Song of the Drunkards

JESUS FACED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF OPPOSITION FOR HIS HARD WORDS AND UNFLINCHING DEVOTION TO YAHWEH. NO SURPRISE THEN IF WE FIND OUR NAME FESTOONED IN BARROOM BALLADS (CF. PS 69:12).

Baptized Body

August 4, 2024 in Baptism, Bible - NT - 1 Corinthians, Meditations

1 Corinthians 12:11-14

11But one and the same Spirit works all these [gifts], distributing to each one individually as He wills. 12For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14For in fact the body is not one member but many.

Later in the service we have the privilege of baptizing the children of JJ and Mel Turbin – Remi, Ruby, and Molly. As we baptize them, they will join their parents as members of Trinity Church. So why do we unite baptism with membership in the Church? The answer is implied in our text from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.

Recall that Christianity is an incarnational faith – it is based on God’s acts of salvation throughout history which culminated in sending His Son to be born of the Virgin Mary, to suffer under Pontius Pilate, to die on the cross for our sins, to rise again bodily from the grave, and to ascend into heaven where He now rules and reigns over all things as God’s Messiah. In other words, Christianity is not principally a collection of ideas, but a declaration of God’s historical acts – God’s intrusions into human history to save His people and His creation from sin and death. 

What this means, therefore, is that while Christianity is incredibly personal it is not private. Christianity makes public, objective claims about the nature and history of the world and, therefore, about the duties of men and nations. And these public claims are furthered by the Holy Spirit whom the risen Christ has poured out to continue His public, historical work in the world. So note that in our text today, the Spirit of God not only unites us with Christ – we are baptized into Christ’s Name, united to Him by faith – He also unites us to one another. To be baptized into Christ is to be baptized into His body, the Church – a body that consists, as Paul writes in our text, of many members, each with unique gifts to give to others.

Note, therefore, that being a member of a local, visible church is not optional – it is a necessity. The Spirit who unites us to Christ also unites us with the Church. As I’ve said before, my friend Gene Helsel likens holding church via livestream to going on your honeymoon through a screen. Yikes! Newlyweds want to be with one another not just see one another. Like that, Christianity is personal not private; it is incarnational not ethereal. It is physical and spiritual, touching us body and soul.

As proof of the incarnational, physical, historical, public character of Christianity, the Spirit signifies and seals our ingrafting into Christ and His Church by baptizing us with water in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t just speak a word over those who believe in Jesus; He commands us to baptize them with water, touching their bodies. He uses a physical, tangible rite because we are physical, tangible creatures. And as we baptize them with water, we pray that God of His grace and mercy would baptize them with the Spirit, would touch their souls, making them living members of that same body – something none of us can do. 

As we baptize the Turbin girls later today, therefore, let us receive them as members of Christ’s body, love them as such, and eagerly anticipate the gifts that they will bring to this body. Reminded that in baptism God claims us as His own and unites us to His Church, let us confess that we often take His Church for granted, often neglect those who have been united to us through baptism, and often horde the gifts that the Spirit has given us to ourselves rather than use them to bless the body. As you are able, let us kneel as we confess our sins to the Lord. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin.

Resist the Devil

June 23, 2024 in Bible - NT - James, Meditations, Satan

James 4:7 (NKJV)

7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Some years ago, I read biographies of three men who were instrumental in the foundation of monasticism: The Life of Antony written by the early church father Athanasius as well as the lives of Paul of Thebes and of Hilarion by another early church father Jerome. For all their faults, one thing shines bright and clear in the lives of these three men: they knew they were at war with the devil. They knew that Satan was out to destroy them, out to undermine virtue, out to corrupt and taint and distort whatever vestiges of righteousness he could find. And not only did these saints know they were at war – they knew which side they were on and fought zealously for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today in our sermon we consider the devil’s assault upon the saints. I fear that we are often complacent in this war with the devil; these men were not. Read The Life of Antony – here was a man who hungered and thirsted for righteousness. Read The Life of Paul of Thebes – here was a man who sought first the kingdom of God. Read The Life of Hilarion – here was a man who panted for the Triune God and for streams of living water. Years and years they wrestled and strove and fought. Why? To overcome sin and in so doing to overcome all the wiles of the devil. For all their faults, and there are many, they understood that the stakes were high; they understood that the war with the devil was raging constantly; they understood that vigilance was imperative. 

