Podcast appearances and mentions of Timothy J Keller

On the first Christmas, an angel appeared to some shepherds who were keeping watch over their flocks at night. We are told that at the angels appearing, the shepherds were terribly frightened. The angel announced to the shepherds: And so the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger (Luke 2:1012). The Christmas story does not begin with the shepherds, or with the angels visit to Mary with the words: Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end (Luke 1:31-33). The story of Christmas began long before the promise made to Marys fianc, Joseph: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:20b-21). The story of Christmas begins in Genesis 1:1 with the words: In the beginning. It involves an antagonist (the devil), it is all about a hero (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit), and it is about our need to be rescued (we have a sin problem). The story of Christmas is a story that transforms unlike any other story; it is a story identified by one word in the Bible, and that word is, Gospel which means, good news. Of this good news, the apostle Paul wrote: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). The Christmas story is about the promised savior born to be kingthe Lion of the Tribe of Judah from whom, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the rulers staff from between his feet (Gen. 29:10). Christmas is the ancient promise that the Son of David would be unlike any other king in that God would, establish the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Sam. 7:13). The coming King who would save His people from their sins would be Immanuel (Isa. 7:14)God with us. What is the Helmet of Salvation? Like the soldiers shield, the helmet could be taken of and put back on. The helmet of the Roman soldier was made of bronze and had cheek pieces to provide protection to his head. Like the breastplate of righteousness, Paul draws his language from Isaiah 59:17, He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a cloak. If you recall from my sermon on the breastplate of righteousness, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 who was, pierced for our offences, and was crushed for our wrongdoings is the Divine Warrior of Isaiah 59, which begins with these words: Behold, the Lords hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear (v. 1). The One who is able to save is the One to Whom righteousness and salvation truly belongs. When redemption and righteousness was beyond the reach of sinful humanity, Immanuel put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head and was born of a virgin to save us from our sins. But what does it mean to be saved from our sins, and is salvation something that can be taken up and put off like a helmet? To answer those questions we must answer what salvation is. Salvation literally means, preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss. In the strictest and most biblical sense, salvation is something that has happened in the past, but it is also happening in the present, and yes... it is also something that will happen in the future. In other words, Jesus came to save his people from their sins so that they can be saved from the past, the present, and in the future, from the full curse of sin. How so? Well, think about what was announced: Jesus came to save His people from their sins. When Adam and Eve sinned, all of creation was brought under a curse, and that curse includes not only our propensity to sin against God, but also death and the vandalizing of a peace with God all of humanity was intended to enjoy. Here is what the Bible says: Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned... (Rom. 5:12). So, when it comes to our salvation, Timothy Keller said, The Bible says every Christian stands in the middle of three tenses of their salvation. You cant understand the glory and the beauty of it unless you see it. In fact, you wont be able to understand the Scripture and you wont be able to understand whats happening to you if you dont understand.[1] We stand in the past tense of our salvation: You have been saved from the penalty of sin and pardoned from your guilt and now have been covered under the righteousness of Christ and are justified before a holy God (1 Pet. 3:18). We stand in the reality that we have been saved from the penalty of sin! We stand in the present tense of our salvation: You are being saved in the sense that God is changing you through the power of His Holy Spirit. The evidence of your nature to sin is still there and the struggle against your own sin is very real, but each moment that you move closer to death on this side of eternity is one step closer to Christlikeness. This is the fight I was talking about last week. In this present life you, Christian, fight the good fight of the faith and by doing so, we take hold of the eternal life to which you have been called (1 Tim. 6:12). We stand in the reality that we are being saved from the power of sin! We stand in the future tense of our salvation: Because we have been saved from the penalty of sin and we are being saved from the power of sin because Jesus, as the Divine Warrior of Isaiah 59, is able and will indeed rescue us from all sin. The third verse in the carol, Joy to the Word, rightly states: No more let sins and sorrows grow,Nor thorns infest the ground;He comes to make his blessings flowFar as the curse is found. Jesus came to save us from our sins in the sense that He will make his blessings flow as far as the curse is found, and on that day: Death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:54), what is mortal will be swallowed up by life (2 Cor. 5:4), sorrow and singing will flee away (Isa. 51:11), every tear will be wiped away (Rev. 21:1-4), and all things will be made new (Rev. 21:5). We stand in the reality that we will be saved from the presence of sin... forever and will receive a better and more glorious Eden! The salvation that Jesus came to deliver is not something we take off and put on again, so what then is the helmet of salvation? According to 1 Thessalonians 5:8, the helmet of salvation is the hope of our salvation: But since we are of the day, lets be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.Because we are saved, being saved, and will be saved... we live in the hope of our salvation no matter what the enemy launches at us or does to us, the night is almost gone, and the day is near (Rom. 13:12). How Do You Take Up the Helmet of Salvation? To take up the helmet of salvation is to live in the reality that this mortal life is not the end and that you are now, and forever will, remain a child of the living God! The helmet of salvation protects your head, it protects your mind, it protects your line of sight so that you can see the hope that is yours in Christ. When things in life seem to go south, when this life is shortened by disease, when this worlds resources are stripped away, when the proverbial rug is pulled from underneath, and when it seems that all in this world is lost... you can respond with gospel-centered hope: For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison... (2 Cor. 4:17). The helmet of salvation is the assurance of our salvation! Listen, there are two dangers that every person faces if they are a part of any Bible teaching and gospel centered church. The first danger is to believe that you are a Christian when you are not. If you believe that you can believe in Jesus with your mind for the salvation of your soul with little consequence to the way you are living your life today, then you may not be a genuine Christian. True saving faith is to believe and trust that Jesus life, death, and resurrection is enough for the salvation of your soul; the evidence that you genuinely believe and trust in Jesus as your savior will be evidenced in your standing in your past salvation, present salvation, and hope in your future salvation. Do not forget Ephesians 2:8-10! You were saved by grace through faith in Jesus, and the purpose for your salvation is stated in verse 10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Genuine saving faith in Jesus will be evidenced by a changing life that looks more and more like Jesus life over the years. The second danger you face in the local church is that the enemy can get you to doubt your salvation. If the enemy can get you to doubt your salvation successfully, he will have a better chance of tempting you to live closer to your sin rather than closer to Jesus as your savior. When you take up the helmet of salvation, you stand in the shoes of the gospel of peace, with your identity in Christ firmly belted around your waist, the righteousness of Christ securely fastened over your chest, so that you can take up your biblically saturated faith. When the devil attempts to undermine your salvation, you can take up your helmet of salvation knowing that only because of Jesus, there is no condemnation for you (Rom. 8:1)! When you take up your helmet of salvation in the enemys presence, you do so with confidence, knowing: ...that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6). When the attacks come and the devil or your flesh is all up in your face to tempt you to doubt the sufficiency of Christ, you take up your helmet of salvation with the assurance of 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed... (2 Cor. 4:79). How do you know that the salvation Jesus provided is enough? The One born to save His people from their sins is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace promised long ago (Isa. 9:6-7). He is the promised King whose, times of coming forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity (Micah 5:2). The One born King of the Jews is He who was declared long before His birth through the virgin Mary: I am the first and the last, and there is no God besides Me (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:17-18). Jesus can save because He is the righteous Branch of David who is called, Yahweh Our Righteousness (Jer. 23:5-6). He is Him who is, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation... by Whom all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers, or authoritiesall things have been created through Him and for Him (Col. 1:15-16). The salvation Jesus provided is enough because, while He existed in the form of God as the Divine Son, He humbled Himself, by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross (see Phil. 2:1-11). This is why we can have every confidence that Ephesians 1:7-8 is all that we need for the hope of our salvation: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. So, in light of all that Jesus is and all that he did to secure your salvation, who are you, Chistian? You are chosen by God before the foundation of the world (1:4-6)! Who are you Christian? You are redeemed as a child of God by the blood of His own Son... namely Jesus (1:7-12)! Who are you Christian? You are sealed by the Holy Spirit as a child of the living God until the day when redemption is finally complete (1:13-14). You can have all the confidence that Jesus is enough because He alone is the Divine Warrior qualified to live the life you could not live for the purpose of dying a death you deserved! Jesus is your righteousness, and He is your salvation! On December 4th, I read something Thomas Watson wrote that Jonathan Gibsons O Come, O Come, Emmanuel included in his devotional. When it comes to what our salvation means, Watsons words seem to capture the beauty and magnitude of the Jesus who came to save his people from their sins: He was poor that he might make us rich. He was born of a virgin that we might be born of God. He took our flesh that he might give us his Spirit. He lay in the manger that we might lie in paradise. He came down from heaven that he might bring us to heaven... that the Ancient of Days should be born,--that he who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle,--that he who rules the stars should suck the breast,--that a virgin should conceive,--that Christ should be made of a woman which himself made,--that the branch should bear the vine,--that the mother should be younger than the child she bore, and the child in the womb bigger than the mother,--that the human nature should not be God, yet one with God: this was not only amazing but miraculous. If you a Christian, Jesus is the hope of your salvation for He is the helmet of your salvation. If you are not a Christian, you can receive Him as the Hope of your salvation by surrendering your life to Him as your Savior. [1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

On the first Christmas, an angel appeared to some shepherds who were keeping watch over their flocks at night. We are told that at the angels appearing, the shepherds were terribly frightened. The angel announced to the shepherds: And so the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger (Luke 2:1012). The Christmas story does not begin with the shepherds, or with the angels visit to Mary with the words: Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end (Luke 1:31-33). The story of Christmas began long before the promise made to Marys fianc, Joseph: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:20b-21). The story of Christmas begins in Genesis 1:1 with the words: In the beginning. It involves an antagonist (the devil), it is all about a hero (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit), and it is about our need to be rescued (we have a sin problem). The story of Christmas is a story that transforms unlike any other story; it is a story identified by one word in the Bible, and that word is, Gospel which means, good news. Of this good news, the apostle Paul wrote: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). The Christmas story is about the promised savior born to be kingthe Lion of the Tribe of Judah from whom, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the rulers staff from between his feet (Gen. 29:10). Christmas is the ancient promise that the Son of David would be unlike any other king in that God would, establish the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Sam. 7:13). The coming King who would save His people from their sins would be Immanuel (Isa. 7:14)God with us. What is the Helmet of Salvation? Like the soldiers shield, the helmet could be taken of and put back on. The helmet of the Roman soldier was made of bronze and had cheek pieces to provide protection to his head. Like the breastplate of righteousness, Paul draws his language from Isaiah 59:17, He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a cloak. If you recall from my sermon on the breastplate of righteousness, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 who was, pierced for our offences, and was crushed for our wrongdoings is the Divine Warrior of Isaiah 59, which begins with these words: Behold, the Lords hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear (v. 1). The One who is able to save is the One to Whom righteousness and salvation truly belongs. When redemption and righteousness was beyond the reach of sinful humanity, Immanuel put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head and was born of a virgin to save us from our sins. But what does it mean to be saved from our sins, and is salvation something that can be taken up and put off like a helmet? To answer those questions we must answer what salvation is. Salvation literally means, preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss. In the strictest and most biblical sense, salvation is something that has happened in the past, but it is also happening in the present, and yes... it is also something that will happen in the future. In other words, Jesus came to save his people from their sins so that they can be saved from the past, the present, and in the future, from the full curse of sin. How so? Well, think about what was announced: Jesus came to save His people from their sins. When Adam and Eve sinned, all of creation was brought under a curse, and that curse includes not only our propensity to sin against God, but also death and the vandalizing of a peace with God all of humanity was intended to enjoy. Here is what the Bible says: Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned... (Rom. 5:12). So, when it comes to our salvation, Timothy Keller said, The Bible says every Christian stands in the middle of three tenses of their salvation. You cant understand the glory and the beauty of it unless you see it. In fact, you wont be able to understand the Scripture and you wont be able to understand whats happening to you if you dont understand.[1] We stand in the past tense of our salvation: You have been saved from the penalty of sin and pardoned from your guilt and now have been covered under the righteousness of Christ and are justified before a holy God (1 Pet. 3:18). We stand in the reality that we have been saved from the penalty of sin! We stand in the present tense of our salvation: You are being saved in the sense that God is changing you through the power of His Holy Spirit. The evidence of your nature to sin is still there and the struggle against your own sin is very real, but each moment that you move closer to death on this side of eternity is one step closer to Christlikeness. This is the fight I was talking about last week. In this present life you, Christian, fight the good fight of the faith and by doing so, we take hold of the eternal life to which you have been called (1 Tim. 6:12). We stand in the reality that we are being saved from the power of sin! We stand in the future tense of our salvation: Because we have been saved from the penalty of sin and we are being saved from the power of sin because Jesus, as the Divine Warrior of Isaiah 59, is able and will indeed rescue us from all sin. The third verse in the carol, Joy to the Word, rightly states: No more let sins and sorrows grow,Nor thorns infest the ground;He comes to make his blessings flowFar as the curse is found. Jesus came to save us from our sins in the sense that He will make his blessings flow as far as the curse is found, and on that day: Death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:54), what is mortal will be swallowed up by life (2 Cor. 5:4), sorrow and singing will flee away (Isa. 51:11), every tear will be wiped away (Rev. 21:1-4), and all things will be made new (Rev. 21:5). We stand in the reality that we will be saved from the presence of sin... forever and will receive a better and more glorious Eden! The salvation that Jesus came to deliver is not something we take off and put on again, so what then is the helmet of salvation? According to 1 Thessalonians 5:8, the helmet of salvation is the hope of our salvation: But since we are of the day, lets be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.Because we are saved, being saved, and will be saved... we live in the hope of our salvation no matter what the enemy launches at us or does to us, the night is almost gone, and the day is near (Rom. 13:12). How Do You Take Up the Helmet of Salvation? To take up the helmet of salvation is to live in the reality that this mortal life is not the end and that you are now, and forever will, remain a child of the living God! The helmet of salvation protects your head, it protects your mind, it protects your line of sight so that you can see the hope that is yours in Christ. When things in life seem to go south, when this life is shortened by disease, when this worlds resources are stripped away, when the proverbial rug is pulled from underneath, and when it seems that all in this world is lost... you can respond with gospel-centered hope: For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison... (2 Cor. 4:17). The helmet of salvation is the assurance of our salvation! Listen, there are two dangers that every person faces if they are a part of any Bible teaching and gospel centered church. The first danger is to believe that you are a Christian when you are not. If you believe that you can believe in Jesus with your mind for the salvation of your soul with little consequence to the way you are living your life today, then you may not be a genuine Christian. True saving faith is to believe and trust that Jesus life, death, and resurrection is enough for the salvation of your soul; the evidence that you genuinely believe and trust in Jesus as your savior will be evidenced in your standing in your past salvation, present salvation, and hope in your future salvation. Do not forget Ephesians 2:8-10! You were saved by grace through faith in Jesus, and the purpose for your salvation is stated in verse 10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Genuine saving faith in Jesus will be evidenced by a changing life that looks more and more like Jesus life over the years. The second danger you face in the local church is that the enemy can get you to doubt your salvation. If the enemy can get you to doubt your salvation successfully, he will have a better chance of tempting you to live closer to your sin rather than closer to Jesus as your savior. When you take up the helmet of salvation, you stand in the shoes of the gospel of peace, with your identity in Christ firmly belted around your waist, the righteousness of Christ securely fastened over your chest, so that you can take up your biblically saturated faith. When the devil attempts to undermine your salvation, you can take up your helmet of salvation knowing that only because of Jesus, there is no condemnation for you (Rom. 8:1)! When you take up your helmet of salvation in the enemys presence, you do so with confidence, knowing: ...that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6). When the attacks come and the devil or your flesh is all up in your face to tempt you to doubt the sufficiency of Christ, you take up your helmet of salvation with the assurance of 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed... (2 Cor. 4:79). How do you know that the salvation Jesus provided is enough? The One born to save His people from their sins is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace promised long ago (Isa. 9:6-7). He is the promised King whose, times of coming forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity (Micah 5:2). The One born King of the Jews is He who was declared long before His birth through the virgin Mary: I am the first and the last, and there is no God besides Me (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:17-18). Jesus can save because He is the righteous Branch of David who is called, Yahweh Our Righteousness (Jer. 23:5-6). He is Him who is, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation... by Whom all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers, or authoritiesall things have been created through Him and for Him (Col. 1:15-16). The salvation Jesus provided is enough because, while He existed in the form of God as the Divine Son, He humbled Himself, by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross (see Phil. 2:1-11). This is why we can have every confidence that Ephesians 1:7-8 is all that we need for the hope of our salvation: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. So, in light of all that Jesus is and all that he did to secure your salvation, who are you, Chistian? You are chosen by God before the foundation of the world (1:4-6)! Who are you Christian? You are redeemed as a child of God by the blood of His own Son... namely Jesus (1:7-12)! Who are you Christian? You are sealed by the Holy Spirit as a child of the living God until the day when redemption is finally complete (1:13-14). You can have all the confidence that Jesus is enough because He alone is the Divine Warrior qualified to live the life you could not live for the purpose of dying a death you deserved! Jesus is your righteousness, and He is your salvation! On December 4th, I read something Thomas Watson wrote that Jonathan Gibsons O Come, O Come, Emmanuel included in his devotional. When it comes to what our salvation means, Watsons words seem to capture the beauty and magnitude of the Jesus who came to save his people from their sins: He was poor that he might make us rich. He was born of a virgin that we might be born of God. He took our flesh that he might give us his Spirit. He lay in the manger that we might lie in paradise. He came down from heaven that he might bring us to heaven... that the Ancient of Days should be born,--that he who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle,--that he who rules the stars should suck the breast,--that a virgin should conceive,--that Christ should be made of a woman which himself made,--that the branch should bear the vine,--that the mother should be younger than the child she bore, and the child in the womb bigger than the mother,--that the human nature should not be God, yet one with God: this was not only amazing but miraculous. If you a Christian, Jesus is the hope of your salvation for He is the helmet of your salvation. If you are not a Christian, you can receive Him as the Hope of your salvation by surrendering your life to Him as your Savior. [1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

I know many of you know my story and how God saved me. Every year at this time I am more mindful of the miracle of Gods mercy, love, and grace upon my life! When God found me, I was so lost! I was not looking for Him, yet He found me! God got my attention on July 12, 1991, after I stepped in front of a big old car in the middle of Business Rt. 1 (aka West Lincoln Hwy.). My graduating class in 1993 was just under 600, the population where I grew up is currently over 70,000, and the hospital I was taken to after I was hit by that big white car currently has 371 beds. So, the fact that a woman from my fathers church who did not know me decided to pull over to pray for me could be viewed as a coincidence, but then to have the wife of the youth director of that same church assigned to my care is too much to ignore! Not to mention that eight months before my accident, my father had his accident that God used to get his attention by having his hand just about cut off, and shortly after receiving major surgery on his hand and recovering at home, two guys from a little church located not far from where I was hit by that big white car visited our little house to tell him about Jesus! At the same time my friends mom at whose home I ate almost all of my meals and spent almost all of my weekends sleeping in their home because my stepmother was so horrible to me while I was growing up, picked up a Bible and started reading it. So regardless of if I was at home or at my friends house, I was unable to escape from hearing about the God of the Bible and how He sent His Son to die for sinners like me! God orchestrated all of that so that on July 14th while confined to my bed with a major concussion in St. Marys Hospital, I was forced to listen to Darrell Adair, the youth director of my fathers little church, tell me about Jesus while my father sat on one side of my bed and Jackie on the other as they prayed for my soul 33 years ago to the day! Four days after Darrells visit, I finally caved and surrendered my life to Jesus as my Lord and Savior! So, to say that I am a bit overwhelmed by Gods grace is a bit of an understatement. God knows how my brain works, and it seems to me that ever year there is something new that I have not thought about since God saved my soul. I did not sit down to write my sermon manuscript until this past Friday which was the anniversary of the day I was hit by that big white car! That on the anniversary of one of the most important days of my life, I would be writing my sermon manuscript on Ephesians 5:1-2 is staggering to me! What is even more staggering is that the God I was running from not only chose me before the foundation of the world (1:3-4), but did so out of a great love for this lost sinner: In love He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace (vv. 5-6). This same God made me alive with Jesus on July 18th in the middle of my living room 33 years ago as a result of His rich mercy, great love, and sufficient grace (2:4-5), it is staggering to me! From everything that you have read, studied, and heard from Ephesians so far, can you blame me for being overwhelmed by Gods undeserved goodness upon my life? Think about it, 33 years ago while Darrell shared the gospel with my younger 16-year-old rebellious self, that He already determined that He would so mold and shape that teenage kid laying in that hospital bed that 33 years later he would stand before his church family finally ready to preach on Ephesians 5:1-2 after 20 years of pastoral ministry! Here is what I want to say very briefly before we get into these two verses so you can fully appreciate them. Ephesians 5:1-2 is inserted to make the point of how you can keep from grieving the Holy Spirit (4:30) and why you ought to reject, the useless deeds of the darkness. You, Christian, are beloved by God and you must never forget that! Imitate God Because He Loves You (v. 1) Tim Keller described this verse in this way: Its like putting a radioactive isotope in the middle of your being, and the rays it sends out will shrink your tumors.[1] Another way to state this verse is this way: Because God cherishes you as His dear child, imitate Him instead of the sinful world. The word for imitate is the Greek word mimētēs from which we get the word mimic. Remember what Paul stated in 4:25-32? Get rid of falsehood, get rid of ungodly anger, get rid of coveting and taking what does not belong to you, and get rid of unwholesome talk. Kill it! Make war with it! Get rid of all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander! Kill it! Make war with it! Be killing sin or it will be killing you! How you get radical about your sin and how you guard yourself against grieving the Holy Spirit is by remembering who you are, a child of a holy God. When you were dead in your sins, you imitated the life of the prince of the power of the air as the spiritually dead (2:1-3), but now you are alive with Christ and have been adopted as a son and as a daughter of the God you stood against. Now you are a beloved child of God. What does it mean to be a child of God? It means that you who were once dead are now alive with Christ (2:4-5), but that is not all that it means! It means that you who were once an enemy of God are now a friend of God, but it means so, so much more according to Romans 5, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (vv. 8-10). But wait, we are not just reconciled to God and saved by the Life of Christ, we are heirs with Christ: So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the fleshfor if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, Abba! Father! (Rom. 8:12-15) To go from death to life is a miracle! To go from an enemy of God to friendship with God is amazing! But to be reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus and now stand before Him as a full-fledged and a legitimate child of a holy God is staggering! I am not the only one who thinks this way; the apostle John felt this way and wrote in his epistle: See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him (1 John 3:1). Or as it is written in Ephesians 1:11-12, In Him we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things in accordance with the plan of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in the Christ would be to the praise of His glory. Listen, we were the lost sheep that Jesus left the 99 to find (Luke 15:1-7)! We were the lost coin, that Jesus turns the house upside down to save and all of heaven rejoices over when you were found (Luke 15:8-10)! Christian, you were the prodigal son Jesus described in his parable who wallowed in the sloop and sludge who the Father compassionately runs to embrace and throws a party for and commands all of heaven: Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and lets eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found (Luke 15:22-24). So, as beloved children we are commanded to mimic our heavenly Father. What does that mean? Well, let me tell you what it does not mean: It does not mean to become what God is, for that is impossible. He alone is God and there is none like Him. God is eternal and has always existed; we are creatures made in His image. God is infinitely sovereign and self-sufficient; we are His image-bearing humans who are designed to find our satisfaction in Him. God is all-powerful (Omnipotent), while we are fragile. God is everywhere at once (Omnipresent), while we are finite and limited. God is all-knowing (Omniscient), while we are always learning. God is perfectly holy and is set apart from creation and alone is to be worshiped as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; He is the center of all things while we exist to worship Him. These characteristics that we cannot share with God are known as His incommunicable attributes. God also has characteristics that we can demonstrate in a limited way; these are known as His communicable attributes. Gods communicable attributes include His justice, wisdom, faithfulness, mercy, goodness, compassion, forgiveness, and love. There is not one aspect of His character that He needs to improve upon. While we are called to exercise justice, wisdom, faithfulness, mercy, goodness, compassion, forgiveness, and love we are forever needing to get better at being just, exercising wisdom, practicing faithfulness, demonstrating mercy, being good, compassionate, forgiving, and loving. Gods justice, wisdom, faithfulness, mercy, goodness, compassion, forgiveness, and love are all character traits we are commanded to imitate in a way that sets apart from the rest of the world. for this is what it means to, walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called (4:1). It also includes the, good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (2:10). This is what Peter meant when he wrote, As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written: You shall be holy, for I am holy. (1 Pet. 1:14-16). More specifically though, it is the love of God that resulted in our forgiveness that we are to mimic as Gods beloved children. Walk in Love Because Jesus Redeemed You (v. 2) Why mimic God in the way that He loves? Well it is the reason why you, Christian, are beloved by God. Your sins cost God the life of His Son on a cross as an, offering and a sacrifice. The bruised and bleeding Christ, His torn flesh, His pierced hands and feet, His brow piercing crown of thorns, and his agonizing screams upon the cross as our curse is a testament to the horror and seriousness of our sin. As James Boice once said, Gods forgiveness is not a mere overlooking of sin, as though he said, Well, boys will be boys (or girls will be girls). Well overlook it for now; just dont let it happen again. God takes sin with such seriousness that he deals with it fully at the cross, and it is on that basisthe death of Jesusthat we can know we are forgiven.[2] I saw a quote from another pastor the other day that said, On the cross, God looked at Christ and saw you. Now, He looks at you and sees Christ.[3] This is why we are able to sing: Come Thou fount of ev'ry blessing Tune my heart to sing Thy grace Streams of mercy never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it Mount of Thy redeeming love[4] What does the love of God look like that we experienced? It is kindness, it is compassion, it is the type of forgiveness that keeps no record of wrongs! Think about what the love of God has done for you! You who were once cursed and condemned, Jesus was condemned by being cursed: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for usfor it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a Tree. (Gal. 3:13). The apostle John defined it for us this way: In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). Christs death upon the cross for our sins was motivated by His love for us, and when He gave Himself up for us, He did so as an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma that pleased Him. As one commentator said, Jesus sacrifice upon the cross, gave the perfume of grace and glory, the most pleasing aroma of sacrifice ever.[5] To Walk in love, just as Christ also loved is one way to live a life that is pleasing to the One who called us to Himself through His Son. Love is the fuel and fire of worship; it is a love for God and a love for others. It is a love that makes Romans 12:1 possible: Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Amy Carmichael, the famous missionary who spent a lifetime in India and was influential in the outlawing of temple prostitution of children, said of love: One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving.[6] A young woman who was considering the life of a missionary wrote a letter asking Carmaichael what missionary life was like, Carmaichael answered: Missionary life is simply a chance to die. To love, as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us is not to atone for the sins of others but to walk in love in a way that you die to yourself for glory of God and the good of others. It is the kind of love that flows out of the crucified life Paul talked about in Galatians 2:19-20, I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. To love as Christ loved us is to give ourselves to others so that Christ may be formed in them (see Gal. 4:19). To love as Christ loved is to walk in a way that serves to give to the One who gave Himself for you. To walk in love is to be devoted to one another (Rom. 12:10), to build up one another (Rom. 14:19; 1 Thes. 5:11), to serve one another (Gal. 5:13), to bear one anothers burdens (Gal. 6:2), to seek the good for one another (1 Thess. 5:15), to live in peace with one another (1 Thes. 5:13), to encourage one another to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24), to confess our sins to one another (Jas. 5:16), to act in humility towards one another (1 Pet. 5:13), to walk in truth together (1 John 3:18), and so many other one anothers! This is why we read in our Bible: We love, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). We love because we are beloved children. We love because, Christ also loved you Now, my dear brothers and sisters, we not only can love God and others, but love is also the evidence we are our indeed the children of God. Amen. [1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). [2] James Montgomery Boice, Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library, 1988), 174. [3] John MacArthur [4] Come Thou Fount [5] Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition: Ephesians (Nashville, TN: Holman; 2014), p. 121. [6] Ibid.

