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).

What does it mean to abide in Jesus’ love?

October 22, 2017 in Bible - NT - John, Holy Spirit, Meditations, Mosaic Law, Ten Commandments

John 15:9–10 (NKJV)
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

It has been a persistent temptation throughout history to separate the love of God from the law of God. In the passage before us today, however, Jesus teaches us to unite them. First, Jesus instructs us to love God. “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” The Father has loved the Son for all eternity, delighting in Him and in the honor that He receives. Likewise, the Son delights in His people, loving and cherishing them. So, Jesus commands, “abide in My love” – remain in the love with which I have loved you.

It is at this point that much ancient and modern mysticism wanders astray. One of my professors used to define mysticism as that religious philosphy which begins in “myst”, centers in “I”, and ends in “schism.” Mysticism makes abiding in Jesus consist in certain feelings of dependency, or in a certain emotional state, or even in some sort of mystical enlightenment. Mysticism often sounds very spiritual. It urges us to listen to the promptings of the Spirit who, we are told, will guide and direct us through the course of our lives as to whom to marry, where to go to school, what car to purchase, or which job to take. It is important to experience God, to discern what His intentions are in each and every situation and then to follow them. This is to abide in Him.

But note that Jesus does not define abiding in Him in this way. To abide in Him is not to have an ongoing mystical experience but to devote yourself to His commandments. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. The one who abides in Jesus is the one who loves His commandments and keeps them; it is the one who meditates on the law of God and finds his delight in it; it is the one who hides God’s word in his heart that he might not sin against God. Abiding in Jesus is not mysticism but obedience.

So note that obeying Him means giving attention to His commandments, to His revealed will, to His written Word. We are not called to tune our spiritual antennae to the secret voice of Jesus but to tune our ears to the written word of God. So, for example, Jesus does not call upon us to have a mystical enlightenment which tells us which apple to buy at the store. “Oh, I think it’s that one there on the bottom of the bin.” No! He calls upon us to use our God given discernment and common sense to choose a decent apple and then to abide in Him by purchasing the apple rather than stealing it from the store. The abiding happens not in choosing the apple but in purchasing it. Why? Because God’s law has not commanded me which apple to buy; but His law has commanded me, “You shall not steal.” I’m free to choose any apple I want – green or red, ripe or rotten, small or large, fuji or macintosh – so long as I pay for it.

The same principle applies in many other realms. Whom shall I marry? Whomever you want, only in the Lord. Which home shall I purchase? Whichever you want, provided you can afford it. Which job shall I take? Whichever you prefer, provided that it is a lawful calling. Behold the liberty of abiding in Christ’s love! Behold the liberty of living by the commandments of God!

Reminded this morning that abiding in the love of Christ means keeping the commandments of God, let us confess that we have often disobeyed His commandments, that our sin has often separated us from our God. And reminded of our sin, let us kneel and confess it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will have a time of private confession followed by the public confession found in your bulletin.

Put Your Trust in the Lord

October 15, 2017 in Bible - OT - Psalms, Meditations, Worship

Psalm 4:4–5 (NKJV)
4 Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the LORD.

The call of God upon all people is very simple and straightforward – He wants us to serve Him, not man; to trust in Him, not in created things; to love and cling to Him, not to the idols which we create with our own hands. As our Lord Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.”

Each of us faces the choice in our lives of whom we shall serve: will we serve God or will we serve some idol? And note that this is not a choice that admits of middle paths – there is no third option; no neutrality. We must choose whom we shall serve. Who will be our God? Who is your God?

Have you given yourself to the gods of this age? To glamour, wealth, power, academic prestige, simplicity, body image, sexual expression? Do you sit and worship at their feet? Or have you given yourself to the Triune God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the fountain of true glamour, of lasting wealth, of real power, of profound wisdom, of unpretentious simplicity, of blessed health, of virtuous sexuality? Do you sit and worship at His feet?

It was at God’s feet that David sat and he summarizes well what it means to do so –
· Tremble, and do not sin – Fear God, do anything except offend him; remember that our God is a consuming fire and that sin separates us from Him; so, if we would sit at His feet, we must put away sin.

