Jason Farley sent me the link to this video with the comment that this is evangelism from God’s perspective. Enjoy.
“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” James 2:19
In confessional churches there is an ever present danger – the danger of mindless repetition. The prophets in Israel were stern in their rebukes of the people of God for failing to draw near to God in their hearts and substituting external ritual for an inward love for Him. “Woe to those who draw near to me with their lips but whose hearts are far from me.”
Every Lord’s Day we have opportunity to confess our common faith with one of the ancient creeds. It is always good to remember why we do this, so consider just a few reasons:
1. Common confession is a fitting response of faith to God’s Word, a declaration of trust in the Sovereign Lord. As God’s Word continues to be spurned in our culture and in our churches more and more we need to confess–we trust in His Word. He is God; we are not. We shall do what He says and follow Him. The creeds are an excellent way to express this faith–we trust Him.
2. In light of the massive syncretism in our culture, the recitation of creeds is a forceful way to declare whom we worship. We will not bow to America’s idol, some general theistic deity. Neither shall we worship Vishnu, nor Zeus, nor Allah, nor the
universe. We will invoke the blessing of the Triune God and no other. We worship Him.3. It enables us to verbalize our thankfulness to God for those who have gone before us. We worship the God of Abraham and Isaac, Peter and Paul, Ambrose and Augustine, Luther and Calvin, Edwards and Whitefield. When we confess the creeds, we acknowledge our indebtedness to our forefathers. They lived, breathed, suffered, and died to preserve this faith for us and we lay hold of it with everything we have. So we thank Him.
While remembering why we do this, it is also important to emphasize how we are to do it. And this brings us back to our opening danger – the danger of mindless repetition. As we recite the creed each Lord’s Day we declare, “We believe…” It is important to ask, believe it or not, what we mean by the word “believe”? For “believe” can be used in a variety of ways – as we see in our passage from James today: “You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe and shudder!” There is a certain type of belief that will not deliver in the day of judgment. So when we confess the creed, the belief that we should be confessing is not a mere admission of intellectual assent, “Oh, yeah, this is what I think,” but rather an expression of heartfelt commitment, “This is the One I love, I trust, I cherish, I adore.”
And so, how are we doing? Children, how are you doing? Are you embracing and cherishing the One who calls you His own in the waters of baptism? Are you approaching worship each week in faith, hungering to hear the voice of Christ, to be changed and transformed? Adults, how are you doing? Is worship growing ever more sweet and lovely? Are you reciting the creed intelligently and faithfully or by rote? These are the questions that the different meanings of the word “believe” force us to ask. Our confession should be robust, lively, and full of faith. Beware lipping the words and losing their meaning.
Reminded of our propensity to draw near to God with our lips and fail to draw near Him with our hearts, let us seek His face and ask Him to forgive us and make the fruit of our lips a pleasing sacrifice in His sight.
Psalm 3:1-6 (NKJV)
1 A Psalm of David When He Fled from Absalom His Son. Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. 2 Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah 3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. 4 I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah 5 I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. 6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around.
The text before us today was written by David when he was fleeing from his rebellious son Absalom. Few of us can imagine tasting the bitter fruit of a son who would become our personal enemy. The prospect is frightening and should cause us to be down on our knees, asking the Lord to spare us from such a fate.
You’ll notice that this is where we find David now – upon his knees, seeking help from God. His enemies have risen up against him – and O what a tragic set of enemies to have. David was in dire straits. Absalom had wooed the hearts of the sons of Israel away from David and managed to secure their affection for himself. He had the large army; he had the young and limber muscles; he had the loyalty of the people. David had little to nothing.
Ah, but David had the Lord. And so David comes before the Lord and seeks his assistance. My enemies have surrounded me, O Lord. Many are saying that my faith in you in the midst of this trial is folly. They are saying you won’t answer Me. And isn’t it the same for us? When we are in the midst of trial, do not our enemies – chief among them our own voices of doubt – scream to us, “There is no help for you in God!”
But notice what David declares in our psalm. “But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill.” In the midst of the trial David takes refuge in the Lord. You Lord are a shield for me; when I lifted up my voice to You, You heard me. David turned to the Lord and trusted in Him, knowing that come what may the Lord was on His side.