I know many of you know my story and how God saved me. Every year at this time I am more mindful of the miracle of Gods mercy, love, and grace upon my life! When God found me, I was so lost! I was not looking for Him, yet He found me! God got my attention on July 12, 1991, after I stepped in front of a big old car in the middle of Business Rt. 1 (aka West Lincoln Hwy.). My graduating class in 1993 was just under 600, the population where I grew up is currently over 70,000, and the hospital I was taken to after I was hit by that big white car currently has 371 beds. So, the fact that a woman from my fathers church who did not know me decided to pull over to pray for me could be viewed as a coincidence, but then to have the wife of the youth director of that same church assigned to my care is too much to ignore! Not to mention that eight months before my accident, my father had his accident that God used to get his attention by having his hand just about cut off, and shortly after receiving major surgery on his hand and recovering at home, two guys from a little church located not far from where I was hit by that big white car visited our little house to tell him about Jesus! At the same time my friends mom at whose home I ate almost all of my meals and spent almost all of my weekends sleeping in their home because my stepmother was so horrible to me while I was growing up, picked up a Bible and started reading it. So regardless of if I was at home or at my friends house, I was unable to escape from hearing about the God of the Bible and how He sent His Son to die for sinners like me! God orchestrated all of that so that on July 14th while confined to my bed with a major concussion in St. Marys Hospital, I was forced to listen to Darrell Adair, the youth director of my fathers little church, tell me about Jesus while my father sat on one side of my bed and Jackie on the other as they prayed for my soul 33 years ago to the day! Four days after Darrells visit, I finally caved and surrendered my life to Jesus as my Lord and Savior! So, to say that I am a bit overwhelmed by Gods grace is a bit of an understatement. God knows how my brain works, and it seems to me that ever year there is something new that I have not thought about since God saved my soul. I did not sit down to write my sermon manuscript until this past Friday which was the anniversary of the day I was hit by that big white car! That on the anniversary of one of the most important days of my life, I would be writing my sermon manuscript on Ephesians 5:1-2 is staggering to me! What is even more staggering is that the God I was running from not only chose me before the foundation of the world (1:3-4), but did so out of a great love for this lost sinner: In love He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace (vv. 5-6). This same God made me alive with Jesus on July 18th in the middle of my living room 33 years ago as a result of His rich mercy, great love, and sufficient grace (2:4-5), it is staggering to me! From everything that you have read, studied, and heard from Ephesians so far, can you blame me for being overwhelmed by Gods undeserved goodness upon my life? Think about it, 33 years ago while Darrell shared the gospel with my younger 16-year-old rebellious self, that He already determined that He would so mold and shape that teenage kid laying in that hospital bed that 33 years later he would stand before his church family finally ready to preach on Ephesians 5:1-2 after 20 years of pastoral ministry! Here is what I want to say very briefly before we get into these two verses so you can fully appreciate them. Ephesians 5:1-2 is inserted to make the point of how you can keep from grieving the Holy Spirit (4:30) and why you ought to reject, the useless deeds of the darkness. You, Christian, are beloved by God and you must never forget that! Imitate God Because He Loves You (v. 1) Tim Keller described this verse in this way: Its like putting a radioactive isotope in the middle of your being, and the rays it sends out will shrink your tumors.[1] Another way to state this verse is this way: Because God cherishes you as His dear child, imitate Him instead of the sinful world. The word for imitate is the Greek word mimētēs from which we get the word mimic. Remember what Paul stated in 4:25-32? Get rid of falsehood, get rid of ungodly anger, get rid of coveting and taking what does not belong to you, and get rid of unwholesome talk. Kill it! Make war with it! Get rid of all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander! Kill it! Make war with it! Be killing sin or it will be killing you! How you get radical about your sin and how you guard yourself against grieving the Holy Spirit is by remembering who you are, a child of a holy God. When you were dead in your sins, you imitated the life of the prince of the power of the air as the spiritually dead (2:1-3), but now you are alive with Christ and have been adopted as a son and as a daughter of the God you stood against. Now you are a beloved child of God. What does it mean to be a child of God? It means that you who were once dead are now alive with Christ (2:4-5), but that is not all that it means! It means that you who were once an enemy of God are now a friend of God, but it means so, so much more according to Romans 5, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (vv. 8-10). But wait, we are not just reconciled to God and saved by the Life of Christ, we are heirs with Christ: So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the fleshfor if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, Abba! Father! (Rom. 8:12-15) To go from death to life is a miracle! To go from an enemy of God to friendship with God is amazing! But to be reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus and now stand before Him as a full-fledged and a legitimate child of a holy God is staggering! I am not the only one who thinks this way; the apostle John felt this way and wrote in his epistle: See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him (1 John 3:1). Or as it is written in Ephesians 1:11-12, In Him we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things in accordance with the plan of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in the Christ would be to the praise of His glory. Listen, we were the lost sheep that Jesus left the 99 to find (Luke 15:1-7)! We were the lost coin, that Jesus turns the house upside down to save and all of heaven rejoices over when you were found (Luke 15:8-10)! Christian, you were the prodigal son Jesus described in his parable who wallowed in the sloop and sludge who the Father compassionately runs to embrace and throws a party for and commands all of heaven: Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and lets eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found (Luke 15:22-24). So, as beloved children we are commanded to mimic our heavenly Father. What does that mean? Well, let me tell you what it does not mean: It does not mean to become what God is, for that is impossible. He alone is God and there is none like Him. God is eternal and has always existed; we are creatures made in His image. God is infinitely sovereign and self-sufficient; we are His image-bearing humans who are designed to find our satisfaction in Him. God is all-powerful (Omnipotent), while we are fragile. God is everywhere at once (Omnipresent), while we are finite and limited. God is all-knowing (Omniscient), while we are always learning. God is perfectly holy and is set apart from creation and alone is to be worshiped as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; He is the center of all things while we exist to worship Him. These characteristics that we cannot share with God are known as His incommunicable attributes. God also has characteristics that we can demonstrate in a limited way; these are known as His communicable attributes. Gods communicable attributes include His justice, wisdom, faithfulness, mercy, goodness, compassion, forgiveness, and love. There is not one aspect of His character that He needs to improve upon. While we are called to exercise justice, wisdom, faithfulness, mercy, goodness, compassion, forgiveness, and love we are forever needing to get better at being just, exercising wisdom, practicing faithfulness, demonstrating mercy, being good, compassionate, forgiving, and loving. Gods justice, wisdom, faithfulness, mercy, goodness, compassion, forgiveness, and love are all character traits we are commanded to imitate in a way that sets apart from the rest of the world. for this is what it means to, walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called (4:1). It also includes the, good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (2:10). This is what Peter meant when he wrote, As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written: You shall be holy, for I am holy. (1 Pet. 1:14-16). More specifically though, it is the love of God that resulted in our forgiveness that we are to mimic as Gods beloved children. Walk in Love Because Jesus Redeemed You (v. 2) Why mimic God in the way that He loves? Well it is the reason why you, Christian, are beloved by God. Your sins cost God the life of His Son on a cross as an, offering and a sacrifice. The bruised and bleeding Christ, His torn flesh, His pierced hands and feet, His brow piercing crown of thorns, and his agonizing screams upon the cross as our curse is a testament to the horror and seriousness of our sin. As James Boice once said, Gods forgiveness is not a mere overlooking of sin, as though he said, Well, boys will be boys (or girls will be girls). Well overlook it for now; just dont let it happen again. God takes sin with such seriousness that he deals with it fully at the cross, and it is on that basisthe death of Jesusthat we can know we are forgiven.[2] I saw a quote from another pastor the other day that said, On the cross, God looked at Christ and saw you. Now, He looks at you and sees Christ.[3] This is why we are able to sing: Come Thou fount of ev'ry blessing Tune my heart to sing Thy grace Streams of mercy never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it Mount of Thy redeeming love[4] What does the love of God look like that we experienced? It is kindness, it is compassion, it is the type of forgiveness that keeps no record of wrongs! Think about what the love of God has done for you! You who were once cursed and condemned, Jesus was condemned by being cursed: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for usfor it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a Tree. (Gal. 3:13). The apostle John defined it for us this way: In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). Christs death upon the cross for our sins was motivated by His love for us, and when He gave Himself up for us, He did so as an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma that pleased Him. As one commentator said, Jesus sacrifice upon the cross, gave the perfume of grace and glory, the most pleasing aroma of sacrifice ever.[5] To Walk in love, just as Christ also loved is one way to live a life that is pleasing to the One who called us to Himself through His Son. Love is the fuel and fire of worship; it is a love for God and a love for others. It is a love that makes Romans 12:1 possible: Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Amy Carmichael, the famous missionary who spent a lifetime in India and was influential in the outlawing of temple prostitution of children, said of love: One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving.[6] A young woman who was considering the life of a missionary wrote a letter asking Carmaichael what missionary life was like, Carmaichael answered: Missionary life is simply a chance to die. To love, as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us is not to atone for the sins of others but to walk in love in a way that you die to yourself for glory of God and the good of others. It is the kind of love that flows out of the crucified life Paul talked about in Galatians 2:19-20, I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. To love as Christ loved us is to give ourselves to others so that Christ may be formed in them (see Gal. 4:19). To love as Christ loved is to walk in a way that serves to give to the One who gave Himself for you. To walk in love is to be devoted to one another (Rom. 12:10), to build up one another (Rom. 14:19; 1 Thes. 5:11), to serve one another (Gal. 5:13), to bear one anothers burdens (Gal. 6:2), to seek the good for one another (1 Thess. 5:15), to live in peace with one another (1 Thes. 5:13), to encourage one another to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24), to confess our sins to one another (Jas. 5:16), to act in humility towards one another (1 Pet. 5:13), to walk in truth together (1 John 3:18), and so many other one anothers! This is why we read in our Bible: We love, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). We love because we are beloved children. We love because, Christ also loved you Now, my dear brothers and sisters, we not only can love God and others, but love is also the evidence we are our indeed the children of God. Amen. [1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). [2] James Montgomery Boice, Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library, 1988), 174. [3] John MacArthur [4] Come Thou Fount [5] Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition: Ephesians (Nashville, TN: Holman; 2014), p. 121. [6] Ibid.

Galatians 5:1-15 February 11, 2024 preached by Pastor Doug Cooper Download Time of Reflection Quotations “Freedom is not the absence of limitations and constraints, but it is finding the right ones, those that fit our nature and liberate us.” ~ Timothy J. Keller (1950-2023), American pastor and author “In the kingdom of God, where God […]

If you could ask one the Top 20 Podcasters in the world to share one book, what would it be? Our guest today is Stefanie Gass, who is not only one of the Top 20 Podcasters is the world, but is also a Christian who is passionate about helping other Christian Women to grow their online businesses using podcasting. We discuss some of our favorite marriage books, what it takes to have a great marriage, Stef's recommendations for business books, AND one special book she brought with her to share! Let us know your Top Marriage and Business Books in our ⁠Facebook Group here! Stefanie Gass is a Christian business and podcast coach, boundary boss, and seven-figure CEO. She helps women grow their online businesses and make consistent income, using podcasting. She is the host of a top 20 globally ranked business podcast, Online Business for Christian Women. She believes it's possible to partner with God to create income and impact without sacrificing your family, faith, or buying into the social media hustle. Find Stef at stefaniegass.com and The Stefanie Gass Show on all podcast platforms! Stef's Freebies!  Clarity on Your Calling Workshop 7-Step Spiritual Battle Plan Book Mentioned in this Episode: Sacred Marriage by Gary L Thomas The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God by Timothy J Keller and Kathy Keller Unbreaking: How Giving Up Saved Our Marriage by Jason Crawford and Crystal Crawford The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss The Seven Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell Plus, any other book by John Maxwell Don Miller books Everybody Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People by Bob Goff Join our reading group to read The Ethics of Beauty by Dr. Timothy Patitsas! Tricia is facilitating a group to read this book slowly - one chapter a month- for the first 9 months of this year. If you'd like to be included, reach out though our website or message us on social media. Visit our new WEBSITE ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.bookfarepodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can leave us your email there to receive a free gift- a printable pdf of some of our best book-finding resources for you AND your kids! And when you do that, you'll be entered in a drawing to win an exclusive Book Fare sticker pack for free!! Leave us a 5 Star Review in iTunes and we just might read it on air! Leaving a 5 Star Review is the BEST way to grow our show and we dearly appreciate them! All 5 Star reviews will be entered for a change to win BookFare Swag - namely a BookFare Mug!! One winner will be drawn every week through Valentine's Day! Do you love books or do you want to? Are you tired of reading in a vacuum and struggling to find good books? Has motherhood somehow made your brain a dusty shamble? Friend, you are in the right place! BookFare Podcast is here to help you find great books that you will LOVE and a community to share them with, all while nurturing your own brain and helping you create a culture of reading in your life and family. We are Elizabeth, Tricia, and Amanda, and we are here to help you do just that! That's why we started Book Fare - to create a safe and welcoming place for women who care about the content of what they read- an exciting book club that combines FUN with truth, goodness and beauty! So… from newbie readers to seasoned bibliophiles, from beach reads to Beowulf, from new releases to classic literature and everything in between- we are here to explore and curate reading content for you and your family.  Together, we will laugh and think our way through all that good and great literature has to offer. We will seek virtue and values through literature and training our affections one dog-eared, coffee-stained and child-graffitied book at a time! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bookfare/message

Galatians 4:7-20 January 21, 2024 preached by Pastor Doug Cooper Download Time of Reflection Quotations “Freedom is not the absence of limitations and constraints, but it is finding the right ones, those that fit our nature and liberate us.” ~ Timothy J. Keller (1950-2023), American pastor and author “A Christian is a perfectly free lord […]

"...[O]ne of the main themes of the biblical story and stories is that even some of the ablest human beings who have ever lived, such as Abraham and David, could not rise above the brutality of their own cultures nor the self-centeredness of their own hearts. But by clinging to the wondrous promise that God's grace is given to moral failures, they triumphed." —Timothy J. Keller

El pastor Keller fue uno de los teólogos contemporáneos más influyentes y un artífice del renacimiento de la teología reformada. SÍGUENOS Sitio web: http://biteproject.com​​​ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biteproject Twitter: https://twitter.com/biteproject​​​ Podcast: https://anchor.fm/biteproject TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biteproject Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biteproject/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/biteproject/​​​ Edición del audio: Alejandra Narváez - Giovanny Gómez Pérez Música: Envato Elements.

Dr. Timothy J. Keller leaves an incredible legacy of faith and effective gospel proclamation through his numerous sermons, books, articles, and other materials, but the way in which he lived for Christ is perhaps the most inspirational part of his legacy. In this episode, Paul and Mary are joined by Pastor Jayson Oldham as they reflect on Dr. Keller's impact on their lives and ministries. Hebrews 13:7 encourages us to "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith." We are thankful to have had an awesome example of faith.

Join us on Unbelievable presented by Ruth Jackson as we delve into the extraordinary life and work of the late Dr. Timothy J. Keller, a humble yet ambitious church leader who shaped faith in the modern world. Tim Keller's impact extends far beyond his time, as he fearlessly explored the intricate relationship between faith and culture. With City to City, and other nonprofit organisations he spearheaded, and as the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan alongside his wife Kathy, Keller seamlessly integrated ancient wisdom into the fabric of the modern city. With his quiet confidence and lack of defensiveness, he made faith thrilling and relevant, captivating hearts with timeless truths. As he neared the end of his journey, Keller taught us about death and dying well. He also shared invaluable advice from the book of Jeremiah: to live on the razor's edge, embrace audacious faith; invest rather than simply consume, leaving a lasting impact on others; and let go of the pursuit of reputation, recognising the fleeting nature of worldly acclaim. Unbelievable? discusses the life of Tim Keller, his style and impact, the question of suffering, how he refused to be drawn in but navigated the culture wars, and the wisdom he leaves through his many books. Unbelievable? show host Ruth Jackson is joined by three guests who knew and worked with Keller. Lecrae, Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist and actor; Dr. Krish Kandiah, author and social activist; and Pete Wehner, journalist and senior fellow at Trinity Forum all offer candid insights into the profound ways Keller impacted their lives both personally and through his extensive body of work. As always let us know what you think! We love to hear from you so get in touch if you have stories to share. And enjoy this edition of Unbelievable as we honour Tim Keller life and legacy and the far-reaching influence of his ministry. • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you preach faithfully, clearly, and better.  In this episode, I want to talk to you about my complicated relationship with sermon manuscripts. At this point, I am a conflicted manuscript preacher. I write a full sermon manuscript each week. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, I have taken the manuscript to the pulpit. On one hand, I feel like preaching from a sermon manuscript is helping my preaching. At the same time, there are ways In which I feel the manuscript hinders my preaching.  What is my current view of preaching from sermon manuscripts?  Biblical Accuracy Message Clarity  Balanced Preaching Sermon Length  Pulpit Liberty  Sermon Archives  Ministerial Development  Book Recommendations:  Preaching by Timothy J. Keller  From Embers to a Flame by Harry L. Reeder  For more resources and information, visit hbcharlesjr.com

Eleven years ago this weekend, Pentecost Sunday fell on May 27. I know this because Allie and I were expecting our second daughter and she decided to come before her due date. This is why I had to surprise my intern at 6 am with the news that he would be leading music in multiple massive services with no advance warning on his first day. He muttered utterances under his breath which I assume were “tongues” in the Spirit of the Holiday. Then I got in my car and headed to the hospital. Our church was on the cutting edge of livestreaming for those days, so we were able to watch the service unfold from our labor and delivery room. Andrew did a stunning job, providing sufficient evidence to support a theory I'm still musing on to this day: as far as my work goes, I am very replaceable.  I cannot help but think of the reported final words of the late Dr. Timothy J. Keller, a personal hero of mine and legend in modern pastoral work. As my ministry friends and I watched our Twitter feeds last week for updates, we despaired at the thought that anyone could fill the void this man leaves behind. Maybe he wasn't the same gift for everyone, but for us, Tim's winsome, humble, incisive, gospel-centered-and-saturated approach to preaching and cultural engagement will remain unmatched. Yet his parting words of comfort to his family ring out to haunt the eavesdroppers: “There is no downside for me leaving, not in the slightest.” As we wrap up this Heaven Is Local series in the Book of Acts, we find the indomitable Paul in chains at the Ends of the Earth, and probably at the end of his life as well. He certainly writes like he's running out of time – by no means anxious; just focused. He tells the Philippians, (among them his former jailer and forever child in the gospel), these chains are somehow a source of joy. That for him, to die would be gain. Those final sentiments were no doubt the inspiration for Dr. Keller's words as well. And what unsettles us about these kinds of statements? Is it that they reveal a level of hope that is often foreign to us? What would it take to be able to say such things at the end of our lives? In the middle of them?  I hope you'll join us in hearing this weekend.- js

Eleven years ago this weekend, Pentecost Sunday fell on May 27. I know this because Allie and I were expecting our second daughter and she decided to come before her due date. This is why I had to surprise my intern at 6 am with the news that he would be leading music in multiple massive services with no advance warning on his first day. He muttered utterances under his breath which I assume were “tongues” in the Spirit of the Holiday. Then I got in my car and headed to the hospital. Our church was on the cutting edge of livestreaming for those days, so we were able to watch the service unfold from our labor and delivery room. Andrew did a stunning job, providing sufficient evidence to support a theory I'm still musing on to this day: as far as my work goes, I am very replaceable.  I cannot help but think of the reported final words of the late Dr. Timothy J. Keller, a personal hero of mine and legend in modern pastoral work. As my ministry friends and I watched our Twitter feeds last week for updates, we despaired at the thought that anyone could fill the void this man leaves behind. Maybe he wasn't the same gift for everyone, but for us, Tim's winsome, humble, incisive, gospel-centered-and-saturated approach to preaching and cultural engagement will remain unmatched. Yet his parting words of comfort to his family ring out to haunt the eavesdroppers: “There is no downside for me leaving, not in the slightest.” As we wrap up this Heaven Is Local series in the Book of Acts, we find the indomitable Paul in chains at the Ends of the Earth, and probably at the end of his life as well. He certainly writes like he's running out of time – by no means anxious; just focused. He tells the Philippians, (among them his former jailer and forever child in the gospel), these chains are somehow a source of joy. That for him, to die would be gain. Those final sentiments were no doubt the inspiration for Dr. Keller's words as well. And what unsettles us about these kinds of statements? Is it that they reveal a level of hope that is often foreign to us? What would it take to be able to say such things at the end of our lives? In the middle of them?  I hope you'll join us in hearing this weekend.- js

For this episode of Acton Line, we're bringing you the remarks by Rev. Timothy J. Keller at the Acton Institute's Annual Dinner in 2018, in which he spoke on identity, business, and the Christian gospel. Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC, New York Times bestselling author, teacher, and arguably the most influential evangelical preacher of his generation died May 19, 2023, after a three-year struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was 72. He leaves behind his wife of 48 years, Kathy, and three sons: David, Michael, and Jonathan. Keller's winsome appeal and professorial demeanor grew an exploratory prayer group in 1989 to a 5,000-plus-member megachurch in the heart of the Big Apple, a supposed desert wasteland for spirituality. His impact on urban church planting, his ability to speak in a forthright and non-condescending manner to skeptics, and his deliberate avoidance of political partisanship were just a few qualities that made him stand out in a world of so-called celebrity preachers and would-be chaplains to the rich and famous. His intellectual curiosity wedded to a personal humility were also hallmarks of his unique ministry. Through such books as The Reason for God, The Prodigal God, Generous Justice, and Making Sense of God, Keller argued for the centrality of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his all-sufficient sacrifice in a world of idols and “self-made” men and women. As he liked to sum it up: “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”Taped just a few weeks before his death, he left behind one final message for Redeemer Presbyterian Church and any who would wish to follow in his footsteps. “Forget about your reputation. Jeremiah 45:5: ‘Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not.' … Ministers, don't make your ministry success your identity… People, don't make getting a big name in New York City your main thing. Lift up Jesus' name. Hallowed be thy name. Forget yourself.” For those who had the honor to hear him, to be counseled by him, to be challenged by him—he will never be forgotten.Subscribe to our podcastsDied: Tim Keller, New York City Pastor Who Modeled Winsome Witness | Christianity Today Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is with sadness that we share with you that our founder and friend, Timothy J. Keller passed away this morning, May 19, 2023 at the age of 72, trusting in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection. Please join us in prayer for his family as they go through the grieving process. While our hearts are heavy with the news of Tim's death, we know he is rejoicing with his Savior in heaven.