· Meditate within your heart upon your bed, and be still – in private, when you are laying down to rest and are tempted to let your thoughts run wild, to become anxious and afraid as your hopes and fears run laps about your skull, meditate instead upon God’s presence and His Word. Remember His promises, His assurances, and His threats, and so be still. Remind yourself – God is my Creator; in Christ He is also my Redeemer; He will care for me; He will bless me; He will remember me. And in that knowledge…

· Offer the sacrifices of righteousness – remember that the point of your life is to worship your Creator and Redeemer publicly and privately; so join God’s people every Lord’s Day and serve the Lord with gladness every day; rejoice in His precepts; delight in His law; confess your sins; pray for God to transform your character; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

· And put your trust in the Lord – Don’t succumb to the temptation to worship the idols of the world – many of them are carved quite cunningly, beautiful with their gold and silver accents – but remember that despite all their cunning beauty they cannot do anything for you: beauty will fade; wealth will take flight; power will vanish; but the Lord shall remain ever faithful to those who trust Him.

So what is God’s call upon us? David tells us:
Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the LORD.

As we come into the presence of our Lord to worship, reminded that our calling is to trust wholly in Him and no doubt convicted that we have failed to do so, let us kneel and confess our sins in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will have a time of private confession followed by the public confession found in your bulletin.

Bear with the Word

October 1, 2017 in Bible - NT - Hebrews, Bible - NT - Matthew, Heart, Meditations, Preaching, Word of God

Hebrews 13:22
And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words.

Whenever the Word of God is preached and applied, we have the opportunity to respond to it rightly or wrongly. If we respond rightly, then we will, in the words of our text, “bear with the word of exhortation.” When the word of exhortation comes our way, we will receive it, consider it, and respond to it in a way that testifies to the world – “This is the word of God. This is the word of my master. He has commanded and I am obeying. Why? Because this is life itself.” As we respond to the word of exhortation in this way we will bear abundant fruit – in the imagery from the parable of the sower, we will bear thirty, sixty, and a hundred-fold. The word of God will utterly transform us.

Yet how often do we respond to the word of exhortation wrongly – not with faith but with unbelief? Rather than “bearing with the word of exhortation,” we harden our hearts and refuse to listen. So how can we know we are hardening our hearts? Consider the other soils that Jesus describes in the parable of the sower.

Some soil was so hard that the seed did not even penetrate the ground but was taken away by the birds, Satan snatched the word before it even took root. Does this picture describe you? When you hear God declaring His will for human relationships or challenging your own prejudices, do you close your ears and silence your conscience? “How dare Christ claim to be the only way to God? How dare Paul say that wives must submit to their husbands?” So you reject God’s law in favor of your opinions. Or, perhaps more subtly, do you start critiquing the minister? “I can’t believe he is speaking this way – as though he is immune from sin.” You see, so long as you point the finger away from your own sin and refuse to bear with God’s word to you, you are hardening your heart. And so some, rather than bearing with the word, reject it, maintaining their own opinions and remaining in unbelief.

But some soil is not quite so hardened; some soil is very fruitful, for a time. The plant springs up quickly giving quite a show of health and vibrancy – but when the sun arises it quickly withers and returns to dust, when trials and hardships come, faith dies. Our initial joy and enthusiasm is replaced with disinterest as the novelty of the faith fades. We listen to the evening news and see the Christian faith ridiculed. We mention our opposition to homosexuality and face angry stares. We speak to our neighbor about Christ and receive the cold shoulder. So we begin to wonder if believing the Scriptures is worth it. Its message begins to sound so old-fashioned, so out of step, so boring. And so rather than bear with the word of exhortation, we become ashamed of it.

Still other soil produces fruit and yet as the seed grows it becomes choked and entangled by weeds; the cares and concerns of the world choke it out. This soil recognizes that the Word is important theoretically but it’s just not relevant. It has very little to contribute to the everyday realities of life. So listening to the Word of God becomes tedious and hum-drum; we begin to question why we’re involved in worship anyway. “I’d much rather explore my sexuality; I’d much rather amass as much money as I can; I’d much rather be out on the beach or watching a movie.” And so, rather than bear with the Word of exhortation, we can scarcely even bear it – sitting inattentively, just waiting for the preacher to get done so we can devote ourselves to what’s really important.

The Word of exhortation comes to you this morning: how are you responding? Have you hardened your heart? Do you reject the word? Are you ashamed? Are you inattentive? Then wake up, give heed and confess your sin to the Lord. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin. As you are able, kneel with me as we confess our sins together.