’s someone who is out of step. They are not in order. This word is used in various ways to mean someone who is disorderly. Insubordinate. Undisciplined. Idle is not the best representation of this word. Several English translations capture it better with: undisciplined, disorderly, wrong doers, those who are not living right, and my personal favorite in terms of getting the sense, the unruly. That’s the persona here. The reason its translated idle in some of your translations is because Paul uses it in the next letter to this church: 2 Thessalonians 3:11–13 (ESV) For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. They weren’t working in the way they were supposed to be. But the contrast is that they are busybodies. So they are doing the wrong things, not merely lazy. And furthermore, Paul had two other better words to choose if the issue were merely idleness or laziness. Outside of the New Testament the word for line crosser: … refers to military officers who neglect their duty or to “an army in disarray” and out of its ranks, as well as to “undisciplined and insubordinate soldiers.” Likewise, one ancient author uses the word to refer to the Roman authorities who “have the right to expect from the [Roman] senate one whose life is licentious and disorderly.”2 There’s a pattern here it would seem. The way I like to remember this person is the habitual line crosser. You aren’t running around correcting every speck in your brother or sister’s eyes. You aren’t a faultfinder. You aren’t overly critical. But you can identify patterns of disobedience in others that need to be identified, with the corresponding truth, and then urged to obey. To admonish someone means to say 1) here’s what you’re doing; 2) here’s what the Bible says; 3) let me encourage you to obey. We warn because we love. Just consider how admonishment is written about in the New Testament. We see it done: Persuasively and urgently with tears (Acts 20:31) As a parent would plead with a beloved child (1 Corinthians 4:14) In wisdom (Colossians 1:28) And knowledge (Romans 15:16) Using the word of Christ (Colossians 3:16) Not as some uninvolved distance spectator, but as a brother would from one brother to another (2 Thessalonians 3:15) Is this present in your life? Are you admonishing others? Are you being admonished? The flesh shrinks away from it in two ways. One, by keeping life so private and controlling your image before others that you avoid being admonished and two, by keeping relationships superficial and comfortable so you don’t have to step out and admonish someone else. I call these terminally superficial relationships. That weakens a church. When everyone makes friends, who tell them what they want to hear and not what they need to hear. When conversations stay in a comfortable level. We’re missing out if we don’t learn to graciously give and receive admonishment when needed. At CBC these are two statements that are part of joining the church: Will you seek out mature believers to disciple you, and will you also disciple others? (1 Corinthians 11:1; Romans 16:15; Matthew 28:18-20). Will you be willing to humbly give and receive correction and spiritual counsel, being careful to flee from pride and hiddenness in your life? (2 Timothy 2:24-26; Matthew 7:1) This is what bodylife looks like. Now you might be unskilled in it. That’s okay. The Bible says you have what you need: Romans 15:14—I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. I know our flesh pulls away from it. We don’t have the right words. We aren’t sure that it’s our place. Our lives aren’t completely together yet. It’s easier to just shoot the breeze and have a good time. Just trust the Lord and do it. Look, a church that is involved in this is a healthy church. Because we help one another live lives ordered by Christ. It’s about his supremacy. His honor. His reputation. Pray about it and then go. Even this week. If you haven’t done it, it gets easier as you do it because you begin to realize how important it is. You begin to see how selfish it is not do it. And you begin to see the fruit from it. The dearest people to me in the Lord admonish me. By God’s grace let’s help each other. So we’ve established the driving focus of this text, the next points roll rather simply now. 5 Practices for Bringing Jesus to Troubled People Warn the line crossers Encourage the discouraged encourage the fainthearted, παραμυθεῖσθε τοὺς ὀλιγοψύχους, Encourage the fhe fainthearted. Fainthearted, which is a great translation, is translating the word: ὀλιγόψυχος. You’re familiar with an oligarchy (rule by a few) and ψυχή (the soul). Literally then this is a small-souled person. It’s used physically. So, someone with a physically weak heart finds themselves what, easily winded. Out of breath. In the Thessalonian context this was likely those who were beleaguered by trials. Now correlate it spiritually. This is someone who gets