"The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” Matthew 6:14 It surprises people to know that the story of Jesus' birth contains two opposite images: darkness and light. Both are essential to understanding the truth about Christmas. Timothy Keller captures it well... “Christmas, therefore, is the most unsentimental, realistic way of looking at life. It does not say, “Cheer up! If we all pull together we can make the world a better place.” The Bible never counsels indifference to the forces of darkness, only resistance, but it supports no illusions that we can defeat them ourselves. Christianity does not agree with the optimistic thinkers who say, “We can fix things if we try hard enough.” Nor does it agree with the pessimists who see only a dystopian future. The message of Christianity is, instead, “Things really are this bad, and we can't heal or save ourselves. Things really are this dark—nevertheless, there is hope.” The Christmas message is that “on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Notice that it doesn't say from the world a light has sprung, but upon the world a light has dawned. It has come from outside. There is light outside of this world, and Jesus has brought that light to save us; indeed, he is the Light.” Timothy J. Keller, Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ

Welcome to the second episode in this new mini-series, Junior Doctor Foundations, released as part of CMF's 1st incision podcast.   We kick-start this mini-series with six episodes focusing on how to thrive as a Christian junior doctor living and working in a culture described as a ‘Digital Babylon'.   Life in the twenty-first century is accelerated and more complex than ever before. As Christians, especially junior doctors, it can feel like we are exiles living in a culture hostile to our faith. So how might we keep running the race of faith despite all the challenges?  Today we are unpacking the topic of identity. Your host is Lizzy Kennedy (a junior doctor based in Devon); she is joined by John Greenall (a Paediatrician and CMF Associate CEO) and guest speaker Glynn Harrison (Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, now retired after a successful clinical and academic career).   This podcast series is inspired by the book Faith for Exiles. Written by members of the Barna Research Group who have interviewed around 100,000 young adults, it focuses on what we can learn from the practices of those young people who have kept going with their faith.  To find out more about the book Faith for Exiles, check out  faithforexiles.com/    You can find more about the CMF research on this topic here at cmf.li/ResilientDisciple If you would like to read Glynn Harrison's works please check out:  - ‘A Better Story, God, Sex and Human Flourishing' by Glynn Harrison. - ‘The Big Ego Trip, Finding true significance in a culture of self-esteem' by Glynn Harrison.  Book recommendations discussed in this podcast:  - ‘The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness' by Timothy J Keller.  - ‘God on Mute, Engaging the silence of unanswered prayer' by Pete Greig  Find out more about CMF's support for junior doctors at https://www.cmf.org.uk/juniors/ Support the show

Relationships are very complex. Not everyone grows in the same way, at the same speed, or in the same areas. But by using the Enneagram, as seen through the lens of the Gospel, you CAN have a fantastic marriage! Mentioned in this episode: Luke 6:44James 4:1 Philipians 1:6 “Within this Christian vision of marriage, here's what it means to fall in love. It is to look at another person and get a glimpse of what God is creating, and to say, "I see who God is making you, and it excites me! I want to be part of that. I want to partner with you and God in the journey you are taking to his throne. And when we get there, I will look at your magnificence and say, 'I always knew you could be like this. I got glimpses of it on earth, but now look at you!” ― Timothy J. Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman   Order Beth and Jeff's new book, More Than Your Number: https://amzn.to/3z9OZ7e  Discover your Type, learn what it means, and transform your life with the Discovering You course: https://www.yourenneagramcoach.com/discoveringyou  Learn how your Enneagram Type affects your marriage with Beth and Jeff's book, Becoming Us: https://amzn.to/3vEhyrh  Accelerate your personal growth and spiritual renewal with The Enneagram Collection Journals: https://www.yourenneagramcoach.com/journals   #Enneagram #Marriage #PersonalityType

The Empty Tomb of Jesus by Timothy J. Keller from Mark 16:1-8.When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.6 “Don't be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'”8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

The Death of Jesus by Timothy J. Keller from Mark 15:33-39.33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he's calling Elijah.”36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

This address by Tim Keller was recorded during the Christ+City post-conference at The Gospel Coalition's 2011 National Conference in Chicago.We welcome your comments, questions, and feedback.  You can reach out to us by emailing us at (gospeladdictpodcast@gmail.com)Become a Patron!  https://www.patreon.com/gospeladdict

Listen to Tim Keller speak in a workshop on preaching at our 2015 National Conference in Orlando, Florida.We welcome your comments, questions, and feedback.  You can reach out to us by emailing us at (gospeladdictpodcast@gmail.com)Become a Patron!  https://www.patreon.com/gospeladdict

Listen as Tim Keller speaks on "The Gospel-Shaped Life" at TGC's New England Regional Conference in 2012.We welcome your comments, questions, and feedback.  You can reach out to us by emailing us at (gospeladdictpodcast@gmail.com)Become a Patron!  https://www.patreon.com/gospeladdict

We welcome your comments, questions, and feedback.  You can reach out to us by emailing us at (gospeladdictpodcast@gmail.com)Become a Patron!  https://www.patreon.com/gospeladdictThe Gospel Coalition 2017 National Conference celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, unleashed by God in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg door. This was the last of six plenary talks that proclaimed the gospel of grace from Paul's inspired letter to the Galatians presented by Dr. Timothy Keller entitled, Boasting in Nothing Except the Cross.Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to[b] the Israel of God.17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

A Classic message on Romans 8:28-39 by Tim Keller.We welcome your comments, questions, and feedback.  You can reach out to us by emailing us at (gospeladdictpodcast@gmail.com)  Like our podcast?  Support us by becoming a patron at (https://www.patreon.com/gospeladdict)

A timeless message by Dr. Timothy Keller that is worth listening to multiple times in order to fully absorb the truth.We welcome your comments, questions, and feedback.  You can reach out to us by emailing us at (gospeladdictpodcast@gmail.com)  Like our podcast?  Support us by becoming a patron at (https://www.patreon.com/gospeladdict)Few things in this world are as self-focused as the human ego. Every triumph and every slight has the potential to send us either into pride or despondency. Yet, in this passage from 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul shows us another way: a way where we forget ourselves to the point where we not only cease caring what others think, but where we even fail to care what we think of ourselves. Instead, we rest and rejoice in what God thinks of us in Christ.

In this episode, Beth and Jeff begin a two-part series on the marriage dance—the relational dynamics between two Types. If you're currently single or dating, you can apply this series to all your important relationships.    In this podcast, you will learn: How to understand the inner world of Type 9, 8, 7, and 6 How to have compassion for yourself and your partner How to affirm and encourage one another   Relationships are very complex. Not everyone grows in the same way, at the same speed, or in the same areas. But by using the Enneagram, as seen through the lens of the Gospel, you CAN have a fantastic marriage! Mentioned in this episode:   Becoming Us Course Becoming Us Book   Luke 6:44James 4:1 Philipians 1:6   “Within this Christian vision of marriage, here's what it means to fall in love. It is to look at another person and get a glimpse of what God is creating, and to say, "I see who God is making you, and it excites me! I want to be part of that. I want to partner with you and God in the journey you are taking to his throne. And when we get there, I will look at your magnificence and say, 'I always knew you could be like this. I got glimpses of it on earth, but now look at you!” ― Timothy J. Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God   The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman Follow Your Enneagram Coach on all the socials: Facebook Instagram Twitter You Tube   Show Credits: Music by Sleeping at Last Edited and Produced by Angie Elkins Media

On a Sunday afternoon in 1935, J. Gresham Machen stepped into a broadcast booth at WIP Radio in Philadelphia and began something no one had tried before: teaching Reformed theology over the radio. In the vein of C.S. Lewis's landmark “Mere Christianity” talks, Machen's addresses are a crystal-clear articulation of the basics of the Christian faith, unfolding into an exceptional and persuasive explanation of Reformed theology. Things Unseen is both an accessible systematic theology, and a masterclass in evangelistic apologetics. Introduced by Timothy J. Keller, Foreword by Sinclair B. Ferguson, Historical Preface by Stephen J. Nichols, Afterword by Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. Join us as we sit down with Dr. Nichols and get a glimpse into the life, context, and work of J. Gresham Machen.

REFLECTION QUOTES “Never let a single day pass over your head without a visit to the garden of Gethsemane, and the cross on Calvary…. [W]hen you come to Christ, you may come boldly. There is no fee required; there is no preparation necessary. You may come just as you are…. Run into his arms, poor sinner.” ~Charles Spurgeon, New Year's Day 1860 “Because [God in Christ] loves me and He accepts me, I do not have to do things just to build up my résumé. I do not have to do things to make me look good. I can do things for the joy of doing them. I can help people to help people – not so I can feel better about myself, not so I can fill up the emptiness.” ~Timothy J. Keller, pastor in Manhattan “Our huffing and puffing to impress God, our scrambling for brownie points, our thrashing about trying to fix ourselves while hiding our pettiness and wallowing in guilt are nauseating to God and are a flat-out denial of the gospel of grace.” ~Brennan Manning (1934-2013), Franciscan priest and author “This is that mystery which is rich in divine grace unto sinners: wherein by a wonderful exchange, our sins are no longer ours but Christ's; and the righteousness of Christ is not Christ's but ours. He has emptied himself of his righteousness that he might clothe us in it, and fill us with it: and he has taken our evils upon himself that he might deliver us from them.” ~Martin Luther (1483-1546), German pastor-reformer “We must never rest until everything inside us worships God.” ~A.W. Tozer (1897-1963), pastor and author SERMON PASSAGE selected passages(NASB) 2 Chronicles 16 9 For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will have wars. 2 Chronicles 25 1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, only not wholeheartedly. 2 Chronicles 12 13 So King Rehoboam became powerful in Jerusalem and reigned there. For Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. 14 But he did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord. Luke 18 18 A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not give false testimony, Honor your father and mother.'” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept since my youth.” 22 Now when Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely wealthy. 24 And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!” 26 Those who heard Him said, “And so who can be saved?” 27 But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

In this episode, Beth and Jeff begin a two-part series on the marriage dance—the relational dynamics between two Types. If you’re currently single or dating, you can apply this series to all your important relationships.    In this podcast, you will learn: How to understand the inner world of Type 9, 8, 7, and 6 How to have compassion for yourself and your partner How to affirm and encourage one another   Relationships are very complex. Not everyone grows in the same way, at the same speed, or in the same areas. But by using the Enneagram, as seen through the lens of the Gospel, you CAN have a fantastic marriage! Mentioned in this episode:   Becoming Us Course Becoming Us Book   Luke 6:44James 4:1 Philipians 1:6   “Within this Christian vision of marriage, here's what it means to fall in love. It is to look at another person and get a glimpse of what God is creating, and to say, "I see who God is making you, and it excites me! I want to be part of that. I want to partner with you and God in the journey you are taking to his throne. And when we get there, I will look at your magnificence and say, 'I always knew you could be like this. I got glimpses of it on earth, but now look at you!” ― Timothy J. Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God   The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman Follow Your Enneagram Coach on all the socials: Facebook Instagram Twitter You Tube   Show Credits: Music by Sleeping at Last Edited and Produced by Angie Elkins Media