And so notice the incredible peace that this trust in the Lord fostered in David’s life at the time. Here he was fleeeing from Absalom, his own son. His kingdom had been taken away; his glory diminished; his life threatened. And yet what does he say? “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” David was able – in the midst of personal and political disaster – to sleep and to awake in peace, for the Lord sustained him. Though David had little to no earthly comfort, he had the abiding presence of the Lord – and having the Lord was to have everything.
What an encouragement this text should be to us who are in the midst of personal or corporate trial. Need we lose sleep, so anxious and worried for the chain of events that we cannot keep our thoughts from racing? Or need we sleep all the time in order to forget what is before us and hide from the trials that confront us? David sets us a pattern and shows us that we need neither avoid sleep nor wallow in it – for the Lord Himself is our sustainer. If the Lord is for us, who can be against us?
Our confidence in the midst of trial is not in our circumstances. Our confidence in the midst of trial is not our own wisdom. Our confidence in trial is not in the kindness of our enemies. Our confidence in trial is not the certainty of a favorable outcome. Our confidence is in the Lord God, who sustains us, and promises to bless us – though ten thousands of people should set themselves against us round about.
And so, how are we doing? Are we trusting the Lord? When enemies rise up against us, are we despairing? Reminded of our failure to trust in the Lord when our enemies go on the attack, let us kneel and confess our sins in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, seeking the forgiveness of our Heavenly Father.
“1 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.”
Psalm 37:1-8
Within our current cultural climate it is easy to grow discouraged and to lose perspective. Whether it is the triumph of unprincipled and immoral men and women in politics, or the support of sinful behaviors in business, the compromise and corruption that have permeated the Church, the wholesale immorality in the entertainment industry, or the miserable failure of our judicial system to secure justice. We look around us at the growth of such wickedness and can be tempted to anger, anxiety, or envy.
David was no stranger to these temptations and addresses them in our psalm today by putting the momentary triumph of the wicked in its proper perspective. It is important for us as the people of God to pay very close attention to David’s words and learn from them how we ought to respond to the wickedness that surrounds us. Ought we to become angry? Ought we to be anxious? Ought we to envy their triumph?
David’s answer to each of these questions is a resounding, “No.” “Cease from anger,” he tells us, “and forsake wrath. Do not fret – it only causes harm.” Why is it that we are tempted to anger when we see the wicked triumphing? Why are we anxious? Is it because we see God’s name being defamed and have a sense of righteous indignation? Is it because we fear what they shall do when they get in power? Because their triumph just doesn’t seem right? Whatever the reason, David reminds us that no matter how great our indignation may, it does not compare with the righteous indignation our Lord Himself has. And so we are called to rest in the knowledge that the very God whose name is defamed, is the one who rules and orchestrates history and who shall cause every man to give an account for His idle words. God sees, brothers and sisters; He hears; He knows – and He tells us not to grow angry or anxious – they only cause harm. Trust Him; believe Him; look to Him.
But sometimes our response to the triumph of the wicked is neither anger nor anxiety, it is envy. Why is it that those wicked folks have that nice house? Why are they making all the good movies? Why do they have control of the paper? Why do they have the nice building? But David tells us, “Do not be envious of evildoers” because their lot really is not enviable. Verses 12 – 17 say:
12 The wicked plots against the just,
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
15 Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.
16 A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
But the LORD upholds the righteous.
Why then ought we to put away our anger, anxiety, and envy? Because, David reminds us, the triumph of the wicked is temporary. The wicked shall be cut down like the grass; their plans will not be victorious. They shall be destroyed. And so, what is the point of growing angry, anxious, or envious? God has so made the world and He so orchestrates history and eternity, that those who honor Him and His law will prosper while those who rebel against Him and spurn Him will perish. Our Lord Jesus Himself promised us, quoting from later in this very psalm, “The meek shall inherit the earth.” Note that the promise is not that the meek shall inherit heaven – as true as this is – the promise is that the meek shall inherit the earth. The triumph of the wicked is temporary. Oh sure, it may last a while – perhaps even our lifetimes – but God shall win for He is Lord. And He calls us to trust Him in these times of history when His ways are being scorned; to trust in His sovereign ordering of history and that everything – even this momentary triumph of the wicked – shall abound the the glory of the Lord and the filling of the earth with the knowledge of Him. As Wycliffe once said, “Great is the truth, and it shall prevail.”
Reminded of our failure to trust less in God’s promises than in our own feeble assessment of our cultural situation, let us seek His face and ask Him to forgive us and begin to fulfill His promises in our own lifetime.
“7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
Their throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue.