But what of us? I fear that we often fail to perceive the seriousness of our situation. Brothers and sisters, we are at war. The devil would like to destroy us. He would like to see us complacent and corrupted. Do you see it? When you are tempted to belittle your wife – that’s the battle. When you are tempted to be bitter toward your husband – that’s the battle. When you are tempted to yell at your kids – that’s the battle. When you are tempted to disrespect your parents – that’s the battle. When you are tempted to despise your sibling – that’s the battle. A war is raging and many of us are playing with tinker toys in the corner. A war is raging and many of us are cozying up to the enemy. A war is raging and many of us are consumed with our happiness rather than passionate about our holiness.

So listen – let us get to war. Let us put to death our selfishness, our greed, our bitterness, our lust, our covetousness, our idolatry, our anger, our spite. Let us heed the exhortation of James – Submit to God, resist the devil. And then listen to the promise of God: and he, the devil, will flee from you. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. So the Apostle John writes in his first epistle, “I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (2:13). You have overcome the evil one. So have you?

Reminded that we are in a war and that many of us are playing with paper dolls rather than striving against the lies and temptations of the devil, let us confess our sin to God. And as we confess, let us kneel as we are able. 

Count It All Joy

June 9, 2024 in Bible - NT - James, Meditations, Trials

James 1:2 (NKJV) 

2My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials… 

Few exhortations regarding trials are more quoted and more difficult to obey than the one we find here in James’ letter. He exhorts us to count it all joy when we fall into various trials. We are to count it – reckon it, consider it to be, reorient our attitude concerning it. We are to count it all joy – not just joy, not just partial joy, not just intermittent joy, but all joy. We are to count it all joy when you fall – encounter, face, experience in God’s providence. We are to count it all joy when we fall into various trials – trials of all shapes and sizes, trials of health, of family, of work, of poverty, of war. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

So why should we count it all joy? It is so much easier to count it all inconvenience or tragedy or frustration or discouragement or anger. Thus, when we fall into trials, we must remind ourselves why we should count it all joy. What are our grounds, reasons, for joy? Consider a few:

  • I should count it all joy because God is sovereign. Though these trials may have caught me off guard, they have not caught Him off-guard. “I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things” (Is 45:6-7). 
  • I should count it all joy because God is all-powerful. Though I may be at a loss to understand or control the circumstances of this trial, yet God’s hand is not shortened. He can save. So I can call on Him. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (Is 59:1). 
  • I should count it all joy because the Sovereign, Almighty God is also my loving Father. Though my sin separates me from God, Jesus has died and risen again to forgive my sin and reconcile me to God. Therefore, I need not fear. “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32).
  • I should count it all joy because my loving Father has ordained this trial for my good. “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28).
  • I should count it all joy because my loving Father is using this trial to teach me patience. This is the reason James gives, “knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience” (Jas 1:3).
  • I should count it all joy because my loving Father and His Son are with me in my trial. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (Jn 14:23). The Father and Son dwell with us by the Spirit.
  • I should count it all joy because Jesus, the Son of God, suffered in order to carry my sorrows and griefs. He will support me in my hour of trial. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Is 53:4). 
  • I should count it all joy because Jesus, as my fellow sufferer, sympathizes with me in my trial and I can have confidence that He will hear my prayers. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:15-16).
  • I should count it all joy because Jesus, as my fellow sufferer, makes intercession for me and is able to save me from these trials. “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25).
  • I should count it all joy because the Spirit too helps me in my weakness to cry out to God for deliverance. “Likewise, the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26).
  • I should count it all joy because Jesus bore my sin on the cross in order to purchase my peace. “The chastisement for our peace was upon Him” (Is 53:5). Trials are the opposite of peace – they are a visitation of chaos, turmoil, disruption. Therefore, my trials shall pass. Peace shall come. I have hope. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh” (Lk 6:21).
  • I should count it all joy because this momentary, temporary trial is producing for me an eternal, a perpetual weight of glory. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor 4:17).

So are you counting it all joy when you fall into various trials? If you are like me, then you will have to review this list often and add to it in order to count it all joy. And so, reminded that there are grounds for joy even when we fall into various trials, and no doubt reminded that we often give way to frustration, complaint, anger, discouragement, or despondency, let us confess that we have often lost sight of our grounds for joy and given way to discouragement and despondency. And as you are able, let us kneel as we confess our sins to the Lord.