Hello everybody, and Happy Tuesday to you! Welcome into the most ridiculous, and yet profoundly titled episode of the Bible Reading Podcast. If the end of the world happens today, or a cure for coronavirus is announced, or World War 3 begins between the Bulgarians and the elite warriors of Burkina Faso, and you're wondering why in the world I'm not commenting on that in the intro...it's because I'm recording this episode early on Monday morning - I think it is the first time I've recorded two episodes in one day, but after 135 episodes, they all sort of run together in my mind. Today's Bible readings consist of Numbers 21 (our SECOND straight day with Numbers as the focus passage!), plus: Psalms 60-61, Isaiah 10:5-34, and James 4. Our focus question of the day is not quite as outrageous as it sounds because Jesus HIMSELF makes the comparison between Him and the Bronze snake on a pole of Numbers 21 - so, let's go read that passage (warning if you are scared of snakes) and also Jesus' reference to that story in John 3, and then discuss what it all means. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. John 3:14-15 Because I'm about to head out for a short road trip to Colorado, I'm going to be leaning into my preacher friends a little more over these next couple of episodes, and today that is great news for you, because our old friend Tim Keller is going to help us understand why Jesus is comparing Himself to the bronze snake, and this is an incredible message. On every truck, plaque, uniform, building that has anything to do with medicine (hospitals, doctors, the medical) you will see an insignia with a serpent, usually coiled around a pole. It’s called the caduceus. It is the symbol of healing. It’s one of the very oldest symbols of healing we know. You’ve seen it thousands of times in your life. Do you know what it points to? Do you know what all of the medical facilities of this entire country are referring to? They’re referring to the incident which we’ve just read that is one of the most bizarre incidents anywhere in the Bible. It’s a story, as we read, about an episode in the life of the children of Israel in which they began to really complain against God, to impute evil motives to God, to be very unhappy with the way in which God was treating them. God responds by sending into their midst a plague of poisonous serpents, snakes, that bite the Israelites. They begin to die. They pray. God hears the prayer, and he says to Moses, “Here’s how I’m going to cure them. Put a bronze serpent on a pole.” (The poles in all of the symbols are really a cross without a little top piece. It’s a “T.” A cross without a top piece and one or two snakes entangled, intertwined, coiled around it.) “Put it up so anyone who looks at it will be healed of their disease.” If you look at that, if we didn’t have any other interpretation of that, it would really be a very confusing story. First of all, God looks vindictive. The people are bellyaching. They’re complaining. They’re unhappy with the manna he gave them. They’re unhappy with the desert situation. God sends these poisonous serpents, so he looks vindictive. Secondly, he looks impulsive and indecisive, because he seems to change his mind. They pray, and then he says, “Okay. I’ll heal you.” Thirdly, he seems petty and idiosyncratic. This is God! Can’t he say, “You’re healed”? What’s with the bronze serpent? How weird to make them look on the very thing that was killing them in order to save them. If you read the whole thing, you say, “It seems to mean nothing. It doesn’t make much sense.” Except that Jesus Christ points back, and because Jesus Christ said this and showed the meaning of it, that’s the reason why this symbol is emblazoned on all the medical technology and places of medicine and healing in the world. He said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Then he says the famous verse, “For God so loved the world …” Whenever you see a hospital, whenever you see an EMS truck or something and you see the snake around the pole, do you think right away, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”? You should, because that’s what it means. You say, “Well, okay. How does it mean it?” What Jesus is saying, what Numbers is saying, what God is saying in the incident and, therefore, indirectly, of course, what every single one of those insignias is saying is there is only one disease that can really kill you. There is only one disease that really can kill you and that disease has one and only one remedy. Let’s look at the disease, which, of course, is sin, and let’s look at the remedy, which, of course, is the Son of Man lifted up. God has to show them there is a provision. God says, “Put a bronze snake up on a pole.” What does that mean? If there had only been one snake and the snake was sort of slithering around and biting people and they were getting sick and then it was going away, everybody would be upset. What would they do? The only way anybody could rest and be at peace again would be if some hunter came in to find the snake. As the hunter was going in, everybody was scared. You had to watch where you were going and all that. What if the hunter caught the snake, crushed the snake, and destroyed it? The only way to bring hope back to the camp … What would the hunter do? You know what they would do. You’d lift the snake up on the pole with which you killed it. You smack a snake, and then you lift it up. In fact, the smartest thing to do with a snake, as you know, is not to hold it like this but to put it up with pinchers. You would walk through the camp and say, “I got it!” To hold a snake up on a pole means it’s dead. It’s gone. It’s been destroyed. It’s been captured. Everybody would look and say, “We have hope again.” What God is saying to the Israelites, not to us, by putting that up is, “I am the One who healeth thee. I am the One who can stop the snakes and heal you of the poison. I am the hunter. I have the power. I am the One who puts the snake up on the pole. Look to me, not to the snake so much. To look to the snake is to look to me. Look to me in my power. Look to me in my mercy and you’ll be healed.” That’s what they did. What he was saying was, “I am the One who heals you. Have hope in me.” But Jesus goes further and says, “Let me tell you what it really meant. As the snake in the wilderness was lifted up, so I will be lifted up.” The first thing it means is Jesus will die. A lifted-up snake was a dead snake. A lifted-up snake was a crushed snake. A lifted-up snake was a snake that had been smitten. For Jesus Christ to be lifted up did not just simply mean he went up the steps or something. He says, “As the snake in the wilderness was lifted up, I will be lifted up,” which means, “I will die. I will be smitten. I will be crushed.” But it goes beyond that. He doesn’t just say, “I’m going to die.” Here’s what he says. He’s not just saying he will die, but he says, “I will die as the Serpent.” What is the Serpent? The Serpent is the sin. The Serpent is Satan. The Serpent is not just Satan. It represents the whole thing. It represents the evil that fell into our hearts. It represents the seed of the Serpent in us. It represents the mistrust of God, the rebelliousness, and the thirst. It represents all the things sin is and all the things sin deserves. Therefore, when Jesus says, “I will be lifted up as the Serpent, I will be struck, I will be destroyed, I will die, but I won’t just die. I will die as the Serpent. I will die in the place of the Serpent …” You notice in 2 Corinthians 5, Paul does not say, “God made Jesus Christ sinful.” Of course, he couldn’t have made Jesus Christ sinful. If Jesus Christ had been sinful, if he had become selfish and wicked and as picky as we are, he would never have gone to the cross. He never would have loved us to the end. What it says is, “God made him sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” It doesn’t say he made him sinful. He made him sin. It doesn’t mean he made him a Serpent. He made him as a Serpent. He treated him as the Serpent should be treated. He treated him as sin should be treated. Now you know why, when Jesus was on the cross, and what he meant when he said, “I thirst.” Do you remember that? “I thirst.” It wasn’t just a physical thirst. He was taking upon himself hell. Do you know what hell is? Do you remember the parable of Lazarus and the rich man? Do you remember the place where the rich man goes to hell? It says he was burning up with thirst, and he prayed to Father Abraham, “I see Lazarus up there in heaven. Could he come and cool my tongue?” He prays the prayer of thirst. It’s not because of fire. Don’t you see? Hell is a place where you are finally cast away from God. The thirst that begins here (the picky, picky, picky that begins here) has now become a raging fire. That’s all. Your conscience that is bothered here becomes a roaring lion. Your inability to find love here becomes an absolute, raging forest fire. That’s what hell is. It’s the insatiability of spiritual thirst. A tremendous emptiness that makes you unhappy with everything here, but it’s nothing compared to what will happen when you finally get your way. What sin wants is to get away from God so you can be completely your own boss. When that finally happens, that little teeny bit of thirst will become a raging fire. That is what fell on Jesus. Jesus Christ took exactly what we would have experienced in hell forever. He got the fever. He got the convulsions. He got the raging thirst. He got the unquenchable fire. He said, “I thirst.” It all fell on him. Why? Because, of course, it says in Isaiah, “… with his stripes we are healed.” He heals all our sins, and he carries all our diseases. C. You just look. As the snake in the desert was lifted up, so the Son of Man will be lifted up. How do you get saved by the snake? You just look. You don’t walk up to it and sort of rub it three times. You don’t go over to it and bow down three times. You don’t pray a sinner’s prayer in front of it. All you do is look. Years ago, there was a guy named Charles Spurgeon who became a great Baptist preacher, but he was under agony in his soul. He was pretty sure he was a sinful person. He didn’t know how God could accept him. He went, because of a snowstorm, into a tiny, little primitive Methodist chapel, and the minister couldn’t get there because of the snowstorm. Some poor deacon got up and had to preach. There were only four people present. He opened his text up, and he’d never preached a sermon before. The text was from Isaiah 45. It said, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am [a righteous] God [and a Savior] and there is none else.” He got up and said, “Do you see what this is saying? You don’t do anything in order to be saved. You just have to look. You don’t say, ‘Oh, I need to work up to you in love.’ To look is to admit you have no loyalty in love. You don’t have to walk over to God. You don’t have to jump hoops to God. All you have to do is look. You have to admit he’s done everything necessary for you. You just have to look and see that he has saved you.” Spurgeon began to say, “Wait a minute! I don’t have to do? I just have to look? I just have to believe? I just have to receive?” Because there were only four people in the service, finally the deacon looked down and he saw only one visitor. He said, “Young man, you look miserable, and you’re going to stay miserable until you obey my text.” At that point, Spurgeon suddenly realized he had been running and jumping and somersaulting, and all God wanted him to do was look and to admit he couldn’t save himself. That’s how sin is remedied. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Hello everybody, and Happy Tuesday to you! Welcome into the most ridiculous, and yet profoundly titled episode of the Bible Reading Podcast. If the end of the world happens today, or a cure for coronavirus is announced, or World War 3 begins between the Bulgarians and the elite warriors of Burkina Faso, and you're wondering why in the world I'm not commenting on that in the intro...it's because I'm recording this episode early on Monday morning - I think it is the first time I've recorded two episodes in one day, but after 135 episodes, they all sort of run together in my mind. Today's Bible readings consist of Numbers 21 (our SECOND straight day with Numbers as the focus passage!), plus: Psalms 60-61, Isaiah 10:5-34, and James 4. Our focus question of the day is not quite as outrageous as it sounds because Jesus HIMSELF makes the comparison between Him and the Bronze snake on a pole of Numbers 21 - so, let's go read that passage (warning if you are scared of snakes) and also Jesus' reference to that story in John 3, and then discuss what it all means. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. John 3:14-15 Because I'm about to head out for a short road trip to Colorado, I'm going to be leaning into my preacher friends a little more over these next couple of episodes, and today that is great news for you, because our old friend Tim Keller is going to help us understand why Jesus is comparing Himself to the bronze snake, and this is an incredible message. On every truck, plaque, uniform, building that has anything to do with medicine (hospitals, doctors, the medical) you will see an insignia with a serpent, usually coiled around a pole. It’s called the caduceus. It is the symbol of healing. It’s one of the very oldest symbols of healing we know. You’ve seen it thousands of times in your life. Do you know what it points to? Do you know what all of the medical facilities of this entire country are referring to? They’re referring to the incident which we’ve just read that is one of the most bizarre incidents anywhere in the Bible. It’s a story, as we read, about an episode in the life of the children of Israel in which they began to really complain against God, to impute evil motives to God, to be very unhappy with the way in which God was treating them. God responds by sending into their midst a plague of poisonous serpents, snakes, that bite the Israelites. They begin to die. They pray. God hears the prayer, and he says to Moses, “Here’s how I’m going to cure them. Put a bronze serpent on a pole.” (The poles in all of the symbols are really a cross without a little top piece. It’s a “T.” A cross without a top piece and one or two snakes entangled, intertwined, coiled around it.) “Put it up so anyone who looks at it will be healed of their disease.” If you look at that, if we didn’t have any other interpretation of that, it would really be a very confusing story. First of all, God looks vindictive. The people are bellyaching. They’re complaining. They’re unhappy with the manna he gave them. They’re unhappy with the desert situation. God sends these poisonous serpents, so he looks vindictive. Secondly, he looks impulsive and indecisive, because he seems to change his mind. They pray, and then he says, “Okay. I’ll heal you.” Thirdly, he seems petty and idiosyncratic. This is God! Can’t he say, “You’re healed”? What’s with the bronze serpent? How weird to make them look on the very thing that was killing them in order to save them. If you read the whole thing, you say, “It seems to mean nothing. It doesn’t make much sense.” Except that Jesus Christ points back, and because Jesus Christ said this and showed the meaning of it, that’s the reason why this symbol is emblazoned on all the medical technology and places of medicine and healing in the world. He said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Then he says the famous verse, “For God so loved the world …” Whenever you see a hospital, whenever you see an EMS truck or something and you see the snake around the pole, do you think right away, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”? You should, because that’s what it means. You say, “Well, okay. How does it mean it?” What Jesus is saying, what Numbers is saying, what God is saying in the incident and, therefore, indirectly, of course, what every single one of those insignias is saying is there is only one disease that can really kill you. There is only one disease that really can kill you and that disease has one and only one remedy. Let’s look at the disease, which, of course, is sin, and let’s look at the remedy, which, of course, is the Son of Man lifted up. God has to show them there is a provision. God says, “Put a bronze snake up on a pole.” What does that mean? If there had only been one snake and the snake was sort of slithering around and biting people and they were getting sick and then it was going away, everybody would be upset. What would they do? The only way anybody could rest and be at peace again would be if some hunter came in to find the snake. As the hunter was going in, everybody was scared. You had to watch where you were going and all that. What if the hunter caught the snake, crushed the snake, and destroyed it? The only way to bring hope back to the camp … What would the hunter do? You know what they would do. You’d lift the snake up on the pole with which you killed it. You smack a snake, and then you lift it up. In fact, the smartest thing to do with a snake, as you know, is not to hold it like this but to put it up with pinchers. You would walk through the camp and say, “I got it!” To hold a snake up on a pole means it’s dead. It’s gone. It’s been destroyed. It’s been captured. Everybody would look and say, “We have hope again.” What God is saying to the Israelites, not to us, by putting that up is, “I am the One who healeth thee. I am the One who can stop the snakes and heal you of the poison. I am the hunter. I have the power. I am the One who puts the snake up on the pole. Look to me, not to the snake so much. To look to the snake is to look to me. Look to me in my power. Look to me in my mercy and you’ll be healed.” That’s what they did. What he was saying was, “I am the One who heals you. Have hope in me.” But Jesus goes further and says, “Let me tell you what it really meant. As the snake in the wilderness was lifted up, so I will be lifted up.” The first thing it means is Jesus will die. A lifted-up snake was a dead snake. A lifted-up snake was a crushed snake. A lifted-up snake was a snake that had been smitten. For Jesus Christ to be lifted up did not just simply mean he went up the steps or something. He says, “As the snake in the wilderness was lifted up, I will be lifted up,” which means, “I will die. I will be smitten. I will be crushed.” But it goes beyond that. He doesn’t just say, “I’m going to die.” Here’s what he says. He’s not just saying he will die, but he says, “I will die as the Serpent.” What is the Serpent? The Serpent is the sin. The Serpent is Satan. The Serpent is not just Satan. It represents the whole thing. It represents the evil that fell into our hearts. It represents the seed of the Serpent in us. It represents the mistrust of God, the rebelliousness, and the thirst. It represents all the things sin is and all the things sin deserves. Therefore, when Jesus says, “I will be lifted up as the Serpent, I will be struck, I will be destroyed, I will die, but I won’t just die. I will die as the Serpent. I will die in the place of the Serpent …” You notice in 2 Corinthians 5, Paul does not say, “God made Jesus Christ sinful.” Of course, he couldn’t have made Jesus Christ sinful. If Jesus Christ had been sinful, if he had become selfish and wicked and as picky as we are, he would never have gone to the cross. He never would have loved us to the end. What it says is, “God made him sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” It doesn’t say he made him sinful. He made him sin. It doesn’t mean he made him a Serpent. He made him as a Serpent. He treated him as the Serpent should be treated. He treated him as sin should be treated. Now you know why, when Jesus was on the cross, and what he meant when he said, “I thirst.” Do you remember that? “I thirst.” It wasn’t just a physical thirst. He was taking upon himself hell. Do you know what hell is? Do you remember the parable of Lazarus and the rich man? Do you remember the place where the rich man goes to hell? It says he was burning up with thirst, and he prayed to Father Abraham, “I see Lazarus up there in heaven. Could he come and cool my tongue?” He prays the prayer of thirst. It’s not because of fire. Don’t you see? Hell is a place where you are finally cast away from God. The thirst that begins here (the picky, picky, picky that begins here) has now become a raging fire. That’s all. Your conscience that is bothered here becomes a roaring lion. Your inability to find love here becomes an absolute, raging forest fire. That’s what hell is. It’s the insatiability of spiritual thirst. A tremendous emptiness that makes you unhappy with everything here, but it’s nothing compared to what will happen when you finally get your way. What sin wants is to get away from God so you can be completely your own boss. When that finally happens, that little teeny bit of thirst will become a raging fire. That is what fell on Jesus. Jesus Christ took exactly what we would have experienced in hell forever. He got the fever. He got the convulsions. He got the raging thirst. He got the unquenchable fire. He said, “I thirst.” It all fell on him. Why? Because, of course, it says in Isaiah, “… with his stripes we are healed.” He heals all our sins, and he carries all our diseases. C. You just look. As the snake in the desert was lifted up, so the Son of Man will be lifted up. How do you get saved by the snake? You just look. You don’t walk up to it and sort of rub it three times. You don’t go over to it and bow down three times. You don’t pray a sinner’s prayer in front of it. All you do is look. Years ago, there was a guy named Charles Spurgeon who became a great Baptist preacher, but he was under agony in his soul. He was pretty sure he was a sinful person. He didn’t know how God could accept him. He went, because of a snowstorm, into a tiny, little primitive Methodist chapel, and the minister couldn’t get there because of the snowstorm. Some poor deacon got up and had to preach. There were only four people present. He opened his text up, and he’d never preached a sermon before. The text was from Isaiah 45. It said, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am [a righteous] God [and a Savior] and there is none else.” He got up and said, “Do you see what this is saying? You don’t do anything in order to be saved. You just have to look. You don’t say, ‘Oh, I need to work up to you in love.’ To look is to admit you have no loyalty in love. You don’t have to walk over to God. You don’t have to jump hoops to God. All you have to do is look. You have to admit he’s done everything necessary for you. You just have to look and see that he has saved you.” Spurgeon began to say, “Wait a minute! I don’t have to do? I just have to look? I just have to believe? I just have to receive?” Because there were only four people in the service, finally the deacon looked down and he saw only one visitor. He said, “Young man, you look miserable, and you’re going to stay miserable until you obey my text.” At that point, Spurgeon suddenly realized he had been running and jumping and somersaulting, and all God wanted him to do was look and to admit he couldn’t save himself. That’s how sin is remedied. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Happy Wednesday, friends! Today we in California are celebrating an astounding SIX weeks of sheltering in place, and it looks like a few more weeks are on tap. I guess celebrating is the wrong word there. We are LAMENTING six weeks of sheltering in place. Lord deliver us from this pandemic! Today's Bible readings don't have anything to do with coronavirus, but do equip us to live and thrive in times of pandemic, trials and troubles. We are reading Numbers 6, Psalms 40 and 41, Song of Songs 4, and Hebrews 4. Our Big Bible question comes from the famous and well-known verse in Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Many Christians grew up hearing that passage fairly regularly, but when you actually think about what it means, you realize what a strange statement it is. How in the world is the Word of God a living thing? A sharp thing? A penetrating thing, or a judging thing? Let's go read Hebrews 4, and then see if we can find out more. And we're back, and we haven't had our question answered yet, at least in Hebrews 4. We do remember, however, that Hebrews began in chapter 1 by discussing the power of God's Word: 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:3 All things are SUSTAINED by the powerful Word of Jesus. Further, as we keep reading Hebrews, we discover: 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. Hebrews 11:3 This, beyond a shadow of a doubt, demonstrates the awesome POWER of the Word of God, but it doesn't answer our question - How is God's Word living and active, or living and effective? For that answer, we need to turn to the parable of Jesus that is effectively the key to understanding every parable of Jesus - the Parable of the Sower: 13 Then he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables?14 The sower sows the word.15 Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.16 And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.17 But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.18 Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word,19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.20 And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.” Mark 4:13-20 So, we see here exactly how God's Word is living and active, because Jesus tells us that the Word of God is like a SEED. It has life, and it gives life. It blooms and grows, just like a seed, but instead of being sown or buried in the ground,the Word of God is sown into people who listen to it, and bear fruit depending on how they respond to the seed/Word of God. And, from that same chapter: 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you.25 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Mark 4:24-25 Here we see that the Word of God/Living seed comes into a person by virtue of that person HEARING (reading) God's Word. The more you hear - and the more you WANT TO HEAR - the more fruit you will bear and Godly transformation you will see in your life. Jesus here compares eager listeners to those coming to get something good with either a small measure - think a teaspoon, or something like that vs. the person who comes with a great big old bucket. The one who DESIRES more of the Word - a greater measure - will see more fruit in their lives than those who just want a drop or two. Finally, in verses 26-29, we see: 26 “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground.27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head.29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:26-29 We see here that Word of God is the thing that brings transformation and change in people. They aren't changed by their own wills, or by the work of the pastor or a teacher, they are changed because the Word of God is LIVING - like a seed - and when it gets into the soil of our lives/minds/hearts/emotions, it brings growth, transformation and salvation! This is what is meant when it is said that the Word of God is "living and active." It's not like mere words on paper, because it is (as we learned in Timothy), God-BREATHED. My words are Chase-breathed. They might be memorable, they might be funny, they might be awkward or random or strange. They might be accompanied by bad-breath, or they might be said while I'm itching my noise, because I have the world's itchiest nose...but they most certainly won't be God-breathed and LIVING, unless I am quoting the Word of God. My words don't have life or bring life - they are just Words. God's Words created all that is, and also brings transformation to reality and to human beings alike. I love how Tim Keller expresses the biological nature of God's Word: I want you to think about the image Jesus has chosen for the Word of God, for the gospel. Even though, by the way, he could because these are used in the Old Testament. He doesn’t choose an image of the word of God as a hammer. He doesn’t choose the image of the word of God as a fire. He doesn’t choose the image of the word of God as a sword. He chooses a seed, and a seed is weak, a little thing. You don’t drop a seed into the ground, saying, “Bombs away!” because you drop a seed and you can’t even find the seed after you dropped it. Three out of the four soils reject the power of the word. The first one doesn’t let it in at all. The second one is excited about Jesus but really just wants miracles, really just wants good times, really wants just needs to be met. The third group, of course, is very, very concerned about what the world thinks and about the issues of the world and gets choked. The seed is so weak. It’s not a hammer. It’s not a fire. A hammer crushes its opposition. Fire blasts the opposition. The sword slashes through the resistance. The seed seems so weak. Why would Jesus Christ characterize the gospel as something so weak? If we think a little bit more about the metaphor, let’s admit seeds have a paradoxical weakness and strength. Here’s an acorn. What’s an acorn? We talked about this a couple of weeks ago. On the one hand, in that acorn is everything necessary to grow a huge tree, and then out of that tree could come hundreds of other acorns. Out of every one of those trees could come hundreds of other acorns. Do you realize a single acorn has the power in it to cover the entire face of the earth in wood? No hammer, no fire, no sword has the power to do that, and yet you could stick that acorn on the ground and crush it and it’s gone. Power and yet weakness. G. Campbell Morgan tells an interesting story. He was in Italy once, and he went into a graveyard. This was a kind of tourist attraction, because there was one very, very old grave, centuries old. It was either a king or some wealthy man, and there was this enormous, incredibly thick slab of marble over the grave. It was huge and thick, yet an acorn had fallen into the grave. Over the years somehow, it had grown up, found a way out of the one side, then got bigger and bigger and bigger. It took centuries. Eventually, it became this huge tree. Over the centuries it had cracked that marble slab and rolled it off into two pieces. Everybody used to come and see that. Isn’t it amazing? An acorn, something of course if you dropped it on the slab, it never would’ve done a thing. You can just stamp it out with your foot, and yet if you give it a chance to release its power, it can do something a team of horses couldn’t do. Why does Jesus Christ characterize the word of God, the gospel, as a seed? Here’s the reason why. If you’re reading the gospel of Mark, up to this point some people have pointed out every single soil is somebody’s response to Jesus. The first soil is the Pharisees and the religious leaders. They rejected him. The second soil is the crowds. They’re happy with him but as long as he’s doing miracles. The third soil is his family, who’s very upset with the fact that they’re losing face and the fact of the shame and the fact that they’re losing honor because of what he’s doing. In other words, the parable of the soils is not just a parable of how people respond to the Word but how people respond to Jesus, and Jesus did not come as a hammer. Jesus did not come as a fire. Jesus did not come as a sword. He came, not to judge, but to be judged, not to be strong, but to be weak and to die, because seeds only release their power if they fall into the ground and die. If Jesus had come as a sword, if Jesus had come as a hammer, if Jesus had come as a fire, we would’ve all been dead meat, but Jesus Christ came as the ultimate seed. He says it himself in John 12. “Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed, but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” In the garden of Gethsemane, the night before Jesus Christ was to go to the cross, he was facing infinite suffering. He was facing cosmic abandonment. He was going to pay the penalty for our sins. Even the foretaste of that, even the hint of it, the prospect of it, smote the eternal Son of God to the ground in such shock that blood came out of his pores. He looks up to heaven and says, “Is there any other way?” The answer of heaven is, “My life cannot be released into them unless you become a seed, unless you go into the ground and die.” And he did. He became voluntarily weak for us. He became a seed that goes into the ground and dies, but that is the secret of the gospel’s power, because the power of the word is the weakness of the Lord. When you see him doing that for you, if you see him doing that for you, if you see the beauty of his weakness, that comes into your life, and that’s the power that will change you. The weakness of the Lord is the power of the word. Nothing else will change you like that. Nothing else will change you like seeing the beauty of his weakness for you, his willingness to be the ultimate seed. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).  

Happy Wednesday, friends! Today we in California are celebrating an astounding SIX weeks of sheltering in place, and it looks like a few more weeks are on tap. I guess celebrating is the wrong word there. We are LAMENTING six weeks of sheltering in place. Lord deliver us from this pandemic! Today's Bible readings don't have anything to do with coronavirus, but do equip us to live and thrive in times of pandemic, trials and troubles. We are reading Numbers 6, Psalms 40 and 41, Song of Songs 4, and Hebrews 4. Our Big Bible question comes from the famous and well-known verse in Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Many Christians grew up hearing that passage fairly regularly, but when you actually think about what it means, you realize what a strange statement it is. How in the world is the Word of God a living thing? A sharp thing? A penetrating thing, or a judging thing? Let's go read Hebrews 4, and then see if we can find out more. And we're back, and we haven't had our question answered yet, at least in Hebrews 4. We do remember, however, that Hebrews began in chapter 1 by discussing the power of God's Word: 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:3 All things are SUSTAINED by the powerful Word of Jesus. Further, as we keep reading Hebrews, we discover: 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. Hebrews 11:3 This, beyond a shadow of a doubt, demonstrates the awesome POWER of the Word of God, but it doesn't answer our question - How is God's Word living and active, or living and effective? For that answer, we need to turn to the parable of Jesus that is effectively the key to understanding every parable of Jesus - the Parable of the Sower: 13 Then he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables?14 The sower sows the word.15 Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.16 And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.17 But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.18 Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word,19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.20 And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.” Mark 4:13-20 So, we see here exactly how God's Word is living and active, because Jesus tells us that the Word of God is like a SEED. It has life, and it gives life. It blooms and grows, just like a seed, but instead of being sown or buried in the ground,the Word of God is sown into people who listen to it, and bear fruit depending on how they respond to the seed/Word of God. And, from that same chapter: 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you.25 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Mark 4:24-25 Here we see that the Word of God/Living seed comes into a person by virtue of that person HEARING (reading) God's Word. The more you hear - and the more you WANT TO HEAR - the more fruit you will bear and Godly transformation you will see in your life. Jesus here compares eager listeners to those coming to get something good with either a small measure - think a teaspoon, or something like that vs. the person who comes with a great big old bucket. The one who DESIRES more of the Word - a greater measure - will see more fruit in their lives than those who just want a drop or two. Finally, in verses 26-29, we see: 26 “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground.27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head.29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:26-29 We see here that Word of God is the thing that brings transformation and change in people. They aren't changed by their own wills, or by the work of the pastor or a teacher, they are changed because the Word of God is LIVING - like a seed - and when it gets into the soil of our lives/minds/hearts/emotions, it brings growth, transformation and salvation! This is what is meant when it is said that the Word of God is "living and active." It's not like mere words on paper, because it is (as we learned in Timothy), God-BREATHED. My words are Chase-breathed. They might be memorable, they might be funny, they might be awkward or random or strange. They might be accompanied by bad-breath, or they might be said while I'm itching my noise, because I have the world's itchiest nose...but they most certainly won't be God-breathed and LIVING, unless I am quoting the Word of God. My words don't have life or bring life - they are just Words. God's Words created all that is, and also brings transformation to reality and to human beings alike. I love how Tim Keller expresses the biological nature of God's Word: I want you to think about the image Jesus has chosen for the Word of God, for the gospel. Even though, by the way, he could because these are used in the Old Testament. He doesn’t choose an image of the word of God as a hammer. He doesn’t choose the image of the word of God as a fire. He doesn’t choose the image of the word of God as a sword. He chooses a seed, and a seed is weak, a little thing. You don’t drop a seed into the ground, saying, “Bombs away!” because you drop a seed and you can’t even find the seed after you dropped it. Three out of the four soils reject the power of the word. The first one doesn’t let it in at all. The second one is excited about Jesus but really just wants miracles, really just wants good times, really wants just needs to be met. The third group, of course, is very, very concerned about what the world thinks and about the issues of the world and gets choked. The seed is so weak. It’s not a hammer. It’s not a fire. A hammer crushes its opposition. Fire blasts the opposition. The sword slashes through the resistance. The seed seems so weak. Why would Jesus Christ characterize the gospel as something so weak? If we think a little bit more about the metaphor, let’s admit seeds have a paradoxical weakness and strength. Here’s an acorn. What’s an acorn? We talked about this a couple of weeks ago. On the one hand, in that acorn is everything necessary to grow a huge tree, and then out of that tree could come hundreds of other acorns. Out of every one of those trees could come hundreds of other acorns. Do you realize a single acorn has the power in it to cover the entire face of the earth in wood? No hammer, no fire, no sword has the power to do that, and yet you could stick that acorn on the ground and crush it and it’s gone. Power and yet weakness. G. Campbell Morgan tells an interesting story. He was in Italy once, and he went into a graveyard. This was a kind of tourist attraction, because there was one very, very old grave, centuries old. It was either a king or some wealthy man, and there was this enormous, incredibly thick slab of marble over the grave. It was huge and thick, yet an acorn had fallen into the grave. Over the years somehow, it had grown up, found a way out of the one side, then got bigger and bigger and bigger. It took centuries. Eventually, it became this huge tree. Over the centuries it had cracked that marble slab and rolled it off into two pieces. Everybody used to come and see that. Isn’t it amazing? An acorn, something of course if you dropped it on the slab, it never would’ve done a thing. You can just stamp it out with your foot, and yet if you give it a chance to release its power, it can do something a team of horses couldn’t do. Why does Jesus Christ characterize the word of God, the gospel, as a seed? Here’s the reason why. If you’re reading the gospel of Mark, up to this point some people have pointed out every single soil is somebody’s response to Jesus. The first soil is the Pharisees and the religious leaders. They rejected him. The second soil is the crowds. They’re happy with him but as long as he’s doing miracles. The third soil is his family, who’s very upset with the fact that they’re losing face and the fact of the shame and the fact that they’re losing honor because of what he’s doing. In other words, the parable of the soils is not just a parable of how people respond to the Word but how people respond to Jesus, and Jesus did not come as a hammer. Jesus did not come as a fire. Jesus did not come as a sword. He came, not to judge, but to be judged, not to be strong, but to be weak and to die, because seeds only release their power if they fall into the ground and die. If Jesus had come as a sword, if Jesus had come as a hammer, if Jesus had come as a fire, we would’ve all been dead meat, but Jesus Christ came as the ultimate seed. He says it himself in John 12. “Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed, but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” In the garden of Gethsemane, the night before Jesus Christ was to go to the cross, he was facing infinite suffering. He was facing cosmic abandonment. He was going to pay the penalty for our sins. Even the foretaste of that, even the hint of it, the prospect of it, smote the eternal Son of God to the ground in such shock that blood came out of his pores. He looks up to heaven and says, “Is there any other way?” The answer of heaven is, “My life cannot be released into them unless you become a seed, unless you go into the ground and die.” And he did. He became voluntarily weak for us. He became a seed that goes into the ground and dies, but that is the secret of the gospel’s power, because the power of the word is the weakness of the Lord. When you see him doing that for you, if you see him doing that for you, if you see the beauty of his weakness, that comes into your life, and that’s the power that will change you. The weakness of the Lord is the power of the word. Nothing else will change you like that. Nothing else will change you like seeing the beauty of his weakness for you, his willingness to be the ultimate seed. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).  