10 Pronounce them guilty, O God!
Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
For they have rebelled against You.”
Psalm 5:7 – 10
In the psalm before us today, David reminds us of the power of a deceitful tongue. Throughout his life, David faced the tragedy of those who used their tongues to promote their own selfish ends rather than to promote truth. Their tongues were not faithful and true, but twisted and false. And so David uses a remarkable metaphor to describe the nature of their speech. Their throat, he says, is an open grave. It awaits to consume innocent passers by. Any hapless victim will do. Let him but come near.
The mouth of the wicked is full of faithlessness. The wicked man makes a promise with his lips but does not follow through. “David, if ever you are in trouble, I will help you out. Don’t worry, I will never desert you. I am your faithful companion.”
But no sooner does trouble arise than these men have betrayed him. David turns to them for help but no help is forthcoming. They have deceived him. They have used their tongues not to promote faithfulness and truth but to promote their own advantage.
But note how vividly this contrasts with the example of our Savior Jesus! His words, though sometimes sharp and stinging, were always true, always concerned for the glory of God and the good of His hearers. He came as the servant of all. He did not come to be served, but to serve. And so His words were not spoken for His own good but for the good of others. He did not speak to achieve something for Himself but to describe in faithfulness the life of the man or woman with whom he was speaking.
And so what of us? How have we used our tongues? Are we speaking honestly with our neighbors, friends, and family when eternal questions arise? Are we seeking their good or our own comfort? I fear it is often the latter.
Children, brothers and sisters, how are you doing? Are you building one another up or tearing one another down? Are you looking for opportunities to help one another and encourage one another? Paul admonishes you, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
Those in authority – employers, parents, husbands – are you speaking the truth in love or are you flattering with your tongues? Are you avoiding speaking honestly with those committed to your charge while inwardly boiling with frustration and resentment? An honest answer, Solomon tells us, is like a kiss on the lips. Hard words make soft hearts. Be honest with those committed to your charge and entrust their response to the Lord.
Husbands and wives, are we ministering the Gospel of Christ to one another or laying burdens of guilt and bondage on one another? Are we not called to love and cherish one another? Has not Christ given us the immense privilege of picturing the beauty of redemption in our homes? Yet often our mouths are an open grave; we speak in spite to one another; we look for ways to tear down those closest to us. “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
Reminded of our failure to speak faithful words, let us kneel and confess our sins in Christ’s name, seeking the forgiveness of our Heavenly Father.
(This is an email sent to our congregation discussing the idea that Jesus sang portions of Psalm 118 as He entered into Jerusalem.)
All,
This past Lord’s Day I argued that Jesus was likely singing portions of Psalm 118 as He entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. One of the folks in the congregation had a great question for me and a good catch – that the text never explicitly notes that Jesus was in fact singing. How do we know that He was?
First, this was a great question. It forced me to think about the issue and why I would argue that Jesus was singing.
Second, given that this is an implication of the text and not an explicit assertion of the text, this is certainly not a hill anyone should die on. It is possible that He did not sing on this occasion. But whether Jesus sang Psalm 118 on this occasion or not, we do know that He sang the psalms frequently and that He did so during Passover week (cf. Mk 14:26). Further, the NT frequently asserts that the words of the psalms are the words of the Lord’s Anointed, His Christ, and so they are most appropriately Jesus’ words (cf. Heb 2:11ff). Consequently, it is fitting to consider how the words of Psalm 118 reflect the faith of our Lord – even as we did in our points of application on Sunday.
Third, I would argue that frequently when the Scriptures cite a verse of a psalm in the context of a “worship” or “praise” moment, that verse frequently serves as a pointer to the psalm in toto. So, for instance, as Jehoshaphat and the people of Israel marched out against the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites, they were singing “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever” (2 Chr 20:21). Most commentators would argue that this verse is stuck there to point us to Psalm 136 (and possibly Psalm 106). So the quotation from the psalm in the book of Chronicles is a pointer, telling us that as Jehoshaphat and Israel went forth to battle they were singing Psalm 136 from the Psalter. This is why I would argue that Jesus was singing part of the psalm. I think the quotation of the psalm in Mark serves a similar “pointer” purpose. Be that as it may, you should be aware that this is an implication of the text not an assertion of the text – and weigh it accordingly.