dismayed. Overwhelmed by life. Overwhelmed by the call of Christ our captain. Sanctification is overwhelming. Obedience is overwhelming. It’s a lack of confidence in God and what he’s doing. All they can see is the size of the trial. The size of the problem. There may be a tendency to focus on self and one’s own lack. History of past failures. The mountain seems to big to climb. They don’t feel up to the task. Little faith Jesus calls it in Matthew 6. Easily dismayed. Easily losing courage. Easily wanting to give up or give in because it feels like to much. This person needs others to come alongside and provide encouragement. The very same way the ministry of the Spirit of God is described as the comforter in John 16 so you are to be to others. Reminding them of God’s faithfulness. Evidences of his work in their life. Reminders to look to what is unseen and not to what is seen. I recall being a season of faint-heartedness and I had called one of my pastors and I was in acute need during that time period. And as I have reflected back on those meeting and phone calls what I remember is that I didn’t receive any special hidden wisdom in our meetings. I wasn’t given the secret key to the Christian life. But I was pointed back to the truth and encouraged to believe the basics I knew, but I couldn’t access them by faith in the moment I needed them. My experience felt like it was outside of God’s control and I was in a different category. And to have a dear brother just slow me down and stand firm at my side—that’s encouraging the faint-hearted. The anxious. The timid. The despairing. The hopeless. This person doesn’t to be admonished because they aren’t unruly. They need to be given gospel truths and reminded of the steadfast, strong love of God for them through Christ. 5 Practices for Bringing Jesus to Troubled People Warn the line crossers Encourage the discouraged Help the weak help the weak, ἀντέχεσθε τῶν ἀσθενῶν, Devote yourself to the weak. Weak is the perfect word here. It means the sickly. The feeble. Those with incapacities. Those with limitations. Those who are helpless. These are the spiritual down-and-outers. You are to grab hold of them and hold fast. Not let go. People who struggle to obey. They are prone to failure. Of course, we all fall short of God’s glory every day. But this is a habitual weakness. They have a home in the church. A place in the body. And Paul calls the entire church to be devoted to these people. Literally they need help. This would of course still include the ministry of the word, but it would entail more than that as well… it would entail These are the people that tend to fall through the cracks. They are the disenfranchised. We are to have classes within the church of those who are in and those who are not. We don’t all have the same gifting and function and role, but there aren’t to be divisions among the have and the have nots. That happened in Corinth with devastating results. At the Lord’s Supper some were hungry and some were feasting. But Those who tend to get overlooked. Jesus said that we are to minister to the least because that’s how he ministers to us. 1 Corinthians 1:26-27— For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; The church isn’t the club for strong people. It’s a place for weak fools to find strength and wisdom in Christ. That’s the game plan for how to minister to others. Not everyone is going to excel in all of these. Some of you aren’t the most empathetic. Others of you could hardly confront someone if your life depended upon it. We want to grow in our ability to minister to others. But what about when it doesn’t go well. What happens when someone doesn’t embrace your ministry. They are stubborn. I mean you could have not been clearer with the truth in that meeting. You were so gracious and faith-filled in your response, and they’re unimpressed. Nothing changes. Nothing happens. Nothing gets better. 5 Practices for Bringing Jesus to Troubled People Warn the line crossers Encourage the discouraged Help the weak Endure the difficult be patient with them all. μακροθυμεῖτε πρὸς πάντας. Let me state the obvious—difficult people require patience. Unruly people sometimes stay unruly for a loooong time. Discouraged people sometimes get settled in their patterns of discouragement. And yes, weak people sometimes don’t become strong very quickly, or ever. The first time you say it is easy enough. But what if you have to keep saying it. What if you have to keep supporting and encouraging? Positive outlook on what God is doing. Simply embrace God’s plan for change. Look at the disciples… look at the churches… look at your own life. To be patient here (μακροθυμέω) is: to bear up under provocation without complaint, be patient, forbearing3 One of the hallmarks of love. The ability to absorb wrongs. Absorb inconvenience. Absorb challenges and persevere in the relationship. Slow to passion. Slow to anger. You got a long