Hello everybody, and happy Tuesday to you! I am at day 32 or 33 of my partial Nazarite vow - no beer and no wine is going okay, and I have the haircut part is down pat - I have an unruly mop on my head that will begin to look cavemanesque in about 3 days. Unfortunately, I'm not doing so well on the rest of the fruit of the vine part, as I eat a bowl of Raisin Bran with banana slices nearly every day, and raisins are verboten for a Nazarite. I suppose I'll just remain an Alabama/California hybrid with shaggy hair. Anyway...today's Bible readings include Leviticus 25, Ecclesiastes 8, Psalms 32 and 2nd Timothy 4. A shout out to my wonderful sun John Caedmon who told me earlier today that he agreed with my decision to stop ending the podcast readings with Ecclesiastes, because, and I quote, "Ecclesiastes is kind of depressing." Yes, my son - yes it is. The good news is that it gets better at the end, and that is sort of the point of the book, and sometimes it is the point of our lives as well. For those who are in Christ - no matter how bad things are now - it gets better at the end. I know that is not an original or insightful sentiment, but what it lacks in freshness it makes up for in hope and bedrock truth. Our focus passage today is in Psalms 32, though I admit that there were several things in 2nd Timothy 4 that drew my attention - maybe we will catch them on the second read through. Our Big Bible question of the day is all about forgiveness. How is forgiveness joyful? Let's read Psalms 32, and then return and discuss the joy of forgiveness: How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How joyful is a person whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit! 3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat.Selah 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.Selah Psalms 32:1-5 There is a very simple but profound couplet of truths in the first part of Psalms 31. First: There is GREAT joy from the Lord for that person who realizes their sin, knows the danger and damage of that sin, knows the holiness of the Lord, and yet finds that God has - in mercy - forgiven their sin. Twice the Psalmist here acknowledges the utter joy of forgiveness. That is truth #1, and it is an important truth for us in pandemic times. The call of the Father is echoing all across the world right now - repent and follow Jesus! For those that hear the call and do repent and follow Jesus, HOW JOYFUL for them that their sins will be forgiven and not held against them! How joyful that they are NOT disqualified from eternal Heaven - made only for the perfect - because their sin no longer counts against them! There is amazing joy in forgiveness. But don' t miss the second great truth here: There is GROANING and HEAVINESS and WEAKNESS and ILL HEALTH for those who HIDE their sins. Brothers and sisters - if you are hiding your sin right now - whatever it might be - pornography, alcoholism, abuse, outbursts of anger, gossip, slander, criticism, complaining and grumbling, cheating, lying, stealing - whatever....HOW HEAVY that is on your soul! It makes your bones brittle, and your heart weary, and your whole body and soul are impacted. What is the answer - CONFESS TO GOD - and FIND JOY FROM HIS FORGIVENESS! There is a major choice facing all those who are concealing sin: Keep hiding it and nurturing it until it eats away every drop of strength and joy you have, or kill it by confessing it to God and walk in the joy that comes from forgiveness. Easy choice, right?! I say this as a man who struggled with pornography for over a decade in my youth. Sin may be delightful for a moment, but concealed sin weakens you and eats at you and kills you slowly. Confessed sin brings forgiveness and joy and depth of relationship with God the Father! Mary Magdalene is one of the most interesting people in the Bible. She was a devoted follower of Jesus, and her love for Him is so pronounced and so obvious in the Bible that it has produced lots of speculation - even speculation that she loved Him in a romantic way. I believe the truth is much more profound and deep than a simple crush, however. Though the Bible does not explicitly say it, there has been a tradition in the church for almost 2000 years that Mary Magdalene was a saved and redeemed prostitute. That tradition is so old that there might well be some truth to it, but we just can't know. We do know, however, that Mary was delivered of SEVEN demons by Jesus - which must have meant that she spent a significant portion of her life tortured by those same demons, and her reputation undoubtedly suffered from that trauma as well. We also know that Mary was the first person that Jesus revealed Himself to after the resurrection - the first person that He talked to, post-resurrection. This is an incredible honor, and it could be said without too much exaggeration that Mary Magdalene was the first member of the church of Jesus - the first witness to His resurrection, and the first evangelist - bringing the good news to the disciples. What does she have to do with forgiveness, I hear you asking? Excellent question - let's turn to New York pastor Tim Keller to give us the remarkable answer: When you read the commentaries, an awful lot of the commentaries say, “The reason Mary was there and she wouldn’t go home and she stayed there was because she was hysterical. She was so emotional she couldn’t see the angels through her tears. She was so hysterical she couldn’t see Jesus was who he was. She was hysterical.” That’s not true. The more I’ve been looking at this, it’s not true at all. Absolutely not. By the way, in today’s New York Times there’s an interesting article in the entertainment section, of all places, by the New York Times religion writer, in which I guess somebody asked him, “How do the angels depicted on TV sitcoms and TV shows compare with biblical angels?” Gustav Niebuhr says, “Not a lot.” He says, “When most people see angels they fall down. They’re overwhelmed.” By the way, in Luke 24 and in Mark 16 when the other women see these angels dressed bright (and Mary saw they were bright), it says they were dressed in white. How do we know this? The only source of any of this information is from Mary. Mary remembers it. But when the other women saw these very same angels, we’re told they fell to the ground. They were in alarm. The angels always had to say, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.” Mary looks at them. They ask a question and Mary says, “I’m looking for Jesus.” This is not hysteria. Hysterical people freak when they see things like this. This is not hysteria. Then she talks to Jesus. Why doesn’t she recognize Jesus? Because she’s hysterical? No. We will see as we go on through the resurrection accounts that nobody recognizes Jesus at first. His resurrection self means that he has been changed, though he’s still himself, and people have to look, like if you look at somebody you haven’t seen in 25 years. “Oh, it is you.” She didn’t recognize him, but here’s what’s interesting. She’s not hysterical. She deduces, “If this is the gardener, if this is the supervisor of the grounds, then nobody could have done a body snatching without his help or at least his okay. He will know it.” That’s deduction. She’s not enraged, and she’s not hysterical. She says, “Sir.” Very steely. She doesn’t say, “Where is he?” She says, “Sir, if I personally have to go find the swollen, stinking, decayed body of my Lord, if I have to go find him and pick him up myself, I’m going to do that. Where is he? Do you know where he is?” This is not a hysterical woman. This is a woman who is iron. This is a woman who is relentless. This is a woman who is a laser beam. She’s a drill. She’s going to get through anything. “Angels, schmangels. Where’s my Lord? Gardeners, I don’t care.” How did this happen? I’ll tell you. Jesus says it’s simple arithmetic. Jesus Christ says in Luke 7, “The one who is forgiven much, loves much.” I want to press you on this. It’s simple arithmetic. She loved him more than anybody else. That’s why she’s still there. Everybody else is gone. It’s the reason she came. It’s the reason she hasn’t left. It’s simple arithmetic. She knew she was a sinner. She knew she was broken. She knew how big her debt was. She knew it, and Jesus had said, “You can be a child of God.” This is the reason Marys are chosen. This is the reason Marys are used. It’s people who know they’re sinners, it’s people who know the depth of their sin, who love like this. Let me apply this to you. For some of you, there’s no joy or tears. There’s no incredible confidence like Mary has, and there’s no weeping either. Your religion is sort of a matter of duty. You’ve always been religious. You were raised in a church. You come to church now. This is not hysteria. Don’t you dare look at this like that. This is love. This is relentlessness. This is doggedness. This is commitment born of grace. I’ll tell you the reason you don’t have the joy of Mary, and I’ll tell you the reason you’re not used by God like Mary. I’ll tell you why you’re not changing people’s lives like Mary. I’ll tell you why you don’t have this greatness of heart like Mary. This might sound very strange to modern New Yorkers. You don’t know you’re a sinner. You are superficial in your understanding of your brokenness. Very often the Marys of the world who were addicted to sex and inner demons, they know. Do you know what a slave you are? Do you know what a slave you are to achievement, to position, to status, maybe in some cases to moral superiority? Do you realize you have hijacked your life just as much as Mary did? You’re avoiding Jesus as Savior and Lord, even if you’re using him as an example. Until you see yourself as sinful as Mary saw herself, you’re not going to be used. Isn’t it amazing? It’s the Marys of the world God uses, and nobody else. “Well,” you say, “but I’m not a prostitute. I’ve never been. I’ve not been a mental patient.” I’m trying to say it’s the Marys of the world or the people who know they’re no different than the Marys of the world, and only those people, who will ever be used. By the way, there’s one other little tangential footnote. This second point is the divine priority of grace, and there’s one other thing we’d better get through our heads by looking at Mary here. Jesus chose her first. What does this mean? It means Christians ought to every day try to get their snobbery out, throw it on the ground, and stamp on it, try to kill it. The Bible says because of this dynamic, the people who know the least about God, in ages past and today and in ages to come, will always be the people who are running things. This is a terrible thing for New Yorkers to hear. If you look down your nose at brothers and sisters who are beneath you in achievement, beneath you in education, beneath you in social status, beneath you in economic status, you’re just not reading the Bible. Get your snobbery out. Throw it on the ground every day and trample it and think of Mary. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Hello everybody, and happy Tuesday to you! I am at day 32 or 33 of my partial Nazarite vow - no beer and no wine is going okay, and I have the haircut part is down pat - I have an unruly mop on my head that will begin to look cavemanesque in about 3 days. Unfortunately, I'm not doing so well on the rest of the fruit of the vine part, as I eat a bowl of Raisin Bran with banana slices nearly every day, and raisins are verboten for a Nazarite. I suppose I'll just remain an Alabama/California hybrid with shaggy hair. Anyway...today's Bible readings include Leviticus 25, Ecclesiastes 8, Psalms 32 and 2nd Timothy 4. A shout out to my wonderful sun John Caedmon who told me earlier today that he agreed with my decision to stop ending the podcast readings with Ecclesiastes, because, and I quote, "Ecclesiastes is kind of depressing." Yes, my son - yes it is. The good news is that it gets better at the end, and that is sort of the point of the book, and sometimes it is the point of our lives as well. For those who are in Christ - no matter how bad things are now - it gets better at the end. I know that is not an original or insightful sentiment, but what it lacks in freshness it makes up for in hope and bedrock truth. Our focus passage today is in Psalms 32, though I admit that there were several things in 2nd Timothy 4 that drew my attention - maybe we will catch them on the second read through. Our Big Bible question of the day is all about forgiveness. How is forgiveness joyful? Let's read Psalms 32, and then return and discuss the joy of forgiveness: How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How joyful is a person whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit! 3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat.Selah 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.Selah Psalms 32:1-5 There is a very simple but profound couplet of truths in the first part of Psalms 31. First: There is GREAT joy from the Lord for that person who realizes their sin, knows the danger and damage of that sin, knows the holiness of the Lord, and yet finds that God has - in mercy - forgiven their sin. Twice the Psalmist here acknowledges the utter joy of forgiveness. That is truth #1, and it is an important truth for us in pandemic times. The call of the Father is echoing all across the world right now - repent and follow Jesus! For those that hear the call and do repent and follow Jesus, HOW JOYFUL for them that their sins will be forgiven and not held against them! How joyful that they are NOT disqualified from eternal Heaven - made only for the perfect - because their sin no longer counts against them! There is amazing joy in forgiveness. But don' t miss the second great truth here: There is GROANING and HEAVINESS and WEAKNESS and ILL HEALTH for those who HIDE their sins. Brothers and sisters - if you are hiding your sin right now - whatever it might be - pornography, alcoholism, abuse, outbursts of anger, gossip, slander, criticism, complaining and grumbling, cheating, lying, stealing - whatever....HOW HEAVY that is on your soul! It makes your bones brittle, and your heart weary, and your whole body and soul are impacted. What is the answer - CONFESS TO GOD - and FIND JOY FROM HIS FORGIVENESS! There is a major choice facing all those who are concealing sin: Keep hiding it and nurturing it until it eats away every drop of strength and joy you have, or kill it by confessing it to God and walk in the joy that comes from forgiveness. Easy choice, right?! I say this as a man who struggled with pornography for over a decade in my youth. Sin may be delightful for a moment, but concealed sin weakens you and eats at you and kills you slowly. Confessed sin brings forgiveness and joy and depth of relationship with God the Father! Mary Magdalene is one of the most interesting people in the Bible. She was a devoted follower of Jesus, and her love for Him is so pronounced and so obvious in the Bible that it has produced lots of speculation - even speculation that she loved Him in a romantic way. I believe the truth is much more profound and deep than a simple crush, however. Though the Bible does not explicitly say it, there has been a tradition in the church for almost 2000 years that Mary Magdalene was a saved and redeemed prostitute. That tradition is so old that there might well be some truth to it, but we just can't know. We do know, however, that Mary was delivered of SEVEN demons by Jesus - which must have meant that she spent a significant portion of her life tortured by those same demons, and her reputation undoubtedly suffered from that trauma as well. We also know that Mary was the first person that Jesus revealed Himself to after the resurrection - the first person that He talked to, post-resurrection. This is an incredible honor, and it could be said without too much exaggeration that Mary Magdalene was the first member of the church of Jesus - the first witness to His resurrection, and the first evangelist - bringing the good news to the disciples. What does she have to do with forgiveness, I hear you asking? Excellent question - let's turn to New York pastor Tim Keller to give us the remarkable answer: When you read the commentaries, an awful lot of the commentaries say, “The reason Mary was there and she wouldn’t go home and she stayed there was because she was hysterical. She was so emotional she couldn’t see the angels through her tears. She was so hysterical she couldn’t see Jesus was who he was. She was hysterical.” That’s not true. The more I’ve been looking at this, it’s not true at all. Absolutely not. By the way, in today’s New York Times there’s an interesting article in the entertainment section, of all places, by the New York Times religion writer, in which I guess somebody asked him, “How do the angels depicted on TV sitcoms and TV shows compare with biblical angels?” Gustav Niebuhr says, “Not a lot.” He says, “When most people see angels they fall down. They’re overwhelmed.” By the way, in Luke 24 and in Mark 16 when the other women see these angels dressed bright (and Mary saw they were bright), it says they were dressed in white. How do we know this? The only source of any of this information is from Mary. Mary remembers it. But when the other women saw these very same angels, we’re told they fell to the ground. They were in alarm. The angels always had to say, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.” Mary looks at them. They ask a question and Mary says, “I’m looking for Jesus.” This is not hysteria. Hysterical people freak when they see things like this. This is not hysteria. Then she talks to Jesus. Why doesn’t she recognize Jesus? Because she’s hysterical? No. We will see as we go on through the resurrection accounts that nobody recognizes Jesus at first. His resurrection self means that he has been changed, though he’s still himself, and people have to look, like if you look at somebody you haven’t seen in 25 years. “Oh, it is you.” She didn’t recognize him, but here’s what’s interesting. She’s not hysterical. She deduces, “If this is the gardener, if this is the supervisor of the grounds, then nobody could have done a body snatching without his help or at least his okay. He will know it.” That’s deduction. She’s not enraged, and she’s not hysterical. She says, “Sir.” Very steely. She doesn’t say, “Where is he?” She says, “Sir, if I personally have to go find the swollen, stinking, decayed body of my Lord, if I have to go find him and pick him up myself, I’m going to do that. Where is he? Do you know where he is?” This is not a hysterical woman. This is a woman who is iron. This is a woman who is relentless. This is a woman who is a laser beam. She’s a drill. She’s going to get through anything. “Angels, schmangels. Where’s my Lord? Gardeners, I don’t care.” How did this happen? I’ll tell you. Jesus says it’s simple arithmetic. Jesus Christ says in Luke 7, “The one who is forgiven much, loves much.” I want to press you on this. It’s simple arithmetic. She loved him more than anybody else. That’s why she’s still there. Everybody else is gone. It’s the reason she came. It’s the reason she hasn’t left. It’s simple arithmetic. She knew she was a sinner. She knew she was broken. She knew how big her debt was. She knew it, and Jesus had said, “You can be a child of God.” This is the reason Marys are chosen. This is the reason Marys are used. It’s people who know they’re sinners, it’s people who know the depth of their sin, who love like this. Let me apply this to you. For some of you, there’s no joy or tears. There’s no incredible confidence like Mary has, and there’s no weeping either. Your religion is sort of a matter of duty. You’ve always been religious. You were raised in a church. You come to church now. This is not hysteria. Don’t you dare look at this like that. This is love. This is relentlessness. This is doggedness. This is commitment born of grace. I’ll tell you the reason you don’t have the joy of Mary, and I’ll tell you the reason you’re not used by God like Mary. I’ll tell you why you’re not changing people’s lives like Mary. I’ll tell you why you don’t have this greatness of heart like Mary. This might sound very strange to modern New Yorkers. You don’t know you’re a sinner. You are superficial in your understanding of your brokenness. Very often the Marys of the world who were addicted to sex and inner demons, they know. Do you know what a slave you are? Do you know what a slave you are to achievement, to position, to status, maybe in some cases to moral superiority? Do you realize you have hijacked your life just as much as Mary did? You’re avoiding Jesus as Savior and Lord, even if you’re using him as an example. Until you see yourself as sinful as Mary saw herself, you’re not going to be used. Isn’t it amazing? It’s the Marys of the world God uses, and nobody else. “Well,” you say, “but I’m not a prostitute. I’ve never been. I’ve not been a mental patient.” I’m trying to say it’s the Marys of the world or the people who know they’re no different than the Marys of the world, and only those people, who will ever be used. By the way, there’s one other little tangential footnote. This second point is the divine priority of grace, and there’s one other thing we’d better get through our heads by looking at Mary here. Jesus chose her first. What does this mean? It means Christians ought to every day try to get their snobbery out, throw it on the ground, and stamp on it, try to kill it. The Bible says because of this dynamic, the people who know the least about God, in ages past and today and in ages to come, will always be the people who are running things. This is a terrible thing for New Yorkers to hear. If you look down your nose at brothers and sisters who are beneath you in achievement, beneath you in education, beneath you in social status, beneath you in economic status, you’re just not reading the Bible. Get your snobbery out. Throw it on the ground every day and trample it and think of Mary. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Happy Friday! I'm getting started on the pod late tonight, so I must cut out a lot of the normal banter, and funny jokes you normally hear in this space. That was actually my funny joke for the day, as I know my other jokes aren't actually that funny. Our Bible readings today are Leviticus 21, Psalms 26 and 27, Ecclesiastes 4 and 1 Timothy 6. Our focus question comes from Psalms 27, and in this passage David discusses how he will not give into fear, because God is his stronghold. As we have talked about before, I suspect fear around the world is at its highest level in my lifetime, so our Big Bible question is all about how to NOT be afraid. Let me caution you upfront, so that I am not the spiritual equivalent of a used car salesman. I do believe that the Bible gives us multiple way to overcome fear, but because we are human, there is no permanent cure for fear in the sense that you take it once and poof! you are cured forever. In the same way that people need daily food to live on, Christians need daily bread from God to live on. Part of that provision is the Word of God to help us overcome sin, to resist temptation, and to walk in faith, rather than fear. Here is my experience and testimony: I have not had a life that has been characterized by fearfulness, but I have had many extended times in my life where fear and anxiety have taken hold, and enveloped me in some sort of spiritual wrestling match where I was pinned to the mat far more often than I overcame. In those times of trial, fear, and anxiety, I have been humbled, and my courage has often trickled away like water out of a leaky bucket. My only hope in those times - the only antidote to fear and anxiety that I could find, was a constant and persistent clinging to the Word of God and prayer. Seeking God and immersing myself in His Word has always overcome fear in my life, but - to be very frank - it usually comes back, and one serving of God's Word and abiding in Him is not adequate medicine to eradicate the virus of fear from my soul. The reason for this is not a fault in the medicine of God's Word and Abiding through prayer, but the reason is a fault and weakness in my own soul + the Divine purpose and wisdom of our Creator. God did NOT create man and give him the ability to overcome every obstacle by his own power. God created man to be incapable of overcoming apart from ABIDING in His Creator, and the greater the battle that comes against us, the greater the abiding in God and His Word needs to be. So - I say this to you who are battling anxiety, depression, weariness, fear, sorrow, and hopelessness right now: In Christ, you face a winnable battle, and here is your promise to rest on: 9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Galatians 6:9 Cling to the Cross. Believe the gospel and read it in the Word every day. Remind yourself frequently that Jesus died to pay the price for your sins, and that 'because He lives, you will live too.' Consume the Word. Pray constantly. Trust God. When your eyes stray from Him and fall on something that makes you fear, tear your eyes away from that and fix your eyes on Jesus. Looking to Him will enable you to overcome, even when you are weary and fainthearted, so says Hebrews 12:1-3. So - in a spiritual war with fear, whether it is constant in your life, or only occasional, how do we overcome? Step one is making sure the 'anchor' of your life - your faith and trust - is in Jesus. I'm not merely being spiritual here. Ask yourself when you are afraid what you are hoping in. Maybe you're afraid of the coronavirus...what is your deepest hope? Is it that science will discover a cure? That politicians will make the right decisions? That you will be protected by your excessive prudence and hygiene practices? All of those things are good, but none of them are our anchor. Our anchor is Jesus. Step one in overcoming fear is looking to Jesus. Some have already been doing that, but even if you haven't already been doing that, then there is still time to hold fast to the anchor of Jesus. I love Tim Keller's message on Psalms 27, so I want to briefly tag him in here to talk about how the Lord is our stronghold, and we overcome fear by looking to Him: Somebody may ask, “What part of David’s life would this have been part of? When was this? When did this happen?” The answer is it could have been anytime because David is continually in trouble. If you read his life, he is always struggling. He is always wrestling. When he is a young man before he becomes king, what is he doing? He is out in the wilderness running for his life. He is on the lam. As soon as he becomes king, when he is a young king, where do we see him? When he becomes king, his enemies come in, and they decide they’re going to attack him before he gets established. The next thing you know, he has to flee the capital. He is out in the wilderness running for his life. Then he is an old man. It’s different now. He is an old king. What do we see? We see his son Absalom doing a coup d’état. There is David, out in the wilderness running for his life. I mean, he is just like us. He is always in trouble. He is always struggling. It’s so amazingly realistic... It doesn’t say, “He will keep me safe from the day of trouble.” It doesn’t say that. It says, “He will keep me safe in the day of trouble.” It assumes there’s trouble... Here it says, “God will keep me safe so when my enemies are all around me, when the trouble is all around me, in the day of trouble … not from the day of trouble … in the midst of my enemies …” Even Psalm 23 says that. “He prepares a table before me …” Where? Not after he has made those stupid enemies run off. He has whacked them. They’re on the run. No, it’s in the presence of my enemies. Have you ever thought about that? There is no promise in Psalm 23 that he will take those enemies and run them away. The promise is he will prepare a table for you in the presence of the enemies. He doesn’t promise the absence of enemies. Even if you go to Romans 8, in Romans 8:28, it says, “… all things work together for good to them that love God …” You say, “Well, that means nothing really bad can happen to me.” You see, Romans 8:29 , immediately after Romans 8:28, says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son …” What that means is here’s the promise. Nothing will come into your life but that which realizes the greatness and the nearness and the likeness of Jesus Christ in your life. It doesn’t say nothing will come into your life that’s really bad. It says nothing will come into your life but that which will realize the greatness, the likeness, and the nearness of Jesus Christ. The reason why we shouldn’t be surprised, we shouldn’t say, “What?” is because there was a Person who lived on earth who was very, very great and who loved God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind, and who was very used by God, and God brought things that were really, really, really, really bad. He never had any friends who understood him. He never got married and had children. He was beaten. He was tortured. He was destroyed. He was killed. He was rejected. Those are really, really bad things. That was the end of his life. Jesus says a servant is not above his master. Safety does not mean safety from trouble; it means safety in trouble. It means that this is the promise. In the midst of your trouble, all the important parts of you will be utterly safe. All the greatest joys, all the important things, all the things you really care about, all of your highest interests, all of the things that are the most valuable to you will be absolutely safe. Nothing can be touched in any of the vicissitudes of life but those things which are secondary, those things which are not of the essence of your joy or who you are. That’s the promise. If that’s the promise, what that means is it still comes back to the same thing. It means there is a condition you can be in so you can move out into the world, trusting God and being absolutely fearless. Absolutely fearless! Total courage. Not afraid of what happens. Not afraid of what’s about to happen. Not afraid … “If an army comes and besieges me, I will not fear.” See, that’s the promise. The promise is you can live in that condition. See, most of us think when you read that, “Ah! The promise, therefore, is if I trust God, I really won’t have to suffer.” That’s not it. If I trust God, I will become a great heart. My heart will be strong. I will be afraid of nothing. My head will be exalted above my enemies who are surrounding me. That’s what it promises. Why does this work? I’ll tell you why. God does not promise that you will not suffer, but he does promise one thing. There is only one thing he will never take from you. He will never take himself from you. He will never turn his back on you. He will never say, “Oops! You finally sinned one time too many. How many times have you done that? That’s it! How many times have you promised me? That’s that.” No, he will never ever do it. Do you know why he’ll never do it? Do you know why you can be confident that whether you feel him today or you don’t feel him, even though you’re seeking him, that he will never cast you off, that he will receive you, that he will not turn his face from you? Because Jesus lost the one thing. Do you realize that? Jesus lost the one thing. Jesus wanted only one thing in his life, because he was a perfect Man of God. He only wanted one thing. On the cross, even in the garden of Gethsemane, he turned, and he said, “I seek your face.” What did he get? He got the back of God’s hand. He is the only person who this has ever happened to, and it never will happen again. Somebody said, “I seek your face,” and God gave him the back of his hand. Why? So when we seek his face, we’ll never get the back of his hand, even though we fall down, even though we fail. That’s the reason why you can say, “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear.” Because I know I have the one thing. I’ll have the one thing. I’m getting the one thing that will never be taken from me. Because Jesus lost it, you got it. Let’s pray. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). Let me assure you: Because of the mercy of our God, we will get through this coronavirus storm. I don't know when, and I don't know how, but the people of God will not all be sunk in this storm. When we do - let me encourage you to turn to the anchor of your soul and hold fast to Him BEFORE the next storm comes. There will be another storm, and another after that. Those who overcome those storms best will be those who already have the ship of their lives secured by the anchor of Jesus. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, Hebrews 6:19-20 See! There are two vessels yonder, and a storm is coming on. I see a great hurrying and scurrying on the deck of one. What are they at? They have a great anchor, and they are throwing it out. The storm is coming, and they want to get a good hold, for fear lest they should be driven on the shore. But on the deck of the other vessel, I see no bustle at all. There is the watch pacing up and down as leisurely as possible. Why are they not in a panic? “Ahoy there! Ahoy! What makes you so calm and assured? Have you got out your anchor? See you! Your comrades in the other vessel, how busy they are!” “Oh!” says the watch, “but we had our anchor out a long while ago, before the storm came on, and therefore we have no need to trouble now, and hurry to throw it out. Now, you who are full of doubts, and fears, and troubles, you know the way to be safe is to throw out the anchor of faith, but it would be better still if you had the anchor of faith out already, so that you could trust in God, and not be afraid at all. C. H. Spurgeon, “Fearing and Trusting—Trusting and Not Fearing,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 59 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1913), 333.