For those interested, much of my thinking on this matter of Jesus as the singer of the psalms was shaped by a book written by James E. Adams entitled, War Psalms of the Prince of Peace: Lessons from the Imprecatory Psalms published by P&R. He has a chapter in there on Jesus as the proper singer of the psalms. He notes that in passages such as Hebrews 2:11-13 Jesus is represented as the One truly singing the words of the psalms. I would highly recommend his book if you haven’t read it – I think there may be a copy on the book table.
May the Lord continue to heighten our love for His Word and our desire to understand and apply it!
“How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
Psalm 13:1-4
David lived a difficult life and seldom enjoyed long periods of peace and prosperity. It was left to his son Solomon to enjoy such things while he himself was a man of war.
Because he was a man of war, he routinely found himself in tight spots: mocked by his brothers, harrassed by Saul, scorned by his wife, pursued by his son Absalom. David often found himself facing enemies – some outside his house and some, tragically, inside.
The psalm today was composed in just such a circumstance. David was in trouble, his enemies were surrounding him, his defeat at their hands was nigh at hand.
Imagine, if you will, the turmoil that struck David in each of these circumstances. The pain and fear that must have confronted him. Well – we need not imagine. For we find his fears, pains, and anxieties expressed in the psalm before us today.
How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
Now consider your own circumstances. What troubles are you facing? Which enemies are surrounding you? What fears, pains, and anxieties are troubling you?
One last question: what are you doing with those fears? Notice David’s response – he brings his anxious longings to the presence of God. He does not suppress them; he does not fester over them; he does not wallow in them. He gathers them together and puts them in the best hands possible – the Lord’s.
Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Our Lord Jesus counseled us:
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Today is Father’s Day and the Father to whom all our eyes should first and foremost be turned is our Heavenly Father. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven,” and the Spirit causes us to cry out, “Abba, Father.” As we come into the presence of our Heavenly Father this morning, we are reminded of our failure to entrust our worries into His hands. So let us kneel and confess our sins in Christ’s name, seeking the forgiveness of our Heavenly Father.
Referenced the painting Ecce Homo by Antonio Ciseri in my sermon this last Lord’s Day. For those who haven’t seen it, I decided to post it here.
1 Timothy 4:13 (NASB95)
13 Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.
As we mentioned a couple weeks ago in a call to worship, traditions are unavoidable. Every church has traditions. The important element in traditions is recalling the distinction between our traditions and the Word of God and constantly subjecting our traditions to the Word of God.
Among the traditions which we have as a congregation, one of them is reading various passages from the Word of God each Lord’s Day. Apart from the sermon text, we read Old and New Testament passages. Why do this?
The passage today answers this question. For while many of our traditions are simply applications of biblical principles, the public reading of the Word of God is the implementation of a biblical tradition. Paul exhorts Timothy to “give attention to the public reading of Scripture.” Likewise, John in the book of Revelation pronounces his blessing on the one who was to read in worship the book he was composing. Reading portions of the Word of God each Lord’s Day is not simply a church tradition – it is one that has apostolic precedent.
Given that Paul places such a premium on reading the Word of God in our public assembly, how ought we to approach this activity? First, how ought the Word of God to be read? The Scriptures give us a number of principles. It ought to be read with reverence and awe for it is the Word of the Living God, the God who is a consuming fire. It ought to be read in a language that God’s people can understand – for when Ezra read the Word to the people of God in the Old Testament he translated to give the sense so that the people could understand the reading (Neh 8:8). It ought to be read with joy – for the Word is life itself, giving us wisdom and direction for our lives. Finally, it ought to be read with discretion – giving due attention to the tone of the passage – whether it is pronouncing doom upon the unrepentant or comfort to the afflicted; tone matters.
Second, what ought we to do who are listening to the Word of God? What should characterize the listeners? We are told in Nehemiah 8:3 that “all the people were attentive to the book of the law.” And this is our first and primary obligation. We should be straining our ears to hear the Words of the living God. Our ears should be attentive to His message; all our being should be focused on God’s revelation of Himself. Taking every thought captive, let us hear what the reading is announcing to us today.
And, having heard, let us not be like the man who looks at his face in a mirror and immediately forgets what sort of person he is. No, rather let us not only give ear to the Word but as God uses it to poke and prod us, let us give heed to in in the alteration of our attitudes and actions.
This reminds us that we often fail to give heed God’s Word as we ought. Our attention is often distracted when it is read. Our own opinions often intrude. Our heart often refuses to obey when we have heard. Let us then draw near to God and ask Him to cleanse us of our faults.