fuse. Even when provoked, not being quick to anger, but bearing up. Timothy is told that a characteristic of an elder is a man who has the ability to be patient when he is wronged (2 Timothy 2:24). Typically, what we think of is that we are generally patient except for in a few relationships or with a few types of people who rub us the wrong way. That’s the very point. It’s the challenging ones that identify your lack of patience. Easy to be patient when you aren’t actually enduring pain and not receiving relief. It won’t cut it to rely on your own strength. To fall back on a disposition of long-suffering. This is waiting patiently on the Lord as you continue to serve beyond your own strength and ability in the grace which he provides. To keep a positive outlook. To keep willing to get back in the ring. To keep praying. Keep serving. Keep sharing. Holding God’s expectations and not our personal ones. Impatience is the frustration that results when our desires aren’t met when we want them to be. Notice this is given to whom? Not to the pastors, but to the people. Last week it was to the shepherds, here it is to the sheep. 14 And we urge you, brothers, παρακαλοῦμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, We urge you church. Brothers is the collective masculine, plural. All the brothers and the sisters. The saints. The sheep. The folks. He doesn’t say, call the pastor and tell him about the issues you see in someone’s else life in the church so he can go deal with it. You might need help thinking through something or encouragement to go yourself, but God gives us the wonderful privilege and responsibility of ministering to one another in these ways. In fact, the pastors equip the saints who do the work of ministry. Mobilizing an entire body. An entire church. An entire group of priests. We are ministers. Servants. Servants of Christ and of one another. This atmosphere in the body—the way that people are confronted and cared for is lived out by the saints with one another. Not based upon the worthiness of the other person, but the worthiness of Christ. All of these are present active imperatives—there is an element of practice associated with them—you keep doing it and doing it. Question: in the past year, how have you been involved in giving and receiving this kind of ministry within the church? Do you avoid difficult and troubled people or do you minister to them? Have you not received this ministry yourself? You have been taught by God. How patient has Jesus been with you? How many people has he sent to teach you the truth? How many times has he gently admonished you as you are reading your Bible or listening to a sermon? How many times has he been your source of strength and encouragement when you were weak and couldn’t go on? Incarnating the love of Jesus… this is how he ministers to us and we are left here to act in his behalf. He warned Peter. He calmed the disciple’s fears. He fed the hungry. He restored Peter (patience). We give what we have received. You know why we get impatient in part? We forget where we’ve come from. And we overestimate where we are today. We experience God’s grace and then give ourselves credit. Like that wicked servant in Matthew ???? who was forgiven much and went and demanded payment from the one who owed him. It’s about forgiveness, but the text says that the debtor asked for patience and he demanded payment immediately. Oh how quickly forget. We are actually called a kingdom of priests. The role of a priest was… we minster to one another. To give and receive this ministry is going to require opening up your life to others. It’s also going to mean inserting yourself in the lives of others. Some of you do this quickly and probably pretty easily. Others of you are experts at dodging the accountability of body life. How patient are you? How many times are you willing to minister before you reach your patience limit? What about God’s patience toward you. What if it takes years? What if it takes decades? How can you be patient? God is the one who hardens and softens. God is the one who draws. And humble. You are weakening the church if you ignore this. Think of the impact of 10 years of disobedience or 10 years of obedience to these instructions. Watch Jesus powerfully work among his people. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the patient enduring ministry of others in my life. If it was come and whip into shape. Those who snap into line make it and those who don’t get out. Preach with great instruction and a little patience. Great instruction and patience. No instruction and GREAT patience. None of us is beyond this. You may not be characterized in your walk with Christ or in life as weak. But you need this ministry too. In the past month I’ve personally received admonishment, encouragement and help. 5 Practices for Bringing Jesus to Troubled People Warn the line crossers Encourage the discouraged Help the weak Be patient with everyone Now the one that is least likely to be faked in your own strength. You need God’s divine power and the restraint of truth in your life for this one. You need to be convinced of the Father’s love for you. Bless everyone (even the cruel) 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, ὁρᾶτε μή τις κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ τινι ἀποδῷ, In this life we get wronged. People cheat. They slander. They lie. They offend. They do unkind things. They say hurtful things. They commit sin against us. And oftentimes our flesh wants to retaliate. Probably the most instinctual reaction. And to not retaliate, to not respond in a like fashion feels unjust. Unfair. God has hard-wired a sense of justice in us. He is a just God. It is one of the most natural and instinctive sins. Laws are to be just, and those laws would include retribution. In the Levitical law codes, we read of lex talliones—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. What’s that mean? When someone commits a crime, they ought to experience a consequence in keeping with the crime itself. And often times in retribution. You steal someone’s car and wreck it, then you buy them a new car. It would be wonderful if our criminal justice system took some notes from Leviticus. It’s how you would establish a just society. While it is legitimate to impose reciprocal repayment or penalty when someone’s civil or economic rights are violated, chaos results when this is rigidly applied to interpersonal relationships. When we are offended, do we keep a grudge until we are able to “pay back” the one who hurt us?4 But that was the laws for governing a just society. When did it fail? When people began to use it for establishing how they would conduct matters in their own personal life, and they would insist on getting their just dues. When you are wronged, what do you do with that wrong suffered? Negative side—do not retaliate. Proverbs 20:22 (ESV) Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you. Matthew 5:38–39 (ESV) “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 1 Peter 3:9 (ESV) Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 3 John 11 (ESV) Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. Grates on us. Why? We are so focused on our own little kingdom. Do you see what God has called us to here? How much greater and grander this is??? But that’s not where it stops. Not merely the absence of retaliation. Not simply saying, “I’ll stay over here and not lob grenades.” Actually, go across the aisle and do good. but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. ἀλλὰ πάντοτε τὸ ἀγαθὸν διώκετε [καὶ] εἰς ἀλλήλους καὶ εἰς πάντας. Grammatically here it would seem that it is when someone wrongs you even in the church, that you are to repay them with good. I think of our Lord asking the Father to forgive those who were crucifying him. Father, they want my harm, and yet I want their good. And I want it at the deepest level of who I am. This is a good place for confession. I don’t do much retaliated… it’s a generally frowned upon behavior for pastors. But when someone wrongs me? My heart wants to see them get their just deserves, even if it not through me. Paul says do good to one another and to everyone. You’ve been wronged? Can you do good to that person? Can you treat them in the same way Jesus treats you? There’s a priority here that is established in the Bible plainly: Galatians 6:10 (ESV) So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. The church first cares for the church and then beyond. These are our instructions. Jesus gave these to us as his bride. His precious bride. And it’s our privilege to honor him in how we relate to one another, especially when we are at our worst. You know what happens when a church devotes herself to this? You have a culture of people who are filled with grace. May this be one of the marks of our church by God’s grace. A group of people who are devoted to one another, and troubled people aren’t merely tolerated, but loved and accepted. Luke 22:26—But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. Let’s make our church a place that sinners are welcomed and accepted through the love of Christ as we minister to one another.

Grab your Bibles and turn with me to 1 Thessalonians this morning. 1 Thessalonians we will continue making our way down through chapter 5. Today we turn the corner. We hit pause on eschatology until 2 Thessalonians. And now we move to a series of commands. Nearly twenty of them in this handful of verses from 12-22. It’s chock full rich instruction. Paul has one main purpose in mind. Protect the church. He is writing to a church that is young in the Lord. Vibrant in their love for Christ. Passionate in the spreading of the gospel to others. They are a wonderful testimony of God’s grace. And he wants things to stay that way. But even strong churches can weaken.