Happy Friday! I'm getting started on the pod late tonight, so I must cut out a lot of the normal banter, and funny jokes you normally hear in this space. That was actually my funny joke for the day, as I know my other jokes aren't actually that funny. Our Bible readings today are Leviticus 21, Psalms 26 and 27, Ecclesiastes 4 and 1 Timothy 6. Our focus question comes from Psalms 27, and in this passage David discusses how he will not give into fear, because God is his stronghold. As we have talked about before, I suspect fear around the world is at its highest level in my lifetime, so our Big Bible question is all about how to NOT be afraid. Let me caution you upfront, so that I am not the spiritual equivalent of a used car salesman. I do believe that the Bible gives us multiple way to overcome fear, but because we are human, there is no permanent cure for fear in the sense that you take it once and poof! you are cured forever. In the same way that people need daily food to live on, Christians need daily bread from God to live on. Part of that provision is the Word of God to help us overcome sin, to resist temptation, and to walk in faith, rather than fear. Here is my experience and testimony: I have not had a life that has been characterized by fearfulness, but I have had many extended times in my life where fear and anxiety have taken hold, and enveloped me in some sort of spiritual wrestling match where I was pinned to the mat far more often than I overcame. In those times of trial, fear, and anxiety, I have been humbled, and my courage has often trickled away like water out of a leaky bucket. My only hope in those times - the only antidote to fear and anxiety that I could find, was a constant and persistent clinging to the Word of God and prayer. Seeking God and immersing myself in His Word has always overcome fear in my life, but - to be very frank - it usually comes back, and one serving of God's Word and abiding in Him is not adequate medicine to eradicate the virus of fear from my soul. The reason for this is not a fault in the medicine of God's Word and Abiding through prayer, but the reason is a fault and weakness in my own soul + the Divine purpose and wisdom of our Creator. God did NOT create man and give him the ability to overcome every obstacle by his own power. God created man to be incapable of overcoming apart from ABIDING in His Creator, and the greater the battle that comes against us, the greater the abiding in God and His Word needs to be. So - I say this to you who are battling anxiety, depression, weariness, fear, sorrow, and hopelessness right now: In Christ, you face a winnable battle, and here is your promise to rest on: 9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Galatians 6:9 Cling to the Cross. Believe the gospel and read it in the Word every day. Remind yourself frequently that Jesus died to pay the price for your sins, and that 'because He lives, you will live too.' Consume the Word. Pray constantly. Trust God. When your eyes stray from Him and fall on something that makes you fear, tear your eyes away from that and fix your eyes on Jesus. Looking to Him will enable you to overcome, even when you are weary and fainthearted, so says Hebrews 12:1-3. So - in a spiritual war with fear, whether it is constant in your life, or only occasional, how do we overcome? Step one is making sure the 'anchor' of your life - your faith and trust - is in Jesus. I'm not merely being spiritual here. Ask yourself when you are afraid what you are hoping in. Maybe you're afraid of the coronavirus...what is your deepest hope? Is it that science will discover a cure? That politicians will make the right decisions? That you will be protected by your excessive prudence and hygiene practices? All of those things are good, but none of them are our anchor. Our anchor is Jesus. Step one in overcoming fear is looking to Jesus. Some have already been doing that, but even if you haven't already been doing that, then there is still time to hold fast to the anchor of Jesus. I love Tim Keller's message on Psalms 27, so I want to briefly tag him in here to talk about how the Lord is our stronghold, and we overcome fear by looking to Him: Somebody may ask, “What part of David’s life would this have been part of? When was this? When did this happen?” The answer is it could have been anytime because David is continually in trouble. If you read his life, he is always struggling. He is always wrestling. When he is a young man before he becomes king, what is he doing? He is out in the wilderness running for his life. He is on the lam. As soon as he becomes king, when he is a young king, where do we see him? When he becomes king, his enemies come in, and they decide they’re going to attack him before he gets established. The next thing you know, he has to flee the capital. He is out in the wilderness running for his life. Then he is an old man. It’s different now. He is an old king. What do we see? We see his son Absalom doing a coup d’état. There is David, out in the wilderness running for his life. I mean, he is just like us. He is always in trouble. He is always struggling. It’s so amazingly realistic... It doesn’t say, “He will keep me safe from the day of trouble.” It doesn’t say that. It says, “He will keep me safe in the day of trouble.” It assumes there’s trouble... Here it says, “God will keep me safe so when my enemies are all around me, when the trouble is all around me, in the day of trouble … not from the day of trouble … in the midst of my enemies …” Even Psalm 23 says that. “He prepares a table before me …” Where? Not after he has made those stupid enemies run off. He has whacked them. They’re on the run. No, it’s in the presence of my enemies. Have you ever thought about that? There is no promise in Psalm 23 that he will take those enemies and run them away. The promise is he will prepare a table for you in the presence of the enemies. He doesn’t promise the absence of enemies. Even if you go to Romans 8, in Romans 8:28, it says, “… all things work together for good to them that love God …” You say, “Well, that means nothing really bad can happen to me.” You see, Romans 8:29 , immediately after Romans 8:28, says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son …” What that means is here’s the promise. Nothing will come into your life but that which realizes the greatness and the nearness and the likeness of Jesus Christ in your life. It doesn’t say nothing will come into your life that’s really bad. It says nothing will come into your life but that which will realize the greatness, the likeness, and the nearness of Jesus Christ. The reason why we shouldn’t be surprised, we shouldn’t say, “What?” is because there was a Person who lived on earth who was very, very great and who loved God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind, and who was very used by God, and God brought things that were really, really, really, really bad. He never had any friends who understood him. He never got married and had children. He was beaten. He was tortured. He was destroyed. He was killed. He was rejected. Those are really, really bad things. That was the end of his life. Jesus says a servant is not above his master. Safety does not mean safety from trouble; it means safety in trouble. It means that this is the promise. In the midst of your trouble, all the important parts of you will be utterly safe. All the greatest joys, all the important things, all the things you really care about, all of your highest interests, all of the things that are the most valuable to you will be absolutely safe. Nothing can be touched in any of the vicissitudes of life but those things which are secondary, those things which are not of the essence of your joy or who you are. That’s the promise. If that’s the promise, what that means is it still comes back to the same thing. It means there is a condition you can be in so you can move out into the world, trusting God and being absolutely fearless. Absolutely fearless! Total courage. Not afraid of what happens. Not afraid of what’s about to happen. Not afraid … “If an army comes and besieges me, I will not fear.” See, that’s the promise. The promise is you can live in that condition. See, most of us think when you read that, “Ah! The promise, therefore, is if I trust God, I really won’t have to suffer.” That’s not it. If I trust God, I will become a great heart. My heart will be strong. I will be afraid of nothing. My head will be exalted above my enemies who are surrounding me. That’s what it promises. Why does this work? I’ll tell you why. God does not promise that you will not suffer, but he does promise one thing. There is only one thing he will never take from you. He will never take himself from you. He will never turn his back on you. He will never say, “Oops! You finally sinned one time too many. How many times have you done that? That’s it! How many times have you promised me? That’s that.” No, he will never ever do it. Do you know why he’ll never do it? Do you know why you can be confident that whether you feel him today or you don’t feel him, even though you’re seeking him, that he will never cast you off, that he will receive you, that he will not turn his face from you? Because Jesus lost the one thing. Do you realize that? Jesus lost the one thing. Jesus wanted only one thing in his life, because he was a perfect Man of God. He only wanted one thing. On the cross, even in the garden of Gethsemane, he turned, and he said, “I seek your face.” What did he get? He got the back of God’s hand. He is the only person who this has ever happened to, and it never will happen again. Somebody said, “I seek your face,” and God gave him the back of his hand. Why? So when we seek his face, we’ll never get the back of his hand, even though we fall down, even though we fail. That’s the reason why you can say, “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear.” Because I know I have the one thing. I’ll have the one thing. I’m getting the one thing that will never be taken from me. Because Jesus lost it, you got it. Let’s pray. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). Let me assure you: Because of the mercy of our God, we will get through this coronavirus storm. I don't know when, and I don't know how, but the people of God will not all be sunk in this storm. When we do - let me encourage you to turn to the anchor of your soul and hold fast to Him BEFORE the next storm comes. There will be another storm, and another after that. Those who overcome those storms best will be those who already have the ship of their lives secured by the anchor of Jesus. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, Hebrews 6:19-20 See! There are two vessels yonder, and a storm is coming on. I see a great hurrying and scurrying on the deck of one. What are they at? They have a great anchor, and they are throwing it out. The storm is coming, and they want to get a good hold, for fear lest they should be driven on the shore. But on the deck of the other vessel, I see no bustle at all. There is the watch pacing up and down as leisurely as possible. Why are they not in a panic? “Ahoy there! Ahoy! What makes you so calm and assured? Have you got out your anchor? See you! Your comrades in the other vessel, how busy they are!” “Oh!” says the watch, “but we had our anchor out a long while ago, before the storm came on, and therefore we have no need to trouble now, and hurry to throw it out. Now, you who are full of doubts, and fears, and troubles, you know the way to be safe is to throw out the anchor of faith, but it would be better still if you had the anchor of faith out already, so that you could trust in God, and not be afraid at all. C. H. Spurgeon, “Fearing and Trusting—Trusting and Not Fearing,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 59 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1913), 333.

Happy Lord's Day, Friends! I trust that, even if you are among the millions who are sheltering in place, that you know that your heart and your Spirit are not shackled. This is the day that the Lord has made - let us REJOICE and BE GLAD in it. Rejoice in the Lord always, I say it again - REJOICE! Easter Sunday - when the church celebrates the glorious resurrection of Jesus - is one week away. It is looking like many hundreds of thousands of churches will not be able to meet in person in sanctuaries, and that might mute our together-celebration of the greatest event in history, but let it not mute your proclamation. In fact, allow me to encourage you this year, in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, to AMPLIFY your proclamation. Decorate your house. Your sidewalks. Your car. Your windows. Fly the Banner: HE IS RISEN. SHOUT it to the mountaintops. Maybe our gatherings will be less, but may our PROCLAMATION be the LOUDEST ever! Today's Bible passages are Leviticus 8, Psalms 9, Proverbs 22 and 1st Thessalonians 2. Our question is all about ministry to people, and it isn't just applicable to pastors. All Christians are ministers in some way or another. Perhaps teaching Sunday school, or kids, or youth, or adults, or whatever. How should Christians minister to each other? Let's read 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, and pay particularly close attention to verses 5-11. 5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives—God is our witness— 6 and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others. 7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. 8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers. 11 As you know, like a father with his own children, 12 we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to live worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:5-11 Interesting wisdom there, right? We usually think of leaders as bold, brash, loud, confident, and charismatic, but Paul uses words here like gentle, nurturing, comfort, care and encourage. The overall image of a leader is a gentle/soft/meek leader. I am reminded here about two descriptions of Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords: Tell Daughter Zion, “See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Matthew 21:5 15 Jesus was aware of this and withdrew. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all. 16 He warned them not to make him known, 17 so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 18 Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not argue or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick, until he has led justice to victory. 21 The nations will put their hope in his name. Matthew 12:15-21 Jesus is Lord of all, and yet He did not ride on an ostentatious war-horse entering into Jerusalem, but a humble donkey. He was so gentle, that He would not even break an already weakened peace of stubble, nor blow out a struggling candle. Paul, likewise, ministered among the Thessalonians as a gentle nurse might take care of a child. In fact, no less than 5 times in the letters of 1-2 Timothy and Titus, Paul required and commanded pastors and leaders in the Body of Christ to be GENTLE. In a world that looks for leaders with the characteristics of a Lion, the Word looks for those who follow the LION and behave like LAMBS. So - let's talk about meekness. The meekness of Jesus, and the promise of Jesus that the meek will inherit the Earth. To lead us in that talk, I'd like to tag in Pastor Tim Keller from New York City. The following excerpt on meekness is from a sermon he taught on the woman caught in adultery: Today we’re going to look at another one of the traits of character Jesus Christ reveals in himself that is given to us as well as characteristics of the heart we should be cultivating in ourselves. If you go to Paul’s famous catalog in Galatians 5, which is called the fruit of the Spirit, near the very end you get to a little word that, in the modern translations, is usually translated gentleness. I’m going to show you why … Even though it’s a worse word, it’s a little bit of a better word. In the older translations it’s called meekness. Paul says one of the fruit of the Spirit is meekness. Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek.” Why? Why didn’t he say, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted”? When you think of meek people, you think of poor, distressed, anxious, meek little milk-toast people, and you think, “Oh yes, Jesus is going to say, ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted.’ ” No. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Then Jesus says in his most famous of all invitations … He says at the end of Matthew 11, “Come unto me all ye who are weak and heavy-laden.” He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” When you think of meek people, you think of troubled people, people with low self-esteem. You think of people who are depressed and anxious and who are always wringing their hands or their Bibles. You think of people who are filled with turmoil in their hearts. Jesus says, “You will never, ever, ever get rest until you learn from me how to be meek. There will be no rest in your life until you get meekness. There will be no rest in your life until you come and learn meekness and humility of me.” So let’s do it. We’d better do it. Obviously, we have two problems. Not only do we not have meekness in our lives, we obviously don’t even understand it, because the way Jesus talks about it isn’t even the way it fits in our minds. We don’t even have a good definition of it. So let’s go, and let’s see a place where Jesus Christ’s own humility, what he called his meekness and lowliness of heart, is exhibited. (And then Keller begins to talk about John 7:53-8:11 - the woman caught in adultery. I'm going to skip a bit until we get to the place he begins to talk about Jesus doodling on the ground when the Pharisees want to have the woman stoned)... What is he doodling? Everybody wants to know. All sorts of people have come up with all sorts of ideas, but it doesn’t tell us. Therefore, there’s only one thing the writer is really trying to get across here, if anything at all. That is, he is unflappable. He is poised. He is calm. He is fearless. One of the things you have to recognize (I already alluded to this) is this word Jesus says … “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” “I am meek and lowly of heart.” It’s the same Greek word every place. Unless you understand the word, you’ll never begin to even get the hang of what Jesus means when he talks about meekness. The Greek word is praus. It has different forms. Do you know what it means? It comes from the word for an animal, a powerful wild animal, that is now submissive and receptive to the rider, a tamed wild animal. If Kathy and I ever feel like just crying for joy … You know, sometimes you say, “Hey, would you like to cry for joy?” “Yeah, let’s do that.” So we put on the video of The Black Stallion, and we watch Kelly Reno jump on the back of this enormous, incredible, powerful beauty of a horse that’s called “The Black,” and he rides through the surf. Unless you look at that, unless you see this enormous power that voluntarily has submitted, this huge, huge power submitting to this little kid … I mean, let’s face it. If they’re going to have a battle, who’s going to win? This enormous beauty and this enormous power is now submissive and responsive to the desires of the little boy, of the rider. Until you get a grip on that, you don’t understand meekness. Jesus Christ did not give up his power. Jesus Christ did not give up his greatness. He’s a moral beauty. He says, “I can command angels right now to come down and do this.” He still has his power. He still has his glory. He’s not exercising it. Why not? Because he has put it all under. He is submitting everything he is, and he’s receptive to us (we’re the riders), to her, and even (as we’re going to see) to them. He should just wipe them out. He doesn’t. He tries to teach them. He tries to open their eyes. He tries to wake them up. Now what is the point? You are not humble unless you’re gentle, but you’re also not humble unless you are absolutely fearless. Fearlessness is a sign of humility. What an unfortunate thing that meekness and weakness rhyme in English. Maybe the Devil did that. I don’t know. It could have been. In our minds they go together now, and in the theology of Christ they are utter opposites. Meekness and weakness are opposites. In biblical understanding, the meekest would be the strongest. Why? I’ll tell you why. Humility. Meekness is not thinking less of yourself. Jesus knows who he is, that he’s being so gentle. He doesn’t say, “Oh dear, who the heck am I?” Jesus never talks like that. This is the thing that’s so scary about Jesus. He walks on through, and he says, “I am the Lord of heaven and earth. I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Before Abraham was, I Am.” He makes these incredible claims. “I’m judge of all the earth. I can forgive sins.” He never, ever, ever knocks himself down and says, “Oh, I’m nothing.” He never says that. Get this. He acts like nothing, but he knows he’s not. See, that’s the exact opposite of the world’s understanding of humility. In fact, that’s the opposite of most of us. Most of us feel inferior and act superior to compensate for it. Jesus Christ knew he was superior and acts the inferior. He puts all of his power and glory under the interest of other people. Real humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less. Real humility is being free from needing to focus on yourself. It means freedom from self-consciousness. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Happy Lord's Day, Friends! I trust that, even if you are among the millions who are sheltering in place, that you know that your heart and your Spirit are not shackled. This is the day that the Lord has made - let us REJOICE and BE GLAD in it. Rejoice in the Lord always, I say it again - REJOICE! Easter Sunday - when the church celebrates the glorious resurrection of Jesus - is one week away. It is looking like many hundreds of thousands of churches will not be able to meet in person in sanctuaries, and that might mute our together-celebration of the greatest event in history, but let it not mute your proclamation. In fact, allow me to encourage you this year, in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, to AMPLIFY your proclamation. Decorate your house. Your sidewalks. Your car. Your windows. Fly the Banner: HE IS RISEN. SHOUT it to the mountaintops. Maybe our gatherings will be less, but may our PROCLAMATION be the LOUDEST ever! Today's Bible passages are Leviticus 8, Psalms 9, Proverbs 22 and 1st Thessalonians 2. Our question is all about ministry to people, and it isn't just applicable to pastors. All Christians are ministers in some way or another. Perhaps teaching Sunday school, or kids, or youth, or adults, or whatever. How should Christians minister to each other? Let's read 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, and pay particularly close attention to verses 5-11. 5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives—God is our witness— 6 and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others. 7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. 8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers. 11 As you know, like a father with his own children, 12 we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to live worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:5-11 Interesting wisdom there, right? We usually think of leaders as bold, brash, loud, confident, and charismatic, but Paul uses words here like gentle, nurturing, comfort, care and encourage. The overall image of a leader is a gentle/soft/meek leader. I am reminded here about two descriptions of Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords: Tell Daughter Zion, “See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Matthew 21:5 15 Jesus was aware of this and withdrew. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all. 16 He warned them not to make him known, 17 so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 18 Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not argue or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick, until he has led justice to victory. 21 The nations will put their hope in his name. Matthew 12:15-21 Jesus is Lord of all, and yet He did not ride on an ostentatious war-horse entering into Jerusalem, but a humble donkey. He was so gentle, that He would not even break an already weakened peace of stubble, nor blow out a struggling candle. Paul, likewise, ministered among the Thessalonians as a gentle nurse might take care of a child. In fact, no less than 5 times in the letters of 1-2 Timothy and Titus, Paul required and commanded pastors and leaders in the Body of Christ to be GENTLE. In a world that looks for leaders with the characteristics of a Lion, the Word looks for those who follow the LION and behave like LAMBS. So - let's talk about meekness. The meekness of Jesus, and the promise of Jesus that the meek will inherit the Earth. To lead us in that talk, I'd like to tag in Pastor Tim Keller from New York City. The following excerpt on meekness is from a sermon he taught on the woman caught in adultery: Today we’re going to look at another one of the traits of character Jesus Christ reveals in himself that is given to us as well as characteristics of the heart we should be cultivating in ourselves. If you go to Paul’s famous catalog in Galatians 5, which is called the fruit of the Spirit, near the very end you get to a little word that, in the modern translations, is usually translated gentleness. I’m going to show you why … Even though it’s a worse word, it’s a little bit of a better word. In the older translations it’s called meekness. Paul says one of the fruit of the Spirit is meekness. Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek.” Why? Why didn’t he say, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted”? When you think of meek people, you think of poor, distressed, anxious, meek little milk-toast people, and you think, “Oh yes, Jesus is going to say, ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted.’ ” No. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Then Jesus says in his most famous of all invitations … He says at the end of Matthew 11, “Come unto me all ye who are weak and heavy-laden.” He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” When you think of meek people, you think of troubled people, people with low self-esteem. You think of people who are depressed and anxious and who are always wringing their hands or their Bibles. You think of people who are filled with turmoil in their hearts. Jesus says, “You will never, ever, ever get rest until you learn from me how to be meek. There will be no rest in your life until you get meekness. There will be no rest in your life until you come and learn meekness and humility of me.” So let’s do it. We’d better do it. Obviously, we have two problems. Not only do we not have meekness in our lives, we obviously don’t even understand it, because the way Jesus talks about it isn’t even the way it fits in our minds. We don’t even have a good definition of it. So let’s go, and let’s see a place where Jesus Christ’s own humility, what he called his meekness and lowliness of heart, is exhibited. (And then Keller begins to talk about John 7:53-8:11 - the woman caught in adultery. I'm going to skip a bit until we get to the place he begins to talk about Jesus doodling on the ground when the Pharisees want to have the woman stoned)... What is he doodling? Everybody wants to know. All sorts of people have come up with all sorts of ideas, but it doesn’t tell us. Therefore, there’s only one thing the writer is really trying to get across here, if anything at all. That is, he is unflappable. He is poised. He is calm. He is fearless. One of the things you have to recognize (I already alluded to this) is this word Jesus says … “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” “I am meek and lowly of heart.” It’s the same Greek word every place. Unless you understand the word, you’ll never begin to even get the hang of what Jesus means when he talks about meekness. The Greek word is praus. It has different forms. Do you know what it means? It comes from the word for an animal, a powerful wild animal, that is now submissive and receptive to the rider, a tamed wild animal. If Kathy and I ever feel like just crying for joy … You know, sometimes you say, “Hey, would you like to cry for joy?” “Yeah, let’s do that.” So we put on the video of The Black Stallion, and we watch Kelly Reno jump on the back of this enormous, incredible, powerful beauty of a horse that’s called “The Black,” and he rides through the surf. Unless you look at that, unless you see this enormous power that voluntarily has submitted, this huge, huge power submitting to this little kid … I mean, let’s face it. If they’re going to have a battle, who’s going to win? This enormous beauty and this enormous power is now submissive and responsive to the desires of the little boy, of the rider. Until you get a grip on that, you don’t understand meekness. Jesus Christ did not give up his power. Jesus Christ did not give up his greatness. He’s a moral beauty. He says, “I can command angels right now to come down and do this.” He still has his power. He still has his glory. He’s not exercising it. Why not? Because he has put it all under. He is submitting everything he is, and he’s receptive to us (we’re the riders), to her, and even (as we’re going to see) to them. He should just wipe them out. He doesn’t. He tries to teach them. He tries to open their eyes. He tries to wake them up. Now what is the point? You are not humble unless you’re gentle, but you’re also not humble unless you are absolutely fearless. Fearlessness is a sign of humility. What an unfortunate thing that meekness and weakness rhyme in English. Maybe the Devil did that. I don’t know. It could have been. In our minds they go together now, and in the theology of Christ they are utter opposites. Meekness and weakness are opposites. In biblical understanding, the meekest would be the strongest. Why? I’ll tell you why. Humility. Meekness is not thinking less of yourself. Jesus knows who he is, that he’s being so gentle. He doesn’t say, “Oh dear, who the heck am I?” Jesus never talks like that. This is the thing that’s so scary about Jesus. He walks on through, and he says, “I am the Lord of heaven and earth. I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Before Abraham was, I Am.” He makes these incredible claims. “I’m judge of all the earth. I can forgive sins.” He never, ever, ever knocks himself down and says, “Oh, I’m nothing.” He never says that. Get this. He acts like nothing, but he knows he’s not. See, that’s the exact opposite of the world’s understanding of humility. In fact, that’s the opposite of most of us. Most of us feel inferior and act superior to compensate for it. Jesus Christ knew he was superior and acts the inferior. He puts all of his power and glory under the interest of other people. Real humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less. Real humility is being free from needing to focus on yourself. It means freedom from self-consciousness. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Happy Saturday, friends! Here in sunny and cold California, our shelter in place order has turned into a STAY HOME order, which is a little more restrictive. We've been sheltering in place now since March 18 and STAYING HOME starts today. We're still allowed to go to the store for essential needs, and we can go for walks while maintaining #socialdistancing, so it doesn't change things a ton for us. Today we took a nice family walk on a trail through rolling hills near our house, and had a good old time playing in trees and dry river beds and such. Normally, we would focus on 1st Thessalonians for today's pod, but it just so happens I'm preaching on 1st Thessalonians this Sunday, so I didn't want things to be redundant for our church family, many of whom listen to this pod. Which brings us to a fascinating passage in Psalms 7: My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge and a God who shows his wrath every day. 12 If anyone does not repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has strung his bow and made it ready. 13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; he tips his arrows with fire. Psalms 7:10-13 That's kind of terrifying, right? I have a pretty nice bow, but I'm not a bow hunter. I also have a few nice swords, a couple of which are pretty deadly, but I am not a knight or Samurai warrior. If you got word that I was coming after you with my bow, I guess you should be pretty nervous, but honestly, I'm no Robin Hood, and you'd probably be fine, especially if you are moving. I'm a little better with the sword, but one time I chopped off the tip of my own toe with a sword, so you might escape from that situation pretty well too. However...to have God stringing His bow? That's just terrifying. Not only that, but He apparently has other DEADLY weapons and HE TIPS HIS ARROWS WITH FIRE? What in the world is going on here?! Let's read our Psalms passages and then come back and talk about what is going on. So - really scary stuff. Those who do not repent, God sharpens His sword, strings His bow (and those fiery arrows), and gets His other deadly weapons ready. Let's talk about repenting first. What does it mean? The Hebrew word is שׁוּב/Shub and it means to turn back or return. In the New Testament, the Greek word is Μετανοήσατε (Metanoēsate) and it is the FIRST word out of Peter's mouth when people respond to his message at Pentecost in Acts 2: 37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what should we do?”38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:37-39 The word there means to change your mind. So both the Old Testament and New Testament words for repentance essentially mean to turn away from one direction and turn towards another direction - in the context of Psalms 7, to turn your mind and thinking away from sinful ways or human ways and to turn towards God's ways. As John Piper notes, the Greek word for “repent” refers to “a change of the mind’s perceptions and dispositions and purposes. . . . Repenting means experiencing a change of mind that now sees God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience.” Let's consider some other explanations of repentance from various pastors and theologians: The first principle we see [in learning about repentance] is the putting off and the putting on. We touched on it, but we have to hit it. The putting off and the putting on. Putting off means stop doing something, and putting on means start doing something. Everybody knows that change is two-factored, right? Everybody knows that in order to turn, metanoia (repentance means to turn), you can’t turn toward unless you turn away. You can’t turn away without turning toward something else. It’s two-factored. That seems so obvious. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). Repentance is a discovery of the evil of sin, a mourning that we have committed it, a resolution to forsake it. It is, in fact, a change of mind of a very deep and practical character, which makes the man love what once he hated, and hate what once he loved. Charles Spurgeon Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God, and as our knowledge grows at these three points so our practice of repentance has to be enlarged. J.I. Packer You might have noticed that I am talking about 'repentance' far more in the last 30 days than I did in the first 60 days of this podcast. There's a reason for that. Almost every time I turn to God and His Word and pray in the midst of this pandemic, I get the word to 'repent,' as I've mentioned before. I certainly believe that God is calling me to personally turn away from other things and turn towards Him in this season, I also believe that is call going out to all people in all nations right now, so I am very, very attuned to the call of God in His Word to repent, and I am extremely moved now, more than ever, of the truth of 2nd Chronicles 7: 13 If I shut the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on my people, 14 and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 15 My eyes will now be open and my ears attentive to prayer from this place.  2 Chronicles 7:13-15 Ponder that passage and pray it. Listen to the Word of God in this season and respond to the leadings of His Spirit. Allow me to close with a great partial message from John Piper on Jesus' call to repent: Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3, 5) The first demand of Jesus’ public ministry was, “Repent.” He spoke this command indiscriminately to all who would listen. It was a call for radical inward change toward God and man. Two things show us that repentance is an internal change of mind and heart rather than mere sorrow for sin or mere improvement of behavior. First, the meaning of the Greek word behind the English “repent” (metanoeo) points in this direction. It has two parts: meta and noeo. The second part (noeo) refers to the mind and its thoughts and perceptions and dispositions and purposes. The first part (meta) is a prefix that regularly means movement or change.1 So the basic meaning of repent is to experience a change of the mind’s perceptions and dispositions and purposes. The other factor that points to this meaning of repent is the way Luke 3:8 describes the relationship between repentance and new behavior. It says, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” Then it gives examples of the fruits: “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise” (Luke 3:11). This means that repenting is what happens inside of us that leads to the fruits of new behavior. Repentance is not the new deeds, but the inward change that bears the fruit of new deeds. Jesus is demanding that we experience this inward change. Why? His answer is that we are sinners. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). What was Jesus’ view of sin? In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus describes the son’s sin like this: “He squandered his property in reckless living . . . [and] devoured [it] with prostitutes” (Luke 15:13, 30). But when the prodigal repents he says, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” Therefore, throwing your life away on reckless living and prostitutes is not just humanly hurtful; it is an offense against heaven—that is, against God. That’s the essential nature of sin. It’s an assault on God. We see this again in the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He said that they should pray, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). In other words, sins that God forgives are compared to the ones people commit against us, and those are called debts. Therefore, Jesus’ view of sin was that it dishonored God and put us in debt to restore the divine honor we had defamed by our God-belittling behavior or attitudes. That debt is paid by Jesus himself. “The Son of man came . . . to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). But for us to enjoy that gift he says we must repent. Repenting means experiencing a change of mind that now sees God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience. This change of mind also embraces Jesus in the same way. We know this because Jesus said, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God.” Seeing God with a new mind includes seeing Jesus with a new mind. No one is excluded from Jesus’ demand to repent. He made this clear when a group of people came to him with news of two calamities. Innocent people had been killed by Pilate’s massacre and by the fall of the tower of Siloam (Luke 13:1-4). Jesus took the occasion to warn even the bearers of the news: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5). In other words, don’t think calamities mean that some people are sinners in need of repentance and others aren’t. All need repentance. Just as all need to be born anew because “that which is born of the flesh is [merely] flesh” (John 3:6), so all must repent because all are sinners. When Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32), he did not mean that some persons are good enough not to need repentance. He meant some think they are (Luke 18:9), and others have already repented and have been set right with God. For example, the rich young ruler desired “to justify himself” (Luke 10:29) while “the tax collector . . . beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ [and] went down to his house justified [by God!]” (Luke 18:13-14). Therefore, none is excluded. All need repentance. And the need is urgent. Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” What did he mean by perish? He meant that the final judgment of God would fall on those who don’t repent. “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:41). Jesus, the Son of God, is warning people of the judgment to come, and offering escape if we will repent. If we will not repent, Jesus has one word for us, “Woe, to you” (Matthew 11:21). This is why his demand for repentance is part of his central message that the kingdom of God is at hand. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The gospel—the good news—is that the rule of God has arrived in Jesus to save sinners before it arrives at his second coming in judgment. So the demand to repent is based on the gracious offer that is present to forgive, and on the gracious warning that someday those who refuse the offer will perish in God’s judgment. After he had risen from the dead Jesus made sure that his apostles would continue the call for repentance throughout the world. He said, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47). So the demand of Jesus to repent goes to all the nations. It comes to us, whoever we are and wherever we are, and lays claim on us. This is the demand of Jesus to every soul: Repent. Be changed deep within. Replace all God-dishonoring, Christ-belittling perceptions and dispositions and purposes with God-treasuring, Christ-exalting ones. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/thoughts-on-jesuss-demand-to-repent Oh yes, one more question: DOES God shoot people with arrows? I believe this passage is employing poetic language to communicate that God vigorously pursues people and calls them to repent. Does He literally shoot people with arrows?! Let's just say this: 30 For we know the one who has said, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, and again, The Lord will judge his people. 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:30-31

Happy Saturday, friends! Here in sunny and cold California, our shelter in place order has turned into a STAY HOME order, which is a little more restrictive. We've been sheltering in place now since March 18 and STAYING HOME starts today. We're still allowed to go to the store for essential needs, and we can go for walks while maintaining #socialdistancing, so it doesn't change things a ton for us. Today we took a nice family walk on a trail through rolling hills near our house, and had a good old time playing in trees and dry river beds and such. Normally, we would focus on 1st Thessalonians for today's pod, but it just so happens I'm preaching on 1st Thessalonians this Sunday, so I didn't want things to be redundant for our church family, many of whom listen to this pod. Which brings us to a fascinating passage in Psalms 7: My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge and a God who shows his wrath every day. 12 If anyone does not repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has strung his bow and made it ready. 13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; he tips his arrows with fire. Psalms 7:10-13 That's kind of terrifying, right? I have a pretty nice bow, but I'm not a bow hunter. I also have a few nice swords, a couple of which are pretty deadly, but I am not a knight or Samurai warrior. If you got word that I was coming after you with my bow, I guess you should be pretty nervous, but honestly, I'm no Robin Hood, and you'd probably be fine, especially if you are moving. I'm a little better with the sword, but one time I chopped off the tip of my own toe with a sword, so you might escape from that situation pretty well too. However...to have God stringing His bow? That's just terrifying. Not only that, but He apparently has other DEADLY weapons and HE TIPS HIS ARROWS WITH FIRE? What in the world is going on here?! Let's read our Psalms passages and then come back and talk about what is going on. So - really scary stuff. Those who do not repent, God sharpens His sword, strings His bow (and those fiery arrows), and gets His other deadly weapons ready. Let's talk about repenting first. What does it mean? The Hebrew word is שׁוּב/Shub and it means to turn back or return. In the New Testament, the Greek word is Μετανοήσατε (Metanoēsate) and it is the FIRST word out of Peter's mouth when people respond to his message at Pentecost in Acts 2: 37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what should we do?”38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:37-39 The word there means to change your mind. So both the Old Testament and New Testament words for repentance essentially mean to turn away from one direction and turn towards another direction - in the context of Psalms 7, to turn your mind and thinking away from sinful ways or human ways and to turn towards God's ways. As John Piper notes, the Greek word for “repent” refers to “a change of the mind’s perceptions and dispositions and purposes. . . . Repenting means experiencing a change of mind that now sees God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience.” Let's consider some other explanations of repentance from various pastors and theologians: The first principle we see [in learning about repentance] is the putting off and the putting on. We touched on it, but we have to hit it. The putting off and the putting on. Putting off means stop doing something, and putting on means start doing something. Everybody knows that change is two-factored, right? Everybody knows that in order to turn, metanoia (repentance means to turn), you can’t turn toward unless you turn away. You can’t turn away without turning toward something else. It’s two-factored. That seems so obvious. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). Repentance is a discovery of the evil of sin, a mourning that we have committed it, a resolution to forsake it. It is, in fact, a change of mind of a very deep and practical character, which makes the man love what once he hated, and hate what once he loved. Charles Spurgeon Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God, and as our knowledge grows at these three points so our practice of repentance has to be enlarged. J.I. Packer You might have noticed that I am talking about 'repentance' far more in the last 30 days than I did in the first 60 days of this podcast. There's a reason for that. Almost every time I turn to God and His Word and pray in the midst of this pandemic, I get the word to 'repent,' as I've mentioned before. I certainly believe that God is calling me to personally turn away from other things and turn towards Him in this season, I also believe that is call going out to all people in all nations right now, so I am very, very attuned to the call of God in His Word to repent, and I am extremely moved now, more than ever, of the truth of 2nd Chronicles 7: 13 If I shut the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on my people, 14 and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 15 My eyes will now be open and my ears attentive to prayer from this place.  2 Chronicles 7:13-15 Ponder that passage and pray it. Listen to the Word of God in this season and respond to the leadings of His Spirit. Allow me to close with a great partial message from John Piper on Jesus' call to repent: Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3, 5) The first demand of Jesus’ public ministry was, “Repent.” He spoke this command indiscriminately to all who would listen. It was a call for radical inward change toward God and man. Two things show us that repentance is an internal change of mind and heart rather than mere sorrow for sin or mere improvement of behavior. First, the meaning of the Greek word behind the English “repent” (metanoeo) points in this direction. It has two parts: meta and noeo. The second part (noeo) refers to the mind and its thoughts and perceptions and dispositions and purposes. The first part (meta) is a prefix that regularly means movement or change.1 So the basic meaning of repent is to experience a change of the mind’s perceptions and dispositions and purposes. The other factor that points to this meaning of repent is the way Luke 3:8 describes the relationship between repentance and new behavior. It says, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” Then it gives examples of the fruits: “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise” (Luke 3:11). This means that repenting is what happens inside of us that leads to the fruits of new behavior. Repentance is not the new deeds, but the inward change that bears the fruit of new deeds. Jesus is demanding that we experience this inward change. Why? His answer is that we are sinners. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). What was Jesus’ view of sin? In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus describes the son’s sin like this: “He squandered his property in reckless living . . . [and] devoured [it] with prostitutes” (Luke 15:13, 30). But when the prodigal repents he says, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” Therefore, throwing your life away on reckless living and prostitutes is not just humanly hurtful; it is an offense against heaven—that is, against God. That’s the essential nature of sin. It’s an assault on God. We see this again in the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He said that they should pray, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). In other words, sins that God forgives are compared to the ones people commit against us, and those are called debts. Therefore, Jesus’ view of sin was that it dishonored God and put us in debt to restore the divine honor we had defamed by our God-belittling behavior or attitudes. That debt is paid by Jesus himself. “The Son of man came . . . to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). But for us to enjoy that gift he says we must repent. Repenting means experiencing a change of mind that now sees God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience. This change of mind also embraces Jesus in the same way. We know this because Jesus said, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God.” Seeing God with a new mind includes seeing Jesus with a new mind. No one is excluded from Jesus’ demand to repent. He made this clear when a group of people came to him with news of two calamities. Innocent people had been killed by Pilate’s massacre and by the fall of the tower of Siloam (Luke 13:1-4). Jesus took the occasion to warn even the bearers of the news: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5). In other words, don’t think calamities mean that some people are sinners in need of repentance and others aren’t. All need repentance. Just as all need to be born anew because “that which is born of the flesh is [merely] flesh” (John 3:6), so all must repent because all are sinners. When Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32), he did not mean that some persons are good enough not to need repentance. He meant some think they are (Luke 18:9), and others have already repented and have been set right with God. For example, the rich young ruler desired “to justify himself” (Luke 10:29) while “the tax collector . . . beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ [and] went down to his house justified [by God!]” (Luke 18:13-14). Therefore, none is excluded. All need repentance. And the need is urgent. Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” What did he mean by perish? He meant that the final judgment of God would fall on those who don’t repent. “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:41). Jesus, the Son of God, is warning people of the judgment to come, and offering escape if we will repent. If we will not repent, Jesus has one word for us, “Woe, to you” (Matthew 11:21). This is why his demand for repentance is part of his central message that the kingdom of God is at hand. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The gospel—the good news—is that the rule of God has arrived in Jesus to save sinners before it arrives at his second coming in judgment. So the demand to repent is based on the gracious offer that is present to forgive, and on the gracious warning that someday those who refuse the offer will perish in God’s judgment. After he had risen from the dead Jesus made sure that his apostles would continue the call for repentance throughout the world. He said, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47). So the demand of Jesus to repent goes to all the nations. It comes to us, whoever we are and wherever we are, and lays claim on us. This is the demand of Jesus to every soul: Repent. Be changed deep within. Replace all God-dishonoring, Christ-belittling perceptions and dispositions and purposes with God-treasuring, Christ-exalting ones. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/thoughts-on-jesuss-demand-to-repent Oh yes, one more question: DOES God shoot people with arrows? I believe this passage is employing poetic language to communicate that God vigorously pursues people and calls them to repent. Does He literally shoot people with arrows?! Let's just say this: 30 For we know the one who has said, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, and again, The Lord will judge his people. 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:30-31

Happy Saturday, friends - how's everybody out there doing in quarantine land? I hope you are getting a walk everyday, if that is possible where you live. Allow me to urge you to press into the Lord in prayer right now. We must pray in the midst of this crisis - let the son of God find faith on earth in His people now! (Luke 18:1-9). I was enjoying a nice evening walk last night before bed, engrossed in a podcast, when I was nudged by the Spirit to pray, and it was a wonderful time of communion and intercession with God. May we prioritize abiding in Christ right now more so than ever in this season! Today's Bible passages are Exodus 39, Proverbs 15, John 18 and Philippians 2, which is our focus passage. In that chapter, Paul gives us one of the deepest descriptions of the person and character of Jesus. Let's read it, focusing in our attention on verses 5-11: 5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross. 9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11 Many scholars believe the above verses are an early hymn of the church, or a creed that was repeated among Christians, or both, which is why these verses are set apart in many Bibles. Paul wrote them in a chiastic structure, which is indicative of ancient and modern poetry. Further, this section doesn't use words and word order in quite the same way that Paul usually wrote, which seems to indicate the possibility that somebody other than Paul wrote this hymn/creed, and Paul was sharing it - not in a plagiaristic way - but as a reference that they would all be familiar with. (Certainly, Paul could have also written the creed/hymn as well) From a scholarly point of view, this passage is important, because Philippians was probably written by Paul in the mid 50s AD, but this creed would have been earlier than that - perhaps much earlier. It demonstrates that early Christians - prior to the writing of this letter - worshipped Jesus as Lord. But, we aren't here to talk about scholarly things - we are here to talk about the character of Jesus! Notice the intro here - Christians are to 'adopt' the same attitude that Jesus had. More literally, Paul is saying that Christians should have the mind, or mindset of Christ. What does this mean? It means several things, reading through the passage. *Christians are saved children of God, but like Jesus, we are not to seek to EXPLOIT that status or use it to our advantage. *Like Jesus, we are to take the form and nature and character of a SERVANT (the Greek word is doulos - often translated as 'slave,' but more in line with a bondservant than the monstrosity of racial slavery perpetuated in many Western countries in previous centuries. *Like Jesus, we are to HUMBLE ourselves, and be willing to SERVE others - even in menial ways. *Like Jesus, we are to humble ourselves and OBEY God - even when He calls us to difficult things. The good news is that Jesus - living a humble, obedient and servant-hearted lifestyle that was characterized by suffering was greatly glorified by His Father afterwards. That promise is also given to Christians who follow the mindset and attitude of Jesus in 2nd Timothy 2:12 "if we endure, we will also reign with him." In this same light, consider Romans 8 16 The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:16-17 Likewise 2nd Corinthians 1:7 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:7 Pastor Tim Keller has a wonderful take on this passage, and I'll close with it here: What did he do? Here’s what he did. This is the heart of it all. Right in the center of this passage it says, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing …” Do you know what that Greek word is? Kenosis. Does that sound familiar to you? It says he emptied himself. Though he was God, he emptied himself. The big question theologians have been asking for about 2,000 years is, “Emptied himself of what?” It doesn’t say; it just says he emptied himself. Some people say, “Of course, he was God, so he emptied himself of his deity, he emptied himself of his divinity.” That’s not what it says. It never says he gave up being God. It says he started being a servant. He did not shed his divine nature. He assumed a human nature, and more than that, he became not just a King, he became a servant. There it is. He emptied himself of his glory, not his deity. If you were transported to heaven, then or now, and you saw Jesus as God, his Godness manifested itself through an expression of glory, his beauty, his brightness. It would just knock you down. When you see something beautiful, when you see a piece of art, or a waterfall, or anything that’s just absolutely beautiful, even earthly things that are beautiful, you have to adore. Right? It’s so glorious; it just evokes adoration. Jesus Christ came without that. Isaiah 53 says, “He had … no beauty that we should desire him.” He emptied himself of his glory. He emptied himself of his beauty. He emptied himself of that which evokes honor. He came, and he was lonely and poor. Eventually, he was beaten, tortured, and killed. He emptied himself of his glory. He became small, not a king at all. He became rejected. He became beatable, and he was beaten. He became rejectable, and he was rejected. He lost all of his glory. He came without his glory. He didn’t stop being God, but he emptied himself of his glory. “Therefore God has highly exalted him …” Why? Why is he resurrected? Why is he up there? Because he saved us. He took our punishment upon himself. He redeemed a new humanity, and he’s leading us into the future. So there it is. There’s the trajectory. What is the trajectory, everybody? The way up is down. The way to be truly rich is to give away. The way to rule is to serve. The way to become infinitely happy is to not seek your own happiness but to seek the happiness of others. The most glorious thing of all, the greatest form of glory, is to give away your glory for somebody else. The word kenosis shows up twice. Look at it. You and I are desperately trying to fill ourselves with glory, but we end up empty. Jesus Christ, who had true glory, emptied himself so we could be full. Full? Yes. Because Jesus Christ became small, we are big in the eyes of the Father. Because Jesus Christ lost all of his glory, we are now given his righteousness and his record. This is what the gospel is: Jesus Christ was treated the way we deserve so now when we believe in him we are treated the way he deserves to be treated. Do you know what this means? Jesus Christ looks at you and says, “To me and in me, you are more precious than all the jewels that lie beneath the earth.” To the degree you know that and believe that, to the degree you are gripped and praising God and singing about Jesus’ trajectory for you, you will be able to walk that same trajectory here, because you will know the way up is down, the way to be rich is to give away, the way to be happy is not to seek your own happiness but the happiness of others. When you see he did that for you, that fills you up so you’re not empty anymore. You’ll be able to not have to think about yourself, and out you go. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Happy Saturday, friends - how's everybody out there doing in quarantine land? I hope you are getting a walk everyday, if that is possible where you live. Allow me to urge you to press into the Lord in prayer right now. We must pray in the midst of this crisis - let the son of God find faith on earth in His people now! (Luke 18:1-9). I was enjoying a nice evening walk last night before bed, engrossed in a podcast, when I was nudged by the Spirit to pray, and it was a wonderful time of communion and intercession with God. May we prioritize abiding in Christ right now more so than ever in this season! Today's Bible passages are Exodus 39, Proverbs 15, John 18 and Philippians 2, which is our focus passage. In that chapter, Paul gives us one of the deepest descriptions of the person and character of Jesus. Let's read it, focusing in our attention on verses 5-11: 5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross. 9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11 Many scholars believe the above verses are an early hymn of the church, or a creed that was repeated among Christians, or both, which is why these verses are set apart in many Bibles. Paul wrote them in a chiastic structure, which is indicative of ancient and modern poetry. Further, this section doesn't use words and word order in quite the same way that Paul usually wrote, which seems to indicate the possibility that somebody other than Paul wrote this hymn/creed, and Paul was sharing it - not in a plagiaristic way - but as a reference that they would all be familiar with. (Certainly, Paul could have also written the creed/hymn as well) From a scholarly point of view, this passage is important, because Philippians was probably written by Paul in the mid 50s AD, but this creed would have been earlier than that - perhaps much earlier. It demonstrates that early Christians - prior to the writing of this letter - worshipped Jesus as Lord. But, we aren't here to talk about scholarly things - we are here to talk about the character of Jesus! Notice the intro here - Christians are to 'adopt' the same attitude that Jesus had. More literally, Paul is saying that Christians should have the mind, or mindset of Christ. What does this mean? It means several things, reading through the passage. *Christians are saved children of God, but like Jesus, we are not to seek to EXPLOIT that status or use it to our advantage. *Like Jesus, we are to take the form and nature and character of a SERVANT (the Greek word is doulos - often translated as 'slave,' but more in line with a bondservant than the monstrosity of racial slavery perpetuated in many Western countries in previous centuries. *Like Jesus, we are to HUMBLE ourselves, and be willing to SERVE others - even in menial ways. *Like Jesus, we are to humble ourselves and OBEY God - even when He calls us to difficult things. The good news is that Jesus - living a humble, obedient and servant-hearted lifestyle that was characterized by suffering was greatly glorified by His Father afterwards. That promise is also given to Christians who follow the mindset and attitude of Jesus in 2nd Timothy 2:12 "if we endure, we will also reign with him." In this same light, consider Romans 8 16 The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:16-17 Likewise 2nd Corinthians 1:7 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:7 Pastor Tim Keller has a wonderful take on this passage, and I'll close with it here: What did he do? Here’s what he did. This is the heart of it all. Right in the center of this passage it says, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing …” Do you know what that Greek word is? Kenosis. Does that sound familiar to you? It says he emptied himself. Though he was God, he emptied himself. The big question theologians have been asking for about 2,000 years is, “Emptied himself of what?” It doesn’t say; it just says he emptied himself. Some people say, “Of course, he was God, so he emptied himself of his deity, he emptied himself of his divinity.” That’s not what it says. It never says he gave up being God. It says he started being a servant. He did not shed his divine nature. He assumed a human nature, and more than that, he became not just a King, he became a servant. There it is. He emptied himself of his glory, not his deity. If you were transported to heaven, then or now, and you saw Jesus as God, his Godness manifested itself through an expression of glory, his beauty, his brightness. It would just knock you down. When you see something beautiful, when you see a piece of art, or a waterfall, or anything that’s just absolutely beautiful, even earthly things that are beautiful, you have to adore. Right? It’s so glorious; it just evokes adoration. Jesus Christ came without that. Isaiah 53 says, “He had … no beauty that we should desire him.” He emptied himself of his glory. He emptied himself of his beauty. He emptied himself of that which evokes honor. He came, and he was lonely and poor. Eventually, he was beaten, tortured, and killed. He emptied himself of his glory. He became small, not a king at all. He became rejected. He became beatable, and he was beaten. He became rejectable, and he was rejected. He lost all of his glory. He came without his glory. He didn’t stop being God, but he emptied himself of his glory. “Therefore God has highly exalted him …” Why? Why is he resurrected? Why is he up there? Because he saved us. He took our punishment upon himself. He redeemed a new humanity, and he’s leading us into the future. So there it is. There’s the trajectory. What is the trajectory, everybody? The way up is down. The way to be truly rich is to give away. The way to rule is to serve. The way to become infinitely happy is to not seek your own happiness but to seek the happiness of others. The most glorious thing of all, the greatest form of glory, is to give away your glory for somebody else. The word kenosis shows up twice. Look at it. You and I are desperately trying to fill ourselves with glory, but we end up empty. Jesus Christ, who had true glory, emptied himself so we could be full. Full? Yes. Because Jesus Christ became small, we are big in the eyes of the Father. Because Jesus Christ lost all of his glory, we are now given his righteousness and his record. This is what the gospel is: Jesus Christ was treated the way we deserve so now when we believe in him we are treated the way he deserves to be treated. Do you know what this means? Jesus Christ looks at you and says, “To me and in me, you are more precious than all the jewels that lie beneath the earth.” To the degree you know that and believe that, to the degree you are gripped and praising God and singing about Jesus’ trajectory for you, you will be able to walk that same trajectory here, because you will know the way up is down, the way to be rich is to give away, the way to be happy is not to seek your own happiness but the happiness of others. When you see he did that for you, that fills you up so you’re not empty anymore. You’ll be able to not have to think about yourself, and out you go. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Today's passages are quite heavy in many ways. In Genesis 28, Jacob is sent away from his family (and his elder brother who, understandably, wants to kill him) to go find a wife and raise a family. Esther 4 sees Queen Esther contemplating risking her life by approaching the King and asking for him to somehow stop the slaughter of the Jews that he has already sanctioned. In Acts 27, Paul is bound for Rome as a prisoner aboard a sturdy ship with almost 300 other people. That ship is beset by a terrible storm that ends up grounding the ship and causing its destruction. And, darkest and heaviest of all, Matthew 27 is focused on the terrible suffering of Jesus on the cross at Golgotha. It's Monday - not normally most people's favorite day of the week. And our topic for the day is heavy. But, let me assure you and encourage you: When you fully understand the depth of the pain and suffering of the crucifixion, I think your final emotion will be relief, rather than heaviness. Relief that you were spared (or could be spared) from such a fate by the eternal love of the Father and His Son. Let's read Matthew 27 and then dig in!     If you will recall, before Jesus was arrested, He was praying in the Garden, anticipating what was coming, and asking God to deliver Him with great drops of bloody sweat coming off of Him. The prayer of Jesus here was intense beyond any sort of level that most of us can understand, and He almost was overcome just in the act of praying. Consider what Tim Keller says: "If the anticipation of these sufferings, if the very taste of these sufferings sent the Son of God into shock, what must it have been to drink them to the bottom?" Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). The Scourging - metal balls that injure the organs. Pieces of metal that sink in and rip the flesh 3rd century - EUSABIOUS  "their bodies were frightfully lacerated - their veins were laid bare, and the inner muscles, sinews, even entrails, were exposed."  By His stripes we were healed. Not mainly about physical healing - but about the deeper healing of a person from their sins. The Crossbar - Chest contusion onto marble - 100 pounds drove his chest into the ground. Crucifixion - We get the word “excruciating” from there. The Roman statesman Cicero called it "the most cruel and disgusting penalty" The Jewish historian Josephus, "the most wretched of deaths." The Sponge - Roman toilet paper. Got sick, learned to dip it in Gall/Vinegar to clean it. The Spear: Pierce me in the side and heart, blood will come out. Blood and water for Jesus because either his heart was literally torn from the crossbar, or hypovolemic shock from the scourging. Despite all of what you just heard about the sufferings of Jesus - the depth of the sufferings of Jesus for us and the love that is shown can only be seen in His taking on of the wrath of God for us. In the Garden - take this cup from me. What cup? Five times in the Bible - the cup of God's Wrath. Jesus drank the cup of wrath in our place - every spanking that we deserved..every discipline...NOT HIS PHYSICAL SUFFERINGS. Ponder this - an infinite God can suffer infinitely. Yes He died in our place, but more than that, He suffered wrath for us. The punishment that was due to be paid for our sins was instead poured out on the perfect Jesus. Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds. 6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6 "Some have inquired, what was the occasion of that distress and agony [in the Garden of Gethsemane], and there have been many speculations about it, but the account which the Scripture itself gives us is sufficiently full in this matter, and does not leave room for speculation or doubt. The thing that Christ's mind was so full of at that time was, without doubt, the same with that which his mouth was so full of: it was the dread which his feeble human nature had of that dreadful cup, which was vastly more terrible than Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace. He had then a near view of that furnace of wrath, into which he was to be cast; he was brought to the mouth of the furnace that he might look into it, and stand and view its raging flames, and see the glowings of its heat, that he might know where he was going and what he was about to suffer. This was the thing that filled his soul with sorrow and darkness, this terrible sight as it were overwhelmed him. For what was that human nature of Christ to such mighty wrath as this? Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2 (Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 867–868. Slightly modernized God's Wrath is real - It is mentioned around 600 times in the Old Testament. God's Wrath is personal - just like His love. God's wrath is necessary- It is Justice for those who commit spousal abuse, child abuse, murder, Hitler - evil in the world must be met with righteous wrath and unbiased punishment. GOD IS JUST AND LOVING. Our sins have justly earned us punishment and because God is perfectly just, He can't just wave away our sins - there must be a price paid for them. However, if we had to pay that price - if I had to pay that price, and if you had to pay the price for your sins - it would utterly annihilate us. It is literally a debt that we are unable to pay. So - God can't wave away the debt of our sin, because He is perfectly just, and He won't force us to pay the debt of our sin because He is perfectly love - and that is why Jesus paid it all. The pain of the cross was not merely the physical aspects of being crucified. Hundreds of thousands of people were crucified in the ancient world. Many have suffered that fate. It's horrible, but the crucifixion wasn't unique. What was unique is that Jesus was crucified and, in the midst of being crucified, the entire punishment that was due all of the sins of humanity was poured out on Him. A mere mortal would have been ground to powder instantly, but it could be said that an infinite God can suffer infinitely. Jesus was fully God and fully man. He suffered and died of His wounds in crucifixion but He also suffered a vast amount more as the punishment that bought us peace was cast down upon Jesus. That, I believe, is the true torture and the true brilliance of the Cross. If Jesus had merely died on the cross and overcame death - that would be great and all, but that wouldn't help us much. After all, how much payment can one death on the cross cover? I guess one capital punishment can cover one person's heinous crimes. One life to save a life...but this isn't what happened with Jesus. Not only did He die a sinner's death - HE DIED MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF SINNER'S DEATHS. And thus, in His death and suffering we have peace. Tonight at a wonderful prayer gathering, we sang a song that I love every part of, except the last line, which implies that Jesus, while hanging on the cross, thought of ME most of all. How that could be true for everybody singing the song, I'm not sure, but if that song makes people think that Jesus died on the cross smiling and happily thinking that He was glad to give His life for us, then I think that is inaccurate. I believe that Jesus DID think of me (and you!) while on the cross...but not in a happy, whimsical way...but He thought of me when He was paying the terrible price of my sins. His thoughts of me were likely agonizing. And yet He endured, and paid the price, and overcame death, and offers all who believe in Him eternal life. And that is far better, to me, than the silly thought that Jesus was suffering to the highest extent possible for a being to suffer while on the cross, and while doing so was happily thinking about me with a silly grin on His face. I rejoice at the crucifixion. We should weep for the price that it cost our savior to redeem us. But those tears should be tears of joy and gratitude, not the bitter tears of somebody facing a terrible punishment. The resurrection and crucifixion stand at the literal center - the crux - of Christianity. Without the crucifixion, we are lost in our sins and still owe the righteous price that a 100 percent just God demands. Without the resurrection, there is no hope for a future life enjoying the paradise that the crucifixion bought for us - we are here one day, and gone the next. But, because of the crucifixion, all those who look to Jesus in wholehearted faith, believing that He died in your place, and following Him - they will be saved from the punishment due their wrongdoing, but not merely that. They will also be viewed by God the Father as fully righteous, because perfection has covered their wrongs. Each of you says, “I'm with Paul,” or “I'm with Apollos,” or “I'm with Cephas,” or “I'm with Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided?Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul's name? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. 16 I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't know if I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize—not with clever words, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God's power to us who are being saved. 19 For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,and I will set aside the understanding of the experts.20 Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn't God made the world's wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God's wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and God's wisdom, 25 because God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. 1 Corinthians 1:12-25

Today's passages are quite heavy in many ways. In Genesis 28, Jacob is sent away from his family (and his elder brother who, understandably, wants to kill him) to go find a wife and raise a family. Esther 4 sees Queen Esther contemplating risking her life by approaching the King and asking for him to somehow stop the slaughter of the Jews that he has already sanctioned. In Acts 27, Paul is bound for Rome as a prisoner aboard a sturdy ship with almost 300 other people. That ship is beset by a terrible storm that ends up grounding the ship and causing its destruction. And, darkest and heaviest of all, Matthew 27 is focused on the terrible suffering of Jesus on the cross at Golgotha. It's Monday - not normally most people's favorite day of the week. And our topic for the day is heavy. But, let me assure you and encourage you: When you fully understand the depth of the pain and suffering of the crucifixion, I think your final emotion will be relief, rather than heaviness. Relief that you were spared (or could be spared) from such a fate by the eternal love of the Father and His Son. Let's read Matthew 27 and then dig in!     If you will recall, before Jesus was arrested, He was praying in the Garden, anticipating what was coming, and asking God to deliver Him with great drops of bloody sweat coming off of Him. The prayer of Jesus here was intense beyond any sort of level that most of us can understand, and He almost was overcome just in the act of praying. Consider what Tim Keller says: "If the anticipation of these sufferings, if the very taste of these sufferings sent the Son of God into shock, what must it have been to drink them to the bottom?" Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). The Scourging - metal balls that injure the organs. Pieces of metal that sink in and rip the flesh 3rd century - EUSABIOUS  "their bodies were frightfully lacerated - their veins were laid bare, and the inner muscles, sinews, even entrails, were exposed."  By His stripes we were healed. Not mainly about physical healing - but about the deeper healing of a person from their sins. The Crossbar - Chest contusion onto marble - 100 pounds drove his chest into the ground. Crucifixion - We get the word “excruciating” from there. The Roman statesman Cicero called it "the most cruel and disgusting penalty" The Jewish historian Josephus, "the most wretched of deaths." The Sponge - Roman toilet paper. Got sick, learned to dip it in Gall/Vinegar to clean it. The Spear: Pierce me in the side and heart, blood will come out. Blood and water for Jesus because either his heart was literally torn from the crossbar, or hypovolemic shock from the scourging. Despite all of what you just heard about the sufferings of Jesus - the depth of the sufferings of Jesus for us and the love that is shown can only be seen in His taking on of the wrath of God for us. In the Garden - take this cup from me. What cup? Five times in the Bible - the cup of God's Wrath. Jesus drank the cup of wrath in our place - every spanking that we deserved..every discipline...NOT HIS PHYSICAL SUFFERINGS. Ponder this - an infinite God can suffer infinitely. Yes He died in our place, but more than that, He suffered wrath for us. The punishment that was due to be paid for our sins was instead poured out on the perfect Jesus. Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds. 6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6 "Some have inquired, what was the occasion of that distress and agony [in the Garden of Gethsemane], and there have been many speculations about it, but the account which the Scripture itself gives us is sufficiently full in this matter, and does not leave room for speculation or doubt. The thing that Christ's mind was so full of at that time was, without doubt, the same with that which his mouth was so full of: it was the dread which his feeble human nature had of that dreadful cup, which was vastly more terrible than Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace. He had then a near view of that furnace of wrath, into which he was to be cast; he was brought to the mouth of the furnace that he might look into it, and stand and view its raging flames, and see the glowings of its heat, that he might know where he was going and what he was about to suffer. This was the thing that filled his soul with sorrow and darkness, this terrible sight as it were overwhelmed him. For what was that human nature of Christ to such mighty wrath as this? Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2 (Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 867–868. Slightly modernized God's Wrath is real - It is mentioned around 600 times in the Old Testament. God's Wrath is personal - just like His love. God's wrath is necessary- It is Justice for those who commit spousal abuse, child abuse, murder, Hitler - evil in the world must be met with righteous wrath and unbiased punishment. GOD IS JUST AND LOVING. Our sins have justly earned us punishment and because God is perfectly just, He can't just wave away our sins - there must be a price paid for them. However, if we had to pay that price - if I had to pay that price, and if you had to pay the price for your sins - it would utterly annihilate us. It is literally a debt that we are unable to pay. So - God can't wave away the debt of our sin, because He is perfectly just, and He won't force us to pay the debt of our sin because He is perfectly love - and that is why Jesus paid it all. The pain of the cross was not merely the physical aspects of being crucified. Hundreds of thousands of people were crucified in the ancient world. Many have suffered that fate. It's horrible, but the crucifixion wasn't unique. What was unique is that Jesus was crucified and, in the midst of being crucified, the entire punishment that was due all of the sins of humanity was poured out on Him. A mere mortal would have been ground to powder instantly, but it could be said that an infinite God can suffer infinitely. Jesus was fully God and fully man. He suffered and died of His wounds in crucifixion but He also suffered a vast amount more as the punishment that bought us peace was cast down upon Jesus. That, I believe, is the true torture and the true brilliance of the Cross. If Jesus had merely died on the cross and overcame death - that would be great and all, but that wouldn't help us much. After all, how much payment can one death on the cross cover? I guess one capital punishment can cover one person's heinous crimes. One life to save a life...but this isn't what happened with Jesus. Not only did He die a sinner's death - HE DIED MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF SINNER'S DEATHS. And thus, in His death and suffering we have peace. Tonight at a wonderful prayer gathering, we sang a song that I love every part of, except the last line, which implies that Jesus, while hanging on the cross, thought of ME most of all. How that could be true for everybody singing the song, I'm not sure, but if that song makes people think that Jesus died on the cross smiling and happily thinking that He was glad to give His life for us, then I think that is inaccurate. I believe that Jesus DID think of me (and you!) while on the cross...but not in a happy, whimsical way...but He thought of me when He was paying the terrible price of my sins. His thoughts of me were likely agonizing. And yet He endured, and paid the price, and overcame death, and offers all who believe in Him eternal life. And that is far better, to me, than the silly thought that Jesus was suffering to the highest extent possible for a being to suffer while on the cross, and while doing so was happily thinking about me with a silly grin on His face. I rejoice at the crucifixion. We should weep for the price that it cost our savior to redeem us. But those tears should be tears of joy and gratitude, not the bitter tears of somebody facing a terrible punishment. The resurrection and crucifixion stand at the literal center - the crux - of Christianity. Without the crucifixion, we are lost in our sins and still owe the righteous price that a 100 percent just God demands. Without the resurrection, there is no hope for a future life enjoying the paradise that the crucifixion bought for us - we are here one day, and gone the next. But, because of the crucifixion, all those who look to Jesus in wholehearted faith, believing that He died in your place, and following Him - they will be saved from the punishment due their wrongdoing, but not merely that. They will also be viewed by God the Father as fully righteous, because perfection has covered their wrongs. Each of you says, “I'm with Paul,” or “I'm with Apollos,” or “I'm with Cephas,” or “I'm with Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided?Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul's name? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. 16 I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't know if I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize—not with clever words, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God's power to us who are being saved. 19 For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,and I will set aside the understanding of the experts.20 Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn't God made the world's wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God's wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and God's wisdom, 25 because God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. 1 Corinthians 1:12-25

Today's Bible Readings in the RMM Bible Reading Plan are from Genesis 3, Ezra 3, Matthew 3 and Acts 3. Our focus passage is Genesis 3, which is all about the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. Encouraging Quote of the Day from Tim Keller, " In the beginning of history, it was a disaster. Adam and Eve, garden of Eden … What happens? Sin, Serpent … you know the story. Everything is horrible. Death, destruction, evil. Everything is horrible, except there's a glimmer of hope. Do you know what it is? It's a promise. In Genesis 3:15, God says, “I promise that one descendant of Eve is someday going to bruise the head of the Serpent and destroy evil. I promise.” Scroll forward to centuries later. God starts talking to Abraham. He says, “I'm going to save the world through your descendants.” One night Abraham says, “But how can I be sure?” In Genesis 15, God shocks Abraham (and anybody who understands what he's doing in Genesis 15) when he appears and passes between the pieces of a dead animal and says, “I will save the world through one of your descendants, even if it means I have to die.” A second promise. Then, years and years later, Jesus Christ comes into the world, and he's a man of complete integrity. He always means what he says, always says what he means. Absolute integrity. At the very end, in the ultimate act of integrity, he sets his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem, and he goes to the cross. Why? He's fulfilling his promise. He's fulfilling the promise of God, and everything is before him. Everything comes down. Everything opposes him. Hell itself comes down, and he says, “No, I've made a promise,” and he goes to the cross and dies for us. You've been saved by the integrity of Jesus. You've been saved by the promise keeping of Jesus Christ. That should humble us away from ever using truth against people, but, on the other hand, it convinces us there is a truth. We can't be relativists at all. It destroys our fear of telling the truth. Therefore, O friends, look at the integrity of Jesus. Look at what he did for you on the cross, and become people of integrity." Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). Question of the day: What is the Protoevangelium (A.K.A. Protoevangelion/Protoeuangelion? The word protoevangelium (or protevangelion) simply means "first good news," or "first gospel." Genesis 3 is the worst news in the Bible, really. Up until the Fall in the Garden, things were going pretty great. There was no sickness, death, depression, strife, anxiety, body image issues, or anything like that. Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed - which means they had a level of transparency with each other that went far beyond whether or not they wore clothing. Everything changed, however, when Eve was tempted by the serpent Satan, and Adam stood idly by doing nothing. They both disobeyed God and sin, death, anxiety, fear, and more entered the world. Prior to this, God walked in the garden face to face with humans, but after this, there was a large gulf of separation between God and man. Bad, bad news - almost the entire chapter...except for one tiny glimmer of hope. We see it in Genesis 3:15: I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. - Genesis 3:15, CSB In that one little passage, where God is pronouncing divine punishment on the serpent Satan, there is a promise: Somebody is coming to crush the head of the enemy. Who was the offspring of the woman Eve? Ultimately, this passage is looking forward to the coming of Jesus, the savior. Why did Jesus come? 1 John 3:8 tells us that Jesus came to "destroy the work of the devil." How did he accomplish this? The answer is in Hebrews 2 (and many other places in the Bible): " Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. " The sinless Jesus - Himself innocent, but dying on the cross to pay the price of sin, crushed the head of Satan - the devil - by this act of self-sacrifice. He utterly defeated Satan - the one holding the power of death- by His resurrection, which was a tremendous triumph. Because of Jesus' victory here - all who look to Him in wholehearted believing faith will be saved and set free from all fear of death, because death and Satan no longer have any hold on them. The is the Protoevangelion - the first good news.

Today's Bible Readings in the RMM Bible Reading Plan are from Genesis 3, Ezra 3, Matthew 3 and Acts 3. Our focus passage is Genesis 3, which is all about the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. Encouraging Quote of the Day from Tim Keller, " In the beginning of history, it was a disaster. Adam and Eve, garden of Eden … What happens? Sin, Serpent … you know the story. Everything is horrible. Death, destruction, evil. Everything is horrible, except there's a glimmer of hope. Do you know what it is? It's a promise. In Genesis 3:15, God says, “I promise that one descendant of Eve is someday going to bruise the head of the Serpent and destroy evil. I promise.” Scroll forward to centuries later. God starts talking to Abraham. He says, “I'm going to save the world through your descendants.” One night Abraham says, “But how can I be sure?” In Genesis 15, God shocks Abraham (and anybody who understands what he's doing in Genesis 15) when he appears and passes between the pieces of a dead animal and says, “I will save the world through one of your descendants, even if it means I have to die.” A second promise. Then, years and years later, Jesus Christ comes into the world, and he's a man of complete integrity. He always means what he says, always says what he means. Absolute integrity. At the very end, in the ultimate act of integrity, he sets his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem, and he goes to the cross. Why? He's fulfilling his promise. He's fulfilling the promise of God, and everything is before him. Everything comes down. Everything opposes him. Hell itself comes down, and he says, “No, I've made a promise,” and he goes to the cross and dies for us. You've been saved by the integrity of Jesus. You've been saved by the promise keeping of Jesus Christ. That should humble us away from ever using truth against people, but, on the other hand, it convinces us there is a truth. We can't be relativists at all. It destroys our fear of telling the truth. Therefore, O friends, look at the integrity of Jesus. Look at what he did for you on the cross, and become people of integrity." Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). Question of the day: What is the Protoevangelium (A.K.A. Protoevangelion/Protoeuangelion? The word protoevangelium (or protevangelion) simply means "first good news," or "first gospel." Genesis 3 is the worst news in the Bible, really. Up until the Fall in the Garden, things were going pretty great. There was no sickness, death, depression, strife, anxiety, body image issues, or anything like that. Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed - which means they had a level of transparency with each other that went far beyond whether or not they wore clothing. Everything changed, however, when Eve was tempted by the serpent Satan, and Adam stood idly by doing nothing. They both disobeyed God and sin, death, anxiety, fear, and more entered the world. Prior to this, God walked in the garden face to face with humans, but after this, there was a large gulf of separation between God and man. Bad, bad news - almost the entire chapter...except for one tiny glimmer of hope. We see it in Genesis 3:15: I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. - Genesis 3:15, CSB In that one little passage, where God is pronouncing divine punishment on the serpent Satan, there is a promise: Somebody is coming to crush the head of the enemy. Who was the offspring of the woman Eve? Ultimately, this passage is looking forward to the coming of Jesus, the savior. Why did Jesus come? 1 John 3:8 tells us that Jesus came to "destroy the work of the devil." How did he accomplish this? The answer is in Hebrews 2 (and many other places in the Bible): " Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. " The sinless Jesus - Himself innocent, but dying on the cross to pay the price of sin, crushed the head of Satan - the devil - by this act of self-sacrifice. He utterly defeated Satan - the one holding the power of death- by His resurrection, which was a tremendous triumph. Because of Jesus' victory here - all who look to Him in wholehearted believing faith will be saved and set free from all fear of death, because death and Satan no longer have any hold on them. The is the Protoevangelion - the first good news.

God’s mercy comes to us without conditions but does not proceed without our cooperation. So too our aid must begin freely, regardless of the recipient’s merits. But our mercy must increasingly demand change, or it is not really love. – Timothy J. Keller Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/knowing-what-to-do-but-not-doing-it-is-a-problem/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Today's message covered Jesus' rebuke of cities that have rejected his way of establishing the kingdom of God, It also covered Jesus' gracious invitation to join him in his kingdom movement. The sermon outline covered these two sections of scripture with the following quotation from Timothy J. Keller: 1) ""The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe; 2) Yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope."" Scripture Readings: Hebrews 4:6-12 1 Kings 12:1-11

Deep friendships are often marked by common interests and sometimes common passions, such as faith or politics. But what happens when you and that friend you adore just don’t see eye to eye? As Christians, we are called to live in peace, unity, and love. But in this political climate, it feels like that is getting harder and harder to do. Whether inside the church or out, people are passionate about their differing beliefs. There seem to be no gray areas anymore just black or white, your way or my way, holy or unholy. We are here today talk about how you can navigate friendships and politics, especially when you disagree. Mentioned in the Show: “Tolerance isn't about not having beliefs. It's about how your beliefs lead you to treat people who disagree with you.” ― Timothy J. Keller Books: Bush at War by Bob Woodward Columbine by Dave Cullen Speak: How Your Story Can Change the World by Nish Weiseth Posts: What To Do When You Can’t Agree With the People You Love by Jennifer Dukes Lee President Trump's Refugee Order: 5 Things to Know by Preemptive Love

Does Paul's letter to the Philippians, chapter 2 teach that Jesus is God himself, and that at certain point in time about 2,000 years ago, Jesus became a man, letting go of his equality with God, and thereby divesting himself of his glory, or the use of his attributes, to become a human like us, but obedient to the point of death? In this episode we hear this interpretation, as preached by Dr. Timothy J. Keller, author and pastor of the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, in his sermon "Imitating the Incarnation." I lodge some objections against this interpretation, focusing on the passage's theology, and on the meaning of two crucial Greek terms. Next week, I'll present a different understanding of what Paul means in this famous passage. The commanding voice of Paul in this and previous episodes is Mr. Dominick Baldwin of Industry Audio. Be sure to contact him if your business or church is looking for an impressive voiceover. You can also listen to this episode on Stitcher or iTunes (please subscribe, rate, and review us in either or both – directions here). It is also available on YouTube (scroll down – you can subscribe here). If you would like to upload audio feedback for possible inclusion in a future episode of this podcast, put the audio file here. You can support the trinities podcast by ordering anything through Amazon.com after clicking through one of our links. We get a small % of your purchase, even though your price is not increased. (If you see “trinities” in you url while at Amazon, then we’ll get it.)